In the wake of Senator Sam Hunt's retirement, State Representative Jessica Bateman has decided to run for the upper chamber with his endorsement, while Olympia City Councilmember Lisa Parshley will seek Bateman's seat.
Jessica Bateman, Lisa Parshley ready to provide orderly succession in 22nd LD is a post from NPI's Cascadia Advocate, the journal of the Northwest Progressive Institute. Published continuously since March of 2004, NPI's Cascadia Advocate provides thoughtful commentary and analysis on regional, national, and world politics. Keep The Cascadia Advocate going by making a contribution to sustain NPI's research and advocacy here.
]]>Last month, Senator Sam Hunt (D‑22nd Legislative District: Olympia) announced that he would not be seeking reelection to the Washington State Senate this year, creating an open seat in a reliably blue district.
When senators retire, it’s very common for one of their counterparts in the House of Representatives to move across the rotunda.
Of Hunt’s two counterparts, Representative Jessica Bateman has decided to run for the Senate, with her seatmate Beth Doglio telling McClatchy’s Shauna Sowersby she’s happy in the House and plans to stay there.
Bateman wrote in a statement that she is “excited about the opportunity” to work with lawmakers in the other chamber of the Washington Legislature.
Bateman has Senator Hunt’s endorsement. In a statement, Hunt wrote, “As an Olympia Council member, 22nd District representative and community leader, Jessica has demonstrated a keen awareness of the needs of our communities and been effective at getting results that move us all forward. She has my full support to represent the district as our next State Senator.”
In an interview with the Northwest Progressive Institute, Bateman stressed her longstanding relationship with Senator Hunt. “When I eventually ran for city council, he was the second person that endorsed me,” Bateman said. “So I have a long, very familiar, and very positive working relationship with him.”
Bateman sees Hunt as a mentor, and although she acknowledges they have different legislative priorities, Bateman wants to honor Hunt’s commitment to public service and hopes to learn from his leadership style.
“In addition to being an effective legislator, he’s known for being kind of an incredible human and really working well with people and being really likable, and I think that that really helps when it comes to getting legislation passed and being effective,” Bateman said. “And that’s something I definitely hope to emulate.”
Bateman is also endorsed by United States Representative Marilyn Strickland, whose congressional district encompasses Washington’s 22nd, as well as Washington Lieutenant Governor Denny Heck. Both highlighted Bateman’s work on housing policy and reproductive care in their endorsements.
As a representative, Bateman has focused primarily on housing and homelessness policy. “We absolutely have to have affordable housing for all Washingtonians.” Bateman said. “It’s the largest line item in any family’s budget, and young people need to be able to see a future in the communities where they are.”
Bateman is well known for having sponsored legislation to ease the creation of missing middle housing – House Bill 1110.
Bateman collaborated with Senators Trudeau, Kuderer, and Saldaña on HB 1110, and she hopes to continue these relationships if she is elected to the Senate this fall. The bill passed with broad bipartisan support last year.
Bateman currently chairs the Health Care and Wellness Committee, and in addition to House Bill 1110, Bateman’s campaign website promotes her work on removing barriers to build tiny homes and securing a $1.2 billion budget carveout to address the housing crisis statewide. Previously, as a city council member, Bateman worked to designate Olympia as a sanctuary city to shelter migrants.
During Bateman’s time as a state representative, the House transitioned away from having bifurcated committees to address housing: the Local Government Committee wrote zoning laws while a separate committee focused on homelessness and rent policy. Bateman currently serves on the newly combined Housing Committee.
Bateman told NPI she credits many of the recent housing bills passed in the House to having a single committee to address both zoning laws and homelessness. In what she describes as “the year of housing,” the Housing Committee was able to pass a number of stalled bills. Bateman said of this success: “I think a big part of that was because legislators were hearing all of the holistic, the problem and the solution in that one committee.”
With two committees, Bateman believes legislators on the committee that hears zoning policy are unlikely to make ostensibly unpopular changes to land use because they don’t hear from constituents that can’t afford rent or have aspirations of home ownership.
In the Senate, Bateman sees the possibility of assisting with another restructuring to merge the bifurcated committees into a single Housing Committee.
She also hopes to serve on the Health and Wellness Committee, continuing to work on legislation she helped pass in her current position.
Meanwhile, Bateman has endorsed Dr. Lisa Parshley, who is a current Olympia Council Member, to succeed her in the House.
Additional endorsements for Dr. Parshley’s campaign came from current and former Olympia Mayors Dontae Payne and Cheryl Shelby, as well as local leaders from Thurston County’s largest communities.
“On the Olympia City Council, I’ve applied my perspective as a veterinarian, scientist, and small business owner to analyze complex problems and promote the health and well-being of our communities,” Parshley said in her campaign announcement. “In the State Legislature, I will continue to lead on building healthy communities rooted in our shared values of equity, opportunity, and safety for every 22nd LD neighbor and beyond.”
Like Bateman, Dr. Parshley says she’ll provide a legislative focus on tackling homelessness and affordable housing. As a city council member, Dr. Parshley helped develop Thurston County’s first Human Rights Commission and extend Olympia’s sanctuary city status to include reproductive rights and healthcare.
In an email exchange with NPI, Parshley identified four major areas of focus, all of which have been declared emergencies during her six years on city council: homelessness, the opioid crisis, racism, and climate change. Parshley highlighted her work in collaboration with other city council jurisdictions to address these issues, and Parshley feels motivated to take the next step by running for House.
“I want to take all that I have learned in the last six plus years, working on the front line of so many intersecting issues facing our communities, to the legislature where I can better impact and reduce the barriers to the work of so many communities in Washington,” Parshley wrote, laying the foundation for her campaign for the seat that Bateman has held for the last few years.
In his retirement letter, Senator Hunt remarked, “It is time for someone else to climb in the saddle.” Democrats are now seeking to establish a clear and orderly line of succession, allowing resources and attention to flow to other districts where the party has opportunities to grow its majorities.
Jessica Bateman, Lisa Parshley ready to provide orderly succession in 22nd LD is a post from NPI's Cascadia Advocate, the journal of the Northwest Progressive Institute. Published continuously since March of 2004, NPI's Cascadia Advocate provides thoughtful commentary and analysis on regional, national, and world politics. Keep The Cascadia Advocate going by making a contribution to sustain NPI's research and advocacy here.
]]>A sizeable chunk of the the electorate found ways to register dissatisfaction with their 2024 choices, particularly on the GOP side, with Trump’s nearly-decade long takeover of the Republican Party.
Despite having withdrawn, Nikki Haley still garnered over 20% of the early vote in Washington’s Republican presidential primary is a post from NPI's Cascadia Advocate, the journal of the Northwest Progressive Institute. Published continuously since March of 2004, NPI's Cascadia Advocate provides thoughtful commentary and analysis on regional, national, and world politics. Keep The Cascadia Advocate going by making a contribution to sustain NPI's research and advocacy here.
]]>Washington voters used the state’s low-intensity presidential primary to help put both Joe Biden and Donald Trump over the top with majorities needed for their party nominations last night. But a sizeable chunk of the the electorate found ways to register dissatisfaction with their 2024 choices, particularly on the GOP side, with Trump’s nearly-decade long takeover of the Republican Party.
A quarter those voting in the Republican primary cast ballots for candidates who’ve already dropped out of the race. Nikki Haley was topping 20% of the statewide vote, with more than a third in populous King County’s early count. She was over 30% in San Juan and Jefferson Counties.
Joe Biden was better off. The President was receiving 85.68% of ballots counted from those voting in the Democratic primary.
A late preelection protest had urged voters to pick “Uncommitted Delegates” as a protest against Biden’s support for Israel as it continues to bomb Gaza.
From the Columbia Plateau to the Pacific Ocean, however, the Biden votes were piling up. “Uncommitted” was getting only 7.6% of the vote and barely topping 10% in King County. “Uncommitted” was the choice of 5% of Democratic voters in Spokane and Clark counties, and running below 4% in blue-collar Grays Harbor County, an area of Washington that has become increasingly Republican.
The results confirm a longstanding Washington tradition, summed up by a venerable slogan: The empty drum bangs loudest.
Champions of the Palestinian cause can put demonstrators on I‑5, but they aren’t mustering the votes to meet the Democratic Party’s threshold for receiving so much as one delegate. Protesters march through the streets chanting, “The people, united, will never be defeated”. But when ballots are mailed in, they lose.
The state has Democratic traditions, though it has often shunned insurgent Democratic candidates. Years ago, future party chair Howard Dean drew 8,000 people to a summer rally in Westlake Park. He was clobbered half-a-year later by Senator John Kerry in the state’s 2004 precinct caucuses. A Dean backer, U.S. Representative Jim McDermott, was outvoted in his home precinct.
Senator Bernie Sanders filled arenas with cheering supporters and dominated the state’s 2016 caucuses. However, Hillary Clinton received a greater number of votes in the meaningless Democratic primary that Washington State held several weeks later. In 2020, days after a big Sanders rally at the Tacoma Dome, Joe Biden won our presidential primary, having spent all of $600 in the state.
The anti-Trump vote does not bode well for the Republicans’ fall ticket in Washington State. Ex-United States Representative Dave Reichert is no friend of “the Donald”, but faces the drag of Trump atop the ticket. In 2020, Trump managed to lose King County by a margin of almost half a million voters.
A far-right ultra MAGA Republican, Joe Kent, seems headed for a rematch with Democratic Representative Marie Gluesemkamp Perez in Southwest Washington’s 3rd Congressional District. In Clark County, the district’s main population center, a quarter of Republican votes were going against Trump.
We have nearly eight months until the November election, but Tuesday night produced a couple of trends. Despite complaints, a great many Democratic voters like Biden. And while Nikki Haley didn’t beat Donald Trump, her performance suggests there could be more cracks in Trump’s electoral coalition than in Biden’s.
Despite having withdrawn, Nikki Haley still garnered over 20% of the early vote in Washington’s Republican presidential primary is a post from NPI's Cascadia Advocate, the journal of the Northwest Progressive Institute. Published continuously since March of 2004, NPI's Cascadia Advocate provides thoughtful commentary and analysis on regional, national, and world politics. Keep The Cascadia Advocate going by making a contribution to sustain NPI's research and advocacy here.
]]>With 1,254,074 total ballots counted so far, the two presumptive nominees -- our incumbent president and his neofascist predecessor -- have each cruised to victory, vanquishing their withdrawn opponents without any difficulty.
As expected, Joe Biden and Donald Trump cruise in Washington presidential primary is a post from NPI's Cascadia Advocate, the journal of the Northwest Progressive Institute. Published continuously since March of 2004, NPI's Cascadia Advocate provides thoughtful commentary and analysis on regional, national, and world politics. Keep The Cascadia Advocate going by making a contribution to sustain NPI's research and advocacy here.
]]>Joe Biden and Donald Trump have prevailed in Washington’s 2024 presidential primary, bringing the allocation phase of the Evergreen State’s major party caucus and convention cycles to an anticlimactic conclusion.
