HorsesAss.Org

The person who gets to decide if the Senate Higher Ed Committee will vote on the Washington DREAM Act is writing editorials against the act.

Republican Sen. Barbara Bailey, chairwoman of the Senate Higher Education Committee, wrote in a pro-business website that the state makes too many promises it can’t afford to keep, and that the measure, if enacted, would likely amount to another.

“(T)he state’s financial assistance program needs to be looked at more closely before eligibility is extended to a new group,” according to the post on Washington Focus. “In order to set good policy, we need to spend more time studying the issue and evaluating the future financial impact.”

I could have sworn that was the point of her committee having hearings on the bill. Of literally all of the people in the entire Washington State Senate, it’s her job more than anyone else to give the Senate the chance to look closely and spend time studying the issue. If you’d like to let her — or anyone else on the committee — know what you think of the DREAM Act, it’s firstname.lastname@leg.wa.gov

Radical reality-denying rightist Congressman Steve “Never Heard of Anyone Getting Pregnant by Statutory Rape” King (R-IA-4) was recently on a call-in talk show and had this conversation:

CALLER: When I see the First Lady and the beautiful girls going off to the Bahamas waving goodbye to us, it’s really hard to stomach. When we’re tightening our belts, either all of us should do it or none of us should do it. This, I am pretty tolerant, I always have been, I usually shut my mouth. This is not acceptable.

KING: Carla, you’re on point and on the mark all the way through. […] You’re right on the president. He needs to show some austerity himself. Instead he wanted to tell America how bad it was going to be. […] We’ve got the president doing these things. He sent the daughters to spring break in Mexico a year ago. That was at our expense, too. And now to the Bahamas at one of the most expensive places there. That is the wrong image to be coming out of the White House.

A couple of corrections for the underformed nutburger of a Congressman. First, Obama did not “send his daughters to spring break in Mexico.” One daughter (Malia) was allowed to…

…join a school trip to Oaxaca [, Mexico], where students volunteered at an orphanage, visited archaeological sites and sipped vanilla milkshakes on the honey-colored town plaza.

The school has done such trips for years.

Second, the Obamas pay for their own vacations and school field trips. The government pays for security, as it should. And notice that King isn’t complaining about that—for good reason. Imagine the PR disaster he would endure should any member of the First Family get hurt.

King believes Obama “needs to show some austerity himself” because he was telling “America how bad it was going to be.” Obama has pointed out how the sequestration cuts will hurt Americans, but so have a bunch of Republicans Congresscritters—you know, the the ones whining about losing tax payer-funded economic subsidies to their districts.

How odd that King’s calls for Obama to show austerity.

Obama makes a fair amount of money. He is wealthier than most Americans. Oh…and he is the leader of the free fucking world. He certainly has the money (and credit line) to allow his child to go on a school trip to Mexico, or to send his family on the occasional vacation, like the trip to the Bahamas.

So what’s gotten up Rep. King’s ass that makes him think that the President shouldn’t use his own money how he wants to use it? Isn’t that the American way?

You know who would agree with King that Obama should renounce the trappings of wealth and live the life of a commoner?

Karl Marx.

Once again, I call upon the major newspapers of this country to investigate these members of Congress to find out if they are pro-America or FUCKING SOCIALISTS!

Now that The Seattle Times has a hard firewall that they’re going to try to keep people out of, I’m going to oblige, and send fewer people there as well as reading it less. So while there are some stories that are important and that I’m glad they’re covering, I’ve been much less inclined to link to them recently than I have been before. Why waste people’s limited number of click throughs on an AP story or something ephemeral and silly?

You can put your mouse over the text before it comes up, so if you care you can see, but most people don’t think that hard. I’ve become somewhat annoyed by people on Twitter who still use link shorteners. Just paste the link so we can see before clicking through.

