Enhancing Freedom, Opportunity and Cooperation in
Through informing and networking Liberals and Liberal Organizations.
Our vision is hundreds of thousands of well-informed
Our Website Our Editor To
Unsubscribe Table of
Contents *Featured
Articles Calendars of Events Communication with Our Members -- Opportunities Petitions Commentaries from Our Members Helen Montgomery: Iran Election Results May Be Fraudulent Dean
Baker: Housing Bubble Caused Economic Crisis Dean
Baker: Most Stimulus Has Already Occurred* Rich
Austin: ILWA Supports Single Payer Health Care Rich Austin: A Health Care Poll with the Right Questions Linda Redman: We Need Healthy, Peaceful, Ecological Cultural
Settlements Liberals and Democrats Links to the Beef Making Sausage: Pork and Compromises* State and Local Links
to the Beef David Spring: Higher Education Will Cost More* Nation and World Links to the Beef Our Liberal Spirit Our
Political Priorities ·
Fair Clean
Elections and Open Government ·
Fair Taxes and
Competent Spending ·
Investment for
Productivity ·
Quality
Health, Education, Jobs, Income ·
Environmental
Protection and Energy Independence ·
Security and
Equal Rights ·
Justice and
Peace Everywhere ·
International
Cooperation and Leadership Conservatives oppose all of these Let’s
End Our National Nightmare
Let’s
Restore Our American Dream More on Conservative opposition to our
American Dream Washington State’s 5 Major Needs ·
Federal
Funding for Health and Education · Substitute
a Progressive Income Tax · Replacing
Conservative Legislators Quote of the Week The world is not
respectable; it is mortal, tormented, confused, deluded forever; but it is
shot through with beauty, with love, with glints of courage and laughter;
and in these, the spirit blooms timidly, and struggles to the light amid
the thorns. George Santayana
(1863-1952)
Calendar of Events
Thursday, July 30 at 7 PM at Issaquah Public Library
(10 West Sunset Way, Issaquah) – 5th Legislative District
Democrats Speaker Series hosts Seattle Port Commissioner Gael Tarleton, discussing
issues which the Port is addressing.
Monday,
August 10 at 6 PM to Wednesday, August 12 at 12:30 PM at Seattle University –National
Vacations Matter Summit, with more than
500 experts from
the fields of health, travel and tourism, family studies and the
environment. $50 ($25 students). To Register. $120-180 for room
for both nights, meals, and parking. Register
for accommodations and meals by July 20. Sponsored by Take Back Your Time.
Full information at: right2vacation.org.
Communication
with Our Members
This issue contains a lengthy commentary by
Opportunities
Useful
Websites: contacts, maps, community organizing tools, and more.
Access
to jillions of political cartoons.
Download
Sightline Institute’s climate policy primer ‘Cap and Trade 101’. About
Sightline.
Conduct your own home energy audit.
See all of President Obama’s
weekly (Saturday) addresses.
Find opportunities for volunteering or register
your own opportunity for others.
Petitions
Welcome
Al Franken and thank him for co-sponsoring the Employee Free Choice Act.
Lend
your name to a TV ad to persuade senators to support a public health insurance
option.
Ask
your senators where they stand on a public health insurance option.
Tell your congress
members we need health care reform now, including a public insurance option.
Tell
EPA to only support biofuels which reduce consumption of fossil fuels.
Tell
Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar to strengthen the Endangered Species Law.
Tell Chief of
the Forest Service Thomas Tidwell to protect Yellowstone buffalo.
Tell
your senators to support President Obama’s new treaty to reduce nuclear arms.
Tell
your representative to appropriate money to fully fund our United Nations
obligations.
Commentaries
From Our Members
Helen Montgomery: The
Reported
I read the post
about the Iran Election which had a link to an article by Mark Weisbot in
Newsweek: he said the election is NOT fraudulent. Here
is a reply post from a reader (Shiveh) that I think is worth considering:
I am puzzled! You mention “The government has agreed to post the
individual ballot box totals on the web. This would provide another opportunity
for any of the hundreds of thousands of witnesses to the precinct-level vote
count to say that they witnessed a different count, if any did so.” Knowing
that results are computerized and it takes only a few mouse clicks to publish
them on the government’s web site, why do you have us believe that a promise is
sufficient in this case? The whole logic of your argument is based on the fact
that there are many thousands of small vote counts and each count is known by a
small group of people. Then although you acknowledge that all of these small
vote counts go to a central location in the Interior ministry and the sums are
tabulated by a small group of Ahmadinejad appointees, you accept their final
numbers along with their promise to post how they reached that summation! Why
didn’t you wait to see the actual list of ballet box totals before you put all
your credibility behind this affirmation? How long does it take to push those
mouse buttons?
