Enhancing Freedom, Opportunity and Cooperation in
Through informing and networking Liberals and Liberal Organizations.
Our vision is hundreds of thousands of well-informed
Our Website Our Editor To Unsubscribe Table of
Contents * Featured Articles Calendars of Events Communication with Our Members Opportunities Petitions Commentaries from Our Members Linda Boyd: 12 Commentaries About Torture* Dorli Rainey: Let’s Talk About the Seattle Issues Rich Austin: Is Pragmatism a Strategy of Retreat? Liberals and Democrats Links to the Beef Some Republicans Try to Define Republican Principles* State and Local Links
to the Beef Educational Associations Were Missing in Action* National Popular Vote Law Signed into Law* Law Passed to Increase Broadband Access & Adoption King
County LAC Evaluation of 2009 Legislative Session Featured Advocacy Group: ACLU* Nation and World Links to the Beef After Economic Recovery, the Good Life** Our ACLU Is Exposing Facts of American Torture* Is It Better to Avoid Having Loved and Lost 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 ·
Environmental
Protection and Energy Independence ·
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 5 Major Needs ·
Federal Funding
for Health and Education · Substitute
a Progressive Income Tax · Replacing
Conservative Legislators Quote of the Week We human beings live in
the jaws of aspiration and limitations.
Dave Thomas
Calendar of Events
Thursday, May 7th at 7:30
at
Saturday, May
9, 2009 at 10 AM to 5 PM at Highpoint Library (3411 SW Raymond Street, Seattle)
- International Humanitarian Law workshop that explores the lasting impact of war on humanity, the consequences of failing to protect human
dignity and the role of IHL.
Monday, May 11 at 6 PM on KSER (90.7 FM) –Round table on healthcare reform with
John Geyman, M.D., Larry Kalb, Snohomish Co. League of Women Voters
Tuesday, May 13 at 7 PM at Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center (Yesler
and 17th Avenue South, Seattle) – Free Educational Forum:
Afghanistan: Giving Peace a Chance, presented by Abe Keller Peace Education Fund
and SNOW, featuring Tamim Ansary,
Cabeire DeBerghe Robinson and Stephen Zunes.
Co-sponsors: American Friends Service
Committee, Justice and Peace Committee of
Saturday, May 16 at 12 Noon at Town Hall Seattle
(8th Avenue and
Saturday, May 16 at 3:30 PM at Lake Hills Library
(
Wednesday, May 20 at 7 PM at Swedish Providence
Campus (17th and East Cherry Entrance,
Saturday, May 30 at 12:30 PM at
Saturday, June 13
at 6 PM at
Communication
with Our Members
Please Help.
My
policy has been to privately assist our Liberals to be better informed about
our values, history, priorities, obstacles, proposals, and political
strategies. To assist us to better
interpret our news: what is important that our media isn’t addressing and what
lies behind what our media only addresses trivially. To assist us to easily identify, communicate
with, associate with, and cooperate with
each other to care for our needy and advocate for preventive and caring
reforms.
By
avoiding public display of our intentions and activities, I avoid becoming a
target of Conservatives and being distracted by having to respond to their
attacks. I doubt that arguing with
Conservatives will change their minds.
So such arguments simply dignify their positions. When our opponents are destroying themselves,
let’s not get in the way. Let’s just
enjoy watching.
But
a disadvantage is that it is difficult to attract new members. We now reach 3000 Liberals each week. But each week, several members quit and our
emails to 5-10 members bounce. So to
maintain and increase the number of people we serve, I ask you to help me attract new members.
Just
forward the weekly email concerning our newsletter to your Liberal
acquaintances and ask their permission to send me
their name, email address and community of residence. A few of our members are referring me to
Liberals they meet. But most of you are
not. Your newsletters are free, but you
can pay for them by referring me to new members. As you should realize, you are doing a favor
for the people who join us. And it helps
all of us to have a strong group of well informed and effective Liberals in our
Puget Sound, elsewhere in
Opportunities
and Petitions
Useful
Websites: contacts, maps, community organizing tools, and more.
Access
to jillions of political cartoons.
Download
Sightline Institute’s climate policy primer ‘Cap and Trade 101’. About
Sightline.
Conduct your own home energy audit.
See all of President Obama’s
weekly (Saturday) addresses.
Listen to Pete Seeger
singing and hear about his history of political singing (video). For more. I have a signed Pete Seeger songbook that I
got in 1945 when I listened to him sing in a
Petitions
Tell your congress
members they must support publicly funded elections to get your support.
Help to end
corporate personhood.
Tell our
Democratic Party Committees to stop accepting PAC and lobbyist donations.
Tell
our congress members to support President Obama’s call to eliminate tax havens.
Tell
our congress members to add no pork to the Iraq-Afghanistan wars supplemental
budget.
Support
Senator Patrick Leahy’s call for a Truth Commission concerning U.S. torture
(video).
Tell
your congress members to impeach Judge Jay Bybee who defends his justification
for torture.
Tell
your senators to pass the Appalachia Restoration Act to stop mountaintop removal mining.
Tell
congress to quit buying pork airplanes our military doesn’t want.
Tell
President Obama to provide leadership to stop Darfur oppression.
Tell
Senate Foreign Relations Committee to support ratification the Treaty for
Rights of Women.
Tell
Congress to pass the Shelter, Land and Urban Assistance Act of 2009. For
more.
Ten
ways to oppose our war in Afghanistan.
Note: I support the Obama’s Afghan strategy. Dave Thomas
Tell
President Obama and your congress members to support total nuclear disarmament.
Commentaries
From Our Members
Linda Boyd: 12
Developments and Commentaries Concerning Torture
Friends, there is a deluge of news about torture
and prosecutions. I made a rough list of 13 positive stories and
developments:
1.
Release of
Memos Fuels Push for Inquiry into Bush’s Terror-Fighting Policies
2.
Conyers'
letter to Holder asking for special council
3.
