The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents August 2026 Defending Voting Rights in Tennessee Rick Harwood Wherever I see oppression and injustice, I have to help stop it.”Tennessee State Representative Justin Pearson, candidate for Congress As we enter the two-week primary voting period in Washington State, the attempt by the Trump administration to interfere and potentially block voting rights nationwide is becoming more real. In response, justice minded organizations and activists around the country are taking up the fight to defend voting rights, especially for people of color. In Trump’s rant to the nation on July 16, he continued to claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him. Meanwhile, he and his staff have been preparing and putting into action, through executive orders, various tactics to block access to voting in the 2026 midterm elections. Most have been rejected in federal court because of legal efforts taken by a coalition of 23 state attorneys general. AG Nick Brown of our state is a leader in this effort. However, the attack on voting rights was given a significant boost when the US Supreme Court made their Louisiana v. Callais decision on April 29 (in a 6-3 vote, of course) to rule that the new map of Louisiana Congressional districts, which was drawn after the 2020 census and established two majority Black districts, was not supported by the Voting Rights Act. As a result, several state legislatures took quick action to change their Congressional districts to eliminate majority minority voter districts in time for the upcoming elections. Tennessee is one of those states. Within days of the Supreme Court ruling, Governor Bill Lee called the Tennessee legislature back for a special session to redraw Congressional districts. Despite opposition from civil rights organizations and a handful of Democratic state legislators, the action resulted in the elimination of the one district in the state that had a majority of Black voters and had elected the only Democrat to Congress from that state. Their 9th Congressional District (CD), which included all of Memphis, a city with a long and significant history in the civil rights movement, was divided up and combined with nearby mostly white Republican rural districts. The new district includes 15 counties and stretches almost 200 miles from Memphis nearly to Nashville. The leading candidate in the race for the seat prior to redistricting was State Representative Justin Pearson. Pearson, only 31 years old and a member of a family of several generations of civil rights and environmental justice activists, was ahead in the polls and on track to win the seat. In March I had signed up with Common Power, the Seattle based organization that “works to foster, support, and amplify a democracy that is just and inclusive,” to join a team of volunteers headed for Memphis to work on Justin Pearson’s campaign. We arrived at the end of May, more determined than ever to help Justin win the election despite the significant change in the 9th CD. Our task was to canvass door-to-door in the nearest rural county to test the reaction of registered Democrats who had never had the opportunity in their lifetimes to vote for a Black candidate for Congress. Our team of 12 managed to reach 1,000 doors in just five days. We met many Black residents who knew about the change and their inclusion in the new 9th CD and were clearly excited about the opportunity to vote for and help elect Justin Pearson. We met many white Democrats who were also willing to commit to voting for Justin but were more reluctant to have their racist neighbors know of their choice. In the canvassing we did in neighborhoods in Memphis that were part of the original 9th CD, voters were angry about the change and determined to work to get Justin elected. I felt the energy of voters who were not about to let Trump and his supporters take away their right to true representation in Congress. As we approach the lead-up to the midterm elections, we must take inspiration from voters in places like Memphis and the rural counties of Tennessee’s new 9th Congressional district to fight against the attacks yet to come on the right for all to vote in free and fair elections. Here in Washington State, Standing for Democracy has built the Voter Protection Alliance, consisting of 50 social justice, labor, immigrant rights and other organizations. The Alliance is developing strategies to ensure that voting by mail and at ballot drop boxes are protected from Trump’s attempts to obstruct our right to vote. To get involved, please send an email to standingfordemocracy053@gmail.com . Rick Harwood is a member of Standing for Democracy's Voter Protection Alliance and a member of PSARA. < Back to Table of Contents

Play Video Facebook Twitter Pinterest Tumblr Copy Link Link Copied Return to Oral Histories Main Page An Interview With Frankie Manning (From the April Retiree Advocate) "Before we integrated hospitals, the majority of Black people who died in the hospital died because the Black hospitals and wards were not well equipped..." By Angie Bartels From the time she was a child, a question gnawed at Frankie Manning’s mind. She was too young to express it, and besides, those things weren’t talked about at that time, but nonetheless, she wondered why “you would have people cook your food, but they couldn't sit at the table and eat with you.” Her grand-father was the last member of his family born into slavery, and what she did un-derstand from him and her parents was that all people had value, not because of the color of their skin, but because they are human beings. Ms. Frankie was born in Caldwell, Texas, a small town near College Station, which is home to Texas A&M. She was one of 10 children and grew up in the 1940s and 50s in this largely rural area when much of the United States was segregated. “And of course, all of health care was segre-gated. My family had lots of animals, and we grew all our food during those times. One of the things I learned is to take care of animals. And I was surprised as a teen-ager when I went to a hospital where one of my teachers was having her first child. I saw the conditions, and I thought it was fascinating that people treated humans less than we did our animals. It was one of the things that influenced my decision to become a nurse. The rest of my life is history, because I spent the last 60 years working as a nurse and nurse manager.” Ms. Frankie attended St. John School of Nursing in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and gradu-ated in 1960. She quickly realized that all Black people were segregated into one part of the hospital called the Black wards – one for men and another for women. All of the Black patients were mixed in together regardless of diagnosis, whereas on the white wards, patients were divided into areas such as Med-Surg, Labor and Delivery, Infectious Disease, Mental Health, and so on. On the Black wards, there was absolutely no privacy. When the ward filled up, patients were discharged. “I noticed on my very first night at work that everything about the Black wards equipment, while the Black wards had old rusty things. Even the linen was sub-standard, and there was never enough of it on the Black