I-735 Validated, Thurston County Contributed Nearly 16,000 Signatures

Above: The Washington Secretary of State's office validated I-735 and certified the initiative to the Legislature. Initiative 735 clarifies that corporations are not people, money is not speech, and all political donations should be made public.

By Janine Gates

www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

“Woohoo! So happy! I am so pleased with what we in Thurston County were able to accomplish,” said Jennifer Sprague, in response to the news that the Washington Secretary of State's office validated I-735 and certified the initiative to the Legislature.

Sprague, a local organizer for the Washington Coalition to Amend the Constitution (WAmend) in Thurston County, received the news Tuesday afternoon.

Initiative 735 urges Washington State’s Congressional delegation and all members of Congress to propose a federal Constitutional amendment clarifying that Constitutional rights belong only to individuals, not corporations. It also says that spending money is not free speech under the First Amendment.

According to the Secretary of State’s office, the invalidation rate, including duplicates and signatures from people not found on the voter rolls, was 18 percent, about average for Washington ballot measures in recent decades.

Next, the Legislature may enact the initiative into law, or may send it to the General Election ballot for a vote of the people. Since it is unlikely the initiative will be enacted into law, organizers are urging people to vote yes on I-735 this coming November.

Sprague and other I-735 supporters held a rally on Thursday afternoon, the sixth anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizen’s United v. FEC decision, at the Washington State Capitol Building.

“Voting yes will make Washington State the 17th state to urge Congress to introduce a constitutional amendment to overturn the Citizens United decision,” said Sprague.

WAmend organizers collected 333,040 signatures for I-735 and turned them in to the Washington State Secretary of State’s office on December 30 and 31, 2015.

Thurston County volunteers were responsible for gathering 15,920 signatures for the initiative. Sprague said that gathering almost 16,000 signatures was their goal, which is about 10 percent of the registered voters in the county.

Above: Several checkers strive to validate troublesome signatures for I-735 last week at the Washington Secretary of State's office in downtown Olympia.

The Secretary of State’s office started reviewing the I-735 ballots Wednesday evening and finished a few days earlier than expected. Anyone can observe the process during normal business hours.

Kay Ramsey, Secretary of State program coordinator, was busy checking signatures last week, along with about 15 paid, temporary staff who received training for their job from the Washington State Patrol. Staff cross checked signatures with the statewide voter registration database.

Asked what causes the most difficulties with petition signatures, Ramsey said that a lot of people aren’t actually registered to vote, bad handwriting, and very common names.

Checkers also have difficulties with very large and very small signatures, attempted scratch outs, lightly written signatures, those that only sign or only print their name, and other issues.

Little Hollywood observed the signature checking process last week and witnessed several illegible and light signatures that were not able to be confirmed by the checker.

Ramsey said that every effort is made to do a second round check to see if the proper signature can be found.

For more information about I-735 and the initiative process, go to: www.WAMEND.org. Previous articles about the initiative are at Little Hollywood, www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com. Use the search button to type in key words.

For more information about Thurston County’s I-735 efforts, contact Jennifer Sprague at I-735olympia@hotmail.com or Michael Savoca at Masavoca@fairpoint.net

Dollarocracy and the Movement to Amend the Constitution

Above: John Nichols, at the podium, and Robert McChesney visited Olympia earlier this week to discuss their latest book, "Dollarocracy: How the Money and Media-Election Complex is Destroying America," at The Evergreen State College.

By Janine Unsoeld

www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

Citing the influence money has in politics and the demise of true journalism, authors Robert McChesney and John Nichols fired up the crowd and lit fires under butts talking earlier this week about their new book, Dollarocracy: How the Money and Media-Election Complex is Destroying America, at The Evergreen State College.

McChesney, a graduate of The Evergreen State College, was introduced by his former professor, Tom Rainey, who called McChesney a socially committed student and scholarly hellraiser.

About 100 were in attendance, including 40 students from an Evergreen class called Political Economy of Public Education.

