Next Tuesday-- Jim Wilson Gets A Chance To Take Out GOP Shill Dan Boren In Oklahoma

Last night, despite Regina Thomas having won Chatham County (basically, Savannah, the biggest county in the district by far) by better than two to one, Blue Dog John Barrow managed to win the Democratic nomination. Georgia doesn't have paper trails and there is no way to know what the vote really was but I watched the Secretary of State's feed as a clear Regina victory in rural Johnson County turned into Barrow landslide. I've heard from half a dozen people in GA-12 today that Barrow bought off electoral officials and got the vote totals in outlying counties that he needed to make up for the thrashing Regina gave him in Savannah. Did he steal the election? Almost definitely.

We have two more progressives we're backing in this cycle with contests against Blue Dogs, Doug Tudor and Jim Wilson. Doug looks like he'll beat Blue Dog shill Lori Edwards in central Florida and Jim is putting up a valiant effort against entrenched incumbent Dan Boren in eastern Oklahoma. This morning Jim sent out an open letter to Boren that I want to share with you. The primary is in 6 days (next Tuesday).

As you know, the reason I am running for Congress is because the quality of life for Oklahomans is not improving under the existing leadership. Oklahoma ranks 50th in overall health care, 49th in education spending and over 20% of the population in this congressional district is in poverty. Our health care costs are going up at an annual rate of 6.7%. Higher education is inflating at 8.5% per year. Real wages have decreased 1% over the last ten years. As a twenty-five year resident of the 2nd Congressional District, I would like to address some of the issues and reasons I’ve been motivated to run for Congress.

Special Interest Money

You’ve spent a lot of money trying to disparage my character. You have done it by accumulating almost $2 million from special interest including $250,000 from healthcare contributions, over $500,000 from oil contributions and over $200,000 from Wall Street. As Texas pundit Jim Hightower once said, “The water won’t clear up until we get the hogs out of the creek.” MY supporters, the grassroots, working Oklahomans from the 2nd Congressional District, are the ones paying for my response to you.

Liberal vs. Conservative

You’ve called me liberal because I believe in policies that foster decent housing, a good education, adequate and affordable health care, the ability for small business to fairly compete, a living wage, equal pay for women, a living wage, equal pay for equal work and respect for women. I can only guess that when you voted against education benefits for veterans, unemployment benefits, equal pay for women, a living wage and affordable health care, you were merely demonstrating that you were a conservative. How does your brand of conservatism help the people of the 2nd District?

Health Care Quality

You have said that I advocate for changes in our health care system similar to the French health care system. I realize statistical analysis is not the friend of politicians, but the data show that those who are sick with the curable disease will have a better chance of survival under the French health care delivery system. The United State health care delivery system ranks 19th in the world. I certainly want the best health care possible for my family and I’m surprised that you would disregard this data for political purposes. Can you be so blinded by special interest that you can’t even consider why another health care delivery system might work better for District 2 and your own family?

Health Care Cost

You voted against health care reform and told us it would cost too much money. The fact is it will save Oklahomans billions of dollars. Quality will improve because of electronic medical records as well as preventions and early detection. In this district alone 310,000 residents will have improved coverage with health insurance, 137,000 Medicare beneficiaries will have improved care, 128,000 uninsured will be covered, 21,700 residents with pre-existing conditions can obtain coverage and 900 families will not have to file for bankruptcy due to unaffordable health care costs, and we will do it while reducing uncompensated care for providers by $95 million. Since much of this savings comes from overpriced insurance premiums, perhaps those contributions from the insurance lobby have fogged the judgment of our current congressional delegation. By cutting the waste out of the health care/insurance industry we can save every man, woman and child in Oklahoma $2,000 per year. Why wouldn’t you want to do that?

Guns

You suggested I want to take your guns away. I don’t know where you get your fascination with guns or why you think that is the most important issue in this district, but you haven't earned the right to criticize me. I spent a little over a year in the Marine Corps in Vietnam, much of it in combat-- sworn to protect the constitution-- which includes the 2nd amendment. The reason you are on television criticizing me is because I fought for you to have that right. By the way, I also have an ‘A’ rating with the NRA (Project Vote Smart).

