Hella Bus Blog

There's been a lot of attention on the upcoming "Fiscal Cliff", a problem of our own making and one of the worst abuses of the English language since funner was added to the dictionary.

The reason behind this attention is purportedly because the series of tax increases and spending cuts happen automatically come January 1st.

But there are other crucial issues that expire at the end of this year that have importance beyond this so-called cliff.  (For more on why the "cliff" ain't no thing look here.)

One of the bills still in limbo is the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).  Congress passed VAWA in 1994 and reauthorized it twice along bipartisan lines.  But the bill was not reauthorized last year over disputes about protecting vulnerable LGBT, Native American and immigrant communities. The Democratically controlled Senate wants a VAWA that incorporates the needs of all women, while the Tea Party infused House of Representatives have called the extended protections a distraction.  Washington's own Cathy McMorris Rodgers called the protections "side issues" and claimed the House Bill protected only "the true victims of domestic violence".

Word in DC is that Vice President Biden (one of the original architects of the 1994 VAWA) is working with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor to try to work out a deal. The sticking point?  Protections for Native American women.

Currently jurisdictional issues on reservations give non-native white men protection from prosecution for rapes or assaults against Native American women.  The Senate bill aims to make it easier to prosecute these offenders.

All of the protections provided by VAWA expire at the end of this year, but that's no excuse for congress to allow Native American women to continue to be victimized.

The National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence Against Women has an action page set up here.

Sunday, December 9th was the first day same-sex couples were legally allowed to marry in Washington State.  City Hall was brimming with couples excited to tie the knot on the first day ever.  Judges, city officials and members of the community came out in droves to volunteer their time in order to make everything come together.

And it was beautiful.

An amazing 138 couples were married in City Hall.  Many had been together for decades and are just now able to legally wed.

Couples were married at one of five temporary wedding altars, and afterward were led into a reception area where they could give video testimonials about their relationships.  These videos are all up on the Seattle Channel.

Yesterday was the culmination of years of work, from the dream Senator Ed Murray had for 17 years, to the Marriage Bill passed in January, to the Referendum that voters approved in November, and the weddings all over the state.  Being present yesterday was awe inspiring - Washington State affirmed these couples as being completely equal in the eyes of the law.

Way more photos of happily married couples after the jump.

Today marks the first day that same-sex couples can legally marry in Washington State.

Not wanting to wait any longer, couples lined up outside the King County Courtroom in downtown Seattle to be married at 12:00 am last night.

The Seattle Times put together an amazing and heart-warming video of last night's events.  King County Executive Dow Constantine was there signing Marriage Certificates, as well as Senator Ed Murray, the creator of the Marriage Equality bill in the Senate.

Of course, Marriage Equality is huge for couples on both sides of the Cascades.  Equality Spokane has this video of the first lesbian couple married in Spokane.  Of extra significance, one of the wives is also a married veteran benefiting from the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

One other congratulation in order:  Washington State hit 81% voter turnout, the highest in the nation. These historic events wouldn't have been possible without such huge turnout.  Congratulations to all the happy couples.

In 2008 the country elected our first black President amidst a horrid recession with the powerful urgency of hope.  In Seattle people amassed in the streets, poured champagne into stranger's mouths and danced in a celebration usually reserved for the toppling of third world dictators.

Four years later, it happened again.

President Obama won a second term Tuesday night.  In some ways this is just as huge as his first win.  After four years of slow, erratic and sometimes painful progress, Obama faced what would have been a referendum on his first term.

As it turns out, we're just not that into referendums.

Obama won with a projected 303 electoral votes Tuesday night.  He's currently slightly ahead in Florida which would be another 27 electoral votes. (Rumor has it Floridian's are still in line waiting to vote.)  In 2008 Obama won with 365 electoral votes.  Obama carried the popular vote once again.

His eponymous accomplishment, Obamacare, has now survived numerous Republican attempts at repeal, a Supreme Court case, and an oppositional Presidential campaign aimed at killing it.  Obamacare is the floor all future healthcare legislation will be built upon.

He now has four more years, four years in which we'll likely see two more Supreme Court justice picks, and ideally some kind of grand bargain on our tax policy in order to address the deficit he inherited.

