Enhancing Freedom,
Opportunity and Cooperation in
Through informing
and networking Liberals and Liberal Organizations.
Our vision is
hundreds of thousands of well-informed
Table of Contents * featured articles Opportunities,
Petitions and Feedback Commentaries from Our Members Liberals and Democrats Links to
the Beef Democratic
Control of Congress. So What? Reagan
and Ted Roosevelt Supported Immigration See What a
Conservative Thinks State and Local Links to the
Beef Ten Big
Ideas for Washington State* Information
about State Legislatures Who Are Our
Conservative Legislators?* Nation and World
Links to the Beef Restoring
Our Innovative Society Our Liberal Spirit Changing
Others Changes Yourself Our Political Priorities ·
Fair Clean Elections and Open Government ·
Fair Taxes and Competent Spending ·
Investment for Productivity ·
Quality Health, Education, Jobs, Income and Retirement ·
Environmental Protection and Energy ·
Personal Security and Equal Rights ·
Justice and Peace Everywhere ·
International Cooperation and Leadership Conservatives
oppose all of these. Let’s End Our National Nightmare Let’s Restore Our American Dream Quotes of the Week It doesn’t work to leap a
twenty-foot chasm in two ten foot jumps.
American Proverb It is
not the strongest or most intelligent who survive; but the one most responsive
to change. Charles Darwin
Calendar of Events
Tuesday, December 25 at home – Quit
Shopping Day
Saturday, January 19 at 6:30 PM at Carrie Bogner’s home (
Monday, January 21 – 26th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr.,
March and Rally: 9:30 AM Rally, 11 AM Workshops, 12 Noon March. For more.
Wednesday, January 23 at 8 AM – 5 PM at Everett Rail Station (
Friday, February 1-3 at
Opportunities, Petitions and Feedback
Opportunities
Join GoPetition to easily create your own
petitions. Great tool for advocacy groups.
Join Working
America in alliance with labor union members
Wellstone Action will offer its Advanced Management Training
School in Seattle on April 25-7
Order Democracy
in America ‘Precinct Organizing’ and other Night School Training videos
Order Sightline’s
2007 Cascadia Scorecard. See other
research that they share with our politicians.
Send a
message to EPA asking them to reverse their denying California’s right to limit
pollution.
Send a message to the Federal
Election Commission to support grassroots donors
Send
a message to your members of congress to reverse the FCC’s media consolidation
decision.
Send a message to congress that you
support impeachment hearings. Read
Cong Wexler’s Op-Ed.
Support Chris Dodd’s filibuster against granting
immunity to telecoms who betrayed us.
Feedback Needed
Concerning Our Website
Our
website has a new improved home page with a counter of visits. Helpful Websites and Conservative
Organizations and Blogs have been added to our Resources menu. I am updating our Commentaries under the
Commentaries menu. We will soon have a
Blog, so you can post your thoughts and have them discussed.
Please email me other suggestions for improving our website.
Commentaries From Our
Members
See Chad Lupkes’ letter published by the
See Who Are Our Conservative Legislators?
Liberals and Democrats
Democratic Control of Congress. So What?
Before the 2006 elections, Congress.org stated the
following: “When
it comes to setting the agenda in the House, the differences between a
leadership of Nancy Pelosi and the existing one of Tom Delay are many. Our
Congress needs Democracy restored in the House, here's why.” Congress.org then expressed ten top reasons
to take back congress. Were they right?
1.
One party
rule hasn't been good for the country. A Democratic congress would have acted as a check
on President Bush. Checks and balances are the oil that keep our Constitutional
machine running smoothly. Congress has stopped new initiatives, but not rolled back
previous ones.
2.
Equal
representation for the other 50 percent. Republicans
in the majority say "we have the votes; we don't need you" to the
Democrats in the minority. It’s time to end Republican-only rule, where all
dissenting opinions are shut out. No more holding votes open for hours while
they bribe congressmen to get the necessary votes, or running conference
committees without Democrats. Democrats have been able to participate.
3.