wards. The supply closet was very limited, and you had to borrow. The white wards had separate clean and soiled utility rooms, while these rooms were combined into one on the Black wards, creating a high risk for infection and contamination. The big one was that a patient right out of surgery could be placed in a room with somebody who had an infection. That did not happen on the white wards – we always separated them out. You had to work twice as hard on the Black wards because of lack of resources. “I've known great nurses, no matter what color they are, great doctors, no matter what color they are. And much of this has nothing to do with color as much as it has to do with how human beings are valued. And I can tell you, before we integrated hospitals, the majority of Black people who died in the hospital died be-cause the Black hospitals and wards were not well equipped. They certainly weren't staffed well at all. You would have acute care wards in Black hospitals run by nursing assistants or LPNs, because there weren't enough nurses who would work on the Black wards, there weren’t enough nurses period.” Ms. Frankie chose to work on the Black wards because she knew she was a good nurse, and she wanted to give Black people the same quality care that the whites received. She said that Black people in the community often received little or no medical care at all. There were few Black doctors and nurses, and many people who did go to the hospital died. So there was little incentive or trust in the system. Those who survived their hospital stay often came home with secondary problems, such as infections that were contracted in the hospital. “When I went to Dover, Delaware, in 1962, I was the first RN who worked on the Black ward. All the rest were LPNs. So the standards for providing care to Black people were very poor. We had a staph outbreak, and it was primarily with our babies. We were taking the newborns out of the nursery to be with their mothers in the ward. The mothers were in the same ward as people with all kinds of infec-tions. The babies were coming back into the nursery with staph. We even had a baby who died. So that motivated us to change. I was in charge of the newborn nursery at the time. I said to the admin-istration 'We are not going to take the babies out to the ward,' because once I learned what we were doing, that there was an infant who died because of this, it made no sense to me. The chief of pedi-atrics agreed with me, and that caused a big stir in the hospital. But we moved the Black mothers over onto the white mater-nity ward, and after a couple of months, people stopped talking about it, and the babies got to be with their mothers." Ms. Frankie loved working with veter-ans. By 1965, when the Medicare Act was passed by Congress, she was working in a US military hospital in Japan where patients were not segregated by race. The Medicare Act required hospitals to desegregate in order to receive Medi-care reimbursement. Over a period of just a few months, hundreds of hospitals throughout the United States closed their Black wards and integrated their Black patients into the general hospital population. Ms. Frankie went on to have a very prolific career in nursing and nursing leadership. “We cannot eliminate Medicare or Medicaid. We have to make health care accessible to everyone, regardless of the sickness or ability to pay. My vision for an improved health care system would be one that is not so fragmented. When you’re in the hospital you see one doctor, the hospitalist; when you’re discharged, you have to go to many specialists. It’s crazy and so expensive! And we have to figure out how we can provide mental health care just like we provide care when someone cuts their leg, for instance. It’s unfortunate that we don’t treat many people beyond the emergency room. We have the knowledge and the resources to help our brothers and sisters. We can fix this, but unfortunately, it’s a matter of economics.” Ms. Frankie Manning, RN, BSN, MNA, worked over 60 years as a nurse, nurse manager, and adjunct professor at the University of Washington, Seattle Pacific University, and Seattle University Schools of Nursing. She is currently retired and a longtime member of PSARA. Angie Bartels is PSARA's Membership VP. This is one of a series of interviews she's doing with PSARA members.

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents March 2026 Kaiser Permanente’s Hand in the Cookie Jar Robby Stern In February 17, 1971, President Nixon’s domestic advisor, John Erlichman, briefed President Nixon on a conversation he had with Edgar Kaiser, the founder of Kaiser Permanente (KP). Erlichman was describing KP to the President as an example of the newly emerging Health Maintenance Organizations (HMO). They were considering whether the HMO model was a possible alternative to the call for nationalized healthcare. Erlichman told the President, “All the incentives are toward less medical care, because…the less care they give them the more money they make.” Nixon responded, “Fine." Flash forward 50-plus years. A New York Times (NYT) article written by Reed Abelson and Margot Sanger-Katz, published on January 14, 2026, revealed that KP had reached a very large settlement with the Department of Justice (DOJ) concerning Medicare fraud claims amounting to an estimated one billion dollars. The settlement was for $556 million to be paid to the federal government and two whistle blowers for overbilling by KP’s Medicare Advantage plan. The lawsuit dated back more than 12 years and asserted that KP affiliates in California and Colorado reported their patients were sicker than they actually were. Medicare Advantage (MA) insurers are paid a certain amount per patient (capitated payment) based on the individual’s health-related risk factors rather than Original Medicare’s fee for service. The NYT article explains what the whistleblowers exposed. “One of the whistleblowers, Dr. James Taylor, a physician and coding expert, who worked for Kaiser in Colorado, described meetings in which he was told to find additional diagnoses that could be worth millions of dollars. ‘The cash monster was insatiable,’ he said." According to the NYT article, “In the Kaiser case, executives routinely pressured doctors to add thousands of diagnoses, sometimes weeks or months after the patients had been treated, according to the Justice Department, which joined the lawsuits in 2021. The extra diagnoses helped the company earn bonus funds from the government. MA insurers are paid higher insurance premiums when plans cover sicker patients.” The NYT article went on to say “The Justice Department lawsuit stated ‘The doctors would sometimes sit together at lunch or after work, with food and drinks provided by Kaiser, to code their visits with additional diagnoses...the insurer linked doctor and facility pay bonuses to adding more diagnoses.' “According to the lawsuit, the government estimated that Kaiser received one billion dollars from 2009 to 2018 from additional diagnoses, including roughly 100,000 findings of aortic atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries. But because its doctors would be forced to follow up on too many people, the organization stopped automatically enrolling those patients in a heart