Spain is
investigating war crimes
4.
Nadler Press
Release renews call for Special Prosecutor
5.
HR 104, by
Conyers -- Calling for Commission to investigate
6. Federal Court Permits Landmark ACLU Rendition Case To Go Forward
7.
Torture was
used to create justification for war in Iraq
8.
The Military
was against torture
9.
Yoo -- at the
very least derelict in his duties, if not obstructing evidence
10.
NYT editorial
supports impeaching Bybee
11.
Leahy pushing
for Commission – again
12. Britain
launched an investigation into torture claims
13.
Obama says
waterboarding is torture in today's press conference
Feel encouraged, and feel free to add on, comment or
correct. Please pass the world -- torture is always wrong, and must be
prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Here are a few things each of us
can do. Thank you, Linda Boyd, Washington for
Impeachment
A survey shows
correlation between church attendance frequency and approval of torture.
Dorli Rainey: Let’s Talk
About the Issues That
Over the years I have attended City Council meetings,
hearings, Town Halls and other functions. I have written letters and stood in
protest against cutting the budget of services to the people who could not
survive without those services. I have befriended homeless people who needed
mental health care. I have helped feed people and cried with them when they
lost another friend who died in the streets. I have protested the vicious
spending of funds on toys for the wealthy while the numbers of homeless
children grow every year. I have watched when they put together a 1% levy for
the homeless with 50% of that set aside for homeless veterans. I have seen the
growth in administration for those programs but no trickle down to the people
on the street. In the meantime there has been a growth of homeless veterans in
our city. Instead we have seen a growth in police activity to clear homeless
encampments and destroy people’s last belongings. The City has spent much
revenue on harassment of tent cities when co-operation and compassion would
have saved money and lives.
I have spoken against police in the schools and for
more teachers and Counselors. I realize that we will never solve the gun
violence problem by sending more police into our schools. It is a sin to close
libraries, after school programs, and park activities while our young people
have nothing to do to improve their lot in life. I see no effective programs to
help parents cope with today’s problem youth.
Senior Citizens are not only losing ground on their
meager investments, but many are afraid that in a short period of time they too
will be homeless. Incredible costs for minimal healthcare and medication are
beginning to show up in increased depression, loss of a will to live and
failing to see healthcare providers when necessary. Seniors still living in
their homes face an escalating property tax to support the dreams of a few
politicians who are afraid of taxing the wealthy. Many of those people are on
the road to foreclosure even if they own their home free and clear. So this is
the side of the livable city of
Desperate times take desperate measures, and so I have
come to the conclusion that I have absolutely nothing to lose by filing for
Mayor of Seattle. I know that there is no way I can win, and I also know that
you think that I have finally lost all my marbles. I want you to understand why
I am doing this. There has to be a discussion about the real issues this city
faces, not just the Key Arena, the Mercer Mess and the Tunnel, all of which
will benefit some, but certainly not all of the citizens of this City. I will
try to keep this discussion in front of the citizens, the media and the other candidates.
Thanks for paying attention. Dorli Rainey, Candidate for
Rich Austin: Is
Pragmatism a Strategy of Retreat?
Comment On
There will never be perfection.
Perfection is nonetheless a worthy goal.
And pragmatism has its place.
Unfortunately, however, the word ‘pragmatism’ has often been used to describe what in reality has been a
“strategy of retreat”.
·
The current health care crisis is
much larger than it was forty years ago.
·
Union density in the
·
Our public infrastructure –
including education and essential people helping services – go begging for
money while rich people become filthy-rich.
·
It is generally the sons and
daughters of
Congressional “pragmatists” (along with mean-spirited Republicans and
spineless Democrats) have failed in their responsibilities to those they are
sworn to serve. If fry cooks or ditch
diggers or teachers, et al, performed as poorly as many members of congress do,
they would be handed their pink slips.
Our system of double-standards, however, protects lawmakers while
punishing working stiffs.
Justice must not be viewed as a goal.
Justice is a right! It is
something we all have coming to us in the here and now! Justice is not perfection. It is an
unfulfilled guarantee. The time is long
overdue for our “warranty of justice” to be fully implemented. Incremental pragmatism as a strategy to achieve
justice is not justice. That approach
has not worked!
Alas, we’ve come to expect too little and are therefore settling for too
little. We have evidently forgotten this
phrase from our Constitution: “We the People of the
Let the coiffed and manicured suits and ties in congress speak about
their versions of “pragmatism”. We,
however, must DEMAND justice NOW.
Members of congress are doing quite well for themselves. It is folks like us who are hurting. That is not justice. Rich
Austin
Liberals
and Democrats
Government Watch
Budget Plan
Approved
On Wednesday, April 29th, Congress
approved a $3.4 trillion budget plan.
Despite a persistent recession and soaring budget
deficits, Democrats overwhelmingly endorsed the president's request for
hundreds of billions of dollars in new spending over the next decade for
college loans, early childhood education programs, veterans' benefits and
investments in renewable energy aimed at reducing the nation's dependence on
foreign oil. Only 17 Democrats in the House and three in the Senate
voted against it, as did Sen. Arlen Specter of
Lawmakers also agreed to use a powerful procedural tool known as
reconciliation to advance the president's proposal to expand health coverage
for the uninsured -- a move that ensures Republicans would not be able to
filibuster the legislation. Approval of
the budget blueprint marked a huge victory for Obama on his 100th day in
office, but it was not a slam-dunk for him. Lawmakers trimmed his tax-cutting
plans, refusing to extend his signature tax credit for working families past
2010 unless it is paid for. They sliced $10 billion from his spending request
for non-defense programs in the fiscal year that begins in October and
jettisoned his suggestion that another $250 billion would be needed to
stabilize the banking system. They also refused to authorize the use of
reconciliation for his plan to cap greenhouse gas emissions.
