Sunday, August 31, 2008

do deficits matter???


click on image to bring it into full view

thanks button man extraordinaire for this wonderful graphic. next time one of those fiscal conservatives tries to make the case pull this one out.
what do we have to show for it????? more people falling into poverty, more people with no health care, crumbling infrastructure........hmmmm.
but the war profiteers are doing better than ever before.......good luck to future generations.
do we really want more of the same mcsame??????
wake up america!!!

Friday, August 29, 2008

Gov. Gregoire Talks To McJoan


Governor Gregoire stopped by the bloggers "Big Tent" at the convention and spoke with McJoan of DailyKos (She's one of us Northwesterners!).

Governor Christine Gregoire discusses the Convention, Western politics, and her opponent Dino Rossi's attitude towards women's issues.

just for fun!!!!

this was one of my favorite moments from last night....Barney said it in 2 minutes!!!

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Bend Over and Kiss Your Icicles Goodbye

After many years of (Oil & Coal company funded) denial, the GOP is finally pondering putting a global warming plank in its platform, but it may be too late to prevent a man-made climate disaster.

We may still have some hope of limiting the extent of global warming or at least preventing a runaway positive feedback loop that could literally cook the life out of the planet Earth.

What is absolutely clear is that we don't have any time left to debate whether or not man-made global warming is real or if we should make an effort to do something about it. If we don't get busy reducing CO2 output, our goose is cooked.

Low level of Arctic sea ice indicates a "tipping point"

More ominous signs Wednesday have scientists saying a global-warming "tipping point" in the Arctic seems to be happening before their eyes...


By SETH BORENSTEIN and DAN JOLING
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — More ominous signs Wednesday have scientists saying a global-warming "tipping point" in the Arctic seems to be happening before their eyes: Sea ice in the Arctic Ocean is at its second- lowest level in about 30 years.

The National Snow and Ice Data Center reported that sea ice in the Arctic covers about 2.03 million square miles. The lowest point since satellite measurements began in 1979 was 1.65 million square miles set last September.

With about three weeks left in the Arctic summer, this year could break that record, scientists said.

...(full article)

Gregoire on Washington's Energy Future


At the Democratic Convention in Denver, Bill Scher (LiberalOasis) interviewed Governor Gregiore about Washington's advances toward a 21st Century energy infrastructure, with clean energy and green-collar jobs.

Interview with Gov. Chris Gregoire at the DNC

WA Gov. Gregoire discusses her record on clean energy and green-collar jobs.

the myth of "clean" coal

I haven't been able to get this coal-clean coal myth off my mind after seeing the movie Burning the Future: Coal in America (an excellent short intro here) The environmental disaster as the coal is extracted is bad enough and the "clean coal" myth being sold adds insult to injury. I hear no leaders talking about the real direction we need to go....comsume less, conserve more. New technologies and renewable sources of energy are going to be absolutely essential, but we cannot continue our wasteful, unsustainable lifestyle and that is what is missing from the discussion. We are 5% of the world's population using 25% of the planet's resources.

Also needed in this discussion are the real costs of continuing to pursue coal, oil and nuclear for energy.
Thank you for saying it so eloquently Robert Kennedy Jr.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

A Progressive Message To The Republican Convention


Yes, indeed. We, progressives, 'll take it from here. America just can't afford any more of the conservative agenda.

Thanks for the Memories!




Help air this TV ad -- next week! -- for conservatives and media members gathering at the Republican National Committee Convention. Visit http://www.ourfuture.org/ (the home of Campaign for America's Future) to contribute $10 and help get this on the air. If we can raise $20,000, we'll saturate the airwaves with this ad right inside the lion's den, and attract the media attention that can help take it across the country.

We've got a dollar-for-dollar matching gift -- so every dollar you contribute today will go twice as far! Please contribute, and help launch this ad nationwide: http://www.ourfuture.org/

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Well Respected Iowa Republican Supports Obama


One of my memories of moving from Iowa to Washington, is of seeing "Jim Leach for Congress" signs along the hiway as I drove west out of my home county.

