Puget Sound Liberals Weekly Newsletter #158
Enhancing Freedom, Opportunity and Cooperation in
Through informing and networking Liberals and Liberal Organizations.
Our vision is hundreds of thousands of well-informed
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 "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job."
President
Bush
Communication
with Our Members
Targeting Business Abuses
During 2007, our Puget Sound
Liberals championed public campaign
financing. During 2008, we
championed Washington State tax reform.
In 2009, we are identifying and
targeting business abuses. Next
week’s newsletter will comment on the benefits of Liberal Democracy, applying
the Obama campaign and governing approach to Washington State, and on our Obama
administration’s economic recovery struggles.
Calendar of Events
Opportunities
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.
Learn
more about the Obama-Biden policy agenda and share your ideas.
For updates from Obama-Biden Transition Project, including
video of Obama’s weekly address.
Ask Democratic national
committee Chair Tim Kaine about future of Democratic Party.
Obtain Progressive
States Networks resources for improving many state government services.
Petitions
Thank President
Obama for taking action to close Guantanamo.
Tell Secretary
of the Interior Ken Salazar to rescue polar bears.
Tell
President Obama and congress to invest in broadband for economic stimulus.
Commentaries
From Our Members
Valerie
Tarico: Raising Moral
Kids without Gods
As parents, we want our children to be happy. We
want them to achieve great things. But we also want them to be good people. We
want to be as proud of their kindness, generosity and integrity as we are of
their achievements. How do we help them get there?
Each religion teaches that it is the source of
morality. Christians perceive themselves as "a light on the hill"
without which the world would fall into moral anarchy. As a freethinker, I have
had people ask, “How can you raise good children without religion?” Read
my response.
Sharon Abreu: Voters Support National Strategy for Sustainability
Dear Friends, I am THRILLED to tell you that the National Strategy for Sustainability
finished in 10th place at the close of the vote on Change.org today!! This is WONDERFUL NEWS!!! Many, many thanks to all of you who voted for
this proposal and who spread the word!! Earlier
today we were in 10th place by 250 votes. Then we were back in 11th place by
only a few votes. We were neck and neck for some time and ultimately gained
10th place by 19 votes!!
The proposal that ended up in 11th place, is one which
I also strongly support, to hold the
Bush administration accountable for its crimes against the U.S. and against
humanity. I went to D.C. with a small group of activists back in September
to push for congressional oversight of the Executive branch, and there is some
activity in Congress which will hopefully prevent Bush from issuing pardons
for himself and his administration. I strongly support continuing to push
this agenda with all our representatives and supporting those brave few rep's
that are pushing for accountability and who have signed onto the Articles of
Impeachment for Cheney and Bush introduced by Dennis Kucinich.
I feel so triumphant today. Several of the causes that
progressives have been championing for several years now are
being validated and supported. Not only will the proposal for a
National Strategy for Sustainability be featured in a press conference at the
National Press Club tomorrow, but so will proposals for the creation of a Cabinet-level U.S. Department
of Peace and for Single-Payer health
care! This indicates a strong desire not only for a more sustainable U.S.
but also for a more just, compassionate, peaceful, and fiscally
sane U.S.
Thank you all so much!!! Here's to a bright future,
one in which we can soon begin to heal on many levels from the frustrations and
horrors of the last eight years, and in which we can push the Democrats to
support the priorities of the majority of Americans. With Love and Gratitude, and In Peace, Sharon Abreu
Joe
Martin: Investigate Bush Administration Crimes
Published
by Seattle PI on 1/20/2009
I
concur with Paul Krugman's argument regarding the need to conduct a full
criminal investigation into the departing Bush administration. The Bush gang's
deportment in the domestic and global sphere has been ruinous for many. Krugman
makes a cogent case for taking a close and careful look at the malversation
that saturates Bush's duplicitous legacy.
Ignoring
the vast wrongs perpetrated and allowing those responsible to walk away with
impunity is an insult to the American people and others who continue to suffer
the consequences of this perfidious and impenitent cabal's arrogance. Ignoring
these transgressions will invite further and perhaps even more calamitous
abuses in the future. Joe Martin
Fred Ketteman: Barack Obama Asks Us To Care
For America
Published
by Seattle PI on 1/20/2009
In
February 1961, several of us young JFK campaign staffers were assigned to work
in the old Executive Office Building across from the White House. Our
assignment was to answer the deluge of mail that arrived shortly after
Kennedy's inauguration where he famously spoke: "Ask not what your country
can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country." Kennedy's
heartfelt suggestion prompted tens of thousands of Americans to respond. The résumés
flooded in from ordinary people seeking to join the new administration, from
high-paid executives and academics.
