The Daily Blue America Report-- #7

Yesterday I woke up and the very first thing I read, a story in the Austin Statesman, inspired me for the whole day. It's about a woman born in 1899 whose father was a slave. A slave! Please stop for one moment and think about that. Her father was owned like a piece of furniture or like livestock by someone else who may well have been unsympathetic to his humanity. This woman, 109 year old Amanda Jones in Cedar Creek, Texas, voted early, by absentee ballot. She's been a Democrat for 70 years but this week she had the opportunity to vote for Barack Obama. "I feel good about voting for him," she said. I hope all the Blue America candidates will live up to the dreams of people like Amanda and like the people who fought to free her father and her people-- our people-- from slavery.

California-46- Pete McCloskey retired from the GOP congressional delegation 5 years before Dana Rohrabacher was elected. But McCloskey saw that there wasn't something quite right with Rohrabacher. This week he endorsed-- and started actively campaigning for-- Debbie Cook.

“What is desperately needed in the next Congress are individuals of great integrity with fresh thoughts from outside the Beltway, and who also possess a willingness to set aside partisanship and rigid ideology. I am confident that she will help bring courtesy and thoughtful compromise back to Washington, and maybe even help restore some of the faith in our system of government that all of us have lost at least a little bit of over the last few years. Dana Rohrabacher is part of the problem.”

Florida-08- Early voting is massive, more people eager to express their enthusiasm than just beat the rush. It isn't massive just in Florida either, but all over the country (30 states). In Florida, though, Governor Crist may well have doomed McCain's chances to win the election by extending early voting hours. The earlier voters seem to be overwhelmingly people eager to vote for change. A friend in Orlando who saw the statewide figures told me that 60% of the Florida voters so far have been Democrats and Republicans and Independents are about even, 21% and 19% respectively. Alan Grayson is feeling like a great deal of hard work from his staff and volunteers is paying off. His polling shows him decisively ahead of rubber stamp retread Ric Keller and much of his game plan for the election-- just as it was for the primary-- was tied up early voting. "We're winning for one reason only," he told me this morning. "This year, truth wins against lies." And according to HuffPo the early voting trends are showing an even bigger landslide against McCain, Bush and the Republican philosophy of governance than anyone expected.

Florida- 25- Mario Diaz-Balart, a clownish man, has been a complete rubber stamp for the entire Bush-Cheney agenda. Three months ago a consultant told him that Bush and his agenda are unpopular down in Miami-Dade so he started trying, superficially at least, to distance himself from Bush. Now he tries claiming, he an "independent voice." His record tells another story though. His voting record on veterans, for example, is absolutely breathtaking. There isn't a worse one in the entire Congress! Since January 2003 Diaz-Balart the Younger has participated in 29 roll call votes regarding our veterans. Take a look at it. The only question that comes to mind is "why does Mario Diaz-Balart hate the people who went to war defending this country?" Of the 22 votes he voted against American veterans 22 times!

•    Mario Diaz-Balart voted against increasing Department of Defense survivor benefits. (Roll Call 144, 2006)
•    Diaz-Balart voted against military pay raises. (Roll Call 554, 2003)
•    Diaz-Balart voted against $3.6 billion to enhance quality of life for the troops (Roll Call 546)
•    Diaz-Balart voted against minimum rest periods for troops (Roll Call 796, 2007)
•    Diaz-Balart voted against protecting service members from bankruptcy (Roll Call 107, 2005)
•    Diaz-Balart voted against expanding healthcare for reservists (Roll Call 221, 2005)

Yesterday Joe Garcia released a new television ad that let's South Florida voters know the real story on Diaz-Balart's record on veterans.

Virginia-10- One might think that after Frank Wolf exposed himself on camera as a cranky and violent old fascist, he would just shut up and hope not enough people became aware of the story to topple him from power. But if you are one of those people to imagine that, you don't know much about what a self-entitled, self-righteous jerk Frank Wolf has always been. Lowell at Raising Kaine has another video and another look at a congressman whose "good 'til" date has long expired. Paul Begala has also noticed that there's something seriously wrong with Wolf and that he needs a nice long rest-- forever. "Dare to ask Rep. Wolf a question, and his paid congressional staff gives you a couple of lumps. I’m sure Kim Jong Il would be proud."

Texas-10- Charles Kuffner recorded a very worthwhile interview with Larry Joe Doherty. You get a great feel for who the candidate really is and what kind of a congressman he will be when he beats Bush rubber stamp Michael McCaul.

Ohio-02- BlueOhioan wins today's prize for ugliest ad of the day. Would it come as a shock that it's from Mean Jean Schmidt, the lunatic fringe congresswoman who got drunk at a St Patrick's Day Party and slipped in Michele Bachmann's vomit?

Indiana-06- Yesterday's Fort Wayne Journal Gazette rejected a major force in the extreme wing of the national Republican leadership, Mike Pence, and urged its readers to vote for Berry Welsh.

Voters in Indiana’s 6th Congressional District should elect Barry Welsh. The Democratic challenger’s positions on the key issues facing the country are more palatable than those of the incumbent, Mike Pence... [H]is position on issues such as health care, the economy and war will better serve the interests of 6th District residents than those of his opponent... Welsh demonstrates a greater understanding of how the country needs to move forward to put an end to the wars and repair relations with other nations.

This Obama ad could be adapted for any of the Blue America candidates:



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$10,000 Matching Fund For Debbie Cook (D-CA)

Gus Ayer was the Mayor of Fountain Valley in Orange County when he first became a good friend of Blue America's. Today he's a senior advisor to Debbie Cook's congressional campaign. The other day we were talking about the difficulties a progressive challenger faces in a red district, especially with a DCCC seemingly so dedicated to electing lots and lots and lots of dull, go-along-to-get-along Blue Dogs. Debbie's neither a Blue Dog nor someone who goes along with anything she hasn't gone over thoroughly from every angle. As of September 30th, her opponent, Taliban-loving Dana Rohrabacher, had $497,388 left to spend on a blitz of negative media. Debbie, who is getting no help whatsoever from the DCCC, is left with $30,284. Several Orange County Democrats pooled their money and came up with a $10,000 package that they are challenging DWT and Crooks & Liars readers to match today. Gus is joining us in the Crooks & Liars comments section from 3-4pm PT to discuss the campaign. Here's his take on what's happening right now:

Dana Rohrabacher’s handlers have been keeping him out of the public eye because they know he’s really crazier than Michelle Bachman. He might talk about the Iraq war going badly because Bush picked the really handsome generals instead of the smart ones, rant about the threat from asteroids and the need for a “Death Star” in space, or start shouting about feminists, environmentalists, Mexicans and Chinese ruining America, or terrorists killing your family at Disneyland. Eyebrows twitching and rolling, braying inappropriate laughter, shouting and bullying, he’s fear and loathing incarnate.

By contrast, Debbie Cook really represents the values of the district, an athlete who married her college sweetheart, and followed a progression of small business owner, PTA President, environmental activist, environmental attorney, then eight years on the City Council and as Mayor of Huntington Beach. She’s smart, driven, decent, and surprisingly modest, and for the last three years, she’s been working to educate local and regional leaders on Peak Oil and renewable energy.

Debbie doesn’t mince words about women’s issues, marriage equality, getting out of Iraq, or the need for single payer health. But her passion is energy and the need to act now to leave fossil fuels before they leave us.

