Robert Cruickshank
@robertcruickshank.com
Digital Strategy for California YIMBY, Chair of Sierra Club Seattle. Personal account -- what you see here represents my own opinions, for better or worse.
Reposted by Robert Cruickshank
Some pundits claim replacing climate with affordability messages is the way for Dems to win. But climate is driving unaffordability (like with home insurance), voters trust Dems on climate, & solution exist that center people not CEOs. That’s a layup. @newrepublic.com
newrepublic.com/article/2044...
newrepublic.com/article/2044...
Here’s the Climate Message That Can Help Democrats Win Big in 2026
Rising home insurance costs are making life unaffordable for both homeowners and renters. Robust climate policy and public disaster insurance could save many households’ finances.
newrepublic.com
December 16, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Some pundits claim replacing climate with affordability messages is the way for Dems to win. But climate is driving unaffordability (like with home insurance), voters trust Dems on climate, & solution exist that center people not CEOs. That’s a layup. @newrepublic.com
newrepublic.com/article/2044...
newrepublic.com/article/2044...
Someone is going to roll up to this place around 12:15PM on January 20, 2029 in a cherry picker and holding a crowbar, and they will be hailed as a hero.
Here we go…
Donald Trump’s name on the Kennedy Center.
(🎥: Stetson Miller)
Donald Trump’s name on the Kennedy Center.
(🎥: Stetson Miller)
December 19, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Someone is going to roll up to this place around 12:15PM on January 20, 2029 in a cherry picker and holding a crowbar, and they will be hailed as a hero.
Reposted by Robert Cruickshank
In light of the grotesque attempted renaming of the Kennedy Center.
www.thebulwark.com/p/donald-tru...
www.thebulwark.com/p/donald-tru...
Trump Is Destroying JFK’s America
Kennedy’s vision of a country built up through the service of its citizens is fundamentally incompatible with the vulgar cynicism of the current president.
www.thebulwark.com
December 19, 2025 at 7:22 PM
In light of the grotesque attempted renaming of the Kennedy Center.
www.thebulwark.com/p/donald-tru...
www.thebulwark.com/p/donald-tru...
Reposted by Robert Cruickshank
the reality is Spanish is our de facto second language and white people need to sack up and face reality
Cannot believe this version of the Republican Party won a record number of Latino/Hispanic voters, this country is so cooked lol
December 19, 2025 at 7:15 PM
the reality is Spanish is our de facto second language and white people need to sack up and face reality
Replacing the Greatest Generation with Boomers and Xers as leaders of the country and the culture was quite the downgrade
I continue to find it amazing that we went from a late 90s/aughts run of pretty amazing WW2 hagiography and barely a generation later people are publicly retconning f'ing Nazis
December 19, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Replacing the Greatest Generation with Boomers and Xers as leaders of the country and the culture was quite the downgrade
Reposted by Robert Cruickshank
These are the people the mainstream media is constantly telling us to understand and sympathize with.
December 19, 2025 at 6:10 PM
These are the people the mainstream media is constantly telling us to understand and sympathize with.
Hey @governorferguson.bsky.social - a former Massachusetts governor has a message you oughta read
Opinion | Mitt Romney: Tax the Rich, Like Me
www.nytimes.com
December 19, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Hey @governorferguson.bsky.social - a former Massachusetts governor has a message you oughta read
Reposted by Robert Cruickshank
Not that it will but the willingness of Americans to obey is a very funny contrast with our self-image and should probably prompt some reflection bsky.app/profile/jonf...
NEWS: They're adding Trump's name to the Kennedy Center building right now. www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
Kennedy Center adds Trump’s name to building
The signage change follows a vote by the board of trustees to rename the performing arts complex the Trump Kennedy Center.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 19, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Not that it will but the willingness of Americans to obey is a very funny contrast with our self-image and should probably prompt some reflection bsky.app/profile/jonf...
Yep. Bidenomics should be the baseline for the Democratic Party going forward, but so too should be basic competency at communications and politics.
it's kind of funny from a economic policy perspective, Bidenomics was actually fairly successful (full employment, IRA + other state-driven investment)
he just... never really managed to figure out how to sell any of it with comms
he just... never really managed to figure out how to sell any of it with comms
Pretty sure a president who could communicate well and wasn’t a bazillion years old could have explained to the public why this is Actually Good.
December 19, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Yep. Bidenomics should be the baseline for the Democratic Party going forward, but so too should be basic competency at communications and politics.