Now
new generations are answering the equally fervent call-to-arms of Barack Obama,
who signifies a dramatic departure from a mindset of political cynicism and
self-absorption. Like JFK, the President-elect is asking us to become involved
in and to care about the future of this great enterprise called the United
States of America. We disappoint him at our mutual peril. Fred Ketteman, Seattle
Liberals
and Democrats
Barack Obama Quotes
Brief quotes (slogans) remind us of larger
paradigms. We remember seminal quotes of
Franklin Roosevelt, Martin Luther King, John Kennedy and many others. Barack Obama may provide us with more
memorable quotes that any of our other leaders.
He is thus changing our mindset, which as he has noted is most basic
change that we need.
“There is not a liberal America and a conservative
America - there is the United States of America. There is not a black America
and a white America and Latino America and Asian America - there's the United
States of America.”
“We have a stake in one another … what binds us together is
greater than what drives us apart, and ... if enough people believe in the
truth of that proposition and act on it, then we might not solve every problem,
but we can get something meaningful done for the people with whom we share this
Earth.”
“This union may never be perfect, but generation after generation
has shown that it can always be perfected.”
“It is that (American) promise that has always set
this country apart - that through hard work and sacrifice, each of us can
pursue our individual dreams but still come together as one American family, to
ensure that the next generation can pursue their dreams as well.”
“It's a promise that says each of us has the freedom
to make of our own lives what we will, but that we also have the obligation to
treat each other with dignity and respect.”
“It's only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than
yourself that you will realize your true potential.”
“Individual
responsibility and mutual responsibility that's the essence of
America's
promise.”
“Yes, our greatness as a
nation has depended on individual initiative, on a belief in the free market.
But it has also depended on our sense of mutual regard for each other, of
mutual responsibility. The idea that everybody has a stake in the country, that
we're all in it together and everybody's got a shot at opportunity. Americans
know this. We know that government can't solve all our problems - and we don't
want it to. But we also know that there are some things we can't do on our own.
We know that there are some things we do better together.”
“That's why I stand here tonight. Because for 232
years, at each moment when that (American) promise was in jeopardy, ordinary
men and women, students and soldiers, farmers and teachers, nurses and janitors
found the courage to keep it alive.”
“America is a land of big dreamers and big hopes. It is this hope
that has sustained us through revolution and civil war, depression and world
war, a struggle for civil and social rights and the brink of nuclear crisis.
And it is because our founding fathers dreamed that we have emerged from each
challenge more united, more prosperous, and more admired than before.”
“That is the true genius of America , a faith in the simple dreams
of its people, the insistence on small miracles. That we can say what we think,
write what we think, without hearing a sudden knock on the door.”
“Hope – Hope in the face of difficulty. Hope in the face of
uncertainty. The audacity of hope! In the end, that is God’s greatest gift to
us, the bedrock of this nation. A belief in things not seen. A belief that
there are better days ahead.”
“We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics who
will only grow louder and more dissonant in the weeks to come. We've been asked
to pause for a reality check. We've been warned against offering the people of
this nation false hope. But in the unlikely story that is America, there has
never been anything false about hope. For when we have faced down impossible
odds; when we've been told that we're not ready, or that we shouldn't try, or
that we can't, generations of Americans have responded with a simple creed that
sums up the spirit of a people. Yes we can.”
“In the end, that's what this election is about. Do we
participate in a politics of cynicism or a politics of hope?”
“We can build a more hopeful America. And that is why, in the
shadow of the Old State Capitol, where Lincoln once called on a house divided
to stand together, where common hopes and common dreams still live, I stand
before you today to announce my candidacy for President of the United States of
America.”
“They say I need to be seasoned;
they say I need to be stewed. They say, 'We need to boil all the hope out of
him -- like us -- and then he'll be ready.”
“You notice that people who've been in Washington too long, they
don't talk like ordinary folks,. We had this debate in Las Vegas, and somebody
asked me, “What are your weaknesses?” So I said, Well, you know, I don't keep
track of paper that well, I'm always losing paper, my desk is a mess.' And then
they asked the next two candidates. And one candidate says, “Well, my biggest
weakness is I'm just so passionate about helping poor people.” And then the
other one says, “I'm just so impatient to help the American people solve their
problems.” So then I realize well, I wish I'd gone last and then I would have
known.. I'm stupid that way, I thought that when they asked what your biggest
weakness was, they asked what your biggest weakness was. And now I know that my
biggest weakness is I like to help old ladies across the street.”
“Politics has become so
bitter and partisan, so gummed up by money and influence, that we can't tackle
the big problems that demand solutions. And that's what we have to change
first. We have to change our politics, and come together around our common
interests and concerns as Americans.”
“One of the things that we have to change in our
politics is the idea that people cannot disagree without challenging each
other's character and patriotism.”
