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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 Without a vision, the people perish. Proverbs
29:18 Write the vision; make it plain upon
tablets. For still the vision awaits
its Time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will
surely come, it will not delay. Habakkuk
2:2-3
Calendar of Events
Friday, July 25 at 7 PM at Gibson Hall
(
Friday, July 25 at 6:30 PM at
Tuesday, July 29 at 6:30 PM at 1st
Presbyterian Church (
Wednesday, July 30 at 6 PM at Gibson Hall in the
Thursday, July
31 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Sammamish Public Library (
Sunday, August 3 at 1 PM at
Monday, August 4 at 1 PM at home of Beth Brunton
(dead end at 29th and Holgate) - Potluck Picnic and Dialogue with E.P. Menon on the State of the World,
sponsored by Rainier Valley Neighbors for Peace and Justice.
Tuesday, August 12 at 6:30 PM at Temple B’nai Torah
(
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Opportunities, Petitions and Feedback
Feedback
Our
Website has been improved. Our Basic
Training menu now offers more commentaries.
Our Commentary menu offers three new pages formed by combining
commentaries which have appeared in our newsletter:
Three
Crises: Peak Oil, Financial Bubble and Global Warming
Reforming
Our
Affordable
Housing and Urban Transportation
These
will be updated as more relevant commentaries are published.
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.
Get Wellstone
Action’s Winning Elections the Wellstone
Way
See Paul Loeb’s organizing
tools: one, two, three.
Wellstone
Action canvassing instructions
Take
a quiz concerning how green is your vacation.
See the Story of Stuff (video).
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?
Sign up for Democracy for
America Night School featuring George Lakoff.
See Barack Obama’s
speech on national security and the war in Iraq (video).
See Vote Vets’ ad asking McCain to
set timeline for exiting Iraq (video).
Petitions and
Donations
Endorse the Global Marshall Plan proposed by the Network of
Spiritual Progressives.
Tell your congress
member to support Dennis Kucinich’s impeachment bill.
Add
your name to Al Gore’s challenge (video).
Tell
your congress members to ban oil drilling in sensitive areas.
Tell Washington
Board of Education to Update Washington high school’s graduation requirements.
Tell President Bush to
stop putting Conservative ideology into women’s health care.
Tell Representative Reichert to support the
International Violence Against Women Act.
Tell John McCain to ban all torture.
Commentaries
From Our Members
Lisa Dekker: Transit Initiative Should Be on
Ballot
Published by
I think you’ll hear a sigh of relief from the
public if Sound Transit does put a ‘transit only’ initiative on the
ballot. With gas at the price of liquid
gold, our air choked with CO2 and every commuter’s frustration at
the boiling point, this could be the pressure release our region needs. An initiative that gets more of us out of our
cars and into the 21st century: bring it on. Lisa
Dekker
Liberals and Democrats
Watch the Republican
Platform Fight
We have noted before
that John McCain who must run a schizophrenic campaign. To win, he must convince Conservatives that
he is a Bush loyalist and convince everyone else (who form a solid majority)
that he is a maverick who differs in important ways from President Bush. Many other Republican candidates are facing
the same dilemma.
Now this is becoming
more difficult. Conservatives are
organizing to control the Republican platform, to prevent it from reflecting
John McCain’s positions on global warming, immigration, stem cell research and
campaign finance. A platform fight could
disrupt the convention and put McCain on the spot. If conservatives lose, they will be
disgruntled. If they win, McCain and
other Republican candidates will have more difficulty appealing to the rest of
the country. For more.
Be
Careful What You Wish For
You have likely heard
the saying, “Be careful what you wish for.
You may get it.” John McCain has
challenged Barack Obama to go to
Our Best Political Weapon Is Our Values
For
centuries, we Liberals have been clear about our political vision. We dream of equality of freedom and
opportunity, of responsibility to each other as members of one community, of
competence and compassion.
Unfortunately, during the period from 1968 to 2005, many of us Liberals
forgot our vision.
