Quickie link: Koch Brothers and ALEC Target SeaTac $15 an Hour Minimum Wage Initiative

Goldy at the Slog is reporting: If you want a good indication of how much is truly riding on SeaTac’s $15 an hour minimum wage initiative, you need look no further than who is fighting it: The ultra-conservative billionaire Koch brothers and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the corporate-funded lobbying group behind “model legislation”…

More anti-I-522 propaganda from Big Ag

Yesterday I again got a glossy flier in my mail box containing propaganda against I-522, Washington State’s initiative to require GMO food labeling. At the bottom of the flier, it says, “Top five contributors: Grocery Manufacturers Association, DuPont Pioneer, Dow AgroScience LLC, Monsanto Company, Bayer CropScience.” The flier contains an anti-I-522 quote by Ken Eikenberry….

Sen. Rodney Tom to be featured speaker at far-right WPC event

The far-right think tank Washington Policy Center has announced a Solutions Summit on November 12 featuring Democrat-in-Name-Only Senator Rodney Tom. “This half-day conference will kick off with a breakfast featuring Senate Majority Leader Rodney Tom and Bob Moore of Moore Information.” What a betrayal by a supposed Democrat.   It seems to me he shouldn’t be…

Anarchism, libertarianism, and the way forward

In Are Occupiers aiding Grover Norquist? I presented a critique of anarchism, claiming that anarchist Occupiers were unwittingly aiding right-wing libertarians and ignoring the benefits of government. Dave Fryett responded to my analysis in On the Appeal of Anarchism, a Response to Don Smith’s “Are Anarchists in Occupy Aiding Grover Norquist?”.  In this article I…

Reps Reichert, Hastings, and Rodgers voted to cut food stamps

All but 15 Republicans voted to cut foodstamps.  See http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2013/roll476.xml All Democrats in the House voted against the bill. In Washington State, Republican reps Reichert, Hastings, and Rodgers voted to cut food stamps; Herrera Beutler did not vote. http://my.firedoglake.com/cranestation/2013/09/22/food-sunday-house-republicans-and-the-food-stamps-vote/

Good bye, Dwight

Dwight Pelz announced his upcoming retirement as Chair of the Washington State Dems, effective Feb, 2014. Someone pointed out that Pelz helped raised $8 million for the Democratic Party in 2012. (I have not verified that figure.) But Pelz was viciously hostile towards Dennis Kucinich, when the former Congressman visited Washington State two years ago…