America, our work will not be easy. The challenges
we face require tough choices, and Democrats as well as Republicans will need
to cast off the worn-out ideas and politics of the past.
“It's not just enough to change the players. We've gotta change
the game.”
“Faith doesn't mean that
you don't have doubts.”
“Faith is not just something you have, it's something you do.”
“The true test of the American ideal is whether we’re able to
recognize our failings and then rise together to meet the challenges of our
time. Whether we allow ourselves to be shaped by events and history, or whether
we act to shape them.”
“If we aren't willing to pay a price for our values, then we
should ask ourselves whether we truly believe in them at all.”
“Making your mark on the world is hard. If it were easy, everybody
would do it. But it's not. It takes patience, it takes commitment, and it comes
with plenty of failure along the way. The real test is not whether you avoid
this failure, because you won't. It’s whether you let it harden or shame you
into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere.”
“I am running in this race because of what Dr. King called
"the fierce urgency of now." Because I believe that there's such a
thing as being too late. And that hour is almost upon us.”
“People of
Berlin - people of the world - this is our moment. This is our time.”
“America, this is our moment. This is our time. Our time to turn
the page of the policies of the past.”
"We remain a young nation,
but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things.
The time has come to . . . choose our better history; to carry forward that
precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the
God-given promise that all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to
pursue their full measure of happiness."
“Change will not come if we wait for some other person
or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change
that we seek.”
“Yes, we can.”
Notice how these quotes combine to present a
comprehensive understanding, taught through a series of repeated little
lessons. Not also how seldom, Barack
Obama uses clichés. Instead, he changes
them slightly, so that the discrepancy entices our reflection. For example, he doesn’t talk about our
American Dream. Instead he speaks of the
dreams of our nation’s founders. And of America’s
promise.
President Barack Obama’s Inaugural
Speech
President
Barack Obama’s inaugural speech was very different from his campaign
speeches. His campaign speeches
emphasized that through unity, we can successfully overcome the challenges we
face. He sometimes referred to the
difficulty of our struggle, but did not emphasize the sacrifices we must make.
His
inaugural speech was a ‘No Free Lunch’
speech. He emphasized that our struggle
would be difficult and prolonged. That
we would all have to do our part. It was
the answer to those who said expectations should be lowered. He raised the expectations that we will
prevail; but lowered any expectations that our struggle would be easy and that
we could simply wait for our government to act.
Individually and collectively, we will be responsible for our successes
and failures. Even Conservative
commentator Patrick Buchanan approved the message that government could not do
it all for us. That our individual and
collective initiative outside of government is also required. How about a citizen’s
oath of office? For more. For more. Notice that Obama has revitalized
American patriotism.
President
Obama’s speech also demonstrated that he will extensively use his bully pulpit. He will place as much emphasis upon educating
us and he does upon legislating. Two
million people attended the Inauguration.
That is one for every 150 Americans. (And assuming 1 third attended as couples, participants
from perhaps one of every 80 American families,) If people came proportionately from different
origins, 43,000 came from Washington, 800 from Bellevue and 45 from my Lake
Hills neighborhood. Being so far from
Washington, D.C., we probably have fewer who participated. But the number still must be impressive.
All
around the world, people watched and listened to our inauguration, more people
and a greater proportion of the world’s population than watched and listed to
lunar landing. Partly because more
people have access to radio and television.
President Obama is not only teaching Americans. He is teaching people almost everywhere. For more.
Barack
Obama Presents Global Model for Grassroots Change
During our last 8 years, America’s traditional
respect from people around the world has been much diminished. Barack Obama and others have promised to
regain this respect. To become a
cooperative member of our world community.
To be able to provide leadership toward solving problems which transcend
national boundaries. I suspect that most
of us imagined (as I did) that this would be a gradual process involving lots
of sensitive diplomacy.
Wow!
What a surprise! See what a
positive response, Barack Obama was drawing from Germans and people around the
world, even before he was elected. See
how many people have been impressed by our election and now our inauguration of
Obama. People are already according us
much greater respect. For more.
By word and deed, President Obama is teaching
people about our American Constitutional Democracy, made powerful through
people’s trust, resulting from the limits we place on the powers of our various
institutions. By using his bully pulpit
and being a role model, he will do far more to spread democracy based freedom
than President Bush could do by using our military might. In fact Obama’s approach will work; while
Bush’s approach won’t. For more.
Perhaps more important, Obama’s political
campaign provided a role model for internet facilitated grassroots organization
for change. (Maybe we should term this
approach ‘grassnet organization’.) I
imagine that all around the world, people who desire change have been watching
Obama’s campaign and asking how can we adapt his approach to our
situation. We may see people power which
goes far beyond that of the Philippines, Korea and other places since the
1980s.
