No One Wants To Be Trumpanzee's Chief Of Staff. Can You Blame Them?

Eliana Johnson and Alex Isenstadt, in their reporting for Politico, reminded readers what a top of the pile DC job presidential chief of staff is. But for the two Trump has gone through, Reince Priebus and John Kelly? Both "left as diminished and arguably humiliated figures, unable to control the wild chaos" inside the monkey house: Mission Impossible is how people in DC see the job. Nick Ayers, a self-made multimillionaire, ex-male prostitute and former lobbyist, currently Pence's chief of staff and his closest confidant (after Mother), was Trump's first-- and only choice-- but Ayer's either:

• got passed over when someone told Trump he used to be a male prostitute or
• passed on the job when he realized he'd have to commit through the bitter, likely historic (in a very bad way) end, and what that would do to his future prospects or
• knew he'd be in trouble when the Senate started scrutinizing his personal finances and wormed out of the job or
• Trump found out Ayers had been gossiping about him and freaked.

We'll never know for sure which one or which combination is sending Ayers back to Georgia. What we do know is that a tough job in the best of circumstances, has turned into the worst job in the country-- and about to get worse: saving the Trump presidency from itself and keeping Trump and his family out of prison... while also running the United States government and trying to keep the economy from falling off a cliff.

Names being floated include neo-fascist North Carolina Congressman Mark Meadows, Blackstone managing director Wayne Berman, Citizens United president and Trumpets fanatic Dave Bossie, Chris Christie, U.S. Trade Rep. Robert Lighthizer, Treasury Secretary, Steve Mnuchin, Mick Mulvaney, the acting Attorney General who-will-never-be-confirmed Matthew Whitaker, and... wait for it... Reince Priebus. The Politico team says they made a round of calls last night about the chief of staff job and "heard the same thing over and over again: No one wants it this time, and it’s an exceedingly bad phase of the administration to take the helm. Whoever takes over right now would likely be at Trump’s side when special prosecutor Robert Mueller’s report drops, when Democrats on Capitol Hill start hammering him and as the market continues to slump."

Rahm Emanuel, Obama's first-- and disastrous-- Chief of Staff, told the NY Times helpfully/smugly that "Someone needs to get the White House under control-- but the president won’t let it happen."

CNN released a new SSRS poll this morning with data from last week-- and, remember, it's been all bad news since then. Trump's job approval

• Approve- 39%

• Approve strongly- 30%
• Approve moderately- 9%
• Disapprove- 52%

• Disapprove strongly- 44%
• Disapprove moderately- 8%
• No opinion- 9%

Since Trumpanzee can't find anyone remotely qualified and willing to take the thankless job, it looks like John Kelly will stay on at least into January-- probably much longer-- despite Trump's foolish announcement Saturday that Kelly would be out before the end of the year. Trump's a moron and was bragging this morning about how proud he would be to shut down the government. Worth watching him meeting with Pelosi this morning-- Schumer was there as well-- and... that was not a Pence stuffed toy next to Trump; it actually was Mike Pence. I wonder why he didn't bother inviting Ryan, McCarthy and McConnell-- or at least McCarthy. (You can skip the first five and half minutes of Trump babbling sheer nonsense about the wall.) I bet Pelosi's approval numbers shoot up after this meeting.



What If Meadows Takes The Job?

Mark Meadows is a hard-right-- some would say neo-fascist-- asshole who chairs the Freedom Caucus. He represents North Carolina's 11th congressional district, the reddest district in the state-- with a PVI of R+14. Obama lost it both times and Trump beat Hillary 63.2 (his best showing in North Carolina) to 34.0%. The district includes all or part of 16 western North Carolina counties. The biggest, population-wise, Buncombe County, went for Hillary 55.7% to 41.1%. In the 2016 primary Buncombe was Bernie's strongest county in the state and he won it with 62.1%. In fact, Bernie won more votes on primary day than Trump did (30,913 to 8,430) and more votes than the entire GOP field did combined! The Republican legislature, however, managed to split Buncombe County up in a way as to prevent a competitive district from emerging. Most of the city of Asheville, the heart of Buncombe, was chopped off and grafted onto another ultra Republican district, Patrick McHenry's 10th, diluting the Democratic vote in both districts. The Buncombe part of Meadows' district voted D+10 last month and the Buncombe part of McHenry's district voted D+ 39.

District-wide, Meadows won 177,230 (59.2%) to 115,824 (38.7%) against Democrat Phillip Price. The counties bordering on Tennessee are among the most dependably Republican in the whole country. The 4 westernmost counties, Cherokee, Clay, Macon and Graham, routinely give Republicans massive leads in any contest. This cycle Meadows raised $1,773,788 to Price's $237,843. The DCCC ignored the race entirely.

I only bring this up to warn Democrats that if Trump picks Meadows, triggering a special election, it is a dead-end for Democrats. The district is designed to elect Republicans and until Republican gerrymandering is finally thrown out in court and Buncombe County reunited-- which will happen eventually-- NC-11 is off-limits to Democrats.

Asheville-- Great Town In A miserable Political Situation

By December 31, the end of the last FEC reporting period, Patrick McHenry already had just over $2 million in his Wall Street-funded campaign war chest. He had spent over a million dollars already and raised another $1.7 million. He had 2 Democratic rivals, Kenneth Queen, who raised $8,130 and David Brown, who raised $6,229. And his two primary rivals, Seth Blankenship and Ira Roberts raised $4,961 and $1,325 respectively. Last cycle Democrat Andy Millard raised $295,850 to McHenry's $3,192,579. McHenry beat Millard 220,825 (63.1%) to 128,919 (36.9%), slightly better for McHenry than Trump did against Clinton. Although it includes the progressive stronghold of Asheville, in all this is a safe Republican district with a PVI of R+12. Of the 7 counties in the district, Democrats only win one: Buncombe (Asheville). McHenry easily balances that out with predictable lopsided wins in red hellholes like Catawba, Gaston, Cleveland and Lincoln counties.

