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Replacing
Republican Legislators Quotes of the Week Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. I
Corinthians When you find yourself in a hole, stop
digging. This also applies to
drilling for oil. Dave Thomas You Must See Movie ‘Swing Vote’ on Old & New Politics
Calendar of Events
You Must See Movie ‘Swing Vote’ on Old & New Politics. If You Liked ‘Pay It Forward’, You’ll Like
This Movie. A Different Kind of
Celebrity.
Saturday, August 9 at 8:30 AM at I-90 Exit 32 (
Tuesday, August 12 at 6:30 PM at Temple B’nai Torah
(
Tuesday, August 12 at 6:30 PM at Temple B’nai Torah
(
Tuesday, August 19 at 6:30 PM at Issaquah Brewhouse
(35 W. Sunset Way #C, Issaquah) – 5th
Legislative District Primary Election Results Party. RSVP.
Thursday, August 21 at 7:30 PM at Fellowship Hall
of the United Church of Christ (Rockefeller at
Thursday, August 28 at 7:30 PM at Mukilteo Coffee
Roasters, Inc. (5331 Crawford Road, Langley) – Health Care Forum sponsored by Island County Chapter of Health Care
for All - Washington
Saturday, September 6 at 6 PM at Mainstage Comedy
Club (
Barbara Rader of Black Widow Web Development created our
Puget Sound Liberals Website, to which I can easily add, modify and remove
files. Learn more
about this unique company, which offers a 50% discount for organizations
that promote social justice and environmental stewardship.
Opportunities, Petitions and Feedback
Communication with Our
Members and Feedback
Our
Website has been improved. Our Basic
Training menu now offers more commentaries.
Our Commentary menu offers four new pages formed by combining
commentaries which have appeared in our newsletter:
· Three
Crises: Peak Oil, Financial Bubble and Global Warming
· Reforming
Our Washington State Tax System
· 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?
Watch ACLU and Rick Steves’ video
‘Marijuana: It’s Time for a Conversation’.
Try
MoveOn’s new game: What’s the difference between President Bush and Senator
John McCain?
See Paul Loeb’s organizing
tools: one, two, three.
Wellstone Action provides
organizing tools online.
Wellstone Action's
Top Ten Tips for Winning Your Election
Wellstone
Action canvassing instructions
Sign up for Democracy for
America Night School featuring George Lakoff.
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.
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job with Russ Feingold’s 2008 Patriot Corps?
View the ‘Corporals’ Diary’ in
Seattle.
Get your free Barack Obama
ring tone.
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Commentaries
From Our Members
Henry King Stanford Jr. on Permitting Bicyclists
Published by
Your July 30 editorial,
"Critical Mass-ively dumb," was a good one. Perhaps organizations
such as Critical Mass should be required to apply for a parade permit whenever
they wish to hold what is essentially a protest demonstration through the
streets of
This would allow the
city to set routes that minimize the possibility of conflict between
automobiles and bicycles. The Seattle Police Department would be better able to
prevent power- and ego-tripping cyclists from deliberately impeding the flow of
automobile traffic. Henry King
Stanford Jr.
Guest Column by Blair Anundon
Published by
Road and Bridge Maintenance Should Be Priority Over
New Construction
Guest Column by Duff Badgley,
Green Party Candidate for Governor
Published by
Transformational Change or Global Warming
Email from Marcee Stone
Useful Information from Wellstone
I cannot say enough about the Wellstone
website. There is tons of information on their about advocating,
campaigning, fundraising, messaging, organizing, etc. I am showing 2
links here. One that is a simple compact list on how to win an election
(think legislation or initiative rather than candidate) and the second one has
just tons of very useful information. Please take a look remembering the
work we have cut out for us to get public campaign funding for the State
Supreme Court through
Liberals and Democrats
Endorsements for Primary Candidates
See who’s filing to run for Washington state and federal offices. Google any candidates to find their website,
which may show their endorsements.