As our leader, President Obama is becoming a
world leader. If we had an international
election today for world leader, I suspect Obama would be a serious
contender. Even more in a few years, if
he is able to lead us to solving major challenges, both domestic and
international. I can even envision that
20 years from now, such an election might be held with Obama the victor.
Enticing White Male Reagan Democratic Voters
During
the 1970s, White males experienced increasing competition from African
Americans and women. Viewing the
Democratic Party as favoring these minorities more than themselves, these White
men (who had previously voted for Democrats) voted for Ronald Reagan. Thus the name Reagan Democrats. These votes were one of the major factors
that enabled Reagan to win the presidency in 1980. Many of these White males have voted for
Republicans ever since, including John McCain.
Barack
Obama has won the support of ethnic minorities, of young people, of educated
people and of women. The economic
recovery and re-investment plan’s emphasis upon creating jobs may draw the
Reagan Democrats back to supporting Democrats.
Leaving Republicans primarily dependent upon Christian Conservatives and
remnants of Traditional Conservatives and Libertarians. One more step toward eliminating the
Republican Party from national competition.
Our next two parties, may well consist of two factions of our Democratic
Party. Perhaps the major issue will be the
extent to which we should return to Earn, Conserve and Invest, and reduce the
power of Wall Street, ‘K’ Street and our military, or in accordance with the
Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) make fewer changes in our present mindset
and distribution of power.
Progressive
Policy Institute: Book of Policy Proposals
The PPI is a
think tank associated with the Democratic Leadership Council
President-elect Barack Obama takes office this with an economic crisis,
record unemployment, and an unstable Middle East looming -- and Americans are
clamoring for quick, effective action in every area. The president-elect needs
more than political will to make effective change -- he needs ideas.
Last September, the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) began releasing
policy prescriptions written with an eye toward enabling the next president to
hit the ground running. Today, PPI is releasing the collection of those 15
memos, along with 10 entirely new essays on topics ranging from financial
regulation to national security, in a book called Memos to the New President.
In keeping with PPI's mission of modernizing progressive politics, these
essays offer ideas that challenge ideological orthodoxy on both sides and
propose bold new solutions for the coming administration.
Read
the Foreword, by Will Marshall and Mark Ribbing.
Union
of Concerned Scientists
To: President-elect Barack Obama: It’s time to Repower,
Refuel, and Rebuild America.
We need to get our economy moving again by building a clean energy future.
We applaud your efforts to make energy a top priority and urge you to adopt
these goals:
·
Move to 100
percent clean electricity: Generate power from clean sources such as wind and solar and
reduce electricity demand with energy efficient buildings and homes.
·
Cut our
dependence on oil in half: Improve vehicle efficiency; use electricity instead of oil to
power our cars; and invest in public transportation.
·
Create 5 million
new clean energy jobs: Invest in clean energy technologies and infrastructure that will
require new engineers as well as factory, construction, and administrative
workers.
·
Reduce global
warming pollution by at least 80 percent: Set a firm national limit on global
warming pollution, charging polluters for their heat-trapping emissions and
using the revenue to invest in a clean energy future.
We
call on you to introduce a plan in your first 100 days that will reach these
goals and to utilize the federal budget and any economic recovery package to get
us started. Sign
the Petition Today!
Here’s the Beef
President Obama’s inaugural speech (video and text)
President
Obama’s inaugural speech is more basic than one proposed by David Korten.
Irish
Times reports on President Obama’s inaugural address.
Barack
Obama acts like a kind of antacid to the American stomach.
Barack Obama is no
centrist, whatever that is. He’s an
Liberal who doesn’t label himself.
Democratic National
Committee Chair Tim Kane speaks about our continuing mobilization strategy.
MoveOn (5
million members) , SEIU (2 million members) will continue lobbying for reforms.
Obama
announces that our grassroots organization will continue as Organizing for
America.
President Obama
announces new ethics rules, curtailing lobbyist influence. For more.
President Obama announces
a new era of transparent accountable government.
President Obama repeals
Gag Rule to allow assistance to family planning organizations.
President Obama stops
last minute Bush regulations, but some have already slipped through. More.
President Obama prohibits
American use of torture.
President Obama moves to
suspend Guantanamo tribunals.
Tracking
100s of Obama Promises.
See the ten
proposals which received the most votes from 650,000 respondents to Ideas for
Change.
Briefing
book of 44,000 ideas submitted by 125,000 people to our Barack Obama
administration.
Human Rights advocates
present lengthy to-do-list to President Obama.
Democrats must
aggressively overcome Republican obstructionism.
Unlike
President Bush’s bulldozing, President Obama will forge political consensus.
Ten actions Barack
Obama should take, but maybe won’t.
Green fixes for a broken
economy.
