The candidates running for mayor are mostly speaking in platitudes about their "leadership" and "vision." Those words mean nothing. Like, who wants a mayor who can't lead? They must lead—obviously—but we want to hear where they plan to lead us. Here are the policies they should get specific about and what we want our next mayor to say on each topic. MORE...
Starting Mon, Jan 7th KLAY 1180 Lakewood will begin airing the Stephanie Miller Show 3-5p and Thom Hartmann 5-7 p, tape delayed and truncated by 1 hour each. Currently, the Dennis Miller and Jerry Doyle shows fill that time slot. There is a listen live link for those beyond the pale of KLAY's 5k/1k watt limited day-nite signal.
“What is it about you, Mr. President,” Mr. Gregory asked, “that you think is so hard to say yes to?” “That’s something you’re probably going to have to ask them,” the president responded, “because David, you follow this stuff pretty carefully. The offers that I’ve made to them have been so fair that a lot of Democrats get mad at me. I mean I offered to make some significant changes to our entitlement programs in order to reduce the deficit. I offered not only a trillion dollars in — over a trillion dollars in spending cuts over the next 10 years, but these changes would result in even more savings in the next 10 years.” MORE...Howie P.S.: John Broder?
Starbucks Corp will use its ubiquitous coffee cups to tell U.S. lawmakers to come up with a deal to avoid going over the "fiscal cliff" and triggering automatic tax hikes and spending cuts. Chief Executive Howard Schultz is urging workers in Starbucks' roughly 120 Washington-area shops to write "come together" on customers' cups on Thursday and Friday, as U.S. President Barack Obama and lawmakers return to work and attempt to revive fiscal cliff negotiations that collapsed before the Christmas holiday. Starbucks' cup campaign aims to send a message to sharply divided politicians and serve as a rallying cry for the public in the days leading up to lawmakers' Jan. 1 deadline to deliver a plan to avert harsh across-the-board government spending reductions and tax increases that could send the United States back into recession. "We're paying attention, we're greatly disappointed in what's going on and we deserve better," Schultz told Reuters in a telephone interview. MORE...
Howie P.S.: Marty used to live across the street; we talked and nodded but never hung out.DJ Marty Riemer talks about his exit from radio station 103.7 The Mountain (KMTT). MORE...
While we are discussing and demanding what to do, may I respectfully ask that we stop and take a look at what I believe are the three extenuating factors that may answer the question of why we Americans have more violence than most anyone else: MORE...
In the days since the tragedy in Newtown, Americans from all over the country have called for action to deter mass shootings and reduce gun violence, and hundreds of thousands of people have signed petitions on whitehouse.gov's We the People platform. In this video message, President Obama responds, explaining a comprehensive effort to come up with a broader set of serious proposals and encouraging Americans to continue their participation in this important process.
Psy's one-time only performance of "Christmas Gangnam Style" from TNT's annual "Christmas in Washington" from the National Building Museum for the benefit of Children's National Medical Center. December 2012.Howie P.S.: I don't think anybody or anything is going to top this for "Says It All About 2012."
Like President Obama and many others across the country, I too wiped away tears as I watched the horrifying news coverage of the tragic shootings in Newton, Conn. I immediately called my children who were still in school. I sat watching the television trying to fathom how I would respond if I got a call that a shooting had occurred at my children’s school. This brought on more tears. But for the parents of 20 children and six other families in Newton, it wasn’t an exercise; it was an excruciating reality. I then watched and listened to our President, and like parents around the world, the shooting had affected him emotionally as well. Twenty children gunned down. He struggled to hold back tears. It was then that my phone buzzed. I quickly grabbed it to see if it was one of my children calling back. But it wasn’t. It was a colleague in Chicago. I had emailed her the day before asking for research into one of the mentoring programs in the city’s schools for youth with the highest risk of being shot. She provided me with the information I was seeking. Then she included a P.S.: “What a devastating horrible day in CT. But frankly I wish people cared this much when it was children on the south and west sides of Chicago.” I was snapped back into reality with the email. The tragedy in Newtown was truly horrific. But there is similar carnage carried out every day in the streets of America’s cities, especially in the President’s hometown of Chicago, where I work in Oakland, in Philadelphia, and many other cities across the nation. MORE...