An end to
the politics of polarization in lawmaking. Replace Republican majority shenanigans with a
bipartisan process. The current Republican leadership abuses its powers not
only to shut out dissenting voices, but to use its absolute control over
conference committees to prevent any meaningful bipartisan decision-making in
both houses of Congress. Lawmaking is still polarized.
4.
Judicial
and other appointments must be safeguarded against extremism. Don’t
let the government go where it doesn't belong. Protect a woman's right to
choose, human rights, and equal rights. No supreme court justices have retired.
5.
Restore the
power to initiate investigations, and bipartisan congressional oversight. For
Democrats and Republicans, the fact that House has virtually ceased to care
about ethics violations should be deeply troubling; the House ethics committee
needs to be restored to effectiveness to prevent the excessive influence of
those who put personal profit above the national good. The nation needs
effective oversight and investigation of the executive branch. These have occurred.
6.
Stop
invading countries under false information. We need a House that will authorize military
actions only when absolutely necessary and only with multilateral support. No
more carte blanche wars. No new wars so far.
7.
Stop the
explosion of deficit spending. The Republicans can't be trusted with our money.
They have given us trillions of
dollars in deficit spending and only global chaos to show for it. Most existing spending
continues, pork still occurs, and much more has been spent for
8.
End the
massive redistribution of wealth from the middle class to the very rich. We
need budget and tax priorities that ensure fairness to the lower and middle
classes, not windfalls and corporate giveaways to the wealthy. Unfair tax cuts
haven’t stopped, but there are no new ones.
9.
We need a
House that will enact real health care reform. No
more fake window dressing pandering to senior citizen voters. We need real
health care reform for all Americans, not just window-dressing and gifts to the
pharmaceutical industry. Make plans for universal Health Care, not Medicare
legislation that helps only the drug companies. No health care reform
has occurred.
10.
We would
have a meaningful jobs program. Under Republican mismanagement, millions of jobs
have been lost. A Democratic Congress will pursue policies that create jobs,
reward companies who keep jobs in the
Some of the worst abuses have stopped, but most reforms will wait
until Bush leaves the presidency. Liberals are impatient that Congress hasn’t done
more, including bringing the troops home for
To
receive the benefits listed above, we must increase our congressional
majorities. We need 60 members in the
senate to overcome Republican filibusters.
Gaining 9 senate seats appears possible, but unlikely. More likely is the gain of six or seven and
the ability to convince 3 or 4 Republicans to join Democrats to support various
popular legislation.
Reagan and Theodore Roosevelt Supported Immigrants
Most Conservatives are inconsistently Liberal on
some issues. President Ronald Reagan
viewed poor people unfavorably, but he favored immigrants. See the following passage from his farewell
address:
“I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I
don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my
mind it was a tall proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept,
God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace,
a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity, and if there
had to be city walls, the walls had
doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get
here. That's how I saw it and see it still.” [Bold added]
Also see what Theodore Roosevelt said about immigrants
'In the first place, we
should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American
and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an
outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace,
or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an
American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance
here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an
American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have
room for but one language here, and that is the English language... and we have
room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.'
Theodore Roosevelt 1907
Unfortunately our New Conservatives are very opposed to
immigrants, seeking every opportunity to harass and limit them.
See What a Conservative Thinks
On CBS’s 60 Minutes, Andy Rooney expressed the most
comprehensive bunch of bigoted Conservative thought that I have seen. To
see them.
Here’s the Beef
Meet our Democratic
incumbents and challengers for U.S. Senate seats in 2008
President Bush has wrecked the
Republican Party.
Republican pundits
react negatively to Mike Huckabee’s religious base.
John Edwards most likely to
beat Republicans. But all other
Democrats also would.
Can
Barack Obama beat Hillary Clinton?
Are Hillary Clinton
and Christopher Dodd trying to discourage college students from Iowa caucuses?
Is
immigration the third rail? Different
approaches recommended for Democratic candidates.
Ron Paul’s Libertarianism and Opposition to War
War Is a
Racket For more. For more. For more. For more. For
more.
