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Our Editor To Unsubscribe Table of Contents *Featured
Articles Opportunities,
Petitions and Feedback Commentaries from Our Members Steven
Silverman: Where is Our Revolution?* Dave
Gamrath: Fund Other Priorities, Not Sports Anne
Koepsell: Save Our Hospice Programs* Don
Hopps: Need New Washington Farm Policy* Marilyn
Watkins: Young Adults Face Many Difficulties Liberals and Democrats Links to the
Beef Paul Begala
also Attacks Conservatives I Am an
Educator, Not a Candidate State and Local Links to the
Beef Washington
State Gov’t Revenues and Expenditures* Sports
Teams Should Be Publicly Owned Will Dave
Reichert Embrace Barack Obama? Nation and World
Links to the Beef Barack
Obama’s Global Warming Plan* Commodity
Prices: Market or Speculation Produced? Will Our
Courts Block Liberal Reforms? Our Liberal Spirit 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 ·
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 More
on Conservative opposition to our American Dream Washington
State’s 4 Major Needs ·
Federal Funding for Health and Education ·
A Progressive Income
Tax ·
Replacing
Republican Legislators Quote of the Week It was the best of times, it was
the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of
foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity;
it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the
spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us,
we had nothing before us … Charles Dickens (1812-70), A Tale of
Two Cities
Calendar of Events
July 5, 6, 11, 12, 13, 18, 19 and 20
at
Tuesday, July 15 at 6:30 at Holy
Family Catholic Church (
Thursday, July 17 at noon at WaMu
Theater at Qwest Field (
Thursday, July
31st from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Sammamish Public Library (
Friday, July 25 at 7 PM at Gibson Hall
(
Barbara Rader of Black Widow Web Development created our
Puget Sound Liberals Website, to which I can easily add, modify and remove
files. Learn more
about this unique company, which offers a 50% discount for organizations
that promote social justice and environmental stewardship.
Opportunities, Petitions and Feedback
Feedback
I spend as much time
finding commentaries and creating links to them as I do writing my own
commentaries. Do you use selected links,
or am I wasting my time?
Opportunities
See What the Iraq Occupation has cost us to this minute.
How
Would You Spend $3 Trillion instead of Iraq?
Try
MoveOn’s new game: What’s the difference between President Bush and Senator
John McCain?
Wellstone Action provides
organizing tools online.
Wellstone
Action canvassing instructions
Take
a quiz concerning how green is your vacation.
See the Story of Stuff (video).
Join Health
Care for All to promote quality, affordable health care for all.
See lots of
videos of Barack Obama’s speeches and appearances.
Barack Obama invites
you to join in writing our Democratic Party’s platform.
Do you want a
job with Russ Feingold’s 2008 Patriot Corps?
Petitions and
Donations
Endorse the Global Marshall Plan proposed by the Network of
Spiritual Progressives.
Join
the ACLU in telling congress members to oppose FISA immunity for telecoms. For more.
Tell our members of Congress
to pass HR 676, non-profit Medicare for All.
Tell
the U.N. Security Council member countries to protect Darfur people.
Commentaries
From Our Members
Where is Our Revolution?
Adapted from Steven Silverman’s Blog
I recently read our Declaration of
Independence almost as a modern document. It struck me that many of the
statements used to build the case for declaring independence King George III
could easily be adapted to apply to George W. Bush. "To prove this, let facts be submitted
to a candid world."
·
He
has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public
good. (Bush's 'Signing Statements'
Questioned;
Controversy over George W. Bush's use
of signing statements;
In the Matter of George W. Bush v.
