Fix Democracy First Happy Hour September 14, 2022

Posted on September 14, 2022

Democracy Happy Hour, September 14 @ 5 pm PT:

Minority Rule: How did we get here?

Democracy Happy Hour September 14 @ 5 pm PT!

Grab a drink and come hear about the latest democracy news, ongoing efforts to fix democracy, and actions you can take at our weekly Democracy Happy Hour, Wednesdays @ 5 pm PT.

Topic for September 14, 2022:
Minority Rule: How did we get here?

Upcoming Topics in August:

Sept 21 – Benefits & Types of Public Funding for Elections
Sept 28 – Next U.S. Supreme Court Session: What can we expect?

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Please submit any questions to: cindy@fixdemocracyfirst.org.

	
						
			
						
				
				
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				            Benton County WA Democrats
				        							Serving the Democrats of Benton County, WA
						
		
	

	
	
					
				Benton County WA Democrats
				 
			
			
 4 days ago 
			
	
		
	



	
		GOP lawmaker files bill that would create WA Department of Government EfficiencyBy Simone Carter, The OlympianWashington would get its own Department of Government Efficiency if state Rep. Jim Walsh had his way.The Aberdeen Republican, who also chairs the state’s Republican Party, recently introduced House Bill 2076, which would create a so-called DOGE within the Evergreen State.The proposed department is a nod to the new federal Department of Government Efficiency under the second administration of President Donald Trump.Walsh’s bill, which has five Republican co-sponsors, received a first reading and was referred to the State Government and Tribal Relations Committee on April 12.Democratic lawmakers don’t much like the sound of DOGE, Walsh said in an interview. That’s to be expected. But he received “more enthusiastic support from fiscal conservatives and a lot of support from the general public.”“I mean, the reason I did it was I had people asking me to do it — contacting me by email or text message saying, ‘You need to create a WA DOGE,’” Walsh said. “The problem is it’s very hard to get our executive branch excited about accountability and efficiency. So this creature, unlike the federal creature, is a creature of the legislative branch rather than the executive branch.”Supporters of Trump’s DOGE argue that it scales back on bureaucratic bloat and saves the taxpayers’ money. Critics say that the federal government’s efficiency mantra is backfiring amid cuts to broad swaths of federal funding, programs and jobs.Walsh argues his proposed DOGE would similarly aim to eliminate government waste, tightening the reins on agencies acting outside their legal bounds and ensuring that rules are clear and up-to-date.Washington’s DOGE would work under the Legislature and file reports regularly with the Governor’s Office and state lawmakers. The final report outlining recommendations and findings would be due July 2028.HB 2076’s text says the bill is necessary to implement the budget, a term used for legislation exempt from cut-off dates. That descriptor is used liberally to try to keep bills from dying.Walsh’s idea comes as Washington faces a multi-billion-dollar budget shortfall — and as state lawmakers work to design a budget proposal that Gov. Bob Ferguson will sign. Ferguson has urged budget writers to prioritize savings over leaning too heavily on new or increased taxes.Walsh’s bill says that if a new regulation is proposed by any state agency, then the agency would need to mark at least two other rules to repeal. Washington DOGE could also probe whether agencies make decisions or enforce rules based not on law, but “on ideology.”Bill dead in the water?House Speaker Laurie Jinkins, a Tacoma Democrat, relayed through the House Democratic Caucus’ communications director that the bill “is not worth her comment.”And Walsh acknowledged that Ferguson likely wouldn’t sign it if the proposal were actually to reach his desk.But to Walsh, the measure is neither a joke nor a stunt. Rather, he said, it’s a “well thought-out” and methodical bill.“Some of our state agencies, I know for a fact, aren’t very clear on what their mission statement is,” he said. “So it does apply some of those efficiency standards and practices that are more often associated with private-sector firms, but I think we’ve adopted them appropriately to government agencies.”Walsh said that the state’s proposed DOGE would be temporary. Under the bill, each state agency would see 6% of its operating-budget allowance held in a reserve account; Walsh noted that Ferguson recommended 6% cuts across state agencies to help balance the budget shortly before he was sworn in as governor.After an agency completes a Washington DOGE audit, the 6% could be sent back with legislative approval, Walsh said. Some $750,000 would be appropriated to cover a small staff and overhead costs at the temporary agency.The bill faces mountainous hurdles in a Democrat-controlled Legislature. Still, Walsh said: “One always hopes.”“Clearly this is offered late in the cycle,” he said. “You know, maybe we take a look at it next session, or maybe it reappears as an initiative.”The 2025 legislative session is scheduled to end April 27.This isn’t the first time House Republicans have introduced a bill echoing goings-on at the federal level.In mid-February, three Republican representatives filed a measure that would end the Office of Equity in Washington — one that the state’s Legislative Black Caucus blasted as a “threat to racial equity and justice.”			
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				Benton County WA Democrats
				 
			
			
 5 days ago 
			
	
		
	



	
		The investigation puts the 1,800-student La Center School District at the middle of the escalating battle between the U.S. Department of Education and the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction over approaches to inclusivity in schools.washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/04/14/feds-to-investigate-wa-schools-agency-over-gender-inclusiv...			
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				Feds to investigate WA schools agency over gender inclusivity conflict • Washington State Standard
			
		
					washingtonstatestandard.com
		
					The Trump administration alleged Washington directed a school district to implement a gender inclusion policy in conflict with federal law.
		
