The Rest Of America Needs To Be Connected To A Rapidly Changing Digital Universe That Is Revolutionizing Every Aspect Of American Life

On Sunday, the NY Times published an OpEd by Ro Khanna (D-CA), Spread the Digital Wealth. Ro's own district, CA-17, has lots of it to share. Although it starts up in Newark and Fremont in the East Bay, traditionally white collar towns, it meanders down into the Silicon Valley and bedroom communities like Milpitis, Sunnyvale, Cupertino and Santa Clara and right to the edge of San Jose. The district's residents are about 50% Asian-American now. Khanna was elected in 2016 after having served as an Assistant Secretary in Obama's Commerce Department. He has a law degree from Yale, where he specialized in intellectual property law, and before joining Congress wrote a book on competitiveness in business, Entrepreneurial Nation: Why Manufacturing is Still Key to America's Future.

He's widely considered one of the hardest working and effective members of Congress and he works on the cutting edge of policy, much of it informed by his studies and experience in the tech and business world. ProgressivePunch rates him the 5th most progressive member of the House (not counting the newly elected freshmen). He was the only member of the House to endorse Alexandria Ocasio Cortez's campaign against "future Speaker" Joe Crowley. In his Times OpEd Sunday he addressed a burning question in much of America-- when will "noncoastal towns and rural communities, including many communities of color be able to participate in the digital revolution. We know," he wrote, "that almost all Americans are avid consumers of technology, but many lack the opportunity to do the creative work that fuels our digital economy."

At stake is the dignity of millions of people. Within the next 10 years, nearly 60 percent of jobs could have a third of their tasks automated by artificial intelligence. Many traditional industries are becoming digital. Recently, a senior hotel executive described his business to me as essentially a digital one, explaining that his profit margins were contingent on the effectiveness of his software architects. Today’s hospitality vendors, precision farmers and electricians spend significant time on digital work.

Economists keep telling those left out of our digital future to move to the tech hubs. Sometimes I wonder if they have ever been to places like Jefferson, Iowa, or Beckley, West Virginia. If they visit, they will realize that many people there are not looking to move. They are proud of their small-town values and enjoy being close to family. They brag that their town doesn’t need many traffic lights. And they worry about a brain drain.

These places also are not looking to become the next Silicon Valley. They are self-aware enough to recognize that there are benefits for the world’s top engineers and computer scientists to flock to Palo Alto, California, or Austin, Tex. They understand why venture capitalists betting millions of dollars would want to be close to the start-ups they fund to have some control and accountability. But the choice facing small towns should not be binary-- it should not be “adopt the Silicon moniker or miss out on the tech future.”

Although the most advanced software innovation may take place in big cities with research universities, there is a lot of work concerning the application of software to business processes and the administration and maintenance of software systems that can be done remotely. Shame on us for shipping over 211,000 of these jobs offshore to countries like Malaysia and Brazil. Americans have an advantage in doing them because of a cultural understanding of what businesses need and a more convenient time zone.

Small towns can also sustain entrepreneurial activity that is tailored to their needs. Consider the fifth-generation internet service provider in Jefferson, Iowa, that was willing to make a bet on investing in fiber to serve a 4,200-person town. Jefferson is not chasing brand-name venture capitalists on Sand Hill Road but is seeking more modest investments in local businesses that will solve local problems.

So, what more can we do to make sure rural America has its share of middle-class jobs and businesses that will be the backbone of the digital economy? We need to provide additional funds to existing community colleges and land-grant universities to create tech institutes in places left behind. West Virginia University’s new tech institute in Beckley provides a model, equipping students with practical degrees or credentials that lead to jobs.

The federal government also should invest $80 billion to have affordable high-speed internet-- preferably fiber-- in every corner of this nation. We need to pay special attention to the racial gap in the affordability and adoption of broadband. Our infrastructure should not be a barrier to remote work.

Finally, the federal government can change incentives. When awarding federal software contracts, agencies should give favorable consideration if at least 10 percent of the work force is rural. We should, moreover, adopt stronger Equal Employment Opportunity reporting requirements for companies on the number of programmers they hire by country and location.

When I was in Beckley to visit the new tech campus, I was reminded of the story of John F. Kennedy’s visit to West Virginia during his 1960 campaign, when coal miners enthusiastically supported his vision for going to the moon. Our nation has always had a love affair with innovation. I saw that spark in the Beckley students, many from coal mining families, who were eager to show off their tech projects.

One of the most popular teachers was a Pakistani-American woman, with a thick accent, who was teaching software design. When some of the Beckley students asked me what more they should do to bring tech, I joked that they would be wise to open up a few more Pakistani or Indian restaurants. There was awkward silence and then laughter. If we can figure out how to give more Americans a shot in tech, a shot at the ordinary jobs that don’t necessarily afford rock star status or come with generous stock options but that can sustain middle-class life, then we might just take a step toward stitching our nation back together.

Two 2018 congressional candidates who live in largely rural districts-- and who will almost certainly be 2020 congressional candidates as well-- are Audrey Denney from the far northeast of California (about 42% rural) and Mike Siegel in an oddly-gerrymandered district stretching from northern Austin through suburbs, small towns and farmland into the exurbs of Houston (TX-10, about 20% rural). Both read Khanna's OpEd with their own districts in mind. Audrey told us that in her "vast remote, rural district our lack of broadband access exacerbates our inability to connect to new jobs in the digital age, but it also is a public safety issue and an educational issue. In one town in western Sierra county not only do they not have internet access or cell service-- but new landlines aren’t being installed. When an accident happens-- residents literally have to run down to the pizza parlor in town to use the landline. In CA-01, where major wildfires continue to ravage our communities, the lack of connectedness can be a matter of life and death. Additionally, equipping rural students for future-ready jobs requires being able to access the Internet, which many of our rural schools can’t.

Mike Siegel's district is more of a mixed situation. In one area they have Austin, which it's high tech industries and in the middle of the district... they need some of that "sharing" Khanna is talking about. "As Democrats," he told me recently, "we must show up in our rural communities, express our willingness to fight against the rigged economy, and work to win concrete victories. Universal High Speed Internet is one project that is achievable and would make a tremendous impact on rural economies. And the proposed Green New Deal will bring countless quality jobs to build renewable energy infrastructure, support energy efficiency, and promote local agriculture. Here in Texas, we have a tradition of economic populism going back a hundred years, and we can tap into that with a program that seeks both short-term and long-term change."

Is Beyoncé In The Illuminati? Don't Ask The Republican Running For Congress In Northwest Illinois

Who even talks about the Illuminati but right-wing nut cases these days... and people on lunatic fringe websites? Illinois Republicans... meet your candidate in the 17th district-- Rockford, down along the Iowa border past Dubuque and Davenport to Burlington and over to Peoria, Kewanee and Galesburg, and as far south as Carlson and Swan lakes. Chicago Republicans have already nominated Art Jones, an actual Nazi, as their candidate in IL-03, famous for writing that "the Holocaust is nothing more than an international extortion racket by the Jews. It's the blackest lie in history." He's proud to admit he's affiliated with the Nazi Party and says he votes for the Republican candidate "90% of the time." He has a very Trumpist anti-immigrant platform. Anyway, as if that wasn't enough, the Illinois GOP now has a conspiracy theory loon as crazy as Jones running on the other side of the state, Bill Fawell. So who is Republican Bill Fawell? He won the GOP nomination to oppose Cheri Bustos, a right-wing Democrat when the two other Republicans in the primary, Mark Kleine and Jon Schuh, withdrew. Kleine had raised (self-financed) $508,150 before withdrawing. Fawell hasn't raised the $5,000 that would trigger an FEC report.