Updating
energy grid may be excluded from stimulus plan, because not shovel ready.
Barack
Obama confirms he will end ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’, but doesn’t say when.
Business is
organizing to stop pro-union proposals, including the Employee Free Choice Act.
Some
in congress are promoting faster credit card reform.
Sierra
Club urges President Obama to implement 4 environmental proposals.
Obama’s foreign policy supports
American international cooperation and leadership, but for what?
President Bush’s 43 major
henchmen and henchwomen.
State
and Local
Leadership for Washington Democrats
Participants at this week’s
48th Legislative District meeting discussed the selection of a State
Party Chair which is to occur this Saturday.
Handicapped by knowing little about Mark Hintz, 27 voted to ask our Washington
State delegates to vote for Mark Hintz on the first ballot. No one voted otherwise.
During the discussion, one
person defended the state party’s lack of support for Legislative candidates,
arguing that we have as many Democratic legislators as can be expected and
shouldn’t waste money in LDs like the 5th. This sounds like the arguments nationally
against the 50 state strategy. I believe
that we should have a continuing year around 49 Legislative District
Coordinated Campaign. We need to
maximally eliminate Republican candidates from our Legislature and our King
County and Seattle Councils, so that no more Dino Rossi’s are allowed to gain
the exposure to become threatening gubernatorial candidates.
As I will discuss in more
detail, we also need a Barack Obama type candidate to run for governor next
time who will campaign to unite us as One Washington to make urgent
changes. One who will use oratory to
attract voters and an internet based grassroots organization to not only elect
Democrats. But also to support our
elected officials in making the basic changes our state needs. We need to improve our lifestyle, our economy
and our government services.
Eastside Light Rail EIS
Before last fall’s vote on
Proposition 1, a Sound Transit official told me that my fears of a misrouting
of light rail were unfounded. The
choice of a route wouldn’t be made until after the Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS) was completed. The draft EIS is now available,
which compares various routes.
Unfortunately it verifies my
fears. It considers various
alternatives linking the I-90 corridor to Bellevue’s central business district,
solely in terms of the cost effectiveness of carrying passengers on these
various routes. There is not
consideration of their cost effectiveness toward the longer run creation of an
Eastside light rail system which links all of our Eastside population centers,
including Renton, Factoria, Eastgate, Issaquah, Bellevue, Overlake, Redmond,
Kirkland, Totem Lake, Bothell and Woodinville.
In the long run, we need a north-south light rail along the BNSF dinner
train route from Renton to Bothell with east-west links to other population
centers.
Only one of the compared
routes extends to the BNSF route. It
then goes north only to SE 6th Street and then west and north to
Bellevue’s central business district. It
then goes west on NE 6th Street to cross the BNSF route on the way
to Overlake. Instead of not using the
BNSF route from SE 6th Street to NE 6th Street, it would
better to go all the way to NE 6th street with links west to
Bellevue and east to Overlake. In the
future, this route will be needed to link northern and southern population
centers, so why not do it now, instead of creating a parallel route that
additionally disrupts residences and businesses?
Thurston County Progressive Network’s Values
·
Respect for diversity
·
Gender and racial sensitivity
·
Spiritual inclusiveness
·
Social and economic justice
·
Non-violent social action
·
Grassroots democracy
·
Community building
·
Community-based economics
·
Peace
·
Personal and global responsibility
Compare
these with our Puget Sound Liberals’ values and political
priorities.
Washington
State Labor Council
Supports increased Unemployment Benefits
Boosting unemployment benefits gets the
best bang for each buck
This week, the
Senate Democratic Caucus and Gov. Chris Gregoire announced their proposals for
stimulating our state economy. Both are focused on creating jobs, both aim to
facilitate and speed infrastructure investment and public works projects, and
both have elements that are strongly supported by organized labor.
But one of the
most important ingredients of any stimulus must involve helping this
recession's biggest victims: people who have lost their jobs through no fault
of their own and the businesses that rely on their patronage to stay afloat.
That's why we have
Unemployment Insurance (UI). It's not merely an exercise in government
compassion for people who are down on their luck, nor is it some kind of
government handout. It is an important temporary safety net, not just for
laid-off workers and their families, but for our state's economy. UI benefits
provide a critically important measure of economic stability to communities
devastated by layoffs. This money is not saved or invested out-of-state. It's
spent immediately -- and locally -- on necessities like housing, food and
transportation.
The Economic
Policy Institute estimates
that every $1 of UI benefits creates $1.64 of economic benefits as it ripples
through local economies. The U.S. Department of Labor found
an even higher multiplier effect of UI benefits: $2.15 of purchasing power for
every $1 in benefits. That means that
during the last recession in 2002, $2 billion in state and federal UI benefits
paid in Washington state created purchasing power on Main Street of $4.3
billion. That money kept a significant number of small businesses afloat and
kept the damage from being far worse.
