Washington
updated
10:24 a.m.
Young Turks: Republican strategist hammered over WMD lies. Red State Update: Al Gore give back that Nobel Prize. Maher: Romney: Young Turks: Tom DeLay’s stunning hypocrisy on CNN. Fatwa against terrorism. Young Turks: Why does Obama continue to reach out to obstructionist Republicans? The Pap Attack: GOP Mocks its own donors. Stephen interviews Annie Leonard about Stuff (via OneGoodMove). ...
Hominid Views - 12:08 a.m.
What’s that you say? Democrats have been playing games with the health scare process for the past year?? No shit! Fox and Friends had themselves a cute little epiphany…people should maybe, almost, get the same level of health care as their dogs, just leave out the death panels? No shit. Old school news organizations have failed to tell the [...] ...
The Vigilant Lens - Fri 5:49 p.m.
Pelosi says public option is dead It is over for the Democrats even if they pass the Senate bill. This legislation will be too little too late for them in November. And if they don’t fix things quickly, they will be marginalized for at least a generation if not longer. So sad. Looks like this is the only thing [...] Post from: Democracy for Vancouver Democrats Have Committed Po...
Democracy for Vancouver - Fri 2:20 p.m. - 2 clicks 
The overpaid Ron Upshaw and Don O'Neill (KIRO m-f, 3-7p) think they don’t have to credit what they post on their web-pages to the underpaid newsies who wrote it in the first place. Take, f'rinstance, Thursday’s post about the serial......
BlatherWatch - Fri 12:56 p.m.
"After U.S. taxpayers have already bailed out countless corporations, now big radio is trying to grab another bailout by refusing to pay musicians for their work. Even though every other medium, including television, satellite and webcasting, is legally bound to......
BlatherWatch - Thu 9:43 p.m.
Representative Dave Quall and Lieutenant Governor Brad Owen have just brought the gavels down to close out the 2010 legislative session, which began on January 11th and must end today in accordance with the Washington State Constitution. The Legislature is not, however, finished with the 2010 supplemental budget, which means they'll have to go into overtime. Consequently, before the House and Sen...
Northwest Progressive Institute Official Blog - Thu 9:26 p.m. - 3 clicks
Last week, I referenced an official from Maine saying: "The investments we are seeing in renewable energy, in energy infrastructure, appear to be the largest wave of capital investment in the state's history." Which is obviously great news for the state, especially during a recession. Since then, the Kennebec Journal has reported on the formation of the Efficiency Maine...
Sightline Daily Score - Thu 3:29 p.m.
Mississippi values consist of loving our children and our neighbor, because it’s the right thing to do. Mississippi values, morals and religion, also teaches us that gay people are almost as bad, as the brown people who live in the Middle East, who are themselves, almost as bad as the black humans that were lynched in [...] ...
The Vigilant Lens - Thu 2:01 p.m.
Hurrah ! On the campaign trail, Al Franken fought for the middle class, focusing on issues like making college and health care more affordable. During the recount, he fought for a fair Democratic process. And as a U.S. Senator, he fights every day for real progressive values just as the former Sen. Paul Wellstone did. That fighting spirit is exactly why we chose Minnesota Sen. Al Franken to cl...
Northwest Progressive Institute Official Blog - Thu 2:01 p.m. - 2 clicks
I was messing around with some spreadsheets, and out popped this little guy: The chart plots the 50 states -- minus Hawaii but plus DC -- with the price of electricity on the horizontal axis and consumption on the vertical axis. (I left off Hawaii because it's a serious outlier, with average electricity prices nearly twice as high as any other state.) A simple regression show...
Sightline Daily Score - Thu 12:05 p.m.
...when did "the Democratic base" come to mean "people who might vote Democratic (if they bother to vote at all) if the Democrats in Congress do everything imaginable to placate them, including at least three impossible and four contradictory things." Cause I missed that. ...
Upper Left - Thu 11:48 a.m.
The market has spoken... again: The scabrous Glenn Beck Show (KTTH m-f, 6-9a) is bad for business. TurboTax has become the 120th advertiser to drop Fox News host Glenn Beck. In an announcement on Twitter, TurboTax stated:Thanks everyone for your......
BlatherWatch - Thu 11:03 a.m.
For Earth Day 2010, Sightline wants to put together photos that illustrate what a sustainable Northwest looks like. We need your help to come up with photos of sustainable solutions in the region. Farmers' markets, rain gardens, transit--all the things that make our communities sustainable. If you're interested in being a part of this project, you can post your photos to our Flickr photopool...
Sightline Daily Score - Thu 10:28 a.m.
