Becky Voll Elected State Committee Woman

Becky Voll was elected to fill the remaining term for our Benton County Democrats Central Committee (BCDCC) State Committee Woman at the BCDCC meeting, Wednesday, August 17.

We have two people who represent the county party in the Washington State Central Committee, a woman and a man. They will serve in that position until we reorganize in January when we will hold elections for all officers. The duties of the state committee representatives are to participate in the business of the party at the state level and provide reports of those state activities to the local organization.

Becky became active in the party when she joined the Jay Clough campaign.  She served as Vice Chair of the party, frequently substituting for the previous chair.  She resigned as Vice Chair earlier in 2016 to spend more time with her grandchildren, but continued being an active member of the party.  She was an Area Caucus coordinator for her location in Kennewick and was a credentials co-chair at the county convention.  She also worked credentials at the 4th Congressional District caucus. More recently she served as the lead for organizing our booth at the 2016 Benton County Fair and Rodeo.

We appreciate the members of our party who, like Becky, step up to organize and act to help achieve our progressive platform.

WA 8th LD Democrats: Being David

We are reprising this excellent 2014 post by Kendall Miller. Worth reading again. 

WA 8th LD Democrats: Being David: With a hat tip to  Tom Sullivan , his articles got me to thinking. We are not the Goliath here in eastern Washington the way the Democrat...

Climate Change Matters in the 2016 Election

Presidential nominees Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump hold radically different views on climate change and how - if at all, in Trump’s case - the issue should be addressed. The Earth has had three record hot years in a row with deadly heat waves scorching cities, sea level rise swamping coastlines and diseases threatening public health. Government action can make a difference on climate issues, as evidenced by the Reagan-approved Montreal Protocol and George H.W. Bush’s campaign to reduce acid rain. For not just America but the world, climate change matters in this election. (AP)

Volunteers Manning the Democratic Booth at the 2016 Benton County Fair

Near-Term Events

Wed Aug 24: Women’s Equality Day picnic, 5:30PM, Columbia Point Marina Park, Richland, Gazebo #1. Tri Cities LWV will provide finger food, plates, silver, and drinks.

Aug 23-27: Staff the Benton County Fair Democratic Booth.  Contact Margaret Munro to volunteer at desertcactus_13@yahoo.com
   
Monday, Aug 29: 7:00 PM, David Cobb and Ruthi Engelke of “Move to Amend” will speak on I-735, “Change the US Constitution to Get Big Money Out of Elections," Labor Hall, 2505 Duportail St, Richland,

Corporations Are People -- Or Are They?

David Cobb to Speak on I-735

David Cobb an Outreach Director of Move to Amend, and one of the founding members of the Board of Directors and authors of the We the People Amendment will be speaking about the movement to get big money out of politics on Monday, August 29th, at the Richland Labor Hall, 2505 Duportail St., Richland, WA.

Are you passionate about protecting, repealing, reforming X, Y, Z? Good for you. Congress doesn’t care.

A recent study found that little of what's done by the U.S. congress has any correlation whatsoever to the issues and outcomes about which American voters care. What matters to congress is not the opinion of Republicans, or Democrats, or the Tea Party, or the Occupy Movement, or any other average citizen or interest group, but rather the opinion of people and groups with big money.

David Cobb

An organization here in our state has been working to change that. WAmend collected over 333,000 signatures and suceeded in getting Initiative 735 on the ballot in November.  I-735 is a proposed amendment to the federal constitution that would urge the Washington state congressional delegation to propose a federal constitutional amendment affirming that constitutional rights belong only to individuals, not corporations, and constitutionally-protected free speech excludes the spending of money. In other words, corporations aren't people and money isn't speech.