This conference should be of interest to anyone contributing (or wanting to contribute) to progressive politics in our region:
The NWroots Conference is the annual gathering of the region’s netroots community and liberal minded political activists – hosted by the NWroots Fellowship with support from the Northwest Progressive Institute. It is an unbeatable opportunity for local writers, readers, activists, elected leaders, and progressive candidates to meet in person and learn from each other – with panels, a candidates’ social, keynote addresses, and workshops.
Feature speakers include Congressman Jay Inslee, Congressman Jim McDermott, Former Canadian Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh, WSLC President Jeff Johnson, and 4th Congressional District candidate Jay Clough.
Special performance by the Total Experience Gospel Choir.
What: NWroots Conference
Where: Swannies Comedy Undergound, 109 S. Washington Street, Seattle, 98104
When: Saturday, July 9th
Why: Teach, learn, organize, strategize, socialize, network, have fun.What are you waiting for? Register today!
Rob Sargent
NWroots
(425) 941-3134
Here are some more details about the program:
Jill Richardson is flying in from San Diego to present two sessions on agriculture and public policy. Jill is an author, political activist,
founder of Lavidalocavore.org, and expert on food systems and sustainable farming. Her book, Recipe for America, explains our messed up food system in an understandable way, and offers specific policy recommendation to make it better. In her first session, Jill will talk about the focus of her book and lead a discussion about agriculture policy. In a second session, she will address the worldwide influence of Monsanto on agriculture, followed by a group discussion. Jill was just featured at Netroots Nation in Minneapolis.In addition to Jill’s sessions, we will have small group presentations/discussions on health care, labor, the media, electronic voting, immigration, the mortgage crisis, and a documentary on Afghanistan followed by a group discussion.
To stir things up, we’ve added Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich to the program. Kucinich will join 4th Congressional District Candidate Jay Clough, Congressman Jim McDermott, and former Canadian Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh at the afternoon general session. The opening session will be kicked off by Congressman Jay Inslee, followed by University of Washington graduate and “dreamer” Alonso Chehade. Chehade faces possible deportation if the Dream Act fails to pass. Alonso will later lead a session where the group will discuss immigration policy. Labor leader Jeff Johnson will close out the morning session. He will also facilitate a smaller group discussion on the role of labor in politics and the new political strategy. Mr. Johnson is President of the Washington State Labor Council.
In addition to the general session and smaller, breakout sessions, there will be a candidates social, a special musical performance by the Total Experience Gospel Choir, and an after-party at the Central Saloon.
(This is an open thread.)
Republicans Play Chicken With Debt Default
With the clock ticking down on U.S. Treasury default, top GOP negotiators have pulled out of budget negotiations, saying they won’t return until the GOP gets what it wants: Massive spending cuts and no tax increases.
Of course, it was massive and reckless spending by Republicans, coupled with irresponsible tax cuts, that pushed the budget from surplus to trillion-dollar deficits in the first place.
“House Majority Leader Eric Cantor … said that Democrats are insisting that tax increases must be part of the debt limit deal but that there is not sufficient support in the GOP-majority House to pass any tax hikes. … At his weekly briefing, [House Speaker] Boehner said … the … talks can continue if Democrats take tax increases off the table.”
What asshats!
Here’s what this means:
1. The poor and middle class are supposed to bear the entire burden of deficit reduction so the rich can continue to enjoy their tax cuts.
2. The GOP gets its way, all the way, without giving an inch on anything even though they don’t control the Senate or White House.
Personally, I think Obama, Biden, Reid, and Pelosi should tell the Republicans to go fuck themselves. And let the Treasury default happen. Why? Because a Treasury default will inflict immense damage on financial markets and financial assets, and most of those assets are owned by rich Republicans. In other ways, let those assholes blow their own balls off!
After all the unemployed are already unemployed and have nothing to lose from the economy nosediving into another recession. Workers have already suffered; this time it’s business profits that will suffer from the GOP’s insane brinkmanship.
A government shutdown, market crash, double-dip recession, and cessation of social security checks will have a dramatic effect on next year’s elections — in a way that won’t help the party that brought it on.