"I was born in Detroit, Mich., in 1950, and I would not hesitate to make my birth certificate available to every member of the media," ~ George Noory He entertains weeknightly such possibilities as UFO abductions, remote viewing, contrails and......
BlatherWatch - Thu 2:06 a.m.
Given their reckless stewardship of the economy for the eight years leading up to America’s second most catastrophic economic downturn, you’d think Republicans would have some remorse. Some empathy. Some guilty sense of shame. Nope! Instead, they vote against extending unemployment benefits at a time when one in ten [...]...
Hominid Views - Wed 11:49 p.m.
"It's time to start over with a clean occupation plan," said Senator Mitch McConnell, the minority leader. "The American people don't want the president's costly, complicated plan. What we need is to find what Republicans and defense contractors agree on and proceed step by step, in a bipartisan fashion," McConnell said... ...
Mr_Blog - Wed 9:49 p.m.
State Senator Dale Brandland, a Republican who represents the 42nd District, has just announced his decision to retire from the Senate. In a speech on the Senate floor, Brandland - who was first elected in 2002 - disclosed that he has decided not to run again. The 42nd Legislative District encompasses most of Whatcom County. It includes northern Bellingham plus all of Whatcom's other incorpora...
Northwest Progressive Institute Official Blog - Wed 5:20 p.m. - 8 clicks
Suzan DelBene , the Democratic nominee for U.S. Representative in Washington's 8th Congressional District, is one of the party's top prospects in the 2010 midterms, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced this morning . Since 2006, the DCCC has recognized and promoted what it thinks are its top prospects each cycle by including them in its "Red to Blue" program, which provides...
Northwest Progressive Institute Official Blog - Wed 5:01 p.m. - 8 clicks
Seeing the Easter candy displays pop up in my local grocery two weeks ago—immediately replacing Valentine’s Day candy, which immediately replaced Christmas candy, and so on—has got me thinking about the seemingly arbitrary lines we sometimes draw in our food policies. Consider the Washington state sales tax exemption for candy and gum, currently on the chopping block in the legislature . Curre...
Sightline Daily Score - Wed 1:46 p.m. - 5 clicks
Yesterday, U.S. Representative Alan Grayson introduced a bill that would provide a buy-in option allowing access to Medicare for anybody who wants it. Read that again, and let it sink in. It's an amazingly simple bill. Not even four pages long , and the language is so simple that basically anybody can understand it. The bill is elegantly crafted. In a nutshell, here's what it does: Allows Me...
Northwest Progressive Institute Official Blog - Wed 12:08 p.m.
Remember when gas cost more? I think I recall our invasion of Afghanistan about a decade ago, because they harbored the al Qaeda/Saudi Arabians who attacked America. Or was that Iraq? No, no I think it was Iran and North Korea that teamed up with Cuba and Venezuela that were to blame. Because they hate [...] ...
The Vigilant Lens - Wed 11:44 a.m.
Salon has a detailed piece on the waterboarding techniques used by the CIA during the Bush administration (with consent of the White House): Interrogators pumped detainees full of so much water that the CIA turned to a special saline solution to minimize the risk of death, the documents show. The agency used a gurney “specially designed” [...]...
Hominid Views - Tue 8:21 p.m.
This weekend, the recently formed " Coffee Party USA " is holding nationwide meetups around the country to bring Americans who believe in a functioning democratic government (what a concept!) together, face to face. (For readers unfamiliar with the Coffee Party, it's basically a tongue-in-cheek response to the "tea party" protests that the conservative establishment has been cheerleading and quie...
Northwest Progressive Institute Official Blog - Tue 7:21 p.m. - 2 clicks
Looks like State Senator Adam Kline won't have to worry about facing a serious challenge from a fellow Democrat this year: Author and activist Eric Liu, who declared his intention to run against Kline in the 37th District (and was to be to Kline's big competition), has just decided to drop out. In a statement posted on his website and released to NPI via email, Liu explained that campaigning h...
Northwest Progressive Institute Official Blog - Tue 5:48 p.m. - 2 clicks
When there is no right, no wrong and no moral compass to guide us through these dark times that are the Bush legacy…we get runaway moral nihilism. Or maybe it’s just a runaway Prius? Bah, who the hell cares. Nihilist-Prius, Prius-nihilist, six of one, half a dozen of the other, Seven of Nine? The moral compass of [...] ...
The Vigilant Lens - Tue 4:44 p.m. - 2 clicks
"If this passes and it's five years from now and all that stuff gets implemented -- I am leaving the country. I'll go to Costa Rica," Limbaugh told a caller to his program... ...
Mr_Blog - Tue 12:29 p.m.