The Trump Recession
December 19, 2025 at 3:21 PM
The Trump Recession
Reposted by Robert Cruickshank
The majority of Senate Democrats are unprincipled, power-drunk fundraisers who have zero appetite for a fight and who are more comfortable (and protective of their status) around Republican billionaires than working-class Democrats. They are functionally MAGA.
Trump has called for at least three of these senators to be thrown in prison. And they’re still voting for his agenda.
16 Democratic senators joined Republicans in confirming a close ally of Elon Musk as head of NASA:
Baldwin
Cantwell
Durbin
Fetterman
Gallego
Gillibrand
Hassan
Heinrich
Kaine
Kelly
Kim
King
Schiff
Shaheen
Slotkin
Warner
Baldwin
Cantwell
Durbin
Fetterman
Gallego
Gillibrand
Hassan
Heinrich
Kaine
Kelly
Kim
King
Schiff
Shaheen
Slotkin
Warner
December 19, 2025 at 6:03 AM
The majority of Senate Democrats are unprincipled, power-drunk fundraisers who have zero appetite for a fight and who are more comfortable (and protective of their status) around Republican billionaires than working-class Democrats. They are functionally MAGA.
Reposted by Robert Cruickshank
See what happened in Australia was a mass shooting occurred and the leaders went right to work changing laws instead of sending thoughts and prayers.
December 19, 2025 at 5:39 AM
See what happened in Australia was a mass shooting occurred and the leaders went right to work changing laws instead of sending thoughts and prayers.
Congressional Democrats aren’t doing nearly enough to fight back. There are over 250 of them, surely they can split up the rapid response duties and have bills and discharge petitions ready quickly to push back on this stuff.
The admin is wasting no crisis... Sec. Kristi Noem said she is suspending the diversity visa lottery program (DV-1) after the Brown University suspect entered the U.S. through it in 2017.
December 19, 2025 at 5:31 AM
Congressional Democrats aren’t doing nearly enough to fight back. There are over 250 of them, surely they can split up the rapid response duties and have bills and discharge petitions ready quickly to push back on this stuff.
Reposted by Robert Cruickshank
Noem is using the Brown University shooter to end an entire visa program, but it should be noted that Pete Hegseth, just today, murdered more than twice as many people
December 19, 2025 at 5:03 AM
Noem is using the Brown University shooter to end an entire visa program, but it should be noted that Pete Hegseth, just today, murdered more than twice as many people
cc @governorferguson.bsky.social and #waleg
(I know the progressives in the legislature are aware of this, but still)
(I know the progressives in the legislature are aware of this, but still)
December 19, 2025 at 2:59 AM
cc @governorferguson.bsky.social and #waleg
(I know the progressives in the legislature are aware of this, but still)
(I know the progressives in the legislature are aware of this, but still)
I love these, but I am also clearly part of their target audience (someone from or in Southern California who likes EVs). My family thinks they're ugly. I strongly disagree.
VW’s newish electric minibus, the ID Buzz. First time seeing one of these. Looks fun to drive.
December 19, 2025 at 1:59 AM
I love these, but I am also clearly part of their target audience (someone from or in Southern California who likes EVs). My family thinks they're ugly. I strongly disagree.
Some cash for housing, a state Department of Housing (but with as-yet-undefined powers), and a WA version of AB 2011. All worthwhile. But we may need to start thinking a lot bigger. Japan-style zoning. End all apartment bans. And a close look at fees and permitting.
Gov. Ferguson asks for $244M in housing money, plans ‘Department of Housing’
Gov. Bob Ferguson has asked the Legislature to add $244 million to invest in affordable housing, help with flood recovery and more.
www.seattletimes.com
December 19, 2025 at 1:57 AM
Some cash for housing, a state Department of Housing (but with as-yet-undefined powers), and a WA version of AB 2011. All worthwhile. But we may need to start thinking a lot bigger. Japan-style zoning. End all apartment bans. And a close look at fees and permitting.
A damning indictment of Ken Martin and Democratic Party leadership. Yes, the autopsy will piss people off (especially those who led the Biden and the Harris campaigns). That's the point. Their failures were catastrophic for the country. Dems also need to show voters they get it and are reforming.
NEWS: The DNC is killing off its 2024 autopsy.
DNC Chairman Ken Martin has decided not to publish a public report, believing that a backward-looking document would be counterproductive as the party has started winning.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/u...