Fawell, a real estate broker, pushed conspiracy theories in blogs and his 2012 book, New American Revolution.

In his book, Fawell pushed a conspiracy theory that 7 World Trade Center collapsed as part of a controlled demolition and the attacks were a plot to destroy documents.

"Go to YouTube and punch in 'Building #7' It's the third building that went down with the twin towers on 9/11," Fawell wrote. "Nothing hit this building, not a thing, and it fell entirely upon its own. If it looks like a standard commercial implosion demolition, it's because that is exactly what it is."

"It's interesting to note that the clandestine branch of the CIA was housed on the top floor," he added. "No personnel were lost, but any and all documents were destroyed, just like a giant shredder. The Pentagon was hit in a wing being remodeled (but few people), that held a mountain of paperwork regarding 1 trillion dollars which the Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, was having trouble accounting for. That mountain of paperwork became a pile of ash."

In a February 2013 post on the blog of a political action committee he established in 2012 called Elect a New Congress, Fawell said that Beyonce's husband, rapper Jay-Z, "has a long history of serving up the godless Illuminati" and shared a YouTube video that speculated that Beyonce's upcoming halftime performance at the Super Bowl would have Illuminati symbolism.

The Illuminati is a secret society that serves as the basis for a popular conspiracy theory that alleges that many of the world's leaders and celebrities are masterminding world events.

In the same blog post, Fawell said that the previous Super Bowl's halftime show, performed by Madonna, was satanic and influenced by the Illuminati. He also called Madonna a "narcissist skank with the crooked teeth."

In an interview with CNN, Fawell stood by his blog posts and the theories he espoused on them. He said that Jay-Z and Beyonce expressed their support for the Illuminati in their videos, and that singer Taylor Swift had as well.

There is no Illuminati now, except on Hate Talk Radio, but there was one, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded to oppose superstition, obscurantism, religious influence over public life, and abuses of state power-- the Bavarian Illuminati founded in 1776. They were a boogey man to conservatives and were banned over and over again. It attracted progressives of the day but disappeared the 1780s. You can be sure anyone ranting and raving about the Illuminati today is mentally ill, as well as an extreme right-winger.

The internet is awash with theories about the Illuminati, a mysterious group that conspiracy theorists believe is seeking a 'New World Order' that would impose a totalitarian world government. Among the alleged members of the secret society are not just politicians and religious leaders, but actors and pop stars.

Echoing the anti-communist witch-hunts and black-listings of 1950s Hollywood, one of the core beliefs of Illuminati watchers is that the entire entertainment industry has been infiltrated and that Illuminati members are using the media to brainwash the masses.

So who are the Illuminati and who has the group apparently recruited from Tinseltown?

...In a recent interview with the BBC, David Bramwell, "a man who has dedicated himself to documenting the origins of the myth", claims the modern-day Illuminati legend was influenced not by Weishaupt but rather by LSD, the 1960s counter-culture, and specifically a text called Principia Discordia.

...One of the main proponents of this new ideology was a writer called Robert Anton Wilson who wanted to bring chaos back into society by "disseminating misinformation through all portals-- through counter culture, through the mainstream media," claims Bramwell.

He did this by sending fake letters to the men's magazine Playboy, where he worked, attributing cover-ups and conspiracy theories, such as the JFK assassination, to a secret elite organisation called the Illuminati.

...[T]he idea of a powerful modern Illuminati conspiring to rule the world remained a niche belief upheld by a handful of cranks until the 1990s. The spread of the internet changed all that, giving conspiracy theorists a global platform to expound their beliefs and present their evidence to a massive audience.

Theories about how the New World Order operates run from the faintly credible-- in light of the Davos summit, a cabal of politicians and business leaders getting together to decide global policies doesn't seem impossible-- to the outright bizarre.

Earlier this year, Canada’s respected former defence minister, Paul Hellyer, came out and claimed not only that the Illuminati is real, but that it does indeed control the world.

Speaking on the Lazarus Effect podcast, Hellyer said he believed the world’s elite has suppressed technology brought to Earth by aliens, which could reverse the effects of climate change and end our reliance on fossil fuels.

When asked why, he said many members of the Illuminati have stakes in oil and were therefore heavily invested in how well the industry did.

...At the other end of the believability spectrum is former TV presenter David Icke's claim that the world's leaders are actually super-intelligent lizards in human guise who control our reality from the Moon. Those who remember Icke from his days on Grandstand may be surprised to know his theories about our reptilian overlords-- who have included the Rothschilds, Bob Hope and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother-- have amassed a faithful following on the internet.

...As well as being king and queen of the charts, Beyonce and Jay Z are frequently depicted as lords of the New World Order. Beyonce's immense fame and popularity have long made her a favourite target for conspiracy theorists. Illuminati 'experts' seized upon her half-time performance at the 2013 Super Bowl as an example of her "devil-worshipping" choreography, even accusing her on-stage alter ego Sasha Fierce of being a "demonic entity."

Her recent performance at this year’s Coachella music festival sent conspiracy theorist tongues wagging again.

...[F]ormer MI6 agent John Coleman... claimed the Beatles' overwhelming transatlantic success was engineered by the Tavistock Institute for Human Relations, a London-based social research group - or, as theorists would have it, a nefarious organisation dedicated to eroding the bedrock of US society.

To that end, argues the former special agent, the institute's Illuminati connections used the Fab Four to further its plan to promote "rock music and drugs" with the aim of "undermining and eventually destroying the family unit."

...When Prince died suddenly of an accidental overdose in April, a small but vocal corner of the internet accused the Illuminati of killing the singer-songwriter, who was famous for fiercely protecting his copyrights and artistic freedom from industry interference.

Proof?

The Future of The Democratic Party-- Mike Honda vs Ro Khanna

I don't know which e-mails leaked by Wikileaks are real and which are Russian propaganda, which are doctored or which are actual evidence of something-- like John Podesta's refreshingly healthy interest in extraterrestrial life. The leaked e-mail about the race in CA-17 is very unlikely to be Russian propaganda or in any way tampered with and I left it was just too important to let slip away unremarked on.

A little background first, starting with the fact that Blue America has endorsed progressive workhorse Mike Honda and very much rejected slick, conservaDem Ro Khanna. As we've pointed out before, Republicans know they will never win the seat (northern San Jose, Berryessa, Santa Clara, Cupertino, Sunnyvale, Milpitas, Fremont, Newark). It's way too educated, way too blue for them, D+20. So wealthy GOP plutocrats, like Marc Leder and Trump Supreme Court dream, crackpot Peter Thiel, have bankrolled sleazy, conservative fake Dem, Ro Khanna to run against beloved progressive icon Mike Honda.

The other piece of background is a bit about Steven Spinner, who wrote this e-mail below to John Podesta in May of 2015. Spinner was a major Obama bundler and the Campaign Chairman for Ro Khanna's failed congressional bid in 2014. He was also the crook behind the Solyndra loan controversy and has successfully used his political connections to avoid being criminally charged.

In 2014, Honda beat Khanna 69,561 (52%) to 64,847 (48%). In this year's primary, Khanna came out slightly ahead-- 33,785 (38.3%) to 33,608 (38.1%) and the two face off again next week in the general election. As of last week, Khanna had spent $3,303,700 and Honda had spent $2,388,677. A dark money SuperPAC had spent an additional $379,523 for Khanna, including $67,813 last week smearing Honda. (A quarter million dollar of the poisonous PAC money comes from 2 of the most despicable excuses for Democrats from Obama-finance-world, notorious anti-education billionaire vampires John and Laura Arnold of Houston.) Now, the e-mail in question, subject line thanks & next steps:

John,

Thanks for meeting with me today. Great chatting about a number of topics. I am excited about helping, in any way I can, to make sure the Clinton campaign gets the enthusiastic support of Silicon Valley tech community, past Obama donors, and the South Asian community.

