Free Republic

Developments continue around the efforts of Washington state’s insurance commissioner to ban insurance companies from using credit to set rates for auto, homeowners and renters insurance for three years.Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler issued an order on March 23, 2021, that bans the use of credit in setting insurance rates for new and renewed policies as of June 20, 2021.Insurance industry groups joined together to try to halt Kriedler’s plan. The American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA), the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of Washington, and the Professional Insurance Agents of Washington filed a petition for declaratory and injunctive relief in...

The Washington State Supreme Court effectively legalized drugs in a stunning and dangerous decision. Thousands of violent felons, like child rapists, could be released as a result.The misguided court’s split ruling declares the state’s felony drug possession law is unconstitutional. Consequently, police departments across the state, including in Seattle and Tacoma, will no longer arrest individuals for simple drug possession.The court’s claim makes little sense. It’s driven by ideology. And the only way to correct this egregious ruling is through the Legislature. But state Democrats were already actively pursuing drug legalization, making a fix unlikely.The state Supreme Court argued that...

Help Wanted. I contacted my Congress Rep to raise interest in objecting to the Harris electors now 'certified' for Washington State. Now that we are in Art. II, or 'political' phase of the Presidential election, the Natural Born Citizen ('NBC') qualification found in the US Constitution may be addressed. Sen. Harris' parents were here on visas issued for their passports from India and Jamaica. Both countries practice birthright by bloodline, in contradiction to US policy. Clearly they were subject to the foreign jurisdictions which issued their passports. Her father became a naturalized US citizen after she was born, and he...

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- All bars, entertainment and recreational facilities have been ordered by the state to close across Washington and restaurants will be limited to take-out or delivery orders only, Gov. Jay Inslee said Sunday night. “Given the explosion of COVID-19 in our state and globally, I will sign a statewide emergency proclamation tomorrow to temporarily shut down restaurants, bars and entertainment and recreational facilities," Inslee said in a press release announcing the new order. “Restaurants will be allowed to provide take-out and delivery services but no in-person dining will be permitted. The ban will not apply to grocery stores...

As the Washington State House Judiciary Committee gathers in Olympia to hear public testimony on two gun control bills Thursday afternoon, proponents of the measure requiring licensing and extensive background checks to own so-called “assault weapons” have a major problem. Uniform rime data from the FBI dating back to 2013 does not support contentions that semi-automatic rifles or shotguns pose a serious threat to public safety. Indeed, crime reports spanning three years – 2013, 2014 and 2015, the most recent year for which data is available – suggest quite the opposite. Rifles and shotguns are used in a fraction...

They were once prisoners, inmates or offenders. Now, the nearly 19,000 residents of Washington’s 12 state prisons will be referred to another way. Those serving time in prison will no longer be referred to as “offenders” or “convicts,” according to a memo from the leader of the Department of Corrections. If they’re in a class behind bars, they’ll be called “students.” If they’re in the prison infirmary, they’ll be called “patients.” And, spokesman Jeremy Barclay said, if no other moniker applies, they’ll be called “incarcerated persons.” “Secretary of Corrections Richard Morgan has put out a memo to staff requesting...

The future tragedies of government health care will include today's many warnings about how it operates in practice. The subsidize-mandate-over regulate insurance model is imploding in Massachusetts. Then there's Washington state, where a government board may decide that modern medicine is too expensive for kids with diabetes. Seriously. In 2006, Washington created a board to scrutinize the cost-effectiveness of various surgeries and treatments, known as the Health Technology Assessment program. At a hearing today, the panel will debate glucose monitoring for diabetic children under 18. In other words, the board is targeting the fundamental standard of diabetes care that has...

...Wilson was arrested early Tuesday by federal authorities who say he left a string of obscenity-laced phone threats at Murray’s Seattle office over nearly two weeks ending Sunday.Wilson is accused of leaving multiple threatening voice- mail messages between March 22 and Sunday, apparently motivated by his anger over the health-care reform bill recently passed by Congress.“I hope you realize, there’s a target on your back now. There are many people who want you dead.... It only takes one piece of lead. Kill the (expletive) senator. Kill the (expletive) senator. I’ll donate the lead.” In the most recent message, the caller...

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- A man who fled Vietnam more than 30 years ago has won a defamation lawsuit in Olympia against five fellow Vietnamese who called him a communist sympathizer in local publications. The jury awarded the 65-year-old man, Duc Tan, $225,000 on Thursday after a three-week trial. The Olympian reports that the lawyer for the defendants, Nigel Malden of Tacoma, argued the case is a blow against free speech. The jury also awarded $85,000 to Tan's organization, the Vietnamese Community of Thurston County. One expert witness testified that labeling people communist discredits them among Vietnamese who were imprisoned or...

