Democrats heard Washingtonians hate taxes and said, “Great, let’s add another one.”

Washington’s Tax Hall of Shame: Democrats Keep Finding New Ways to Annoy Everyone

A new survey of more than 3,000 Washingtonians found what most residents already know: the state’s tax system is a growing source of frustration, and many of the most hated taxes are the ones Democrats proudly champion.

At the top of the list, crowned “Utterly Despised,” is the capital gains tax. Passed in 2021, it shattered Washington’s long-standing identity as an income-tax-free state and confirmed what critics warned from day one: it’s a backdoor income tax. While Democrats call it “fairness,” voters see it as a slippery slope and a betrayal of a core promise.

Second place goes to property taxes, described as “Pretty Much Universally Hated.” Homeowners may technically own their houses, but the annual bill makes it feel like permanent government rent. Even after the mortgage is paid, the checks keep going out. Democrats call it stability; families call it never-ending punishment for staying put.

Rounding out the top three is the vehicle registration tax, “Loathed on Principle Alone.” Between rising fees and the newly increased sales/use tax, owning a car in Washington feels less like ownership and more like a subscription service run by Olympia. Pay every year or else.

So as Democrats push forward with talk of a new millionaire’s tax, Washington voters are already sending a clear message: they’re tired of being the state’s favorite revenue source. The only thing more consistent than Democrats proposing new taxes is Washingtonians despising the ones they already passed. Read more at MyNorthwest.com.

Seattle: How Democrats Turned a City into America’s Top Tax Experiment

A new Tax Foundation study shows that if Democrats pass their proposed 9.9% income tax, Seattle would instantly have the highest combined tax rate in America. Higher than New York City. Higher than anywhere. Stack the income tax on top of Seattle’s JumpStart tax, the Social Housing tax, and the WA Cares payroll tax, and you get an eye-watering 18.037% state and local rate. Add federal taxes, and high earners are staring at a 58% total tax burden. That’s not “progressive.” That’s confiscatory.

And who gets hit hardest? The people who actually power Washington’s economy. The study shows about 28% of high earners’ income comes from wages and restricted stock units (RSUs), which Democrats now want to tax as income. Translation: tech workers get hammered. Another 18.7% comes from small business income. Washington has more than 670,000 small businesses employing 1.4 million people, already paying the B&O tax on gross receipts. Now Democrats want to slap a 9.9% income tax on top of that. Because apparently being the backbone of the economy isn’t punishment enough.

Then there’s the classic bait-and-switch. Democrats swear it’s “only for millionaires,” but history says otherwise. Every state that started with an income tax on the rich eventually expanded it to everyone. Governor Ferguson vaguely floated a constitutional amendment to lock in the $1 million threshold, but didn’t make it a requirement. And Democratic leaders haven’t promised anything. Funny how the “guardrails” are always optional.

Even Senate Majority Leader Jamie Pedersen admitted outlier tax rates drive people away, citing how Washington’s extreme estate tax already pushed residents to change their legal residence. Democrats know this. They’ve said it out loud. And now they’re proposing to make Seattle the single biggest tax outlier in the nation.

So let’s be clear: this isn’t about fairness. It’s about turning Washington into a national cautionary tale. The highest taxes, the biggest risks, and the fastest way to shrink the tech sector and hollow out Seattle’s economy. Read more at the Washington Policy Center.

HB 2489: Olympia’s Plan to “Solve” Homelessness by Making It Everyone Else’s Problem

House Bill 2489 is being sold as a compassionate, statewide standard for “life-sustaining activities,” but in reality it’s Olympia yanking control away from cities and counties and tying their hands behind their backs. The bill would stop local governments from enforcing basic no-camping and public space rules unless they can first prove “adequate shelter” exists, effectively making encampments untouchable by default.

In other words, mayors, city councils, and police lose the ability to manage their own streets, parks, and business districts. Local leaders who actually understand their communities get replaced by bureaucrats in Olympia who think one-size-fits-all policy works everywhere, from downtown Seattle to rural counties. Spoiler: it doesn’t.

We’ve already seen this movie. Reduced enforcement means more tent cities, more blocked sidewalks, more fires, more drug use, and more crime. Downtown areas that are barely recovering from years of decline get hit again, while small businesses lose customers who no longer feel safe walking outside. Families stop using parks. Schools deal with disruptions. Public health deteriorates.

And Democrats call this “progress.”

Instead of empowering cities with tools to move people into shelter, treatment, and permanent housing, HB 2489 makes enforcement nearly impossible and guarantees chaos in public spaces. It replaces accountability with paralysis and local problem-solving with state micromanagement.

Once again, Olympia’s solution to a crisis they helped create is to make it illegal for cities to manage it. Read more at the Washington Policy Center.

When the Records Start Disappearing, You Know Democrats Are Nervous

The Washington State Republican Party and journalist Jonathan Choe are asking a court to step in after state agencies allegedly began deleting or hiding public records tied to taxpayer-funded childcare centers. The timing is a little too convenient: just as serious questions about fraud and misuse of public money are surfacing, the paper trail starts getting fuzzy.

Their lawsuit points to an earlier state review that already showed how shaky oversight has been. Nearly 30% of childcare providers didn’t respond at all, and another 30% couldn’t produce records for children the state had already paid for. That’s not “administrative error” territory—that’s “where did the money go?” territory.

WAGOP Chairman Jim Walsh argues this is about basic transparency. If billions in taxpayer dollars are flowing through these programs, Washingtonians have every right to see the receipts. Hiding records doesn’t protect families; it protects bureaucrats.

Attorney General Nick Brown, meanwhile, is more upset about who’s asking the questions than what the questions are. He’s accused outside investigators of harassment and danger, framing scrutiny itself as the problem instead of the potential corruption that prompted it.

And that’s the pattern: when Democrats can’t defend the spending, they attack the investigators. Instead of opening the books and proving everything is clean, they’d rather argue that no one should be looking too closely in the first place. Read more at Seattle Red.

Washington Democrats Put Schools Under Federal Scrutiny, Call It “Progress”

Four Washington school districts are now under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education for allegedly discriminating against women and girls by allowing students to compete in sports based on gender identity instead of biological sex. Cheney, Sultan, Tacoma, and Vancouver made the national list, joining 18 entities across 10 states facing Title IX complaints.

This is what happens when ideology replaces common sense. Democrats spent years insisting that fairness in women’s sports is “bigotry,” and now federal investigators are stepping in to see whether girls’ rights were sacrificed to satisfy political talking points.

The Department of Education made it clear the timing isn’t random. With the Supreme Court reviewing the future of Title IX, federal officials are signaling they’re serious about enforcing protections for women — even if that means calling out school districts that followed the latest progressive trend instead of the law.

So while Olympia politicians and their allies pushed these policies as compassionate and enlightened, the result is national scrutiny and potential consequences for Washington schools. Once again, Democrats rushed to virtue-signal first and worry about legality and fairness later. Read more at MyNorthwest.com.

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