Last week when Tim Eyman’s I‑1053 was declared unconstitutional there was much cheering and rejoicing across the state of Washington, not least through the halls of Facebook and Twitter. Many of these voices were students at our universities, who have seen more than 1.4 billion cut from our state higher education system since 2009, increased […]
Author Archives: Patrick Stickney
Posted inEconomic Security, Education, Legislative Advocacy
Students won’t stay silent on high tuition
I lobbied on Monday. That may not seem like much, seeing as hundreds of people did the same thing on the exact same day. But seeing as I’m a student at a university, for some, it might be a big thing indeed. I was there with 59 other Western Washington University students who met with more than 60% percent […]
Posted inUnscheduled Programming
LIVE: Van Jones at the Washington State Budget and Policy Center Conference
NPI liveblogs Jones speaks at the Budget and Policy Center lunch, laying out a vision nationally: 12:35 PM: “If your news station is named after a sneaky and predatory animals…you might question whether your news is fair and balanced.” 12:37 PM: “If we just stand our ground, we can finally bring the Reagan values to […]
Posted inEducation, Healthcare, Our Environment
King (Err… Regent) Coal
A sign that nobody likes doing the wrong thing every single time, University of Washington Regent Craig Cole (a much-referenced-to coincidental last name)wrote an op-ed published in the Bellingham Herald advocating for increased funding of our higher education system. Craig Cole is also the President of Brown & Cole, Inc. and the spokesman for SSA […]
Posted inUnscheduled Programming
Whatcom, Spokane LD Races: Democrats win the 3rd, 40th, Republicans win 4th, 6th, 42nd
With a 46% of the ballots counted in Whatcom County and 56% of the vote in Spokane, the two challengers in the House, Democrats Matt Krogh and Natalie McClendon, have seemed to lost their bid to unseat Reps. Vincent Buys and Jason Overstreet. They came up short in the primary, and unless a large surge […]
Posted inCivil Liberties, Elections, Policy Topics
U.S. Representative Rick Larsen leads the charge to stop voter suppression
Reacting to laws making aiming to increase the difficulty to vote since conservatives took control of state governments in the 2010 midterm elections, Congressman Rick Larsen, along with 14 other House Democrats, introduced a bill yesterday to “combat voter suppression efforts across the country”. Only two of the current co-sponsors represent a state which has enacted […]
Posted inEconomic Security, Elections, Our Environment, Policy Topics
Republicans mock Jay Inslee for supporting companies that are succeeding
Continuing to position themselves as the unapologetic opponents of any policy direction with the word “clean” in it (clean energy, clean elections), the Republican Party has needled Democrtic gubernatorial candidate Jay Inslee for envisioning a clean energy economy for Washington and for supporting clean energy in his 2008 book, Apollo’s Fire. According to them, every […]
Posted inEconomic Security, Healthcare
One of six proposed coal terminals in Washington and Oregon abandoned
Ask a political organizer in Whatcom County, and it trends that they will tell you about how often they hear voters ask about the proposed coal terminal at Cherry Point, right outside of Bellingham. They get frustrated. Train tracks cut right through Bellingham, and run along next to local businesses. Sit for a few hours […]
Posted inUnscheduled Programming
Election Update: Whatcom, Spokane races
With a little more than 9,000 votes to count, it seems that Whatcom County races have been decided. The real interesting race in Whatcom County is inside the 42nd district. Matt Krogh is challenging freshman Vincent Buys and Natalie McClendon is challenging Jason Overstreet. Buys doesn’t have much of a record and Rep. Overstreet doesn’t […]
Posted inCivil Liberties, Economic Security, Elections, Policy Topics
What does Rob McKenna have against family planning?
Yesterday, gubernatorial candidate Rob McKenna posted on Crosscut a variety of statements on how to impair our state Medicaid system, and chose to omit any sort of content on how consequences of those changes would affect our state. While blasting Medicaid expansion(which, by the way, is in contrast to how 67% of Americans feel), Mr. McKenna […]
Posted inEconomic Security, Events, Live Coverage, Our Environment
LIVE from Providence: Saving Public Transportation: A Matter of Social Justice
Although it seems like the early afternoon (still on West Coast time), it’s as good a time as any to talk about the national pattern on defunding public transportation and transit’s place as a social justice issue. This panel was a reminder about work which is being done back in Washington state by the Transit […]
Posted inEconomic Security, Education, Events, Live Coverage
LIVE from Providence: Educational Opportunity & Economic Dignity
How is educational equality linked to the economic situation on the ground? I came to this discussion between the American Federation of Teachers and Ilyse Hogue of the Nation. Like many of the panels so soon after the Wisconsin recall, conversation started out about the attacks which have been made against unions, and the fact […]
Posted inCivil Liberties, Events, Live Coverage
LIVE from Providence: Organizing Outside the Lines: Reaching Hard-to-Reach Communities On and Offline
“These are not the only people working on these issues”, the moderator emphasized at the beginning of the panel. In a packed ballroom hall, this panel attempted to talk about ways to genuinely engaged groups that are not traditionally engaged. The moderator had to emphasize that “hard-to-reach” was in quotes, as communities which might be […]
Posted inUnscheduled Programming
LIVE from Providence: Collaboration, Not Co-Option: Labor, Community Organizations, and Occupy Wall Street Working Together
Welcome to my first post from Providence! Now it’s 10:30, and I’m sitting in a panel about how the Occupy movement and more traditional progressive groups can work together, in order to better create positive change. Panelists first described where they were when they first heard about Occupy Wall Street, and stories emerged from the […]