It seems like this past year has just been a blur.
I’ve barely gotten used to writing 2025, yet here we are.
The beginning of each new year is an opportunity to start over and look forward with a clean slate.
It also marks a new legislative session led by a governor and party who only want more.
Here are several observations from the past year and beyond:
Before discussing raising taxes again, can the legislative body solve even one thing they already raised taxes to fix? Washington, along with other states, is going broke spending a lot of money for climate change.
Yet, the climate still does what the climate does. It changes.
The hot air from Olympia screams that we need to spend even more, but when can we expect to see tangible results from what we already spend?
The world was supposed to have ended years ago, but here we are, just poorer for the effort.
In a recent opinion piece under the heading “Ebenezer Scrounge and a Ledger of what counts this holiday season” by Zac Eckstein — which was clever, by the way — the evil Scrounge was a greedy businessman who learned the lesson of generosity too late.
As I said, it was a clever use of “The Christmas Carol.” Except, if I got the gist of his point, in his story Scrounge would be the government, not a businessman. It's an important distinction because government takes by law.
Giving is important to do, freely and as generously as we can, and usually, it makes the donor feel good, too. Taking (taxing), however, is not generosity — it is just taking. And, as we know, what is taken is not used very well or efficiently by our government. I can look at a charity and find out what percentage is actually going to be used to deliver a service. Then I can decide if they are wise users of my money or not.
Taking (taxing) and spending is just taking from me and reducing the money I can freely give where I choose to do good. And it is aggravating when the taking isn’t accountable for an outcome.
Homelessness is a good example. The government spends, and then the problem appears to actually get worse. Can they explain why? No, they just need more of our money. That’s it.
In The Christmas Carol, Scrooge made his employees' lives better. Looking around Olympia, (and elsewhere, too), I’d say things are getting worse because of the government and how they spend only pennies of each dollar on the problem after they get their cut.
Crime: I know it is supposedly going down, but our local paper is full of it.
One of the saddest things I read was the arrest yet again of a man in Seattle who assaulted an older woman with a club with a screw in it. He cost her an eye at least. The guy was arrested several times in 2025 alone.
Criminal justice — from cops to courts, prison to medical treatment — is expensive. Yet we have weak policies, soft judges and no plan to actually protect the public, which always seems to be an afterthought.
How many years has Green Hill School been in the news? It’s the same thing over and over again; sex, drugs and, sadly, violence.
Adults housed with juveniles has never been a good idea, but Olympia seems baffled, so they keep pouring money down a rathole at that place and fix nothing.
Is it possible they could choose one priority problem and fix it? I’d take any of the serious problems we have here in Washington. They can choose, but it has to be fixed. I know, that’s hard, but that’s why you’re there. Isn’t it?
The beauty of each new year is a chance to start over and set priorities. For me, I resolved to lose weight. It’s the same one every year, and results are the same every year, too; I buy bigger pants.
But the state has problems, including what I’ve already pointed out and more. They are much more serious than my weight and need to be fixed.
Olympia is, and has been, under one-party rule, so nothing should prevent a solution to something — anything — but don’t ask for more money from us until you do.
We’re tapped out.
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John McCroskey was Lewis County sheriff from 1995 to 2005. He lives outside Chehalis and can be contacted at musingsonthemiddlefork@gmail.com.