Wayne LaPierre, executive vice-president of the National Rifle Association, came to the podium Friday with the pursed lips and furrowed brow of a banker anxious over accounting errors. Throughout the press conference, he seemed to be reaching for an emotional range that would reflect the horror and sorrow so many felt in the wake of the Sandy Hook killings. But the most effective expression he could muster was that of someone trying to remember his lines. I would like to believe that LaPierre was as anguished and confused by the events of last week as the rest of us, but the man clearly suffers from constipation of the soul. MORE...
It appears quite clear now that John Kerry is going to be the next Secretary Of State, and the whole business is already crazy-making. Reporting the news this morning, CNN mentioned that Kerry had been the subject of attacks on his military record in 2004, when he was the Democratic candidate for president in 2004. There was no mention of the fact that all those attacks were completely spurious, having had no basis in fact. If this is going to be the pattern of the coverage of Kerry's nomination going forward, we're all in for another ride on the Swift Boats, god help us. MORE...
Truthdig editor-in-chief Robert Scheer and others discuss the NRA’s call for armed security at schools, violent media’s relationship to gun violence and the push for new gun control legislation on this week’s ‘Left, Right & Center.’ Also in the discussion, a look at House Speaker John Boehner’s failed alternative plan to raise taxes on the very wealthy to frustrate Obama’s proposal to raise taxes broadly in the ongoing so-called “fiscal cliff” conversation. Washington Post columnist Matt Miller, Thomson Reuters Digital editor-at-large Chrystia Freeland, and Newsweek/Daily Beast editor and former special assistant to former president George W. Bush, David Frum, join Scheer to deliberate over these topics and more.
KBCS is pleased to welcome New York Times best-selling author Thom Hartmann to our weekday line-up.Howie P.S.: In case you hadn't heard, the Seattle station (KPTK) that currently broadcasts Thom Hartmann, is switching formats to sports in January, 2013.
The former Air America host leads a thoughtful discussion on issues of the day, with guests representing a variety of perspectives.
The Thom Hartmann Programs starts Wed. January 2nd, 2013. Tune in!
Artists Demand A Plan to end gun violence. Join them: http://demandaplan.orgHowie P.S.: This is an amazing group of "celebrities" they have gathered together.
Quite honestly, the president's willingness to tinker this way with Social Security marks his presidency in a way that nothing else ever will. There is no economic need to do this to Social Security at all. There is no need for the program even to come up in the discussions. This locks Social Security forever into being defined for all political purposes as an "entitlement," and we all know that "entitlements" need to be reformed because everybody this president considers his primary constituencies say they must. It sets the stage for more concessions down the line by any Democratic president who doesn't possess the political momentum that the current president seems hellbent on squandering. MORE...
Seattle City Councilmember Tim Burgess has announced he’ll run against incumbent Mayor Mike McGinn in the fall 2013 election. And state Sen. Ed Murray just launched an “exploratory committee,” all but guaranteeing he’ll join the race for Seattle’s mayor after the next legislation session. Others waiting in the wings include former King County Executive Ron Sims, Port Commissioner Bill Bryant, City Councilmember Bruce Harrell, former Bellevue and Bremerton mayor Cary Bozeman and — of greatest interest to us — former City Councilmember Peter Steinbrueck. Why Steinbrueck? He’s the only candidate on the horizon likely to actively embrace progressive and neighborhood values and speak out against the current downtown and pro-developer bias that so dominates City Hall. Here’s why we think his chances are very good, provided he doesn’t hesitate to accept the mantle of “outsider” willing to rock the proverbial boat. MORE...
Mark Ruffalo, Mariska Hargitay, Anthony LaPaglia, Rosanne Cash, Live Schrieber: We Are Better Than This: A national conversation on how we can prevent gun deaths and injuries. Join and sign on here: http://www.wearebetterthanthis.org
Yet in the aftermath of the Newtown nightmare, Obama is not equivocating. "Words need to lead to action," he said today. He recited a list of Americans who have been killed by guns in the days since the Newtown shooting, noting that this group included several police officers and a four-year-old. He pointed out that gun violence claims the lives of 10,000 Americans every year and asserted this cannot be accepted as "routine." "I will use all the powers of this office to aim to prevent more tragedies like this," Obama said. But, he added, ultimately, it "will take a wave of Americans" saying "enough." With such remarks, Obama is making it clear: He has adopted combating gun violence as a priority. And he has now placed himself in the position where he will be judged on whether he gets anything done. MORE...