30% Sales Tax

You co-sponsored a measure in Congress which would add a 30% sales tax to everything we buy. When we buy $100 worth of groceries, we would have to pay $130. Then you voted to extend the tax breaks for the wealthiest 1% of the population-- those living in luxury in New York and Hollywood and of course millionaires such as yourself. I guess the 30% sales tax is necessary to pay for tax breaks for the wealthy, but it’s coming out of the paychecks of working folks in the 2nd District.

Wall Street Bail Out

You voted to bail out Wall Street and then voted against a bill to regulate it. It’s obvious they can’t regulate themselves. You voted against extending unemployment benefits for the people in this district and you voted against equal pay for equal work.

Veteran’s Benefits

You voted against the GIO Bill for returning veterans along with education benefits and unemployment benefits. Veteran’s benefits are important in this district. I’m a perfect example. Returning from Vietnam, I used the GI Bill to attend OSU.

Pro-Life Claim

You claim you are pro-life. The top two reasons women cite for abortion are poverty and lack of health insurance. It seems that a 30% sales tax will create more poverty-- and of course you voted against affordable health care. Do you not see the hypocrisy of politicians claiming to be pro-life while voting against adequate and affordable health care? Do you no play attention to constituents who are desperate for heath care?

Oil Tax Breaks

You voted for Tax Breaks for Oil Companies, then you voted to lift oil regulations. The BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is directly related to special interests having enough influence to remove regulation.

Summary

It seems you left the working men and women of District 2 behind and have “gone Washington” on us. It is an affront to our intelligence that you think we can be duped into thinking someone wants to take our guns away so we won’t pay attention to policies which deprive us of feeding our families, educating our children and obtaining affordable health care. You and I are different people with different ideas about the role of a Congressman. I have listed some of our differences above while making my case for a change in Congress. I think you have turned your back on the values of the working people in this District. We’ll see what the people think on July 27th.

Sincerely,

Senator Jim Wilson

www.votejimwilson.com

Blue America Welcomes State Senator Jim Wilson (D-OK)

A labor union president once told me that the worst Democrat in Congress, at least from the point of view of ordinary working families, is Oklahoma reactionary Dan Boren. I've never been able to find anyone to persuade me that he was wrong. The video above should explain that pretty well.

Today Blue America is very proud to present the courageous populist who's decided Boren doesn't deserve a free ride from Oklahoma Democrats. State Senator Jim Wilson, long considered Oklahoma's most pro-family state legislator, made up his mind after Boren voted in favor of the anti-Choice Stupak amendment and then against the overall healthcare reform bill-- twice. Healthcare reform has been one of Jim's signature issues as a state Rep and state Senator. He'll be joining us over at Crooks and Liars at 11am (PT)/1pm in Oklahoma.

Jim, whose political career has been dedicated to the most needy in his community and who has fought a long and unrelenting battle on behalf of public education, the environment and health care reform, decided to take the plunge into national politics when his congressman, Dan Boren, once again joined the Republican Party in trying to derail healthcare reform.

"I've been working on healthcare in the state legislature for 10 years," Jim told me. "Oklahoma ranks 50th in overall delivery of healthcare statewide... Health care costs are escalating at the compound rate of 6.7% per year. This year's increase for every man, woman and child, directly or indirectly, is $428. That represents income that can't be used elsewhere in the economy which removes, to some extent, discretionary spending which in turn hurts other business or quality of life segments."

There doesn't seem to be a resulting justification for the increased expenditures. One-third of health care spending doesn't seem to help or prevent sickness. If in Oklahoma we were to return the waste in health care to the people, the savings would be equivalent to all the state taxes paid by individuals and businesses. In Oklahoma we have in statute a floor of 60% for a medical loss ratio. The new federal reform legislation will require a medical loss ratio of not less than 85% for big groups and not less than 80% for small groups. The savings in Oklahoma will be at least $210 million. 

Just automating health records in Oklahoma would save $800 million and 750 lives annually.  Nationally we have one medical error per patient day and have an 80% error rate on provider billing. Cleveland clinic has to have 1,400 clerks to support 2,000 doctors-- and it's more cost effective than any other major provider with the possible exception of Mayo and the VA. 
 