In actuality McHenry is an extremely unattractive candidate-- an icon of Wall Street corruption serving on the House Financial Services Committee (he took $4,660,742 since being elected in 2004 and serves the interests of the banksters without hesitation) and Congress' most scandal-wracked closet case-- but hasn't had a problem with reelection once.

This year though there are some in the district eager to see the end of McHenry looking past the weak, disorganized Democrats towards a moderate Republican who is challenging him in a primary. #NeverTrump activist Gina Collias spoke at the Asheville woman's march last month and is loudly refusing to take corporate money for her campaign. In some ways she sounds like many DCCC-type Democratic candidates, eager to reform Obamacare, protect the environment, protect the country from Climate Change, simplify the path to citizenship and oppose nationalistic isolationism. Her website states she "sees potential Russian interference with the 2016 election as a national security issue" and makes the point that "No hardworking American should go broke trying to keep their families healthy. Gina supports reform of the ACA that is bipartisan, reduces the costs to American families, preserves protection for pre-existing conditions, protects essential benefits, and preserves the elimination of life-time caps." When you look closely, she sounds like a typical Blue Dog Democrat and has more in common with the last Democrat who represented Asheville-- Blue Dog Heath Shuler-- than with fellow-Republican Patrick McHenry. She's begging Democrats to switch to unaffiliated so they can vote for her against McHenry in the primary.

David Wilson Brown has a much better platform than Collias-- going beyond just fixing Obamacare, for example, and working towards Medicare for All. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to be strong or aggressive and likely won't be going anywhere. Sad. The other Democrat, Kenneth Queen has dropped out-- I guess one queen in enough in that district. Meanwhile, Seth Blankenship is trying to campaign to the right of McHenry! He calls himself "a strong, conservative Christian" and he seems to define "GOP crackpot" perfectly. On healthcare for example: "While many believe that the federal government should control your healthcare coverage, the choice should be up to the American people. We know what is best for us and our families, not bureaucrats in D.C. Obamacare has taken the choice away from us-American families." He's also virulently anti-Choice: "We have seen the tragedy of millions of babies being aborted across the United States. Together we must stand for LIFE and say no to abortions. With your help we can pass legislation to stop abortions." Basically, he's McHenry without the corruption and the closet case thing. His approach to most issues seems doctrinaire and extremely simpleminded and uninformed. Asheville is one of the most progressive cities in the South; its hard to believe this is what they're stuck with. Maybe no one heard there's a wave coming?

Who in western North Carolina can possibly resist McHenry?

Asheville City Council Unanimously Passes A Civil Liberties Resolution-- How Did That Happen?

Last cycle we saw the DCCC rush into westernmost reaches of North Carolina, the Catawba Valley and everything from Lenoir and Morgantown to the Tennessee border and back to Arden and Hendersonville, bust carefully skirting Asheville-- NC-11. "Ex-Blue Dog Steve Israel was petrified the progressive champion of the region, City Councilman Cecil Bothwell-- who had driven reactionary Blue Dog Heath Shuler out of the race-- would become the Democratic nominee. So the DCCC backed an even worse Blue Dog than Shuler, Hayden Rogers, and got him through the primary with cash and lies. In November, their candidate was handily beaten by teabagger-- and future Tortilla Coast Suicide Caucus activist-- Mark Meadows, 57-43%. Cecil went back to his work on the City Council and is running for reelection now. Last night he sent us this guest post about the very different direction Asheville is taking from the state of North Carolina. With Cecil as their guide, the City Council unanimously passed the kind of resolution much of the rest of the Art Pope-controlled state is fighting against. Cecil:

Earlier this week, the Asheville City Council passed a resolution that I have been working on since I was elected to Council in 2009. This Civil Liberties Resolution calls for protecting civil liberties and strengthening community-police relations by adopting a policy that prohibits discrimination and profiling based on race, immigration status, sexual orientation, mental or physical disability, ethnic origin, gender, religious or political affiliation, and homed or homeless status. The resolution passed by a unanimous vote.

When I first began working on drafting a civil liberties resolution for Asheville, I met with homeless advocates, with interfaith discussion groups, with representatives of Asheville's Latino community, and with many other groups and community leaders in the area. As a result, we were able to draft a resolution that has been endorsed by numerous group and that is going to be very beneficial to the city of Asheville as a whole.

In addition to guaranteeing civil liberties and equal protection under the law, the Civil Liberties Resolution also protects residents and businesses who are not under criminal investigation from having information about their social, political, or religious views and activities collected, maintained, or distributed by City officials. Further, the resolution seeks to mend relations between the police force and immigrant community by excusing local police force from the responsibilities of federal immigration officials. I presented the resolution to City Council's Public Safety Committee in April, and it was approved by the committee in June.

Prior to coming to the vote by City Council, the resolution was endorsed by the leaders and representatives of several civil liberties organizations, including leaders of Stand Against Racism; Rev. Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, Director of the Campaign for Southern Equality; Sarah Nunez and the Asheville-Buncombe Community Relations Council; the WNC ACLU; representatives of Coalicion de Organizaciones Latino-Americanas; Rev. Amy Cantrell of the Beloved Community; Rabbi Rob Cabelli, formerly of Beth Israel Synagogue; the Bill of Rights Defense Committee; Occupy Asheville; Executive Director Lael Gray of the Jewish Community Center; Rev. Tyrone Greenlee of Christians for a United Community; and the Asheville Homeless Network.

