NPI liveblogs Jones speaks at the Budget and Policy Center lunch, laying out a vision nationally:
12:35 PM: “If your news station is named after a sneaky and predatory animals…you might question whether your news is fair and balanced.”
12:37 PM: “If we just stand our ground, we can finally bring the Reagan values to an end.”
12:37 PM: “Ask people if they want to cut Medicare. 75% of people say no.”
12:40 PM: “That is a sea shift, that the reign of terror of the Grover Norquists of the world has come to an end.” On the fact that we are politically accepting the need for new revenue.
12:45 PM “You could get a situation where you get the majority of votes in the state legislature, but still not get to govern.” Referencing the Monday power grab here in our state.
12:47 PM: “The people who have done well in America should do well by America…and if that’s a radical idea, then it is a radical idea your parents and grandparents held by for much of the last century.”
12:51 PM: “You guys have some of the dumbest tax loopholes in the country when you have the smartest people.” On our state tax code.
12:54 PM: “Tax waste, Tax pollution. Tax the stuff you don’t want in America. And for god sakes, don’t put the car in reverse.” Van Jones on coal.
12:57 PM: “We are the guilty party, we power our human civilization, our Western civilization on death right now…What is coal? Coal is a substance that has been dead for 100 million years.”
1:02 PM: Van Jones speaks on respecting and protecting our old energy workers as we transition to new energy sources, and the amount of jobs that would be created by investing in clean energy.
1:04 PM: Don’t go in reverse Washington state. Keep on pushing for a progressive future.”
We then transition from a speech into a Q&A with the audience and Van Jones. Topics ranged from conservatives trying to take out Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, to our progressives give up on good ideas very quickly while conservatives stick to bad ideas and persevere in making bad policy.
1:10 PM: “You don’t need health insurance, you need health care.” On how most insurance is for uncertainty, but you’re guaranteed to see a doctor, “even if it is to sign a death certificate.”
1:15 PM: A question is asked about higher education and Inslee’s promise not to raise revenue. Van Jones’ response was to “kick him in the butt” and the need to “use carrots and sticks with our friends”. He then talked about how there has been sense of complacency when issue allies are in power, and how if McCain was president we would all be in jail for being” conscientious objectors” because of drone strikes.
After another question, in which Van Jones’ talked about our nation’s changing demographics, and how wealthy white liberals vote out of their self interests as much as poor working class men, but we call the conservative low-income person ‘stupid’, the lunch keynote wrapped up and we had another inspirational speech by one of the best progressive minds in the nation.