attack prevention program.” KP indicated. when they reached this settlement, that they decided to settle the lawsuit “to avoid prolonged litigation.” The settlement allowed KP to state that they never did anything wrong. Had the settlement required KP to admit wrongdoing, they could have been excluded from the MA program. KP is not alone in this practice. MedPAC, an independent congressional agency, created in 1997, analyzes and provides policy advice to Congress regarding the Medicare program. They issued reports in March, 2025, and January, 2026, indicating that MA insurers were overcharging the Medicare Trust Fund by $85 billion in 2025 and are projected to overcharge by $76 billion in 2026. Instead of profits (because KP is a “nonprofit”), Kaiser has extensive “reserves," supposedly to cover times when costs exceed revenues. As of the beginning of 2026, KP’s estimated financial reserves were estimated at $67 billion held in cash and investments. Here is an example of KP’s investments. Innovaccer, Inc. is the company that has been selected by CMS/CMMI to implement the WISeR program in Ohio. WISeR is the newest privatization attack on Original Medicare. Created and overseen by CMS/CMMI, WISeR expands the use of prior authorization in Original Medicare, using artificial intelligence as a tool for determining if certain procedures recommended by a Medicare beneficiary’s physician will be covered by Medicare. Innovaccer receives a higher reimbursement rate for denying coverage for these procedures. A leading investor in the funding of Innovaccer Corporation is Kaiser Permanente. Evidently, they hope to receive significant returns from the reserve funds invested in Innovaccer. In 2024, KP’s top nine executives were paid, according to their Form 990 filed with the IRS, approximately $56 million in salaries, with CEO Greg Adams’ salary close to $13 million (one million+ per month)! The salary numbers do not include additional perks that add significantly to the total compensation package. While Kaiser’s executives may earn less than executives of for-profit Medicare Advantage corporations, KP executives and the KP system are a part of overcharging our worker-funded Medicare Trust Fund by Medicare Advantage. We, the people who paid into the Medicare Trust Fund, are learning that our hard-earned wages are being fleeced by both for-profit and not-for-profit insurance corporations. After knowledge comes action. CMS has issued a 2027 Advanced Rate Notice related to reimbursement rates for MA insurers. There is an opportunity for public comment with a deadline of February 25th. The CMS proposal of an increase of 0.9 of 1% is meeting stiff resistance from the insurers who received an outrageous 5% increase in 2026. Our voices will need to weigh in. Please look for a PSARA email with instructions on how to register a comment and suggested language for a message. Robby Stern is President of the PSARA Education Fund and a member of PSARA's Executive Board. < Back to Table of Contents

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents January 2026 Book Review: The Trees are Speaking: Dispatches from the Salmon Forests, by Lynda V. Mapes Lisa Dekker Recent efforts in Clallam County, and elsewhere, to protect our remaining legacy forests from logging, led me to this recently published book. Per Stephen Kropp, founder of the Center for Responsible Forestry, coined the term, ‘legacy forest’ means a “naturally regrown, mature forest that preserves the biological, functional, and structural legacies of the forests they replaced.” Although not everyone respects this relatively new term, we know that there are other legacy forests scattered throughout the publicly-owned lands in Washington, managed by the Department of Natural Resources. In fact, these legacy forests already have great value as they cool the air, hold carbon, and harbor wildlife. Precisely why these forests matter is eloquently described in the first part of Mapes’ book as she travels to regions in Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia. Through interviews on site and forest walks with luminaries like Dr. Jerry Franklin, often called the "father of modern forestry" through his work at the University of Washington, we learn how research has radically changed our understanding in the space of just 60 years. Likely due to their dark understories with little sun, older forests with big trees went from once being described as “biological deserts,” to currently being recognized as the complex, life-giving, carbon-capturing, watershed- preserving treasures we know them to be today. In the chapter titled “Salmon Forests,” she travels for a week among both the remaining healthy forests and the desolate clearcuts of Vancouver Island, with Teresa Ryan (traditional name Sm’hayetsk) an indigenous knowledge and natural science lecturer at the University of British Columbia (UBC), and Susan Simard, an eminent forest ecologist, also at UBC. Both Ryan and Simard are part of the Mother Tree Project, a crew of researchers looking at the changes in soils, especially the decline in the amount of carbon in soils of areas that have been clearcut. Simard has also led the project’s deep dive into examining the richly complex soils of the uncut forests, bringing insight into how the trees connect via the mycorrhizal fungi network between them. Also evidence of the value of older forests are the proven, "sustainable" traditions of the Tribes, stewards of these lands and forests for centuries before colonization. Their practices and protocols recognized that care for the forests meant that the forests would care for them. New evidence for this appeared in a paper published in 2022, based on an archeologic study done in the land of the Nuun-chah-nulth peoples of British Columbia, (whose family ties and culture extend down to the Makah reservation in northwest Clallam County.) Botanists and archaeologists found that “old growth trees [still there] are witnesses” to the fact that these people were more than hunter-gatherers and that they “took care of and managed…forest gardens abundant with crab apples, berry patches, and wild rice root crops.” At the same time, because they stripped off only narrow pieces of cedar bark for shelter and clothing, these same cedar trees lived on for centuries. In the preface, Mapes declares that “The need for a paradigm shift is readily apparent.” After presenting data and real-world accounts to justify that shift, she ends with examples of successful restoration projects, new ideas for community solutions, and a belief in the potential for people to change their way of thinking. This should encourage the reader to hope, as does the author, for a “new ethos of conservation, based on reciprocity and respect in our relations with one another, and with nature.” < Back to Table of Contents

Donate to Puget Sound Advocates for Retirement Action mission: Working across generations for Social Justice, economic security, dignity and a healthy planet for all of us. Donate to the PSARA Education Fund A donation to the PSARA Education Fund, a tax deductible 501c(3), of $20 or more entitles you to a year’s subscription to the Retiree Advocate. You can also donate to PSARA by becoming a member. Click here for more information.