You also mentioned that “The only independent poll we have, from
the New America Foundation and conducted three weeks before the election,
predicts the result that occurred.” I’m sure you have read that poll results.
They are very interesting and I’m sure an informed academic like you can reach
plausible conclusions from them.
The poll was taken before Guardian council released the names of
the four candidates that people could vote for. Hence, at the time we had
Ahmadinejad on one side and bunch of so called moderates wanting to oppose him
on the other side. This by itself should tell you that the entire conservative
pro establishment vote was going to Ahmadinejad but people who wouldn’t vote
for him had various people in mind. Also, you are aware that the polling was
administered by telephone from outside
The poll you mention puts Ahmadinejad at 34% approval rating among
the respondents. If you believe the poll is credible and a good sample of how
people voted, shouldn’t you put Ahmadinejad’s numbers
in the final vote tally somewhere between 20%-34%? What does a
number above 60% tells you? Helen Montgomery
Dean Baker: Our Economic Crisis Started with a
Housing Bubble
Dean
Baker: Most Stimulus Has Already Occurred
Read Joe
Biden’s understanding of the effects of our stimulus package.
Rich Austin: ILWA
Supports Single Payer Health Care
A resolution
endorsing the United States Health Care Act (HR 676) was unanimously
adopted by delegates to the June 8 - 12 convention of the International
Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), held in
It is
my opinion that support for a blank check public option is more or less a
retreat from what is truly needed. I know there are all kinds
of feel good clichés, like "a bird in the hand...." or,
"don't sacrifice the good in pursuit of the perfect"....but neither
apply to the "public option" debate. Why would anyone trust
Congress to write decent health care reform language? Decades of evidence
to the contrary demonstrate that they are "not up to the task" (which
is another way of saying most have been bought off and/or are
ideologically-challenged). With HR 676, all the ‘i's have been dotted,
and all the ‘t's have been crossed. There is no good reason to reinvent
the wheel. Nationwide there is overwhelming support for single
payer. Doesn't the very definition of "democracy" demand
that Congress act accordingly? Why settle for less than democracy?
(Lord knows we the people have been settling for much less. It was a
rallying cry when Bush was in the White House. Now that Democrats are in
control is it suddenly ok?)
Politicians
who refuse to represent the people on this life and death issue should suffer
ballot box revenge!
Folks/organizations
are urged to copy, personalize, and pass the resolution adopted by the ILWU,
and then send them to their Members of Congress. That, my friends, is one
example of grass roots, rank and file democracy!
In
unity and solidarity, Rich Austin – President.
Rich Austin: A Health Care
Poll with the Right Questions
When it comes to “health care reform” there are polls,
pollsters, statistics, disinformation, spin doctors and snake oil salesmen. Isn’t it time for a poll that asks the right
question? Here’s an example:
Are you in favor of a national health care insurance
plan that would?
·
cover all medically necessary care
including in-patient, out-patient, prescription drugs, vision, dental, hearing,
long term care, durable equipment, mental health, and nursing home care for
every resident of our nation
·
cost just 4.75% of household income
for the entire family (as an example, a family of four with annual earnings of
$55,000 would pay just $2615.50 per year,
$217.71 per month)
·
prohibit deductibles and co-payments
·
pay all bills from a national heath
insurance trust fund; you would never be billed
·
guarantee your choice of doctors,
hospitals, and other providers, anywhere, anytime
·
leave decisions for appropriate care
up to you and your doctors
·
not require increased taxation
_____ YES _____
NO
Rich Austin
Linda
Redman: We Need Health, Peaceful, Ecological Cultural Settlements
Greetings Dave, I don't know
if we've ever met, but current work is trying to raise two children mostly by
myself. During this endeavor, I am noticing MANY families that are
raising children along the lines of patriarchy and biblical teachings. I
have found Buddhism most helpful as a life philosophy for me and desire to feed
my children healthy food (non-GMO; mostly plant; organic). I am
scrambling right now for how to do that and give my kids some attention and
useful environment.
