Living in Washington can feel like a gilded cage. The scenery is stunning, the mountains are majestic, and daily life looks comfortable from the outside. Yet rising taxes and fees are steadily shrinking our personal freedom, happiness, and choices.
If you can afford the high price of gasoline plus the state and climate taxes layered on top, you might still drive to the Olympic Mountains. First, though, you must pay the increased fee for a Discover Pass. Couples who want to marry in a beautiful venue discover that even the marriage license costs more. The venue itself is more expensive because of higher minimum wages, business-and- occupation taxes, and new retail sales taxes. Over the last four years the price of starting a business, buying a house, attending college, or simply owning a firearm has climbed sharply.
In the legislature, Republicans argue that these taxes-including the new income tax- are not sustainable. People and businesses that can leave will leave.
Democrats answer that no one will go because Washington is simply too beautiful. That reply only works if voters ignore the rising cost of living inside the cage.
The pattern is clear. Each new fee and tax is defended as necessary, yet the cumulative effect is that ordinary residents pay more for the same basic freedoms.
Beauty doesn't pay the grocery bill, the heating bill, or the tuition bill. When one party holds nearly all the power, the costs keep rising while the answers stay the same.
Voters should look past the pretty views and ask hard questions about the price of one-party rule. The cage may be gilded, but it is still a cage.
Your vote is needed and matters. Vote by November 3.
Darlene K.
La Center
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