Who Remembers Steve Stockman (R-TX)?

GOP congressional crooks Hunter and Stockman

We were sorry to see our pal Dayna Steele lose her race in TX-36 on Tuesday but proud of how strongly she and her team fought in her R+26 district where few Democrats would even try. She won just over a quarter of the votes there-- 60,486 (27.4%)-- her efforts turning out voters for Beto and other Democrats as well. In 2016 no one had run against Brian Babin at all and Hillary only took 25.2% to Trump's 72.0%. In 2014, the last time a Democrat did run there, Michael Cole got 22.0% of the vote and in 2012, Democrat Max Martin took 26.6%. Martin, though, wasn't running against Babin, but his predecessor, Steve Stockman. Remember Stockman at all? He was first elected to Congress in 1994, beating the dean of the Texas delegation, conservative Democrat Jack Brooks in a district that stretched from Galveston to Beaumont, including much of the southern part of what today is TX-36. He was defeated for re-election in 1996 having distinguished himself as Congress' foremost conspiracy theorist. He had claimed, for example, that the Waco siege had been orchestrated by the Clinton administration in order to prove the need for a ban on "so-called assault weapons."

After he left Congress, he ran for any electoral job he could find-- losing-- and finally got back into Congress again in 2012 in the brand new 36th district. Even though he had been driven into bankruptcy by caring for his father while he had Alzheimer's (and abandoning his father to die in a veteran's home) he still voted against the Affordable Care Act. After the Sandy Hook massacre he introduced a bill to repeal gun-free school zones, a subject so dear to him that he threatened to introduce articles impeachment against Obama over it. You get the picture, right?

Last year, he was arrested for the same old GOP trick that has Duncan Hunter in trouble now-- raising money-- in this case $350,000-- for a charity and then stealing it for himself. A couple of Stockman's staffers pleaded guilty to funneling even more money from from charitable foundations into Stockman's campaigns and personal bank account (at his direction).

On March 28, 2017, a federal grand jury issued an indictment that included 24 counts against Stockman, accusing him of obtaining $1.25 million under false pretenses and using the funds for his political campaigns-- 11 counts of money laundering, 8 counts of mail and wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to make "conduit contributions" and false statements (conspiracy to conceal the real source of the contributions by false attribution), 2 counts of making false statements to the FEC, one count of making excessive contributions, and one count of willfully filing a false 2013 Federal income tax return by not reporting some of his income. Broke by then, he was assigned a court-appointed attorney for a trial that began last January.

In April, he was convicted on 23 of the 24 felony counts against him, judged to be a flight risk, and remanded into custody pending sentencing, which happened yesterday, the day after the election. Congressman Stockman was sentenced to serve 10 years in prison and ordered to pay $1,014,718.51 in restitution, to be followed by three years of supervised release.

According to the Department of Justice, Stockman "used a series of sham nonprofit organizations and dozens of bank accounts" to launder the money. The government proved to the jury that Stockman ran his campaign and fraudulent charities to simply enrich himself. U.S. Attorney Ryan Patrick of the Southern District of Texas wrote in a press release that "this type of corruption by public officials gives our entire democratic system a black eye."

The day before, Republicans in CA-50 re-elected Duncan Hunter, Jr., a severe untreated alcoholic, indicted for almost the identical crimes Stockman is now in prison for. Hunter, the same kind of right-wing conspiracy theorist crackpot as Stockman, won reelection with 82,379 votes (54.3%), having smeared his Democratic opponent, Ammar Campa-Najjar, as a Muslim terrorist-- he is neither a Muslim nor a terrorist-- who was trying to "infiltrate Congress" as part of a terrorist plot. The GOP plan was to keep Campa-Najjar out of the seat and then replace Hunter when he is forced to resign from Congress, with Darrell Issa, another crooked Republican thief. What a party!

This Election Is About Morality-- It Is About Right And Wrong

Dayna Steele with VCG in Beaumont

On Friday evening the Vote Common Good tour finally arrives in California, appropriately enough, in Escondido Grape Day Park for a rally with much-maligned progressive Democrat Ammar Campar-Najjar (CA-50). Ammar has been attacked by desperate criminal Congressman Duncan Hunter as a Muslim, although Ammar was born and raised a Christian and is still active in his church. The DCCC refuses to defend him but the pastors associated with Vote Common Good will be in the district doing just that.

On Sunday evening they'll be rallying with Harley Rouda at the Wayfarer in Costa Mesa, Monday evening with Katie Porter and her team at the Irvine United Congregational Church. Then they move north to Buena Park's UFCW Union Local 324 Hall on Stanton Ave with Gil Cisneros on Tuesday-- one week out from election day!-- and then on to rallies with Katie Hill in Santa Clarita on Wednesday, with T.J. Cox in Bakersfield on Thursday, with Andrew Janz in Fresno on Friday...

Mike Siegel with VCG in Austin

In Texas this week, both Dayna Steele and Mike Siegel enjoyed the experience of working with progressive evangelicals. It was a cold and rainy day when Vote Common Good pulled into Beaumont," Dayna told me, "but you would not have known it with the warm and loving people we met and worked with. Honesty, integrity, empathy-- it's people like this that I am running for and want to represent in Congress.

Mike he was inspired "to hear the message of these Christian leaders who have devoted weeks of their lives, traveling in cramped quarters to get out the vote. For me, it was a good opportunity to step back from policy and speak about faith and morality. I am hopeful that Vote Common Good will yield benefits for Democrats in 2018. More importantly, we must continue this outreach in the years to come, to show Christian folks who is really fighting to represent their values." If you want to help Dayna and Mike execute their end of the cycle ground game, please consider tapping on the Act Blue Turning Texas Blue thermometer on the right and contributing what you can.

One of the organizers of these events-- and the guy who introduced Ted Lieu and I to Vote Common Good-- is Frank Schaeffer. Yesterday, he wrote that This Election Is Not About Politics-- It Is About Morality. Stop This Evil Man! Why aren't more self-professed followers of Jesus full-heartedly embracing Frank's and VCG's message? "Claiming children and mothers are criminals is nothing new for Trump. And he acts out his mean xenophobic fantasies, putting kids in cages. The 'caravan' of 'criminals' is made up of suffering families. Trump is a liar-- worse a cowardly bully. Republicans ," wrote Frank, "enable his cruelty."