Iowa Republican Jim Leach was first elected to Congress in 1977. After thirty years as a Republican Congressman, he's now campaigning for Obama. I think his support for Obama is an important indication of both what a fine Presidential candidate Barack Obama is and how far today's Republican Party has strayed from it's American democratic roots.
The Quad-City Times, Davenport, IA
Leach touts Obama's talents

By Ed Tibbetts Monday, August 25, 2008 11:28 PM CDT

DENVER — Former Republican congressman Jim Leach had hard words for his party and praised Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama in a remarkable address Monday night to the Democratic National Convention here.

Leach, a Davenport native, represented eastern Iowa for 30 years and has been one of the state’s best-known Republicans for more than a generation. Yet, he stood before a convention hall of Democrats urging the victory of the party’s presidential candidate.

Leach, who lost a re-election bid two years ago and now works at Harvard University, said that Obama is a candidate whose talents fit the time.

“Seldom has there emerged a leader who so matches the needs of the moment,” Leach said.

...(link)
You can read the complete text of Jim Leach's remarks before the Democratic Convention HERE.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Bush/McCain/Republican Party Left Behind


Once again, Bush wasted his Saturday Radio Address on tired out Republican propaganda.

Bush blames Democrats for high gas prices
Associated Press - Published: Saturday August 23, 2008

CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) - President Bush on Saturday blamed the Democratic-led Congress for the high cost of gasoline and renewed his call for expanded offshore drilling to increase U.S. oil supplies.

"To reduce pressure on prices, we need to increase the supply of oil, especially oil produced here at home," Bush said in his weekly radio address.

...(full article)

What makes Bush's continued stumping for special favors for Big Oil Companies even more ridiculous is that:

1.) not only has he personally not done the one biggest thing to bring down gas price; open up the National Petroleum Reserve.

and

2.) the price of gasoline has been going down for over a month.

Gas prices down for the 38th day in a row
The price of gas dipped below $3.70, after crude oil futures posted a record drop on Friday.
Last Updated: August 24, 2008: 1:01 PM EDT

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Gasoline prices fell Sunday for the 38th straight day, bringing down the nationwide average in a motorist group survey by more than 42 cents overall.

...(full article)

It's no wonder that the American people have had it with Republican stunts and hollow gestures.

Pew Research Center for the People & the Press
A Closer Look at the Parties in 2008
Convention Backgrounder
August 22, 2008

As the 2008 conventions approach, the Democratic Party's advantage in party identification remains as large as it has been over the past two decades, and the Democratic Party's image remains substantially more positive than the GOP's. The Democrats have a 13-point lead in party affiliation (51% vs. 38%) among registered voters, when independents who "lean" to either party are included. Four years ago, the Democrats held only a slim 47% to 44% lead by this same measure.

...(full article)

McCain is sticking with the Republican Party line, no matter how out of touch it is. And this new TV Ad points it out so artfully.



And... while McCain is still babbling something that sounds strangely like he's trying to re-fight the Vietnam War, the Iraqi government wants our Troops out of Their country... the sooner the better.

Aug 25, 11:02 AM EDT

Iraq demands deadline for pullout of all US troops

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA
Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD (AP) -- Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Monday no security agreement with the United States could be reached unless it included a "specific deadline" for the withdrawal of all American troops from Iraq.

Last week, U.S. and Iraqi officials said the two sides had agreed tentatively to a schedule which included a broad pullout of combat forces by the end of 2011 with a residual U.S. force remaining behind to continue training and advising the Iraqi security forces.

But al-Maliki's remarks Monday suggested that the Iraqi government is still not satisfied with that arrangement. An aide to the prime minister said Monday that Iraq remained adamant that the last American soldier must leave Iraq by the end of 2011 - regardless of conditions at the time.

...(link)

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Ferndale Street Fair 2008


we started the morning setup with Jim, the button man Extraordinaire, showing up before 8am with our new button. (sorry about the quality of the photo)
there was alot of excitement about our candidates and of course since Obama had just announced Biden to be his running mate that was the front page of the day. most people felt it was a good choice, a handful did not know who Joe Biden was and i always told the story of his characterization of judy ruiliani's campaign..."a noun, a verb and 911." very popular story!!
oh and we sold our last buttons off the truck as we were loaded and about ready to drive off!!

we got the booth together and it looks like we all survived....bring it on......


















it was great, as always, to Shirley Forslof and her family. Check out all you wanted to know about elections and voters at our great Auditor site....thanks Shirley and staff!!!

and we had a nice couple of breaks at the Ferndale Farmer's Market

Ferndale Street Festival - The Obama Effect


Saturday was the 5th annual Ferndale Street Festival, a day when Main St. in downtown Ferndale is closed off and the city celebrates being the lovely little city that it is.