League
of Women Voters explains top-2 primary
--------------------------Endorsements---------------------------------------------------------------
Progressive
Majority NARAL
Pro-Choice Washington
Washington Conservation Voters Sierra Club Cascade
Chapter
Washington State Labor
Council King County Labor
Council
Washington
State Democratic Party King County
Democratic Party
King County Bar
Association Municipal League of King
County
Washington
Education Association
Is Obama an Arrogant Celebrity?
In 1952, Dwight Eisenhower ran for president as a
Republican. He and Harry Truman had been
friends who respected each other. But
Eisenhower’s new Republican colleagues persuaded him he must run against Truman
and his record. Truman was deeply
chagrinned at this betrayal of their friendship.
Arrogance?
I believe that John McCain dislikes campaigns of
personal destruction. McCain suffered
from such attacks by Bush supporters in 2000.
But like Eisenhower, McCain is surrounded by Republicans who strongly
support character assassination. So we
are seeing Barack Obama portrayed as arrogant.
Which is ridiculous. His writings
and speeches clearly indicate that Obama is one of our least arrogant
politicians. He has repeatedly referred
to himself as flawed and indicated he wants his colleagues and supporters
provide needed corrections. But no
matter how silly the accusation, our commercial media gives it prominence and
their pundits discuss it until the next silly accusation occurs.
Celebrity?
The Republicans have also compared Barack Obama to
two dissolute White women, Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. He might better be compared to such
celebrities as John Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Robert Redford or Paul
Newman. More such nonsense can be
expected. It is not clear how effective
such advertisements are. I guess that
few supporters of either candidate are affected, nor are those who are paying
little attention to politics. Their
major effect may be to distract attention from more serious policy
discussions. These personal attacks by
Republicans and sustained by our commercial media pundits may harm our voters
more than they harm either candidate.
Sense of
Humor?
The New Yorker printed a cover which lampooned
Barack and Michelle Obama with many Conservative attack items. When some people objected, the response was,
“Don’t you have a sense of humor?” What
would the response have been if a cover had lampooned John and Cindy McCain as
a crotchety often-confused old man and his trophy wife who keeps him? Would everyone have a sense of humor about
such a portrayal?
You Must See Movie ‘Swing Vote’ on Old & New Politics. If You Liked ‘Pay It Forward’, You’ll Love
This Movie. A Different Kind of Celebrity.
Here’s the Beef
Here’s a satire about John McCain,
instead of Barack Obama.
Barack
Obama is a secret U.N. agent. President
Bush is a secret Al Qaeda agent.
John
McCain and Republicans escalate their whining.
Barack
Obama clearly leads John McCain in electoral votes.
Barack
Obama is doing well in many red states, but racist southern states cut his
national polls.
Barack Obama may win red mountain
states, but not red Appalachian states.
Since Richard Nixon’s
presidency, racists vote for Republicans, not Democrats.
Barack
Obama is running hard in red state Alaska.
Bankers
produced our credit mess. Now both
presidential candidates seek their advice.
Is Barack Obama
Partial to Hedge Fund Managers?
Barack
Obama seeks advice from a wide range of economic advisors.
See Barack Obama’s
speech on national security and the war in Iraq (video).
Dear Barack Obama,
these are the changes we believe in.
Will universal
health care be included in our Democratic Party platform?
Our
Bush Administration attempts to stigmatize family planning and contraception.
Are voters so
impressed by John McCain’s heroism, that they ignore his policies/
Barack
Obama and John McCain disagree about nuclear energy, drilling for oil, and
taxing big oil.
State and
Local
No on Proposition 1 Again
Supporters
of Proposition 1
Unlike
the first Proposition 1, the second Proposition 1 includes public transit (rail
and bus service) without including expanding our highways. Environmentalists will find it more
attractive, including many of the young voters whom Barack Obama has inspired
to vote. The Sierra Club (which opposed
the first Proposition 1) is supporting this second Proposition 1. As an environmentalist, I support public
transit, but not this particular proposal.
Commercial interests in
Opponents
of Proposition 1
Opposed to the second Proposition 1 will be people
who oppose higher taxes for any or almost any purpose. And those who notice that Sound Transits
proposals have promised more than they deliver.
