To participate either as a passenger or driving your car, contact Chair Omaha Sternbeg. We are looking for vehicles to go down for the entire event, for the PCO training/LAC, and for just the crab feed. If you plan to do any of these, contact Omaha!

This is a wonderful chance for you, if you are a PCO, to get a review of the current legislation going in in the House and Senate, a better understanding of where we are in the recession recovery and the budget, and finally Vote Builder training.

Also, we are trying to arrange time with our legislators of the 33rd to spend some time talking with us, discussing what they are doing, and listening to us about what we would like, and what we can do to help them. This is also a great time to listen to various lobbyists in Olympia.

Last but not least, there is the crab feed. King County Councilmember Julia Patterson has generously donated ten tickets to the crab feed to the 33rd. This is a first come, first serve affair, so if you would like to attend the crab feed at the 33rd table, please contact Omaha Sternberg or call her (206-618-5107) immediately.

Don’t forget to sign-up for the PCO Training at the Washington Democrats site if you intend to go, and let us know if you will be attending Lobby Day with us otherwise.

Question 1: Both the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico with the oil rig explosion/leak and the Upper Big Branch coal mine explosion in West Virginia are connected to a lax in enforcing safety measures by the companies involved. These safety measures are regulated by government departments that did not enforce them. What plans do you have to ensure that these departments enforce those safety regulations in the future? What culpability do you think that these companies should face for safety regulation violations?

Answer: Laws and regulations exist that have clearly not been followed or enforced in both of the disasters you mention. I will communicate directly with the administration and the DOJ to ensure the enforcement of regulations is improved and that the laws that enable us to hold the companies liable are strongly enforced. BP in particular had literally hundreds of safety violations, compared to between one and eight for other companies, and both the Bush and Obama administrations failed to adequately enforce existing rules.

Question 2: Recent information has surfaced that soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan who have been wounded in battle and subsequently given honorable discharges because their injuries prevented them from serving further are being billed for equipment that they lost track of during the time that they were injured. The majority of these situations seem to be outside of a soldier’s ability to control, in that once injured, a soldier can’t determine what happens to his/her equipment. Do you feel that these soldiers should be billed for this lost equipment anyway, and why? If not, what measures do you plan to implement to prevent further billing of these soldiers (and repay those who have already paid)?

Answer: I have looked into the situation with the wounded soldiers being charged for losing equipment. Thus far, in the cases I have looked at including the one here at Fort Lewis, the soldiers were not in fact charged for lost equipment. One had been accidentally overpaid and the Army is trying to get the extra pay back. I am looking into the other cases and certainly feel strongly that wounded soldiers should not be charged for lost equipment.

Question 3: Many investment companies have admitted that they made decisions regarding stock and bond purchases/sales based solely on the rating given by stock and bond rating companies. However, in the 90′s, in order to be more transparent, these same rating companies published their rating algorithms, which means that any company could skew their bond/stock rating by simply using the algorithm themselves on their stock/bond. Do you feel that this is an issue that should be fixed with more regulation? If not, what should be done to prevent the taxpayer from footing the bill of foolish investment company decisions?

Answer: Yes, stock and bond rating agencies must be reformed. It is an issue I am looking at closely as we consider Wall Street Reform. I will look into the downside of transparency issue you raise, and also feel that these agencies must be forced to be completely independent and have no ability to gain a financial stake in the ratings they pass out.

Question 4: A large number of presidential appointees have not been confirmed due to stalling tactics by House and Senate Republicans. These tactics are often archaic rules (such as filibustering) that do not actually promote communication, cooperation, or compromise that is necessary to create good legislation. This is not the first time that Republicans (or Democrats) have used these rules. Do you feel that these rules (such as filibustering, making changes to bills that require a committee to reconvene at a time when that is impossible, etc) should be changed? How would you go about changing them?

Answer: Even though I am not in the Senate I believe that filibuster rules must be changed. For one thing it should not be allowed for appointments. Each appointee deserves an up or down vote in a timely manner. I am also interested in other ways to limit the times when the filibuster can be used. I do not believe it should be eliminated but both it and the ability of one Senator to put a hold on any Senate action should be more limited in scope.

The 11th LD is hosting a Michael Moore Movie Watch Party at the Columbia City Cinema, featuring Moore’s film “Capitalism, A Love Story”. The film will be shown on April 24th from 10 AM to 1 PM. A suggested donation of $10 is requested. Concessions will be available for sale, and Larry Grubb of the 11th will be selling Obama Soda. A discussion will follow the showing of the film. A Facebook event page has been set up for RSVPs.