When I am re-elected you can count on me to work to ensure that the provisions of this resolution are upheld and that every Ashevillian has the rights and liberties they deserve.

The election is November 5th and there is early voting at the Asheville Mall, South Buncombe Library, West Asheville Library and the North Asheville Library starting this Saturday at 10AM (every day tip 6pm next Friday). If you'd like to chip in to Cecil's reelection efforts, you can do that here.

A Progressive Continuum: Paying it Forward

by Cecil Bothwell

Thanks to support from readers of this blog, and Glen Greenwald's endorsement, I was able to wage a credible primary campaign against our former Blue Dog Rep. Heath Shuler.

Heath dropped out, we think in part because polls suggested we might win. But big money won the primary for Heath's deputy, who then went on to lose the General.

That loss was due in at least some measure to NC redistricting that tilted this district to the right.

Far beyond what that gerrymander did to Tar Heel representation in Washington, it bent the election for our General Assembly. Tea Partiers are now shoving this state back toward the 19th Century as fast as they can cast their "ayes." If I tried to describe all that they have dismantled you would be here all day. But it is breathtaking.

Banning city councils from banning "Big Slurp" drinks is one of the more laughable. Banning metropolitan governments from adopting Sharia law is one of the most outlandish. Stealing airports from Asheville and Charlotte one of the most heinous. Eliminating regulation of private landfills one of the most scary. Shifting the tax burden from the rich to the poor (sharply cutting income taxes and raising sales taxes, including a new tax on food) is GOP-as-usual.

But, here in Asheville we're pushing back. We've filed a lawsuit to prevent theft of the municipal water system and we're taking the fight to Raleigh.

You may have read of the Moral Monday protests that have been staged at the state capital for a couple of months. This week my City Council re-election campaign has hired a bus to take protesters from Asheville to join the demonstration.

Meanwhile, we have a great young campaign intern, a rising high school senior, who needs some help to attend progressive political training sessions in Washington, DC next week.

Any contribution would be welcome. Justin deserves our support!

What Can We Learn From What The GOP Is Doing To North Carolina's Education System?

Last year, one of our favorite Blue America candidates was North Carolina state Rep. Patsy Keever, who was running against reactionary Republican closet case Patrick McHenry. Although Patsy kicked his ass where she was best known, Buncombe County-- where she rolled up a 46,240 (66%) to 23,740 (34%) victory-- the DCCC, angry that Patsy beat some conservative shill of theirs in the primary, refused to help her run in the general. In the end, the huge disparity in spending-- McHenry spent $1,127,555 and Patsy spent $419,465-- helped McHenry win big enough margins in Gaston, Cleveland and Catawba counties to beat her districtwide 57- 43%. Thanks for nothing, Steve Israel!

We were happy to see Patsy elected chairman of the Buncombe County Democratic Party Saturday. A lifelong school teacher, whose first priority has always been education, Patsy has been hard at work fighting the Republicans in the state legislature working to undermine North Carolina's public education system. This is an article she wrote last week for Diane Ravitch's blog:

To Educate Or Not To Educate In NC
by Patsy Keever

Our rulers in Raleigh are answering that question for us with bills that they could vote into law to change everything from how Carolina and State are funded, to whether tax money ought to be used for church schools, to whether or not Hamlet needs to be taught to “tech” kids. If our local legislators do not hear from us, they will vote on these bills in a vacuum-- which is contrary to representative democracy.

We have two education commandments in North Carolina. The first was spoken a century ago by Gov. Charles B. Aycock, our first education governor, “You cannot do the best for your child unless you also do the best for my child.”

The second is from our state Constitution, which mandates that “The General Assembly shall provide by taxation and otherwise for a general and uniform system of free public schools, which shall be maintained at least nine months in every year, and wherein equal opportunities shall be provided for all students.”

Pretty simple. Education for all of our students is our ultimate long-range economic development tool, our best defense against politicians who would mislead us, and our moral and constitutional duty. How do we work together to ensure that all of our children get the best possible education? How do we ensure that the limited funds are fairly distributed? How do we ensure that our school personnel have the tools and resources they need? How do we incorporate the best ideas into all of our schools? How do we keep a positive attitude and continue to do the best for all our children? What can you do?

On April 23, from 6:30-8 p.m. at the Asheville City Schools boardroom on Mountain Street, Public Schools First North Carolina, a statewide nonpartisan nonprofit is hosting a gathering of parents, school personnel and the general public to provide information about pending legislation, to identify resources and to hear ideas and suggestions from the attendees. Asheville City Schools Foundation and Children First are co-sponsors of the meeting.

At a time when the citizens of Asheville and Buncombe County are facing water control issues, airport control issues and election issues, we cannot lose sight of the most long-lasting and important responsibility-- our children' s education. We can choose to sleep through this-- but in doing so, who knows what nightmares may come? And that is the rub. See you on the 23rd.

This isn't just happening in Asheville and it isn't just happening in North Carolina. It happens wherever voters give the Republican Party control of state government.

Can You Be A Homophobe And Still Call Yourself A Democrat?

I'm guessing that most people interested in this kind of thing have already read the NY Times story by Jackie Calmes, Obama Won't Order Ban On Gay Bias By Employers... or at least some good commentary on it.

