Dan Gelber: Rubio And The GOP's Far Right Have Lost Sight Of What Makes America Exceptional

Last week, when Florida fascist Marco Rubio was at the Roanld Reagan Library instead of Wednesday's cast of clowns, we noted his attempt to inject his alien anti-American perspective into our politics. His main point was that New Deal social programs like Social Security and Medicare have made Americans weaker. This kind of thinking is at the core of Republican thought-- though most, unlike Rubio and Rick Perry, are politically savvy enough to hide it from the public.

Briefly in 2009, Blue America encouraged Florida state Senator Dan Gelber to run against Rubio. In the end, the Florida Democratic Establishment, cynical to the core, persuaded Gelber to not run, in the hopes of using the affable but incompetent Kendrick Meek to lure African-American voters to the polls for their dull gubernatorial candidate, Alex Sink. Sink lost to Rick Scott 49-48%. And Rubio also won election with less than 50%-- although Meek came in a dismal third with only 20% of the vote, the worst result for a Democratic Senate candidate that anyone can remember... ever. Dan Gelber is back in private practice as an attorney but last week, after Rubio's latest fascist outburst, he penned an OpEd for the Miami Herald, Right Loses Sight Of What Makes Us Different. It's a different take on American Exceptionalism, right-wing jingoists never tire of trotting out to use to bludgeon their political foes.

In a recent speech at the Reagan Library... U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio asserts that the decision of America in this last century to collectively care for those that have fallen behind “actually weakened us as a people.” While his words may have been a dog whistle for the right wing, I took a double take.

Was this the same Marco Rubio who first ran on a platform of early childhood education and affordable housing for the elderly? Rubio’s thesis, packaged in lofty prose, is an extreme political view that parrots a bedrock tea party premise that America’s problems somehow stem from government doing too much for people from whom we expect too little.

These programs, Rubio argues, made our country weak, bankrupt and threatened the “exceptionalism” that defined us. There is nothing novel about blaming your problems on a boogeyman. Whether immigrants, or communists, or witches, or those that have been left behind or can’t fight back, the American experience suggests it can be an effective political strategy for at least the short term.

Of course, the notion that the social programs of the last century-- namely Medicare and Social Security-- fostered irresponsible behavior is patently absurd. No American became sicker or older because of the existence of these programs. Americans are living longer, healthier lives, in part due to the security they created.

No, it’s not that American Exceptionalism is being lost, it’s that Rubio and the tea party have lost sight of what makes America exceptional.

Our collective decision to make sure our weakest, oldest, and infirm are cared for is not a national failing-- it is one of our greatest strengths. No, it has not been a wealthy few that defines us as exceptional-- rather it has been our commitment to raising all boats in the harbor and supporting the middle class.

No, it has not been our military-- the most powerful in history that sets us apart-- but that we have used that force to protect freedom and fight tyranny. And no, our nation is special not because God made Americans special-- but because we exercised the free will He gave us to become a moral example in the community of nations.

And if we ever relinquish that mantle-- or in this case reject it-- we lose what has made us the greatest nation in the history of the world.

Rubio’s argument is no better or different than every past attempt by the right wing to use lofty language to rationalize wrongheaded policies that help a few well connected or advance a partisan agenda. But “trickle-down” economics and “compassionate conservatism,” aren’t truly policies, they are public relations gimmicks intended to make people feel better about disregarding who we are.

The proof the argument is so weak, or blatantly partisan, is its own inconsistencies and obvious ironies. They express outrage at America’s finances, pointing the finger directly at a president who inherited policies that many of them created and embraced.

They don’t want people to have a free ride, but reject healthcare reform that requires everyone to take responsibility and insure their own health so that others won’t have to pay. They believe Americans can’t sustain Social Security, but somehow believe we can and must sustain special interest giveaways and, yes, tax breaks for a select few.

Don’t misunderstand, America has real challenges. But so many of our fault-lines stem from a generational failure to invest in the education of our work force, or the unwillingness of our leaders to engage an honest discussion with their constituents rather than just feeding them tired old clichés or partisan finger-pointing.
Now is not the time to retreat from who we have always aspired to be.

The inscription on the Statute of Liberty isn’t a mere tourist attraction, it is the calling of an exceptional nation that seeks to embrace a higher purpose.

Race For The Open Attorney General Seat In Florida-- Gelber Vs Rubio?

With far right extremist Marco Rubio about to pull the plug on his Senate campaign-- unable to hold up against pressure from the hysterical GOP establishment in Tallahassee and, worse, in DC-- it looks like the Florida Attorney General contest will be a real classic: a Rush Limbaugh dittohead against Dan Gelber, one of the most respected, energetic and intelligent men in Florida's often seamy political landscape. First Dan has to get by a more corporate-oriented Democrat in the primary, Dave Aronberg. As Gary Fineout points out at The Fine Print, it's exceptionally easy to compare the voting records of Aronberg and Gelber-- a system that will also apply to Rubio when he jumps in. Of the three Gelber has a consistent record of supporting ordinary Florida working families and consumers. Aronberg and Rubio often sided with Big Business against working families and consumers.

HB 1171, the insurance deregulation bill or "consumer choice bill" that would allow well-capitalized companies such as State Farm to bypass state rate regulation. Now sitting on the desk of Gov. Charlie Crist, who has hinted he plans to veto the measure.
Aronberg: Yes - Gelber: No

HB 1495, the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund and Citizens bill which allows Citizens to raise rates and requires private insurance carriers to pay into a cash build up fund to boost the size of the Cat Fund, the state-created reinsurance fund. Crist signed this bill into law.
Aronberg: Yes - Gelber: No

SB 360, the controversial growth management bill that was roundly criticized by environmental groups but still signed into law by Crist.
Aronberg: Yes - Gelber: No

SB 1122, the measure that requires insurers to pay directly to doctors even if the doctor is not in the insurer network. This bill was a top priority for the Florida Medical Association yet opposed by some consumer groups, Senate Democratic Leader Al Lawson, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida and the state's insurance consumer advocate.
Aronberg: Yes - Gelber: Yes

SB 1696, Higher education. This legislation made several changes to Florida's higher education system, including revising the state's Bright Futures scholarship program (forcing students to refund money they received for a dropped course), cracking down on students who don't graduate quick enough or students who try to establish residency to avoid higher tuition costs, and raising the amount that universities can increase out-of-state or graduate tuition.
Aronberg: Yes - Gelber: No

But it's another side of Dan Gelber that made me decide to write about him today. I ran across a post on his blog, one that shows the human side of a guy who I've already learned can always be depended on to stand on the right side of issues politically. Thus might be even more important in some ways:

TRAVIS IS GETTING MARRIED

by Dan Gelber

I became Travis’ big brother when he was just 6 years old. He was a cute kid who lived with his Aunt who was and continues to be a terrific influence in his life. I had already been in the Big Brothers program for a few years in Miami and in Boston (during college). Matches usually last 2-3 years as someone often moves away, or grows up. I expected a couple year run with Travis. Tomorrow, 20 years later, I’ll stand next to Travis as his Best Man in his wedding. He stood next to me at my wedding 12 years ago, and for all the years in between-- through thick and thin-- we’ve been a part of each other’s lives.

When I met him I drove a 66 Mustang Convertible (Wimbledon white). I was single with a healthy head of hair. Travis was really tiny, and pretty-much only liked Miami football and music. We would see each other every weekend for movies, sports, or just hanging out. Sometimes, we went to a book fair or a concert. What is so great about being a Big Brother (or any mentor) is that the things you regularly do that may have no particular significance become more important and more gratifying because you’re sharing your world with someone else. You see the world through someone else’s eyes.

Once when I was a federal prosecutor trying a civil rights case I brought Travis to sit through closing arguments. It was a criminal case where a racist had tried to keep a black woman from moving into his Broward County neighborhood through physical threats. He sat through the hours of argument perfectly behaved (imagine an 8 year old sitting still for 2 hours). When the verdict came back “guilty” he rushed into the well of the court and started hugging me (actually he hugged my leg given his height). I asked him what it meant to him and he said: “It means me or anyone can live anywhere we want to.” I had prosecuted hundreds of cases before and since-- and many were much bigger or seemingly more important-- but none had the poignancy of that verdict.

So now, 20 years later Travis is getting married. He has a family, and is at Miami-Dade College so he can better make his way in a tough economy, and I couldn’t be more proud. Wilsa-- like any good spouse-- has brought out a part of him that I knew existed but needed to be inspired. He is embracing responsibility, serious about his future, and wants to be a Big Brother himself. Boy, do I feel old and happy.

UPDATE: Will Sink And Gelber Lead Democrats To Victory In 2010?