Leaders
of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition stood shoulder to shoulder with
House leaders on Wednesday and rallied around a $3.4 trillion budget agreement
that also paves
the way for an eventual pay-as-you-go law — a provision that became a
prerequisite for Blue Dog support of the budget document. Yet they acknowledged that they might have to
settle for a codified version of the Democratic pay-go rule that allows for
offsets to be found five or even 10 years after new spending is enacted.
The
budget plan favors health care reform but could severely
crimp the rest of Obama’s domestic agenda unless new revenues or savings
are found. Economic recovery could
produce both revenues and savings. Less
money than Obama wanted is included for middle-class tax cuts, including his
signature Make Work Pay credit to relieve the burden of payroll taxes on
working-class families. And the final compromise retreats from a House proposal
to build into the budget adequate funds to cover annual Medicare reimbursement
increases for physicians.
President Obama
reports on his first 100 days as president (video).
Lots of Issues
The
swine flu pandemic. Selection of a
Supreme Court justice. Arlen Specter
changes parties. More issues for our Obama
Administration to deal with. But also
more issues for Conservatives to complain about. With no official leader, Republicans can’t
focus on a few issues and can’t agree on their message. Just a bunch of whiners, who examine and
react to the daily news.
For
example, the top Republican in Congress, John
Boehner, tried to argue that global warming was a hoax related to cow
flatulence but then did an immediate about face and promised a plan to solve
global warming. Congressman Joe Barton (R-TX) displayed his clear lack of
scientific knowledge when
he suggested oil in the Arctic arrived there via a pipeline from Texas. You
have to see the video to believe it. Representative John Shimkus (R-IL)
actually called
a bipartisan clean energy plan a greater "assault on democracy" than
the terrorist attacks of 9/11.
Big
mouth Biden did it again. Indicating
people shouldn’t travel. Sometimes, I
wish David
Axelrod was Vice President. I think
he might be able to best continue Obama’s reforms.
When
asked about whether immigration reform would occur this year, President Obama
said that he was already being accused of taking on too many issues. He said he is focusing on issues most
relevant to our economic recovery, including reestablishing credit, assisting
defaulting mortgage holders, health care reform, education reform and energy
reform. He said progress was being made
toward immigration reform, implying that it wouldn’t be implemented until next
year.
Through
honestly describing and explaining our economic challenges and what his
administration is doing to meet them, President Obama has achieved a remarkably
high level of popularity among Democrats and Independents, including
Republicans who have become Independents, leaving only a small 20% minority of
Republicans. But his popularity will
quickly decline if our economic recovery falters. To maintain his political capital, he must
focus upon ensuring economic recovery. For
more. Hopefully the Worker’s Free Choice Act (which is certainly related to
economic recovery) will be passed this year.
If
economic recovery is clearly occurring later this year, President Obama will then have solid
political capital to address other issues, such as immigration reform, changing
our military’s ‘Don’t ask. Don’t tell.’ policy
toward gays; and possibly such issues as gun registration and
restrictions, and the so-called ‘war on drugs’. 2010 may see as many reforms as are occurring
this year. The issues involved in our
Cultural Wars may be resolved, to eliminate some of the worst President Bush
era threats to our civil liberties. For
more.
Some Republicans Try to Define Republican
Principles
Some
Republicans have arranged so-called listening forums to formulate Republican
principles which they hope will lead them back from their electoral
wilderness. At one of these, Mitt Romney
expressed that Democrats give power to government while Republicans give power
to the people. That is completely
wrong. Republicans give financial power
to corporations and power over personal decisions to our government. Democrats empower people to make their
financial and personal decisions. Democrats
protect people from abuse by corporations.
Democrats provide an environment and resources for people to freely make
decisions, limited only by protecting the freedom of others.
Democrats
have long provided people with protection from the ravages of old age,
disability, unemployment and natural disasters.
Republicans have continually fought against these protections. Democrats have provided health coverage,
education, a productive and fair economy, income security and other
resources. Republicans have continually
fought against providing a supportive public infrastructure and safety
net. Don’t let Republicans mislead you
by claiming that they champion people’s freedom. It hasn’t been so, isn’t so and won’t become
so.
Here’s the Beef
The
McCain-Feingold campaign finance law assisted shift to mobilizing grassroots
voters.
Hello
young people. Hello Democrats.
Network of Spiritual
Progressives evaluation of President Obama’s 100 days and recommendations.
More
evaluations of president Obama’s 100 days.
The
Wilderness Society evaluation.
Two
largest fights: Health care reform.
Labor law reform.
Corporate
interests may stop major environmental, health, labor and consumer protection
reforms.
To
reduce off-shoring U.S. jobs, President Obama must do more than close tax haven
loopholes.
President Bush asks
congress to move forward with clean energy legislation.
A
critic argues that Obama’s positive publicity is misleading. He is not solving our problems.
House
may approve creation of a commission to investigate causes of financial bubble
and collapse. For
more.
Our
senate voted against allowing judges to force renegotiation of troubled mortgages.
Two
reasons that President Obama is taking on tax havens: money and bargaining
power. For more.
We have lots of
supporters of retaining a (Borrow, Consume and Speculate) bubble economy. For more. For more.
Credit card executives
spend big bucks to lobby Washington. But
they aren’t registered lobbyists.
U.S.
house beats bankers on credit cards.
Loses to bankers on renegotiating troubled mortgages.
11
Democrats voted against allowing judges to allow renegotiation of troubled
pre-2009 mortgages.
Pandemic expert Margaret Hamburg’s appointment
to FDA should be quickly approved.
Climate
change legislation will include a ‘cash for clunkers’ provision.
We
need an environmentally friendly agriculture.
Congressman Robert
Wexler introduced bill to investigate our torture and make recommendations.
Due to increased
violence, some troop withdrawal may be delayed.
With
60 Democratic Senators, dissenting Democrats become more powerful.
Michelle
Obama’s garden, one small step toward political leader’s gardens everywhere.