As usual, We (42nd Legislative District Democrats) had a booth at the festival. I was really impressive with how many happy Festival goers took the time to stopped for a minute or two and talk Democratic politics. It seems that Change really is in the wind.

Many folks stopped to ask, "what do you think about Obama picking Joe Biden as a running mate?" Most said they liked the idea of Biden for VP and were tickled to see we already had Obama/Biden campaign buttons (thanks to Jim the button-man).

A lot of young couples, with babies in strollers and pre-schools in tow, stopped for bumper stickers and buttons and to tell us how excited they were about the up coming election.

An interesting difference this year was the large number of average looking middle aged, middle-class white guys who paused a few feet away, looked over the booth and then gave us a nod and a thumbs up before walking on.

While taking a break from manning the booth I went to the Farmer's Market up on the River Walk. As I shot the breeze with one of the local farms, I noticed that a great many of the shoppers strolling by were wearing Obama campaign buttons. By contrast, during my time at the Farmer's Market, I saw only one person wearing a Republican campaign sticker.

The local Republicans also had a booth at the Street Festival, their emphasis seemed to be on the Governor's race. I wonder if they have any inkling how amusingly ironic it is that they have an old fossil for a Presidential candidate and a Gubernatorial candidate named Dino.

Near the end of the day - An elderly veteran told me after voting Republican for more years than he could count, he was going to vote Democrat this year. He said, "they've lost me, McCain's really terrible on veterans issue."

Friday, August 22, 2008

brace yourself Effie.....

here comes t. boone......this is the absolute worst time to fall for a new scheme where a greedy, selfish corporatist slathers himself all green and oh by the way.....don't look over here ......
who's water is it anyway??
we are facing a planetary emergency and we will need to step up as never before to ensure the precious resources are replenished and remain available to those that come after. we will not survive as a species if we don't seriously consume less, conserve more and come together to create communities to benefit all of us. we can no longer allow greedy selfish humans to sell us our own natural resources from the earth and enrich themselves beyond belief.
i have experienced the suspicion of friends about my questioning of the t. boone and Ed Schutz will occasionally rant about it. this is no time to switch transportation to natural gas from petroleum (both finite resources of our planet we all own) and it's no time to take your eyes off the aquifer.....
we have no time to waste on false solutions and business people of good will should make good money participating in real solutions to real serious problems.

what is the t. boone up to?????.......


T. Boone Pickens wants your water

By Timothy P. CarneyExaminer
Columnist 8/21/08 7:10 PM
The basic story amounts to this: Pickens, thanks to favors from state lawmakers whose campaigns he funded, has created a new government whose only voters are two of his employers; this has empowered Pickens to more cheaply pump water from an aquifer and, by use of eminent domain, seize land across 11 counties in order to pipe the water to Dallas. To win environmentalist approval of this hardly“sustainable” practice, he has piggybacked this water project onto a windmill project pitched as an alternative to oil.
full article



and there is more....
Why T. Boone Pickens' 'Clean Energy' Plan Is a Ponzi Scheme
By Scott Thill, AlterNet. Posted August 21, 2008.

The controversial oil magnate has made headlines for a supposed conversion to cleaner energy, but there's ample reason to be suspicious.

........"Pickens used the enormous wind farm erected on his property as a means to lobby for the right to pipe the Ogallala water to a major metropolitan center," Hauter adds. "He successfully passed a bill through the Texas Legislature to allow a water-supply district to transport alternative energy and water in a single corridor. Pickens also successfully loosened the legal definitions of a water district, allowing him to invoke the right of eminent domain so that he could build the pipeline through the property of several neighboring landowners. We should be concerned with these types of underhanded business dealings."
We should be concerned everywhere they occur, one might add, not just in Texas. That means putting aside the media buzz and fawning articles and seeing the Pickens Plan for what it is: a resource power grab for a post-oil oil tycoon.
full article

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Ads Online


Political ads aren't just for TV anymore.