Providing multiple history lessons from the Founding Fathers and the writing of the U.S. Constitution right up to the current City of Seattle city council race between Socialist Kshama Sawant, who recently won the election over incumbent Robert Conlin, both speakers provided a hard hitting, keen analysis of the influence money has on American media and politics.

McChesney said he and Nichols came up with the idea for their latest book when a 2012 Princeton study of democracy and the federal government showed that the bottom 90% of people’s values and concerns were not acknowledged. The book’s introduction by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) says that nothing can pass Congress that is opposed by Wall Street.

McChesney noted that even Jimmy Carter, speaking in Germany in July when he thought he was speaking off the record, said America today is no longer a functioning democracy.

“Half the population is now considered to be at poverty level or low-income…we’re back to where we were in the 1920’s” said McChesney.

Citing a loss of 20,000 journalists since 2009, Nichols, a journalist and correspondent for The Nation, asserted that the ones that remain pretend they’re covering the news.

In reference to television ads passing as news, Nichols said, “The standard of news media now is whether the (advertising) check clears…As journalism disappears, it tries to do it on the cheap, talking about Michelle Obama’s work against obesity issues, talking about Ted Cruz….(but) there’s a grassroots activism - 16 states have petitioned to overturn Citizen United - and yet you aren’t told about it. It’s real, it’s happening, and you need to be a part of it…we’re at the tipping point.”

Move to Amend is a non-partisan coalition of over 300,000 individuals and organizations whose goal it is to amend the US Constitution to end corporate rule and get big money out of politics by overturning the U.S. Supreme court decision in Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission. 

The proposed amendment would overturn court decisions that granted corporations the status of "personhood" which allows unlimited corporate campaign spending.

Nichols said that Washington State is the number one example of Dollarocracy and that their paperback version of Dollarocracy will feature Washington State, the GMO issue and the Grocery Association’s $23 million dollar contribution toward the demise of I-522 - the result of when corporations enter into politics.

“....Their profits were threatened by the reality of labeling. They succeeded in their effort to confuse people so much that people voted against it. That’s Dollarocracy in play. That’s not how it’s supposed to be….”

Nichols asserted that our Founding Fathers did not intend for the Constitution to be a static document. It was amended ten times in the first four years.

“Journalism is so fair and balanced, it treats a lie just like the truth!” exclaimed Nichols, “If we do not acknowledge what’s happening today, that will be our future. Amend the Constitution. Let’s eliminate the Electoral College….Can we do it?”

In closing, Nichols told a story:

“There’s a girl, seven or eight years old, and she’s walking up some steps. She’s going to work in a mill – she’s not going to school. Her fingers are small, tiny, and good at changing bobbins….sometimes the machines would start up while she was changing the bobbins, and take her finger or hand. And that was OK back then, because if that happened, she could go work in a clothing factory. Jews, Christians, Muslims, all working together. She would go to work on the 10^th floor of the factory, and, sometimes, a fire would break out. They’d run to the door, but it was locked shut to prevent workers from sneaking a bathroom break…and they’d either burn alive or jump out the windows….

In the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York, they chose to jump. As mothers came to pick their daughters up off the sidewalks, their grief turned to anger. Women were not allowed to vote then….Over a 10 year period, women organized, and reforms took place. They amended the Constitution three times: to vote, to elect the Senate, and enact taxing and regulatory reforms to tell people they can’t lock the doors at factories, they can’t employ children. Child labor laws were enacted, unions began….

"We are in a similar moment today. Are you the equals of your grandmothers? Your grandfathers?....Five hundred cities have enacted resolutions to amend the Constitution. If you don’t engage now, you’ll be on the sidelines of democracy….”

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of March 25, 1911 killed 123 women and 23 men. The youngest victims were 14 years old. 

Move To Amend Efforts in Washington State

The movement to amend the Constitution is active in the South Sound area. Mike Savoca, of the Olympia Move to Amend group was present at McChesney’s and Nichols’ presentation.

“We testified last February before the legislature in favor of a bill, HR 4001 and SR 8002, in favor of a 28th Amendment and were successful in the House but the bill was killed in committee by the Senate Governmental Operations chair, Pam Roach,” said Savoca later.