To improve quality of life for our citizens we should strive to improve disposable income. If we are resistant to increased pay or if increases in pay are mitigated by rising health care costs, we owe it to the citizens to make the health care system more efficient which will produce better health outcomes at less cost.

Jim, a former combat marine in Vietnam, who walked away with the valuable lessons of that tragic conflict, would be another voice of reason in Congress regarding Afghanistan. His astonishingly progressive record in Oklahoma shows what kind of a Member of Congress he would be. We can be absolutely certain we'd be trading in the worst Democrat for someone who will be giving Members like Alan Grayson and Raul Grijalva a run for their money! After Boren crossed the aisle again to support Boehner, Wall Street and the GOP in their jihad against regulating the money-changers in the temple, Jim issued a simple and direct statement that shows the contrast between the two of them:

“While driving around Eastern Oklahoma in my pickup truck, I have met thousands of people whose lives were ruined by the crash just two years ago. How can Dan Boren forget about those people and vote for his donors instead? It's a shame that he’s been in Washington so long he’s forgotten about the people in Eastern Oklahoma... This is common sense legislation. I have not met a single person on the campaign trail begging me to be compassionate to Wall Street. Dan Boren needs to spend less time in Washington with his Wall Street lobbyist friends and more time in Eastern Oklahoma."

The last two mangy Blue Dogs we're trying to dislodge in this cycle are John Barrow-- who faces off against Regina Thomas on July 20-- and then Boren, who will be facing Jim on July 27. If you can, please consider donating to Jim's campaign so that he can continue getting out his message to Oklahoma Democrats. By the way, that labor union president I referred to above? Nowhere to be seen on this race-- or in Regina's. I guess we should be happy his union isn't endorsing their Blue Dog opponents this time.

Republicans And Their Blue Dog Allies Fight Disclosure Of Where Big Money In Politics Is Coming From

Ordinary Americans on both sides of the red/blue divide reacted the same way to the recent narrow ruling from the corporatist Supreme Court in Citizens United v. FEC, Virtually everyone would like to see whittling away at democracy dealt with. Virtually. Those who don't want to see it dealt with are corporate executives, lobbyists, and, of course, the Republican and Blue Dog office holders who have built their political power from corporate patronage. The first step towards fixing it, the DISCLOSE Act passed yesterday 219-206, only 2 Republicans voting with the American people-- while 36 mostly corrupt Blue Dogs crossed the aisle to stand with corporate hacks like Boehner and Cantor.

Among the bad Democrats yesterday were many of the usual suspects, Boehner Boys like John Barrow (Blue Dog-GA), Melissa Bean (IL), Dan Boren (Blue Dog-OK), Allen Boyd (Blue Dog-FL), Bobby Bright (Blue Dog-AL), Travis Childers (Blue Dog-MS), Mark Critz (DCCC-PA), Joe Donnelly (Blue Dog-IN), Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (Blue Dog-SD), Baron Hill (Blue Dog-IN), Frank Kratovil (Blue Dog-MD), Jim Marshall (Blue Dog-GA), Walt Minnick (Blue Dog-ID), Harry Mitchell (Blue Dog-AZ), Glenn Nye (Blue Dog-VA)... I think you get the picture. It would be more newsworthy if this crew of corporate shills voted with the Democrats!

Earlier this week People For The American Way released a poll showing that 77% of Americans-- including majorities of Democrats, Independents, and Republicans-- support a Constitutional Amendment to reverse Citizens United, and 74% would be more likely to vote for a congressional candidate who felt the same. Let's hope those voters keep that in mind this November, when a safe bet would be to just vote against every single Republican and every single Blue Dog.