Boycott
of companies (which support Israeli occupation of Palestine) is having effect.
Conservative Jewish Lobby
blames protests against Israeli foreign policy on Arabs and anti-Semites.
State
and Local
Educational Associations Were Missing in Action
In a
Seattle Times commentary, Jesse Hagopian (a teacher and member of our Seattle
Educational Association (SEA) complained about our legislature reducing
educational services instead of attempting to pass a progressive income tax to
increase funds available for supporting educational and other state
services. She stated that she submitted
a progressive tax proposal to the Seattle Educational Association. What she didn’t say is that neither the SEA
or WEA approved any proposal for implementing a progressive income tax, or lobbied
for any such increase. Were they
thinking that our legislature would initiate such action without citizen
support?
National Popular Vote Law Signed into Law
NPV
has now passed into law on both coasts and in the heartland.
Additionally, legislative chambers in every region, and in states of every
size, have endorsed NPV. PSN's recent Dispatch
covers the continuing focus of the presidential election campaigns on a few
battleground states, and the negative impacts this has for our democracy and
progressives in particular.
Law Passed to Increase Broadband Access & Adoption
With
the passage of HB
1701 the Washington State legislature once again demonstrated its
understanding that when combating the digital divide states must not just
address access issues, but must also focus on dealing with the barriers to broadband adoption by individuals. In
addition to hoping to increase high-speed Internet access for residents,
businesses, educational institutions, public health and safety services, local
governments and community organizations, HB 1701 also lists a menu of the types
of digital inclusion programs that should be implemented in Washington State.
By addressing both access and adoption barriers directly
According
to Jonathan Lawson, Executive Director of Reclaim the Media,
"connecting all our communities with fast broadband is a compelling public
need -- to allow everyone to take part in our digital democracy, culture and
economy. This new legislation clears a path for us to follow towards that
goal."
Broad
Coalition in Support
The
bill originally sponsored by Representatives Hudgins, Hasegawa and McCoy and
incorporating amendments championed by Senators Kohl-Welles and
Kastama was
supported by a broad coalition of advocates, such as the Communication Workers
of America (CWA), the Communities Connect Network and
carriers and includes investments in digital training and inclusion
programs. According to CWA's Washington State Council Political
Director, Gail Love, "the broad coalition of organizations that
lobbied on behalf of HB1701 has not always viewed issues from the same
perspective. However, on HB1701, we found common ground. Bringing
high-speed broadband accessibility to the residents of
Capitalizing
on Recovery Funds
The
legislation was drafted, in part, so that the state could capitalize on the
approximately $7.2 billion in the ARRA earmarked for broadband initiatives.
Since the stimulus money is a primary funding source for certain provisions in
the bill, the manner in which the NTIA and RUS decide to disperse their funds
will impact the actual implementation of HB 1701. For more.
King County LAC Evaluation of 2009 Legislative Session
Education - Kathleen Reynolds
In a year when state services
were cut across the board, education fared better than most. The problem
is, school districts across the state are already struggling to balance their
books with inadequate funds.
But not all results were bad. Passage of a bill expanding
the definition of basic education should mean greater funding of our schools by
2018. Two years ago, the legislature created the Basic Education Joint
Task Force to redefine basic education (what the state is required to pay for)
and to create a funding structure for it. Their work resulted in two
bills this session, HB 1410 and SB 5444, which had much bipartisan legislative
support. Education stakeholders couldn't agree on some aspects of the
bills, so a few legislators took it upon themselves to start over with two
"empty bills," HB 2261 and SB 6048, which were then fleshed out to
include much of the earlier bills' provisions, leaving out the controversial
pieces.
That brought most stakeholders to the table except for the
Washington Education Association, the state teachers union, who lobbied
vigorously against them. The WEA's public objections were a dislike of
"merit pay" which was not included in the second set of bills, and a
desire to focus on restoring school funding right now instead of planning for
the future. Supporters of the two bills
included the state school superintendent, Randy Dorn, the state school board
chair, the WSPTA, the League of Education Voters, the League of Women Voters,
organized labor and many others.
In the end, HB 2261 was delivered to the governor on April
23.
Its key provisions are:
·
A
more transparent funding model
·
Universal
all-day kindergarten
·
Increased
high school graduation course requirements
·
A six
period day in high school and middle school, up from the current five hours
·
Work
groups to study finance and teacher compensation
Work for next session:
Now that we know where our money will be going, we must find a stable, secure
form of revenue for schools. Funding the new, expanded definition of
basic education could cost an extra $2 billion per year. We must think
boldly and work with other organizations to form the critical mass necessary to
change our tax structure. The commitment
of all stakeholders will be necessary to fund this promise to our children.
Education - a Second View -
The 2009
legislative session saw considerable debate on the future of our public
schools. We are currently about 45th in the nation in school funding despite
having one of the top 20 economies in
1.
Cut
over one billion dollars in school funding including eliminating funding for
about 5,000 teachers, eliminating Cost of Living Adjustments for the remaining
50,000 teachers and robbing over a half billion dollars from the school
construction fund (Senate Bill 5600.. Also called the "all cuts" budget).
2.
Passed
what the press called "a sweeping overhaul of
3.
The
legislature had lots of options to actually fund public schools. For example,
the Legislature could have passed House Bill 2350 (the Fair School Funding
Act), which would have provided billions of dollars in additional funding for
public schools by closing a 1997 tax loophole that exempted over one trillion
dollars of intangible property from our State property taxes. So what
really happened this session was that 5,000 public school teachers were fired
to protect billions of dollars in tax breaks for millionaires.
4.
But
while the Legislature did not want to give up tax breaks for millionaires to
fund public schools, they had no problem increasing property taxes on the
middle class. Senate Bill 6138 amends House Bill 1776 to raise the
school levy property tax cap from the current 24% to 35%. The last time school
levy rates were this high was during the 1975 recession when over 40% of our
school districts suffered catastrophic school levy failures. This in turn led
to the Seattle One lawsuit in which Judge Doran ruled that high levy rates were
inherently unconstitutional because they were not a reliable source of funding.