With attacks by the Republicans and responses from Democrats, there just doesn't seem to be much time left to talk about serious issues.



Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Majority Support Progressive Policies


Middle-class Americans do know what policies they would like to see enacted. Despite media depictions of a sharp red and blue divide, the nation’s middle class displays broad consensus on a range of public policies aimed at easing their economic squeeze: they support a universal national health insurance plan, requiring employers to provide paid family and medical leave, making it easier for employees to join labor unions and allowing bankruptcy judges to change mortgage payments to keep homes out of foreclosure. A majority of middle-class adults – whether they are Democrats, Republicans, or independents and whether they are supporters of John McCain or Barack Obama for President – believe that these policies represent good ideas for the country. Regardless of party affiliation or presidential preference, these Fearful Families think largely alike. (DMI’s First Annual Survey )


Now we just have to get the politicians to catch up with the people.

Monday, August 18, 2008

R.I.P. Bill Gwatney



Bill Gwatney, Chair of the Arkansas Democratic Party, was gunned down by Timothy Johnson for reasons that are still unclear. The killing has the appearance of a political assassination, motivated by rightwing/conservative propaganda, but we may never know for sure because Johnson was killed when he opened fire on police after he had killed Gwatney.

What is clear, the same rightwing religious nuts who protest at military funerals showed up to protest at Gwatney's funeral.

From the Arkansas Times, Arkansas Blog:
And, yes, I know, additionally, that hateful cranks are among us. (See jump.)

Investigation note: Police so far have nothing further to release about items taken from suspected slayer Timothy Johnson's home. These included a note with "Gwatney" written on it and a telphone number; some car keys with Gwatney dealership emblems, and papers and a personal computer. Detectives are going over the evidence for clues to why Johnson sought Gwatney last Wednesday and then shot him at his office at Democratic Party headquarters on Capitol Avenue.

The kook protesters set up at Lee and Van Buren, but were surrounded by the old fellows on motorcycles -- the Patriot Guard -- who've taken it upon themselves to shield the wackos from normal folks at veterans' funerals.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

President Gore says tax what we burn, not what we earn

last month President Gore challenged us to break our addiction to the disasterous carbon based fuels and save our planet for future generations. if we actually add the real cost to the extraction and burning of fossil fuels, suddenly solar, wind and geothermal begin to look like a real bargain. and the new infrastructure we will create will mean good jobs for humans. blowing the tops off the world's second most diverse forest on the planet, 2nd only to the tropical rain forest, is an ongoing environmental disaster. and that's before the coal is even burned. killing and dying so the corporatists can secure the oil in countries where other humans are trying to live is bankrupting our nation in every way.
thank you President Gore for once again asking us to do the right thing......

100% zero carbon energy in 10 years!

Friday, August 15, 2008

"Bradley Marshall is a Pussy", Slog sez Goldy sez


Bradley Marshall has been threatening to sue Michael Hood of blatherWatch unless he takes down a 2005 post, because it quotes the Washington State Bar Association and newspaper articles.

Bradley Marshall's license to practice law is suspended, thanks the State Supreme Court which overturned the Washington State Bar Association decision to disbar him. As the end of his license suspension nears (his suspension ends in November), Bradley Marshall appears to be attempting to obscure his past conduct by getting reference to it removed from the Internet.

The blatherWatch post turns up on the first page of a Google search on Bradley Marshall's name and although there's absolutely nothing libelous about the post, Marshall is threatening to sue. And that sounds a whole lot like an attempt at intimidation. Trying to trample on someones Right to Free Speech isn't very nice.

Bradley Marshall's threats haven't set well with Goldy over at Horsesass.org and Dan Savage at Slog has noticed and Michael Hood at blatherWatch has noticed that they've noticed.


August 15, 2008
Brad's gone viral!

We tried to warn Bradley Marshall. He's the defrocked attorney who's been trying to scare BlatherWatch with dire legal threats.

Now the mighty mouth of Horsesass.org, David Goldstein, has written a mocking post, calling him "a vain, effete, caterwauling pussy."

Now Dan Savage at The Stranger's hugely read Slog has picked it up.