I also appreciate that you understand the need to solve the Khanna-Honda issue. It's about the future of our Party and also about maximizing support for Hillary Clinton in a big way this cycle. I was inspired enough to share a few thoughts we discussed for your reference.

John, you are one of the few statesmen in our Party with the stature and vision to solve this. I know it's the right thing to do, a legacy issue for our party, and will pay dividends for the Clintons for many years.

Let me know your thoughts, John. See you late tomorrow afternoon.

Best,
Steve


*I. *
*Ro Khanna is the first true Silicon Valley candidate. *Ro, who is 38, has received the support of over 600 technology and financial leaders, more than six times what President Obama received in 2012. This includes both Democrats and Republicans such as Eric Schmidt, John Doerr, Paul Otellini, Sheryl Sandberg, Marissa Mayer, Ron Conway, Vinod Khosla, Sean Parker, Marc Andreessen, Peter Thiel, Marc Benioff, Steve Luczo, George Roberts, Marc Lasry, and Andy Spahn. Ro has raised nearly $5 million in two years without any help from party committees or elected members/officials. In this cycle, Ro’s tech and South Asian donors can be a source of at least $50 million for the Democratic Party in national races. Over 70% of Ro’s donors were first time donors, and many will be inspired to give big once Ro wins (or earlier if we can convince Honda to retire & pass the baton to Ro).

*II. *
*Mike Honda’s campaign attacked the tech community. *In a desperate effort to win, Mike Honda put out TV ads calling Ro’s tech supporters “right wing millionaires and billionaires.” He darkened Ro’s skin, put dots on his forehead, and accused him of shipping jobs overseas. Honda’s slash and burn campaign tactics are hurting the Democratic Party with the tech community at a time when Republican Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Senator Rand Paul, and Governor Jeb Bush are out in Silicon Valley every few months courting the community. Many of Ro’s tech supporters have been deeply offended by Honda’s tactics.

*III. **Ro Khanna represents the South Asian diaspora.*
Ro’s grandfather, Amarnath Vidhyalankar, spent four years in jail during the Indian Independence movement alongside Gandhi. Ro was born in Philadelphia in a middle class family, went to public school, and then to University of Chicago and Yale Law School. He wrote a book on the American economy published by McGraw-Hill, and now teaches at Stanford in the Economics Department as a Lecturer. His story has struck a nerve with the diaspora. He will be the first Indian American to keep his Hindu faith elected in the history of our nation. The district he is running in has the second largest Indian American population in the nation. *The South Asian community looks at what the party has done to promote the Castro brothers or Cory Booker and wonder why the party can't help Ro cross the finish line to get into Congress. They are frustrated that the Republicans have helped Bobby Jindal and Nikki Haley.*

*IV. *
*Ro Khanna has a clear path to victory in November of 2016. *Starting from 3%, Ro got to 48.2 percent of the vote in a low turnout election in 2014. In a Presidential year, many more independents and young voters will turn out. Honda, 74, has since fallen asleep on the House floor on CNN during the Homeland Security debate. Ro has outraised Honda 3:1 in the first quarter (Ro raised $801,000 to Honda’s $258,000). Honda also has nearly $90,000 of debt and is struggling to compete financially. Ro is expected to raise $4 million+ again for the cycle –this is effort and money that could be far better spent on the Presidential race helping Secretary Clinton win.

*V. *
*Ro Khanna has been a loyal supporter of Hillary Clinton unlike Mike Honda. *Ro worked with Amy Rao and Jonathan Mantz to help Hillary Clinton in 2008 and before that supported HillPac. He did a number of fundraisers in the South Asian community for Hillary Clinton throughout 2008. He also traveled to Pennsylvania, Iowa, Texas, and the Every Vote Counts rally for Hillary Clinton in 2008. In contrast, despite President Clinton’s support for Mike Honda in his first run for Congress, Honda stayed out of the 2008 primary and did not support Hillary Clinton.

*VI. *
*Request for Action Items: *

*A. *As HRC Campaign Chair, could call Honda and make it clear to him that his running is not good for the Party and the Clintons would look favorably upon it if he passed the baton to Ro and focused on getting Hillary elected President.

*B. *Have President Clinton come out for an event for Ro or endorse Ro’s candidacy (Senator Michael Bennet came out for an event in Q1). This would end the race and would be a tremendous legacy for the President given his passion for India and the Indian American community.

*C. *Speak to Leader Pelosi (she is very fond of Ro). Request her to encourage Anna Eshoo (Honda’s neighboring Congresswoman) to endorse Ro. Anna's very supportive of Ro and will be inclined to endorse if she has a green light from Pelosi. Encourage Pelosi also to dual endorse both Ro and Mike this time. That also could end the race if done early.

*D. * Have Secretary Clinton make a positive, casual statement at a fundraiser about Ro’s leadership with the tech and South Asian community. That would be an incredible signal short of endorsing. Make it clear to Honda that Ro would be allowed to use photos of Secretary Clinton in campaign material if Honda insists on running.

*E. *Honda is likely to vote against the TPP despite the White House's wishes. Ro has come out for it. The White House could make it clear to Honda that the President would dual endorse this time.

*F. *Honda is a Party guy who owes his seat in 2000 to Bill Clinton and Nancy Pelosi. If he knows he has lost the Party support from Party leaders, he will not run and will be inclined to pass the baton to the next generation of Asian American leadership.

That hasn't happened and Honda is in a very tight race against Khanna, who represents, literally, everything that's wrong with the Democratic Party. Mike has, once again, been endorsed by the California Democratic Party, by both Senators-- the conservative Feinstein and liberal Boxer-- (as well as by Kamala Harris), by Pelosi, by the Congressional Progressive Caucus and by virtually the entire California congressional delegation. Ro Khanna has been endorsed by Gavin Newsom and the rest of the sleazy Republican wing of the Democratic Party. No Members of Congress have endorsed him, although there have been rumors that Darrell Issa, who also endorsed Loretta Sanchez and has been desperately trying to rally Republicans and other Trump supporters to back corrupt right-wing Democrats, would. Please give as generously as you can by tapping on the thermometer below-- and note the company Honda keeps, very different than the Debbie Wasserman Schultzes and Joe Crowleys you'd see Khanna with.

UPDATE FROM PAUL CLEMENTS

Today Bernie makes two stops in Michigan, first in Kalamazoo and then in Traverse City. The Blue America-endorsed candidate in MI-06, Paul Clements, will be introducing Bernie in a few hours. His new campaign ad is very aggressive, something his GOP opponent has earned:



Please consider contributing to Paul's campaign here. A few minutes ago he shared his feelings about today with us:

Today I get to introduce the hero of the 2016 election cycle, Bernie Sanders, at my university. I am deeply honored. In the summer of 2015 when I gave the first speech of my congressional campaign I talked about the three issues Bernie was running on: economic inequality, money in politics, and climate change. It was like, he was telling my story, and giving me the courage to focus on the big issues, the deep changes our country needs in the cause of social justice. This is not to belittle other issues, such as racial justice, that are certainly critical. But if we consider the really deep threats to our democracy, well, Bernie was right on target.