We’re riding a wave of change here in Surf City, and Republicans panicked when they finally did internal polling and showed the race within the margin of error. We’ve gotten great response to our ads on cable, and we can still increase our buy for the last week. We’re on track to knock on almost every door in the district before the election more than once, and we’re getting tremendous support for GOTV from every environmental group, the unions, the nurses, PDA, and DFA.

We have targeted mail ready to go to hit the low-propensity voters and remind younger voters, women, seniors, veterans, Latinos, and Vietnamese that Rohrabacher is a ZERO while Debbie is a HERO. Every dollar you give today goes out the door to communicate to voters.

A series of donors have made a $10,000 matching dollar for dollar pledge.

And donating will allow them to keep this ad up on TV:

DC Prognosticators Just Noticed That There's a Tsunami Building

For the whole quarter the lagging indicators who populate the Inside the Beltway political establishment have predicted that the Democrats will probably net 8-12 House seats. The daring ones predicted-- in their giddiest moods-- that the net could be... 20. They're a stupid and clueless as they were in 2006, where the 31 new Democrats came as a shock.

Today Ted Stevens trial wraps up and if he's found guilty his Senate seat is gone. If the jury finds there isn't enough clear evidence to find him guilty he may still lose the election since he is very clearly guilty of having taken bribes and everyone in Alaska knows it. But today's big race shakeup is across Capitol Hill on the House side. CQPolitics altered their ratings on 23 more House races. The 23 races are 23 more that are now less likely to be Republican after November. We discussed 8 races in the Midwest headed in a Democratic direction on Friday. A bunch of lowlife Blue Dogs are safer in Illinois and Indiana and a bunch of Republican Bush rubber stamps are a bit less safe throughout the region; no surprises and... nothing too exciting, although it is looking more and more likely that the robot the GOP has in Cincinnati, Steve Chabot will lose out to a "moderate" Democratic state Rep, Steve Dreihaus. Except one: in Iowa's 4th CD there was something exciting: 7-term incumbent Repug, Tom Latham is no longer considered safe and Becky Greenwald, once considered a "longshot," is now seen as a real contender. You can donate to Becky's campaign on the special ActBlue page targeting GOP hypocrites, like Latham, who voted for Bill Clinton's impeachment.

Today's ratings changes deal with the South and West and many of the changes, at least in the South, presage conservative Democrats replacing fascist-oriented and extremist Republicans. The race with the most national import is in the Orlando CD (FL-08) where two consecutive polls show very progressive and very outspoken Alan Grayson beating tired lard-ass Ric Keller. Still lagging, CQPolitics downgrades Keller's chances by calling it a "toss up." If Grayson does win, his experience and intellect will propel him into a leadership role within the progressive movement. He's another one like Darcy Burner and Donna Edwards who will be important to his own constituents and important to the United States of America. There's not a more important race you can contribute to anywhere. Keeping his powerful TV ads (like this one) are an effective and worthwhile way to spend grassroots contributions.

The one bright spot in Alabama is the 3rd district where far right lunatic fringe Republican Mike Rogers is looking like he could lose to a decent true moderate (not a conservative monstrosity calling himself a moderate), Josh Segall. Last week Josh was added to the DCCC's red to blue program.

Other races where GOP hacks' chances of survival were downgraded include:

FL-24 where Suzanne Kosmas is starting to look like a winner over one of Congress' most corrupt members, Tom Feeney, an Abramoff satellite who hasn't been indicted yet.

KY-02 where David Boswell is gaining on Brett Guthrie is a seat left open by the retirement of Ron Lewis.

LA-01 where Democrat Jim Harlan is looking alive in his battle against far right extremist Steve Scalise, a freshman who won the special election a few months ago to replace Bobby Jindal. I don't see this district changing hands, although Scalise is on the Mean Jean Schmidt/Michele Bachmann level of extremism.

NC-10-- worse even than Scalise is the GOP incumbent, Patrick McHenry, a closet queen, who is being challenged by war hero Daniel Johnson. It's a very red district but Johnson is the right candidate to beat McHenry.

SC-01 where far right zombie Henry Brown is suddenly in jeopardy from Linda Ketner, who has outraised him and out-campaigned him. It's a district where enthusiasm for Obama among African-Americans and young people could propel Ketner to an unlikely win in a district that gave Bush 61% of its vote in 2004.

SC-02 where another Iraq War vet, Rob Miller, is offering a significant challenge to Joe Wilson a congressman who has amassed one of the most disgraceful and radical voting records of anyone in the House.

The West offers far better opportunities for progressives and has more worthwhile races for donors interested in changing the actual conservative bent of Congress. In most of these races, it won't just mean replacing a Republican conservative with a Democratic conservative but replacing a Republican conservative with a real progressive. The new CQPolitics changes include:

AZ-03 where Bob Lord could rid the political system of corrupt hypocrite and bizarre extremist John Shadegg.

CA-03 where extremist Dan Lungren is running neck and neck with very progressive Bill Durston.

CA-26 where Blue Anerica-endorsed Russ Warner is on the verge of making history but replacing right-wing corrupt closet queen David Dreier.

CA-46, where progressive energy maven and Huntington Beach mayor Debbie Cook is virtually tied with one of California's worst representatives from either party, Dana Rohrabacher, who has done more for his pals in the Taliban than he has for Orange County working families.

CA-50 where Nick Leibham is quickly catching up with corrupt GOP lobbyist Brian Bilbray.

ID-01 where the much disliked radical right Bill Sali, who has a well-earned reputation as a liar and a thug, is facing a credible challenge-- and a tied race-- from Walt Minnick.

Now, remember, these were just the changes CQPolitics, looking through their rearview mirror, published today. It doesn't take into account quick moving developments, like Michele Bachmann's national unmasking as a McCarthyite, like Dennis Shulman beating Scott Garrett in last night's debate, or like a shocking endorsement from the staunchly conservative Oakland Press in Michigan's 9th CD for Gary Peters or even Mario Diaz-Balart's psychotic episode. Yes, this is going to be a very good year for Democratic congressional candidates-- and the insiders are just starting to get a sense of the magnitude. It's not coming from the efforts of the DCCC or from any insider groups. It's coming because Americans are tired of being lied to and ripped off by Republicans and their corporate allies. Our program with SaysMe.tv allows netroots activists to pick out ads and TV networks and times of the day they want to run their own advertising for their own campaigns. Please check it out and see if there's a candidate or an ad in the system you'd like to see on local TV. Here's one for Debbie Cook that I particularly like:



For all the talk about how Democrats have a cash advantage over Republicans this cycle, when you look at the ten top-raising House challengers, half of them are Republicans:

1. Multimillionaire Sandy Treadwell (NY-20)- $5.4 million, all but a million of it from his own deep pockets, will be decisively beaten by moderate Democratic freshman Kirsten Gillibrand.

2. Multimillionaire Jim Oberweis (IL-14)- $5 million ($3.8 million from himself), is eager to be beaten by conservative Democrat Bill Foster again.

3. Deborah Honeycutt (GA-13)-- $4.4 million-- is challenging a reactionary corporate Democrat, David Scott, by being far more reactionary and far more corporate. They did this in 2006 as well and he'll beat her again.

6. Multimillionaire Chris Hackett (PA-10)-- $2.7 million, about half from her own deep pockets-- is probably going to be beaten by reactionary Blue Dog Chris Carney who is well financed from the lobbyists and corporate buddies he's made by voting like a Republican.

8. William Russell (PA-12)-- $2.5 million-- has no chance against Jack Murtha but insists on running a scurrilous vanity campaign anyway. He doesn't appear to have filed the paperwork with the FEC that would indicate where he's getting all that money from.

