What is the most likely scenario for the future of America?

Economic, political, and environmental mismanagement are threatening the well-being of America and the world. What is the most likely scenario for the future of America? Fast decline into anarchy or fascism.  Slow decline: We slog along as best as we can, while conditions slowly deteriorate.  Status quo: The economy recovers, technological growth and minor reforms…

Proposed initiative to end perpetual corporate welfare

Paula Joneli of Des Moines has proposed this brilliant citizen initiative. As Martha Koester says, “If it requires 2/3 to raise taxes, why shouldn’t it take 2/3 to enact tax breaks?” An act relating to all Washington State favorable corporate tax treatment. BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON: INTENT:  To ensure…

Interactive 3D Visualizations of Voting in the 111th Congress

3D Interactive Visualization of US Senators’ Voting Records Click to interact. 3D Interactive Visualization of US Representatives’ Voting Records Click to interact. Ron Paul is the outlier on the lower left. The data points were generated by a technique called multi-dimensional scaling with relaxation, in which the high dimensional space of votes is projected into…

Jay Inslee to speak at NWroots

Congressman Jay Inslee will join Congressman Jim McDermott, former Canadian Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh, and Washington State Labor Council President Jeff Johnson at NWroots, the July 9th conference for liberal political activists, bloggers, candidates, and elected officials. The agenda includes keynote addresses, sessions on labor, health care, immigration, media, banking, agriculture, & electronic voting; documentaries,…

A 3D Interactive Visualization of Washington State Senators' Voting Records

Click here for visualization. You can use your arrow keys to navigate in 3D space and compare senators’ voting scores along three dimensions:  labor, environmental, and racial equity. It’s amazing how far apart Democrats and Republicans appear in the 3D space. Feedback is welcome. I updated the page with clearer, brief instructions and explanation on…

NWroots to Feature Jim McDermott, Ujjal Dosanjh, & Jeff Johnson

Do you know about the NWroots Conference in Seattle on July 9th? NWroots is a conference for liberal political activists, bloggers, policy wonks, candidates, elected officials, and anyone who cares about progressive public policy. There will be keynote speakers, breakout sessions/workshops, documentaries, a candidates social, and an after-party. Feature speakers include Congressman Jim McDermott, former…