the Constitution)
·
He
has ignored Laws of immediate and pressing importance, or suspended their
operation unless his Assent happened to be obtained; and when so suspended, he
has utterly neglected to attend to them. (Following Bush Signing Statements,
Federal Agencies Ignore 30 Percent Of Laws Passed Last Year)
·
He
has refused to sign other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of
people, unless those people would also agree to relinquish their rights, an
action formidable to tyrants only. (Controversial invocations of the USA
PATRIOT Act;
Senator Russell Feingold speaking on
FISA bill)
·
He
and his government have called together bodies at places unusual,
uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the
sole purpose of gaining their compliance with his measures. (Cheney's Law and Secrecy; Government Secrecy Under Bush
Unprecedented;
Secrecy Report Card 2007)
·
He
and his government have removed individuals and barred others repeatedly, for
opposing with human firmness his views and his invasions on the rights of the
people (Dismissal of U.S. attorneys
controversy;
Investigators: NASA Officials
‘Mischaracterized’ and Limited Flow of Findings on Climate; Ex-CA Agent Says He Was Fired for
Refusing to Falsify Iraq WMD Intel)
·
He
has endeavored to prevent the population of these States by various groups from
foreign lands (Major Immigration Initiatives)
·
He
has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws
well established for Judiciary powers. (US to carry on military trials at
Guantanamo despite ruling;
Bush to Defy Supreme Court for the
Third Time)
·
He
has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to
harass our people, and eat out their substance. (Wider Spying Fuels Aid Plan for
Telecom Industry;
Key False Statements
·
He
has sought to keep among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies, Spies and
Investigators without the Consent of our legislatures. (Bush Authorized Domestic Spying; Pushing the Limits Of Wartime Powers)
·
He
has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our
constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts
of pretended Legislation:
·
For
Quartering large bodies of armed troops, investigators and spies among us (FBI / JTTF Spying; Domestic Military Role Under Review)
·
For
protecting citizens from punishment for any Murders which they should commit in
the name of his command: (State Defends Immunity Deal for
Blackwater Guards)
·
For
guiding and imposing Taxes on us of inequitable distribution (Study: Bush Tax Cuts Favor Wealthy)
·
For
depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of habeas corpus and Trial by Jury:
(Killing Habeas Corpus; Guantanamo military commission)
·
For
transporting individuals beyond Seas to be interrogated, tortured and tried for
pretended or unsubstantiated offences (Extraordinary rendition by the United
States;
Guantanamo trials called tainted by
coercion)
·
For
abolishing the free System of American Laws in a neighboring Province,
establishing therein an Arbitrary system, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to
render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same
absolute rule in these States to the fullest extent possible (Guantánamo Bay and Rule by Executive
Fiat)
·
For
taking away our Charters, ignoring our most valuable Laws, and altering
fundamentally the Forms of our Governments (The true radicalism and deceit of the
Bush administration)
·
For
ignoring the laws passed by our own Legislatures, and declaring his office
invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.( Justice Dept. Probes Torture Memo
Legality;
·
He
is at this time transporting large Armies of domestic and foreign Mercenaries
to foreign lands to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny,
already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled
in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation
(Blackwater
Worldwide;
Blackwater Eyes
Domestic Contracts in U.S.)
·
He
has constrained our fellow Citizens working throughout their government to bear
falsehoods against their Countrymen, to potentially become the executioners of
their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands (Key False Statements; Report Details Errors Before War; Plame affair; What I Didn't Find in Africa; Iraq intelligence efforts led by
Cheney magnified errors, officials say)
We have allowed ourselves to be
dragged back to a tyranny like that we fought to escape more than two centuries
ago. Have we not all suffered in manners that have deprived some or all of us
of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? Yet it was these the principles
for which so many fought to establish our nation, and for 232 years others have
sought to defend.
For his actions like those above,
King George III was “sentenced” to having his territory stripped from him, his
leadership annulled, and his legacy marred by our revolution. Are we willing to accept from our own
government the behaviors for which our Founders broke with their own homeland
and sacrificed their lives? It seems illogical and immoral that we should
accept the behavior of our "George" and do nothing about it. What would the Founders say of our
complacency and acceptance? Where is our
revolution? Steven Silverman His Blog.
One down, two to go! Go Sonics! Go Seahawks!
Go Mariners! Go away!