Their
projects have been over-budget and behind schedule. Ted Van Dyk states, “Second, the new elected board should undertake a
first-principles review of Sound Transit plans and priorities. Its Sounder
service has proven horrendously expensive while carrying far fewer passengers
than originally projected. The light rail system is billions over the promised
price tag, years behind construction schedule, and missing several stations
from the plan voters initially approved. Meantime, the agency has shortchanged
less expensive bus and bus rapid transit options which would make an immediate
difference in addressing area congestion. Now is the time for a timeout and
fundamental review. (I have little doubt that such a review would result in
a light rail cutback, perhaps even termination, and investing of greater
resources in more cost-effective transit alternatives). After the review, the
board should consider the content of a 2010 ballot measure.” For
more.
Former Washington State Transportation Secretary
Doug McDonald also criticizes Sound Transit. McDonald has opposed
light rail in favor of increased bus service, which serves more locations. Ron
Sims opposes Proposition 1 as light rail later instead of expanded bus
service now. Opposition will also come
from Eastside people who realize that the proposed light rail connecting
Highway only groups which oppose public transit
will also oppose Proposition 1. It should
be noted that the increasing cost of gasoline may reduce automobile trips to
the extent that our existing highways are mostly sufficient. Also opposed will be people from Snohomish
and
I believe Sound Transits politics are closer to the
Old (Special Interest Group) Politics than to the New (Public Interest) Politics. They want to win to satisfy their many
supporters who expect to obtain the contracts and work that will result. They are more concerned with commercial
interests than with the interests of people wanting to travel between various
places in our area. They are less
concerned that they realize a vision that serves all the people of our
region.
One benefit of defeating our second Proposition 1
may be replacing Sound Transit which orients to only a few commercial interests
and those who benefit from constructing its projects with a regional planning
and transportation agency which better represents the people of our region. Our
state government might create such a new regional planning agency. For more. Hopefully a new agency can also implement a
better way of assessing taxes to support transportation projects. Imagine smaller more manageable projects (as
part of a long range plan) with a proportion of taxes for each project coming
from the area it serves and another portion coming from the broader area.
Our
Based on a 2006 report by the Institute for Washington’s Future
Our Counties provide traditional services such as
keeping records, enforcing laws and building and maintaining roads. Many new services have been added from social
services to health to environmental protection.
County governments are funded through funds from
federal and state government, property taxes, fees for services and sales
taxes, ordered from most to least. Many
of these taxes may have restrictions placed upon how they can be spent. The amounts per capita varies markedly among
counties. Changing boundaries, uneven
distribution of tax capacity and unfunded mandates (imposition of new
obligations unaccompanied by revenues) affect taxing and spending. Due to restrictions and amounts, special purpose
sales taxes are increasingly opposed upon certain goods (tobacco) or certain
services (entertainment).
For many counties, revenues are inadequate.
This outline was developed
to assist the making of presentations by Sound Alliance presenters to their
sponsoring organizations. Presenters may
adapt this outline to the amount of time they have, their audience, their
resources (audio, video and handouts), and their preferences, such as the
amount of audience participation (questions, discussion, etc.).
Vision
Universal and equal access to quality affordable
cost-beneficial health care
·
All persons
should have access to the same health care services (including preventive care,
physical and mental health care, dental care and prescription medicines).
·
All persons
should have access to quality health care which includes prevention,
diagnostic, curative and palliative care provided by coordinated qualified
providers using evidence-based treatments.
·
Publicly
paid-for health care should include those affordable treatments which are most
cost-beneficial. This is likely to
include many preventive treatments and few costly end-of-life interventions.
·
All persons
should be able to make informed choices among qualified providers and
treatments.
·
All persons
should have rights of privacy concerning their medical care.
Obstacles to Reform
Entrenched Existing System
·
Various
public, private and self paid-for systems provide unequal access.
·
Many people
are not covered by any public plans.
·
If their
income increases, people covered by Medicaid lose their health coverage.
·
When employees
leave their job, they lose their employer-paid health coverage.
·
Private health
insurers profit from denying coverage to possibly unhealthy people.
·
Health
insurers profit from denying payment for
treatments, needed or not.