In 1978, the legislature lowered the State wide levy cap to 10% and raised
school funding 11th in the nation.. The real problem with high levy rates is
that it will worsen our two-tier system of public schools. This is a violation
not just Article 9, Section One of our Constitution, but also Article 9,
Section Two which calls for a "uniform system of public schools."
Clearly our current legislature is not only willing to ignore our State
Constitution, they are also willing to ignore our State court rulings
5.
But
it gets worse. Because the legislature is also attempting to repeal the Levy
Equalization Act and reduce Levy equalization funding used to help poor school
districts. This has not been done yet. But the main reason for the "extra
session" is to permit our richest school districts to vote against funding
for our poorest school districts. This is yet another violation of Article 9,
Section 2 of our State Constitution as well as violating the Seattle One (also
called Doran One) Court decision.
We already have
some of the most over-crowded schools and highest drop out rates in the
nation. We are dead last in the percent of 9th Graders who go on to
complete college. Expect things to get worse. The time has come to put an
Initiative on the ballot. If the legislature refuses to fund public schools,
then let's do it ourselves. Attached is more information on the Fair School
Funding Act. Regards,
Labor by Brad Larssen
Successes
SB
5319: UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE ECONOMIC STIMULUS BILL – This bill,
passed early in the session at the Governor's request., temporarily increases
weekly unemployment insurance payments by $45, on claims filed before January
2010. This increase expires in 2010, at the end of those claims.
SHB 1555: UNDERGROUND ECONOMY IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY - Passed
both houses. Delivered to Governor April 25.
SB 5613: ISSUE STOP WORK ORDERS FOR VIOLATIONS OF CERTAIN WORKERS'
COMPENSATION PROVISIONS - Passed both houses. Delivered to Governor
April 17.
These 2 bills address and provide sanctions and penalties for employers who do
not pay the required state taxes on their employees (workers' compensation
taxes and unemployment insurance taxes). And they level the playing field
for honest contractors who do pay their state taxes.
Failures
SSB 5963: UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE: PERMANENT CHANGES - This bill
originally passed the Senate with large tax breaks for business, but nothing
requested by Labor for workers. In the
house, certain amendments requested by Labor were added:
1. Restore the benefit multiplier to 4.0 (The traditional level,
before it was cut in 2005.)
2. Restore agency discretion in determining good-cause quits.
This added balance to the significant tax cuts for business included in this
bill. The Senate refused to concur with
these amendments added by the House. This was done by a standing vote
head-count, called "Division of the house." It was done without
a roll-call vote, with no official record of who voted how, and off-camera to
TVW viewers. Very undemocratic procedure for a major and controversial
bill!
The House then receded from these amendments, 71-25, amendments that they
had approved a few days before by a vote of 53-45. This too almost
happened without a roll-call vote. In short, several Democrats switched
and voted with the Republicans on this bill.
The Senate then concurred. Delivered to the Governor (with tax
breaks for business, but without these 2 amendments approved by the House.
HB 1528: WORKER PRIVACY ACT - This bill was killed by Democratic
Leadership in the State Legislature and Executive, by not allowing it to come
to a vote, in a highly unorthodox and unprecedented manner. It was kept
from a vote on a pretext that was proven to be false. But the bill was
still not allowed to be brought to a vote. A lot of promises were made
that we would take this up again next year. We intend to hold those
legislators to those promises, and see that this bill gets a roll-call floor
vote next session.
Summary:
In a wide variety of categories, the minority party and the business lobbyists
who largely finance them had their way far too often this session. Too
many Democrats vote with the Republicans far too often, killing a lot of
necessary and progressive legislation supported by our party, our members, and
our political allies. And this is occurring despite holding significant
majorities in both houses and the Governor's office. We need to address
this situation if we expect to have a more successful legislative session next
year.
Housing and Human Services - Sarajane Siegfriedt
The State Housing
Trust Fund was cut 50% from $200 million in the current biennium to $100
million, the same level that the Governor recommended. The Capital Budget was
drained by having to fill some one-time holes in the operating budget, so
advocates felt lucky to retain $100 million, especially since the Senate had
proposed cutting it to $30 million. At that level, awards for new low-income
housing projects would have come to a halt this fall. The State Housing
Trust Fund provides the seed money for most low-income housing projects and is
considered essential to the Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness.
General Assistance-Unemployable (GA-U) is the safety net for
21,000 mostly single adults, as well as their eligibility for Medicaid. While
the Governor proposed to eliminate the program as "outdated," the
House insisted that it be retained, at about 80% of the current level. Cuts are
supposed to come from better monitoring and from moving more people onto
Social Security or back into employment.
Many other endangered human services programs were retained,
notably adult day health. Adult family homes, group homes and supported
living for people with developmental disabilities are cut 3%. Substance abuse
treatment is cut substantially. Drug courts will survive, and a new
program to provide housing for newly released prisoners will help curb
homelessness and help felons establish stable lives.
A payday lending bill passed both houses, but only after
dramatic turns orchestrated by Rep. Sharon Nelson. The bill had been
eviscerated by a Senate striker amendment, but the House "receded
from the amendment" and sent it back to the Senate. The Senate insisted
on its position and sent it back to the House. The House adhered to
its position and the Senate receded from its amendments.
A bill to
make it illegal for landlords to discriminate against Sec. 8 voucher holders
and other on government subsidies (income source discrimination) passed the
House but died before being voted on in the Senate.
Homeowner's Bill of Rights - Steve Zemke
SB 5895 by
Senator Rodney Tom passed Senate 25 to 24, died in House Rules
HB 1393 - Rep
Spring's bill passed House, died in Senate.