One cannot help but think Trump is trying to distract from his feeble response to Saudi Arabia’s murder and dismemberment of Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi by picking on helpless women and children in a made-up “hardened criminal caravan.” What a corrupt bully.

If only the Honduran mothers and babies had bought billions of dollars of apartments from the organized-crime Trump organization to launder their money, Trump would be welcoming their “caravan” at the border like he welcomes the Russians and Saudis.

Conservative Newspapers Are Endorsing Progressive Democrats Faster Than The DCCC Is

A few days ago, we saw the Des Moines Register give the nod to J.D. Scholten over Steve King in Iowa. Even the very very conservative Weekly Standard seems to be urging their readers in Iowa-- at the very least-- to not voted for King: Steve King: America’s Most Deplorable Congressman: "He’s an embarrassment to the GOP and to America," wrote Adam Rubinstein, who pointed out that King is animated by "race-based identity-politics that consumes the alt-right. King’s focus on race and ethnicity is so consuming that it has become the core of his politics... Why King is taking sides in foreign elections in the first place remains a mystery. But the bigger mystery is why he still has a seat in Congress."

Almost as surprising has been the conservative Houston Chronicles' endorsements for progressive Democrats. Earlier this week, the editors tossed Michael McCaul overboard, after endorsing him in every election for two decades-- and urged their readers to vote for Mike Siegel instead. And now they've also backed another progressive, Dayna Steele over another right-wing GOP incumbent, Brian Babin. Why? NOT because Steele in doing a DCCC-scenerio which calls on candidate in districts like hers to run on Republican-lite platforms. Not at all. The Chronicle explained they are backing her because she's running on a string platform New Deal type platform: "The main issue for Steele, 59, is Medicare-for-all because too many people can’t afford the care they need, especially in the rural stretches and small towns of this district... She also wants a $15 per hour minimum wage, free community college and job training, expanded Internet availability for rural Texas and immigration laws that provide a path to citizenship. 'I believe government’s job is to make people’s lives better. Everything goes back to health care-- you can’t do anything if you’re not healthy,' she told us."

The DCCC is ignoring her race... and Mike Siegel's race. Both are better off without their heavy-handed and lame interference in their races. And if she-- and Mike-- get into Congress, they won't have to take any bullshit from Pelosi and Hoyer and will owe nothing to anyone but their Texas constituents. The Chronicle:

Singers David Crosby and Melissa Etheridge aren’t your typical fixtures in political campaigns for this sprawling congressional district, but Dayna Steele isn’t your typical candidate.

A longtime DJ for 101 KLOL-- they call her the First Lady of Rock and Roll-- she later became a motivational speaker and prolific writer, and also a successful business woman as the owner of an online store for space memorabilia and NASA merchandise. After the 2016 election and taking part in the national Women’s March, Steele decided to step up and run for the 36th congressional district, which drops down from Lake Sam Rayburn and Toledo Bend in East Texas and the Louisiana border to Galveston Bay, the Houston Ship Channel and Johnson Space Center.

Steele has a contagious energy, impressive fundraising and undeniable communication skills that has some political observers looking at this typically deep-red district with renewed interest. She also has the ability to get Crosby and Etheridge to show up for campaign concerts, which has classic rock fans paying attention.

She’s running against two-term incumbent Brian Babin, who has thorough experience in local government, including time as mayor of Woodville. He’s a dentist for his day job. In Congress he chairs the Space Subcommittee of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology and in that role is getting more money for manned space flight, the Johnson Space Center’s specialty.

...[W]e like Steele’s policy proposals and her focus on how the government can and should help people who don’t live in major economic centers. It’s a reminder of why New Deal Democrats were popular in Texas for so many years.

The main issue for Steele, 59, is Medicare-for-all because too many people can’t afford the care they need, especially in the rural stretches and small towns of this district.

“I believe government’s job is to make people’s lives better. Everything goes back to health care-- you can’t do anything if you’re not healthy,” she told us.

She also wants a $15 per hour minimum wage, free community college and job training, expanded Internet availability for rural Texas and immigration laws that provide a path to citizenship.

Steele is a longtime supporter of Planned Parenthood and women’s right to choose, and she thinks the Environmental Protection Agency needs to be strengthened, not weakened as we’re seeing under Trump. That’s a particularly important concern for this refinery-heavy district.

Babin, on the other hand, believes the EPA “has threatened our petrochemical and agricultural interests with excessive regulation,” according to his campaign website. The League of Conservation Voters gives him a zero rating on environmental legislation.

Babin’s campaign reads like a Republican dream-- he favors tax cuts, less regulation, unfettered gun ownership, a border wall, a stronger military and space supremacy while opposing abortion. He supports Social Security and Medicare for the elderly, but forget about Obamacare and a universal health care system. He expressed real animus for both when he met with the Houston Chronicle editorial board.

Once in a blue moon, the DCCC get it right. They did in Maine this cycle, where they actually are helping Jared Golden win his race. He's one of the only progressive who they are helping and have spent a modest $1,089,947 on his race. Yesterday the Bangor Daily News endorsed Golden, a full on progressive Democrat, over conservative incumbent Bruce Poliquin, a Trump enabler. The editors exploded Poliquin's dishonest talking points about healthcare, the #1 issue in Maine: "Last year, Rep. Bruce Poliquin voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with an inferior plan with weaker protections for those with pre-existing conditions that would have led to more than 23 million Americans losing their health insurance by 2026. The House bill that he supported would have been especially harmful to rural areas, like Maine’s 2nd Congressional District.

The district deserves a representative who better reflects its needs and values. Jared Golden, a Marine Corps veteran and legislative leader, would be that representative.

On health care, which voters have identified as their top concern in this election, Golden would be a vote in Congress to protect and improve the Affordable Care Act while working toward a more permanent solution to extend health insurance to more Americans while also reducing costs. He supports allowing people between the ages of 55 and 65 to buy into Medicare as a step toward universal health care. Contrary to Poliquin’s scary claims, this is not radical and it will not end Medicare coverage for senior. It would simply allow more Americans to participate in a health insurance program that works-- more efficiently than most privately run insurance plans.

These are reasonable, concrete steps compared with Poliquin’s promises of more consumer choices and more competition to lower prices.

