HorsesAss.Org

You may have heard, here and elsewhere, about the hotly-contested Senate election in the 26th Legislative District (Pierce and Kitsap Counties). The seat is up this year because Derek Kilmer resigned after being elected to Congress (WA-06).

The appointed incumbent is Democrat Nathan Schlicher, an ER physician. And attorney. Who graduated from high school at 14, college at 18. Who was an Eagle Scout and is now a Methodist lay preacher. Not too shabby for a 30 year old. His Republican opponent is current Representative Jan Angel.

Piles and piles of outside money (over a million bucks) has poured into this race, not entirely because a party switch would cement the current Tompublican cabal’s control of the Senate more firmly, with all the implications therein.

So why the title of this post (and why am I burying the lede?)? Because of this (emphasis added):

Angel’s spokesman said she wasn’t giving any more media interviews between now and next month’s election. But he noted that she’s been elected by voters in the district three times, most recently with 59 percent of the vote.

Two weeks from Election Day, Angel has gone mum. Why is she hiding (and what is she hiding?)?

Maybe it’s this — in addition to the usual reactionary Republican characteristics, Jan Angel is a Washington state co-chair of ALEC.

Behind that pleasant-sounding acronym and the equally-innocuous title it stands for (American Legislative Exchange Council) hides the source of most of the disastrous right-wing laws seen in all corners of the country. Voter suppression, anti-immigrant, “stand your ground”, “tort reform”, school privatization, and more such insults emerge from ALEC’s “model legislation”. In many cases, exactly the same “model” text appears in laws passed by conservative legislatures in a range of states.

ALEC is (of course) partially funded by the Kochs. There’s also Scaife and Coors money behind it. Many corporations also back ALEC, as do trade groups, conservative special interest non-profits … it’s a who’s-who of the far right. And Jan Angel is at the top of ALEC’s (dung)heap in the Evergreen State.

This Senate race is probably the most important item on any ballot in Washington in 2013. To learn more about Nathan Schlicher’s positions on the issues, go here. And to join me in making a donation to his campaign, use this link.

– The list of companies trying to make sure you don’t know what’s in your food is about what you’d expect but it’s good to have it confirmed.

– All-day training session for anti-KXL activists in Tacoma — Sat., Oct. 26

– I really like Dean Nielsen, but this is below the belt and he should apologize.

– There are those small town values that make people proud that they don’t have to lock their door at night… …and then there are those small town values that make a body wonder how anyone sleeps at night.

– The 26th District race between Democrat Nathan Schlicher and Republican challenger Jan Angel has already seen a combined spending of $1.9 million, with about half of that money being spent by third-party groups. (Tri-City Herald link to an AP story. Not sure if they have a cap on the number of articles)

– What the Fuck Should I Be For Halloween (h/t) Also, it knows me pretty well because it came up with a pun for me (lewd zeppelin, that I’m not doing but that I appreciate).

Last week’s contest was won by milwhcky. It was Buenos Aires, Argentina.

This week’s contest is somewhere in the state of Arkansas, good luck!

Genesis 9:20-25
Noah farmed the land and was the first to plant a vineyard. One day he got drunk and was lying naked in his tent. Ham entered the tent and saw him naked, then went back outside and told his brothers. Shem and Japheth put a robe over their shoulders and walked backwards into the tent. Without looking at their father, they placed it over his body.

When Noah woke up and learned what his youngest son had done, he said, “I now put a curse on Canaan! He will be the lowest slave of his brothers.”

Discuss.

The government shutdown was not only a disaster for Republicans, it was also a costly disaster for all Americans.

For example, we paid federal employees during the shutdown, but they were prohibited from working. (So…the next time you hear a Wingnut complain about how inefficient the government is, be sure to point out that the government isn’t the problem…Republicans are!)

How much damage did Republicans do to the U.S. economy by shutting down the government for 16 days? Try $24 Billion.

To put that $24 Billion in proper perspective, consider this: the direct damage from the September 11th terrorist attacks is estimated as follows:

The four civilian aircraft that were lost: $385 million.