“If anyone here tries to cut Social Security or Medicare… I will stop them!” President Joe Biden, 2024 State of the Union Address, March 7, 2024 (This is a reprint from PSARA’s April 2024 Advocate) By Jeff Johnson Jeff Johnson and Floyd Since 2021, PSARA has launched a full-court press against attacks on Traditional Medicare and now against House Speaker Mike Johnson’s Fiscal Commission to undermine the health and retirement income security of seniors. “Over the past several years there has been a gold rush to privatize Medicare…. If we don’t ‘level the playing field’ between Traditional Medicare and privatized Medicare, healthcare decisions for seniors will be completely at the mercy of corporations…by the end of the decade.” (Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, from the forward to Give Us a Real Choice! Level the Playing Field Between Traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage, PSARA 2024). Congresswoman Jayapal’s warning and President Biden’s declaration could not have come at a more important moment in history for protecting and strengthening the quality of life for seniors. As the leader of the Democratic party, we need President Biden to do everything he can, and by all means necessary, to provide seniors with a level playing field, a fair choice, in choosing between Traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage/ACO REACH for their healthcare needs. Traditional Medicare is a legacy democratic issue that is being systemically dismantled by private industry. If Trump and MAGA Republicans prevail at the ballot box in November, Traditional Medicare and Social Security as we know it will end. And so too will an important part of our democratic and social justice legacy. To level the playing field, President Biden needs to lead the effort to jettison the need for Medigap insurance policies (which were part of a historically racist policy to keep as many Black people out of the doctors’ offices and hospitals that primarily served white people); place a cap on out-of-pocket expenditures; equalize the benefits between Traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage (e.g., hearing, dental, vision, transportation, home visits, etc.); and put an end to the overpayments to private industry for managing Medicare claims, and the fraudulent practices private industry uses to bilk the Medicare Trust Fund out of tens of billions of dollars a year. Returning this money to the Medicare Trust Fund will pay for leveling the playing field. How is President Biden supposed to do this? Direct the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to incentivize Traditional Medicare; create pilot programs with cost parity for beneficiaries choosing Traditional Medicare Plans; claw back overpayments to, and fraudulent charges from Medicare Advantage and ACO REACH Programs; and put an end to fraudulent charges going forward. Lead on legislative and budgetary proposals. Use the power of executive orders where possible, in the face of Congressional resistance. Use the courts where necessary (Equal Protection Clause, e.g.). Educate the public through a concerted and strategic communications and organizing campaign. What can PSARA members and allies do? PSARA has drafted a letter to President Biden as well as a Resolution that outlines the need for and the consequences of not “Leveling the Playing Field” between Traditional Medicare and privatized Medicare. We are asking leaders and organizations to sign on to the letter with PSARA as well as to pass the resolution, in the case of organizations. We hope to demonstrate to President Biden the need for, and urgency of, creating a fair choice for seniors over their health care and the quality of their lives. We hope you will sign on to the letter. We hope you will also take the letter and resolution to organizations that you belong to and community leaders that you know for their endorsements. This is a national effort, so please reach out to relatives, friends, and organizations across the country. PSARA has also published a Medicare primer on making the case for “Leveling the Playing Field.” The primer, the letter to President Biden, and the Resolution can all be found on the PSARA website at PSARA.org. In this hyper-political environment we find ourselves in, Democrats need basic issues that will unite the majority of voters. Fulfilling the original promise of Medicare – to provide the health care seniors need when they most need it – is one of those fundamental issues. Jeff Johnson is Co-President of PSARA and a retired President of the WashingtonState Labor Council.

Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid Are Under Attack Source documents: Overall: FACT SHEET: Senator Murray Outlines How Trump’s Attempt to Shutter Federal Agencies’ Offices Across WA State Will Hurt Taxpayers, Rip Away Services: https://www.murray.senate.gov/fact-sheet-senator-murray-outlines-how-trumps-attempt-to-shutter-federal-agencies-offices-across-wa-state-will-hurt-taxpayers-rip-away-services/ Medicaid: Click here to see what the impacts to Medicaid will be for the State of Washington. Letter to U.S. Senate leadership from The Leadership Council of Aging Organizations outlining the Damage that President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” will do to millions of Medicaid recipients: https://www.lcao.org/article/lcao-june-2025-reconciliation-letter-to-senate/ “Unprecedented” Medicaid Cuts Could Cripple Health Program, BU Experts Warn: https://www.bu.edu/articles/2025/medicaid-cuts-could-cripple-health-program/ House Republican Attacks on Medicaid Expansion Would Threaten Coverage for 20 Million People: https://www.cbpp.org/blog/house-republican-attacks-on-medicaid-expansion-would-threaten-coverage-for-20-million-people Republicans consider cuts and work requirements for Medicaid, jeopardizing care for millions: https://apnews.com/article/medicaid-cuts-work-requirements-congress-republicans-90ec1119f1d95de067c76f79eec7fa87 A Cut to Medicaid is a Cut to Medicare: 5 Key Facts About Medicaid Coverage for People with Medicare: https://www.kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/5-key-facts-about-medicaid-coverage-for-people-with-medicare/ Medicare: Threats to the Social Security Administration and to Benefits Continue to Raise Alarm: https://www.medicarerights.org/medicare-watch/2025/03/20/threats-to-the-social-security-administration-and-to-benefits-continue-to-raise-alarm Will the Trump Administration Fast Track the Privatization of Medicare?: https://www.kff.org/policy-watch/will-the-trump-administration-fast-track-the-privatization-of-medicare/ Social Security: Ann Widger, Director, AFSCME Retirees Letter to Retired Federal Employees asking for their experiences with Social Security. Ball Award Recipients Letter concerning alarm over current actions of DOGE that threaten the viability of Social Security benefits for current beneficiaries and workers. Social Security ends phone ID verification, a change opposed by advocates and retirees alike: https://www.wusf.org/politics-issues/2025-03-21/social-security-ends-phone-id-verification-a-change-opposed-by-advocates-and-retirees-alike Trump and Musk’s Plot to Make It Harder for Americans to Get Their Social Security Benefits: https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/news/minority/fact-sheet-trump-and-musks-plot-to-make-it-harder-for-americans-to-get-their-social-security-benefits#:~:text=SSA%20staff%20ensure%2073%20million,lowest%20level%20in%2050%20years. Donald Trump and Elon Musk Are Making Their Social Security Lies a Reality — By Punishing Maine Families: https://socialsecurityworks.org/2025/03/07/trump-musk-social-security-lies-punish-maine-families/ Regurn to Social Security Page

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents June 2025 PSARA Position Paper on Immigration PSARA Board The US has failed to articulate a coherent and just immigration policy. Now, under the current administration, even the meager protections we have for those who come from outside US boundaries are being stripped away. The Trump administration has engaged in new levels of cruelty against immigrants – terrorizing people, shackling them in chains, deporting them to countries other than their own, and undertaking these acts regard- less of the person’s citizenship or paperwork status. The administration is threatening sanctuary cities and states with funding cuts, mobilizing the military and national guard to engage in the apprehension of migrants, and seeking millions more in funding for this war on immigrants. They have allies in our state among many county sheriffs who are flouting our “Keep Washington Working” law and using their local law enforcement officers to assist ICE. Everything else being equal, people don’t choose to migrate. Most of us prefer to remain with our families, on the land in which we’ve been raised, and in the culture with which we’re familiar. Yet, huge numbers are migrating for a number of reasons. They are forced to migrate because of brutal conflicts, rampant lawlessness and criminal violence in their home countries, a lack of safe, well-paying jobs, crop failures and food scarcity, and increasingly severe climate disasters. In our country we now have more than 200 jails and prisons for immigrants. Approximately 90% of detained immigrants are held in private detention centers. The current Trump regime has announced plans to build many more. PSARA, takes the following position on the attack on immigrants: We will follow the lead of immigrant rights groups locally, working to support their efforts toward defending and strengthening rights, protecting those being targeted, and securing sanctuary. We welcome all migrants and fight alongside them for housing, healthcare, living wage jobs, and public education, among other things. We emphatically oppose repression, detention, deportation, and the racist attacks to which migrants are being subjected. We act from a commitment to joining hands in respect and solidarity to build a new – and more just – Beloved Community. < Back to Table of Contents

PSARA Oral Histories Project: Bob Barnes Interview Pvt. E-2 Bob Barnes Return to Oral Histories Main Page Bob Barnes Interview PSARA Advocate Archives May 2022 Page 5 (Part I) June 2022 Page 6 (Part II) Swimming Against the Current, Interview with Bob Barnes By Angie Bartels When he enlisted into the US Army in 1968, Bob Barnes intended to join a branch of the service where he wouldn’t see combat. “I wasn’t opposed to combat in principle, but I was in a pretty unformed way opposed to the Vietnam war.” In college, Bob played bass in rock and roll and jug bands where they played Country Joe and the Fish’s Fixen’ To Die Rag, their anti-Vietnam war anthem, sentiments which he himself felt. He had also met members of SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) out of Austin, TX, who tried to talk him out of enlisting. But Bob’s opposition in those days was theoretical. It hadn’t yet taken form in reality. Enlisting in the armed services after college just seemed like the next thing to do. Bob came from a hard-working middle-class family whose members enjoyed hunting. Guns did not intimidate him. He wasn’t part of the resistance in those days, and he didn’t want to go to graduate school just to get a deferment. Besides, he had talked with his friendly Army recruiter and was told that he could join the Adjutant General’s Corps and go to Embassy parties in DC for four years. “I thought that sounded marvelous, and being dumb as an East Texan rock, I bought it hook, line, and sinker.” He was shipped off to Fort Polk, LA, and ended up in the Infantry. But that didn’t worry him – he was going to embassy parties for the next four years. Ft. Polk, LA, was where most infantry troops were trained before going to Vietnam. The Army called it “Tigerland,” as its climate and geographical conditions were like those of the jungles of Vietnam. As Bob settled into his barracks, he started to feel that something was very wrong. He found that most of the other guys were kids, 3, 4, 5 years younger than himself. “Most of them were not white. Most of them did not join. They were either drafted or they were given a choice by some judge – enlist in the Army or go to jail. So they joined the Army.” “It was a whole different world than I had ever been exposed to, not just military life in the barracks, but a whole different bunch of people that had not been part of my frame of reference. I had gone to a segregated high school and the color lines in my privileged life were pretty much invisible. But they were sure as hell there in retrospect.” Once he got over the disorientation, he cruised along on automatic pilot knowing that this was something he had to get through but wouldn’t have to worry about once he was out of training. “So we got through Basic Training and then onto Advanced Infantry Training