Archives for February 2010

When the state Democratic leadership called the cops on organized labor last year in a ham-fisted effort to get out of voting on the Workers Privacy Act, they sent a couple of strong messages to employers statewide.

First, by killing legislation that would have prevented employers from requiring workers to attend anti-union meetings (or religious meetings, for that matter), and by doing so in such a high profile fashion, the Democratic leadership tacitly endorsed exactly the kind of coercive practices the bill sought to ban. Second, if the Democratic leadership, of all people, were willing to so casually throw organized labor under the bus — one of their most loyal constituencies — well, it was only time before employers started following their lead.

And that’s apparently what is happening with the Korean Women’s Association in their contract negotiations with home health care workers represented by SEIU 775NW.

The video above shows KWA Executive Director Peter Ansara bashing the union at a mandatory meeting held Feb. 1, 2010. “They’re not going to bat for you,” Ansara tells the assembled SEIU members “… but your dues just went up a buck.” Ansara goes on to accuse the union of “not standing up for you,” while KWA Board Chair Sul Ja Warnick reminisces fondly about the pre-union days. All this at a meeting billed as workers’ compensation training, and paid for with Medicaid funds.

So what’s KWA’s beef with SEIU? After years of enjoying a model labor-management relationship with SEIU, KWA has suddenly decided to play hardball. While none of the other eight home healthcare agencies SEIU bargains with in Washington state are seeking cuts in wages or benefits, KWA is demanding substantial concessions from workers whose starting salary is only $10/hour.

Since 2006, all of the state’s home healthcare agencies have covered the full cost of their workers’ compensation premiums, but KWA is demanding that its workers now pay 30 cents an hour, amounting to a 3 percent reduction in take-home pay. KWA is also alone in seeking to eliminate the 45 cents per mile reimbursement for workers driving between clients, during the workday, using their own vehicles… a tremendous potential hardship for such low wage workers, especially those working in more rural communities. And finally, while all agencies receive 10 cents a worker hour from the state to pay for training programs, KWA wants to only spend 5 cents an hour, and keep the other nickel for itself.

And if SEIU won’t budge, then apparently it has to be busted, or at least so seems the philosophy of Ansara, who took over the reins at KWA just before the agency assumed its new, anti-union posture.

“The caregiving business… is really from a business perspective, a numbers game,” Ansara told the assembled workers, though of course, it really is not. The caregiving business should be about providing compassionate, quality care. Indeed, Ansara’s statement reveals exactly the kind of attitude that inevitably leads to the sort of abuses recently documented by the Seattle Times.

But as long as we’re talking about numbers, it’s important to point out that while KWA pays workers $10/hour, it receives a $17.46/hour in Medicaid reimbursement from the state. The other home healthcare agencies are managing to get by on the same gross margins without demanding concessions from their already low-wage workers. Why can’t KWA?

I dunno. Perhapas Ansara is just a prick. Or perhaps KWA is particularly poorly managed. Or perhaps, KWA got the message loud and clear from Democrats in Olympia that it’s open season on labor.

What I do know is that I wouldn’t want my loved ones taken care of by a home healthcare agency that shows so little respect and empathy for its own workers.

So unfortunately Rep. Deb Wallace, D-Vancouver, decided to vote “no” when it came to suspending I-960, the noxious Tim Eyman measure that requires an absurd super-majority to raise taxes. Long story short, in order to balance the budget through a combination of cuts and tax increases, Democrats will have to suspend the measure because Republicans won’t agree to anything but cuts.

But you already knew that last part; they’re the Republicans, the party of nothingness, nihilism and nuts.

Ah well, politics is a tough game. I’m sure Wallace’s “no” vote had nothing to do with her candidacy for the WA-03 seat being vacated by Rep. Brian Baird.

Voters in the third district do have other choices on the Democratic side, including my personal pick, Sen. Craig Pridemore, D-Vancouver, who doesn’t shy away from the tough votes. Pridemore voted to suspend 960 in the Senate, because these things impact real people. The GOP will attack any Democrat no matter what they do anyhow, so you might as well do the right thing. I think Craig gets that.

Here’s a web video from the Pridemore campaign. I kind of like it, but I’m biased, because I’ve been supporting him since he first ran for county commissioner in 1998, when he beat a well-financed, pro-developer incumbent. Judge for yourself.

There’s a still photo in the above video that shows Craig walking at sunrise near Yacolt, in northern Clark County, during that first run for commissioner in 1998. He was on a walking tour of the county where he walked all over the damn place to meet people, and he really seemed to thrive on it. The idea of the walking tour had been suggested by someone who threw it out there almost as a joke, and next thing we knew Craig had sent out a news release and was off and um, walking. Obviously the third Congressional district is too big to walk, but please don’t give him any ideas.

Pridemore’s willingness to take a stand is not going unnoticed at the national level. The web site Crooks and Liars is hosting a live chat with Pridemore on Saturday (two days from now, Feb. 20th) at 11 AM Pacific time.

