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PSARA Oral Histories Project: Gary Owens Return to Oral Histories Main Page Gary Owens Interview PSARA Advocate Archives September 2019 Page 5 Members Matter: PSARA’s Oral History Project An Interview with Garry Owens By Karen Richter and Angie Bartels PSARA’s Oral History project is underway. Our second interviewee was Garry Owens, PSARA member and longtime activist. His interview lasted about an hour and a half and is excerpted here. Where were you born? I was born in Seattle on October 31, 1944. My mother’s family was from Ellensburg, and they moved to Seattle during the Depression. Irony about her family -- her grandmother, her mother, as well as she all had their first kid at age 16. They were all young moms, which created closeness between them. My Dad’s family was from Louisiana, and they moved here when he was 19 for work. I never really knew him. The man I knew as my father was Sylvester Owens, who adopted me when I was one, so I have his name. I was an only child until I was 12. So the public library became my best friend. I could access information and books, sometimes 10 to 15 at a time. Words do matter, and it helped me be a critical reader. Where did you live and go to school? I was born in the International District and lived there until we had to move to Stadium Homes in Southeast Seattle, then to Rainier Vista, and I went to school there. My Mom taught me to read before I started school so I would have a head start. We moved to Beacon Hill when I was 12 and I got a new brother. Two years later, a sister. I finished high school and got drafted as soon as I graduated. This was the Vietnam era, and I didn’t want to go. I went to the Coast Guard Center and was inducted into service and was told I was being taken to Fort Ord, so when all the new privates turned left to be shipped out, I went right and went home. I ran into my Mom and told her everything went OK. Then a knock on the door and the military police came looking for Private Garry Wade Owens. I was handcuffed and sent to Fort Lawton. My sense of rebellion was alive and kicking. I got into a fight with a bunkmate who dumped cigarette ashes in my coffee. Monday morning I hitchhiked back to my godmother’s house in Seattle who turned me in. I was sent to Fort Lewis for a week then to Fort Ord. I was given a choice -- spend two years in service and be done with it or spend two years in military prison then do two more in active service. I did the two years in military service. I was sent to Fort Bragg and became a radio operator. During this time my Mom died. She was 37. After a month of bereavement leave, there was not enough time [in my required service] to deploy me to Nam so I always say my Mom saved my life. How did you become an activist? I went to school at Franklin High with Larry Gossett. He asked me to go to the University of Washington. I wasn’t sure. But one day while I was at the Coffee Corral, an English professor read some of my journal. Turned out he was an assistant dean at UW. He gave me his card and asked me to see him. I did, and he sent me to the enrollment office with some paperwork. The person there asked me if I wanted to be a fully matriculated student. I did, and then I was. While I was at UW I helped form the Black Student Union and helped start the Black Panthers with Larry. Crucial issues for us were health, children and poverty, and food. So many kids were going to school hungry. What could we do about it? We started a free breakfast program for kids, and we opened up several community clinics. We were the first Black Panther Party outside California. It wasn’t just about defiance with the police but about people’s needs, empty stomachs, health needs, and shaming larger institutions that caused these conditions. What contributions did the Black Panthers give us? Our clinics and free breakfast programs were some. We were not afraid to resist! That word is big even now. We had compassion for our community, and we still need to work on that, and we still need to talk more about human rights. We are not eachothers' enemies, not combatants. The system pits us against each other and makes money from it. We should be using our resources to make sure no one is left behind. How did you meet your wife, Cindy Domingo? I met Cindy at CAMP, the Central Area Motivation Program, headed by Larry Gossett. We both worked there. Cindy worked in the Minor Home Repair Program, and I was the Treasurer. We dated about four years, then we got married and had two kids. The rest is history. I’ve known her for 31 years. What keeps you involved and active at this point in your life? I believe we are all put here for a special reason. I know what I do well and what I don’t. I don’t want accolades. My grandmother had an apartment building filled with tenants, some who were alone. On holidays she would leave our table and go feed them. She wanted them to know that they were family too, not just tenants. She had a big heart and was kind to others. She knew who needed help. If she could do that I, could too. To be charitable you don’t have to ask permission. You just do it. How did you get involved with PSARA? That’s easy. I went to school with Robby Stern at UW. He was out there pushing it with the Students for a Democratic Society when I was with the Black Panthers. When he was President of PSARA he kept asking me to join the Board. For four years he kept asking me, and I couldn’t commit during those times. I retired after 25 years with the City of Seattle. I was on my way to a funeral when he asked me again, and I finally said yes. Glad I did. PSARA people have passion and a lot of good energy flow. It makes me feel good to go to meetings because it reminds me that age doesn’t matter. It’s not about how old we are, it’s that we care about ourselves. We don’t want to be dissed because we are older. If we don’t stand up, we get placed in a category – that we are obsolete and don’t matter. Age does matter. We are seniors, and we are here and know our contributions to society. Thank you, Garry. You inspire us, and we are very glad you belong to PSARA and serve on our Executive Board. Karen Richter is PSARA's Membership Co-VP. Angie Bartels and Garry Owens are PSARA members.