Now it is clear that to maintain the possibility of progress we must elect Hillary president. This is, well, just so obvious. And looking to the future, well, Bernie is getting on in years. In terms of policy, he made our party’s national platform the most progressive ever, and Bernie and Elizabeth (and I, if elected) will of course press forward here. But this is Bernie’s gift to us: he has restored and updated a vision of what our democracy can be. What government of, by and for the people looks like in our time.

Now it’s up to us to carry this vision forward.

Who Is Financing The Right Wing Jihad Against Mike Honda-- And Why?

Two weeks from today will likely be the last time anyone ever hears about Ro Khanna, unless he gets arrested for criminal activities up the road. His campaign is one ultra-expensive failure financed by conservatives-- both Republican conservatives and Democratic conservatives, all eager to replace progressive icon Mike Honda with a sleazy conservative disguised as a Democrat. Alexander Kaufman wrote up a report of the interview Politico did with Warren Buffet, the second richest man in America (after Bill Gates), worth $67.3 billion. Buffet says he thinks wealthy people like himself, you the multibillionaires particularly, shouldn't be paying taxes at lower rates than their servants. Some of the richest people in America pay as little as 10% on their income taxes, far less than when the middle class was being built and people paid 90% on income over a million dollars.

Buffett said his own tax rate was “certainly not too high.” He has frequently pointed out that his tax rate is lower than that of his secretary. Debbie Bosanek, his secretary since 1993, has been a symbol for tax inequality since Buffett began touting the disparity in their tax rates as far back as 2007. During a 2012 interview with ABC News, Bosanek said she paid a tax rate of 35.8 percent, while Buffett paid 17.4 percent.

...Buffett urged the federal government to charge higher tax rates on income earned from some stock dividends and capital gains. Currently, such income is taxed at rates far lower than ordinary income. This helps widen income inequality and is an example of one way that wealth gained from assets such as stocks and property grows much faster than wages or the actual economy, as French economist Thomas Piketty argued in his bestseller Capital in the Twenty-First Century.

Up top is a new campaign ad from Mike Honda, one of the staunchest supporters of ordinary working families in the entire Congress. The ad contrasts Honda to Khanna, who is the quintessential handmaiden for the wealthy greed-hogs who don't want government services because they want lower taxes for themselves. Right wing billionaires, like extremist sociopaths John & Laura Arnold and Peter Thiel, as well as Romney's 47% dirt-bag Marc Leder, all of whom normally only give to Republicans, are maxing out to Khanna and giving hundreds of thousands of dollars to slimy SuperPACs running smear campaigns against Honda on Khanna's behalf.

Why do these greed-obsessed billionaires love Khanna so much? Simple: Khanna insists that the current corporate tax rate is too high, adamantly opposes increasing taxes on the one percent and wants to tax capital gains income as ordinary income as well as lowering repatriation of profits taxes from companies that have hidden their assets overseas to avoid taxes. Oh, yeah-- and he wants to cut Social Security benefits. He has vociferously attacked Honda for proposing to increase Social Security benefits-- a position Honda has led on and shares with every progressive in Congress-- and insisted it was "just a campaign tactic." Khanna:

"We need to have an honest conversation about Social Security and Medicare. Mike Honda has been campaigning on increasing, increasing Social Security benefits beyond what the current cost of living adjustments will allow. He knows that's impossible, he knows he's never going to get the votes for it. He knows the budget doesn't work, but it's just a campaign tactic. And the reality is, we need to start having an honest conversation."

Does that sound like a Democrat to you? Khanna has been running for office ever since he was caught stealing an election for student body president at the University of Chicago in 1966. He also once lied to California voters, claiming that Bill Clinton had endorsed him. Clinton, who had been neutral in the primary, immediately endorsed his opponent, Congressman Tom Lantos, who proceeded to wipe the floor with Khanna. Khanna tried insinuating that President Obama was backing him too-- but Obama endorsed Honda in no uncertain terms:

"Congressman Mike Honda is the right leader for the 17th district. Together, we’ve worked hard these last four years to bring meaningful, positive change to our nation, but there is much more to do. As we continue rebuilding our economy from the middle out, we know expanding educational opportunities is critical. Congressman Honda's lifelong commitment to education and fierce advocacy for innovation and technology is exactly what this nation needs as we continue to move America forward. We need Congressman Mike Honda in the United States Congress, and I urge you to vote to keep him there."

Khanna's a liar and a creep. Matt Cartwright (D-PA), the president of the congressional freshman class typifies the high regard in which his colleagues hold him:

Mike Honda is a great American, and one of our living icons in the Democratic ranks of the United States House of Representatives. In much the same way that Rep. John Lewis of Georgia is a living, breathing reminder of the civil rights struggles of the 1960s, Rep. Honda of California takes us back even further, to the 1940s of the Japanese-American internment camps. I often mention with pride that a Pennsylvanian, Justice Owen Roberts, dissented, in Korematsu v. United States, the Supreme Court decision that upheld the constitutionality of the Executive Order creating those internment camps. Mike Honda, born in 1941, spent his early childhood years in an internment camp in California.

…Nelson Mandela once said that “resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.” Mike Honda could easily have turned to resentment or bitterness over the mind-boggling unfairness of his family’s wartime internment. Instead, he has devoted his life to the positive and uplifting work of making America a more just, more peaceful, and more progressive nation. I am deeply honored to be a fellow member of the House Democratic Caucus with Mike Honda, and even prouder to serve alongside him in the Congressional Progressive Caucus. I urge my fellow Democrats to support Representative Honda’s reelection in whatever way you can.

Has Ro Khanna’s Disgraceful Campaign Against Mike Honda Finally Flamed Out?

Khanna, a corporate Democrat eager to cut Social Security and Medicare benefits to lower the tax rates for his wealthy supporters, sounds like a Republican. And Republicans and conservative pseudo-Democrats have financed his jihad against progressive icon Mike Honda in the Silicon Valley. Plenty of rich Silicon Valley tycoons with far too much money are behind Khanna’s relentless bid for office. Many of the companies, like Google and Facebook, who have helped the NSA and CIA with unconstitutional domestic spying against their customers, are Khanna’s biggest contributors. Google, in fact, is his biggest single donor. Big money has flowed into his campaign from the Wall Street banksters as well, particularly from Morgan Stanley, venture capitalists Kleiner, Perkins, Goldman Sachs, Pershing Square Capital Management, US Venture Partners, Artiman Ventures, Sutter Hill Ventures and Cambrian Ventures. As of the last FEC filing deadline, banksters had shoveled $529,800 into Khanna’s campaign against Honda. Further Dark Money has poured into a slimy attack PAC formed specifically to smear Honda, the so-called “Californians for Innovation,” which spent $109,724 sending out misleading mailers just last week— bringing their total expenditure in CA-17 to $211,034 so far. The contributions to this group that are not secret come from wealthy Republicans eager to get Khanna into Congress and, especially, inside the Democratic House caucus. Enron crook and hedge fund billionaire John Arnold alone, who drools at the prospect of cutting pensions, gave $250,000. Another shady venture capitalist, Chamath Palihapitiya, one of Ted Cruz's biggest financial backers, is also pouring sacks of cash into smearing Honda.

Polls, however, don’t indicate that’s going to happen. The most recent polling was done last week by Lake Research and it not only shows a gigantic lead for Honda, it shows Khanna unable to even get to 30%— after spending millions of dollars. Worse yet, the new FEC report issued today shows that Khanna has basically burned through all those millions of dollars he’s collected and doesn’t even have enough funds to meet his payroll and rent for the remainder of the campaign— an indication that his vendors are about to be left holding the bag.

