Wednesday evening  I attended a public meeting, in Kirkland, of the county Transportation, Economy, and Environment Committee.  The topic was the proposed cuts in bus and trolley service and the $20 “congestion fee” that the county may impose on car owners to fund Metro bus and prevent the service cuts.  The next two meetings are…

Here’s a bipartisan effort, with support from libertarians as well as progressives, to end America’s addiction to war and violence. Specifically, it calls on a speedy withdrawal from Afghanistan. http://www.comehomeamerica.us/ Check out the list of signers and add your comments. I received email about this website from a libertarian email list.

ProgressiveCongress.org and Progressive Action Fund are sponsoring a public event on July 23 at South Seattle Community College. Here is their blurb (copied from a pdf file they sent): It’s not often that lawmakers come to our community to ask directions, but that’sexactly what they’re doing. Our community has been hit hard by the economy.…

Over the past 30 years, our political leaders have pursued increasingly immoral, unconstitutional, and destructive policies: fraudulent wars, torture, rampant corruption and mismanagement, reckless deregulation, tax cuts for the rich, erosion of civil liberties, bailouts of culpable billionaire corporations, outsourcing of jobs and profits, dismantling of public journalism, fixed elections, corporate personhood, and prosecution of…

Prominent conservative David Brooks has some harsh things to say about the Republican Party in this New York Times editorial: The Republican Party may no longer be a normal party. Over the past few years, it has been infected by a faction that is more of a psychological protest than a practical, governing alternative. The…

Last Friday, Linda Boyd, Robert Sargent, and I (Don Smith) had a meeting with 8th CD US Congressman Dave Reichert (R), at his Mercer Island office. This was the third time that I’d attended a meeting with Reichert. Each time we told him we were loosely affiliated with MoveOn. The affiliation with MoveOn has been…

On June 22, I attended a public forum, “Law and Politics:The State Budget—Searching for Long-Term Sustainability”, at the Rainier Square Atrium in downtown Seattle. The panelists were Representative Reuven Carlyle (D-36), Washington State Legislature Representative Bruce Dammier (R-25), Washington State Legislature Paul Guppy, vice president for research, Washington Policy Center Marty Loesch, director of external…

“The top five U.S. banks paid staff a combined $119 billion for 2010, according to bank consolidated income statements.”  from this Reuters article: Compensation seen rising among bankers: poll.  Add in Goldman Sachs and the compensation comes to about $140 billion. According to Dollars&Sense Wall Street financiers received $20.8 billion in bonuses last year on…

According to this LA Times article Deficit battle shaping up as GOP victory President Obama began his bargaining about raising the deficit limit from a position that already gave Republicans most of what they want:   way more spending cuts than tax increases. Even if Obama were to gain all the tax-law changes he wants,…

Residents of King County should try to attend special public meetings of the county Transportation, Economy, and Environment Committee to discuss proposed cuts in bus and trolley service. Wednesday, July 6, 6:00 p.m. Kirkland City Council Chambers 123 Fifth Avenue, Kirkland Tuesday, July 12, 6:00 p.m. King County Council Chambers 516 Third Avenue, 10th Floor,…