Maybe then we can get our community
interested in spending our scarce resources on improved transportation systems,
better schools and cleaning up
Viva
Liberals and Democrats
Lies About Liberals
When they do something
wrong, Conservatives delight in accusing Liberals of doing it. Remember candidate Bush’s reference to Al
Gore’s fuzzy math, when it was Bush’s tax cut math which was completely
misleading. In his 2008 book, Why We’re Liberals, A Political Handbook for
Post-Bush
Liberals undermine
Liberals hate
Liberals blame
Liberals won’t protect our
national security.
Liberals are soft on
Liberals are elitists.
Liberals oppose individual
freedom.
Liberals love to tax and
spend.
Liberals destroy economic
growth.
Liberals want to murder
the unborn.
Liberals educate youths to
be perverts.
Liberals love smut.
Liberals continually cry
racism.
Liberals hate Jews.
Liberals hate religion.
Liberals only support
homosexual marriages.
Liberals love ‘activist’
judges.
Liberals fight nasty.
Conservatives typically
keep repeating these lies, without offering any evidence. Eric Alderman easily makes the case that none
of these statements is true. Most of
them could be applied more accurately to Conservatives. Glenn
Greenwald’s 2008 book, Great American
Hypocrites makes the same case.
If you like hate-filled, profane, sexually obsessed,
racist, sexist, homophobic, military-service-dodging, ideology-before-science,
deceptive, big government, budget unbalancing, incompetent, corrupt
self-identified victims who disrespect and violate our basic American values
and constitution, you’ll love Conservatives. You’ll love repugnant, repulsive Republicans.
Trash talking Fox News
pundits, hate radio pundits such as Rush Limbaugh, New Conservative columnists
and various Republican congress members are good examples. Some Republicans don’t personally have all of
these yucky traits; but they ally themselves with and support those who
do. They certainly don’t denounce them
as Democratic congress members censored MoveOn for their childish reference to
General Petraeas. For more.
I don’t object to
Republican people. I object to their
attitudes and behaviors. I hope they can
change their evil ways. I hope that those
who don’t change will be totally eliminated from public influence. My tool for doing this is education.
Paul Begala Also Attacks Conservatives
Excerpt from an Email
“Apparently, it didn't
take long for the "Grand Oil Party" to come unglued. After I called their fat-cat funders a bunch of dirtbags in my email to you
on Sunday, they started squealing like a pig stuck under a gate. House Republicans are crying so hard over my
"dirtbag" comment, you'd think they just found out they were forced
to spend the Fourth of July quail-hunting with Dick Cheney.
So I want to take a minute to do something I don't do often enough: apologize. I am very sorry for calling those fat-cat
plutocrat Republicans "dirtbags." Doing so was grossly unfair. To bags of dirt. After all, dirt is good. Things grow from the dirt. I myself raise tomatoes and corn and pumpkins,
jalapenos and cucumbers and lettuce - all from the good earth. No, it was too kind, too generous to call them
dirtbags. Probably better to call them oilbags or toxic-waste-bags or
chemical-pollutant-bags. So I'm sorry.
Still, even though I used such a comparatively flattering term, the Republican
whine machine was in full whimper. Yesterday,
before their alligator tears even dried from crying about me calling them out,
they mobilized their favorite shadowy attack squad and Karl Rove-backed Freedom's Watch to come after
Democrats launching
vicious attacks against 16 Democrats starting today. Paul Begala
Are Democrats Wimps?
Yes. If we are considering the period from 1969 to
2005. Most Democrats failed to strongly
express their Liberal values. Most believed
that they should not attack Republicans.
Many were afraid to obstruct Republican tax cut, war-making,
environmental-harming, safety net-cutting legislation. This is well documented by Glenn Hurowitz in his 2007 book, Fear and Courage in the Democratic Party.
As Glenn Hurowitz shows, voters will
often support candidates with whom they disagree on issues, if the candidates
demonstrate the courage of their convictions.
Examples include Jesse Ventura, John McCain (when he was a maverick),
Bernie Sanders, Russ Feingold, Jon Testor and various red state Democrats who
won elections through strongly expressing their convictions. Conciliatory Bill Clinton and Tom Daschle
presided over a major erosion of the Democratic party’s electoral success and
congressional power.