President Obama disappointed and vexed gay supporters on Wednesday with his decision, conveyed to activists by a senior adviser, not to sign an executive order banning discrimination by employers with federal contracts.

The executive order, which activists said had support from the Labor and Justice Departments, would have applied to gay, bisexual and transgender people working for or seeking employment from federal contractors. Current law does not protect against discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, and legislation to do so, which Mr. Obama endorses, lacks sufficient votes in Congress.

“While it is not our usual practice to discuss executive orders that may or may not be under consideration, we do not expect that an executive order on L.G.B.T. nondiscrimination for federal contractors will be issued at this time,” said an administration official who would speak about the controversy only if provided anonymity. “We support legislation that has been introduced and we will continue to work with Congressional sponsors to build support for it.”

That stance departs from the White House’s prominent “we can’t wait” campaign: Since last fall, Mr. Obama has signed executive orders on a variety of issues, arguing that “we can’t wait” for legislation that Republicans in Congress refuse to let pass.

By not acting on the employment nondiscrimination order, Mr. Obama has newly angered a gay constituency that has been a source of campaign cash and that had been willing to overlook his failure so far to endorse same-sex marriage, given his actions on its other priorities, like repeal of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy against openly gay service members.

Joe Solmonese, the president of the Human Rights Campaign and one of the gay-rights activists who attended a White House meeting on Wednesday called by Valerie Jarrett, one of Mr. Obama’s closest advisers, said afterward: “We are extremely disappointed with this decision and will continue to advocate for an executive order from the president. The unfortunate truth is that hard-working Americans can be fired simply for being gay or transgender.”

Obama press spokesperson, Jay Carney was left-- as you can see in the video above-- tap dancing for almost 8 minutes. Painful. Obama's record on gay rights is hardly homophobic; nor is it courageous. That's why it's so important for progressives to not just settle next time we have a chance to help nominate a president. Real change is uncomfortable-- especially for careerist politicians and centrists. If the Democratic Party is going to be a vehicle for that kind of change, we simply have to hold them accountable and force them to embrace decisions that move the ball forward. Otherwise, they'll always be about playing it safe and putting their own careers first. Obama and his team are counting on us not being suicidal enough to do anything that would jeopardize his reelection in the face of Mitt Romney. That's always been how he played progressive communities. But that doesn't make us powerless to act on our own issues.

We've talked about the importance of defeating Amendment One in North Carolina before. Obama has rallied to our cries for help as has the North Carolina Democratic Party and almost every Democratic elected official in the state (as well as some Republicans). But notice I said "almost" every Democrat. Congressman Heath Shuler, who is transitioning from being one of the most reactionary and bigoted Blue Dogs in Congress to being a corrupt K Street lobbyist, supports Amendment One. But he isn't running again. The primary in NC-11 in the westernmost part of the state pits a dedicated grassroots activist and equal rights supporter, Cecil Bothwell, against Shuler's chief-of-staff, Hayden Rogers, who was recruited by Steve Israel, chair of the DCCC, and who is being heavily pushed by DC Democrats.

Rogers likes to tell audiences he's not a carbon copy of the bigoted Shuler. But he is. Democrats tend to like to keep their religious beliefs private when it comes to partisan politics. But not Rogers.

“I am a Christian, and my family and I attend Little Brasstown Baptist Church,” he said. “My faith is very important to me, and the values it has taught me inform the decisions I make. I do firmly believe in the freedom of religion and the right of all Americans to worship in a manner of their own choosing.”

Rogers said he is against abortion and supports Amendment One.

And the Democratic Party Establishment in DC is supporting him against a far more popular Democratic officeholder who adamantly supports women's Choice and opposes homophobia in all forms. Debbie Wasserman Schultz is Obama's handpicked chair of the DNC. Here's a couple of tweets from yesterday:


Many of us, especially in swing states, feel we can't risk a Romney win by lashing out at Obama over this kind of crap. But Hayden Rogers? You can help Cecil Bothwell win that primary next month right here on the Blue America main page. Not sure if you can afford it? Watch this; maybe you can't afford not to lend a hand. And there is no such thing as a contribution being too small.

North Carolina's Amendment One-- Among The Democrats We have Friends... And We Have Unfriendlies

Patsy & Cecil have long records supporting equality for all North Carolinians

North Carolina has already banned same sex marriage. But hate-mongering Republicans are behind another effort, Amendment One, to add that to the state constitution. Although what they really want to do is just turn out bigoted voters in November in the hope that they're come to vote against equality and stay around to vote for Republicans. Blue America has endorsed two congressional candidates running in North Carolina, Patsy Keever and Cecil Bothwell. Patsy's opponent is notorious anti-gay closet case Patrick McHenry and Cecil, who was challenging homophobic Blue Dog Heath Shuler-- who has since slinked off in the direction of K Street-- doesn't know which sociopath auditioning for the seat will be his GOP opponent in November. Some conservative Shuler staffer is in the race as well. Yesterday Cecil, whose entire career has been built as a defender of civil liberties for all, issued a statement explicitly urging North Carolina voters to oppose Amendment One.

"Republicans in the North Carolina General Assembly have decided to put one of their favorite wedge issues on the state primary ballot, May 8. The proposed amendment to our state constitution is wrong on multiple levels. It denies equal rights under the law, a mainstay of America's democracy since the beginning. It is so poorly worded that it is likely to cause real harm to women, to unmarried couples with children, to seniors living together, in addition to its stated goal of preventing same sex marriage. 