Twelve Basic American
Principles
State and
Local
Ten Big Ideas for
At this month’s King County Legislative Action
Committee meeting, House speaker Frank Chopp analyzed the prospects for various
legislation in the 2008 legislative session.
He also indicated an interest in developing Ten Big Ideas for
Washington State and invited us to make suggestions. I have long expressed the following simple
statements of our Liberal Values and our Democratic Party priorities. Stimulated by the latter, I offer below my
initial list of Ten Big Ideas for
Our Liberal Values
1.
All Americans should have the same freedoms and
opportunities.
2.
We are each responsible for protecting the freedoms and
opportunities of all Americans.
3.
We, our government and private enterprise should be
competent and compassionate,
using our freedoms and opportunities wisely
and
helping those with fewer
freedoms and opportunities than the rest of us.
4.
Our
Our Democratic Party Priorities
·
Fair Clean Elections
and Open Government
·
Fair Taxes and
Competent Spending
·
Investment for
Productivity
·
Quality
Health, Education, Jobs, Income and Retirement
·
Environmental
Protection and Energy
·
Personal
Security and Equal Rights
·
Justice and
Peace Everywhere
·
International
Cooperation and Leadership
Conservatives oppose all of these.
Let’s End Our National Nightmare.
Let’s Restore Our American Dream.
Ten Big Ideas for
1.
One
2.
Environmental
Protection and Resource Sustainability
3.
Personal
Security: Both Physical and Financial
4.
Equal Family
and Workplace Rights
5.
Quality
Health, Education, Jobs, Income and Retirement for All
6.
Stimulating
Entrepreneurial Innovation
7.
Balanced
Federal, State and Local Government
8.
Fair Clean Elections
and Open Government
9.
Competent
Spending and Provision of Services
10. Fair Sufficient Taxes
These are my quick first
attempt. I will attempt to improve them
and their expression. I would appreciate
suggestions from our readers, which I will publish and pass on to Frank
Chopp.
2008 Legislative
Priorities
Our 2008
Legislative session will occur from January 14 to March 12. In the next
few issues of our newsletter, we will provide you with information and links to
make it easier for you to follow their activities and the legislation which
interests you.
See what legislation various Liberal (and
Conservative) groups are advocating:
League of
Women Voters of Washington
Washington
Coalition for Open Government
Washington
State Catholic Conference
Washington
Environmental Council
Priorities
for a Healthy Washington
American
Cancer Society Washington Action Center
Washington State Parents
Teachers Association
Washington
State School Directors Association
Washington
Low Income Housing Alliance For
more.
Committee
to End Homelessness in King County
Washington State Labor Council
Association of Washington
Business
Washington
Economic Development Association
Washington
State Hotel and Lodging Association
Association
of Washington Cities
These are only a few of the many
organizations which are seeking to influence our legislators. Please suggest others that should be added to
this list. Also find what others want,
by looking at our advocacy
and caring organizations webpages on our website. Notice that to increase their influence, many
environmental organizations have joined in coalition to pass their priorities
for a healthy
Information About Other State
Legislatures
To learn about other state legislatures, go
to http://www.ncsl.org/public/govern.htm
and to http://www.statenet.com/.
Who Are Our Conservative Legislators?
I asked 13 state
legislators to identify the most conservative of our Republican
legislators.
I was referred to ratings
done by the Washington
Conservative Union. Their ratings
are informative. But their criteria differ
from criteria that we would use. In
particular, votes for fiscal prudence are considered Conservative, instead of
Liberal. Thus some of our Democratic
legislators are given too high a conservative score. Republican senators all have ratings from 81
to 98 and Democratic Senators from 3 to 51, except Tim Sheldon (84). Republican representatives rate from 37 to
100. Democratic representatives from 0
to 31.
Other responses included:
·
The most
conservative Senators are Don Benton, Pam Roach, Jerome Devlin, Val Stevens and
probably Bob McCaslin. Of the Senators,
all are very conservative, except perhaps Dale Brandland and Linda
Parlette.
·
Jerome Delvin
is one of the more moderate Republicans in the Senate, if there is such a
thing. He will occasionally buck his leadership.