I feel like moving to
In your work in the progressive movement please work to make structures that
move us towards healthy, peaceful, ecological cultural settlements. People like
me need kibbutz-style communities & eco-villages with virtuous people
teaching sustainable, sensible lifestyles for our children. I hope we can
have economic incentives, laws and common visions to steer us there.
Anyway, thanks for the work you are doing to further useful progressive
ideals. Peace, Linda Redman, my website
Liberals
and Democrats
Government Watch
Also go to Whitehouse.gov.
Issues
Emphasized by Obama Administration
These include: Agriculture & Rural, Arts, Child Advocacy, Civil and Gay Rights, Defense, Disabilities, Economy, Education, Energy & Environment, Ethics, Faith, Family, Fiscal Responsibility, Foreign Policy. Health Care, Homeland Security, Immigration, Katrina, Poverty Seniors, Social
Security & Pensions, Service, Science, Sportsmen, Taxes. Technology, Transportation, Urban Policy, Veterans and Women.
Why Sportsmen without Sportswomen? Why Women without Men? What about Consumer Protection, Gun
Regulation, Investor Protection, Labor, Manufacturing, Marijuana, Public
Campaign Finance and Regulation of Corporate Lobbying, Quality Jobs, Trade
Policy and Worker Safety? Many of the
issues are described with insufficient detail to know what will be addressed,
such as military base closures and elimination of other military expenditures. I also notice that the Change at a Glance
chart has not been updated since April.
If I was in charge of Whitehouse.gov, it would be much more
informative.
What issues do you think should be added or
addressed in more detail?
Economic Stimulus
Dean Baker
recommends government grant tax
credits to businesses which give employees more time off (paid family
leave, sick leave, vacations and shorter work weeks). If employees worked 5% fewer hours, 7 million
addition employees would be needed.
I have long believed
that asking employees to provide more time off with out being paid for it is an
unfair unfunded mandate. I also believe
that Democrats should be sensitive and responsive to the needs of small
businesses. We can do much more for them
than can Republicans, including provision of publicly financed health care and
tax shifting from our FICA jobs tax to another tax, probably a VAT.
Our commercial
media appear to be increasingly skeptical of the efficacy of the
stimulus-investment package. More
attention is being given to Republican opinion, which only promotes the same
supply side trickle down approach which contributed to our economic collapse,
federal deficits and debt. Our 2010
budget will provide additional stimulus.
If these are insufficient, the solution is to pass another Stimulus
Investment Package, although it will be more difficult to get needed public and
congressional support. For
more. For
more. For
more. For
more.
Health Care
President
Obama defended including a public health insurance option instead of
immediately shifting to a single payer public health insurance system. It is necessary to avoid disrupting the many
people who are happy with their present employer paid private health insurance. Howard
Dean’s new book presents comprehensive argument for needed public health
insurance option.
New budget
analysis is favorable to Senate HELP subcommittee health reform plan. Senate
votes are there for health reform with a robust public option. We now have a five
week sprint to passing public health reform. Pharmaceutical
companies and hospitals have offered cheaper prices. Why?
I am still
optimistic that our congress will pass health care reform, climate reform, and
financial regulatory reform this year, clearing the way for addressing other
issues and confronting wealthy and powerful special interests.
Nuclear Arms Reduction
In
I believe we
should be able to cooperate extensively with most countries, except those which
insist upon abusing their own and other peoples. In particular, I believe that Russian and our
Military Pork
House
Armed Services Committee members defend pork not wanted by Defense Department.
Foreign Policy
Pope
Paul may be broadly supportive of president Obama’s peace initiatives.
Joe Biden says Israel is entitled
to attack Iran. For
more. Is that Obama Administration
policy or just Joe Biden’s undisciplined mouth?
Making Sausage: Pork and Compromises
Passage of the American Clean
Energy and Security Act (ACES) by our house of representatives is an
example of making sausage. Having
various different effects on different congressional districts, their
representatives were highly motivated to mitigate negative costs that
businesses and consumers in their districts would incur. The result was many hundreds of pages
detailing various subsidies and exemptions.