This is the time, if there ever was one, for Democrats to get a spine. Tax revenues are at the lowest level since taxes were invented. With deficits at record highs, it’s obvious — OBVIOUS — that raising taxes on the free riders at the top of the income scale is an essential component of deficit reduction. To do otherwise would be an abject surrender to Republican efforts to dismantle the safety net and turn America into a third-world country for the 98% of Americans who are non-rich.
Since these Republican bastards want to play chicken with Treasury default, I say let ’em go ahead and try it. Call their bluff and make them blink; and if they don’t blink, if they are actually madmen, and allow default to happen, then force them to go through with it and bear the consequences for their personal investments and their re-election prospects.
Since most of the destruction will fall on them, it’s time to play Mutually Assured Destruction, and watch the mushroom cloud rise above the smouldering remnants of a political party that, like the Soviet Union, is useless to humanity and needs to be gone from the planet.
Oops, I forgot the link. Here it is:
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com.....get-talks-
Full Disclosure: Roger Rabbit wants the GOP to force a Treasury default so the stock market will crash and he can make a shitload of FREE MONEY by buying dirt cheap stocks from rich Republicans who are forced to sell by margin calls or cash flow crises. Right now, the worst thing that can happen to me financially is if the Republicans suddenly get reasonable. I’m not too worried about that, though.
I wonder if our local Netroots gathering will be “honored” with a visit by Andrew Breitbart…
@1 There have been a couple of other articles postulating that a credit default by the US government would mostly hurt Wall Street and the Chinese, which might in the long run turn out to be the best thing that could happen for most of us.
Problem is, it ain’t gonna happen. Geithner and Obama will blink first, and the Republican leaders damn well know it.
ArtFart @ 3,
“I wonder if our local Netroots gathering will be “honored” with a visit by Andrew Breitbart…”
Let’s hope not! I’m hoping that we’re not getting to Second Amendment remedies…for the Breitbart problem.
Just kidding folks…just a bit of Sharron Angle humor. Heh!
@2. Roger Rabbit spews:
Full Disclosure: Roger Rabbit wants the GOP to force a Treasury default so the stock market will crash and he can make a shitload of FREE MONEY by buying dirt cheap stocks from rich Republicans who are forced to sell by margin calls or cash flow crises. Right now, the worst thing that can happen to me financially is if the Republicans suddenly get reasonable. I’m not too worried about that, though.
——————————–
As I have said before there is enough revenue to cover debt service and a default would happen only if Obama wanted it to, and even he is not that foolish. Obama will cave if pushed hard enough.
@6 Nope, sorry, as long as Obama is in the White House paying interest to rich Republicans will NOT be the top fiscal priority; sending out social security and unemployment checks will be. But thanks anyway for playing, sap. I’d be hoarding cash right now if I were you.
@6 (continued) “Obama will cave if pushed hard enough.”
This, of course, is what you and your GOP buddies are counting on; and what I’m saying is this time he needs to get a pair of balls and shove that attitude right back up your shit-smeared asses.
Liberals and Democrats need to write their congress critters, senators, and the White House PR office NOW.
And what you should tell them is, there’s absolutely no point in voting for Democratic candidates if they vote for Republican policies after getting into office.
http://www.americablog.com/201.....nomic.html
yeah…there was a class war alright…our class lost.
SCOTUS Coddles Drug Companies, Screws Consumers
The wingnuts on the Wingnut Court today handed down, by 5-4 votes along conservative-liberal lines, a pair of decisions that are devastating for consumers using generic drubs.
In the first decision, the Wingnut Cabal ruled that generic drug manufacturers DO NOT have to warn consumers of dangerous side effects or complications of using these drugs, and patients injured by the drugs can’t sue the manufacturers.
In the second decision, the Wingnut Cabal ruled that states can’t pass laws preventing drug companies from buying the prescription records of patients from pharmacies to use for marketing purposes. Their reasoning is that state laws protecting the privacy of patient prescription records interferes with the drug companies’ “free speech” rights.
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&#.....38;bih=783
Actually, the second decision was a 6-3 vote.
