Tag Archives: Democrats

Washington State Minimum Wage to Increase to $9.04 on January 1, 2012

Posted on December 25th, 2011 | 1 comment

On January 1, 2012 Washington State’s minimum wage will increase to $9.04.  Once again Washington State will lead the nation in having the highest minimum wage.  Oregon’s minimum wage will increase to $8.80. 

The minimum wage level of Washington State, Oregon and 8 other state’s is indexed to inflation and the consumer price index. In 1998 Washington voters passed Initiative 688. It was the first state to index it’s minimum wage to inflation and set the standard for other states to follow rather than every few years waging battles to try to increase the minimum wage when inflation went up. The other eight states are Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, and Vermont.

As CNNMoney notes, “Minimum wage rates in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Montana, Ohio, Oregon, Vermont and Washington will rise between 28 and 37 cents per hour on Jan. 1 …Rates in these states will range from $7.64 per hour (in Colorado), to $9.04 (in Washington) in 2012.” Nevada does not raise its minimum wage until July 1st and Missouri, even with an adjustment, does not exceed the Federal minimum wage.

Increasing the minimum wage has positive effects on the economy.  As CNNMoney noted:

 “The small boosts for 2012 are estimated to tack an extra $582 to $770 a year onto the paychecks of full-time workers, according to the National Employment Law Project, a non-profit advocacy group.

What’s more, the increases could be a mini-boost for the economy. The expected rise in consumer spending as a result of the wage increases would add $366 million to the nation’s gross domestic product and lead to the creation of more than 3,000 full-time jobs.”

The Economic Policy Institute calculates the actual impact in even broader terms.

Across these eight states, an estimated 1,045,000 workers will be “directly affected.”  These are workers whose current wages are between the existing state minimum wage and the new Jan. 1 minimum wage. In addition, another 394,000 workers will be “indirectly affected” by the increase. These indirectly-affected workers are those whose current wages are just above the new Jan. 1 minimum, and are likely to also see a wage increase as employers adjust their overall pay structures to reflect the new minimum (the “spillover” effect).

Despite the benefits of indexing the minimum wage to inflation, the national minimum wage is not indexed to inflation. Thus as the cost of goods like food and gas go up, the buying ability of minimum wage workers decreases. The current Federal wage is currently only $7.25.  That’s just a little over $15,000 a year.

The federal minimum wage needs to be indexed to inflation. Congress has a dismal record of increasing the minimum wage.  From 1997 to 2007, the minimum wage was stuck at $5.15 despite increases in inflation. In legislation passed in 2007 it went up to $5.85 in June 2007, then to $6.55 in June 2008 and then to $7.25 in June 2009. No further increase have been made in the last 2 1/2 years.

Barack Obama, as part of his transition team agenda, said he would work to raise the minimum wage and index it to inflation.  We need to hold him to his promise and to put Democrats and Republicans on the spot as to standing up for helping low income workers make it in this economy.  Republicans will voice all their usual objections but there is no better way to convince voters of whose interests they really represent than to challenge them to support working Americans by raising the minimum wage for the lowest paid workers.

And progressives in the states that have initiatives would be wise to run minimum wage initiatives with an inflation index in 2012.  With all the attention on the vast disparity of wealth distribution in this country that has gotten worse, its time to put on the ballot measures that work to redress this imbalance and that point out the differences between the goals of Republicans and Democrats.  Democrats have joined with Labor in working to help raise the pay of lower wage earners. Republicans have not.

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36th District Democrats Make August 2011 Primary Endorsements

Posted on August 13th, 2011 | Comments Off on 36th District Democrats Make August 2011 Primary Endorsements

The following includes the latest endorsements by the 36th District Democrats for the August 16, 2011 Primary and also for the November General Election:

King County Assessor:  Lloyd Hara
King County Director of Elections:  Sherril Huff
King County Council, District 4:  Larry Phillips
King County Proposition 1 (Veterans and Human Services Levy):  Approve
Port of Seattle, Position 2:  Gael Tarleton
Port of Seattle – Position 5:  Dean Willard
Seattle City Council, Position 1:  Bobby Forch & Maurice Classen (dual)
Seattle City Council, Position 3:  Bruce Harrell
Seattle City Council, Position 5:  Tom Rasmussen
Seattle City Council, Position 7:  Tim Burgess
Seattle City Council, Position 9:  Sally Clark
Referendum 1:  “Approve” Position (Pro-Tunnel)
Seattle Schools, District 1:  [No Endorsement]
Seattle Schools, District 2:  [No Endorsement]