The Senate:

The Democrats not only maintained power in the Senate, but managed to pick up one extra seat.  They remain the minority party in the House.  While a recipe for gridlock, it's also an indication that most of the signature legislation of the last four years will remain in place.

Elizabeth Warren of Harvard picked up Massachusetts' Senate seat, defeating Scott Brown.

Richard "God's Will" Mourdock of Indiana and Todd "Legitimate Rape" Akin of Missouri were both defeated by their Democratic challengers.  Both men rose to fame for making incoherently poor statements about rape, and voters of their respective states responded.   This is also a win for science, as Akin, a man with zero understanding of women's reproductive anatomy was just voted off of the House Science Committee.

Angus King, the Independent Candidate from Maine pulled in a solid victory against his Democratic and Republican challengers.  As a pragmatic Independent, he's expected to regularly caucus with the Senate Democrats, but has fought valiantly to avoid joining the partisanship on each side.  He will be the second Independent Senator currently in office, joining Bernie Sanders who was elected as a Socialist.

In other close races, Connecticut's Christopher S. Murphy (D) wrestled his senate seat away from former WWE CEO Linda McMahon.  In Wisconsin, Tammy Baldwin (D) beat out Tommy Thompson (R).  Nevada's incumbent Dean Heller (R) held onto his senate seat.  And in Virginia, Tim Kaine (D) beat out former Gov. George Allen solidly.

In The House:

The Republican party was able to hold onto their majority in the House of Representatives, although the Democrats did pick up 3 new seats (and a few are still undecided).  In some ways, this victory is more a victory for gerrymandering than it is for a particular party - in 2010 a lot of congressional districts were redrawn to favor incumbents, at the time the majority of which were Republicans.  The Senate is less affected by these fluctuations in part because we don't redraw state borders every 10 years.

Here in Washington's redrawn 1st District, Microsoft Exec Susan DelBene (D) beat out John Koster.  Delbene won two elections, both the race to finish the rest of Jay Inslee's term as congressman, and the race to replace him come the new session.

Turns out Paul Ryan was smart to hedge his bets: while he won't be the Vice President, he did win his re-election bid for the Wisconsin House.  He'll maintain his role as the chair of the House Budget Committee, where he'll continue to convince people that he's "kinda a numbers guy". Ryan's supporters and GOP officials are already talking about Ryan being a potential presidential candidate in 2016.

To The Future, And Beyond!

The next big confrontation between House Republicans and the Senate Democrats will be over how to deal with the "fiscal cliff", a horrible shorthand for a slew of reasonable cuts and tax increases set to land January 1st, 2013.  If the Republicans are unwilling to compromise, the Democrats can just let the Bush era tax cuts expire and return to the rates we had under Clinton.  More of a fiscal "watch your step."

Last night Washington State did something that has never been done before. By popular vote, Washington citizens voted to approve Marriage Equality and to legalize the recreational use of Marijuana.

Referendum 74 is currently winning by a 3% margin statewide, and Land-of-Dorothy King County is still counting ballots. We'll likely see an even higher win percentage over the coming days and weeks.

Washington is joined by Maryland and Maine, both of which also extended marriage rights to same-sex couples by popular vote.  Together these three states marked an historic change, one in which voters approved Marriage Equality with majority votes.  Prior to last night, whenever a popular vote was taken, gay marriage lost.

War On Nugs:

Marriage Equality wasn't the only victory for social justice advocates last night.  Washington State fully legalized the recreational use of Marijuana. The ACLU's successful initiative put a stop to the state's prohibitionist arrests and prosecutions of an inordinate amount of people of color for a non-violent crime.

Initiative 502 is currently passing with more than a 10 point lead statewide, and across a majority of counties. This isn't an issue passing in metropolitan areas alone - across the state voters have said it's time for a change.

Colorado also passed an amendment legalizing recreational marijuana, while in Oregon a measure attempting to do the same thing failed.

Marijuana is still illegal federally.  Whether the Federal government will attempt to impede state law is unknown, although they've so far allowed for the medical use of marijuana (also illegal) as long as dispensaries followed state law.

Think of the Children:

Charter school legislation is currently passing by 3%, a much smaller margin than polls predicted.  Populous King County is coming out against the Initiative, while Pierce and Snohomish Counties, also very large, are both coming in for the Initiative.  With ballots still being counted, it's hard to predict how this initiative will fair.