Yesterday the opposition to the legislation was led, as usual, by an annoyed John Boehner who seemed to resent he had to waste time in DC when he could be putting away on one of his favorite Florida golf courses. His clownish negativity about reform had to be contrasted to some of his past statements on the subject-- like on Meet the Press on February 11, 2007: “I think what we ought to do is we ought to have full disclosure, full disclosure of all of the money that we raise and how it is spent. And I think that sunlight is the best disinfectant.” One year before he gave a press conference where he also posed as a reform-minded good government type, maybe a little nervous about the incident with the tobacco lobbyist checks on the floor of the House: “The House is going to take up 527 legislation next week. And there may be several proposals on the floor in terms of how we rein in their activity. I think this was a gaping loophole in the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill. I think it needs to be fixed. To have all of this unregulated campaign cash going to these organizations and allowing them to engage in campaign activities without any disclosure is-- it's wrong. And so we've worked closely with Senator McCain. The House needs to deal with this, and we will next week.”

And just two weeks before that, Boehner was bullshitting about 527s: "The 527s were created out of the bipartisan campaign finance reform, something that many of us foresaw, that we were pushing money out of a regulated system into an unregulated system. You know, most people wanted to get rid of soft money because they didn't think it was regulated, even though soft money had to be disclosed in terms of who gave it, what amounts, and how you spent it-- and there were rules around how you could spend it. And when you look at what happened after campaign reform passed, these 527 organizations erupted. There is no disclosure of where their money comes from or how they spend it or what they do with it. And they're spending hundreds of millions of dollars trying to influence federal elections. And I believe that these organizations ought to be covered under the same kind of regulations that govern political parties."

And his response yesterday? Aside from voting against what he himself said should be done in the past, he forced Republican discipline so that even members of his caucus uncomfortable with the notion of being labeled as corrupt so close to an elect, were all forced to toe the party line. The Democrat running for the western Ohio seat currently occupied by Boehner, Justin Coussoule expected no more from Boehner. "Why would anyone doubt that John Boehner would vote against restricting the expected avalanche of corporate contributions to extend their domination of our American political process? The idea, as expressed in the Supreme Court’s Citizen’s United decision was foolhardy enough, pretending that corporations such as BP are to be recognized as 'persons' whose free speech and political contributions should be unlimited, but given the level of big oil, tobacco , insurance and pesticide contributions that Boehner chalks up like clockwork is it any wonder that he refuses to support meaningful restraints that ensure the transparency and keep our democracy on life support? Boehner once again has shown that he stands with faceless corporate power against the interests of citizens in his district and across the nation who often suffer from policies that he supports and for which he is richly rewarded by his big money benefactors."

Contrast Boehner's disingenuous approach to that of Jerry Nadler, chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. Nadler, calling the bill "an essential bill to reform the campaign finance system in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s January 21st decision in Citizens United v. FEC," said it has been irresponsible of the Supreme Court to rule that corporations are the same as people and have a constitutional right to pump as much money as they want into elections. "The very real danger now is that corporations, some with wholesome sounding names, will be able to use vast sums of concentrated money to further corrupt our political process. Without action, as a result of this activist Supreme Court decision, our electoral system will once again be at the mercy of large moneyed interests. The DISCLOSE Act will make a vast and substantial difference in protecting the integrity of our elections. The DISCLOSE Act, which is the most far-reaching campaign finance reform since McCain-Feingold, will:

•     Prevent government contractors from spending money on elections;

     •     Prevent corporate beneficiaries of TARP from spending money on elections;

     •     Prevent foreign nations, companies and individuals, or U.S. corporations controlled by foreign governments, from exerting influence on U.S. elections;

     •     Prevent campaign spenders from coordinating their activities with candidates and parties, thereby halting manipulation of elections by fly-by-night hit groups funded by corporations such as BP, special interests, foreign companies, and multimillionaires;

     •     Strengthen disclosure of electioneering communications, exposing Wall Street, Big Oil, insurance companies, and other special interest groups behind last minute attack ads and other election ads, and requiring their CEOs to stand by their ads;

     •     Enhance requirements for public disclosure of political expenditures by corporations, unions and non-profit organizations;

     •     Enhance disclaimers in ads, requiring sponsors and top donors to identify themselves and take responsibility for their ads;

     •     Require organizations that lobby to disclose political expenditures under the Lobbying Disclosure Act; and,

     •     Enhance requirements for disclosure of political expenditures to corporate shareholders and member of other organizations.