Any day now, the Wingnut Court is going to declare that Brown v. Board of Education was a mistake, and reinstate Plessy v. Ferguson.
http://thinkprogress.org/polit.....rs-stupid/
The first rule of holes, Herm…is STOP DIGGING!
@10 See #9.
@15 If he doesn’t want his remarks taken seriously, then he must not want his candidacy taken seriously, either.
There’s so much stupidity on the Republican side that ten HA.orgs couldn’t cover them all.
Here’s a question…
…so we get out of Iraq and Afghanistan. Short of a WPA style jobs program, where are all these folks gonna work?
http://slog.thestranger.com/sl.....s-air-show
Who’s this “Goldy” guy??
LOLOLOLOLOLOL
RR @ 1, etc.: The GOP is acting like the North Koreans. Their favorite negotiating tactic is to give a list of concessions the other side has to make before they will sit down at the negotiating table to discuss what further concessions the other side will have to make.
At least they were quite clear on their reasons for pulling out of negotiations: the Democrats were insisting on raising revenue by restoring a portion of the taxes on the extremely wealthy which Bush cut irresponsibly, and the GOP wouldn’t even consider that, regardless of what harm it would cause the country.
Remember people, it’s easier for The Man to keep you down when your food and mobility (AKA gasoline) are shipped in from out of state.
Grow a garden. Ride a bike. Do like Billy Bragg said: “start your own revolution and cut out the middle man.”
@13
You mean, they haven’t already?
@20 I already sent an e-mail to the White House asking them to NOT cave in to the outrageous GOP demands and bargaining tactics.
@22 Maybe I missed that one while I was out of town for Pop Rabbit’s (sniffle) funeral.
@10
yeah…there was a class war alright…our class lost.
lazy dipshits like you always lose.
re 24: I thought you’d be champing at the bit to say, ‘Nutroots’.
“lazy dipshits … always lose” Not true. Bush had the presidency handed to him on a platter, even though he lost the popular vote twice. It must be great to have the supreme court in your hip pocket.
# 19: Goldy has a good point, that Airbus is hardly operating in a union-free environment. So Boeing’s tears that it has build planes in S. Carolina in order to bring down it’s labor costs in order to remain competative is so much pure blather.
Airbus DOES have an advantage over Boeing in that the launch aid which is provided by the participating governments means that Airbus can decide to develop and produce a new aircraft without “betting the company” on the outcome. That was one of the subjects of the decision by the World Trade Court, which decided against Airbus on that point. But the decision won’t help Boeing anytime soon – it only comes into play IF Airbus finds it loses big money on a new aircraft program, at which point there would be another complaint when the aid is actually rendered, and another decade or so of litigation and appeals. Right now the U.S. Congress isn’t about to offer launch aid of it’s own in retaliation.
But Boeing’s biggest problem is that it is STILL trying to recover from Harry Stonecipher and the Jack Welch folks Stonecipher had brought over to McDonnel-Douglas (and later to Boeing). According to those financial geniuses, research and development of new commercial aircraft was an expense which needed to be continually “kicked down the road” into the future, so that corporate balance sheets and earnings would look better in the present, thereby maximizing bonuses and stock option earnings to the executives. They tried it at McDonnell-Douglas and they ended up nearly bankrupting the company when they suddenly found that their older airplanes, though profitable if you could find a buyer, were eclipsed by much newer, more efficient ones being produced by Airbus and Boeing. When Stonecipher managed to somehow convince Phil Condit to allow McDonnell-Douglas to buy Boeing with Boeing’s own money, Stonecipher applied the same principles to Boeing, as well.
Stonecipher had pretty much dismantled much of Boeing’s ability to build aircraft parts, laying off skilled parts fabricators and scrapping the tooling. His vision of Boeing was an aircraft manufacturer that didn’t make aircraft parts, but instead only did final assembly of major pre-assembled componants built elsewhere.
