Washington Liberals

What happens when religious institutions get to manage public funds, absorb secular hospitals, and put theology above medical science and individual patient conscience? What happens when religious institutions get to manage public funds, absorb secular hospitals, and put theology above medical science and individual patient conscience? In 2010, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, an elderly woman was…

Rep. Suzan DelBene (D, WA-01) is inviting constituents to workshops, in Mount Vernon and Bothell, on deficit reduction. The workshops are presented in conjunction with the “bipartisan” Concord Coalition, whose mission is to educate “the public about the causes and consequences of federal budget deficits, the long-term challenges facing America’s unsustainable entitlement programs, and how…

The year 2010 gave us Citizens United. Suddenly corporations were people who had the right of free speech. But corporations didn’t want their free speech to be disclosed. Enter the Koch Bros., Dick Armey and Freedom Works. In their basement lab, they concocted the very first para-political party, the Tea Party, disguised as a social…

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…