"Such an amendment will very likely impede our state's business recruitment, since forward-looking companies across the country are changing with the times and need to be able to recruit the best and brightest employees regardless of gender or sexual orientation. It will undo the efforts we have made in Asheville and other cities across the state to provide health care benefits to all of our employees. And it would add to our state constitution a provision that is almost certain to be overturned in the U.S. Supreme Court, as other lawsuits already underway work up through our federal court system. It would therefore demand expensive litigation at a time when our financial troubles are forcing cuts in schools, environmental protection, public safety and more.

"Let's not permit the GOP to divert our attention from the real issues facing our community, our state and our nation. We need a jobs program that puts people to work now, meaningful support for education, and legislation that protects Medicare and Social Security. I urge my fellow citizens to step up, get out the vote, and turn back the tide of divisiveness and fear mongering unleashed by the GOP. It is time to stand up for freedom and love."

Patsy, the more recent candidate endorsed by Blue America, is one of the most stalwart progressives in the state legislature. Before she can take on McHenry in November, she has to beta a conservative anti-gay Democrat, Terry Bellamy. Bellamy has opposed even domestic partnership arrangements on the Asheville City Council and when the Council did pass a domestic-partnership registry 5-1, she was the "one." A horrible, bigot throwback who certainly shouldn't be running for federal office as a Democrat. Patsy, on the other hand, despite having to face a fairly conservative electorate in November, is sticking by her guns. A few hours ago she told DWT that she's continuing her consistent opposition to Amendment One.

“As a person of faith, there is no way I could support Amendment One. No matter what your stance is on same sex marriage, one must acknowledge that it is poorly written, and, if passed, would have harmful and unintended consequences. It would strip legal protections from children and harm unmarried couples and seniors.”

Relatively conservative Democrats from U.S. Senator Kay Hagan and Governor Bev Perdue to Congressman Bob Etheridge have come out against it as well. If you care about marriage equality, Patsy and Cecil both have primaries against anti-gay conservative "Dems" coming right up. Please consider helping these two outstanding candidates.

New Deal Democrat Cecil Bothwell vs Blue Dog Heath Shuler-- A Study In Contrasts

Cecil Bothwell, the real thing

On Labor Day Asheville City Councilman Cecil Bothwell, the progressive Democrat taking on reactionary Blue Dog Heath Shuler in western North Carolina, issued a challenge to his conservative foe: "AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka has issued a Six-Point Agenda for New Jobs. I signed a pledge to support that agenda and I challenge Rep. Heath Shuler to do the same and to publicly announce his support."

Shuler, whose sister cousin is Liz Shuler, the first woman ever elected Secretary Treasurer of the AFL-CIO, has tried to temper his right-wing instincts when it comes to labor issues-- tried but failed. When push has come to shove, he's tended to vote with Republicans against the rights of public employees and against the rights of individual employees in the workplace. It would be hard to imagine him signing on to Trumka's Six-Point Agenda any sooner than Eric Cantor or John Boehner. And that goes a long way to explaining why he's vulnerable to Bothwell's challenge next year. Bothwell:

We American workers need immediate action. Our government can and must put people to work, now. The current recession will only end when unemployment levels are cut in half, and only the U.S. government has the power and obligation to make that happen quickly.

Federal law requires the government, in particular the President and the Federal Reserve, to create jobs. This legal duty comes from three sources: (1) full employment legislation including the Humphrey Hawkins Full Employment Act of 1978, (2) the 1977 Federal Reserve Act, and (3) the global consensus based on customary international law that all people have a right to a job with favorable remuneration to provide an adequate standard of living.

This is not a matter of opinion. It is a matter of law.

It isn’t easy to stand up to the lies and corruption coming from Wall Street, from the multinational corporations, from Fox News and the right-wing noise machine. But we can be heroes and stand up for our families, our neighbors and the future of the American Dream!

There’s a fellow in Burke County who used to work at a furniture factory. He built good furniture and he made pretty good money, $15 per hour plus benefits. He had worked up to two weeks paid vacation, he felt like he was part of a team and together with his wife’s income they’d been able to save and put money down on a house. She was a teaching assistant and she loved both her job and the way her work fit in with her kids’ school schedule.

That fellow’s job has been relocated to China, to a worker who makes 90 cents per hour, while cuts in the NC state budget eliminated his wife’s position in the school. They’re in foreclosure and they aren’t sure what they’ll do or where they’ll go next. The ongoing recession has hit them hard, and even if the economy turned around tomorrow, they’ll be a very long time climbing back.

That story has been repeated across WNC and around the country. One in four jobs lost in the global recession were right here in the United States. We took the big hit.

Our work defines us, enobles us and enables us to participate in the economy. For the great majority of us, the only thing we have to invest in the business world is our muscle and talent and sweat and commitment. That is to say, our lives. We find some sort of work that suits us, or pays enough to convince us that the transaction is worthwhile, and we do it. Day after day, year after year. The bargain with those who pay us is this: Our good work and our loyalty in exchange for your profit and your loyalty. That promise has been broken.

...Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats will tell you that organized labor has hurt American workers by forcing corporations to go overseas. That’s a lie.

Unionization of major industries in America-- autos in the midwest, coal mining in the mid-south, steel manufacturing in the northeast, and some weaving and sewing operations in both south and north-- lifted millions of Americans out of grinding poverty and abusive working conditions. Union campaigns are the reason we don’t have children working in sweatshops like our competitors in China. They brought us the 40-hour work week, job safety rules, benefits including health care and workmen’s compensation, unemployment insurance, minimum wage laws and more. Today unions in telecommunications, construction, public service, airport security, public safety and other fields continue to defend all of us who labor in whatever sector we find work.