where, during target practice, what were once just targets were now human silhouettes that had the letters ‘VC’ (Viet Cong) printed on them. That was done to acclimate us to shooting enemy combatants. And that’s when I really started questioning (1) Is this something I really wanted to participate in? And (2) did I want to be in a leadership position over anybody in this war, particularly kids whom I knew were not there out of any commitment on their part? They were strictly cannon fodder and they knew it. And I said to myself, I ain’t going to do that.” Soon the new soldiers were confronted with a crisis that did not directly affect Bob. Graduation from Advanced Infantry Training was to take place a few weeks after Christmas. Everyone was sent home on leave for the holidays with the promise that at the end of graduation, they would be allowed to go home again before they received their orders and shipped out to their assignments. The holiday happened and everybody came back to the base. They were then told, “No, sorry, we’re going to have to cut your orders right now, as soon as you graduate, and you’re going to wherever you’re assigned.” Most of them were going to Vietnam. “There was this spontaneous, all-encompassing, ‘We can’t believe this is happening, this can’t be happening.’ When we marched in formation we counted, about 200 people, ‘1-2-3-4, 1-2- AWOL.’ It was just crazy.” After graduation, Bob spent that night shuttling people into Leesville, Louisiana, where the bus station was located. He was not at risk of going to Vietnam right then. He was waiting for orders to Officers Candidate School (OCS). Yet he wanted to help these guys who were very upset. He didn’t know what to do. Bob estimates a couple hundred men took off that night for home. The Army put the word out instantly, “If you took off and then reported back within two weeks, there would be no consequences.” He’s unsure how many folks came back, but he suspects most of them did and accepted their orders. He remembers that a few went to Canada. Bob had begun researching the implications of going AWOL. He called his friends from SDS and explained the situation, about the guys who were being ordered to go to Vietnam without a chance to say goodbye to their loved ones. What could they do? Bob was told they had three options: they could go AWOL, they could go to Canada, or they could file as conscientious objectors (CO). SDS folks provided articles about why the US was in Vietnam, something to do with oil, tungsten, and resources. They also provided a copy of the Army’s handbook and contacts for conscientious objector counselors. That’s when Bob learned that one could file as a CO for discharge from within the service. He compiled this information and shared it with the guys in his unit, who in turn shared it with others. “The anti-war movement within the military was at that point vibrant. The army was in rebellion. What we were doing was just a microcosm. There were air force pilots refusing to fly their B-52 bombers on bombing sorties, and hundreds of active-duty soldiers signed a letter published in the New York Times denouncing the war.” “I was left at Ft. Polk awaiting my assignment to Officer Candidate School (OCS), and I started thinking, what am I going to do? At that point, I didn’t know what I was going to do, but I was not going to Vietnam.” Bob entertained fantasies of going through OCS, which was a six-month program, and “then at graduation, when I was given my little gold bars, throwing them on the stage and denouncing the war. I thought, wow, that’s a big waste of my time, going six months just to do that? Instead, I dropped out of OCS and filed as a conscientious objector. I marched the application into my commanding officer’s office, and he tore it up. Then I handed him a copy of the army regulation, which they didn’t have in their books, and he tore that up too. What I was doing was outside of his and the army’s frame of reference. No one in anyone’s memory had filed for CO status from within the service. When I look back on this, I think, how in the hell did I think that I could pull something like this off? I was not a political activist. I had no one but my then wife, Peggy, who stood by me as an ally. I had a copy of the application and the regulation, and I was finally able to convince the officers that they had to accept my application.” Bob did a lot of KP for a while. He was the first person at Ft. Polk to file as a CO since WWII. And the Army literally did not know how to deal with him. The regulation wasn’t even in the book, as they had removed it. Bob had to carry it around with him, and one commanding officer ripped it up when Bob handed it to him. But they couldn’t stop him. “It was army regulation 635-20 which said clearly that one had the right to file as a CO from within the military. So I did, and I wasn’t alone in this. I gave others the information, and I shared it as far and wide and with as many people as I possibly could. I was assigned to drive around the base and deliver mail and by a certain point, I was distributing The Ally, which was a national underground newspaper. It was not put out by active-duty people, but it was for them, and there were articles written by soldiers. I could see what bad shape the army was in. It was already in a state of crumble when I joined. There was a guy I went through Basic with who talked way over my head. He had joined the army with the intent of organizing against the war. That was brave. Another guy was trying to unionize soldiers. I’m not sure how successful they were, but this was the lake I was swimming in. The resistance was growing.” Bob was finally kicked out of Ft. Polk upon the denial of his second application for discharge, on the grounds that he did not sincerely hold the beliefs that he professed. “The base commander told me that I could punch him in the face and he would not bring charges because he wanted me ‘off his fucking base!’ I had my third set of orders for Vietnam, and I wasn’t going to get away with staying around Ft. Polk any longer.” So Bob and Peggy flew out to Ft. Lewis in Washington State, and he wrote his third application on the plane ride out here. When he turned his paperwork in at the Overseas Replacement Station at Ft. Lewis, he was assigned to a barracks with 50 other CO applicants. By the fourth night, Bob and company had made contact with the antiwar movement in Tacoma. They began sneaking off base and making and distributing leaflets on the base. Finally, their commanders decided they had to assign the CO applicants somewhere while their applications were pending. “It took them over a year to process my first application. It took a lot less time for the second. So I knew a decision on the third application would come back quickly.” In the meantime, the leadership assessed their skills and assigned them to different units. “Several of us had what they considered office skills so they put five of us in the company’s office.” Soon the five soldiers were running the office, where they had access to phones and long-distance calls. They were in touch with all of the US Senators from around the country who were in any way anti-war. They used the office mimeo machine to print their leaflets. The leadership didn’t catch on for a couple of months, but finally they did. There was a heated rebuke of all that Bob and company had done and an instant assignment to other places. “We were scattered out around the base. But there was no disciplinary action. I had less than six months left in the Army, so they couldn’t send me overseas. The worst they could do was throw me in the back of a delivery truck, which they did. I spent the last several weeks doing KP as part of a delivery crew, delivering potatoes to different kitchens. And then my time was up, and I was discharged honorably with full benefits. Since my interview with Bob, I’ve thought a lot about his story and what he might have been feeling. It takes a lot of courage and strength to swim against the current. Life is sometimes easier if we do what “authority” expects of us. But Bob took the high road “and that has made all the difference.” In my eyes, he is truly a hero. Angie Bartels is PSARA's Membership VP. This story is one of a series of interviews she's doing with PSARA members.