What I’m more concerned about is that it means that there are fewer places to get local news, and a lot of people will simply stop bothering. I hope blogs and other newspapers — and TV, etc. — websites can fill the hole The Seattle Times are leaving online. Maybe with Twitter and Facebook people are getting their news from a wider variety of sources now anyway. But it has to originate somewhere. You probably can tell from the open threads what I use as sources for the news, but are there any places you’ve been reading more or plan on reading more for local news?

That’s my executive summary of every GOP press release on Inslee’s proposal to close tax loopholes and not let temporary taxes expire. Take for instance this blog’s favorite legislator, Senator John Braun (R-Hates Workers, Especially Women).

Sen. Braun unimpressed by governor’s tax-increase proposal

If a terrible state Senator is impressed or not should be the main quality we should look for when we judge a proposal. If only I knew Pam Roach and Rodney Tom’s level of impressitude we could really figure this out.

Sen. John Braun’s reaction to the governor’s proposed new taxes totaling $1.4 billion in the next two years, including tax increases on businesses, oil refineries, beer and bottled-water drinkers and out-of-state shoppers, is simple:

I sort of get that this is press-releasees, and he wants to separate the quote out from the build up. But it reads strange to not just have it in the same paragraph.

“What happened to the promise you made six months ago to avoid tax increases?”

I haven’t studied the plan enough, or gone through the transcripts of the debates, etc. to see if that’s a fair assessment. But, that’s a political debate, not a policy one. If Inslee’s pledge was violated, then I’m sure there are campaign ads to be made and Kirby Wilbur will complain on all the TV and radio that will have him. That’s fair. But if a legislator wants to do it, he should maybe stick to the policy.

Braun is also concerned about the increases for state employees while increasing in state tuition by as much as 5 percent.

“The governor’s proposal is a slap in the face of college students everywhere,” said Braun, R-Centralia. “We outline a plan that reduces tuition by 3 percent across the board, and he intends to increase rates for students enrolled in our two biggest schools by 5 percent per year?”

Argh press-releasees. Having a paragraph just to lead up to a quote and then a completely unnecessary “said Braun” in the middle. That’s terrible. Although this is actually on the merits, of the policy. I guess those merits are we can’t pay public workers unless there’s no tuition hike? I’m against any tuition hike, but that seems like silly logic.

“This is about a promise to working families and our unemployed friends, family and neighbors,” Braun said. “How are we going to promote private-sector job growth when the state budget calls for additional taxes on state businesses, computer software, phone service and new taxes on automobile purchases?”

Now we’ve broken the next paragraph up with “Braun said.” I literally hate his legislative aid, and I don’t even know who they are.

Sorry, I went off on a tangent there. Here’s the answer: By being able to afford to educate children who’ll be able to start the next business and who’ll make better employees. By not further dismantling the safety net so people are willing to take risks to start businesses. By contributing to the infrastructure that makes Washington attractive to businesses. Oh, that was a rhetorical question.

Also, for the trillionth time, while private sector job growth is important, a job is a job is a job. If that job is one of the state jobs that were bemoaned pay increases in the previous paragraph, or in the private sector, it still is important for the person who has it.

There’s more, but it’s basically more of the same, so I’ll leave it here. No actual proposals of its own, but plenty of bashing state workers and whining about taxes.

– “I would expect someone who is supposed to run elections to read a bill about elections before launching into testimony,” Rep. Hunt wrote, “Your opposition would at least have had a ring of truth to it.”

– Shock of Shocks, Megan McArdle’s arguments are not very good.

– “We believe the decisions to continue and expand coal leasing from federal lands and authorize the export of that coal are likely to lead to long-term investments in coal generation in Asia, with air quality and climate impacts in the United States that dwarf almost any other action the federal government could take in the foreseeable future,” they wrote.

– Seattle City Hall open house is April 6.

– CNN runs a good story under a horrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrible headline.

– I love Eurovision.

