Never a peaceful moment in the Pacific Northwest. Fighting Leftist Tyranny.

On By rushbabe49In Authoritarianism, business, Crime and Punishment, Culture, Drugs and Addiction, Economics, Education, elections, Gender Ideology, government, Law and Justice, Media and the Internet, Media bias, Politics in the Age of Trump, Progressive "Thought", social media, technology, Washington State Politics

We simply can’t relax around here. The Democrat Overlords (as they see themselves) will come up with new ways to tax and hound their constituent peasants, on a near-daily basis. When it’s not gangs of black teens terrorizing law-abiding neighbors, it’s the new taxes and fees, either existing or proposed. A local commenter today laid out the ways that the governments on all three levels(city, county, state) confiscate money from us on our cell-phone bills.

WASHINGTON IS TAXING YOUR CELL PHONE TO DEATH Think your cell phone bill is expensive because your phone company charges too much? Look again. Washington has built an entire ecosystem of taxes and fees around something most of us can’t live without. Your cell phone. And the bill doesn’t stop with the advertised price. Here’s what you can be paying for: 

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 Washington sales tax — 6.5% state tax, plus local sales taxes depending on where you live. 

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 911 tax — $0.95 PER WIRELESS LINE EVERY MONTH. That’s $11.40 a year per line. Washington takes $0.25 and the county gets $0.70. (Washington Department of Revenue) 

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 988 tax — another $0.40 PER LINE EVERY MONTH to fund the state’s 988 behavioral-health crisis system. That’s another $4.80 a year per line. (CereTax) 

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 Federal Universal Service Fund — the federal government requires carriers to contribute to this fund, which supports programs including rural service, Lifeline, schools, libraries and rural health care. Carriers commonly pass some or all of that cost through to customers. (UTC)

Then there are carrier-imposed fees. “Administrative fee.” “Regulatory fee.” “Recovery fee.” “Government program recovery.” Those aren’t necessarily government taxes. They’re fees the phone company chooses to charge you.

And here’s where it gets ridiculous. The Tax Foundation reported that in 2025, Washington had the second-highest wireless tax burden in the country at 34.98%, behind only Illinois.

Nationwide, taxes, fees and government surcharges reached 27.60% of the average wireless bill. Think about that.

Washington politicians have created a system where taxes and government surcharges can represent roughly a THIRD of the taxable portion of your wireless service. And then politicians wonder why everything feels so damn expensive. This is what “death by a thousand cuts” looks like.

They don’t have to raise one giant tax. Instead: $0.95 here. $0.40 there. 6.5% here. A local tax there. A federal surcharge. A regulatory fee. A carrier “recovery” fee.

Another government program. Another fee to fund another program. And every month you automatically pay it. You don’t get to vote on each charge. You don’t get to negotiate it. You don’t get to opt out. You just pay.

And here’s the political problem: Governments have learned that people notice a $10 tax increase. They don’t notice 10 different $1 fees. So they keep adding them.

Then politicians stand at the podium and tell us they haven’t raised taxes “that much.” Technically, maybe. But your bank account doesn’t care what they call it. A tax is a tax. A mandatory fee is a tax with better marketing. And a “recovery fee” is often just a company passing its costs back to you.

Want to know what your cell phone service REALLY costs? Don’t look at the advertised price. Look at the bottom of your bill. That’s the price government and corporations actually want you to pay. And Washington lawmakers wonder why people are fed up.

We’re not being taxed to death with one giant bill. We’re being nickel-and-dimed to death every single month.

County Sales Tax

WA State Sales Tax

Fed Universal Service Charge Admin & Telco Recovery Charge

County 911 Surcharge County Sales Tax-Telecom Regulatory Charge

WA State Sales Tax-Telecom WA State 988 Tax

WA State 911 Fee

Last legislative session in Olympia, they passed a law (no Republican votes) allowing striking workers to collect Unemployment Compensation. The predictable result? Unions taking strike votes and approving strikes. Especially public employees like teachers, regardless of the fact that public-employee strikes are ILLEGAL by state law. No one sues, so they continue to strike. This year, the Feds pushed back on that, informing the State Employment Security Department that striking employees MUST be actively looking for work while on strike, since the job “loss” was VOLUNTARY. The ESD has already updated the regulations to reflect the rule. However, that has not prevented them from striking anyway. [Emphasis mine]

Washington State SOME OF THE HIGHEST PAID TEACHERS IN THE NATION PLAN TO GO ON STRIKE The people of Washington State are being held hostage by state and county government union employees.