That's a tall order but Adam Smith's political report in today St Petersburg Times augers ill for Republicans:

• 1,740 people contributed to the Florida Democratic Party in the three months that ended June 30, compared to 224 to the Florida GOP. It's the first time since 1996 that Democrats outraised Republicans in that fundraising period.

• The latest voter registration statistics show that Democrats accounted for 39 percent of the new voter registrations in Florida since the last election, while Republicans accounted for 25 percent.

• Mini rebellions against the state Republican leadership are popping up in local parties across the state. For months, vocal party activists have bashed state Republican Party chairman Jim Greer over spending, over his effort to muscle Marco Rubio out of the Republican Senate primary, and for allegedly "purging" conservative activists and Ron Paul acolytes from local parties. A "Recall Jim Greer" group recently formed on Facebook.

Dan Gelber Drops Out Of The Florida Senate Race

Wasserman Schultz announcing last year that she and her puppet would not be supporting Miami-Dade Dems against Cuban congressional fascists

It looks like there won't be a progressive in the race for Florida's open Senate seat after all. At tonight's Jefferson Jackson Dinner state Senator Dan Gelber withdrew, presumably to run for Attorney General. That leaves a corrupt Democratic Party hack with virtually no chance to win, Kendrick Meek, as the de facto opponent to either Charlie Crist or Marco Rubio. Two weeks ago in the Orlando Sentinel Scott Maxwell predicted that in the end it would be a race between Meek and Crist. He never thought Gelber had any chance.

The folks in Tallahassee seem to love him-- the media, his fellow Dems, even Republicans who respect the way he plays the game.

Gelber's biggest problem is that regular folks are sick of the game altogether.

Gelber may be smart and quick-witted. But in the minds of most, he's still just another Tallahassee politician. And those guys are a dime a dozen. (And that's when you're paying the sticker price.)

Another startlingly mediocre Democratic House member, Corrine Brown of Jacksonville, is also making noises about running for the Senate seat. It's unlikely she'll make the jump though. Meek has wrapped up all the Inside the Beltway support and has raised a fortune. What a tragedy!


UPDATE: Letter From Dan

Dan Gelber sent a letter to supporters this morning explaining his decision and hinting at his future plans:

As you may know I have decided to step back from my U.S. Senate bid. I wanted to let you know the reasons.

When Governor Crist announced he would be a candidate for US Senate, he created a domino effect that opened up every seat on the cabinet. At a time when our state is facing its greatest challenges, ironically, we have our greatest uncertainty and dislocation. But I believe this is also an opportunity-– the chance to set a new course that avoids the mistakes of the past and tracks a better future for our families.

It makes little sense-- when we do face the prospect of real change in Florida-- for me to participate in a potentially divisive primary for U.S. Senate that will only serve to diminish our chances against a very formidable and well-known Republican nominee.

I also believe that we have a historic opportunity here in Florida to reshape the political landscape and more importantly, bring fundamental change to Tallahassee. I have had a number of conversations with Senators Graham and Nelson, and CFO Alex Sink, about how we can best unify our party and move forward with a slate of candidates that can communicate our vision for a better Florida, and I look forward to continuing these discussions.

The Most Prominent Conservative-Versus-Moderate Republican Primary Campaign In The Country

Like John McCormack in the far right Weekly Standard, I'm cheering for the conservative, "Jeb Bush protégé," as McCormack so helpfully describes him, Marco Rubio. That's because I want to see progressive Democrat Dan Gelber as the next senator from Florida, a way to give that important state a powerful voice and brilliant critical thinker in the upper house, something that has been sorely missing as we look back over a parade of corrupt hacks and rubber stamps-- on both sides of the aisle.

We covered Rubio's declaration last Tuesday and remarked on Dan Gelber, who was the Democratic Minority Leader of the House when Rubio was Speaker, welcoming him to the race:

"I have a lot of respect for Marco Rubio. He has never broken away from his very conservative principles, even after the course of history has proven many of their ideas to be wrongheaded. The GOP is in the midst of a fight for its basic heart and soul, not to mention its very relevance in the American political discussion, and I know Marco will be a loud and effective voice for those who believe that the direction of the last eight years was the correct one and for the small percentage of Floridians and Americans who believe that a massive shift to the right is the best medicine for what ails America."

I doubt the Weekly Standard would disagree-- except for the "wrongheaded" aspersion. McComack, heart aflutter, is obviously smitten with the "fresh-faced charismatic Cuban American" evangelical extremist and he sees him as the Republicans' Barack Obama. Most Americans are celebrating Obama's cautious steps towards reclaiming U.S.-Cuba policy for the State Department-- and taking it out of the hands of a gang of wealthy, corrupt and, of course, right-wing gangsters (and their sons) who have kept the U.S. from normalizing relations with one of our closest neighbors for decades. But not Rubio.

[H]e addressed the College Republicans and Students for a Free Cuba at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Cuba, he said, presents us with "an opportunity just 90 miles off our shores to defend and stand up for the constitutional and Founding principles of this country."

Rubio called the U.S. embargo "our last and only leverage point" for negotiating Cuban freedom with a successor regime. He added, "I wish we could do in China what I hope we'll do in Cuba, but we can't. There are geopolitical realities."

The students-- a sympathetic audience-- were wowed by the speech, delivered without notes. "I think we just saw the future president of the United States!" exclaimed one undergrad leaving the event. "I just wanted to say thanks... for bringing us some hope in the GOP," another student told Rubio.

Maybe he can go fight it out with Lincoln Diaz-Balart, who also has pretensions for becoming the president of a post-Castro Cuba. That's the only presidency-- other than of the Miami Dade Cuban-American Chamber of Commerce-- Rubio is likely to ever get a chance to vie for. and he won't get a chance to vie for that either. I called my friend Reese Erlich, one of this country's experts on Cuba-America relations and author of the incredible new book, Dateline Havana. He isn't as impressed with Rubio as McCormack is.

Marco Rubio represents the last gasp of the ultra-rightists who want to tell Cubans how to live their lives. Why is it that Republicans favor small government, except when it comes to imposing US power on other countries?

Rubio and some mainstream Democrats argue that the US must pressure Cuba to uphold democracy and human rights. They ignore the history of US support for every two-bit dictator that came to power in Cuba from 1901-1959. If the US was so concerned about democracy, why did it recognize Fulgencio Batista’s military government one day after his 1952 coup?

Cuba has plenty of problems, but that’s for Cubans themselves to resolve. When people like Rubio insist on maintaining the embargo, it only strengthens the widespread belief in Cuba that the US seeks to overthrow their government and restore the ultra-rightist Miami Cubans to power.

Few Americans have been aware of the specifics of how right-wing Cubans-- led by extremists like the Diaz-Balarts and Rubio-- have directed U.S. policy towards the island nation right off our southern coast. When Colin Powell's top aide was asked to assess the threat from Cuba to U.S. security said the U.S. military didn't think Cuba was a threat at all. Let me quote from Dateline Havana:

"Wilkerson participated in war games designed to plan United States response to various Cuban crises. The military's nightmare scenario consisted of political instability in Cuba leading to a large-scale assault by Cuban Americans on the island. Wilkerson said, "What really struck me about the Cuban contingencies when we exercised and gamed was that it didn't turn into any kind of U.S. force presence in Cuba. It turned into a cordoning off Florida to keep Cuban Americans with various small arms... from invading Cuba."

And there is historical precedent for the U.S. military's concerns about out-of-control violent rightists attacking Cuba. They've done it before-- and far more than most Americans are aware, and sometimes with over U.S. help. Were you frightened in the last few weeks about swine flu? No one knows how it started but it scared a lot of people in this country.

In 1971, during the Nixon administration, U.S. agents introduced swine fever virus into Cuba. Cuba had to slaughter over 500,000 infected hogs. The virus originated in Africa and had been unknown in Cuba before the outbreak. Newsday revealed that a CIA-trained Cuban exile had been given the swine virus at Ft. Gulick in the U.S.-controlled Panama Canal Zone. U.S. operatives gave him instructions to deliver the virus to Cuba. Even though the CIA denied involvement, the article showed a clear link to U.S. clandestine efforts. In 1977, the Washington Post confirmed, "The CIA had a program aimed at Cuban agriculture, and since 1962 Pentagon specialists had been manufacturing biological agents to be used for this purpose."

In 1981, during the Reagan administration, some 350,000 Cubans were infected with type II dengue virus, which produces potentially deadly fevers. According to Cuban sources, 158 people died, 101 of whom were children. The virus had not been known anywhere in the world and had been created in a laboratory. In 1984, a leader of Omega 7, a terrorist exile group in Miami, admitted in court to spreading the dengue virus.

Rightist fanatics would like nothing more than to insert a "fresh-faced charismatic" young extremist like Rubio into the American political system.