Poliquin, who dodges debate questions, the media and his constituents, has been a reliable vote for much of the GOP agenda in Congress, including tax cuts, ACA repeal and “welfare reform.” Golden has a record of working with both Democrats and Republicans in the Maine House to pass a diverse array of legislation. He has done this at a time when Democrats control the House, but Republicans control the Maine Senate and governor’s office.

Successful bills Golden has sponsored will expand mental health care options for veterans, make it easier for returning veterans to use their military credentials to obtain state professional licenses needed for their civilian employment and direct schools to develop suicide prevention protocols.

Golden is not a cookie-cutter Democrat or, as Poliquin calls him, “a radical socialist.” Having worked for Sen. Susan Collins on the Homeland Security Committee, he understands the need for border security but also the need to welcome and help asylum seekers and other immigrants. He voted against the impeachment of Gov. Paul LePage and has said he would not vote to elect Nancy Pelosi to another term as Speaker of the House if Democrats gain control of that chamber... Golden should be 2nd District voters’ first choice for a more thoughtful, accessible and pragmatic representative in Congress.

Republicans Flee In Terror From Their Positions And Records On Healthcare-- Too Late

ObamaCare Repeal by Nancy Ohanian

Republican incumbents who have consistently voted to defund Medicare and Medicaid and cut back on Social Security have found those positions are unpopular. So they're lying about their votes and claiming they're the candidate who will protect, for example, preexisting conditions-- even though they voted to destroy the only bill that protected them without offering an alternative that would. As Paul Krugman mentioned last week Goodbye Political Spin, Hello Blatant Lies... "Black is white and up is down, and Republicans are defenders of Medicare... [R]right now the most intense, coordinated effort at deception involves health care-- an issue where Republicans are lying nonstop about both their own position and that of Democrats.

The true Republican position on health care has been clear and consistent for decades: The party hates, just hates, the idea of government action to make essential health care available to all citizens, regardless of income or medical history.

This hatred very much includes hatred of Medicare. Way back in 1961, Ronald Reagan warned that enacting Medicare would destroy American freedom. Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t think that happened. Newt Gingrich shut down the government in an attempt to force Bill Clinton to slash Medicare funding. Paul Ryan proposed ending Medicare as we know it and replacing it with inadequate vouchers to be applied to the purchase of private insurance.



And the hatred obviously extends to the Affordable Care Act. Republicans don’t just hate the subsidies that help people buy insurance; they also hate the regulations that prevent insurers from discriminating against people with pre-existing conditions. Indeed, 20 Republican state attorneys general filed a lawsuit trying to eliminate protection for pre-existing conditions, and the Trump administration has declined to oppose the suit, in effect endorsing it.

So if you’re a voter who cares about health care, it shouldn’t be hard to figure out where the parties stand. If you believe that Medicare is a bad thing and the government shouldn’t protect people with pre-existing conditions, vote Republican. If you want to defend Medicare and ensure coverage even for those who have health problems, vote Democrat.

But Republicans have a problem here: The policies they hate, and Democrats love, are extremely popular. Medicare has overwhelming support. So does protection for pre-existing conditions, which is even supported by a large majority of Republicans.

Now, you might imagine that Republicans would respond to the manifest unpopularity of their health care position by, you know, actually changing their position. But that would be hopelessly old-fashioned. As I said, what they’ve chosen to do instead is lie, insisting that black is white and up is down.

Thus Josh Hawley, as Missouri’s attorney general, is part of that lawsuit against Obamacare’s regulation of insurers; but in his campaign for the Senate, he’s posing as a defender of Americans with pre-existing conditions. Dean Heller, running for re-election to the Senate in Nevada, voted for a bill that would have destroyed Obamacare, including all protection for pre-existing conditions; but he’s misrepresenting himself just as Hawley is.

And they aren’t just lying about their own position. They’re also lying about their opponents’. Incredibly, Republicans have spent the years since passage of the ACA accusing Democrats of wanting to destroy Medicare.

All of which brings me to a remarkable Op-Ed article on health care in USA Today, which was published under Donald Trump’s name this week. (If he actually wrote it, I’ll eat my hairpiece-- although, to be fair, it was rambling and incoherent, suggesting he may have played some role in its composition.)

Part of the article claimed that the Trump administration is defending health insurance for Americans with pre-existing conditions, when the reality is that it has tried to destroy that coverage. But mostly it was an attack on proposals for “Medicare for all,” a slogan that refers to a variety of proposals, from universal single-payer to some form of public option.

And what did “Trump” say Democrats would do? Why, that they would “eviscerate” the current Medicare program. Oh, and that they would turn America into Venezuela. Because that’s what has happened to countries that really do have single-payer, like Canada and Denmark.

Why do Republicans think they can get away with such blatant lies? Partly it’s because they expect their Fox-watching followers to believe anything they’re told.

But it’s also because they can still count on enablers in the mainstream news media. After all, why did USA Today approve this piece? Letting Trump express his opinion is one thing; giving him a platform for blatant lies is another. And as fact-checker Glenn Kessler of The Washington Post put it, “Almost every sentence contained a misleading statement or a falsehood.” Even the president of the United States isn’t entitled to his own facts.

So will the GOP’s Big Lie on health care work? We’ll find out in a few weeks.

Right now Democratic candidates across the country have been stunned by Republicans falsely claiming their votes to end protections for people with pre-existing conditions were votes for something else instead and that their votes to turn Medicare into a voucher system wouldn't have really done anything to destroy Medicare, etc.

Let's take Mimi Walters from Orange County (CA-45). On February 3, 2015 she voted for H.R. 596, a bill entitled To repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010. Every Democrat voted NO but only e Republicans joined them in actually trying to protect people with preexisting conditions.Mimi Walters was not one of them. Among the other Republicans lying about their records now but who voted for this bill include Don Bacon (NE-02), Duncan Hunter (CA-50), Steve King (IA-04), David McKinley (WV-01), Michael McCaul (TX-10), Chris Collins (NY-27), Brian Babin (TX-36), Doug Lamborn (CO-05). Why mention those? Their opponents, Katie Porter, Kara Eastman, Ammar Campa-Najjar, J.D. Scholten, Kendra Fershee, Mike Siegel, Nate McMurray, Dayna Steele and Stephany Rose Spaulding are all campaigning on platforms that include Medicare-For-All.