Our Old and New Politics
We
and the Conservatives simply dreamed of winning elections. Of assuming power. This is what we have come to call, the Old Politics. In the aftermath of two presidential election
defeats and our 8 year National
Nightmare, we have become clearer about our vision. We have chosen a leader Barack Obama, who
seeks a New Politics. A
politics of urgency to unite to Reclaim our American Dream. An
Moderate is a Misleading Term
Barack
Obama and many of us are now able to express these values in ways that appeal
to a majority of Americans. But some people
still view things through old glasses.
Through the misleading framing that Conservatives created to demonize
us, and that our commercial media pundits adopted.
One
example is the recent misleading discussion of whether Barack Obama has changed
from being very Liberal to being moderate.
As we have expressed before, it is difficult to usefully define more and
less Liberal. We have people who
consistently stand for Liberal values and others who inconsistently depart from
them in various ways. Barack Obama is
consistently Liberal.
Purists and Pragmatists
As
we have also expressed, Liberals can differ between purists and
pragmatists. Between those who want all
or nothing and those who want to take what they can get and keep attempting to
obtain more. Between perfectionists and
those who think we will approach perfection faster by settling for
progress. And any Liberal may be a
perfectionist on some issues in some situations and a pragmatist on others.
Since
we can’t rerun history, we often can never know which strategy is the best in a
situation.
Our
Conservatives and commercial media pundits have often framed purists as
Liberals and pragmatists as Moderates.
This confuses our vision and values about which we are united and our
strategies about which we may differ. We have become clearer
about our vision and more united in our pursuit of it. Liberals agree on our vision. Upon the type of country we want to
stimulate. But we often disagree on the
political strategies which are most likely to get us there. When some of us want to go straight for our
vision, others of us are willing to proceed more cautiously to take what we can
get. On other issues, our strategies may
be reversed. Often the same people are
the purists or the pragmatists.
Perhaps
the pundits are proclaiming that Barack Obama was a purist and is now becoming
more pragmatic. They are wrong. Barack Obama has always been and is now both
a purist and a pragmatist. As we
virtually all are. In 2009, we will find
that we can make rapid progress on some issues and will do best by proceeding
more pragmatically on others. The
exciting and healthy thing will be our debates over how to proceed. This
is confusing both Conservatives and our commercial media pundits.
Some
Liberals Think They Are Conservatives
We recently expressed and debunked some
of the misleading framing concerning Liberals that Conservatives have
created and promoted. Most Americans
never fell for this framing. But many
did. Including some very prominent
Liberal thinkers. I have just been
reading God’s Politics, written in
2005 by Jim Wallis who founded the Sojourners, a
network of Liberal Christians working for justice and peace. On page 5, he states, “I actually happen to
be conservative on issues of personal responsibility, the sacredness of human
life, the reality of evil in our world, and the critical importance of
individual character, parenting and strong “family values.”
Jim Wallis is confused. He is a consistent Liberal. Liberals strongly value human life, personal
responsibility, family in which members support each other, and parenting to
raise children to be happy and successful adults. We certainly understand that all these values
are opposed and that this opposition is evil.
It is Conservatives who have opposed these values with their unnecessary
wars. In their allowing both businesses and
governments to abuse people. In their
ideology of greed and power. In their
corruption, incompetence and deception.
It is these Conservative behaviors that are evil.
We must continually frame our discussions of issues
in terms of our values. We must clearly
and repeatedly express our values, until all Liberals realize they are
Liberals. Until many Conservatives
realize that they should alter their values to become Liberals. Until even commercial media pundits
understand the difference between Liberals and Conservatives.
First Our
Values, Then Challenge Our Competitors, Finally Our Solutions
As we have expressed before, we must first express
our values. Then attack the evil values
and behaviors that obstruct the realization of our values. Only when we have clarified the differences
between our values and Conservative ones, should we proceed to give more detail
about the solutions we seek. For
more. For
more.
