Four Questions and Four Answers

Questions:

What was the average monthly private sector job growth in 2008, the final year of the Bush presidency, and what has it been so far in 2010?

What was the Federal deficit for the last fiscal year of the Bush presidency, and what was it for the first full fiscal year of the Obama presidency?

What was the stock market at on the last day of the Bush presidency? What is it at today?

Which party's candidate for speaker will campaign this weekend with a Nazi reenactor who dressed up in a SS uniform?

Answers:

In 2008, we lost an average of 317,250 private sector jobs per month. In 2010, we have gained an average of 95,888 private sector jobs per month. (Source) That's a difference of nearly five million jobs between Bush's last year in office and President Obama's second year.

In FY2009, which began on September 1, 2008 and represents the Bush Administration's final budget, the budget deficit was $1.416 trillion. In FY2010, the first budget of the Obama Administration, the budget deficit was $1.291 trillion, a decline of $125 billion. (Source) Yes, that means President Obama has cut the deficit -- there's a long way to go, but we're in better shape now than we were under Bush and the GOP.

On Bush's final day in office, the Dow, NASDAQ, and S&P 500 closed at 7,949, 1,440, and 805, respectively. Today, as of 10:15AM Pacific, they are at 11,108, 2,512, and 1,183. That means since President Obama took office, the Dow, NASDAQ, and S&P 500 have increased 40%, 74%, and 47%, respectively.

The Republican Party, whose candidate for speaker, John Boehner, will campaign with Nazi re-enactor Rich Iott this weekend. If you need an explanation why this is offensive, you are a lost cause.

The moral of the story is this: if you vote Republican, I hope you enjoy Election Day -- because you're not going to like what comes next.

Thanks to Jay Brand for passing this out.

Ballots on the way… WE need you for GOTV!

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: <meagan@healthyschoolsforwa.org>
Date: Thu, Oct 14, 2010 at 2:51 PM
Subject: Ballots on the way… WE need you for GOTV!
To: meagan@healthyschoolsforwa.org

Dear R-52 supporter,

 

Believe it or not, ballots will be hitting our mailboxes any day now.  We're just over 2 weeks out from Election Day and there is still much more work left to do.   That's why we're ramping up our efforts to contact voters about Referendum 52 - but we need your help! 

 

We'll be partnering with the Protect Washington campaign to run canvasses to turn out supportive voters in Seattle.  Can you attend one of the following events?

• Saturday, October 23rd - 10am at Jefferson Community Center

• Saturday, October 30th - 11am at Phinney Community Center. . .Join Bill Gates, Sr!

Email canvass.rsvp@gmail.com for more information or to sign up.

 

Canvassing's not your bag?  You can still help us reach our base voters by flyering at one of the upcoming events:

• Monday, October 18th, Rally with Bill Clinton at Paine Field (Everett) at 2pm

• Thursday, October 21st, Rally with President Obama at Hec Ed Pavillion (UW) at noon

• Saturday, October 30th, Rally to Restore Sanity at Westlake Center at 9am

Please email Meagan@healthyschoolsforwa.org if you are able to attend and help spread the word about Referendum 52.

 

Thank you!

 

Meagan Dixon

Deputy Manager, Approve R-52

(425) 273-6976

 

Our kids can't wait for healthy schools!  Support R-52 at www.healthyschoolsforwa.org, donations needed for voter contact effort!!

 

What Making A Difference Looks Like...

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Senator Eric Oemig <senator@oemig.com>
Date: Tue, Oct 12, 2010 at 4:21 PM
Subject: What Making A Difference Looks Like...
To: Chad Lupkes <chadlupkes@gmail.com>

Dear Chad,

I spent Saturday walking Duvall in the rain to meet with neighbors.

A lot of folks asked why I am running again. Why endure the attacks. the long hours. time away from family. and campaigning in the rain?

The answer is simple. Because we made a difference. Some good bills died. But when we won, when we made a difference, that's the reward.

Four years ago I ran to fundamentally change "the system". We can keep fighting one-by-one on issue-by-issue, but to get really big and lasting change, we must rewrite the rules of the game. Unlimited corporate campaign finance and media consolidation have stacked the deck. Big corporations practically write their own regulations. That is why I work so hard on campaign finance reform.

Ironically, (but not surprisingly) now I am under a well-funded and coordinated attack by big corporations. I need your help.

I put together a short list of some important things we have done together. On top everything I do in Olympia, here are some things that would absolutely, positively not have happened if you hadn't gotten me there in the first place.

In my first year, we changed the constitution to allow simple majorities to fund our schools. There was not a single vote to spare. Education advocates spent 2 decades trying to get the Senate to pass that bill. Because of your help, I was there to cast the 33^rd vote to make that happen. And because of it, we've put hundreds of millions of new dollars into public schools.

 

In my second year I created www.fiscal.wa.gov. Staff joked that I left Microsoft to come to Olympia to design software. But I believe we need many budget hawks scouring the budget to make us better. This web site puts budget and performance data on the web so it is easy to use.

 

In my third year, I helped pass the most comprehensive education reform in over 30 years. I worked under threats, but I brought people together and forged just enough votes to pass it. We redefined school funding, set up new accountability, and created a blue print for ambitious improvements over the next 8 years.

 

And this year, in the worst recession in over 80 years, I protected funding for public schools. I created local financing tools that put over 150 million dollars back into local school districts to protect classes and class sizes.