The result will still produce reductions in green house gases, but many
of these will be delayed.
It may be that
health reform will also variously affect different congressional districts, in
which case we can expect some of the same sausage making pork and
compromises. One of the signs of this sausage
making is a lengthy bill, containing many detailed qualifications of each
aspect of the legislation, often such that the final bill is produced so late,
that congress members can only be aware of the big picture and the specific
parts that affect their constituents.
Here’s the Beef
More
evidence of a bleak future for Republicans.
Sarah Palin Resigns
Governorship.
Several
Republican Senators may support global warming bill.
Financial
companies may be divided in their opposition to various regulations.
State
and Local
Higher Education:
As a direct result of the 2009 legislature’s
budget cuts, in May 2009, the Washington State University Board of Regents
voted to increase tuition for WSU undergraduates. It will now cost $870 more in
the 2009-2010 academic year, for a total of $7,088 per year. The cost will rise to $8,080 the following year —
a compound increase of nearly 30 percent over two years. There will be parallel
increases at the
So this report is not just about
Education in
As
with the problem in K12 funding, the
dramatic drop in State support for Higher Education is associated with the
dramatic plunge in State revenue resulting from the 1997 Intangible Tax Break
for millionaires.
In 1996,
As
a result of this massive tax break Percent of Income Paid in State and Local
Taxes [3]
on
sales taxes, the State of
has
the most unfair tax structure in
of
their income in State taxes while
our
middle class pays more than 10%.
Those who can afford to
pay
the most pay the least,
while those who can afford to pay the least pay the most. Our middle class pays
some of the highest State taxes in
If
millionaires in our State paid State taxes at the national average, it would
generate several billion dollars a year. This would not harm millionaires as
they could deduct their State taxes from their federal taxes. But this
additional revenue would be enough to restore K12 school funding in our State
to the national average, and restore funding for other important State programs
such as Higher Education and health care for low income children.
As
a direct result of massive tax breaks for millionaires, and the resulting
plunge in State revenue, State support for our Universities has also plunged
dramatically. As recent as 1996, State support was 67% of total Higher Ed
costs.
Education
fell to less than 50%.
It
is currently at 40%. The 2009
legislature reduced State
support to less than 20%
of the total cost by 2010.
Currently,
our State spends about
10%
less than the national average
supporting Higher Education. [4]
This is similar to our lack of support of K12 funding which is also about 10%
below the national average.
In
a little over 10 years, tuition WSU Tuition Increases: 1995 to 2010 [5]
from
$3,000 in 1995 to more
than
$6,000 per year by 2008.
The
2009 legislature has now
further
increased tuition so
that
by 2010, it will be
over
$8,000 per year.
This
means that working
class
families, already struggling
to
make their mortgage payments,
will
be forced to spend an
extra
$5,000 per year over
1995
levels if they want their child to attend WSU.
Our
State is already near the bottom of the nation in the percent of 9th
Graders who go on to complete college. Many blame this problem on low WASL
scores or inadequate High School course requirements. But this report raises
another possibility. Namely, that our
State’s abandonment of financial support for Higher Education has put the cost
of higher education out of reach for many, if not most, working class families.
Sacrificing the future of our children as well as the vitality of our economy
is a heavy price to pay just to preserve tax breaks for millionaires.
Ironically,
when the $3 billion in federal stimulus money is gone, this situation will only
get worse.
The
solution to this problem is not to further increase taxes on our middle class,
or to further cut funding for Higher Education, but to move towards a fairer
tax structure so we can have fairer national average school funding and
national average support for Higher Education.
We
need a tax fairness reform package passed in the 2010 legislative session to
restore national average K12 and Higher Ed funding and to preserve the future
of our State. A good first step would be to close the 1997 tax loophole
exempting intangible property from our State property tax.