And as he did at McDonnel-Douglas, Stoncipher put off new product development for the better part of ten years. Only the 737 was improved (from the”classic” -300, -400, and -500 versions to the “next generation” -700, -800, and -900 versions) – but that was already well under way before Stoncipher consolidated his control over Boeing. No significant changes were made in the wide-body airplanes between the roll-out of the first 777 in the mid-1990’s to the start of teh 787 program in the mid-2000’s.
So what’s happening now is that Boeing is playing catch-up with new product development. The 767 had become virtually obsolescent before Stonecipher was booted out for diddling one of his subordinates. The same for the 747, which by the mid-2000’s was being built only in the freighter versions.
By the mid-200’s Boeing had to play catch-up, trying in desperation to leap-frog Airbus in the market by introducing an entirely new airplane, the “all-composite” 787.
But Boeing couldn’t build the 787 quickly. As mentioned before, Stoncipher had thrown away much of Boeing’s ability to build aircraft parts. And with the switch from aluminium to carbon composits, Boeing was going to have to build large autoclaves to cure the carbon fiber structures. Lacking the time to do that, it simply outsourced the problem. Of course, this led to even more problems, a three-year delay in delivering the aircraft due to vendor quality and performance issues, etc.
(Note that this was the same strategy used by IBM when it entered the personal computer market in the early 1980’s. Believing it was almost too late already, it chose to buy off-the-shelf componants and licensed software. It succeded in creating a “PC” standard, but it also made computers anyone else could build from the same componants and software, thereby losing most of the market to PC Clone makers within a couple of years.)
Anyway, the first 787 should be delivered to the launch customer before the end of the summer (finally). But this doesn’t mean the heat’s off Boeing. It’s resources have been incredibly strained by trying to bring the 787, the 747-8 and 747-8I to first delivery pretty much simultaneously. And sensing weakness, Airbus is stabbing at Boeing’s current weak spots – the 737NG series (single-aisle aircraft), and also taking a shot at Boeing’s currently most profitable aircraft – the 777.
Airbus’ attack on the 777 is to take the new A350-XWB, which is Airbus’ composite aircraft designed to compete with the 787, and make a larger version which enters into the passenger count and range capacity of the existing 777. Airbus expects to deliver it’s first A350-XWB by 2014, but the longer-range version designed to compete with the 777 has been put off by at least two more years, which gives Boeing a little bit of breathing room.
Airbus’ attack at the 737 is more effective in the near term. It plans to put a newer, more fuel-efficient engine on the existing A320 aircraft, which is a direct competitor to the Boeing 737. That’s a bit simplistic, as any new engine requires a lot more design work than most of us can imagine. But Airbus knows that Boeing has a big problem in putting any new engine on it’s 737’s. The existing 737-NG’s sit too close to the ground. The new engines are larger – too large to accomodate the existing 737 airframe without some major modifications, such as extending the landing gear, which would require re-design of the landing gear bays, which would cause other re-designs to replace affected systems, etc. So Airbus can bring the A320-NEO to market within a couple of years, but any improvement offered by Boeing would still be several more years in the future. So Boeing has to figure out how to either put a new engine on the 737 – an ugly alternative, if you’ve ever seen the illustrations – or build an entirely new single-bodied airplane, for entry into service at least four or five years from now.
So while Boeing is trying to make a decision – Airbus is cleaning up on the order books, as most new single-aisle orders are for the new Airbus A320-NEO. That doesn’t mean that Boeing has lost orders forever – some airlines prefer to deal with Boeing, and will simply wait for Boeing’s decision before placing future orders. But it does give Airbus time to get new customers in the interim, especially in the vital Asia-Pacific region where most of these new orders are coming from.
So sometime in the next nine years, Boeing will have to develop, design, and build the following:
a) at least two new variations of the 787, the -9 and -10 versions;
b) a re-engined 737, or a completely new single aisle jet to replace the 737;
c) a new 777 family using carbon-composit technology;
d) a new replacement for the 747 (the existing 747-8 and 747-8I are pretty clearly an interim solution only).
In the meantime, we can all wonder at the amount of damage done to a venerable American company by one man and his team of get-rich-quick executives, some of whom are still in high places at Boeing.