[Read, the rest of the story]

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Pelosi Endorses Burner


This kind of attention to a Congressional race here in little ol' Washington State should have some local Republican heads exploding. [/snark]

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi gives congressional candidate Darcy Burner a special endorsement for selection in the August 19 primary election.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Ericksen Wants More Time


In a comment left on the B'ham Herald's politics blog, Republican Doug Ericksen wrote:
"I believe that ideas are not partisan and with time (and good leadership) we will begin to move our state in the right direction."

"ideas are not partisan" That sounds nice... but in this case, it's total bull!

Ericksen's ideas are pure partisan. They are the same conservative Republican ideas that Bush brought to Washington D.C..

Those ideas cut the free-trade deals that export jobs instead of goods.

They're the ideas that gave us the "heck of a job, Brownie" FEMA that hadn't a clue how to handle a disaster.

They are the ideas that gave us the mortgage crisis, sky high gas prices, a sinking dollar and unending wars in Iraq & Afghanistan.

Those Republican ideas have also given us anti-freeze in our toothpaste, toxins in our pet food, poison on our children's toys and deadly diseases in our food.

Ericksens ideas are meant to break government so that it no longer works for the average citizen. His ideas come from the philosophy that government should only serve the interests of an elite crony class. Only those with the money to buy their way in would have rights and access to government protection.

But the truth is never spoken by conservative political operatives like Ericksen. What you'll hear from him is a different story. A story about cutting taxes and protecting property rights. But what you won't hear from him, is how if he and his friends could cut those taxes they'd be replaced by fees, going straight into the pockets of private contractors and, in the long run, those fees would cost more than the taxes they replaced.

If Washington's Republican minority had their way, what we'd have wouldn't really be tax cuts, it'd be the privatization of taxation.

Monday, August 11, 2008

mcsame the copy cat

i remember people saying this would be used against Senator Obama when Senator Clinton used these low life personal attack slimball politics at the time. oh, and at the time, for all who learned math in high school, the party should have been united and working to counter the onslaught coming and not giving them ideas.
and i do realize that we are now on to the new human having consensual sex news cycle, oh, and lying about it. i wonder how many cycles it will command now that maybe poor Hillary might have been collateral damage......huh!
please bring in the grown ups!! we are heading full speed ahead for the cliff....
wake up america..........

Barack Obama: "The One" internet ad


previous post that says it all....

Tuesday, February 26, 2008
bring in the grown-ups.......
Posted by jpeg at 9:52 AM

i would hope the Senator Clinton would reevaluate the advise she is getting or, if this is her idea, shame on her. i do not like being mocked by someone who, if nominated, will be asking me to work hard to get her elected. and then there are all those fine Americans who have been awakened to their civic duty by Senator Obama. how will they feel about her candidacy after being mocked?????.... i want the president of the United States to model the best behavior, not this adolescent, borderline bully behavior. Stop it, Hillary!!!

Thursday, August 07, 2008

War, It Ain't Over


"The Surge" wasn't what reduced violence in Iraq. Juan Cole points us to the reporting of The Guardian's Ghaith Abdul-Ahad

Baghdad, 5 years on (part 1 of 3): City of walls

US claims that the military surge is bringing stability to Iraq. By traveling through the heart of Baghdad its easy to see by enclosing the Sunni and Shia populations behind 12ft walls, the surge has left the city more divided and desperate than ever. Video by Ghaith Abdul-Ahad.


Violence in Iraq may be somewhat reduced, for the moment, but the outlook for Afghanistan is dismal.

Editor & Publisher has a preview of an article about the situation in Afghanistan by the legendary war reporter Joe Galloway:

by Joseph L. Galloway

There's military slang that seemingly applies to the situation on the ground in Afghanistan today. The operative acronym is FUBAR - Fouled Up Beyond All Recognition. That first letter doesn't really stand for "Fouled," and the R sometimes stands for Repair.

One of the sharper military analysts I know has just returned from a tour of that sorrowful nation, which has been at war continuously since the Soviet Army invaded it in late 1979.

Gen. Barry McCaffrey, who retired from the U.S. Army with four stars and a chest full of combat medals including two Distinguished Service Crosses, says we can't shoot our way out of Afghanistan, and the two or three or more American combat brigades proposed by the two putative nominees for president are irrelevant.