Debbie Cook and DWT Offer Jackson Browne Tickets

We didn't make a big fuss about raising money "at the end of the quarter" like everybody else did. You were probably inundated with requests from every politician you ever passed on the street talking about yesterday's midnight deadline. We just tend to not get into the hysteria. Happily, though, more than a few generous donors decided to make their contributions through our Blue America page and our total for the year is over $405,000.

Today's the first day of the new "quarter" and DWT has a gorgeous pair of tickets (4th row, center) for a Jackson Browne concert this Sunday, October 5, at L.A.'s historic and intimate Orpheum Theater. Jackson gave the tickets to, Debbie Cook's campaign when he endorsed her and she passed them along to us so that a progressive donor would get an opportunity to be able to go to the sold out show-- other than by going on eBay and paying $500 to a scalper. Just donate to Debbie's campaign today through our ActBlue page-- any amount-- and your name gets put in a hat and, if luck is with you, you'll win the pair of tickets. If DWT had a Republican PAC we'd just say the pair goes to the highest bidder-- or maybe we'd scalp 'em on eBay ourselves-- but we like this idea more because even people who can only afford to donate $1 get a chance to win the tickets. The contest ends tomorrow at 2pm, PT. One rule: one chance to get into the drawing per screen name.

Debbie is one of Blue America's priority candidates for November, not just because she is running against one of the worst rubber stamp Republican goons in Congress, the execrable Dana Rohrabacher, but because from the first day she gets there she will be the best informed voice on Capitol Hill on progressive public energy policy. Whether you win the Jackson Browne tickets or not, a donation for Debbie Cook is a win for a better vision of our country.

Progressives Starting To Demand An Alternative To Paulson's Boneheaded Proposal & Corporate Giveaways

Although he has a somewhat different approach than the good folks at BuyMyShitPile.com, Paul Krugman has an eye-opening column in today's NY Times called Cash For Trash. He gives voice to the uncomfortable notion floating around the zeitgeist that calls "the proposed legislation the Authorization for Use of Financial Force, after the Authorization for Use of Military Force, the infamous bill that gave the Bush administration the green light to invade Iraq."

Paulson is demanding extraordinary power for himself-- and for his successor-- to deploy taxpayers’ money on behalf of a plan that, as far as I can see, doesn’t make sense.

Some are saying that we should simply trust Mr. Paulson, because he’s a smart guy who knows what he’s doing. But that’s only half true: he is a smart guy, but what, exactly, in the experience of the past year and a half-- a period during which Mr. Paulson repeatedly declared the financial crisis “contained,” and then offered a series of unsuccessful fixes-- justifies the belief that he knows what he’s doing? He’s making it up as he goes along, just like the rest of us.

So let’s try to think this through for ourselves. I have a four-step view of the financial crisis:

1. The bursting of the housing bubble has led to a surge in defaults and foreclosures, which in turn has led to a plunge in the prices of mortgage-backed securities-- assets whose value ultimately comes from mortgage payments.

2. These financial losses have left many financial institutions with too little capital-- too few assets compared with their debt. This problem is especially severe because everyone took on so much debt during the bubble years.

3. Because financial institutions have too little capital relative to their debt, they haven’t been able or willing to provide the credit the economy needs.

4. Financial institutions have been trying to pay down their debt by selling assets, including those mortgage-backed securities, but this drives asset prices down and makes their financial position even worse. This vicious circle is what some call the “paradox of deleveraging.”

...Paulson insists that he wants a “clean” plan. “Clean,” in this context, means a taxpayer-financed bailout with no strings attached-- no quid pro quo on the part of those being bailed out. Why is that a good thing? Add to this the fact that Mr. Paulson is also demanding dictatorial authority, plus immunity from review “by any court of law or any administrative agency,” and this adds up to an unacceptable proposal.

I’m aware that Congress is under enormous pressure to agree to the Paulson plan in the next few days, with at most a few modifications that make it slightly less bad. Basically, after having spent a year and a half telling everyone that things were under control, the Bush administration says that the sky is falling, and that to save the world we have to do exactly what it says now now now.

But I’d urge Congress to pause for a minute, take a deep breath, and try to seriously rework the structure of the plan, making it a plan that addresses the real problem. Don’t let yourself be railroaded-- if this plan goes through in anything like its current form, we’ll all be very sorry in the not-too-distant future.

This weekend Democrats Blue America backs strongly, Congresswoman Hilda Solis (D-CA) and candidate Annette Taddeo (D-FL), both big supporters of small businesses and working families, have been campaigning together in Miami-Dade and talking with voters about the bailout. Hilda is a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee and she has been instrumental in making sure Annette understands exactly where the congressional debate has been going and why a progressive alternative to Paulson's proposals is needed. Annette:

“We are in a state of crisis. Taxpayers will have to spend $700 billion or more to pay for the refusal of President Bush and rubberstamps like Ileana Ros-Lehtinen to conduct oversight or accountability. We need to protect American families and small businesses. For too long, George Bush and Ros-Lehtinen have sided with the special interests, and the American people are left paying the bill.”

She is an advocate of cutting taxes for small businesses and the middle class and bringing the power balance between corporate America and the rest of us back into pre-Bush Regime equilibrium. “We must cut taxes for the middle class so that they have real relief. We must expand health care for children, so that parents who are increasingly being squeezed don’t have to choose between paying the rent and buying medicines. We must end the war in, Iraq where we are spending over $400 million a day. We must have real oversight over Wall Street so that this does not happen again. And since this crisis began with too many unsustainable mortgages, any resolution must include a plan to ease pressure on homeowners.”

Hilda is one of the good guys in Congress who we will be counting on to stand up against the corporate shills like Steny Hoyer, Rahm Emanuel and Melissa Bean who are pressuring Democrats to sign on to the Bush Regime proposals, like they did when he wanted to invade Iraq and just like they did when he decided to shred the Constitution with his FISA bill. In her joint statement with Annette, Hilda reminded Floridians that "Three years ago, President Bush and rubberstamps in Congress like Ileana Ros-Lehtinen fought hard to privatize Social Security. From the floor of Congress, Ros-Lehtinen said that she “applauded the President for his strong leadership and vision” and that she wanted to “reform Social Security to include private accounts. Had George W. Bush and rubberstamps in Congress had their way, today’s financial crisis would be a full-blown emergency. Tens of millions of seniors around the country, including hundreds of thousands here in South Florida, would have lost their pensions overnight.”

Annette followed up with a statement going right to the heart of the Bush Regime's flawed approach.

We will not be forced into acting on a $700 billion bill without even examining what the bill does. The American people need protection so that this emergency does not turn into a boondogive-away to corporate insiders. Congress should send President Bush a bill that includes transaction standards, independent oversight, protections for homeowners, and constraints on excessive executive compensation.

The bill is inadequate because while doing nothing for homeowners, it gives the Treasury Department a blank check for Wall Street-– it authorizes purchases “on such terms and conditions as determined by the [Administration].” There would be no guidelines, no standards, no conditions. The Treasury would be permitted to purchase assets at any price it wanted, even if it provided a huge profit to the same corporate entities that got us into this mess in the first place, entities like commercial banks, investment banking firms-– even hedge funds-- that have acted recklessly or worse.

