Rick Larsen, D, incumbent https://www.ricklarsen.org/
Senior member, House Armed Services Committee
We all pretty much know Rick from the years he’s been in
office. And we’ve had some knock down/drag outs with him over his support of
the military over the people of Island County, and his support for climate
killing fossil fuel trans-shipment facilities in the name of jobs. We all know that
he doesn’t get it on a lot of issues important to us.
And then the coup of 2016
happened and suddenly Rick is a new man. He voted against the Trump budget,
against many of the insane and egregious proposals coming out of the fascist
right. And he now believes in dealing with climate change, including cap &
trade as one means to limit CO2. One has the distinct impression that the
farther right the fascists push, the farther left Rick leans.
He now touts his voting record
of trying to eliminate subsidies for the oil industry.
He wrote that exiting the Paris
agreement is/was a big mistake.
He says he fought to keep
transit/light rail funds in the federal budget.
He claims to have secured
impact aid for schools with children of active military.
Now here’s an interesting one.
He issued a press release just last week demanding that the Navy explain why it
is insisting on putting all its Growlers in the Whidbey basket and expressing
his concerns for Whidbey communities. Aw shucks and golly gee. We didn’t know you
cared.
He’s against the Trump tariffs,
as they hurt US workers and businesses.
He supports salmon habitat
restoration, protecting critical habitat areas, and conserving open space. He worked
to reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which is vital to
acquiring and protecting special places.
He signed a joint letter to
NOAA fisheries and the Army Corps of Engineers asking them to deal with the Atlantic
salmon fish farm disaster by not permitting any new or refurbishment of
existing pens.
He supports Medicare and
Obamacare, and is fighting to prevent the destruction of both. He
cosponsored the DREAM act.
Since he sits on the Armed
Services committee, it is no surprise that he continues to support the Everett
and NAS Whidbey facilities, including increased # of Growlers – which, in light
of the letter mentioned above, seems kind of internally contradictory.
He favors women’s right to make
decisions about their own bodies, equal pay for equal work, and stronger
economic opportunity. He has authored or cosponsored every women’s rights
bill.
He participated in Keep
Families Together rallies in Mt Vernon and Bellingham.
There are reports in the last
week that he has called out the Navy on how they intend to make whole the
people of central Whidbey under their favored option of vastly increased
Growler flights. I will be most interested to hear the Navy’s response.
If the name and party sound familiar, that’s because they
are. His brother is running for Senate. This brother has a more coherent
platform.
·
keep US people and money out of foreign
countries. Allow them to be responsible for their own government.
·
collect sufficient taxes to pay for necessary
government functions. Cut domestic, foreign, and military spending.
·
repeal federal prohibition on marijuana.
·
grant native tribes greater sovereignty over
their own affairs.
·
cut military spending, reduce the military to
what is actually needed. Do not neglect veterans.
Like his brother, Mr Luke is a
former Republican. He says he left the party because he found them fiscally
irresponsible. Can’t disagree with him on that point. I am not enamored of the
Libertarian philosophy, which basically is “every man for himself and devil
take the hindmost.”
Mr Carlson is part of that young progressive movement. He
was a Bernie delegate to the state convention who was aced out of his seat and
vote by the Hillary faction. He calls himself a humanist voice. His goal is to
change the federal budget, emphasizing education and the environment. He
intends to re-design the economy to eliminate poverty and reverse climate
change. (Ain’t youth grand?)
He presents an actual draft budget and program:
Department of People - $1.3 Trillion (34%)
Increase Social Security Benefits
Lower SS Age to 55 (Lift cap on taxable income)
Provide 5 Year Contract for Citizenship
Provide citizens with SS Account
Department of Health - $1.1 Trillion (29%)
Provide Universal Healthcare to all people
Provide Universal Healthcare to all animals
Expand medical and healthcare facilities
Department of Knowledge - $250 Billion (6.8%)
Provide Tuition-Free Education PreK-PHD
Build more schools and education centers
Invest more in scientific research
Department of Earth - $250 Billion (6.8%)
Take care of and expand public rivers and lakes
Clean Super-Fund sites and invest in re-forestation
Collect and sort all trash and recycling
Department of Agriculture - $150 Billion (4.0%)
Provide and cultivate vegatation
Limit the size of farms and invest in small farming
Create Animal Rights to mitigate inhumane behaviors
Department of Protection - $150 Billion (4.0%)
Protect American citizens from external/internal
threats
Protect Americans during expeditions and adventures
Department of Transportation - $125 Billion (3.3%)
Expand public and cheap transportation
Provide universal car service check-ups
Department of Economics - $100 Billion (2.6%)
Provide Basic Banking services to all citizens
Invest in a modern Glass Steagle
Expend the CFPB
Department of Housing - $100 Billion (2.6%)
Expand public housing
Provide public breakfast and dinner
Department of Energy - $50 Billion (1.32%)
Provide universal clean and green energy to all
buildings
Transfer America to 100% renewable energy
Invest in research in fusion
Department of Communication - $50 Billion (1.32%)
Provide universal broadband internet to all buildings
Expand the capacities of USPS
Department of State - $50 Billion (1.32%)
Provide foreign assistance and aide
Department of Justice - $40 Billion (1.0%)
Department of Creation - $25 Billion (0.07%)
Expand public theaters and creative venues
Expand public sports teams
Department of Labor - $25 Billion (0.07%)
Provide headquarters to act as Union representatives
Fight for labor rights
Create communication boards and certifications for
laborers
Organize and train labor
This is a person and a program I could happily support.
Realistic? Well . . . On the other hand,
if you don’t start somewhere you will definitely get nowhere. Someone has to
dream big.
This one fries my cookies. Mike the Mover is a perennial
candidate who uses the political process to advertise his business. He has no
discernible platform and his only on-line presence is his moving business. I do
NOT like people who abuse what to me is a very important part of our political
life.
He promises genuine representation, hard work, honesty, and
overall integrity. He will not accept any donations with strings attached or
any single donation of more than $1k. His personal and political philosophy are
based in the New Testament. He pledges truth, justice, compassion, and peace.
And he pledges to serve no more than 6 years.
His platform:
*responsible fiscal management of the national budget.
*an affordable military budget
*high quality health care available to all citizens
*curing the homelessness epidemic
*helping college graduates pay back student loans
*creating a vibrant economy with good paying jobs
*holding the president to the promise of stimulus spending
to repair infrastructure and create good jobs.
My impression is of a well intentioned lightweight. I wish
him the best but he’s a bit out of his
league here.
Stonewall (Stoney) Jackson Bird,
Green party
www.stonewallforcongress.org
I’ve actually had interactions with Stoney Bird over the
years. A deeply thoughtful man. Turns out he is a former corporate lawyer
trying to make up for what he did then.
Stoney has a very broad and very well developed agenda. His
website goes into great detail. Here are his 4 core issues:
democracy - Winner-take-all elections present an
irresistible temptation to engage in gerrymandering of congressional districts.
They are a means for both the Democrats and Republicans to defraud the public.
Gerrymandering and legalized bribery mean that our elected “representatives”
don’t represent us. For more on Congressional gerrymandering in Washington
State, go here.
Money is not
“Speech” – Corporations aren’t people. There are many issues on which voters
agree across the political spectrum and often Democrats and Republicans do
nothing about. Implementing automatic voter registration, stopping voter
suppression, public funding of elections, proportional representation and rank
choice voting.Ecology - The current legal system subsidizes corporations, and elevates commerce over people and nature. We need environmental policies based on the well-being of communities and nature, not corporations. We need a Green New Deal in which new jobs and industries are created by building new sources of energy and leaving outdated fuels behind. Rights for nature are needed now more than ever.
Social justice
- Need for a progressive income tax
- Unions should be available – easily – to every employee
- It’s time for a Universal Basic Income
- Housing for all – no matter what
- End the cash bail system – it puts people in jail and wrecks their lives because they are poor
- End for-profit prisons
Peace - Cut the
Military Budget Big Time! The US has over 900 military bases abroad while our
infrastructure is falling apart at home, we need to redirect that money to
serve the interests of the people, not the wealthy “defense” industry.
A real
investigation into 9/11 also needs to be done. There are multiple pieces of
evidence to indicate that the story that was sold to the American public was misinformation.And further:
- Medicare for all and government negotiation of drug prices
- Free education through college
- Big cuts to the war budget
- A progressive income tax with rates like those of the 1940s and 1950s
- Expanded Social Security benefits and raising or elimination of the Social Security tax cap
- Guaranteed net neutrality
- Trade agreements that protect workers and the environment
- Special prosecutor for killings by the police
- Financial transactions tax
- Restore Glass-Steagall
This race presents us with
interesting possibilities. Because Rick’s position is so secure, no major Republican
even bothered to run against him. Because Washington’s is a “top 2” primary,
there is an opportunity for a 3rd party candidate. This is our
chance to put Stoney Bird on the ballot as the 2nd candidate in
November. It is all but certain that Rick will take the majority of the vote.
With Stoney in 2nd place we could have a genuine debate on real
issues. This is our chance to hold Rick accountable via a “challenge from the
left.” I hear its all the rage this year. Wouldn’t it be great to have a
November election in which either of the 2 candidates is ok? I will very likely
vote for Stoney Bird in the primary.
Thank you for what you do!
ReplyDeleteI think it would be apprpriate to mention that Colin Carlson was convicted of Insurance Fraud last year. I agree he has good ideas, but doubt his judgement