One of the more encouraging recent developments in Washington politics was the opening of a state chapter of Progressive Majority, an organization dedicated to developing a local “farm team” of liberal candidates. It’s great to see a progressive group with such a pragmatic mission… and the money to back it up.
In the current issue of the Seattle Weekly, George Howland Jr. profiles Progressive Majority, and it’s Washington state director, Dean Nielsen. Nielsen argues that Democrats have to get busy, even in this off-election year.
“If we have any hope of taking back congressional seats,” says Nielsen, “we have to start at the local level.” Seventy-five percent of the members of Congress were once locally elected officials
Progressive implies progressing TOWARD something of value.
Trampling individual property rights, promoting huge tax increases and new taxes, wasting billions on endless planners etc. etc. is not my idea of progressing. Find a better label like The COCKSUCKERS PARTY!
Uh, Goldy,
There are plenty of liberals in the media. I hate to break it to you, but a majority of print media journalists ID as Democrats. Your farm team is subsidized like a Nebraska Corn field.
Cynical @1,
You know, just because I let you comment on any thread, doesn’t mean you have to. If you don’t have anything constructive to say, how about staying out of this one, huh?
Now Goldy YOU brought up that arrogant, fluffy, self-fulfilling P-word (progressive). Frankly, my comment has a lot to do with it and “constructively” points out that I question your “progressiveness”. You may not like it but look in the mirror at yourself and then look carefully at all the idiots to the LEFT of you. They call themselves “Progressives”. Sadly, the dung heap of the LEFTISTS is beginning to devour you.
Thanks for the plug, Goldy. Clearly we have a lot of work to do. For example, GOP County Commissioners (or County Councilmembers, depending on the county) outnumber Democratic ones 2-1. City Councils are non-partisan here, but I would guess that it’s a minimum of 2-1 if not 3-1 in our 281 cities in Washington State.
Now if only there was an organization putting significant money into developing a liberal media farm team too….
Yeah. That’s you Goldy.
Your our great hope to knock down these zillion dollar attack think tank groups that publish articles that argue just how damaging the minimum wage laws are and how $7.00 wages are destroying capitalism.
but a majority of print media journalists ID as Democrats.
Yes but nearly all of the boses and owners are far right winger Rs or multi national corporations.
The funny thing is now that the liberals have already won control of Washington state, I’m sure that their progressive ideas will spread like wildfire to all the red states – it’s just a matter of time. What state wouldn’t want to be represented by the likes of Ron Sims/Christine Gregiore/Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray?
Every time I read one of Cynical’s comments, I am heartened. For all the anger, distrust and fear that comes wrapped up in conservative talking points and sophomoric language, there is no substance. He has no solutions. He is only a brick thrower. Ultimately, society requires solutions to the problems. Our conservative friends don’t have solutions. In fact, they don’t even think there are problems. Most of the rhetoric and anger is aimed at attempted solutions that they don’t like. When has Rush Limbaugh or or Ann Coulter or Bill O’Reilly or Michael Medved or any other right wing icon ever had a constructive idea? They don’t; they are only capable of bashing ideas they don’t agree with. Wouldn’t you actually love to hear Limbaugh talk for an hour on the appropriate functions of government?
So keep letting Cynical post, Goldy. Every time he hits “Say it!” he makes the point that the brick throwers have very little to offer.
Mr. Nielson,
Thank you for your efforts and best of luck.
Thanks. It’s also worth noting that there are a number of conservative Democrats elected in Washington state, for example Sen. Sheldon and Sen. Hargrove, which is why we lost stem cells and the civil rights bill last week.
I’d encourge everyone to go over to our website and sign up on our emaill list to stay informed.
steven–
So you and John Kerry offered clear direction and ideas in this recent Presidential election?