Replacement costs of the World Trade Center buildings: $3 to $4.5 billion.

Damage to the Pentagon building: up to $1 billion.

Cleanup costs: $1.3 billion.

Property and infrastructure damage: $10 billion to $13 billion.

With some adjustment for inflation, the costs to our economy from the Republican terrorist attack on the U.S. government is, essentially, same as the direct costs of the al Qaeda terrorist attack on our country.

Now I understand more fully what’s meant by “all enemies, foreign and domestic” in the oath of office taken by congresscritters and other federal officials.

Sam Seder: Comrade Louie Gohmert’s Soviet Plan (Episode 1).

Young Turks: Hilarious, awkward concession speech

Lawrence O’Donnell: Meet hypocrite Greg Collett (R), Idaho State Representative.

This is Obamacare.

Ed: Teabaggers cost us $24 billion in shutdown.

Chris Cillizza: Third party time?

Red State Update: Podcast #48.

Kimmel: The Week in Unnecessary Censorship.

Political Dictionary: What is the “Hastert Rule”.

Mental Floss: 23 Unusual Animals.

Roy Zimmerman: Vote Republican 50.0–South Dakota:

Mark Fiore: Internal Patriot Discovery Smart Probe.

Hostage Crisis Aftermath:

• Obama: Open for business….
• Ann Telnaes: Americans are losing…
• Sharpton: GOP Tea Party no more popular than The KLAN!
• Young Turks: Shutdown fiasco slaps GOP in the face.
• Thom: How the press extended the shutdown.
• A simple explanation of the Government Shutdown:
• Maddow: What government got done during the shutdown?
• Chris Hayes: Total capitulation
• Young Turks: Obama does victory lap….
• Sam Seder: What the Republicans didn’t get in the deal
• Maddow: It’s over Part I
• Maddow: It’s over Part II
• Maddow: It’s over Part III
• Ann Telnaes: What Ted Cruz is all about.
• Chris Cillizzaa: Who had the worst week in Washington (D.C.)?
• Thom and Pap: What madness lurks in the teabagger brain.
• Ann Telnaes: Republicans look for cover.

Ed: Tea Party stupidity.

Sam Seder: Does Obamacare increase your health care costs?

You had me at NSA.

Stephen Colbert’s Al Smith Dinner Speech.

White House: West Wing Week.

Chris Cillizza: Mitch McConnell is in a run for his money.

Kimmel’s Kids Table.

ONN: The Onion Week in Review.

Sharpton: VA nutjobber Ken Cuccinelli is in trouble.

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

Goldy points to The Seattle Times’ endorsement of the repeal position on the estate tax advisory vote. We just voted for an estate tax like a few years ago, didn’t we? Whatever. But what I find interesting is The Seattle Times’ insistence on calling it a “death tax” as if that’s a thing.

Reading that got me thinking about their other insistence regarding taxes. Specifically, that taxes harm whatever you’re taxing. So they’ve been taking the line for years that you can’t increase taxes during a recession/recovery because it will harm the economy.* But if that’s true, they should support a “death tax” because it will stop people dying. By The Seattle Times’ logic, The Seattle Times wants more death. QED

[Read more…]

Greg Walden, who represents Eastern Oregon in Congress, is one of the few Representatives from Cascadia who voted to continue the government shutdown and to have the US default on its debts. After Blue Oregon wrote about it, former Labor Commissioner Jack Roberts left a comment:

I think it’s fair to say that Greg knew how the vote was going to turn out before he cast his. Sort of like Obama’s vote against raising the debt ceiling when he was a senator.

Kari at Blue Oregon has some interesting things to say about what that means in terms Walden’s honesty. But I’d add that there was a major difference: The Democrats weren’t in the majority when Obama took that vote, and the minority party typically has more room to make those types of symbolic protest votes.