In the Advocate July 2025: Tim Wheeler Tim Wheeler No Kings Day” Draws 2,600 in Sequim; 2,600 in Port Angeles! Tim Wheeler Holding a tally counter and click- ing away as fast as his finger could press the button, Jim Stoffer, one of the “NO KINGs DAY” organizers here, walked from one end to the other of the anti- Trump mass rally on Washington Ave. on the west sideof Sequim, Saturday, June 14. Even though the crowds were thick, I ran into him several times. “What’s the latest count, Jim?” “I just counted everyone from the traffic circle out there to the intersec- tion of Washington and Priest Road. Six hundred sixty-three.” He disappeared in the crowd walking east on the south side of Washington clicking away. Half an hour later I ran into him again, this time across the street. “Two thousand four hundred sixty-four,” he told me. “I’ve stopped counting, rounding it off at 2500 and more coming!” A marshall told us a drone outfitted with a camera would soon arrive to photo the crowd from the air to ensure an accurate count. Sure enough, a drone appeared hovering about 30 feet overhead. So the final estimate is 2,600 and an equal number at the County Court- house in Port Angeles. Well over 5000 folks in Clallam County and probably that many in Port Townsend as well. Probably the largest ever protest dem- onstrations in both Sequim and Port Angeles. CNN reported that “millions” joined vigils in more than 2,000 towns and cities across the U.S. We were waving thousands of signs like, “OVERTHROW- ING KINGS SINCE 1776,” and “DRAIN THE SWAMP.” The traffic was bumper-to-bumper with hundreds of motorists greeting us with honking horns, waves, and thumbs-up salutes. It was a deafening din. In the afternoon I spent there may- be one or two motorists scowled, gave us thumbs down or flicked a finger at us. I would estimate that well over 95% of motorists were with us and against the dictator. Many expressed out- rage against ICE (Im- migration & Customs Enforcement). “ICE IS AMERICA’S GESTAPO” read one sign. “MELT ICE,” read another handwritten by Clare Mannis Hatler, one of the eldest in the crowd at age 94. "WHO WILL PICK THE LETTUCE?" read a sign reminding us that immigrant workers are a vital part of our nation's workforce, putting food on the tables for our entire nation. "IMMIGRATION MAKES AMERICA GREAT," said a message on a scrap of cardboard. Others blasted Trump’s $45 mil- lion military parade in Washington D.C. celebrating his own birthday: “If There’s Money for a Parade, There’s Money for Medicaid,” said a sign car- ried by a woman. She linked Trump’s self-glorification with his drive to slash Medicaid by $715 billion, cuts so vicious it will strip 13.7 million people of health care and drive many rural and public hospitals---like OMC---into bankruptcy. He and his departed crony, Elon Musk, are inflicting over a TRILLION dollars in cuts to human needs programs to pay for $4.5 TRILLION in tax cuts mostly for themselves and their fellow billionaires over the coming decade. There were Army, Navy, and Coast Guard veterans in the crowd who face vicious cuts to the Veterans Administration by Trump and his MAGA minions in Congress. One sign proclaimed, “Hitler Threw Himself a Birthday Party Too.” One Special Forces vet was wearing his Green Beret. He told me he was there, in uniform, to defend the Constitution and Bill of Rights, and full funding for the VA and for veterans benefits. There was Steve Koehler who strolled along the sidewalk picking his banjo and singing the late Bob Marley song: “Get Up! Stand Up! Stand up For Your Rights!” And at the corner a very tall union electrician, IBEW retiree, Sam Woods, holding a sign he made, “NO WAY IN THE USA!” Sam told me I have been assigned to paint the signs on the side of his pickup for the Clallam County Democrats in time for the Old Time 4th of July Parade in Forks and later that same day in Port Angeles. His pickup will also lead us when we march in the Joyce Daze parade and the Makah Days celebration in Neah Bay. “Bring me the plywood and I will paint them,” I said. “But get them to me soon. July 4th will be here in no time. We need a message against Trump tyranny, against all the cuts in human need to feed billionaire greed! And also to get out the vote to defeat them!” There were also signs reminding us that "King Donald" does not have any of the pomp that conveys the majesty of a monarch. He scowls, smirks, sneers, rants and raves like the convicted crook he is, at best a mobster, a Godfather. "PUT THE CONVICTED FELON IN JAIL” said one