Bill Fromhold, State Representative for Washington, talked about the Fair Share bill last week. It says that businesses with 50 or more employees have to offer some medical insurance to their workers. It's also known as the "Wal-mart" bill. In Washington State, subsidizing health care costs for employees whose employers don't offer health care costs millions of dollars annually. Of those covered in the Washington Basic Health program, more work at Wal-mart than anywhere else.

Republican Pinhead Quote of the Week

"I'm getting a little fed up with hearing about, oh, civilian casualties. I think we ought to nuke North Korea right now just to give the rest of the world a warning."
-- Ann Coulter

“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Code Pink, Global Exchange, Black Voices for Peace have a video of one of his speeches with updated pictures.

Republicans talk fraud, but file on basis that race was too close to call. An astute friend passed this on today:

The Republicans, the Building Industry Association of Washington and right-wing talk show hosts are trying to whip Republicans into a lather about fraud for a re-vote, but when they got into court they filed on the basis that the race was too close to call.

"If they had a real smoking gun they would have rolled it out today," state Democratic Party Chairman Paul Berendt said. He accused Republicans of "judge shopping" by filing the action in one of the state's most Republican counties.

The GOP's court allegations fail to list any fraud, a clear indication the GOP lacks the kind of case it once claimed it would pursue, Berendt said.

Soros group raises stakes in battle with US neo-cons

Good news for progressives!

A group of billionaire philanthropists are to donate tens of millions more dollars to develop progressive political ideas in the US in an effort to counter the conservative ascendancy.

At a meeting in San Francisco last month, the left-leaning billionaires agreed to commit an even larger sum over a longer period to building institutions to foster progressive ideas and people.

The intention is to provide the left with organisations in Washington that can match the heft of the rightwing think-tanks such as Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute. At a state level, the aim is to build what one person called a “deeper progressive bench”.

Leftwing policy experts have already got wind of the new funds. One former aide to Mr Kerry said there had been talks with the Center for American Progress about making permanent the network of foreign policy experts established by Democrats in the 2004 campaign. He said he had been told: “Money is not a problem.”

Politics Gets a Tune-Up

A new website devoted to helping us frame the issues. Great resource so far on social security.

What is this revote up to?

Clark County Republican Chairman Brent Boger, meanwhile, urged the protesters on.

"Thank you for standing up for democracy," he told the group. "Together, we will have another election in the spring."

re-vote -- what Republicans propose after losing a close gubernatorial election in order to drum up sympathy for their candidate so he can have more name recognition for the upcoming senatorial race. An indication of what the Republicans would have done had Kerry pulled won the presidential election. Why is it that the Democrats didn't have a plan for what to do if Kerry lost?

From a friend -- I couldn't say it any better...

I would not be filling up your email with this if I did not believe that we are facing a crisis. Let me know if you would rather I did not send such things.

It is time to stand up and say "Enough!"

The United States government has been slowly drifting into a totalitarian regime. Several trends are apparent, but one has gone so far now as to place us on the brink of falling into a chasm from which we will be unable to escape through the democratic process. We must stop this process now!

As reported in the Washington Post,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41475-2005Jan1.html
the administration is moving to implement wide spread imprisonment of citizens who will have no recourse to the courts. We have already seen this being done on a large scale with "terrorists" who were supposedly picked up in combat situations. Now it will be enlarged to any person who the government defines as a "terrorist." This is a necessary step that every modern totalitarian regime has taken. It is a total undermining of the Bill of Rights. If we do not say "No" now, we will be seen by history in the same light as those citizens of Russia, Germany, Italy and elsewhere who did not act when the pattern became obvious.

This is not a partisan issue any longer. Congress on both sides of the aisle must act. Every citizen who values democracy and our inalienable rights must stand up to call on Congress and the media to stop this process.

Ballot counter in Seattle tells all

This article talks about the practice and accuracy of the hand recount in Seattle. It mirrors Clark County -- except the rules for turning ballots over to the Canvassing Board and keeping talking to a minimum were in place from the first. In our area the Republican observers came in with printouts of a Power Point presentation. The first day of counting went pretty normally -- and both sides kept track of the totals and any changes. By the second day the Republicans weren't keeping track of the changes, but were now all too concerned with chads. The Republican boss, on first name basis with "Greg," warned her observers over and over again about chads on the floor, pointing out little bits of paper. Each day it was clear that the Republican observers had a message du jour that came down from the top somewhere.

The counters themselves were amenable and most were accurate. The procedure itself kept them accurate. One table with inaccurate counters was split up and then observed closely by election officials. I would guess that most of the votes from that group were recounted.

It was eerily easy to discern the Republicans from the Democrats. The Democrats smiled more easily, the Republicans had tight mouths. My SO explained it to me. If you were a little kid lost in a mall, you would wind up going to a Democrat for help. At one table several Republicans said that they had hoity-toity relatives in Seattle. Lakoff talks about politics based on family structure. Here is another link -- these Republican siblings felt left behind.

Barbara Roberts, former governor of Oregon and an extraordinary woman

There's an article today in the Oregonian about Barbara Roberts and her autistic 48-year-old son written by Karen Briggs. The son, Mike Sanders, lives independently and has a job moving mail around the Mt. Hood Community College.

Barbara Sanders was 19 when he was born and she knew there was something wrong from the start. She could see that he was smart but he had some huge behavioral problems. He was kicked out of first grade for being too disabled. At that time mothers were blamed for autistic kids. She sent as a live-in student to the Parry Center for Children for three years, which he hated. When he was nine his school district got a grant to try to teach more disabled kids and she got him in that program. When the grant ran out she started worked on getting the state legislature to provide funding for educating disabled kids.

That was how she met her future husband, Frank Roberts, a college professor and state legislator. The legislation that they got passed was the first in the nation to put money and regulations in place to educate disabled children.

The last paragraph is particularly good:

When Mike Sanders talks about autism he usually explains how his mother's belief in him -- long before the experts offered hope -- helped him exceed everyone's expecations. "Science," he said, "finally caught up with my mother's intuition."

What a story. What a woman. I heard her talk at the 21st Century Democrats course this summer and was as impressed as always -- but I didn't know this backstory.

A Democratic Legislative District

This morning we went to a neighboring legislative district for their legislative send-off breakfast. Their Democratic state representatives and state senator answered questions about the upcoming session. On a clear day in Washington, on the sixth floor of a public building, we basked in the aura of elected officials talking about education being the first priority for the state. Oh yes, I am such a Democrat.

We haven't had a Democratic legislature here in Washington since 1994, two years before I moved into the state. The last four years have been a tie in the Senate so not much has moved forward. I came from Oregon as another refugee from the dying educational system and our Bill Sizemore's, California Proposition 13th's, induced cry of "no more taxes." Since my son was born, the schools in Oregon have made do with less money each year. They are gutted, dead, buried. Others moved here as well and we had our old Bill Sizemore, named Tim Eyman, whose initiative to cap taxes has now provoked crises in our cities and counties. Eyman has withdrawn in scandal, but his lawyer has just been elected to the state supreme court. Our state legislature provides funds for several counties in Eastern Washington because they can't raise taxes and can't afford to govern themselves. As an additional irony, these are Republican counties that fully support "no new taxes." We're supporting Republican counties instead of higher education for our state.

