Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

The 20-year Demise of a Blue State
Townhall.com ^ | December 22, 2014 | Rachel Alexander

Posted on 12/22/2014 4:35:07 AM PST by Kaslin

I left Washington state about 20 years ago for Arizona. A Washington native, I had become fed up with the left-wing politics of Seattle. A couple of years ago, I moved back to the Pacific Northwest. A lot had changed while I was gone, and very little for the better. The only “improvement” I noticed was more greenery everywhere. The environmentalists had gotten so many restrictions passed on logging and burning dense forestation that the Evergreen State had started to look like a jungle.

Everything else had gone downhill. The roads and traffic had become horrendous, especially in the Puget Sound area around Seattle, since there was no longer enough money to keep up with maintenance and expansion, and the left-wing politicians had prioritized mass transit over road infrastructure and planning. This is despite the fact that Washington has one of the highest gas taxes in the country, resulting in high gas prices. Republican legislators in the state side with the Democrats on many issues, including higher taxes for education and gas. Legislation is now being considered that would tax drivers per mile. Seattle has the eighth worst traffic congestion among large U.S. cities, even though it is only the 22nd largest city. Consequently, drivers have lost their reputation for being the nicest in the nation.

Driving in downtown Seattle is dreaded as much as driving in larger cities like Washington, D.C. and New York City due to congestion and parking. The Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement tunnel, which has been under construction in downtown Seattle since summer 2013, making traffic a nightmare, was never approved in any general election or referendum, and has been the subject of multiple lawsuits. It is scheduled to be completed in 2016, but no one believes it will on time due to unions, and it is frequently compared to Boston’s corrupt “Big Dig.”

The state has become downright hostile to business. Although there is no corporate tax, the state makes up for it with a business and occupation tax. There are a few large tech companies left, including Microsoft, Amazon, Nintendo, Zillow and Expedia, but that is only because the legislature bends over backwards to appease them. Microsoft recently laid off 3,000 employees. Boeing has been gradually relocating to other states, starting with moving its corporate headquarters to Chicago. It is currently in the process of cutting 1,500 tech jobs in Seattle and relocating them to Missouri and South Carolina.

By the year 2000, almost all of Washington’s statewide offices and Congressional delegation were controlled by Democrats, primarily a result of left-of-center Californians moving into the state in order to escape the Golden State’s increasing taxes and regulations. In 2013, Seattle voters elected a Socialist to the city council, Kshama Sawant, who is credited with getting a $15 minimum wage passed citywide. With 60 percent of the state’s population, the greater Seattle area now outvotes the rural, conservative areas in the rest of the state.

Bill Gates, Michael Bloomberg and other billionaires bankrolled I-594 this fall, a gun control initiative so extreme that even some prosecutors and law enforcement officers are saying they will not enforce it. The measure will cause firearm companies to flee the state, just as they left the Northeast for red states like Texas and Tennessee. Euthanasia and marijuana are both legal.

Several of my conservative friends who remain in Washington say they have to stay under the radar about their political views publicly, or risk retaliation at work. The most popular group in the Seattle area is tellingly entitled “The Puget Sound Conservative Underground.” I’ve had several friends admit to me the only reason they haven’t left the state is because they have children living with an ex-spouse in the state or a similar reason requiring them to stay.

Some of the left’s new taxes and regulations in Washington have backfired on them. The state dissolved its state-run monopoly on hard liquor, but the transfer was done so poorly it actually increased the cost of hard liquor to the highest in the nation - by far. Washingtonians now pay $35.22 per gallon of spirits. In Oregon, the state with the second-highest taxes on spirits, the cost per gallon is $22.73.

A friend of mine observed that many people remain in blue states like Washington because they are convinced it has superior culture and arts. They fail to see that much of the culture and arts Seattle was known for is now permeated with sex, profanity, left-wing political messages and shock value. Cultural snobs are basking in memories that are long gone.

