Kelly Chambers

Candidate for Pierce County Executive
State Representative 25th Legislative District
Wife. Mother. Grandmother. Entrepreneur.

[CBS News @CBSNews]

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt kicked off the city's mayoral debate in a heated exchange on Wednesday after Pratt called Bass "an incredible liar," and claimed she misguided Angelenos about the facts of the Palisades Fire when it broke out last year.

CBS News' @JonVigliotti, who has been closely reporting on and investigating the blaze for over a year, fact checked two key moments from the debate.

[Kelly Loeffler @SBA_Kelly]

Small business owners usually avoid Washington - but today, they flocked to the White House to THANK President Trump for the America First agenda that’s bringing new growth to Main Street.

Nobody fights harder for our small businesses than @POTUS!

[Brandi Kruse @BrandiKruse]

During a meeting with top Washington state officials, including Governor Ferguson, Seattle's top federal prosecutor pleaded with them to at least cooperate with @ICEgov to get violent offenders and child sex predators into custody. They said no.

[SBA @SBAgov]

President Trump’s Working Family Tax Cuts saved Americans from a $4 Trillion tax hike.

Whether you’re a small business, domestic manufacturer, gig economy worker, family farmer, or a tax filer, President Trump’s economic agenda is putting YOU first.

https://t.co/xDfdOAmx0F

[Kelly Loeffler @SBA_Kelly]

SBA’s new “Made in America Loan Guarantee” gives U.S. manufacturers the needed financing to expand operations, hire workers, and supercharge domestic industry.

Under President Trump’s leadership, we will become a nation of builders once again.

[Kelly Chambers @ChooseChambers]

@Matt4_Liberty @JayFratt That’s saying something!

[Kelly Loeffler @SBA_Kelly]

Today, SBA is announcing a new 90% Grocery Guarantee on loans for small businesses in the agriculture & logistics industries.

By supporting job creators across the food supply chain, @POTUS is INCREASING domestic food production and CUTTING grocery costs for American families.

[Kelly Chambers @ChooseChambers]

Big Win for HCAOA-WA in WA Cares Act! - Home Care Association of America https://t.co/py7YONjwro

[WA House Republicans @WaHouseGOP]

While making his pitch for a state income tax in Washington during his state of the state address, Gov. Bob Ferguson said “we are facing an affordability crisis” and that “our system takes too much in taxes from hardworking families and not enough from the wealthy.”

This is the same governor who signed the largest tax increase in state history – $9.2 billion – taxing everything from jobs to ZYNs and raising fees on the Discover Pass, hunting, and fishing.

[Kelly Chambers @ChooseChambers]

@libsoftiktok Shoot. Thought you were going to say it was Clyde Shavers.

[WA House Republicans @WaHouseGOP]

Yes, it’s real. The Democrats’ massive tax hike will hit everyone in Washington – and it still won’t balance the budget.

[HHS @HHSGov]

No caption needed.

[Kelly Chambers @ChooseChambers]

Washington Democrats have pushed past their own ‘culminating point of victory.’ Their policies fail, their pride is gone, and their reality is fiction. What exactly are they celebrating this 4th of July? 🇺🇸 #ProudToBeAnAmerican

[Steve Gordon @stevemgordon67]

National Democrats lack leadership for a reason

The previous months haven't been great for Team Sanity in Washington state. The legislative session ended with some pretty bad news if you believe in fiscal responsibility and personal liberty. Washington Senate Democrats passed the largest tax increase, by far, in state history: $9.5 billion over the next four years at the state level and approved another $3 billion at the local level. That's over $4,000 per household on average.

Aside from fiscal insanity, they also passed a law requiring a permit to apply for a permit to purchase a gun. The state bureaucracy that was so wrong on COVID mandates was given complete authority to overrule any local pushback on health directives in the future, including vaccines. They also passed a meddlesome law inserting themselves into the recycling business (just ignore the Orwellian sounding “Producer Responsibility Organizations” each packager must join, all of which seems ironic since they can't keep our state highway rights-of-way from filling with trash. To be sure and intrude on religious freedom, they’re mandating Catholic priests snitch on parishioners. And to fully flex their imperialistic tendencies, they rolled back the "Parents' Bill of Rights" that came from a request of the people and was passed by the legislature only a year ago. And is separate cherry on top, a King County judge ruled the initiative to keep natural gas from being shut off by the state was too complicated and thus unconstitutional, with a smugly satisfied Jay Inslee in the audience nodding in approval of a judge he appointed.