In the United States the blue states subsidize the red states -- who cry "no new taxes," who are afraid of terrorism that will be happening in the blue states. That's where we are in Washington, too. The Republicans who say they are self-sufficient and fiscally conservative aren't and are subsidized by the rest of us.

Dino Rossi "elected" Buzzflash hypocrite of the week

it's a full vote count that brings us to this week's BuzzFlash GOP Hypocrite: the loser of the Washington State Governor's race, Dino Rossi. Mr. Rossi is challenging the winner, Democrat Christine (greg-whar) Gregoire, to hold the election over. Did we forget to mention that the Republican Secretary of State certified Gregoire as the next governor of Washington?

As a columnist for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer observed, "Republican leaders have to know their shifting positions for a new election plays like a klutzy ballerina with vertigo on a newly waxed floor."

You see Gregoire won after a court-ordered hand recount, the kind Al Gore never got in Florida because of the Supreme Court coup. And because she won by only 129 votes, the Republicans are screaming bloody murder.

George W. Bush was only ahead a couple of hundred votes in Florida and falling behind fast when Antonin Scalia pulled the plug on a recount because it appeared almost certain Bush was going to lose Florida in 2000. And remember, Al Gore won the 2000 election by more than a half a million votes nationally.

Yet, in Washington State, the GOP, no doubt prodded on by the White House, is threatening lawsuits and anything they can muster to keep Gregoire, the candidate certified by the GOP Secretary of State, from taking office.

I appreciate the bravery shown by Barbara Boxer and Stephanie Tubb Jones in standing before Congress and insisting that this time, in this election, we will take a look at voter suppression in America. The insults to our voting system in Ohio, which Representative Conyers has documented, need to be rectified. The partisan treatment of elections in Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004 need to be remedied. Voting is a public trust and these Congresswomen have stood up for it integrity.

Republican leadership has stood in the way of meaningful election reform for years -- especially for having a paper audit trail on electronic voting machines. Yesterday I saw their ad hominem attacks instead of their consideration of the issues before them. I would like to see Republican representatives stand up and be counted for voting rights the way Democrats were.

But we won't see that because whereas Democrats want to count every vote, Republicans want to suppress votes and look for fraud. They have a win at any cost mentality. Bob Herbert said today that they have Iokiyar -- It's okay if you're a Republican.

Alberto Gonzales is a bad candidate for Attorney General

Choosing Gonzales lets the world know that the United States thinks torture is okay. His interview in Congress was a maze of avoiding questions.

[He] equivocated astonishingly when asked whether American soldiers or intelligence agents could "legally engage in torture under any circumstances."

"I don't believe so, but I'd want to get back to you on that and make sure I don't provide a misleading answer," said Mr. Gonzales, who went through many hours of preparation for these very questions.

Blaming a faulty memory, Mr. Gonzales would not provide anything close to a clear account of his role in the formulation of the policy on the treatment of prisoners. At one point, he said the 2002 memo was just the opinion of the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel. Then he called it the "binding interpretation" of anti-torture statutes and treaties. Later, Mr. Gonzales called it "an arguable interpretation of the law."

Lautenberg Announces Measure to Prevent Partisan Activity by Election Officials

Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) sponsors a bill that says that Secretaries of State cannot run partisan campaigns. That would take care of Katherine Harris and Ken Blackwell.

Salon.com News | Fox News gets blown away:

Fox is shown up when world wide news is needed, such as the tsunami coverage. They are paying their money for Hannity and O'Reilley, not for news reporters -- and it shows.

As the Financial Times noted this week, "While CNN, the only U.S. news network with a strong global presence, was able to mobilize its correspondents in the region and fly in big-name reinforcements, Fox had to rely on untested freelancers, some of whom appeared to have never stood in front of a television camera before."

If the Republican National Committee doesn't have an angle on the story, then neither, apparently, does Fox News. And the last time we checked, there were no GOP talking points on natural disasters of biblical proportions. "

Two things have become obvious to news consumers in the aftermath of the tsunami. The first is that even when faced with covering a global humanitarian crisis, Fox News is incapable of turning off its robotic partisanship, not to mention its ever-present sense of victimization. Secondly, Fox News can barely call itself a serious news-gathering operation.

mandeep.org

We'll match you to a country that better suits you.

Progressive Happy Hour

Gmail - Progress Report: President Shills For Insurance Industry

SOCIAL SECURITY – WHITE HOUSE MEMO DETAILS RESOLVE TO CUT BENEFITS: A private White House memo sent Monday to top conservative allies seeks "to avert a split in Republican ranks" by taking sides in a growing conservative fissure over whether Social Security privatization plans should include drastic cuts in benefits for future retirees. The memo says President Bush will push ahead with his plan to cut benefits, and claims the plan's success would be "one of the most significant conservative governing achievements ever." Still, after Senate Republicans reported being "scared to death" of the political fallout of privatization plans during a private retreat yesterday, the White House responded by "emphasizing the importance of unifying behind whatever plan has the best chance of being signed into law." In other words," American Prospect fellow Matthew Yglesias writes, the White House doesn't mind what passes "as long as they can replace Social Security with something else. Anything else."

Stop Cuts to Social Security Benefits
(Moving Ideas)

If the Bush plan were enacted, spouses, disabled workers, and others would have to rely only on severely cut Social Security benefits. Workers would be expected to make up the difference in cuts through private account earnings which are risky because they are subject to the highs and lows of the stock market. Experts estimate that workers will only be able to recoup part of what they will lose in benefits.

Is CNN having a change of heart? Not emulating FOX?

CNN's U.S. Chief Executive Jonathan Klein did not renew Tucker Carlson's Crossfire contract. Tucker has now been hired by MSNBC to replace Deborah Norville.

Klein responded to this fight between Carlson and Stewart on Crossfire last fall by stating to the Associated Press that he is "firmly in the Jon Stewart camp."

Continuing the argument made by Stewart, Klein said there is too much arguing over political issues on all of the cable networks, including CNN, and that he wants better, more compelling programming to replace what has become the norm for political news.

CNN/U.S. President Jonathan Klein sided yesterday with comedian Jon Stewart, who used a "Crossfire" appearance last fall to rip the program as partisan hackery. "I think he made a good point about the noise level of these types of shows, which does nothing to illuminate the issues of the day," Klein said in an interview. Viewers need "useful" information in a dangerous world, he said, "and a bunch of guys screaming at each other simply doesn't accomplish that."

"I doubt that when the president sits down with his advisers they scream at him to bring him up to date on all of the issues," Klein exclaimed. "I don't know why we don't treat the audience with the same respect."

Are we going to have some news programs that not propaganda? It seemed like CNN was following FOX's lead -- so even though they were not headed by Republicans they were acting like Republicans. Are they going to start practicing responsible journalism again?

In another story I read today that FOX's ratings are sinking, sinking, sinking. What saves their ratings are the sports programs.

You can call your cable provider or satellite company and ask them to specifically block FOX channels from your cable. This is a campaign that will have some effects on their advertising revenues.
Comcast: 1-800-266-2278
Adelphia: 1-888-683-1000
Time Warner: 1-800-638-2882

We Are All Torturers Now

When Alberto Gonzales takes his seat before the Senate Judiciary Committee today for hearings to confirm whether he will become attorney general of the United States, Americans will bid farewell to that comforting story line. The senators are likely to give full legitimacy to a path that the Bush administration set the country on more than three years ago, a path that has transformed the United States from a country that condemned torture and forbade its use to one that practices torture routinely. Through a process of redefinition largely overseen by Mr. Gonzales himself, a practice that was once a clear and abhorrent violation of the law has become in effect the law of the land.