Obama Offers New Deal for American Manufacturing
By United Steelworkers International Vice President Tom Conway
Democrat Supports Union Choice, Health Care Reform
During 7 ½ years of the George W. Bush presidency, one out
of every five workers in manufacturing - 3.5 million all together – lost their jobs
and their ticket to the American dream.
In contrast, Democrat Sen. Barack Obama pledges to rebuild industry, and with
it our struggling middle class, by pumping billions of dollars into clean
energy technologies, innovation incentives and the nation’s crumbling
infrastructure.
Like John Edwards, our initial choice for president, Obama would make health
care coverage more universal and strongly supports the Employee Free Choice Act
(EFCA), which would free workers to choose a union without employer intimidation.
Obama believes, as do both John Edwards and Senator Hillary Clinton, that if
you work hard, you should be able to count on a job that pays the bills,
provides health care for when you get sick, a pension when you retire, a home
for your family and an education for your children so they can fulfill their
potential.
Commitment to working people
We gave a strong endorsement to Edwards when the primary
contests began last year because of his deep commitment to working people and
our shared beliefs. His support of EFCA and health care reform were widely
shared by our members.
Before he left the race, Edwards was a passionate voice for a campaign that
made this nation focus on what matters: lifting up this country and its
citizens. Obama has picked up that banner.
When Edwards endorsed Obama for president as the primary contests were winding
down in May, the USW once again found itself in agreement with him. The union’s
International Executive Board voted unanimously to endorse Obama to be the next
president.
“Senator Obama’s call for a significant change of direction amounts to far more
than a compelling rallying cry,” International President Leo W. Gerard said.
“It is buttressed by his record of consistent support for workers, by his call
for sweeping changes to our health care system, by his unflinching support for
the Employee Free Choice Act, and by his insistence that America’s trade
policies must, first and foremost, serve the interests of America’s working
families.”
Reforming trade policies
The specifics of the plan include substantial economic
incentives and reforming
Obama would end the Bush-McCain policy of giving tax breaks to the companies
that ship our jobs overseas and, instead, give those tax breaks to companies
that create good-paying jobs in the
“The fight for American manufacturing is the fight for
Central to Obama’s manufacturing revival plan is a $150- billion clean
technologies venture capital fund to promote and develop clean energy
technologies. He projects those technologies could create up to five million
new jobs that pay well and can’t be outsourced.
“The first part of this agenda is investing in clean energy – because that
isn’t just how we’ll get gas prices under control, combat climate change, and
free ourselves from the tyranny of oil;” Obama said. “It’s also how we’ll
expand American manufacturing, create quality jobs, and grow our economy.”
Rebuilding
Obama’s plans
also include a $60 billion fund to rebuild roads, bridges, transit systems and
other infrastructure and a $1- billion-a-year start-up fund system for small
and mid-sized manufacturers to convert to clean technologies.
Aiming help at automobile-dependent states like
He proposes an Advanced Manufacturing Fund that would identify and invest in
the most compelling advanced manufacturing strategies in places that have been
hard hit by the decline in manufacturing.
Rather than slashing funding for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership as the
Bush Administration did, Obama said he would double it. The program helped
create and protect over 50,000 jobs in 2006 alone, and has helped to increase
the productivity of small and midsize manufacturers by up to 16%.
“That’s the kind of smart investment that will help us rebuild American
manufacturing and make
To ensure our competitiveness over the longer term, Obama would invest in
science and math education for our children from kindergarten through graduate
school and find a solution to the health care crisis that has left 47 million
Americans without health insurance and millions more struggling to pay rising
costs.
In all, Obama plans to revitalize manufacturing and build job growth by
advancing a clean energy economy while providing for universal health care
offer a choice between real change and more of the same failed Bush policies
that have done real harm to American workers in manufacturing over the last
eight years.