The leftists in blue states are more concerned with what feels good than what is important economically. Their brand of arts and culture pushes the belief that we can all be the next artist or rock star, not the next manager of a business. It takes work to make something of your life, whereas the art world sells a life of fun. There is only room at the top for a few, yet the left-wing cultural elitists sell the belief that everyone will be the next idol.

Notably, vague articles like this point to nothing specific anymore when praising Seattle. Washingtonians have developed an almost cult-like obsession with the Seahawks, one of the last remaining relics of the state’s greatness. It is strange to see how many people display Seahawks flags from their car windows and wear Seahawks clothing now - as if nothing matters anymore to them but the Seahawks; they’ve tuned out everything else happening around them.

Meanwhile, red states like Texas and Arizona are growing and prospering now more than ever. I moved back to Phoenix this fall. I was thrilled to come back to wide, clean streets with little traffic, low gas prices and new, well-kept buildings. Most residents of Washington have never had the chance to visit a red state like Texas or Arizona for a few days, so they have no idea what they are missing.

Once Democrats ruin blue states, they flee to other states and enact the same failed policies there. How many states do they have to ruin this way before they realize it is their own shortsighted, utopian, disastrous tax and spend policies? The next question is, what state are Washington Democrats going to take over next?


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; US: Washington
KEYWORDS: demonrats; environmentalists; taxes; trashington; washington
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-49 last
To: <1/1,000,000th%

“Jury’s still out on how that’ll turn out.”

How can it possibly turn out when they just passed a
1.1 trillion dollar budget that finances Obamacare, “immigration reform” and lots of other stuff.

Just asking.

IMHO


41 posted on 12/22/2014 10:21:39 AM PST by ripley
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 39 | View Replies]

To: Mears

bfl


42 posted on 12/22/2014 10:24:31 AM PST by Mears
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ripley

They won’t take office until next year.

When we see what happens to the current leadership next year, we’ll have a pretty good idea of where things are headed.


43 posted on 12/22/2014 2:57:13 PM PST by <1/1,000,000th%
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 41 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

44 posted on 12/22/2014 3:02:40 PM PST by x ("These comments are are not an accurate reflection of who I am")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: cuban leaf

Ping.


45 posted on 12/22/2014 4:29:57 PM PST by DuncanWaring (The Lord uses the good ones; the bad ones use the Lord.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

bump


46 posted on 12/22/2014 4:39:48 PM PST by foreverfree
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: <1/1,000,000th%

“They won’t take office until next year.”

True.

You’re right, have to wait.

IMHO


47 posted on 12/22/2014 4:45:49 PM PST by ripley
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 43 | View Replies]

To: Trapped Behind Enemy Lines
Hopefully-—certainly not guaranteed-—this may indicate the voters in both states-—maybe even MA too-—of all places are fed up with liberal policies bankrupting their states.

Unfortunately, voting patterns in Liberal states tend to be driven by short attention span/ADD voters. They reach a tipping point where, fed up with Liberals, they vote in the GOP. When the GOP doesn't fix things fast enough (or does fix things fast, freeing voters to return to lower priority issues) they go back to the Dems.

As a result, Conservatives end up eating a lot of undeserved blame for the economic and other problems. Which Liberals are willing to exploit to their fullest ability.

IMHO it's a fools game and long past time for Conservatives to stop enabling the "two steps forward, one step back" progressiveness of Liberals. Ayn Rand got it right in Atlas Shrugged when John Galt refused to step in at the last moment and try to fix things.
48 posted on 12/22/2014 4:54:10 PM PST by tanknetter
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]

To: DuncanWaring

Thanks for the ping. You probably know I left that state in 2011 (after 45 years there). I’m still reading the article, but it looks like the author nailed it.

Oh, and here is Bill Whittle on Washington state. He nails it too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPJSAnm3NTQ

At first you won’t think it’s about Washington State, but it is.


49 posted on 12/22/2014 6:18:09 PM PST by cuban leaf (The US will not survive the obama presidency. The world may not either.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 45 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-49 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson