The blog of the Northwest Progressive Institute is reporting that two challengers for Brian Baird's seat in the Washington Third Congressional District have now emerged. They are Jon Russell and David Castillo.
We have so much to celebrate, why not have a party? A fundraising party for the 35thLD. Every host and participant in these events had a wonderful time while contributing to our local Democratic 35thLD.
Thank goodness the Hamiltons have been healthy since we returned to the US. And thank goodness we are now both on Medicare - because we have gone years without US health insurance. When overseas we could pay easily for care in baht, pesos, or nothing in France and Italy! All I can say that for the sake of my children, and your children, and for the health of our country as a whole, I am driven to work on Organizing for America's health care reform campaign.
Most of us have heard about the expansion of the Americorps Program. It is not merely an expansion however, but a complete overhaul.
I am declining to sign petitions to place Referendum 71 on the ballot. I'm not ashamed to say that, as a married father of two children, I am not going to sign on to this referendum, which would reverse the domestic partnership bill passed by the Legislature and signed by Governor Gregoire earlier this year.Washington State is not asking the federal government to confer the 1138 federal rights, responsibilities and benefits of marriage to these couples. These include Social Security benefits; veterans benefits; equal treatment under the tax code; and the right to sponsor non-American family members, including a spouse, for permanent residency or citizenship. -- Washblog, May 11, 2009The final Bill Report for SB 5688 makes it all clear. ". . . the intent of the Legislature [is] to ensure that all privileges, immunities, rights, benefits, or responsibilities granted or imposed by statute to an individual because that individual is or was a spouse in a marital relationship are granted or imposed on equivalent terms to an individual because that individual is or was in a state registered domestic partnership."
Roger Zabinski, a familiar face to many of us in the 35th LD, has announced his candidacy for Commissioner of the Port of Bremerton. The seat is presently held by Cheryl Kincer, who has yet to announce whether she'll run for re-election. As reported in The Kitsap Sun, "Zabinski will run on a platform of transparency in government, something the commission has been accused of not having an abundance of, especially when it approved financing for the new Bremerton Marina."Other priorities for Zabinski include getting more boats into the Bremerton Marina, now at 31 percent capacity. He said he is studying what effect covering some of the slips would have.Roger tells us he has endorsements from State Representatives Kathy Haigh, Fred Finn and Larry Seaquist.
Zabinski is all for the concept behind the port’s wished-for Sustainable Energy and Economic Development project, a blueprint to bring clean-tech industry to the port. He said he favors less taxation and more private-sector funding for SEED, but said he could potentially support bonding for the project.
Let's play a game. Let's play a game called "Responsible Citizen." This would be the game that Tim Eyman and supporters of Initiative 1033 don't want you to play.The Washington Lower Property Taxes Initiative, also known as I-1033, will be on the November 2009 ballot in Washington, if its sponsors can collect a minimum of 241,153 signatures of registered voters by 5:00 p.m. on July 3, 2009.Opponents are declaring that I-1033 would present a significant blow to local government spending by imposing an artificial limit on government revenue and spending for critical services. Citizens already exert a great deal of control over property taxes, in the form of votes either for or against levies. For example, in Thurston County, according to their Assessor's Office, about 40 percent of the property taxes come from excess levies approved by a vote of the people.
In Washington, committed same sex couples and families now enjoy the same legal protections granted to married couples under state law. Or, rather, they could, if the bill passed by Democrats and signed by Governor Gregoire, is allowed to become the law of the land.There are certain moments that test what kind of people we are, both as individuals and as a community and a country. Do we believe that all people are created equal, or not? How important is fairness? Will we defend our civil rights? Our co-workers' or friends' civil rights? Or not.Personally, I think it's shameful that State law cannot extend the over 1,000 federal protections of marriage to same sex families -- like social security survivors' benefits. But the law passed in this state will extend benefits like the right to collect a deceased partner's pension if the deceased was a public sector employee.
We are at such a moment in Washington State.
Three years ago, these same folks tried to repeal a law that banned discrimination based on sexual orientation. That effort came up 6,000 signatures short and they never made it to the ballot.
