Outsourcing our Future

See washtech.org for the tens of thousands of engineering jobs that have gone overseas.

There's currently a bill before the state senate that would create a statewide task force to investigate offshore outsourcing and its impact on the state economy. [SCR 8407] There's a similar bill before the house [HCR 4405]. Both bills would need to be voted on by House and Senate in order for the task force to be formed.

AlterNet: How to Turn Your Red State Blue

In this article Christopher Hayes offers advice for reaching the rural voters -- focus on debt. However, we've heard how the Republicans already handle this. They say that the rich people are in the cities and the poor people are in the rural areas. This is where the urban vs. the rural areas play.

State Republicans say that the rich software engineers live in Seattle, and that they can afford to pay more for teachers. According to them the regular people live outside of Seattle and can't afford to keep up. The Republicans won't say that they've sold out to corporate interests and that soon no one will make a middle class wage.

Watching America

This is a great resource! Look at translated news articles from around the world and see what they have to say about America.

From Nancy Pelosi:

The leaders of five Protestant denominations, the Episcopal Church USA, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Presbyterian Church (USA), the United Church of Christ, and the United Methodist Church, recently called President Bush's budget "unjust." The leader of the National Council of Churches said that "this budget is immoral and does not reflect the values we hold as people of faith." The Interfaith Alliance declared, "Fairness, compassion, integrity, and justice are the moral principles that should drive the crafting of the federal budget. As a moral document, the federal budget should not, and cannot, be built on the backs of the poor, the elderly and future generations."

This weekend marks the two-year anniversary of the Bush administration's invasion of Iraq. I grieve for the harm we have caused in Iraq. I grieve for the torture and for the deaths. I grieve for the soldiers who have come been killed, wounded, and come to realize that it was all a lie.

In spite of all the propaganda and right-wing media we know one thing for certain: All the rationales posed by the White House as justification for the war have been thoroughly debunked. There were no weapons of mass destruction. Saddam Hussein had no collaborative ties to al Qaeda. Bush's talk of freedom and democracy were afterthoughts to justify a war of his choice. The war is based on oil and winning the 2004 election. It is our Falklands island -- that's why it was supposed to be a cake walk.

The war did not pay for itself and U.S. forces were not greeted with open arms. Today, the U.S. is on track to spend close more than $200 billion for the Iraq war. We are spending more per month than we spent in Vietnam, when adjusted for inflation. In July 2003, there were an estimated 5,000 insurgents fighting against U.S. troops. Today, that estimate is closer to 18,000. And while a year ago, there was an average of 14 attacks against U.S. troops per day, now it's more than 70.

According to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, 53 percent of Americans said the war was not worth fighting and 70 percent said the number of U.S. casualties is an unacceptable price. Despite the administration's unrelenting propaganda about Iraq, Americans understand the consequences of the administration's actions and don't
like what they see.

We have a protest vigil to go to tonight. See you there.

Fairvue Central >> Bloggies >> Fifth Annual Weblog Awards

You've got to look at these. Some of these blogs are so funny!

Legislative Blogs and RSS Feeds

Blogging has not caught on for national or state legislators yet -- but check out which states have the most legislator blogs going. It Minnesota followed by North Dakota.

t r u t h o u t - MultiMedia
Take a Look at the Red State Road Trip Videos. People who voted for Bush who didn't realize that he's against what they think is right. Aaargh.

Daily Kos :: Political Analysis and other daily rants on the state of the nation.
So, how do you counter a fencing attempt? Here are a few ideas, based on the above:

1. Express outrage, even if the charge is small. Make even the initial fencing attmepts appear outrageous, and explain why it is outrageous. Generally speaking, people find things outrageous when they're told other people find them outrageous.
2. Call the charge out for what it is. Make clear that the "fencer" is trying to change the subject from what actually makes a difference to people. At the same time, make those making the charges look unapproachable, unbelievable and extreme. Example: go after the Swift Boaters as a cultlike group, led by partisans, who have been feeding each other's lies for nearly a year. Make their personal motivations the center of the counterattack. Attack them on the grounds that they're lying, so who can believe anything they say? Fight fire with fire.
3. Respond to the charges immediately. Explain exactly why they're false. Play up the credibility of the target with specific examples where the "fencing" frame simply doesn't fit.
4. In combination with the other tactics, redirect the issue toward what the "fencer" wants people to avoid thinking about.
5. Laugh at the charges (different from "ignore" the charges). Make them and those who are making the charges the objects of ridicule. Does anyone actually believe this?

Just found out that the DNC has a credit card through Providian that pays 1% back. You can either take the 1% back yourself or elect that it go to the DNC. I think I'll let the DNC have it.

Salon.com Politics: "
Money talks

If the Democrats are demoralized, they have a funny way of showing it. Howard Dean, the new chairman of the Democratic National Committee, tells the Associated Press that the DNC has raised $3.4 million in the last three weeks -- more than double the amount it raised in a similar time period just after George Bush took office four years ago.

That's the good news for Democrats. The bad news: The AP says that the Republicans had a 6-1 cash advantage over the Democrats at the beginning of February. The DNC has raised $9.6 million so far this year; the Republicans raised $10.5 million in January alone.

Dean told the AP that he's happy with the progress Democrats are making. 'We're just delighted the fund raising is going better than we had dared to hope,' he said. Democrats stress that Dean has been helping state parties raise money -- efforts that aren't reflected in the DNC totals -- and that the DNC hasn't yet put out a new internet solicitation. Dean promises that will come 'sooner rather than later.'"