Announcements

The King County 2014 Democratic Convention met on Saturday, April 12 and adopted a new platform (also available in PDF and MS Word versions)

The devastating, sneaky genius of John Roberts’ opinions Chief Justice John Roberts. has an unparalleled talent for making the sweeping seem small and the sharp seem mild. His rhetoric is all about sounding reasonable and earnest, even if (especially if) the outcomes of his rulings are anything but. He’s a champion of the long game. He’s Scalia’s…

A “nation of takers?” Here are the real “takers” In the debate about poverty, critics argue that government assistance saps initiative and is unaffordable. After exploring the issue, I must concede that the critics have a point. Here are five public welfare programs that are wasteful and turning us into a nation of “takers.” Perhaps…

Banks won’t do business with legal marijuana sellers—enter PotCoin So far 20 states and the District of Columbia have legalized the use of marijuana for medical or recreational purposes, but with the rise of the legal pot business has come a wave of robberies and other crimes targeting pot dispensaries and their owners. The purveyors of legal pot…

When the government outsources to private companies, inequality gets worse State and local officials nationwide are responding to budget crunches by siphoning off public services to private contractors—the classic “market-based solution” for a fiscal crisis. But on balance, the savings of these supposedly cost-saving outsourcing measures often turn out to be less than advertised. A new…

Ethics board: ‘Substantial’ belief McMorris Rodgers misused funds An independent congressional ethics board found “substantial reason” to believe Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), the fourth-ranking House Republican, improperly used official funds for campaign activities. The full findings of the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) were made public for the first time on Monday by the House…

CA to send voter registration cards to Obamacare applicants Facing legal action from the ACLU and rights groups over federal voter registration laws, California will send applications to about 3.8 million residents who applied under the Affordable Care Act. Under a deal announced Monday by several voting-rights groups, the state will send voter registration cards to nearly…

Compromising won’t help get to $15 Now It’s the dog days of a Seattle winter, and tempers are growing short. The initial enthusiasm for a $15 an hour minimum wage remains strong, but it has been joined by a more contentious hashing out of the details of how we get there—and who is included. 68%…

King County Walker preaches to choir while protesters mass outside Hundreds protest Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s appearance in Seattle. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker brought his fiery brand of Republican politics to Seattle on Thursday night, describing at a think-tank fundraiser how he believes conservatives can “reclaim our country.” With some 300 demonstrators outside the downtown Sheraton…