Mike Siegel, who just got the Houston Chronicle endorsement today, told us that "McCaul is so far removed from the people of this District that he still promotes his vote to repeal Obamacare and remove protections for pre-existing conditions. He essentially voted to kill his own constituents. McCaul’s only chance to win re-election is the ‘straight ticket’ option here in Texas. Very few voters recognize him as a true representative of their interests."

Stephany Spaulding is a pastor running in the evangelical center of Colorado, Colorado Springs. But... she a progressive, African-American woman pastor who is not running on a Republican-lite platform. The DCCC is ignoring her district entirely, but there's something stirring there. Her opponent, Doug Lamborn is one of the most extreme members of Congress. He has no influence, no impact and does not for the district at all. "The record," Stephany told us, "is consistently clear. GOP incumbents have lacked the political courage to stand with the majority of Americans who not only desire, but deserve affordable and accessible healthcare for all. Instead they have put party over people, leaving their constituents to suffer with the rising costs and diminishing coverage. I choose to stand with my constituents and the 70% of Americans who desire Medicare for All."

Texas Democrat Dayna Steele (TX-36) is making headway in a very red district east of Houston against an anti-healthcare dentist, Brian Babin, who fumbled his way into Congress and sits on the backbenches doing nothing at all except voting for whatever Trump wants. Today she told me that Babin "has voted every single time to repeal the ACA and has NO plan in place for healthcare if there is a repeal. He is literally leaving people to die. Any bill he co-sponsors to do otherwise in these last few weeks before the election is nothing more than a smokescreen for what they really intend to do."

She was referring to the newest Republican trick in which they are writing a bunch of fake bills that will never be voted on but that are supposedly going to protect people with preexisting conditions. Of the 49 Republican incumbents in the most competitive races 32 rushed to sign on as co-sponsors in the last few weeks, even though their actual voting records tell a very different story. "[F]acing the threat of a 'blue wave' and an onslaught of health-care attacks from Democratic candidates, vulnerable Republicans are running ads on pre-existing conditions and co-sponsoring measures that critics deride as meaningless.

The congressional resolutions are “a quick Hail Mary for a list of endangered incumbents,” said Thomas Miller, a resident fellow at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute, and co-author of “Why ObamaCare is Wrong for America.”

“They’re intended to provide at least some legislative cover in the event that they can read the polls and know there’s been a stampede of support for the broad-brushed pre-existing conditions protections similar to those in the ACA,” he said.

A Kaiser Family Foundation poll in August found that more than 72 percent of Americans think the protections-- prohibiting insurers from denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions or charging them more for coverage-- should remain law.

Democrats in June seized on the Trump administration’s announcement in court that it would not defend ObamaCare’s protections for people with pre-existing conditions. The Department of Justice sided in large part with the 20 Republican state attorneys general who filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn ObamaCare.

Now Democrats, who are looking to flip both the House and Senate, are tying Republicans to that decision, while highlighting the GOP’s ObamaCare repeal-and-replace efforts, which they say would have diminished pre-existing conditions protections for people in the individual market.

Tyler Law, the national press secretary for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), said the “overwhelming majority” of campaign ads from the DCCC and Democrats have focused on health care, with pre-existing conditions as the central theme.

"Republicans are stuck on defense, forced to respond to devastatingly effective ads on their record on pre-existing conditions, and touting nonbinding resolutions as they panic because they see the political fallout,” Law said.

"Republicans clearly recognize how politically disastrous their policies are in regards to pre-existing conditions,” he added. “They are now just making up an alternative record on which all of a sudden they seem to care about pre-existing conditions.”

Reps. David Young (IA) and Pete Sessions (TX)-- two Republicans running in competitive races this year-- introduced separate resolutions in September supporting pre-existing conditions protections. Later that month, Rep. Steve Knight (R-CA), who is locked in a toss-up race, introduced a similar bill.

Young, Sessions and Knight have taken every single opportunity offered by Paul Ryan to gut Medicare and to end protections for people with preexisting conditions. They are counting on their constituents not knowing and not checking.

Jared Golden, a former frontline marine who served several tours of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq knows just how to respond to his Republican opponent's bullshit. Note the e-mail his campaign sent out this week to Mainers:

Congressman Poliquin started running an ad calling Jared his "young opponent."

Let’s clear up some facts: When Rep. Poliquin was living it up in his mansion on the coast-- and using it to get a tax break-- Jared was under hostile fire leading Marines against our nation's enemies in Iraq and Afghanistan.

While Poliquin was hiding from constituents and reporters in a bathroom because he voted to strip health care from thousands of Mainers, Jared was leading the charge to expand Medicaid in Maine.

Rep. Poliquin might try to portray Jared as too young, but we think it’s all about maturity and honesty-- and that’s why we’ve got to get Jared to our nation’s capital.

Slimy Conservatives Avoid Debates-- And When They Get Forced Into One... They ALWAYS Work To Limit Voter Access

Ted Cruz fancies himself a world champion debater. But somehow the political equivalent of a kindergarten toddler kicked his ass during the 2016 Republican primary season. Now he's up against a young congressman from El Paso, Beto O'Rourke and Beto beat him in every debate they've had so far-- hands down. When CNN invited Cruz and Beto to participate in an hour-long nationally televised town hall on October 18, Cruz refused and Beto accepted. Therefore Beto gets a one hour free segment on CNN at 9 PM (CT), worth millions of dollars, about 2 weeks before the election and right in the middle of early voting.

Believe it or not, the California conservative in the Senate race here, Dianne Feinstein, is even worse than Cruz. Feinstein is incapable of debating state Senator Kevin de León, her opponent in the D vs D general election. De León and virtually every major media outlet in the state have tried to get her to debate and she's dodged over and over-- just like she has for the past 2 decades of not debating.

Humiliated by the press, she finally agreed-- but to one with virtually no chance that anyone will see it. The "discussion" (absolutely not a debate) will take place at noon on Wednesday, October 17, sponsored by the Public Policy Institute. The only way to watch it is by registering on their obscure website. No TV or radio coverage will be allowed to broadcast it. Feinstein only agreed to do this if de León is not permitted to address her directly.

In the sprawling 36th district of Texas, east of Houston, Dayna Steele has been trying to get Brian Babin to debate for months. He refuses. Much like Feinstein, he allowed a private, non-broadcast "discussion"-- actually an endorsement screening--where he farted out his right-wing talking points and left. Dayna is still trying to get a real debate but Babin, a dentist and congressional backbencher with not a single accomplishment other than pulling some teeth, has adamantly refused.