What’s at stake in this race is whether authentic progressives get to offer real solutions to real problems, or if we get a conserva-crat nominated with the aid of the governor (or the incumbent) and the rest of the power elite. I know, that’s often how politics works, and it’s really no great surprise. But I hope what will be a surprise is when Pridemore not only competes effectively, but manages to defeat the establishment forces that desperately want to cling to the status quo.

Howard Dean was on Morning Joe yesterday talking about how voters want solutions, and most of all they want strength. Strength comes from conviction, not sticking a finger up in the air or seeing how many inside-Olympia names one can list. You can view Dean’s segment at Down With Tyranny.

If you’re a progressive in this state, or this country, here in the person of Craig Pridemore is the chance to support someone authentic, even in a winter of some (or more) discontent. Yes, the Obama administration has been a disappointment, and yes, there are certain Democrats in the US Senate who vex us endlessly, but the only path forward is, well, forward. The third district is widely considered to a pure toss-up district, and it’s still anyone’s ballgame at this point, prognostications by careerist Republican hacks aside.

Some Democratic leaders still haven’t seemed to learn the simple lesson that when given the choice between two Republicans, voters will choose the Republican, with apologies to Harry S. Truman (who gave them hell, not heck.) I’m not entirely certain why this is so, but it must change for this country to ever move forward.

If you can, please consider an early donation through Craig’s Act Blue page, every bit helps. If you’re on Facebook, I’ve started a group of supporters that also contains a link to Craig’s official fan page. Come join us as we campaign for an authentic representative of the people.

In covering a Teabagger party in Asotin, the TV newscaster leads off by saying “They say it’s all about traditional values…” — and what exactly are traditional Teabagger values?

“How many of you have watched the movie Lonesome Dove? What happened to Jake when he ran with the wrong crowd? … He got hung. And that’s what I want to do with Patty Murray.”

To which, of course, the crowd laughs and applauds. Yup, nothin’ riles up the spirit of a patriotic American more than a good ol’ fashioned hangin’ of a U.S. Senator.

I’ve already made the personal sacrifice of slashing my employees’ benefits, now so should the governor.

Sensible Washington will be holding a press conference today at 1:30pm at 3161 Elliott Avenue Ste 340 (near the PI building) to announce the start of signature gathering for their ballot initiative to legalize adult marijuana use. They’ve already received an endorsement from former Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper and the folks at Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.

Seattle Parks Superintendent Tim Gallagher has banned all forms of tobacco use in Seattle parks. Gallagher made this rule despite protests from the city’s parks board. Even worse, he openly admits that this is being done to protect people from their own decisions, not to protect people from second-hand smoke (even chewing tobacco is banned). As far as I can tell, this rule applies to Seattle’s three municipal golf courses, so if you want to smoke a cigarette while playing a round at Jackson Park, make sure none of Gallagher’s foot soldiers are watching.

If Evan Bayh had died, I guess I could understand this piece in the Seattle Times (and similar pieces throughout the print media and cable). But this seems pretty overwrought for someone who is going to retire to a nice corporate gig, and then maybe run for president in 6 years.

Democrat Bayh has politics in his bones. He was 6 when his father, Birch Bayh, was first elected to the Senate from Indiana. The younger Bayh served two terms and was twice on a shortlist of potential vice-presidential nominees. He is the ultimate moderate who aimed to work with Republicans and Democrats.

Yet the harsh partisanship of the Senate wore him down — a strong signal our country is at the low ebb of its politics.

It’s a strange definition of moderate that includes war monger, corporate lackey who literally was in bed with lobbyists but was willing to throw regular people to the wolves. Of course, that’s the kind of thing we’ve been hearing from a media that has long confused moderation with capitulation.

The most extreme version of this in recent times was when Bush was in charge and making war for no reason, “moderates” like Bayh helped him and “extremists” were for peace. But even under Obama, it’s extreme to want single payer health care, but moderate to be fine with a status quo that results in over 44,000 adult deaths and all sorts of other nasty complications.

If that’s moderate, call me extreme any day.

From Gov. Chris Gregoire’s new tax proposal:

Excise Tax on Carbonated Beverages
Carbonated beverages are a discretionary purchase. Their consumption leads to growing public health issues, including childhood obesity and diabetes. Through an excise tax of 5 cents per 12 ounces, this proposal would raise $93.6 million this biennium.

Or, you know, we could just build some more sidewalks. That’s what Gov. Blethen would do.

(And in case you’re wondering about the headline… um, here.)

I’ve been too preoccupied to conduct my usual fisking of Seattle Times editorials in recent days, but that hasn’t made them any less worthy of mockery.

Temporarily increase the King County sales tax to maintain police, jails and courts? “Enough is enough,” the Times proclaims. “This page does not have a detailed, prescriptive answer to King County’s whole problem,” Frank Blethen’s crack editorialists admit, but that doesn’t stop them from insisting that criminal justice services — which account for over 70 percent of the county’s general fund — must be maintained at current levels, in the face of dramatically declining revenues, but with no tax increases. I guess that’s what passes for bold leadership down at Fairview Fanny.