There goes the next generation... KVI has dropped Mouthing Off, with Dave Carson and Kev in Dodrill (Sundays 6-7p) who were attempting to make a talk show that might be listenable to the Millennials, and drag the lagging KVI into......
BlatherWatch - Tue 12:29 p.m. - 2 clicks
Washington is now the first US state to restrict the amount of copper in brake pads used in cars and trucks. On Monday the state Senate approved the final version of the legislation ( SB 6557 , with analysis here ), which now goes to Gov. Chris Gregoire who is expected to sign it. Copper is a problem because it flakes off brakes and winds up on roadways, where stormwater runoff washes it into...
Sightline Daily Score - Tue 11:20 a.m. - 5 clicks
I’ll just tell you this, if this passes and it’s five years from now and all that stuff gets implemented — I am leaving the country. I’ll go to Costa Rica. ~ Rush Limbaugh, 3-9-10 Too bad Rush never does......
BlatherWatch - Tue 11:20 a.m. - 2 clicks
Revolutions per minute we get. A revolution to change the evil empire? In the Homeland? This Homeland? Good luck with that. The inhabitants of the glorious Homeland, are not capable of balancing their time between free internet porn, Jack Bauer, or their unwavering support of unending wars against the world and themselves. A revolution? Revolutions are for crankshafts and [...] ...
The Vigilant Lens - Tue 10:25 a.m.
Celebrating Our Roots Congressman Jim McDermott's 16th Annual Potato Festival Sunday, March 21, 2010 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p,m. Town Hall (Downstairs) 8th and Seneca, Seattle "Irish Baked Potato Bar and Delicious Desserts" by Cameron Catering. For more information ( https://www.upwardstech.net/mcdermott/tickets ) or contact Anna Rising at 425-828-8969, or anna.rising@verizon....
Forty-Third District Democrats - Tue 9:48 a.m. - 6 clicks
It goes without saying that it is okay that this gentleman is gay. In fact, we should celebrate that he no longer has to live pretending to be somebody he isn’t. What is wrong is the sheer hypocrisy: In 2005, Ashburn, like all but one other Republican in the Senate, voted against [...]...
Hominid Views - Tue 12:09 a.m.
I knew it!! Andy is not dead, he’s Glenn Beck. Glenn Beck is another brilliant creation of Andy’s…what other exploitation could there be? There’s a Fox News viewer-idiot born every 30 seconds. Who better to screw with their minds, preconceived notions and their “complex” realities, than Andy Kaufman? Andy, you’re a beautiful fucking genius. Everything is...
The Vigilant Lens - Mon 6:28 p.m. - 2 clicks
If God wanted us to have oxygenated brains, he would have given us a sign by now. Fish don’t need it, they live under water. Patriots of the glorious Homeland don’t need it either. It’s you weak-minded Fascist liberals, with your cute little Marxists Subarus and Communist coffee shops that require air to the brain. Damn you and your oxygenated [...] ...
The Vigilant Lens - Mon 4:07 p.m. - 2 clicks
John Abbotts, former Sightline staffer and long-time observer of cleanup efforts in the Northwest, contributed a first draft of this blog post. Last May, we posted a blog on cleanup progress and unfinished business at the Hanford site in south-central Washington. Hanford is part of the federal complex for atomic weapons and other military applications, and cleanup at such facilities is now ...
Sightline Daily Score - Mon 4:07 p.m. - 5 clicks
60 or 50? So much depends on those numbers. The news went barely noticed a few weeks back: almost every school district in the state of Washington that put a levy or bond measure on the February ballot won voter approval . Despite the worst recession in decades, citizens stood behind their public schools and agreed to tax themselves about $6 billion —more than $900 per resident of the state....
Sightline Daily Score - Mon 4:07 p.m. - 8 clicks
Rain gardens. Rain barrels. French drains and swales. Green solutions to stormwater runoff sound fancy and complicated, but they're not. And I've got a list of rain garden how-to resources to prove it. The basic principal for controlling stormwater in an earth-friendly way: keep the water where it falls and help it soak into the ground. Homeowners can do that by following any or all of these l...
Sightline Daily Score - Mon 4:07 p.m. - 2 clicks
What’s not to love about President Obama’s focus on turning around our nation’s lowest performing schools? Most Americans would agree that a good education makes us better workers and citizens. Our future labor force and voting public need strong critical thinking skills and knowledge of the world in order to be successful. But Obama’s methods of improving our national education system have caused...
Northwest Progressive Institute Official Blog - Mon 4:07 p.m.