·
Who are the
most conservative house members sort of depends on the issue. Bill Hinkle
is a very conservative Christian, but occasionally comes together on health
care issues with Democrats. Richard Debolt is the GOP leader so he sticks
to the party line a lot, but not always. Doug Ericksen is a GOP, but
looks for an angle now and then on environmental legislation, and he voted for the first gas
tax. but Richard Debolt and Doug Ericksen aren't and never will be
Democratic friends.
·
There are
relatively few “moderate” GOP House members now. Chris Strow left for a real
job now that he has a kid, and Fred Joined us. Skip Priest is as close as it
comes. Jay Rodne is probably in there, then there is a long empty space.
·
Shirley Hankins, Maureen Walsh, and Tom Campbell are three other
moderates who vote D much more than others, then the big gap. Though Tom
is really a RINO since we gave him a chair.
I assume someone somewhere has tracked the total number of NO votes a
legislator cast on the floor last session and the one who voted no the most
would be the most conservative (or most antidemocrat caucus).
·
The most
conservative Democrats are Tim Sheldon and Brian Hatfield
I also asked if there are
any other Republican legislators who might follow
Note what
we included the following in our newsletter
#91 which was published on August 3, 2007, in the State and Local section,
in the Gregoire vs. Rossi commentary:
Mainstream Republicans would be advised to follow
It would be easier for both mainstream Republicans
and us, if they would really join our mainstream. Let’s extend them a welcome. If they refuse to join us, let’s drive them
out of politics.
I hope 41st legislative district representative Fred Jarrett
and others will get this message. They
will be happier when they aren’t supporting a Republican leadership that
opposes their values.”
I also asked our
legislators to identify
Here’s the Beef
Washington State
tops in number of women cabinet members.
Who’s
raising how much for their 2008 election campaigns?
Nation
and World
Toward Competent Government
Conservative Hypocrisy
Conservatives believe that
government agencies are inherently incompetent.
Ronald Reagan stated that “Government is the problem, not the
solution.” He referred primarily to government
regulation of abuses by businesses; but also to supposed government
incompetence. Conservatives sneered with
the phrase, “I’m with our government.
I’m here to serve you.”
Conservatives continually
call for small government. They
continually label Democrats as the ‘Tax and Spend’ party. Without identifying particular programs, they
call for cutting waste. But what they
really want is the elimination of compassion in government. They want to eliminate all those programs
which serve the common welfare. All
those programs which are investments in our future. All those programs which sustain and enhance
our social and physical infrastructure.
If you like big
government, you’ll love Republican run government. The government (and government debt) grew
markedly during our Reagan and first Bush presidencies, shrank during the
President Bush has
certainly turned a fairly competent
Liberal Competence
Liberals believe in
competence for individuals and organizations, including both government,
business and voluntary organizations. We
can identify many highly competent government initiatives, such as our
homestead acts, land grant colleges and agricultural extension, many New Deal
programs, GI Educational bill,
Polls and pundits have
indicated that our American people want a change, usually without informing us
what changes are wanted. Some of our
presidential candidates are running as change agents. But they have not focused upon restoring
government competence, nor have they proposed major new initiatives such as
those listed above. How about Restoring Our American Dream through
competence and innovation.
Restoring Our Innovative Society
We recommended John Kao’s Innovation Nation in last week’s
newsletter. Since World War II, our
Innovation is the ability
of individuals, companies and nations to continually create their desired
future. It depends on harvesting
knowledge from a range of disciplines, including science, technology, design,
social science and the arts to provide novel products, services, experiences
and processes. It involves recognition
of new opportunities, creating new business models and means of funding them,
and melding many physical, personal and social factors into effective
production processes. It involves startups,
small business growth and large scale management.
Important resources
include government innovation policies; competitive risk taking culture;
innovation nodes; small business incubation centers; skunk works; basic and
applied research labs and grants; venture capital; patent laws which balance
reward and competition; combinations of steady improvement and punctuated
leaps; a labor force educated with a wide diversity of artistic, technology,
scientific and managerial skills; and more.