I believe in empowering people to spend their own hard earned money. I believe private institutions can do a much more cost-effective job of dealing with Social issues and the government needs to stay out. Just look at Washington’s DSHS (Guv’mint attorney DonSux spent 30 years wasting his time and our tax dollars in futility). I believe in incentives to create jobs…not the LEFTISTS whining and clubbing technique. I hate NAFTA and GAT. I do not consider myself a Republican and voted for 7 Democrats in the last election (that bitch Gregoire wasn’t one of them). I believe 20 years of either Party controlling the Washington governor’s mansion is too much. The cronyism/nepotism runs rampant.
You, I presume, voted 100% LEFTIST PARTY line, didn’t you Steven. Real creative and insightful dude. Typical Party Hack, aren’t you?
Thanks Cynical, I think you made my point nicely.
As to the liberal media, the Daily Howler has an interesting perspective from the left.
http://www.dailyhowler.com/
Oh and Cynical, I voted for Sam Reed and Rob McKenna. I also voted against Bush and for Gregoire. I also voted against McDermott. Sorry, your stereotype doesn’t work again.
steven–
So you are a straight LEFTIST Party-line hack.
Despite being uncomfortably affiliated with your ilk on some election candidates, I will continue to vote for candidates of principle like Jim Hargrove, Brian Sonntag, Mike Murphy, Brad Owen and others locally.
It’s interesting you criticize someone you disagree with on some issues yet are completely void of any viable ideas yourself. Progressive…yeah right dude.
This is why the LEFTISTS masquerading as PROGRESSIVES (whatever that is) will always be impotent!
steven–
You voted against McDermott. How bold of you!
However, it also speaks volumes about the District you live in.
Berkley of the North.
Steven,
What liberal media? This liberal media:
http://thatliberalmedia.com/
yep, horsesass is a liberal media farm alright. the barnyard is full of crap and someone needs to call don and wake him up. for god’s sake it’s 2pm. I think he needs to have his pooper scooper duties taken away.
VCRW @ 17:
It’s actually a pretty doggone amusing blog. Much of it seems taken up in pointing out that the working media makes * gasp * mistakes in getting things to press.
Sharkansky (one of the contributors) is a software developer by trade, no? I am forced to wonder if all his code goes out the door bug-free. If so, he’d be almost unique in the industry.
It’s actually a good thing that his trade doesn’t work like the media or government where individuals are held to task for pieces of work. If it were, I would have several Access developers in Redmond marked for death this week.
Steven @ 14: “Oh and Cynical, I voted for Sam Reed and Rob McKenna. I also voted against Bush and for Gregoire. I also voted against McDermott. Sorry, your stereotype doesn’t work again. ”
Good for the vote against McDermott. When Joel Connelly is asking why he’s still in office, that’s saying something. I’m glad you (and let’s face it, a lot of people) are able to vote in different columns when it comes to candidates. Sterotypes are a pain!
jsa: “It’s actually a good thing that his trade doesn’t work like the media or government where individuals are held to task for pieces of work. If it were, I would have several Access developers in Redmond marked for death this week.”
Ha! But why just Access, or is it dependent on the week?
jon @ 21:
It depends on which app I’m busy fighting with this week. This week it’s Excel and Access. Next week I’ll be doing integration rather than data manipulation, so the entire Windows 2003 server development team will be tracked down, hunted, then hurt real bad.
And aside from the lack of orthagonality in the ADO/ODBC API in .NET, and the need to manage different parts of the transaction using different methodologies scattered over two applications, there’s nothing wrong. It’s a wonderful app, used and beloved by millions of people worldwide. Why do you ask?
JSA@19,
“It’s actually a good thing that his trade doesn’t work like the media or government where individuals are held to task for pieces of work.”
Neither in government nor in media are worker’s held accountable for their work. Just look at King County Elections.
I find it interesting that your Governor who campaigned on reeling in government and making it more accountable to the people and the party she serves, seem to think it necessary to raise their spending by a whopping 10% to 12% over last years budget. In a 3 1/2 % economy to boot! Who’s getting paid off!