Criminal Justice - Noemie Maxwell
Restoration of Voting Rights
In a major victory that will change the electoral landscape of this state
(assuming the Governor signs it - it's been delivered to her and is expected to
be signed), people who complete their prison terms and community supervision
will automatically have their voting rights restored. No longer will the
ability to vote be based on the ability to pay for people with felonies.
The bill was weakened by an amendment that makes it possible for a person
to have this right revoked if shown they have not paid their legal financial
obligations willfully. However, it is still a victory.
3-Strikes
Senate Bill 5292 passed in the committee of origin and made the first session
cutoff. It was even included in the Senate Proposed budget as
"necessary to implement budget". But it did not make it
out of Rules. Speaker
Chopp indicated opposition to this bill as it is written and legislators
were understandably unwilling to devote precious time to a bill he would
oppose. SB 5292 can be moved forward as is or in an amended form next
session. Additional groundwork needs to be done to support that
potential. The prosecutors association has acknowledged that there are
problems with the way the law was implemented in its early years.
Compromise appears possible. In the meantime, grassroots pressure is
critical.
Here's
some of what has been accomplished:
·
Thousands
of people have been reached about the need to reform 3-Strikes through blog stories,
letters to the editor, and other community outreach.
·
A
minimum estimated 500 contacts with legislators were made (we believe it's
closer to double that), including face-to-face meetings, calls, letters, and
emails.
·
Advocates
took part in five lobby days.
·
Twenty-four
organizations signed onto a statement supporting 3-Strikes reform.
http://fix3strikes.org.
·
The
hearing room for SB 5292 was filled.
·
We
believe that the "buzz" created by the campaign contributed to
positive mainstream media coverage in King, Snohomish,
·
Please
sign onto the Rapid Response at www.justiceisnogame.org for 1-4 emails per
month on key times to contact legislators.
Environment - Steve Zemke
The session
was hard for the environmental community and met with limited
success.
Success:
reducing climate solution in the built
environment - "Efficiency First"
HB 1747 - 2nd
substitute passed House, Senate Ways and Means referred back to House without
action
SB 5854 - Senate
passed, House ameded, Senate concurred, Delivered to Governor to sign
Failures:
Reducing greenhouse gases - "cap
and trade"
HB 1819 - died in
House Rules
SB 5735 -
substitute bill passed Senate, amended in House, died in Senate Rules
Reducing amount of petroleum in storm
water -"invest in clean water"
HB 1614 - passed
by House, Senate referred back to House Rules
SB 5518 - stopped
in
Reducing greenhouse gases through land
use and transportation - "transit oriented communities"
HB 1490 - stopped
in House Rules
SB 5687 - stopped
in Senate Rules
Providing for safe collection and
disposal of unwanted drugs from residential sources through a producer provided
and funded product stewardship program - "secure medicine
return"
HB 1165 - died in
House Rules
SB 5279 - Died in
Senate Committee
Establishing product stewardship
recycling act for mercury containing lights
HB1469 -
died in House Rules
SB 5843 - died in
Senate Committee
Election Reform Update - Steve Zemke
Public campaign financing for
HB 1738 - died in
House Committee
Modifying voter registration
SB 5280 - passed
by House and Senate and sent to Governor. This bill contains a couple of
improving provisions, like allowing voter registration in person to occur up to
8 days before an election instead of 15 days and providing for automatic
address update of your registration if you move within a county. It
failed however to include same day registration and voting through election day
or to require automatic voting registration that requires you to opt out if you
don't want to be registered rather than having to opt in under current law.
Approving the entry of
SB 5279 - passed both
House and senate and signed by the Governor
Featured Advocacy Group ---
American Civil Liberties
Our
American Civil Liberties Union is active nationally and in Washington State. The ACLU is our nation's guardian of
liberty, working daily in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and
preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and laws of
the
· Your First
Amendment rights - freedom of speech, association and assembly; freedom of the
press, and freedom of religion.
· Your right to
equal protection under the law - protection against unlawful discrimination.
· Your right to
due process - fair treatment by the government whenever the loss of your
liberty or property is at stake.
· Your right to
privacy - freedom from unwarranted government intrusion into your personal and
private affairs.
The ACLU also works to extend rights to segments of our population that
have traditionally been denied their rights, including people of color; women;
lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender people; prisoners; and people with
disabilities.
With 20,000 members, the ACLU of Washington takes on major law reform through litigation and
legislative action. It provides assistance and advocacy for individuals and community
groups. It lobbies on scores of bills in the state legislature and local councils.
It offers speakers, pamphlets and education materials to schools and community
groups throughout the state.
Active, dedicated members work with a staff of
lawyers, advocates, and organizers to respond quickly and strategically to
civil liberties challenges. Scores of volunteers, as well as numerous local
chapters and student clubs, help to advance the cause. A statewide Board of
Directors sets policy and direction, raises funds, and provides legal and
fiduciary oversight.
Our 2009 Washington State
Legislature passed various bills
favored by the ACLU.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here’s the Beef
Various
candidates haven’t voted in past elections.
This includes Susan DelBene. For
more.
See the types and amounts of
stimulus package funds allocated to Washington by formula.
See the types
and amounts of stimulus package funds for which Washington is competing.
Stimulus package provides $732
million for distressed families and unemployed workers.
Federal stimulus package news from
Governor Gregoire.
Vancouver,
WA is creating a people friendly downtown amidst its rapid development.
Washington
is accepting grant applications for homeless prevention and Rapid Re-Housing
Programs.
Nation
and World
After Economic Recovery, the Good Life
Imagine
that it is 2012. Thanks to Obama
Administration initiatives, we have already recovered from our economic
recession. We have changed our mindset
and practices from Borrow, Consume and
Speculate to Earn, Conserve and
Invest. So, how are we living?
Increased Earnings
Those
of us who are employed are receiving a higher percentage of the value of what
we produce. This has resulted from increased
unionization of employees and contract workers.