And the Times consistently pushes its no-tax/yes-spend prescription on a number of other issues. We hear little argument from the Times that the state isn’t underfunding basic education, yet they maintain their virulent opposition to the sort of revenue hikes or tax restructuring necessary to pay for it. And just today their editorial page lauds First Lady Michelle Obama for her soft approach to childhood obesity that doesn’t include government mandates or taxes.

What is most appealing about the first lady’s approach is it is neither heavy-handed nor naive. The federal government will not become the food police but will instead encourage sensible initiatives such as added sidewalks to spur walking and exercise.

And how will we pay for these sidewalks and public service campaigns and whatnot? Certainly not by taxing sweetened beverages, the number one source of calories in the average American diet. The Times acknowledges that “obesity contributes to the nation’s soaring health-care bill,” but a targeted tax aimed at reducing consumption of empty calories while providing a revenue source to help pay for obesity’s growing consequences, well, that would be “heavy-handed.” And worst of all, it would be, you know, a tax.

So how would the Times editors balance their own conflicting demands for more government services and lower taxes? Well, despite their refusal to put forth “prescriptive answers,” I suppose we might tease a few hints as to how they might run state government, by examining how they have run their own business, and imagining how very different Washington state might look today had Frank Blethen been governor over much of the past decade, with his editorial board holding the reins of the legislative leadership.

Buoyed upon the economic euphoria of the previous bubble, the first thing Gov. Blethen would have done upon taking office in early 2001, would be to purchase the state of Maine, and at a highly inflated price, only to sell it at a total loss a decade later after pumping millions of dollars into subsidizing his acquisition’s own growing deficits. Then, with hundreds of millions of dollars of highly leveraged debt coming due at the same time revenues started their precipitous tumble, Gov. Blethen would fight vociferously to drive neighboring Oregon out of business in the hope of attracting a substantial portion of its loyal taxpayers.

But none of this would be enough to balance the books. Wages would have to be cut, benefits slashed, jobs eliminated and unions busted… because it was organized labor, after all, who was really responsible for that whole Maine fiasco. And, just like the Times has managed to maintain the breadth, depth and quality of their news coverage while closing bureaus and dramatically shrinking their newsroom, so too our state government, under Gov. Blethen’s deft leadership, would be able to maintain, or even increase critical public services and infrastructure, while substantially decreasing both salaries and staff. I mean, just imagine how much better DMV would function if they had fewer offices and less staff servicing the same number of customers… and at lower wages to boot. All we need to do is make government operate more like a business!

As for schools, despite the worsening revenue crisis, we could trust Gov. Blethen to finally cut class sizes… by, you know, physically cutting classroom sizes, the same way the Times has cut the width of its newsprint by 15% in recent years. Just crowd those desks a little closer; the kids will never know the difference.

You get the point. Frank Blethen has done such a remarkable job guiding his proud family newspaper from perpetual prosperity to the verge of bankruptcy, that if there is anybody who we should turn to for advice on how to fix what ails state and local government, it is he and his fellow economic wunderkind on the Times editorial board.

I’m just sayin’.

UPDATE:
Carl points out that he kinda had this idea first.

Please join us tonight for special Fat Tuesday edition of Drinking Liberally. Our point du Mardi is the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E. beginning at about 8:00 pm. Or stop by earlier to enjoy a rich, fat dinner for your Carnival celebration.

Not in Seattle? There is a good chance you live near one of the 344 other chapters of Drinking Liberally.

I think this may have just become my new, favorite blog.

Dino Rossi’s record winning streak in hypothetical races remains unbroken, with the latest Rasmussen poll showing him eking out a 48% to 46% win over incumbent U.S. Senator Patty Murray. Man… has this guy ever lost a race he didn’t run for?

Of course, Rasmussen also had Rossi leading Gov. Chris Gregoire by a similar 47% to 46% margin at the same point in their 2008 gubernatorial race, and had Rossi up 52% to 46% as late as two months prior to election day. Rossi went on to lose by 6.5 points in the only poll that really mattered.

As for the Republicans actually running against Murray, well, they don’t fare so well, trailing by between 12 and 15 points. You know… hypothetically.

Huh. I’m tempted to blow up an American airliner, just to prove Fox News host Steve Doocy wrong.

Some of you may have noticed that my posting has been a little lighter than usual over the past week or so, and I just wanted to reassure folks that no, I haven’t burnt out. I’ve just been busy. Busy teaching myself how to program the iPhone.

It’s been about eight years since I last played around with a compiler, and ten days into the iPhone SDK I’m still not sure that I have sufficient programming chops to get the job done. The unfamiliar Xcode IDE does both more and less than I had expected, and Objective-C, well, it might as well have been Objective-Mandarin for all I knew when I started. I was hoping that with a UI this sparse, Apple might have layered a real RAD environment on top of it — like a Visual Basic or a Hypercard — but no, here I am defining classes and declaring protocols and managing memory for chrisakes. (No garbage collection? What’s up with that?)

Anyway, I’ll keep folks informed of how this project goes, but in the meantime, be prepared for days when I’m a little preoccupied.

Dick Cheney giving advice on foreign policy is like Kevin Smith giving advice on dieting.