When Republicans whine and whine and whine and complain and whine and moan and shriek and whine about how Democrats weren’t willing to make any concessions, this puts the lie to it. When most of the votes to keep the government open had to come from the minority party, well, that’s more of a compromise than ought to have been necessary to keep the lights on. That’s meeting the Republicans more than half way by doing something that wasn’t typically the job of the minority. It meant that the GOP didn’t have to whip its caucus as much as they might otherwise, it means that Democrats might have to eat shit in some districts for blah blah debt ceiling. If the GOP wants to be in the majority, they ought to use it to fucking govern.

Former Rep. Tom Foley (D), who represented Eastern Washington from 1965 to 1995, has died at 84 from complications of a stroke.

Rep. Foley, a Spokane native, was the 57th Speaker of the House, serving from 1989 to 1995.

When I think of Speaker Foley, the word “Statesman” comes to mind. The NY Times puts it this way:

When he became speaker on June 6, 1989, Mr. Foley, from Washington State, appealed to “our friends on the Republican side to come together and put away bitterness and division and hostility.” He promised to treat “each and every member” fairly, regardless of party, and by most estimations he lived up to that promise to a degree unmatched by his successors.

By contrast, Speaker Boehner (R-OH) is a shameless partisan, acting more as a majority leader than a Speaker of the House…and frequently acting in the interest of his Party to the detriment of our nation. In my recent letter to Boehner, I reminded him that…

…you are the Speaker of the HOUSE, not the Speaker of the Republican Party. As second in line for the presidency, I expect you to show careful stewardship of our nation.

Indeed, Foley was the very archetype behind my words:

Despite sharp differences on issues, he got along better with members of the other party than any of the speakers who followed him. In that final news conference, asked to offer advice to the next speaker, Mr. Gingrich, he urged him to remember, “You are the speaker of the whole House and not just one party.”

We need more Tom Foley’s in Congress.

And even better news for same sex Oregon couples:

Gay couples are still legally banned from getting married in Oregon, but, effective immediately, their marriages will be recognized in the state if they choose to get hitched elsewhere in the country.

In an interesting half-step toward marriage equality, Oregon’s chief operating officer Michael Jordan issued a memo stating that all state agencies are required to recognize the unions of gay couples who wed outside the state.

“Oregon agencies must recognize all out-of-state marriages for the purposes of administering state programs,” reads the memo. “That includes legal, same sex marriages performed in other states and countries.”

It is welcome news even as it shows that there is more work to do. I suspect that it will be good for the wedding industry in Southern Washington and Northern California as couples come here to get legally hitched back home. I welcome the economic activity and the spread of love. And those of us who voted for marriage equality in Washington will have helped couples from the other side of the Columbia get married.

Still, for people in parts of Oregon that aren’t near the border, getting access to those rights might be tough. A couple farmers in Southeastern Oregon, or some college kids in Eugene who money is tight for might not be able make the trip.

Goldy details the AG’s complaint against the Grocery Manufacturers Association for their anti-I-522 campaign financing.

According to the complaint, the GMA funded its anti-522 efforts through voluntary assessments on its members (major food companies) separate from their normal association dues. Invoices were sent to GMA members in March and August of 2013, with the goal of raising $10 million to oppose I-522. As of the No on I-522’s most recent disclosure report, the GMA had contributed $7,222,500.

Of course, the GMA and its members are free to spend as much as they want opposing I-522; the issue here is their failure to disclose the source of the money. GMA members—familiar brands like Pepsi, Kraft, Coca-Cola, General Mills, and Kellogg’s—faced a ton of bad publicity for the millions they contributed to defeat the similar Prop 37 in California last year. The complaint outlines what appears to be a deliberate effort to shield these companies from similar publicity, in direct violation of Washington’s voter-approved public disclosure laws. In addition to penalties and legal fees, the AG is seeking to force the GMA to register as a political action committee and reveal its donors.

It’s a process story rather than a policy story, and I don’t think people really vote based on that (for specific candidates they do, I’m not convinced they do for ballot initiatives). Still, perhaps this feeds the narrative more than usual. The Frankenfood industry doesn’t want you to know who is spending money in the initiative process just like it doesn’t want you to know what you’re eating. I don’t know.

– 144 Representatives, all Republicans none from WA, voted to keep the government shut down and for the US to default. That’s gross in at least two ways.