DNC Chairman Ken Martin has decided not to publish a public report, believing that a backward-looking document would be counterproductive as the party has started winning.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/u...
The D.N.C. Is Killing Its Autopsy of What Went Wrong in 2024
www.nytimes.com
December 19, 2025 at 12:29 AM
A damning indictment of Ken Martin and Democratic Party leadership. Yes, the autopsy will piss people off (especially those who led the Biden and the Harris campaigns). That's the point. Their failures were catastrophic for the country. Dems also need to show voters they get it and are reforming.
Reposted by Robert Cruickshank
Cities across California are on the cusp of bankruptcy due to the NIMBYs that control them.
Build more homes, IMO.
Build more homes, IMO.
Someone requested this alternate graphic: total tax, by year built, for all residential structures in Berkeley. In terms of local property/parcel tax yield, the five years from 2020-2024 amount to more revenue than all the buildings built during the thirty years 1970-1999.
December 19, 2025 at 12:05 AM
Cities across California are on the cusp of bankruptcy due to the NIMBYs that control them.
Build more homes, IMO.
Build more homes, IMO.
Reposted by Robert Cruickshank
As with underpriced fire insurance, the bill for Prop 13 is coming due. Cities were able to stave it off with Mello-Roos on new development at first, then with local sales and parcel taxes, but the bill is coming. The only things that could fix this are repealing Prop 13 or a lot of new development.
Someone requested this alternate graphic: total tax, by year built, for all residential structures in Berkeley. In terms of local property/parcel tax yield, the five years from 2020-2024 amount to more revenue than all the buildings built during the thirty years 1970-1999.
December 19, 2025 at 12:20 AM
As with underpriced fire insurance, the bill for Prop 13 is coming due. Cities were able to stave it off with Mello-Roos on new development at first, then with local sales and parcel taxes, but the bill is coming. The only things that could fix this are repealing Prop 13 or a lot of new development.
Reposted by Robert Cruickshank
LOL - Senate (and House) Republicans are ending their "probe" into Hegseth's boat strikes after they got Schumer, Durbin and majority of the Senate Democratic Caucus to vote for a $900 billon defense authorization bill for Trump/Hegseth.
December 18, 2025 at 11:37 PM
LOL - Senate (and House) Republicans are ending their "probe" into Hegseth's boat strikes after they got Schumer, Durbin and majority of the Senate Democratic Caucus to vote for a $900 billon defense authorization bill for Trump/Hegseth.
Exactly this
Harris and Walz did great the first month of their campaign when they acted the way we always want our candidates to act. Then she handed out loads of cash to consultants who told her to stop being so rude, talk about prescription drugs and try like hell to flip Republicans
December 18, 2025 at 9:56 PM
Exactly this
Early Christmas present!
Crosslake light rail update: pre-revenue service trains will start running back and forth across I-90 starting NEXT MONDAY, CEO Dow Constantine just told the board.
December 18, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Early Christmas present!
Last year many SPS parents felt there was no choice but to accept schools would close. But we stopped it, and made sweeping changes to the board. All by convincing parents *they* were in the drivers' seat. Getting them to own their own power, and use it.
Time for transit advocates to do the same.
Time for transit advocates to do the same.
How transit advocates should respond when asked which parts of ST3 we would abandon to get the rest of it built
December 18, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Last year many SPS parents felt there was no choice but to accept schools would close. But we stopped it, and made sweeping changes to the board. All by convincing parents *they* were in the drivers' seat. Getting them to own their own power, and use it.
Time for transit advocates to do the same.
Time for transit advocates to do the same.
Reposted by Robert Cruickshank
Across the country people are looking to our region with envy. Sound Transit is opening new stations. Cities are building housing near transit and people are riding light rail. We are winning!
Let’s keep building a network that best serves transit riders. #BuildTheDamnTrains
Let’s keep building a network that best serves transit riders. #BuildTheDamnTrains
Transit advocates in the Puget Sound region are in a position of strength but act like we are in a position of weakness. We assume it’s still 2005, when ST was fighting for its life and the public was lukewarm at best.
But it’s 2025. ST is thriving and the public is eager for more.
But it’s 2025. ST is thriving and the public is eager for more.
December 18, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Across the country people are looking to our region with envy. Sound Transit is opening new stations. Cities are building housing near transit and people are riding light rail. We are winning!
Let’s keep building a network that best serves transit riders. #BuildTheDamnTrains
Let’s keep building a network that best serves transit riders. #BuildTheDamnTrains