I thought I get a live thread going for the WA state primary today. This is important for a few reasons (not the least of which is to see if King County has cleaned up its voting and vote counting processes since the last election), but also because at least 1 of the State Supreme Court Judges will be chosen today. John Carlson's picks for judges: Stephen Johnson, John Groen, Jeanette Burrage Here's a link to the various WA State voting systems by county: http://www.secstate.wa.gov/elections/votingsystems.aspx

A Snohomish County judge has struck down a key package of tax increases on liquor and cigarettes, agreeing that lawmakers illegally bypassed voter-approved spending limits to enact the new fees. The judgment, issued Friday by Superior Court Judge James Allendoerfer in Everett, invalidated an omnibus tax plan that Democratic lawmakers used to balance the two-year state budget during the 2005 session. State officials are likely to appeal the ruling, which essentially would require a statewide vote to keep the $263 million, two-year tax package in place. >snip Their lawsuit targeted the 2005 Legislature's overhaul of state taxation and spending limits...

Came across this and thought I'd pass it along. If it's happening here, there are probably similar organizations in other states and areas. This is from their Web site: "Report Right Wing Signature Gathering Activity - Add A Button to Your Site Yesterday, I wrote the following: Progressive activists should be on the lookout for signature gatherers collecting signatures for Initiative 917 and other right wing initiatives. If you see petitioners collecting signatures for any right wing initiative, please use Permanent Defense's new reporting tool to tell us about it so we can more efficiently organize and mobilize. Permanent Defense...

Sen. Hillary Clinton gave a fundraising boost to Sen. Maria Cantwell's re-election Friday, headlining a Seattle luncheon that attracted more than 1,200 people, according to the Cantwell campaign. The crowd paid $150 to $1,200 a plate to hear the first-term New York senator, considered in political circles as a leading contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008 and either the best or worst decision the party could make in its effort to recapture the White House. The lunch, inside Qwest Field, was closed to the media. The Cantwell campaign declined to say how much money was raised. >snip A...

I was listening to John Carlson on KVI coming home tonight and he had an authority on about drilling in ANWR. The authority said that there is about a 38-hour window to contact your congresscritters re voting in ANWR. IIRC he said that there was language in both the Defense Bill and the appropriation bill (sorry, don't remember specifics as I was trying to concentrate on driving downtown Seattle in rush hour - something I don't normally do). John said he had spoken w Congressman Reichert (my Congressman) and while Dave supports drilling in ANWR, he's probably going to vote...

Puget Sound FReepers 2005 Christmas Party!Merry Christmas FReepers, Family & Friends! It's time for our FRee Republic Puget Sound Chapter Annual Holiday Celebration!

With the election just three weeks away, a new KING 5 poll shows that the race for King County Executive's is neck-and-neck. A full 46 percent of those surveyed said they would vote for Republican David Irons now, compared to 43 percent for incumbent Ron Sims. That is within the poll's four-percent margin of error. Another factor in this race could be Green Party candidate Gentry Lange, who polled at 7 percent. Four percent of those surveyed told SurveyUSA that they're still undecided. Irons may be ahead, but strangely enough, many voters know very little about David Irons. The Republican...

The House passed a $286.4 billion highway and mass transit bill Friday that could provide long-awaited relief for the nation's travelers while creating tens of thousands of construction jobs. >snip The bill includes $220 million to help underwrite the multibillion-dollar cost of replacing Seattle's Alaskan Way Viaduct, lawmakers say. Lawmakers from both parties hailed the highway and transit bill, which would provide more than $4 billion for highway and transit projects in Washington state, and $2.7 billion for Oregon. >snip "Our delegation has done an incredible job of standing up for the viaduct," Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said Thursday. "We...

I, unfortunately, have to work tomorrow, but for those of you who have the day off and/or live in the Olympia area, you might be interested in going to this: GRASSROOTS WASHINGTON ACTION ITEM: There will be a “Real Reforms” rally on Monday to urge House leaders to pass meaningful election reform legislation. We need you to be there! Real Reforms Rally This Monday, April 11 10 a.m. on the Capitol steps. Invited guests: Bob Williams, Evergreen Freedom Foundation Chris Vance, Republican Party State Chair Lt. Bryan Suits, Iraq War hero and disenfranchised military voter Mike Siegel, KTTH radio host...

OLYMPIA — Democrats sound a confident tone in their public statements about the governor's election lawsuit. For instance, one party attorney said Republicans' list of alleged illegal voters would end up as toilet paper "in an outhouse on Blewett Pass" on the mountain highway route that leads to the Chelan County courthouse, where the case will be heard. But the state Democratic Party's new fund-raising solicitation has a much more alarming tone. "This is no joke! Don't stop reading until you've finished this letter," pleads the two-page mailing, sent to Democrats this week by state party Chairman Paul Berendt. Fear...

Today's update on King County's magical binder of precinct-by-precinct reconciliation worksheets, which the lunatic-fringe blogs tell us are "sitting down there at KC Elections for anybody to inspect". The punchline is: the lunatic-fringe bloggers are living in a sick fantasy world (but you knew that). The binder is not now, nor has it ever been, available for public inspection. King County is perpetrating a cover-up. Two things happened today: First, County Councilmember David Irons confirmed to me that he's been asking for these documents for the last six weeks but that the Elections office has still not made them available...