Promising One Thing, Delivering Another!
Democrats claimed they were “protecting workers and consumers.” Instead, they delivered pink slips and food deserts.
The scene in the GIF above illustrates what’s been happening in six locations recently around Washington state’s Puget Sound grocery stores. The irony of this occurrence is that when Olympia and D.C. politicians proudly spiked the Albertsons-Kroger merger months ago, they promised families would win. Instead, Washington just lost six Fred Meyer stores—hundreds of jobs gone, thousands of families cut off from a nearby grocery, and Shoreline staring down a food desert. Hey Michelle Obama, where are you? Now, many shoppers have to travel farther, while consuming the second most expensive gasoline prices in the country, just to buy their weekly groceries. Some “victory.”
To better understand why this happened, let’s step back for a moment and examine the back story. In today’s marketplace, grocery competition isn’t your corner store anymore—it’s Amazon deliveries, Walmart’s price cuts, and Costco’s warehouse aisles. The reason for the Albertsons and Kroger merger the legislators in Olympia and D.C. killed, is they needed each other to survive. But Democrats couldn’t resist meddling, burning $1,100 an hour in taxpayer money to block the deal, even as union leaders supported it.
Yet, there’s even more to this issue: King County Councilmember Claudia Balducci—who just happens to be currently running for the County Executive position this November—now wants to use a shiny new sales tax to fund a “retail crime task force” after Kroger announced the closure of six grocery stores across the region. The reason, in part (see above)? Rampant theft and safety concerns—issues that exploded thanks to years of soft-on-crime Democrat policies.
My wife and I shop regularly at Fred Meyer stores. Over the past six years the crime at these stores has been apparent with the increased appearance of armed security guards, or local police officers, in all of them. Because the highest loss item was cosmetics, the store we frequent most of the time built a wall-off section, to put all of those “high shrink” items as they call it in the retail business, inside that area with a dedicated cashier at the entrance/exit of it.
Balducci’s big plan? Hire two detectives and one prosecutor for $600,000 a year. That’s right—after stores shutter, jobs disappear, and families lose neighborhood groceries, Democrats swoop in with a regressive tax hike and call it a solution. Meanwhile, Kent’s mayor is blunt: King County’s failed policies made cities less safe and hammered their tax base.
Even Balducci’s opponent, Girmay Zahilay, isn’t sold—preferring a “data-driven” process (the Democrat translation: more endless studies while criminals keep looting).
The irony is rich: Democrats ignored pleas to crack down on retail crime, then acted shocked when businesses fled. Now they want voters to applaud them for throwing a few taxpayer-funded jobs at the mess they created. Call it what it is—another progressive cycle of failure, where you pay more and get less. Read more at Center Square.
The bitter irony? Killing the merger didn’t “protect” consumers—it left them with fewer options, higher prices, and empty storefronts. If politicians really cared about competition, they’d strengthen regional grocers to take on the giants; Amazon, Walmart, and Costco. Instead, their grandstanding guaranteed families lose out. Are the legislators or county council people impacted by this? You’d have to ask them, but I seriously doubt it.
As Cargill, President of the Mountain States Policy Center, makes clear, the closures in Kent, Renton, Tacoma and Shoreline, four of the six locations in the Puget Sound, should be a wake-up call. Every time politicians play politics with the economy, ordinary people end up paying the price—in lost jobs, shuttered stores, and fewer groceries on the shelf. Read more at Center Square.
And now, thanks to policies implemented by Democrats in control in Washington state, especially in cities with out-of-control homelessness, there’s a new concern rising from them; the onset of "medieval" illnesses now being detected.
A search on the web, with the help of AI, produces the following information on this issue:
“While no widespread plague epidemic is currently linked to homeless encampments, the unsanitary conditions, high rodent populations, and limited healthcare access in these areas increase the risk of infectious disease outbreaks
. Health officials have noted the presence of various diseases in these camps, including historical and "medieval" illnesses like typhus.
Risk factors in homeless encampments
Rodents: Camps often have rodent infestations due to accumulated trash, attracting rats and their fleas, which are vectors for diseases like typhus and the plague.
Poor sanitation: A lack of access to clean water and proper sanitation creates environments for bacteria and viruses to thrive and spread.
Crowded conditions: Close living quarters can accelerate the transmission of infectious diseases, especially respiratory illnesses like tuberculosis (TB).
Limited healthcare access: Homeless individuals are less likely to have access to medical treatment, which can delay diagnosis and lead to more serious and widespread infections.
Documented outbreaks and health concerns
While bubonic plague outbreaks have not been tied to homeless camps, other serious infections have been:
Typhus: In 2019, typhus—a flea-borne bacterial infection—saw a resurgence in California, with outbreaks tied to homeless populations.
Hepatitis A: Outbreaks of hepatitis A, which is transmitted through feces, have occurred among homeless people in San Diego and other cities.
Tuberculosis: Tuberculosis has been identified as a significant health risk in homeless communities, which often experience higher rates of infection.
Other infections: Cities like Seattle and Anchorage have seen other outbreaks, including shigella and deadly strains of Streptococcus, among their homeless populations.
Plague's modern context
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports an average of seven plague cases per year in the U.S., most of which occur in rural areas of the western states. While the bacteria (Yersinia pestis) has been found to persist in certain soils, there are currently no reported links between recent human cases and homeless encampments. The public health risk from homeless camps currently lies with other infectious diseases, not the plague.”
Here’s a post from shiftwa.org with the title: Homeless Camps or Public Spaces? Democrats Can’t Seem to Decide
Camas just passed a citywide ban on public camping after residents had enough of tents, RVs, needles, and waste clogging up sidewalks, parks, and libraries. Officials cited safety hazards, ADA violations, declining business traffic, and even environmental damage from unchecked encampments. Translation: public spaces meant for families became no-go zones thanks to years of politicians refusing to enforce basic rules.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s Grants Pass ruling cleared the way for cities to pass these ordinances, but here’s the kicker—none of this would be necessary if Democrats hadn’t spent years enabling street camping under the guise of “compassion.” The result? Businesses shutter, property values sink, families stay away, and taxpayers foot the bill for endless cleanup operations.
Camas’ ban is a step toward accountability, but without shelter space and real services, the problem just shifts to the next town over. Meanwhile, the Washington Policy Center is right—government doesn’t have to bungle this alone. Private partnerships, housing, and treatment options should have been part of the conversation long ago.
Instead, Democrats let the crisis spiral until communities had no choice but to start banning tents from sidewalks. Now residents are stuck with the bill, neighborhoods are scarred, and Olympia’s leadership keeps wringing its hands. The bottom line? Cities like Camas are forced to clean up the disaster Democrats created—and families are just hoping to get their parks back. Read more at the Washington Policy Center.
The reason why I share such information should be obvious… to be informed is to be aware of how those we elect these days don’t always have our best interests in mind when they have an agenda that ignores common sense in their agendas. At least those who experience the daily realities of policy impacts on the average tax payer understand this because they see it day in, and day out.