Bell Street between 1st and 2nd Ave is closed off to car traffic as they build a park. It’s going to be magnificent, or at least a nice improvement. Some people I’ve talked to are worried about drug dealing there. While that’s not unreasonable, I think it’ll be a nice place. And anyway, it’s not like there isn’t drug dealing around 2nd and Bell now.

Now the work has begun on the park. The road is being torn up and the trees have been cut down. Right now it’s more construction than park. But I’m excited about what it’ll be shortly.

Still, those trees. It’s sad to see stumps up and down the block on both sides. I can’t wait for the park, but those stumps are tough.

The sequestration cuts to the FAA are forcing the agency to close 150 control towers at low-volume airports (including 5 in Washington state). As a consequence, some Republicans are discovering their inner socialist.

Exhibit 1: Rep. Dennis Ross (R-FL-15).

What really bothers Rep. Ross is that Flordia’s Lakeland Linder Regional Airport will lose its control tower. The airport is a relatively low-volume airport, except for one week each summer, during the annual Sun ‘n Fun aviation convention, in which it becomes one of the busiest airports in the world. To put the traffic volume in context, Lakeland Linder has an average of 208 aircraft operations/day making it is slightly less busy than the Tacoma Narrows Airport ( 216/day) and the Renton Municipal Airport (221/day, where the 737 is manufactured).

Ross whines (my emphasis):

The state’s largest convention, SUN ‘n FUN, which is held in April at Lakeland Linder Airport, not only provides incredible economic value to Lakeland, but it serves our children by investing $1.4 million dollars annually in education. It is unacceptable to close this important control tower. Sun N Fun will now have to pay the FAA $284,000 in order to keep this control tower functioning during the convention. This is more money that they must raise that will not go to help our children who are struggling in school.

Really? He wants to keep the control tower so that my tax dollars and your tax dollars will subsidizing the local school systems in Florida’s 15th Congressional District?

FUCKING SOCIALIST!!!!

Exhibit 2: Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-TX-27). He is…

deeply troubled by the proposed actions of the FAA regarding smaller airports, like the one in Victoria, Texas, as they have long played a vital role in local economies across the country.

At 125 aircraft operations/day Victoria Regional Airport, it isn’t even as busy as Olympia Regional Airport (131/day).

No doubt the airport does play an important role in the economy, but why should my tax dollars be subsidizing the economy of the Texas 27th Congressional District?!?

You’d have to be a FUCKING SOCIALIST to want that kind of Big Government solution to a regional problem!

Exhibit 3: Michele Bachman (R-MN-6):

One-el Michele frets over airport tower closures:

I am deeply disappointed with the FAA’s decision to close the air traffic control towers at the Anoka County-Blaine Airport and St. Cloud Regional Airport. Throughout this decision-making process, I have been in touch with FAA and DOT officials urging them to focus first on eliminating waste and trimming non-essential items in the FAA’s budget before they even consider shutting down essential safety operations.

Wait. WE have to pay for safety in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District? Can’t the regional or local government do that even better?

Yeah…the Anoka County-Blaine Airport is goddamn busy with an average of 536 operations/day, but It isn’t the Anoka FEDERAL airport. What part of “COUNTY” doesn’t Michele understand?

And St. Cloud Regional Airport?!? Give me a fucking break. At 87 operations/day it hardly warrants a paved runway (and federally subsidized, no doubt), let alone a labor-intensive control tower. St. Cloud is nothing compared to Yakima’s McAllister Field (126/day) and Spokane’s Felts Field Airport (156/day).

I have to ask…where in the Constitution does it put the federal government in charge of county safety? Clearly you can only justify this by abusing The Commerce Clause.

You know, I think the major newspapers of the country need to investigate these members of Congress to find out if they are pro-America or FUCKING SOCIALISTS!

BTW: those five Washington state airports whose control towers will be shut down? Renton Municipal, Olympia Regional, Tacoma Narrows, Felts Field, and McAllister Field.

