The 2019 legislative session was one for the record books in a very bad way as the Lawless WA State Socialist/Democrats imposed numerous tax increases (many on the last weekend of session) that equates to over 27 Billion in new taxes over the next 10 years. New 10 Yr Tax #'s include: $8.9 billion in payroll taxes, $8.6 in property taxes, $3 billion in B & O taxes, $1.8 billion in REET taxes, $1 billion in taxes for bank customers, $1 billion in taxes for online buyers (among several others). All the new taxes adding unnecessary burdens to the state's citizenry by the Dems are totally unwarranted as we are already one of the nations highest taxed states.
Before 2019 Wa state had the highest spirits & marijuana excise tax in the country, the 2nd highest state & local sales tax collections in the country, the 3rd highest state gas & cell phone tax in the country, the 4th highest state & local tax rate in the country, the 6th least favorable environment for corporate taxes in the country, the 7th highest state & local excise tax in the country, etc. And after the 2019 legislative session we are on our way to be the nations leader in taxes. To end this debacle the choice is clear, Socialism or Freedom, VOTE REPUBLICAN IN 2020.
OF IMPORTANT NOTE: Our state government in Olympia has transformed itself into a Totalitarian Dictatorship as the incredibly corrupt and irresponsible Democrats in the legislature waited until the very last day of the 2019 session to pass Initiative - 1000, reversing Initiative-200 (the Washington State Civil Rights Initiative) and the will of the people. Needless to say after announcement of the 26 Yea - 22 Nay Party-line Vote, the Senate Chambers erupted into chaos as about 600 furious onlookers, many screaming things like "You lied to us, we won't forget", had to be removed by the Sergeant At Arms.
Wa state voters approved I-200 in 1998 with 58.22% of the vote, it led to RCW 49.60.400 which states: The state shall NOT discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting. This unconscionable, last minute passage of I-1000 minimizes our merit based system and now makes sure the Dems can use race to decide quotas, and is just one more example of their ruthless Top-down Authoritarian Socialist/Democrat government control.
Also I -1000 fosters racial discrimination and segregation by dividing us into factions. The act specifically allows government to consider race, sex, color, ethnicity, national origin, age and sexual orientation in public hiring, contracting and school admission decisions. It is simply one of the worst things the Dems have ever done to our state. Additionally I-1000 creates a "Governors Commission on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion". The new commission members are appointed by the governor and have 4 year terms; the commission is responsible for planning, directing, monitoring and enforcing each state agency's compliance with this act. Yes, unelected Socialist/Dem appointees deciding the civil rights of our children and future generations to come!
Besides voting Republican in 2020, there is a more immediate solution to this. It is Referendum Measure 88, which will allow the people of Washington State to vote for or against I-1000 on the November 5th general election ballot. R-88 needs about 70,000 more statewide signatures by July 27 to qualify. For petitions contact the SCRP office at (360) 424-9792.
State AG Bob Ferguson continues his blatant corruption as he joined AGs in Calf, Conn, Or, and Mass, in a lawsuit seeking to overturn a Federal Dept. of Health & Human Services (HHS) new rule that had ended Wa state's diversion of Medicaid payments from in-home health care workers to unions. Currently it is illegal for the "union dues skim scheme" whereby Wa state used to automatically confiscate part of the payments sent to Medicaid In-Home Care Providers for care provided to low-income disabled, elderly, or ill Medicaid recipients (usually family members) and then funneled that money to the SEIU.
Agent of Big Labor Unions, AG Ferguson, does not like the new rule whereby the SEIU now has to collect union dues from in-home care providers after they receive their Medicaid check, instead of the old corrupt scheme where Wa state seized the money for the benefit of the SEIU before the workers ever received payment. Now Ferguson wants to return to the old corrupt scheme.
The current rule is that HHS “protects Medicaid provider payments” and “ensure the taxpayer dollars dedicated to providing healthcare services for low-income vulnerable Americans are not siphoned away for other purposes". Ferguson and the SEIU is fighting to deprive home care workers any choice in how to use their own money. It's pitiful our state's AG is putting special interests ahead of his duties as the state's chief law enforcement officer. Home care workers deserve much better!
The Wa Dept. of Ecology recently appointed public employees to represent Agriculture on state committees that will decide the future allocation of water in 7 river basins. To represent statewide Ag interests Ecology picked staff members from King County's Ag program and other conservation districts, leaving out farmers. Now Eco-fascists will become the 'stakeholders' deciding water allocation. This re-writes last years "Hirst Fix" compromise legislation, as the intention was supposed to include farmers, and / or someone who represents farmers policy issue interests, to be on these committees. Expect new statewide mandates, water restrictions and metering (taxing) of private wells to be next.