Seattle teachers could strike despite being among highest paid in U.S. August 27, 2026 Vicki Murray Raises Concerns Over Pay Increases Amid Potential Teacher Strike The union representing Seattle teachers has voted to authorize a strike, putting the start of the school year on Sept. 2 in jeopardy.

The in-person vote at the Seattle Convention Center on late Wednesday night was overwhelming in favor of the strike, with a 91% margin. If contract negotiations don’t result in a settlement by Sept. 1, the day before school is scheduled to start, the strike resolution authorizes a walkout.

The 6,000 members of the Seattle Education Association don’t just represent teachers but paraprofessionals and counselors in the 50,000-student system. They last walked out in 2022 in what turned out to be a five-day strike. The current contract expires on August 31.

The union is demanding wage increases above inflation and smaller class sizes, but the district is balking at the requests, insisting it is financially unable to fund the increases and add positions the union wants. “We don’t want to strike, but unless the district starts prioritizing student learning and supports, the district is giving us no choice,” SEA President Ibijoke Idowu said in a statement.

She did not address the wage increases the union wants in the statement. Idowu didn’t respond to requests for an interview with The Center Square.

The union is asking for 1.5% to 5% wage increases above inflation increases, depending on the position, in a multi-year contract that would extend through the 2028-2029 school year. But the district is only willing to pass along a yearly 2.6% cost-of-living adjustment, money that is fully funded by the state of Washington.

At school board meetings, Superintendent Ben Shuldiner has stressed that SPS must focus entirely on “limiting overspending” instead of offering salary increases. School system Chief of Staff Bev Richnod, who is in charge of public relations for the Seattle Schools, did not respond to The Center Square’s requests for comment. But district officials have publicly said that Seattle Schools are grappling with a looming $87 million budget deficit for the 2026–27 school year and a depleted $30 million rainy-day reserve, down from a recommended $135 million.

Vicki Murray, senior education policy director at the free market nonprofit Washington Policy Center, said investing in great education means investing in teachers, but noted that Seattle teachers’ salaries are among the highest paid in the country. “They make into the six figures,” she said.

Statistics show that the median salary for a Seattle School system teacher is $134,000. Administrators, who are not part of the potential strike, make even more, north of $250,000 a year, she noted. However, the teachers union also represents paraprofessionals who can earn as little as $50,000 a year.

But Seattle School system officials say the issue is not whether increased wages are deserved; the issue is that the district doesn’t have the money to fund the increases. Part of the district’s financial problems is due to losing students.

The district lost nearly 4,000 students in recent years, driven by families moving away due to Seattle’s high cost of living and by parents choosing to send their children to parochial and private schools because of concerns about the quality of education offered at Seattle schools. Washington State funds public schools based on student enrollment, meaning that every departing student removes roughly $20,000 in annual state revenue from the budget.

Photo: Newly elected Seattle Education Association (SEA) President Ibijoke Idowu, who assaulted an autistic student. 

Please also note that the accused felon head of the SEA is on leave while being investigated for assault of a student. Not only is the union breaking Washington State law by striking, their President is under investigation for a heinous crime of her own! What does that say about Seattle? And then there’s this, about that.

Seattle Teachers Union members are asked directly by Fox 13’s Alejandra Guzman if they still support their union president, who was found to have “more likely than not” physically abused multiple special needs children.

Nobody was willing to give a straight answer or even condemn their union president.

Remember this the next time they claim they are striking “for the children.”

On the Unconstitutional Income Tax front, the fight continues apace. The Secretary of State’s office continues to claim that the “Con” statement in the voter’s pamphlet for I-645 to repeal the income tax is perfectly fine and fair, even though it contains more than one totally untrue statement (repealing the law will cause funds for education to disappear, which is false since NO current funds are affected due to the tax not even starting until 2028).