"It's very possible the Initiative could be defeated," reports Ben Lawver, an organizer for the No on 1240 campaign.  "I'm optimistic."

Eyman's Twilight:

Initiative 1185, requiring a 2/3rds super-majority to raise any revenue, passed in every single county last night.  One need look slightly further down ballot to see the results - both attempts at raising revenue were voted down by voters.

Advisory Vote 1 would have removed a tax deductions for banks.  Advisory Vote 2 would have extended a tax on petroleum products.  Because neither one could get past a 2/3rds majority hurdle, they were put up to a public vote and subsequently repealed.  This is why Washington is failing to fulfill our most paramount duty. Whether or not we find a way to fund our state is up to the Supreme Court now.

The Supremes:

Sheryl Gordon McCloud solidly defeated Richard Sanders.  Sanders was voted off the court back in 2010 after claiming blacks had a "crime problem" and gays "had more sexual partners".  Rather than recognize defeat, he stayed on the court in the equivalent of a volunteer role and attempted to earn his place back by running for another seat.  Perhaps this time he'll get the message.

Governor:

Jay Inslee beat out Rob McKenna with a safe 3 percent margin.  As is usually the case, the Democratic Inslee safely pulled in most of the coastal areas, including a whopping 63% in King County, while McKenna performed strongly in Eastern Washington. Inslee likely was boosted by a strong turnout for Obama and Marriage Equality.  Of note, so far Obama has received 87,221 more votes than Inslee, meaning some Washington voters split their ticket between Obama and McKenna.

Lieutenant Governor:

Bill Finkbeiner's (R) progressive endorsements weren't enough to unseat the reigning Lieutenant Governor Brad Owen (D), who has been in the seat for 15 years.

Attorney General:

Bob Ferguson (D) defeated Reagan Dunn (R) despite a slew of outside expenditures.  The Attorney's General seat receives a lot of attention because in recent years it's been a stepping stone before running for Governor, which worked for Gregoire and not so much for McKenna.

Secretary of State:

Kim Wyman (R) is currently ahead in the race to be Washington's Secretary of State, but with a less than 1% lead in the ballots.  Her Democratic challenger, Kathleen Drew earned 61.77% of the ballots in King County, which is still being counted.  It would be very easy to see this race change up as late ballots are counted.

Those L.D.s

Tacoma's Jeannie Darneille beat out her self-funded challenger Jack Connelly by 15 percentage points.  Darneille likely benefited heavily from her 12 years in the House representing Tacoma. And maybe a bit from a huge core of volunteers who love her.

Noel Frame looks to have lost her election against Gael Tarleton, despite an impressive ground game.  Tarleton currently has a 15 point lead in the race.

Firefighter Bud Sizemore trails traditional burger enthusiast Mark Hargrove by less than 100 votes in the 47th. King County elections has only verified 61% of the ballots they've received within that district.  We'll know in the coming days and weeks who comes out ahead in this race.

Cyrus Habib has a strong and commanding lead against his opponent Hank Myers.  Beyond being an amazing campaigner, Habib will be the first blind man to serve in the state house.  Habib has been an advocate for people with disabilities throughout his life, and will take this stewardship to the legislature.

Marriage Equality advocate Mary Margaret Haugen looks to have lost her race against her Republican opponent Barbara Bailey.  Haugen was targeted by conservative groups for her support of Marriage Equality after being the deciding vote back in January.

North Seattle had a few really close races, and former Transportation Choices Coalition director Jessyn Farrell appears to have beat out Sarajane Seigfriedt for the 46th's Position 2 Representative.  In Position 1, UW professor and education activist Gerry Pollet beat out Sylvester Cann.

Spokane's urban 3rd district stayed Democratic, re-electing Andy Billig, Marcus Riccelli and Timm Ormsby. It's less urban 4th and 6th districts continue to be held by Republicans.  In the 4th Matt Shea beat out Democratic challenger Amy C. Biviano by 13 points.  Biviano performed well in what's normally a very conservative area.

The same held true in the 6th, where Dennis Dellwo (D) came close but was unable to beat Jeff Holly (R).