Please join us tonight for an evening of politics 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. The Tri-Cities chapter also meets tonight. On Wednesday, the Burien and Bellingham chapters meet. On Thursday the Woodinville chapter meets. And on Monday, the Aberdeen, Yakima, South Bellevue and Olympia chapters meet.

With 205 chapters of Living Liberally, including fifteen in Washington state, four in Oregon, and two more in Idaho, chances are excellent there’s a chapter that meets near you.

– But if punching down at the less-wealthy women in his congregation is the price of indulging in smug self-congratulation, that’s a price Rick Warren is happy to pay.

– Comfortable Shoes and the Gender Gap

– Money is speech unless it’s used against the NRA.

– How Sea‑Tac Airport’s substandard working conditions hurt our region and how other major airports changed course toward growth and prosperity. (PDF)

– Bidness owners who want increased revenue from the state. (point 2)

– I’m sure most of you who care already know, but PZ Myers is coming to town this week.

I’m super provincial and I don’t care. I love that Washington was mentioned as a point of hope in this otherwise dispiriting roundup of reproductive rights at the state level.*

Finally, a bit of good news! From the state of Washington, legislators are seriously considering mandating that insurance companies must pay for abortion services just as they are required to pay for maternity services:

The Reproductive Parity Act, as supporters call it, would require insurers in Washington state who cover maternity care — which all insurers must do — to also pay for abortions.

The bill passed the state House earlier this month by a vote of 53-43, though it faces an uncertain future in the Senate. […]

“It’s not expanding abortion coverage,” said Democratic Rep. Eileen Cody of West Seattle, the bill’s primary sponsor. “It’s ensuring the rights of women to get what they’re paying for now and to continue their freedom of choice.”

The bill is scheduled for a public hearing in the Public Health Care Committee on April 1st.

So while, as we’ve discussed earlier, this bill got to the Health Care Committee as a way to stop it from getting to the floor, well it’s still being heard in committee. And since it will get a hearing, here are the members of the Health Care Committee. If they’re your Senator, great! Let them know you support this common sense piece of legislation. If not, you can still email them at first.last@leg.wa.gov.

[Read more…]

– This Danny Westneat piece is fine as far as it goes, but I think he forgot the part where he takes on the Seattle Times’ governing philosophy.

– Ross Hunter has never been my favorite legislator, but he’s making a lot of sense here.

– NPI’s Spring Fundraiser.

– The Daily Caller is so, so gross.

– Most of the Iraq war boosters are still around 10 years later.

– The Pundit Who’s Always Wrong

Last week’s contest was won by wes.in.wa. It was the Skagit Valley Hospital in Mt. Vernon.

This week’s is related to something in the news from March, good luck!

Genesis 11:10-24
Two years after the flood, when Shem was one hundred, he had a son named Arpachshad. He had more children and died at the age of six hundred. This is a list of his descendants:

When Arpachshad was thirty-five, he had a son named Shelah. Arpachshad had more children and died at the age of four hundred thirty-eight.

When Shelah was thirty, he had a son named Eber. Shelah had more children and died at the age of four hundred thirty-three.

When Eber was thirty-four, he had a son named Peleg. Eber had more children and died at the age of four hundred sixty-four.

When Peleg was thirty, he had a son named Reu. Peleg had more children and died at the age of two hundred thirty-nine.

When Reu was thirty-two he had a son named Serug. Reu had more children and died at the age of two hundred thirty-nine.

When Serug was thirty, he had a son named Nahor. Serug had more children and died at the age of two hundred thirty.

When Nahor was twenty-nine, he had a son named Terah. Nahor had more children and died at the age of one hundred forty-eight.

Discuss.

Letterman: Biden one-ups Clinton on gay marriage.

Young Turks: Can Colbert’s sister defeat Mark “Hiking the Appalachian Trail” Sanford?

White House: West Wing Week.