Khanna has spent around $4 million and has been unable to gain traction outside of the salons of the one percent. He spent three times more money than Honda in the primary and still lost by 20 points.

Yesterday, Howard Dean was horrified at Khanna’s latest right-wing-inspired attack on Honda as a liberal and sent a note warning DFA members about Khanna’s perfidy. Remember CA-17 is a solidly progressive district— other than in the rarified precincts where his rich donors live… who love the idea of Khanna, cutting and then privatizing Social Security. “Why would someone running as a Democrat,” asked Dean, “attack a fellow Democrat for wanting to repeal the reckless Bush tax cuts?” The mailer up top is what brought Dean— who has never attacked a fellow Democrat in a primary before— down this path.

George W. Bush's tax cuts were fiscally irresponsible. At a time when the nation was at war-- and when we had important investments to make here at home-- President Bush pushed Congress to pass a huge and unprecedented tax cut that favored the rich and caused our national debt to soar.



Yet Ro Khanna is now attacking Mike Honda for opposing Bush's disastrous tax cut. His congressional campaign is sending mailers to voters in California's 17th District calling Honda an "old-school liberal" and criticizing him for wanting to do the right thing in repealing Bush’s tax cuts.



Let's show Ro Khanna that we won't tolerate his attacks from the right against a progressive Democrat who has been a hero for working families.

Being a "liberal" isn't an insult, it's a badge of honor -- one shared by Senators like Elizabeth Warren and Sherrod Brown. But there's nothing good about supporting reckless tax cuts that benefited the super rich and exploded our nation's deficit. Mike Honda showed true leadership and fiscal responsibility in pushing to repeal Bush's tax cuts. It's just one big reason why I endorsed Mike Honda.



As the former Chair of the Democratic National Committee, it's obvious to me that Ro Khanna is campaigning like a Republican. Real Democrats don't use "liberal" as an epithet or attack fellow Democrats for standing up for progressive values like making sure the wealthy pay their fair share in taxes.



This race is a battle for the future of the Democratic Party. Don't let Ro Khanna get away with moving our party to the right by attacking Democrats for standing up for our values.

What Happened In California Last Night?

Israel, Aguilar-- a victory for the Republican wing of the Democratic Party

There were, at least in theory, 53 congressional seats up for grabs in California last night. Almost all of them, however, were't really up for grabs, at least not last night. Four, however, were: 3 open seats-- retirements of Republican Buck McKeon (CA-25), Republican Gary Miller (CA-31) and Democrat Henry Waxman (CA-33)-- and a heavily financed insurgency by a ConservaDem, Ro Khanna, against progressive icon Mike Honda (CA-17).

Two of the districts are natural Red-to-Blue targets: CA-25 and CA-31. CA-31 is a D+5 district and Democrats should have captured it in 2012-- and would have had DCCC chairman Steve Israel not interfered on behalf of corrupt conservative Pete Aguilar. Israel did the same thing again this cycle, even though a far more electable candidate, Eloise Reyes, was in the race. He helped Aguilar with fundraising, helped poison the well for Reyes and spent $172,269 attacking Republican Lesli Gooch and hated Democrat Joe Baca. The results were nearly a replay of last cycle's catastrophe:

• Paul Chabot ®- 11,329 (27%)
• Pete Aguilar (D)- 7,368 (17%)
• Lesli Gooch ®- 6,978 (17%)
• Eloise Reyes (D)- 6,746 (16%)
• Joe Baca (D)- 4,799 (11%)
• Danny Tillman (D)- 3,648 (9%)
• Ryan Downing ®- 1,421 (3%)

Aguilar managed to slip into second place by a mere 390 votes, avoiding Republican vs Republican general election like the one Israel presided over in 2012. But that is exactly what did happen in CA-25, where Israel's heinous posture was even worse. Cook reports that the district has a PVI of R+2. That's old news. SantaClarita.com; shows the way the district has changed and clearly predicts that by November, CA-25 will have an even PVI.

While all eyes have been fixed on the very loud and expensive primary campaign that's pitted Republican hopefuls Tony Strickland and Steve Knight against one another in hopes of facing Democrat Lee Rogers in November, a strange thing has been happening within the district: Democrats have been closing in on Republicans rapidly this year.

The five-point spread in party registration that the GOP enjoyed two years ago is now just a one-point spread today. In fact, the Democrats have narrowed the gap by 2.6% since December 31.

The reason for this appears to be a significant push by Democrats in the 36th Assembly District (Antelope Valley and some parts of northern SCV)… [T]he City of Santa Clarita has a 6.7% GOP advantage, down from 9% in 2012 (ten years ago, it was 17%).

Last cycle, one of the biggest Democratic donors was trying to get me to join the board iof a music-related company she was forming. I had no interest. She was persistent but I really had no interest. And then she figured out a way to get me to change my mind. She offered to through an even for CA-25 candidate Lee Rogers at her mansion and guarantee she would raise a minimum of $50,000 for him. Sign me up! We agreed to meet at some watering hole where people like me avoid like the plague. I think I may have even changed out of my hoodie. I shouldn't have. She swept into the room and informed me that, "Darling, Steve told me your candidate isn't serious and isn't even going to really run. He knows about these things." Undermining progressive candidates like this is something I've watched Steny Hoyer, Rahm Emanuel, Debbie Wasserman Schulz and Steve Israel do for years. She didn't do the event for Lee and I didn't join her board. He was serious of course and he did run-- and came closer to beating Buck McKeon than anyone else ever had. He came so close, in fact, that McKeon decided to avoid a rematch by becoming a lobbyist.

This cycle, Israel did his worst to prevent Lee Rogers from winning a very winnable open seat. He'd rather spend DCCC money on Blue Dogs and New Dems running in much, much redder and much less winnable districts. AR-02, for example, is an Israel fave. He's already reserved $625,000 in broadcast time between October 21 and November 4, even though the Democrat in the race is a conservative who has signaled he'll be regularly voting with the GOP and even though the district has a PVI of R+8. Rogers, who hwas endorsed by the Congressional Progressive Caucus, is in a district with a rapidly narrowing 1% registration gap was left to fend for himself. The DCCC spent no money in CA-25 the way they did in CA-31. The result: a Republican vs Republican general election in November:

• Tony Strickland ®- 14,573 (29%)
• Steve Knight ®- 14,016 (28%)
• Lee Rogers (D)- 11,107 (22%)
• Ivan Thomas (D)- 4,868 (10%)
• Troy Castagna ®- 2,905 (6%)
• David Bruce (L)- 907 (2%)
• Michael Mussack (NPD)- 700 (1%)
• Navraj Singh ®- 534 (1%)

CA-33 was the most-watched race in the state, with 18 candidates on the ballot. 17.7% of registered voters bothered casting ballots. The DCCC played no role, although the California Democratic Party worked on behalf of Ted Lieu, who will face off against Republican Elan Carr in November and, hopefully, ending the political career of carpetbagger Wendy Greuel. The results among the 8 candidates who got more than 1% of the vote (along with the amount each campaign spent):

• Elan Carr ®- 17,904 (21.49%)- $402,594
• Ted Lieu (D)- 15,870 (19.05%)- $448,551
• Wendy Greuel (D)- 13,976 (16.77%)- $864,173
• Marianne Williamson (NDP)- 10,789 (12.95%)- $1,340,720
• Matt Miller (D)- 9,973 (11.97%)- $353,595
• Lily Gilani ®- 5,831 (7%)
• Barbara Mulvaney (D)- 1,945 (2.33%)- $142,096
• Kevin Mottus ®- 1,935 (2.32%) $64,373

Vanity candidate David Kanuth raised $912,945 and spent $609,153, and garnered 1,177 voted (1%) for his efforts. The only outside spending in the race was EMILY's List's $158,519 on behalf of Greuel and Blue America's $20,923 on behalf of Williamson. The tenor of Greuel's highly negative campaign turned off women voters she was depending on, acerbated her poor image with the voters and cost her a spot in the general. She has $185,960 left in her campaign treasury.

