Stories on this page:

• February 18th Legislative Update
• It's Up To Us, By Joel Staloch
• Return to Foundational Values

Legislative Update, February 18, 2007
Mike Rechner, Chair, 20th LD

On the eve of the State Democrats Crab Feed and the 43rd day of the 2007 session, I thought it was time for another legislative update to take a look at what the 20th LD elected officials have been up to since the last update.

Instead of talking about what each of the elected officials has been up to lately, I thought it might be interesting to take a look at how they have voted so far this year.  What many people don’t know about the legislature is that the majority of bills that come up for a vote on the floor of the House or Senate end up passing unanimously.  But there are those issues that will polarize the House or Senate and force everyone back behind the party lines.  I wanted to point out a few of these that have been voted on already.

In the House, there have been a few bills that have drawn partisan lines when they took their votes.  The first was House Bill 1024 which would phase out the use of polybrominated diphenyl ethers, a flame retardant chemical.  Studies on animals show that this chemical can impact the developing brain, affecting behavior and learning after birth and into adulthood, making exposure to fetuses and children a particular concern.  It would seem that passing this bill should be a priority for any elected official.  Well, guess again.  Both Representatives DeBolt and Alexander voted against the passage of this bill.  With entities like Washington Association of Businesses opposed to the bill, is it really any wonder?

The second bill in the House to draw the lines was House Bill 1116, which creates a plan to increase the homeownership rate to seventy-five percent by 2020.  Homeownership is still the American Dream for most people in this country and it is also a wealth-building tool.  Who would ever be opposed to searching for new ways to help more people reach their dream of home ownership?  I’ll tell you – Representatives DeBolt and Alexander.  This one is hard to understand as there was little testimony against the bill.

In the Senate so far, there has been only one bill to come to a vote on the floor that has created a polarized body, Senate Bill 5093, concerning access to health care services for children.  This was a high priority bill for the Democrats this year, and quite frankly, it should be a priority for both parties.  The bill directs DSHS to create a seamless program to provide affordable health coverage program for children under the age of 19 with family incomes at or below 250 percent of the Federal Poverty Level.  Only nine members of the Senate voted against this bill, and, you guessed it, Senator Swecker was one of them.  That is a vote that defies logic.  I have actually sent him an email asking him what about the bill would cause him to vote no, but I have not received a response yet.

Finally, what would a legislative update be without a fun fact about my favorite House Minority Leader?  So far this session, Representative DeBolt has missed 9 votes – all on February 14th, Valentines Day.  Maybe it was a little present for us?  Well, I prefer chocolate.

It's Up To Us
By Joel Staloch

The "think tank" is a great idea - a group of concerned folks from a broad spectrum of the community minded.
      I strongly support creating action from conviction - and everyone has their expertise and/or comfort level to do so. The important thing is to act - but equally important, is to listen to other views while keeping our eye on the long term goals. The R's have spent over 3 decades organizing, dominating legislation and more importantly, wresting the real issues away from public discussion. We are not wrong on the issues. We just have not kept pace on organizing, working together...so we now tend to be on the defensive. It's also time to take back the message.
     We all basically believe in the core values of the Democratic Party, yet have not done so well in espousing those views in the ever shrinking media.  Books like George Lakoff's "Don't Think of an Elephant" or Thomas Frank's "What the Matter with Kansas" or others such as "God's Politics" by Jim Wallis and many others,  help us frame the message to where we do not argue on the R's terms. It is good to understand how the R's have been working on gaining control of the political arena ever since the Goldwater defeat culminated by the Reagan victory which supported the "Contract with (on!) America” leading to the so-called compassionate conservatism in George W Bush.
     We have a long way to go. We are not wrong on the issues nor do we have to tilt toward any point on the political spectrum. It will take years to rebuild our core and years to rethink and effectively frame our message - as opposed to only reacting to theirs. But, it is up to us. Waiting for a political messiah will only put us further behind. Blaming the R's or the media (local or national) does little to advance our message. However, holding those groups accountable is of great importance.
     In Thurston County, in 2005 alone, there are nearly 70 non-partisan positions on the ballot in November. Just as the R's did many years ago, we have to find good progressive thinking folks to run for every conceivable office (councils, commissions, school boards, etc, etc). Whether one uses an obscure office as an experience builder for future political races or just maintaining solid democratic involvement (and balanced integrity) in the system, we have to show up.
     As I often say, it's time to stop preaching to the choir and mingle with the congregation. We can find linkage, commonality with nearly every one of our neighbors (near or far).  We may not agree on every issue, but with an effective voice and organized effort, we can rebuild what has made this country and our communities great. It is up to us!

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Return to Foundational Values

Following is part of a response to a German cousin who viewed the result of our recent national election with disbelief. His parents and grandparents are survivors of Nazi imperialism.

I fear that the election of Mr. Bush may lead to the ultimate end of a democratic republic in the United States and the establishment of a theocratic empire bent on national and world domination. For some time I have been alarmed by the striking similarities between recent events in the U.S. and the events in Germany 70 years ago. We seem incapable of learning from history. After 9-11 we had the opportunity for a moment of greatness that could have led to reconciliation in the world. Unfortunately, our government did not "seize the moment for greatness". We must face the fact that every world empire that has sought economic, political, religious, and preemptive military domination has fallen under its own weight. I fear that we are heading in the same direction.

Our current government has the following policies of imperialism:

• An immoral and illegal preemptive war of aggression
• The murder of untold numbers of noncombatant women, children, and men in Iraq
• A border policy causing the death of thousands of peaceful migrants in the Arizona desert
• The denial of marriage rights and legal protection for nontraditional committed couples
• The denial of women’s rights to make decisions and be responsible for their own bodies
• The health and education policies that further marginalize minorities and the poor
• The education of children for literal responses on tests rather than critical thinking
• The discrimination against anyone who does not think and act exactly like the dominators

The thing that hurts me the most, as a passionate believer in Jesus of Nazareth and the values he taught, is to watch our government proclaim imperialistic policies in the name of Christianity. These policies are not based on the values of Jesus or the "American dream". Instead they are based on the fundamentalist policies of an antichrist political cult that is opposed to what Jesus taught and practiced. We seem to have abandoned the foundational religious values of all the world’s great religions, and the constitutional values upon which our nation was built.

Our task now is to look to the future and to educate the undereducated and uninformed people in our country who are willing to be controlled by dominating fundamentalists who only speak for their own special interest. We can also pray that our nation will return to its foundational values and principles. In the meantime, we can only say "God forgive America" in the hope that one day we will be able, once again, to say with conviction "God bless America" because our country believes and practices the spiritual and national values of "liberty and justice for all".

Bill W. Hillman, Ph.D.
November 18, 2004
Professor Emeritus, University of Arizona
Elder, Presbyterian Church (USA)

Suggested reading: Gary Hart, The Fourth Power: An Essay on the Power of America’s Principles, Oxford University Press, 2004.

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