How responsible are we for the actions of our country? I feel the guilt of having my country kill tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis already. How will we feel when we add practicing torture to that?

Paul Krugman writes:

The people who hustled America into a tax cut to eliminate an imaginary budget surplus and a war to eliminate imaginary weapons are now trying another bum's rush. If they succeed, we will do nothing about the real fiscal threat and will instead dismantle Social Security, a program that is in much better financial shape than the rest of the federal government.

I just downloaded Krugman's "Confusions about Social Security." I love Krugman's writing. He is a Professor of Economics and International Affaris at Princeton and got his PhD at MIT in 1977.

We are going to have a hard Republican campaign against social security pushed down our throats. They estimate that they are going to spend $50 to $100 million on propaganda -- and that's not even counting all the time Fox News is going to spend on this.

Molly Ivans has a new opinion piece out about this today. She says:

And for robustly ignoring reality, you can't hardly beat spending $50 million to $100 million on a propaganda campaign to convince America there's something seriously wrong with Social Security while you ignore the collapse of the American health care system. It is common to begin all discussions of American health care with a complete lie, uttered in this example by President Bush: "We live in a great country that has got the best health care system in the world, and we need to keep it that way."

Karl Rove's brother, Oly Rove, works at the Columbian:

So, it's not surprising that they rated a visit from Marc Racicot during the election. The Columbian has its connections...

Local Bush connection: One of presidential candidate George W. Bush's top advisers, often mentioned in places such as Time and Newsweek, is Karl Rove, whose kid brother, Oly, is The Columbian's ungeeklike computer czar.

Oly says his brother got interested in politics as a college student in Utah and has had a political consulting business in Austin, Texas, for years.

The Columbian, our local newspaper, is so bad that the first letter in the letters to the editor section today is entitled "Warning from God," and asserts that the tsunami in Southeast Asia was a message from God saying that he is displeased with the world. Following the same weird logic, I wonder what the four Florida hurricanes were? Remember how they spared the Democratic counties? See the map here.

(BTW, the hurricane thing is not true, but I think it's funny.)

How did Bush win? Organization, smarts and strategy?

This article talks about how the $546,000 ad by the Swift Boat Liars and the Bush campaign's 3.25 million contract with the firm TargetPoint Consulting as stellar investments in the presidential race. The article says that the spending for Democratic and Republican candidates were about the same, it's just that the Republicans were better at strategy.

I think this article is disengenuous in saying the stakes were even. The biggest factor in the election was having a captive media in the United States. Fox is a Republican station with Roger Ailes as chairman. The other big networks are trying to copy Fox to regain market share. This means that some huge percentage of households in America got Republican propaganda all of the time without being counted as being paid from campaign funds.

The second largest factor is that Bush used taxpayer funds to campaign. He did this by doing a legitimate side-trip during a campaign trip so that the transportation expense of Air Force 1 would be accounted for as an official duty instead of a campaign stop. Other incumbents have done this, but Bush took it to a new low. Does anyone else recall the brou-ha-ha when he laid a wreath at MLK's grave in a 15-second appearance before heading off for his two-city fundraising dinner marathon?

The third big factor is that Bush planned his re-election campaign from his inauguration, whereas the Democratic contender has to be chosen first in a primary. This is also part of the incumbent advantage.

Still the article does have some good points. The Democrats need to get better at market targeting. There is no question there. I think Kerry's campaign also relied too much on the 527's to get out the vote. That process should have been more targeted.

Notice that the article also alludes to Republicans coordinating efforts with 527's -- or is it "used them more effectively?" Democrats follow the rules, Republicans don't.

I've started using the Stumble Upon extension in Firefox. My, what a great time I've had surfing with that! Wasted more time than ever. I've found some tremendously funny sites such as MyCatHatesYou.com.

Really nice strategy meeting today: progress for the progressives. We talked about database issues, local issues, education, forming a think tank.

Hobson's Choice

Good essay on problems with fundamentalism.

Yahoo! News - U.S. Businesses Overseas Threatened by Rising Anti-Americanism

Another survey telling US companies that European and Canadian customers are boycotting their products because of US foreign policy. What are corporations supposed to do? Simple -- become less committed to America. Not a hard problem since they don't even pay any taxes here.

Allyson Stewart-Allen, business author:

She argued that the more U.S. companies distance themselves from their U.S. identity, the better they will survive in the international marketplace. "U.S. companies abroad now need to focus on adding yet more value and repositioning their brands to consumers in the intensely competitive global village in which they compete"

The Climate Stewardship Act

The Climate Stewardship Act (S.139), sponsored by Senators John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.), was voted on by the U.S. Senate on October 30, 2003. Although the bill did not pass, 44 Senators support the legislation, which would for the first time control U.S. emissions of the heat trapping gases that cause global warming. The sponsors have committed to fight to bring the bill back up for a vote in the Senate in 2004 and as many times as needed until it passes. A companion bill was introduced in the House by Representatives Gilchrest and Olver on March 30, 2004. This website includes links to useful resources about the bill.

Judge won't let woman divorce while she's pregnant

Truly horrifying story from the Seattle PI. The woman has been separated for two years from a man who was jailed for beating her. He was IN JAIL at the time she became pregnant. She told who the new father was. We have the state Uniform Parentage Act that sets the rules for children in case of divorce. Her divorce was granted by a protem judge and then rescinded. Shawnna Hughes statement:

If this court vacates my divorce and requires me to stay married to a man I have no desire to have a relationship with and who has brought significant physical harm to me over the years, I would be emotionally devastated. If the court vacates my divorce and stays it until the birth of my child, it will prevent me from marrying the father of my child prior to her birth.

Spokane County Superior Court Judge Paul Bastine said as he rescinded her divorce:

There's a lot of case law that says it is important in this state that children not be illegitamized.

Of course this woman should have the right to divorce and be free to marry whomever she wants. This is a fundamental right to choose your own life.

Great radio spots with liberal messages

He covers Tax cuts/Deficits; Incumbency/Redistricting; Justificiation for War; Right to Vote; Sustainable Energy; Dissent

Is PERS responsible for the budget cuts we are currently facing?

Obviously, any costs that increase at a time when state revenues are declining contribute to the budget problem. But I think PERS has served as a scapegoat for budget problems that really result from years of imprudent tax cuts in Oregon.

If we rolled back many of the tax cuts of the last decade — especially cuts on corporations and the wealthy — we would be able to improve public services without taking away retirement benefits from public employees.

It is no more accurate to blame PERS for budget cuts and layoffs than it would be to blame the increased cost of education for our decaying roads and bridges.

Perhaps it is giving tax cuts to small businesses to buy Hummers that is the real culprit here.

Help for New Year's Resolutions

My Political Resolutions

1. Local activism
2. Practicing a political voice
3. Community outreach
4. Helping progressive campaigns
5. Being effective

I just found out, while getting numbed up for some dental work, that my dentist is a Republican, he doesn't like his "tax and spend" liberal sister-in-law and that he owns a hummer. He thinks funding Oregon PERS is causing the educational crisis in Oregon. What a shock. I've been going to him for over 25 years and he's a dear, sweet man. He just found out that I am a liberal and that I come from a family of liberals and that I'm Buddhist. Just doing a little community outreach work here...

Desmond Tutu is interviewed about our election in Newsweek

You said George Bush should admit that he made a mistake. Were you surprised at his re-election?
[Laughs] I still can't believe that it really could have happened. Just look at the facts on the table: He’d gone into a war having misled people—whether deliberately or not—about why he went to war. You would think that would have knocked him out [of the race.] It didn’t. Look at the number of American soldiers who have died since he claimed that the war had ended. And yet it seems this doesn't make most Americans worry too much. I was teaching in Jacksonville, Fla., [during the election campaign] and I was shocked, because I had naively believed all these many years that Americans genuinely believed in freedom of speech. [But I] discovered there that when you made an utterance that was remotely contrary to what the White House was saying, then they attacked you. For a South African the déjà vu was frightening. They behaved exactly the same way that used to happen here [during apartheid]—vilifying those who are putting forward a slightly different view.

Stand Up Democrats

A site to give ideas to fix the Democratic Party.

http://www.seattleweekly.com/features/0452/041229_news_recount.php

Great article from Seattle Weekly on how the Democrats' strategy on the recount won the election.

McCain will try to replace FEC and enforce limits on 527's

In addition, Feingold and I joined the congressmen in introducing legislation to require 527s to register as political committees and to comply with existing contribution limits.

It is clear that the FEC is a failed agency with overtly partisan commissioners who oppose both new and longstanding campaign finance statutes. The FEC has proved its ineffectiveness and its willingness to run roughshod over the will of the Congress, the Supreme Court, the American people and the Constitution. In January, the new Congress will convene, and we will initiate a new round of necessary reforms — beginning with a new enforcement agency to replace the FEC

Why is it that I don't trust him on this? In general, Democrats used the 527's more effectively than did the Republicans -- so the "loophole" has to be closed?

Back-door Draft

Sergeant Emiliano Santiago had almost finished his eight years with the National Guard when he was re-activated -- until 2031. He lost his case in front of a judge in Portland yesterday. Well, I guess that's going to make an all-volunteer military popular.

Tsunami

I had a dream last night of a tsunami engulfing our house and neighborhood. We don't live by the ocean, so that won't happen here, but I think it was due to a short video I saw on the internet last night of water coming into a resort somewhere in Thailand. People were standing around, not knowing that the water would keep coming and keep coming. An older couple was swept away with debris along a path. Others climbed the counters in the restaurant. There was an odd report from Sri Lanka today that they didn't find a lot of dead animals in the wild life park. They think the animals fled to the highlands before the wave came in.

I gave money to Mercy Corps yesterday to help with the disaster. Meanwhile the estimated death toll is climbing and climbing. It may go as high as 100,000.

Blue Year Resolutions

1. I will buy from companies that share and show progressive values, especially local and independent businesses, whenever I can.
2. I will let my elected representatives know that corporate money is not welcome in politics.
3. I will share this website with my friends and family, and let them know that we have the power to make real change.
4. I will tell Blue-friendly companies' headquarters and web pages that I've switched to them because of their support for Blue values.
5. I will take part in the movement to build an ethical, sustainable, blue economy by rewarding ethical, sustainable, blue businesses.

Bush's new term

Nor has Bush shown much responsibility for many of the first-term policies that, along with his tone, have turned smoldering anti-Americanism into a roaring conflagration. Take the Abu Ghraib scandal. While still maintaining the fiction that the interrogation abuses were merely the work of a few rogue MPs, Bush promoted one of the authors of the now infamous legal memos that prove such abuses emanated from White House policy. The man who once called the Geneva Conventions obsolete, Alberto Gonzales, will now become America's new attorney general, the highest law-enforcement official in the land.

Brian Baird's proposal for reading legislation before voting on it:

November 17, 2004
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Rep. Brian Baird has asked Republican House Leadership to ensure members have time to read bills before voting on them. Currently, House Rules provide for a three day period for all legislation, which gives members a chance to review the details of a bill prior to voting on it. Unfortunately, the Republican majority frequently waives this three day rule. They have done so on some of the most important, lengthy and expensive bills considered in the 108th Congress. Rep. Baird’s proposed change would require the House of Representatives to approve the waiver of this three day period by a two thirds majority vote.

“We were given less than 24 hours to consider the Medicare bill, one of the most substantive, complicated changes to our nation’s health care system in the last century,” said Rep. Baird. “The Medicare bill was over 600 pages long, authorized hundreds of billions of the taxpayers’ dollars, and members of Congress were not given enough time to read through it once before voting.”

The lack of time for review of legislation has long been a concern for members of both parties. In 1993, a Republican Leadership Task Force on Deliberative Democracy quoted, “A bill that cannot survive a 3-day scrutiny of its provisions is a bill that should not be enacted.” Rep. Baird’s rule would allow for time sensitive legislation to have the option to be rushed, but would prevent the routine waiver of the layaway period.

Rep. Baird added, “In order to responsibly fulfill our duties as elected representatives, members of the House of Representatives must have sufficient time to carefully review legislation, as well as propose and vote on amendments. This rule change would prevent the reckless rush to vote on consequential legislation without giving Members time to even read the entire text of the bill.”

Rep. Baird proposed this change to the Rules Committee on Friday, November 12, 2004. He is circulating a Dear Colleague asking for Republican and Democratic support for this common sense rules change. All changes to the Rules Committee procedure will be introduced in a bill by the Majority Leader the first day of the new Congress.

Top moveon.org priorities for the new year:

1. Election reform -- 5691 votes
2. Media reform -- 4529 votes
3. The Iraq war -- 4488 votes
4. The environment -- 3581 votes
5. The Supreme Court -- 3031 votes
6. Civil liberties -- 3018 votes

"Ohio GOP election officials ducking subpoenas as Kerry enters stolen vote fray"

Buy Blue -- Costco

If Wal-Mart represents red-state America's ruthless race to the bottom line, then Issaquah-based retailer Costco offers a blue-state alternative. The company is proving Wall Street wrong by adhering to a radical idea: Treating customers and employees right is good business.

Who Should Provide Broad-band Internet?
A Pennsylvania law bans cities from providing internet access. This is a class issue and a media control issue. The numbers I heard were in the range of Philadelphia planning to spend $15 million to provide a network that Verizon was going to make about $250 million from. You can see how that money talks!

Internet is essential to the America that I want to see. It has become part of our nation's infrastructure. The internet should be available to all citizens at a reasonable rate. It is one of the ways we can stay competitive in the world markets. Monopolistic telecom companies don't want to provide this without ruinious profit.

Bills limiting competition have been introduced in Florida, Texas, Arkansas, Nebraska, Nevada, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia and (yes) Washington. Read Free Press, a nonprofit working for media reform, about these battles.

Sinclair action still around.
A portion of my letter to Sinclair advertisers...

Advertisers who buy significant ads on the Sinclair TV stations, enable dishonest media to dictate their viewpoint to America. Political statements should not be disguised as news content. This is an assault on American values. Their "The Point" is a one-minute conservative commentary which contains a stream of one-sided anti-progressive rhetoric broadcast without any counterpoint. There is a long documented list of Sinclair abuses of the public airwaves. Until advertisers stop supporting Sinclair, I will not buy from their shops.