Unions created the best trained, most productive work force in the world, and non-union workers benefited as well. The floor was raised, and both workers and owners benefited from the partnership.

...Blue Dogs and Republicans also tell you that cutting federal spending and taxes is the only way to create new jobs. That’s another lie.

Cutting spending and taxes only puts people out of work, and it does nothing to help recovery. Yes, the deficit is a long-term problem we will need to address, after we are all back to work.

Treasury bonds are paying two percent interest right now. It is a great time for the Fed to borrow money-- ask any small business owner who needs capital improvements whether a two percent loan is a good deal! We can and must choose to create public sector jobs today with a reinstatement of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).

We need high speed rail nationwide-- air travel and over-the-road trucking are going to be priced out of the market as oil prices rise in the future. Trains are the answer. And we need multi-modal transit systems that connect us to the trains, to our jobs and to our extended families.

We need teachers and teaching assistants in every school system-- Federal money can make this happen fast. America is falling behind our world competitors in both achievement and college matriculation.

We need to provide scholarships for those who are out of work and want to continue their education-- just as we had the GI Bill after WWII. After a decade of unnecesssary wars and collapse of our economy, we need to prepare citizens for the 21st Century.

We need water conservation projects-- we are facing permanent drought both globally and here at home as we run out of fresh water supplies. (Small scale farms should get the same water conservation subsidies currently enjoyed by the corporate giants.)

We need energy conservation projects-- retrofitting homes and businesses with energy saving technologies “creates” more energy at a lower cost than any form of energy production. The cheapest energy is the energy we don’t use.

Cecil Bothwell is the first canddiate added to Blue America's page dedicacted to replacing Blue Dogs with real Democrats-- Bad Dogs. Take a look at his platform and ask yourself if you'd like to help see Cecil Bothwell in Congress instead of Heath Shuler, who has voted almost 60% of the time-- on crucial votes since he was elected-- with the Republicans against the Democratic positions in the House. This is what Cecil is asking voters in North Carolina to consider before they vote in the primary:

Jobs

• Infrastructure: Repair America’s roads and bridges.

• Transportation: Light rail to get people to work … heavy rail for factories.

• Water: Upgrade water and sewage systems.

• Conservation: Planting trees addresses climate change.

• Education: Reinvigorate our schools by hiring artists, writers, musicians, engineers, math and computer geeks, and returning veterans.

Trade

• China is charging a de facto 30% tariff on U.S. goods.

• We have a trade deficit with China that now approaches $1 billion PER DAY.

• If China won’t drop trade barriers, we need to immediately impose a 30 percent tariff on all Chinese goods.
(That’s the way to bring back manufacturing jobs in WNC and across our nation.)

• Renegotiate NAFTA and CAFTA to include worker and environmental protection.

Wall Street

• Regulate Wall St. to prevent another financial collapse.

• Protect consumers from predatory lending.

• End corporate personhood; overturn Citizens United.

• Public financing for elections: government not for sale.

• Restore the right to collective bargaining: CardChek.

Education

• Reform “No Child Left Behind.”

• More flexibility and fairness in our accountability system.

• Bigger investment in teachers and principals.

• A sharper focus on schools and students most at risk.

• Free Public Education from preschool through four years of college.

The Social Safety Net

• Social Security: Remove the cap! The wealthy are only taxed up to $106,000.

• Medicare: Remove the cap!  No cuts; instead, Medicare for all as the public option.

• Medicaid: No cuts; this program serves the truly needy, especially children.

Women’s issues

• Equal pay for equal work.

• Full funding for Planned Parenthood and domestic violence prevention programs.

• Abortion should be legal, safe and rare.

• Paid parental leave for one parent for the first five years of a woman’s first two children’s lives.

The National Debt

• Allow the Bush tax cuts to expire, implement Financial Transaction Tax.

• Require millionaires, billionaires, and corporations to pay their fair share.

• Cut the Pentagon budget. End the endless wars. Out of Afghanistan, now.

• Cut farm subsidies to agribusiness.

Shuler opposes almost every progressive reform Bothwell is proposing. Again, you can contribute to Bothwell's campaign here.

Blue Dog Heath Shuler Gets A Challenge... From The Left-- Meet Asheville City Councilman Cecil Bothwell

Heath Shuler used to brag how he lives in the C Street cult frat house for authoritarian Jesus freaks and homophobes Jim DeMint (R-SC), Zack Wamp (R-TN), and Tom Coburn (R-OK)-- as well as sexual predators like John Ensign (R-NV) and Mark Sanford (R-SC). Now he brags how he votes more often with John Boehner and his C Street fellow cultists than with the Democratic Party-- and how he's on a mission. His mission goes beyond an anti-Choice, anti-working family agenda he has in common with his Republican allies. His mission is to make the Democratic congressional caucus a mirror image of the GOP. Since being defeated in his run for Democratic Leader by Nancy Pelosi (173-11) Shuler's been busy recruiting conservatives like himself to run for Congress as Democrats-- much the same way Rahm Emanuel recruited him. He's massively financed by the same corporate interests that finance the GOP... and he's the new Blue Dog whip.

A virulent anti-immigrant bigot and anti-Choice fanatic, Shuler has next to nothing to do with the Democratic Party. When it comes to ProgressivePunch's crucial votes scores, Shuler's 40.39 shows him among the 5 Democrats voting most frequently on key issues with Boehner and Cantor. He's the most right-wing Democrat in the North Carolina delegation and has had a profoundly negative influence on weaker minded Members Mike McIntyre and Larry Kissell.