On Mercer Island, Steve Litzow (R) beat out Maureen Judge (D) in the Senator's Race.  Litzow was an early supporter of Marriage Equality, and was one of only a few Republicans who voted for the bill.

In the same district, Marcie Maxwell (D) beat Tim Eaves (R) for the contested Representative position.

The no on I-1185 campaign has a video up explaining their view of a 2/3rds majority requirement to raise revenue.

I'm fond of these sped-up animation talks, probably because I have absolutely no artistic skill myself.

My one critique of their message is that they only use the word taxes, not revenue.  Tim Eyman's 2/3rds initiatives don't just prevent legislators from raising taxes, they also prevents us from closing tax loopholes to raise revenue.  Which is why oil and alcohol companies overwhelmingly fund them.

The initiative is going to pass regardless. Which instead means all eyes should be on the Supreme Court and the Lieutenant Governor's races.

The University of Washington and KCTS 9 have released results from their statewide poll for NEXT WEEKS election.  The poll is the second wave of a two part poll, and is the first poll I've seen that samples voters who have already received their ballot and potentially already voted.

Referendum 74 currently has strong support among all registered voters (57.3%-36.2%) and Baretto's estimate of likely voters (57.9% to 36.9%).

Baretto also tried something new to try to weed out any noise from voters who would be embarrassed to tell pollsters they were voting against the rights of same-sex couples.  In 2009, with domestic partnership rights on the ballot, Baretto's poll of Referendum 71 estimated a win by 17 percent, when in effect Ref 71 only won by 6.3%.

After respondents finished with the poll, they were asked if at any point questions made them feel uncomfortable or if they lied about any of their answers.  People who reported lying or feeling uncomfortable were counted as no votes on Referendum 74. With this conservative estimate, Baretto found that 52.3% of likely voters would approve Ref 74, and 45.8% would vote against.

Good news, but the poll has a margin of error of 3.9%, which puts Marriage Equality at risk. Now is the time to volunteer to Get Out The Vote.

More Poll Geekery after the jump:

Voters do.

Some Washingtonians have been reacting strongly to the Stranger's "Fear Mongering on R-74", in which a poll of likely voters found only 49% supported Marriage Equality.  And by all means, if fear gets you motivated, then put on a terrifying costume and come get your Trick of Vote on.

While Dominic's right: Referendum 74 won't get approved without your help, remember that this poll is just of likely voters.

The October 24th Elway Poll considers "likely voters" people who have cast ballots in at least 1 out of the last 4 elections in 2010 and 2008.  (No love for off-year city council elections?)

While this may help filter out the noise of 40-year-old voters who have been registered for years and don't tend to vote, it also takes away an incredibly progressive voting block: young and newly registered voters.

People likely to vote.

This most recent poll immediately tunes out all registered Washington voters age 18-20.  Young voters overwhelmingly support Marriage Equality.  An Oct 18th KCTS9 poll conducted by the University of Washington found voters age 18-29 approved R-74 68%-26%, more than a 2 to 1 margin.

That same poll also found R74 being approved 56% to 35% by all registered voters, and 54%-38% by their estimation of likely voters.

Likely voters are absolutely the most unreliable group because every pollster uses a completely different metric," said Matt Barreto, the UW pollster behind the KCTS9 study.

Barreto uses a more complicated likely voter metric that measures if voters historically vote during presidential elections.

"I personally don't think that someone who voted in one of the last four elections is a likely voter, if you only voted in one out of four elections you are an unlikely voter."

Barreto says historically his polls of all registered voters trend closer to actual election outcomes.  He includes likely voters simply because journalists and poll-watchers like them.

"There are some people who don't look likely, but they'll still turn out and vote.  I think R74 is going to pass."

We're not out of the woods.  This is a close race that will only be won with involvement.  But save the spooky stuff for Saturday.

...awesome, and everyone's got one!

Super excited about voting but still on the fence for a few down-ticket races?  Need some advice?

The following publications have put out some great endorsements.  Read up.  Need more motivation?  Come to a ballot party (or throw your own) and fill one out with friends.

The Stranger:

Perhaps the most profane and hilarious endorsements out of the NW.

Tacoma News Tribune:

Repping T-Town since 1883.