I oppose, and call on Ileana Ros-Lehtinen to oppose-- the Bush Administration’s proposed legislation giving the Treasury the power to spend up to $700 billion to buy “mortgage-related assets” from U.S.-based financial institutions, until the proposed bill is strengthened to protect homeowners, and to protect the American taxpayer from sweetheart deals, cronyism and outright waste.

Finally, if the bailout is to be expanded to cover foreign-headquartered companies, then our allies must share the burden. Unfortunately, after seven and a half years of Cowboy diplomacy and a war in Iraq based on lies, we have little if any leverage left with our allies. They have no desire and little incentive to help us in our moment of need. It is time for a new beginning.

Debbie Cook is another Blue America-endorsed candidate who Hilda has been helping-- this time to beat Bush rubber stamp and lunatic fringe extremist Dana Rohrabacher here in southern California. Debbie, who is the mayor of Huntington Beach and very much in touch with the mundane problems the Bush Economic Miracle have brought into the lives of real people, was the very first Democratic candidate to e-mail us on Friday night when Paulson's proposal started leaking out:

"We must take action to keep our whole economy from collapsing. But if the plan by the Treasury which has leaked out today is genuine, then it's unclear if the plan will work at all.

"Add in a massive transfer of authority to the executive branch, with no congressional oversight or judicial review, and this plan should be dead on arrival. 

"Handing over taxpayer money to the government with no oversight is always a bad idea and it's especially rotten given the current administration's track record."

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Meanwhile, up in Oregon, Speaker of the House and Democratic Senate candidate Jeff Merkley is demanding that Gordon Smith represent Oregon citizens for a change-- and not his corporate backers who have financed his political career in return for his constant help with their special interests. He is insisting that Smith reject Paulson's proposal. This morning he demanded that Smith reject the blank check proposal that needs to be fixed so it includes "protections for homeowners, limits on executive compensation and market reforms to prevent a future crisis. " As Jeff points out, Smith's lockstep support for deregulation-- the 1999 Phil Gramm legislation that removed restrictions on the activities of banks, investment firms and insurance companies and allowed the proliferation of new and unregulated banking practices was instrumental in causing this crisis.

"Republicans in Washington are demanding a blank check to fix the mess they created and that is completely unacceptable. Real families are hurting in this economy and George Bush is only concerned about CEOs on Wall Street. Gordon Smith rubber-stamped the Bush policies that led to this mess, and I urge him to reject any blank check that puts special interests on Wall Street ahead of families on Main Street.... Gordon Smith says, 'don't play the blame game'-- what he really means is 'don't hold me accountable'.  Oregonians need new leadership in Washington and that starts with rejecting the failed policies and philosophies of Gordon Smith and the Republican party in November. In the meantime, Smith must stop giving blank checks to the Bush Administration-- he did it with the Iraq war, and he shouldn't do it now."

Equal Pay For Equal Work Passes By Large Margin, Despite Dogged Republican Opposition

Yesterday the House passed, by 247-178, the Paycheck Fairness Act. Every single Democrat voted for it and 14 Republicans-- mostly cowards running from their records-- joined then. The worst of the GOP ideologues and extremists all voted no. Connecticut Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro explained why this bill is so meaningful:

"With this resolution, we take up an effort that began more than 150 years ago when visionary women came together to stand up for women's rights, to better the status of women in our society. In this tradition, more than 11 years ago, I first introduced the legislation that we consider this morning, the Paycheck Fairness Act, and I cannot help but think of all the Aprils we have commemorated Equal Pay Day without legislative movement. But today the legislative inertia we have experienced for years have come to an end. The wage gap is real… Over the course of her lifetime, a female high school graduate will make $700,000 less than the young man she graduates with. Compared to a man, a female college graduate stands to lose up to $2 million in the course of her career. This is true across the board."

Although endangered, petrified Bush rubber stamp reactionaries like Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), the Diaz-Balart Brothers (Rs-FL), Charlie Dent (R-PA), Robin Hayes (R-NC), Dave Reichert (R-WA), Phil English (R-PA) and a small handful of Republicans being encouraged to abandon Republican "principles" by Tom Cole and to run against the GOP, crossed the aisle today so they can lie to women and tell them they support equality, most Republicans up for re-election in November didn't have the sense to dodge this one.

During a conference call, the National Republican Congressional Committee chairman instructed candidates, campaign managers and press secretaries that given the anti-incumbent environment, it could be beneficial for House GOP candidates to distance themselves from politicians they may be serving with next year.

“These [congressional approval] ratings are worse than we had on the eve of losing the majority,” Cole said. “Don’t be afraid to say you are disappointed in fellow Republicans… don’t hesitate to be anti-Washington, D.C.”

The NRCC chief discouraged candidates from attending the national convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul, saying that spending days there would be a “waste of time,” and they would be better off campaigning.

Among the Republicans voting against equal pay for women-- daring Republican women to vote against them-- were a wide range of Republicans from make believe moderates like Mark Kirk (R-IL), Judy Biggert (R-IL), and Mary Bono Mack (R-CA or FL; who knows anymore) to died in the wool far right radicals like Michele Bachmann (R-MN), John Culberson (R-TX), Thelma Drake (R-VA), woman-hating closet queens David Dreier (R-CA) and Patrick McHenry (R-NC), Randy Forbes (R-VA), Virginia Foxx (R-NC), Scott Garrett (R-NJ), Virgil Goode (R-VA), Ric Keller (R-FL), John Kline (R-MN), Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), Randy Kuhl (R-NY), Tom Latham (R-IA-- who is still voting the way Bush wants but is at great pains to claim he's not a Bush clone by bragging to Iowa newspapers that Bush isn't welcome on his campaign), Mike McCaul (R-TX), Steve Pearce (R-NM), Mike Pence (R-IN), Adam Putnam (R-FL), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Mean Jean Schmidt (R-OH), John Shadegg (R-AZ), Tim Walberg (R-MI), Frank Wolf (R-VA) and Bill Young (R-FL).

We reached out two two of self-made women who have been endorsed by Blue America for congressional seats whose opponents are against equality of pay for equal work. Debbie Cook is the mayor of Huntington Beach in Orange County, CA and she's running against reactionary--and somewhat batty-- incumbent Dana Rohrabacher. His vote yesterday may have disgusted her but she wasn't surprise. She told us that "Rohrabacher has voted to increase his own pay 10 times in 11 years. While voting himself $90,000 in pay raises, he's voted against equal pay for women, against access to birth control, against Head Start programs, and against health care for children. Dana Rohrabacher's record on women's issues is clear: he doesn't care at all about the health and well-being of the women in his district."

Judy Feder in Northern Virginia had a similar reaction to the anti-woman vote from her member of Congress, Frank Wolf. "This is the third time in just the last couple of weeks that Congressman Wolf has voted against hardworking Americans and hardworking families in Virginia. And I have to say, as a woman, this particular vote is the most offensive to me," Judy told us this morning. "Not only is this an issue of basic fairness, but as families try to deal with stressful economic times, equal pay for women is also about helping millions of families meet their needs on a daily basis."

Nor, of course, is it only women who are supporting equal rights for women. Bob Lord, the Arizona progressive Democrat running against sleazy reactionary John Shadegg, who has a shady and disgraceful history with women and now thinks he's going to inherit John McCain's senate seat, finds Shadegg's vote against equality as typical of a disturbing pattern among rubber stamp Republicans. "John Shadegg just voted against equal pay for women," Bob told DWT this morning. "Shadegg keeps showing us that he is one of the most conservative members of Congress that votes with Bush nearly 100 percent of the time and this clearly is one of the worst examples yet. Shadegg epitomizes what is wrong with Congress and he made that loud and clear yesterday-- that and it's time to elect new leadership."