McCormack sees mainstream conservative Charlie Crist as the impediment because Crist is likely to jump into the Florida senatorial race. Recent polls show him thrashing the lunatic fringe Rubio 53-4% in a primary battle and even if Crist decides to not run-- unlikely-- right-wing congressional hacks Connie Mack and Vern Buchanan (each nearly mainstream compared to Rubio) lead him by double-digits. The advantage of a primary with Rubio participating is that it is sure to be bloody. To Rubio Crist isn't obstructionist enough, isn't anti-choice enough, is too pro-environment, isn't in favor of as many anti-working family tax policies as he should be and favors many ideas Floridians like and right-wing maniacs like Rubio, hate. And to Rubio's supporters, Crist is a homo, something the media rarely mentions but something wingers will never stop talking about-- at least en Español.




UPDATE: Outrage-- The Film

I just came back from seeing Mike Roger's movie, Outrage. If Republican voters in Florida see the film, Crist's goose is COOKED. He comes across as such a hypocrite-- and as soooo gay-- that he'd have a really tough time in a closed Republican primary. It'll be interesting to see if Rubio tries to exploit it in some way.

Marco Rubio Jumps Into The Florida Senate Race

Florida may get to chose between a hard core rightist & a real progressive

I'll bet Ricky Rubio will make a bigger impact on the nation's consciousness over the next few years, but former Florida Republican House Speaker, Marco Rubio, declared his intention to run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Mel Martinez.

Rubio, a Miami-area lawyer, left the House last year after serving two years as speaker. He is a charismatic public speaker whose conservative message is well-received at Republican events. He has spent the past few months appearing at Republican dinners and other gatherings, including a "tea party" tax protest last month.

He has been critical of the federal stimulus plan and federal bailouts, saying Washington shouldn't be as heavily involved in the economy. He also says the current administration is using taxes to redistribute wealth.

...Rubio believes some Republicans are becoming indistinguishable from Democrats. He did not name Crist specifically. But the governor made some party members uncomfortable when he appeared with Democratic President Barack Obama in support of the $787 billion federal stimulus plan that was opposed by every House Republican and all but three GOP senators.

Gov. Crist is the presumed front-runner but he hasn't declared yet. He's considered a mainstream conservative while Rubio is far to the right and more in step with the obstructionist faction of the Republican Party. The NRSC will probably back Crist against Rubio. He's a slick, light-weight with a pre-packaged Limbaughesque message who has no time for mainstream ideas. Monday he viciously attacked the two Maine Republican senators as stand-ins for Crist-- like them, Crist supported Obama's stimulus package. "If you agree with Susan Collins or Olympia Snowe on some of these issues, you might as well become a Democrat," Rubio hissed.

The national Republican Party, reeling from a string of electoral losses since 2006, is engaged in finger-pointing and soul-searching about its future. Polls show just over one in five adults now identify themselves as Republicans, the lowest level in decades, and the GOP is losing ground with the most important demographic groups for long-term viability-- Hispanic and young voters.

Yet party leaders are nowhere close to consensus on why they're shrinking so fast and what to do about it. With a Crist-Rubio matchup, Florida's Republican Senate primary could be a proxy fight for the party's soul.

"I don't think we have a shrinking movement, we have a shrinking party,'' said Rubio, drawing a distinction between conservatism and the party label. "If the Republican Party is not going to be an effective and authentic alternative to what the Democratic Party is offering, it will continue shrinking."

That's a widely held view among many leading conservatives. But many others hold the view that Republicans will lose still more ground if they insist on ideological purity that turns off the broad middle.

"The Republican Party could well go the way of the Whigs. You don't succeed in politics through subtraction. It's all about addition,'' said Roger Stone of Miami, a Republican consultant who chaired Specter's presidential campaign in 1996.

Stone scoffed at the notion that the path out of the political wilderness is a harder line on conservatism. "You're telling me we lost Hispanic voters because we weren't conservative enough? Or we lost voters between 18 and 35 because we weren't conservative enough? Nonsense. What we need to be is inclusive."

No one is better prepared to take on Rubio than the one progressive Democrat in the race, state Senator Dan Gelber. As minority leader of the Florida House, Dan battled him for years while Rubio sought to implement the disastrous Bush agenda in that hard pressed state. This morning Dan told DWT how he sees Rubio, who, of course, would be a much easier opponent to take on than the popular Crist. "I have a lot of respect for Marco Rubio," said Dan. "He has never broken away from his very conservative principles, even after the course of history has proven many of their ideas to be wrongheaded. The GOP is in the midst of a fight for its basic heart and soul, not to mention its very relevance in the American political discussion, and I know Marco will be a loud and effective voice for those who believe that the direction of the last eight years was the correct one and for the small percentage of Floridians and Americans who believe that a massive shift to the right is the best medicine for America's ails."

Last year, when Dan was still the minority leader and Rubio was still riding roughshod over the Florida House, Dan posted a letter on his blog urging the Speaker to join him in a bipartisan manner in working for a more transparent, open and participatory government in Florida. It's worth reading because it will give you a better idea of the kind of U.S. Senator Dan would make. Rubio, needless to say, never bothered to respond in any substantive way. I also found another letter to Rubio from Dan on Dan's blog from last year, this one about Medicaid "reform," also worth reading to get a better idea of how Dan's mind functions in regard to key policy decisions.

Dan's clueless (and ethicless) Democratic opponent, Kendrick Meek, doesn't know if he thinks Crist is a good governor or a bad governor. "I haven't yet reviewed his work yet," was all he could get out when asked to access a likely rival. Meek himself is in the most Democratic congressional district in Florida but he's anything but a progressive leader. Yesterday Swing State Project released a study of members of Congress who are too conservative for their districts and Meek came out to be the third worst in the entire country! He's the only Florida member of Congress so badly mismatched with his own constituents-- and turns out to be far worse than Blue Dogs like Jim Cooper in Nashville, Jane Harman in L.A. or David Scott in the suburbs east and south of Atlanta.


UPDATE: Dan Gelber Isn't The Only Democrat Welcoming Rubio To The Campaign Trail

Florida Democratic Party spokesman Eric Jotkoff released the following statement:

"At a time when Florida needs real leadership, Marco Rubio is just following George W. Bush and Republicans in Washington, offering only more of the same stale politics and failed polices.

"In announcing his candidacy, Rubio made it clear that his entire agenda if elected is to just say no - no to President Obama's efforts to jumpstart Florida's economy and create jobs, no to allowing Cuban-Americans to visit their families, and no to any solutions aimed at solving the many problems facing the Sunshine State and our nation.

"While Rubio has recently joined the Rush Limbaugh wing of the Republican Party in just saying no, as the sponsor of the largest sales tax increase in Florida's history, Rubio's recent rhetoric on taxes doesn't fit his record.

"Rubio is the Godfather of Tallahassee's Republican culture of corruption. As disgraced former Speaker Ray Sansom's mentor, Rubio taught Sansom how to personally benefit from bringing home the bacon. After delivering millions of tax dollars for Florida International University, Rubio turned around and got a $69,000 per year part-time job at the school... sound familiar? Unfortunately, that is only the tip of the iceberg to Rubio's ethics problems. As Speaker, Rubio was involved in countless ethics scandals revolving around sweetheart mortgages, legislative favors for big donors, highway contracts, and other shady dealings.

He's certainly expected to muddy Crist up if Crist has the nerve to face him in a primary. How do you say "homo" en español again? One trusted Miami blogger says there are two Rubios-- one who tries to sound relatively sane in English and one who rants like a madman in Spanish. Speaking to Cuban-Americans, he referred to President Obama today as a socialista.

Florida Republicans Turn Down Stimulus Money For Unemployment

Dan Gelber, the progressive candidate for the U.S. Senate

This morning several of my friends were aghast about the Florida state Senate passing a bill to put crucifixes on license plates. And it was a bipartisan bill!

Because why worry about a budget impasse or property insurance when you can spend more than an hour talking about Jesus, the devil and license plates?

But, truthfully, there was something even more disturbing that came out of the Florida legislature today. The Republicans, who still control the state legislature, are turning down the stimulus money that their own party's Governor is so eager to get. Florida is, after all, one of the hardest hit states in the country.

Days from the end of the legislative session, Florida lawmakers have refused to move a bill to expand unemployment eligibility in order to accept $444 million in federal stimulus aid.

While the Republican-controlled Legislature plans to use as much as $5 billion from the stimulus package to balance the budget, lawmakers balked at moving the unemployment insurance bill out of committee.

Senator Anthony C. Hill Sr., Democrat of Jacksonville, conceded that the bill was dead for the annual session, which is supposed to end on Friday, although a budget stalemate may force legislators to extend the session by a few days.