In contrast, the
Bush administration tax rebates proved to have very little economic stimulus
benefit on Main Street. A CNN
poll of Americans found that the majority who received tax rebates in 2008
planned to put the money into savings or to pay off debt. Just 21% polled said
they planned to spend the money.
The Washington
State Labor Council is
supporting a real stimulus for our state economy -- one that provides needed
assistance to families victimized by layoffs and immediately injects money into
struggling local economies. The WSLC is asking the Governor and Legislature to
include the following UI benefit changes in their economic stimulus plans:
·
Increase
every benefit check by $50 in 2009. It is estimated that this would increase
Main Street purchasing power by up to a half a billion dollars in the first
nine months.
·
Increase
the benefit formula from 3.85 to its historic level of 4.0. This will increase
weekly unemployment checks for 70% of the unemployed – all those receiving
benefits between the minimum and maximum level.
·
Allow
full "quit-to-follow" spouse benefits, so that workers can go to
where jobs are while keeping families intact.
·
Remove
all restrictions on looking for part-time work while receiving UI benefits.
This will qualify our state for federal Reed Act dollars when the UI
Modernization Act passes in the 2009 session of Congress.
·
Remove
the current 60-day timeline on dislocated workers applying for training
benefits.
·
Increase
our recipiency rate, which is the number of unemployed who actually receive
benefits. Only one in three unemployed workers in Washington state currently
receives UI benefits.
Gov.
Gregoire's stimulus plan unveiled
Thursday includes temporary UI benefit increases and UI tax cuts worth $400
million. Benefits would be increased by $45 a week to every unemployed
claimant. This $200-a-month increase will help keep the lights on, pay car
payments, and provide adequate food for struggling Washington families.
It will also pump
money into local economies. From May to December 2009, the Governor's proposed
increase would pump another $19.4 million of purchasing power into Yakima, $28
million into Spokane, $23 million into Clark County and $102 million into King
County.
The Governor's
plan also includes a $200 million UI tax reduction for the entire year of 2009.
While a far smaller multiplier effect results from tax reductions, there is
also no doubt that temporarily lowering this tax will help many businesses on
Main Street.
The Senate
Democrats' stimulus package
includes an investment in the green economy through energy audits and
retrofitting of residential and commercial buildings. This would reduce our
carbon footprint, allows us to train thousands of new workers in
pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs, and can be paired with programs
for putting local community members on a path to family-wage jobs, such as Sound Alliance's SustainableWorks
program.
Both the
Governor's and the Senate Democrats' proposals also include some enhanced UI
retraining benefits targeted to careers in health care and other expanding
industries.
It is
important to note that
the Governor's stimulus plan on UI is scaled in such a way to leave enough
reserves in the UI Trust Fund to deal with the federal UI conformity issue that
legislators will address later in the session. (The U.S. government has ordered
changes in how Washington pays for UI benefits to conform with federal laws.) A
permanent resolution of this problem will allow our state to
"right-size" the trust fund, provide enhanced benefits and lower
taxes. This is what the Governor is referring to when she announced that, in
addition to the temporary UI changes associated with the stimulus package, she
is also considering permanent benefit increases and tax changes.
With more than $4
billion in reserves, our UI Trust Fund is among the best-funded in the country
and can certainly afford the 10% drawdown proposed by the Governor. The federal
government recommends that states have 12 to 15 months of benefits in the bank
in the case of a recession. The Department of Employment Security reports that
Washington currently has enough for 21 months of benefits. "We are very fortunate," Gregoire
said. "Some of the unemployment trust funds around the nation are
literally bankrupt. We are among the healthiest in the nation."
The
Association of Washington Business and business-funded think tanks have already announced
opposition to the idea of increasing UI benefits. Their tassel-toed lobbyists
choose to ignore the immediate benefit of injecting purchasing power and
consumer demand into local communities, and instead worry that businesses might
have to pay higher taxes down the road if benefits are increased today. The
conservative Heritage Foundation even goes so far as to argue that
enhanced or extended UI benefits have no economic stimulus benefit because it
discourages people from looking for work.
That's not only
ridiculous, it's insulting. People who've lost their jobs stand to lose their
cars, homes and prospects for retirement next. The idea that they would
deliberately avoid looking for permanent work because they are getting a few
extra bucks a week in UI benefits is absurd.
This kind of
thinking is what caused the recession in the first place. Government has spent,
let's see, exactly eight years now granting every tax cut and deregulation proposal
sought by business lobbying groups, and promising us that the benefits would
eventually trickle down in the form of good jobs. Instead, jobs continue to
migrate overseas and corporate greed and malfeasance has driven our economy
into the ditch we're in now. It's time
for some new thinking. It's time to lift this economy from the bottom up for a
change.