I sent a personal email to each of the progressive talkers we hear on 1090 radio, and I got a very enthusiastic response back from Norman Goldman. He invited me to come on his show today (Wed.) at 5:06, and he is planning to talk with me about possible options to be able to continue listening to our favorite hosts. In the meantime, here is something he sent to me which I encourage you to forward to your friends (and also invite them to sign our petition if they have not done so already): A special summary from Norm:
Sports is the hot topic these days and stations are flipping to sports like mad! Clear Channel and other companies are making deals based on dollar signs - they are consigning us to "niche markets" (that is what we "liberal talkers" are being called) and not caring about the audience we have. That is simply the cold, harsh reality. Plus, we have labeled ourselves "liberal talkers" and not just "news/talk" and we are thus considered a "niche market" while commercial radio is devolving into a few formats - "news/talk" apparently includes Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity and the rest (plus the all news stations, with traffic and weather on the 8's and what not) plus sports, country, classic rock and Top 40. HOWEVER, YOU can take control of what you listen to - you are NO LONGER consigned to what the big commercial broadcasters put up there! Show your independence and TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR LISTENING!! I and the other hosts have been tied and COMPLETELY dependent upon these radio stations FOREVER. The good news is this is no longer true - the bad news is it requires some technology and monetary, plus time, investment to end run the radio stations. If you don't want to be tied to a computer, where Internet streaming is free at www.normangoldman.com and want to hear the show live in your car, there are "kits" that can be installed inexpensively at auto audio places.....for example, go into a search engine (like Google) and type in internet radio car kit and watch what happens! Here is just an example: http://www.amazon.com/Bluetooth-Internet-Radio-Car-Livio/dp/B005FE7URM But there are others. New cars have Internet radio built in. Ford’s Sync system and most other manufacturers now have Internet radio pre-built directly into your new car via their new car technology. For older cars, the “kits” can be installed quickly and relatively inexpensively at these “Al & Ed’s Autosound” type of places. A podcast is also available for delayed listening. A podcast is simply an audio file transferred from one computer to another...and then dumped onto an iPod, mp3 player or other device. The good news is that YOU are now in control...the bad news is that, to exercise that control, you need to spend some time and perhaps money, to do it. Our podcasts are $5 a month at www.normangoldman.com (or $50 for a full year, which is 2 months free) and the shows have all the clutter and commercials stripped out, so a show is a LOT LESS than 3 hours! Plus, our podcast subscription includes all the “Beyond The Norm” segments (one extra segment a day, not done on the air) and that means the entire archive of legal, consumer and other information we have done! All on your schedule to your convenience! AND, we stream the show live and free through Facebook – The Norman Goldman Show on Facebook! I also have a free smartphone app for you that lets you listen on your phone, live, free and anywhere. Plus, there is the iHeartRadio app and the TuneIn app. The bottom line is, for the future of our show and the others; we need to connect with you outside the gatekeeper status of the radio stations. They have forced us into this position. Sorry, and I wish I had more control of the situation!! I hope you can tune in today.
Duane Taylor was studying the humanities in community college and living in his own place when he lost his job in a round of layoffs. Then he found, and lost, a second job. And a third.H/t to Tim Colman.
Now, with what he calls “lowered standards” and a tenuous new position at a Jack in the Box restaurant, Mr. Taylor, 24, does not make enough to rent an apartment or share one. He sleeps on a mat in a homeless shelter, except when his sister lets him crash on her couch.“At any time I could lose my job, my security,” said Mr. Taylor, explaining how he was always the last hired and the first fired. “I’d like to be able to support myself. That’s my only goal.”Across the country, tens of thousands of underemployed and jobless young people, many with college credits or work histories, are struggling to house themselves in the wake of the recession, which has left workers between the ages of 18 and 24 with the highest unemployment rate of all adults. MORE...