Once again, it's Hollywood's biggest night . The eighty second annual Academy Awards are being televised as I type, and so far, what's most memorable about the ceremony so far is what's not in it. As usual, there's an elaborately designed stage (with rather intricate backgrounds), plenty of glitter, colored lights, and people in fancy clothes. What's missing is a presentation that's imaginat...
Northwest Progressive Institute Official Blog - Mon 4:07 p.m. - 2 clicks
Fossil fuels are old. The Dude and Bad Blake are a bit long in the tooth as well, but such is life. Jeff Bridges quoted himself as the Dude last-night when he offered, “Well, you know, [it's been] up and downs, strikes and gutters, man,” “That’s about it.” From Jeffrey Lebowski’s lips to Bad Blake’s ears…man. And [...] ...
The Vigilant Lens - Mon 3:09 p.m. - 2 clicks
Sarah Palin dropped out of the 2010 Iditarod today, earning her the distinction of being the first former Alaska Governor to quit the storied 1,100 mile endurance challenge. Also: John McCain explained his decision to include dead people among the signatories of a letter opposing an end to the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy on gays in the military... ...
Mr_Blog - Mon 3:09 p.m.
I like it: Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-Ariz.) is raising the bar on freezing lawmaker salaries this week as she continues her push to garner support for her bill that would cut congressional pay by $8,700 next year on top of denying members their automatic cost-of-living increase. To make this bill most effective, Obama must use his bully [...]...
Hominid Views - Mon 3:09 p.m.
Michael Moore has a new letter to President Obama blaming the President’s mistakes and flip flops on Rahm Emanuel. Michael has it wrong here. The mistake was Obama’s hiring of Rahm in the first place. Remember the old saying that President Truman had on his desk, “The Buck Stops Here”? I just read that Goldman Sacks may be stealing $100,000,000 every trading day. An...
Democracy for Vancouver - Sun 3:06 p.m. - 5 clicks
43rd District Democrats Tuesday, March 16, 2010 General Membership Meeting University Heights Community Center 5031 University Way NE, Seattle 98105 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. AGENDA 6:30 p.m. Doors Open 7:00 p.m. Call to Order Approval of minutes from last meeting - Scott Forbes ( democrats@scottforbes.net ) Volunteer Recognition - Hillary Madsen ( chair_43@hotmail.com...
Forty-Third District Democrats - Sun 3:06 p.m. - 9 clicks
Capitalism has led our Homeland down the path of intellectual retardation, cult proliferation and brought forth the financial/moral ruin of the drone class. Like most half-assed decent predators, after having gained our trust, it walked us gently by the hand to a secluded area away from the path and molested us. Those in the know, refer [...] ...
The Vigilant Lens - Sun 10:48 a.m. - 2 clicks
Oh…that explains it. Now Sarah Palin is suggesting she was being like God when she wrote talking points on her palm. But…would God need a TelePrompTer or graven hands to address a Teabagger convention?!? (Via Political Carnival.) ...
Hominid Views - Sat 11:28 p.m. - 2 clicks
Waterboarding Too Dangerous, Internal DoD Memo Reveals , by Jeffrey Kaye Jeffrey has a very important piece this week in Truthout which shows that the use of waterboarding is dangerous to military personnel subjected to it. Indeed, the excuse that since waterboarding is used on American soldiers means it can't be torture is just bunk. According to the documents that Jeffrey examined, mi...
Pacific Views - Sat 12:03 p.m. - 3 clicks
... by Walter Brasch Up to two feet of snow hit the Mid-Atlantic and New England states last week, the second storm within two weeks. Wind gusts of up to 50 miles an hour and temperatures in the 20s created severe wind chill and extreme hazardous driving conditions. Pennsylvania ordered all commercial trucks off many of its major highways and Interstates. Schools and colleges throughout the No...
Pacific Views - Sat 10:48 a.m. - 3 clicks
Ed with some Psychotalk from Ben Stein. Young Turks: Glenn Beck’s crazy war on Jones continues. ONN Radio News: Gay gene isolates, ostracized. Maddow: S.C. Wingnuts pass illiterate education bill: Schuster: Republican homophobe caught being gay! Stephen: Obama’s physical suggests he’s an obese alcoholic with rabies (via TalkingPointsMemo). Barely Political: Is Obama an Avatar? ...
Hominid Views - Mar 6 - 2 clicks
...on the computer repair front (yep, that PayPal button leads to the Upper Left computer repair (replacement?) fund) but here's a quick random ten to tide you over... Ernest Tubb - Walking The Floor Over You Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks - How Can I Miss You (When You Won't Go Away) Red Meat - Lolita Dave Lewis - David's Mood Big Mike Griffin - Working Is The Curse Of The Drinking Class Dan Zanes & D...