“For the sake of our families, our economy, and our leadership in the world,”
he said, “we have to renew the promise of American manufacturing.” Tom
Conway
Here’s the Beef
Washington
insider commercial media pundits identify the center as more conservative than
it is.
Barack
Obama’s campaign plan to build credibility, organize grassroots and debate John
McCain.
Grassroots
organizing may be crucial in closely contested states.
Barack
Obama asks for netroots support before and after our election.
Al Gore:
Together, we can meet the challenge. (video)
Al
Gore speaks to netroots assembly.
Can
Barack Obama win in red states Alaska, Montana and North Dakota.
Leading
on the economy, Barack Obama’s mid-east trip is improving his foreign policy
image.
Iraqi
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki endorsed Obama’s timeline for U.S. leaving Iraq. For more. More.
League of Conservation Voters strongly endorses
Barack Obama for president.
Conservatives believe in capitalism for the poor and socialism for the rich.
Our
economy has improved under all of our Democratic presidents better than under
any Republicans.
John McCain has no clue on
tech issues.
John
McCain gets it wrong. Ten times.
State and
Local
See what our
EDUCATION
·
Initiated a new emphasis on early learning, funding thousands of
new enrollments, improving the wages and benefits of child care workers, and
creating a new Early Learning Department to consolidate Head Start, Early
Childhood Education, and child care programs.
·
Funded a historic increase in basic education funding, including
all-day kindergarten, class size reduction, special education, transportation,
math curriculum, and other concerns.
·
Doubled the state investment in school construction across
·
Implemented two citizen initiatives, I-728 to reduce class
sizes, and I-732 to raise salaries of teachers and school employees.
·
Created the Education Legacy Trust Fund, generating new revenue
from wealthy estates to help pay for our public schools and higher education
institutions.
·
Expanded higher education enrollments, as well as financial aid
through state need grants, vastly increasing opportunities for students to get
a college education, particularly for jobs in high demand fields.
·
Created the Opportunity Grants program, providing free tuition
and educational stipends for thousands of students in community colleges,
linking students to specific jobs.
·
Approved a constitutional amendment for simple majorities for school
levies, allowing the voters to make it easier to approve operating levies
for local school districts.
·
Forced a major reform of math curriculum and testing, matching
new learning standards with the requirements of modern-day jobs in the real
world.
·
Initiated a Community Schools program, to open up public school
facilities for multi-purpose community activities, co-location of related
non-profit agencies such as Boys and Girls Clubs, and ensuring that surplus
school properties are kept for community and public use.
·
Enhanced Career and Technical Education programs and Skills
Centers to provide better connections to high demand jobs and more modern
training facilities.
·
Reformed and expanded the Learning Assistance Program, to target
extra support to low-income students who are struggling to succeed in our
public schools.
HEALTH CARE AND SOCIAL SECURITY
·
Enacted one of the best and most comprehensive Children's Health
programs in the nation, guaranteeing that all kids have health care, with a
medical home and other services, regardless of income or background.
·
Transformed home care for tens of thousands of elderly and
disabled people, greatly increasing training, wages, and benefits for home care
workers, and thereby improving the quality of care for our most vulnerable
citizens.
·
Enacted mental health parity, requiring insurance plans to
include treatment for mental illness, just like any physical illness.
·
Increased mental health funding significantly, back-filling
federal budget cuts and giving new tools for local communities to better serve
the mentally-ill.
·
Created a prescription drug buyer's consortium, using the
state's purchasing power to save tens of millions of dollars every year for
individuals and health care plans.
·
Enacted one of the best Patient's Bill of Rights in the nation,
ensuring that health care decisions are more in the hands of patients and their
doctors, thereby fostering better care and patient safety.
·
Dedicated significant revenues to tobacco prevention, helping
reduce the % of smokers to a historic low, and making
·
Improved hospital safety, enacting legislation to help prevent
staff injuries caused by needle sticks, patient lifting, and other factors.
