What shouldn’t come as any surprise is that the letter “D” means less and less as the “Democrat” tent gets ever larger. This is once again the fatal flaw in our two-party political system.

Republicans are so bat-shit crazy, that if you’re even a moderately sane person, politically-speaking, you’re a Democrat. As the Republican party moves ever further rightward, the gap between left-leaning progressive liberal Democrats, and “centrist" Democrats grows ever wider.

corps is
peeps 2

@1 A good.theory. if it's correct, in a sane world, those marginal dems.would be republicans, and would have institutional pressure on them to do evil. At least as democrats the currents are pushing them in the right direction. If not always hard enough.

"They have no choice but to drive, and they’re driving old cars that don’t get good mileage, and those people are the people who get hit the hardest by increases to fuel costs.”

Matt: "but low-income people are also hit the hardest by premature death due to toxic air."

That doesn't negate that her argument, Matt. How arrogant and condescending.

None of you really know what it's like to be poor.

@4 is close: Reps. Rule and Shewmake both represent the 42nd LD (as does Sen. Doug Ericksen), and the 43nd happens to be home to WAs biggest oil refinery.

Rule and Shewmake are perhaps trying the usual lame strategy of taking a dive on a bill in hopes that a well-funded interest group (big oil, in this case) won’t target them when they’re up for re-election next year.

Guess what, Amy and Sharon? Your Republican challengers are going to get big checks from Big Oil anyway, and your constituents who work at the refinery are going to vote for them. Meanwhile, your base is now just a bit less enthusiastic about turning out for you.

Gas tax to speed up the transition to EV cars in order to benefit the environment is a joke. How much energy goes into battery mining, and the manufacturing and distribution of millions of new cars?