Democrats have done better since
2006. But failing to stand up to Bush on
our occupation of
Politics is like Football
In football, it is best to play on the other team’s
side of the field. Threatening their
goalpost. Keeping them on the
defensive. So it is in politics. After expressing our values, we should attack
their obstruction of our values. We should
force them to spend their time and effort defending themselves instead of
attacking us.
In football, there is a passing game and a ground
game. In politics, I imagine that mass
media advertising is more like a passing game.
It throws out the ball, which may be well received, or be dropped
(ignored) or be intercepted (when the advertisement becomes an embarrassing
target for a counterattack. Using the internet in a top down fashion as many
organizations (such as MoveOn) do with their email lists, is similar to mass
media advertising. Except being private,
email lists offer less target for counterattacks.
I imagine grassroots organizing to be similar to a
running game. A large number of players
reach out to involve previously uninvolved voters. It creates a potential attack on many
fronts. In 2004, Howard Dean pioneered
using the internet to assist his fans to organize themselves locally. Barack Obama’s campaign (now extended to the
Democratic Party’s campaign) has perfected the use of the internet to enable
grass roots organizing. Using all of our talents, we are conducting a
diversified offense, against which the Republicans cannot defend.
Thankfully, our Obama campaign has the resources
and expertise to both advertise in our commercial media and use the internet to
do grassroots organizing, all part of a coordinated campaign which is extremely
difficult for the Republicans to attack or defend against. Notice that Obama has expressed his values
and then continually attacked McCain for supporting Bush’s agenda (not a
maverick). The result: When McCain is
not barbecuing at home or visiting
Obama’s campaign has Conservatives really
confused. Some say he’s the most Liberal
Senator. Some say he’s become
moderate. Some say he doesn’t have any
substance. Now Karl Rove is saying “Okay, Obama's
doing better than I said he would. But if he is, it's only because his campaign
stole all my ideas. But the joke's on Democrats, because in the end he's really
Richard Nixon. For
more.
I noted that Phyllis Huster is playing
offense. Now we see that Christine
Gregoire is also playing offense. See her don’tknowdino.com website. Let’s hope that many of our Liberal
candidates create such websites, especially
I Am an Educator, Not a Candidate
I have no desire or intention of becoming a
candidate for a government position or position within a political party. So I am not tempted to shade my views toward
our conventional wisdom. I use this
newsletter to educate Liberals about our values and how to realize them. Where the conventional wisdom is misleading,
I attempt to correct it or to provide the details (not reported by our
commercial media) which clarify it.
The result is that I express a number of opinions,
that many politicians avoid, such as:
·
Strong attacks on Conservative and Republican attitudes and behaviors
·
A Love-hate relationship to our Democratic Party*
·
Strong support for new grassroots politics; Opposition to old
·
Opposition to congressional earmarks which assist campaign contributors
·
Opposition to congressmen who voted for restricting bankruptcies,
allowing higher credit card interest rates and similar legislation which harms
our public, due to campaign contributions from financial companies.
·
Opposition to knee-jerk
·
Support for substituting a progressive income tax for some of
·
Opposition to Sound Transit’s public transit shortsighted, extravagant,
special interest proposals
·
Promotion of a humane Israeli foreign policy
·
Belief that
·
Belief that 90% of our anti-terrorism measures are unnecessary
* A clarification: I love the Democratic Party for our
values and intentions. I hate the
Democratic Party for its incompetence during most of the period since Lyndon
Johnson’s presidency. I’m not
alone. $40% of Liberals consider
themselves to be Independents. Many of
these Independent Liberals are now contemptuous of Democratic congress members
who compromise their Liberal values.
Thankfully, the Democratic Party is now becoming
more competent. This competence is being
accelerated by the Obama Campaign. We
are expressing our values clearly as the foundation for our American
Dream. We are attacking the Conservatives
for obstructing our American Dream to produce our National Nightmare. Through grassroots organizing, we are reaching
out to both our more and less passionate and active supporters. With our new competence, we are winning back
the approval of mainstream
Here’s the Beef
Jesse Helms was a
major architect of the Conservative family values strategy.
We need to make
voting more inviting and easier.