·
Doubled funding for the state's Housing Trust Fund to $200
million, building tens of thousands of new homes for low-income people,
including the elderly, disabled, homeless, farm workers, and low-wage workers.
·
Created the Home Security Fund and the Washington Families
Fund, providing ongoing services to tens of thousands of poor people,
particularly homeless families as well as individuals, and thereby helping
break the cycle of poverty.
·
Extended unemployment insurance benefits for victims of domestic
violence.
·
Reformed foster care in the state, by providing much greater
funding and better oversight of the placements and services for children in
foster care.
JOBS
·
Approved a massive influx of transportation investments, more
than any legislature in state history, beginning construction of hundreds of
new projects across the state, making the roads safer, lessening congestion,
and spurring the economy.
·
Cultivated an Ag Agenda, providing significant tax relief and
investing in new research and technology for
·
Created the Life Sciences Fund and invested in the Global Health
Challenge, allocating hundreds of millions of dollars to high-tech research
that will help save lives across the world and encourage innovations in our
state's economy.
·
Broadened collective bargaining rights to more workers than any
legislature in decades, including home care, child care, and higher education,
as well as state employees through civil service reform.
·
Protected the best minimum wage in the nation from numerous
attempts to repeal and restrict the wage level and annual cost-of-living
adjustments.
·
Approved paid family medical leave, which will provide workers
with financial assistance when they need to take care of their newborn children
or adoptees, making
·
Created worker re-training programs, assisting tens of thousands
of dislocated workers to get new jobs in the economy, making
·
Worked with a broad-based coalition to design and enact a package of
legislation for the aerospace industry, leading to the decision to
construct the 787 Dreamliner in
·
Enacted a series of laws to require and encourage apprenticeship
programs, including Running Start for the Trades, Helmets to Hardhats, and
other programs, to enlist workers in the high-skills, high-wages jobs in
construction, aerospace, health care, and other fields.
·
Created a linked-deposit program, to finance women and
minority-owned businesses, helping entrepreneurs to achieve the American Dream.
·
Initiated a Building Communities Fund, to construct community
centers and facilities, bringing together and uplifting local communities
across the state.
ENVIRONMENT
Adopted
Green Building Standards for public construction projects, requiring a
higher level of design and construction to protect and enhance the environment.
Enacted an Energy Freedom agenda, requiring
bio-fuels standards, and funding a variety of capital projects and research
efforts to encourage alternative energy that will promote cleaner air and
independence from foreign oil.
Doubled the investment in the Washington
Wildlife and Recreation Program to $100 million for recreation, open space,
and habitat projects across the
Adopted clean car standards, matching
Enacted the Puget Sound Partnership, a
massive undertaking to clean up our largest waterway, including major funding
for a variety of projects focused on getting the job done.
Launched and funded a rescue tug stationed
at
Passed legislation to promote e-waste recycling
of electronics equipment, one of the first states in the nation to do so.
Mandated bans on toxic substances, including
mercury and PBDEs, from the marketplace, in order to lessen the risks to public
health.
Established state-wide goals, standards, and
timelines, among the most aggressive in the nation, for reducing greenhouse
gas emissions to address global warming.
Initiated a Green Jobs program, to develop
opportunities in the new green economy, addressing recruitment, education, and
training needs for businesses and workers.
Enacted laws, including a ban on toxic toys,
the toughest in the nation, as well as pesticide management in schools,
protecting our children from harmful chemicals.
Created a Local Farms, Healthy Kids effort,
promoting the production of fresh fruits and vegetables in nearby farms for
consumption through local schools and food banks.
Fostered Evergreen Cities, supporting local
efforts to protect and create urban forests, as well as street trees, thereby
enhancing quality of life and ensuring cleaner air and water.
REFORM
Stopped
all proposals for private financing and control of our public roads and
freeways, insisting that all state projects be built with public financing
in transportation, such as the very successful new
Re-structured transportation governance,
requiring the Director of Transportation to be hired and fired by the Governor,
thereby bringing a much clearer line of authority, responsibility and
accountability.