Fuse Washington's Progressive Voter's Guide:

Fuse pushes for Progressive Policies throughout Washington, and doesn't always endorse each race (instead providing info on both candidates).

Cascade Bicycle Club:

Got a bike?  Wish it was slightly safer to use it?  The CBC has your back, and seeks out legislators with similar goals in mind.

Planned Parenthood Northwest:

Providing birth control and medical care for women (and men) throughout Washington State.

Voting For Judges:

A non-partisan group that doesn't endorse but provides in depth info on the candidates. 

UFCW 21:

Representing 38,000 retail workers throughout Washington State, with an eye on which elected officials would do the most for working class citizens.

SEIU 925:

Another Washington State Union representing Teachers and Service employees.

Sierra Club:

Like clean air?  Seals?  Washington's environmental community endorses green candidates.

Publicola:

Policy wonks Josh Feit and Erica Barnett moved their blog to the Seattle Met Magazine.  As of now, I only see endorsements in the 36th, 46th, and gubernatorial races, which is a shame since I loved their in-depth candidate analysis in the past.  Hopefully more will come.

The Seattle Times:

Seattle's only daily paper since the Post Intelligencer went online-only in 2009. The Times has been in some hot water as of late because of the business department's decision to take out whole page ads on behalf of Rob Mckenna and R-74. So you may want to take it with a grain o' salt.

If you're not following the Jewish Council for Education and Research's actually.org, you need to start.  They were responsible for Sarah Silverman's Great Schlep video back in 2008 (asking young people to visit their Nanas in Florida to talk to them about the election).  And they're putting out some quality videos again this year.

For example:

President Obama and Mitt Romney held their second of three debates Tuesday night.  Readers may recall, as a fact-based true-believer, I called the first debate in Obama's favor - polls said differently.  Apparently we decide debates based solely on gumption and eye contact.

Well, as Biden preluded, this debate played out quite differently.  Obama was pugnacious, truculent and militant, or to put another way: Red Bull gave him wings.*

Where before Obama performed with a smug docility, this time around he contested every Romney statement.  And while uncivil - about damn time.

Romney (and more recently Ryan) have been playing fast and loose with facts, figures and promises this entire election cycle, banking on the current state of journalism to let their claims go untested.

Well, this time Obama held Romney accountable, and the polls are rewarding him. Probably the best knock-out exchange was Romney's aggressive assertion that Obama failed to call the attack on the Libyan embassy an act of terror.

Obama did in fact call the deaths of four Americans an "act of terror" immediately, but waited for two weeks to definitively establish it was a planned attack, and not a response to an offensive YouTube video.

Ladies Love Cool Mitt:

The debate was a Town Hall format, and many of the questions from undecided voters revolved around domestic policy.  One woman asked the candidates:

"In what new ways do you intend to rectify the inequalities in the workplace?  Specifically regarding females making only 72% of what their male counterparts earned?"

Obama mentioned the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which he signed into law the day he took office.

Romney went another direction, telling an anecdote about hiring women when he was the Governor of Massachusetts, and how he sought out "binders full of women".

The Internet exploded with "Binders Full of Women" memes, but I failed to find this as notable as his total inability to answer the question.  In response to an answer about fair pay for women, Romney told a factually incorrect anecdote about hiring women when he was the Governor of Massachusetts.  No mention of whether his female binders were paid as much as his male binders. In addition he added that female employees needed more flexible schedules so they could make it home in time to cook dinner.**

Romney claimed to have sought out more women on his own, but the true story was a non-partisan group of women hoping to see more equal representation pushed candidate Romney and his opponent to agree in advance to hire more women.  He did.

Romney also claimed that 580,000 women lost jobs under Obama.  This number is made up.

Guns Don't Kill People, Single Mothers Kill People:

One of the benefits of a Town Hall forum is voters get the chance to ask questions that the campaigns have otherwise managed to avoid.  As was the case when one voter asked the candidates how they'd limit access to assault rifles.

"Weapons that were designed for soldiers don't belong on our streets," said Obama, and went on to say he'd like to see an Assault Weapons ban introduced.  (Which realistically is unlikely to pass through the Tea Party controlled House of Representatives.)