Steinbrueck, formerly of North Seattle but living on First Hill after his recent divorce, has already gathered endorsements from Real Change Executive Director Tim Harris, City Councilmember Nick Licata, and David Bloom, the former deputy director of the Seattle Church Council, among others.Howie P.S.: Based on my photo size evaluator, Fairview Fannie won't be endorsing Steinbrueck.
Steinbrueck's campaign manager, Justin Simmons, wrote in a letter to supporters Tuesday that Steinbrueck will be "the most progressive candidate in the race, the candidate with the most civic leadership experience, the only candidate with real urban planning expertise, and the candidate who I believe will generate the broadest base of support in the neighborhoods and in the social justice, environmental and labor communities."
One of Steinbrueck's strengths will be his long relationships in the city. He joined the council as a newcomer along with Licata and Richard Conlin — now institutions in Seattle's city government.
"Peter was known as somebody who was really known for not just being a leader, but as someone with a lot of political integrity," said Harris, who in the past has supported McGinn.
Bloom said in an interview that Steinbrueck offers a consistent set of values and would give a voice to the neighborhoods, holding the line on what Bloom called "rampant development" in Ballard and other places.
"Peter is the kind of person who I think has a consistent set of values and will stick to those values," Bloom said. McGinn, he said, has been "all over the map." MORE...
First signs that Democrats are willing to take on pro-gun lobby as even NRA-endorsed senator Joe Manchin says 'we need action'---The White House promised a comprehensive series of measures, including gun control legislation, on Monday to prevent a recurrence of mass shootings such as the "horrific" attack in Connecticut that left 20 children and six teachers dead. MORE...
America is still grieving for the children and adults who lost their lives last Friday in Newtown, Connecticut. That horrific event ripped deep into our national soul.
New York Magazine writer-at-large Frank Rich talks with editor-in-chief Adam Moss about the Newtown tragedy, its political fallout, and our centuries-long worship of the gun. MORE...
Obama told the nation that he reacted to the shootings in Newtown “as a parent,” and that is understandable, but what we need most is for him to act as a President, liberated at last from the constraints of elections and their dirty compromises—a President who dares to change the national debate and the legislative agenda on guns. MORE...
ABC's Barbara Walters tried to get some clarity from Barack Obama about his administration's attitude to the curious fact that starting next year marijuana will be legal in Colorado and Washington but not in the United States of America. His answer that "it would not make sense for us to see a top priority as going after recreational users in states that have determined that it’s legal" because "we’ve got bigger fish to fry" has a lot of people excited. But I think there's less to this than meets the eye. MORE...
"Seventy percent of counties with the fastest-growth in food-stamp aid during the last four years voted for the Republican presidential candidate in 2008, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data compiled by Bloomberg. They include Republican strongholds like King County, Texas, which in 2008 backed Republican John McCain by 92.6 percent, his largest share in the nation; and fast-growing Douglas County, Colorado." [Source] MORE...
Vermont senator Bernie Sanders joins Abby to explain why he's worried Democrats will cave on entitlement reforms in the Fiscal Cliff talks.
DC bureau chief David Corn relives some of the most biting gaffes, memes, and otherwise memorable lines of the election with Chris Matthews on Hardball. Was this the year of binders full of women? Or legitimate rape. Spoiler alert: 47 percent ranks pretty high.Howie P.S.: Let the end of year lists begin.
Two years ago, Bloomberg ran a survey of American investors. Three-quarters of them believed Obama was against business. Ivan Seidenberg, the CEO of Verizon, was moved to declare the president hostile to investment and job creation. Today, it's a different picture. The president, after blasting fat cats and the self-interest of Wall Street for years, has made a landmark move in his relationship with companies: he is taking corporate donations to fund the parade and parties of his second inauguration. Someone has to pay for the party, so you might as well invite the people with money. MORE...
At POLITICO Pro's P2012 Policy and Politics Tax Luncheon, Rep. Jim McDermott and Rep. Xavier Becerra said they expect a deal to be done on the fiscal cliff.
