Have Dementors taken over my state of Washington? It certainly is depressing, reading news stories of taxpayer money thrown away with both hands; big companies that have been here for decades announcing moves to other states; local restaurants, individual and chains, closing down for good; illegal aliens being treated better than taxpaying citizens; heavily-taxed roads and bridges deteriorating for lack of maintenance; and costs of living all through the state rising with no end in sight.
More than once, I have written about how the elected and appointed officials in Washington seem to be acting for themselves and their cronies, stabbing their own constituents in the back and the wallet. The situation with the homeless (actually street vagrants and drug addicts) has been consuming increasing amounts of our tax dollars, and has gotten steadily worse; we now have the legislature passing a law forbidding local governments from zoning OUT homeless encampments, ensuring that every neighborhood will now have its share of filth, crime, drug overdoses in the streets, and beggars on every corner. Just today, there are multiple stories of the so-called “Regional Homeless Authority” having lost THIRTEEN MILLION DOLLARS of our money. We the people know exactly where that money went-into the pockets of the Homeless-Industrial Complex that feeds off of government money, confiscated from weary citizens who pay and pay and get more crap on their streets. Below is a story about the Seattle council seeking to dissolve the King County agency.
Some quotes from the above article:
Two Seattle-area lawmakers are now drafting legislation to dissolve the King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA) after a forensic audit revealed $13 million in taxpayer funds were mismanaged amid a growing $45 million deficit. They made that announcement during a quickly formed press conference in Seattle City Hall on Thursday.
Seattle City Councilmember Maritza Rivera and King County Councilmember Rod Dembowski said the findings raise serious concerns about financial oversight at the agency, which was created in 2019 to address homelessness across King County. Auditors said they could not rule out whether any of the missing funds were stolen.
“This started out with the best of intentions,” Dembowski said. “Both the county and the city had for years been tackling the homelessness issue on what to do about it separately, and we had funding that we had allocated to it, and it just made sense to do this regional approach. So, we did enter it with the best of intentions.”
Notice the operative words in the above paragraph. “BEST OF INTENTIONS.” That is a perfect reflection of how the Left goes about approaching problems. As long as the INTENTIONS are good, results never matter, until things fall apart, which they often do. The one big action the government could take that would vastly increase the effectiveness of “homeless services” would be to stop allowing street vagrants to refuse help. One law, stating that anyone on the streets MUST accept help for mental illness and drug addiction, or go to jail, would go a long way toward solving the problem. But the Left simply cannot bring itself to require ameliorative behavior of its unfortunate addicts and criminals; they must be coddled and allowed to remain addicted and supported in their bad behavior, since nothing is their fault. Think how many agencies, social workers, cleaners, executives making huge salaries, and other support staff could be re-deployed or let go, saving taxpayers much money! Unfortunately, the livelihoods of all the “helpers” are more important than the citizens affected by all the crime, filth, and degradation they see every day.
Here’s another opinion on that situation.
Then, there are all those neglected roads and bridges. The state DOT collects millions of dollars in tolls and taxes, yet we still have crumbling infrastructure. Construction is never finished, and bottlenecks just seem to move around.
Eastbound SR-18 to close across Tiger Mountain this weekend for paving work.
Neglected maintenance leads to lane closures on Tacoma Narrows Bridge.
Seattle’s New Plan could make traffic worse. The Left that owns Seattle has been trying to get everyone out of their cars and into public transportation for decades. Most transportation funds go for “mass” transit and light rail that are always over budget and unreliable. Bike and now bus-only lanes make traffic congestion progressively worse, but individuals still prefer their own vehicles for commuting. But our Masters in Seattle and Olympia will never, ever give up their desire for complete control over every aspect of our lives. That’s just what they do.
Another fun thing our Masters in Olympia do is, when they believe that areas are under-funded, they close amenities that the Public wants, to apply the most amount of pressure on people, instead of cutting useless government “services”, offices, and personnel. Here’s a very good example.
Our state government liberally (!) funds services for ILLEGAL ALIENS, while closing campgrounds and parks that we citizens like to use. Maximum pressure.
There’s the constant crime.
Shooting in Seattle’s Chinatown-International District leaves one hurt.
Trooper assaulted during I-5 arrest attempt
And the worst kind of crime here in Washington is our porous, corrupt election system. For decades we have had all-mail-in voting here, which is ripe for corruption. Remember this little graphic?
We have been having a right little scandal, as a box of ballots was found near a dumpster in Renton! Great chain-of-custody, right?
Now, the State’s bond rating is in trouble, due to the reckless over-spending and new taxes imposed by the DemocRats who run the state.
DEVELOPING: Moody’s, one of the big three credit rating agencies, has put Washington state on notice that its bond rating is at risk
After years of reckless spending, Gov. Bob Ferguson and Washington Democrats have a year to show the agency they can begin to live within their financial means
The Legislature outspent the state’s tax revenues and depleted the state’s rainy-day fund, earning Washington a dubious distinction of dead last out of all states for financial reserves.
Watch him try and blame President Trump
Yeah, and when the state’s bonds are down-rated, its borrowing costs escalate. Then, we all know what follows. Yep, more and higher taxes for the citizens whose government literally hates them.
Sigh… It gets more and more depressing living here, in spite of the beautiful surroundings and wealth of recreational opportunities. You can only squeeze people for so long, before they simply give up and leave. Corporations like Boeing, Amazon, and Starbucks have already telegraphed their exit planning. We are all wondering who will be next. Knowing that the more jobs and tax base that leave, the more heavily the tax burden will be on those who stay. Death Spiral is what it’s called, and Washington is still close to the top. The worst is yet to come.
Calling-all-RushBabes 