[correction: the arrest occurred in St. Paul, by Minneapolis Police.]

Democracy Now!

Nothing interesting on the agenda this week (good lord, could they cram any more public works crap into one week?), so, I'm going to write about public financing of campaigns.

Public financing was legal in Washington as a local option until the early 90s when seemingly by mistake, it was written off the books by the initiative that created the Public Disclosure Commission. Seattle had a pretty robust program at the time.

The short of it is that public financing puts candidates on equal footing, regardless of their ability to raise large sums of money. More information here, here and here.

Anyway, it looks like the local option is back on the table, with the passage of SB 5278 onto the governor. This will allow local governments, through initiative, to create public financing programs.

So, who wants to get an initiative campaign going in Olympia?

Here is a short list of needs for a campaign:

Precinct caucuses start at 1 p.m. sharp. Don't be late (because of crowds) and if possible be early (your help might be needed). And, stay late (you can help with breaking down too).

To find a Democratic caucus, you can go here or here.

To find a Republican caucus, go here.

If you are a Democrat, this is your only chance to influence the nomination. If you're a Republican, the results of the primary count for just under half of your delegates.

Also, here is some good information about what to expect at the Dem caucuses.

Washington Dem Caucus Center
What to expect when you caucus

I apologize to the Republicans here, I simply don't know that many places to look for your process. Feel free to add information in the comment threads. I'll keep the post updated with new links.

by Andrew Malcolm
Breaking News: Judge says MSNBC must include Kucinich

A judge in Nevada has just ordered MSNBC to include Rep. Dennis Kucinich in Tuesday's Democratic Party presidential debate in Las Vegas or he will cancel the forum.

Senior Clark County District Court Judge Charles Thompson vowed to issue an injunction halting the nationally televised debate if MSNBC failed to comply. Kucinich had filed a lawsuit seeking to be included just this morning.

(UPDATE: Late Monday, according to the Associated Press, NBC indicated that if Judge Thompson officially signed his order Tuesday morning, it would appeal that decision to the Nevada Supreme Court, seeking to keep Kucinich out of the evening's debate.)

The judge ruled Monday it was a matter of fairness and Nevada voters would benefit from hearing from more than just Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Barack Obama. Kucinich had been invited to participate in the 6 p.m. Pacific debate Tuesday, but that invitation was rescinded last week following the ...

Here's a link to video that was posted recently on the Portland Independent Media Center's website: link.