The City of Bellingham "Climate Action Plan Task Force" is recommending to the Bellingham City Council that "ANY home (mobile homes, etc.) or building built or sold in Bellingham must be retrofitted to be 100% free of fossil fuels within 12 months of purchase. That means NO natural gas, propane or oil, i.e. must replace with solar or electric. The new policy could go into effect as soon as next year and would mandate massive financial investments (roofs for solar, furnaces, water heaters, windows, PSE upgrade expenses. etc.) by home purchasers to comply. Also this would significantly raise the chance of brownouts as the electric grid is not set up to handle the new loads. Not to mention the fact that the cost of electric is much greater than gas.
Continuous failed Socialist/Democrat policies that incentivize and enable the homeless have lead to tent cities springing up all over the United States. I.e. it is now estimated that there are more than 60,000 homeless living in Los Angeles County, over 11,000 homeless living in King County and about 3,000 homeless living in Whatcom County. In Skagit County the homeless problem is increasing to the point that even the City of Mount Vernon is now having to consider an ordinance for the many homeless people living in their cars to park overnight in designated areas. To help to solve the homeless crisis we need to help these people with drug addiction, mental health and job programs, not enable them to stay on the street. At the same time when these people break the law they need to be arrested and put in jail.
More evidence why government run universal healthcare does not work: For years the UK's National Health Service has been denying needy patients important life saving drugs for cystic fibrosis and other dread diseases simply because the drugs are deemed too expensive by government officials. Additionally doctor wait times are increasing while operations are being delayed and even canceled. Unfortunately this is even forcing families to move out of country as a last resort for life. People are finding out NOTHING IS FOR FREE and it is all about the money, not about humanity, dignity or quality of life. Sadly with a government run system, bureaucrats get to impose arbitrary cost-based restrictions on access to care, which means "Coverage" does not necessarily mean "Access."
After 6 months on the job freshman member of congress Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes wants a $4,500 a year pay raise as $174,000 a year appears to be not enough, saying "It's not even like a raise, it is cost of living adjustment" and "Not voting for it will only keep dark money loopholes open." These and other ridiculous comments the devout Socialist has been saying like "This administration has established 'Concentration Camps' at the U.S. border for immigrants", "The world is going to end in 12 years if we don't address climate change" and defending the widespread criticism of her Green New Deal, with her now infamous quote saying "I am the boss, how about that", are showing us all how AOC and other Socialist/Democrats behavior has quickly become now that they are the ruling class.
The 2020 Democrat presidential candidates want to redefine U.S. Citizenship; i.e. if you enter our county illegally and want to be here, you get the full rights of citizenship and all the benefits provided to actual American citizens. And if you want free college education, just show up and get accepted at any one of the 1,626 public collages in the U.S. Biden & most of the other Dem candidates would give Illegal Aliens free healthcare if they become President. Most would never allow deportation of illegals; Booker, Buttigieg, Castro, Sanders, Warren and others want it to no longer be a crime to enter the U.S. without permission; and Sanders and O'Rourke want to do away with citizenship exams because, "It is a structural barrier." This is all obviously about Democrat Votes.
The Socialist/Democrat New York State Legislature just sighed a law to give drivers licenses to Illegal Aliens; the plan is to enable the state's 725,000 Illegal Alien population to be eligible to vote in elections. This is no surprise as Tom Perez, Chairman of the DNC, has been advocating for illegals to be able to vote for several years. A major concern is that many states, including N.Y., use their DMV to enroll voters. The Democrat goal also is nationwide amnesty for the now estimated 22 - 26 million illegals living n the U.S..
The Socialist/Democrat California State Legislature just passed a new law that gives free "Comprehensive Health Care Coverage" (via Medi-Cal) to low income Illegal Aliens ages 19-25. This is funded with 98 million dollars of tax money to pay for approximately 138,000 foreign nationals who are in our country illegally. Of note: CA Dems tried but could not pass universal health care for actual citizens of the state because it would have been to expensive; but now, some how it is ok for the Democrats to pay for health care using the public's tax money for Illegal Aliens? This is absolute lunacy!