For
more on Governor Gregoire’s Stimulus Plan.
Here’s the Beef
Washington State Budget
& Policy Center shares their vision for our budget.
Washington
State Budget & Policy Center analyzes Governor Gregoires’ proposed budget.
Our
federal government will finance 40% of light rail extension from downtown
Seattle to UofW.
State budgetary
crises are forcing justice reforms to reduce prison costs.
Nation
and World
Who Redistributes? Powerful Private
Interests or Government?
Conservatives
continually accuse Liberals of redistributing wealth. They say we are taking wealth from people who
deserve it to give to people who don’t.
This is wrong.
People
should have the wealth which they produce.
This would occur if people had the power to resist others from taking
away the wealth they have earned. But
some people, often backed by corporations, have enough power to obtain the
wealth that workers have earned. The
most basic theft is when people who obtain great wealth are able to avoid
paying to sustain and enhance the infrastructure which enabled their
wealth. Other theft occurs when other
costs of production are shifted to others.
Such shifted costs are called ‘externalities’. Tax havens provide one example,
of many.
What
Liberals seek to do is simply restore the justice which occurred before the
powerful wealthy redistributed the wealth from those who earned it. We use the government as a means to make
these corrections. We are not
redistributing wealth, so much as restoring its correct distribution.
Good and Bad Infrastructure Projects
Being
shovel ready is not enough to qualify an infrastructure project as a helpful
stimulus project. The infrastructure
project should help our economy to become more efficient. It should not harm our environment or
encourage usage which harms our environment.
We
shouldn’t fund bridges to nowhere. Or
roads to areas that shouldn’t be developed.
Roads which will encourage urban sprawl, commuting, and pollution. Instead of building new roads, we should fix
and maintain those that serve needed travel.
We should invest in public transportation which reduces our use of
carbon-based fuels.
We
can expect political conflicts over which infrastructure projects should be
funded. To avoid projects which serve
special interests at the expense of our public interest, we should each be
vigilant and active concerning projects in our local areas that we can
understand.
Single Payer Health Coverage Has Many Advantages
In December
2007, the American College of Physicians compared U.S. health care with other
countries', writing, "Single-payer systems generally have the advantage of
being more equitable, with lower administrative costs than systems using
private health insurance, lower per capita health care expenditures, high
levels of consumer and patient satisfaction." For more.
Small Business Owners Support Public Health Care
Coverage
According
to a new
report "Taking the pulse of Main
Street" released last week from the Washington Small Business
for Secure Health Care Coalition, small business owners around the country and
in Washington want real health reform, are willing to contribute, and want the
option of a public health insurance plan.
Though the conventional wisdom says businesses are opposed to progressive
health care reform, clearly, that's not the case. The report documents small
business owners' experiences with private health insurance and perspectives on
different reform proposals. Here are some key findings:
·
By a more than
three to one margin, Washington small business owners preferred government
playing a stronger role in guaranteeing access to quality, affordable health
coverage when compared to letting the free market address health care without
government intervention.
·
Nationally, 75%
of businesses say there should be more oversight of private insurers, and
·
A majority of
Washington small business owners support a reform proposal with choice of a
public coverage option as an alternative to private insurance.
Click
here to download the full report.
Thanks for all that you do, the Washington CAN!
Team
Israel and Iran
During the civil rights turmoil, Southerners insisted that southern
African Americans were happy. All the
strife resulted from Yankee agitators.
During the Vietnam War, many insisted that the real root of the conflict
was China or Russia who were using the Vietnamese to weaken us. Now we hear that the root of the violence
directed toward Israel is Iran, which is the force behind Hamas and
Hezbollah.
Does anyone think that if Iran disappeared tomorrow, Palestinians would
peacefully accept Israel’s occupation and abuse of them? If Hamas and Hezbollah disappeared tomorrow,
wouldn’t similar organizations quickly develop?
Israeli colonization, not Iran, is the cause of resistance to
Israel.
What
if San Diego treated Mexicans as Israel has treated Palestinians?
Israel purposefully destroyed
United Nations humanitarian supplies in Gaza. For more.
Did Israel use unusual
anti-personnel weapons in Gaza? For more.
Gaza now looks like it had
been hit by an earthquake.
Comments on
congressional support for Israel’s invasion of Gaza.
More commentaries on
Israel’s invasion of Gaza.
Network of Spiritual
Progressives asks Barack Obama to push for immediate end to Gaza invasion.
A just peace for
Palestinians is necessary.
Here’s the Beef
Dean Baker: without
government assistance, most powerful financial companies would be defunct.
Bailing out Bank of
America enables them to continue their abusive activities.