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents July 2025 Are You Considering Residential Solar? Resources and Tools to Help You Get Started Anne Shields Are There Still Financial Incentives for Installing Solar? Yes! State sales tax exemption: Washington provides a sales tax exemption for solar energy systems, including rooftop solar panels,other materials and their installation. The exemption is available through 2029 and is usually provided through your contractor. You can request a refund if you are charged sales tax on eligible materials. Residential renewable energy tax credit: The federal government first enacted a solar investment tax credit in 2006, which allows people who install solar panels on their homes or businesses to claim a reduction in the income taxes that they would normally pay to the IRS. The amount of this reduction is capped at 30% of the amount invested in the solar array. WA’s Community Solar Program Might Save You Money Olympia Community Solar’s non-profit group purchasing model might reduce your costs and help simplify the installation process. The Solarize program is currently open to enrollment by residents of Island, Mason, Lewis, East King, Skagit, Thurstonand Whatcom counties and the cities of Bellevue, Issaquah, Mercer Island, Redmond, Sammamish, Kirkland, and Kenmore. What about the Tariffs on Solar Panels? The Trump administration tariffs on solar imports are unlikely to slow the rollout of solar power in the US. Even if it becomes a little more expensive, solar remains one of the cheapest clean energy sources. The good news is that Washington State’s solar panel manufacturing industry is growing rapidly and now supplies many local installers. Where Can I Learn More? The Dept. of Energy online Homeowner’s Guide to Going Solar is a great resource for learning the basics of residential solar installation. Olympia Community Solar’s 11-minute video, Five Steps to Going Solar, might also be a useful starting point. These resources and tools will help you get started, but make sure to work with solar installers for custom estimates of how much power your own system would be likely togenerate. Getting Bids and Choosing a Contractor The non-profit Solar Washington recommends getting at least three bids and checking references on all contractors that you decide to consider. Solar WA also recommends finding vetted local installers through the Washington Solar Energy Industries Association (WASEIA). You will be able to find a wide range of reputable, local solar installers through the WASEIA online tool foridentifying installers in your region. Comparing Installation Bids Solar WA offers a detailed list of Questions for Solar Shoppers and advice on comparing bids that you may find useful. Many factors go into an installer’s bid and cost structure, including labor required, the equipment used, the amount of power generated, warranties, and financing options. Overhead costs: Some solar equipment suppliers have high overhead costs, resulting in higher bid amounts. However, homeowners should be wary of bids significantly lower than other bids, as this may signal that an installer is cutting corners. Equipment costs: The number, type and quality of panels installed can be a significant factor in the estimates you receive. Different types of solar panels produce varying amounts of electricity, and some panels last longer than others. Warranties and production guarantees : Many installers provide warranties, but what those warranties include and do not include will vary. Generally, higher solar bids may include better warranties that could save you money in the long run. Some companies provide additional guarantees, such as production guarantees and coverage for any potential damage to your roof. When reviewing your bids, you should always read through warranty information carefully and check if the information you receive is clear about its coverage, process, and coverage amounts. Permits and policies: Your bids should include state or local permit costs for solar panel installation or usage. Be sure to review and compare these costs across all your bids. Anne Shields is a member of PSARA's Climate and Environmental Justice Committee and Third Act Washington. < Back to Table of Contents

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents April 2025 APALA National Delegation Travels to the Philippines Cindy Domingo Almost 44 years ago, Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes, officers of the Alaska Cannery Workers Union, Local 37, ILWU, had a vision of building solidarity between the workers of the US and the Philippines. It was a vision that they had carried on from their fathers’ generation, which led Local 37 under the leadership of Chris Mensalves and Carlos Bulosan. But it was a vision and plan that cost them their lives. On June 1, 1981, Philippine dictators Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos ordered the two anti-Marcos activists murdered in their Seattle union hall by hired assassins. That money came from the Marcoses and resulted in a federal court judge- ment of $23.5 million for the Domingo and Viernes families. From February 24–March 3 this year, a 13-member Asian Pacific American Labor Delegation (APALA) – co-led by me, Silme's sister; Silme’s daughter and National APALA President, Ligaya Do- mingo; Kent Wong, founding President of APALA; and Ian Seruela, San Diego APALA Chair – made Silme and Gene’s dream come true. The eight-day trip materialized the Philippine solidarity work that Silme and Gene never lived to see. “I am so happy to have realized the dream of my late father, Silme Domingo, Gene Viernes, and their fellow activists,” stated Ligaya Domingo. “It was amazing to have the opportunity to speak directly with labor leaders and union members across many industries in the Philippines. We saw the true impact of globalization and unchecked capitalism, and I am more committed than ever about the importance of building relationships across the global labor movement to build greater power for all workers.” APALA partnered with Nagkaisa, the largest alliance of labor groups and worker organizations in the modern history of the trade union movement in the Philippines, and the Philippine branch of the Solidarity Center. The delegation was composed of labor leaders from Seattle, Los Angeles, San Diego, Minnesota, and Washington DC, many of them Filipino Americans who had never traveled to the