Expanded civil rights for gays and
lesbians, prohibiting discrimination in employment, finances, and other
arenas.
Created and greatly expanded a Domestic
Partnership Registry, providing gays and lesbians with many of the same
rights as married couples.
Enacted legislation greatly expanding performance
audits of programs in state agencies as well as preferences in the state's
tax code, increasing the power of the State Auditor, who is independently
elected, to employ this tool for accountability.
Blocked all proposals for undoing energy
industry regulation, inoculating
Reformed drug
sentencing laws, encouraging the use of treatment rather than incarceration
of non-violent drug offenders.
Reformed the offender
re-entry system, getting smart on fighting crime by reducing the causes and
factors of recidivism by prisoners re-entering society.
Created one of the most
progressive welfare reform efforts in the nation, Community Jobs, which
is turning welfare checks into pay checks and providing economic opportunity
for tens of thousands of low-income people.
Enacted a long list of sex
offender laws, among the toughest in the nation, increasing prison
sentences and other punishments for those who commit such crimes, and providing
greater funding for services and advocacy for victims.
Required the reporting
of sexual abuse perpetrated by members of the clergy and other similar
positions of trust.
Mandated insurance
fair conduct, empowering citizens to receive triple damages if insurance
companies unreasonably refuse or delay payment of legitimate insurance claims.
Enacted a package of
laws for medical malpractice reform, to ensure greater safety for
patients, while at the same time, lower the costs of health care.
Passed legislation to
improve patient safety, through stronger disciplinary standards and
licensing for all health care providers and mental health counselors, as well
as making real-time information more available for doctors and pharmacists to
reduce medical errors.
Mandated health
insurance reforms in the "individual market," requiring the
state's Insurance Commissioner to review and approve or deny increases in
insurance premiums.
Enacted mortgage
loan regulations, protecting consumers from unscrupulous financing,
requiring mortgage brokers to work in the best interests of consumers, and
promoting financial literacy through education and counseling for
greater homeowner security.
Expanded tenant
rights when rental units are converted to condominiums, requiring much
greater notification, relocation assistance, and other protections.
Authorized local governments
to create public campaign financing, helping reduce the impact of
special interests in elections.
Created the Working
Families Tax Credit, to provide low-wage workers with tax relief similar to
the federal Earned Income Tax Credit, making our tax system more fair and
helping families to make ends meet.
Defended the people's right
to privacy, including limits on "data skimming" of personal
information garnered from radio-frequency-identification-devices (RFIDs),
requiring consent before cell phone numbers are disclosed, and other measures.
Began a complete reform
of the state ferry system, slashing expenses in headquarters
administration, starting construction of six new ferry boats, and better
prioritizing the operating and capital budgets.
PI Editor Mark Trahunt on State spending
Published by
The state spends too much money is a refrain often
heard during election seasons. But what
if the state is spending money on programs that we actually want – radical
spending initiatives such as more money for schools, early learning and basic
infrastructure.
A study by the Washington State Budget and
The state doesn’t have a spending problem; it has a
structural revenue shortage. I’ll even
conclude with the dreaded two words for our state: income tax.
Our
An inheritance tax is an assessment made on the portion of an estate received
by an individual. It differs from an estate tax which is a tax levied on an
entire estate before it is distributed to individuals. It is strictly a state
tax. Only eleven states still collect an
inheritance tax. They are:
Washington Has an Estate Tax
As for estate taxes, the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation
Act of 2001 (EGTRRA) phases out the federal estate tax that culminates in full
repeal in 2010. On a much faster track, the legislation repeals over four years
-- 2002 through 2005 -- the federal estate tax credit to which state estate
taxes are tied. In most states, estate and inheritance taxes are designed in
such a way that states face either a full or partial loss of estate tax
revenues as this credit is phased out. States can avert this loss of revenue by
"decoupling." Decoupling means protecting the relevant parts of their
tax code from the changes in the federal tax code, in most cases by remaining
linked to federal law as it existed prior to the change.