·
Providers are
motivated by pay-for-treatment to provide unneeded treatments.
·
People expect
coverage of all treatments, regardless of their cost-benefits.
·
Insufficient
information is available about quality and cost of providers and treatments.
·
Treatment by
different providers is not coordinated.
·
Providers and
treatments are insufficiently regulated to ensure that errors are reduced.
·
People without
coverage, or too little coverage, or too high co-pay costs forgo treatment
until they are sicker and their treatment is less effective and more expensive.
·
Emergency
rooms provide expensive care which they can’t afford to patients without other
choices.
·
Expensive
medical education bars many potential providers and burdens others with large
debts.
·
Due to lack of
bargaining pressure, providers and pharmaceuticals are often paid too much.
Opposition from Vested Interests
Health insurance companies
support present profitable system.
·
Providers
often support present profitable system.
·
Employers
support present system which gives them control over employees.
·
Employees with
excellent health care system resist reforms which make help others at their
expense.
The
present system which has pitted insurers against providers, employers and
employees has harmed the latter such that they are increasingly receptive to
change.
Misconceptions of Consumers and Voters
·
Consumers fear
government-paid insurance when it is labeled socialistic.
·
Consumers fear
losing choice of providers, even when they won’t.
·
Consumers fear
higher taxes to pay for public coverage, even when they will save enough money
that they are now paying that their total costs will decline.
Strategies
Here in
The Washington State
Legislature has identified five health care proposals for the state to consider
and evaluate. Each proposal will have an
actuarial analysis by mathematica Incorporated, who with provide a report of their
findings by February 2009.
Each plan will be analyzed
to determine if it provides every Washingtonian with access to quality,
affordable health care with a choice of doctors.
The following proposals
are being studied by the legislature:
The “Private Insurance Deregulation” Plan
·
Regulations
controlling the insurance industry in
·
The cost of
coverage would be determined by age.
Young people would pay less and older people would pay more. People who purchase individual insurance
could be denied coverage based on health status, as is currently allowed by
law.
·
This proposal
would increase the use of high-deductible plans with Health Savings Accounts.
The “
·
Washingtonians
would be able to choose from a variety of plans offered by insurance companies.
·
Health plans
would be overseen by a Governor-appointed board to encourage the use of
preventive and primary care, and assist individuals and employers in the
selection of a health care plan.
·
People who
can’t afford coverage, or aren’t eligible for public coverage, may be able to
receive help paying premiums.
·
Employers who
don’t offer coverage would incur financial penalties.
·
Once
affordable options are available, every Washingtonian would be required to have
health insurance.
The ‘
·
Every
Washingtonian would be guaranteed a choice of public or private coverage.
·
All plans
would be required to offer a level of coverage equal to what state elected
officials currently receive. In
addition, individuals or employers could choose to purchase coverage above the
standard benefits.
·
To finance
coverage, employers and individuals would pay a percentage of payroll in place
of what they currently spend on health care.
The “Single Payer” Plan
·
Every
Washingtonian would be guaranteed coverage from a health insurance plan
administered by the state, which would provide a standard, comprehensive level
of benefits.
·
Everyone would
contribute to the cost, with larger employers paying a percent of their payroll
and employees over a certain income paying a standard monthly premium.
The “Guaranteed Health Benefits” Plan
·
Every
Washingtonian would be guaranteed coverage through a private insurer for
catastrophic care, annual check-ups, immunizations and cancer screenings.
·
Individuals
and employers would be able to purchase additional coverage for uncovered
services.
·
To finance
coverage, employers and individuals would pay a percentage of payroll in place
of what they currently spend on catastrophic care, with smaller employers
paying a lower percentage than larger employers.
Subsidized 24/7 Clinics Can Reduce Health Costs
Our state legislature
might consider a
sixth proposal, which would seek to provide subsidized preventive and
primary care to people who don’t have coverage for such services. Such people may now go to and place a
financial burden on much more expensive emergency rooms. Or they may delay care until they become much
sicker and require much more expensive treatment.