Could OFA become the backbone of a revitalized version of former DNC chairman Howard Dean's "50-state strategy"? That is one possibility. But it's not clear yet if that would mean providing resources and staffing to state parties, or it would be more up to former OFA staff and supporters in those states to do the heavy-lifting. Interestingly, one top Obama campaign official told me that Dashboard, the campaign's ballyhooed and somewhat maligned digital field organizing platform, could be an important piece of such a local push. "It could be more important in 2013 and 2014 than it was in 2012," this person commented, "in the same way that it was for a volunteer in say, Tennessee, who didn't have a local Obama office, than it was for one in Ohio who did." MORE...
The Seattle Channel will be live streaming from two locations in the interior of City Hall from 10 am until 5 pm on Sunday, December 9, 2012 as 140 couples get married.H/t to the West Seattle Blog for the photo.
Washington state on Thursday became the first in the nation to allow adults the legal recreational use of marijuana. Colorado will soon join the Evergreen state in enacting marijuana legalization laws after voters in both states approved ballot initiatives that defy federal laws deeming pot illegal. Saturday in #nerdland, host Melissa Harris-Perry took a look at Washington’s historic step, as well as the possibility of how regulated marijuana could provide a boost to the recovering American economy. MORE...
Just as we’re discovering that the tough talk about the “fiscal cliff” is false, and that President Obama and the Democrats appear to possibly be folding, again, on the important topic of climate change, what we’re hearing from the Democrats is more talk than action.
Al Gore spent a lot of time in Washington, so he has to be well aware of the ability of the political class to talk a lot, yet do nothing.
As we saw with Hurricane Sandy, the problem of climate change is getting worse and we can’t afford to keep letting the party of ignorance dictate the discussion.
The Hill:
Al Gore is calling on President Obama to make climate change a higher priority in his second term.If the pathetic “deal” on the fiscal cliff is accurate, there’s little reason to believe that the political class will do anything about climate change either.
“I deeply respect our president and I am grateful for the steps that he has taken, but we cannot have four more years of mentioning this occasionally and saying it’s too bad that the Congress can’t act,” Gore said in New York City on Thursday, Reuters reports.
The remarks come three weeks after Obama pledged to focus on climate but offered no specific second-term plans and noted political hurdles to legislation.
“I don’t know what either Democrats or Republicans are prepared to do at this point, because this is one of those issues that’s not just a partisan issue,” Obama said at a post-election press conference on Nov. 14.
Until the Fox News studio is underwater, the Republican flat-earth society will continue to mock Al Gore, and mock climate change, and pretend that it’s not a problem. And the Democrats will continue talking as though they care, but still will do nothing, because they don’t.
Clouds of celebratory pot smoke went up at a few quiet outdoor celebrations yesterday, Day One of Washington State’s legalization of possession of up to an ounce of marijuana. But the people who pushed the groundbreaking new law to victory stayed conspicuously dull. “So boring,” is how Alison Holcomb, lead writer of the decriminalization measure that 55% of Washington voters approved in November, described her day. Her one indulgence: a private dinner with friends that was “a very mellow occasion” with “very tasty” food. MORE...
Now that states have started legalizing recreational marijuana, will the president continue the government’s war on weed?---When voters in Colorado and Washington state legalized recreational marijuana in November, they thought they were declaring a cease-fire in the War on Drugs. Thanks to ballot initiatives that passed by wide margins on Election Day, adults 21 or older in both states can now legally possess up to an ounce of marijuana. The new laws also compel Colorado and Washington to license private businesses to cultivate and sell pot, and to levy taxes on the proceeds. Together, the two states expect to reap some $600 million annually in marijuana revenues for schools, roads and other projects. The only losers, in fact, will be the Mexican drug lords, who currently supply as much as two-thirds of America's pot. Drug reformers can scarcely believe their landslide victories at the polls. "People expected this day would come, but most didn't expect it to come this soon," says Norm Stamper, a former Seattle police chief who campaigned for legalization. "This is the beginning of the end of prohibition." MORE...
9:00AM EST December 2. 2012 - Hurricane Sandy and the 2012 drought drove home the need for President Obama to lead the fight against global warming. Freed from the political constraints of the re-election campaign, he holds three tools. Wielding them successfully, he will make bold action against the world's most pressing environmental problem a legacy of his second term. The president can sharply curtail power plants' emissions of carbon dioxide, the largest global warming pollutant, by using existing law to require that utilities start converting from coal to cleanly extracted natural gas and introduce more renewable energy. To cut demand for electricity, he can set standards that increase the efficiency of power-gobbling appliances. MORE...
