Inslee’s “Wildfire Fund” is just another Democrat special: burn through your money while pretending to put out the flames.

Inslee’s “Fund” Fix: More Spin, Less Substance

Jay Inslee is back—this time trying to sell Washingtonians on a new “Wildfire Victims Fund” as if his Climate Commitment Act hadn’t already driven up costs, fueled instability, and done little to prevent the very disasters he’s now wringing his hands over.

Inslee admits wildfires are wiping out families, homes, and entire communities—but instead of taking responsibility for a decade of failed forest management, he’s pitching yet another government scheme wrapped in climate jargon. His plan? Force utilities and ratepayers to cough up more money while pretending this won’t hit families’ wallets. Meanwhile, the same communities he claims to defend have been left struggling under sky-high energy prices and broken promises about “green resilience.”

California tried a similar fund, and surprise—it hasn’t stopped wildfires, but it has helped politicians pat themselves on the back while utility bills climb. Inslee’s real legacy is clear: years of neglect, higher costs, and endless excuses. Now he wants taxpayers and customers to bail out utilities while calling it “justice.”

Translation: Democrats ignored the problem for years, and now their solution is to make you pay for it twice. Read more at Spokesman Review.

School’s Out (Again): Democrats’ Union Circus

Three Southwest Washington school districts just kicked off the year not with teaching, but with strikes, walkouts, and stalled classrooms. Vancouver, La Center, and Evergreen all saw labor showdowns over pay, benefits, and staffing—issues Democrats in Olympia promised were “fixed” after dumping billions into K-12. Spoiler: they weren’t.

Now parents are scrambling, kids are falling further behind, and unions are flexing their muscle like it’s a sport. Teachers in La Center walked off for a week. Evergreen’s classified staff dragged their strike into a third week before getting a deal. And in Vancouver, staff were ready to hit the picket lines before administrators caved at the last minute.

Democrats love to brag that Washington teachers rank among the highest-paid in the nation, yet strikes are “normalized” here thanks to a cozy labor-media ecosystem that treats disruption as business as usual. Meanwhile, enrollment is shrinking, costs are climbing, and taxpayers are left holding the bag while kids lose more classroom time.

After years of union giveaways and failed reforms, this is the new normal under Democrat leadership: endless strikes, endless excuses, and students stuck in the crossfire. Read more at OPB.

Grade Inflation 101

Democrats are once again patting themselves on the back for mediocrity. Superintendent Chris Reykdal proudly announced that Washington students are “improving,” even though the numbers show nearly half can’t read or do math at grade level. His trick? Redefine success with fuzzy categories like “foundational knowledge,” so the stats look rosier than reality.

Reykdal insists critics are “lying” when they say schools are failing, but the hard math doesn’t lie: compared to pre-pandemic, roughly 100,000 fewer kids are meeting grade-level standards. Instead of accountability, Reykdal blames the usual suspects—video games, smartphones, even childhood obesity—anything but his own failed leadership.

While national test scores have hit 20-year lows, Democrats in Olympia would rather spin the narrative than face the truth: Washington’s kids are falling behind, and their solution is to lower the bar and silence critics. In other words, under Democrat management, “success” now just means being slightly less of a disaster than everyone else. Read more at King 5.

Another Democrat-Run Disaster: Even Your Library Card Isn’t Safe

Only in Washington could a trip to the local library end with your Social Security number floating around the dark web. The Pierce County Library System let hackers walk off with the personal data of more than 335,000 residents—including names, birthdates, and even Social Security numbers—then sat on the news for two months before telling victims.

Now families are dealing with scam calls, frozen debit cards, and hours spent securing accounts, while the library offers the insult of a single year of credit monitoring as if that erases long-term risk. Classic government “accountability”: late, sloppy, and bare-minimum.

Democrats keep demanding more trust (and more tax dollars) for public institutions, yet they can’t even keep library servers safe. If they can’t manage your library card info, why would anyone trust them with anything bigger? Read more at MyNorthwest.com.

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