If Your Opponent Is As Lame As Adam Putnam It's Not So Bad He Gets Lots Of TV Exposure

There are pros and cons to taking on a powerful leader of the opposition party. The bad news, of course is that the full weight of the power of incumbency can seem immovable. In Doug Tudor's race, he's fighting against the #3 villain in the House Republican hierarchy, Adam "Howdy Doody Nimrod" Putnam. The special interests that Putnam has served so slavishness since being elected-- insurance companies, Wall Street firms, commercial banks, Big Oil, lobbyists, Big Pharmaceutical companies-- have made sure his campaign warchest was obscenely filled. As of August 6 Putnam had already vacuumed up $1,430,300. Doug, who has no one to depend on but grassroots Americans wanting a fair break from their representatives in Washington. His $64,985 must be making him feel a lot like David going up against Goliath.

And then there's the free media. Putnam gets a load of it, not because he has anything original or interesting or innovative or eloquent to say, but because of his position as a Republican Party leader. But that's a two-edged sword. He gets on TV an awful lot-- but he mostly sounds like a twit. Because he is a twit and his ideas are pure GOP dogma, dogma that has failed the American people in Iraq, on Wall Street and back at home on Main Street. Today Bloomberg TV couldn't find anyone to make more sense of the Republican role in wrecking the federal regulatory system so they would up with Putnam. "Congressman," he was asked about the Wall Street meltdown his own policies had helped cause, "how do you protect the taxpayer from all this?" Howdy Doody Time:

Well, ultimately, you know, there’s there’s no question that the taxpayers now, uh uh, have taken on some exposure due to the actions that have been taken over the past several weeks and that’s why we were, quite frankly, frustrated with the lack of Congressional involvement because taxpayers were being exposed, uh, and that’s why I’m glad to see the Chairman and the Treasury Secretary did come to the Hill last night. I’m glad that they’re now reaching out. They recognize there is a very appropriate role for the elected representatives who do speak for these taxpayers who were exposed.

I figured we'd get Doug Tudor to translate this into normal English. Doug was astounded that Putnam was already looking at the crisis as something that taxpayers had "taken on" as "some exposure." Doug:

I don’t remember taking on any exposure. I do remember my supposed representative not representing me and now being stuck with a collective tax increase of nearly a trillion dollars. He’s “frustrated with the lack of Congressional involvement.” He’s frustrated, and WE’RE MAD AS HELL! As for his final sentence, he may be glad that someone is recognizing his supposed voice on our behalf, but he should have been demanding their compliance with federal regulations instead of echoing failed Republican fiscal talking points!

Adam sits on the two committees mainly responsible for overseeing the financial markets-- Agricultural and Financial Services. The Agricultural Committee is involved because the many subprime mortgages were bundled together and sold as commodities. The role of the Financial Services Committee is self-evident. Additionally, he is the Chairman of the House Republican Caucus. In the final role, he is charged with shaping and articulating his party’s message. He has failed in all three roles. Absolutely, Positively Failed!

While our financial system was quickly dissolving leaving millions upon millions of working families in dire financial straits-- checked your 401K lately?-- he and his colleagues decided to spend the month of August addressing an empty chamber of the House, crying “Drill, Baby, Drill!” While our retirement savings were being squandered by his fellow multimillionaires, Adam himself was slated to give a speech at the RNC explaining the Republican message of privatization of Social Security. I am sure he is now elated that Hurricane Ike canceled his speech explaining how investing in Wall Street would strengthen your Social Security pension. While millions upon millions of families lost their homes, Adam described Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s CEO Golden Parachutes of $15 Million and $9 Million “symbolic issues.”

At the start of the interview, Adam stated: “Greed cannot be allowed to move forward unchecked.” Unbelievably, he actually said that with a straight face. That’s after he’s taken $275,000.00 from Finance, Real Estate, Insurance, and Agribusiness lobbyists. THAT’S TWO HUNDRED SEVENTY FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS FROM THE BUSINESSES THAT HE IS SUPPOSED TO REGULATE ON OUR BEHALF!

Doug gets it. He deserves our support. You can give him some here. And here's someone else who gets it:



Sunday Doug will be helping inaugurate Obama's third campaign office in Polk County, this one in Bartow (at 625 S. Holland Parkway/HWY 17) from 2 'til 5pm. If you're in the neighborhood, by all means stop by and say hello.