Gas Prices

As the rhetoric heats up this election season, I’m sure all sorts of blame will go around on gas prices.  People will, again, suggest that we increase our domestic gas production (damaging the environment in the process) to try to lower those prices.

A statistical analysis of 36 years of monthly, inflation-adjusted gasoline prices and U.S. domestic oil production by The Associated Press shows no statistical correlation between how much oil comes out of U.S. wells and the price at the pump.

View the Minnesota Public Radio article for more details.

Camp Wellstone: Seattle

Register today!

This 2.5 day training, running from 3-9pm Friday, 9am-6:00pm Saturday, and 9am-3:30pm Sunday, combines lectures from highly experienced trainers, stimulating exercises, and interactive simulations. We’re counting on you to organize around issues that matter, help build campaigns for the future, and elect progressive candidates to office.

Camp Wellstone is divided into three tracks:

  • Activist track: For people interested in citizen lobbying, issue advocacy, and community organizing, this track provides skills in how to win on issues.
  • Campaign track: This track focuses on how to be an effective staff or volunteer member of a winning progressive campaign.
  • Candidate track: This is for people who have made the decision to run for office (or are exploring the possibility of running in the near future).

Details here:  http://wellstone.org/training-calendar/camp-wellstone-seattle-2

LAC & Jobs

The King County Democrats LAC meets every month at various convenient locations to discuss, update and answer questions from the attendees. To find LAC meeting times: go to King County Democrats website or email sarajane3h@comcast.net.

There are 10 issues of importance to the committee for legislative action. I have selected HB 2793 for starters. This bill aims to create up to 22,000 jobs by funding public capital projects. The bill is currently in the Rules committee for a second reading.

Rep Hans Dunshee (D Snohomish) chairs the Capital Budget Committee and is spearheaded passage. Our own Rep Hasagawa is on the Rules Committee. Rep Dunshee has worked with a broad coalition supporting the basic concept of creating jobs quickly with projects that are shovel ready. Also funded are labs and equipment at community colleges aimed at training unemployed workers.

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Special session starts and budget update from Zack Hudgins

Because the House and Senate were unable to agree on a supplemental operating budget during regular session, we are currently in a 30 day special session. (As a reminder, there was a philosophical shift in the Senate during the last week of regular session, when three conservative Senators voted with Republicans to move a Republican written budget out of the Senate. This changed the dynamic of Majority Democrats in the House negotiating with Majority Democrats in the Senate, and pushed us into a difficult to resolve situation resulting in our special session.)

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Internship Opportunities in Congressman Adam Smith’s Offices

Congressman Adam Smith’s

Washington, D.C. and Tacoma, WA Offices 

Currently Accepting Internship Applications

The offices of Congressman Adam Smith are accepting applications for Summer 2012 internships.  By assisting the Congressman’s district staff, interns have the opportunity to gain firsthand knowledge about how a Congressional office provides constituent services and interacts with the community. Interns in the Washington, D.C. office will have an opportunity to learn about the legislative process and the federal government by working closely with legislative, communications and constituent services staff members. All internships are unpaid and candidates who are chosen for the Washington, D.C. office may be responsible for paying their travel and living expenses. Interns in any office can arrange to receive academic credit for their work.

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General Meeting details – 3/20/2012

Tuesday March 20, 2012 – 7:00 pm

Renton Carpenters Hall

231 Burnett Avenue North – Renton

Final Precinct Caucusing Report (April 15th)

Legislative District Caucus Review

Endorsements may be considered at this meeting

11th District Democratic Bylaws Revisions may be considered

Proposed Agenda  

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Newsletter – March 2012

The newsletter for March 2012 has been posted.  You can read it here:  2012-03-March

The Governor will sign HB 1860

Govenor’s Bills HB 1860 The Governor will sign HB 1860 this Friday at 1:30. Democrats are encouraged to attend. Zach Smith will represent the State Party at the bill signing.

Rep. Hunt, on behalf of the State Central Committee I would like thank you for the leadership you demonstrated in shepherding this bill to preserve PCO elections. Your commitment to grassroots participation in our political system never wavered, and your understanding of the legislative process never faltered. We are proud that you count yourself as a Democrat.

Dwight PelzChair, Washington State Democratic Central Committee

Zack Hudgins ending campaign for Secretary of State

From Zack:

I am writing to you to let you know the results of a difficult decision. I am ending my campaign for Secretary of State.

Thank you for all of your early, and generous support for my campaign to be Washington’s next Secretary of State. Your help, encouragement, enthusiasm, and generous contributions made me the candidate to beat over the last few months. Thank you for believing in me.

I struggled with this decision and came to this conclusion only after a lot of discussion with family, friends and trusted colleagues. I have decided that I am ending my campaign today because of the special session that is being called on Monday, March 12th . This was not an easy decision for me and my family. We have traveled around the state meeting some great people. We truly believe that it should be easier for people to vote, that we should have higher voter turnout in our state and there should be trust in our voting systems.

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St. Patrick’s Day Parade Voter Registration Drive

Please join King County Democrats for this great voter registration drive through downtown Seattle!  Also, are any of you willing to phone bank for PCOs and members that are willing to help out with the registration drive?

RSVP on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/events/190527031050325/

We will be registering voters to make sure that this November:

1) Washington State helps re-elect President Barack Obama
2) Marriage Equality for all is upheld at the ballot box and
3) Democrats win the governor’s race and stay in strong control of the State Legislature!

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NYC Teacher Evaluation Data Show Charter Schools Perform No Better Than Public

The blue markers represent NYC’s traditional public schools, while the red and yellow markers represent charter schools, with the chart plotting the average change in English Language Arts (ELA) scores (0 being the 50th percentile) from the end-of-year 4th grade tests (x-axis) to the end of 5th grade, the first year of middle school. Read Gary Rubinstein’s TeachForUs.org blog post for a more thorough explanation.

From The Slog.  View the article here:  Slog

Commit To Caucus on April 15th

The Democratic Precinct Caucuses on April 15th are your way to help choose a Democratic nominee for President and shape the future of the party, and a good way to be elected as a delegate to the 2012 Democratic National Convention.

YES! I am committing to attend the Washington State Democratic Precinct Caucuses on April 15th and helping to keep a Democrat in the White House:

Commit here:  http://www.wa-democrats.org/commit

St. Patrick’s Day Parade

Please forward to other groups that may be interested in attending this event!

On March 17th – we will be registering voters at the St. Patrick’s Day Parade!
Please RSVP to Brian at bcarver1@gmail.com
– We will meet at Starbucks Coffee at 10:30am (505 5th Avenue South, Seattle, WA) so we can all head to the start of the parade together (please plan on staying until about 2-3pm)
– We will have voter registration materials, volunteer signup forms, pens, and clipboards – so just bring yourself!
– If you would like – some of us will be wearing Obama gear – you can order online: http://store.barackobama.com/
– Be sure to bring clothes to stay warm and dry

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HB 1860 PCO Bill

HB 1860
HB 1860 is on the Governor’s desk…
Good work, everyone. Our PCO bill passed the House 97 to 1, and is now awaiting the Governor’s signature.

SAVE THE DATE: Social media training on 3/15

From Misty Shock Rule:

The Precinct Caucuses are coming up fast, and April 15th will be here before we know it. We’re working on developing our communications plan for the caucuses, and we want to help you with yours!

With that in mind, we will be hosting an online webinar on how to use social media tools like Facebook and Twitter to publicize the caucuses. The webinar will take place next Thursday, March 15th, at 6pm. This webinar will last one hour — 45 minutes of content and 15 minutes for questions. In this webinar, we will cover not only how to use these tools to help you publicize the caucuses, but also some important tips about these important social media tools — what they are, how to use them, and how to maximize your presence. Hopefully, this information will be useful to you as we move into campaign season.

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