What do their gambling styles tell us about John McCain and
Barack Obama?
Thanks
to George Bush, younger voters are our most Liberal Democratic group.
Barack
Obama is attracting more Catholic voters.
For more.
Barack
Obama is going after Southern votes.
Barack
Obama’s campaign is registering voters in all 50 states. Will help all Democratic candidates.
Perhaps
due to Obama’s grassroots efforts, Democratic registrations in Pennsylvania
keep increasing.
Barack
Obama learned community organizing by doing it on the streets of Chicago.
Barack Obama’s super
effective money raising strategy.
David
Sirota presents 5 ideas for turning an uprising into a sustained movement.
Can Obama’s New
Politics movement keep him from forsaking Liberal principles? For
more. Netroots.
A blogger objects to
Barack Obama’s supposed retreat from his Liberal positions. For more. Another view. More. George Lakoff
weighs in. Still
more.
Americans
United objects to Barack Obama’s support of government funding for faith-based
programs.
See list of 61
John McCain flip flops. He’s a maverick
against his own views.
John
McCain opposes social security. For more. For
more (video).
AFL-CIO
Union Veterans present John McCain’s record on veteran’s legislation.
State and
Local
Based on Economic
Opportunity Institute Report
• is one of only 7 states with no form of personal income
tax;
• relies too heavily on a sales tax on goods sold in stores,
while purchases of services and over the internet sales are growing;
• is the only state that relies heavily on a business tax
based on gross receipts rather than profits.
• collects an average level of total state and local
property tax compared to other states. But in most states, property taxes stay
entirely in local communities. In
• has the most regressive tax system in the
Sources of
state revenue, 2005-07:
• State
taxes - $33 billion
• Federal
funds - $16 billion
• Licenses
and fees - $10 billion
• Borrowing,
transfers, and other - $4 billion
General Fund
Taxes, 2005-2007 – November 2006 Forecast
• Retail
sales $14.1 billion (53.1%)
• B&O $5
billion (18.9%)
• Property
$2.8 billion (10.5%)
• Real
estate $1.9 billion (7.1%)
• Public
utility $0.7 billion (2.5%)
• Other $2.1
billion (7.9%)
___________________________________
Total $26.5
billion (100.0%)
Comparison
of
Sales corporate income/B&O individual income property other .
US average 32.7% 6.0% 34.1% 1.7% 17.5%
Source: Federation of Tax Administrators and Washington
Department of Revenue
Total state
spending:
• Omnibus
operating budget - $51.3 billion
•
Transportation budget - $2.2 billion operating, $3.8 billion capital
• Capital
budget - $5.6 billion
General Fund
spending:
General Fund
Spending, 2005-07 (in billions)
Public
Schools $11.1 (43%)
Higher
Education $2.9 (11%)
Human
Services $9.6 (36%)
Government
Operations $0.8 (3%f)
Natural
Resources $0.4 (1%)
Other $1.6 (6%)
Total $26.5
(100.0%)
General Fund
Reserves $1.142
K-12 School
Spending, 2003-2004 (state, local, and federal revenues):
Source:
Sports Teams Should Be Publicly Owned
I pay little attention to basketball or
baseball. I enjoy watching football
because the players act as a team to physically confront each other. In all three sports, private team owners (who
seek to maximize their profits) threaten to leave communities unless they
receive public subsidies. I believe that
all teams should be owned by their home communities, as are only the Green Bay
Packers. The team management would then
act to maximize the enjoyment of their fans.
I would like to see
Will Dave Reichert Embrace Barack Obama?
Incumbent Oregon Republican Senator Gordon Smith is
running ads
which praise Barack Obama. He apparently
wants to distance himself from the Republican Party, indicating that he is
bi-partisan. Obama has noted that he
supports Gordon Smith’s Democratic opponent, Jeff Merkley.
Dave Reichert also seeks to distance himself from
the Republican Party. He never mentions
the R-word ‘Republican’. He refers
instead to the D’s and R’s. Maybe he
will also run ads which praise Barack Obama.
If he does, it may influence Republicans to vote for Obama, instead of
influencing Democrats to vote for Reichert.