Our state would encourage
the implementation of every day extended hour preventive and primary care
clinics in the vicinity of each of our emergency rooms. They would offer state subsidized treatment
for patients without adequate coverage for such services. The number of patients would be limited,
since they would not include people covered by Medicare, Medicaid, Veterans
care or private insurance. Our state
government would bargain with the clinics to control their prices and to ensure
that generic drugs are prescribed.
Unless money was available for extensions, these clinics would not
provide specialty care. These clinics
might be compared to the ones which private
companies are establishing in order to save money. These clinics would be cost-beneficial, since
none of the money would go to private insurers or to people who have other
coverage. Emergency room admissions triage might direct non-emergency
patients to these clinics.
Obtain Universal Health Care by Expanding Medicare
Only
government paid single payer health coverage will provide affordable universal
coverage. Medicare provides health
coverage to 43 million seniors and disabled at much less cost than private
insurance coverage. Medicare provides a
wider choice of providers than do private insurance plans. For more. One approach to obtaining universal coverage
is to begin lowering the age requirement below age 65 and begin insuring
children and increasing the age requirement as funds become available. For
more.
To control the costs of Medicare and release funds
for expanding its coverage to more people, recipients could be encouraged to
seek coordinated evidenced based treatment, with pay for results instead of
treatment, more coverage for effective prevention and less for costly
end-of-life care.
Our Coordinated Campaign Should Be Coordinated?
In 2006, our Lake Hills Liberals group met with
representatives of the Democratic Coordinated Campaign to create a plan for identifying
Democratic Lake Hills voters and persuade them to vote. The Coordinated Campaign failed to follow
through with their promise to provide us with brochures. We created our own generic Democratic
brochures. We visited 1200 houses in our
12 precincts, identified 1000 additional Democratic voters and distributed
brochures for all 3 of our legislative candidates to the houses of all 1700 of
our Democratic voters. Our Democratic
candidates were elected by several percentage points more in Lake Hills than in
the whole 48th Legislative District.
Two years ago, many local grassroots organizers,
volunteers and donors complained that the coordinated campaign staff paid
little attention to their concerns or ideas, nor thanked them for their
efforts. These complaints were one of
the reasons many people encouraged
But different priorities of the coordinated
campaign and grassroots organizers may inevitably lead to frictions. Our
coordinated campaign is focused upon electing Barack Obama, Governor Gregoire.
And in our Eastside,
One would hope that our coordinated campaign staff
for each legislative district would assemble the PCOs and other activists to
create a joint plan for canvassing and get-out-the-vote efforts. But this hasn’t happened. The result of the independent actions of the
coordinated campaign, is that canvassing blitzes are occurring in precincts
already being well attended by PCOs, and the blitzes have inefficiently focused
upon only a few candidates instead of all of them. I have received complaints from PCOs that
members of their precincts resent the superficial selling approach of blitz
canvassers who don’t know the neighborhood.
There is still time for our Coordinated Campaign to
do a better job of coordination. I hope
they will do so for increased effectiveness and efficiency. I hope we will create a statewide 12 month a
year every year coordinated Campaign which will seamlessly include our local
precinct organizers. Only a few
Democratic Legislative Districts have done this in the past.
Democratic Officials Should Use the Bully Pulpit
Great leaders do not just
attempt to implement what is popular.
They use their own judgment to decide what will best serve their
constituents. Where their constituents
don’t support the leader’s choices, the leader attempts to change their opinion. Great leaders use the bully pulpit. One is the differences between the New
Politics and the Old Politics is that using the Bully Pulpit replaces
pandering.
We have seen Barack Obama
at the national level and Christine Gregoire at the state level use the Bully
Pulpit. Unfortunately, we have seldom
seen our
Here’s the Beef
See who’s filing to run for Washington state and federal offices.
What’s new with Christine Gregoire’s
campaign for governor.
Democrats
defend state compacts with tribal gambling interests.
Bush
administration designates I-5 bridge over Columbia River as high priority.
Non-profit
companies are constructing green buildings.
In
the absence of federal action, states are creating cap and trade systems.
We
need to divert undue big oil profits to maintaining our infrastructure and
safety net.
Darcy Burner is one
of sixteen women who ran and lost and are running again for congress.
