Tag Archives: Seattle

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Washington State DSHS cuts kids Medicaid …


WA Supreme Court orders DSHS to reverse cuts to medicaid kids

The cuts targeted a program that helped vulnerable children. Benefits to as many as 3,000 kids could be affected.

by CHRIS INGALLS / KING 5 News

SEATTLE — The Washington State Supreme Court has ordered a reversal of some of the deep budget cuts made by the Department of Social and Health Services. The cuts targeted a program that helped vulnerable children. Benefits to as many as 3,000 kids could be affected.

One of them is Samantha Kadlec of Kenmore. Medicaid paid for an in-home personal care expert to help Samantha with things like bathing, grooming and reading. Her mother was devastated when DSHS cut Samantha’s services in half.

“It was a pretty rough time,” Andrea Kadlec said. “You needed more support and they were proposing you get a lot less. I felt pretty sick.”

This week, the court ruled that DSHS made broad assumptions based on children’s age and living conditions instead of examining the need in each individual case.

The court also affirmed lower a court finding that DSHS made similar unfair cuts to about 1,000 seniors who also received in-home care.

Samantha’s mother realizes the state is in dire financial trouble. She says without in-home assistance, taxpayers could face an even bigger bill for full time care.

“So the crux of this case is so that kids like Sam can live in the community and don’t have to be institutionalized,” Andrea said.

How will DSHS restore the funding when its budget has been cut so deeply? DSHS Secretary Susan Dreyfus said she won’t know the next step until her agency has had a chance to review the court ruling.

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Election update …Seattle -a message from Adam
 

Volunteers needed in Seattle: 1116
Volunteers signed up so far: 568
Hey,
I spent all night going over the latest numbers from across the country, and I wanted to fill you in on what we’re seeing with just 5 days left.
You’ve probably heard about some very scary polls. When you ask voters generically which party they’re going to vote for, Democrats are down by about 8 points. And it’s true that we’re playing defense for about 100 seats across the country.
But beneath the surface, when you look at specific races, we’re seeing that many of them are still quite fluid. Sure, some Democrats are losing ground, but others are surging in the polls, and there are some candidates who now seem more likely to win than they did a week or two ago (like Michael Bennet in Colorado, Patty Murray in Washington, and Ann Kuster in New Hampshire).
So it’s time to concentrate on the places where we can make the most difference.

We’ve decided to target 59 key races, including Patty Murray‘s, where we have reason to believe a flood of grassroots volunteers in the final push could make a real difference. And in those places, our volunteer numbers have been steadily climbing—we turned out about 20% more people last week than the week before, and we’re getting amazing feedback from targeted campaigns about how MoveOn volunteers are making a big impact in reaching out to voters.
Nevertheless, we’re still far short of our overall goals. In Seattle alone, we’re counting on 1116 volunteers, and so far we’ve only signed up 568. So our numbers need to improve dramatically over the next couple of days, in order for candidates like Patty Murray to run an effective voter turnout operation that can overcome the national trend.

So consider this a personal request: Will you sign up to volunteer for Patty Murray in Seattle?

Yes, I’ll sign up to volunteer.

Sorry, I can’t.

Thanks for all you do.–Adam

 

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Patty Murray -Washington State thanks you …VoTE PMurray Nov.2


Yesterday, President Barack Obama joined me out on the campaign trail in Seattle.

I’m grateful that President Obama came to Washington state to show his support for our campaign and help us reach thousands of voters. I wish all of my friends and supporters like you could have been at the big campaign rally we had on the campus of the University of Washington.

It was quite a day! If you weren’t able to join us in person, I hope you’ll check out this video clip of the President’s visit:

click here to watch the video

While here, President Obama talked about everything that we’re doing to create jobs and fight for hard-working families across our state and across the country.

He also laid out in very clear terms the stakes in this election: whether we’re going to continue to fight for the changes we need to make to get our country back on track, or whether we’ll let our opponents — fueled by tens of millions of dollars from shadowy corporate and right-wing groups — try to buy this election and move us back to the failed policies of the past.

I’m running for re-election to the U.S. Senate because I want to continue to be your voice in Washington, DC — to wake up every day and do everything I can to help people and solve problems.

But I need your help to do that. Please click here to watch the video, sign up to volunteer for our campaign!

I’d like to thank President Obama for joining me here in Washington state to help us get our message out -– and I’d like to thank you for your continued support.

 

Let’s keep fighting hard over these last 11 days for a huge victory on Election Day!

Thank you so much,

Patty Murray
U.S. Senator

P.S. If you have friends or family who may be interested to hear about President Obama’s visit, or learn more about what’s at stake in this election, I hope you’ll forward this email along or click here to share on Facebook. Thanks.

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An immediate crisis


Human Rights Campaign


We need 16 donations from Seattle by TOMORROW.

We’re fighting poisonous hate from right-wing groups and on the campaign trail.

Join

How would you feel seeing this headline on November 3rd?

Radical Conservatives Take Over Washington

It’s not farfetched. At a time when anti-LGBT bullying and harassment are already out of control, this election could usher a wave of extremists into Congress and bolster hateful right-wing groups that have already begun urging lawmakers to pass a national ban on same-sex couples marrying.

