Editor:

Great news everyone! I’m happy to announce that Jason Call, a real progressive candidate with bona fide activist roots, is running in the WA-02 district, which includes Edmonds, Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace. He, like most voters, understands the gravity of climate change, supports Medicare for All, and most importantly, funds solely via small-dollar donations.

Please vote him into office this cycle – we need more representatives like him who reflect the will of the voters, rather than the will of the corporate super PACs.

The issue that weighs most heavily on my mind is climate change, and its nightmarish consequences. Mainly because it’s so apparent that our national government is so incredibly negligent on the issue. According to the Intergonvernmental Panel on Climate Change, we have only eight years left before radical global warming is completely inevitable. Jason Call understands this urgency and has the conviction to take the action required. He unambiguously supports the Green New Deal and the projects it entails, such as constructing coast-to-coast high-speed rail, electrifying existing rail lines, and moving to 100% renewable energy for electicity generation and transportation by2030.

None of this can be said of the incumbent, Rick Larsen, who has flatly rejected the Green New Deal.

Jason Call also understands just how dysfunctional health care is in the United States and wants to tear the corrupt system down. Any system that provides government representatives high-quality, free health care and leaves the rest of us to beg on GoFundMe is plainly broken and unjust. Thats why he supports the Medicare-for-All Act of 2021, which would cover all medical costs for all U.S. citizens, putting us on par with every other industrialized nation.

Most importantly, Jason Call does not accept money from large corporations and therefore cannot be bought, unlike most members of Congress, and particularly unlike Rick Larsen. For instance, Larsen often pretends to take climate change seriously. But in reality, Larsen takes tens of thousands of dollars from PACs run by Exxon Mobil, Shell and BP, and then votes accordingly. In 2012, he voted against redirecting millions of dollars in fossil fuel subsidies towards renewable energy, and did it again in 2017. He also voted against requiring a study on how toxic fumes produced by Keystone XL’s oil refineries affect nearby communities, as a prerequisite to allowing pipeline construction. Keystone’s owner, TransCanada (now TC Energy) reliably funds Larsen’s campaigns.

To put it simply, in order to get Congress to truly address the issues that face us, we must remove representatives that answer to lobbyists and corporate PACs, and replace them with real progressives who will actually fight for what the democratic base wants. This year we have a chance to vote for a candidate who really does have our interests in mind, rather than the lobbyists. Replace Larsen with a candidate who understands the gravity of our current predicament(s), and who possesses the foresight andcourage to do something about it! Vote Jason Call!

Rob Thompson
Mountlake Terrace