Washington Liberals

At the meeting of the 41st LD Democrats last night, Rep. Judy Clibborn, state house transportation leader, discussed the gas tax, tolling I-90, and auto tab fees.  She said that the gas tax will be raised maybe $0.10, and eventually I-90 and other roads will have some sort of tolling. I asked: but will Republicans…

InspireSeattle invites YOU to join us at our Social Forum:  Saturday, June 8st at 6:30PM. Main discussion topic for this evening: Who are the Real Moochers Among Us? Announcement:  Photos  from our last social can be seen at  http://www.inspireseattle.org/minutes/042713.html When Mitt Romney was running for president, he referenced that 47 percent of us who are moochers.…

According to the Pulitzer Prize winning book Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond, the transition from a society based on hunter-gathering  to a modern state progressed hand-in-hand with the development of agriculture.  Government protections and laws enabled trade, storage, and distribution systems. Surpluses resulting from agriculture funded government.   Farm labor could be enlisted for…

This video might be challenging for some viewers, because of the people of color, the rap-inspired chant, and its (quite reasonable!) support for the rights of the (innocent) Muslims who are hunger-striking. I posted the video in accordance with the email I received: The Peace Poets and Witness Against Torture have collaborated on a Hunger…

Fisher Communications, owner of Seattle’s KOMO-TV and 19 other television stations, will be acquired for $373 million by Sinclair Broadcast Group, the country’s largest Fox affiliate.  Sinclair said it plans to keep Fisher’s three Seattle radio stations — KOMO Newsradio, KPLZ STAR 101.5 and KVI 570 — even though its focus is TV. (Seattle Times,…

Over the weekend, volunteers with FUSE plastered areas on the Eastside with signs calling for the closing of tax loopholes. Areas targeted include the neighborhoods where Senators Rodney Tom, Steve Litzow, and Andy Hill live — three Republicans* whose votes will be crucial in order for the state legislature to eliminate some tax loopholes, as…

A non-partisan, blue-ribbon task force sponsored by the Washington-based Constitution Project issued a report on US treatment of detainees in the wake of the September 11 attacks. The task force, after a two-year investigation, unanimously concluded that “it is indisputable that the United States engaged in the practice of torture,” and that “the nation’s most…

Source: The Mind Unleashed.

The state in the current biennium budget period gave out 176 tax breaks for B&O taxes totaling some $7.5 billion while collecting only $6.5 billion in revenue. The exemptions were 54% of the potential tax base. When an exemption is given it means that a tax shift occurs so the responsibility falls on someone else.…

Walt Disney World and Darden Restaurants (which owns restaurant chains like Olive Garden and Red Lobster) both have happy-looking public faces regarding the health of the people they employ. But behind the scenes, they’re doing everything they can to deny people working in Florida the right to earn basic benefits like paid sick days on…