Tim Eyman may not have an initiative on the ballot this year, but he has no intention of keeping a low profile this autumn, as he demonstrated yesterday when he went fishing for media coverage using an obscene image for story bait. In an email to reporters sent yesterday afternoon, Eyman engaged in quite a show […]
Tag: Strong Commonwealth
Posted inEconomic Security, Legislative Advocacy, Policy Topics
State’s editorial boards continue to call on lawmakers to make “difficult choices” — without saying what those choices should be
Yesterday, while doing some weekend reading with the help of Pacific NW Portal, I came across an editorial by the Spokesman-Review which reminded me of at least a dozen different platitude-laden Seattle Times editorials I’ve read over the years that attempted to pass for insightful commentary on the state’s fiscal situation. This editorial, “State’s fiscal […]
Posted inEconomic Security, Elections, Policy Topics
An in-depth look at the April 22nd special election: Results from across the state
Although the demise of King County Proposition 1 was the most noteworthy outcome of last night’s special election, it’s important to remember there were other measures on the ballot as well. According to the Washington Secretary of State’s office, there were thirty-five ballot measure on the ballot across the state. Turnout was depressed this April, which […]
Posted inEconomic Security, National Defense, Policy Topics
United States needs and deserves a budget that puts people — and the planet — first
Congress votes and the deal’s done. What does it mean? Washington’s senior U.S. Senator Patty Murray and her negotiating partner Congressman Paul Ryan have averted yet another budget crisis heading into the 2014 budget negotiations. The Senate still has to vote, but the House has, by a surprisingly large margin, gone ahead and signed off on […]
Posted inEconomic Security, Policy Topics
Right-wing think tanks plotting Eymanesque campaign against our cities and counties
Last week, reporters for The Guardian pulled the curtain back on a network of well-funded, well-organized right-wing think tanks and their extreme agenda. Documents obtained by The Guardian show the blandly-named State Policy Network is working to undermine education, healthcare, and revenue collection in nearly every state in the country. Their specific proposals are extremely […]
Posted inBreaking News, Economic Security, Policy Topics
President Barack Obama signs legislation to reopen government and avert default; federal employees directed to return to work
Our latest Republican-instigated manufactured fiscal crisis is over. Finally. From the White House, received moments ago: On Thursday, October 17, 2013, the President signed into law: H.R. 2775, the “Continuing Appropriations Act, 2014,” which provides fiscal year 2014 appropriations for projects and activities of the Federal Government through Wednesday, January 15, 2014. The effective time for the continuing […]
Posted inBreaking News, Economic Security, Policy Topics
U.S. House signs off on deal to reopen the federal government and pay America’s bills
An eleventh-hour agreement negotiated by Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell to reopen the federal government and pay America’s bills was accepted by the U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday night after top House Republicans admitted that their attempts to extract a ransom in exchange for simply fulfilling their basic responsibilities as representatives had failed miserably. With […]
Posted inBreaking News, Economic Security, Policy Topics
U.S. Senate votes overwhelmingly to reopen federal government and pay America’s bills
At long last, we finally have some decent news out of the Other Washington. By a vote of eighty-one to eighteen, the United States Senate has voted to approve legislation that reopens the federal government through mid-January and allows the U.S. Department of the Treasury to pay America’s bills through mid-February. More than half of […]
Posted inEconomic Security, Policy Topics, Public Planning
Tim Eyman gets an earful in Seattle after stepping to the mic to recite his talking points
Initiative profiteer Tim Eyman got a taste of what it’s like to be interrupted and heckled tonight when he showed up in Seattle to speak at the second to last stop on Rodney Tom and Curtis King’s transportation autumn “listening tour”, which has been traveling around the state since mid-September. Eyman, who was also at […]
Posted inEconomic Security, Policy Topics, Public Planning
LIVE from Seattle: Transportation “listening tour” comes to the Emerald City
Good evening from Seattle. I’m here at the First Presbyterian Church on First Hill, where a dozen members of the state House and Senate are holding a public meeting to talk about Washington State’s transportation needs. This is the latest stop on what’s been called a “listening tour” instigated by Rodney Tom and Senate Republicans […]
Posted inEconomic Security, Policy Topics
Outside right wing groups playing outsize role in Republican government shutdown
The New York Times has a great article today that delves into the origins of the House Republicans’ government shutdown. It turns out that powerful right wing groups, including the vast political machinery assembled and funded by the Koch brothers, have been agitating for a shutdown for a long time, and were finally able, with […]
Posted inEconomic Security, Elections, Humor & Satire, Legislative Advocacy, Policy Topics, Public Planning
The “Tim Eyman Memorial Bridge” meme: Why it got started, why it’s taken off
Last week, in the aftermath of the collapse of a key span of the Interstate 5 bridge over the Skagit River, a friend of NPI’s (Wu Ming) suggested in a diary on Daily Kos that we begin referring to the out-of-service crossing as the “Tim Eyman Memorial Bridge”. We ran with the meme, creating a […]
Posted inPolicy Topics, Public Planning
Time to give the failed I‑5 Skagit River span a new name: The Tim Eyman Memorial Bridge
Yesterday afternoon on Daily Kos, progressive activist Wu Ming suggested that, in the wake of the failure of Interstate 5’s Skagit River crossing, which carries more than seventy thousand vehicles a day, it would be appropriate to give the span a new name: The Tim Eyman Memorial Bridge. Ming wrote: As I watched the coverage […]
Posted inEconomic Security, Litigation, Policy Topics, Public Planning
It’s time to update Tim Eyman’s Failure Chart
Now that the Washington State Supreme Court has ruled, at long last, that the main provision of Tim Eyman’s I‑601 clones is unconstitutional and void, it’s time for us to update Tim Eyman’s Failure Chart. The Failure Chart is a handy resource that we maintain over at Permanent Defense which shows that most of the […]