Needless to say, these are not great developments. Over the coming days and weeks, a lot of online ink will be spilled dissecting these developments from various viewpoints. I'm certainly vehemently opposed to these latest developments, but I'll take up those arguments elsewhere. What I want to discuss is some thinking I've been doing on the general state of Washington State and national politics, two things I probably spend too much time contemplating.

Many of you have probably heard of Carl von Clausewitz, the Prussian war theorist who defined a term known as the so-called "culminating point of victory." This is the line beyond which a military advance becomes politically counterproductive. His theories have been discussed, debated, and implemented from the Kaiser to West Point. This particular theory can be interpreted to mean that in every great victory, taken too far, are sown the seeds of its own defeat. My own adoption of it to the political realm relates to the Democratic party and where we are today.

It's important to note this framework can be applied to either party in our two-party system of political warfare. I happen to believe that's just what happened in the wake of George W. Bush's re-election in 2004. Republicans took that election as confirmation that they were on the right post-Cold War path that their leadership had helped usher in, and that the Clinton years were nothing but a cycle of teenage political irresponsibility; now the adults were rightfully back in charge. And then 2005 happened, the Iraq War went horribly amiss, our efforts at democratic nation-building failed, and Democrats took full advantage to ride the wave with Barack Obama as their messiah, who would heal the nation, the environment, and the world, with a Nobel Prize to prove it...

And then a funny thing happened. They overplayed their hand. Forcing through Obamacare rallied a vocal opposition in the Tea Party movement. And after two short years, the inevitable demographic coalition that was to propel Democrats to victory for a generation was broken. Sure, Obama was re-elected, but it was hotly contested and didn't have any real coattails. Most importantly, while the Tea Party movement fractured as a result of deep disappointment over the 2012 repudiation of Mitt Romney, it lived on at the local level throughout the country.

During Barack Obama's presidency (2009–2017), Democrats lost approximately 958–1,042 state legislative seats, 30 state legislative chambers, and 12–13 governorships, marking a significant erosion of the party's state and local power. That gutting of the lower levels of their farm team shows up directly today in the lack of credible national leadership for the Democrats. They're reduced to Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries to lead the national legislative leadership? And as it stands today, the energy is clearly behind the Bernie/AOC wing, with other 2028 hopefuls fighting it out among themselves. It's hard to see the country lining up for another Kamala run, or Mayor Pete, Gov. Newsom, Ro Khanna, etc. Democratic politicians have had to cater even more to their radical wing in the wake of 2020 rioting and COVID mandates, so you're left with other options like J.B. Pritzker, Gretchen Whitmer, Jared Polis, who all have endorsed the 20% side of current 80/20 issues like boys in girls' sports, Hamas-supportive demonstrations, DEI, etc.

That brings me back to Washington and other "Blue Bastions." Similar to other places like California, Oregon, Massachusetts, Maryland, and Illinois, demographics are difficult. In comparison to the rest of the country, Washington is highly college-educated, economically well off, extremely secular, and liberally tolerant. We simply differ a lot from Idaho, let alone Texas, Florida, Tennessee, or Wyoming, which are overwhelmingly Republican in their voting patterns. But even a place with Washington's demographics can go too far...

The crushing tax burden just implemented was aimed directly at those who can "afford to pay more." But it wasn't able to take enough from just individuals, so it also impacts the business community, with some pretty pointed efforts toward the large high-tech companies, which have for the last decade consistently supported the increasingly progressive politics and politicians in Washington. They've now awakened to the fact that their previous support doesn't keep them off the menu; it just made them the last course.

Lastly, by aiming to punish the "villains" (Democratic senator's term, not mine), they declared open season. The thing they conveniently ignore is that those with the most resources not only have the most to lose in this scenario but are the most mobile. Microsoft is already announcing local layoffs. Long-time job creators and innovators (in addition to Jeff Bezos) have already left and are lining up the moving trucks. And certainly, as businesses evaluate where to grow in the future, they're drawing a big red X through Washington on the list. Add to this high crime, failing schools, and a steadfast commitment to clinging to cultural positions that are nationally unpopular, and it's impossible to see how anyone views Washington as a good option. State Democrats may have finally reached their own point of culminating victory with overreach that ushers in future defeats.