From licensing to limit excessive competition among such occupations as
fishing, cab driving and others which tend to inadequate earning levels. From restricting outsourcing of jobs to
countries which unfairly restrict the earnings of their workers. Training and career paths have been
instituted to increase productivity and earnings of care and other
workers. FICA job taxes have been
replaced by consumption taxes.
Corporate
boards of directors are required to include other stakeholders than
stockholders, such as employees, consumers and other community members. Less money goes to stockholders due to
removal of loopholes which enabled corporations to escape corporate taxes. Less money goes to bond holders due to a
switch to equity financing from debt financing due to taxation of corporate
interest payments. Limits have been placed
upon the ratio of the highest executive salaries and the least paid employees.
Our
minimum wage has increased and is indexed for inflation. Those of us with lower earnings receive an
Earned Income Tax Credit indexed for inflation, which brings workers above
realistic poverty levels. Our safety net
provides handicapped people (limited in their work abilities) income above
realistic poverty levels. Social
Security Benefits are increasing at the same rate as employee earnings. Our pensions are protected. Provision has been made for people to place
savings into social security add-ons.
Lower Costs for Many Essential Goods and
Services
The
costs of many of the goods and services we consume are reduced. Reforms have reduced the costs of health
care, education and food. Improved
public transit, higher mileage vehicles, and less commuting due to increased
affordable housing have reduced some of our travel costs. Anti-trust actions have increased
competition. Price regulation of
monopolies and oligopolies has reduced prices.
Patent and copyright reforms have limited the price protection of
various goods and services. It has been
made easier for foreign physicians and other trained workers to reduce worker
scarcities, without excessively reducing earnings of existing workers.
Less Borrowing and Luxury Consumption
Interest
rates and down payment requirements discourage excessive borrowing. Tax subsidies for home and other interest
payments have been reduced or eliminated, to discourage excessive borrowing and
consumption. Consumption taxes
(especially on luxuries) have discouraged excessive consumption. Recognizing that Corporations aren’t people
and don’t have the same rights, we have greatly restricted their ability to
advertise, especially to advertise deceptively.
Due to subsidized conservation, increased taxes and increased prices, we
are consuming less energy and other scarce resources.
More Private and Public Saving and Investing
Our
economic recovery is providing more opportunity for employment and
entrepreneurship. People are investing
more in their health and training to make themselves more productive and
improve their earnings. More people are
investing in their own ventures, including purchase of equipment and hiring of
employees. More people are investing in
conservation, especially their homes, equipment and vehicles.
Companies
are also investing in conservation and pollution control. As the number of workers becomes more equal
to the number of jobs, companies are investing in the training and career
growth of their employees. In response
to public and private demand, companies are investing in research and
development, and expansion of products and markets.
Families and Individuals Are Thriving
Tax
policies stimulate employers to provide more family friendly jobs. People have more work time flexibility and
time off to deal with illness and family obligations. Increased affordable housing near jobs reduces
commute times. People have more time for
spending with their families and for pursuit of their various interests.
Children
receive more attention both from parents and from public health, counseling and
teaching. More and better trained
caretakers are assisting children, disabled and seniors. Much attention is given to preventing abuse
(sex, hate and other crimes of physical and emotional violence and financial
scams) and reforming or incarcerating abusers.
Weapons are registered and ownership by likely abusers prohibited. At least some now illicit drugs have been
legalized and regulated, with prevention and therapy to reduce harmful usage.
Through
broadband internet access, people are able to easily identify, communicate
with, associate with and cooperate with others with whom they share
interest. People increasingly have a ‘Yes, we can’ attitude, instead of a ‘No, I can’t’ attitude.
We Are Maintaining Our Environment
Through
regulation, investment and subsidies, our government is assisting conservation
and restricting pollution. Private firms
and individuals are conserving and reducing their pollution. Valuing our climate, natural resources,
ecosystems and species both spiritually and economically, we are conserving
them and protecting them from pollution.
This includes our air, mountains, forests, prairies, wetlands, fresh
water, salt water, our many forms of plants and animals, and our minerals. Farmers and others are paid to be stewards of
our land and other resources. Use of
scarce resources, including aquifer water are prohibited, restricted, or taxed. A vital part of our education encourages
environmental understanding, appreciation and conservation.
In Conclusion
I
can hardly wait for such a lifestyle in 2012 or later. Isn’t dreaming and realizing our dreams
wonderful? It begins with understanding
reality. Do you know why firemen and
women carry dogs on their fire trucks?
So they can find the water hydrants.
Our ACLU Is Exposing Facts of American Torture
The Bush administration built an elaborate house of cards to justify
torture, but thanks in part to some recent ACLU victories, the house of cards
is finally beginning to fall.
Over the last few weeks, we’ve secured the release of the Bush administration’s
torture memos and won an important appeals court ruling in our challenge to
Jeppesen DataPlan’s involvement in the CIA’s rendition program. We are also
anticipating the release of torture photographs that the Bush administration
managed to suppress for years.
These victories didn’t happen overnight. In fact, the ACLU first filed a
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request on the treatment of prisoners on
October 7, 2003. Since then, ACLU lawyers and cooperating lawyers have filed
dozens of legal briefs and appeared at dozens of court hearings. ACLU suits
have resulted in the release of more than 100,000 pages of government documents
relating to the abuse and torture of prisoners in
·
Earlier this week, a federal appeals court overturned
a decision that would have dismissed the ACLU’s case against Jeppesen DataPlan,
a subsidiary of the Boeing Corporation that facilitated the CIA’s rendition
program. The Bush administration -- and then the Obama administration -- had
argued that the case could not be litigated without the disclosure of “state
secrets. ” However, we asked the court of appeals to overturn that decision,
and it did. Now our case can move forward and our clients -- victims of the
CIA’s rendition program -- can have their day in court.