...(read the full article)

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

McCain Finds 2.1 Million Reasons To Love More Drilling


McCain's flip-flop on offshore drilling has paid off handsomely. His 'more of what got us here' energy policy reads as though it was written by Big Oil ...

The Oil Industry—In the tank for McCain

McCain Has Raised More Than $2.1 Million From The Oil And Gas Industry, Including More Than $1.1 Million In The Month Of June. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, John McCain received $1,039,768 in contributions from the oil and gas industry between January 2007 and May 2008—a figure which dwarfs any other presidential candidates’ oil industry money. In addition, the Washington Post reported that “campaign contributions from oil industry executives to Sen. John McCain rose dramatically in the last half of June, after the senator from Arizona made a high-profile split with environmentalists and reversed his opposition to the federal ban on offshore drilling.” According to the Post’s analysis, oil and gas industry executives and employees contributed $1.1 million to McCain and the Republican National Committee’s Victory Fund in June – three-quarters of which were donated after McCain’s June 16th announcement that he supported ending the moratorium on offshore drilling. These contributions, when combined with the $1.03 million raised by McCain prior to the month of June, indicated that he has raised more than $2.1 million from the oil and gas industry. [Center for Responsive Politics website, “Selected Industry Totals to Candidates,” accessed 7/31/08; Washington Post, 7/27/08; “Oil Flow,” WashingtonPost.com graphic, accessed 8/3/08]

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Stupid Republican Tricks


House Republicans are dragging out their political stunt, prancing around the Capital pretending that they're trying to do something besides making an empty gesture.

A Washington Post articles points out some of the Republican hypocrisy

At Recess, a Little One-Sided Dodgeball

By Dana Milbank
Tuesday, August 5, 2008; Page A03

House Republicans can't seem to make up their minds.

Eighteen times over the past 90 days, the minority tried, unsuccessfully, to force the House to adjourn. Now the House has finally adjourned -- for a five-week recess, no less -- and Republicans are demanding that the chamber be called back into session.

...(MORE)
It's not just House Republicans who are displaying their utter hypocrisy:
McCain Calls on Congress to Return

John McCain called on Congress Monday to return from their August recess to vote on a new energy package. McCain said he would leave the campaign trial to return to Washington, and challenged Barack Obama to do the same.
Boy Oh Boy, McCain has more nerve than a bad tooth! He's been AWOL from the Senate for over a year!

Since he hasn't been doing his job as a Senator, McCain doesn't have the moral authority to call on Congress to do anything. During the past year Congress has considered a lot of Energy related Bills and McCain hasn't seen fit to be there to vote on a single one of them. Here's McCain's voting record on Energy Issues:

07/26/2008 Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Funding, S 3186 - McCain - Not Voting, Absent
07/26/2008 Housing Bill with Energy Tax Credit Extensions, HR 3221 - McCain - Not Voting, Absent
06/17/2008 Alternative Energy Tax Incentives, HR 6049 - McCain - Not Voting, Absent
06/10/2008 Increasing Taxes on Profits, Rescinding Certain Tax Deductions, and Increasing Tax Incentives for Alternative Energy Programs for Oil Companies, S 3044 - McCain - Not Voting, Absent
06/06/2008 Carbon Emissions Cap and Trade Plan, S Amdt 4825 - McCain - Not Voting, Absent
04/10/2008 Housing Bill with Energy Tax Credit Extensions, HR 3221 - McCain - Not Voting, Absent
04/10/2008 Energy Tax Credits Amendment, S Amdt 4419 to S Amdt 4387 to HR 3221 - McCain - Not Voting, Absent
03/13/2008 Amendment on Certain Energy-Related Programs, Including the Development of Oil Shale and Offshore Natural Gas, S Amdt 4207 to S Con Res 70 - McCain - Not Voting, Absent
03/13/2008 Amendment on Certain Energy-Related Programs, Including the Development of Oil and Natural Gas in Coastal Areas Not Covered by a Moratorium, S Amdt 4329 to S Con Res 70 - McCain - Not Voting, Absent
12/13/2007 Energy Act of 2007, HR 6 - McCain - Not Voting, Absent
06/21/2007 Energy Act of 2007, HR 6 - McCain - Not Voting, Absent
06/21/2007 Alternative Energy Subsidies, S Amdt 1704 - McCain - Not Voting, Absent
06/19/2007 Preventing Petroleum Export Organizations (NOPEC Act of 2007), S Amdt 1519 - McCain - Not Voting, Absent
06/14/2007 Offshore Drilling in Virginia, S Amdt 1566 - McCain - Not Voting, Absent
06/14/2007 Clean Energy Achievement Criteria, S Amdt 1538 - McCain - Not Voting, Absent

Is Eating Fava Beans A Political Statement?