Watch George Miller (D-CA) answering disgraceful Republican charges that there is no disparity between men and women.



A thorough analysis from Andrea Miller, the exceptionally brilliant progressive running against garden variety rubber stamp Randy Forbes in southern Virginia:

Randy Forbes has been voting again and here's reason 1,245 why I'm running against him. It's hard to imagine in the 21st century that some legislators still can't accept the idea that women deserve equal pay for equal work. If you follow his voting record, it's hard to believe that Congressman Forbes is actually from humble beginnings, though now he's a millionaire and maybe that's the key to the real problem. Forbes has gotten so rich that he simply can't or won't remember what it's like to really depend on a paycheck. He also seems to consistently forget that while folks on the Chesapeake and Chesterfield side are doing reasonably well, though we're not rich by any means, more than 35% of the district exists on less than $30,000 per year and many of these are households depending upon a woman's salary for their daily bread and butter. Do the words "out of touch" and "totally clueless" come to mind?

There are two critical components of this bill that can really help women. First, the long overdue salary adjustments that are certain to result and second, women will be offered negotiation skills. Women instinctively "fight" for their children and when necessary, even for a husband. Women often are not willing to "fight" for themselves because their mothers taught them to put others first. Putting others first has helped create the paycheck inequality in the workplace.

Randy Forbes, with this vote, just voted against the working women in the 4th District. That's no surprise since he's voted against veterans, children's healthcare, mortgage relief and just a bit of tax relief.

SHOW DOWN AT THE OK CORRAL-- BUSH AND HOYER vs AMERICA

Shove the bouquet; Steny wants the cold hard cash for his services

Yesterday we had an explosion of reactions from members of Congress and from our Blue America-endorsed candidates regarding what many people feel is a betrayal by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. Hit that link and read why respected congressional legal minds like Jerrold Nadler, Tom Allen Russ Feingold, and Chris Dodd are saying no to Hoyer's compromise capitulation. As this morning's Washington Post points out, the bill is all about protecting Bush's and Hoyer's campaign donors from the law but is very short on protecting the American people from the very real threat of tyranny.

When I was in DC recently I ran into Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) and I congratulated him on finding a very nasty little loophole the Bush Regime had somehow inserted in some legislation when no one was looking. He beamed and was happy that someone recognized his efforts... and then told me his re-election was in jeopardy and asked for help from our PAC. "Congressman Welch," I said politely, "you can't be in jeopardy when the Republicans can't even find a third-tier candidate to run against you." He laughed. He wasn't laughing today, though, when he explained why he would vote against the Hoyer-Bush plan that proposes such grave violence to the Constitution:

“I simply do not believe any president, especially this president, should have unilateral or unchecked authority to conduct surveillance without judicial oversight.  Congress has an obligation to protect our national security without sacrificing basic rights provided in our Constitution. 

“While this compromise reflects improvements over previous flawed proposals, it is a compromise I will not support.  I have consistently opposed any legislation that grants retroactive immunity for telecommunication companies that cooperated with the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping.  Regrettably, this latest proposal fails to hold the administration and the companies accountable for their actions.  The American people deserve to know exactly what happened and they deserve to know who is accountable.  This bill fails that test."

Very polite but very much to the point. Peter Welch stands with the people of Vermont and the people of the United States, not with Bush, Hoyer and their big criminal campaign donors. Another member, who has asked to remain anonymous, for obvious reasons, just said this: "Steny Hoyer is the best friend money can buy." We'll see all the competition for the best friends money can buy during the vote today.

Down the road a piece, Debbie Cook is running for Congress against lunatic fringe rubber stamp Dana Rohrabacher who, basically, doesn't see why anyone has a problem with wiretaps. I get the idea that Debbie wants to be in Congress because she knows her expertise on energy is desperately needed and because she's dead serious about protecting the environment. Those are really the issues she's most concerned with and almost anything you bring up she can trace back to energy policy. When we asked her about illegal wiretaps, though, a different Debbie came out, one just as passionate about old fashioned American liberty as about clean drinking water:

Our nation was founded on a system of checks and balances. Unfortunately, the checks and balances in the Constitution and the freedoms Americans hold dear have been slowly eroding. Finally, last week the Supreme Court drew a line in the sand and restored habeas corpus, one of the Constitution's most basic and essential protections against government abuse.

Some in Congress wish to eliminate another essential freedom by allowing the government to spy on its citizens without a warrant and giving lawbreakers who do so immunity from prosecution. Our founding fathers would be outraged at the bargaining away of the Bill of Rights.

You don't fight terrorism abroad by taking away at our freedoms at home.

I would expect no less from anyone who offered herself or himself up for public service. Another Blue America candidate who feels very strongly about this is Alan Grayson, the Orlando Democrat, taking on, Ric Keller, another Republican who would be utterly lost without his rubber stamp. Like Rohrabacher, Keller is all gung-ho to tape every American's phone on any president's whim. Alan is probably more in sync with most Americans-- regardless of political party-- when he says No Way. He's a celebrated attorney and, predictably, a stickler for the fine print and, in this case, the bold print:

This is what the Fourth Amendment actually says:
 
"[N]o warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
 
What, exactly, is the Right Wing's problem with the Fourth Amendment? Why do they constantly seek ways to evade and subvert the Fourth Amendment? It seems to have worked pretty well, for over 200 years. And over 99% of the time, the federal judges give all POTUS the warrants he wants.
 
What it really comes down to is that they want a dictatorship. It's issues like this one, where the Right has to choose between conservatism and fascism, when you see their true colors.

Now that's what I call straight talk, not that mealy-mouthed flip flopping we're hearing from John McCain on every issue that comes up. And another straightforward, straight-talking attorney-- this one from McCain's own state-- is Howard Shanker. His point last night was basic and went right to the obvious core of what it means to be an American and why our country is unique:

It was Ben Franklin who said that “any man who is willing to sacrifice essential liberties for the sake of security deserves, neither.” We seem to have a country full of people who are willing to sacrifice essential liberties for the sake of an empty promise of security. As a free country, founded on concepts like justice and liberty, the de-evolution of our free society should not be tolerated by any people of conscience.

I think it's more the Insider leadership than the people themselves, who are willing to sacrifice our liberties... if the price is right. 

The ACLU explained yesterday why Hoyer's contemptible deal with Bush is unconstitutional and crap. And how can Steny Hoyer feel about being described in the NY Times as one of Bush's allies? "In the waning months of his tenure, President Bush and his allies are once again trying to scare Congress into expanding the president’s powers to spy on Americans without a court order." Hoyer will attempt to do the dirty deed today. We'll be watching. And meanwhile, we can only wish there were more members of this current Congress like Colorado's progressive candidate Jared Polis. Jared worries about our country's prestige abroad.

“It is disappointing that some of our Democratic leaders are rushing FISA reform through Congress. I strongly oppose telecom immunity that paves the ground for the further erosion of our privacy and civil liberties."

"Our Democratic leaders in Washington should stand firm against allowing Republicans and the Bush Administration to violate the civil liberties of our citizens any more than they already have; phone companies should not be given a pass and should be held fully accountable for their involvement in unwarranted wiretapping.

"Rather than providing cover for the Bush administration, our leaders should show backbone and not allow FISA reform to be rushed through Congress"
 
“The fear mongering tactics of President Bush and his cronies on Capitol Hill are tired; the American public now understands that we can have security at home while also protecting the civil liberties of our law abiding citizens.”

