Refreshed at 12:14 PM Pacific on Sunday, April 3rd, 2016

  • Welcome to Pacific NW Portal, a Northwest Progressive Institute project that simplifies the task of staying up to date with news that matters to you. Today is the eighteenth day of the 2015 Washington State legislative session, the twentieth day of the 2015 Idaho State legislative session, and the twenty-eighth day since the 114th Congress convened. The Oregon State Legislature convenes for its 2015 session in ten days.
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In Brief

Recommended Link

Donald Trump abandons pledge to support Republican nominee; Cruz and Kasich hedge

So much for that “loyalty pledge” cooked up by Reince Priebus and the Republican National Committee last year. Donald Trump says it means nothing to him now, and Ted Cruz and John Kasich are also backing away from it.

# Permalink (Wednesday, March 30, 2016)

Recommended Link

Birds — and staff — return to Malheur National Wildlife Refuge

“In the aftermath of the winter occupation, spring birds are arriving and Malheur National Wildlife Refuge staff are making an uneasy return to their jobs and homes in Eastern Oregon’s Harney County,” reports Hal Bernton for The Seattle Times.

# Permalink (Monday, March 28, 2016)

Permanent Defense

Fourteen Years: Statement from the Founder

Today and throughout this month, Permanent Defense celebrates its fourteenth anniversary, marking one hundred and sixty-eight months of continuous operation. Since going live on February 15th, 2002, Permanent Defense (PD) has been a fierce defender of&nbs;… (read more)

NPI thanks Senate Democrats for voting to protect Washington’s cherished tradition of majority rule

This morning, the Washington State Senate voted twenty-six to twenty-three to reject a proposed constitutional amendment (SJR 8211) to undemocratically require a two-thirds vote for passage of any bill that would raise revenue. The amendment, which itself… (read more)

NPI’s Permanent Defense ready to fight Tim Eyman’s latest assault on Sound Transit, WSDOT

This morning in Olympia, Tim Eyman announced his intention to try to qualify a second initiative for the 2016 ballot that would eviscerate state and local transportation funding by repealing vehicle fees. Northwest Progressive Institute founder and Execut… (read more)

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Progressive Thought
  • Economic Rationality Explains Everything....
    (Evonomics) — By Geoffrey Hodgson Despite the rise of behavioral economics, many economists still believe that utility maximization is a good explanation of human beh....
  • Why Elites Want More Competition for Eve....
    (Evonomics) — By Jonathan Rothwell The spectacular economic rise of the top 1 percent is now common knowledge, thanks in large part to the work of Thomas Piketty and ....
  • Economics Is a Mess and Needs to be Refo....
    (Evonomics) — By Cameron Murray In a previous article (“Reforming Economics: The Challenge”), I made the point that organizing the jumbled schools of economic thought....
  • RELEASE: As Obama Admin Prepares to Rele....
    (Center for American Progress) — Washington, D.C. — With the Obama administration set to release information about casualties from drone strikes outside of war zones, as well as the tex....
  • Are U.S. Drone Strikes Legal?
    (Center for American Progress) — The Obama administration has promised to release more information about drone strikes. This brief outlines the legal context in which that information s....
  • CAP’s Neera Tanden on Minimum....
    (Center for American Progress) — Washington, D.C. — Neera Tanden, President and CEO of the Center for American Progress, released the following statement today after Gov. Andrew Cuomo (....
  • State Rundown 4/1: Foolish Games
    (Tax Justice Blog) — Thanks for reading the State Rundown! Here's a sneak peek: New York lawmakers reach agreement on a $4 billion per year income tax cut. Connecticut lawma....
  • RELEASE: Reform Necessary to End Civil A....
    (Center for American Progress) — Washington, D.C. — Civil asset forfeiture, which allows law enforcement to seize property from individuals who have not been charged with a crime, was e....
  • Cultural History Database Initiative
    (The Evolution Institute) —   The “Cultural History Database Initiative” refers to a broad set of projects, including the EI-hosted Seshat Databank and the SSHRC-funded Databa....
  • Poisonous Rhetoric, Then and Now
    (Center for American Progress) — Two maddening stories shed light on the nature of racism in American politics.
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