“Economist Dean Baker and Dr. Marilyn Watkins (EOI) explain how Social Security is an insurance program that really works for retirees, disabled workers and survivors. Since our pension system has been dismantled by corporations, and 401Ks are just not enough for the majority of workers to retire on, Social Security is the best program we…

Please take action asap and help send this around. It is urgent that Washington State stops the Dirty Coal Trains in their tracks. Dear Linda, Please take 2 minutes before you start your day to call the toll-free Legislative Hotline at 1-800-562-6000, and ask your Senator to vote no on Senate Bill 5805. This bill…

Below is the address I made at the University of Washington the 30th of January 2013 before a meeting of the Socialist Alternative Party.  It reflects my thoughts on where we are today and what we must do to redeem the dream of a true democracy that our founding fathers set out to create for…

Our ideological opponent, the Washington Policy Center, is reporting, in Proposed Constitutional Amendments Would Require Supermajority Vote for Tax Increases, that five constitutional amendments to require a supermajority vote to raise taxes have been introduced during the 2013 Legislative Session. To amend the state constitution would require a two third approval by voters. Voters approved…

Washington Conservation Voters is looking for volunteers for Tuesday, 2/25/13 (that’s tomorrow), to doorbell and persuade voters on Mercer Island to contact Republican State Senator Steve Litzow and ask him to support WCV’s Clean Energy and Climate campaign. (Contact tiffany@wcvoters.org.) As pointed out by Robert Sargent, the odd thing is that WCV endorsed Republican Steve’s run…

Friends, We need a state bank. Not much good will come out of the legislature this year, but we must continue to push the state bank idea forward. We can make our money go further, reduce state debt, and keep investing in our own state economy. It doesn’t hurt that this bill would take our…

I’m tempted to to say it: hallelujah for the Tea Party and for Ron Paul Republicans! President Obama and the Democrats couldn’t find the will or the way to cut the outrageous military budget. But the New York Times is reporting that fiscal hawks within the GOP are winning out over the incensed military hawks: …

Hey, Toto. 2 big blizzards in a couple of weeks. One of the complications of global warming is that the warmed atmosphere holds more water vapor and guess what? More water vapor means heavier snowfalls. I scanned this piece quickly and did not see any mention of global warming or climate change. Same thing last…

The other day I got in US mail a flier from NoTollOnI90.org.    The state is considering tolling I-90 to pay for reconstruction of the SR520 bridge over Lake Washington. The NoTollOnI90.org organization has a Mercer Island P.O. Box.    I live in Bellevue. So they obviously spent a lot of money to distribute the flier to lots…

“It’s nice to see Bloomberg finally getting on board with the Occupy Wall Street message that the big banks are raiding our economy.” (from DailyKos) Bloomberg reports:  Why Should Taxpayers Give Big Banks $83 Billion a Year?