The hidden problem: A Decade of
skyrocketing tax breaks for millionaires
When the Intangibles Loophole
was created in 1997, it was claimed that it would have very little effect on
total State taxes. The chart above clearly shows that this claim was wrong. This tax loophole gave billions of dollars in
tax breaks to our richest citizens during the past 12 years. It
is no mere coincidence that our State has been shorting our public schools as well as our colleges and Universities by
billions of dollars a year ever since. This tax
loophole also caused many commercial business to change the designation of
their tangible property to “intangible” property in order to avoid paying the
State property tax. The total shift in commercial property from tangible to
intangible commercial property has exceeded over $100 billion in commercial
property exempted from State property taxes. This is currently costing our
State another billion dollars in lost revenue each year. The Intangible tax
exemption now costs our State a total of $10 billion dollars a year. [6] This is much more than our State spends on
school funding or Higher Education each year.
Tax exemptions
for millionaires and major corporations have become so popular that there are
now more than 567 tax exemptions totaling over $50 billion dollars a year. This
“invisible budget” is now much bigger than the entire visible State budget
(which is currently $16 billion per year or $32 billion per biennium). Our
current public school budget is about $7 billion dollars per year. This means
that for every dollar we spend on public schools for our children, we spend $7
on tax breaks for millionaires.
The claim of “Out of Control” State spending is simply a dishonest
campaign slogan.
It is a myth fabricated by the radical right to deceive the
voters. While
State revenue and spending have grown about 50%, personal income in our State
has grown by more than 50% (I know your income did not go up, but the income of
millionaires doubled in the past 10 years, and the State population increased
greatly and inflation took a toll, so the total income divided by everyone has
grown more than 50%). Thus, the State budget as a percent of personal income
has actually fallen since 1997.
Ten Years of Rapidly Rising Tax Breaks for
Millionaires
But
in the same ten years, tax breaks for
millionaires have skyrocketed 250% (see chart). Tax breaks in the past ten
years have increased at a rate which is 5 times greater than the increase in
the State budget.
The
reason our State budget has risen at a rate of a half billion per year for the
past 10 years is to pay for a rising population, rising energy costs and rising
health care costs of an aging population (also paying for skyrocketing health
care profits of un-regulated HMO’s). When adjustments are made for these
factors, State spending has actually taken a dramatic drop in the past 10
years. Meanwhile, tax breaks for millionaires are skyrocketing at a rate of $3
billion dollars per year. Given the dire consequences of the 2009 budget cuts
and the likelihood of even greater budget cuts in 2010, there is no rational
reason to continue this massive tax give away.
Why
is it that the corporate controlled media is not reporting this rapid rise in
tax giveaways? Perhaps it is because they are among the privileged few getting
these massive tax breaks. The number of tax breaks has risen from 420 in 1998
to 576 in 2008 (an increase of 150 tax breaks in 10 years or 15 new tax breaks
every year). Where we used to give away $20 billion a year in tax breaks (twice
the total State budget back then), we now give away $50 billion a year in tax
breaks (three times the size of our entire State budget). [8]
We do not have
an “out of control” State spending problem... We have an “out of control” tax breaks for millionaires
problem.
These
ever-increasing “tax shifts” of the tax burden away from millionaires and onto
our middle class have led to increases in middle class taxes. In particular,
the property tax burden on our middle class has skyrocketed in the past ten
years as the ratio of commercial to residential tangible property has shifted from
about 50-50 in 1997 to 66% residential to 33% commercial by 2006. When $100 billion dollars of commercial
property is exempted from property taxes, residential property taxes must go up
even if State and local spending remains the same.
As a consequence
of these tax break for millionaires, and tax shifts to our middle class, our
middle class now pay much more than the national average in State taxes while
millionaires in our State pay much less than the national average. Working
families see their tax bills go through the roof and they naturally assume that
State spending is “Out of control.” But what is really out of control is tax
breaks for millionaires.
Adding insult to injury:
2009 legislature grants huge tuition breaks to the super rich!
While the legislature cut
funding and spaces for students at our Universities for in-state students, it
granted hundreds of millions of dollars in new expanded Higher Ed subsidies for
thousands of high income out-of country professionals working at Microsoft. Thus,
thousands of middle class Instate students will be forced to spend hundreds of
millions of dollars more on their education while thousands of out-of country
professionals with high paying jobs will be see their Higher Ed cost cut in
have by being allowed to pay in-state tuition rather than out-of state tuition.