	


	
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				Benton County WA Democrats
				 
			
			
 5 days ago 
			
	
		
	



	
		The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. -Martin Luther King, Jr.			
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				Benton County WA Democrats
				 
			
			
 5 days ago 
			
	
		
	



	
		America is dangerously close to being run by a king who answers to no oneOpinion by Rex Huppke, USA TODAYPresident Donald Trump and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele sat in the Oval Office like a pair of smarmy abusers and openly mocked U.S. courts that have ordered the return of a wrongfully deported Maryland man.Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a father and sheet metal worker, was deported to a notorious prison in El Salvador due to what the Trump administration admitted in court was an “administrative error.” You don’t have to care about him or his family – though anyone with a hint of morality would – but you darn well better care about a U.S. president openly defying a U.S. Supreme Court order while yukking it up in the White House with a South American leader who dubbed himself “world’s coolest dictator.”Abrego Garcia, 29, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Maryland on March 12 and swiftly dispatched to what amounts to a gulag in El Salvador. That was in open defiance of an immigration judge’s 2019 ruling that Abrego Garcia could not be removed to El Salvador because he would face persecution.Before I say more about this gross miscarriage of justice, it's worth reminding folks that this is the president Republicans wanted. And until they say otherwise, I'll assume this dictatorial behavior is also what they want.Abrego Garcia was wrongfully deported. Trump will do nothing to get him back.The administration has claimed Abrego Garcia is a gang member, but a federal judge has already said there’s no evidence to support that claim. On April 10, the Supreme Court upheld a lower court order requiring the administration to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return to the United States.Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote: “To this day, the Government has cited no basis in law for Abrego Garcia’s warrantless arrest, his removal to El Salvador, or his confinement in a Salvadoran prison. Nor could it.”It has been clear that Trump and his cronies plan to defy the order to return Abrego Garcia. That plan was cemented on April 14 in the Oval Office when not-at-all-cool dictator Bukele said: “How can I return him to the United States? I smuggle him into the United States? Of course I'm not going to do it. The question is preposterous.”That does not make our big, tough American president look very tough.In fact, it looks like a dictator waltzed into the Oval Office and told the American people that their weenie president is powerless to retrieve a wrongfully deported man from a small South American country.Trump seems to be using El Salvador to help him defy courts.The only other possibility is that Trump and Bukele are in cahoots and are jerking the U.S. Supreme Court around while flaunting their laws-don’t-apply-to-us attitudes.If that’s the case, then it appears the U.S. government can simply disappear a person legally residing here with a wife and child who are are U.S. citizens and then fart around as if federal court orders are meaningless. And if THAT’S the case, then the idea of America is pretty much shot.Trump is paying the El Salvadoran government $6 million to take alleged gang members whom Immigration and Customs Enforcement rounds up without apparent due process.At one point during their White House meeting, Trump said to Bukele: “Home-growns are next. The home-growns. You gotta build about five more places. It's not big enough.”That means the plan is to start shipping full-on U.S. citizens, anyone the Trump administration deems a “criminal,” to Salvadoran gulags.And that, to say the least, should scare the apple pie out of you. If Trump can defy the Supreme Court, it's curtains for AmericaAgain, you should absolutely care about the Maryland man presently enduring God knows what in a South American prison.And you should care equally about the other seemingly innocent immigrants getting “accidentally” rounded up and dispatched to that same prison.But even if you don’t care about what happens to immigrants, I strongly suggest you think long and hard about what it means to have a president who gleefully ignores the courts. I want you to ponder that slippery slope and whether your idea of America involves a king who answers to nobody dispatching American citizens he happens to dislike.Because that Oval Office meeting with El Salvador’s president showed, in no uncertain terms, that we’re perilously close to a scenario where Trump just does as he pleases. If that's what Republicans want, they should have the guts to stand up and say so, because this is what they asked for.But for everyone else, it's time to stand up and shout “Hell no!” right freakin’ now, and not a moment later.			
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				Benton County WA Democrats
				 
			
			
 5 days ago 
			
	
		
	


	
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	April 2025
Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
		1 TCD Democrats Protest Tuesday TCD Democrats Protest Tuesday April 1, 2025 3:45 PM - 5:45 PM John Dam Plaza, 815 George Washington Way, Richland, WA 99352, USA "Protest Tuesday" at John Dam Plaza on GWay in Richland from 3:45pm to 5:45PM. Bring your own sign or flag or one will be provided. Join our stalwarts and protest whatever is bothering you most that day. https://www.facebook.com/events/999996418325987/999996484992647/ See more details Richland City Council Richland City Council April 1, 2025 7:30 PM - 8:30 PM Richland City Hall, 505 Swift Blvd, Richland, WA 99352, USA See more details • •	2	3	4	5 Hands Off! Kennewick Fights Back Hands Off! Kennewick Fights Back April 5, 2025 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM https://www.mobilize.us/indivisible/event/767357/ Donald Trump and Elon Musk think this country belongs to them. We are fighting back! They're taking everything they can get their hands on—our health care, our data, our jobs, our services—and daring the world to stop them. This is a crisis, and the time to act is now. See more details WE LOVE DEMOCRACY! Yakima Fights Back WE LOVE DEMOCRACY! Yakima Fights Back April 5, 2025 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM This event's address is private. Sign up for more details. Billionaires think this country belongs to them. We say it belongs to all of us! They're taking everything they can get their hands on—our health care, our data, our jobs, our services, our democracy, our neighbors —and we have to stop them. This is a crisis. The time to act is now. 🚨 On Saturday, April 5th, we're taking to the streets to fight back with a clear message: Hands off! 🚨 Sign up: https://www.mobilize.us/mobilize/event/764958/ See more details Hands Off! Pendleton Fights Back Hands Off! Pendleton Fights Back April 5, 2025 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM https://www.mobilize.us/indivisible/event/768559/ Donald Trump and Elon Musk think this country belongs to them. We are fighting back! They're taking everything they can get their hands on—our health care, our data, our jobs, our services—and daring the world to stop them. This is a crisis, and the time to act is now. See more details Hands Off! Remove Reverse Reclaim Walla Walla Hands Off! Remove Reverse Reclaim Walla Walla April 5, 2025 2:30 PM - 4:30 PM Courthouse Lawn 315 W Main St Walla Walla, WA 99362 Donald Trump and Elon Musk think this country belongs to them. We are fighting back! They're taking everything they can get their hands on—our health care, our data, our jobs, our services—and daring the world to stop them. This is a crisis, and the time to act is now. 🚨 On Saturday, April 5th, we're taking to the streets to fight back with a clear message: Hands off! 🚨 See more details • • • •
6	7 BCDCC E-Board Meeting BCDCC E-Board Meeting April 7, 2025 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM 955 Northgate Dr, Richland, WA 99352, USA https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89652046114?pwd=c0JBUWhNZ2hkSUtDcHlXUXFPak9zQT09#success See more details •	8 TCD Democrats Protest Tuesday TCD Democrats Protest Tuesday April 8, 2025 3:45 PM - 5:45 PM John Dam Plaza, 815 George Washington Way, Richland, WA 99352, USA "Protest Tuesday" at John Dam Plaza on GWay in Richland from 3:45pm to 5:45PM. Bring your own sign or flag or one will be provided. Join our stalwarts and protest whatever is bothering you most that day. https://www.facebook.com/events/999996418325987/999996484992647/ See more details Kennewick City Council Workshop Kennewick City Council Workshop April 8, 2025 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM See more details • •	9 The People's Town Hall The People's Town Hall April 9, 2025 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM Yakima Convention & Event Center, 10 N 8th St, Yakima, WA 98901, USA Who: Former Governor Jay Inslee, Community Leader Maria Beltran, WA Democrats Chair Shasti Conrad, and other special guests What: Congressional District 4 Town Hall Where: Yakima Convention Center 10 N. 8th Street, Yakima, 98901 When: Wednesday, April 9, 6-8 PM This event is open to anyone, and all are welcome! RSVP today → See more details •	10 Indivisible-TC Founder Hour Indivisible-TC Founder Hour April 10, 2025 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM Online with Zoom https://zoom.us/j/94107976607?pwd=qZeb9jUuH9e3DwVvukrhqxuwrNTWvv.1 Meeting ID: 941 0797 6607 Passcode: 24430 It is that day of the week again, join me via zoom, link below. We will chat about upcoming events (April 16, 19, 26.) Happy to answer questions or get you plugged in. As always, just happy to get to see you all. Look forward to it. Reach out anytime. See more details How to Manage Members and Google Drive Training How to Manage Members and Google Drive Training April 10, 2025 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/Y0A24mBXSK6nldEdUfMaeg#/registration Learn how to manage a members roster, and keep track of files on Google Drive. April 10th at 6 PM See more details • •	11 Tri-City Democrats Meeting/Potluck Tri-City Democrats Meeting/Potluck April 11, 2025 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM For current location please visit https://www.facebook.com/TriCityDems/ See more details •	12
13	14	15 TCD Democrats Protest Tuesday TCD Democrats Protest Tuesday April 15, 2025 3:45 PM - 5:45 PM John Dam Plaza, 815 George Washington Way, Richland, WA 99352, USA "Protest Tuesday" at John Dam Plaza on GWay in Richland from 3:45pm to 5:45PM. Bring your own sign or flag or one will be provided. Join our stalwarts and protest whatever is bothering you most that day. https://www.facebook.com/events/999996418325987/999996484992647/ See more details Richland City Council - RPL Presentation Richland City Council - RPL Presentation April 15, 2025 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM Richland City Hall, 505 Swift Blvd, Richland, WA 99352, USA See more details • •	16 Indivisible-TC Newhouse "Office Hours" Indivisible-TC Newhouse "Office Hours" April 16, 2025 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM Tri-Cities Office Dan Newhouse WA 4th, 3100 George Washington Way, Richland, WA 99354, USA From Indivisible-TC: Next up… the next congressional recess is coming up fast. We have asked Newhouse for office hours, but he is “busy” through the summer. So, we will go and ask our questions anyway. We will also deliver the town hall video! Let’s show him we deserve better!! See you there. See more details •	17 Franklin County General Meeting Franklin County General Meeting April 17, 2025 5:30 PM - 8:00 PM Pasco Branch Library, 1304-1320 W Hopkins St, Pasco, WA 99301, USA Franklin County Democratic Central Committee (FCDCC) Full Membership Meeting Thursday, April 17, 2025 Location: Library, 1320 W Hopkins Street, Pasco 5:30 p.m. Potluck /Social 6:00 p.m. Meeting and Zoom begins Virtual Option (Zoom): https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9144488289?pwd=OENYNWRxR1VtQkVFT1RsMU13RlZLUT09 Meeting Agenda: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wtSx9jFTpqby1JD3SoE6WjNzz4c87HURI9K6f29OlGU/edit?tab=t.0 See more details •	18	19 Indivisible "No Kings" Protest Indivisible "No Kings" Protest April 19, 2025 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM John Dam Plaza, 815 George Washington Way, Richland, WA 99352, USA Join us for another national protest!! Will again be a peaceful day, we will be on John Dam Plaza. Bring signs with "No Kings" or bring any sign you wish. We will have some signs made and limited ability to make your own. We are excited to see you all again. Please share away!! See more details •
20	21	22 TCD Democrats Protest Tuesday TCD Democrats Protest Tuesday April 22, 2025 3:45 PM - 5:45 PM John Dam Plaza, 815 George Washington Way, Richland, WA 99352, USA "Protest Tuesday" at John Dam Plaza on GWay in Richland from 3:45pm to 5:45PM. Bring your own sign or flag or one will be provided. Join our stalwarts and protest whatever is bothering you most that day. https://www.facebook.com/events/999996418325987/999996484992647/ See more details Richland City Council Workshop Richland City Council Workshop April 22, 2025 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM Richland City Hall, 505 Swift Blvd, Richland, WA 99352, USA See more details • •	23	24 8th LD General Meeting 8th LD General Meeting April 24, 2025 5:15 PM - 6:15 PM Richland Public Library Gallery 955 Northgate Drive Richland, WA General Meeting April 24th, 2025 Richland Public Library Gallery 955 Northgate Drive and on ZOOM 5:15 PM See more details BCDCC General Public Meeting BCDCC General Public Meeting April 24, 2025 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM Meeting details will be provided over email from the Benton County Democrats Chair. See more details • •	25	26
27	28	29 TCD Democrats Protest Tuesday TCD Democrats Protest Tuesday April 29, 2025 3:45 PM - 5:45 PM John Dam Plaza, 815 George Washington Way, Richland, WA 99352, USA "Protest Tuesday" at John Dam Plaza on GWay in Richland from 3:45pm to 5:45PM. Bring your own sign or flag or one will be provided. Join our stalwarts and protest whatever is bothering you most that day. https://www.facebook.com/events/999996418325987/999996484992647/ See more details •	30 Transforming Conflict into Connection: Join Us for the Restorative Practices 201 Free Workshop! Transforming Conflict into Connection: Join Us for the Restorative Practices 201 Free Workshop! April 30, 2025 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM Richland Public Library 955 Northgate Dr, Richland, WA Restorative Practices 201 Workshop, facilitated by the Conflict Center, sponsored by Battelle, is designed to equip you with practical tools to address low-level conflicts, build stronger relationships & create a more supportive environment for the youth you serve. Registration Information: https://forms.gle/UKzWNz26s4SRLpmA9 Deadline: Please register by March 21st. See more details •