Is Eating Fava Beans A Political Statement? Well... probably not. But buying locally grown food at a farmer's market might be. Or it might just be a friendly, fun way to get some good food.

Jpeg has a nifty post, with Fabulous Fava Bean video and recipes, on the Ferndale Farmer's Market blog.

Monday, August 04, 2008

Gregoire's Epic Ad


This is a rather dramatic campaign ad for Governor Gregoire... I like it.

Stand with Us

Sunday, August 03, 2008

McCain's Million Plus Reasons To Drill


John McCain is, now, all in favor of approving offshore drilling, but that wasn't the case just a short time ago.


McCain's Offshore Drilling Position A Flip From Three Weeks Ago

Sam Stein
The Huffington Post
June 18, 2008

It is hardly a secret that when it comes to offshore drilling, Sen. John
McCain was against the idea before he was for it. On Monday, the Arizona
Republican told a crowd in Texas that he was abandoning his long-time support
for a federal moratorium on drilling along the nation's coastlines in favor of
allowing states to decide for themselves.

But how recent a convert is McCain to this position?

In late May, during a campaign town hall, McCain was asked about the
prospect of coastal drilling. His answer then was far more nebulous and
skeptical of the idea compared to his recent, full-throated endorsement.
...(full article)


What, you might ask, would change McCain's mind? He fashions himself the maverick. He says he doesn't bow to pressure and vote in lock-step with Republican Party leaders.

Could what changed McCain's mind be the $1,010,868 in campaign contribution from the Oil & Gas Industry? Yes friends, John McCain is the #1 recipient of contributions from the Oil & Gas Industry!

So... sad to say, McCain is just a much bought and paid for as is Newt Gingrich who's "Drill here, drill now, pay less" campaign is bankrolled by Big Oil. Newt's "Drill here, drill now" isn't a solution to high gas prices, it's actually another big give-away to Big Oil.

Unfortunately we can only expect the Republicans to trot out more cheap tricks instead of serious proposals to solve our energy problems.


UPDATE: TPMElection Central has the latest evidence of McCain's quid pro quo with Big Oil .
Multiple Oil Company Executives Gave Huge Contributions To Electing McCain Just Days After Offshore Drilling Reversal

By Greg Sargent and Eric Kleefeld - August 4, 2008, 12:47PM

Ten senior Hess Corporation executives and/or members of the Hess family each gave $28,500 to the joint RNC-McCain fundraising committee, just days after McCain reversed himself to favor offshore drilling, according to Federal Election Commission reports.

Nine of these contributions, seven from Hess executives and two from members of the Hess family, came on the same day, June 24th, the records show. The total collected in the wake of McCain's reversal for the fund, called McCain Victory 2008, from Hess execs and family is $285,000.

...(MORE!)

Saturday, August 02, 2008

Basic Values


What does it mean to be a Democrat?
It's about a strong middle class



that's what it means, And more

Friday, August 01, 2008

Wal-Mart Hates Democrats



According to The Wall Street Journal, Wal-Mart is so intimidated by the very possibility of a unionized workforce that its supervisors have been holding mandatory meetings essentially telling employees to vote against Democrats and Sen. Barack Obama this November. Wal-Mart is taking this outrageous step because the Democrats and Sen. Obama have committed to pass the Employee Free Choice Act to restore workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain for fair wages, health care, decent working conditions and a real voice on the job.

All American workers have the right to freely decide whom to vote for independent of employer pressure and intimidation. Tell Wal-Mart to stop intimidating workers TODAY!

According to the Wall St. Journal, Wal-Mart isn't just anti-Union, it's intimidating its employees, telling them not to vote for Democrats. Thinkprogress.org has more.

Friends with Low Wages

Watch 'Garth Brooks' sing for Wal-Mart employees in this satire.