State Senator Dan Gelber is still trying to run one last amendment to try to save the situation for distressed working families whose breadwinner has been thrown out of work but he told DWT this morning that he isn't optimistic. "Florida already has one of the stingiest unemployment compensation systems in the nation, and is shedding jobs faster than any other state. By refusing to modernize they are leaving behind over $400 million our citizens desperately need... [A]t a time when Florida is on the verge of double-digit unemployment and Florida workers are facing hard times, it is unthinkable that the legislature would leave hundreds of millions on the table, money designed to help the workers who need it the most."

Gelber has been using Twitter to keep ordinary Florida families apprised of every development during the current session. With the state government paralyzed and in an apparent meltdown, he's been holding nightly conference calls with state bloggers and activists to brief them on the hard to believe current session. The Republican Speaker of the House is on his way to prison and there's virtually no one to re-write the universally disdained and worthless budget they got from Crist (which he knew would be dead on arrival when he sent it over). The power void has prevented them from getting anything useful done-- which is problematic since the state is about to go bankrupt. The special interests are taking full advantage of the chaos, pushing for offshore drilling, and getting through an insurance bill written by Allstate to screw their policy holders.

And in the midst of all this mess, establishment Democrats in DC are relentless pushing the candidacy of an inept, untested, corrupt and confused Democrat, Kendrick Meek, to run for the open U.S. Senate seat. Meek has no chance to win any kind of statewide race against any of the likely Republicans. He doesn't stand for anything and has a well-earned reputation as a play-for-play crook who wants to get along with everyone and not offend anyone.

Gelber stands up for working families every single day. Meek is the go-along-to-get-along special interests dupe. Please consider donating even $5 or $10 to Gelber's grassroots campaign for the U.S. Senate. Otherwise we'll get stuck with either a special interests Republican or a special interests Democrat, pretty much the same crap as always.

Some Unions Their Own Worst Enemy In Florida Senate Race

Meek, along with Debbie Wasserman Schultz declares he won't support Miami Democrats against Republican incumbents

I remember last year when Blue America was trying to help Georgia state Senator Regina Thomas oust reactionary Blue Dog John Barrow, we ran into some surprising difficulties. Here was a politician who has shown again and again that his sympathies are, at best, very conflicted between the special interests and the interests of working families and yet he has always counted on easily duped and somewhat politically naive organized labor to underwrite the part of his campaign that the special interests don't.

For example, in 2007 Barrow signed on as a co-sponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act and, in fact was among the 228 Democrats who voted for passage on March 1-- all but two Democrats. However, Barrow didn't totally let down his Chamber of Commerce anti-union supporters either. Just moments before the final vote, the House Republicans tried killing Employee Free Choice with a motion to recommit. Barrow and a dozen other reactionaries joined 189 Republicans in voting for that motion, which would have killed the bill. This year Barrow and most of those reactionaries, at the urging of the Chamber of Commerce and other Big Business interests, have refused to co-sponsor the exact same bill. The other anti-union Democrats who voted to recommit in 2007 and refuse to co-sponsor this year, are Dan Boren (Blue Dog-OK), Joe Donnelly (Blue Dog-IN), Brad Ellsworth (Blue Dog-IN), Baron Hill (Blue Dog-IN), Jim Marshall (Blue Dog-GA), Harry Mitchell (AZ), Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN), Heath Shuler (Blue Dog-NC) and Gene Taylor (Blue Dog-MS). Counting Barrow, that's just 10. What about the other 3? The other 3 Democrats who voted to kill Employee Free Choice, Tim Mahoney (Blue Dog-FL), Nick Lampson (Blue Dog-TX) and Nancy Boyda (KS), were defeated at the polls in November-- no thanks to organized labor, which cluelessly supported each of them-- $239,250 for Mahoney, $245,000 for Lampson and $193,800 for Boyda.

And last year labor unions donated $231,500 to Barrow, one of the most reactionary, anti-working family Democrats in Congress, who, although he represents a reliably Democratic district, regularly crosses the aisle on core issues to vote with the GOP. What was especially frustrating is that Regina Thomas is a staunch supporter of organized labor, not just in words but in deed. She wasn't given one thin dime by an Inside-the-Beltway labor movement thoroughly co-opted by the Democratic Party Establishment incumbent protection racket. Barrow, as well as other reactionary special interest Democrats, were also collecting money, quite openly, from one of organized labor's bitterest political enemies, far right Republican Party front group, BIPAC.

That said, it should come as absolutely no surprise at all that several big unions have lined up behind moderate and tepid Democrat Kendrick Meek, who is the very picture of a non-leader and certainly an untested quantity who has virtually no chance to wrest the Florida U.S. Senate seat being abandoned by Mel Martinez from the GOP. A scandal-plagued mediocre rubber stamp, Meek is a blue print of what the Democrats don't need more of in Congress. But he's a loyal Insider and the Beltway Establishment is rallying round the flag, regardless of the fact that there is a proven progressive leader with a real chance to actually win the seat in the race, longtime labor ally, state Senator Dan Gelber. Here's a perfectly pathetic example of organized labor shooting itself in the foot again with absolutely execrable political decision-making. Of course only Meek is the godfather of one labor leader's son. What will they do next-- start supporting Republicans against Democrats? Why not; it's not such a big step from supporting Blue Dogs and other non-progressives over progressives.

Republicans, As Always, Can't Stand Free Choice, Not For Women And Not For Working People

Colombia does it like this-- here, Republicans have another strategy

Today the Employee Free Choice Act is being introduced in both the House and the Senate. The Republican Obstructionists, at the behest of their paymasters at the Chamber of Commerce, and other violently anti-working family entities, will go all out to defeat it. Killing unions means more to them than even "killing babies," as they call women's right to choice.

The last time the bill came up, the House passed it overwhelmingly, 241-185, 13 Republicans joining all but two fake Democrats, arch-reactionaries Dan Boren (OK) and Gene Taylor (MS), both longtime Chamber of Commerce shills. Thanks to Rahm Emanuel-inspired DCCC recruiting, there are far more reactionary Democrats in Congress now than there were then. Before we get into that, here's the list of Republicans who voted for Employee Free Choice in 2007 (starred are the ones who are no longer in Congress):

Mike Ferguson* (NJ)
Vito Fossella* (NY)
Peter King (R-NY)
Steve LaTourette (OH)
Frank LoBiondo (NJ)
Thaddeus McCotter (MI)
John McHugh (NY)
Tim Murphy (PA)
Jim Saxton* (NJ)
Chris Shays* (CT)
Chris Smith (NJ)
Jim Walsh* (NY)
Don Young (AK)

In 2007 the House bill, presented by George Miller (D-CA) had 233 co-sponsors, including some of the most reactionary Blue Dogs as well as progressives and other normal Democrats. Seven Republicans-- Fossella, King, LaTourette, LoBiondo, McHugh, Shays, and Smith-- also signed on as co-sponsors. Back then, the Chamber of Commerce and their allies weren't nearly as hysterical as they are now, mostly because they knew the Senate could filibuster it to death (as they did) and that, in a worst case scenario, Bush would veto it. Now they are facing up to the fact that 8 senatorial Employee Free Choice opponents-- Wayne Allard (CO), Norm Coleman (MN), Elizabeth Dole (NC), Pete Domenici (NM), Gordon Smith (OR), Ted Stevens (AK), John Sununu (NH) and John Warner (VA)-- are no longer in the Senate. And Barack Obama couldn't be more different from George W. Bush on this issue.

So now the far right-- as well as off da hook and much beleagured temporary RNC chair Michael Steele-- is threatening to finance primaries against any Republican who votes for the bill. The Chamber of Commerce has also been actively courting right-wing Democrats with carrots and sticks. The other day Dan Boren (Blue Dog-OK) announced to his Chamber allies that, as expected, he would vote against working families once again.

Going into the vote there are 217 223 co-sponsors. Democrats still in Congress who co-sponsored in 2007 but who haven't signed up this year are: Artur Davis (AL), Marion Berry (Blue Dog-AR), Mike Ross (Blue Dog-AR), Vic Snyder (AR), Harry Mitchell (AZ), Gabby Gifford (Blue Dog-AZ), Mike Thompson (Blue Dog-CA), Jim Costa (Blue Dog-CA), Ron Klein (FL), Jim Marshall (Blue Dog-GA), John Barrow (Blue Dog-GA), Joe Donnelly (Blue Dog-IN), Brad Ellsworth (Blue Dog-IN), Baron Hill (Blue Dog-IN), Ben Chandler (Blue Dog-KY), G.K. Butterfield (NC), Bob Etheridge (NC), Heath Shuler (Blue Dog-NC), Earl Pomeroy (Blue Dog-ND), Shelley Berkley (NV), Chris Carney (Blue Dog-PA), Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin (Blue Dog-SD), Lincoln Davis (Blue Dog-TN), Bart Gordon (Blue Dog-TN), Jim Cooper (Blue Dog-TN), Steve Cohen (TN), an enthusiastic backer of the bill and of unions, Chet Edwards (TX), Henry Cuellar (TX), and Jim Matheson (Blue Dog-UT).