I'm really excited about this site: http://www.rawstory.com/. A news aggregator with a liberal slant. Yes!

www.broom.org/epic/

Interesting piece pretending to be a future report on how print media went away. I hope the intelligensia is headed that way, but I'm afraid that all those people voting Republican are heading for TV land.

A friend sent me "Corporate Income Taxes in the Bush Years", a joint report by Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, shows that many corporations have paid no income tax whatsoever in the Bush years.

The Bush Administration and Congress believe that there should be no corporate taxes at all. They want a government as small as possible so that there is no social responsibility for programs like health care, Social Security and education. They can't legislate this directly because America is compassionate, but all they have to do is to provide tax loopholes. These corporations do business in the United States, but don't pay their dues. This is un-American and puts further pressure on the lower and middle classes who have to make up the taxes that the corporations aren't paying.

We've seen buyblue.com. Maybe we should have a similar listing of corporations who won't pay taxes, who "incorporate" off-shore to avoid taxes and who outsource American jobs.

Dean's web/internet team has a company called bluestatedigital. They offer content, email and constituent tracking, online fundraising, grassroots action and events, site design and hosting, strategic planning.

It would be great to get something like this going in Washington.

Do you feel a draft?
Tim Ryan was re-elected as a Ohio Representative to Congress this year.

http://homepage.mac.com/njenson/movies/timryanlow.html

TomPaine.com - Congressional Dems who might support Social Security privatization :
Dennis Moore
Tom Allen
Marion Berry
Allen Boyd
Robert 'Bud' Cramer
Ron Kind
James Moran
Collin Peterson
Adam Schiff
Adam Smith
Ike Skelton
John Tanner
Gene Taylor

Note our own Adam Smith in there.

AlterNet: Time for Bread and Roses: "The Wall Street Journal confirmed that Americans are working 20% longer today than in 1970, while work-time has declined in other industrial countries. A recent poll released by the Center for a New American Dream found 88% of Americans agreeing that 'working too many hours results in not having enough time to spend with families.' Half say they're willing to sacrifice some pay for more time."

Harvard study
# 163 of 168 countries guarantee paid leave for mothers in connection with childbirth. 45 countries offer such leave to fathers. The U.S. does neither.

# 139 countries guarantee paid sick leave. The U.S. does not.

# 96 countries guarantee paid annual (vacation) leave. The U.S. does not.

# 84 countries have laws that fix a maximum limit on the workweek. The U.S. does not.

# 37 countries guarantee parents paid time off when children are sick. The U.S. does not.

NDOL: Idea of the Week: A Reform Insurgency: "It's time for Democrats to aggressively champion budget reforms, including a restoration of budget controls like spending caps and pay-as-you-go. But Democrats should go further and demand an assault on corporate welfare in the tax code and federal programs; a ban on 'earmarks' in spending bills that let Members send pork back home; a crackdown on or even an abolition of the power of appropriations committees; and other dramatic steps. This is not just a matter of 'good government'; these reforms go to the heart of the fiscal irresponsibility in Washington."

Robertson: If people don't like Christmas "let ... [Media Matters for America]: "Reverend Pat Robertson, host and Christian Coalition of America founder, during the December 23 news segment of Christian Broadcasting Network's The 700 Club:

ROBERTSON: You know it's an amazing thing -- this is a Christian country, it's founded by Christians, Christmas is one of our great celebrations. It's been a time of joy for our people for many years, and not only us, but now they're picking up Christmas in Japan, picking it up in China. It's something that has blessed the world. And if people don't like America and the traditions that made America great, let them go to Saudi Arabia, let them go to Pakistan. Yeah, they can go to the Sudan and find a wonderful Muslim holiday."

This is so crazy.

Arkansas Times
But there is hope to be had in a post-election poll that found that 33 percent of voters cited “greed and materialism” as the country’s greatest moral problem. Another 31 percent said “poverty and economic justice.” Only 16 percent rated abortion the most urgent, and 12 percent chose same-sex marriage.

Dear Jeff Bezos,

I am an investor and a book-buyer. I have been an Amazon user for years. I own an Amazon.com credit card. I am so sorry to learn that Amazon donated so much money to Republicans during the last election cycle. Along with many other liberal Americans I will be shopping somewhere else for my books. Maybe you can try selling more books to the people who think that we found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and that Saddam Hussein was involved in 9/11. No wait -- those people watch Fox TV. They don't read books!

Sincerely,
Patrice

Greg Rodriguez for State Chair

Along with the strengthening of what we have relied on in the past, the implementation of better technology will go a long way in assisting our original methods of developing the grassroots and will create a new and powerful tool for the future development and maintenance of grassroots democracy. The need for this has been so critical and evident in the Presidential campaigns of 2004, not just for fundraising but, perhaps more importantly, for volunteer and supporter recruitment.

The first step in technology development would be to address our walking lists and incorporate our PCO's feedback into those walking lists. There are fantastic programs available to enhance the process we utilize now. We must develop our technology to get the most out of our PCOs who do the walking and talk to the voters. We must utilize their work and feedback to our very best advantage. We have the ground force (PCOs), and with the compliment of a powerful technology system, we can use the large volume and quality of data to capture and attract more grassroots involvement. This will also be a tremendous advantage for our candidates, campaign committees, and friends in issue advocacy work across the state. The Party must also establish clear and consistent rules for public and candidate access to data so that everyone will know from whom, how and when they can access this vital information.

This type of technological system will also enable the Democratic Party in Washington State to have a greater impact year round. Instead of using walking lists and databases at election time, we can become a major factor in influencing ongoing legislation activities. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard elected officials say, "but we don't hear from the Democrats on this issue." By creating database systems that not only tell us how often a person votes or how they are graded, we can utilize our PCOs to help build a system that tracks issues and the stated priorities of our voters across the state. We can then tailor our message to certain segments. We can use this technology to work with labor, choice groups, environmental groups and all our constituencies to affect policy and increase the communication between the voter and their elected representatives. The Republicans have been masters at this and we can beat them at that game.

We must also develop our web presence on all levels of the State Party. As King County Chair, I have realized the benefits of and the desire of voters for having as much information on the web as possible. This was especially true during the caucus and convention cycles, and continues to be true for political events, volunteer opportunities, and information on registration and voting. We should implement technology at the State Party level that can be utilized by all members of the Party. This will enable local jurisdictions to save time and money and to have a much more coordinated, technology-delivered message statewide.

Octopus Activism

SETE, France (AFP) - Armed with a high-pressure hose and a bucket of octopi, hundreds of protestors in this Mediterranean town pelted a McDonalds restaurant due to open this week with the slimy seafood.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1516&ncid=1516&e=1&u=/afp/20041218/od_afp/francedemofoodoffbeat

New York Times has it right!

King County, a heavily Democratic area that includes Seattle, found 723 absentee ballots that had not been counted because election workers made errors like failing to verify the voters' signatures.

Republicans, fearing that those ballots would throw the election to Ms. Gregoire, have gotten a lower court judge to prevent them from being counted, at least temporarily. But there is no reason these ballots and other valid ballots that have turned up during the recount should not be counted. The right to vote cannot be taken away because an election official did not do his or her job correctly.

Never surrender!

Never Surrender to the worst corporations. For this season's holiday gift giving, and for your everyday household expenses, stop supporting corporations that don't share your values.

There is buyblue.org and choosetheblue.com. I've ordered some of the purple bracelets from Working Assets. Never Surrender!