Darryl,
The focus on local & Washington State politicking is noted and liked.
The focus on who we on the left are, w/o comment on the other side of the spectrum, also noted and liked.
Uhhhh…you lost too, maxiedipshit. You’re NOT in the class that won.
Btw, you really need to update the blogroll.
Btw #2. If you’re having trouble sleeping tonight McCrainum has the recent Doc Hastings – Jay Clough debate on it.
http://www.mccranium.org/2010/.....n-college/
Holy shit, I speed forward to a random spot in the debate and what do I fined? Doc going all 9/11!!! We were attacked!!! 9/11!!!.
LOL… Find.
Oops, the McCrainum tape’s old… Like I said, time to update the blog roll.
@29
sorry rujaxoff…we have quadrupled our income in the last 10 years…I would say we are doing just fine – even in a bad economy. 2 gainfully employed parents, with two small side biz’s..we arent the uber rich, hell, we arent even rich, but things are looking pretty good right now. if you bust your ass and use your brain, good things happen. For people like you, who expect everthing to be handed to them, well…you end with the Big “L” on your forehead. but hey, at least you have a blog(insert laughter here).
unfortunately, even a good economy, nobody likes to listen(or spend money on) shitty music by wannabe bloggers.
time to give up rujaxoff: you lost and the big nasty world won. realize your failure and accept it.
25. W. Klingon Skousen spews:
re 24: I thought you’d be champing at the bit to say, ‘Nutroots’
No need to state the obvious.
@35 What’s your side business — pimping your wife? You seem like that type.
Naaah.. The wife pimps him..
#38
Yep, and your old lady is a repeat customer of mine.
39 – Heh. He admits to being a whore. Rough trade to be sure.
40 – Heh. he admits that his wife needs to hire a man to give her a good fucking.
Not to worry Bleeder Boy, I always give her bus fare for the ride home…..I’m considerate like that.
41 – Heh. I take you for the whore that gets drilled by all comers. Bargain basement.
you would be mistaken…as usual.
I rest my case..
Well, this is seriously fucked up. Remind me to never ride a bike in Mississippi.
# 45: Uh, the prosecutor has never heard of attempted murder?
It’s been frequently commented upon that the damages allowed in a civil case for wrongful death are much lower than the potential damages a jury could award to someone who has serious and permanant injuries. So this led to the frequent urban legend that if you injure someone through negligence, you would be better off if you had killed them outright. That was probably the subject of the conversation over the cell phone.
The problem is, of course, that being liable in a civil action for damages is one thing – they can take your money and your house (up to the homestead exemption), but that’s about it. After ten years, the judgement is worthless.
But being found guilty of attempted murder carries with it considerbly more onerous consequences – not only do you have to liquidate your finances to pay restitution, but you also have to serve time in jail, and there is no statute of limitation on the restitution requirement – you have to pay it from future income, and you can’t discharge it in bankruptcy.
It’s not only about making it max, you dumb fuck, it’s about not having it taken away. You reallyreallyreally are NOT paying attention.
You are a target dude…your corporate masters do not want you and yours to do well. You are not their kind and never will be.
Good luck asshole…you’ll need it.
@46
They’ve found ways to excuse away the second time the cyclist was run over. Amazing, huh.
That’s a $500 fine in Mississippi.
Oops, autofill strikes again.
@47
Lol…paranoid much?
You seem to have a big problem with that maxi-poo. Don’t ignore the canary in the coal mine.
I’m a real blogger, with real fans for my music. I am!. I am!
Good old rhp6033, Cass Sunstein’s favrit pupil brought up Harry Stonecipher at the Boeing helm…
Well if rhp6033 actually did his homework, he’d determine while Stonecipher was head of Boeing he acted DUMMOCRAPT. His contributions after becoming Boeing head went almost 100% donkey. So it seems he emblemized the donkey method of DESTROYING a great company by implementing old and useless management methods. I realize yelling loser beta will be visiting all the pertinent web sites so just visit NEWSMEAT and look fer yerselves.