With 1,254,074 total ballots counted so far, the two presumptive nominees — our incumbent president and his neofascist predecessor — have each cruised to victory, vanquishing their withdrawn opponents without any difficulty.
Biden had 85.68% of the Democratic vote as of press time, with Dean Phillips and Marianne Williamson in the single digits, at 3.04% and 2.65%, respectively. “Uncommitted delegates” had the support of 7.44% of Democratic voters, well short of the Democratic Party’s fifteen percent viability threshold, making it unlikely that Washington will send any uncommitted delegates to the 2024 Democratic National Convention, as is the case in Michigan.
Donald Trump had 73.79% of the Republican vote, dwarfing Nikki Haley, who had 21.6% as of Election Night. Ron DeSantis received 2.17%, Chris Christie 1.06%, and Vivek Ramaswamy received 0.86%. These results are in line with what NPI’s polling suggested could happen. Last month, in a survey of Republican presidential primary voters conducted for NPI by Civiqs, we found Trump polling in the seventies, with his rivals all in the single digits.
As we suspected she might, Haley is outperforming the poll, in which she only mustered 8%. Haley appears to have reeled in undecided voters and also received the support of some folks who were originally for Ron DeSantis. But, sadly for American democracy and the future of the party, Trump is still defeating her by a more than 3‑to‑1 margin. Even here in the Evergreen State, where progressive Republicans like Dan Evans and John Spellman once governed, Republican voters are committed to Trump — an insurrectionist and sexual predator.
Though Republicans were once electorally dominant in Washington, the state has not voted for a Republican for President since 1984. Republicans haven’t won a U.S. Senate race since 1994 or a gubernatorial race since 1980, either.
Democrats presently hold every position in the state’s executive department and hope to continue their winning streak in the coming presidential election.
“Thank you to every voter who participated in the presidential primary process,” said Washington State Democratic Party Chair Shasti Conrad.
“Tonight’s result demonstrates the overwhelming support in our state for President Biden and Vice President Harris’ vision for America. An America where we lift each other up, defend our hard won civil rights, and commit ourselves to a Democratic future that respects the rule of law.”
“President Biden has already garnered more than 100,000 votes over Donald Trump in Washington state and we expect that lead to only grow over the coming weeks. President Biden’s State of the Union laid out what’s at stake in this election. This is a battle for the soul of our nation and we are full steam ahead towards November and Democratic victories up and down the ballot.”
Donald Trump ordinarily takes little notice of Washington State. But tonight he is, because thanks to the loyalty of Republican voters here, he has clinched the Republican presidential nomination. “It is my great honor to be representing the Republican Party as its Presidential Nominee,” Trump said. He then hurled several sentences of invective at President Joe Biden, who he despises.
As expected, Joe Biden and Donald Trump cruise in Washington presidential primary is a post from NPI's Cascadia Advocate, the journal of the Northwest Progressive Institute. Published continuously since March of 2004, NPI's Cascadia Advocate provides thoughtful commentary and analysis on regional, national, and world politics. Keep The Cascadia Advocate going by making a contribution to sustain NPI's research and advocacy here.
]]>Biden's renomination is now effectively assured, though it has not been in doubt given that he had no credible opposition from other Democrats.
Joe Biden clinches the 2024 Democratic nomination for President of the United States is a post from NPI's Cascadia Advocate, the journal of the Northwest Progressive Institute. Published continuously since March of 2004, NPI's Cascadia Advocate provides thoughtful commentary and analysis on regional, national, and world politics. Keep The Cascadia Advocate going by making a contribution to sustain NPI's research and advocacy here.
]]>Incumbent U.S. President Joe Biden has secured enough national convention delegates to clinch the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination, observers noted today. Biden’s renomination is now effectively assured, though it has not been in doubt given that he had no credible opposition from other Democrats.
The Biden-Harris campaign and the Democratic Party both celebrated the news.
“Four years ago, I ran for president because I believed we were in a battle for the soul of this nation,” said President Joe Biden. “Because of the American people, we won that battle, and now I am honored that the broad coalition of voters representing the rich diversity of the Democratic Party across the country have put their faith in me once again to lead our party – and our country – in a moment when the threat Trump poses is greater than ever.”
“Since delivering the State of the Union address, I have been traveling the country hearing directly from voters about what’s on their minds. The American people are working tirelessly every single day toward a brighter future. Despite the challenges we faced when I took office, we’re in the middle of a comeback: wages are rising faster than inflation, jobs are coming back, consumer confidence has soared.”
“Amid this progress, we face a sobering reality: Freedom and democracy are at risk here at home in a way they have not been since the Civil War.”
“Donald Trump is running a campaign of resentment, revenge, and retribution that threatens the very idea of America. He is glorifying dictators and pledging to become one himself on day one. He seeks to bury the truth of January 6 by vowing to pardon the insurrectionists who placed a dagger at the throat of American democracy. This week, he vowed to cut seniors’ hard-earned Medicare and Social Security. He’s rooting for the economy to crash, pushing tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy, and planning to ban abortion nationwide.
“Voters now have a choice to make about the future of this country. Are we going to stand up and defend our democracy or let others tear it down? Will we restore the right to choose and protect our freedoms or let extremists take them away?”
“Will we finally make the wealthy pay their fair share in taxes – or will we allow corporate greed to run rampant on the backs of the middle class? I believe that the American people will choose to keep us moving into the future. With every crisis, America has always emerged stronger and more united on the other side. This November will be no different – and I believe we will do it together.”
“From the start, the President and I never took this re-nomination process for granted,” said Vice President Kamala Harris in a statement. “We have campaigned in earnest because we know doing so is an important step towards earning reelection and will help us mobilize the voters we need in November.”
“Now, the general election truly begins, and the contrast could not be clearer. Donald Trump is a threat to our democracy and our fundamental freedoms. He is proud of his role in overturning Roe, and has talked openly about plans for a nationwide abortion ban. He routinely praises authoritarian leaders and has himself vowed to be a dictator on Day One.”
“Just this week, he said that cuts to Social Security and Medicare would be on the table if he receives a second term. Each of these stances ought to be considered disqualifying by itself; taken together, they reveal the former President to be an existential danger to our country.”
“With his State of the Union speech last week, President Biden passionately presented our alternative vision. We will reduce costs for families, make housing more affordable, and raise the minimum wage. We will restore Roe, protect voting rights, and finally address our gun violence epidemic. The American people overwhelmingly support this agenda over Donald Trump’s extreme ideas, and that will propel our campaign in the months ahead.”
“This year, as we brought voices of voters of color to the forefront and embarked on the most inclusive Democratic primary in history, Democrats across the country – from South Carolina to Nevada, from Michigan to Georgia – have overwhelmingly chosen President Joe Biden to be our party’s presumptive nominee.
“Four years ago, President Biden ran on the values that bring us together as Americans: honesty, decency, and fairness,” said DNC Chair Jaime Harrison.
“While President Biden and Democrats have made historic progress in this first term by helping create 15 million jobs, taking on Big Pharma and lowering prescription drug costs, and rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure, there is more work to be done. Make no mistake: this year’s election will decide the future of our democracy. Donald Trump is running a campaign focused on revenge, retribution, and his own self-interest. President Biden is running a campaign focused on what makes our country so great: the American people.”
“President Biden understands that our freedoms, our democracy, and the very future of our country are at stake – and once again, he will meet this moment and bring Democrats together this November.”
“As we move forward in this primary season and set our sights towards the Democratic National Convention this summer, we are enormously proud of the work we have done to lift up the voices of voters who have been too often left behind, and look forward to our convention in Chicago where we will officially nominate Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as our nominees for President and Vice President of the United States. Let’s finish the job.”
“America spoke, and today, Joe Biden has become the presumptive Democratic nominee for President of the United States. We have arrived at this moment because millions of Americans made their voices heard, choosing Joe Biden’s vision of freedom and progress for all Americans.
“As voters across the country continue to put their faith in the Biden-Harris ticket throughout the primary, we are now looking ahead to the next step in our democratic process and preparing a convention in Chicago where President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Democrats will have the opportunity to tell our story directly to the American people,” explained convention chair Minyon Moore.
“We will tell a story of the historic Biden-Harris record: creating good-paying jobs, lowering costs, passing bipartisan bills, and delivering for the middle class. We will tell a story about the stakes of this next election and how Democrats plan to keep making America a place of progress and possibilities. As we face another battle for the soul of our nation, we encourage every American to tune in to the Democratic National Convention this summer to celebrate the Biden-Harris ticket and rally around Democrats’ vision of a free and fair America.”
Many states still have nominating events to hold in the meantime, including Oregon and Idaho, which will allocate their delegates this spring. Washington’s presidential primary concludes tonight after a three-week voting period.
Joe Biden clinches the 2024 Democratic nomination for President of the United States is a post from NPI's Cascadia Advocate, the journal of the Northwest Progressive Institute. Published continuously since March of 2004, NPI's Cascadia Advocate provides thoughtful commentary and analysis on regional, national, and world politics. Keep The Cascadia Advocate going by making a contribution to sustain NPI's research and advocacy here.
]]>Despite the January 6th insurrection, despite Trump's invitation to Russia to do whatever it wants to America's allies, despite the court judgments affirming that he is a fraudster and liar, Mitch McConnell is endorsing Donald Trump. Again.
Cult above country: Mitch McConnell again bends the knee to Donald Trump is a post from NPI's Cascadia Advocate, the journal of the Northwest Progressive Institute. Published continuously since March of 2004, NPI's Cascadia Advocate provides thoughtful commentary and analysis on regional, national, and world politics. Keep The Cascadia Advocate going by making a contribution to sustain NPI's research and advocacy here.
]]>Donald Trump is renowned for unpaid legal bills and stiffing contractors. But he has taken on his own kind, referring to influential Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell a “broken down crow” and a “dumb son-of-a-bitch.”
McConnell is not dumb. He is the longest serving party leader in U.S. Senate history, has represented Kentucky in the Senate for forty years, and responsible for confirming three Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade.
McConnell, eighty-two, is giving up his leadership duties at year’s end but will stay in the Senate, with his current term due to end in January 2027. Donald Trump cost Republicans their Senate majority in 2020 — the Democrats flipped both Georgia seats. The Republicans, burdened by the Supreme Court’s abortion decision, failed to regain control in 2022 despite many “red wave” predictions.
Yet, despite the ridicule he’s received — and the fact that he privately detests Trump — McConnell has stayed with Biden’s predecessor. He has not only endorsed Trump’s comeback bid, but can be described as Trump’s enabler.
McConnell was there for Trump when the House of Representatives in 2019 passed its first impeachment resolution. He moved to shut down the Senate trial almost before it began and defended Trump, saying: “I’m not an impartial juror. ”This is a political process. There’s not anything judicial about it.”
The Senate Republicans leadership, in McConnell’s words, was in “total coordination with the White House counsel’s office.”