sign. Instead, the MAGAs put him in the White House for a second time! Isn't this proof we are of an empire in sharp decline? Ninety million people eligible to vote did not cast a ballot when Trump stole his way into the Executive Mansion. That is our challenge. To awaken all those who are sleeping through the Trump dictatorship. Convince them to register and vote. I was holding one of three signs I made: “THIS YANK SAYS NO BILLION- AIRE KING!” read one. “REMEMBER VAL- LEY FORGE, BULL RUN, BATTLE OF THE BULGE…NO FASCIST TYRANNY!” And the third: “A REPUBLIC, IF WE CAN KEEP IT!” (A quote from Benjamin Franklin, a very wise founding father who understood we can take nothing for granted, that fascists are constantly scheming against democracy). As I mingled with all these “winter soldiers” fighting back against “sunshine patriots,” I was thinking of my friend, Macy, who put herself in harms way, flying to Cairo to join 10,000 people. Yesterday, she sent me a very short video of a night rally with 15,000 or 20,000 people gathered somewhere in Egypt in solidarity with the Palestinian people. By now, Macy must be across the Suez Canal, trekking in 120 degree heat across the Sinai in the “Freedom March to Gaza.” They seek to end the genocide that has killed nearly 60,000 Palestinians. Meanwhile, Netanyahu launched a drone blitz against Iran and Iran retaliated. We must all work to prevent escalation into a regional or even a world war. Warmonger Trump may drag us into all-out war in the Middle East. We must stop him! BACK TO THE ADVOCATE

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents February 2025 Make Crypto Great Again Michael Righi Who bought the 2024 election? We all know about Elon Musk. But there was another huge source of election cash – cryptocurrency (it’s not really currency) firms and their wealthy owners. Crypto Political Action Committees (PACs) spent $265 million on the elec- tion, the most of any “industry.” What did they get for their money? FairShake, a crypto PAC, helped defeat critic Katie Porter in the California Democratic primary. FairShake, along with AIPAC, helped defeat progressives Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman in their primaries. Crypto money’s biggest win was taking down Ohio’s Sherrod Brown, the Democratic leader on the Senate Banking Committee. They also helped Trump, who, back in the day, derided crypto as “thin air,” But recognizing a good scam, Trump and family are now all in. Besides Musk, Trump is surrounding himself with crypto parasites, from J.D. Vance to Paul Atkins (SEC appointee) and Howard Lutnick (Commerce). And who knew we needed an AI and Crypto Czar (David Sacks)? Rug Pulls and Wash Trading If it’s not currency, what is it? Currency, or money, is a social construct we have developed to buy and sell things and services. This may sound weird, but money is based on trust – trust that the bank where you deposited your pay will make payments when you write a check (old school) or use a card or a digital payment system. Or trust that the government will accept payment in the currency it prints and make depositors whole if a bank goes belly-up. In addition, the central bank will rescue the financial system as a whole if private banks or finance institutions threaten a collapse or depression. That’s what happened in 2008. Neo- liberal deregulation allowed bankers to create and speculate (“innovate,” they call it) on a whole slew of risky financial derivatives. These crashed in value, and the private banks were bailed out by central banks buying their bad assets. Financial fraud was revealed, but no one went to jail. Banks and bankers were bailed out, and homeowners were not. So in 2008, a private group created Bitcoin, a digital currency that was supposed to bypass the corrupt top-down financial institutions and allow users to make payments directly to each other. Did that work? Well, not really. Extremely complicated computer verification of transactions makes it impossible to use crypto to buy a cup of coffee or your groceries. It is not money. But hundreds and thousands of companies now issue cryptocurrency and crypto tokens. So what are they? They are “investments” of a very peculiar kind. They are not shares of stock in a company that produces or owns some thing. They are just pieces of digital code that are being traded back and forth in what is a gambling economy. Crypto shills said it would go up in value forever. Influencers pushed it. This became a perfect opportunity for fraudsters to create a token, get inter- net