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33rd District Democrats Make August 16, 2011 Primary Endorsements

Posted on August 2nd, 2011 | Comments Off on 33rd District Democrats Make August 16, 2011 Primary Endorsements

The 33rd District Democrats in South King County have made the following endorsements for the August 16, 2011 Primary Election:

King County Council District No. 8: Joe McDermott
King County Assessor: Lloyd Hara
Port of Seattle Commissioner Position No. 2: Gael Tarleton
Port of Seattle Commissioner Position No. 5: Dean Willard
City of SeaTac Council Position No. 1: Barry Ladenburg
City of SeaTac Council Position No. 3: Othman Heibe
City of SeaTac Council Position No. 5: Dave Bush
City of SeaTac Council Position No. 7: Mia Su-Ling Gregerson
City of Tukwila Mayor: Pamela Linder
City of Tukwila Council Position No. 6: Kate Kruller
Court of Appeals, Division No. 1, District No. 1 Judge Position No. 2: Michael Spearman
South King Fire and Rescue Commissioner Position No. 4: Mark L. Thompson
South King Fire and Rescue Commissioner Position No. 5: James A. Fossos
Highline School District Director Position No. 1: Sili Savusa

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37th District Democrats Make 2011 Primary Endorsements

Posted on July 23rd, 2011 | Comments Off on 37th District Democrats Make 2011 Primary Endorsements

The 37th District Democrats in South Seattle have made their endorsements for the August 16, 2011 Primary.. It is a top 2 Primary with the top 2 voter getters in a race moving on to the November ballot.  It is an all mail in ballot and voters must have their ballots postmarked by Tuesday August 16, 2011 to count,

37th District Democrats Primary Endorsements:

King County Measures

King County Proposition No. 1 Renewal of the Veterans and Human Services Levy

APPROVE

King County Candidates

Joe McDermott – King County Council District 8

Dean Willard – Port of Seattle Commission Position 5

Local and Municipal Candidates

Bobby Forch – Seattle City Council Position 1

Tom Rasmussen – Seattle City Council Position 5

Sally J. Clark – Seattle City Council Position 9

Ed Prince – Renton City Council Position 5

Kate Kruller – Tukwila City Council Position 6

Local and Municipal Measures

City of Tukwila Proposition No. 1 Formation and Funding of Tukwila Pool Metropolitan Park District

APPROVE

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43rd District Democrats Make 2011 Primary Endorsements

Posted on July 22nd, 2011 | Comments Off on 43rd District Democrats Make 2011 Primary Endorsements

The 43rd District Democrats in Seattle have completed their Primary 2011 Endorsements.  The all mail in Primary ends on August 16, 2011.  Ballets are mailed to voters and must be postmarked by Tuesday August 16, 2011 to be valid.

King County

Seattle City Council

Seattle School Board

Port of Seattle Commission

Ballot Measures

 

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Tim Kaine Resigns as DNC Chair to run for Senator from Virginia

Posted on April 5th, 2011 | Comments Off on Tim Kaine Resigns as DNC Chair to run for Senator from Virginia

Tim Kaine has sent out the following e-mail to Democrats announcing his decision to run in 2012 for US Senator in Virginia.  Jim Webb, the current US Senator, has previously announced he would not be running for re-election.


Dear DNC Members,
I am writing to let you know that I have just announced my decision to run for the U.S. Senate from the Commonwealth of Virginia in 2012. To that end, I am stepping down as DNC Chair, effective immediately.
In the coming days, I will share some thoughts on my decision to run, my appreciation for the opportunity you gave me to serve as your Chair, and what we were able to accomplish together.
In the meantime, I am sure you will be as supportive of the President’s choice to replace me as you have been of me for the past two years. There will be more information about this important transition to follow.
I will treasure the friendships I’ve made during my time at the DNC, and hope that we will maintain those friendships in the years ahead.
It is an exciting time for the DNC. It is also an exciting next chapter for my family and me, as I embark down a new path on which I hope to serve as one of Virginia’s U.S. Senators.
Thank you for your hard work and support along the way and for all that you will do in the months and years ahead.
With gratitude,
Tim Kaine

Kaine also has a video up at http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=mBX1TotZYtk announcing his decision.