For
more.
Here’s the Beef
See who’s filing to run for Washington state and federal offices.
See
NARAL ProChoice’s endorsement of Washington candidates.
Top-two
primary draws Democratic challengers to Margarita Prentice. And other safe Democrats?
Grays
Harbor Democrats fail to endorse Democratic Congressman Norm Dicks.
House Speaker
Frank Chopp vetoes will of great majority of Democratic legislators.
Trinity United
Methodist Church Minister Reverend Rich Lang: Torture is a crime against
humanity.
Design Puget
Sound communities so that we use our vehicles less.
Congress
must save hospice programs. More about Washington State Hospice and
Palliative Care Org.
New numbers on local
cost of our occupation of Iraq.
Nation
and World
Global Warming and Barack Obama’s Plan
Laboratory studies show that greater concentrations
in air cause ambient air temperatures to rise.
During the last 100 years, our CO2 emissions have increased, CO2
levels in the atmosphere have been rising and global temperatures have
increased about on degree Celsius.
During the last hundreds of thousands of years, a strong correlation
exists between atmospheric CO2 levels and surface temperatures. These are the evidence that our CO2
emissions are causing global warming.
Global warming will cause increased draughts,
floods, and storms to the detriment of our habitation and food production. It will also allow predatory insects to
survive warmer winters to attack us and our food plants. The effects will be the impoverishment, death
and migration of large numbers of our people and other animals and plants. For
more. Who will
suffer most & least from global warming?
Obama’s Plan to deal with global warming has 4
parts oriented to reducing carbon emissions by 80% by 2050. [Reported in
Chapter 6 of John R. Talbott’s 2008 book, Obamanomics – a must read for
Liberals.]
1. Introduce a market-based cap and trade system
to limit carbon emissions
Establish cap and trade system with auction of all
of an increasingly limited number pollution credits
Create domestic incentives for forestry, farming
and ranching to capture atmospheric CO2.
2. Emphasize conservation and encourage energy
efficiency
Increase fuel economy standards
Set national building efficiency standards
Invest in a digital smart utility grid
3. Encourage renewable and alternative energy
use
Invest $150 billion over 10 years to advance clean
energy technologies
Double funding for energy research and development
Invest in training workers for and transitioning
industries to implement clean technologies
Develop and deploy clean coal development
Deploy cellulosic ethanol
Require increased substitution of renewable
non-polluting fuels
4. Reestablish
Create a global energy forum
Re-engage in the U.N. Framework Convention on
Climate Change
A recent growth industry is books that tells us how
to personally respond to the threat of global warming. Some examples are:
·
Jeffrey
Hollender with Linda Catling, 1995, How
to Make the World a
·
Karen M.
Jones, 2005, The Difference a Day Makes,
365 Ways to change Your World in Just 24 Hours
·
Nick Temple
(Ed.), 2005, 500 Ways to Change the World
Becoming
more virtuous is good, but not sufficient.
We need to use regulation and markets to encourage and mandate virtuous
action.
Commodity Prices: Market or Speculation Produced?
Prices have been rapidly increasing for many
commodities, not only oil. Increases
include: Nickel (452% from 2002 to 2007), Copper (360%), Zink (314%), Oil
(177%), Gold (125%), Steel (117%), Aluminum (95%) and corn (70%). I think natural gas and other commodities
could be added to this list. Water
usually isn’t considered a commodity. But it is also
becoming scarce.
I find it difficult to understand financial
products, markets and regulation. But I
suspect that with many slow economies, mining and other commodities producers
did not invest to increase their production.
They failed to recognize that the economies of
Oil Prices per Barrel
Many pundits are still stating that
Four Dollar Gas Isn’t All Bad
Increasing transportation costs cause: more
frugality: more walking and biking – less obesity; Less and slower driving;
less roadway wear and tear; fewer traffic accidents, deaths and cheaper
insurance; less urban sprawl; less traffic; less Pollution; 4-day workweeks and
time spent with family; manufacturing jobs to come home; and more. We could also tax windfall profits, without
increasing the price of oil. For
more. For more.