Here are a couple more:

Changed the constitution to create a "rainy day fund"
Limited campaign contributions for local races and allowed community financing.
Increased school funding and created the "Education data & research center".
Helped small businesses and local businesses compete and create local jobs.     
Helped poor kids get access to healthcare and fed them at school.
Limited toxic chemicals used in toys and baby bottles.

And that's the short list.

To keep fighting for all the things we care about, I need your help. Please send an email to your neighbors and friends. Tell them in your own words why you support me. Or forward this email.

So why are out-of-state companies spending so much money to attack me? Because I fight every day to protect our local businesses, our families, and our local communities.

I am trying to close some terrible loopholes that create pathological incentives.

One loophole gives corporations a volume discount for generating huge amounts of hazardous waste. Besides being utterly stupid, that loophole hurts small businesses. I want to close it.

 

Another loophole gives out-of-state banks a hundred million dollar tax give-away. That lost revenue does not create a single local job. I want to close it.

 

Another loophole lets insurance companies deny coverage for autistic kids. The burden on parents is ripping families apart and taxing our safety net. I want to close it.

 

Another utterly stupid loophole gives a foreign-owned company a tax break for burning dirty coal. If they used a cleaner fuel, they would pay tax. I want to close it.

It is no wonder banks, oil and insurance companies are funding attacks. Corporations want me out of Olympia.

You can help. Forward this note to your friends and neighbors, contribute online, or ask for a yard sign.

I'm ready to keep up the fight, but I can't do it without you.

Thank you,

Eric


UPCOMING EVENTS

Tonight at 7:00 PM
PTSA Candidate Forum
Wilder Elementary School
22130 NE 133rd St
Woodinville, WA 98077

Monday at 6:00 PM
Fundraiser with Enviro Leaders
Montlake Ale House
2307 24th Ave NE
Seattle, WA 98112

Volunteer! Email Winston at winston@sdcc.us

 

The Times endorses Suzan DelBene in the 8th Congressional District

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Scott Whiteaker <scott@delbeneforcongress.com>
Date: Tue, Oct 12, 2010 at 4:34 PM
Subject: The Times endorses Suzan DelBene in the 8th Congressional District
To: Scott Whiteaker <scott@delbeneforcongress.com>

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorials/2013142434_edit13district08.html

 

The Times endorses Suzan DelBene in the 8th Congressional District

 

WHEN Congresswoman Jennifer Dunn retired in 2004 from the 8th District that spans eastern King and Pierce counties, the Republican Party looked far and wide for a candidate to fill her capable shoes.

 

King County Sheriff Dave Reichert was chosen and elected on a wave of popular appeal for a law-enforcement officer whose dogged decades-long work led to the capture of the Green River killer. Now a three-term congressman, Reichert has failed to ably fill the Dunn legacy.

 

The Seattle Times endorses Democrat Suzan DelBene. The technology entrepreneur from Medina is politically untested but offers tremendous promise.

 

A deep and continuing financial crisis calls out for someone with sharp business and entrepreneurial skills and an acute understanding of what went wrong in the first place. DelBene is an unambiguous supporter of the tough financial reforms recently enacted by Congress. Reichert would work to repeal parts of the reform legislation. A repeal would signal a return to diminished federal oversight and watered-down consumer protections.

 

The two candidates also disagree about the newly created consumer finance protection agency. DelBene supports it. Reichert does not.

 

DelBene is not a guaranteed Democratic vote. She would have gone further to reform Wall Street, including reviving the Glass-Steagall Act – the Depression-era legislation that once kept commercial lending separate from investment activities. DelBene seems to grasp the urgency to simplify and reinvigorate government oversight.

 

Her push for political leadership that hews toward smaller, shorter bills is compelling after a year focused largely on legislation thousands of pages long – health-care reform, for example.

 

By contrast, Reichert supports repealing health-care reform, an effort that would further distract Congress from guiding a still-fragile recovery.

 

DelBene is unequivocal about the need to disengage America from two protracted and expensive wars. Long-term stability in Afghanistan, DelBene says, is best led by the Afghans.

 

The Democrat supports significant investment in transportation infrastructure as a way to speed up the movement of cargo and help this region's bottom line on trade.

 

DelBene supports net neutrality and the role of the Federal Communications Commission in regulating the Internet. Unfettered access to the Internet resonates in the tech-oriented 8th District. Reichert has gone back and forth on the issue, supporting net neutrality in his 2006 re-election campaign, but more recently signing a letter urging the chair of the FCC not to proceed with plans to protect net neutrality.

 

Jennifer Dunn represented the 8th District with a balanced, pragmatic and district-focused style. Reichert knows his district well as the former King County Sheriff. On issues such as federal funding of stem-cell research, he has hesitatingly – but in the end correctly – parted with the GOP and voted in favor of science-based efforts to cure many illnesses.

 

But Reichert's leadership after six years has failed to invoke the same shrewd, bipartisan tone demonstrated by Dunn. Time to give DelBene, a smart moderate, a chance.

 

Copyright © The Seattle Times Company

________________

Scott Whiteaker

Communications Director

Delbene for Congress

twitter.com/ScottWhiteaker

206-303-9716

 

--
Chad Lupkes - http://chadlupkes.blogspot.com
Chair, 46th District Democrats - http://46dems.com
1st Vice Chair, King County Democrats - http://kcdems.org
Webmaster, Washington State Democratic Chairs Organization - http://wa-demchairs.org