While here overseas there were many comments about how Airbus is kicking Boeing’s ASS. Y’all can search the ‘nets and find them too. Now if Stonecipher is the blame per rhp6033, maybe rhp6033 should address how Stonecipher acted DUMMOCRAPTIC and how it has hurt Boeing long term.
LMBBAO!
Hey!
I was on maximum dipshit’s blog the other day…oh wait…
…he doesn’t have one.
@54 wow, Puddy – you just gave the most imbecilic argument I have ever seen. A third grader could have made more sense than you just did.
So – Stonecipher ran Boeing into the ground, was anti-union, failed to fund research and development and pioneered the failed strategy of outsourcing and the BEST that you can come up with is….he gave to Democrats?
Gee, his company is in Washington state and Clinton was President with a mostly democratic congress from this state and democratic governors….who did you think he would try to give to? The republicans wqho never get elected due to incompetence? Some argumment…for a third grade level name-caller…who is supposedly religious, but acts like a person with no character.
Did we also forget the bribery for the tanker contract and all the other Boeing mistakes including lack of research and development, outsourcing for non-union shoddy work, outsourcing the engineering (again shoddy work), the strike (where Boeing could have gotten the same deal BEFORE the strike) and moving the headquarters to Chicago (away from the production sites).
A “socialist” company? A product of Eurozone “industrial policy”?
I’m not aware of Boeing following any “gubmint” dictates unless you count defense contracts..
Who’d a thunk that a right winger would ever acknowledge a “lefty” outfit?j
Pfffft. Whatever..
re 36: ‘Nutroots’ is a sexually ambiguous term — but why state the obvious?
As a conservative, you already knew that.
re 56: “…and moving the headquarters to Chicago (away from the production sites).”
Factual production information only gets in the way of clean, ideology driven business decisions.
Good grief! The street corner loon is hating on a short-sighted, profit grabbing, Galtian CEO overlord and giving much love to the progressive Euro-commies at Airbus. Someone must be out of meds again.
# 59:
Ive asked around several times, and nobody I’ve talked to on the Boeing production lines can ever remember seeing either Stonecipher or his successor, McNerny, on the Boeing production lines in the Seattle area. And since I live in everett, I know lots of people who have worked on the production lines, either in the past or currently.
Except, of course, for those rare special occassions when work was stopped and the workers cleared out so a press conference could be held in the factory to celebrate some milestone or other. In those instances, great care was spent making sure that the Chicago execs would never have to come within fifty yards of someone who actually knew anything about how to build an airplane. These days they don’t even do that much, they have Albaugh perform those functions.
If I were given the job as CEO of Boeing, the first thing I would do is meet with the union heads, and promise a new era of “partnership” in building the business. Then I would spend the next few days walking the factory floors and office halls at Boeing, with the union heads right beside me, as we listened to the workers and made lists of all the problems they encountered while trying to simply do their job. Then I would do something about them.
Most Boeing workers are proud of the work they do, and want to continue to be proud of working for Boeing. Boeing management of late has tried pretty hard to squeeze that out of them, but their is still a chance to save the situation, if they don’t wait much longer.
# 56: Among Puddy’s items in his tool kit is to try to call everyone a Democrat if their public persona is inconvenient for him. His critical thinking skills don’t seem to go any deeper than that.
More accurately put: the critical thinking skills of the character he plays don’t seem to go any deeper than that.
I don’t bother with reading or replying to Puddy that much. Anyone that gets their jollies by playing a semi-retarded person who gets beat up online a lot has issues.
58. W. Klingon Skousen spews:
re 36: ‘Nutroots’ is a sexually ambiguous term — but why state the obvious?
Yes, I am sure you know all about “sexually ambiguous”…
I bet you already have your place reserved at the pride(insert laughter here) parade this weekend.
@62 It’s called the Alan Greenspan wing of the Democratic Party. It’s a diverse group, from Greenspan and Richard Armitage to the likes of Timothy McVeigh and Jarod Loughner. This isn’t to be confused with the Adolf Hitler wing of the party which includes Stalin, Bin Laden, Castro, Star Trek’s Kahn and a bunch of other commie-fascist dictators and despots.