Clint Didier and the 4th CD

We didn’t get our candidate through the primary, and because of that, we are stuck with an impossible choice. Three impossible choices to be exact.

1. Refuse to vote, in the hopes that out of tens of thousands of votes, your protest vote makes a statement…to whom, I have no idea, since we have a secret ballot.

2. Vote for Clint Didier in the hopes that after his election, his crazy will show, and suddenly the thousands of people who voted for him will wake up and vote for an, as yet, unknown messiah candidate who, without a ton of cash, and without WSDCC or DCCC support will somehow part the Red Sea and win an election against an incumbent.

3. Vote for Dan Newhouse with the realization that until we have a strong and vibrant Democratic Party, in the 4th, that is supported by the State Party and Democrats from across the State, we have to vote for the person that will be the least destructive to our community, and work twice as hard to elect Joe Pakootas.

Here are the facts:

Clint Didier:
• Favors phasing out Social Security

• Wants to cut Medicare and Medicaid

• Wants to withdraw from the United Nations

• Believes that we should hand over the nations largest superfund site, (Hanford), to private corporations and end the department of Energy and the EPA

• Wants to end the Department of Education

• Believes more racial profiling is needed in this county

• Believes an underage woman should have to get the permission of her Sexually abusive father, to end an unwanted incestuous pregnancy

These are all things that I have, personally heard him say.

Clint Didier has never held public office, and never held any position (Board or Commission) that benefited our community.

Dan Newhouse
• Appointed as Director of the Washington State Department of Agriculture (2009-2013), by then Gov. Gregoire (D)

• Served four terms in the Washington State House of Representatives (2003-2009)

• Past President of the Hop Growers of America and the Hop Growers of Washington

• Farmer near Sunnyside for the past thirty years

• Board of Directors Member for the Central Washington Fair

• Isn’t Clint Didier

I would much rather vote for a Democrat in the 4th, but we don’t have that option because we didn’t turn out the vote, and that falls on all of us. Here’s the deal:

If you don’t vote, you’re de-facto voting for Didier whether you like it or not, and if you vote for Didier you’re crazy.

In my opinion, a vote for Didier is a vote AGAINST our community. We all have a responsibility to our community. We may not like the choices, but I’d much rather shoot myself in the foot, than shoot myself in the head.

**Added note:

You CANNOT write in a candidate unless they have registered as a write-in candidate. That is State law. Your vote will not be counted. It is the same as not voting in that race….i.e., in my opinion, it’s the same as voting for Didier.

**Added note:

The 4th CD will not receive DCCC money until we have a candidate that can raise $1 million minimum, has state wide name recognition, and has polls in hand that shows them with 45% support of likely voters, minimum. Period.

We have a lot of work to do. I look forward to seeing you all at the next BCDCC meeting, Wednesday at 7pm at the Richland public library, to help us build the party.

Edwin Lyman on Fukushima and US risks from nuclear power plants

Edwin Lyman is Senior Global Security Scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). He specializes in nuclear proliferation, nuclear terrorism,and nuclear power safety and security  He spoke to Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility and other sponsors in Seattle October 6 2014 at Common Good Cafe.

Dr. Lyman, with a PhD in Physics from Cornell University, is the author of Fukushima: the Story of a Nuclear Disaster.

Conservatives

Conservatives

Wasted trillions of dollars on corrupt, disastrous wars.

Slashed taxes for rich people.

Deregulated Wall Street and banking, causing the 2008 market crash.

Continue to oppose regulation of Wall Street.

Allow corporations to move profits and jobs overseas.

Oppose funding of the IRS to investigate tax evasion.

Gerrymander election districts and enact voter-id and other restrictions to suppress minority voting.

Deny science about global warming.

Cut funding for education and blame teachers for outcomes that are a result of poverty.

Oppose public transit, clean energy, and conservation.

Crush unions.

They also want to hand the Social Security Trust Fund over to Wall Street even though it was financed from workers’ paychecks.

The outrages go on and on ….

Friday actions for SAFE: protest and press conference

SAFE

Protest and Press Conference

This action is protesting the auction of Marquette Bowman’s family home. This home was left to her by her father who was a victim of a predatory reverse mortgage. We are coupling this protest with a a press conference announcing Barton victory in court over RCO and Quality Loan Services! A summary judgment of default has been issued against Quality Loan Services and RCO in the Barton Case. The outcome of the Barton litigation shows exactly why ongoing litigation is grounds for delaying auctions where there are questions as to property ownership.