Another advocate of this bill-- and someone who helped craft it-- was Orlando congressman Alan Grayson. His was the amendment to limit foreign-owned companies from influencing American elections, which passed unanimously, even Republicans too embarrassed to vote against it. The amendment prohibits campaign spending by corporations who have a majority of their shares owned by foreign nationals and bans spending by foreign entities in which a foreign government, foreign government official, or foreign government-controlled company has more than a 5% ownership stake. “American elections are for Americans," he said. "We cannot put the law up for sale, and award government to the highest bidder. Democracy is for the people by the people-- not something into which foreign interests can buy... Foreigners cannot vote in our elections, so they should not be allowed to spend unlimited money to buy votes either. [It] protects against the threat of a corporate takeover of government in America. By keeping control in the hands of citizens, and away from foreign influences, we are protecting our country. Decisions will be made by those with our best interest in mind."

Several of our Blue America candidates fully agree with Grayson that these kinds of decisions are being made by people who do not have our bets interests in mind-- but their own. Oklahoma state Senator Jim Wilson is running against one of the few Democrats to vote with the Republicans on this, reactionary Blue Dog Dan Boren. This morning Jim told me that Boren's vote makes it "even more obvious that Dan Boren believes in a Bourgeois Society in which the wealthy and their offspring and chosen few control the masses. Could it be he thinks the citizens of Oklahoma Congressional District 2 are his proletariat, the poorest class of working people without the ability to select a representative who is not chosen by class?"

Our two Southern California progressive candidates, Beth Krom and Bill Hedrick-- each of whom is challenging one of the recipients of laundered Texas Freedom Fund money (which neither will return)-- both had serious questions about why their opponents refused to vote for the legislation. Bill Hedrick: "Who could oppose the right of citizens to know who is paying for political ads? Who could oppose limits on corporations with significant foreign ownership from meddling in US elections? No one, with the exception of those candidates like Ken Calvert expecting to benefit form a gush of corporate-funded ads.

"The DISCLOSE Act is a first step toward addressing the wrong committed against the American political process when the Supreme Court opened the floodgates to unlimited corporate influence. It has been said that when the light goes on, the roaches scatter.  The DISCLOSE Act shines a bright light on secretive political ads.  It will be fascinating to watch the scurrying when those paying for ads must be revealed."

Beth's opponent, John Campbell, is the same kind of sleazy operator as Calvert and she couldn't say she was surprised by his vote. By now, everyone knows what he's all about-- himself. Beth:

Once again, my opponent, John Campbell has sided with special interests instead of supporting greater transparency for the American people. Apparently he thinks organizations airing political ads shouldn’t have to disclose where the money to fund the ads is coming from. Since most of his fundraising dollars have come from special interest PACs, it appears self interest has played a large role in his opposition to the DISCLOSE ACT.

Why should special interests be allowed to spend millions of dollars to influence the outcome of elections, without having the same public disclosure requirements American citizens must adhere to? If corporations are granted the same rights as citizens, they should have the same obligations.

Unchecked influence in our political process has undermined our democracy and degraded the quality of our leadership. In light of the recent Supreme Court ruling allowing corporations and unions to freely spend their own funds to influence the outcome of elections, it seems only fair that there should be public disclosure of how that campaign activity was paid for.

In less than one minute on the House floor, Georgia Congressman Hank Johnson summed up the DISCLOSE Act in a way anyone can understand:

Is Dan Boren (Blue Dog-OK) The Joe Barton Of The Democratic Party?

Earlier today I was tweeting about Blue Dog Dan Boren's repulsive attack ad against populist Oklahoma state Senator Jim Wilson. It looks like someone had the foresight to cut off the pricetags but Boren is clearly out of place in the tree and clearly wearing brand new, never-before-worn hunting duds that someone from a movie prop shop had bought for the ad shoot. Inspired by the ridiculous and outrageous ad by a gun-toting Dale Peterson, at least Peterson did serve in the military. So did Senator Wilson. Gun-toting, inauthentic loudmouth Boren? Draft dodger just like his hero, Dick Cheney.