What we'd really like to see in a Time cover. 

Nothing could be worse than the fear that one gave up too soon and left one unexpended act that might have saved the world.

- Jane Addams, 1932 Nobel Peace Prize co-winner, founder Women's Peace Party, the ACLU, Women's Trade Union League, Hull House in Chicago and the Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom. (WILPF)

We went into Portland tonight to see AmBushed, a one-act cabaret about how the right-wing managed to outwit all of us smart people. The same troupe also has a play entitled "Homeland Insecurity." It's great to see liberal art helping us overcome our despondence at losing the election. We're all in this together.

Brad DeLong takes on the Republicans graphically

There's a great graph on here showing current surpluses (social security) and deficits (general fund). It's pretty obvious what needs to be fixed -- and it's not social security.

What Washington State Republicans are planning

State Republicans must change structure: "Change begins by nominating Republican candidates through conventions, with only one nominee per office going on to the primary. Candidates should love this because it allows their focus to center on Democrat opposition months before the late primary permits. Meanwhile, the grass roots will be energized because candidates will be more respectful to the platform. This step alone will tie the score and cause a surge of volunteers into the party because caucus attendance suddenly has meaning.

The second change follows the first. To make participation all the more meaningful, party officers should be elected through caucus and conventions as well. This means precinct committee officers will not be elected in the primary, by people who discerned the election a week before, but rather at the caucus. County leaders will be elected at county conventions and state leaders at the state convention."

Gandhi, when asked what he thought of western civilization: "I think it would be an excellent idea."

"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject' (Winston Churchill)"

Religious American TV-watchers support limits on Muslim civil liberties

A recent study by Cornell University found that 44% of Americans support such incursions on the civil liberties of Muslims in America as:

• having to register their location
• having the Federal Government closely monitor mosques
• having the FBI infiltrate Muslim groups
• used in racial profiling

These are mostly the views of Americans who are highly religious and/or watch TV news. To determine whether people were highly religious they were asked:

• how often they go to church
• do they have a literal interpretation of the Bible
• do they describe themselves as "evangelical"
• do they think the creation of Israel fulfills biblical prophecy

The highly religious feel that during a time of crisis or war (or presidential election):

• Government should indefinitely detain suspected terrorists (79%)
• Government should monitor internet activity (61%)
  
• American citizens should not be allowed to protest (49%)
  
• Media should not cover protests (46%)
• American citizens should not criticize the government (46%)
• Media should not report criticism of the government (44%)

Republicans go after 527's -- there is a loophole in campaign finance laws that allows Democrats to raise money...

President Bush suggested during the campaign that the 527s needed to be regulated under the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act. One of the authors of the bill, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), agreed with Bush that the Federal Election Commission had failed to enforce the provisions of BCRA.

On Monday, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan told Talon News that Bush was "committed to working through the courts to try to address this issue, and working closely with Sen. McCain on these matters."

McClellan added, "He said if we couldn't resolve it through the courts, that he would work with Senator McCain and look at legislative ways we could address the issue. It was a loophole in the campaign finance laws and the President believes it needs to be stopped."

check out drafthoward.com

The following statement by Amy Sullivan resonates with me.

The irony is that the rate and number of abortions dropped for the first time since Roe v. Wade during the presidency of Bill Clinton. And Clinton's oft-repeated formulation that abortion should be "safe, legal and rare"—a phrase contained in the 2004 Democratic Party Platform—reflects the sensible sentiments of the majority of Americans.

Many of us got involved with politics for the Kerry campaign for the first time in years. We obviously need to get the country organized during the next four years from the precincts on up. The way to do that is through local campaigns, local issues and national issues. We need people to feel comfortable again with grass-roots politicking. Thoreau said, "Cast your whole vote, not a strip of paper merely, but your whole influence." We need to learn this again.

I subscribed to the "Lone Star Iconoclast" in Crawford, TX when they were threatened with a loss of revenue after endorsing Kerry. As an example of independent media from a small town paper, let me note their stories in the latest 16-page issue:

• 36 questions: Votergate: House Judiciary Committee Demands Answers in Ohio
• President Bush Thanks Canadians Amid Protests
• Iconoclast Editorial: Close the Window! There's a Draft!
• Lone Star Philosopher: Donate Excess Campaign Funds to Charity.
• Prove it! Philanthropist Offering $100,000 Reward for Proof that WTC Buildings Collapsed the Way Federal Government Claims
• Congressional Declaration of Intent Circulating (petition for members of congress to sign in favor of fair elections)
• 13 Reasons for Requesting New Investigation of 9/11
• Rumsfeld, Other US Officials Sued in Germany for Alleged War Crimes
• President's Cabinet Sees 8-of-15 Seats Vacated

And then some local stories on sports, academics, small stores in town like:

• Crawford Wins Battle of Unbeatens: Defeats Celin a 49-26; Semifinals Next

When is the last time we've seen independent media in print? Isn't this refreshing?

Some old Reedie lore in the Seattle Weekly article "Is Bush the Antichrist?"

Bush is one of the key figures leading the church away from Jesus," says Christian author Don Miller, who wrote the nonbluenose Christian best seller Blue Like Jazz. Miller is no pantywaist—he had the balls to run a ministry at Reed College in Portland, Ore., which is so godless that its soccer team is said in campus legend to have once staged a halftime crucifixion in a game against a Christian school. But he couldn't stomach it when, for instance, Texas Gov. Bush not only allowed the execution of his fellow born-again Christian, the penitent ax murderer Karla Faye Tucker, but made vicious fun of her ("Please don't kill me!" Bush said, mocking her prayerful plea for God's mercy). Miller classifies Bush Christians as modern Pharisees—the allegedly proud, rigid, legalistic hypocrites John the Baptist called "a generation of vipers." "The worst condemnation that Jesus has for anybody, I mean the worst, is for Pharisees," says Miller. "If you asked Jerry Falwell who the Pharisees are in our society, they can't point anybody out." There are no mirrors in Bush's church.

Well, Reed got tossed out of the soccer league for the half-time act....

Social Security "Reform" Logic Flawed

New York Times:

But that logic is as flawed as a perpetual motion machine. If it were true, the government could erase Social Security's entire projected deficit by selling bonds at 3 percent and buying stocks that yield 7 percent.

Why doesn't the government do just that? Because higher returns are inseparable from higher risk. No risk, no reward. And if the goal is to enhance security, if people are to have a solid reason to expect a particular level of wealth at retirement, the risks have to be relatively low.

"The entire argument is absurd," said William C. Dudley, chief United States economist at Goldman Sachs. "These returns weren't free. You are getting these returns precisely because you are taking on risk."

To be sure, one of the biggest ways to reduce risk is to have a long time frame. People who invest at age 30 or even 50 have the time to ride out most of the ups and downs of the stock market.

But there are no guarantees. According to Ibbotson Associates, which publishes data showing average returns over different periods, large-cap stocks actually suffered a loss of 1 percent, annualized, from early 1929 to the end of 1942.

Granted, it is somewhat unfair to pick a time period that begins just before the great stock crash of 1929 and continues through the Depression. But many analysts contend that it is even more misleading to suggest that people should have complete confidence in their ability to earn above-average returns with no risk whatsoever.

Surprisingly, the Social Security Administration actually goes further than that. In addition to relying on the premise that equities will yield higher returns than Treasury bonds, Mr. Goss of the Social Security Administration suggested that returns in the future might be even higher than those of the past.