In the fall of 2020, as Americans prepared to elect their President, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg breathed her last. After the death of Justice Antonin “Nino” Scalia, McConnell had refused to so much as hold a hearing on President Obama’s nomination of federal appellate judge (now Attorney General) Merrick Garland to fill Nino’s seat. The seat was held vacant as political catnip for evangelical voters being wooed by Donald Trump’s campaign.
In 2020, however, with Republicans still holding a 52–48 majority, McConnell rushed through confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett in just over a month’s time It gave Trump his third Supreme Court appointment and a two-to-one right majority on the high court. A lavish reception in the White House Rose Garden sent numerous celebrants away with the virus that causes COVID-19.
Remaking the federal courts was Trump’s signature selling point in lining up religious right support. The court has taken into itself quasi-legislative duties and disdained precedent, acting to end affirmative action in college emissions, rolling back federal authority under the Clean Water Act and gutting a key provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act signed into law by President Lyndon Baines Johnson.
McConnell had an opportunity to play statesman.
An institutionalist, he was visibly outraged and shaken at the Trump-incited January 6th insurrection. The senator’s wife, Elaine Chao, quit her job as U.S. Secretary of Transportation in wake of the insurrection.
McConnell took to the Senate floor, and for once was not droning and boring. “There is no question, none, that President Trump is practically, and morally, responsible for promoting the events of that day,” he told colleagues and the country. He added later: “I feel exhilarated by the fact that this fellow (Trump) finally, totally discredited himself… He put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger.”
But McConnell stayed his trigger finger. The House voted to impeach the departing President. The Senate voted 57–43 to convict: Seven GOP senators voted Yeah. McConnell could have furnished the additional ten votes.
The result: The chance to rid American politics of Trump was lost. Trump can run again, and once more endanger the Republic.
What is more, McConnell has endorsed him… this a man who accurately described the events of January 6th, 2021 as a “failed insurrection.”
A part of it is partisan. McConnell voted to convict President Clinton. He played the role of chief obstructionist during most of Barack Obama’s two terms om tje White House, telling Republican colleagues: “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.”
All the while, Trump has kept banging away. He has gone over the boundaries of racism, mocking McConnell’s Asian American wife as “Coco Chao.” “I hired his wife,” Trump said of her Cabinet appointment, “Did he ever say, ‘Thank you?’”
Later this year, likely, colleagues will line up on the Senate floor to deliver McConnell tributes. It’s an old boy ritual. It will, however, ring hollow. When it comes to defending our Constitution, and preserving government by the people, Mitch McConnell has shown he is a man who could hide in a field of stubble.
Cult above country: Mitch McConnell again bends the knee to Donald Trump is a post from NPI's Cascadia Advocate, the journal of the Northwest Progressive Institute. Published continuously since March of 2004, NPI's Cascadia Advocate provides thoughtful commentary and analysis on regional, national, and world politics. Keep The Cascadia Advocate going by making a contribution to sustain NPI's research and advocacy here.
]]>Read NPI's review of Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America, by Heather Cox Richardson.
Book Review: Democracy Awakening explores how elites have subverted American ideals is a post from NPI's Cascadia Advocate, the journal of the Northwest Progressive Institute. Published continuously since March of 2004, NPI's Cascadia Advocate provides thoughtful commentary and analysis on regional, national, and world politics. Keep The Cascadia Advocate going by making a contribution to sustain NPI's research and advocacy here.
]]>How, author and historian Heather Cox Richardson asks, did we get where we are now, with millions of Americans fearing democracy and socialism as fundamental threats to the world’s biggest republic, and an equal if not larger number convinced the danger lies in the appeal of authoritarianism?
The answer, Richardson writes in Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America, is to be found in what Americans have been taught about this nation’s history. According to Democracy Awakening, there are two principal understandings of our nation’s origins and subsequent development: the “authoritarian” and the “democratic.” Which of these we accept as true largely determines our reactions to current events today.
Richardson approaches her subject from a progressive perspective. The key to the rise of authoritarianism in the United States, she writes, lies in the “use of language and false history”; a “strongman warps history to galvanize his base.” “This is a book,” Richardson continues, “about how a small group of people have tried to make us believe our fundamental principles aren’t true.”
She states that the fall of democracy and the rise of authoritarianism in the United States today rests on a mistaken history of the United States. According to Democracy Awakening, historical ideas play a major causative role in explaining the rise of Donald Trump and all his movement represents.
These two competing origin histories of the United States, according to Richardson, derive their fundamental principles from different founding documents.
The “democratic” view of American history rests on the principles stated in the Declaration of Independence. This nation was created, the Declaration proclaims, to “dissolve political bands” with the King of England’s tyrannical government, a government that taxed the colonists without allowing them representation.
Richardson emphasizes, as well, the Declaration’s inclusive language: the “self-evident truths” that “…all men are created equal, they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness ….” This, according to the “democratic” origin history, has always been the fundamental nature and purpose of the United States, no matter how imperfectly carried out over the centuries.
According to the “democratic” origin history, then, the principal reasons for the Revolutionary War and the creation of the United States as a nation were, first, to secure the rights of individuals, and second, to protect them from tyranny. The government’s authority is derived from the consent of the governed.
In contrast, the “authoritarian” explanation for why the United States was created rests not the Declaration of Independence, but the United States Constitution.
This argument begins with an explanation of why the Constitutional Convention of 1787 was called. The first national government for the new United States was the Articles of Confederation (1781). Reacting to the “tyranny” of the British government, the national government under the Articles was purposely granted limited powers. It proved too weak, however, to be effective.
Shays’ Rebellion (1786), an armed, violent uprising of outraged farmers in Massachusetts, raised concerns among powerful and wealthy patriot leaders throughout the newly independent United States.
They feared anarchy and the break-down of public order; the weak central government under the Articles was unable to cope with this danger.
Citing this history, Richardson sees the United States Constitution as an “authoritarian” document. It was created out of fear of riots, rebellion, mobs, and masses by those in positions of power. This “origin story” understands the original purpose of government in the United States to be protection from the mass will – from the “mass” of people in general.
Democracy Awakening discusses in some detail provisions of the original Constitution designed to ensure power remained with elites, rather than the majority of the people.
For example, the Framers gave the Electoral College the responsibility of choosing the President, instead of having the position chosen by popular vote.
For the upper chamber of Congress (the Senate), each state, whatever its population of physical size, was granted two Senators.
For the lower House, districts for each House member were to be of roughly equal size. This limited the representation of cities, with their larger, more concentrated populations. Richardson also emphasizes that the Constitution recognized and codified slavery, and the “inferiority” of Blacks (especially after the infamous Dred Scott Supreme Court decision of 1857).
The “authoritarian” view of the origins of the United Sates (according to Democracy Awakening) is that the United States always has been authoritarian, elitist, classist, and racist. Shortly after independence, a government strong enough to maintain stability and order was instituted.
Most of the text of Democracy Awakening is devoted to a broad history of the United States from the Revolution through the rise of Donald Trump and the attack on the Capitol in January 2021. It is a readable history, consistently oriented to elaborating events, movements, and ideas that forwarded either the “authoritarian” or the “democratic” story of the nation’s true purpose and origins.
For those familiar with Heather Cox Richardson’s other writings, or, more generally, with the overall traditional textbook accounts of the United States, there is little in Democracy Awakening that is new.
On the other hand, if Professor Richardson’s perspectives are novel to you, reading Democracy Awakening could be revealing. Her well-developed historical generalizations offer striking perspectives on the history of the United States.
Historical generalizations may open our eyes to new ways of viewing our past. This, in turn, may clarify what is happening in our own lives.
That is the primary intention of Democracy Awakening.
In the final analysis, however, the value of historical generalizations must rest on the extent to which they are accurate historically.
All large-scale generalizations have exceptions; the world is too complex (as are each of us) to expect otherwise. The question is: Are the exceptions sufficient to invalidate the usefulness of the generalizations?
The exceptions to the overall thesis of Democracy Awakening are numerous.
For example, the Declaration of Independence does declare “all men” are created equal and therefore enjoy certain inalienable rights. In the late eighteenth century, however, those words carried a different meaning than they do today.
The authors of the Declaration assumed as obvious that most of the population was not included under the rubric “all men.”
The most prominent author of the Declaration, Thomas Jefferson, was a slaveholder who believed firmly that Blacks were inherently inferior.
In addition, women — all women, poor and wealthy, white or Black — Native Americans, tradespeople, and certain religious groups were all excluded in the authors’ minds. (Richardson is certainly aware of this reality; in later chapters of Democracy Awakening, she discusses it in some detail.)
In the 20th century, Teddy Roosevelt, and the Progressive Movement, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and the New Deal, are described as prime examples of the expansion of the national government’s democratic responsibilities. Antitrust legislation under Teddy, Social Security, and support for Labor in the New Deal. are included as examples.
However, it’s also important to note — and historically accurate — that both Presidents Teddy Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt held racist view. The New Deal often excluded Blacks from its programs; FDR’s administration also refused entry to the United States to Jewish refugees during World War II. (The United States armed forces were not desegregated until after World War II.)
Another noteworthy example of our nation’s nuanced history is the right wing Republican President Richard Nixon. Nixon and his staff were pioneers in developing a racist “southern strategy” to persuade Democratic, white voters to vote Republican. His campaign utilized racist tropes extensively.
However, Nixon, this exemplar of the “authoritarian,” elitist, racist view of our country’s identity, went further than any other president, before or since, in his advocacy for a government run national medical service – a hated system often described as “socialism” by its conservative opponents today.
Heather Cox Richardson is certainly aware of these (and many other) complexities and contradictions in our nation’s history. However, Democracy Awakening does not deem them sufficient to invalidate its historical generalizations.
Broad generalizations may open our eyes to new ways of viewing the nation’s past. This, in turn, may clarify what is happening in our own lives. That is the primary intention of Democracy Awakening. In the final analysis, however, as noted above, the usefulness of historical generalizations must rest on the extent to which they are accurate historically. I encourage readers of Democracy Awakening to note its subtitle, Notes on the State of America.
Book Review: Democracy Awakening explores how elites have subverted American ideals is a post from NPI's Cascadia Advocate, the journal of the Northwest Progressive Institute. Published continuously since March of 2004, NPI's Cascadia Advocate provides thoughtful commentary and analysis on regional, national, and world politics. Keep The Cascadia Advocate going by making a contribution to sustain NPI's research and advocacy here.
]]>The long overdue reforms, which our team at NPI urged the office to adopt through its rulemaking process, consist of an increase in the filing fee from five dollars to $156, the indexing of the filing fee to inflation going forward, and the use of a partly randomized string of numbers to classify initiatives.
Initiative reform takes a leap forward in Washington thanks to Secretary Steve Hobbs is a post from NPI's Cascadia Advocate, the journal of the Northwest Progressive Institute. Published continuously since March of 2004, NPI's Cascadia Advocate provides thoughtful commentary and analysis on regional, national, and world politics. Keep The Cascadia Advocate going by making a contribution to sustain NPI's research and advocacy here.