One prominent candidate founded a “cure the gays” group before running for Senate. Seriously. Last week, another declared he wants to abolish the U.S. Department of Education so students won’t be taught that “Susie has two mommies is an appropriate family situation.”

We’ve already raised more than half of the $250,000 we need by MIDNIGHT TOMORROW to expose illegal electioneering by radical groups and get hundreds of thousands of voters to the polls.

But we need 16 donations from Seattle to get us there. Can you help, Carmen?

With Tea Party funding and groups like the National Organization for Marriage running illegal ads, the risk of a radical takeover of Washington is shockingly real.

So we’re fighting back. Here’s how:

  • We’ve got organizers on the ground in key cities across the country, fighting against radical candidates.
  • We just filed a formal complaint with the IRS detailing illegal political campaigning by a tax-exempt nonprofit arm of the National Organization for Marriage.
  • We’re running innovative programs in faith communities so groups like the Mormon Church hierarchy don’t have the last word.
  • And we’re launching a massive effort to get pro-equality voters to the polls.

In the wake of so many horrific stories of anti-LGBT hate crimes and bullying, fair-minded supporters across the country – both LGBT and straight – are energized and ready to help. Over a million are wearing purple today in memory of victims of anti-gay bullying. But at the same time, every day brings new examples of right-wing vitriol – and unless we take direct action to fight them, they could soon have an even bigger platform for their hate.

Last week, the president of the extreme, anti-equality Family Research Council wrote in The Washington Post that it’s the “homosexual movement” – not bigotry – that causes feelings of despair among LGBT youth.

His offensive claim comes in the wake of a Mormon leader’s hateful sermon saying same-sex attraction is “impure and unnatural”… the Catholic Diocese of Minnesota mailing a misleading, anti-gay DVD to every single parishioner in Minnesota… and the National Organization for Marriage’s relentless, outright lies.

These groups do real damage with these comments, but hearing the same hate spouted from elected leaders – and seeing it in legislation like a federal ban on marriage equality – is even more dangerous. And that’s the immediate crisis before us now.

Can you help us reach the 16 donations from Seattle we need to fight back?

Election Day is only 13 days away. I hope you’ll stand with us.

Not backing down,

Joe Solmonese
Joe Solmonese
President

P.S. If you’ve already put a check in the mail or given to HRC by some other means, I can’t thank you enough. If you haven’t yet contributed, I hope you’ll join us today. Also, don’t forget to wear purple today! Learn more here.

Join

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Seattle vs. the extremists


Human Rights Campaign


Election Day is only
19 days away.

We need 26 donations from Seattle in the next week to fight back against Mormon Church leaders, NOM, and radical candidates.

Donate

A hateful sermon to millions by a top Mormon apostle has driven home a simple point: words matter.

When extremism goes unchallenged, we see the results in blatant discrimination, in bullying and harassment in our schools, and in violent hate crimes – like the horrific anti-gay kidnapping and torture by nine men in the Bronx last week.

We need to fight back. That’s why I traveled to Utah this week to hand-deliver 150,000 letters to that same Mormon leader (watch the video here). It’s why we launched NOM Exposed to spread the truth about the so-called National Organization for Marriage.

And it’s why, as we face a make-or-break election, we’re warning voters about radical candidates who would spread this poison from the halls of Congress and make bigotry seem legitimate.

We need to raise $250,000 in the next seven days to support these efforts – to put more staff on the ground, expose extremist candidates, ratchet up efforts against NOM and Mormon Church leaders, and get hundreds of thousands of pro-equality voters to the polls.

It will take 26 donations from Seattle –

Last week, nine men kidnapped and tortured two teenagers and a 30-year-old man in the Bronx and subjected them to hours of horrific torture because they were gay. Just days later, New York gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino gave a speech saying he didn’t want children “brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is an equally valid or successful option.”

When will this cycle of bullying, incitement, and violence end?

At a time when every day seems to bring new stories of hate, I’m outraged that church leaders are spreading a message of intolerance – from the Mormon apostle who gave that sermon to the anti-gay DVD the Catholic Church mailed to every single parishioner in Minnesota – but I’m sickened by the thought of that intolerance coming from members of the United States Senate.

One candidate for Senate has crusaded to ‘cure’ gays through prayer. Another is so radical she won’t even accept donations from companies that are too pro-equality. A third is so far to the right that uber-extremist Rick Santorum himself called him “too conservative.”

Many voters are just starting to pay attention to their local races. And when they do, we’ve got to be there – in the media and at thousands of front doors, explaining extreme candidates’ fringe positions and radical beliefs.

We’ve got to go on offense against NOM and its cronies. We’ve got to get fair-minded voters to the polls. And we must increase the pace of our work in schools to fight bullying and in our innovative programs to work with communities of faith to promote equality.

Thank you for all that you do.

Sincerely,

Joe Solmonese
Joe Solmonese
President

P.S. Please accept my deepest gratitude if you’ve already put a check in the mail or given to HRC by some other means. If you haven’t yet contributed, I hope you’ll join us today.

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