Another cowardly conservative, Mimi Walters in Orange County (CA-45), has been hiding out and avoiding a debate, which Katie Porter keeps calling for. Katie's campaign manager, Erica Kwiatkowski, told us that "Walters is refusing to debate Katie Porter on key issues because she cannot defend her record of voting 99% of the time with Donald Trump, including to raise taxes for middle-class families, allowing oil drilling off Orange County coasts, and to take away healthcare from Orange County families including those with pre-existing conditions. Mimi has repeatedly refused to participate in town hall meetings with district residents and now won’t debate the issues that matter to voters."

Hoppy

Kendra Fershee is the progressive Democrat running in northern West Virginia (WV-01, a seat occupied by entrenched Trumpist David McKinely. He doesn't want to debate. Kendra laughed when I asked her and told me he won't even say her name. She told me her campaign has "been hounding him for a debate for months; he's completely ignored every request from us, and from other groups that have asked. But on Monday, he was quoted in the WVU student newspaper saying he would debate me if there's a neutral third party host willing to do it. So, I went on the biggest radio show in the state yesterday and the (somewhat conservative) host of that show (Hoppy Kercheval) called on Rep. McKinley to debate me. Hoppy has made at least two debate request inquiries of the Congressman in the last 72 hours and has been ignored. We have also asked the Wheeling Intelligencer to inquire of Rep. McKinley (that's the paper in his hometown), which has indicated that they may be willing to host as well. This morning, the WVU student newspaper ran a story about how the Congressman has ignored Hoppy's inquiries, and the largest newspaper in the state, the Charleston Gazette Mail, is working on a second story about how none of the Republican House of Representatives candidates will debate their opponents in West Virginia.

Jess King (PA-11) finally got her conservative opponent to debate on Monday. "It took time for the hosts to nail down our opponent," she said, "but he's agreed to two more. He is refusing to do any other forums though, so we are attending them without him."

Mike Siegel's campaign arranged for the League of Women Voters chapters in Houston and Austin to moderate debates. "McCaul," he told me, "refused to participate. His lack of participation is in the context of him not holding any public events in ten years. No town halls, no opportunities to respond to questions from the public. He even refused to respond to a Houston Chronicle candidate questionnaire, so their online voting guide has nothing from him. I'm about to enter a Chronicle editorial board screening. We'll see if he shows."

Up in Maine, the biggest congressional district east of the Mississippi is up for grabs, ME-02, a largely rural, spread-out swing district. It's very helpful for voters to get an idea of who the candidates are beyond just "R" and "D," which is why debates are so important. The incumbent, Trump enabler Bruce Poliquin, actually did a debate with progressive Democrat Jared Golden. He must have been shocked when his canned talking points failed to land any punches and Golden's issue-oriented approach wont day. Poliquin immediately pulled out of the next debate.

Forget The Damn Women Who Were Molested-- We Know Who The Real Victim Was

Did Judge Kavanaugh take out his dick and wiggle it in Lindsey Graham's face? Or is Lindsey auditioning for the Attorney General job when Trump fires Jeff Sessions after the midterms? Raise your hand if you can't envision Lindsey derailing the Mueller investigation. Considering that his colleague, Joe Donnelly is up for reelection in an extremely red state-- PVI is R+9, same as Mississippi-- Donnelly, a long-time Blue Dog, was pretty brave yesterday issuing this statement and announcing he will be voting against confirming Kavanaugh.

I have deep reservations about Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination to this lifetime position and, as I stated, we have been unable to get all the information necessary regarding this nomination, despite my best efforts. Only 113 people have ever served on the Supreme Court, and I believe that we must do our level best to protect its sanctity.

While I would gladly welcome the opportunity to work with President Trump on a new nominee for this critically important position, if Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination comes before the full Senate for a vote under these circumstances, I will oppose it.

Stephany Rose Spaulding is a progressive Democrat and a pastor running for Congress in Colorado Springs, one of the capital cities of American evangelicalism. "I am overwhelmed by the bravery Dr. Christine Blasey Ford displayed in reliving the horrific details of the sexual assault that occurred when she was just 15-years old," Rev. Spaulding said on Thursday. "She said that her most vivid recollection was of the laughter of her attacker and his friend, and that the trauma lives on today in the form of PTSD, anxiety and claustrophobia. Tragically, her story is a common one in America, with 1 in 2 women and 1 in 5 men experiencing sexual violence. Her testimony also reminds us how difficult it is for survivors to share their stories, even with loved ones. Hopefully Dr. Ford’s bravery will inspire millions of survivors-- whether the assault occurred today or 40 years ago-- to begin the healing process by reaching out to loved ones and healthcare professionals. The Administration sends the wrong message to generations of sexual assault survivors by not asking the FBI to investigate the claims of Dr. Ford and the other accusers. I'm calling on Congress and the President to take action today."

Dayna Steele is the Democratic candidates a tough district east of Houston. She wasn't buying into the Kavanaugh-as-victim narrative either. She was struck by Vermont Democrat Patrick Leahy's question to Dr. Ford on Thursday: "What is the strongest memory you have from that event?" Dayna:

Ask any woman you know-- mom, sister, grandmother, daughter, aunt, or friend that same question. The majority will have a memory and will have an answer. I am 59. My memory was 47 years ago. I still remember that moment as clear as anything.

I was 12. He was in his mid 20’s and worked for my dad who trusted him.  He was supposed to be taking me to lunch and said he needed to stop by his apartment to pick up something.  My memory? It is opening his front door and walking out of his cold, dark apartment into the warm daylight just as he came up behind me and tried to put his arms around me. The feeling I will never forget is that I escaped something dangerous, something bad that day.

We need women and men in positions of leadership who know this reality and will work to stop it by first acknowledging it happens and people need to be held accountable. It is why we need a government that reflects our society, our people, our decency, our integrity, and our majority belief that sexual assault is not “horse play,” sexual harassment is not “locker room talk,” and young men laughing at a frightened girl is not “boys being boys.”

I want to be one of these leaders. 