]]>Effective tomorrow, new measures will begin rolling out to combat abuse of the initiative and referendum process in Washington State, including the longstanding practice of ballot title shopping, Secretary of State Steve Hobbs’ office announced today. The long overdue reforms, which our team at NPI urged the office to adopt through its rulemaking process, consist of an increase in the filing fee from five dollars to $156, the indexing of the filing fee to inflation going forward, and the use of a partly randomized string of numbers to classify initiatives.
NPI has for years called for the initiative filing fee to be increased to ensure that those who want to go shopping for a ballot title they like are required to pay more of the costs borne by the Secretary of State, Code Reviser, and Attorney General’s offices in processing the filings. Now that’s finally happening.
“The fee has remained static for more than a century, despite inflation,” noted a news release issued by Hobbs’ communications team. “In 1912, voters approved Amendment 7 of the Washington State Constitution to create the ability to file initiatives and referenda, starting in 1913. That year, the filing fee was set at $5 to mirror contemporaneous state filing costs. At that time, averaged $3,500, a gallon of milk was around 35 cents, and movie tickets were 7 cents. The change indexes the filing fees for initiatives and referenda to the modern equivalent of $5 in 1913, using U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics valuation, and ensures that annual review and adjustment will keep the relative value current.”
In January of 2013, we made an almost identical point in a statement released through our Permanent Defense project. Here’s an excerpt:
In those days, five dollars went a lot further than it does now. In fact, in 1914, the first year that initiatives appeared on Washington’s ballot, it cost about $117.23 to file an initiative… in 2013 dollars.
So why does it only cost $5 today? The filing fee hasn’t been updated to keep up with inflation, let alone cover the true costs of filing an initiative or a referendum.
Ten years later, Secretary Steve Hobbs answered the call and instigated work on new rules to modernize the filing fee. Summarizing that work today, Hobbs said: “This overdue adjustment recognizes the reality of inflation on cost structures universally. The expenses generated in multiple state agencies for processing each and every filing of a potential ballot measure are not what they used to be in 1913, and our fee structure must reflect that.”
The old fee of $5 will remain in place for initiatives to the people and for referenda for a little while longer instead of suddenly going up midway through filing season. But for initiatives to the 2025 Legislature, the fee will be $156, effective tomorrow. That’s when filing for those measures begins this year.
So, if Washington State Republican Party Chair Jim Walsh wants to go ballot title shopping for another slate of initiatives, he can — but it’ll cost him and his megadonor Brian Heywood a tidy sum. For context, Walsh filed sixty-nine initiatives to the Legislature last year, which cost him a mere $345 for the lot.
Most of the sixty-nine Walsh initiatives were various iterations of each of the “Let’s Go Washington” measures that Heywood subsequently ponied up funding to qualify to the 2024 Legislature. Heywood and Walsh picked six of the sixty-nine to run signature drives for. The other sixty-three initiatives were not pursued.
If Walsh wants to go ballot title shopping again this year, he’d have to pay $10,764 in filing fees to cover the costs for processing sixty-nine initiatives.
Walsh did not pioneer the ballot title shopping game… it’s an oldie. Its chief practitioner for years was his buddy Tim Eyman, who used to be in the business of qualifying destructive, deceptively worded initiatives to the ballot every year. For well over a decade, Eyman would waste our tax dollars by filing zillions of drafts of initiatives that he had no intention of actually circulating signatures for to try to coax ballot titles of his liking out of the Attorney General’s office.
Hobbs’ office did not mention Eyman by name in today’s announcement, but did allude to him when describing the waste that his activities resulted in.
“From 1912 to 2024, the Office of the Secretary of State received 1,825 filings for Initiatives to the People or Initiatives to the Legislature. More than 60% of those filings were since the year 2000. In 2022, 121 initiatives were filed; two people submitted 61% of that total. Each submitted initiative and referendum must be reviewed and processed by elections staff of the Office of the Secretary of State, as well as the Attorney General’s office and the state Code Reviser.”
“The participatory democracy of filing ballot measures is an important facet of our state government’s structure, but keeping the fee artificially low has problematic ripple effects,” Hobbs observed. “Many more ballot measures are filed now and never seriously pursued. The outdated fee structure may have made that a low-cost exercise for the filers. At the same time, receiving hundreds of filings that don’t cover their own costs has driven government expenses upward.”
Hobbs’ office is also instituting a new numbering scheme for initiatives. With the new rules, initiatives will have a calendar-based prefix, followed by a random string of numbers. That will make it impossible to file a batch of initiatives with the hope of getting a particular number assigned to one of the batch — another game that Eyman used to play back when his initiative factory was active.
For referenda, sequential numbering will continue to be used.
The new system is as follows:
To give you an idea of how much the volume of filings has increased, here’s a rundown of which numbers were in use for initiatives to the people at the beginning of each annual filing period, in four year increments going back to 1996:
From 1996–2000, the number of measures that got an assigned number was in the fifties. From 2020–2024, the number of measures that got an assigned number was nearly three hundred and fifty. And of those nearly three hundred and fifty measures, zero qualified for the ballot. That’s right: Zero. Voters did not consider any statewide initiatives at all in 2020, 2021, 2022, or 2023.
Our team congratulates Secretary Hobbs on this important milestone for initiative reform. These new rules are a great sequel to the law that we championed two years ago requiring fiscal impact disclosures for measures that raise or lower state revenue — a law that is wildly popular with Washington State voters — and last year’s law permanently abolishing Tim Eyman’s wasteful push polls.
In partnership with our elected representatives, NPI is securing an end to the waste, fraud, and abuse that took place during the Eyman error. The people’s initiative, referendum, and recall powers are sacred, and must be respected. The laws and rules we’ve been working to get adopted will help ensure that they are. And we’re not done: there are more worthy changes in our pipeline of initiative reforms that we’ll be working to bring to fruition in the 2025 session and beyond.
Initiative reform takes a leap forward in Washington thanks to Secretary Steve Hobbs is a post from NPI's Cascadia Advocate, the journal of the Northwest Progressive Institute. Published continuously since March of 2004, NPI's Cascadia Advocate provides thoughtful commentary and analysis on regional, national, and world politics. Keep The Cascadia Advocate going by making a contribution to sustain NPI's research and advocacy here.
]]>The President spoke with deep conviction and from the heart. He fiercely and passionately defended the values that most Americans hold dear. He laid out his accomplishments, vision, and proposed policy directions very effectively.
The best lines from President Biden’s incredible 2024 State of the Union address is a post from NPI's Cascadia Advocate, the journal of the Northwest Progressive Institute. Published continuously since March of 2004, NPI's Cascadia Advocate provides thoughtful commentary and analysis on regional, national, and world politics. Keep The Cascadia Advocate going by making a contribution to sustain NPI's research and advocacy here.
]]>Last night, as NPI contributor Joel Connelly reported here on The Cascadia Advocate, President Joe Biden gave an incredible State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress, making the case that America needs progressive ideas and stalwart leadership in the face of Donald Trump’s assault on our democracy.
Biden’s speech was one of his best, possibly the best he’s ever delivered, despite the occasional mangling of a word and a few coughs. The President spoke with deep conviction and from the heart. He fiercely and passionately defended the values that most Americans hold dear. He laid out his accomplishments, vision, and proposed policy directions very effectively. He refreshingly did not bother to try to pander to Donald Trump’s enablers. Instead, he challenged them, over and over again, to drop their allegiance to Trump and fulfill their oaths of office.
Most Republicans sat in stony silence throughout the speech. Cameras showed them not even bothering to applaud for lines that in the past would have generated a bipartisan roar of approval. Such is Trump’s hold over the faction that used to be the party of Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, and Eisenhower. Some appeared stunned by Biden’s passion and willingness to call out the elephants in the room.
Over and over again, the President invoked the logic of progressive values to pitch an effective agenda for the country’s future, bringing congressional Democrats to their feet and smiles to the faces of countless voters and activists watching at home. Let’s look at some of his best lines and why they worked so well.
BIDEN: [M]y purpose tonight is to wake up the Congress and alert the American people that this is no ordinary moment either. Not since President Lincoln and the Civil War have freedom and democracy been under assault at home as they are today.
Analysis: Biden opened his speech by looking back to two key moments in American history. He first mentioned the challenge FDR faced in the 1930s when fascism was rising around the world and war was imminent. Then, in the excerpt above, he drew a parallel with the fraught days leading up to the Confederate insurrection of the 1860s. He bluntly told the joint session right at the outset of his speech that his purpose in coming to the chamber was to wake up Congress and alert the people of the danger that the United States is facing from the Constitution’s domestic enemies. This gave the speech valuable context.
BIDEN: If the United States walks away, it will put Ukraine at risk. Europe is at risk. The free world will be at risk, emboldening others to do what they wish to do us harm. My message to President Putin, who I’ve known for a long time, is simple: We will not walk away. We will not bow down. I will not bow down.
Analysis: We will not bow down was a great line. It powerfully communicated Biden’s commitment to solidarity and friendship with our allies, especially our fellow NATO members. It rebuked the murderous dictator Vladimir Putin and the evil he represents. And it provided a contrast with Donald Trump, who would serve Putin’s interests and agenda if he were returned to the White House.
BIDEN: My predecessor and some of you here seek to bury the truth about January 6th. I will not do that. This is a moment to speak the truth and to bury the lies. Here’s the simple truth: You can’t love your country only when you win. As I’ve done ever since being elected to office, I ask all of you, without regard to party, to join together and defend democracy. Remember your oath of office to defend against all threats foreign and domestic.
Analysis: Leading by example, President Biden bluntly called out the disgusting attempts to whitewash what happened on January 6th by many Trump enablers who’ve tried to pretend that it was akin to a “normal tourist visit” or that the violent mob of insurrectionists were engaging in “legitimate political discourse.” Biden noted, correctly, that “some of you here seek to bury the truth about January 6th.” He did not name names, but he didn’t need to. The likes of Marjorie Taylor Greene knew he was speaking directly to them. The “remember your oath of office” bit was absolutely fantastic and deeply satisfying to hear.
BIDEN: Look, its decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court majority wrote the following — and with all due respect, Justices — “Women are not without electoral — electoral power” — excuse me — “electoral or political power.” You’re about to realize just how much you were right about that.
Analysis: This line got the attention of a great many observers and speechwatchers, as it was unprecedented for a State of the Union address. But extraordinary times call for extraordinary lines. Addressing the Supreme Court justices sitting in front of him — who tried their very best to remain expressionless — Biden delivered a stinging admonishment of the horrific Dobbs decision. He expressed his view that in the coming election, a large percentage of women voters will take a strong stand for candidates and ballot measures that uphold reproductive rights, defying Samuel Alito and the majority who threw out Roe.
In adjacent parts of the speech, Biden spoke of “reproductive freedom”, sensibly invoking progressive values and avoiding problematic life versus choice framing.