Seventeen states and the
Of these, 12 states acted to
decouple from the federal changes.
In addition, five states and
the
On February 3, 2005, Washington State Supreme Court
unanimously held that
In response to Hemphill, the Washington State
Senate on April 19 and the Washington House on April 22, 20, by narrow majorities,
passed a stand-alone state estate tax with rates ranging from 10% to 19%, a
$1.5 million exemption in 2005 and $2 million thereafter, and a deduction for farms
for which a Sec. 2032A election could have been taken (regardless of whether
the election is made). The Governor signed the legislation. For
more.
In
the fall of 2006, anti-tax organizations in
In
reality, the tax is only paid on 200 to 250 estates a year, those worth over $2
million ($4 million for a couple). More than 99% of the state's taxpayers are
exempt. Revenue from the tax is dedicated to the Education Legacy Trust
Account, used to reduce class size in K-12 education statewide and provide
scholarships and additional financial aid to nearly 18,000 low- and
moderate-income college students.
In
the end, the repeal effort was roundly defeated by a margin of 62-38.
Majorities in all but 3 of the state's 39 counties, even in conservative
western and southeastern
The estate tax applies to about 215 estates per year, raising
about $100 million for education. Taxes range from 10 to 19 percent of the
amount over the $2 million threshold. Family farms and timberlands are exempt.
For more.
On July 20, 2008, our Seattle Times opposed putting
a light rail tax proposal on our ballot this fall. It argued that we face a state budget deficit
and replacing our SR-520 bridge and
I agree that the light rail tax proposal should not
be put on the ballot this fall. But for
different reasons. I believe that Sound
Transit’s Eastside extension is poorly conceived. It would be narrowly targeted and short
sighted, expensive and disruptive. Read
my full argument.
Bellevue’s Bel-Red Plan Scarcely Mentions
Affordable Housing
Our Bellevue/Redmond Overlake area is a major
Draft Plan includes:
S-BR-F1___
Encourage a
diversity of housing types, from high density, multi-story housing in transit
nodes, to medium density housing outside nodes, to town homes and other forms
only rarely found elsewhere in
S-BR-F2___
Promote
affordability in Bel-Red’s new housing stock, with a target that a minimum of
__% of new units be affordable to low and moderate income households, and
another __% be affordable as “workforce housing,” for households earning up to
120% of median income. These targets will be addressed through a combination of
development regulations and incentives, public investments, and other public
and private strategies, such as employer-assisted housing.
S-BR-F3___
Monitor the
affordability of new housing in Bel-Red and make adjustments to implementation
strategies, including development regulations and incentives, as needed to meet
the identified targets.
S-BR-F4___ Integrate the strategy for promoting housing
affordability in the Bel-Red area with the City-wide approach of which Bel-Red
is a part.
Final Report
Principles on Workforce/Affordable Housing
The preferred alternative envisions the creation of 5,000
additional housing units in the Bel-Red Corridor.
Vision. One element of the Bel-Red Steering
Committee’s vision for Bel-Red is that the area “will contain a variety of
housing types to meet the needs of a diverse population of varied income
levels.” While Bel-Red will likely include some high-end housing and a
predominance of market rate prices, a deliberate strategy will be required to
deliver on this vision of diversity in housing form and pricing.
Integration with larger City. As
Housing affordability approaches here should be integrated with
the City’s wider approach to the challenge of affordable housing.
Also see minutes
of October 15, 2007 Bellevue City Council study session which included
discussion of affordable housing.
Here’s the Beef
See who’s filing to run for Washington state and federal offices.
4th Congressional
candidate Democrat George Fearing argues Democrats best for central Washington.
Democrats
endorse Regina Cahan for King County Superior Court judge.
Insure
everyone in our state for health care, including mental health and dental
coverage.
Western state
leaders take lead in restricting green house gas emissions.
