Last week Republican state Senator Doug Ericksen won a victory for Big Oil when the legislature passed, and the governor signed, SB 5296, which weakened the Model Toxics Control Act. The legislation was the result of a deal between the state House and Senate in which the Senate agreed to pass a fix to the…

I read an excellent article in The Nation by Eric Alterman, “Cuomo v.s. Cuomo.” Alterman describes how Andrew Cuomo (current governor of NY and son of former governor Mario Cuomo) is socially liberal and, unlike his father, economically conservative. Andrew Cuomo passed gun control and gay marriage. But he’s extremely anti-tax. He cut taxes and…

From Finnish Lessons, by Oassu Salberg: “The Finnish experience shows that consistent focus on equity and cooperation — not choice and competition — can lead to an education system where all children learn well. Paying teachers based on students’ test scores or converting public schools into private ones (through charters or other means) are ideas…

[Revised and corrected. 2013/06/23] Thursday night the state legislature passed a bill, SB 5296, that weakened the Model Toxic Control Act. I got email from Washington Conservation Voters asking me to thank legislators who opposed the bill. See Support our kids; end the Big Oil Tax Loophole. According to Washington Environmental Council, the weakening allows…

Sam Seder nails it about libertarians and their puerile fantasies. Building codes needed to protect against earthquakes?   “Are people in Haiti more free because they’re out from under the scourge of building codes?”  Government needed for safe water and food? A fire department? “If you’re lucky you’ll be able to convince the rest of the…

Hillary Clinton is a frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nominee in 2014. Given her hawkish history as Secretary of State, and given her connections to her triangulating husband and his corporate crowd, it’s likely that progressives would oppose many of her policies. Hillary Rodham Clinton by Wikipedia On the other hand, she’s strong on issues…

The King County Democrats’ Platform & Resolutions Committee is (favorably) considering the following two resolutions, the first one calling for cuts to Pentagon spending, and the second one opposing cuts to Social Security. Concerning the Pentagon budget resolution, someone asked, “Have we considered impacts on WA employment re Boeing and re Joint Base Lewis-McChord? Might…

The video is produced by The Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility. “The Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization formed in January of 2013. We have a leadership committee of over 100 organizations and civic leaders from throughout the state.”

Presumably this is in reference to the controversy over the estate tax (Wash . House OKs change to state estate tax, State House, Senate offer estate tax measures) and over Inslee and the Democrats’ plan to eliminate tax loopholes.