Yesterday I read about Asheville City Councilman Cecil Bothwell's decision to challenge Shuler's 2012 reelection bid. A primary would have set up an impossible situation for Bothwell, mostly because of Shuler's gigantic corporate financial support. Last year he spent $2,212,737 to fend off a challenge from a little-known teabagger, Jeff Miller. When Shuler won reelection in 2006 he took every county in the district and beat Asheville City Councilman Carl Mumpower 62-36%. This past November Shuler didn't have as easy a ride, barely retaining his seat at all (54-46%) and losing in Cherokee, Clay, Henderson, Polk, and Rutherford counties. In fact, in crucial Henderson, he only managed 12,786 (35%) against 23,541 (65%) for Miller-- quite the comedown from 2008 when 27,535 (54%) of Henderson County voters pulled the lever for him.

Bothwell, anticipating a strong and well-financed Republican challenge next year (because of Shuler's weak showing), decided to forget about a primary and to run as a third party Independent, offering voters a clear alternative between a conservative Blue Dog masquerading as a Democrat and a reactionary Republican masquerading as a conservative. So who is Cecil Bothwell? On his blog and his website you get a very different kind of mindset than the Heath Shuler variety:

• Created the largest grassroots campaign in Asheville City Council history with over 500 donors (average $50) and over 700 willing to volunteer.

• 30 year resident of Buncombe County and lives near Five Points.

• 25 years as a “green builder”

• Member of the American Civil Liberties Union

• Founding member of WNC for Death Penalty Repeal

• Founding member of Asheville PARC

• Tutored at Asheville’s Hall-Fletcher elementary school for three years.

• Helped create a church jail ministry program at the Buncombe County Detention Center.

• Has owned and operated Brave Ulysses Books, a micro-publishing company, since 2000.

• Former managing editor of Asheville’s weekly Mountain Xpress.

• Author of the best-selling city guide, Finding Your Way in Asheville.

• Winner of national and regional awards for investigative reporting, criticism and humorous commentary from the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies and the Society of Professional Journalists.

• Weekly radio commentator on WNCW 88.7FM for three years, DJ on WPVM 103.5FM for five years.

• Dubbed the Most Courageous Elected Official of 2010 by the American Atheists.

And, as his bio asserts, "He has brought an uncommon diversity of experience to bear on all of the issues addressed by Asheville’s City Council." After his election to the City Council in 2009, the validity of his election was challenged by several opponents, despite the fact that he won the most votes. They contended that an archaic provision in the state Constitution-- long ago overruled by the Judiciary-- doesn't allow for atheists to hold office-- and Bothwell has been one since he turned 20. Bothwell began serving with an affirmation of the oath of office, rather than taking an oath on a Bible. He would make a refreshing change from a religious fanatic like Shuler.

UPDATE

Bothwell has reassessed the political situation in western North Carolina and has decided to challenge Shuler in the Democratic primary. He's the first Democrat we added in the current cycle to Blue America's Bad Dog page and if you'd like to help... well every donation, no matter how small, will help combat Heath Shuler's huge corporate warchest.

Blue America Welcomes Gordon Smith-- From North Carolina (Not Oregon)

A couple weeks ago western North Carolina activist and blogger Gordon Smith of Scrutiny Hooligans penned an expose about what went wrong with the highest ranking local Democratic elected official in his area, Blue Dog Congressman Health Shuler. Two weeks later-- yesterday, to be precise, Gordon officially announced his own campaign for city council in the biggest city in Shuler's district, Asheville (population 90,000/greater metro area is 370,000). Today we've asked Gordon to join us at Firedoglake to talk about his grassroots efforts in the district and about transitioning from blogger/activist to actually running for office.

He's 38, married to Rachel with whom he has two dogs, and makes a living as a child and family therapist. After he graduated from college he served in Belfast for two years with the Brethren Volunteer Service doing community reconciliation work with Protestants and Catholics. He started blogging in 2004 at DFA and co-founded Scrutiny Hooligans which evolved into a political blog and then BlogAshville. As the 2006 congressional race approached the Scrutiny Hooligans bloggers realized there wasn't anyone covering incumbent Republican Charles Taylor's corrupt dealings-- so they got serious and very busy and helped replace Taylor with Shuler. He's proud of helped get rid of Taylor even if he and his colleagues are having serious buyers' remorse over the replacement.

"I discovered that the more local I blogged and the smaller my focus got, the more traffic we got. So we started covering county and city affairs in Asheville and Buncombe County and suddenly we were a part of a regular go-to media for news in this area... Scrutiny Hooligans has become a destination for folks trying to catch up on what's going on locally."

When I asked him what made him decide to jump from blogging to running for office there were many factors he talked about but one of the most important is that "Asheville is facing an enormous budget deficit for a city of our size. And here in North Carolina we have what's called 'home rule,' which means that if you don't balance your budget, the state will come in and take over your city. When the budget deficits were announced the first things that came out of the city managers mouth was about cutting the things that make our community most resilient through recessions. He was talking about cutting money that was going to go towards an Affordable Housing Trust Fund for the construction of affordable housing, and cutting money for alternative transportation-- for buses, for bike lanes, for greenways... All the stuff that make this city more affordable, more liveable, more sustainable were the first things that were on the chopping block. So I'm running, first and foremost to be able to protect those priorities."

You'll get a good idea about the issues facing the voters in Asheville and what kinds of priorities Gordon is addressing at his campaign website, which is also someplace where you can donate or volunteer. The housing crisis in Asheville, though, was another important factor that spurred Gordon into deciding to run for city council.

We have one of the highest costs of living in the state of North Carolina and one of the lowest median incomes. What that means is that people have a hard time finding a place to live. This has been a very attractive vacation destination for a long time; we have a lot of people who have second homes here and that's really driven up property values in ways that no one has ever expected. There are a lot of people in this town who are working two and three jobs and who are having to either live substandard, share places, or live with family because they just can't afford a place to live. That's why it's so important to maintain the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, which gives loans and helps developers who are creating affordable housing to get lines of credit.

Join us over at Firedoglake today at 2pm (EST) and meet Gordon to learn more about his campaign and about building progressive infrastructure through blogging.

North Carolina Democrats Have A Case Of Buyers Remorse Over Heath Shuler-- Guest Post From Gordon Smith

Gordon Smith interviewing Shuler during the 2006 campaign

If you know Gordon Smith it's probably because you've read his posts at Asheville, North Carolina's progressive blog, Scrutiny Hooligans. Gordon, a child and family therapist, is a candidate for Asheville City Council this year. In 2006 he was one of the western North Carolina activists eager to get rid of the corrupt fossil who represented their area, the bankster/congressman Charlie Taylor. Gordon worked to elect Heath Shuler. Like many progressives in North Carolina-- and beyond-- he's happier that Taylor is gone than he is that Shuler, one of the most reactionary of any House Democrat, has replaced him. Today's top story in Politico emphasizes the distrust Speaker Pelosi feels towards Heath Shuler. He's the only person on her bad boy list above second-ranked Rush Limbaugh!

No Democrat has done quite so much in so short a time to arouse Pelosi’s disdain as the failed-Redskins-quarterback-turned-ambitious-North-Carolina-congressman.

The conservative, anti-abortion Shuler would have made the list for voting against both bank bailout bills and the stimulus package, but the way he went about it didn’t help; Shuler told an audience back home that “House leadership and Senate leadership have really failed” on the $787 billion package.

The thing that riles Pelosi most, according to several House aides, is that she believes Shuler’s motives are as much political as they are ideological-- and that he’s picking a fight with her to position himself for a run against Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) next year.

Now that Shuler is working with Republicans to sabotage progressive values on a regular basis-- and looking towards running for the U.S. Senate-- I asked Gordon to give us a perspective from inside North Carolina's beautiful 11th congressional district. His report:

OUR REBOUND RELATIONSHIP WITH HEATH SHULER

by Gordon Smith

For sixteen long years, the citizens of North Carolina's mountainous 11th District were represented in Congress by Charles H. Taylor. No matter the clouds of corruption allegations swirling around him, conservative voters returned Taylor to the House cycle after cycle. He had his Russian bank ties, his Jack Abramoff ties, his Savings and Loan scandal, and a remarkable antipathy towards the press and his progressive constituents. It was like an ill-considered, abusive relationship, and NC-11 voters couldn't tear themselves away.

Then along came Heath Shuler. Big, handsome, and aw-shucks honest, he had pretty words about labor unions, education, and the environment. He looked like our dragon-slayer. We knew about his social conservatism and Tennessee Republican registration, but we looked past those differences, ready for him to free us from the muck pond of Charles Taylor's reign. Progressive and conservative Democrats across the district worked together to elect Shuler. I campaigned for him repeatedly and interviewed him for the YouTube crowd.

Despite being outspent 3-1, Heath Shuler defeated the embattled, embittered Charles Taylor 54 - 46 in this district that had gone 57 - 43 for President Bush only two years before. And there was much rejoicing.  Before long, however, those things we'd chosen to ignore during the campaign began cropping up. He voted against stem cell research. He argued against "amnesty" for immigrants. He voted against hate crimes legislation. He was praised by the Family Research Council, spoke at North carolina's version of CPAC, along with Rudy Giuliani and Liddy Dole, and voted against SCHIP. He voted twice against the stimulus package.

Like the abused constituency we'd become under Charles Taylor's tenure, we tried to focus on his votes to expand parks, the V.A., and energy efficiency. Though the knight in shining armor had lost his luster, we weren't ready to imagine anyone better might come along. We nodded our heads when people would say, "it's not like you'll get anymore further to the left of Heath Shuler elected in this district."

And then came the Obama campaign. North Carolina was suddenly a swing state, and Congressman Shuler was doing the superdelegate cha-cha-cha. Obama campaigners and local Democrats embarked on a massive voter registration drive, and when the dust settled in November, 2008, Barack Obama won two counties in Shuler country. Obama's margin in Buncombe County alone accounted for his margin of victory in newly-blue North Carolina.

It's been a real eye-opener for 11th district progressives. We don't have to settle for a representative who won't recognize equality or value stem cell science. We don't have to hang on the arm of a representative who votes so often against Democratic initiatives. Heath Shuler was our perfect rebound relationship after the pain of living with Charles Taylor, but now we're ready to move on, ready to look for a Congressional candidate who will respect women's rights and human rights while keeping our economic fortunes on the right track. With the rumor mill whirling over the possibility Shuler will run for Richard Burr's Senate seat, there may be an open seat for 11th District progressives to go after. That's a possibility that many had almost given up on and that Barack Obama's ascension has turned from an unimaginable dream into a realistic goal.

Progressives don't have to settle for Heath Shuler. We can recruit and support a Democrat who will reflect the change that's come to America.

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Watch Gordon interviewing Shuler in 2006. You can see the roots of what Shuler has become since being elected to Congress: