Rob McKenna is refusing to release his tax returns:

Washington gubernatorial candidate Rob McKenna said Tuesday he will not release any of his tax returns, dismissing the matter as a distraction from important policy discussions.

McKenna, the state’s attorney general, said he has disclosed enough information in the personal financial forms that candidates file with the state. He called the tax-return debate – both here and nationally – a “phony issue.”

McKenna, a Republican, said his political rivals are attempting “to change the subject away from the real issues of the state.”

Democratic rival Jay Inslee, a former congressman, released five years of tax returns last week, and his campaign had called on McKenna to do the same.

I’m sure McKenna wants you to believe that he is taking a principled stand in refusing to release his tax returns, but his recalcitrance is problematic for the gubernatorial wannabe.

First, even if the “principled stand” hypothesis is true, standing tall with Mitt Romney isn’t going to endear him to Washingtonians. The state is just not that into Mittens. In other words, if McKenna wants to peddle himself as a “different kind of Republican,” one that is palatable to the voters of our state, he shouldn’t emulate, pretend to be, or come off as, in any way, an entitled one-percenter.

Romney has good reason to hide his tax returns. He’s done the political calculation. Releasing his tax returns would be much more damaging than disclosure. And it really is understandable—the fabulously wealthy have more opportunity to dodge taxes in ways that, if disclosed to the rest of us, would induce a bout of severe vertigo followed by repulsion-induced wrenching.

But McKenna…not so many tax dodging options. So if McKenna is “standing on principle,” he takes all the damage of non-discosure without any of the benefits.

(And he will take damage from this. Washingtonians are big on transparency. Don’t think for a moment that McKenna’s non-disclosure is going to be swept under the rug.)

So, really, if McKenna is merely standing on “principle”, he’s foolishly hurting himself.

On the other hand, maybe Rob isn’t a fool. Maybe he has done the calculation of relative political damage from disclosure versus non-disclosure. And he came down on the side of hiding his tax returns. If so, what is Rob McKenna hiding?

Is McKenna being foolish here? Or does he really have something to hide in his tax returns?

Intelligent voters want to know.

Sam Seder and Ari Berman: Fighting back against Republican led voter suppression efforts.

Willard!

• Roy Zimmerman: Vote Republican—Vermont edition
• Ed: The Latino Etch-A-Sketch, or Romney tries for the Latino vote.
• Mitt Romney on Bain job creation.:
• Zina Saunders: Paul Ryan’s Scouts Honor
• Sam Seder: Why won’t Mitt release his taxes?
• America doesn’t need a Birfer-in-chief.
• Jenn: Mitt Romney has taken the Birfer plunge
• Maddow: Blacks, Hispanics apparently not part of Romney victory plan
• CNN factchecks Romney “welfare” ad: FALSE!
• Young Turks: Mitt Romney’s “energy plan”.
• Maher and Huffington on Paul Ryan.
• Pap: Bain Capital’s Central American blood money.
• The Romney Bunch
• Jonathan Mann: Ultimate Any Rand Porn.
• Young Turks: Mitt goes Birfer.
• Sam Seder: Gawker releases Bain documents before RNC, Romney prays for hurricane.
• Music Video: Full of Mitt:
• Martin Bashir: Why Mitt has 0% Black support.
• Maddow: Romney, Ryan haunted by extremist record.
• Young Turks: Did David Koch buy Ryan a VP slot?

Kimmel: This week in unnecessary censorship.

Obama: They drove the economy into a ditch.

Thom with even more Good, Bad, and Very, Very Ugly.

White House: West Wing Week.

The G.O.P. Convention:

• Grindr for the G.O.P. convention.
• Thom: Why belong to a party that doesn’t want you?
• Ann Telnaes: The abortion issue heading for the G.O.P. convention.
• Young Turks: Limbaugh suggests Obama “hopeful” hurricane will hit convention.
• Susie Sampson asks Stephen Colbert: Can I be your date to the G.O.P. Convention?
• Stephanie: David Schuster jokes about God smiting the G.O.P.
• Thom and Pap: It’s hurricane Akin that is hitting the G.O.P. convention.