Which brings me to my close. For those of us of a certain age and cultural experience, Gilligan's Island was one of the inescapable imprints of our childhood. It's been running in syndication for 50 years, and back when there were only 3-4 channels, it was a ubiquitous part of growing up. "...the professor and Mary Ann, here on Gilligan's Isle..."

During the 1960s and 1970s, a recurring trope on many shows was the isolated Japanese soldier who was left alone to defend an island in the Pacific and hadn't received notice that WWII had ended. (This was based on an actual issue that occurred throughout the Pacific for years after the war.) In a less culturally sensitive time, it became a comic standard to portray some worn-down old soldier still committed to the cause who refused to believe they had lost, and the world was moving along. Gilligan's Island had one such episode that took the usual ridiculous ride through various bumbling and stumbling but was resolved by the end of the show.

Today's blue states and cities remind me of that. They steadfastly cling to a reality that doesn't exist and positions that are not just unpopular, but indefensible. And not coincidentally, Democratic voters rely more upon traditional media sources that ignore facts inconvenient to the liberal/progressive narrative. That’s how we get the classic meme of CNN’s coverage of racial riots with the chryon, “Fiery, but mostly peaceful…”

Ask yourself where you are on the following:
Boys have no inherent competitive advantage in sports and so should be allowed to compete with girls. Requiring proof of citizenship in order to vote inherently disenfranchises voters. Gender-affirming care saves lives, and hormones simply put puberty "on hold." DEI policies should frame our hiring/admission practices and lead to better outcomes. Harm reduction is an evidence-based way to save lives. Existential climate change means we need to convert to renewables right now or risk our future. Homelessness is first and foremost a housing issue, so we need housing-first policies to get people off the streets to rebuild their lives. Sensible gun restrictions reduce gun violence. Legacy media is an unbiased source of truth, and without it democracy dies. On and on and on.

Democrats in blue states have fully embraced progressive and even parts of Marxist ideology. They consistently ignore fact-based results that demonstrate the abject failure of those policies. I know that those of you who oppose Trump and MAGA that won the last presidential election will fully reject this premise, but I think that proves its truth. The Trump coalition isn't built on Republican or conservative ideals; it's built on simple support of reality. They reject the dogmas pushed by the Democratic side that lead to demonstrated failure.

Those in blue states have already lost the national battle. And those blue islands of resistance, just as those stranded Japanese soldiers isolated from reality, will eventually have to face that they're losing as well, and no one is joining in to save them. Of course, I could always be wrong…

Happy Fourth of July! (to those who celebrate...)

[WA House Republicans @WaHouseGOP]

House Republican transportation lead Rep. Andrew Barkis weighs in on the 6-cent gas tax hike pushed by majority Democrats and signed into law by Gov. Ferguson. It goes into effect tomorrow.

More pain at the pump, courtesy of the ruling party.

[Kelly Chambers @ChooseChambers]

@tacomaangels BREAKING NEWS: U.S. Dept. of Labor Proposes Rule Reinstating the Companionship Exemption. This will significantly bring down the price of long term care for seniors who want to stay in their homes.

[Rod D. Martin @RodDMartin]

🚨 Trump Admin Takes Action After Massive Fraud Uncovered at Agency Dems Tried to Protect from DOGE 🚨

Democrats SCREAMED when DOGE auditors came to USAID. It didn't take long to figure out why.

Now the SBA is auditing ALL contracts going back 15 YEARS.

THREAD🧵

[Rod D. Martin @RodDMartin]

6/ Now SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler is ordering a full-scale audit of every SBA contract officer since 2010.

She’s calling this what it is:
👉 “Systemic failure”
👉 “Collapse in safeguards”
👉 “Breakdown in federal integrity”

But turn on the light & the rats & roaches run

[Kelly Chambers @ChooseChambers]

https://t.co/XeDR4O2kyq

[Future 42 @future42org]

We just learned that the WA House Democrats might not have the votes to pass their budget tomorrow due to public outcry.

Tonight, we are asking everyone to contact your House members and demand they:

Scrap This Budget

Contact them here: https://t.co/kzbhCaI8tP

[Ari Hoffman @thehoffather]

"We heard that tough decisions had to be made to develop this budget, but we're not actually giving any relief for families or teachers or anybody in the state of WA. We're burdening them a lot more because there is still a junk drawer of other things including laser hair removal for transgender inmates in our prisons..."I don't need to fund a bunch of hundred thousand dollar paid pronoun police in our state universities. I would rather give a sales tax break to our families & our teachers so they can send their kids back to school."
- WA Rep @TravisSCouture