Freshmen who weren't around in 2007 and who aren't co-sponsors this year are mostly reactionaries who often cross the aisle to vote with the GOP: Bobby Bright (Blue Dog-AL), Parker Griffith (Blue Dog-AL), Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ), Walt Minnick (ID), Frank Kratovil (Blue Dog-MD), Travis Childers (Blue Dog-MS), Dina Titus (NV), Tom Perriello (VA), who is a stand-up supporter of working families and says he plans to vote for the bill, and Glenn Nye (Blue Dog-VA).

The only Republican co-sponsors with the guts to stand up to the far right and remain on board are Frank LoBiondo and Chris Smith of New Jersey and John McHugh (NY). The rest got frightened off, at least as co-sponsors.

I might add that when the battle was being fought in the House in 2007, the Republicans put up a series of asinine amendments and then their ritual motion to recommit (kill). On the recommit resolution, 13 Democrats crossed the aisle to vote with the GOP: John Barrow (Blue Dog-GA), Dan Boren (Blue Dog-OK), Nancy Boyda (KS), Joe Donnelly (Blue Dog-IN), Brad Ellsworth (Blue Dog-IN), Baron Hill (Blue Dog-IN), Nick Lampson (Blue Dog-TX), Tim Mahoney (Blue Dog-FL), Jim Marshall (Blue Dog-GA), Harry Mitchell (AZ), Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN), Heath Shuler (Blue Dog-NC), and Gene Taylor (Blue Dog-MS). The only three Democrats who voted on this in 2007 who were defeated this past November are on that list. The 3 aforementioned amendments meant to subvert the bill were offered by violently anti-working family fanatics Steve King (defeated 264-164), Virginia Foxx (defeated 256-173), and Buck McKeon ( defeated 256-173).

Over on the Senate side, where the attempt to close down the Grand Obstructionist Party's de facto filibuster was defeated, 51 in favor of the bill and 48 opposing it, every Democrat plus Arlen Specter (R-PA). In 2007 every Democrat co-sponsored the bill except conservatives Ben Nelson, Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor (all of whom voted for it). This year the only Democrats who haven't signed on as co-sponsors are Max Baucus, Evan Bayh, Colorado freshmen Michael Bennet and Mark Udall, Jeff Bingaman, Illinois freshman Roland Burris (although probably because no one asked him to), Kent Conrad, Claire McCaskill, Byron Dorgan, Herb Kohl, North Carolina freshman Kay Hagan, Mary Landrieu, John Tester, Blanche Lincoln, Mark Pryor, Mark Warner, Jim Webb, and Dianne Feinstein. (Bolded names were sponsors in 2007 and I'm sure they're still on board now and just haven't gotten around to sign up for co-sponsorship.)

Unfortunately Al Franken, a determined supporter of Employee Free Choice, still hasn't been permitted to take his seat in the Senate. Hopefully that's only a few weeks from resolution. It will be much longer for DWT's first Senate endorsed candidate, Dan Gelber. Dan is another progressive Democrat just itching to vote in favor of the aspirations of America's-- and in this case's, Florida's-- working families. Last night he told us that he's confident that "Americans will see through the deceptive arguments of its opponents. The Employee Free Choice Act simply gives workers a more level playing field on which to organize. Presently, workers can organize via majority sign-up or by ballot election-- but under current law it is management that decides which system will be used along with virtually every other aspect of the election. Employee Free Choice simply gives workers the choice which makes sense because it is, after all, their decision. So for me it is simple. Employees need to be treated with dignity and respect and that means giving them control over their own process of organizing."




UPDATE: MORE CO-SPONSORS

On the Senate side Roland Burris (D-IL) has now signed on. And over in the House, working families are also being supported by Shelley Berkley (D-NV), Jim Costa (Blue Dog-CA), Artur Davis (D-AL), Joe Donnelly (Blue Dog-IN), Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin (Blue Dog-SD), Thompson (Blue Dog-CA), and Dina Titus (NV).

Best Ad Of The Day-- Employee Free Choice vs The Blood-Sucking Wall Street Plutocracy

The SEIU may not have the right people picking candidates-- we caught them donating money to reactionary Blue Dogs like John Barrow last year and this year they're off to a typically clueless Inside-the-Beltway start with endorsements of Sarah Feingenholtz in Chicago and Kendrick Meek in Florida-- but whoever does their YouTubes is doing a bang-up job. The one below, is absolutely great and really makes the distinction between the kinds of characters-- society's vicious scavengers and self-entitled parasites-- who are fighting unions, and the people defending the rights of working people to live in some kind of human dignity. Please watch the ad-- because if you don't you'll never understand how "Radical Islam and Employee Free Choice are the two fundamental threats to society"-- and then donate to Dan Gelber, the progressive, commonsense candidate for Florida's Senate seat who isn't the corporate shill and corrupt hack the SEIU endorsed down there.



And keep in mind, Republicans are threatening their new hapless sad sack of an RNC chair that unless he stops calling their boss "ugly," and gets busy working on things like sabotaging the Employee Free Choice Act and preventing Al Franken from taking his Senate seat, he will soon be announcing that he's spending more time with his family.

Dan Gelber Live At Crooks And Liars Today

Remember the progressive campaign slogan many bloggers used last year, "More and Better Democrats?" Somewhere along the line we stopped worrying too much about the "more"-- and allowed the DCCC to work on their own to elect Blue Dogs and reactionaries like Bobby Bright, Parker Griffith and Walt Minnick-- while we concentrated on the "better." Candidates we asked our readers to help out last year-- like Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH), Alan Grayson (D-FL), Donna Edwards (D-MD), Eric Massa (D-NY), Jared Polis (D-CO), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Jim Himes (D-CT), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Hilda Solis (D-CA)-- have gone to DC and worked hard on a progressive agenda that recognizes the aspirations of working families rather than the special interests that dominate most of the Inside-the-Beltway politics-- on both sides of the aisle.

Today we're proud to have a guest at Crooks and Liars who has embodied in his political career, the whole idea of "better Democrats," Florida state Senator Dan Gelber. We first endorsed Dan in the race for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Mel Martinez in January. Today, please join us in the C&L comments section to meet Dan and ask him the kinds of questions that you would like answered by someone running high office. And, please, if you like what you hear, consider donating to his campaign at our ActBlue page.

Before Dan meets whatever right-wing obstructionist the Republicans use to try to hold onto the Florida seat, he'll have to win the Democratic primary. He's being opposed by a typical Inside-the-Beltway political hack, Kendrick Meek, someone who votes like he's told-- it could be worse; at least he's not a Blue Dog-- and spends his time courting lobbyists and special interests. Like Al Wynn, he was one of the Democrats who voted for the bankruptcy bill that has hurt so many working families and opposed drug importation legislation, a nice big favor to BigPharma. Meek is a pay to play Democrat and, other than arch-reactionary Allen Boyd, he's the most Chamber of Commerce-friendly Democratic congressman from Florida.

If the Inside-the-Beltway power brokers get their way and Meek wins the nomination, he is unlikely to win the general election but if he did, he'd be more dead weight in a U.S. Senate that is absolutely weighed down with dead weight. We need leaders, not followers. Meek, who in the past has taken his marching order from Debbie Wasserman Schultz-- he originally joined her in announcing they would not support the Democratic congressional candidates against their right-wing pals Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and the notorious Diaz-Balart Brothers-- is a follower, not a leader. In many ways he is the polar opposite of Dan, who, as Minority Leader of the Florida House, was the face and voice of progressive values while one Bush ruled in DC and another ruled in Tallahassee. Dan led the effort, as a second week legislator, to stop the GOP from using the state legislature to steal the 2000 presidential election; worked to protect civil liberties when the state re-wrote security laws after 9/11; took on Jeb Bush on virtually everything--becoming what the Wall Street Journal called, Bush's chief nemesis. He wrote many significant laws, including new rules on public corruption, efforts to crack down on abuse of plea-bargain laws, and passed major prescription drug pricing reform law. 

So please join us over at C&L and, if you can, remember even a $5 or $10 contribution is the backbone of allowing a grassroots campaign like Dan's able to stand up to the lobbyists and special interests that are all behind Meek.


UPDATE: KEN QUINNELL ENDORSES DAN GELBER

Ken Quinnell of the Florida Progressive Coalition endorsed Dan this afternoon.