DANA ROHRABACHER OBSESSED WITH PANTIES-- WOULDN'T IT BE NICE TO HAVE A CONGRESSPERSON WITH JUST A LITTLE SANITY?

This week DWT covered Dana Rohrabacher's shady shenanigans twice-- first when he refused to join a huge bipartisan veto-proof majority in extending unemployment benefits to the victims of the Bush Economic Miracle, and then again yesterday when we looked at which members of Congress had voted for the unconstitutional Military Commissions Act that authorized torture and challenged the basic concept of habeas corpus. Rohrabacher was an enthusiastic supporter then and he thinks the Supreme Court was wrong in declaring the outrage against rule of law unconstitutional last week.

Blue America has endorsed the Mayor of Huntington Beach, Debbie Cook, is her campaign to bring representative sanity back to Orange County. And we're not the only ones who noticed Rohrabacher's outrageous behavior this past week. The editorial board of the Huntington Beach Independent reminded its readers that Rohrabacher is like a "crazy relative who always manages to embarrass themselves at family functions."

During a recent hearing of the subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Rohrabacher appeared dismissive of FBI complaints that interrogators used inappropriate, possibly illegal techniques on suspected terrorist detainees in Guantanamo Bay. Instead, he repeatedly cited a report of panties put on detainees’ heads as comparable to “hazing pranks,” arguing it didn’t come close to the definition of torture.

Perhaps it wasn’t the point Rohrabacher was making that struck a nerve with so many political observers. It was perhaps instead the issue of a man elected to public office steering a serious debate in a dismissive direction of frivolity. Two explanations are possible.

One is that Rohrabacher is really so obtuse as to not comprehend that the debate was about more than “panties on the head.”

At the meeting, others even tried to point out that the FBI also reported seeing physical abuse and other elements of humiliation. Rohrabacher ignored them and fixated instead on panties.

One would like to think a man who has served as a congressman for two decades would be more sensitive than this.

The other explanation for Rohrabacher’s remarks is that he understood the issues at play and deliberately chose to ignore the gravity of discussing torture. The congressman in that case would seem to believe he is fooling everyone in painting the FBI’s findings as ridiculous. To him, it’s as if the rest of the educated world doesn’t see past his scoffings.

This is the same technique he used earlier that week when he called parts of environmentalism “pseudoscience.” While not all scientists agree on the threat of global warming, the vast majority of peer-approved science has produced vast amounts of evidence proving it’s a real and serious threat. Rohrabacher seems to believe he is the final authority and that everyone will assume he is right and join in the scoffing.

Huntington Beach Mayor Debbie Cook, his challenger for the congressional seat, said it best.

“Torture is not to be taken lightly, especially when the prestige and moral authority of the United States government is at stake,” she said.

We hope the representative realizes this before his next speaking appointment. If not, someone needs to take his microphone away.

Rohrabacher has been an embarrassment to Orange County for a long time. He's gotten worse with the passage of time. A Debbie Cook supporter wrote a song and performed it with some friends and sent it along. I hope if you enjoy it, you'll consider contributing to Debbie's election campaign at the Blue America ActBlue page.

BIPARTISAN MAJORITY DEFIES BUSH OVER MORTGAGE CRISIS

Barney & Maxine: problem solvers

While Republican House leaders wring their hands and rend their clothes fretting over why voters are massively rejecting their candidates and worrying that the GOP minority could easily lose another 2 or 3 dozen House members in November, all they need to do is look in the mirror to figure it out. And blaming hapless schnooks like Vito, Vitter or Larry Craig isn't going to do the trick. They are the party of obstructionism and the party that is standing in the way of progress, preventing an end to the occupation of Iraq, preventing universal health care, preventing sound environmental and energy policies, preventing, in fact, everything that the American people want!

Yesterday their despised leader, George Bush, threatened to veto a foreclosure bill that would attempt to help families and neighborhoods that have been victimized by predatory lenders who have been enabled by out-of-control Republican deregulation mania. Today the House passed the first of two of the bills Bush was railing against, Maxine Waters' Neighborhood Stabilization Act of 2008. Only one Blue Dog, Kirsten Gillibrand (NY) voted with the Republicans. Eleven Republicans-- all of whom are either retiring or in grave danger of losing their re-election bids in November-- abandoned their party's reactionary leadership and voted with the Democrats (even including such inveterate rubber stamps as the Diaz-Balart brothers in Florida and Steven LaTourette of Ohio).

While Bush was eager to shovel hundreds of billions of dollars towards the predatory lenders to shore up their businesses and even to provide irresponsible and possible criminal executive with multimillion dollar bonuses for causing the collapse of the real estate market, he dug in his heels on Water's attempt to "make federal money available in loans and grants for the rehabilitation and eventual sale or rental of blighted properties."

And just moments ago, the House also passed the companion bill, Barney Franks' American Housing Rescue & Foreclosure Prevention Act, a responsible and comprehensive response to the nightmare of the Bush Economic Miracle. It seeks to assist families facing foreclosure keep their homes, help other families avoid foreclosures in the future, and, with Maxine Waters' bill, help the recovery of communities harmed by empty homes caught in the foreclosure process. The bill, which Bush swears he will veto and McConnell vows to obstruct in the Senate, provide mortgage refinancing assistance, which will help keep families from losing their homes and protect neighboring home values. Barney's bill was voted on in 3 parts and dozens of Republicans were too frightened of the constituents to oppose the bill. On Roll Call 302, in fact, 95 Republicans gave Bush and their extremist leaders the finger and joined all the Democrats to pass it overwhelmingly and with a veto-proof majority. In fact only 94 Republicans voted with Bush. It passed 322-94, one of Bush's biggest defeats since he stole the presidency in 2000. Only the most insane kooks and loons-- The Dana Rohrabachers, John Shadeggs, Michael McCauls, Mean Jean Schmidts, and Scott Garretts hung in there with Boehner, Blunt, Cole and Howdy Doody.

The GOP strategy is to have Mitch McConnell filibuster both bills to death in the Senate and to use Bush's veto pen as a backup. And they wonder why they're unable to persuade even hard core Republican districts in Illinois and Louisiana to vote for their rubber stamp candidates? Even rank and file Republican voters have turned on Bush. While his overall approval rating continues to plummet to the lowest levels yet among normal Americans, only 6 in 10 GOP voters like the job he's doing. 7% of Democrats-- presumably Blue Dogs like Chris Carney, John Barrow, Leonard Boswell, Melissa Bean, Heath Shuler, Jim Marshall, and Nick Lampson who always rubber stamp his decisions-- approve of the job he's doing. (Hopefully, Democratic primary voters in Iowa and Georgia, will realize it isn't only admitted Republicans bolstering Bush's toxic regime, but some of their own representatives as well.) If Barrow and Boswell are defeated in their primary bids-- the way Al Wynn was-- you can bet your ass that crossover support for the Bush-Cheney agenda will drop precipitously among the treacherous Blue Dogs. Both of their opponents, Regina Thomas in Georgia and Ed Fallon in Iowa, are progressive with proven track records and both are up on the Blue America list of endorsees. Please consider supporting them-- and while you do, take a look at Texas Rep. Al Green explain the importance of this legislation-- for all of us:




I asked our newest Blue America endorsee, Debbie Cook, how she thought Orange County voters would react to Rohrabacher's out-of-touch vote today. Her response sounds to me like what most people in America think of the 94 Republican extremists who believe in helping predatory lenders but not hard working families: "It's yet another example of how Rohrabacher is out of touch with the middle class families he is supposed to represent. There are thousands of families in this district losing their homes, losing jobs and many others are struggling to pay for the increased prices of necessities like fuel, food and healthcare. This vote is shocking because it exposes the hypocrisy of those in Congress who bend over backwards to subsidize Wall Street losses, and refuse to lift a finger to help those most affected by the mortgage crisis. We need to have new representatives in Washington who will try to level the playing field for middle class families."