Upper Left - Mar 5 - 2 clicks
There's been a lot of ambitious talk lately about carbon neutrality. It's exciting stuff, but it's worth pausing to consider just how huge that challenge is. And what, precisely, does it mean? Zero emissions, or lots of offsets? I thought it was interesting to take a look at the climate action plan from the city of Copenhagen. It's certainly a contender for the title of the greenest an...
Sightline Daily Score - Mar 5 - 2 clicks
Washington lawmakers this week passed a ban on bisphenol A, or BPA, in baby bottles, sippy cups, food and beverage containers for children under 3, and sports bottles. The state becomes the second in the US to ban BPA from sports bottles, according to the Washington Toxics Coalition . It's the fifth state to ban the ubiquitous chemical from baby bottles and food containers. BPA, a synthetic e...
Sightline Daily Score - Mar 5 - 7 clicks
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c Anchor Management www.thedailyshow.com Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Reform As only a professional news organization can deliver it. ...
Pacific Views - Mar 5 - 4 clicks
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news , world news , and news about the economy Thanks to the intrepid Rachel, we finally know the full story of this terrible conspiracy. ...
Pacific Views - Mar 5 - 3 clicks
Today it felt like I was in Madison in 1970 again. From my fourth story office at the University of Washington I could hear chants, bullhorns, cheers, and boos. Apparently, it happened all over the place. It is good to see students charged-up and fighting injustices. Really, it is…even if they [...]...
Hominid Views - Mar 4 - 5 clicks
As a retired member of the U.S. Navy and a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, I’ve served in the line of duty in a conflict that was - in large part - about oil. While I feel honored to have served my country, it is my sincere hope that we do all we can to keep from sending more of our young men and women into harm’s way. America can do this by making the shift away from fossil fuels and to c...
Northwest Progressive Institute Official Blog - Mar 4 - 2 clicks
Washington state has released its first annual report on the death with dignity” law that took effect a year ago tomorrow. What it says reflects closely what the law’s advocates have argued. As the report defines it, the law (passed by initiative) “allows terminally ill adults seeking to end their lives in a humane and dignified [...]...
Ridenbaugh Press (Washington) - Mar 4 - 5 clicks
It didn't, but I thought I'd give myself the same treatment I gave Olyforums here. I haven't been blogging recently and I never explained why, so if anyone was worried, I apologize. But, I'm going to assume that most of the people who read this blog either also follow my twitter feed or are friends on facebook, so they know I'm not totally gone. But, I have been blogging, but in another capaci...
Olympia Time - Mar 4 - 4 clicks
Extreme modesty activists are in a celebratory mood, after producers of America's Next Top Model announced today that God will be a judge on three episodes of the program. The Almighty will start lending his ineffable fashion sense to the hit CW Network show Easter weekend, network sources say. Shirley A. Nutt, a card-carrying modesty inspector from Westmost, North Carolina, hailed the move. Nut...
Mr_Blog - Mar 4
We're finally starting to see results from the first year of RGGI -- the economy-crushing, job-destroying carbon cap-and trade-program in the northeast US: ...said David Littell, commissioner of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and chair of RGGI's board of directors. "The investments we are seeing in renewable energy, in energy infrastructure, appear to be the la...
Sightline Daily Score - Mar 4
There seems to be an element of threat in this: Two senior administration officials said the White House is telling Democrats reconsidering their support for health care reform that they will pay the price for their original vote no matter what happens, so they should reap the political benefits of actually passing a law. There are 59 [...]...
Hominid Views - Mar 3
Earlier today, Taiwan was rocked by a 6.4 earthquake . This followed the massive 8.8 earthquake in Chile on February 27th, which was preceded by a 7.0 earthquake off of Okinawa, Japan a day earlier. On January 12th, Haiti was devastated by a 7.0 quake , and prior to that on September 29, 2009 American Samoa suffered the wrath of an 8.1 earthquake . And that's not to mention the March 23, 2...
Northwest Progressive Institute Official Blog - Mar 3 - 2 clicks
43rd Legislative District Caucus 1 to 3 p.m. – Sunday, March 14, 2010 University Heights Community Center 5031 University Way NE, Seattle, WA ( map ) Join us to elect delegates to the Washington State Democratic Convention on June 25-26 in Vancouver, Wash. Who knows, you might even want to run yourself. It’s easy to participate. Just be a registered voter and show up for a cordial discus...
Forty-Third District Democrats - Mar 3 - 5 clicks
In a cringe-inducing response to my corrections to his memo on the state's hazardous substance tax, Washington Policy Center's Brendon Houskeeper defends his mistaken math. It’s a little embarrassing. For Washington Policy Center, that is. Look, we’re a think tank. You’re a think tank. Occasionally, fact checking falls down. It’s OK to make a mistake once in a while; just admit it and m...