Up in the Silicon Valley area (CA-17), Mike Honda unleashed a can of whoop-ass on plutocrat-backed Ro Khanna, beating him decisively. The results, again, with amounts spent:

• Mike Honda (D)- 28,136 (49%)- $1,122,500
• Ro Khanna (D)- 15,691 (27%)- $2,615,519
• Vanila Singh ®- 9,783 (17%)- $216,771
• Joel Vanlandingham ®- 4,248 (7%)

Honda and Khanna will face off in November.

Last night Blue America challengers Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12) and Pat Murphy (IA-01) won their primaries and, like Ted Lieu (CA-33), advance to the general election. If you'd like to give them a boost, you can do that here on the Blue America ActBlue page. Next week's key primaries are opportunities for Patrick Hope (VA-08) and Jay Stamper in the South Carolina Senate race.

Does The Silicon Valley Really Want A Serial Election Fraudster As A Congressman? Meet Ro Khanna

We've been doing some reporting here about what a sleazy character Ro Khanna is and how, from his earliest forays into politics, he's been subverting the rules to win. Predictably, Khanna is up to his old tricks in the CA-17 race against progressive icon Mike Honda. In their endorsement of Honda yesterday, the PCCC told their supporters that "Progressive Congressman Mike Honda is facing a conservative primary challenger on June 3 who calls himself a Democrat-- but is he really? Honda's opponent is open to cutting Social Security. And he opposes the congressional progressive budget that would tax millionaires, invest in jobs, and invest in education! Instead of fighting for progressive ideas, Honda's opponent says Democrats should try even harder to compromise with House Republicans." That's music to the ears of his wealthy Republican financiers.

Once Khanna betrayed India's fascist leader Narendra Modi, Modi operatives in the U.S. recruited a Republican, Vanila Singh, to run pulling conservative votes from him and making it look like he wouldn't make it out of the June 3 jungle primary. So Khanna recruited his own second Republican, Joel VanLandingham, to run against Singh. Josh Richman of the San Jose Mercury News has been reporting how Khanna supporters have been behind VanLandingham's campaign. Vanila Singh "insists Khanna and his supporters recruited VanLandingham to split the GOP vote and boost Khanna’s chances of getting into the June primary’s top two with Rep. Mike Honda. She has used this as an excuse for skipping candidate forums, saying she’ll not take part in any event in which VanLandingham participates."

Now comes new research from Margaret Okuzumi, a Honda supporter who is the Democratic Club of Sunnyvale’s incoming president.

Okuzumi claims Khanna’s campaign moved to “hijack” that club by having more than 45 of campaign staffers and supporters-- and even Khanna, who lives in Fremont-- become members in the latter half of last year in order to sway the endorsement vote.

“People would only do that if directed by a campaign to do so. Otherwise, they are hardly likely to know that our Democratic Club even exists or that our endorsement is considered of strategic importance, especially if they live as far away from Sunnyvale as Fremont,” she said. “I wouldn’t have minded as much if they’d actually recruited new people from Sunnyvale to join our club. Instead they recruited over 30 people who didn’t care about our city and who weren’t interested in our activities other than our endorsement.”

But Nancy Smith, the Sunnyvale club’s cofounder and former president, said Monday that Honda’s and Khanna’s campaigns both were notified of the club’s endorsement rules-– namely, that a person would have to sign up and attend at least one meeting before being allowed to take part in an endorsement vote. “I would have to say Ro’s campaign took that more seriously than Mike’s did,” she said.

The club eventually voted overwhelmingly not to endorse anyone in this race-– which some might see as a win for Khanna, given Honda’s incumbency.

However, five of those new Sunnyvale Democratic Club members-– including Shivani Sanan, Rajesh and Madhu Gupta, Priya Kapil and Tanu Kalra, all of Fremont-– later signed VanLandingham’s Alameda County nominating petitions, Okuzumi found. Another one, Mahesh Pakala, reportedly asked a Fremont couple affiliated with the temple to sign Vanlandingham’s petition. And several of VanLandingham’s petition-signers either themselves gave money-– more than $10,000 total-– to Khanna’s campaign or had immediate family members who did.

“Without Khanna campaign involvement, VanLandingham would not have received enough signatures to qualify for the ballot,” Okuzumi said.

“It’s clear that Ro Khanna’s supporters and donors made a concerted effort to help Republican Joel VanLandingham get on the ballot,” Honda campaign manager Doug Greven said in an email Monday. “If Ro Khanna himself really had nothing to do with this, he should publicly condemn his supporters who orchestrated this scheme, and refund the more than $10,000 in contributions he received from them.”

It's amazing that Khanna was caught in a campaign financial fraud case and forced to resign from office and then, a few years later, was caught lying, claiming he had been endorsed by Bill Clinton who was so angry that he endorsed his opponent and sent out a press release saying "I regret that Ro Khanna has misled the people of the 12th District in this mailing." Khanna doesn't learn from his errors and is at it again-- with a huge bankroll provided by some of the sleaziest anti-family right-winger financiers in American politics. Khanna's greasy attacks against Honda are something new. When he was trying to win seats in other districts, this is how he would talk about Honda:

Of The 10 Most Endangered Incumbents, Only One Merits Reelection

This morning Shira Center, Abby Livingston and Emily Cahn, writing for Roll Call, released a list of the 10 most vulnerable members of 2014. 5 of their vulnerable incumbents are facing bitter primaries and 5 have tight general election races to contend with. "Every name on this list," they write "has a 50 percent chance-- or more-- of not returning to Congress next year. To compose this regular feature, Roll Call’s Politics Team examines every aspect of a member’s re-election prospects: district composition, campaign operation, fundraising, quality of opponent and recent performance." They're far from an unimpeachable fount of wisdom but the list isn't bad. First some changes that they're offering to the list since last November:

Two reactionary Blue Dog Democrats who were headed for certain defeat, Jim Matheson (UT) and Mike McIntyre (NC), and Republican extremist Gary Miller of California's Inland Empire are preemptively retiring before the voters could fire them. They also took three more incumbents are off their list, declaring them relatively safe Dan Benishek (R-MI), who has a pitiful Blue Dog DCCC recruit who could never win in a million years, Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH) and John Tierney (D-MA). Also deemed safer than they were are three Republicans with uber-lame DCCC mystery meat opponents who aren't going anywhere Rodney Davis (R-IL), who will face a Republican-lite Ann Callis, Chris Gibson (R-NY), who will face wealthy lightweight Sean Eldridge, and undertaker Steve Southerland (R-FL), who faces the Blue Dog daughter of Bob Graham. They also predict that Ann Kirkpatrick (D-AZ) and Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN), both from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party, will be safe. That's in great part due to lame NRCC recruiting in both districts. Now their list of the 10 most endangered (alphabetical; bolded Members face primaries they could lose):

• Ron Barber (Blue Dog-AZ)
• Kerry Bentivolio (R-MI)
• Mike Coffman (R-CO)
• Scott DesJarlais (R-TN)
• Michael "Mikey Suits" Grimm (R-NY)
• Mike Honda (D-CA)
• Ralph Hall (R-TX)
• Scott Peters (New Dem-CA)
• Nick Rahall (Blue Dog-WV)
• Charlie Rangel (D-NY)

Only one of the 10 deserves reelection, Mike Honda. He's up against Wall Street shill Ro Khanna, who was just endorsed by the corporatists who run the San Francisco Chronicle. Apparently the editors think the only people in CA-17 who matter are the Silicon Valley tech barons who have been buying up the Bay Area. The Chronicle editors have always had a knack for bowing and scraping to whomever was buying up the Bay Area at any given time. How dare Honda, a tribune of working families, not scrape and bow before the mighty the way Ro Khanna does? As Scott Lay pointed out in his Around The Capitol column Monday, Carla Marinucci, the poor excuse for a journalist who has been acting as a press shill for Khanna since the race began, led the Chronicle editors down the garden path. "Has Honda," asks Marinucci, who would no doubt get a job in the unlikely event that Khanna wins the seat, "reached out to those high-tech titans (Eric Schmidt of Google, Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook, Marissa Mayer of Yahoo among them) to find out why they were supporting Ro Khanna? Didn't Honda want and need to know where he was coming up short, or at least how he could be a more effective advocate for Silicon Valley concerns?"