"Democrats' Budget: Sacrificing the Poor, Protecting the Rich"What do you think of the job Democrats did, in the legislature this year? If it's true that the priorities of a people ought to be reflected in the budget of their government, how well do you feel the State's budget reflects on you? Democrats didn't support an income tax, even when a group led by the father of Bill Gates called for one. What about in areas other than the budget? Because of Democrats, you condo owners and purchasers of household appliances have far better product warranties that families who purchase houses. Democrats rolled back citizen initiatives designed to move us to more renewable forms of energy, suspended voter-approved cost of living increases for teachers and reductions in school class sizes. Click on the "Comment" link below and tell us whether you think the budget reflects your values.
In the run-up to the Iraq war, many of us were deeply disappointed with Congressional Democrats when we saw how ready they were to accede to the Bush administration's obvious propaganda campaign. It was if we were seeing some of these people for the first time.
Maybe it sometimes takes a crisis to understand what people are really made of. Now that state Democrats have passed their budget, we should see clearly that, in an economic crisis, they are more than ready to sacrifice the education and health care of the poor to preserve the privileges of the rich.
Under the new budget, which Governor Gregoire will certainly sign, forty thousand poor people will be disenrolled from Basic Health. In addition, sixty percent of the Student Achievement Program, which funds smaller class sizes and academic support programs, will be cut. The rich, who frequently send their children to private schools or advanced public-school programs, will find their children's futures largely untouched by this budget. The poor, however, who frequently rely on academic support classes to help their children catch up and graduate, may too often find their aspirations for their children frustrated when they can't get the education they deserve.
At the last minute, Andrew at NPI launched a Quixotic campaign to convince six progressive Democratic senators to block the impending all-cuts budget. In the end, only Sen. Ken Jacobsen proved himself to be a true progressive by voting against it. Even Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, who was among those proposing a "high incomes" income tax to offset some of the proposed cuts, voted for the budget. Sen. Kohl-Welles support of her own tax proposal was weak and uninspired, and when it finally came down to it, she sided with her colleagues in the Senate. When faced with choosing between the party of Roosevelt and the party of class privilege, she chose the latter.
As a percentage of personal income, state revenue has been declining for years, as illustrated at schmudget. According to the Institution on Taxation and Economic Policy, Washington has the most regressive state tax system in the nation. And it's been getting worse since 1989. Only if we set aside what Democrats say about themselves and how they attempt to represent their actions--almost all of what Democrats have been saying about the budget is justification anyway--can we see what the effects of their policies are. Under this budget, the number of poor people who've been denied health care and a good education will increase; the number of affluent people who will still have the advantages of wealth will not be diminished.
I'm not suggesting that state Democrats set out to turn the party over to the wealthy. Rather, their failures are those of clarity and will--all too common failures in times of fear and uncertainty. These Democrats cannot be helped any longer by words of encouragement from the party faithful. The cheerleaders of the party are an impediment to changing the fundamentally unjust class system in this state. If we want the Democrats in Olympia to change their behavior, they must be met with widespread disapproval when they return to their districts.
This Earth Day is a great day for Puget Sound Energy customers to enroll in the PSE Green Power Program. PSE's voluntary Green Power Program makes it easy for homeowners and businesses to buy renewable energy. When you choose Green Power, you’ll support renewable energy projects located right here in the Pacific Northwest.
The image to the right is a portion of President Obama's "Vision for High-Speed Rail in America." This one travels from Eugene, Oregon, to Vancouver, B.C. According to the Progressive Research Institute, here's how it would work:$8 billion provided in the ARRA [American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or the stimulus] and $1 billion a year for five years requested in the federal budget as a down payment to jump-start a potential world-class passenger rail system and sets the direction of transportation policy for the future.Washington and Oregon will need to work cooperatively together to pursue that grant money. Governor Gregoire's office today announced:
By late summer (emphasis added), the Federal Railroad Administration will begin awarding the first round of grants.
[Oregon Governor] Kulongoski and I sent the Obama administration a letter applauding their bold rail vision and supporting critical infrastructure investments that will improve mobility, create and preserve jobs, and benefit air quality across our country.The Northwest Progressive Institute is reporting, "Last year, Cascades [the route picked by the Obama Administration] had its highest ridership ever, reaching nearly 775,000 passengers. That represents growth of eighty two percent in just the last ten years."
Our states, along with British Columbia , have a committed partnership with BNSF [Burlington Northern Santa Fe] and Amtrak. Together, we welcome federal ARRA funds – and the jobs that we’ll create with those funds – to help advance our service and improve our infrastructure.