Sightline Daily Score - Mar 3 - 5 clicks
Update 3/5/10: The ruling is "warranted but precluded" a kinda-sorta technical cop out that basically puts the sage-grouse on a watch list but doesn't directly restrict activities that harm them. Rocky Barker has a detailed explanation , and there's also a piece in the NY Times . Tomorrow, conservationists expect to learn the fate of the greater sage-grouse. It's a desert-dwelling bird t...
Sightline Daily Score - Mar 3 - 2 clicks
In a post called “ We’ve Upped Our Standards, Now Up Yours ,” I wrote about a great pilot program in Victoria, BC that is taking the first step toward requiring energy efficiency ratings at the point of sale for single family homes. Programs like this have often run into resistance from builders and others who say that they would be “bad for business,” harming transactions during an already sour...
Sightline Daily Score - Mar 3
Worries about “gaming” or market manipulation often crop up as objections to climate and energy legislation. While these concerns are understandable, they are not warranted – and they can be addressed in a well-designed system. So let’s look at some of the most common myths. Myth #1: Cap and trade markets have no track record. Reality: Cap and trade has been tested and proven in the Unite...
Sightline Daily Score - Mar 3
One of the greatest failings of today's Conservatives (and many Democrats who have bought into the market is always right philosophy) is the inability to look at the actual facts and reconsider your beliefs. Yet, one Conservative critic of the Public Schools has shown that the real world data is more important than her original assumptions. Listen to this piece on NPR where Diane Ravitch, ...
Pacific Views - Mar 3 - 2 clicks
Via The Telegraph: Pakistan’s army has discovered a complex network of 156 caves used by the Taliban and al-Qaeda dug into rocky mountains close to the Afghan border. The tunnels…were carved into sheer rock within view of the snow-capped peaks of eastern Afghanistan. [...] Maj Gen Tariq Khan said the caves served as a key militant headquarters until troops [...]...
Hominid Views - Mar 2 - 2 clicks
This afternoon, Chief Justice John Roberts issued an order announcing that the United States Supreme Court will not interfere with the enforcement of the District Columbia's Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Equality Amendment Act. This means that - as of tomorrow - gay and lesbian couples can apply for marriage licenses . The first licenses will be officially recognized as of next week. Ga...
Northwest Progressive Institute Official Blog - Mar 2 - 2 clicks
Contrary to what conservatives would have us believe, reckless government spending has nothing to do with the current economic crisis. In fact, both the Great Depression and the Great Recession were caused by the reckless actions of private financial institutions. Likewise, it wasn’t unregulated free enterprise that got the United States of America out of the worst economic calamity in history, ...
Northwest Progressive Institute Official Blog - Mar 2 - 8 clicks
In the biggest WTF moment of the week, the Daily Mail throws out this howler: Barack Obama should not only try harder to kick his smoking habit, his team of doctors warned, but they also recommended ‘moderation of alcohol intake’. Nah-uh. They said no such thing. Here is a pdf of the exam summary. [...]...
Hominid Views - Mar 2
As NPI reported last week, the King County Council appointed me to a newly created judgeship in the King County District Court . I was appointed on February 22nd, will be sworn in on March 4th, and will take the bench on March 8th. I want to take this opportunity to say goodbye to NPI's loyal readers... and NPI's staff, who are truly a dedicated group. It has been an honor and a pleasure to be...
Northwest Progressive Institute Official Blog - Mar 1 - 2 clicks
There is a small agency in Washington state government called the State Executive Ethics Board, with a budget of a little under a half-million dollars a year, a drop in the ocean of the Washington state budget. In light of the state’s financial stress, state Representative Jeannie Darneille, D-Tacoma, has proposed eliminating it. (She was [...]...
Ridenbaugh Press (Washington) - Mar 1 - 3 clicks
It's been a long, pot-holed road to get to here, but with today's release of the House Democrats' revenue pla n , the Washington legislature now has the tools it needs to create a supplemental state budget that will sustain core services. The Senate released their plan last week. It focuses on three large revenue sources while the House proposal is an accumulation of five smaller measures. Bo...
Northwest Progressive Institute Official Blog - Mar 1 - 3 clicks
The Supreme Court Fair Elections program (SB 5912) is now in the Senate proposed budget. The Senate will have to vote to approve this program, and then the House will have to approve the program, first through the House Ways & Means Committee, and then in a vote by the full House. On Tuesday 2/16, a [...]...