Why Gelber? The reasons are many, but let’s start with a big first one — he’s as progressive as legislators come. Dan is a thoughtful man who actually takes the time to understand the issues and how government actions affect people in the real world. And he’s a big fan of things like logic, reason and evidence. Combining these things, he comes down on the right side of the issues about as often as anyone I can think of, particularly in the Florida legislature. Take a look at his voting record and you’ll be pleased to see such a principled, liberal record from a member of the Florida legislature. And when people hit him with the same old, tired conservative Rush Limbaugh-style attacking points, he’s prepared for them and can counter them as good, if not better, than the best pundits and bloggers out there.

Florida Senator Dan Gelber Upgrades Political Use Of Twitter

Washington is all atwitter over a Politico story by Patrick Gavin this morning, The 10 Most Influential D.C. Twitterers. Sorry Republican imbeciles who have been using Twitter the way a 5 year old experiments with a fork and a toaster, namely Michigan Congressman Pete Hoekstra and Virginia GOP Chairman/state Senator Jeff Frederick were decidedly not included on the list. Why criminal justice avoiding former Bush political strategist Karl Rove is numero uno is beyond me. I wonder if he'll get to take a PDA to prison with him. Sixty members of Congress tweet but the only two who made the list are Senators Claire McCaskill (D-MO), at #2, and Chuck Grassley (R-IA), at #7. The Politico quotes Salon's Mike Madden's review of Grassley's tweets who says the senator "sounds just like the elderly pig farmer he is.” The rest of the list is a bunch of Inside the Beltway media types and ex-office holders, many of whom put the twit in twitter. Howie Kurtz, who didn't make the list, devoted a column in today's Post to it today. It's what you'd expect from Kurtz. Chris Cillizza is miffed he wasn't included and, in the same paper, has begun a campaign to catch up with... Ana Marie Cox.

Far from the Beltway's crooks and pig farmers, there is actually something interesting happening with Twitter. As the Florida legislative session gets down to business, state Senator Dan Gelber, the only progressive running for the U.S. Senate seat being abandoned by Republican obstructionist Mel Martinez, announced that he'll be "micro-blogging" the entire session via Twitter, giving Floridians unprecedented-- and long overdue-- access to the workings of their state's democracy. The fact that Dan is one of the most brilliant and articulate elected officials in the state should make this an extremely worthwhile endeavor.

"I believe in transparency and an open government process," said Sen. Gelber. "I am excited to use one of the newest tools in online communication because it will allow more Floridians to follow closely the major policy discussions in Tallahassee and offer their opinion on how their leaders should respond. Florida's facing great challenges right now, and the session will attempt to address them all in just 60 short days. We need the public participating in this conversation... I encourage my colleagues in the Florida Legislature to join with me in making this the most open legislative session in the states history by creating their own twitter accounts and using the #legfl hashtag. I want open debate, not just people who agree with me, and I am willing to help my colleagues on both sides of the aisle get set up."

 
You can follow Dan's tweets at www.twitter.com/DanGelber.

If you'd like to help Dan bring this kind of attitude-- plus a proven progressive record of accomplishment-- to Washington, please consider making a contribution to his campaign at our ActBlue page. If you'd like to get an idea of what to expect from Dan's tweets and what kind of a Senator he'll be if he wins in 2010, please watch Dan speak to the Board of Education about teaching faith in science class:



"I believe science class is a place for the teaching of science. And I believe faith and religion should be taught at home and in synagogues and churches and I believe you do a disservice to both when you mix them together." His website is excellent and filled with the kind of information voters need, but rarely get, when we're trying to make up our minds about how to vote. Today he explained what's he's trying to accomplish with his use of Twitter.

Will We Have A Secretary Of Labor After Tuesday?

Tuesday Harry Reid is calling the Senate Republicans' bluff on the mean-spirited obstructionism they have been using to deny California Congresswoman Hilda Solis confirmation as Secretary of Labor. He's scheduled a cloture vote to shut down their de facto filibuster. The battle over Obama's best cabinet nomination has become a kind of proxy fight in the jihad against unions and the Employee Free Choice Act by the Chamber of Commerce, the GOP's patron.

Almost two weeks ago, the nomination was approved by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP) with only two of the most vicious do-or-die GOP obstructionists, Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Pat Roberts of Kansas voting no. Meanwhile, sleazy Republican and Chamber of Commerce front groups have been throwing up all sorts of bogus complaints about Hilda to try to discredit her. Her popularity is as solid as her integrity and the only time the GOP has put up a candidate against her since she was first elected in 2000 (Emma Fishbeck 2 years later) they only managed to draw 27% of the vote. Ironically, Hilda first came to Congress from the state Senate after challenging a long time reactionary Democrat, Matthew Martinez, who she beat in the primary. After he lost the primary, Martinez officially became a Republican-- he was already voting like one-- and Hilda trounced him in the general election.

So will Democrats muster the 60 votes required for cloture, even without Al Franken and without Ted Kennedy? Well... hard to say for sure. Progressives feel very strongly about Hilda's leadership. With rumors flying that Rep. Carol Shea-Porter may be considering giving in to calls for her to run for the Senate seat Judd Gregg is abandoning next year, we asked her how she sees Hilda's nomination battle. "Hilda Solis is a leader and a friend of both working men and women and business," she told us. "She is smart and compassionate and fair. Senators have a chance to vote for a true public servant and I hope they will." Another Democrat who has announced he is running for a U.S. Senate seat being abandoned by a conservative Republican (Mel Martinez), is state Senator Dan Gelber. No one knows for sure how Martinez plans to vote on Hilda's nomination Tuesday-- but he's been viciously anti-labor and voted against the Employee Free Choice Act in the past. If Dan were already in the Senate, there can be little doubt he'd be in the forefront of Senators urging Hilda's confirmation. This morning he pointed out that "My own state of Florida is leading the nation in job loss and within months will see unemployment rates unparalleled since the Great Depression. It is simply amazing that even in such dire times when politics should be supplanted by patriotism, there are still national leaders obstructing confirmation of our labor secretary." Those "national leaders" are-- excepting a small handful of Blue Dogs like Heath Shuler (NC) and Bobby Bright (AL)-- mostly Republicans. Even the most reactionary Senate Democrats, like Ben Nelson, Mary Landrieu, Mark Pryor and Max Baucus, are firmly behind Obama and Hilda on this one.

So how many Republicans will vote against their own Obstructionist Caucus? The very conservative Utah Republican Orrin Hatch seems fed up with all the obstructionism for obstructionism's sake and he's already said he'll vote to confirm. Arlen Specter (R-PA), the only Republican to have voted for the Employee Free Choice Act in the 110th Congress, is likely to vote for confirmation and I would say Olympia Snowe will support her as well. Mike Enzi (R-WY) is the ranking Republican on HELP and he voted for confirmation and explained why he feels she should be confirmed. The other Republicans on HELP who voted for her and will presumably do so on the Senate floor are Judd Gregg (NH), Lamar Alexander (TN), Richard Burr (NC), Johnny Isakson (GA), John McCain (AZ), Lisa Murkowski (AK), and the aforementioned Orrin Hatch. Burr and Isakson are both part of the Obstructionist Caucus and both will instantly bend if pressure is put on them by DeMint, Vitter and Cornyn, the three who have all but admitted they would rather see America fail than Obama succeed. McCain has lost all sense of honor and dignity so there's no telling what he will do. But even without those 3 it looks likely that enough Republicans will hold firm against DeMint's hysterical nihilistic ravings to allow Hilda to be confirmed.

Obama Taking The Argument For Stimulus To Hard Hit Florida

Alan Grayson wants to help Obama fix the problems Connie Mack helped Bush cause

Today President Obama visited Elkhart, Indiana to explain the benefits of his Stimulus Plan and how it would help rescue the economy from a deadly and catastrophic Republican policy agenda that has driven the economy of the nation-- and of millions of working families-- off the cliff. Indiana is a traditionally Republican state, one of several Obama won in November. Another is Florida-- and it's there, in hard hit Ft. Meyers-- that the president will be delivering a similar message tomorrow morning. Yesterday's NY Times featured a poignant story set in the Ft Meyers area, In Florida, Despair and Foreclosures.

Welcome to the American dream in high reverse. Lehigh Acres is one of countless sprawling exurbs that the housing boom drastically reshaped, and now the bust is testing whether the experience of shared struggle will pull people together or tear them apart.

The changes in these mostly unincorporated areas outside cities like Charlotte, N.C., Las Vegas and Sacramento have been swift and vivid. Their best economic times have been immediately followed by their worst, as they have generally been the last to crest and the first to crash.