A chilling confession from captured ISIS fighter Abu Henricki confirmed how the terrorist group intended to attack the U.S. southern border via Mexico with ISIS terrorists who already lived in North America. Henricki said "ISIS wanted to use people inside because they were from these areas." Henricki refused the mission and was subsequently thrown into an ISIS prison in Manbij, Syria and brutally tortured; he said "That plot is likely over as those who were pressured to join it are now all dead and ISIS is in retreat as we know." However, the sad reality is that until Congress fixes our broken immigration and asylum laws, the crime, human trafficking, drug cartels, terrorists, etc. will just continue illegally entering the U.S. via the southern border.
Project Veritas recently exposed the social media website Pinterest for banning Bible verses and other Christian terms like "Christian Easter" in its search engine, and are identifying the Christian terms as "Brand Unsafe". Pinterest also banned the pro-life group Live Action from the site blocking inspirational messages to pregnant mothers. Soon after the Project Veritas released undercover video footage, YouTube (after the video had over 1 million views in just 1 1/2 days) pulled the video, saying "It violated Pinterest's employees privacy." Twitter then did the same thing by censoring it.
Project Veritas also revealed Google and You Tube's top executives intention to intervene in its products to remake the political landscape and stop Trump in 2020 by deciding which content the users are allowed to see (view video). And last week during Congressional hearings specifics were exposed as Sen. Ted Cruz grilled a Google Director about leaked comments like "Google is bent on never letting someone like Donald Trump come to power again", and "We are also training our algorithms, like if 2016 happened again, would we have the outcome be different" (view video). These are the latest efforts from the Progressive Left Tech Companies targeting conservatives use of social media platforms and censoring anything they deem inappropriate because it does not fit their liberal dogma narrative, all the while totally disregarding and disrespecting millions of their consumers.
Over the last month in the streets of Hong Kong there has been an amazing example of mankind's willingness to resist tyranny and desire to be free. On June 16th alone nearly 2 million Hong Kong residents protested in the streets demanding the release of arrested students and the resignation of Hong Kong's Chief Executive Carrie Lamb for her role in an extradition bill. The bill advocates the extradition of Hong Kong residents and anyone who happens to be in Hong Kong and who China deems "a suspect" to be sent to mainland China Courts. One week prior on June 9th, over one million Hong Kong peaceful pro-democracy protestors were subject to unrelenting efforts of police brutality and excessive force with teargas, scattershot, rubber bullets, billy clubs and water cannons that left over 80 people seriously injured. And today, protestors chanting "Hong Kong is not China" stormed the legislative building because the Hong Kong govt. has still refused to act in the peoples best interest by eliminating the extradition bill.
Over 4 million people have fled the collapsing Socialist nation of Venezuela as the horrible humanitarian crisis continues to escalate. Besides the government brutality, it is now being reported that 9 out of 10 of Venezuelan residents are living in poverty, there are major food shortages and many don't have running water.
On June 19th at the Congressional House Hearings on Slavery Reparations, former NFL PRO Bowl Player Burgess Owens turned the table on the Dems and gave a courageous 5 minute talk explaining why slavery reparations are a bad idea and exposing the true history and misery of the Democratic Party, to view click here.
Many of the NBA players are no longer comfortable with the term "Owners" (regarding basketball "Team Owners") because of the players interpretation / connotation to slavery, i.e. the history of white people who once owned black people as slaves. The NBA and their Commissioner, Adam Silver, apparently agree and are wanting to use the term "Governors" instead.
President Trump's official 'Campaign Kick-off Rally' in Orlando, FL proved to be incredibly impressive as the event had over 120,000 RSVP's. People started waiting in line 40 hours prior to the event and over 20,000 loyal supporters packed the sold out Amway Center, while thousands watched on big screens outside. The event produced $24.8 million in campaign donations in less than 24 hours; that equates to more than the top 5 Democrat Presidential candidates combined after their election announcements.
More evidence of the nationwide economic boom we are seeing because of the Trump Pro Growth Policies boosting the economy: U.S. job openings now outnumber unemployed workers by 7.5 million (the highest ever recorded). Also the unemployment rate continues at an overall all-time record low, this includes historic levels for Woman, African Americans, Hispanics and the Disabled. Additionally the Trump Administration is successfully implementing an effective Pro-Worker higher education policy agenda by opening up over 930,000 Vocational and Technical "Pell Grant" job training apprenticeship opportunities.
Thank you to Mark Levin who recently shed light on today's media, stating "Trump is running against the press for the President of the United States, however one day the major media will either cease to exist or be much smaller than they currently are. Newspaper subscriptions are dying, the N.Y. Times had to be saved by a billionaire in Mexico, the Washington Post had to be saved Jeff Bezos; CNN ratings have been plummeting and needed to be acquired/saved by AT&T, MSNBC has weak ratings and is owned by Comcast, and without Comcast there would be no MSNBC."