Treasury Secretary nominee
Timothy Geithner allowed Citigroup to participate in credit bubble.
Instead of bailing
out financial companies, we should be regulating them.
Single payer health
coverage would provide economic stimulus.
But cost controls are needed.
Health care for
veterans must be much improved.
World
Watch says we need negative carbon footprints.
Countries can
quickly help their families have fewer children.
Will international social
movements adopt Obama’s on-line organizing strategies?
Armed conflicts result from
fears and are enabled by arms sales. For more.
What alternatives are
there to increasing our military presence in Afghanistan?
Our
Liberal Spirit
Competence, A Liberal Value
In
our expression of Liberal values, our third value is: We and our government should be competent and compassionate, using our freedoms and
opportunities wisely and helping those with fewer freedoms and opportunities
than the rest of us. Most discussions
of Liberal values focus upon freedom, equality, responsibility and compassion,
without mentioning competence. I believe
that competence is not mentioned because it is such a strong American value that
people simply assume it. While competence
may not be mentioned, I don’t know of any Liberals who support
incompetence. But Conservatives have not
only behaved incompetently, but defended incompetence.
In 1970, when
Richard Nixon nominated
Court of Appeals Judge G. Harrold Carswell of Florida to the United States
Supreme Court, there was an outcry that Carswell was not a jurist of the
caliber required for the nation's highest tribunal. Nearly 60 percent of Carswell's decisions as
a District Court Judge had been overturned. Critics charged that he was, at
best, mediocre, and therefore unqualified to sit on the Supreme Court.
Republican
Senator Roman Hruska of Nebraska leapt to Carswell's defense. ''Even if he were mediocre,'' Mr. Hruska
declared, ''there are a lot of mediocre judges and people and lawyers. They are
entitled to a little representation, aren't they, and a little chance? We can't
have all Brandeises, Frankfurters and Cardozos.''
The incompetence of the Bush administration’s conduct of the Iraq
occupation and the Katrina recovery effort is well known. His appointees were often selected for their
ideology instead of either their integrity or competence. Yet President Bush has refused to admit any
mistakes. Remember when he said, “Heck
of a job, Brownie.” More recently, Republican
presidential candidate John McCain selected incompetent Sarah Palin as his vice
presidential running mate, as his father had selected incompetent Dan
Quayle. Even some Conservatives have criticized these various choices.
Barack Obama’s emphasis on
finding programs that work, promise to carefully review our government’s
programs, and his appointments all indicate the high value he places on
competence. Asked by host Keith Olbermann to predict “an
overarching theme” for Obama's appointments, such as “competency,
bipartisanship, diversity, newness,” Newsweek’s senior Washington correspondent
Howard Fineman responded, “Well, it's going to be all of those. But I think,
if you had to pick one, it would be excellence. Barack Obama is a guy who
appreciates excellence and focus. He's a guy who appreciates results.” Even Conservatives have been impressed by the
competence of Obama’s choices.
Some
of us are low maintenance (generally accepting what is) while others are high
maintenance (always wanting to change things).
But high maintenance is not the same as excellence or competence. It may simply reflect self centered personal
standards, expecting that they be met by others. Competence refers to a person’s ability to
produce desired results. A person may be
both low maintenance and competent.
As
Liberals, we should seek competence for ourselves. For our government. And for businesses and other
organizations. We should reward people
for their competence. Incompetent job
holders should be required and helped to become competent or they should be
replaced. We should encourage children
to respect and acquire competence.
Extra-ordinary examples of competence should be extolled and their
performers treated as role models. An
outstanding example is pilot Chelsey B. Sullenberger
III’s landing of his plane this week in the Hudson River, such that all
passengers survived and few were even injured.
The quick response of nearby boats is also to be praised.
Recommended Books – See our list of books for liberals
Andrew Sullivan, 2006, The Conservative Soul: Fundamentalism,
Freedom and the Future of the Right
Andrew Sullivan begins this
book by defining Conservatives as people who desire to preserve the past. This definition is clearly wrong, since both
Liberals and Conservatives desire to preserve some aspects of the past while
making some changes. They differ
concerning what is to be preserved and what changed.
But Sullivan’s book is
primarily an attack upon Christian Conservatives for their dogmatic assertion
of an ideology which is unrealistic and unattractive. He argues in favor of a conservatism which is
questioning and pragmatic. He argues in
favor of a Liberal Lite Conservatism.
Who wants a Liberalism Lite when you can get the real thing?
Republicans will soon choose
their Republican National Committee Chair.
This will inform us whether the Christian Conservatives or the Liberal
Lite Conservatives will dominate the Republican Party. Assuming that Democrats can correct the
damage that Republicans have done, neither Republican version will be
attractive.
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