IS AL WYNN REALLY THAT BAD? ...WORSE

Nancy Pelosi made her choice-- the wrong one

I don't know Donna Edwards that well, mostly just some phone calls, e-mail exchanges and one or two face-to-face meetings. But I feel confident in saying that I would rather vote for her to be president than anyone running from either party. Unfortunately, she isn't running for president and, in all likelihood, the ole triangulating Clinton Machine will be back in the saddle in DC come January '09. It should be a step, even if just a baby step, in the right direction. And if we have a progressive Congress, it might not be too big an impediment in cleaning up Bush's mess. But that's a big if.

As I mentioned yesterday, the leader of the House Democrats, from a Maryland-connected political family, Nancy Pelosi is on the campaign trail. But she isn't out there fighting for strong, brilliant, courageous progressives. No, in fact, she's out there fighting for the forces of reaction and corporate corruption. Her candidate is Al Wynn (D-MD), one of the worst Democrats in the Congress.

Sure, his voting habits have gotten markedly better since Donna came out of nowhere and missed retiring him by a handful of (disputed) votes. He was so frightened that he actually started voting with the Democrats instead of with the Republicans. Previously, Ms Pelosi's favored Maryland candidate voted against her and for authorizing Bush's attack on Iraq and against her virtually every time Bush decided to ship more men and money over to Iraq. He and Pelosi never did agree on the GOP plans to abolish the estate tax either. Pelosi's position was one that was based on fairness to working people and the middle class. Wynn, voting consistently with the GOP, favored a position that favored the hereditary wealth of America's 200 wealthiest families-- and no one else. Very few Democrats were in cahoots with now-jailed GOP rainmaker Jack Abramoff when it came to ethics non-reform but Pelosi's Maryland buddy was one of them. He and now-imprisoned Republicrook Bob Ney co-sponsored legislation to undermine campaign finance reform and undermine attempts to get lobbyists off the floor of Congress.

When Democrats tried to reform pension legislation to protect working families, the Republicans knew exactly who to turn to to undermine their efforts; yes, Pelosi's pal Wynn was only too happy to screw over working families... again. There are reasons-- all of them unfortunate-- why the notoriously corrupt head of Pharma, Billy Tauzin, is supporting Al Wynn. Disconcerting to find him and Nancy Pelosi on the same side. And how many Democrats joined Tom Delay in creating a fake issue on the back of Terri Schiavo? Not many-- and certainly not Nancy Pelosi-- but Al Wynn? Oh, yes... he was right there with DeLay and Bush-- just like he was on the Cheney energy bill that has driven gasoline and heating oil prices through the roof, and just like he was for the bankruptcy bill that certainly has helped his campaign contributors but has only helped substantial numbers of his constituents into dire financial crisis. He's been a friend of WalMart, an enemy of the environment, a pal to the telecom giants and the enemy of the Internet. Congratulations, Nancy Pelosi!

Please thank Speaker Pelosi, for Al Wynn and for taking impeachment off the table, here at the special ActBlue page we've set up to see if we can balance out her fundraiser for Wynn this weekend.

Get to know Donna a little and listen to what she has to say about Al Wynn's bankruptcy bill and why it's important that Democrats understand this disastrous law:



We're on our way to collecting the donations we need to neutralize Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, Rahm Emanuel, Harold Ford, Billy Tauzin and corrupt lobbyists who want to keep Wynn in office. We need BETTER Democrats. Donna Edwards is a better Democrat-- a MUCH better Democrat, and if you'd like to lend a hand, our Act Blue page is open for business!


UPDATE: TIME MAGAZINE NOTICED A LITTLE CONFLICT BETWEEN THE GRASSROOTS AND MADAM OFF THE TABLE

Karen Tumulty seems to have noticed that progressive and grassroots Democrats are disconcerted about Nancy Pelosi joining forces with crooked Republican lobbyist Billy Tauzin in trying to keep one of the most corrupt and reactionary members of Congress in office. I think it's the first time DownWithTyranny ever got mentioned in Time.


UPDATE: THE PEOPLE PARTY vs THE MONEY PARTY

Look at the Donna Edwards challenge to Wynn and the Pelosi-Hoyer-Emanuel Establishment through the analytic eyes of David Sirota, author of Hostile Takeover. Across the internet we're over a third of the way to our goal of doing to Pelosi's fundraiser for Wynn exactly what we did to Bush's fundraiser for Reichart-- not just helping people see why the two events are IDENTICAL but outraising both with people-power.