Cynical must have discovered “figging”. Maybe that’s why he’s so…uhhhh…dyspeptic.
VCRW @ 23
I am free to write a letter to any elected official or journo telling them what shoddy work they are doing, I can make fun of them in this or other fine blogs, and I frequently do.
Nobody likes to lose, but I just visited Parallel Washington where Governor Rossi is sitting in Olympia. He’s busy fighting the legislature tooth-and-nail over the budget, there’s still a big hole and no idea where the revenues are going to come from to cover that, and most of his efforts at reform are being shot down left and right. It’s not a happy place. Trust me, you’re not missing much.
jsa @ 22: I was asking as I want to hunt several development teams in Redmond, so I was wondering if it was mutual. LOL
jsa @ 26: Did Parallel Washington Rossi have a goatee? Or was it on Gregoire?
Jon @ 28:
Gregoire caved and went off to take a job with the Seattle law firm of Meagre, Dire, & Bleake, LLC in early March. Other than being castigated in the Parallel Weekly, and on all the Parllel blogs for blowing an election in a state that carried Parallel Kerry by 7 points, she turned into a footnote in WA politics pretty damn quick.
I do recall seeing Rumsfeld with a goatee though. It was odd.
Regarding hunting missions for developers @ 27:
Let’s say that there’s a lot of things about MS software that bugs me and leave it at that. Truthfully, much of it is related to half-baked design and poor documentation rather than poor coding practice per se. So we should actually go hunting for project managers. They tend to be older and slower, so not as hard to bag.
Grownup systems integrators will tell you that you pick the applications you need to run, then the OS and hardware that they’ll run on. My end customer is upper management. Upper management loves Excel. Manipulating data in spreadsheets is the only skill in the world they posess. As such, regardless of my feelings for Microsoft, Redmond, or their fine employees, that’s what I’m stuck with this week.
Gregoire found part of the Budget answer!!!!!
She is proposing intentionally underfunding hundreds of MILLIONS in required contributions to the State Pension system.
Smoke-and-mirrors—the ultimate shell game.
The only way to get around making the real necessary cuts.
Gregoire is a real piece of artwork.
UNDERFUND PENSIONS—isn’t that what LEFTISTS cry about corporate America?? Yet they turn their back and rationalize it when Greoire proposes it.
I think she knows she is toast and wants to leave Rossi with a turd to deal with when he wins in November.
Where is the outrage??
Cynical @ 30:
I just love your speaking style. It sounds so… vaugely… familiar. It’s like I’ve heard it before somewhere.
Goldy, is HA turning into Friday Night Karaoke for would-be talk radio hosts?
steven @ 9
“Our conservative friends don’t have solutions. In fact, they don’t even think there are problems.”
No, it’s worse than that. They think the solutions are problems.
Mr. Cynical @ 12
“I hate NAFTA and GAT.”
The truth comes out!! Mr. Cynical is a UNION MAN at heart! Now we have to call him MISTER Cynical. Welcome to the union, MISTER Cynical!! :D
MISTER Cynical @ 12 (postscript)
What’s wrong with being a party hack? I’m a party hack, and I voted 100% Democrat in the last election. It isn’t easy being a party hack. Being good at it requires much study and hard work.
chards @ 18
Take a pill! I’m retired and can sleep in until 3:00 if I want to.
jsa @ 29
Well why not legalize hunting software developers? Wisconsin is about to legalize hunting cats. To save printing costs the Fish and Wildlife Department can put a space on your hunting license for a Software Developer Stamp right next to the Duck Stamp.
Yeh and they are railroading the California Emmissions standards through the Senate right now, and I just cannot wait to see the Eastern Washington Farmers resonse to this further Bullshit. Not to mention huge regulations for the rest of the residents in the state. The only good side to it is watching them self destruct their chances of holding on to power in Olympia for any forseeable time. Keep it up! I’m
9: good government would not take an hour to outline. but I can get lots of bucks from the commercial time that would be left over.
Duba@36
I can just see it now…convoys coming out of Redmond and Issaquah with bagged geeks strapped to the roofs!
You “progressives” spout off about how regressive our tax system is in this state, and now you support the Democrats who run this state as they make it even more regressive! You don’t care where the money comes from as long as it is used properly to keep the Democrat party in power.
We all appreciate the reminder about Sen. Sheldon and Sen. Hargrove, they should certainly be targeted by you all ASAP. Maybe they shop at Wal-Mart, if you spread that around they will be officially blacklisted from the Democrat party. And I certainly hope you find some gay Republican to tar and feather.
The one thing I’ve learned in the months I’ve been reading this blog is how pathetic the so called “progressives” are when it comes to actually standing up for your so-called beliefs. They’re not beliefs at all, they’re talking points. If you guys were serious about your beliefs, you’d be screaming bloody murder about this budget. I guess making a statement about stem cells or beating your heads against the wall over a gay rights bill is more important. Oh well it’s not the affluent Seattle “progressive” crowd who will be hurt the most by the latest round of tax increases so let’s make a big fuss over stem cells and gay rights.
Zip
It’s like you haven’t learned a thing about politics in this state.
Of course we want a sane tax system and an end to these cobbled together budgets but it ain’t gonna happen until the party that put up Ellen Craswell, John Carlson and Dino Rossi for Governor reaches across the aisle to put their necks on the line to help us accomplish that very same thing.
The D’s have a tenuous majority right now. It’s not in the cards.
In the meantime the people want smaller class sizes and decent pay for teachers – they voted for those things by the way – and yeah it’s too bad they’re going to get them through sin taxes.
John,
Rossi reached across last time with Gov. Locke. The “tenuous majority” excuse doesn’t wash. And I understand perfectly why the Democrats running this state don’t fix things: it’s because they know that all they have to do is increase spending to buy off the “Progressives”.
The thing that bothers me about this “Progressive” charade is acceptance of whatever the Demos do on the tax side as long as they collect more: they don’t care where the money comes from. “Progressives” get so worked up over this gay rights bill but totally blow off the fact that the Democrats didn’t even spend 5 minutes debating whether it was OK to make the tax system more regressive or not. They just went ahead and did it, and as soon as they saw that 10+ percent spending increase they’re happy. That is the true nature of Democratic politics in this state, and the “Progressives” don’t even make a whimper about it. Instead they waste their time whining about the gay rights bill.
To further that notion, going all the way back to March 1 on the “Progressive majority” site, all I see is the usual agenda BS. The only posts about the budget whine about Gregoire not spending enough. Not one word about the regressive nature of the new taxes. The “Progressives” only trot that one out when they want to raise taxes. Too bad you didn’t get your soda pop tax, hypocrites.
John, Zip lives in her/his own planet. You know, the Red one. Ask no questions of your own, try to crucify the opposition. Another ‘talking points’ blogger, nothing more, nothing less. PS. as an afterthought, sometimes he/she/it does state something worthwhile, but very seldom, seems like another lemming from uSP
Zip–
Great assessment of the “Progressive” schtick.
Most of the sheep that follow this “cult” called “Seattle Progressive” don’t even know what it means. They are “flexible” in their beliefs. Hmmm. Do they even have beliefs they will fight for??? They want to touchy-feely their way toward an agenda that is more regressive than progressive by any definition.
This Seattle crowd of LEFTIST ELITE just want to be identified with some monikor that makes them ABOVE the rest of us. Like the NEW AGE movement…someday the rest of us will be on their level. Or the Unitarian Universalist movement. They believe in everything. EVERYBODY is right…while they function as a radical environmentalist conclave of goofballs.
Zip–as usual..you nailed it!
Goldy–
Allow mean to end this thread the way I started it.
You SEATTLE LEFTIST ELITE need a more descript title than Progressive. After all I’ve read her, I think I had it spot on on my post #1.
john @ 41
go to http://www.lbloom.net and look up your local school. you will see what the salaries are. they don’t exactly qualify for food stamps. my son’s kindergarten teacher makes 60k + cadillac benefit package.
Mr.Cynical@48. Your limited experiances causes you to make feeble attempts at showing us how much you do not know about. Your awareness is badly stinted! Expand your horizons beyond the bleak.
wow chee, you are brilliant. where do you get your infinite wisdom. LOL
GS @ 37
Farmers like emission standards, dummy. It means they can sell more ethanol.
Rush @ 38
“9: good government would not take an hour to outline. but I can get lots of bucks from the commercial time that would be left over.”
True. Republicans’ idea of good government is:
John @ 41: “Of course we want a sane tax system and an end to these cobbled together budgets but it ain’t gonna happen until the party that put up Ellen Craswell, John Carlson and Dino Rossi for Governor reaches across the aisle to put their necks on the line to help us accomplish that very same thing.”
Then nothing will be done. What’s the point of electing majorities then, if you’re waiting for the other side to define your agenda?
zip @ 42
Instead of whining about “spending increase” or “regressive taxes” why don’t you make a positive contribution by coming up with some suggestions for cutting spending or enacting an income tax to replace the B & O tax and reduce the sales tax?
What would you cut? Education? Transportation? Casework services for abused and neglected kids? Nursing home care for the indigent elderly? Basic health care for poor kids?
Mr. Cynical
I want to know how your washing machine turns $100 bills from L & I taxes for injured workers into Rossi slush funds just by turning a crank. What’s inside that thing?
* BIAWsux2 is a wholly owned subsidiary of Dubyasux NLSP
P.S. I think the D’s, quite frankly, should call the voter’s bluff and push for tax reform. Anger over taxes or the size of government? Didn’t hurt Gary Locke. Anger over the Safeco Field deal or Qwest Field? Name me one person that lost their seat because of it.
When you are in leadership, you are elected to push your agenda and do what you think is right. If the voters don’t like it, then they can throw you out, but have the guts to lead.
A progressive tax system, as we all know, requires a supermajority vote of the legislature. The likelyhood of either party having a supermajority is slim.
wait and see what happens in 2006
Second, in regards to the PM blog, we are a political organization, not a policy organization. We’ll chide both Ds and Rs on policy questions, but our role is elections, not public policy. Go elsewhere for that.
Goldy said: “Families move to suburbs for better, safer schools, streets, parks, libraries and a host of other public services. These are people who benefit from, and believe in government. These are people who share our values and our vision.”
As much as I hate to say this, the problem with your statement is that, yes, they benefit, the problem is that they don’t want to pay for it. I bet Eyman has done well with his initiatives in these areas, although I haven’t looked at the number for myself.
Progressives (and Don)
Once again you prove my point, “You SEATTLE LEFTIST ELITE “!
Jon up there is the only one of the whole gaggle of you to advocate standing up for what you (supposedly) believe in.
Dean Neilsen, I checked out your blog, it is littered with policy issues (choice, gay rights, etc) but is silent on this one particular policy issue: your Democrat legislature and gov just made our tax structure more regressive, guys. Wake up already. Oh, that’s right I forgot, as long as there’s a 10+ percent increase in spending you guys don’t give a rip who gets hurt by the tax increases.
And Don, nice try to twist my comments (give it up already, I will never fall for that). I already answered your query. I support the Sims tax plan. Income tax, ZERO B&O, ZERO sales tax, significant homestead exemption on property taxes, revenue neutral overall. Revenue neutral, Don, nothing gets cut. Here it is:
http://www.itepnet.org/wa0804.pdf
You know what I still dont understand, during clinton, we had all these repressive taxes, but there were “JOBS”!!
dd
so what? Are you referring to the Clinton that served in the WA senate or as WA governor?
Taxes, not necessarily bad.
Taxes buy lots of things. Like mainly, infrastructure.