John Kao recommends a
national innovation agenda, including a National Innovation Advisor, a National
Innovation Council and an Office of Innovation Assessment, to be given the
importance of our economic and defense councils. He also recommends the creation of 20 Innovation
Hubs, fixing our education system, opening our immigration system to needed
expertise, and encouraging entrepreneurship.
Our presidential
candidates should be emphasizing our need to restore and improve our Innovation
society. We should give extra support to
those who do.
Our American Dream is now doing
better in Finland.
Here’s the Beef
While we help Turkey fight
Kurdish terrorists, we support Kurdish terrorists who fight against Iran.
Read the dirty
tactics that New Hampshire Republicans used to win elections.
Senate Judiciary Committee
rules Joshua Bolten and Karl Rove in contempt of congress.
Protect
America Bill is flawed, allowing invasion of American’s privacy.
FCC Media Ownership
Rule should be changed to favor media concentration.
Read
about how our government is repressing unionization.
What holiday gifts do private
interest lobbyists want (video)?
Learn
about the source of anti-immigrant lies.
Presidential candidates
advocate health plans which favor private insurers.
Which
healthcare coverage approach will work? Obama’s conciliation or Edwards’
confrontation?
Bush
Administration’s abstinence only approach still causes unwanted pregnancies and
AIDs
Senate
Republicans protect $13 billion subsidy for oil companies.
New
far reaching energy bill adopted, but it keeps huge subsidies for oil
companies.
Bali
greenhouse gas reduction plan is worse than Kyoto plan, due to Bush
administration
Imagine banning the
extraction of fossil fuels. Just leave
them in the ground.
Hello
acidic seas. Bye Bye World’s Reefs
Top ten 2007 environmental
stories.
Top ten 2007 rights and liberties
stories.
Our Liberal Spirit
Changing
Others Changes Yourself
Twenty years ago, I began
recording movies, with special interest in movies that inform us about our
lives. I now have 900 and a database
which includes their name, theme, year, director and actors. My classification of themes has over 100
categories, one of which is people attempting to change other people. Movies in this category include: Pygmalion, My Fair Lady, Tim, Rain Man, and
Pretty Woman, all favorites of mine.
As my wife and I watched Pretty Woman recently, I was reminded
that all these movies indicate that when we try to change someone, we often
change also. Richard Gere tries to
change Julia Roberts from a street walker to a refined escort. He changes from trying to break up a company
for profit to trying to help it make products better. And he falls in love with her.
In Alcoholics Anonymous,
people attempting to stay sober are encouraged to get sponsors (mentors). The sponsors often say, I don’t do it to help
my sponsee stay sober. I do it to stay
sober myself.
So we might reflect. When have we tried to reform or change
someone? Did we end up being
changed? Knowing that helping others can
change us, do we seek to help others or avoid helping others?
When you watch movies, think
about the theme or plot and what it informs you about life and especially your
life.
From 2007 to
2008
Now is the time to reflect on
2007 and look ahead to 2008. Here are
some questions.
·
What major events
occurred during 2007.
·
What were my
major experiences, activities, achievements and failures.
·
When did I
experience conviction, love, hope and joy? Darkness and despair?
·
What new
interests, thoughts, concepts, books and songs came into my life?
·
What experiences
will stay with me? What did I learn?
·
What decisions
have I made? How am I different now than
a year ago?
·
What song or book
title would I use to summarize my year?
·
What are my
expectations, hopes and plans for 2008?
Recommended Books –
See our list of books for
liberals
Caroline Kennedy (Editor),
2003, A Patriot’s Handbook, Songs, Poems,
Stories and Speeches Celebrating the Land We Love
During our years of
discontent, we Americans still celebrate our good fortunes during Thanksgiving
and our December holidays. Caroline
Kennedy’s book describes what we celebrate.