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Washington State Minimum Wage Increases January 1, 2011

Posted on December 30th, 2010 | Comments Off on Washington State Minimum Wage Increases January 1, 2011

Washington State’s minimum wage continues to lead the nation. On January 1, 2011 it will increase 12 cents per hour to $8.67 per hour. As reported by Rachael La Corte in today’s Seattle Times, an attempt by business interests in Washington State to challenge the 12 cent increase was rejected by a Kittitas County Judge after a motion for summary judgement to prevent it going into effect on Saturday. The lawsuit still remains active according to the article.

Groups challenging the minimum wage increase included the Washington Restaurant Association, the Washington Farm Bureau and the Washington Retail Association.

According to the article:

A Seattle-based lawyer for Justice for Immigrant Workers said the increase is “a big deal for a lot of people.”
“That 12-cent raise goes further than you think,” Rebecca Smith said. “It’s going to make a difference of a few dollars a week — but a few dollars a week buys an extra loaf of bread, another gallon of milk or a gallon of gas.”
The agency’s decision in October to raise the rate came after conflicting legal opinions from the state attorney general and the authors of the 1998 voter initiative that tied the minimum wage to the Consumer Price Index.

The current Federal minimum wage is only $7.25 and has no consumer inflation index adjustment which means that each time inflation goes up nationally, jobs tied to the federal minimum wage see decreased purchasing power for the hours worked.  Republicans have consistently opposed Federal minimum wage increases while Democrats have supported them.

Ten states have minimum wages that adjust to index them to inflation.  Washington State was the first state to enact legislation to automatically raise the minimum wage based on increases in the consumer price index.  The voters enacted the current law by passing Initiative 688 in 1998.

As noted on the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries website:

Initiative 688, approved by Washington voters in 1998, requires L&I to make a cost-of-living adjustment to its minimum wage each year based on the federal Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). This measures the average change in prices on a fixed group of goods and services such as food, shelter, medical care, transportation and other goods and services people purchase for day-to-day living. L&I recalculates the state’s minimum wage in September, and it takes effect the following year on January 1.

The minimum wage in Washington State was $8.55 in 2009 and stayed the same in 2010 because of a decrease in inflation.  The minimum wage will increase to $8.67 on Jan 1, 2011.  It will be the highest in the nation.

In this year’s Senate election in Washington State, Republican Dino Rossi, supported lowering the minimum wage. Other Republicans this year publicly supported lowering the minimum wage. Amanda Getchel notes that:

Republican candidates Joe Miller of Alaska, John Raese of West Virginia, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Linda McMahon of Connecticut have all called for reducing the minimum wage with Raese flat out saying it should be eliminated.

Only Rand Paul was elected by the voters.

The current Federal minimum wage law was passed in 2007. Washington State Republicans Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Doc Hastings joined with  other Republicans nationally to oppose the bill. All 233 Democrats in the House at the time joined with 82 Republicans to support the legislation. 116 Republicans in the House voted no. They include 9 of the incoming 12 members of the House leadership.

Of the members of the incoming House leadership,

Speaker of the House: Rep. John Boehner (R-OH)- VOTED NO

Majority Leader: Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) – VOTED NO

Majority Whip: Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) – VOTED NO

Conference Chairman: Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) – VOTED NO

NRCC Chairman: Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) – VOTED NO

Policy Committee Chairman: Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) – VOTED NO

Conference Vice-Chair: Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) – VOTED NO

Conference Secretary: Rep. John Carter (R-TX) – VOTED NO

Freshman Representative: Rep.-elect Kristi Noem (R-SD) – NOT IN CONGRESS AT TIME

Freshman Representative: Rep.-elect Tim Scott (R-SC) – NOT IN CONGRESS AT TIME

Rules Committee Representative: Rep. David Dreier (R-CA) – VOTED NO

Chairman of the Leadership: Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR) – VOTED YES

Nine of the 12 House Leadership members voted no to raise the minimum wage. Two other members of the incoming House leadership were not in Congress at the time. Only Greg Walden voted NO – Oregon voters previously passed an initiative to index their minimum wage to inflation. Oregon’s minimum wage is near the top in the country.

Prospects for any Federal increase in the minimum wage in the near future looks difficult as long as Republicans control the House.

As noted in a separate article in the Seattle Times seven states will see an increase in their minimum wage in 2011.

Poverty advocates say the rising minimum wages shouldn’t be seen as raises, just adjustments to keep the working poor at the same level as prices of goods rise.
The National Employment Law Project, a New York-based advocate for workers, estimates that about 647,000 people will see their paychecks go up in Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Ohio, Oregon, Vermont and Washington.

Three other states with their minimum wage indexed to inflation did not see enough of an increase to see a rise in their minimum wage – Florida, Nevada and Missouri.

In the near term any increase in the minimum wage will probably have to take place at the state level. In previous initiative efforts to raise the minimum wage in Washington State voters have strongly supported raising the minimum wage. Initiative 688 in 1998 was approved by Washington voters by a 66% yes vote. A previous vote to raise the minimum wage in 1988, Initiative 518, passed with a 77% yes vote. It was not indexed to inflation.

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Young Voters and Minority Voters Opted to Let Rich Older Voters Decide the 2010 Election.

Posted on November 26th, 2010 | Comments Off on Young Voters and Minority Voters Opted to Let Rich Older Voters Decide the 2010 Election.

If you don’t vote, you’ve still made a political decision. In this year’s election it seems that young voters and minority voters decided to opt out and let older voters and the wealthy decide the future direction of the country.  This disengagement in the political process allowed the Republicans to retake the US House of Representatives, decrease the Democratic majority in the Senate, increase the number of Republican Governors, and even change some state Legislatures from Democratic to Republican.

An analysis by Project Vote looked at those who voted in the 2010 General Election on Nov 2, 2010. A research memo from Project Vote, entitled “An Analysis of Who Voted (and Who Didn’t Vote) in the 2010 Election,”  done by Dr. Lorraine Minnite found that ” wealthier voters and Americans over the age of 65 surged to the polls in 2010, and increased their support for the Republican party, while young voters and minority voters (who strongly favor Democrats) dropped off at higher rates than in 2006″.

Here is a summary of some of the study’s analysis as posted on the Project Vote news release:

1.Senior citizens turned out in force, with the number of ballots cast by voters over 65 increasing by 16 percent. While making up only 13 percent of the U.S. resident population, Americans in this age group constituted 21 percent of 2010 voters. This age group also significantly increased their support of Republican candidates, from 49 percent in 2006 to 59 percent in 2010.

2. The number of ballots cast by Americans from households making over $200,000 a year increased by 68 percent compared to 2006.

3. Relative to 2008, minority and youth voters dropped out of the voting population at higher rates than whites, undoing much of the gain in demographic parity achieved in 2008.

4. Women—already one of the most reliable voting groups—increased their share of the electorate, and significantly increased their support of the Republican Party.

If Democrats hope to win in 2012, they are going to have to re-energize the youth and minority vote to turn out. These folks need to realize change takes time and they need to be involved for the long haul, not just one election.

And they need to be involved in getting their elected officials to vote for the things they believe in.

And that may mean raising their voices and passions to outshout the Tea Party and Republican Party of No and the anti tax, pro-corporate, pro big banks, pro insurance companies and the Chamber of Commerce and all the others that put profit ahead of compassion and fairness.

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"This is a freaking war out there"

Posted on November 17th, 2010 | Comments Off on "This is a freaking war out there"

Keith Obermann in a recent interview in the New York Times magazine apply summed up the reality facing Democrats as they head into the next big election in 2012. “This is a freaking war out there.”

The war started two years ago when Republicans in Congress decided  that their game plan was to be the Party of No.  Democrats, especially starting from the top down, need to engage in battle for what we believe in.  We need to be fighting for the American people and letting them know we are doing it.

Here is the question asked Keith Obermann by Deborah Solomon that aptly points out the current reality for Democrats.

It’s certainly true that Democrats have been criticized for not getting angry enough and wimping out. Do you think President Obama lacks vitriol?

Now we will have Mitch McConnell saying you need to repeal health care reform, you need to defund health care reform. This is a freaking war out there, and it is to me somewhat unrealistic to approach it any other way. I’m not saying that President Obama should throw off the dignity of the office and start going in and head-butting opponents.

The reality is that we will lose this war unless we speak out and engage to defend our principles and fight for doing what is right. Defending the changes that benefit the American public in the new Heath Care law passed by Congress are a given. We need to engage in setting the dialogue and not let Republicans criticize away without pushing back..

You know Sarah Palin was right in a way when she talked about “Death Panels” They exist. But its not the government that was setting them up. They already existed. They are called insurance companies.