Thanks to new LD 47 Democrat State Sen. Mona Das, who last week spoke the truth saying "Things really change in Olympia when the Democrat caucus met behind closed doors to discuss bills, after they (Democrats) close the door, that's when it gets real, and that's when I heard hate, misogyny, and racism and sexism."
A big thank you to Human Rights Advocate, Dr. Yang Jianli and his group Citizen Power Initiatives for China, which helped to co-host the 30th Anniversary Memorial of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, held on June 4th in Washington D.C. We stand united against the Chinese Communist Party's ongoing attempts to erase the memories of the brutal murders of thousands of innocent democracy protesters 30 years ago, and for the egregious human rights violations the CCP continues to commit today; this includes China's recent attempted extradition bill, as the legislature in Hong Kong is controlled by a pro-Beijing majority.
Last month it was a true honor to be able to present Dr. Yang Jianli with an Honorary Citizenship of Skagit County for his lifetime of Human Advocacy. Dr. Yang reminds us to not take our Freedoms for granted and commented, "This is a big deal for me, I have not been a citizen of any free country. America is my adopted home which I love so much. Being an honorary citizen of Skagit County makes America more home than ever." The United States of America for all its mistakes, remains the greatest country on earth." For entire report click here.
Thank you to Republican Governor Ron DeSantis for recently signing a bill that bans sanctuary cities in the state of Florida. The new law allows a working partnership for State and Federal law enforcement to fight criminal illegal alien law breakers. What a concept...
Thank you to John Carlson of KVI radio, Jason Rantz of KTTH radio, Brandi Kruse of Q13 news, Fox news and the many others who helped to show that our Wa state sanctuary laws & policies led to a King County Superior Court Judge allowing Illegal Alien convicted rapist, Francisco Carranza-Ramirez to return to the same wheelchair bound victims house to beat and strangle her. Kruse has been especially relentless in her questioning of the court, office of King County Executive Dow Constantine, office of Governor Jay Inslee and their total unwillingness to answer or explain the decisions they make or the people they serve. Governor Inslee & AG Ferguson's Sanctuary policies have had brutal and deadly statewide consequences, and they are complicit in these crimes.
Thank you to everyone who attended the Snohomish GOP Initiative and Referendum Training and the Skagit GOP Campaign / Activist Training last month. Both events were important and informative!
Saturday, July 20th is Anacortes Shipwreck fest! This is a huge street fair event attended by thousands of people. Please drop by the SCRP booth, also the Skagit Republican Woman will have a booth. Please stop by and say hi. The event runs all along Commercial Ave and is from 8 AM to 5 PM.
The Skagit County Republican Party will have our annual Summer Salmon Barbecue Picnic on Saturday, July 27th. PLEASE NOTE THIS YEAR WE HAVE A NEW VENUE at the Burlington Rotary Park Covered Picnic Shelter, located at 821 S. Section St (map).
Our Special Guest Speaker is Maria Espinoza, Co-Founder and National Director of The Remembrance Project . For over 9 years she has been "a voice for the victims killed by illegal aliens." Maria brought the "Angel Moms, Dads and Angel Families" to now-President Donald Trump in 2015. She will speak about violence spilling over the border - the very real National Emergency. Every murder was 100% preventable, if only laws were enforced.
Of Interest: Maria is a Burlington-Edison High School grad and was a stand-out runner in Cross-Country and Track & Field. She still holds the WA state record in the 2-Mile Run. Her family moved to Texas (her birth state) in 1980. Maria was also an All-American miler at Abilene Christian University and is married to Tim Lyng, a professional engineer.
* For those of you who do not like salmon, we will also be serving hamburgers, hotdogs, grilled french bread, salads, home made cookies, drinks and more! Tickets are $25 per person, $10 for children 12 and under. To RSVP click here or please call (360) 424-9792.
DRIVING DIRECTIONS: From I-5 take Hyw 20 Exit 230. Go East 3 blocks, left at S. Burlington Blvd. Drive North 5 blocks, right at S. Fairhaven St., drive 12 blocks East to S. Section St., turn right and drive 4 blocks South. Rotary Park is on the right hand (West) side of road. 821 S. Section St. Parking is anywhere on the street.
PLEASE HAVE A HAPPY AND SAFE FOURTH OF JULY! Lets Keep America Great and Celebrate America!
Respect & Blessings,
Bill Bruch, SCRP Chairman
Share This Post...