UPDATE: McCONNELL WILL HAVE PLENTY OF HELP IN STOPPING THE HOUSE BILLS FROM EVER BECOMING LAW-- MEET ALABAMA CROOK, RICHARD SHELBY

Tomorrow's NY Times spills the beans on one of the Senate's many personifications of conflict of interest. This particular one, greedy corporatist swine Richard Shelby, is determined to wreck the mortgage bill that would assist distressed homeowners. Shelby has become a multimillionaire-- many times over-- since becoming a Senator and he's done that as a real estate developer and landlord. As the ranking Republican on the Senate Banking Committee there is a great deal of mischief he can commit... and he is.

[O]ver the years, his critics say, Mr. Shelby’s ties to the mortgage industry and the Alabama real estate market, and the generous campaign donations he receives from financial services companies, have distorted his perspective and led him to delay critical legislative remedies.

Indeed, Mr. Shelby’s legislative and business worlds have often intersected. For instance, while on the Banking Committee, he financed an apartment complex he owns in Tuscaloosa with a $5 million loan from Freddie Mac, the same government-sponsored mortgage company whose regulation his committee is reshaping.

Even his efforts to steer federal money to the University of Alabama, where a recently built $60 million science building is named after Mr. Shelby and his wife, Annette, have benefited him. The tens of millions in earmarks have helped the university, his alma mater, grow and attract more students. The tenants of his apartment complex are mostly students.

Mr. Shelby said in an interview his business dealings posed no conflict.

...Others see it differently. “Senator Shelby would have prevented anything going through that the industry was not happy with,” said Representative Brad Miller, Democrat of North Carolina, who has pushed legislation to crack down on predatory lending, an effort that has stalled in the Senate in part because of Mr. Shelby’s reservations. “That’s the sense from all the people who are involved in the issue.”

Representative Barney Frank, the Massachusetts Democrat who leads the House Banking Committee and has won points for working with the Bush administration on housing issues, said he had been surprised by Mr. Shelby’s unwillingness to accept several proposals like a permanent increase in the cap to $730,000 from about $360,000 on home loans that can be federally insured.

“I think he has been the major obstacle,” Mr. Frank said, calling it “a serious problem in getting things done.”

BLUE AMERICA WELCOMES DEBBIE COOK-- ONE TALIBAN'S WORST FEAR

One of Debbie Cook's strengths as a public official-- her serious devotion to the intricacies of the kinds of policies that effect people's lives-- is a real problem for a political campaign. "Serious" doesn't always mean "catchy" or "easy to understand." She's spent a good part of her life working on public policy-- like "peak oil-- and trying to make government function for people. Her overviews are filled with blacks, whites, grays and every color of the rainbow. She's a candidate for people for whom expertise and results matters more than snappy soundbytes. So far, that seems to be working for her.

She's the mayor of Huntington Beach, the largest city in California's 46th CD, which stretches from Los Angeles, through Long Beach and on into the heart of Orange County. Traditionally a Republican bastion (PVI: R +6), the district is now 17% Hispanic and 15% Asian and as dismayed by the policies of the Bush Regime as is the rest of the country. In 2006 Dianne Feinstein won here. Between November 2006 and March 2008 there was a net loss of 1600 angry, disgusted Republicans and a gain of 4200 extraordinarily motivated Democrats, and the numbers keep improving every day. Although only 29% of the voters in Huntington Beach are Democrats, Debbie still wins there by wide margins and is respected across partisan boundaries, recognized as a champion for energy conservation and environmental protection-- a big deal in the district where the current congressman, an aggressive Global Warming denier, has gone out of his way to frustrate and diss environmentalists (this in a district where environmental issues like clean beaches, clean air, and smart growth poll in the 80% range across electorate). Her opponent is 10-term incumbent Dana Rohrabacher, better known as a doper, a slacker, a mujahadeen and bin-Laden supporter, an Abramoff pal, an Erik Prince/Blackwater defender, and as a fringe nut-case than for accomplishing anything at all in Congress. He does have a dependably rubber stamp voting record and virtually never ventures away from GOP ideological orthodoxy. His m.o. is arrogance tempered by laziness, corruption, craziness and, many say, wanton disregard for societal mores.

When I spoke with Debbie a few days ago, she told me that when she talks with voters across the district they main things they have on their minds are "the economy, the war, the environment and health care." They don't know where Rohrabacher stands on these issues-- it surely isn't with them-- because they're not even aware of who their representative is. "He's been there for 20 years so you'd think more people would be aware of him... Elected officials in the district complain that he doesn't bring anything back to the district from Washington. Orange County is a donor county [meaning residents pay more in taxes than they get back in services and infrastructure] from the federal government. Most elected officials are dissatisfied with that. And I hear from people constantly that if you are not a Republican he will not meet with you or, if he does meet with you, he's extremely rude. If you're not politically aligned with him, he is rude to you."

Rohrabacher has never had a really serious opponent before and has never been defined for the voters. That's about to change. Debbie is running an intense grassroots campaign and she is being supported by local officials across the political spectrum. On May 10 she's having her first major campaign event, a voter registration drive coordinated with the Obama 50 state drive.

Debbie has endorsed the Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq and the issues page on her website-- unlike most Insider Democrats'-- brings up thorny issues most politicians would rather avoid. And her positions are clear and straightforward, like "I support a woman’s right to choose."

Please surf over to Firedoglake at 11AM (PT) to meet Debbie and ask her any questions you'd like. As we get started today I want to announce we have a generous donor on board who has offered to match all contributions to Debbie's campaign up to $2,000. In other words, if we collect $2,000, Debbie winds up with $4,000 today. Please open our Blue America ActBlue page and give what you can.

DANA ROHRABACHER IS NOT THE GOP PERVERT DU JOUR-- HIS FORMER AIDE IS THOUGH

When people in Washington lower their voices and talk about who the congressional closet queens are Dana Rohrabacher is always mentioned. It doesn't make it true; it's a rumor that's been around for years that never goes away. I don't know if he's gay or not gay. I do know he has a voting record that shows he is clearly a homophobic bigot. The 2 links are for the roll calls he participated in involving gay right and involving hate crimes bills. He scored zero on both sets of votes. Zero. That would translate into there not being one member of Congress more willing to express hatred and prejudice towards gay people than Dana Rohrabacher. Counter-intuitively, this kind of record is often a sign among closeted Republicans that they are panic-stricken homosexuals themselves, living in a world of pain and self-loathing.

When one of Rohrabacher's aides, Jeffrey Nielsen, was first arrested for raping a 14 year old boy, the congressman did everything he could to cover-up his close relationship with Nielsen, as has been famously covered by the OC Weekly.

Fairy Tale #1: Rohrabacher said Nielsen worked for him for a few months after Nielsen graduated from college.

Reality: Rohrabacher handpicked Nielsen to relocate from Orange County to Virginia and serve as his congressional aide in D.C. While working for Rohrabacher for more than half a year, Nielsen allegedly spent his spare time molesting a 7th-grade boy.