The King County executive, Dow Constantine, operating on one hour of sleep, was on his way to the restroom with a toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste. It was Mr. Constantine who made the decision to open the doors at midnight and to get staff to volunteer to work through the wee hours. “People have waited years for this,” he said. “They should not have to wait a minute longer to take advantage of their rights.” As at the Space Needle, the atmosphere was celebratory. There were flowers, people blowing bubbles and supporters who serenaded those in line with “Going to the Chapel.” “People are brimming with optimism,” Mr. Constantine said. By midday, the party atmosphere had dissipated a bit, as had the line. The more than 400 licenses handed out, though, handily beat the previous single-day record of 212, Mr. Dow said. MORE...Howie P.S.: It's going to be hard to refrain from teasing "Mr. Dow" the County Executive about this the next time I see him. And another thing: shouldn't the headline have referenced "Washington state," not Seattle?
Barbara Ehrenreich is featured in this video about the "7 dollar an hour underclass."
One of the first same-sex couples to get a marriage license Thursday in King County was Dan Savage and Terry Miller, who started the It Gets Better Project to help prevent suicide along LGBT youth. Read more here: http://bit.ly/YEvNIQ
The Man Behind Marriage Equality Sets His Sights on City Hall----Ed Murray isn't running for Seattle mayor as the gay guy. "It can work both ways," says Murray, who on Wednesday filed an exploratory committee for his campaign. "If people see me just as the gay candidate, they will vote against me. Even gay people will vote against me. I have to be the gay who did something." MORE...
Medical Quality Assurance Commission
P.O. Box 47866
Olympia, WA 98504-7866
By all means let’s have a stiff carbon tax—a whole carbon-tax package, one that folds in levies on other pollutants and on the wasteful or dangerous use of natural resources in general. And, at the same time, let’s make the carbon tax the source of the trust fund. Call it the Dignity for Seniors tax, because that’s what it would provide. Or the National Patrimony tax, because that’s what it would preserve. Or the Social and National Security tax, because it would underwrite both kinds.MORE...
Sanders bristles when pundits who don’t know Vermont dismiss his approach to campaigning as a regional deviation that might work in what is often portrayed as a quirky liberal state that couldn’t possibly have relevance for the rest of the country. “It wasn’t that long ago that Vermont was one of the most Republican states in the country. MORE...
Mike Papantonio appears on The Big Picture with Thom Hartmann to talk about the current debt talks being held in Washington between Democrats and Republicans, and how the media has completely missed the role that Wall Street played in causing our current problems.
With legislators focused on looming cuts to defense spending and entitlement programs, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) told a gathering of progressives on Capitol Hill Tuesday that she is worried the most vulnerable groups depending on domestic programs may get “lost in the shuffle” during the deficit negotiations. MORE...
Naomi Wolf, author of "The Beauty Myth," has written a cultural and scientific history of the intersection of sexuality and creativity. She joins us to talk about "Vagina: A New Biography."
Also this hour: Congress is busy working on an agreement to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff. Slate's Matthew Yglesias makes the argument for diving off. We check in with state Rep. Marko Liias on a plan to add commercial flights to Paine Field. Plus, Michael Fagin joins us with this week's recommended hike.
The Washington Post's Ezra Klein joins the NOW panel-- including Joy Reid of The Grio.com, the New York Times' Frank Bruni, The Nation's Ari Melber, and Irin Carmon from Salon.com---translate the fiscal negotiations going on on Capitol Hill between Democrats and Republicans.
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Obama,
Nothing you don’t know, but let me just say it: the world’s a weird place. In my younger years, I might have said “crazy,” but that was back when I thought being crazy was a cool thing and only regretted I wasn’t. I mean, do you ever think about how you ended up where you are? And I’m not actually talking about the Oval Office, though that’s undoubtedly a weird enough story in its own right. After all, you were a community organizer and a constitutional law professor and now, if you stop to think about it, here’s where you’ve ended up: you’re using robots to assassinate people you personally pick as targets. MORE...