BIDEN: Folks, I inherited an economy that was on the brink. Now, our economy is literally the envy of the world. Fifteen million new jobs in just three years. A record. A record. Unemployment at 50-year lows. A record 16 million Americans are starting small businesses, and each one is a literal act of hope, with historic job growth and small-business growth for Black and Hispanics and Asian Americans. Eight hundred thousand new manufacturing jobs in America and counting.
Analysis: Although income inequality remains a problem, there is good news to report and celebrate, and President Biden shared it. The country has so far defied the predictions of pessimistic economists who foresaw contractions. Instead, more jobs have been created and more Americans are starting small businesses. President Biden rightfully called out this progress and pointed out that it doesn’t always make or lead the news, but it’s important and should be getting discussed.
BIDEN: And thanks — and thanks to our Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, 46,000 new projects have been announced all across your communities. And, by the way, I noticed some of you who’ve strongly voted against it are there cheering on that money coming in. And I like it. I’m with you. I’m with you. And if any of you don’t want that money in your district, just let me know.
Analysis: Moments of levity can really help a speech, and here, Biden scored real points by making a joke at Republicans’ expense. Obviously, they want the money that the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is bringing into their districts, even though they refused to help pass the bill. Pointing out their hypocrisy is important — the mass media can’t be expected to hold these folks accountable.
BIDEN: I grew up in a home where trickle-down economics didn’t put much on my dad’s kitchen table. That’s why I’m determined to turn things around so the middle class does well. When they do well, the poor have a way up and the wealthy still do very well. We all do well.
Analysis: We’re always down for a swipe at trickle-down economics, and President Biden delivered a great one in his speech. He made it personal by emphasizing that trickle-down didn’t get results for his family and millions of other American families — but inclusive economic policies like raising the minimum wage and providing paid family and medical leave and childcare can help a lot.
BIDEN: And there’s more to do to make sure you’re feeling the benefits of all we’re doing. Americans pay more for prescription drugs than anywhere in the world. It’s wrong, and I’m ending it. With a law that I proposed and signed — and not one of your Republican buddies work- — voted for it — we finally beat Big Pharma.
Analysis: More accountability! Biden seemed to be speaking to congressional Democrats here when he said “not one of your Republican buddies… voted for it.” That’s a reference to Republicans’ refusal to help pass the Inflation Reduction Act back in 2022, when Democrats had control of the U.S. House. On their own, Democrats were able to empower Medicare to negotiate lower prices for drugs.
BIDEN: Folks, the Affordable Care Act — the old “Obamacare” — is still a very big deal. Over 100 million of you can no longer be denied health insurance because of a preexisting condition. But my predecessor and many in this chamber want to take the — that prescription drug away by repealing Affordable Care Act. I’m not going to let that happen. We stopped you fifty times before, and we’ll stop you again.
Analysis: Another instance where Biden spoke directly to Republicans, reminding them “we stopped you fifty times before” and vowing that “we’ll stop you again.” That’s exactly the defiant determination that millions of Americans want to see from their President. They want a fighter who’s looking out for them. Biden made it abundantly clear: as long as he’s around, he will prevent Republicans from repealing the Patient Protection Act and eradicating Americans’ healthcare.
BIDEN: I know the cost of housing is so important to you. Inflation keeps coming down. Mortgage rates will come down as well, and the Fed acknowledges that. But I’m not waiting. I want to provide an annual tax credit that will give Americans $400 a month for the next two years as mortgage rates come down to put toward their mortgages when they buy their first home or trade up for a little more space. That’s for two years.
Analysis: Oh, look — a serious, credible proposal to help lower costs for millions of Americans that is guaranteed not to get a single Republican vote! But it’s essential to put good ideas on the table, and President Biden did that in this moment by proposing this tax credit which he knows Johnson and McConnell won’t support.
BIDEN: I want to give public school teachers a raise.
Analysis: This came at the tail end of a set of comments about making college more affordable, increasing access to early learning, and investing more funding in education. But it was an important aside. It got a big reaction at the watch party I was at, and it resonated deeply with me, because my parents are educators. Proud educators who’ve spent most of their lives teaching.
BIDEN: [T]he Child Tax Credit I passed during the pandemic cut taxes for millions of working families and cut child poverty in half. Restore that Child Tax Credit. No child should go hungry in this country. The way to make the tax code fair is to make big corporations and the very wealthy begin to pay their share. Remember in 2020, 55 of the biggest companies in America made $40 billion and paid zero in federal income tax. Zero.
Analysis: No child should go hungry in this country. Amen! I have no doubt that the United States Representative for NPI’s home congressional district, Suzan DelBene, clapped fiercely for this line. Restoring the Child Tax Credit is a huge priority for her, as it should be for every member of Congress. It’s absolutely ridiculous that Republicans don’t support this, but do support giving giant corporations more tax cuts. Biden did a great job pointing out that our nation’s largest enterprises don’t need to be showered with more money from Congress.
BIDEN: No billionaire should pay a lower federal tax rate than a teacher, a sanitation worker, or a nurse. I proposed a minimum tax for billionaires of 25 percent — just 25 percent. You know what that would raise? That would raise $500 billion over the next 10 years. And imagine what that could do for America. Imagine a future with affordable childcare, millions of families can get what they need to go to work to help grow the economy. Imagine a future with paid leave, because no one should have to choose between working and taking care of their sick family member. Imagine — imagine a future with home care and eldercare, and people living with disabilities so they can stay in their homes and family caregivers can finally get the pay they deserve.
Analysis: Simply outstanding framing here. In simple, direct terms, and again invoking the logic of progressive values, President Biden laid out an inclusive vision of economic security for America’s future. A future in which the wealthy begin to pay more of their fair share. A future in which we strengthen our public services instead of weakening them. His exhortations to imagine a future where we all do better were precisely what members of Congress needed to hear.
BIDEN: Tonight, let’s all agree once again to stand up for seniors. Many of my friends on the other side of the aisle want to put Social Security on the chopping block. If anyone here tries to cut Social Security or Medicare or raise the retirement age, I will stop you.
Analysis: In vowing to defend Social Security and Medicare from right wing cuts, President Biden again drew a strong contrast between his platform and the opposition’s plans for 2025 if they regain power. Republicans like Rick Scott are eager to slash Social Security and Medicare — Biden told them off.
BIDEN: Look, too many corporations raise prices to pad their profits, charging more and more for less and less. That’s why we’re cracking down on corporations that engage in price gouging and deceptive pricing, from food to healthcare to housing. In fact, the snack companies think you won’t notice if they change the size of the bag and put a hell of a lot fewer — same — same size bag — put fewer chips in it. No, I’m not joking. It’s called “shrink-flation.” Pass Bobby Casey’s bill and stop this.
Analysis: Great callout to Bob Casey, and wonderful affirmation of the work that former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich has been doing to educate Americans about corporate greed. Reich’s pieces on shrinkflation are essential viewing. Biden naturally segued into a bit about eradicating junk fees right after this.
BIDEN: I’m told my predecessor called members of Congress in the Senate to demand they block the bill. He feels political win — he viewed it as a — it would be a political win for me and a political loser for him. It’s not about him. It’s not about me.
Analysis: These remarks came during the middle of Biden’s comments about the doomed border deal that Republicans demanded and then torpedoed. This was the one part of the speech where Biden did some Clinton-style triangulating. Biden smartly pointed out that Republicans don’t want to fix the problem, they want to campaign on the problem so they can seize more power. (Biden added later: “We can fight about fixing the border or we can fix it. I’m ready to fix it.”)
BIDEN: I will not demonize immigrants, saying they are “poison in the blood of our country.” I will not separate families. I will not ban people because of their faith. Unlike my predecessor, on my first day in office, I introduced a comprehensive bill to fix our immigration system. Take a look at it. It has all these and more: secure the border, provide a pathway to citizenship for DREAMers, and so much more.
Analysis: This bit could have been longer, and the President could deployed progressive framing to explain that immigrants are really new Americans who have come to this country in pursuit of the American dream, and deserve to be welcomed and given opportunities to contribute to our society, not hunted down and thrown into detention centers run by for-profit companies.
BIDEN: We’re also making history by confronting the climate crisis, not denying it. I don’t think any of you think there’s no longer a climate crisis. At least, I hope you don’t. I’m taking the most significant action ever on climate in the history of the world. I’m cutting our carbon emissions in half by 2030; creating tens of thousands of clean energy jobs, like the IBEW workers building and installing 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations — conserving 30 percent of America’s lands and waters by 2030; and taking action on environmental justice — fence-line communities smothered by the legacy of pollution. And patterned after the Peace Corps and AmericaCorps [AmeriCorps], I launched the Climate Corps — (applause) — to put 20,000 young people to work in the forefront of our clean energy future. I’ll triple that number in a decade.
Analysis: These were the extent of President Biden’s climate-focused comments during the speech. He could have said more, but what he did say was meaningful, and progressive leaders were of course delighted that he mentioned the Climate Corps. (TV cameras showed Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez jumping up and cheering.)
BIDEN: I’m proud we beat the NRA when I signed the most significant gun safety law in nearly 30 years because of this Congress. We now must beat the NRA again. I’m demanding a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Pass universal background checks.
Analysis: Great call to action. Washington State has done all of these things and America can too — if we get enough progressive legislators elected to Congress and eliminate the filibuster so Mitch McConnell and his caucus can’t stand in the way of the gun responsibility legislation that Americans want and deserve.
BIDEN: The United States has been leading international efforts to get more humanitarian assistance into Gaza. Tonight, I’m directing the U.S. military to lead an emergency mission to establish a temporary pier in the Mediterranean on the coast of Gaza that can receive large shipments carrying food, water, medicine, and temporary shelters. No U.S. boots will be on the ground. A temporary pier will enable a massive increase in the amount of humanitarian assistance getting into Gaza every day.
Analysis: This was another newsy part of the speech. Relief for Gaza is long overdue, and while we wish this move had been made sooner, it is very welcome. The extreme Netanyahu government opposed by most Israelis cannot be relied upon to provide the aid that suffering, besieged Palestinians need. That’s why it is critical that the world community step up. American leadership can facilitate that.
BIDEN: I’ve revitalized our partnership and alliance in the Pacific: India, Australia, Japan, South Korea, the Pacific Islands. I’ve made sure that the most advanced American technologies can’t be used in China — not allowing to trade them there. Frankly, for all his tough talk on China, it never occurred to my predecessor to do any of that.
Analysis: Biden made the most of every opportunity in the speech to get in digs at Trump and draw a contrast, and was able to do so effectively again here. These comments reminded me of the reporting from 2016 in which people went to check out Trump’s merchandise and found that it was made in China. Trump does not practice what he preaches and it’s good for the media to be reminded of that.
BIDEN: Let me close with this. I know you don’t want to hear any more, Lindsey, but I got to say a few more things. I know I may not look like it, but I’ve been around a while. When you get to be my age, certain things become clearer than ever. I know the American story.
Analysis: As we’ll see in a moment, Biden had something very serious to say right after this, but he was able to work in another moment of levity with a self-deprecating joke. Unlike Donald Trump, Joe Biden can laugh at himself, and hopefully people watching took notice of that distinction.