Philippines. Over the course of the trip, which traveled to Manila and Cebu, the delegation met with hotel and hospitality workers who are organizing multinational hotel chains that pay substandard wages and benefits to workers; business process workers in call centers; healthcare workers at Makati Medical Center, which boasts an impressive labor-management relationship; public sector workers; teachers and educators; union miners, and a labor organization that advocates for the rights and well-being of local domestic workers. Tagoipay Mathno, a young Cham APALA Seattle Chapter leader, said that “This trip was an eye-opener to see the harmful impact of fascism and what it could do to a country. But the resiliency and generosity of the Filipino people was truly inspirational and served as a reminder of what we all could do as a collective.” One of the most important meetings the delegation had was with unionized workers at Metro Wear Inc. 2, who were organizing for a possible strike in Cebu’s export processing zone. Export processing zones were set up during the Marcos dictatorship and served as economic zones that provide business incentives, including tax exemptions and barrier free trade environments, es- pecially for manufacturers and exporters. Metro Wear Inc. 2 workers produce Lululemon wear, a highly popular brand of workout wear. Formed in December 2023, the union, called Organization of Metrowear Employees for Genuine Advocacy - Pinagisang Tinig at Lakas ng Anakpawis (OMEGA - Piglas), has been fighting for recognition. Based on information given to the delegation, it was calculated that if a pair of workout pants costs $120/pair, and a beginning worker must make 50 pairs/ hr., that worker could possibly make $48,000 worth of pants/day. There are 1,500 workers in the plant, so the rate of exploitation is extreme for a work- force that makes about 501 pesos/day (equivalent to $8.76 USD/day). How- ever, in a recent victory, the Philippine Department of Labor and Employment, after pressure from foreign entities and Philippine elected officials, issued an order for Metro Wear Inc to enter into collective bargaining agreement negotiations with OMEGA-Piglas, thus avoiding a strike with the workers. APALA is watching these negotiations closely. Bernie Burnham, President of the Minnesota Labor Federation, AFL- CIO, representing over 300,000 union members and 1,000 locals of Filipino descent, came to the Philippines on her first visit. "I was humbled to listen to the stories of the Filipino workers we met with and saw the hope in their eyes. Their pride was evident. I was especially impressed with the women, who work to build and advocate for their communities, seemingly against the odds. We were able to attend the People’s Power 1986 Commemoration on one of our afternoons. The energy and dedication to working people is alive and evident still today. We visited with survivors of the Marcos regime, whose mission to educate and continue to tell the story, vowing 'Never Again,' was powerful. To see the names of Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes, American labor leaders who were assassinated by Marcos hitmen and actually be there with Ligaya and Cindy…I will never forget the sacrifices of their families in the fight for a better labor movement. This trip reinforced my commitment to the labor movement and the importance of worldwide solidarity for workers.” Please contact apala@gmail.com if you are interested in hearing about Seattle delegation report-back events. Cindy Domingo is PSARA’s Co-VP for Outreach, and a long-time activist in LELO (Legacy of Equality, Leadership, and Organizing) and APALA. < Back to Table of Contents

The Retiree Advocate Did You Earn Windfall Profits, or Were You Caught Red-Handed? Mike Andrew Colloquial expressions are sometimes modern inventions. Think of the expression “going viral.” But just as often they are a thousand years old. Literally. Here are a couple of examples that go back to medieval forest laws. In Anglo-Saxon England, forests were common areas. Peasants could settle there, hunt, cut wood, use the forest resources for their livelihood. That changed in 1066 when William the Conqueror earned his nickname by conquering England. William introduced Norman feudal law, under which the forests belonged to the king or his aristocratic vassals. And not only the land and the trees growing on it, but also the animals that lived in the forest. In 1079, William reserved the New Forest in southern England as royal property. By 1089, Sherwood Forest – later the legendary home of Robin Hood – was also a royal property. Forests were important to the feudal economy. In the days before industrial stock farming, a meat packing industry, supermarkets, and refrigerators, feudal aristocrats were constantly hunting to feed their household retainers. The king even more so, because royal households were enormous. To save all the game for the king and his household, outsiders were absolutely forbidden to hunt in the royal forests. Penalties for poaching were severe. Judges could hang poachers, but why waste perfectly good peasants? Their labor was needed to farm the estates of the aristocracy. Instead of executing them, poachers were usually branded on their cheeks or foreheads, or mutilated – loss of ears or a nose were the standard penalties. Legally, it was not necessary to catch a peasant with a deer carcass in order to get a conviction for poaching. It was enough to catch them blood-stained. They were literally “caught red-handed.” The ban on poaching also extended to trees in the king’s forest. The royal household could cut wood for the fires that heated their drafty castles, but peasants could not. More ears and noses cut off. There was one exception. Peasants were allowed to go into royal forests and gather any branches that had blown down in windstorms. This “windfall” provided unexpected relief for peasant households living on the outskirts of the king’s forests. To this day, “windfall profits” are unexpected and unusual gains. Robin Hood, by the way, was considered an "outlaw" – literally someone outside the protection of the law. It was perfectly legal for anyone who met him to kill him without trial. It wasn’t even necessary to catch him red-handed. Other people would also be barred from offering him food, fuel, or lodging, so he likely made use of windfall from Sherwood Forest for his campfires. Back to the Advocate Table of Contents