So the logic of equity investments earning more than treasury bonds is flawed as concerns Social Security. Part of the plan is also that whatever gains someone would make in their individual account would offset what is owed in the general fund -- so even if you do well in your indexed fund in the stock market -- you would end up getting exactly the same amount. There is no real "ownership." The individual takes the risk, but the government gets the gain.

Saving Social Security:

Bush's plan is a betrayal of trust. I saw my grandparents and parents retire on Social Security. Now that my peer group is closing in on retirement, Bush wants to renege on this guarantee for political gain.

Social Security is a crucial part of retirement income for women because we live longer, are paid less and are less likely to have any other kind of retirement savings. It is the sole retirement for the poor. How can those existing on minimum wage afford to save anything? Without Social Security, more than half of all elderly women would live in poverty. Wouldn't all of our lives be different if we had to cover our parents' retirements? Over 5 million children currently receive Social Security benefits. I remember a friend of mine who was able to attend college after her father died unexpectedly because of Social Security.

Social Security is not in any trouble now because payroll taxes are higher than benefits paid out. Funds are adequate until 2052, and even then they are 81% of what will be needed. We already went through this exercise of "saving Social Security" during the Reagan years. That is when the payroll deductions and retirement ages went up. But the media is hyping this. It is such a boost to brokers.

Somewhere in this last election we got lost in the wrong quantum universe where Bush was elected. We should be living in the reality-based world where if you are an awful president you're fired. I hope that the split off part of me residing in Kerry's America is having a calmer and more rational existence. Here we are dealing with all the worst things that we said would come to pass.

I read an article saying that four years ago the Republicans started targetting their ads because they realized that Democrats watched more TV than Republicans and they wanted to hit their constituents. Well, congratulations! They have now made many Democrats swear off of watching television altogether. I used to see bumper stickers saying, "Kill your TV" and think of tin-hat conspiracy theorists. Now that the Republicans have their own network (and it's being used as "news" on Clear Channel) it's like how we used to think of Russia with Pravda as the state media.

So, although we've been observing the Gregoire recount, we haven't been watching the news on the Gregoire/Rossi recount, so we don't know the spin -- but so far:

With 17 of Washington's 39 counties reporting results by 5 p.m. Friday, Rossi had posted a net gain of 28 votes.

Of course, those are the rural counties that have reported in. King county isn't expected to be done for a week. Clark County is expected to be done Monday.

The Democratic party is also trying to get some ballots back into the process. There are 15,000 such ballots. This is going before the State Supreme Court. Sam Reed earlier said that he didn't have authority to get county canvassing boards to review those ballots.

The recount is going well. The first day had some bumps as the counters got used to the procedures but the ballot counters have improved. They found a few questionable ballots and some wrong counts. I think the hand recount is very accurate.

Howard Dean talks about the Democrats.
Blog for America: "And I believe that over the next two... four... ten years...

Election by election...

State by state...

Precinct by precinct...

Door by door...

Vote by vote...


We're going to lift our Party up...

And we're going to take this country back for the people who built it."

Governor Locke's Op-ed in the NYT:
We have always embraced rural values - family, community, hard work, love of country, respect and trust.

AlterNet: EnviroHealth: Battlefield Earth

Bill Moyers talks about the religious fanatics who are trying for the Apocalypse. How can this be happening in our America? Where are the values of America that I love? The tolerance, the caring, the responsibility. Where have these values gone?

I just read Joyce McGreevy's new column in Salon. She is still so upset over losing the election. The column is brittle. She lives in Oregon and was spending all her time trying to get Kerry elected. Her first column after the election was despairing. Now she seems on the edge of hysteria.

This was something I found interesting that Nancy Pelosi put out as progressive "values." I think she missed a point here -- that you have to explain your values. Why is prosperity a value? I'm not sure prosperity is a value. Why is national security a value? It is a value because it is protecting our people. She goes right into what we should do -- the tactics -- without the value talk that gets people on board.

THE HOUSE DEMOCRATS' NEW PARTNERSHIP FOR AMERICA'S FUTURE:

Six Core Values for a Strong and Secure Middle Class.


PROSPERITY
Providing all Americans with the opportunity to succeed and to live a secure and comfortable life, including good jobs here at home, affordable health care, a growing economy with stable prices, investment in new technologies, and fiscal responsibility in government.

• Create 10 million new jobs over the next four years
• Reform the tax code to reward companies for creating secure jobs in America, not for outsourcing jobs overseas
• Expand home ownership and affordable housing opportunities
• Invest in our nation's infrastructure, including broadband
• Enact middle class tax relief
• Make unprecedented investment in cutting edge research, development and advanced technology for the next generation of jobs, products and services to build the American economy
• Assure access to capital for small businesses to create jobs and serve new markets
  
• Support fair wages with good benefits so no one goes to work every day and comes home poor and dependent on public services
• Approve trade agreements that enforce laws protecting the rights of labor and aggressively expand commerce in products "Made in the USA"
• Build stronger rural communities and sustain America's rural economy

NATIONAL SECURITY
Guaranteeing military strength second to none, stopping the spread of weapons of mass destruction, building strong diplomatic alliances to protect America's national interests, and collecting timely and reliable intelligence to keep us safe at home by preventing terrorist attacks before they occur.

• Continue building an American military second to none, allied with nations around the world who are committed to freedom and security
• Guarantee that all our forces -- regular military, National Guard and Reservists -- possess the most effective equipment available
• Integrate our intelligence systems
• Protect our borders
• Make sure that every container and ship is secure before entering an American port
• Inspect all airline cargo
• Prevent the technology of weapons of mass destruction from falling into the hands of terrorists
• Provide firefighters and law enforcement personnel with all the resources and training necessary to ensure our homeland security
• Honor veterans and their families by keeping our commitments to those who have served and sacrificed for our country
• Reduce dependence on foreign oil sources
  

FAIRNESS
Ensuring equal opportunity for all, including affordable health care for everyone, spending Social Security funds only on Social Security and eliminating tax loopholes so that all Americans pay their fair share.

• Assure health care coverage for every child
• Enact tax relief that is fair to the middle class
• Make health care affordable for every American
• Provide tax incentives to assist employers in offering affordable health insurance to all employees
• Maintain an unqualified commitment to the preservation of retirement dignity through Medicare, Social Security, and sound pensions
• Guarantee a prescription drug benefit under Medicare
• Allow access to lower-cost re-imported prescription drugs and permit Medicare to negotiate on behalf of seniors to reduce the cost of prescription drugs
• Eliminate racially and ethnically based health care disparities
• Assist families and individuals in coping with the care and cost of AIDS, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other chronic illnesses
• Improve the health of rural Americans through expanded regional medical services
• Protect personal privacy: no personal records sent to countries lacking strict privacy laws
• Expand training of medical personnel and medical facilities to serve all communities
  

OPPORTUNITY
Providing Americans access to the tools to succeed as they choose: a vibrant public education system, accountable to the highest standards for every school and a chance for all children to reach their potential, including an affordable and accessible college education.