BIDEN: Again and again, I’ve seen the contest between competing forces in the battle for the soul of our nation, between those who want to pull America back to the past and those who want to move America into the future. My lifetime has taught me to embrace freedom and democracy, a future based on core values that have defined America — honesty, decency, dignity, and equality — to respect everyone; to give everyone a fair shot; to give hate no safe harbor. Now, other people my age see it differently. The American story of resentment, revenge, and retribution. That’s not me.
Analysis: Here, Biden spelled out what his values and principles are, and contrasted them with Trump’s toxic politics of destruction (“resentment, revenge, and retribution”.) The “other people my age see it differently” was a great barb.
BIDEN: In my career, I’ve been told I was too young. By the way, they didn’t let me on the Senate elevators for votes sometimes. They — not a joke. And I’ve been told I am too old. Whether young or old, I’ve always been known — I’ve always known what endures. I’ve known our North Star. The very idea of America is that we’re all created equal, deserves to be treated equally throughout our lives. We’ve never fully lived up to that idea, but we’ve never walked away from it either. And I won’t walk away from it now.
Analysis: The “they didn’t let me on Senate elevators for votes sometimes” was a great little anecdote that hopefully reminded reporters and others watching that there really was once a time when the rap on Biden was that he was too young. And now, as he acknowledged, people are saying he’s too old. Deliberately confronting this criticism head-on was the right choice.
BIDEN: My fellow Americans, the issue facing our nation isn’t how old we are; it’s how old are our ideas. Hate, anger, revenge, retribution are the oldest of ideas. But you can’t lead America with ancient ideas that only take us back. To lead America, the land of possibilities, you need a vision for the future and what can and should be done. Tonight, you’ve heard mine.
Analysis: More beautiful framing here. Progressives identify as such because we want to make progress — we want to go forward, not backward. We know we can’t return to the past, but we can learn from it and do better in the future. That is what President Biden believes, and he pointed out last night that real leadership entails leading people to new positions and embracing new ideas. Bravo!
BIDEN: I see a future where [we’re] defending democracy, you don’t diminish it. I see a future where we restore the right to choose and protect our freedoms, not take them away. I see a future where the middle class has — finally has a fair shot and the wealthy have to pay their fair share in taxes. I see a future where we save the planet from the climate crisis and our country from gun violence. Above all, I see a future for all Americans. I see a country for all Americans. And I will always be President for all Americans because I believe in America. I believe in you, the American people.
Analysis: Coming at the end of this speech, these comments nicely summarized Biden’s platform and vision as he prepared to step away from the podium and begin shaking hands again. The President makes no apologies for being an optimist, nor should he. Real leaders work to bring people together for progress, cheerfully and confidently. Joe Biden sees possibilities when he thinks about the future, and so should we all. The days ahead needn’t be bleak and terrible. A better future is within reach. We’re more likely to secure it if we believe in it.
In decades past, America has survived insurrections, depressions, world wars, and (so far) the threat of nuclear annihilation. And we can prevail over the forces of darkness again. But we’ll have to come together to make it happen. United, we’ll keep this republic standing. Divided, we’re more likely to fall — and fail.
This is a time when courage and good judgment are needed. Kudos to President Biden for laying out the choice facing this country so powerfully.
The best lines from President Biden’s incredible 2024 State of the Union address is a post from NPI's Cascadia Advocate, the journal of the Northwest Progressive Institute. Published continuously since March of 2004, NPI's Cascadia Advocate provides thoughtful commentary and analysis on regional, national, and world politics. Keep The Cascadia Advocate going by making a contribution to sustain NPI's research and advocacy here.
]]>In his annual address to Congress, the President sought to draw a strong contrast with his predecessor and 2024 general election opponent while making the case for reproductive freedom, climate action, gun responsibility, economic justice, and support for Ukraine. He also announced new relief measures for Palestinians suffering in Gaza.
President Biden throws down the gauntlet in impassioned 2024 State of the Union speech is a post from NPI's Cascadia Advocate, the journal of the Northwest Progressive Institute. Published continuously since March of 2004, NPI's Cascadia Advocate provides thoughtful commentary and analysis on regional, national, and world politics. Keep The Cascadia Advocate going by making a contribution to sustain NPI's research and advocacy here.
]]>Republicans have sought to hang the label “Sleepy Joe” on President Biden, as a way of exploiting public concern over age and gait of America’s 46th President.
The question can now be put: “Sleepy Who?” Biden addressed the nation tonight in a feisty, energetic campaign-style State of the Union speech. He decried the policies of “my predecessor” — not once speaking the name of Donald Trump — and openly, enjoyably sparred with Republican lawmakers.
“The issue facing our nation is not how old we are, it’s how old our ideas are?” said Biden, first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1972 at the age of twenty-nine.
The speech began with passionate advocacy for U.S. military aid to Ukraine and turning back Russia’s invasion. “I say this to Congress: We have to stand up to Putin… We will not walk away; we will not bow down. I will not bow down”.
He flagged Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, seated beside Jill Biden in the House gallery: “Welcome to NATO.” Sweden just joined the alliance today, reinvigorated following Putin’s escalation of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
But Biden went further, evoking Ronald Reagan’s famous words in a Berlin speech: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”
In contrast, Biden cited a recent, reckless speech by Trump, in which the Republicans leader told listeners, If NATO members fall back on their military contributions to the alliance, he would tell Putin, “Do whatever the hell you want.”
The reaction to Biden’s speech on Twitter was of sarcasm disguising shock by Republicans. “Why is Biden snarling and shouting?” asked FNC host Laura Ingraham. Republican strategist and pollster Frank Luntz added: “Let’s see whether undecided voters like being yelled at.”
Recently minted House Speaker Mike Johnson, seated behind Biden, was the most uncomfortable figure of the night. He stayed put as Vice President Kamala Harris jumped to her feet for repeated standing ovations by Democrats, and remained silent at Biden took on ultra MAGA Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene.
“As President speaks to Congress, this House Speaker smirks and scowls from behind” wrote historian Michael Beschloss. Ex-Obama White House aide Stephanie Cutter chimed in: “Michael Johnson should have practiced his non-expression face in front of a mirror. He doesn’t know what the hell to do right now.”
The Biden speech dealt with great global and domestic issues — “Democracy is under attack” — but also Americans’ everyday annoyances over junk fees attached to airplane tickets, credit card late fees and the mysterious shrinking size of a Snickers candy bar (shrinkflation, which Robert Reich has been highlighting).
Biden assailed Republicans’ 2017 tax cut for showering money on the already-rich and said he will ask Congress to impose a tax on the country’s thousand or so billionaires. “Does anybody believe our tax code is fair?” he asked.
“No!” bellowed Democrats in the chamber.
A surprising chunk of the speech was aimed at younger voters, whose votes have fueled Democratic victories over Trump-backed candidates. Biden called for an end to criminal penalties against recreational users of marijuana. He called out a survivor of the Uvalde, Texas, school massacre, pledging: “I see a future where we save the planet from the climate crisis and our country from gun violence.”
The President called for a nationwide ban on assault weapons with high-capacity magazines, used in mass killings from Uvalde to Buffalo to El Paso.
Biden had to navigate two fraught and highly emotional issues. The President reiterated his longstanding support of Israel — and revulsion at Hamas’ slaughter of 1,200 Israelis last October — but stated: “As we look to the future, the only real solution is a two-state solution over time”. With starvation threatening thousands of Palestinian children in Gaza, he announced the U.S. will install a temporary pier on the Gaza coast to funnel in emergency supplies.
Biden mocked House Republicans for scuttling a Senate-negotiated border plan — at Trump’s direction— but reiterated America’s history as a nation built by immigrants. He singled out a particularly ugly Trump remark, saying, “I will not demonize immigrants saying they poison the blood of our country.”
The Democrats deserve to be energized at Biden’s speech.
An instant CNN poll gave him high marks. “He gave a master class in how to defend America’s future and the future of our democracy,” said longtime Democratic strategist and pundit Donna Brazile.
The President was feeling good as well. Speaker Johnson turned down the lights, but Biden happily lingered for an hour glad handing on the House floor. One lawmaker he talked to was Seattle’s United States Representative Pramila Jayapal.
President Biden throws down the gauntlet in impassioned 2024 State of the Union speech is a post from NPI's Cascadia Advocate, the journal of the Northwest Progressive Institute. Published continuously since March of 2004, NPI's Cascadia Advocate provides thoughtful commentary and analysis on regional, national, and world politics. Keep The Cascadia Advocate going by making a contribution to sustain NPI's research and advocacy here.
]]>As of June 6th, Washington will require that both parties entering into a civil marriage be at least eighteen years of age.
DONE! Governor Inslee signs legislation ending child marriage in Washington is a post from NPI's Cascadia Advocate, the journal of the Northwest Progressive Institute. Published continuously since March of 2004, NPI's Cascadia Advocate provides thoughtful commentary and analysis on regional, national, and world politics. Keep The Cascadia Advocate going by making a contribution to sustain NPI's research and advocacy here.
]]>Proving once again that progress is possible even in an era of intense polarization, Governor Jay Inslee today signed into law a bill supported by one hundred and forty-six of Washington’s one hundred and forty-seven state legislators that ends child marriage in the Evergreen State, abolishing a practice that the U.S. Department of State has rightfully called a human rights violation.
House Bill 1455, prime sponsored by Representative Monica Stonier (D‑49th District: Clark County) and championed on the other side of the rotunda by Senator Derek Stanford (D‑1st District: King and Snohomish counties) requires that both parties in a civil marriage be at least eighteen years old, the current age of majority. Under existing law, there is no minimum age to get married, which means it’s perfectly legal for a young girl to be forced into a marriage to a much-older man by her parents, leaving her trapped in an abusive relationship.
But in ninety days, the law will change, thanks to the success of House Bill 1455.
I joined Representative Stonier, Senator Stanford, Senator Yasmin Trudeau, Senator Manka Dhingra, representatives of Zonta, and survivors of forced marriage to watch as Governor Inslee added his signature to HB 1455 in a brief but very moving ceremony shortly after 11 AM at the governor’s office.
HB 1455 will go into effect ninety days from today, on June 6th, 2024.
“Child marriage has a long history of abuse and coercion, and it contributes to the human trafficking challenge,” House nonpartisan staff wrote in their 2023 report summarizing the testimony supporting the bill. (No one spoke against it at its initial hearing in the House Civil Rights & Judiciary Committee on January 31st.)
“This straightforward bill protects young people under the age of 18 years from potential exploitation, trafficking, and other harms frequently perpetrated by people much older than the minors. Most people cannot believe that child marriage is legal in Washington, but child marriages do happen, and they are not rare. Between 2000 and 2018, more than 4,800 minors between the ages of 15 and 17 years were married in Washington. Eighty percent of these were girls who were married to adult men who were on average four years older.”
The passage of HB 1455 was one of NPI’s top legislative priorities for 2024.