The Makeover:

• Young Turks: GOP insultingly wonders why minorities don’t like them.
• Sharpton: The ‘narrow minded, stuffy old White Men’ of the GOP respond to Reince Preibus.
• Bill Press on the G.O.P. “makeover”.
• Lawrence O’Donnell: State Republicans ignore national ‘minority push’, double down on voter suppression.
• Sharpton: GOP’s talk of change is all hot air

Maddow: Obama receives Israel’s highest civilian distinction.

Pap: FAUX News is coming to your child’s public school classroom.

Obama to designate San Juan Islands National Monument:

Thom: The Good, The Bad, and The Very, Very Ugly.

Liberal Viewer: Deportation over a barking dog?

Michael Shure: Hillary dominates for 2016.

This IS your Grandfather’s CPAC:

• Susie Sampson’s Teaparty Report: CPAC.
• Thom: CPAC race panel “goes wild”.
• Michael Brooks: Why are Republicans going extinct?
• Young Turks: Slavery defender at CPAC gets pat on back.
• Sam Seder: Tea Party panel turns racist at CPAC.
• Red State Update: CPAC, New Pope, Rob Portman, and Michael Moore.
• Ann Telnaes: Sen. Ted Cruz delivers keynote CPAC address.
• Young Turks: Republicans lose War on Gay Marriage at CPAC.

Young Turks: A G.O.P. catfight!

Ann Telnaes: A new coat of paint for Gitmo.

Maddow: Misstated positions betray lack of seriousness on policy.

Shuster: Paul Ryan’s budget slashes social programs and cuts taxes for millionaires.

Thom: More Good, Bad, and Very, Very Ugly.

Mark Fiore: Deficit Hawk Man!

The Tenth Anniversary:

• Sam Seder with Becky Bond: Reliving Iraq 10 years ago.
• Young Turks: FAUX News uber-fail on Iraq Invasion.
• Maddow: Bush administration officials unrepentant over Iraq War.
• Lawrence O’Donnell: Crimes against humanity.
• Sam Seder: Re-living George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq
• Young Turks: Dying Veteran’s last letter to Bush and Cheney.
• Sharpton: After 10 years, Republicans still denying the criminality of a falsified invasion
• Rummy tweets asking for respect & gratitude for him & fellow Iraq war criminals
• Thom: Time for our media to offer us—and the people of Iraq—an apology.
• Sam Seder: Media fails on who was right and who was wrong in Iraq Invasion.
• Young Turks: Was it worth it?

Tina Fey channels a certain half-term Governor.

Young Turks: Trump versus Malkin for battle of the clowns.

Andy Cobb: CNN Do-Over:

Ann Telnaes: Republicans rethink gay marriage.

Bachmann Bluster Overdrive:

• Alex Wagner: Michele Bachmann’s big fat food stamp lie.
• Sharpton: In 2013, Bachmann still vows to tear down Obamacare.
• Michele Bachman is in trouble.
• Maddow: House Tea Party caucus appears to be dead.
• Recovery Act:Latest in Michele Bachmann’s infrastructure hypocrisy

Netanyahu sets US conservatives straight on ‘anti-Israel’ Obama.

Young Turks: Newt and Santorum for president?

Thom: The effect of the sequester on small businesses.

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

In his I-502 update, Lee mentioned Mark Kleiman is going to be the main consultant for implementing the initiative. He hadn’t been on my radar before the hire, but I trust Lee’s judgement on this. So I was pleased to see this clip of him being dismissive of stupid questions on CNN.

A decent interview would have been interesting and enlightening. This was not that interview. A combination of anti-marijuana assumptions and attempted snark when it wasn’t called for sunk the interview from the start. But at least he didn’t take the stupid questions seriously.

I actually think whether people on our team have used cannabis at one time or another or what they think about cannabis legalization is irrelevant to the job they’ve been chosen to do.

That’s me transcribing it since I couldn’t find the transcript on CNN’s page, and any errors are mine. Anyway, I’m glad someone in the interview was serious. I only wish it was both sides.