In Lehigh Acres, homes are selling at 80 percent off their peak prices. Only two years after there were more jobs than people to work them, fast-food restaurants are laying people off or closing. Crime is up, school enrollment is down, and one in four residents received food stamps in December, nearly a fourfold increase since 2006... [I]n 2007, it all went quiet. Houses stopped selling. Foreclosures multiplied. The median home price in the Fort Myers area dropped to $215,200 in December 2007, from a peak of $322,300 in December 2005. It had fallen to $106,900 two months ago.

9.8% of the adults in Lee County (Ft. Meyers) are getting unemployment insurance. Many more are unemployed or underemployed. And things are getting much worse there, as in most of the country. As MSNBC reported yesterday, the unemployment benefits safety net is fraying. Republican members of Congress are screaming bloody murder that unemployed workers have gotten too much already and shouldn't get more but almost half of the 11.6 million jobless workers nationwide are no longer receiving benefits. The first thing the Republicans wanted to cut from the Stimulus Package was aid for these people. Anyone in a tough spot and not working is a bum according to GOP ideology-- even if that same ideology is what caused the economic disaster that has the economy in a shambles.

The shortcomings are fueling the recession as an increasing number of workers fall through the cracks and curtail spending. The trend highlights what economists say is a growing need for a 21st century makeover of a program started in the depths of the Great Depression.

...Jobless benefits are essentially mini-financial stimulus packages for struggling American families. Helping laid-off breadwinners continue to purchase goods and services until they find new jobs ultimately bolsters the economy and makes further layoffs less likely.

The Republican Party attitude was summed up by Heritage Foundation loon James Sherk, from the outfit that drew up all the Bush economic policies for the past 8 years and has been helping the Obstructionist Caucus nuts like DeMint, Isakson, Vitter and Burr come up with the harebrained arguments they keep making in their attempt to further destroy the economy with failed and discredited GOP dogma. "It does reduce the pressure and incentive to go out and search for a new job," is his-- and their-- attitude about unemployment insurance.

This is the area represented by one of Florida's most extreme right-wing congressman, Connie Mack, a doctrinaire Bush rubber stamp and unyielding enemy to working families. Last year he sucked up almost $90,000 from the real estate industry in legalized bribes-- and also took in $58,588 from Wall Street, $27,293 from lobbyists and $23,800 from Big Oil and Gas. And its their interests, rather than his constituents', that he has always represented in Congress. He raised over $1,290,000 for his re-election campaign last year, against a Democrat, Burt Saunders, who only spent $165,327. His next race probably won't be that kind of cakewalk. That's because part of the extremist base of the Florida Republican Party wants him to run for the Senate seat being abandoned by Mel Martinez. The progressive Democrat in that race, state Senator Dan Gelber was an early supporter of Barack Obama's and he is standing with him on the need for a major Stimulus effort. He thinks Ft. Meyers is the perfect place for President Obama to come to tomorrow. "Florida is losing jobs faster than any other state and has the second highest foreclosure rate in the nation," Dan told us. " With 800,000 Floridians now jobless Floridians will have no appetite for the right wing political opportunism rearing its head in Washington. The severity of Florida's economic crisis stems from its previous unflinching and unthinking allegiance to far right conservative orthodoxy. We have made our state 'tax friendly' but failed to invest adequately in public education and work force development.  So our wages are low, job security is precarious and now people are really worried what tomorrow will bring."

Please help DWT keep America moving forward on the right track, by keeping another lunatic fringe rightist like Mack out of the Senate and instead electing a stalwart proven progressive like Dan. We've opened an ActBlue page for his campaign. If you wonder if supporting progressive candidates like Dan does any good, I hope you've been watching another Florida progressive, Alan Grayson, holding Republican evil doers' feet to the fire now that he's been elected. His analysis of why southwest Florida's economy is in such dire straits applies to areas all over the state and all over the U.S.

We are witnessing the results of 28 years of conservative rule: foreclosures, unemployment, inflation, war, poverty, hunger, desperation and despair. Government has been disabled. Ordinary people feel dispossessed, despised and damned.
 
But the solution is painfully obvious: we have to help ourselves. Not the Shiites, the Sunnis and the Kurds. Not Big Business.  Not Wall Street. Not the rich. Us. We need to stop wasting our tax money on nonsense, and spend it on the things that we need and use: roads, health care, housing, schools and so on. Then the economy will heal itself.
 
In 1798 Congressman Robert Harper (SC) said, "millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute." The Republicans today are saying, "trillions for Wall Street, but not one cent to help people keep their homes." But that is exactly the thinking that created this mess. That's the failed, weak thinking that we have to put behind us, to have any hope of making things better.

And that's exactly what President Obama wants to leave behind-- and he needs support from people willing to stand up with him for working families, the way Alan Grayson and Dan Gelber are. Back in Lee County, Randy Burns the 50 year old owner of Lehigh Discount Furniture is getting mostly calls from people wanting to sell their furniture so they can move. “Until there’s jobs and foreclosures stop,” he said, “nothing’s going to change.” Yep, and that's what President Obama needs Americans to tell David Vitter and Jim DeMint and John Cornyn and Richard Burr and the rest of the clowns who would rather see America fail than see Obama succeed. By the way, if you are in Florida, please let Senator Mel Martinez know you want him to vote for the Stimulus Package. Governor Crist has asked him to and he's... up in the air about it. He needs to hear from voters. His phone numbers in DC are (202) 224-3041 and (866) 630-7106 and you can also reach him with this e-mail form (for Florida residents only). And, please, don't forget Dan Gelber.

Part 1 of President Obama's speech today in Elkhart:



Part 2 is here.


UPDATE: Democrats Shut Down Obstructionist Filibuster Of Obama's Stimulus Plan

Every Democrat plus 3 Republicans-- Arlen Specter, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe-- and the Senate's freak of nature, Joe Lieberman, shut down the GOP attempt to kill the Stimulus Bill with a filibuster. Cloture passed 61-36-- with Judd Gregg (R-NH) abstaining and John Cornyn (R-TX) accidentally locking himself in a restroom stall and missing the vote. Next step: a conference committee with the more working families-oriented House Democrats to iron out some very serious differences between the 2 bills.

The Senate bill-- the one crafted by Collins, Nelson, and Lieberman-- costs between $7 billion and $20 billion more than the House bill and creates far fewer jobs (around half a million less than the House bill). Here's a chart that shows how many fewer jobs per state, although I might add that it means between 1,831-2,316 fewer jobs in Maine, 1,931-2,543 fewer jobs in Nebraska, and between 2,116 and 3,465 fewer jobs in Connecticut. Nice of these three clowns to sacrifice their constituents for... lower taxes for rich people. (Florida loses between 29,607 and 35,706 new jobs.)


UPDATE: CONNIE MACK'S NOT GOING TO FT MEYERS

Yesterday I noticed that President Obama brought area congressmen from both sides of the aisle with him to Elkhart. Although Florida's Republican Governor Charlie Crist will be with him in Ft Meyers today, he isn't bringing obstructionist wingnut Connie Mack with him. Mack was on Morning Joe today claiming-- falsely-- that he opposed all the Bush policies that have caused the economy to tank. Mack, in fact, was a reflexive rubber stamp throughout the Bush era, and his voting record shows him, along with fellow extremists Jeff Miller, John Mica, Howdy Doody and Ander Crenshaw, in complete lockstep with every aspect of the Bush-Cheney assault on America's working families. As you can see, the brain trust at Morning Joe weren't aware of that.

Is The Senate About To Get Another Gay Member?... From Florida?

Last year Chuck Schumer, as grand poobah of the DSCC, decided that the Senate wasn't ready for an openly gay member-- at least not from North Carolina-- but as long as they stay the hell in the closet and not get messy and go wild like Larry Craig, no one minds a few well-mannered closet queens in the august chamber. And it looks like Lindsey Graham (R-SC), recently the victim of a blackmail plot threatening to expose him, and Mitch McConnell (R-KY) may be about to get a new pal. Florida Governor Charlie Crist is ready to make a deal.

In what could be a Sunshine State one-two punch, multiple Republican sources are confirming that Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) is giving serious consideration to running for Senate-- and that Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) is contemplating resigning from his seat before his term is up next year.

Florida’s lieutenant governor is a Republican and would appoint Martinez’s successor if he and Crist both resign prematurely.

Crist is under pressure from the GOP, particularly NRSC head John Cornyn, to take the seat and keep it out of the hands of surging Democrats. The gay card was played against him in the past-- in a vicious Republican primary that he won-- and it doesn't phase him at all. "Everyone" in Florida knows he's a closet case and no one really cares. (The ones who would care, the backward religionists who were the only ones who didn't know about Crists's buddy Mark Foley, are the only ones who don't know.) Today's Miami Herald explains the career choice dilemma the ambitious Crist is facing:

Why become one of 100 and a junior member of the minority party when you can be top dog?