This huge subsidy for foreign millionaires was made possible by House Bill 1487
sponsored by Ross Hunter and Glenn Anderson. So not only is Microsoft being
given hundreds of millions of dollars in State tax breaks for shipping our jobs
overseas, but we are now going to allow them to outsource our State
Universities to rob our children of a reasonable education.
A state resident who is a full-time
undergraduate at UW will pay $8,000 in tuition, books and fees next year,
compared with $24,000 for a full-time nonresident student.
Just ten years ago, the in-state student
was paying one $4,000. So, our kids tuition bills are being more than
doubled so the tuition bills of rich foreign nationals can be cut more than
half.
Rep. Bob Hasegawa, D-Seattle, opposed
the measure, calling it unfair to resident students at a time when the state is
making it more difficult for everyone to afford to go to school in the state.
"It's a diversion of limited resources," Hasegawa said. "We only
allow X amount of slots for resident tuition rates and we are displacing those
residents with H-1B visa holders, their families and dependents. Microsoft can
well afford out-of-state tuition for its people."
Each
year, the
In summary, the 2009 legislature: Cut UW's budget by 29%.
Offset
this cut by authorizing a 30% increase in tuition for in-state students.
Followed this by giving more than a 50% tuition reduction to a small number of
individuals (by moving them from the non-resident to the resident tuition
rate). - The individuals who are benefiting from this new subsidy, unlike most
students, are in well-compensated professional occupations, and many of them
are already receiving tuition reimbursement from their employers. Microsoft,
for example, offers $7500/year tuition reimbursement.
If a
corporation wants foreign workers to gain this type of benefit then they should
reimburse educational cost rather than expect the tax payer to carry this
burden. When legislators are axing programs for
How much does this new tax break for
millionaires cost us?
Assuming
that each of the 10,000 out-of-country professionals has one family member
attending school here, and assuming there is no increase in out-of-country
workers as a result of this bill (a bad assumption given that the whole reason
to pass this bill was to as a recruiting benefit to bring in more out-of
country workers),
The
initial cost of this bill is: 10,000 out –of country students times $16,000
revenue lost per student = $160 Million
dollars per year. If the program succeeds in attracting more out-of-country
workers to displace in-state employees working at Microsoft, the cost could
easily double to more than $300 million
dollars per year.
Outsourcing the
The
Who voted for such an unfair
shifting in taxes from Microsoft millionaires to middle class kids?
The
bill was sponsored by Ross Hunter, Glenn Anderson, Deb Eddy, Lynn Kessler and
Deb Wallace in the State House of Representatives. It passed in the House 59 to
38, but there was no way of knowing who voted for it because a roll call vote
was never taken. It was publicly opposed
by Representatives Hasegawa, Driscoll, Hope, Cox and Rolfes.
In the Senate, those who
voted for it included: Senators Berkey, Brandland, Delvin,
Eide, Fairley, Franklin, Fraser, Hargrove, Hatfield, Haugen, Hobbs, Jacobsen,
Jarrett, Keiser, Kilmer, Kline, Kohl-Welles, Marr, McAuliffe, McDermott,
Murray, Oemig, Prentice, Pridemore, Ranker, Regala, Schoesler, Sheldon, Shin,
Tom, and Zarelli.
It is likely that many
legislators were misled about the harm this bill will inflict on our middle
class children. But clearly, middle class families need to re-examine who we
are sending to the State legislature if our kids are to have a fair chance at
competing in public schools and succeeding in college and beyond.
See
commentary by Ann Daley, Executive Director, Washington Higher Education
Coordinating Board.
Three
methods of assessing the costs of educating a graduate (catalog cost,
transcript cost, and full cost) yield different results relevant to different
purposes. Besides producing graduates,
colleges also produce education for those who don’t graduate, research and
various community services.
Dr.
Michael Kirst’s commentary on Jane Wellman’s Delta Project Report includes:
“Between
2002 and 2006, average tuition at public research universities increased by
nearly 27 percent or $1,419, but the spending on each student only went up by 1
percent, or $149. In calculating “education and related” spending -- the
dollars spent directly on students -- the Delta Project included expenses on
instruction and student services. Also included in that figure is the
per-student share of administrative functions tied to academics, academic
support and operations and maintenance.
Tuition increases outpaced per-student spending even more dramatically
at public master's institutions and community colleges.