Leahy had his own thoughts worth pondering on the matter: "This Judiciary Committee is no longer an independent branch of government. And we’re supposed to be. The Senate is supposed to be an independent, equal branch of government. We’re no longer that. We are an arm-- and a very weak arm-- of the Trump White House. Every semblance of independence has just disappeared. It’s gone." Lindsey? How about Jeff Flake? Monday he'll be in New Hampshire pretending he's not campaigning for president, giving a speech entitled "After the Deluge: A Rejection of Destructive Politics and a Return to Principle." Wait, wait; don't tell me-- Flake and Murkowski announced they won't vote to confirm Kavanaugh until after the FBI investigates the charges against him. Looks good for a rejection of his nomination for the first time! I bet this video from early Friday had something to do with Flake's decision.

This Week's New Campaign Ads

Paul Ryan's Adelson-funded SuperPAC is running the dirtiest and most personal smear campaign in history. The goal is to disgust independent voters and turn them off from voting. Meanwhile, Democrats are trying to stick to issues but are being distracted defending against Ryan's attempt to smear them. Ryan is pounding Randy Bryce especially hard in his own district (which he's retiring from). He knows the key to election is independent voters, who are leaning strongly away from the GOP. The Ryan PAC has spent $1.5 million on ads attacking Randy for a record of arrests (driving while intoxicated, smoking pot, protesting Scott Walker's anti-union legislation...). Randy responded this week by looking straight into the camera and taking responsibility (above). Ryan's PAC then recruited Bryce's right-wing, hate-filled jealous brother to denounce him as a cop hater, setting off a fire storm that back fired on Ryan's hand-picked candidate, Bryan Steil.

If you'd like to help the candidates on this page keep these ads on TV, please consider clicking on this link and contributing what you can. Every little bit helps.

Yesterday Elizabeth Warren told her supporters exactly what I've been saying all week-- in her words, that "Republicans are scared to face the voters this November. So they’re calling in the cavalry-- asking their biggest donors to sling the filthiest mud against some of our strongest Democratic candidates. Paul Ryan’s pet Super PAC is flooding the airwaves with false attacks-- and in some cases dog-whistle garbage-- in districts that will help decide whether Democrats win back the House." She suggested contributing to some of the candidates being smeared by Ryan's machine, particularly Katie. I would add Randy Bryce, Kara Eastman and Jared Golden to that list as well, all of whose campaigns can be found by clicking on the 2018 congressional Blue America thermometer on the right. How about contributing to the candidate whose video you like the best and would like to see on the air the most?

In Maine, Ryan's PAC seems obsessed with Jared Golden's tattoos-- which his frontline unit members all got after fighting in Afghanistan (while Republican Bruce Poliquin was working on Wall Street to loot workers' pension funds). The DCCC responded in kind on behalf of Jared with a blistering ad that hits Poliquin on his biggest weaknesses:



So far Kara Eastman isn't getting any DCCC help-- so she went after Don Bacon, her Trump-enabling Republican opponent, herself, and totally on the issues Omaha voters are interested in. She's basically ignoring the ads Paul Ryan's PAC is running against her that accuse her of being in a punk rock band when she was in college. This one, at least to me appears to be a lot lmore effective than that:



Same with Jess King-- no DCCC help (and none on the horizon)-- so she went after... the establishment on her own. This is one of the best ads of the cycle. Jess is a progressive grassroots candidate in southern Pennsylvania and she owes nothing to either party and in this brand new ad says what so many Americans feel: "Both the Republican and Democratic Party establishments have failed to stand up to the special interests. While working people are getting left behind, leaders in both parties keep stacking the deck against us... We deserve a Representatibve who shares our values and who's willing to stand up to the political establishment in DC." This is a very appealing ad and will probably be extremely effective in a district like PA-11.



Ammar Campa-Najjar's newest ad was made for Fox viewers and uses Fox anchors to get his message out! It's an effective and ballsy concept. He goes right after Drunken Hunter's defense of his indefensible criminal activities-- and right to his core base of supporters. Since the indictments were made public, Ammar has caught up with Hunter in polling and this ad should help change a dead even 46-46% tie into a lead-- even in this very red R+11 congressional district east of San Diego:



Katie Porter is being inundated with negative ads from Paul Ryan's PAC. They even "accused" her of having gone to Harvard, probably a stupid accusation to make in a well-off, highly educated district where people admire educational achievement. She's sticking to the issues in her new ad-- while letting voters know the difference between where she stands and where her Trump rubber stamp opponent, Mimi Walters, stands. Walters has a voting record and it's completely out of step with the district she doesn't even live in.



Lisa Brown is also getting pounded by Paul Ryan's SuperPAC which is desperately trying to save Trump enabler Cathy McMorris Rodgers in eastern Washington. Her brand new ad is persuasive as it contrasts McMorris Rodgers' actual voting record against healthcare with the top plank in Lisa's campaign. This is one of the top battle-ground races in the country and among the top 5 races when it comes to punishing the GOP for their massive overreach.



Mike Siegel's ad contrasts a so-called "safe" gerrymandered district, with the safety-- the lack of safety to be more precise-- of the people who live in it. It's an expensive ad to run in two very high-priced media markets (Austin and Houston) and Mike can really use some help putting together two effective ad buys. Give him a hand here. 



Dayna Steele, like Mike Siegel, is also running in Texas. His district starts in the suburbs west of Houston. Hers is on the other side of the sprawling city. TX-36 voters know Dayna because she was the most popular rock dj on K-101 for years. Instead of a new TV ad, take a look at the trailer for a 6-part docu-series in which a film crew follows Dayna on the campaign trail, Dayna Steele: Rock the 36th. From the movie company's press release:

Dayna Steele is sick and tired of being told she can't do something. As Houston's "first lady of rock and roll" during the 70's, 80's and 90's, Dayna introduced a whole generation to the music of legends like Boston, Joan Jett and Melissa Etheridge on Rock 101 KLOL. Her fans, known as “Steeleworkers,” never forgot her influence on their lives. In 2016, Dayna was looking forward to retiring with her husband, a pilot for NASA, and spending the rest of her days on the golf course. But the presidential elections in November of that year changed her mind and put her on a different course.