''There's no doubt that he has higher aspirations,'' said Sharon Day, the newly elected Republican National Committee secretary from Fort Lauderdale. "Some people are pushing him to do things because it's good for them or good for the party... At the same time, I don't want to lose my governor."

Crist's decision will take into account his political ambitions, pet issues and simple geography.

If he wants to run for president, history shows that a state capitol is a better launching pad. But the Senate, where members can run for an unlimited number of six-year terms, offers more job security and better hours.

Dan Gelber, the progressive Democrat running for Martinez' seat, doesn't think this rumor's going to bear out. "I think the early-departure-self-appointment rumor while fascinating to pundits makes little sense and would be thoroughly unappreciated by voters. It would be very, very difficult," he told us this morning, "for a sitting Governor to resign in the midst of a true fiscal crisis (which Florida has), and I don't think Governor Crist would avail himself of that route even if he were interested in leaving his current post."


UPDATE: NO SHENANIGANS IN MISSOURI SENATE RACE... AND PAUL HODES DECLARES IN NEW HAMPSHIRE!

Unlike Florida and New Hampshire, they plan to fill the seat of retiring Kit Bond, the old fashioned way. And the probable winner, Secretary of State Robin Carnahan, has made her official announcement today.

Senator Russ Feingold issued a statement today about the monkey business that's putting another unelected senator into office: "...[T]he apparent behind-the-scenes deal-making that went on to determine who will fill Senator Gregg's vacancy is alarmingly undemocratic. Once again, Americans will be represented in the Senate for nearly two years by someone they had no hand in electing. As the number of Senators appointed to their seats continues to rise, it's increasingly clear that we need to fix this constitutional anachronism. It is time to pass a constitutional amendment to end appointments by governors and the political gamesmanship they encourage."

I like Carnahan's approach a lot better than the backroom deal cut in New Hampshire or the rumors about what may happen in Florida:



And... Paul Hodes, the congressman from New Hampshire who Blue America helped elect in 2006, just announced that next year he'll be running for the seat Lynch, Gregg and Obama decided to give to Republican Bonnie Newman. I'm not certain if she's in the closet or out. Anyone know?

Republicans May Be Against ALL Working Families But They hate Immigrant Working Families Even More

Yesterday when the Senate was arguing about passing SCHIP again, it wasn't just working families Republicans had declared war on. They had decided to scapegoat Latinos again; well, not just Latinos... all immigrants; but mostly Latinos. The newest excuse for these reactionary scumbags to oppose health insurance for needy children? The Democrats took away the 5-year waiting period for legal immigrants and by easing the paperwork burden, some illegal immigrant child might possibly someday perhaps sneak into the system and get health care. This morning Mitch McConnell tried substituting his own mean-spirited bill for the actual SCHIP bill. He was supported by 31 hard right reactionary Republicans, while all the Democrats plus Republicans Kit Bond, Susan Collins, Chuck Grassley, Orrin Hatch, Dick Lugar, Lisa Murkowski, Olympia Snowe and Arlen Specter voted against his rotten tactic.

The Republicans have given up on trying to reach All Americans and win national elections. Now their only goal is the shore up their demented hate-filled base in the old slave-holding states and the Mormon West. They've given up on winning among Latinos and decided to concentrate on people who don't care about not having dental care and who go to church more than 7 days a week. Looking at data from November's elections explains why reactionaries and racists like Jim DeMint (R-SC), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), David Diapers Vitter (R-LA), Richard Burr (R-NC) and Tom Coburn (R-OK) have told Latinos to go to hell.

• Exit polls from Election Day indicated that President Barack Obama won 67 percent of the Latino vote, and John McCain 32 percent. This compares to estimates of Latino support for George W. Bush in the range of 39 percent or higher in 2004. In 2000, Bush is thought to have received 35 percent of the Latino vote.

• The drop in support among Latinos for Republicans between 2004 and 2008 was part of a broad-based electoral movement away from the GOP, and was hardly specific to that demographic group. McCain received only 57 percent of the white male vote, compared with 62 percent for Bush in 2004, and McCain’s 55 percent of regular churchgoers was significantly lower than Bush’s 61 percent.

• Credible surveys indicate that the major policy concerns of Latinos were no different than the concerns of non-Latinos: The economy and jobs topped the list.

• There is little evidence that immigration policy was an influential factor in Latinos’ choice between the two candidates once basic party predispositions are taken into account.

• McCain’s consistent history of advocating a legalization program for illegal immigrants made no impression on Latino voters.

• McCain lost the Latino vote by a wide margin even in his home state of Arizona, 56 to 41 percent. This was in spite of widespread news coverage of his immigration stance in that state.

The survey and analysis by James Gimpel for the Center For Immigration Studies slices and dices the GOP's dismal (and costly) failure to lure Hispanic voters into their orbit. For one thing, "very few Latinos are migrating into Republican-heavy communities, where they might develop some affinity for the Grand Old Party’s politics." They tend to live in Democratic cities and older Democrat suburbs. Broadcasting a few ads-- even en espanol-- and making an extra campaign stop isn't going to turn around party allegiance. The die is cast: toothless, superstitious rednecks will remain true to Republican racists. Hispanics and other immigrant groups won't.

OK, Republicans DO support certain working families, like John Thain's

In seeking a new head for their shattered and reviled party, Republicans all seem to agree Bush screwed up everything. The problem from there, however, is that some say he was too far right and some say he wasn't far right enough. And the gamut of potential chairs of the RNC runs from the mainstream right to the neo-Nazi extremist right. None are big fans of immigrants, although not all are as dangerous to immigrant families as others. If one of the bizarre Know Nothing extremists, like Katon Dawson (SC) or Chip Saltsman (TN) or Kenneth Blackwell (OH) wins, it will send a strong and clear message to immigrant communities-- and to working families-- that there not only is no place for them in the Republican Party, but that the Republican Party will spearhead efforts to further marginalize them and wreck their aspirations. With the 2010 midterm elections already starting to shape up, Senate elections in Colorado, Florida, New York, Nevada, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Illinois are all likely to be heavily impacted by the extent of Republican xenophobia, racism and how strongly the Know Nothing wing dominates what's left of the party. Vulnerable Republicans across all offices are getting very nervous-- and for good reason.

Example: while Republicans in Florida are fighting among themselves to determine who is the craziest fringe loon most likely to destroy the interests of working families, the strongest Democratic candidate, Dan Gelber, is starting to address the real issues that effect the real lives of real Floridians. So while the nuts in the GOP are arguing among themselves over arcane doctrinal purity and trying to decide if its better to attack President Obama or lay low, Gelber is dealing with nuts and bolts of the state's home insurance catastrophe. After unsuccessfully trying to raise homeowner rates by 50% in Florida, the state's largest private insurer, State Farm, announced yesterday that it would close down all its property insurance business in the state, affecting more than a million homeowners, "another financial setback to a state with one of the nation’s highest foreclosure rates and rising unemployment. It could also increase the burden on a state-created insurance company, which must accept customers if they have nowhere else to go."

With lunatic fringe extremists like Reps. Vern Buchanan and Connie Mack, tying themselves to the obstructionist/Limbaughist wing of the Republican Party that would rather see America fail than Obama succeed, Dan Gelber is working on the insurance policy. Yesterday when the news of State's Farm's announcement broke, he seemed angry and disappointed. "They are taking their profits, packing up and leaving their customers high and dry when folks need coverage the most," he told us. "Not acting like the 'good neighbor' in their commercials, more like the neighbor that kicks your dog and swipes your mower."

The just-released Diageo poll makes it clear GOP obstructionists may be appealing to Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter and their rapidly dwindling audience of imbeciles and racists, but most Americans are not buying into their anti-American treachery.

The Diageo/Hotline Poll of 800 registered voters conducted by FD from January 21-24, 2009, finds that 49% of voters say they approve of the job Democrats in Congress are doing, while only 26% of voters who approve of the job Republicans in Congress are doing.

And, while the 111th Congress has been in session barely three weeks, the Poll finds that the Democratic candidate leads the Republican candidate 46%-22% in a generic 2010 congressional election match-up, with 27% of voters saying they are undecided.

Acting out their childish, obstructionist fantasies is going to make them very popular in some very backward districts in parts of the rural South and Utah, but Republican Senate and House incumbents in states like New Hampshire, North Carolina, Kentucky, Arizona, and Iowa may be in for the shock of their political careers. And GOP challengers in states like Missouri, Illinois, New York, Ohio, Florida and even Kansas are going to dind they're campaign on a ticket that is viewed as part of the problem, not part of the solution.