Taxes & Spending | Change Washington

Times’ movie date with the Governor raises concerns over who is keeping the powerful accountable

On November 15, The Seattle Times published a front-page photo of one of its top political reporters (David Gutman) laughing with Washington Governor Bob Ferguson while sitting in a local movie theater. The justification for the picture and related interview is that in the new movie “One Battle After Another,” Leonardo DiCaprio plays a character...

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...

The Price of Silence

When is the last time you visited downtown Seattle? Or Portland? Or San Francisco? Are these places the towns you once vacationed to and felt safe site seeing? Nearly thirteen years ago, I prayed for death as I wandered the streets of Tacoma in the middle of the night—no place to go, no belongings, everything...

Commonsense Solutions to our never-ending “Homelessness Emergency”

Last week, ChangeWA reviewed the negative outcomes of Seattle and King County’s Emergency Declaration issued 10 years ago this month. This week we look at two commonsense ways to quickly lower homelessness, cut dependence on costly government programs, and save taxpayer money. Progress has been made – just a few years ago these policies weren’t...

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...

Lack of action from state leaders means more fraud and waste will occur

Recent statements and releases from our state’s s highest elected officials suggest that their attention is primarily directed towards partisan disputes with the Trump Administration, rather than safeguarding taxpayer dollars. This emphasis on political battles appears to come at the expense of implementing effective oversight measures to prevent waste and fraud in public spending. As...

Billions Wasted, Zero Consequences: No One Fired, Demoted, or Punished

Major stories about government fraud and waste make headlines for only a day or two before vanishing. Because the media quickly drops these stories, the people responsible avoid accountability and keep profiting from the wasteful and fraudulent system. Politicians make promises to fix the problem, but rarely is anything meaningful done as the waste and...

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...

Your tax dollars are promoting fentanyl use as a “friend-building” activity

Is a new big budget ad campaign from the State of Washington the latest proof that our government is not interested in reducing lethal drug use? [un]Divided podcast host Brandi Kruse asserts that a recently released television ad from the Washington State Department of Health is more evidence that “our government does not want to...

Halfway through session: WA Lawmakers have curious priorities

This article republished here, courtesy of Future 42. Much of the attention during this legislative session has centered around the handling – or lack thereof – of the six citizen-led initiatives. Despite the state constitution’s requirement for them to take precedence over all matters aside from the state budget, none of them have been granted...

Good news & bad news for those seeking change in Seattle

Clearly Seattle is at a very important crossroad and the nine members of the city council will decide which road the city takes.

Outgoing Seattle Councilmembers impose new problem for the new council to fix

One of the important items which might have missed your attention during Thanksgiving week was the outgoing Seattle City Councilmembers passing its supplemental $7.7 billion budget for 2024. The two key takeaways from the last City of Seattle budget six of the nine councilmembers will pass are: Like the State of Washington, the City of...

Will common sense governance finally replace the failed, radical policies of the Seattle City Council?

Together we brought historic change to the Seattle City Council. This is a remarkable accomplishment considering the depths from which the city has come in just a couple of years. The results of the 2023 elections mean there will soon be seven new members on the council since the dark days of 2020 and 2021.

Seattle voters made their frustration known

Many naysayers said it couldn’t be done. But this week Seattle voters made their voices heard when/where it matters most – the ballot box. Residents completed an unprecedented turnover of the city council where likely only one of the nine city councilmembers who voted on the disastrous 2020 & 2021 “defund the police” measures will...