posters to push it, then pull the rug out by selling at the top, leaving small investors to take the loss. Or buy and sell tokens back and forth from one account to another, driving up values, then getting out. Casino Capitalism Covid meant too many folks were isolated in front of their computer screens, trying to make the big score. This culminated in the Super Bowl ads of 2022, with Matt Damon and Kim Kardashian helping to push crypto to $3 trillion. Then, the inevitable crash came in May of that year and wiped out $2 trillion of that value. Of course, the “whales” were not wiped out; smaller investors were. From 2015 to 2022, 75 percent of crypto investors lost money. Speculative investments enrich only the already wealthy. We do have to recognize what crypto actually is good for. Because crypto holdings are pseudo-anonymous, trans- actions are hidden. So it is useful to opioid traffickers, tax avoiders, money launderers, ransomware hackers, gun runners, and anyone trying to avoid international sanctions. We have plenty of reasons to want to limit crypto and its scammers and criminals. But crypto businesses want more, and the incoming administration is poised to give it to them. They want “light-touch” regulation that would mainstream them. They do not want to be prosecuted for fraud, as many of them should be. They want crypto to be designated as a special asset, not a security with all the investor protections that implies. With very light legitimizing regulation, they could draw in millions from our pension funds and other traditional investment funds. That would mean their booms and crashes and fraud would have a more significant impact on the traditional financial system, the one we use. Yes, we need to reform that system with stricter regulation and new initiatives like postal accounts and public banks. But we also have to protect it from fraudsters and casino capitalists. Michael Righi is a retired economics professor and a member of the Retiree Advocate Editorial Board. < Back to Table of Contents

In the Advocate July 2025: 4,000 Attend No Kings Event at People’s Park, Tacoma! John Alessio Our Vote, Our Choice, Our Power, Our Voice!” “Power to the People, We Insist-Billionaires Should Not Exist!” “Say it Once,Say it Twice, We Will Not Put Up With ICE!” These are just a few of the chants heard at People’s Park Saturday, June 14th. PSARA joined Indivisible Tacoma and many other organizations to create an informative, riveting, and festive event on “No Kings Day”. Other participating groups were: 350 Tacoma; AF- SCME Council 28; Evergreen Resistance Tacoma; Black Panther Party, The TSM Shop; Jewish Voice for Peace Tacoma; La Resistencia; Rainbow Center; The Tacoma Urban League; LD27, LD28, and LD29 Democrats; Oscar’s Enemies; Pierce County Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO; Pierce County Immigration Alliance; Tacoma Democratic Socialists of America; Tacoma Fellowship of Reconciliation; Tacoma for All; Tacoma Veterans for Peace; The Conversation 253; Washington Wildlife First; and United Food & Commercial Workers Local 367. Careful planning included meetings and continuous communication between the leaders of many of these organizations to assure a safe and meaningful protest of the Trump administration’s immoral and unconstitutional activities. Preparation included de-escalation training sessions that resulted in a roaming Safety Team during the event. A First Aid Sation was created, with drinking water, snacks, and other relevant supplies. Various groups had their own information booths, plus a booth for sign-making, and even a face painting booth. People’s Park was humming with excitement and enthusiasm. Four thousand people, peacefully demonstrating, were completely rapt for two and a half hours listening to inspiring speeches about what is being done, and what still needs to be done, to stop Trump and his minions from destroying our democracy and inflicting more grievous harm on large segments of our population. The event started and ended with lively protest music, and there were clever chants interspersed throughout. The importance of local elections was emphasized, and people were encouraged to get involved by door-knocking, providing support to progressive candidates, and especially voting in the upcoming 2025 Primary on August 5 and again in the General on November 4th! Action events were announced, such as a June 18th “Door-Knocking for Introverts” to help people become effective doorknockers. On July 9th Indivisible Tacoma endorsed candidates will