Memorable Bush Moments
Nov 2000 – Bush Elected President
Mar 2001 – Bush rejects Kyoto
Climate Warming Agreement and nuclear non-proliferation treaty
Jun 2001 – Tax cuts primarily
for rich
Sep 2001 – 9/11 results from
incompetent security
Jan 2002 – Oil prices begin long
surge (see graph above)
Jan 2002 – No Child Left Behind,
which punishes impoverished schools
Feb 2003 – Colin Powell erroneously
tells U.N that
Apr 2003 – Saddam Hussein Statue
toppled
May 2003 – "
May 2003 – More tax cuts primarily
for rich
Dec 2003 – Medicare Part D, huge
subsidy for private insurers and pharmaceuticals
Apr 2004 – Abu Ghraib torture revealed
Nov 2004 – Bush
Re-elected President
Mar 2005 – The Terri Schiavo affair
Sep 2005 – "Brownie, You're
Doing a Heckuva Job"
Apr 2006 – Increasing fraudulent
adjustable rate sub-prime loans resets, defaults and foreclosures
Sep 2006 – Bush vetoes stem cell
research
Feb 2007 – Oil prices begin
current surge
Apr 2007 –Alberto Gonzales'
congressional testimony “I don’t remember”
You can easily add other
memorable moments.
Supplemental
and Emergency War Appropriations for Procurement*
(Billions of dollars, by fiscal year) Source
2001- 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
2008
Army 0 3 1 10 14 26 46
Air
Force 1 5
4 3 2 8
9
Navy * 2
* 1 1 3
7
Marine
Corps *
* * 3 4 7 6
Defensewide *
1 1 1 2 2 1
Explosive
Fund 0 0 0
0 2 4
4
_____________________________
Procurement 1 10
7 18 25 51 72
Total Funding 32 76 74 101 116
165 188 = $752
billion
* doesn’t
include depreciation and incurred future costs
For more.
Will Our Courts Block Liberal Reforms?
In the 1930s, The Conservative
supreme court blocked much New Deal legislation. Since 1980, Ronald Reagan and the two Bushes
have appointed many conservatives to our higher level courts. Will these be sufficient to block the Liberal
legislation that we can expect to be enacted during the Obama presidency? For
more.
Here’s the Beef
Nancy Pelosi says
House Judiciary Committee may discuss Kucinich’s impeachment bill. For
more.
Corporate
Accountability International announces 2008 inductees into the Corporate Hall
of Shame
Stiffing veterans isn’t new. Besides Iraq veterans, they did it to Vietnam
and Gulf War veterans.
Many commentaries
concerning women’s issues.
Wal-Mart hardly pays for
breaking Minnesota labor laws 2 million times.
$1
billion spent for physical infrastructure creates 47,500 jobs. $320 billion per year needed.
Senator Bernie
Sanders proposes subsidies to greatly increase numbers of solar panels.
World Health Organization
says War on Drugs has failed to prevent our highest drug use.
A
coalition is forming to stimulate grass roots support for health care reform.
A
confidential World Bank report indicates bio-fuel production increased food
prices 75%.
America’s water supply
will be threatened by extreme weather events associated with global warming.
Saudi
Arabia is unlikely to be able to increase oil production.
Let’s help
China clean up their environment and profit from it.
Taiwan declares
peace with China.
Israel has turned
Gaza into a large prison.
Iraqis want a
timetable for U.S. forces to leave Iraq.
For
more.
U.S. aerial
bombardment causes many civilian casualties.
Removing prisoners
from Quantanamo.
U.S. is refusing
entry to human rights advocates.
Soldiers serving
in Iraq suffer from their experiences there – flashbacks, depression and
suicide.
Our Liberal Spirit
Our Actions and Our Luck
“We stand on two legs. One leg is what we do. The other leg is our luck. We need both legs to walk well.” This was the beginning of a short talk that I
give during Human Development Consults.
In
the early 1990s, I conducted Consults in 22 rural villages and urban
neighborhoods in the
We
stand on two legs. If we don’t prepare
for threats, they are more likely to harm us.