Where: 4th & James in front of the King County Administration Building across from the King County Courthouse
When: Friday October 10, 2014 @ 10:00am
Meetup: At Einstein’s Bagels on 4th and Cherry at 9:30am

Demand Delivery

Join us in delivering a demand letter to Wells Fargo Bank on behalf of Jane Mair in her continued battle to keep her house!

Where: We will be meeting at the Food Court on the Southwest corner of 3rd & Marion in Downtown Seattle
When: Friday October 10, 2014 @ 4:15 pm

Please Join Us In Our Continued Fight For Housing As A Human

Quickie, on the corporate plan to destroy public education

A quotation from The Plot Against Public Education: How millionaires and billionaires are ruining our schools:

Stephanie Simon, writing for Reuters in the summer of 2012, captured the excitement of investors eager to pounce: “The investors gathered in a tony private club in Manhattan were eager to hear about the next big thing, and education consultant Rob Lytle was happy to oblige. Think about the upcoming rollout of new national academic standards for public schools, he urged the crowd. If they’re as rigorous as advertised, a huge number of schools will suddenly look really bad, their students testing way behind in reading and math. They’ll want help, quick. And private, for-profit vendors selling lesson plans, educational software and student assessments will be right there to provide it.”

The “Race to the Top” mentality is creating an economy – and society – where only the winners matter

One of the things I do in the fall is volunteer as a coach for cross country runners at Ballard High School. I usually end up coaching the kids at the end of the pack. That’s how it should be. Because with cross country, it’s not just about the fastest runners, it is also about the kids in the middle and the kids who can barely finish — everyone who wants to put their best effort out there to compete for their best time.

Here’s the thing, though: Life is a little different than a cross country race. In a meet, every kid begins at the same starting line. In life, that is rarely the case. Too often, America’s “Race to the Top”-style public policies put a few kids on the starting line or the inside lane — usually those who were born with the luck or heritage to get a strong start in life — and most others a few hundred meters back, or in the far outside lane.

Competition can push us to work harder and get better — and that’s a good thing. But when this “race” mentality runs unchecked, the danger is we start to believe the winners are the only ones who matter. And when our economy, our educational institutions, and our government are creating social and economic injustice — especially by continually giving more advantages to those born with a head start in life — then we’re no longer living in a democracy.

There was a name for this mentality a century ago: Social Darwinism. It was the excuse for the favoritism of the market and the adulation of the wealthy. “Race to the Top” may sound more civil, but it is the same thing. Suddenly, it’s just another day when The New York Times sponsors an International Luxury Conference in Miami, while more than a fifth of Florida residents lack health coverage and 1 out of 7 people there live in poverty.

American democracy began with the exhortation to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. To actually make progress toward those ideals, we all need certain things, including a good education, affordable and accessible health care, respect for work at all levels and a secure retirement.

In a true democracy, these foundations are not just for the winning few, or the top half, or even the top 80 percent. They have to be a reality for all of us: the poorest who can’t make ends meet; the middle class family undermined by stagnating wages, skyrocketing housing costs and college tuition; the kids who took a wrong turn and ended up in prison; the people too ill to work; the developmentally disabled; the alcoholic; the ex-spouse; the person who yelled at you in road rage this morning; the co-worker who gets you to do all the work.

Because when these are cordoned off only for the wealthy, the winners, or the “good” people, it’s not a democracy at all. Only when they are shared and enjoyed by all — the good, the bad, working poor people and pampered trust fund babies — are we truly fulfilling the promise of America’s ideals.

At the end of the day, we’re all in this together. Our economy will fail to function for most of us if the gains continue only going to the top. Our society will break down if we continue disempowering people based on their race, gender or sexual orientation.

In high school — especially in a diverse one — it’s hard to get by if you only learn algebra and English. You also have to learn how to get along with the winners, the losers, the best test takers, the cheaters, the kids late for class, and the smokers in the alleys. (Or if not get along, understand that all these kids are part of your world.)

Cross country running provides a big envelope to take in a lot of different kids. There is no bench. Everyone gets to run. Some are stars, some are in the middle of the pack, some come in at the very end, every single race. But they all finish. That’s the beauty and spirit of cross country. And with the right public policies in place, it can be part of the American Dream, too.

Originally published at EOI Online