How to pay for transportation in Washington State

Washington State voters have approved an initiative, I-976, that will lower car tab fees and thereby deprive the state of funding for transportation projects. See ‘The ship’s going down’: After I-976, Washington officials fear for the future of transportation. But there is an obvious, fair solution: Bill Gates, Jr. and Jeff Bezos, the two richest…

How Repubs and evangelicals are smarter than Dems and progressives

Progressives and Democrats like to look down on conservatives, including evangelicals. But the facts suggest that it’s the progressives and Democrats who aren’t so smart. Trump campaigned strenuously in the swing states, unlike Hillary, who apparently thought she had a strong enough lead that she needn’t bother.  But Hillary raised far more money than Trump…

Book review of Senator Ben Sasse’s Them: Why we hate each other and how to heal

Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska is considered a moderate Republican. He opposed Trump’s nomination and has continued to criticize the President, calling him “a megalomaniac strongman.”    Sasse’s opposition to Trump has led to harsh criticism of Sasse from conservative media personalities, politicians and grassroots citizens. Likewise, Sasse took heat from Republicans for opposing the…

Evangelicals are smarter than many progressives

Many progressives like to ridicule evangelical Christians — for their support for Trump, for their values, and for their beliefs. But in one important way, evangelicals are much smarter than many progressives. Evangelicals voted for Donald Trump, the candidate they regarded as the lesser-of-two-evils, because they knew that Trump would appoint conservative justices to the…

Do it, Jeff

Seen on a wall in Seattle, a couple of blocks from Amazon.com’s headquarters. Indeed, as the richest man in the world — and as CEO of a company that paid 0 in federal taxes for two years in a row, despite earning billions in profit — Jeff Bezos has a particular obligation to pay back…

The debate about Russiagate and the fight against Trump

On social media, opinion sites, and online discussions, there’s a big battle between believers in and deniers of Russiagate. It’s highly politicized, with progressives like Glenn Greenwald supporting the views of Fox News and other defenders of the president. For example, in the following youtube video, Greenwald seems to be gleeful in his ridicule of…

Report on Town Hall with Rep. Adam Smith in Kent, Aug 17, 2019

After a short introduction by Dana Ralph, Mayor of Kent, Rep. Smith spent twenty minutes giving an overview of his political positions.    They were uniformly progressive.  He spoke on concentration of wealth, racism, sexism, immigration, gun control, corporate control, taxation,militarism, and impeachment.  Most of the two hours were spent on constituents’ questions. If there were…

Suppress speech of white supremacists? Or just protest their policies?

Should progressives suppress speech of white supremacists? Or just protest their policies when they arrive? I got the email below from Northwest Accountability Project Donald, While American families are grieving and coming to terms with recent mass shootings, including the white supremacist terrorist attack in El Paso, the Freedom Foundation is doubling down on deadly…