Economic, political, and environmental mismanagement are threatening the well-being of America and the world. What is the most likely scenario for the future of America? Fast decline into anarchy or fascism.  Slow decline: We slog along as best as we can, while conditions slowly deteriorate.  Status quo: The economy recovers, technological growth and minor reforms…

Paula Joneli of Des Moines has proposed this brilliant citizen initiative. As Martha Koester says, “If it requires 2/3 to raise taxes, why shouldn’t it take 2/3 to enact tax breaks?” An act relating to all Washington State favorable corporate tax treatment. BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON: INTENT:  To ensure…

(reposted from Fuse Washington) On Wednesday, Rob McKenna announced his candidacy for Governor of our state. We are taking the unprecedented step of alerting you right after his announcement because McKenna has made a career out of fighting against a progressive future for Washington. McKenna has been a leader against much of what we stand…

3D Interactive Visualization of US Senators’ Voting Records Click to interact. 3D Interactive Visualization of US Representatives’ Voting Records Click to interact. Ron Paul is the outlier on the lower left. The data points were generated by a technique called multi-dimensional scaling with relaxation, in which the high dimensional space of votes is projected into…

The Seattle-PI has an article New business PAC to County: Support transit tax that should be an eye-opener for Tim Eyman and his anti-tax, anti-government allies. The article reports on the creation of a new business PAC  that is affiliated with the Chamber of Commerce. One specific issue the new group feels strongly about is…

Click here for visualization. You can use your arrow keys to navigate in 3D space and compare senators’ voting scores along three dimensions:  labor, environmental, and racial equity. It’s amazing how far apart Democrats and Republicans appear in the 3D space. Feedback is welcome. I updated the page with clearer, brief instructions and explanation on…

I’m half way through Chris Hedges’ depressing and informative book, The Death of the Liberal Class. Hedges says, “The story began, I believe, in World War I, when there was a massive reconfiguration of American political life, and I would argue American culture itself.” Hedges’ thesis is that up until World War I, progressive and…

Ever notice that people  are mixed?  I mean: parts of them are really good and laudable, but other parts are difficult to deal with or downright harmful.  People can be kind to their children and pets but mean to their spouses, employees, coworkers, or fellow citizens. Or they can donate to charity but cheat on…

Over the last thirty years, Republicans, conservative Democrats, and their well-to-do allies have perfected a twelve-step program that has worked to transform America. Cut taxes and establish loopholes and subsidies for the rich and the corporations, to redistribute wealth upwards, drown government in red ink, and justify slashing of social programs. a. Lowest tax rates…

I was reading the Wikipedia article on Clean Elections, with the hope of deepening my knowledge and writing a summary article. What I learned, in short, is that many states and jurisdictions have passed various forms of Clean Election laws, but both the Courts and the citizens themselves have rolled back the laws in some…