Roy Zimmerman: Vote Republican, Tennessee version.

Thom with The Good, the Bad, and the Very, Very Ugly.

Completely honest political debate.

Ed: Republicans are stealing the election in Ohio.

Young Turks: We have found the terrorists and it is us.

The Republican War on Lady Parts:

• Mark Fiore: Legitimate rape and other legitimate science from the house science and lady parts committee
• SlateTV: Todd Akin’s abortion comments could damage his standing.
• Pap: The Republican rape defenders.
• Lawrence O’Donnell: Why Republicans now fear talking about abortion
• Sam Seder with Amanda Marcotte: Todd Akin, rape & GOP “magical” thinking
• Bill Press: Mitt and G.O.P. are a bunch of hypocrites !
• Roy Zimmerman: Vote Republican, Alabama edition:
• Maddow: Did Romney get bad advice in Aikn scandal?
• Letterman: Hurricane approaching G.O.P. Convention proof God is a woman
• Young Turks: GOP candidate Frank Szabo would “stop abortion with deadly force”.
• Ann Telnaes: Romney unveils his energy plan.
• Bill Press: Akin ‘let the cat out of the bag’ for the GOP.
• The Romney-Ryan-Akin platform for women
• Republican women for Obama.

Roy Zimmerman: Vote Republican, Massachusetts edition

Gov. Jan Brewer introduces the Self Deportation Station:

Thom with more The Good, the Bad, and the Very, Very Ugly.

Roy Zimmerman: Vote Republican, Nevada edition.

Obama’s Secret UN Takeover and the Texas Insurgency!

• Sam Seder: TX Judge reveals Obama’s secret U.N. takeover plan!!!
• SlateTV: TX Judge suggests second Obama term might lead to uprising.
• Young Turks: Judge for civil war if Obama wins.

Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.

On Tuesday I mentioned that progressive comedian Dean Obeidallah is coming to Seattle. Dean is not only a comedian, but he is a frequent commentator on those talking head shows.

Well, today he has a CNN Opinion piece that looks at political gaffes, rape and other fun topics:

Politicians make gaffes almost daily. Some they can overcome. Some are fodder for late-night comedians. Some are deadly to their campaigns. Republican congressman Todd Akin’s recent gaffe was so toxic, he may not only have killed his campaign, he may be the political equivalent of a zombie who also infects the Romney/Ryan ticket with his deadly virus.

Read the whole thing here.

Please join us tonight for an evening of politics and conversation over a pint at the Seattle Chapter of Drinking Liberally.

We meet every Tuesday at the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E. Starting time is 8:00pm. Some people show up earlier for Dinner.

Special Event: On Sunday, Sept 9th, Comedian Dean Obeidallah will bring his progressive political stand up show to Seattle. Here’s the information:

Dean Obeidallah for Vice President Comedy Tour in Seattle on Sunday, September 9

A night of stand up comedy featuring award winning comedian Dean Obeidallah. 

The San Francisco Weekly wrote: “Dean Obeidallah is a gruff-voiced, shoot-from-the-hip New Yorker…fresh and clever.”

The Washington Post called Dean: “an angsty Arab Chris Rock.”  

Dean Obeidallah has appeared on numerous US and international TV shows including Comedy Central’s “Axis of Evil” special, ABC’s “The View,” “Comics Unleashed,” NBC’s “Rock Center,” MSNBC’s “Up with Chris Hayes,” Current TV’s “The Young Turks,” and can be seen weekly on CNN offering comedic commentary on political and topical issues. He also writes weekly opinion articles for CNN.com.

He is co-director/co-star of the soon to be released documentary “The Muslims Are Coming!” which also features The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, comedians Lewis Black, David Cross, Maz Jobrani, Janeane Garofalo, Colin Quinn and more. Official Trailer is here.

Special guests for the show:

Khaled the Comic – Based in Chicago, Khaled has performed at comedy clubs all over the US and Canada. He was featured in the Best of the festival show in the 2011 NY Arab-American Comedy Festival.

