http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/11/13/what-should-be-the-next-big-goal-for-washington-liberals Comments On: What Should Be the Next Big Goal for Washington Liberals? by Paul Constant en-us Copyright 2013 The Stranger. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, The Stranger readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact The Stranger. webmaster@thestranger.com (The Stranger Webmaster) Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:01 -0700 Tue, 21 May 2013 07:00:00 -0700 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss
i propose the following:

1) Every public assistance recipient int he state shall be mandated to attend school or lose their eligibility for benefits. The tuition, books, and costs of living and transportation to and from school will be borne by the state, but the student must maintain at least a 3.0 average throughout. A drop to a 2.0 average in permitted for one quarter/semester or during a leave of absence predicated by the loss of a family member or similar tragic event which would distract the recipient from study, nut this leave of absence must be adjudicated and granted by a faculty adviser before leave is to begin. All tuition will be paid for up to and beyond the doctoral level if need can be established. Yes, housing and food and clothing are basic human rights to which you are entitled, but must contribute to society. If you cannot do so with your body, you must do so with your mind. Let every homeless person who comes to WA leave with a PhD.

2) Universal single payer healthcare.

3) Establishment of a state income tax to fund both schemes. Eligibility is established by proof that one pays taxes into the system. Even if all you can get while you are in college is a part time workstudy position, everyone must contribute something. From each according to their ability, to each according to their need.

Do this, and within a decade we will have the longest lifespans of anybody in North America and the best economy in the Union.
Posted by Tacoma Traveler]]> Fri, 16 Nov 2012 19:33:38 -0800 The Stranger Posted by DistrictOfAris]]> Thu, 15 Nov 2012 22:32:33 -0800 The Stranger
What do they want? Apparently not their dick and balls.
Posted by How about the state just give u scissors & a shot of rum]]> Thu, 15 Nov 2012 13:57:28 -0800 The Stranger
I guess only us moderates will still be happy with the way things are in 2016.

"I've already written to my state congressmen and senator"

That'll show 'em!

"while the poor pay like 18%"

So if you make, say, $10K a year, you're paying $1800 in sales tax? That's a lot of shopping!

"full coverage for treatment for transgender patients (including surgery!)."

Look, a unicorn!

"Let's take a baby step towards an income tax and only apply a tax on capital gains in excess of $25,000 on any assets other than your primary home."

Sure, just get 2/3 of the legislature to vote for that and you're a winner!

BOY, YOU GUYS SURE ARE GONNA BE DISAPPOINTED, YOU'RE ONLY GETTING COAL IN YOUR STOCKINGS FOR THE NEXT 4 YEARS!

Posted by Sugartit]]> Thu, 15 Nov 2012 11:48:04 -0800 The Stranger Posted by PCM]]> Thu, 15 Nov 2012 08:33:29 -0800 The Stranger
And single-payer health care, of course.

Posted by Mad Drunk Genius]]> Wed, 14 Nov 2012 01:00:05 -0800 The Stranger
There is definitely organized human trafficking in young boys for purposes of prostitution, in various parts of the world, but for some reason, the American media doesn't get into quite the same hyperventilating froth about it as they do over White Woman Slavery.

Righteously vehement male concern over this wildly overstated (though of course real) problem is frankly a little creepy, in the same way though not quite to the same degree as the creepiness that was Nicholas Kristof actually going out and buying two teenage sex slaves from a Cambodian brothel.

You're right that legalization wouldn't completely eliminate criminal interest and activity in the industry, mainly because unlike the drug trade, legalization probably wouldn't have any effect on prices, and thus profits.

