Roomin' House Blues

This Blog is promoting a pledge that runs 180 degrees the opposite of Grover Norquist's  infamous American Taxpayer Protection Pledge.  The weak are being assaulted in the name of balancing the budget.  A committee is being started on an ad hoc basis until membership and officers can put it on a firmer footing.  Below is the pledge and information about the committee. Public Protection Budget Pledge, State Legislators and Congress People.  I, _______________, pledge to the citizens of the _____ district  In the state of__________, and to the American people that I will:  ONE, oppose any and all efforts to balance budget deficits at the expense of families, the poor, elderly, disabled or vulnerable. TWO, oppose any net reduction or elimination of programs helping these populations, unless matched dollar for dollar by improved programs.                           ...

Tell your legislators to end unfair tax breaks and protect our kids’ future Here is some mail I got from FUSE about Washington State House Bill 2078--to close a Wall Street Banker tax loophole for education.  Dear Friend, Finally, some good news.  48 members of the state House just launched a last-ditch effort to rescue funding for our kids’ classrooms.  Their proposal - House Bill 2078 - saves funding for our kids’ kindergarten through third grade classrooms by finally closing tax loopholes for Wall Street Banks and out-of-state shoppers. 1   These 48 legislators defied pundits and conservative editorial boards to introduce this badly needed reform. But thanks to Tim Eyman’s Initiative 1053, it takes a 2/3 supermajority or a public vote to close tax loopholes.  We’re challenging 2/3 of the legislature to vote yes for our kids’ future.  And now that the state Senate has released their budget - including deeper cuts to education and essential services...

More mail, this one from a Move On member in Seattle, where I live, inviting me (and you) to  local protest that is part of a nationwide tax day protest.  If you are not working or busy filing your taxes go and help nail corporate tax dodgers like GE.  (GE has agreed to pay some taxes for the year they paid nothing, all the while claiming to be as pure as a little lamb.) Protest corporate tax dodgers:  Monday—Tax Day—in Seattle   Host :   Norm C., MoveOn member   Where :   Bank of America in Ballard at 20th and NW Market (in Seattle)   When :   Monday, Apr. 18, at 11:30 AM   Can you come?   Click below for more details and to RSVP:     I can come.     Sorry, I can't make it this time.   What :   While vital government services get cut, corporations like GE are making huge profits, but paying no federal taxes. So, on Monday— Tax Day —in Seattle, and at hundreds of events across the ...

More mail from Move On.org.  For the record, I am not a member of Move On and I don't necessarily agree with their full agenda.  But when it comes to making Dead Beat Filthy Rich Robber Baron Wall Street Tycoon (did I get it all in) Corporations pay I'm with them.  See Below. Most Americans pay our taxes—but billion-dollar corporations are paying little or nothing. It's disgraceful.  Can you host a  "Tax Day: Make Them Pay" event on April 18 in Seattle to call out these corporate deadbeats?   Yes, I can host! Dear MoveOn member, Nobody knows the details of Friday night's budget agreement to keep the government from shutting down. But here's one thing we can be pretty sure of:  the pain will fall mainly on poor and middle-class Americans , while billions in tax breaks, loopholes, and handouts for corporations will remain untouched.  Those same billions could keep food in the mouths of hungry women and children, fund critical medical resea...

Jaime Pedersen responds to my advocacy of a fairer tax and budget system. Dear Mr. Drake -- Thanks for your message and for your advocacy for ending tax breaks. If we could do so, it would certainly help balance our budget and protect critical services in our state, including for our most vulnerable people. Last year, I was proud to vote to suspend Initiative 960 (which required a 2/3 vote in the legislature to increase taxes or repeal tax loopholes) and to vote for a bill that repealed a variety of tax exemptions and increased several taxes to avoid an all-cuts budget. That bill was not as broad as I would have liked (for example, it did not repeal the longstanding B&O tax exemption for banks on their interest income from first mortgages, increase taxes on private airplanes, or repeal the tax exemption on cosmetic surgery), but it did raise nearly $800 million for the 2009-11 biennium and nearly $2 billion for the 2011-13 biennium. But for that bill, our shortfall would be muc...

Corporations got tax breaks for shipping jobs overseas.  Now they want tax breaks for brining profits back to the U.S. on the assumption that eventually the profits will be invested in new jobs.  No contracts on that please! The problem is that we have the greatest concentration of wealth and income in the fewest hands than any time since the 1920's in this country and no progress towards jobs.  This is just letting them have more money in the bank not more money at work.  See Huffington Post Business at  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/24/repatriation-tax-holiday_n_839976.html

I have received a letter from Washington Community Action Network  on a planned rally on March 17th in Olympia. We need you. Next Thursday, March 17th, thousands of people will be making their way to Olympia to attend the Rally to Protect Our Future. How fitting that on St. Patrick’s Day, a day when the color green reigns supreme, people will be demanding to see the green, money that is.  On March 17 th , we’ll demand that our lawmakers close outdated tax loopholes for Wall Street Banks, private jets, and elective cosmetic surgery to stop devastating budget cuts. Can we count on you to be at the March 17th Rally to Protect Our Future?  Click here to sign up. https://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/2723/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=22005 This is the next step in our fight to close tax loopholes, and only a big crowd will break through the lobbyist logjam. We must show lawmakers that  the people of Washington want accountability and oversight in our st...