participate in a Candidate Forum at 6:30PM at Tahoma Unitarian Universalist Church, 1115 So. 56th, Tacoma. La Resistencia and others will continue to strategize and call for united actions against the activities of ICE and the Northwest Detention Center - a critical court hearing is set for September. Some people may want to attend the “Breakfast With the Sheriff” meetings to remind Pierce county Sheriff Keith Swank that Washington state laws protect people from unconstitutional harassment and arrest. The next scheduled breakfast is 7-9AM Saturday, June 21st. We know he would love to see us. A Facebook message to a friend read: “I was at People’s Park with my brother who is blind and paralyzed on his left side. We had the best day. He felt part of society.” That statement captures the mood and inclusive spirit of the Tacoma “No Kings Day”. Let’s keep it going! John Alessio is a member of PSARA and Indivisible Tacoma. BACK TO THE ADVOCATE

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents July 2025 No Kings Day” Draws 2,600 in Sequim; 2,600 in Port Angeles! Tim Wheeler Holding a tally counter and click- ing away as fast as his finger could press the button, Jim Stoffer, one of the “NO KINGs DAY” organizers here, walked from one end to the other of the anti- Trump mass rally on Washington Ave. on the west sideof Sequim, Saturday, June 14. Even though the crowds were thick, I ran into him several times. “What’s the latest count, Jim?” “I just counted everyone from the traffic circle out there to the intersec- tion of Washington and Priest Road. Six hundred sixty-three.” He disappeared in the crowd walking east on the south side of Washington clicking away. Half an hour later I ran into him again, this time across the street. “Two thousand four hundred sixty-four,” he told me. “I’ve stopped counting, rounding it off at 2500 and more coming!” A marshall told us a drone outfitted with a camera would soon arrive to photo the crowd from the air to ensure an accurate count. Sure enough, a drone appeared hovering about 30 feet overhead. So the final estimate is 2,600 and an equal number at the County Court- house in Port Angeles. Well over 5000 folks in Clallam County and probably that many in Port Townsend as well. Probably the largest ever protest dem- onstrations in both Sequim and Port Angeles. CNN reported that “millions” joined vigils in more than 2,000 towns and cities across the U.S. We were waving thousands of signs like, “OVERTHROW- ING KINGS SINCE 1776,” and “DRAIN THE SWAMP.” The traffic was bumper-to-bumper with hundreds of motorists greeting us with honking horns, waves, and thumbs-up salutes. It was a deafening din. In the afternoon I spent there may- be one or two motorists scowled, gave us thumbs down or flicked a finger at us. I would estimate that well over 95% of motorists were with us and against the dictator. Many expressed out- rage against ICE (Im- migration & Customs Enforcement). “ICE IS AMERICA’S GESTAPO” read one sign. “MELT ICE,” read another handwritten by Clare Mannis Hatler, one of the eldest in the crowd at age 94. "WHO WILL PICK THE LETTUCE?" read a sign reminding us that immigrant workers are a vital part of our nation's workforce, putting food on the tables for our entire nation. "IMMIGRATION MAKES AMERICA GREAT," said a message on a scrap of cardboard. Others blasted Trump’s $45 mil- lion military parade in Washington D.C. celebrating his own birthday: “If There’s Money for a Parade, There’s Money for Medicaid,” said a sign car- ried by a woman. She linked Trump’s self-glorification with his drive to slash Medicaid by $715 billion, cuts so vicious it will strip 13.7 million people of health care and drive many rural and public hospitals---like OMC---into bankruptcy. He and his departed crony, Elon Musk, are inflicting over a TRILLION dollars in cuts to human needs programs to pay for $4.5 TRILLION in tax cuts mostly for themselves and their fellow billionaires over the coming decade. There were Army, Navy, and Coast Guard veterans in the crowd who face vicious cuts to the Veterans Administration by Trump and his MAGA minions in Congress. One sign proclaimed, “Hitler Threw Himself a Birthday Party Too.” One Special Forces vet was wearing his Green Beret. He told me he was there, in uniform, to defend the Constitution and Bill of Rights, and full funding for the VA and for veterans benefits. There was Steve Koehler who strolled along the sidewalk picking his banjo and singing the late Bob Marley song: “Get Up! Stand Up! Stand up For Your Rights!” And at the