DETAILS
Capitalism, A Love Story
April 24th, 10 AM to 1 PM
Columbia City Cinema
4816 Rainier Ave. S
Seattle, WA 98118
Suggested donation: $10

Legislators will speak briefly about state efforts to spur job creation and get the economy back on track. The rest of the event will be free time for attendees to visit tables from the participating agencies and speak one-on-one with the legislators.

WHAT: 33rd District Community Jobs Forum
WHEN: Saturday, February 20, 2010 from 10:00 a.m. to noon.
WHERE: Kent City Hall – Council Chambers, 220 Fourth Avenue South, Kent
WHO: Rep. Dave Upthegrove, Rep. Tina Orwall and Sen. Karen Keiser.

Confirmed participating agencies include:

• WorkSource
• Port Jobs
• Highline CC
• Green River CC
• Renton Technical College
• The Veterans Conservation Corps
• US Census Bureau

This Community Jobs Forum is a free event; all South King County job seekers are encouraged to attend.

The 33rd Democrats invite you to the

Kit Dexter Annual Dinner and Fundraiser

Join Us to celebrate a year of success in Democracy!

Includes guests State Senator Karen Keiser, State Representative Tina Orwall, State Representative Dave Upthegrove, and surprise Kit Dexter Honoree.

Monday, December 7th

Normandy Park Congregational Church | 19247 First Avenue South | Normandy Park

Dinner: 7:00 PM | Auction: 8:00 PM

The auction will include improvisational auctioneering by members of the audience. A dessert auction will also be held. Become the highest bidding table to get your choice of the delectable desserts provided by our volunteers!

Tickets

Individual: $25 | Living Lightly: $15 | Children: $10

To purchase tickets in advance, go to http://www.33rddistrictdemocrats.org/kitdexterdinner/.

For more information, contact Paula at 206-878-2171 or pjoneli@comcast.net

MEET AND GREET YOUR REPRESENTATIVES OF THE 33RD LD

When: October 19th, 6:45 pm to 9:00 pm
Where: Normandy Park Congregational Church, 19247 1st Avenue South, Normandy Park

ATTENDING
State Senator Karen Kaiser
State Representative Dave Upthegrove
State Representative Tina Orwall
King County Councilmember Julia Patterson
King County Councilmember Dow Constantine

Light refreshments will be served.

Do not miss this opportunity for a one-on-one conversation with your representatives in a casual, relaxed atmosphere. Please, bring your friends and relatives. For further information contact Florence McMullin, (206) 878-9111.

First, AM1090 is offering members of the 33rd District a special discount to the event! To receive $5.00 off the price of advance purchased tickets to the event, you can purchase tickets online here, or call at 253.856.6999. In both cases, you must use a promo code…to get the promo code, you must be on one of our mailing lists; email us to find out more.

Second, you can also submit questions for the panel to help guide the discussion about healthcare reform, the economy, environmental issues, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and more. To submit a question, click here.

Also, we are hosting a table at the event. When you arrive at 5 pm, you will see our table and you can come and meet the candidates that the 33rd has endorsed! If you have any burning questions, this is the time to ask them.

This is going to be a great event, so don’t miss out!

The next series of meetings that will be occurring that they may show up at will be two events with US Congressman Adam Smith. Put on your Democratic hard hate, grab your universal health care debate talking points, and show them how Democrats make change!

Adam Smith’s Progressive Advisory Council
Wednesday, August 5th (that’s TODAY)
4:00 – 5:00 pm
Commencement Bay Coffee
2354 South Jefferson Avenue
Tacoma 98402
For more info or to RSVP: matt.perry@mail.house.gov or 253-593-6600

Adam Smith Town Hall Meeting
Tuesday, August 25th
7:00 – 8:30pm
Lakewood City Hall Chambers
6000 Main Street SW
Lakewood, WA.
Space is limited so please RSVP if you are able to attend by calling 253-593-6600 or (888) SMITH09.

For more information regarding Congressman Adam Smith’s events, see his homepage.

Details

Where: Crystal Springs Park, Tukwila
When: August 9th, 12 noon

An important note: because of the picnic, there will be *NO GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING IN AUGUST*. This was incorrectly listed in the July DemoChat.