The wife of a first-generation Cuban-American and the mother of an LGBTQ son, Dayna felt she had to do something to fight the resurgence of homophobia and xenophobia in the country she loves. On May 31, 2017, Dayna Steele announced her candidacy for the 36th Congressional District in the State of Texas. Running as a Democrat in one of the reddest districts in a traditionally red state, Dayna knows this campaign will be a hard fight as she goes up against an incumbent who once notoriously said, “Sometimes a lady needs to be told when she’s being nasty.” With the future of the country on the line, Dayna is one nasty woman who is ready to fight for the people of her district. Her campaign motto says it all… Healthcare + Education = Jobs

I know it looks like a dead screen, but just click on it; it comes to life-- bigly:

Let Me Make Your Day

The 6 women in this focus group are all from swing states and all voted for Trump. Most would do it again... although half say they are disappointed. They all say they want to use the midterms to "send a message." Take a look. One thing for sure, this sure doesn't sound like part of any wave. But, keep in mind they were all Trump voters in 2016.

This morning Axios launched an idea for how they plan to measure the upcoming wave. Their premise is flawed, though, because they use the silly conventional wisdom that there's a blue wave. No one gives a shot about the shitty Democratic Party which is-- at best-- somewhat better than the Republican Party. If there's a wave-- and I am certain there is, it's an anti-red wave, not a blue wave. And they're not the same. A blue wave would mean enthusiasm for Democrats. The DCCC has made sure that would be impossible by recruiting a big bag of shit for candidates. Pelosi is killing whatever hope there could be for a progressive agenda by boasting she will institute PAYGO in January. An anti-red wave is just the widely shared certainty that Trump is not up to the job and that the congressional Republicans have no intention of checking him. That's what will sweep lots of Democraps into Congress.

Axios picked 8 races to watch to measure the non-existent blue wave. "If it's a truly strong wave," wrote Alexi McCammond, "we'll know not just from the high-profile races, but from lesser-known ones that would only be competitive if Democrats are winning everywhere." She then immediately offers one of the most high-profile races in the cycle as the first example: Beto vs Cruz in the Texas Senate contest.

2. Ohio gubernatorial: Democrat Richard Cordray and Republican Mike DeWine are fighting to replace Gov. John Kasich. The last time Ohio elected a Democratic governor was in 2006. But Kyle Kondik of Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball notes: "If Democrats are winning Ohio’s governorship they probably are winning at least 4-5 of the 6 Midwest governorships at play (maybe all 6)."

3. West Virginia's 3rd district: Trump won the district by 30 points, but Democrat Richard Ojeda is getting a lot of national attention in the race for this open seat. He’s redefining the West Virginia Democrat: he voted for Trump in 2016, he's pro-labor, pro-gun, and has the backing of the coal miners. The RealClearPolitics polling average suggests he's in a tight race with Republican Carol Miller.

4. California's 45th district: This seat is held by Republican Rep. Mimi Walters, and she's facing Democrat Katie Porter. Orange County is becoming increasingly diverse, and the number of registered Republican voters has consistently declined. If Democrats pull off a win here, Kondik says, it means they'll do well across Southern California, picking up crucial Republican-held seats in districts Hillary Clinton won.

5. Minnesota's 8th district: It's considered one of the Democrats' most at-risk seats this cycle. The incumbent, Democratic Rep. Rick Nolan, is retiring. Democrats have held this district for years, and Barack Obama won it twice-- but it swung from Obama +6 in 2012 to Trump +15 in 2016. Democrat Joe Radinovich, a former state legislator and labor organizer, is facing Republican Pete Stauber, a county commissioner.

6. Texas' 23rd district: Incumbent Republican Rep. Will Hurd, a former CIA agent, faces Democrat Gina Ortiz Jones-- a Filipina-American, a member of the LGBTQ community and an Iraq war veteran. This district contains one-third of the U.S./Mexico border, has the second-highest population of DACA recipients, and has urban, rural, and suburban areas. Hurd has distanced himself from Trump.

7. Florida's 26th district: Health care is a big issue here, and it'll be a test of whether a moderate Republican in the Trump era can hold on to a largely Hispanic district. Many see incumbent Rep. Carlos Curbelo as one of the best-positioned Republicans in Clinton-won districts. But voters looking for something new could hand a surprise upset to Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, a Latina immigrant.

8. Iowa's 3rd district: It's held by Republican Rep. David Young, who Kyle Kondik of Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball calls "an accidental incumbent." He was selected to run at a convention in Iowa in 2014 after getting less than 35% of the vote in the primary. If Democrat Cindy Axne wins here, Kondik says, that probably means they'll win Iowa's 1st district, held by vulnerable GOP Rep. Rod Blum, too.

The bottom line: If Democrats lose any of the above races, that doesn't mean they'll lose their chance to take back the House. But the more of these races they win, the more likely it is that the House and state offices will change hands-- and even the Senate might not be out of the question.

You want to know if the anti-red wave is massive? Forget this stuff (except the Texas Senate contest). If Democrats win these contests, all actual and reasonable possibilities, the GOP is WIPED OUT:

1- Former baseball player JD Scholten is within the margin of error against Steve King in Iowa's reddest district and momentum shows he's got a 50-50 chance right now.

2- Former rock dj Dayna Steele is running a competitive race against former dentist Brian Babin in one of Texas' reddest districts. The DCCC doesn't know anything about it but she's making this a bona fide two-party district.

3- Ammar Campa-Najjar (CA-50) and Nate McMurray (NY-27) are both running in red districts with R+11 PVIs. A Democrat win in a couple of seats that red? Impossible? Both Republicans have been indicted for serious criminal activities. Campa-Najjar has climbed into a statistical dead heat with Drunken Hunter and Nate McMurray is also surging now that the GOP has announced they're keeping incumbent Chris Collins on the ballot.

4- If far right sociopath Chris McDaniel (R) beats mainstream conservative Cindy Hyde-Smith (R) and winds up in the general with Democrat Mike Espy, a former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, polls show Mississippi will elect a Democrat the the U.S. Senate. The last time Mississippi elected a non-incumbent Democrat to the Senate was in 1947. How old were your parents in 1947?

5- Gil Cisneros, a conservative Republican potato chip taster who won the lottery and is now a multimillionaire-- and claiming to be a Democrat-- was shoe-horned by the DCCC into CA-39, a district far from where he lives. He's probably their least viable candidate but they wanted to stay on his good side so he'd keep sending them money. He's the least-likely-to-win Democratic challenger in southern California. If he does win-- and if the wave is big enough, he will-- say kaddish for the California Republican Party.