Diverse groups
coalesce to protect our environment.
To protect
our environment, plant natives or grow food without using chemicals.
Harmful
structures should not be protected just because they are historically typical.
Nation
and World
Others Pass
Our
Our
Vietnamese and Thai workers cost
only about ¼ as much as Chinese workers. Unlike
Here’s the Beef
Nine
reasons to investigate Bush Administration’s war crimes now.
Are
the jihadists no longer a major threat?
Should they be a major focus of our foreign policy? More.
We need
to expand our definition of terrorism to include oppression by governments.
Maryland
police fight terrorism by monitoring peace groups.
Naomi
Klein’s Shock Doctrine attributes all disasters to free market fundamentalism.
Now
its called a ‘Shampoo Economy’. Bubble. Pop. Bubble. Pop. You get the idea.
Thanks to
financial industry lobbyists, congress allowed financial fraud and bubble.
More money spent on
oil. Less on other things. Small businesses fail in record numbers.
Deregulation
increases corporate abuse of consumers.
Bankruptcy
law keeps people paying credit cards instead of house payments, increasing
foreclosures.
Our drug industry lobbyists
spent $189 million to protect their profits at our expense.
Why
is Health Care for America giving up on single payer?
Our
Bush Administration attempts to privatize school buses.
Bush
threatens to veto bill which puts money into our Highway Trust Fund.
Pentagon
pushes auditors to overlook corruption.
Reversing
a long term trend, women are leaving the labor force. Why?
Fewer good jobs.
About
1/13th of American households own 8 million RVs, with average
mileage of 8 mpg. For
more.
Urban
transportation needs rail and bus lines, bike and walkways.
Al Gore (renewable
energy) and T. Boone Pickens (windmills) are previewing 2009 Democratic push.
Israel’s
stranglehold on and attacks on Gaza create a humanitarian disaster. For more.
Can we save our
world’s coral reefs?
Our Liberal Spirit
We
humans are like other animals in many ways.
We are born, live and die. We
eat, sleep and defecate. We have sex and
often have children. But we are also
difficult from other animals. More than
other animals, we have imagination. We
imagine what we have never experienced and even what has never existed. We dream of a better life, family, workplace,
community, society and world. For
ourselves, our children and future generations.
Many
of us do not reflect upon and consciously make decisions about our vision for
our lives. When asked, “What do you want
to be when we grow up?”, we may name an occupation. Few of us go beyond this to consider what
type of life we want to live and what impacts we want to have. If pushed, many of us might answer in terms
of what we want to achieve or obtain for ourselves.
We
may indicate that we want to help others.
But I guess that few of us would indicate what types of changes we would
like to make to our communities, society or world. I guess that few of us have a clear idea of
what type of community, society or world we would like to have. Or what might be necessary to produce
these. Or what our role might be.
For
centuries, a clear Liberal political vision has existed. Consisting of equality of freedom and
opportunity, of responsibility to each other, of competence, compassion and
community. Unfortunately, during the
period from 1968 to 2005, many of us Liberals forgot our vision. We and the Conservatives participated in the Old Politics. We simply dreamed of winning elections. Of assuming power.
Fortunately,
we have now reclaimed our long held vision.
Once again, we dream of realizing our values. Of Reclaiming our American Dream. Of uniting to create a society in which we
all thrive. To be effective, each of us
Liberals need to embrace our New
Politics. We need to become clear
about our political vision, ways to achieve it and our role. Only then can we mean it when we say, “Yes we
can.”
Recommended Books –
See our list of books for
liberals
Jeffrey
Feldman, 2007, Framing the Debate, Famous
Presidential Speeches and how Progressives Can Use Them to Change the
Conversation (and Win Elections)
Jeffrey
Feldman, 2008, Outright Barbarous, How
the Violent Language of the Right Poisons American Democracy
Bernie
Horn, 2008, Framing the Future, How
Progressive Values Can Win Elections and Influence People
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.