– In case you missed it during the shutdown, a Seattle resident was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism at the Battle of Ganjgal.

– The 60 Minutes strenuously fact-free assertions about disabled people “leeching” off the system are even more pernicious in this context, since they add to the narrative that the United States bears no collective responsibility to support any of our poorest citizens, regardless of their circumstances.

– Are you ready for Seattle Startup Week?

– Seattle has had a long history of women at the head of bike organizations (see also: Barb Culp). But this is the first time, at least to my knowledge, that a woman has held every top spot.

– I’ve never played either of the Plants versus Zombies games, but the psychology behind those sorts of games is interesting.

I’m sure y’all are reading the NPI Advocate. When Andrew goes into live blogging mode or when he’s making fun of Tim Eyman it’s always solid. So as soon as I saw the title of this piece about Eyman speaking at the transit listening committee was of course going to be great.

“The people attending these meetings, including myself, are not a representative sample of the taxpayers of Washington,” Eyman said, instantly drawing another round of boos and jeers. “Normal people are at home recovering from a long day at work, but their voices deserve to be heard too,” he added.

“We’re normal people!” shouted several indignant audience members in a near simultaneous (but uncoordinated) reply. “I came here straight from work,” one young woman sitting near me said loudly.

People in the room were offended, and certainly they had every right to be.

Were I not an activist who has been watchdogging Tim Eyman and fighting his destructive initiatives for over a decade, I would have been offended too. I’d have resented Eyman’s sneering implication that I was not a “normal” person because I had chosen to give up part of my evening to share my opposition to Metro service cuts with the people charged with deciding what our laws and budget should be.

[…]

Eyman may not be normal – after all, he’s a well paid professional politician – but plenty of people who showed up at tonight’s hearing are regular Washingtonians who claim to represent nobody but themselves. They spoke as citizens and activists, not lobbyists or political operatives. Unlike Eyman, they don’t get paid big bucks to promote cynical initiatives designed to wreck government.

Just because Tim Eyman isn’t normal, he shouldn’t smear the rest of the people who show up on a Monday night to participate in the process. Usually in Olympia at hearings and committee meetings these sorts of things are overwhelmingly dominated by lobbyists and other people more like Tim Eyman who make their living taking one side or another. When they actually come to Seattle and other parts of the state, they can hear from a broader selection of people.

Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler and I don’t agree on much. But at least she can see the value of not shutting down the government over a law she doesn’t like (Seattle Times link). Eventually.

In a statement released Tuesday, Herrera Beutler said she’s avoided public comment before now because she wanted to give Republican leaders leeway to craft a deal.

But she said the time has come for Republicans “to face reality” and made it clear she will not vote for “poison pills” seeking to end the Affordable Care Act, which have no chance of passing the Senate or being signed into law.

Unlike Dave Reichert, who I complained about earlier, this seems legit. As we’re on the eve of a potential default, it seems like a praiseworthy thing. Especially since it’s a pretty conservative Republican who was first elected in the Tea Party wave (and who post-redistricting might be more likely to face a primary challenge than be defeated by a Democrat). So, I doubt I’ll make a habit of praising conservative Republicans in this state, but thanks Representative Herrera Buetler for recognizing reality.

The crisis continues…the federal government is still being held hostage, but that won’t keep us from plotting a rescue mission. Please join us for an evening of rescue politics over a pint at tonight’s gathering of the Seattle Chapter of Drinking Liberally.

We meet tonight and every Tuesday evening at the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E. Our normal starting time is 8:00pm.

Can’t make it to Seattle tonight? Check out another nearby DL meeting over the next week. The Tri-Cities and Shelton chapters meet tonight. The Lakewood and South Seattle chapters meet this Wednesday. For Thursday, the Spokane and Tacoma chapters meet. And next Monday, the Aberdeen, Yakima and Olympia chapters meet.

With 210 chapters of Living Liberally, including eighteen in Washington state, four in Oregon, and three more in Idaho, chances are excellent there’s a chapter meeting near you.