Nation
and World
How Can We Resist and Turn Back Neo-Conservatism?
In last week’s newsletter, we summarized and
commented upon Naomi Klein’s 2007 book, The Shock
Doctrine. The Neo-Conservatives
quickly discovered that it was difficult to produce Crony Capitalism through
deregulating, privatizing, dismantling public services and reducing taxes on
the rich in Democratic Societies.
Democracies must first be overthrown and democratic tendencies
suppressed through fear produced by shock tactics.
What we have also learned is that Crony Capitalism
doesn’t produce the productive societies that Neo-Conservatives proclaimed
would happen. It produces increased
economic inequality. Unless repression
can be sustained, people power arises to restore Democracy as occurred in the
The
The increasing strength of the International
Criminal Court will penalize those who would impose torture and murder upon
Democratic activists, weakening the shock treatments necessary to imposing
Neo-Conservative Crony Capitalism. The
forty year period (during and after the Cold War) when Crony Capitalism thrived
is hopefully over. We still need the
international ability to protect people from abuse by their own government and
settle civil wars within countries, such as in
Corporations: Three Strikes and You’re Out
Corporations are legally considered to be people,
with similar rights. Should they also
have similar responsibilities and punishments for their criminal behavior? We have enacted three strikes and you’re out
legislation to permanently lock up people who repeatedly break our laws. Why shouldn’t we similarly ban corporations
from doing business after they have repeatedly broken our laws?
We have also placed lifetime limits upon how long
people can receive welfare payments.
Should we also place lifetime limits upon how long corporations can
receive subsidies?
Do We Need More or Less Credit?
As we have noted before, American debt (government,
corporate and household) has increased enormously during the last 30
years. Our finance industry is now 25%
of our economy. Our financial workers are
getting paid enormous sums for creating debt instead of products. Much of the debt creation has been fraudulent
and abusive. Increasing debt wrecks
productive companies, while creating bubbles of unproductive ones. When the bubbles burst, the response of our
Federal Reserve, congress and administration has been to create, allow and
encourage more debt. We may now have
reached the limit at which our whole economy collapses.
What we need is not more debt, but more investment
in productive enterprise. Our government
should invest in maintaining and improving our physical and social
infrastructure, paying for it by fairly taxing higher income people who now
benefit from our infrastructure without paying to maintain it. Other public funds should be obtained by
canceling subsidies which have been given to wealthy and powerful industries. The money saved should be used to motivate
the creation and implementation of new technologies, in such industries as
conservation and non-carbon based energy.
These investments in jobs will produce much more
demand to sustain our economy than have the tax cuts. These investments will provide sustainable
growth unlike simply expanding credit and debt.
Let’s provide our families with opportunities for more earned income
instead of more debt.
Barack Obama has stated that with our many pressing
needs, we can not eliminate our federal deficits as quickly as we would
like. By increasing taxes on those who
are now unfairly getting a cheap ride and diverting unhelpful expenditures to
helpful ones, we can meet our pressing needs while still beginning to reduce
our deficits. We should replace all
subsidies which aren’t tied to results with ones which are tied to
results.
To discourage corporate debt, we should change our
corporate tax laws to eliminate deductions for interest paid on loans (as was the
case between 1986). This would return
much of our financing to equity financing instead of debt financing. No more junk bonds, fewer hostile takeovers
and strip-mining of company assets needed for long term production.
To discourage personal debt, we should eliminate
deductions for interest paid. An
exception might be an inflation adjusted $10,000 in interest paid on first
mortgages upon a primary residence. We
could eliminate deductions of interest on secondary (vacation) residences and
upon non-residential properties. To
reduce the dislocations, the new interest policies might be phased in over a
few years. One hope would be that over
time, housing prices would be reduced to levels such that more people could
afford them. And that new houses would
be more reasonably sized and priced.