In contrast, Romney stated that he wasn't in favor of any new legislation, and instead, the answer was good schools and two parent households:

"Gosh, to tell our kids that before they have babies they ought to think about getting married to someone, that's a great idea," said the candidate who's vowed to defund Planned Parenthood.

Parents to Mexico, Children to Iraq:

The one last moment that really stood out was the candidate's response to immigration policy. Romney declared he wouldn't allow amnesty for anyone who was here "illegally" without documentation, and doubled down on the "Self Deportation" statements he made during the Republican Primary.  He did concede that children of undocumented immigrants who grew up here could stay, but added that "military service for instance is one way they would have that pathway."

This of course is the same character who dodged the Vietnam draft to be a Mormon missionary in France and lamented how much easier this election would be if he was Latino.

On the other hand, Obama has been no champion of immigrant rights.  He has deported undocumented immigrants at approximately 1.5 times the rate as George W. Bush. But he did admit "we need to fix a broken immigration system" and told the audience "I've done everything I can on my own."  He also used the term undocumented workers, in contrast to Romney's use of the term "illegals", which is overwhelmingly considered offensive.

One more debate to go.  Also, check your mail - ballots are arriving here in Washington State.  Once again full video after the jump:

Last Thursday Vice President Biden took on Congressman Ryan in their one and only debate of the campaign season.

It was different than the Obama Romney debate:

Biden successfully proxied the resentment and frustration accumulated over the last two years of made up campaign claims and phantom policy promises.  For the first time in this campaign Ryan was held accountable for the words that came out of his mouth.  It's likely we'll see a similar tactic from Obama in the Presidential Debate tomorrow night.

Conservative commentators are upset because Biden laughed openly throughout Ryan's talking points.  I'd laugh as well. Ryan's statements don't pass the sniff test.  If I wasn't laughing, I'd be crying at the fact a Presidential campaign made it this far without being truthful with the American voters.  Oh yeah.

Take for instance Ryan and Romney's attacks on the stimulus.  Both men have been saying the stimulus was a huge, ineffective waste of tax-payer money.  Ryan again attacked it during the debate, but Biden was ready.

"I love my friend here," replied a laughing Biden.  "He sent me two letters saying by the way, can you send me some stimulus money for companies here in the state of Wisconsin?"

True Bromance.

"I love that," continued Biden.  "This is such a bad program he writes me a letter saying the reason we need the stimulus is it will create growth and jobs."

I'm Kinda A Numbers Guy:

While Biden earned his keep as an adept debater*, moderator Martha Raddatz was an excellent demonstration of how you moderate a debate.  When Ryan was asked about his unaccounted for 20% across the board tax cut, Raddatz didn't let him squirrel out of an answer.

"No specifics," said Raddatz.

"And you guarantee this math will add up."

Ryan and Romney have been prancing around with this 20% tax cut for a while now, and they can't explain how it works.  Because it can't work.  You can't drop everyone's personal taxes 20% and then close a few unnamed loopholes to make up the difference.

Claims like these are less credible than Moon Colonies.  I'm willing to believe technology could get us to Mars.  I'm less willing to have faith that 2 minus 2 still equals 2 with a bit of magic.

Also Jay Inslee and Rob McKenna faced off in another debate the same night.  I didn't listen.  From the last two debates, it's clear both of them are kinda numbers guys as well.

*So tempting.

Full debate after the jump.

An ad war is brewing.  Election day is exactly 4 weeks away, and I'm really happy I don't own a TV.

Preserve Marriage Washington, the group fighting against Marriage Equality, has already reserved $1.5 million dollars in commercial air time.

One such ad is up on the Internet:

The ad is heavy handed and factually incorrect, and really fails to show why marriage really matters.  Marriage is about love and commitment, and it's hard to get that across with a bunch of faceless silhouettes.

Contrast that with this message from Republican Cheryl Pflug, who rose to fame for her vote extending the freedom to marry to all individuals in Washington.

Braveheart also into Marriage Equality.

We'll be seeing countless more ads like these in the coming month.  But even if you're incapable of banking an ad campaign, coming in to phonebank for marriage equality makes a huge difference.  Join us!

One of the most competitive races this season is inside of Seattle proper, in the head to head race for Seattle's new 36th District.