Free Member Advertising
Hire Our Lake Hills Neighbors
·
Debt Elimination
Counseling, Seminars and Workshops – price negotiable – Sherry Brandt
(206-356-8034, somerev2@comcast.net)
·
Private Piano Lessons (students must have a
piano), afternoons - Anna Khosrowian (378-7938), price negotiable
·
Housekeeper, price negotiable –
·
Psychotherapist, accepts insurance
- Sandy Mathews (462-7889, www.sandramathews.com)
·
Babysitting for infants (occasional evenings
and weekends) - $5 per hour-
·
Data Entry- $10 per 12 font, double spaced page-
·
Home Repair- prices vary, depending
on job-
·
Auto Repair, price varies depending
on job (but always fair), Jaime Speicher (AAS Auto Repair Technician)
(425-746-2353)
·
Home Repair and
Remodeling,
·
Life Support Therapies,
Volunteers and Donations Wanted
·
Healthy Start needs women volunteers
to mentor young mothers, especially Spanish speaking volunteers –
·
Head Start at Lake Hills
Elementary School needs an operational computer for parents of one of their
students. If you have one a few years
old that you no longer intend to use, call Valery Stoury at 456-5326 The low income families in the Lake Hills
Head Start program also need furniture, food, clothing, bus passes or gas
vouchers, etc. Safeway and Fred Meyer gift certificates to be used for
family emergencies would be greatly appreciated
·
Lake Hills Elementary
School
is looking for volunteers to spend one hour a week with individual students in
the classroom or as a lunch buddy. To volunteer, call our VIBES on-site
coordinator, Mary Giesen (425-456-5300) to arrange required VIBES
training. For additional information, contact Principal
·
Phantom Lake Elementary
School
needs volunteers who are willing to be trained as Reading Mentors or who are
able to spend one hour, one day a week in the school either in classrooms,
helping in the office, or being “Lunch Buddies” during our school’s lunch
time. To volunteer, call our VIBES on-site coordinator, Beth Drobny
(425-456-5600) to arrange required VIBES training. For additional information,
contact Principal
About
We began Lake Hills Liberals in October, 2005 as an
experimental demonstration of creating neighborhoods where liberals thrive and
multiply and maximizing our vote for Democratic candidates. We hope that replication will occur in other
neighborhoods. Many of our community
development initiatives failed. But we
have encouraged block parties and house parties to allow neighbors to meet each
other to be able to prevent crime, to assist each other in a disaster, and to
protect and assist our children. We also
canvassed our 12 precincts to increase the number of identified likely
Democratic voters from 33% to 90% and stimulated them to vote, which assisted
election of our 2006 Democratic candidates.
Through our newsletter, we have now become
To get our free services, including our newsletter,
our ‘Proud Liberal, Time for a Change’ yard signs or ‘Proud Liberal’ bumper
stickers, volunteer or make a donation, contact
Submit your news to Editor Dave Thomas.
We are
seeking reporter-reviewer-editors with knowledge of particular political groups
and issues. We have asked
the following experts to help us.
Blogs –
African
Americans –
Blogs
–
Campaign
Finance – Sarajane Siegfriedt
Democratic
Party –
Drug
Policy –
Education
– Dennis Gerlitz, John Stokes
Environment
–
Gays
and Lesbians –
Health
Care –
Hispanics – needed
Immigration
- Grosvenor Anschell
Housing
and Poverty –
Labor Unions –
Law
and Justice –
State
Legislation –
Veterans
– Steve Johnston
Women’s
Issues –
Additional Resources
See our
website at www.PugetSoundLiberals.org,
with our basic training about being Liberal, our archive of all past
newsletters, resources for liberals, tools for Democratic legislative district
organizations and more. Join
Fuse to connect with to other Liberals and more.
We
recommend the Pacific NW Portal
for displaying many blogs through which Northwest Liberals exchange their
knowledge and opinions. See also Lefty Blogs. We recommend you go to Washblog to find blogs containing
information and opinions about
Learn about our State
Democratic Party. About 2008 Caucuses and Elections. Quickly and easily contact your national and
state officials. For
many Congressional Report Cards. Report Card on your congress member.
To learn about particular issues, visit websites of advocacy and caring organizations. Also see our list of helpful websites.