Fairy Tale #2: Rohrabacher said he had no idea what Nielsen did in his personal life.

Reality: Rohrabacher vouched for Nielsen's character in a personal letter of recommendation he wrote to get his hand-picked pal into USC's law school.

Yesterday Nielsen, who pleaded guilty, was given an extraordinarily light sentence: 3 years in prison. The publicity in the local Republican Party propaganda sheet, the Orange County Register couldn't have pleased Rohrabacher, just as he's about to embark on the toughest re-election fight of his career, which puts the clownish congressman/Taliban sympathizer up against the much-admired mayor of Huntington Beach, Debbie Cook. The Register has Rohrabacher's name all over the tawdry and tragic story.

A legislator's former aide was sentenced today to three years in state prison for molesting two boys – including an Orange County youth he met on the Internet.

Jeffrey Ray Nielsen, 37, of Ladera Ranch, was expecting the sentence, after pleading guilty in December to two felonies: lewd acts upon a child under age 14 and lewd acts upon a child between 14 and 15.

Nielsen, a lawyer and former aide to Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach), was arrested by Westminster police in May 2003 after authorities found thousands of images of pornography on both his work and personal computers. He was also accused of molesting a second boy, a 13-year-old Virginia resident, while he worked in Rohrabacher's Washington D.C. office in 1994.

Authorities said he brought the Virginia boy to California from Virginia in July of that year to visit his family in Fountain Valley, and repeatedly abused the boy for the two-week period. He also molested the boy for more than a year and a half prior the California visit.

The Orange County youth, a 14-year-old, was abused in March 2003 after meeting Nielsen on a gay Internet site.

Nielsen's first trial ended in a hung jury in 2007, but prosecutors re-filed charges, resulting in his guilty plea. Today, Nielsen was taken into custody after being sentenced by Orange County Superior Court Judge David A. Thompson.

Besides working for Rohrabacher, Nielsen also worked on an Assembly campaign of Scott Baugh, chairman of the Republican Party of Orange County.

A CLASSIC BATTLE FOR THE SOUL OF AMERICA IS JOINED IN ORANGE COUNTY-- DEBBIE COOK vs DANA ROHRABACHER

Not a fancy dress ball-- the idiot on the right is Rohrabacher supporting the Mujahideen in Afghanistan

What does a sleazy Republican mired in ethical problems do when he faces a strong challenger who truly represents the values of his moderate suburban district?

He brings in the king of the ratfuckers, Mike Schroeder, the Dark Lord of the Orange County Republican party to sue the candidate, call her a scofflaw attorney, and tie up time, resources, and money with bogus charges.

Debbie Cook is the Mayor of Huntington Beach, and a formidable grassroots progressive who has the ability to challenge one of the vilest Congressmen in a Republican district (PVI: R+6). Debbie's been winning battles against the local slimeballs since 1989, when she started a grassroots battle against corrupt out-of-touch developers intent on developing public beaches and parks for profit. With a group of activists meeting in her living room, Debbie gathered 18,000 signatures to put an initiative on the ballot, then beat big money and slimy politics to get 75% of the vote. Only 29% of the voters in Huntington Beach are registered Democrats but Debbie wins by wide margins and is respected across partisan boundaries, recognized as a champion for energy conservation and environmental protection, a big deal in the district where Rohrabacher, an aggressive Global Warming denier, has consistently failed to lend a hand to popular local causes from groundwater replenishment (saving the local underground water supply from saltwater intrusion) and preserving the Bolsa Chica Wetlands to the dredging of Huntington Harbor and saving the bluffs on Pacific Coast Highway from erosion.

Battle after battle, election after election, Debbie has beaten the Republicans in Huntington Beach, the heart of the 46th congressional district, including victories in court to protect the coast and wetlands, and elections to the City Council in 2000 and 2004, when she won by a 10,500 vote margin over the nearest competitor.

Read her entire bio to get a feel for how impressive a challenger Debbie is, and how her history as a college athlete, PTO President, Neighborhood Watch volunteer, and small business owner led her into community activism, where she has developed and emerged as the type of local leader we need representing us in Congress.

This year she’s running for Congress, a late entry, below the national radar, but with a strong base of activists, a proven electoral base in the largest city in the district, and an opponent who reeks of corruption.

Congressman Dana Rohrabacher is an embarrassment to his district, a sad and pathetic exemplar of everything that’s wrong with the Republican party. He started out in the 70’s as a slacker, doper, and ideologue on the payroll of libertarian sugar-daddies, first as a troubadour to campus Republicans, then as an editorial writer for the Orange County Register.

When he wasn’t "smoking everything but the bong water," he worked on Reagan election campaigns, then moved to the White House as a third-string speechwriter of toasts and drop-by remarks.

His Congressional primary victory in 1988 with a little more than a third of the vote was a fluke, as the front-runner collapsed with a bogus college degree, moderates split their vote, and Rohrabacher flew in indicted Iran-Contra plotter Ollie North to rally the crazies. And the crazies have loved him ever since-- at least the crazies in the district. In Washington... not so much.

Rated as the third least effective Congressman in California, Rohrabacher has never been noted for any achievements, and Republicans have considered him so goofy that he never developed any clout even with Republicans in power.

He has consistently distinguished himself by his friends and associates.

After his election in 1988, instead of attending Congressional training, he went to Afghanistan to dress up in mujahadeen outfits, which led to years of support and clandestine foreign policy to support the Taliban. He met Osama Bin Laden, and was instrumental in helping to create the groups that eventually blew back into the September 11th terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.

Rohrabacher wasn’t just connected to Jack Abramoff. With Delay, Ney, and Doolittle, he was one of the Four Congressmen Freemeals, violating Congressional ethics rules by accepting thousands of dollars worth of expensive meals at Signatures. Rohrabacher served as a character reference for Abramoff in the purchase of the SunCruz casinos, had Abramoff host a baby shower where lobbyists gave cash gifts, and wrote a letter to the judge pleading for clemency before his pal and benefactor Abramoff was sent to prison.

Rohrabacher's wife, who pleaded guilty to felony campaign violations, works full-time as his "campaign manager" while also caring for triplet toddlers, paid by campaign contributions from wealthy Republicans and lobbyists. (The terms of her plea bargain forbid her from working in any campaigns except her husband's.)

Erik Prince of Blackwater once interned in Rohrabacher’s office, and you'll find no stauncher defender of Blackwater.

Convicted child molester Jeff Nielsen was abusing a very young boy in Virginia while serving as a Rohrabacher staffer.

Then there's Dana as scriptwriter and influence peddler.

When OC Sheriff Mike Carona couldn’t get the Republican nomination because the stink of his corruption was beginning to make locals gag, Congressman Rohrabacher showed up to give a stirring endorsement and carry the day at the Central Committee meeting , so America’s Sheriff could be re-elected. (Corrupt local politicians need to have a corrupt sheriff.)

The stories go on and on about Rohrabacher-- lazy, crazy, arrogant, corrupt, some say degenerate, but always protected by a compliant local press and a gerrymandered district. Best of all, his arrogance has always led to contempt for the needs of his district, where he not only doesn’t help secure legitimate federal funds, but goes out of his way to sabotage local cities and their needs.

If you want to help a great progressive beat this Bush-Cheney rubber stamp, and you want to tell the ratfuckers and their attorneys that we are sick and tired of their shenanigans, please consider donating to Debbie Cook's campaign.