6- The Wisconsin "trifecta +": a clean sweep-- Tony Evers beats Scott Walker, Tammy Baldwin beats Leah Vukmir, Randy Bryce beats Ryan-clone Brian Steil-- and the + part: The Democrats take back the state Senate by holding onto Caleb Frostman special election win on the Door Peninsula (SD-1) and taking 2 GOP seats where more Dems voted than Republicans in the primaries-- Kriss Marion beating Howard Marklein (SD-17) and Lee Snodgrass beating Roger Roth (SD-19).

7- Kansas flips when 2 progressives, Jim Thompson and Sharice Davids, plus a Blue Dog (Paul Davis), all win, switching the state House delegation from 4 Republicans and no Democrats, to 3 Democrats and 1 Republican. Could it happen? It's a damn shame that the DCCC got that Blue Dog the nomination for the eastern part of the state.

8- And in the Senate contests, Democrats hold all their seats and win in Arizona, Nevada, Tennessee and Texas, giving McConnell a fatal heart attack in Louisville's Pickle Park in the wee hours of November 6 and then John Yamuth wins the special election, giving the Democrats a 54-46 majority.

If those 8 things happen, you won't just know there's a wave, well, a tsunami to be more precise... Trump will be asking Putin for political asylum; take my word for it.

Now, how about something a little less serious... a little more lighthearted? Trump has a funny dick, that looks "Like a toadstool… I lay there," wrote former sex-worker and Trump paramour Stormy Daniels, "annoyed that I was getting fucked by a guy with Yeti pubes and a dick like the mushroom character in Mario Kart… It may have been the least impressive sex I’d ever had, but clearly he didn’t share that opinion."

Republicans At Each Other's Throats Over Tax Policy Again

Earlier today, we looked at how badly Republicans are expected to do in November. Don't fret; they've earned it. And the sense of likely doom is already starting to spill over into their congressional policy agenda. Yesterday, writing for Politico Nancy Cook and Bernie Becker reported that White House and top congressional Republicans who want to push for a House vote on a second round of tax cuts ahead of the midterms in hopes of bolstering their economic pitch to voters are running into opposition from endangered-- and freaking out-- Republican incumbents in swing districts. In Orange County, for example-- where Republicans are already likely to lose 3 or 4 red seats-- anything that brings up toxic GOP tax policies, is deadly for them at this point.

A dozen House Republicans, all but one of them from the high-tax states of California, New Jersey and New York, voted against the tax law in December because it capped state and local tax deductions, which they said would lead to tax increases on too many of their constituents.

Some of those GOP lawmakers have openly said they would prefer to leave the tax issue alone as Congress also grapples with how to fund the government and the House potentially votes on health care measures that might be more politically beneficial to vulnerable incumbents. “If we were to pass that here in the House, it would be an exercise in futility, because it could never pass in the Senate,” Rep. Leonard Lance of New Jersey, who opposed the first bill, said Friday on CNBC.

Top House leaders will unveil the second tax overhaul bill this week. Drafted by House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX), the bill proposes to make permanent individual tax rate cuts from the Republicans’ first tax bill, while introducing new measures intended to help families save money, especially for retirement, and to spur innovation for businesses.

Sure, why should Brady case? His backward R+28 district north of Houston is 68% white, has no cities and gave Trump a massive 72.7% to 23.9% win over Hillary. If cavemen still lived in America, Kevin Brady's district is where they would be concentrated. Brady, one of Congress' most corrupt members, raised $4,233,536 this cycle against a token Democratic opponent, Steven David, who has raised $25,044. Brady told reporters that regardless of what his vulnerable colleagues are freaking out over, "it's full steam ahead."

Democrats have criticized the amount of stock buybacks that have followed the tax law and maintain it’s done little to help the average worker, and are likely to pound those themes again when discussing the second bill.

Democrats might have run from that fight in the past, given how often Republicans label them tax hikers. But these days, they are more than happy to relitigate last year’s tax law, which they have insisted from the start would heap savings on to corporations and the wealthy while leaving behind the middle-class.

The more even ground on taxes shows up in polling, too. The new tax law has not been the political plus that many Republicans expected as they try to hold on to the House, only becoming less popular since the beginning of the year.

Democrats and-- at least at election time-- some Republicans, are especially concerned because GOP leaders have made it clear that they hope to pay for these tax cuts by cutting back on crucial and popular programs like Medicare and Social Security and have all but given-up on the big infrastructure spending Trump promised when he campaigned in 2016. Jared Golden, the progressive Democrat and current state House majority whip now running for the Maine congressional seat held by Trump enabler Bruce Poliquin, told us that he's "always supported tax relief targeting the middle class and our small businesses in Maine. That is were my focus will be in the US House of Representatives. Unfortunately, my opponent voted to give millionaires and big corporations a windfall in the Trump tax plan. Now he's proposed legislation that will cut food stamps for struggling families in Maine as a way to pay for his misplaced priorities. That's going over like a lead balloon so I can understand why some of the sensible Republicans are worried about a round 2 of tax give-aways to the wealthy right before the election."

Randy Bryce, the much-celebrated Wisconsin everyman, @IronStache, on the cusp of replacing Paul Ryan in Congress, is eager to move forward with a massive infrastructure bill to bring good-paying jobs back to his region and the rest of the country. He's also vowed to sign on to the Medicare-For-All legislation on his first day in the House. This morning he told us that "at this point Republicans feel the water at neck level. They know the ship is sinking. It’s obvious to everyone that control of the House will be taken back by Democrats this November. It appears that what’s going on now is a final show of gratitude to reward the wealthy Republican donors that have helped them get elected. Some GOP Congressmen admitted that they needed to pass the initial tax scam or their donors were going to cut them off. The American public was wise to it and saw right through it for being the heist that it was. We see through this as well. No amount of contributions are going to save them from what’s going to take place this November."

A couple of the best Texas progressives running for Congress this cycle are Mike Siegel (TX-10, west of Houston) and Dayna Steele (TX-36, east of Houston). Mike told me that he's "yet to meet a single working Texan who prefers the idea of 'tax cuts' to essential programs like health care and Social Security. The Republicans are selling a fiction-- essentially, a new version of trickle-down economics. They want us to believe that helping corporations will eventually help American families. But the people here don’t have time to wait. They need support now." Dayna was quick to note that "You can live large every day but eventually the bottom will fall out. I learned this from watching countless "rock stars" crash and burn in the music business. The initial tax cuts, and now these new tax cuts, will be good for many in the short term. However, for success, you have to plan for the long term and it appears the Republicans are grifting as much as they can from the system before they take leave..."