corner a very tall union electrician, IBEW retiree, Sam Woods, holding a sign he made, “NO WAY IN THE USA!” Sam told me I have been assigned to paint the signs on the side of his pickup for the Clallam County Democrats in time for the Old Time 4th of July Parade in Forks and later that same day in Port Angeles. His pickup will also lead us when we march in the Joyce Daze parade and the Makah Days celebration in Neah Bay. “Bring me the plywood and I will paint them,” I said. “But get them to me soon. July 4th will be here in no time. We need a message against Trump tyranny, against all the cuts in human need to feed billionaire greed! And also to get out the vote to defeat them!” There were also signs reminding us that "King Donald" does not have any of the pomp that conveys the majesty of a monarch. He scowls, smirks, sneers, rants and raves like the convicted crook he is, at best a mobster, a Godfather. "PUT THE CONVICTED FELON IN JAIL” said one sign. Instead, the MAGAs put him in the White House for a second time! Isn't this proof we are of an empire in sharp decline? Ninety million people eligible to vote did not cast a ballot when Trump stole his way into the Executive Mansion. That is our challenge. To awaken all those who are sleeping through the Trump dictatorship. Convince them to register and vote. I was holding one of three signs I made: “THIS YANK SAYS NO BILLION- AIRE KING!” read one. “REMEMBER VAL- LEY FORGE, BULL RUN, BATTLE OF THE BULGE…NO FASCIST TYRANNY!” And the third: “A REPUBLIC, IF WE CAN KEEP IT!” (A quote from Benjamin Franklin, a very wise founding father who understood we can take nothing for granted, that fascists are constantly scheming against democracy). As I mingled with all these “winter soldiers” fighting back against “sunshine patriots,” I was thinking of my friend, Macy, who put herself in harms way, flying to Cairo to join 10,000 people. Yesterday, she sent me a very short video of a night rally with 15,000 or 20,000 people gathered somewhere in Egypt in solidarity with the Palestinian people. By now, Macy must be across the Suez Canal, trekking in 120 degree heat across the Sinai in the “Freedom March to Gaza.” They seek to end the genocide that has killed nearly 60,000 Palestinians. Meanwhile, Netanyahu launched a drone blitz against Iran and Iran retaliated. We must all work to prevent escalation into a regional or even a world war. Warmonger Trump may drag us into all-out war in the Middle East. We must stop him! Tim Wheeler is a veteran activist, journalist, and a leader of PSARA's Clallam County organizing committee. < Back to Table of Contents

The Retiree ADVOCATE The Monthly Publication of PSARA EDUCATION FUND Vol XL, No 7 July 2025 “Uniting Generations for a Secure Future” In the Advocate July 2025: Advocate Print Version Advocate Archives Tim Wheeler Discusses and Reads From His Latest Book No Power Greater: The Life & Times of George A. Meyers. He organized 12,000 textile workers, was elected President of the Maryland -D.C.C.I.O. The reading will be held Saturday, July 26, at the WSLC offices, 321 16th Avenue S, Seattle. Join Us for Our Summer BBQ Tuesday August 19th, 12:30– 3:00 pm All PSARA members, families and friends are invited to our August potluck barbeque in Seward Park along the shores of LakeWashington. Click here for details. Resources and Tools to Help You select Your Next Residential Solar System Anne Shields walks us through some considerations and tools that will help select your next residential solar system. The Long-Term War on Social Security Steve Bauck discusses the “guerrilla warfare against both the current Social Security system and the coalition that supports it.” And how Scraping the Cap can solve a large portion of the problem. The “Big, Ugly, Cruel Bill” Michael Righi argues that the Republican’s One Big Beautiful Bill Actis “...a war on the public good" and criticizes the Republicans on their hypocritic stance on debts and deficits 4,000 Attend No Kings Event at People’s Park, Tacoma! John Alessio reports on the turnout in Tacoma for the No Kings March June 14th. No Kings Day” Draws 2,600 in Sequim; 2,600 in Port Angeles! Tim Wheeler reports on the No Kings Rally June 14th in Sequim and Port Angeles. Rural Protestors Urge Senate to Kill Trump Medicaid Cuts Cuts to Medicaid are a key part of the mistitled One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed by the U.S. House and now being considered by the U.S. Senate. Tim Wheeler reports on how this bill will destroy healthcare in rural areas of our country.