 

The Olympia Move to Amend statement says:

As we work for peace, sustainability and human rights, over and over again, we are opposed by the corruption of our political election system by big money and big, multinational, corporations

A corporation is not a person, it does not live, breath, bring forth children nor die.  The first and primary objective of multinational corporations is profit and the acquisition of shareholder wealth.   Nowhere in the US Constitution does the word "corporation" appear! 

A corporation is an invented legal entity. Like all inventions , corporations are not necessarily good nor bad. The regulation of our inventions determines if they will be the source of prosperity…... or our demise. 

The unlimited power of multinational corporations and big money in our electoral  system threatens our very survival as a society, and as people around the planet.

 

To learn more about local efforts to amend the Constitution, contact Michael Savoca, Olympia Move To Amend, at masavoca@fairpoint.net or go to www.movetoamend.org or www.wamend.org.

Civility in Thurston County Conversations

Civility in Thurston County Conversations

By Janine Unsoeld
www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

The League of Women Voters, an organization that supports voter rights and voter education, is acting to address the increasing apparent lack of civility in various political processes. 

 

The Thurston County chapter of the League has chosen this topic for a series of upcoming discussions in hopes of generating new ideas about how we can all contribute to civility within our democratic processes.

The definition of “civility” that has been adopted for the League of Washington State is: “Being civil does not mean being silent.  It does not mean avoiding contentious public issues.  On the contrary, healthy disagreement is central to a robust, flourishing democracy. Civil dialogue strengthens policy.  Only by considering all sides is it possible for us to make progress while keeping everyone’s dignity and democratic rights intact.”

Civility discussion meetings will be held Wednesday, October 17, 1:30 – 3:30 p.m., at The Evergreen State College, Seminar Building II, A2107, and later that evening, October 17, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m., at the Olympia Community Center, Room 200, 222 Columbia St. NW. 

 

A discussion meeting is also scheduled for the afternoon of October 16 in a League member's private home, and the home cannot accommodate a large group. Given the amount of interest already generated, a request was made by the League to just publish the location of the two Wednesday meetings.  

Cynthia Stewart, a local League board member, will facilitate the discussions.  In an interview today, Stewart expressed excitement in getting back to these in-person focus group conversations that the League used to sponsor in the 1960’s and 1970’s.

She will lead participants in discussions exploring the following questions:

1.      How important is civility to you in assuring that we continue to have a democracy?  How would you describe the degree of civility that you feel is important?  To what extent does the definition above describe your own attitudes about civility in democracy?

2.      How would you describe current national, state and local processes (e.g., campaigns and elections, legislative processes, regulatory processes, etc.) in terms of the extent to which they are conducted civilly?  What would you change, if you could?

3.      What are the boundaries of civility?  When is civil disobedience appropriate?  When is some other form of protest or engagement appropriate?  When are they inappropriate?

4.      To what extent does information or lack of information affect our ability to act and react civilly in our democracy?

 

5.      What could/should the League of Women Voters and individuals do to enhance civility in our democracy?

Stewart, a trained dispute resolution mediator, says she has learned that, when parties are in conflict, “the intensity of their anger is a reflection of the extent that they have needs that are not being met. It’s better to stop and ask what do they need and deliberate, acknowledge that, and try to address that need.”

In an effort to increase League membership and garner interest in a younger population, an intern from The Evergreen State College will work with the League starting in January to help with future focus groups and broaden membership.

The League of Women Voters is not just for women - it is open to men and women alike and tackles other topics such as health care, quality of government, education, transportation, and alternative energy. The League also researches and publishes detailed position papers on these topics.

Future focus group topics will be announced in the local League newsletter and on their web site each month. The League is also training moderators who can be available across the state to facilitate discussions of controversial topics. 

For more information and directions to meetings, go to the League web site, www.thurstonlwv.org

 

Above: Disputing ducks earlier this week in Olympia near Percival Landing. They worked it out.