If we don’t prepare for opportunities, we may not recognize or take
advantage of them. If we don’t act to
take advantage of our opportunities, we aren’t likely to realize their rewards.
But
even if we work hard and work smart, we may still encounter bad luck which
makes us fail. Acting right brings no
guarantee of success. The main lesson is
that our thinking and acting can increase the likelihood that we will realize
our dreams. But not guarantee that we
will.
We
must be ready for both failure and success.
Whether we fair or succeed, we must attend to our new situation and be
begin to create new dreams, identify new obstacles, create new strategies, or
organize and implement new tactics.
Confidence, Practice, Skill and
Confidence
A
major barrier to action is lack of confidence.
With little confidence, we don’t act.
With no practice, we don’t learn to be more effective and efficient. With few skills, we have little
confidence. It is a vicious cycle of
lack of confidence, practice, skill and confidence.
The
solution is to turn the cycle the other way.
Try acting in small ways. Learn a
few skills. Become more confident. Act in bigger ways. And so on.
We then begin a virtuous cycle of practice, skill, confidence and
practice.
Such
short courses as these are easy to insert into workshops. They can be very effective. They can inform the workshop. And the workshop can lend credence to the
short courses.
Recommended Books – See
our list of books for
liberals
Glenn Hurowitz, 2007, Fear and Courage in the Democratic Party
Glenn Greenwald, 2008, Great American Hypocrites, Toppling the Big
Myths of Republican Politics
Eric Alderman, 2008, Why We’re Liberals, A Political Handbook for Post-Bush America
Free Member Advertising
Hire Our Lake Hills Neighbors
·
Auto Repair, price varies depending
on job (but always fair), Jaime Speicher (AAS Auto Repair Technician)
(425-746-2353)
·
Babysitting for infants (occasional evenings
and weekends) - $5 per hour-
·
Data Entry- $10 per 12 font, double spaced page-
·
Debt Elimination
Counseling, Seminars and Workshops – price negotiable – Sherry Brandt
(206-356-8034, somerev2@comcast.net)
·
Home Repair- prices vary, depending
on job-
·
Home Repair and
Remodeling,
·
Housekeeper, price negotiable –
·
Life Support Therapies,
·
Private Piano Lessons (students must have a
piano), afternoons - Anna Khosrowian (378-7938), price negotiable
·
Psychotherapist, accepts insurance
- Sandy Mathews (462-7889, www.sandramathews.com)
About
In October, 2005, we founded our Lake Hills
Liberals as an experimental demonstration of creating neighborhoods where
liberals thrive and multiply and maximizing our vote for Liberal candidates. In January, 2006, we began our newsletter.
During our
first year, we focused upon Lake Hills neighborhood development, experimenting
with a variety of activities and events.
To elect Liberals, we 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. We recruited
30% (500) of them. We encouraged 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 created our website. We began a monthly discussion group, called
the Lake Hills Liberal Salon.
During our
second year, we recruited many members from throughout our
As we
begin our third year, we continue our past activities, especially electing Liberals,
canvassing Lake Hills, promoting house parties, educating and enabling
cooperation among Liberals, and promoting Public Campaign Financing. Our new political priority is promoting a fair
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
Our weekly newsletter is currently distributed to 2300 members by email each Friday. 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.
·
African Americans –
·
Blogs –
·
Campaign Finance –
·
Democratic Party –
·
Drug Policy –
·
Education – Dennis Gerlitz, John Stokes
·
Environment –
·
Gays and Lesbians – Jack Greenlaw
·
Green Party – Trey Smith
·
Health Care – Larry Kalb, Bob Fithian
·
Hispanics – needed
·
Immigration - Grosvenor Anschell
·
Housing and Poverty –
·
Labor Unions –
·
Law and Justice –
·
State Legislation –
·
Veterans –
·
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.
To learn about particular issues, further your interests and meet
colleagues, visit websites of advocacy and
caring organizations. Also
see our list of helpful websites. Craig’s List Seattle
For
news about NW sustainability, visit Sightline
Daily. 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. Contact your national and state officials. Report Card on your congress member For many Congressional Report Cards.