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 January 2025 Wrapping It Up: Final 2024 Election Results Pam Crone The final tally wasn’t in when we summarized the 2024 Washington State election results in the December Advocate. Some races were too close to call, and seats of retirees were yet to be filled. We can now report on the final results and the composition of the 2025 Legislature. New faces and big Democratic majorities highlight the new session. Washington State Senate The Democrats flipped a seat in the 18th Legislative District. Senator-elect Adrian Cortes replaces Ann Rivers and gives the Senate Democrats a 30-19 majority. Cortes beat Brad Benton, son of former Senator Don Benton. As noted in December, Sen. Jamie Peder- sen, 43rd Leg. District, is the Senate’s new majority leader. Additional new senators are Deb Krishnadasan succeeding Emily Randall in the 26th Legislative District, and former Rep. Tina Orwall appointed to fill the seat formerly held by Karen Keiser in the 33rd. Washington State House Democrats in the House also picked up a seat giving them a 59-39 majority. Adison Richards beat former Representative Jesse Young to take one of the House seats in the 26th Leg. District. Richards replaces Republican Spencer Hutchins, who did not run for re-election. 2025 Session Calendar Session begins Jan. 13 and runs for 105 days. Policy Committee Cut-off in the first house is February 21 Bills must be out of their house of origin March 12 Policy Committee Cut-off in the second house is April 2 Bills must be out of the second house April 16 Session ends April 27 PSARA Dates of Note Legislators began pre-filing their bills Dec. 1. These bills will be formally introduced in the House and Senate on January 13. See our website at psara.org for the link to pre-filed bills. The Government Relations Committee is finalizing PSARA’s 2025 legislative agenda, to be unveiled at the Legislative Conference on January 7. Featured speakers will be former House Speaker Frank Chopp and Senator Bob Hasegawa. Thanks to all our members who have completed and submitted the legislative survey. Please mark your calendars for our in-person Lobby Day in Olympia on March 18. Stay tuned for action. Pam Crone is a retired lobbyist and Chair of PSARA's Government Relations Committee (GRC). < Back to Table of Contents

In the Advocate July 2025: Anne Shields 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 THE ADVOCATE

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents September 2025 Lawmakers Oppose WISeR Program Expanding Prior Authorization in Medicare Wendell Potter and Rachel Madley In a previous post in HEALTH CARE un-covered, the newsletter from the Center for Health & Democracy (CHD), Rachel Madley, PhD, Director of Policy and Advocacy for the CHD, laid out why the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ new Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction (WISeR) Model is bad news for patients in Traditional Medicare. She warned that it would import one of the worst aspects of Medicare Advantage -- aggressive prior authorization run by private, profit-driven contractors -- into a program that has long prided itself on letting doctors, not algorithms, decide what’s medically necessary. Madley’s piece explained why WISeR is dangerous: It hands prior authorization in Traditional Medicare to private companies that profit by denying care -- exactly as they do in MA. It uses AI and “technology-enhanced” reviews that have been shown to spike denial rates. It offers companies a cut of the “savings” they generate, creating a built-in incentive to say no. It paves the way for more and more services to be put behind prior authorization walls. And now, there’s a sign that her warning is resonating and that momentum is building against CMS’s latest experiment. Last month, Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) and Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) led 40 of their colleagues in a letter to CMS urging them not to start the model. The law makers wrote, “We are concerned that this effort could erode the quality of coverage provided by Traditional Medicare and result in the delay and denial of necessary health care." And “Giving private for-profit actors a veto over care provided to seniors and people with disabilities in Traditional Medicare, even as a pilot program, opens the door to further erosion of our Medicare system. We therefore strongly urge you to immediately halt the proposed WISeR model and instead consider steps to address the well-documented waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicare Ad- vantage program.” And just last week, a bloc of House members sent a letter to CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz urging the agency to cancel WISeR before it starts. The letter, led by Representative Suzan DelBene (D-Washington) and signed by 19 other members, pulls no punches: WISeR, they wrote, will “likely limit beneficiaries’ access to care, increase burden on our already overburdened health care workforce, and create perverse incentives to put profit over patients." The political significance of this is hard to overstate. The