Noel Frame and Gael Tarleton are both battling it out to represent the 36th, which spans from Carkeek Park down to the Pike Place Market, covering the dense urban areas of Queen Anne, Ballard, Magnolia and the Seattle Center.

The Bus is throwing our support behind Frame hard, with 5 separate Bus Trips October 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th and again on November 3rd.

Why so enthusiastic?

"When you vote for somebody in Seattle, it's an opportunity to get a champion, because we'll potentially be there for 20 years," said Frame in a phone interview with the Bus.  "It certainly would be nice to elect a legislator who cares a lot about empowering young people, and I'd like to be the person behind it."

"I'm going to be out knocking doors right alongside with you.  It's how I got started in politics and it's an honor to be a candidate."

"I want to lead a conversation about what it takes to fund a 21st century education. How we are going to make an investment in that here in this state.  I don't think that conversation is happening, I don't think my opponent has that leadership.  I hope that the voters in the 36th district are interested in that."

The Supreme Court ruled earlier this year in McCleary vs. State that we're underfunding our school systems so badly it's unconstitutional. Washington needs to fully fund our schools by 2018 in order to be in compliance with the ruling.

"I want to lead a statewide conversation around the revenue system here in this state," said Frame.  "Our tax structure is regressive, it's insufficient, and it's not very effective."

"I don't think funding schools at the expense of everything else we care about is the right approach.  [Education is] one of the best investments we can make as a state, and we're falling pretty short of it right now."

The 36th has a history of being represented by progressive candidates.  Frame hopes to continue that tradition by pushing forward-thinking ideas, like paying for an additional year of education after high school.

"In Washington and beyond, to have a living wage job, it requires at least one year of post secondary education," stated Frame.  "Towards these goals of ensuring that our state residents are sharing in the prosperity of the incredible work we do here in the state, I would like to see the state lead on a different approach to education."

Beyond education, Noel is also a big proponent of high capacity public transit.  She believes that Seattle should have the power to fund their own projects when the state is unwilling.

"I live in Ballard and boy would I love to have a streetcar or light rail, something out here besides just Metro," said Frame.  "Local taxing authority is the answer.  I want to see for instance the legislature continuing a conversation about public transit investments and infrastructure.  Seven percent of the transportation budget goes towards public transit, I'd like to see us double that."

"The challenge is that when you have folks in the legislature representing areas like where I grew up [Battle Ground, WA], public transit isn't going to go out to that area.  I think here at the local level we should push. It's an economic justice issue."

Noel Frame is the Washington State Director for Progressive Majority, and has been a long-time board member of the Washington Bus.

"I am the Bus, I fuel the Bus, I love the Bus," exclaimed Frame.  "I am very happy that the Bus is coming with me and supporting my campaign.  This is one of my favorite endorsements."

"The kids in my life have grown up with the Bus, my 10-year-old godson has gone on Bus trips, my 13-year-old cousin went on the Bus trip with us to Yakima."

"My 23-year-old cousin worked the Bus booth at Pride last year.  It's not just about me, even the youngest people in my life understand their own power and their own voice because of their involvement in the Bus.  I hope that you guys know how much the Bus matters to me, and how much I appreciate you."

Head on down to your favorite thrift shop, pick up some funky Halloween swag, and get ready to join us for a terrifyingly gigantic Get Out The Vote for Marriage Equality celebration!

That’s right: it’s Trick or Vote! AKA costumes, voting, Marriage Equality, party. Mix vigorously for best results.

On Saturday, October 27th, hundreds of young people in full amazing costume (including you!), will be spreading out across Seattle, knocking on doors and reminding thousands of people to turn in their ballots, and approve Referendum 74!

Is this a big deal? You better believe it. It’s the biggest Get Out The Vote for Marriage Equality our state has ever seen. Ever! EVER.

So put it in your calendar: October 27th at 1pm. Go on, I’ll wait!

Sign up here. More spooky details coming soon!

-Christine, the Wizard of Oz of Trick or Vote

P.S. Got any good costume ideas? Send them my way (christine[at]washingtonbus[dot]org) and be featured in our costume countdown! Some good submissions so far: a washing machine, Carmen Sandiego, and Pac-Man. Top that!

P.P.S. Does your organization or group want to get on the poster? Email me and I’ll give you the deets to bring a team.

P.P.P.S. This: