Welcome to the Olympic Progressives website, where strong progressives from Clallam, Grays Harbor, Jefferson, Kitsap, and Mason counties gather to promote progressive politics.

Another horrible attack on Internet freedom is up for a vote in Congress. The White House has threatened to veto this bill if passed. Virtually everyone interested in freedom is lined up against this bill, but that excludes Wall Street and major tech companies, as you see in this clip from The Young Turks ("Ron Paul is right about CISPA: It must be stopped"). More at Daily Kos.

Panorama from atop the new World Trade Center takes in a sweeping view of NYC in this photo from MSNBC.

See the Events page (link at the left) for upcoming events.

Van Jones talks with Christine Romans on CNN about Rebuild the Dream.

Ed Schultz shows how Affordable Care Act eliminates gender discrimination in healthcare. (Note: OP does not endorse any of MSNBC's sponsors.)

Also, check out this clip where Ed Schultz talks with a public school principal from New York City to find out where education really comes from. (Warning: You may have to endure a commercial from the Evil Empire before you see the clip, but it's worth putting it on mute for a half minute.)

American Awakening Event Videos:  At the very successful American Awakening event, sponsored by MoveOn.org, in Sequim, WA on 9/27 of this year, Dr. David Korten gave a rousing keynote address. David is the Board Chair of Yes! Magazine and the author of several books, including "Agenda for a New Economy" and "The Post-Corporate World."  Below are two videos which comprise the first and second half's of David's Speech.

The next speaker was Katherine Ottaway, MD, and a member of "Mad as Hell Doctors."


The final speaker at this event was Robby Stern, President of the Puget Sound Alliance for Retired Americans, on the Washington State Labor Council Executive Board, and a member of AFL/CIO.


Finally, we have the public comments part of this event in the following video:

Rally in Sequim: Clallam County MoveOn hosted its "Make Wall Street Pay" rally near Bank of America Saturday in Sequim, WA. Over 100 protesters attended. Jefferson County MoveOn hosted a similar rally in Port Townsend. Across the country MoveOn members took to the streets in a national day of action to encourage people to move their bank accounts from large Wall Street banks to local community banks and credit unions. MoveOn members handed out flyers with easy instructions for moving bank accounts, and a list of five community banks and credit unions.

Photo by Jim Arnold.

"If politicians in Washington won’t hold the big banks accountable for the economic pain and suffering they've caused, it's up to the American public to take action," says Kathryn Grosz, co-coordinator for the Clallam County organization.

"The big banks on Wall Street helped crash the economy and cost millions of people their jobs and their homes. These bailed-out banks, large corporations and the super-rich are reaping the benefits of the economy while working Americans are faced with high unemployment and low wages, and are forced to carry the burden of budget cuts. Here in Washington, the state budget cuts have been devastating and there are more to come."

(See pictures on the Photos page. Click on the event link there to see the full set. The rallies received significant coverage in the Peninsula Daily News.)

Cenk Uygur is taking action to end "corporate personhood". If you're ready to take action, you can find more about it on our Action page.

There are an enormous number of Occupy Wall Street events going on across the country. A recent Daily Kos article provides a map of associated events. You can also see a more global list of events at Occupy Together.

Republicans are using a ginned-up crisis to try to dismantle the U.S. Postal Service. By forcing USPS to over-fund retirement for their enormous workforce, Republicans have conveniently arranged a financial shortfall. But Rep. Stephen Lynch is sponsoring HR. 1351 to remove the onerous requirements imposed by Republicans which would allow USPS to take advantage of what would otherwise be a billion dollar surplus in their operating funds. The USPS takes no tax dollars to operate. But they provide rural areas (think Sequim) with services that might be cut if the Republicans get their way. You can get more information from Postal Reporter. You might also want to ask your representative (think Norm Dicks) to cosponsor this bill by going to Petition 2 Congress or calling him up directly (360-452-3370).

To his credit, Ed Shultz has provided repeated coverage of this issue, pointing out how it is designed to suppress votes in generally Democratic Washington and Oregon, as well as attack one of the largest unions in the country (and therefore the financial support of the Democratic Party). I like to have my vote counted and I will trudge through wind, sleet, snow and hail to get it there, but I'd rather a Postal Service worker did that for me.

MoveOn sponsored an American Awakening event in September 2011 to strengthen Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. This event was well attended is giving the local MoveOn group a boost in support.

Download the entire media packet (PDF) for this event here:

Released on 9/1/2011

Released on 8/15/2011

Released on 8/1/2011

Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) introduces legislation to make Social Security fully-funded for the indefinite future.

As MinistryOfTruth on DailyKos notes, "Al Jazeera does what the corporate owned American media refuse to do. They report the facts." Fault Lines, "Income Inequality in America":

Brave New Foundation has announced its new exposé on the Koch brothers' interference in the Wake County (Raleigh, NC) school board elections.

Free Speech TV provided the telecaste of the Netroots Nation conference this year.

"The only way we can have a strong economy is with a strong middle class."—Robert Reich

As the Republicans continue to destroy the economy, the damage is rippling through all our institutions. Here's a video from Brave New Foundation that documents the problems it is causing in the public service sector.

Democrats and Republicans got together in the middle of the night a while back to pass a tax deal that key Republican funders have wanted for a long time--the continuation of the Bush tax cuts. In honor of their deal we have this small piece of wry humor for your enjoyment:

Want to know what's firing us up? Check out this video.

We're voting, too! And not only are we voting, but we are building a strong organization to elect progressive politicians both here in the state of Washington and there in the nation's capital of Washington, D.C.

Join us!