Well, of those companies, only Yahoo (Sunnyvale) is located in CA-17. Google HQ is in Mountain View, Facebook HQ is in Menlo Park, Marissa Mayer and Mark Zuckerberg live in Palo Alto, Sheryl Sandberg lives in Menlo Park, and Eric Schmidt lives in Atherton. All are in CA-18, which is Anna Eshoo's district. Apple is located in the district (Cupertino), although CEO Tim Cook also lives in Palo Alto. There's a reason CA-18's median family income is 17% higher than CA-17's. Of course, CA-17 is still #3 in the state behind CA-18 and CA-33 (Coastal LA).

The tension between the many working class residents of CA-17 and the companies headquartered there is perfectly reflected in the race between Honda and Khanna.

Blue America has endorsed Honda and we're trying to help him keep pace with the plutocratic Republican money flooding into Khanna's campaign coffers. You can help here. Together we can beat all those sell-entitled tech barons. They're no less dangerous to American democracy than the Big Oil barons like the Koch brothers.

There Is "Bipartisanship" And Then There Is Bipartisanship-- West Virginia And California

Evan Jenkins was a very right-wing Democrat who followed his opportunistic instincts to switch parties recently and run against a right-wing Democrat who hasn't switched parties, Nick Rahall. Jenkins' TV spot above has a couple of lines I want to call special attention to:

"Nick Rahall-- a lying politician, just like Obama. A better choice: Evan Jenkins-- the backbone to defend our way of life from Obama's 'War On Coal.' Jenkins puts West Virginians first, not politics. Work with both parties, create jobs… That's Evan Jenkins."

"Work with both parties?" By calling Rahall and Obama liars, making up noonsense about a "war on coal?" Demonizing Democrats? Jenkns may mean he's willing to work with the Republican Party and the Tea Party when he says "both parties." But one thing is sure-- none of these corporate whores from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party are willing to represent the interests of ordinary working families-- not in the valleys of West Virginia and not in California's Silicon Valley. We'll get back to Ro Khanna and the Republican wing of the Democratic Party in Silicon Valley in a moment.

First, let's take a look at some real bipartisanship from one of Mike Honda's biggest California supporters, Nancy Pelosi. Last week, the Democratic House Leader responded to a letter from both Democratic and Republican governors, most of whom really are more interested in solving problems than in scoring political points. House Republicans and right-wing candidates like Jenkins may oppose renewing emergency unemployment insurance for millions of workers but governors understand that for their states to succeed, their people have to succeed. Republicans in the House are too immersed with political game-playing to even ever consider that. Pelosi's letter, in part, to Lincoln Chafee (D-RI) and Brian Sandoval (R-NV):

I have received your letter of April 11 expressing your support for the bipartisan measure to renew emergency unemployment insurance overwhelmingly passed out of the Senate last week.

…It is unconscionable that the House has not acted to renew emergency unemployment insurance. But as you know, House Republicans have blocked the House from considering this desperately needed legislation each and every time Democrats have moved to hold a vote.

Never before has Congress allowed emergency unemployment insurance to expire while long-term unemployment rates have remained so high. Failure to restore this lynchpin of economic security for the long-term unemployed is costing us 240,000 jobs this year alone. House Republicans' refusal to extend emergency unemployment insurance is callous, shortsighted and immoral.

House Democrats will continue to push for a vote to extend emergency unemployment insurance, and to advance the bipartisan Senate legislation in the House. Your bipartisan letter, together with those from other governors, and the countless letters from Americans reeling from the loss of their unemployment insurance, reminds us just how critical this work is.

Thanks you for your support in this effort, and I look forward to working with you to pass this vital legislation as soon as possible.

So… bipartisanship. 38 crackpot Republican obstructionists in the Senate, who would rather see America and Americans fail than see Obama succeed, voted NO, but both Nevada senators, Democrat Harry Reid and Republican Dean Heller voted for the bill. Sandoval must have been relieved. Of Nevada's 4 House Members, though, there is a split-- a party line split, the two Democrats, Dina Titus and Steven Horsford, want to pass the Senate bill, while the two Republicans, Mark Amodei and Joe Heck, are too scared to break with Boehner and support the efforts. In West Virginia, Rahall wants to vote for the Senate bill but, of course, Evan Jenkins would like to get into Congress and oppose it… "defending our way of life?"

Like I said earlier, Nancy Pelosi has been one of Mike Honda's most steadfast backers in his battle against Ro Khanna and the Republican wing of the Democratic Party trying to take his seat. Though Khanna has been a major conduit for Indo-American money into the Democratic Party and Pelosi knows him well, she helped persuade the entire California congressional delegation to back Honda. "Congressman Mike Honda's life," she said when endorsing him, "has been a tribute to the quintessential American ideals of equality and opportunity for all. From a childhood spent in an internment camp, Mike has risen to the heights of American leadership-- as one of the top Democrats on the powerful Appropriations Committee and a critical voice for fairness, the rights of LGBT couples and all families. Mike is a bold and effective leader who understands the needs of Silicon Valley and the 17th District, ensuring American competitiveness and fighting for American manufacturing, comprehensive immigration reform, STEM education and technological innovation. We need his continued leadership for our nation in the House of Representatives, and I am proud to endorse him."

Honda has been a champion for ordinary working families and Khanna has a long, clear and shameful record of deceit and cheating going back many years. Lately he's been howling about a "bipartisan" approach. But his bipartisanship is much like Evan Jenkins'. Jenkins has already switched to the GOP. Khanna's donors are Republicans and if voters in CA-17 were, he would have switched as well. Last week, his response to Mike Honda's vote against the toxic Ryan budget and for the more responsible, progressive alternative budget was a slimy OpEd in the San Jose Mercury News blaming "both sides," as though progressives like Honda standing up for working families equates with the sociopathic and obstructionist Republicans doing the bidding of their (and Khanna's) avaricious donors. Khanna calls for "compromise," meaning cutting Social Security-- he backs Chained CPI, for example, a method of cutting seniors' cost of living increases-- and cutting back on Medicare, although what he talks about in his OpEd are teaching computer coding and programming in schools, something Honda has long championed. Khanna, like Jenkins, is a joke. If he wins the June primary, though, the joke will be on us. You can help Mike Honda beat back this conservative challenge here at the Blue America incumbents page.