But you're on some pretty shaky ground when you suggest that some amount of continuing criminal oppression of women would somehow render any benefits of legalization unacceptable.
Posted by robotslave]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2012 23:26:19 -0800 The Stranger Posted by I have always been... east coaster]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2012 22:09:35 -0800 The Stranger
I don't think there's a network like that for boys; I dunno, maybe there is. If there is, it's hardly an argument for legalization. Legalization tends to make it easier, not harder, for these networks to operate. People like to think that prostitution is "victimless" and originates from self-agency but it usually does not.
Posted by Fnarf]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2012 18:50:56 -0800 The Stranger
I don't doubt there have been omissions, but which trans rights should we be fighting for?
Posted by robotslave]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2012 18:16:37 -0800 The Stranger
Er, you do realize that quite a lot of prostitutes aren't female, yes?
Posted by robotslave]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2012 18:12:04 -0800 The Stranger Posted by balderdash]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2012 17:46:38 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Charlie Mas]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2012 17:16:49 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Bud2400]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2012 15:56:46 -0800 The Stranger
My own proposal would be to make it HEAVILY illegal to patronize a prostitute, but not to do the prostituting. The johns and pimps belong in jail, not the girls.
Posted by Fnarf]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2012 15:21:31 -0800 The Stranger Posted by restlessnative]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2012 14:34:31 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Lose-Lose]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2012 14:11:33 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Lose-Lose]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2012 14:07:43 -0800 The Stranger Posted by mitten]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2012 14:00:05 -0800 The Stranger Not only would it provide more immigrants with some leverage to fight for their rights, it should help further other liberal issues (taxation, education, healthcare).
Posted by varezhka]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2012 13:30:58 -0800 The Stranger
As for legislation repealing Citizens United, you do realize that of the 10 PACs that spent the most money, seven of them were supporting Democrats. So as much as you may want to end this, the Dems don't really want to lose access to all that cash and will fight you every step of the way.
Posted by Stodgers]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2012 13:18:49 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Prettybetsy]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2012 12:14:49 -0800 The Stranger
I would also vote for a Roman-style proscription against Tim Eyeman.
Posted by danindowntown]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2012 11:37:32 -0800 The Stranger
What can Seattle actually do that will have impactful ramifications across the country?

• Education. All kinds of education, from preschool to grad school, needs serious reform, and Washington should do it now.

Of all the proposals, this is the vaguest. How would you reform education? What does “reform” mean? How would that reform impact the rest of the nation? Granted, it is a national problem, but unless someone proposes a genius model to replace the current one (school funds coming from property taxes), I don’t see this happening.

• It's time to strip corporations of their personhood, and enact laws that ensure corporate responsibility.

Could WA pass a law stripping corporate personhood that would actually effect corporations? I believe the (growing) national movement is hoping that a couple justices retire from SCOTUS, Obama’s appointment aren’t corporate hacks, and Citizen’s United is overturned, paving the way for the whole ‘strip corporations of personhood’ thing.

• State income tax.

Though WA needs a state-income tax, the idea is neither bold nor nationally impactful. There will be another initiative for a state income tax with some changes from the last one (the number escapes me at the moment) that will pass. It's just a matter of time.

• Changing the initiative process.

WA needs to change the initiative process to keep Eyman from running another one –er, keep corporate interests from buying our democracy, but again it’s neither bold nor would it have an effect on the rest of the country.

• We need to ensure transgender equality.

I would love to ensure transgender equality, but I don’t see how this would have major game-changing ramifications across the country. Look how far the LGBT rights movement has made in the last few years; in a generation, people will be able to switch genders and no one will care.

• Let's get a statewide single-payer health care plan together, somehow.

A couple options here: follow MA’s health-care model (which wouldn’t be the whole point of turning WA into a liberal lab for other states to follow); develop a new model that is both BETTER than MA or Obamacare. Once Obamacare is enacted fully, WA could be the first state to offer the public option. I don’t know much about health care policy, but given the 1) difficulties of enacting health care reform policy, 2) the corporate interests to keep the status quo (the status quo being health insurance companies), I think this might be difficult.

• Legalize prostitution. Washington should make sex work safe and taxable.

I actually think this one has potential. Current laws amount to prohibition; we (as a nation) know how prohibition worked with alcohol, and we’re slowing realizing that prohibition doesn’t work with drugs, either. There are some strong arguments for legalizing prostitution, and the US is an anomaly in its strict prostitution laws (few countries have laws as strict as we do). A campaign to legalize prostitution could have broad support, from conservative libertarians, free-market conservatives, some feminists (though not others); furthermore, the LGBT movement has shown (if not caused) a lot of people are opening their minds to other people’s sexual activity (whereas before it was judgmental: “I don’t like what you do sexually” to “I don’t care what you do sexually). WA could pass a law like I-502 legalizing prostitution; other states to follow; voila, national impact!

Just some thoughts, but I really just want to be able to drink alcohol in strip clubs.

Posted by Lose-Lose]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2012 11:30:59 -0800 The Stranger Posted by digitalwitch]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2012 11:23:26 -0800 The Stranger