Melissa Shoshahi – One of the top Iranian-American comedians in the country. Melissa has performed in venues across the US bringing her witty personality to the stage and knows no limits when it comes to comedy-discussing thoughts on her perspective on life to her unique upbringing into society. Her edgy comedy can be best described as ‘beautiful, so beautiful’ by her mother. 

Sunday, September 9, 2012 at 8:00PM

SCCC Broadway Performance Hall
1625 Broadway
Seattle, WA 98122
United States

Tickets: $25
Student tickets $15 at the door with valid student ID

For tickets please visit: Brown Paper Tickets or call 800-838-3006

Here is Dean in his Comedy Central “Axis of Evil” Comedy special:

Can’t make it to Seattle’s DL tonight? Check out one of the other DL meetings over the next week. The Tri-Cities chapter meets tonight, the Burien chapter meets on Wednesday, and the Woodinville chapter meets on Thursday.

With 233 chapters of Living Liberally, including thirteen in Washington state four in Oregon and three more in Idaho, chances are excellent there’s a chapter near you.

Money Magazine came out with its list of America’s [100] best small cities.

Number five on the list: My home town of Redmond, WA. Well deserved, if I do say so. Here’s a KOMO-TV report on it.

The next best Washington small city on the list is Bellevue at #40.

The snapshot for Bellevue mentions, “Traffic into Seattle is a perpetual snarl,” but that “a light-rail line that will connect Bellevue and Seattle is in the works.”

Huh…imagine that. The light rail from Seattle to Bellevue isn’t even built yet. Just having it planned is adding value to Bellevue.

Suck on that, Rob McKenna!

There is a lore about Rep. Paul Ryan that goes like this: whether you agree with him or not, he is a principled, thoughtful, fiscal wonk. So if you do disagree with him, you have to at least respect him for his deeply held convictions. He is a True Believer.

It must follow, then, that when Ryan criticizes Obama over the stimulus spending that was used to turn around the catastrophic economic collapse that occurred during the end of the George W. Bush administration, it’s because he studied Keynesian economics in college—and rejected it. It must follow that the young economics major was exposed to many economic theories and philosophies, including those of Ludwig von Mises, Milton Friedman, and (*snicker*) Ayn Rand. After much contemplation and fiscal navel gazing, our young hero internalized a passionate distaste for deficit spending, Keynesian stimulus, and “big government” solutions to unemployment.

Oh, sure…we saw a few cracks in the Ryan edifice this past week with the revelations that he actively sought millions in stimulus funding on behalf of his constituents. But that was a constituent services mistake that “should have been handled differently.” Because he’s a busy guy, and that’s just so not Paul Ryan.

The lore is entirely bullshit. Chris Hayes uncovers some video of Rep. Paul Ryan in 2002…when George W. Bush was asking Congress for a stimulus package:

Paul Ryan’s philosophy on stimulus spending is entirely this: If a Democratic President asks, I am vehemently against it. If a Republican President asks, I am passionately for it.

This is pretty much the same with all of the Congressional Republicans who voted in favor of unfunded wars, Bush’s deficit stimulus spending during a mild recession, not to mention record-breaking deficit spending during times of economic stability. These hypocrits, under Obama, turned around and squealed like stuck pigs and writhed in fiscal agony at the thought of deficit spending to avert economic calamity.

Paul Ryan is a fraud. He’s a hypocrite. He is an ordinary, lying Republican politician. He is a political opportunist.

His “principles” amount to gaining power for his political party—even if it means harming America.

Stop fighting and Get Cash for Rights.

Roy Zimmerman: Vote Republican, Nebraska edition:

Kimmel’s week in unnecessary censorship.

Ryan—Romney 2012:

• Ann Telnaes: Romney dances around Ryan budget.
• Young Turks: Tom Morello rips Paul Ryan
• Maddow: The Ryan pick…and the first week.
• The same.
• Kimmel: Mitt Romney’s new positive ad:
• Stephen on Ryan/Romney.
• Jenn: Ryan catches a bad case of the flip-flops.
• Stephanie Miller: Tom Morello raging against the machine that is Rep. Paul Ryan.
• Maddow: Ryan Medicare unpopularity trickles down…to Congressional races.
• Sam Seder: Romney rejects Obama’s “tax amnesty” offer.
• SlateTV: No truce in the Romney Tax wars.
• Young Turks: Paul Ryan’s pathetic FAUX debut
• Susie Sampson’s Tea Party Report: A VP for America?
• Lawrence O’Donnell: The hypocrisy of Paul Ryan.
• Ed: Obama wise-crack about Seamus
• Axelrod on Mitt non-disclosure.
• Maddow: Iraq war excluded from campaign as Romney hires Bush Iraq spokesman.
• Kimmel: Romney outsources Sesame Street.
• Ed: The great Romney-Ryan $700 billion lie
• Mark Fiore: Mitt Romney finds his hero in “Deficit Hawk Man”.
• Sam Seder: Why Paul Ryan is a gift to progressives.
• Jon: On Paul Ryan.
• Ann Telnaes: Paul Ryan displays his archery skills.
• Maddow: Still talking about tax returns.
• Maddow: Even STILL talking about tax returns.
• Ed: Who is the bigger liar, Romney or Ryan (via Crooks and Liars)?

Sam Seder: Sen. Rand Paul thinks, “Obama Arming Weathermen!”

Lawrence O’Donnell: Limbaugh attacks debate moderators as ‘far left-wing’ liberals (via Crooks and Liars).

Hooligans!

• Young Turks: Pussy Riot sentenced.
• Guilty of “Hooliganism”: Pussy Riot.

Sam Seder: Next on the Republican agenda? Taking school lunches from poor kids.

White House: West Wing Week.

G.O.P. Voter Suppression:

• Jon: The 2012 exciting new voter suppression efforts.
• Pap and Ed: Right wing courts are sending America back to the dark ages
• Maher: New Rules on Republican voter suppression (via Crooks and Liars).
• Sam Seder: PA voter suppression scheme goes forward.
• Pap: Republican judicial hacks help suppress voters

Stephanie Cutter: Medicare Whiteboard:

Roy Zimmerman: Vote Republican, New Mexico edition.

Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.

Via Rolling Stone:

Don’t mistake me, I clearly see that Ryan has a whole lotta “rage” in him: A rage against women, a rage against immigrants, a rage against workers, a rage against gays, a rage against the poor, a rage against the environment. Basically the only thing he’s not raging against is the privileged elite he’s groveling in front of for campaign contributions.

— Tom Morello, songwriter, activist, guitarist for Rage Against the Machine

(h/t Joel Connelly.)

The Libertarian Party of Washington State is suing to keep Mitt Romney off the ballot.

Their argument may be familiar to you…I wrote about it recently. By law, the Washington State Republican Party is a minor party and it hasn’t met the signature gathering requirements of a minor party for the fall Presidential election.

You can read the Libertarian’s complaint here. But let me briefly recap the argument.

In 2010, the WSRP didn’t nominate, or even endorse, anyone in the only statewide election. The reason, as I mentioned earlier, was that the Teabaggers were going to raise holy hell if Dino Rossi (who entered the race very late) got the nomination over uber-teabagger Clint Diddier for the U.S. Senate race.

Dino Rossi won a spot on the general election ballot by placing second in the primary. But, prior legal precedent has firmly established that our top-two primary is a “‘winnowing’ election designed to send only two candidates on to the general election without regard to political party nomination or affiliation,” rather than a nominating election.

So the Republicans failed to have a party nominee receive at least 5% of the vote in a 2010 statewide election as per RCW 29A.04.086:

“Major political party” means a political party of which at least one nominee for president, vice president, United States senator, or a statewide office received at least five percent of the total vote cast at the last preceding state general election in an even-numbered year.

They also failed to file the 1,000 signatures this year as is required for a minor party by RCW 29A.20.111 et seq.

Thus the Libertarians point out in their complaint:

Accordingly, the Washington State Republican Party is not entitled under the R.C.W. to have its nominee’s name printed on the November general election ballot, although its candidate (presumably Mr. Romney) is entitled to run as a write-in candidate.

In other words, the Libertarians (who are currently a minor party) want fair and equal treatment with the Republicans who, evidence suggests, is now a minor party.

And they have a point! It is how the law is written. And if the law is followed as written, there should be no Republican presidential ticket on our ballots this fall.

Here’s the thing. The relevant RCW actually predate the top-two primary. And, from one perspective, the major/minor party status law doesn’t quite jibe with a top-two primary system. In fact, in 2009, the SOS office pushed legislation that would have changed the major/minor party part of the law to better reflect a top-two primary. Alas, the bill (SB 5681) failed.

After my last post on this topic, I emailed the Secretary of State office to ask for their take on this issue. Dave Ammons respond with a helpful summary of the SOS position:

The Legislature has not repealed the old RCWs that were put in place for the old pick-a-party primary system, so many of the old definitions are still on the books. All three levels of federal courts (District Court, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and U.S. Supreme Court) have commented at some point in the 8 year litigation over the Top Two Primary system that Initiative 872 impliedly repealed the old party nomination procedures for the pick-a-party primary. The upshot is that we have adapted many procedures for the Top Two Primary in WAC.

WAC 434-208-130 define major and minor political parties. The relevant paragraphs of the WAC state:

(1) For purposes of RCW 29A.04.086, “major political party” means a political party whose nominees for president and vice-president received at least five percent of the total votes cast for that office at the last preceding presidential election. A political party that qualifies as a major political party retains such status until the next presidential election at which the presidential and vice-presidential nominees of that party do not receive at least five percent of the votes cast.

In other words, the SOS office is relying on a WAC that changes the RCW, under the argument that the RCW’s major/minor party definitions were implicitly “repealed” when the pick-a-party procedures were replaced for the top-two primary.

The argument might make sense, except for two things. First, the major/minor party definitions as they exist under RCW are a little awkward to deal with, but they are certainly not incompatible with a system that primarily has top two primaries (except for presidential elections). Therefore, an argument can (and will!) be made that the definitions were not implicitly repealed as suggested by the SOS office. And you cannot use the WAC to “override” the RCW.

The second point is that the legislature actually considered the issue in SB 5681. They had a chance to change the law to dovetail with the definitions in the WAC. And they declined to do so!

It is a fascinating problem! That said, I don’t relish the idea of Mitt Romney being kept off the ballot.

What I enjoy about this predicament is just how fucked up the Teabaggers have made things for the WSRP. In almost any other year, the Republicans would have had the clone-like unity to rally behind the “chosen” candidate. They would have proudly nominated him and, knowingly or not, maintained their legal eligibility as a major party under all definitions. But not in 2010.

This is why I always keep a good stock of popcorn in my pantry….

Update (11:45 pm): I modified the post to remove an extraneous quote that was accidentally left in the original. I clarified the language in a couple of spots, too.

Politics is a hot topic, even during these dog days of summer. So, please join us tonight for an evening of politics and conversation over a pint at the Seattle Chapter of Drinking Liberally.

We meet every Tuesday at the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E. Starting time is 8:00pm. Some people show up earlier for Dinner.

Can’t make it to Seattle tonight? Check out one of the other DL meetings over the next week. Tonight the Tri-Cities and Vancouver, WA chapters meet. The new Longview chapter holds their inaugural meeting at 6:00pm Wednesday at the Monticello Hotel. The new South Seattle chapter holds their inaugural meeting on Wednesday, 8:00pm at Lottie’s Lounge, 4900 Rainier Avenue. The Spokane chapter and Drinking Liberally Tacoma meet this Thursday. Finally, next Monday, the Yakima and Olympia chapters of DL meet.

With 233 chapters of Living Liberally, including thirteen in Washington state, four in Oregon, and three more in Idaho, chances are excellent there’s a chapter near you.