Before passage of the current legislation, insurance companies could deny coverage for “pre-existing” conditions. They could refuse to insure you. They could drop your coverage if they didn’t want to pay for needed medical expenses. They could refuse to pay  for certain procedures. These death panels ruled based on their bottom line of profits.  They made life and death decisions based not on health care needs of people like your Grandmother or Grandfather but on the financial return to their investors.

Republicans want to repeal the health care legislation passed by Democrats. They want to once again give life and death decisions back to the Death Panels hidden behind the corporate boardrooms of large insurance companies.
Democrats and others need to speak out against this attempt to undo the historic legislation passed by Democrats. We don’t need to go back to the past nor can we afford to. The choice is simple. It’s a choice between corporate profits or making health care a right for everyone, not a privilege that only the wealthy can afford.

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Paul Krugman Rightly Critical of Obama’s Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform

Posted on November 12th, 2010 | Comments Off on Paul Krugman Rightly Critical of Obama’s Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform

In a column in today’s New York Times, Paul Krugman assails President Obama’s “National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.” Calling it “The Hijacked Commission“,  Krugman is responding to the recently released comments by the Commission’s Chairs entitled “Guiding Principles and Values”.

Krugman’s analysis – “Under the guise of facing our fiscal problems, Mr Bowles and Mr Simpson are trying to smuggle in the same old, same old – tax cuts for the rich and erosion of the social safety net.”

Here is part of Krugman’s analysis:

“…what the co-chairmen are proposing is a mixture of tax cuts and tax increases — tax cuts for the wealthy, tax increases for the middle class. They suggest eliminating tax breaks that, whatever you think of them, matter a lot to middle-class Americans — the deductibility of health benefits and mortgage interest — and using much of the revenue gained thereby, not to reduce the deficit, but to allow sharp reductions in both the top marginal tax rate and in the corporate tax rate.

It will take time to crunch the numbers here, but this proposal clearly represents a major transfer of income upward, from the middle class to a small minority of wealthy Americans. And what does any of this have to do with deficit reduction?”

In a poll of Midterm Voters done by Democracy for America they asked to pick between the following choices and got the following response:.

1. Congress should make up for possible budget gaps by cutting Social Security benefits?
agree – 4%
2. Congress should make up for possible budget gaps by changing the social security tax to also apply to income above $108,000, which currently is not taxed by Social Security?
agree – 55%
3. Congress should not make any changes to Social Security?
agree – 31%
Not sure – 11%

Clearly proposals to cut benefits for working families and retired citizens whatever their political persuasion are not going to be popular. They are not solutions that would benefit most Americans.

As Nickolas D Kristoff writes in a column in the New York Times entitled “Our Banana Republic”,  the solutions to our fiscal state in America will not be solved by right wing proposals supported by corporations and the wealthy. America is becoming the land of opportunity only for the wealthy and proposals for more tax cuts for the wealthy makes it harder for working families in America to survive.

While Republicans and Tea Party Conservatives argue for extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, they do so in the face of the ugly reality that the rich in America are accumulating more and more of America’s wealth. Working class families struggle and find it harder and harder to make ends meet.
As Kristof  points out,  the wealthy are accumulating more and more of our country’s wealth.

The richest 1 percent of Americans now take home almost 24 percent of income, up from almost 9 percent in 1976. As Timothy Noah of Slate noted in an excellent series on inequality, the United States now arguably has a more unequal distribution of wealth than traditional banana republics like Nicaragua, Venezuela and Guyana.

C.E.O.’s of the largest American companies earned an average of 42 times as much as the average worker in 1980, but 531 times as much in 2001. Perhaps the most astounding statistic is this: From 1980 to 2005, more than four-fifths of the total increase in American incomes went to the richest 1 percent.

That’s the backdrop for one of the first big postelection fights in Washington — how far to extend the Bush tax cuts to the most affluent 2 percent of Americans. Both parties agree on extending tax cuts on the first $250,000 of incomes, even for billionaires. Republicans would also cut taxes above that.

The richest 0.1 percent of taxpayers would get a tax cut of $61,000 from President Obama. They would get $370,000 from Republicans, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. And that provides only a modest economic stimulus, because the rich are less likely to spend their tax savings.

Republicans are arguing that taxing the rich will hurt small businesses because they will not have the money to spend on reinvesting in their business.  This is nonsense, because any money invested in their business is pre-tax money. It gets written off as a business expense and would not count toward calculation of any income tax owed. To me it seems that more investment is likely in small business if personal income  taxes are higher on the wealthy because then they can spend the full amount on their business without having to pay tax on it.

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