• Provide a high quality early childhood education system, including child care and Head Start, that prepares children for school
• Invest in a fully funded education system that gives every child the skills to succeed * Fully meet our responsibilities to children with disabilities, language issues, and other special needs
• Assure a well paid, highly trained teacher in every classroom
• Ensure a college education that every qualified high school graduate can afford
• Expand Pell Grants and college student loan programs
• Make college tuition tax deductible
• Provide lifelong learning in a world of unlimited opportunities
• Partner with states and local governments to build and rehabilitate school buildings
• Encourage parental, community, and private sector involvement in enriching our schools
• Support mentoring, tutoring and after-school programs
  

COMMUNITY
Working together for safe communities free of crime and drugs, supporting local businesses and groups to keep our families safe and our neighborhoods strong, and enforcing our anti-pollution laws to keep our air and water clean and healthy, with polluters paying for the damage they cause.

• Protect the safety of our communities with strong law enforcement and community policing
• Expand affordable, quality housing by protecting the Section 8 program and supporting home construction and rehabilitation
• Invest in better transportation choices to fight congestion, create jobs, and improve the quality of life
• Assure workplaces that are safe from preventable injuries and illnesses
• Enforce the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Clean Air Act
• Require accurate food labeling and product safety
• Clean up pollution and hazards that disproportionately affect low-income communities
• Harness innovative technology to produce safer, cheaper, renewable, cleaner energy
• Protect God's creations by preserving our great national parks, forests, fragile coastlines and wildlife
• Encourage patriotic service to our country and communities through military service, the Peace Corps, and other public and volunteer service
• Reform immigration policies to promote fairness, family unity, and improved border security
  

ACCOUNTABILITY
Holding those in power accountable for their actions, acting responsibly for our children by restoring fiscal discipline and eliminating deficit spending with pay-as-you-go-budgets, and requiring real consequences for CEOs and corporations who break the law at the expense of those who play by the rules.

• Restore fiscal accountability and end deficit spending while preserving Social Security and Medicare
• Enforce strict penalties for corporate abuse that cheats workers and shareholders
• Govern in the open
• Preserve our national commitment to the Constitutional rights of every American
• Ensure integrity in the electoral process and guarantee that every vote is counted
• Reduce partisanship, restore civility in public debate and respect fair consideration of differing opinions
  

Social Security needs grassroots action now:

SOCIAL SECURITY – BUSH ADMITS HE'LL HAVE TO BORROW: On Monday, the White House said for the first time that President Bush's plan to privatize social security would be "financed in part by new government borrowing that could top $1 trillion." That money will make it difficult for President Bush to honor his campaign pledge to cut the deficit in half. The White House had "once hoped that budget surpluses, projected in 2000 at $5.6 trillion over 10 years, would fund the transition period," but under the Bush administration, "those surpluses have vanished." Last week, White House economic adviser N. Gregory Mankiw admitted President Bush's plan would also "include major cuts in guaranteed benefits for future retirees." Mankiw "flatly rejected raising taxes" as a way to improve benefits for the elderly.

If Will Smith worked at Subway, he'd still love himself. He'd be the best sandwich maker there, and he'd tell you about it.

Regina King, actress of her co-star in "Enemy of the State"

More Lakoffisms

During the 2004 campaign, Lakoff suggested that instead of talking about how Bush had run up the national debt, Democrats should label it a "baby tax'' the Republican president had imposed on future generations.

He has suggested that same-sex marriage should be referred to as "the right to marry.'' Trial lawyers like vice presidential nominee John Edwards should instead be called "public protection attorneys,'' and the term environmental protection, which brings to mind big government and reams of regulations, should instead be termed "poison-free communities.''

Brain grown from rat cells learns to fly jet

Is it just me, or is this a thousand times scarier than stem cell research?

Wi-fi monopoly wins in Philadelphia:

MEDIA – VERIZON VICTORIOUS IN VILLAINY: Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell caved to the intense pressure applied by Verizon’s corporate lobbyists and last night signed a highly controversial telecommunications bill into law. The bill protects telecom giants by prohibiting communities from offering their own, lower cost internet access without express permission from companies like Verizon. Philadelphia, which is planning to offer its own Internet access, struck a special deal with Verizon before the legislation was signed. The rest of the state, however, wasn’t as lucky

AlterNet: MediaCulture: Unembedded in Iraq

http://dahrjamailiraq.com

Media coverage of Iraq from a reporter who is not embedded.

A good friend wrote in a Letter to the Editor:

Today I read in your paper about the perils of trying to rebuild Fallujah, a city our forces have seriously damaged in the attack over the past weeks. The article shows that it is unclear whether we can succeed in rebuilding the infrastructure of the city, for a variety of reasons, including lack of cooperation by its displaced residents. Furthermore, to do so will cost US taxpayers untold millions, if similar attempts to rebuild in Iraq are any guide. Rebuilding Fallujah is, of course, just one in a long and growing list of rebuilding projects in that unfortunate nation. Turning the page, I read that the National Science Foundation budget was cut this week by over one hundred million dollars, as Congress struggles to manage an impossible debt crisis. Today’s news leads me to marvel once more at our hubris as a nation, as we undertake to smash another country into submission to our values, while our own house is not in order. How anyone can believe that this war enhances our progress and security is a mystery to me.

Just when you thought it was safe! Dubya -- the movie!

http://www.dubyamovie.com/

Talks I would like to attend at our local Democratic meetings (though I may have to set them up).

How to activate liberal Christians.

How to reach the rural precinct.

The New York Times has a headline, "27 Civilians Die in New Attacks by Iraq Rebels." Our media only counts the civilian deaths caused by Iraqis, not those we cause ourselves. The Lancet estimates we caused 100,000 deaths before our election. . Even the Iraqi body count site , which requires two independent reportings of an Iraqi death to count it, is now more than 18,000. The inhumanity we are engaged in is staggering.

But even more staggering is the complicity of American media. The New York Times is considered to be a liberal newspaper. Why don't they show an estimate of civilian deaths that we have caused in the same period to offset the numbers shown here? They could not only make the point that the insurgency is strong, but give some insight as to why it is strong.

The problem is compounded by other language used in the article. We kill guerillas, insurgents. Yet you can see here actual pictures from Fallujah. Those are not all insurgents and guerillas. I am so sorry.

Buy Democrat

Here's a great site that has compiled the information about corporate contributions. You can look up which corporations gave to the Democrats rather than the Republicans before you make your major purchases.

http://www.choosetheblue.com/main.php



Costco, Shell, and Toyota come out okay. Interesting site.

On the subject of the UCC ad, I signed a petition asking CBS and NBC to reverse their decision. The ad and petition are available on the site -- so you can see what the unacceptable UCC message is. I liked the ad, and personally think it would be a good idea to let people know that there are tolerant churches.

Click here to see the ad. You can also sign the petition if you wish.
http://www.workingforchange.com/activism/petition.cfm?itemid=18182

Dean for DNC Chair

I support Howard Dean for the DNC Chair because I see the vitality that he brought into the Democratic party. Instead of telling volunteers what to do, he asked volunteers what they could do and that made all the difference. His volunteers became an integral, passionate and growing part of our campaigns in SW Washington. I feel so akin to these people that I am sorry that I was not an early Dean supporter. I support him now.

Howard Dean will be able to activate our grassroots. The recount in Washington is a case in point. John Kerry wrote a check for $200,000. Howard Dean asked the people in Democracy for America to contribute. Go to the people, go to the grassroots.

Howard Dean is not afraid of being a liberal, he will fight and get our message out and will energize our party in a way we have not seen for years. We need his enthusiasm for the years ahead.