Washington State Progressive Caucus - Mar 1
George W. Bush has sued France, attorneys for the former President disclosed today. Papers filed with the International Small Claims Court at The Hague state that France's declaration of a "national disaster" in the wake of storms that severely lashed the country's Atlantic coast infringes on a Bush trademark. Bush alleges France harms both him and his national disaster trademark because it did ...
Mr_Blog - Mar 1
This weekend, the leadership of Emily's List is in our region to help raise money for Suzan DelBene (the Democratic nominee for Congress in Washington's 8th Congressional District) following their earlier endorsement of her candidacy . At an event hosted at Soundview Strategies today, Suzan explained why she is running for Congress. She said the most important reason she's challenging Reichert i...
Northwest Progressive Institute Official Blog - Mar 1 - 7 clicks
This is a idiotic statement: …on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, the House Republican whip, Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, said: “I’ll tell you one thing: If Speaker Pelosi rams this bill through the House using a reconciliation process, they will lose their majority in Congress in November.” The public really doesn’t give a damn about [...]...
Hominid Views - Mar 1 - 3 clicks
Possibly not what they expected when they asked the question. Washington’s 3rd congressional district, the one with an open seat this year (currently held by Democrat Brian Baird) is the one anchored by Vancouver to the south and Olympia to the north, but considered politically marginal and maybe bearing a slight Republican tilt. There is at [...]...
Ridenbaugh Press (Washington) - Feb 28 - 4 clicks
http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2010/01/12/cbs-poll-for-man A new CBS News poll finds that a significant plurality of Americans do not feel reform has gone far enough. It also shows that overall support for Obama’s handling of health care reform has dropped to an all-time low of just 36%. The most interesting questions in the poll were about whether p...
Washington State Progressive Caucus - Feb 28 - 2 clicks
Martha Koester, Health Care for All WA Board Member Advocates of passing some form of the health care “reform” measures on the table as of January 2010 are claiming that a fresh new regulatory regime will control costs to the point where imposing mandates on everyone to buy overpriced underinsurance would be justified. This claim rests [...]...
Washington State Progressive Caucus - Feb 28 - 2 clicks
The minutes of September 26, 2009 were approved. The agenda was approved. Bylaws revision The bylaws were presented and the discussion led by Western Vice-Chair Gary Sell. There is a suggested change to a requirement that people be required to become dues paying members 20 days before casting any votes rather than 30 days because February has only 28 [...]...
Washington State Progressive Caucus - Feb 28 - 4 clicks
Recently I finished an enchanting travel book about Chile and so when I heard about the earthquake this morning, the locations mentioned were vivid in my mind. Called Travels in a Thin Country: A Journey Through Chile by Sara Wheeler, it is great read about Chile, a very long, thin country, no more than 110 miles from east to west at any point along its thousands of miles from Peru to Antarct...
Pacific Views - Feb 28
The best read of the weekend comes from Nobel laureate, Al Gore: It would be an enormous relief if the recent attacks on the science of global warming actually indicated that we do not face an unimaginable calamity requiring large-scale, preventive measures to protect human civilization as we know it. [...] But what a burden would be lifted! [...]...
Hominid Views - Feb 27 - 2 clicks
A huge earthquake, the seventh strongest on record, struck Chile this morning : A deadly 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck central Chile early Saturday, collapsing buildings, shattering major bridges and highways across a long strip of the country, and sending tsunami warnings along the entire Pacific basin. The director of the National Emergency Agency, Carmen Fernández, said that 147 peopl...
Northwest Progressive Institute Official Blog - Feb 27 - 2 clicks
Young Turks: Rep. Anthony Weiner, “Republicans are owned by the insurance industry. Onion Radio: Taco Bell’s new ‘Morning After’ Burrito. Ed with some Gopher state Psychotalk! Republican highway hypocrisy . Liberal Viewer: Nobody on FAUX News defends rigt to jury trial. Jim McDermott: Brutal Interrogations Are Illegal! Right Now! Young Turks: Gov. Jim Gibbons (R-NV) claims...
Hominid Views - Feb 27 - 5 clicks
...but likely scarce for a bit due to some computer-fu at Upper Left World Headquarters. How long a return to normalcy will take is, as most things are, at least partly economically driven. Cheaper, of course, is faster. Meanwhile, there are over 8000 posts to play with around here, so have fun. I'll check in as I'm able. ...
Upper Left - Feb 26
Town hall meetings are a patriotic celebration of democracy in action – a coming together of citizens with their elected representatives to discuss important issues of the day – and last weekend, many Democratic legislators hosted open public meetings with their constituents. Republican legislators, meanwhile, decided to take a paid weekend off. Although the legislative session includes the week...