We should also shift our payroll taxes to a
consumer tax, such as a VAT or sales tax, in order to reduce our motivation to
borrow in order to consume. An increased
proportion of our demand should come from investment to produce needed public
goods and services instead of consumption of private goods and services. These changes appear alien to our consumer
oriented society. But we can see them in
effect in
Warren Buffett’s Plan to Reduce Our Trade Deficit
Warren Buffett has warned of the dangers of our
increasing trade deficit. He has proposed
a cap and trade system to reduce our trade deficit. Certificates would be required to import
goods. These certificates might be
auctioned by our government, which would thus control the amount of
imports. Fewer imports would result in a
lesser trade deficit. It would also
produce higher prices of the goods which face less competition from foreign
goods. For more.
However, countries which export many goods to us
and our World Trade Organization may successfully object to this restriction on
trade.
Even as smog envelops
Here’s the Beef
Culture of
Corruption = Crony Capitalism For
more.
Our Country got richer, but our increased
wealth went to the already wealthy.
Government
assumption of private housing loans gone bad may lead to a bigger bubble.
Who
subsidizes and who taxes gasoline prices?
Fully
inflating our tires saves more gasoline now than offshore drilling will produce
later.
Eating meat and
driving SUVs both contribute to global warming.
A way to store
solar energy for later use may have been found.
Electric
cars are becoming available.
Automobile
drivers need to be trained to respect bicycles and other two wheeled vehicles.
Oregon
may try to measure the energy consumption of the stuff we buy and use.
Increasing
mineral resources prices cause increase in value of recyclable garbage.
Is eating locally
produced food a fad or more?
Wal-Mart lectures employees
that Barack Obama will support unionization.
Fewer
jobs, Fewer full-time jobs, Less Pay.
Yuk!
General
Motors is delaying health insurance payments for retirees, but not their
illnesses.
SEIU is publicizing health
insurance abuses in various states.
Our health
insurance industry is preparing to fight public health coverage.
11 million people with
chronic diseases go untreated due to lack of health insurance.
Insurers with
access to information about your medications can eliminate you from coverage.
Eliminate terrorist
groups through intelligence and police instead of military action.
Global
warming is the most dangerous weapon of mass destruction.
Both Democrats and
Republicans support Israeli oppression of Palestinians.
Our United States
will almost surely quit funding Iraqi reconstruction.
Our congress gives
$80 billion in broadcast channels to big commercial media.
Supporters of subsidies
for big oil companies block transferring money to renewable energies.
Our Liberal Spirit
Susceptible
as a child to colds and ear infections, I was seldom allowed to play with other
children. Instead of networking, I spent
my time reading, dreaming and thinking.
I arrived at high school, bereft of social skills. In response to rejection, I arrogantly
assumed that I was intellectually superior to others, so their responses didn’t
matter to me.
But
of course they did. I spent decades
trying to make friends by trying to impress others with my intellectual
prowess. It never occurred to me that I
was attracted to others who took an interest in my interests and activities,
instead of emphasizing theirs. My
arrogance was a defense against rejection which caused rejection.
John
Kenneth Galbraith is my favorite social scientist and role model. Exposing the flaws in our conventional
wisdom, he derides economists who sell their integrity to the wealthy and
powerful. But his intellectual arrogance
is softened by noting that we are all subject to and often succumb to the same
temptations. A critic of humanity, he
appears more amused than enraged by our human foibles.
Having
read Barack Obama’s two autobiographies and listened to many of his speeches, I
find self confidence, but fail to find arrogance. Unlike George Bush and Dick Cheney, Obama
readily admits his mistakes. Like
Galbraith, Obama often expresses his amusement at various things we humans
do. When he decides to separate himself
from another person, his reaction is more sorrow than anger. Compared to other politicians, Obama has
focused his campaign much less upon getting people to support him. He has focused upon getting people to unite
to obtain the things that
I
am not a trained psychologist. Most of
my spiritual analyses are based more upon personal experience than upon more
objective data. I don’t know why some of
us suffer from arrogance while others escape it. But arrogance certainly imposes a cost, which
may be escaped by removing it. One
approach is to note a series of occasions on which I was arrogant and the
outcomes. We can contrast that with
occasions in which I or others weren’t arrogant. Such a compilation of data can provide
motivating evidence for change.
Recommended Books –
See our list of books for
liberals
Scoblic describes
Conservatism to include the belief that
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.