The House voted on the very first day of session to unanimously send it back over to the Senate, where it had gotten stuck in a logjam of bills. This time, however, it was prioritized for action by the Senate Law & Justice Committee, chaired by Senator Dhingra, a Northwest Progressive Foundation boardmember.
At the bill’s Senate hearing in late January, I presented NPI’s research finding that eight in ten Washington voters support ending child marriage, with over six in ten strongly supportive. The Senate heeded that data and the incredibly powerful stories shared by several survivors of forced marriage, voting less than a month later to send the bill to Governor Inslee, with the only dissenting vote coming from Republican Senator Jeff Holy (6th District: Spokane County).
HB 1455 is the latest in a series of human rights advances that have been secured during Governor Inslee’s tenure. Thanks to the leadership of Governor Inslee and Democratic legislators, Washington has abolished the death penalty and protected LGBTQ+ youth from “conversion therapy.” Now we’ve ended child marriage, something no other state in the western United States has yet done.
Oregon, you’re next!
Our thanks to everyone who worked to pass House Bill 1455, especially our friends at Unchained At Last, the national nonprofit founded by a forced marriage survivor that has been working state-by-state to get child marriage abolished. Cheers also to Zonta, Indivisible, the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center, the Washington Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the AHA Foundation, and the Latino Civic Alliance, which lobbied for the bill.
And finally, here’s to our survivors who spoke up and bravely shared their stories in public, particularly Sara Tasneem, Stephanie Warren, and Kate Yang. Your courage and resilience are inspiring, and we are honored to have been able to support you in securing this long overdue breakthrough.
DONE! Governor Inslee signs legislation ending child marriage in Washington is a post from NPI's Cascadia Advocate, the journal of the Northwest Progressive Institute. Published continuously since March of 2004, NPI's Cascadia Advocate provides thoughtful commentary and analysis on regional, national, and world politics. Keep The Cascadia Advocate going by making a contribution to sustain NPI's research and advocacy here.
]]>President Biden is sweeping the Democratic nominating events, while Donald Trump was fending off Nikki Haley everywhere except for Vermont.
Super Tuesday results: Biden and Trump cruise; Haley projected to take Vermont is a post from NPI's Cascadia Advocate, the journal of the Northwest Progressive Institute. Published continuously since March of 2004, NPI's Cascadia Advocate provides thoughtful commentary and analysis on regional, national, and world politics. Keep The Cascadia Advocate going by making a contribution to sustain NPI's research and advocacy here.
]]>Good evening and welcome to our coverage of Super Tuesday 2024!
For those unfamiliar with the moniker, Super Tuesday is a particularly important occasion on the presidential electoral calendar. It is the day when the most simultaneous primaries and caucuses are held out of the whole election cycle. These clustered nominating events serve as a critical litmus test in years when one or both parties’ nominations are being closely contested.
2024 is not one of those years, but Super Tuesday nevertheless remains important, because the results of today’s nominating events will determine the allocations of a plurality of national convention delegates.
So far, as expected, President Biden and his defeated predecessor Donald Trump are both cruising along. Biden is facing just one active opponent, Dean Phillips, whose campaign has failed to gain any traction despite the mass media’s hysteria over President Biden’s age, which Phillips — a Democratic congressman — has unsuccessfully tried to capitalize on. Trump’s one remaining rival, Nikki Haley, is nowhere close to him but did manage to win the District of Columbia primary this past weekend, and did surpass 30% of the vote in two early primary states.
In Vermont, Haley is winning. It’s another rare bright spot for her:
Candidate | Party | Votes | Percent |
Nikki Haley | Republican | 34,539 | 49.41% |
Donald J. Trump | Republican | 31,561 | 45.15% |
Tonight’s initial results are the best indication yet that the Republican nomination will once again go to Trump — for the third time in eight years. President Joe Biden is already considered to have the Democratic nomination locked up despite some fretting about his age and viability against Trump in a rematch.
Both candidates are already looking ahead to the general election. Trump trashed Biden in a rambling speech carried live on several cable channels, while Biden released a statement strongly denouncing Trump by name.
“Tonight’s results leave the American people with a clear choice: Are we going to keep moving forward or will we allow Donald Trump to drag us backwards into the chaos, division, and darkness that defined his term in office?” said Biden.
“Four years ago, I ran because of the existential threat Donald Trump posed to the America we all believe in. Since then, we’ve made enormous progress: 15 million jobs, wages rising faster than inflation, taking on Big Pharma and the gun lobby — and winning. But we have more to do.”
“If Donald Trump returns to the White House, all of this progress is at risk. He is driven by grievance and grift, focused on his own revenge and retribution, not the American people. He is determined to destroy our democracy, rip away fundamental freedoms like the ability for women to make their own health care decisions, and pass another round of billions of dollars in tax cuts for the wealthy — and he’ll do or say anything to put himself in power.
“Today, millions of voters across the country made their voices heard — showing that they are ready to fight back against Donald Trump’s extreme plan to take us backwards. My message to the country is this: Every generation of Americans will face a moment when it has to defend democracy. Stand up for our personal freedom. Stand up for the right to vote and our civil rights.”
“To every Democrat, Republican, and independent who believes in a free and fair America: This is our moment. This is our fight. Together, we will win.”
“As we continue to watch results come in from states across the country, including my home state of California, this is an energizing moment for our campaign,” said Vice President Kamala Harris. “Americans of all backgrounds are showing that they sense the urgency of this election, and that they are ready to stand with President Biden and me in this fight to protect our fundamental freedoms.”
“Donald Trump has vowed to be a dictator on Day One. He has promised to weaponize the Department of Justice. And he has bragged that he is proud of his role in robbing women of their reproductive freedom. He poses a fundamental threat to our democracy, and he must be stopped.”
“During the upcoming State of the Union, President Biden will have the opportunity to report on the tremendous progress we have made when it comes to creating good-paying jobs, reducing costs, and helping America’s families build a better life. He will also lay out our vision of what more we can accomplish, if we work together.”
“This week’s events will serve as a springboard for the next critical phase of the campaign. In the coming days, I look forward to returning to three key battlegrounds: Wisconsin, Nevada and Arizona.”
“The president and I know reelection must be earned, and we will continue to put in the work to reach every possible voter. Winning the fight to protect our fundamental freedoms will require nothing less.”
These jurisdictions are holding Republican nominating events, which Wikipedia editors are posting results for:
These jurisdictions are holding Democratic nominating events, which Wikipedia editors are posting results for:
Aside from Alaska Republicans, no state party in the greater Pacific Northwest is participating in Super Tuesday. The Washington State presidential primary is currently ongoing, however, with ballots due back by March 12th. That is also when initial results will become available for study and discussion.
The extreme Republicans who run Idaho’s legislative branch accidentally repealed the Gem State’s presidential primary and failed to fix their mistake, so Idaho doesn’t have a primary this year. Republicans caucused this past weekend, while Democrats will be caucusing towards the end of the calendar in June.
Oregon’s presidential primary will be concurrently held with its state-level primary in May, concluding on Tuesday, May 21st, 2024. The primary will be a vote-at-home event, just like in Washington State.
Super Tuesday results: Biden and Trump cruise; Haley projected to take Vermont is a post from NPI's Cascadia Advocate, the journal of the Northwest Progressive Institute. Published continuously since March of 2004, NPI's Cascadia Advocate provides thoughtful commentary and analysis on regional, national, and world politics. Keep The Cascadia Advocate going by making a contribution to sustain NPI's research and advocacy here.
]]>“It has been my privilege to serve the people of the 33rd Legislative District and the people of the State of Washington for the last twenty-nine years," said Keiser, who revealed her decision on the Senate floor.
Another big retirement: Senate President Pro Tempore Karen Keiser won’t run again is a post from NPI's Cascadia Advocate, the journal of the Northwest Progressive Institute. Published continuously since March of 2004, NPI's Cascadia Advocate provides thoughtful commentary and analysis on regional, national, and world politics. Keep The Cascadia Advocate going by making a contribution to sustain NPI's research and advocacy here.
]]>Less than twenty-four hours after Senate Majority Leader Andy Billig announced he’s decided against seeking another term in the Washington State Senate, Senate President Pro Tempore Karen Keiser joined him, saying that after nearly three decades, she is ready to bid the statehouse adieu.
“It has been my privilege to serve the people of the 33rd Legislative District and the people of the State of Washington for the last twenty-nine years,” said Keiser, who revealed her decision on the Senate floor. “I am in awe at the amazing progress we have made together in this institution over the last few decades.”
“Appointed to fill an open seat in the Washington State House of Representatives in 1995, Keiser ran and won her first election in 1996,” noted a news release from the Senate Democratic caucus. “She served there until 2001, when she was appointed to a seat in the Washington State Senate, where she has been re-elected six times. Since 2018, Keiser has served as President Pro Tempore, presiding over the Senate when the lieutenant governor has been unavailable.”
“The Senate won’t be the same without Karen Keiser,” said Billig.
“She has been a leader in so many areas. Because of her unceasing persistence over many years, working families in Washington are so much better off today than when she joined the Legislature. And her generous mentorship of new members ensures that her expertise will live on in this institution.”
“Senator Karen Keiser has been nothing less than a generational leader on behalf of working people,” added Lieutenant Governor Denny Heck in a statement. “Leaders like Karen do not come around often. She will be deeply missed in the Senate. I wish her well in her retirement.”
Keiser says her work on implementing the Patient Protection Act is a top accomplishment of her years in the Legislature.
“Among other key bills, she sponsored the legislation establishing the Washington Health Benefit Exchange, which has since provided more than 1,900,000 Washingtonians with health care coverage,” noted the Senate Democratic caucus. “While implementation of the far-reaching act was slowed and hindered by numerous glitches in other states, Washington experienced far fewer problems and was looked to as a national model.”
“The effective implementation of the [Patient Protection Act] helped drive the state’s uninsured rate down from 14.2 percent in 2010 to 4.7 percent as of 2022.”
And then there’s her heroic work on paid family and medical leave.
“In 2017, Keiser capped a ten-year effort when Washington became only the fifth state in the country to offer comprehensive paid family and medical leave insurance for all working people. Since the Paid Family and Medical Leave program began paying out benefits in 2020, almost 470,000 Washington workers have tapped its benefits to bond with newborn babies, care for ailing relatives, or take time off for their own medical conditions.”
Kesier has been a stalwart and thoughtful progressive throughout her time in the statehouse. Known for being cheerful and even-keeled, she recently authored a book about how to serve effectively — Getting Elected Is The Easy Part — which our Literary Advocate David Kobrin reviewed.
We have been honored to have Senator Keiser join us for many NPI events over the years and look forward to seeing her at more. Congratulations on a great run serving the people of Washington State, Senator Keiser. You’re a treasure!
Another big retirement: Senate President Pro Tempore Karen Keiser won’t run again is a post from NPI's Cascadia Advocate, the journal of the Northwest Progressive Institute. Published continuously since March of 2004, NPI's Cascadia Advocate provides thoughtful commentary and analysis on regional, national, and world politics. Keep The Cascadia Advocate going by making a contribution to sustain NPI's research and advocacy here.
