Washington Liberals

“JP Morgan is one of the best-managed banks there is….” — President Barack Obama, May 14, 2012 Within the rarefied echelons of finance capital dwell civilization’s most brilliant minds: men and women of such profound intellect that those of us who reside at their feet are left to envy their genius. O, what wondrous thoughts…

A few days ago I published Who’s progressive in the Washington State Senate? — based on combined data from four scorecards. Below is the similar ranking for Washington State House members. Here is the list of five scorecards on which the ranking is based: Washington Conservation Voters Legislative Scorecard 2011-2012 Washington State Labor Council 2012…

Economist Arthur Laffer is touted as a go-to source of wisdom by conservative think tanks and corporate lobby groups in Washington state like the Washington Policy Center, Evergreen Freedom Foundation, National Federation of Independent Businesses, and Association of Washington Business. But a recent report shows Laffer’s economic prescriptions are more likely to hurt than heal…

It’s fine to expect instant gratification when downloading an app to your smartphone or streaming a movie to your computer. But we can fairly expect our elected representatives to behave differently than the average consumer, by making choices that are less about short-run returns and more about building for the long-term. Most of the rhetoric…

At the King County Democrats’ meeting in Renton Tuesday evening, Rep. Adam Smith spoke and took questions. I asked him why he didn’t sign onto the Grayson-Takano letter promising not to cut Social Security. He said that the math doesn’t add up: mandatory spending is too high and it has to be cut, in order…

Ellen Brown, author of Web of Debt, is the inspiration and thought leader behind the Public Banking Institute, where she serves as Chairman and President. Ellen will discuss the benefits of public banking, the disadvantages of the current banking system and what we can do to take control of our banking system so it works…

Stand up for publicly funded childcare NOW! Help build for a Mothers’ Day Parade to demand action for women and kids. Issues include: comprehensive state-funded childcare; justice for Marissa Alexander, an African American mother serving 20 years for self-defense against an abusive spouse; an end to immigration policies that tear families apart; and increasing funds…

Poster for town halls

(Via Walter Kloefkorn) Public Citizen is sending Aquene Freechild to Washington to conduct three workshops on “How to connect across party lines.” They will focus on the issues of money in politics, campaign reform, and reversing the Citizens United decision. These events are free and open to the public.     On Monday March 25 at…