ChangeWA Quick Hits | Change Washington

Democrats defend their expensive homeless policies as numbers continue to increase

The expensive and ineffective homelessness strategy that Washington Democrats are defending will once again cause more homeless individuals to suffer on our streets. This devastating reality is what government officials are warning will be revealed when the current point-in-time homeless count figures are released in May. Local officials are currently wrapping up their count of...

Extremist protestors/rioters cause damage, they go free while taxpayers pay the bill

Two rulings this week demonstrate how the discrimination and bias of our political leaders is costing taxpayers a lot of money. A King County jury awarded the father of Antonio Mays Jr. $30 million because the City of Seattle was negligent in allowing extremists to take over many blocks of Capital Hill during the 2020...

Faulty numbers reveal big problems with Ferguson’ DOE (and The Seattle Times)

The week before last Thanksgiving, the Washington State Department of Ecology (DOE) released a report touting that its controversial and expensive Climate Commitment Act (i.e. the CCA or the “carbon tax” which has increased the price for a gallon of gas by approximately 50 cents in our state) had removed 7.5 metric tons of greenhouse...

Could a Minnesota-style fraud also be occurring in Washington State?

As Nick Shirley’s investigative videos reveal the massive fraud that is costing Minnesota and American taxpayers billions of dollars, should King County and Washington residents fear the same thing could be occurring here? Sadly, the same reckless and lax conditions within Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’ administration are also present in Washington State – especially in...

WA Progressive policies are making dining out a luxury only the wealthy can enjoy

The holiday season is usually a very busy time for restaurants and bars. Yet a recent report shows that progressives’ taxes and regulation have forced establishments in Seattle and across the state to raise their prices to the highest in the country – making dining out too expensive for many lower- and middle-income workers. The...

Progressives’ policies provide gloomy future for our region

There are two disturbing charts which show how progressive policies are hurting the average residential taxpayer. Four years since the end of the pandemic and Downtown Seattle’s vacancy rate has risen to over 33% – 1/3 of space available is empty. No new development being built. Businesses closing, moving to the Eastside (or out of...

Thank you to We Heart Seattle for five years of making a real difference

Time to acknowledge something positive in Seattle… Those of us at ChangeWA celebrate the five-year anniversary of We Heart Seattle! When Seattle progressives’ public safety, drug, and homeless policies were causing the rapid decline of the city in 2020, Andrea Saurez and a small group of like-minded friends went into action. At first, they cleaned...

Extremists fund their violence with tax money meant to help the homeless

A new report reveals how violent extremists are funded by taxpayer money intended to help those suffering on our streets. In early October The Capital Research Group, in collaboration with Seattle’s Discovery Institute, released “Infiltrated: The Ideological Capture of Homelessness Advocacy” which describes how public funds are being diverted away from helping homeless individuals and...

Rethink Criminal Justice and Recovery

By Ginny Burton After nearly 30 years of active drug use, the criminal justice system became the intervention that saved my life. When felony charges finally pulled me off the streets, it wasn’t punishment that made the difference—it was the pause. Incarceration removed me from homelessness, stopped the criminal behavior that fed my addiction, and...

THANK YOU SLADE GORTON!

As our region enjoys the success of the Seattle Mariners, let’s take a moment to thank former Washington State Attorney General and U.S. Senator Slade Gorton for all that he did to bring the team to the Pacific Northwest and then lead the effort to keep them here when the team threatened to move to...

Why do those on the Left hate citizen initiatives?

Here in Washington State we have seen many examples of the Democrats (and their wealthy special interest friends) attacking the initiative process. This has included: Supporting legislation to weaken the initiative process Spending tens of millions to defeat citizen initiatives Recklessly adding “emergency” clauses to controversial bills which prohibit initiatives Hire expensive law firms to...

Why Treatment is superior to Housing First to solve homelessness

1 – Housing First creates dependency on government, Treatment creates self-sufficiency Housing First creates dependency on government’s expensive social services while treatment creates independence. Providing someone with free shelter (which is often very unsafe) does nothing to solve the disabling addiction and mental health problems. The individual then becomes dependent on government services. Yet with...

Washington residents strongly support more focus on treatment for homeless

A new poll finds that Washington State residents overwhelmingly support the Trump Administration’s efforts to encourage treatment-based solutions (for both drug/alcohol addiction and mental illness) to battle the homelessness crises. Moreover, a large majority of Washington voters believe that current homelessness programs that DO NOT address addiction and mental health issues should be closed down....

The Dow Constantine Legacy

It has been nearly six months since then King County Executive Dow Constantine was handed $6 million by his cronies on the Sound Transit Board of Directors to lead its financially troubled organization. Yet his desire to recklessly and carelessly spend taxpayers’ money (while constantly demanding more) at the county still lives on. Remember at...