]]>In a video revealing her decision, Sinema tried to chalk up her decision as driven by polarization and partisanship. In reality, it was necessary because Sinema made herself politically homeless.
Bowing to reality, Kyrsten Sinema announces she won’t seek reelection to the U.S. Senate is a post from NPI's Cascadia Advocate, the journal of the Northwest Progressive Institute. Published continuously since March of 2004, NPI's Cascadia Advocate provides thoughtful commentary and analysis on regional, national, and world politics. Keep The Cascadia Advocate going by making a contribution to sustain NPI's research and advocacy here.
]]>In less than a year, Kyrsten Sinema will be out of the United States Senate.
The Green-turned-Democrat-turned-Independent announced today that she won’t be seeking a second term representing Arizona this year, confirming widespread speculation that she wasn’t going to be running again and is eager to cash out with a nice lobbying gig after more than a decade in Congress.
In a video revealing her decision, Sinema tried to chalk up her decision as driven by polarization and partisanship. In reality, it was necessary because Sinema made herself politically homeless. She long ago ceased to pretend to be interested in representing her constituents, shunning the public and the press in favor of a tight focus on behind-the-scenes dealmaking on a host of issues.
Despite her record of making people angry by betraying their trust and enabling Republicans to stoke the fires of division across the country, Sinema had the gall to blame her fellow Americans for choosing “anger and division.”
“Americans still choose to retreat further to their partisan corners,” said Sinema. “It’s all or nothing. The outcome is less important than beating the other guy. “The only political victories that matter these days are symbolic… Compromise is a dirty word. We’ve arrived at that crossroad and we chose anger and division.”
“I believe in my approach, but it’s not what America wants right now.”
With Sinema out, Arizona’s 2024 U.S. Senate race is for an open seat.
Democrats have a strong candidate in Ruben Gallego, who has been out-raising Sinema and has the support of the party’s grassroots, including a long list of activists and local elected leaders that Sinema willfully alienated.
Gallego has been expecting Sinema’s decision. He issued a statement thanking Sinema for her service, having already gone on the record long ago about why he believes she needs to be replaced in the United States Senate.
“I want to thank Senator Sinema for her nearly two decades of service to our state,” said Gallego. “As we look ahead, Arizona is at a crossroads. Protecting abortion access, tackling housing affordability, securing our water supply, defending our democracy — all of this and more is on the line. That’s why Democrats, Independents, and Republicans alike are coming together and rejecting Kari Lake and her dangerous positions. I welcome all Arizonans, including Senator Sinema, to join me in that mission.”
Lake and Mark Lamb, the two Republicans also vying to succeed Sinema, quickly chimed in as well. Like Gallego, they sounded very unsurprised.
“As a Journalist, I covered Kyrsten Sinema for many years,” Lake said. “We may not agree on everything, but I know she shares my love for Arizona.”
Meanwhile, Lamb’s camp said: “Kyrsten Sinema’s strength has always been in attracting the large number of independent voters in Arizona. We expect most of those independent voters to vote for Sheriff Mark Lamb in a general election.”
Public opinion research suggests it’s Gallego who has the advantage, however. Recent surveys conducted by Noble Predictive Insights and Emerson have found Gallego ahead in a three-way matchup with Lake and Sinema. Sinema knew that even if she ran, her personal brand wouldn’t necessarily carry her. Nor did she seem enthused about actually getting out and campaigning.
As a Senator, Sinema has been insular and inaccessible to the people, preferring to spend time with powerful lobbyists and a small circle of friends instead.
Local elected officials in Arizona have complained about not being able to get a hold of her. She has not held a single town hall event since becoming a United States Senator, leaving activists and constituents extremely frustrated.
Many signed on to an effort committed to booting Sinema from the Senate — originally known as Primary Sinema and later the Replace Sinema Project.
“We started this effort to Replace Sinema over two years ago to hold Sinema accountable for betraying the Arizonans who elected her,” the group said.
“Sinema obstructed President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda, got in the way of fundamental rights like abortion care and voting, and did the bidding of her wealthy donors who fund her luxury lifestyle. We succeeded in first pushing her out of the party — by making clear she couldn’t win a Democratic primary — and now we’ve also helped push her out of the Senate. Good. Arizonans deserve better.”
Sinema’s ally in the United States Senate, maverick Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, has also decided against seeking reelection in 2024. He contemplated running for President but has decided against that as well. With Sinema and Manchin gone, the Democratic caucus will no longer have a pro-filibuster faction anymore. Whether Democrats can hold onto the majority in the Senate is another matter. The party has twenty-three seats to defend and few pickup opportunities, while Republicans are only defending eleven seats in states that Trump won.
If the Democratic Party is able to run the table and the Biden-Harris ticket gets a second term, Democrats would come into 2025 with another narrow majority — but one without the presence of the renegade duo of Sinema and Manchin. That would open the door to long-overdue reforms of Senate rules needed to unlock progress on issues where Republicans have unapologetically used the filibuster to bury legislation that would make Americans freer, happier, and healthier.
Bowing to reality, Kyrsten Sinema announces she won’t seek reelection to the U.S. Senate is a post from NPI's Cascadia Advocate, the journal of the Northwest Progressive Institute. Published continuously since March of 2004, NPI's Cascadia Advocate provides thoughtful commentary and analysis on regional, national, and world politics. Keep The Cascadia Advocate going by making a contribution to sustain NPI's research and advocacy here.
]]>54% of respondents surveyed by our pollster said they strongly or somewhat supported the Affordable Homes Act, while 32% were opposed. 14% said they were not sure.
A majority of Washington voters support the Affordable Homes Act, despite Realtor opposition is a post from NPI's Cascadia Advocate, the journal of the Northwest Progressive Institute. Published continuously since March of 2004, NPI's Cascadia Advocate provides thoughtful commentary and analysis on regional, national, and world politics. Keep The Cascadia Advocate going by making a contribution to sustain NPI's research and advocacy here.
]]>A majority of voters in Washington favor legislation that would raise revenue to support housing projects across the Evergreen State, despite strident opposition from the Realtors and other powerful business interests, according to our 2024 winter survey of Washington State voters, which fielded last month.
The Affordable Homes Act (HB 2276 / SB 6191) is prime sponsored by Representative April Berg (D‑44th District: Snohomish County) and Senator Noel Frame (D‑36th District: Seattle). It was heard earlier this session but has not yet received a floor vote in either chamber. The House iteration of the bill is currently in the Rules Committee. The 2024 legislative session concludes on Thursday, so lawmakers would have to move quickly to get it to Governor Inslee’s desk.
But that would be worth doing, especially given their refusal to pass a bevy of other bills that would have helped Washingtonians, particularly rent stabilization.
54% of respondents surveyed by our pollster said they strongly or somewhat supported the Affordable Homes Act, while 32% were opposed. 14% said they were not sure. Respondents were provided with not only a description of what the bill does, but also arguments for and against it, including the Realtors’ strongest arguments in opposition, which they have been trotting out at every opportunity. However, a majority of likely 2024 Washington State voters found the arguments in favor of the legislation more persuasive than the Realtors’ arguments against.
Take a look:
QUESTION: Legislators are debating a bill that would raise and dedicate more money to affordable housing by restructuring the real estate excise tax. The bill would exempt the first $750,000 of a property sale, while adding a modest 1% tax on high value property sales over $3.025 million. Opponents like the Realtors say that tax increases on real estate, especially during a time of low housing supply and high interest rates, would create more market uncertainty. They also say the tax increases would apply to vacant land intended for development of affordable multifamily and single-family housing. Proponents counter that the bill would cut taxes for 98% of taxpayers who would pay the real estate excise tax when they sell their property, while raising approximately $396 million through 2029 for affordable housing projects that are desperately needed in Washington. Do you strongly support, somewhat support, somewhat oppose, or strongly oppose restructuring the real estate excise tax to raise and dedicate more money to affordable housing, while cutting taxes for 98% of taxpayers?
ANSWERS:
- Support: 54%
- Strongly support: 27%
- Somewhat support: 27%
- Oppose: 32%
- Somewhat oppose: 9%
- Strongly oppose: 23%
- Not sure: 14%
Our survey of 789 likely 2024 Washington State voters was in the field from Tuesday, February 13th through Wednesday, February 14th, 2024.
The poll utilizes a blended methodology, with automated phone calls to landlines (42%) and online answers from respondents recruited by text (58%).
It was conducted by Public Policy Polling (PPP) for the Northwest Progressive Institute, and has a margin of error of +/- 3.5% at the 95% confidence interval.
According to House nonpartisan staff, HB 2276 would:
Here’s a fact sheet from Representative Berg:
Affordable Homes Act PrimerThe Realtors dislike the Affordable Homes Act so much that they’re running TV spots opposing the bill — a lot of them. The ads, which can be seen in between network programming on local TV stations, appear to have been created by out of state consultants. They make it sound as though the bill will devastate access to housing, even though the legislation would generate funding for the Home Security Fund, the Apple Health & Homes Account, developmental disabilities housing and services, and the Housing Trust Fund, which includes supports to stabilize low-income housing and provide farmworker housing.
Many individual realtors disagree with the Realtor line. In January, two agreed to go on the record in support of the legislation at the time that Berg unveiled it.
“This bill is good for my clients. It will mean that many properties sold in Spokane County – including the vast majority, if not all of the ones that my clients will sell – will receive a REET reduction. Reducing REETs for most property sellers while creating a new, dedicated way to pay for the affordable housing that my community needs is a win-win,” said Latrice Williams, a realtor from Spokane.
“We have an affordable housing crisis throughout our communities. It is negatively impacting small and large businesses, school districts, individuals, and families – it is indisputable. As a real estate agent and caring community member of King and Island Counties, I have a multi-level perspective on this,” said Peter Wolf, a former board member of the Seattle-King County Realtors.
“We need to do something about it. Adding a 1% transfer tax on properties that sell for over $3.025 million is a reasonable and effective way to help increase the supply of the affordable homes that we so desperately need. For the record, the REET is paid by the seller – not the buyer. This will not increase the list price of property for sale. The listing price is dictated by what the market will bear and by what the buyer can afford. Not by taxes and not by what profit the seller wishes to make.”
All good points. It’s a shame that the Washington Association of Realtors and other business interests aligned with them are working so feverishly to stop this legislation when they could be working collaboratively with supporters of the bill to pass it. Shelter is a basic human necessity, and we know from centuries of experience that the for-profit private sector cannot be relied upon to ensure that everyone in our society is taken care of. That’s why we need public resources like Apple Health & Homes, which the Affordable Homes Act would boost funding for.
A majority of Washington voters support the Affordable Homes Act, despite Realtor opposition is a post from NPI's Cascadia Advocate, the journal of the Northwest Progressive Institute. Published continuously since March of 2004, NPI's Cascadia Advocate provides thoughtful commentary and analysis on regional, national, and world politics. Keep The Cascadia Advocate going by making a contribution to sustain NPI's research and advocacy here.
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