But... but, just because Boren paid off an ad firm to make a slick ad for him that doesn't mean that all of Hollywood is on his side. Filmmaker Josh Fox has a new film, being shown now on HBO, Gasland. You can watch the trailer below. In it you will notice that there's a congressman defending the outrageous behavior of Big Oil corporations poisoning ground water across America. That isn't an actor. It's Oklahoma's own Dan Boren, one of Big Oil's most dependable fully-owned subsidiaries. Since 1990 Big Oil has invested around $144 million in the careers of congressmen, almost all conservatives. Almost 70% of the payoff have gone to Republicans. And among current members of the House there's only one Democrat in Big Oil's Top 10: Dan Boren ($565,460). As you can see, Big Oil is, by far, the biggest source of cash for his political endeavors. What you haven't been able to see, until Fox caught it on tape, is that Boren, who bragged about not voting for Obama and who has voted against virtually every piece of Democratic legislation since Obama has become president, has never found anything in the oil industry's agenda that he didn't get behind. And, as a member of the Committee on Natural Resources-- and on the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources-- that support has been worth a lot more to Big Oil than the $565,460 they've given Boren for his campaigns.

On May 19, 2005 Boren voted with Republicans to allow the kind of deep water drilling that led directly to the current Gulf of Mexico ecological disaster. In fact, a few weeks earlier, on April 21, 2005, he voted, again with the GOP, against Raul Grijalva's amendment to the Energy Policy Act that would have stricken from the bill a provision directing the Secretary of the Interior to stop collecting royalty fees for the government from oil and gas companies operating in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico, a giveaway to his gas and oil patrons and as clear a case of bribery as you'll find in Congress.

A week from Saturday Sen. Jim Wilson will be joining the Blue America team at Crooks and Liars for a live blog session. He's not just "good for Oklahoma"-- he's just plain good. Please take a look at the Gasland trailer, get a feel for what a corporate shill Dan Boren is, and consider helping Jim get the resources he needs to get his message out in the face of Boren's-- and Big Oil's-- onslaught.

Primary Season: Next Up-- NC Runoff + Georgia, Utah & Oklahoma

Moment of triumph for Arkansas progressives- Joyce Elliott beats Robbie Wills

The U.S. Senate would have been considerably less reactionary-- and less a vehicle for wealthy and corrupt corporate interests-- but Blanche Lincoln won a close reelection race last night. There isn't a lot we know about Bill Halter and I doubt he would have turned out to be some kind of a progressive knight in shining armor but there is one thing we do know about him: he's not Blanche Lincoln. His first priority was never going to be to kill the Estate Tax or try to undercut Democrats at every turn-- from Social Security and healthcare reform to Employee Free Choice. Lincoln has had a disgraceful and hackish career even when she was just a slimy Blue Dog in the House using another name (Blanche Lambert). Watching her seemlessly transition to K Street would have been more than natural. But, alas, she'll still be forcing the Senate Democrats to water down every bill and make each even less family friendly and more in line with her corporate donors' avaricious self interest. Unless-- as is very likely-- she loses in November to corporate shill GOP slob John Boozman.

There was some excellent news out of Arkansas as well. Proven progressive leader Joyce Elliott beat conservative hack Robbie Wills in the second C.D. (Little Rock) and will now face Karl Rove crooked protege Tim Griffin. Please give her a hand (and whatever you can afford). She's a Blue America endorsed candidate and you can donate here. She'll need the help. If she wins in November she'll be the first African American elected from Arkansas since the mid-1800s.

But there's no getting around the tremendous loss last night in California's 36th district, where voters decided to give reactionary warmonger Jane Harman another term instead of doing the sensible thing and electing Marcy Winograd. We'll just have to learn to fight harder and smarter. In the end, Marcy took 41.2% of the vote.

But primary season is far from over and there are still plenty of messages Inside-the-Beltway Democrats need to hear. The next key races coming up to focus on are the North Carolina Senate primary runoff that pits progressive champion Elaine Marshall, the front-runner, against an ambitious but unaccomplished empty suit being pushed by Bob Menendez. That comes up June 22 and yesterday Durham Mayor Bill Bell endorsed her. This past weekend the National Federation of Democratic Women announced she has been selected as the Outstanding Democratic Woman Elected Official for 2010. Former opponent, Ken Lewis, the guy who came in third, not only endorsed her; he joined her campaign as chairman! Please consider adding your support here.