Private institutions, on the other hand, are charging students
more and putting more money into instruction at the same time, according to the
report. At private research institutions, for instance, tuition went up by
$985, but per-student spending actually rose by $1,453. Whether that spending
translated into a higher quality education, however, remains to be seen.
So where is all the money going? At most types of institutions,
an increasing share of “education and related” spending goes toward
administrative support and student services, while instruction -- including
faculty salaries -- is falling as a percentage of those expenses.
Administrative expenses made up the most significant share of “education and
related” expenses at private bachelor’s institutions, where 44.2 percent of the
cost of educating students was devoted to administration in 2006, according to
the report.”
Robert E.
Martin comments that higher education costs of private institutions result
from decisions by faculty, administrators and board members who are agents
pursuing their own interests instead of the interests of students, parents,
alumni and donors who pay these costs.
In summary, higher education costs are increasing rapidly for
private, but little for public institutions.
Public institutions are receiving less revenue from our state and
federal government, requiring increased revenue from tuition, which is paid by
students and their parents.
Here’s the Beef
Allowing
backyard cottages is an easy way to increase Seattle’s housing density.
Gleaners
save food that would be wasted. For
themselves and their community.
Last
year, people in the Pacific Northwest continued the trend to using less
gasoline.
Thinning
trees to prevent fires reduces carbon stored in wood more than allowing fires.
Prisoners
are employed doing research and conservation.
In
Oregon, 5000 employers provided 50,000 green jobs in 226 different occupations.
Green
renovation of older office buildings renders them more attractive to tenants.
Boeing exports jobs,
quality falters, behind schedule, lose orders, thinks of exporting more jobs.
Vancouver,
BC plans to promote installation of electric vehicle recharging stations.
Indians
are restoring salmon to Pacific Northwest rivers.
Across
the west, pharmacists must provide Plan B morning after contraceptive pills.
Nation
and World
Which Wars Are Justified?
Self Defense
I
believe some wars are justified. A
country can defend itself from attack as our
Our
Stopping Abuses
I
believe the following wars, (in which an international force or neighboring country
invaded a country to stop enormous abuses of people by their government) were
justified:
·
India’s 1871
invasion of East Pakistan (Bangladesh)
·
Tanzania’s 1978
invasion of Uganda
·
Vietnam’s
1978 invasion of Cambodia
·
NATO 1995
bombing in Bosnia 1992
·
NATO 1999 bombing of Yugoslavia Kosovo
I
believe similar invasions would have been justified earlier in
Justifying
these wars is a slippery slope. Most countries
have some abuse. How much is enough to
justify an invasion? Would invasion of Zimbabwe
by
What
about situations where a country contains various ethnic groups in conflict?
·
Nigeria
(1967-1970)
·
Cyprus (1974)
·
Sri Lanka
(1983-2009)
·
Various former
Soviet countries have mixtures of natives and Russians. This has recently led to conflict
in parts of Georgia, with
Where one of the ethnic groups is predominant in a
neighboring country, the neighboring country is tempted to intervene.
It quickly becomes apparent that the variety of
circumstances precludes any easy generalizations. My first preference would for international
laws, courts and enforcement agencies to decide the resolution of all cases
such as the above. In the absence of
such resources, particularly heinous situations can justify action by
neighboring states or alliances, if their actions are authorized by the United
Nations and they act solely to bring justice and peace.
What’s NATO Now For?
Our North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) developed to provide it’s
European and North American members a mutual defense capability against
military threats by the
In the future, NATO may
become an organization of like-minded Democratic managed capitalist states
throughout the world to deal with global issues such as peace, disarmament
and international violent crime. In the
long run, if the United Nations becomes more Democratic, NATO could become its
military arm.
Here’s the Beef
Farmers have a lot at
stake concerning global warming.
Do
we need to spend $100 billion on 800 military bases throughout the world?
Our
Liberal Spirit
Fear versus Hope
As
George Santayana said, “The world is not respectable; it is mortal, tormented,
confused, deluded forever; but it is shot through with beauty, with love, with
glints of courage and laughter; and in these, the spirit blooms timidly, and
struggles to the light amid the thorns.
I imagine all humans living within the jaws of hope and fear. Our hope, vision and dreams reach up, while
our limitations and fears reach down.