Northwest Progressive Institute Official Blog - Feb 26
Time to prepare for breaking out the D-word? The northwest’s snowpack seemed to be in pretty good shape two to three months ago. Less so now, and in places it could get pretty parched. Only one spot in the Northwest has higher than normal accumulated precipitation: The Olympic peninsula (at about 151%). Other than that, it’s [...]...
Ridenbaugh Press (Washington) - Feb 25 - 4 clicks
Today is a great day for democracy in Washington State. This afternoon, Governor Chris Gregoire signed into law ESSB 6130, which breaks off the unconstitutional, undemocratic shackles imposed by Tim Eyman's Initiative 960 back in 2007. Those shackles prevented majority rule from prevailing on any bills seeking to raise revenue, in direct violation of Article II, Section 22 of the Washington State...
Northwest Progressive Institute Official Blog - Feb 24 - 4 clicks
Impossible to believe? Could we really dump 50 billion dollars into the economy without creating an equal 50 billion dollar tax burden on hard-working American citizens? Sure. Just eliminate the anti-trust exemption for health insurance corporations. Actually, that's not quite accurate. It wouldn't be 50 billion dollars. It would be 50 billion dollars per year . That's the amount of extr...
Northwest Progressive Institute Official Blog - Feb 24 - 2 clicks
Good riddance: Hummer, the brand of big sport-utility vehicles that became synonymous with the term “gas guzzler,” is being shut down after a deal to sell it to a Chinese manufacturer fell apart, General Motors said Wednesday. G.M. said only that its planned sale of Hummer to the Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machines Company “cannot be completed,” without giving a reason, but the $150 mi...
Northwest Progressive Institute Official Blog - Feb 24 - 2 clicks
"I am running the party as a de facto Government Lab in order to demonstrate to the American people what Republican leadership will do for the nation," said Steele. The centerpiece of the demonstration is strict adherence to conservative budget principles. "I have radically increased the Republican Party's expenses since becoming leader," he said, ...
Mr_Blog - Feb 24
Or would that be out and in? Something like that. Anyway, I suspect Gordon 's right about Ah-nold. ...
Upper Left - Feb 24
The filing deadline for congressional candidate in the open-seat Washington 3rd is still quite a way off, but the field is starting to shrink and the front-runners are looking quite a bit clearer. Even if you have to throw aside some fundraising data to reach the conclusion. Among Republicans, the picture is beginning to look notably [...]...
Ridenbaugh Press (Washington) - Feb 23 - 7 clicks
...Cheney was home working on his memoirs when the chest pains started. "I was dictating into a tape recorder, but it wasn't going well, the words weren't coming," explained Cheney, "so I told Dr. Yoo to torture me until I started talking." ...
Mr_Blog - Feb 23
…a thousand times damn. AFP - The number of US soldiers who have died in the Afghan war has reached 1,000, according to website icasualties.org , a grim milestone in the conflict launched more than eight years ago. ...
Upper Left - Feb 23
…over and over, everywhere and anywhere. Robert Reich ... The 60-vote requirement for healthcare is made up. 51 is a majority, and it's all we need. Sure, you knew that, but does everyone you know know that? Who's gonna tell 'em if you don't? ...
Upper Left - Feb 22
A new poll released by the Progressive Candidate Change Committee, Democracy for America, and Credo Action finds that support for real healthcare reform remains strong in Washington State, the organizations announced earlier today. The poll of six hundred likely 2010 voters throughout the Evergreen State was conducted by Research 2000. The results were as follows : QUESTION: What would make you...
Northwest Progressive Institute Official Blog - Feb 22 - 3 clicks
Via Thers ... Tom Coburn is typical… "I love gridlock. I think we’re better off when we’re gridlocked because we’re not passing things." Not passing things that the majority of Americans have asked for, voted for and, in too many cases, are dieing without. That's why... ...
Upper Left - Feb 22
ESSB 1630, the bill that temporarily neutralizes Initiative 960 through the end of the 2011 legislative session, has just cleared its final legislative hurdle. By a vote of twenty six to twenty one (two Republican senators were excused) the Senate has concurred with the bill as passed by the House. ESSB 1630 now heads to the desk of Governor Chris Gregoire, who is expected to sign it into law...
Northwest Progressive Institute Official Blog - Feb 22 - 2 clicks
We have wonderful news to share tonight! This afternoon, the King County Council unanimously appointed Northwest Progressive Institute Fellow Mike Finkle to fill a newly created District Court position in the county's East Division. Mike, a twenty year veteran of the Seattle City Attorney's office, will work out of Redmond's Municipal Campus, which includes the East Division's Redmond Courthouse...
Northwest Progressive Institute Official Blog - Feb 22 - 2 clicks