·
In connection with our long-running Freedom of
Information Act litigation, the Department of Defense has agreed to release, by
May 28, a substantial number of photos depicting the abuse of prisoners by
·
In the same lawsuit, the judge has ordered the CIA to
disclose records related to the agency's destruction of 92 videotapes. The
tapes captured CIA interrogators waterboarding prisoners in their custody.
We’re now focused on ensuring
comprehensive transparency about the torture program and on ensuring that those
who authorized torture are held accountable for it. Jameel Jaffer, Director,
ACLU
National Security Project
Is It Better to Avoid Having Loved and Lost
Larry King
interviewed three people concerning their reactions to Michelle Obama. Two wholeheartedly praised her. The other warned that we should not think to
highly of her, because sooner or later we will be disappointed. Other Conservatives such as George Will to
David Brooks continually warn us that we will end up being disappointed by
Democratic leaders and their initiatives, especially those oriented to reviving
our economy. They are sure that
Democrats and government can’t do anything right. They tell us that it is better to not love than
to love and risk losing. Dave Thomas
How Swine Flu Started
Here’s the Beef
Social
security benefits are not expected to rise in 2010.
Privatized
Medicare drug coverage provides inadequate coverage and is unduly expensive.
No
need to bail out large financial companies.
There are sufficient other sources of credit.
Some
people still seek to get rich by speculating in houses.
Additional
stimulus may be needed to revive our economy.
Unlike our present system,
workers aren’t abused under a majority sign-up unionization system.
Biomimcry
Institute teaches architects, planners and developers about lessons from
nature.
Limiting
greenhouse gas emissions won’t cost enough to harm our economy.
A
survey shows correlation between church attendance frequency and approval of
torture.
Report
shows that U.S. interrogators killed dozens of detainees.
U.S. terrorist watch
list is flawed. I believe it is
unconstitutional & should be eliminated.
Dave Thomas
We haven’t been as good or
successful as the ‘American Century’ story would suggest.
While
most economies are declining, China’s economy is growing at 6.5 – 8.5%.
U.S.
needs to rethink its opposition to Liberal South American Governments.
The
International Monetary Fund shouldn’t get more funding without reform.
Iraq and Afghanistan Wars
costs are declining. Understand the
details.
Our
Liberal Spirit
A Good Spiritual Life
Our
government can provide an economy in which people have the freedom, protection
and resources to make constructive decisions.
But whether they do so depends in large part upon their mindset. The basis of our mindsets is our spiritual
mindset.
We
humans are like other animals in many ways.
Our major difference is our increased imagination. By combining our experiences in new ways, we
can imagine things we haven’t experienced and things that don’t even exist
(such as unicorns and mermaids).
Importantly, we imagine a better life for ourselves, families,
workplaces, communities, society and the world, for ourselves, our children and
future generations.
We
imagine truth, beauty, security, power, wealth, intimacy, responsibility, perfection
and permanence. Yet all these dreams are
limited by reality, even our lives as we know them. When we dream, we also experience pain: the
pain that our dreams are not realized, may be difficult or impossible to
realize, and if realized, may become unrealized again. Our country music expresses the pain that
accompanies love.
I
have found it useful to identify four reactions to being caught in the jaws of
dreams and reality.
1.
Being Less than Human: We can try to avoid dreaming, relaxing the pressure
from the lower jaw. We try to believe
that we can seldom realize our dreams, so it isn’t worth trying. God, society, someone, our own inadequacies
or bad luck will prevent us from realizing our dreams. We are victims. Moan.
Whine.
2.
Being More than Human: We can believe that we can realize our dreams if we
work hard and smart enough. We try to
relieve the pressure by relaxing the pressure from the upper jaw. Inevitably, we fail to achieve some of our
dreams. We may reexamine our approach
and intensify our efforts. Or we may
burn out for at least a while.
3.
Sneak Thieves:
Instead of trying to be less than human by refusing to dream, or trying to be
more than human (to play God) by being all knowledgeable and powerful, we can
act like sneak thieves. We run back and
forth among our various dreams, ramping some up when they appear achievable and
ramping others down when their realization appears blocked. We have little commitment to our dreams. Instead of watching milestones for success,
watch quit posts. Their major response
is “I’m out of here.”
4.
Spiritual Glue:
A fourth alternative is to both dream and accept that reality will limit realization
of our dreams. We commit to our dreams,
work hard and smart to realize them; but know that we will often get
scrunched. Instead of relaxing the
pressure of the jaws in which we live, we focus upon developing a spiritual
glue which enables us to withstand the pressure. Like a football player, we get up from a
failed (or successful) attempt, learn from it, evaluate our new situation and
decide our response. We feel our pain,
but don’t let it stop us.
We
all learn all four responses to our human situation. We all make each of them on occasion. The fourth alternative provides us the best
basis for using our freedoms, including freedoms which are enhanced by our
government. Dave Thomas
Recommended Books – See our list of books for liberals
Thomas
Hine, 2002, I Want That. How We All Became Shoppers.
Thomas Hine describes the
many reasons we shop: for nourishment, for fantasy, to define ourselves, to
belong to groups, to be powerful, responsibility, to celebrate and how these
have occurred historically. Read this to
rationally consider your own shopping.
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- Christy Pacheco- johnpacheco01@yahoo.com 425-653-3565
· Data
Entry- $10 per 12 font, double
spaced page- Christy Pacheco (425-653-3565 johnpacheco01@yahoo.com)
· Debt
Elimination Counseling, Seminars and
Workshops – price negotiable – Sherry Brandt (206-356-8034, somerev2@comcast.net)
· Home
Repair- prices vary, depending
on job- John Pacheco 425-653-3565 johnpacheco01@yahoo.com)
· Home Repair
and Remodeling, Rick Hegdahl (206-227-6280 vikingnw@comcast.net)
· Housekeeper, price negotiable – Laura Montano (641-5038 ambar_lau@hotmail.com)
· Life Support
Therapies, Astara Burlingame RN. (MD)
holistic care, acupuncture hypno therapy, biological medicines (206-370-0356)
· 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)