On Wednesday, a story broke that Rob McKenna has accepted $14k from a shady foreclosure firm that his office had put “on notice” for investigation.  After sitting on those contributions for over four month, he only returned them to avoid an optics problem –  days before he announced a settlement with major banks. See McKenna…

Tom Hayden’s Peace and Justice Resource Center is reporting: Afghan Fissures Worsen, Exit Proposed     US Afghan Allies Attacking US Troops

I heard this on Norman Goldman’s radio show and tracked down some references. The caller mentioned Rep. Bob Hasegawa by name and lauded his work on the state bank and other issues. Goldman spoke of knowing and liking Hasegawa as well. (See Norman Goldman, Bob Hasegawa, and Adam Kline speak at the WPC banquet.) So,…

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/comment/2012/02/poor-white-and-republican.html This article is reminiscent of Thomas Frank’s “What’s the Matter with Kansas?”.  It describes how many poor whites in the South depend on government handouts but, at the same time, are attracted to the Tea Party’s anti-government message. Biting the spoon that feeds them?

The Environmental Priorities Coalition says: SB 6406 would gut the Growth Management Act (the law that protects our state from sprawl), make several major policy changes to the State Environmental Policy Act, and now potentially delay laws that would prevent toxic stormwater runoff from entering Puget Sound and waterways across the state.  Special interests are…

Exciting news! The Washington House passed the Reproductive Parity Act (HB 2330) last night by a vote of 52-46! This victory would not have been possible without your calls and emails and your attendance at legislative hearings and our Reproductive Health and Rights Lobby Day. THANK YOU! And thank you to the 52 representatives who stood up…

Let’s Get Bradley Manning the Nobel Peace Prize

We are more than halfway through the short 60-day election-year legislative session, which is scheduled to end March 8th. Whether or not the Legislature will close the $1.4 billion budget gap, and put us on a more sustainable trajectory, is a tossup. Clearly, it’s time to trek to Olympia and make our opinions known, especially…

Quoting from the video page: (In this Moyers & Company segment, Bill Moyers talks with conservative economist Bruce Bartlett, who wrote “the bible” for the Reagan Revolution, worked on domestic policy for the Reagan White House, and served as a top treasury official under the first President Bush. Now he’s a heretic in the conservative circles where he…

CBS News published an informative article, Q&A: Obama and the birth control controversy, that dispels some myths about the abortion care coverage required by Obama’s plan. As the article says: Q: Was the Obama administration going to require churches to cover birth control? A: No, churches, synagogues, mosques and other houses of worship were not…