How do we live in such jaws? How
do we reduce the painful pressure?
We
can attempt to quit hoping, dreaming and forming visions, simply thinking that
we are victims of an unfair world which blocks our pursuits. But it is impossible for humans to quit
dreaming. Instead of accepting our
weaknesses, we go through life whining about them.
We
can attempt to courageously strive harder and smarter to realize our dreams,
assuming that we can overcome all limitations.
Instead of being less than human, we can attempt to be more than
human. To be all knowing and all
controlling. But this also doesn’t
work. The limitations often can’t be
overcome. In the end, we die.
We
can busily try to dream dreams that seem easy to realize, while avoiding dreams
that might be blocked. As evidence
reveals more, we discard some dreams and add others. We never commit to our dreams. Often looking for excuses to quit, instead of
ways to succeed. Even though we tentatively
try to pursue some dreams, our fears dominate our pursuit.
I
prefer a fourth approach. Dream flat
out. Accept the reality of limits flat
out. Increase the pressure of the jaws. Try hard and smart, knowing that I will
frequently fail. Will frequently get
squashed. Put my emphasis upon being
able to resist the pressure. Being able
to quickly recover from both failure and success. Being able to dream new dreams and accept new
limitations. Continually play the game
of being fully human, both dreaming and recognizing limitations. Recognizing that there is more to human life
than avoiding pain. We can walk the
tight rope between being less than human like a cow and being more than human
like God.
Recommended Books – See our list of books for liberals
Justin
Pollard and Howard Reid, 2006, The Rise
and Fall of
This
book joins Arthur Herman’s 2001 book How the Scots Invented the Modern World, The True Story of How Western
Europe’s Poorest Nation Created Our World & Everything in It on our
reading list because it also describes a great liberal period in human history.
Free Member Advertising
Hire Our Lake Hills Neighbors
· Auto Repair, price varies depending on job (but always fair),
Jaime Speicher (AAS Auto Repair Technician) (425-746-2353)
· Babysitting
for infants (occasional evenings
and weekends) - $5 per hour- Christy Pacheco- johnpacheco01@yahoo.com 425-653-3565
· Data
Entry- $10 per 12 font, double
spaced page- Christy Pacheco (425-653-3565 johnpacheco01@yahoo.com)
· Debt
Elimination Counseling, Seminars and
Workshops – price negotiable – Sherry Brandt (206-356-8034, somerev2@comcast.net)
· Home
Repair- prices vary, depending
on job- John Pacheco 425-653-3565 johnpacheco01@yahoo.com)
· Home Repair
and Remodeling, Rick Hegdahl
(206-227-6280 vikingnw@comcast.net)
· Housekeeper, price negotiable – Laura Montano (641-5038 ambar_lau@hotmail.com)
· Life Support
Therapies, Astara Burlingame RN. (MD)
holistic care, acupuncture hypno therapy, biological medicines (206-370-0356)
· Private
Piano Lessons (students must have a
piano), afternoons - Anna Khosrowian (378-7938), price negotiable
· Psychotherapist, accepts insurance -
Sandy Mathews (462-7889, www.sandramathews.com)
[1] Data for this report was complied
primarily from the annual legislative reports of
[2]
[3] Institute on Taxation and Economic
Policy (2002) Who Pays? A Distributional Analysis of the Tax Systems in All 50
States.
[4] Higher Education Finance 2007 Report, page 45.
(higheredinfo.org).
[5] The total student cost is much greater. There are over $1,000 in additional required fees not included in tuition. Books, room and board raise actual cost to over $15,000 per year or $60,000 for a 4 year degree.
[6] See Washington State Department of Revenue 2008 Tax Exemption Report, page 39.
[7]
[8] Compiled from the Tax Exemption
Reports of the Washington State Department of Revenue, 2000, 2004 and 2008. see
http://dor.wa.gov/docs/reports/exemptions
[9]
Microsoft, the #1 sponsor of
visa workers, sponsored 22,726 H-1b visas and 6,074 green cards since 2001.
Foreign workers comprise 1/3 of the Microsoft Puget Sound workforce.
http://www.myvisajobs.com/Visa-Sponsor/Microsoft/356252.htm