On this date in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, as well as 2022, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day”posted profiles of Ed Orcutt, a former forester who is currently still serving in the Washington State House of Representatives, serving District 20. Orcutt became a bit of a laughing stock a few years back when he proposed a tax upon bicyclists for creating more damage to the atmosphere than automobiles, because all the physical action required to pedal a bike causes increased respiration, and thus, in his mind, greater CO2 output, which damages that atmosphere. Scientists explained to him it doesn’t quite work like that, and bike enthusiasts online made mincemeat out of his proposed legislation (beware the “Big Bike” Lobby, apparently).
We also recognized Orcutt for his opposition to public works projects, even after the Skagit River Bridge collapsed in 2012, for trying to use the argument that “11 of the 12 sections of the bridge are still standing”, which kind of indicates he might be dumb enough to not understand bridges need to GO ALL THE WAY ACROSS.
To round things out, Orcutt is also decidedly socially conservative, having voted against minimum wage increases (during the greatest period of income equality in the United States in almost a century), against police body cameras being made mandatory (during the greatest period of police violence in our country in decades), voting for abortion restrictions without exceptions for rape, incest, or risk to the life of the mother, trying to not only prevent gay marriage and even gay adoption, while voting against a statewide ban on gay conversion therapy multiple times over the past few years. Orcutt has also been voting against automatic voter registration, and even voted against a ban on bump stocks for firearms. He is legitimately that regressive of a conservative.
In 2018, dismay as Orcutt has voted against Washington state’s Native American Voting Rights Act, which only two Republicans in the state legislature voted against. One of the other two? Oh, just domestic terrorist Matt Shea. And as Washington state Democrats have been trying to see to reforming policies regarding how police can interact with the public, Orcutt has opposed even the simplest of measures, including that juveniles need to have an attorney present for cops to be able to interrogate them.
Ed Orcutt, like for the majority of his tenure, did not even face a challenger for his rural, conservative-leaning district in 2022, and thus got an eleventh term in office without having to even raise a sweat. Orcutt is still only 59, even after being in office for 20 years with no term limits to stop him from continually winning office and reminding us just how stupid modern Republicans are.