members of Congress who signed these letters have, in some cases, been reliable defenders of Medicare Advantage, an industry that now takes more than half of all Medicare dollars (plus billions in overpayments each year) while using prior authorization to deny necessary care at alarming rates. For them to publicly oppose a CMS initiative that so closely mirrors MA practices suggests some- thing important: insurers may be losing some of their go-to allies on Capitol Hill. And it’s not just the Dems. The letters’ concerns echo those raised by Republicans in recent years, too. And that’s including some of Medicare Advantage’s biggest boosters. Former Representative Mark Greene, MD (R-Tennessee) led a bill with Representative Kim Schrier that would require physicians of the same specialty to review prior authorizations. And Senator Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana), Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, stated that prior authorization is being “abused” by health insurance companies. The fact that opposition is now coming from both sides of the aisle demonstrates that this model may not be the antidote to prior authorization concerns that its proponents are touting it as. Both letters reinforce those warnings, citing data from HHS’s Office of Inspector General showing that 75% of denied prior authorization requests in MA were overturned on appeal, which is proof that many initial denials were inappropriate. They also question why CMS would contract with the very companies (often MA insurers them- selves) that have been caught breaking Medicare rules to boost profits. For years, insurers have been able to rely on a bipartisan wall of protection for Medicare Advantage. With Democrats and Republicans saying “enough," that could mean that the wall is starting to crack, and it’s not just WISeR that’s in jeopardy. It’s the whole model of using private contractors to ration care in the name of “cost control.” WISeR is scheduled to launch in January 2026 in six states: New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona and Washington. If CMS doesn’t reverse course, it will mark a turning point and Traditional Medicare will begin to look and feel like private Medicare Advantage plans. But if the growing opposition is any sign, CMS may find itself pursuing other models to improve Traditional Medicare without using flawed methods from MA. Postscript : Thank you to Reps. Jayapal and Smith for signing the letter initiated by Reps. Ocasio Cortez and Doggett. Thank you to Rep. DelBene for initiating a second letter and to Reps. Randall and Strickland for signing that letter. Both letters called for cancellation of the WISeR program which tar- gets Washington Medicare beneficiaries. Wendell Potter is a former high ranking insurance executive and founder of the Center for Health & Democracy (CHD). Rachel Madley was the former health care policy staff person for Rep. Pramila Jayapal and now serves as Director of Policy and Advocacy for CHD. To subscribe to CHD’s newsletter, google search HEALTH CARE un-covered. < Back to Table of Contents

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents February 2026 Pierce County PSARA Takes on Sheriff Swank On a rainy Friday night, January 9, a number of Pierce County PSARA activist members joined with about 100 others for a protest in Puyallup. The reasons? Former Trump National Security Advisor Michael Flynn was in town to support Pierce County Sheriff, Keith Swank, for a “Save Our Sheriffs” rally, intended to “preserve the authority” of elected sheriffs across the state. Following the murder of Renee Good in Minneapolis earlier that week, Sheriff Swank had commented on X: “PSA: if law enforcement tells you to stop, STOP. You can always sue later if your rights were violated. Even if you are right, do you want to be dead right?” These sorts of factors led Erik Showacy and others in Indivisible Puyallup to organize the protest. PSARA activist and Indivisible Tacoma leader, Julie Andrzejewski joined the protest and commented, “We are concerned about the sheriff here in Pierce County, who has been indicating that he wants to cooperate with ICE and the deportations and that is against the law here in the state.” She was referring to our state’s Keep Washington Working law, which restricts local law enforcement agencies from assisting federal immigration authorities. More locally, last March, Pierce County Executive Ryan Mello issued a directive reiterating this key legal point. That was followed in April by the adoption of a resolution by the Pierce County Council on the same theme. Meanwhile, out of the rain and inside a nearby conservative church, Sheriff Swank confirmed Andrzejewski’s contentions and indicated his continued opposition to state law and county rules. “The Executive issues executive orders that tell me that I’m not allowed, or anybody, no department, no elected official, was allowed to enter into any contract with any federal agency. Well, I know that’s unconstitutional. I’m independently elected,” he said. PSARA Pierce County will continue to proudly join with many others in confronting Sheriff Swank. < Back to Table of Contents