Sorting Through This Week's Budget Mess In Washington

Louisville Congressman John Yarmouth, a Democratic member of the House Budget Committee, was right when he said the latest edition of Paul Ryan's annual Austerity budget "is pretty much a rhetorical exercise" that isn't going anywhere. It passed Thursday 219-205, every Democrat voting NO, as did a dozen Republicans:

• Paul Broun (R-GA)
• Phil Gingrey (R-GA)
• Jack Kingston (R-GA)
• Rick Crawford (R-AR)
• Chris Gibson (R-NY)
• Ralph Hall (R-TX)
• David Jolly (R-FL)
• Walter Jones (R-NC)
• Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ)
• Tom Massie (R-KY)
• David McKinley (R-WV)
• Austin Scott (R-GA)

There were 4 other budgets proposed, one from the neo-fascist wing of the GOP, which was presented by Georgia teabagger Rob Woodall. That one got a majority of Republican votes, 133 as opposed to 97 Republicans who voted NO and failed 133-291. Hard to believe but it is even a more destructive plan than Ryan's! The official Democratic budget was presented by Chris Van Hollen and that failed 163-261. 31 Democrats voted with the GOP against it, including virtually all the Blue Dogs and New Dems (the Republican wing of the Democratic Party). The Congressional Black Caucus budget was presented by Gwen Moore and that failed 116-300. Again, the Blue Dogs and New Dems voted with the GOP against it, although most Democrats, 116-76, favored it. The best budget of all, the Congressional Progressive Caucus budget was presented by Raul Grijalva and it failed 89-327, almost all the most corrupt corporate Dems happily skipping across the aisle to vote with the Republicans. 103 of the most corrupted Democrats joined Steny Hoyer and his pathetic puppet, Joe Crowley, to vote NO. Oddly, the third of that trio of sleaze, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, voted with the progressives for a change.



As Danny Vinik put it in his epic take-down of the GOP Austerity blueprint yesterday, The Ryan Budget Doesn't Just Sin Against The Poor, It Sins Against Math Too, "the real test of Republican priorities isn’t what they say. It’s what they propose to do with the federal budget… House Republicans made their priorities abundantly clear when they passed the Ryan Budget without any Democratic support. The plan balances the budget in 10 years through dramatic spending cuts, particularly on programs and services for low-income Americans… But focusing on the Ryan budget’s moral failings obscures its equally apparent logical flaws. For all the axe-wielding, it does little to tackle the drivers of our long-term debt-- the rationale behind the steep cuts to begin with. " He has 4 main critiques:

• The budget calls for severe spending cuts, in a way that’s likely to undermine the recovery

• The mandatory cuts come disproportionately from programs affecting the poor

• The discretionary cuts would also come disproportionately from programs affecting the poor

• The budget ignores the long-term drivers of our debt

Denunciations of the Ryan budget have been coming fast and furious. For example, Mike Obermueller, candidate for Congress in MN-02, the seat being held by right-wing extremist John Kline, made it clear that he would have voted no and that in November, voters should keep in mind that Kline voted for it. "John Kline," he said, "is so out of touch with reality that he released a statement yesterday calling the Ryan budget a 'responsible plan'-- a budget that gives a $200,000 tax cut to millionaires and pays for it by increasing taxes on middle class families. A responsible plan cuts wasteful spending while protecting investments that create jobs like education, job training, and high tech research-- all things that this Republican budget guts in order to give massive tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans. Congressman Kline, like many in Washington, is more concerned with his wealthy donors and party leadership than he is with representing hard working Minnesotans and their best interests. Congressman Kline continues to say this budget will 'foster opportunities for all Americans'-- but it really only helps some Americans, the wealthiest. It certainly doesn’t help seniors that would see their Medicare benefits slashed. For middle class families who will lose $2,000 to tax hikes just to pay for tax cuts for millionaires, this budget does the opposite of foster opportunity. In addition, this budget makes the job market an uphill battle by costing the country 3 million jobs."

On Monday, Patrick Hope, the progressive Democrat running for the open VA-08 seat Jim Moran is giving up, will hold a press conference outside of the IRS Building in Washington as he delivers his petition in support of a Millionaire’s Tax requiring millionaires and giant corporations to pay their fair share in taxes. Hope is one of the Democratic congressional candidates supporting the Congressional Progressive Caucus budget which would raise tax rates on those making over $250,000 per year and create new brackets for those making over $1,000,000 a year.

Mike Honda, who has been the single biggest force in writing the Progressive Budget over the years, took to the pages of the San Jose Mercury News to explain to his constituents exactly what's wrong with what Ryan and all but a dozen Republicans are pushing.

Any budget, whether it's for a family, a company, or a government, reflects the values of its creators. Do you save for college or buy a new car? Do you offer a dividend or put more money into R&D? Do you invest in programs to help support the middle class or do you reward the powerful and influential with extra tax advantages?

The House Republican budget, introduced by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., shows once again that their party values the whims of the wealthy over the needs of the middle class and poor.

Ryan's budget proposes severe domestic spending cuts for programs that aid the most vulnerable Americans, and inexplicably offers tax breaks to the wealthiest among us. It raises taxes on middle class families with children by an average of over $2,000 a year. It cuts payments for SNAP (food stamps) and Medicare, and raises drug costs and insurance premiums-- all to fund an average tax cut of $200,000 for millionaires and tax subsidies for highly-profitable oil companies.

Ryan's budget is especially cruel to seniors. Traditional Medicare premiums would rise an average of 50 percent. The budget brings back the Medicare "doughnut hole," which means prescription drug costs would increase almost $1,200 a year. Medicaid would be slashed by $732 billion.

This year's Progressive Caucus budget, which I have authored in past years, would protect the Medicare guarantee, preserves Medicaid, and expands coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) so that all Americans can have access to quality, affordable health care.

The Ryan budget also has no plan for the retirement security of our seniors. The Strengthen Social Security Act, which I introduced with Reps. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., and Rush Holt, D-N.J., would ensure that everyone pays into Social Security fairly. Also, my Consumer Price Index for the elderly legislation, the CPI-E Act, would allow us to adopt a realistic cost of living calculator so that seniors can retire with dignity.

Perhaps worst of all, the Republican budget has no plan for America's future. It guts funding for education, which we need to keep our leadership in the innovation economy. It would eliminate up to 29,000 teaching and teacher's aide jobs. It would remove 170,000 children from Head Start. It would cut support for higher education, including Pell Grants and federal student loans, by $205 billion over 10 years.

At the same time, Ryan's budget eliminates federal support for infrastructure improvements that not only would improve the day-to-day lives of millions of Americans, but also support our small and large businesses. It cuts transportation budgets by over $52 billion in 2015 alone.

If Ryan were truly interested in the economic health of our country, his budget would include comprehensive immigration reform. Economists say such reform would reduce our deficit by almost $900 billion, along with stimulating our economy and creating jobs. For America to succeed in the face of global economic pressures and competition, we need every American to be productive. To do this, they must be allowed to come out of the shadows. We need to bring fairness and foresight to our vision for America so that tomorrow's opportunities are greater than today's.

The Ryan budget combines shortsightedness with economic deception and financial cruelty. It hurts the poor to help the rich. It ignores our future to protect the well-off today. The Republican budget proposes Robin Hood in reverse. It is something none of us can afford.

This is as good a time as any to remind readers that Honda is in a tough fight with conservatives for reelection. They know they can't elect a Republican in his blue district so they found an ambitious and unprincipled patsy, Ro Khanna, who they've been pumping millions of dollars into. Khanna claims to be a Democrat but his economic agenda is the agenda of the plutocrats and on issue after issue he would cut protections and benefits for the middle class on behalf of the wealthy. You can contribute to Honda's campaign here.