Ask our congressional delegation to support the Voter Empowerment Act

Parallel bills are moving through the US Senate and House, S.123 – Voter Empowerment Act of 2013 and H.R. 12: Voter Empowerment Act of 2013. “To modernize voter registration, promote access to voting for individuals with disabilities, protect the ability of individuals to exercise the right to vote in elections for Federal office, and for…

Obama's defense of NSA makes the Dems look bad, makes Republicans look good

TruthOut is reporting on a bill introduced to the Washington State House: HB2272 was introduced by a bipartisan team of legislators, Rep. David Taylor, a Republican from Moxee, and Rep. Luis Moscoso, a former three-term secretary of the state Democratic Party from Mountlake Terrace. If passed, the bill would make it the policy of the…

On walkable cities

“Walkable City: how downtown can save America, one step at a time”, by Jeff Speck, was exciting to read. Speck presents all sorts of evidence and arguments that walkable downtowns — designed for people, not cars — increase real estate values, increase tax revenue, improve health, attract businesses, and make for fun places to live….

Answering doubts about MoveToAmend

Wednesday evening I went to a meeting of eastside MoveToAmend activists, in Bellevue.   Attendees discussed plans in place to collect signatures for I-1329, the initiative in support of an amendment to the US Constitution overturning the Citizens United Supreme Court decision that treats corporations as people and money as speech. Once the Secretary of State’s…

Not just Republicans are to blame for economic inequality

Oxfam released a report recently about economic inequality, World’s 85 richest people own nearly half of global wealth: Oxfam report. “In the US, the wealthiest 1 per cent of the population grabbed 95 per cent of post-financial crisis growth between 2009 and 2012, while the bottom 90 per cent became poorer.” “Wealthy elites have co-opted…

Too cheap, too expensive

See also Killer Fact: 30-40 Percent of Health Care Spending in the U.S. Is Tied to Excess Sugar Consumption: And our political system does nothing but subsidize the problem. For the Love of Money “In my last year on Wall Street my bonus was $3.6 million — and I was angry because it wasn’t big…

Free, regular sex for Boeing execs

State lawmakers should consider giving regular, free sex to Boeing execs to convince the company to stay in Washington State. Inspired by this article: Washington state pitches more help for Boeing. As Brendan Williams said on facebook: From 167-page state proposal offering Boeing further concessions on top of $8.7B tax break: On workers’ comp, “we are committed to working with you to identify and implement additional administrative and,…

Might the defeat of the GMO labeling initiative 522 be overturned by legal means?

RESOLUTION URGING EFFECTIVE REMEDIATION OF ILLEGAL CAMPAIGN TACTICS BY GROCERY MANUFACTURERS ASSOC’N Whereas Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, on October 16, 2013, on behalf of the people of the State of Washington, filed a complaint for civil penalties and injunctive relief against the Grocery Manufacturers Association (“GMA”), alleging violations of RCW 42.17A in connection with…

Is the push for a $15 minimum wage the right battle to be fighting?

Much of the political activism in Seattle now is centered on the establishing a $15 minimum wage. Activists associated with Socialist city council member Kshama Savant are making a big push for a $15 minimum wage.  MoveOn Seattle chose to concentrate its activism on the issue at their December meeting. There’s a rally today (Sunday,…