One of the the biggest financial proponents of higher taxes, Nick Hanauer, said “virtually every wealthy friend I have has either left or is planning to” because of all the recent tax increases. Us “opponents of the income tax” are not “oversimplifying” anything, this is what’s actually happening. #waleg

This is a long post with many under it, so I can’t reprint them all. X users need to click on the first one and read the whole thing. In short, the Seattle Fishwrap is against repealing the income tax, but the statistics in their article actually argues FOR repeal.

This story seems to confirm the exodus of wealthy residents. The Kemper Freeman family have basically built and supported Bellevue for decades. They made the upscale suburb even more prosperous, and now they are selling. Did they see the train coming through the tunnel straight at them?

The Kemper Freeman legacy goes beyond The Bellevue Collection and his development company. The announcement yesterday that the Freeman Family is exploring sale of the Bellevue Collection brings many mixed emotions. Will they find a buyer that will and can correctly maintain the brand they’ve created while also keeping the security at the level we have seen?

Kemper’s community work and advocacy often goes unnoticed. This is the safest mall in the area. The safest neighborhood in Bellevue. It’s because Kemper Freeman has the best security around. It’s like its own mini police unit. With their own top notch surveillance system and employees who track repeat offenders. They don’t tolerate ANY crime, not even petty theft.

The scanner has recently been encrypted as many of you know, but over the years we have heard amazing work by Kemper Security on the scanner. We would love to share with you what we have learned.

  • Kemper Security often uses their surveillance systems to assist BPD in the search for outstanding criminals in the downtown region. They have cameras everywhere. They also call in about repeat offenders when spotted on cameras. We have heard dispatchers sharing information with officers directly from Kemper Security. Daily.
  • Bellevue Police often notifies nearby police agencies of high-level crime, Kemper Security is also included in this and notified if an incident is near downtown or if suspects head that direction. Kemper Security often works hand in hand with BPD even if it’s not a crime on their property. Were also not talking about during daytime hours only, this happens 24-hours a day. No other mall in the City of Bellevue works closely with BPD like this.
  • Kemper Security assists with sharing direction of travel of subjects on their cams related to all crimes on their property and nearby properties. They assist BPD until the suspect is detained or they can no longer track them.
  • Kemper Security has been known to follow subjects by vehicle (high level crimes) until BPD could catch up and make contact with a suspect themselves.
  • Kemper Security has been known to report patrons who get drunk on their property (in restaurants and bars) and try to drive, to protect the community.
  • Kemper Security has been known to assist with incidents in the Downtown Park.
  • Kemper Security has been known to report any and all drug use on their property.
  • Kemper Security has been known to hire BPD for events and nightlife for added security for their patrons.
  • Kemper Security reports all suspicious activity in the downtown area that they witness and any background information on the subjects involved if known. They work really hard to keep their neighborhood safe.
  • We have seen Kemper Security assist in high level investigations as well. A death investigation from a year ago showed Kemper Security had shared camera footage and movement on their property involving three subjects related to a suspicious death after those subjects left Lucky Strike. Kemper Security does this without the need for a search warrant. They are always willing and available to assist BPD.

No doubt, there’s more here that is missing. Listening to the scanner for years the way the Kemper Security department runs has become normalized to us, but please understand this isn’t normal for a development company or a mall.

Kemper Freeman has built this amazing downtown community that attracts people from all over the world, and he has protected it with his own mini police force essentially. As the scanner has been encrypted, there is so much unknown regarding what is happening in the city in real time – but one thing will always remain…

Downtown Bellevue is the safest neighborhood in the city. It is the safest place to shop and dine out. That is because of Kemper Security.

Our biggest question as of now is will the sale of the Bellevue Collection affect that sense of security for visitors and residents?

Now, on the Crime front:

Seattle Police search for man accused of setting fire to Community DIY auto repair shop.

Five men indicted for laundering $7.4 million from elderly in tech support scam in WA.

Major drug trafficking arrest in Bothell.

Seahawks sign Felon to contract despite possible life sentence. They did WHAT?!!

Other Seattle News and Happenings:

Certainly never a dull moment around here.

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