That same day, the 22nd, Utah Democrats have the most exciting and meaningful primary the've had in my memory when progressive champion Claudia Wright faces struggling Blue Dog incumbent Jim Matheson. Matheson has asked the voters to look at his record and she is responding to that challenge.

"Matheson has shown little if no leadership in his 10 years in office and the Second District deserves better" Claudia told us. "I believe he voted for the repeal of DADT simply due to the fact that I am in this race... [and] the fact that he attended the Grand Marshal Reception for Pride the weekend, something he has never done, shows he is pandering the base." Matheson appeared like a fish out of water at the reception unable to interact with anyone there. He left before the annual Pride Awards were presented and skipped the actual parade at Washington Park entirely. Claudia was given the opportunity to address Pride, and took part in the Pride Parade and was welcomed with rousing applause at every turn.

"I also question the timing of his introducing the two wilderness bills this last month, one of which trades land destroyed by off road vehicles and snowmobiles at the Snowbird Ski Resort for pristine wilderness." she said. And at a press conference on Monday, she questioned his statement last week "that we need to look at safety issues when it comes to deep water oil rigs," as too little too late. "He has been on the Subcommittee for Energy and Environment for ten years, where has his leadership been?" Energy companies know exactly where-- and have been very grateful.

Following a successful fundraiser Monday evening, Claudia is now heading out on her Wright Way Tour throughout the sprawling Second District to meet with voters and tell them of her pledge to revisit them each month from DC to share ideas and issues with them, something Matheson doesn't seem to believe it-- and certainly doesn't do.

And that brings us to July, a month with two important races for anyone interested in taking the Democratic Party back from corporately funded conservative Blue Dogs. Both races pit proven progressive state legislators against 2 of the most reactionary Democrats in Congress, John Barrow and Dan Boren. In GA-12 we see a re-match with former state Senator Regina Thomas, except this year Barrow doesn't have the support of President Obama like he did when he lied his way back into office in 2008. Although Barrow is running a well-financed media campaign, Regina has a grassroots operation and the power of constituent rage over Barrow's attempt to undermine healthcare reform and other initiatives backed by President Obama and the constituents who Barrow has routinely ignored in favor of his country club friends who vote for the Republicans anyway.

The following week (July 27) anti-health care fanatic Dan Boren is facing Oklahoma state Senator Jim Wilson, a healthcare reform champion. It is also a classic battle between an outrageously corrupt and entrenched incumbent an a reform-minded clean government type. Like Matheson, Boren has wormed his way onto natural resources committees where he's in line to get tremendous bribes-- disguised as campaign contributions (he's the #1 House member, including Republicans, on the payroll of Big Oil in this cycle!)-- and sabotage effective regulation of the predatory corporate instincts of his paymasters.

You can help us defeat Matheson, Barrow and Boren-- and replace them with Claudia Wright, Regina Thomas and Jim Wilson-- at Blue America's Blue Dog page




UPDATE: Notable California Republican Primary Races

For all their bluster, the Southern California teabaggers completely flamed out, the same way all the statewide teabagger candidates flopped-- Poizner (26.9%), birther queen Orly Taitz (25.7%), and Chuck DeVore (19.0%)-- did. They all lost against the incumbents, although Jerry Lewis and Gary Miller both had unpleasant surprises. In Lewis 41st CD, Eric Stone, the guy who was afraid to campaign against Lewis lest he get whacked, wound up with just over a third of the vote. Imagine if he had campaigned. The final was:

Jerry Lewis- 65.9%
Eric Stone- 34.1%

Pat Meagher, the progressive Democrat running-- with no opposition-- drew 20,607 votes, compared to Lewis' 28,025.

In the 42nd CD crooked conservative Gary Miller had to contend with three teabaggers and they managed to keep him under 50%! The final vote:

Gary Miller- 49.0%
Phil Liberatore- 37.2%
Lee McGroarty- 10.7%
David Su- 3.1%

My highest hopes for a surprise was in the 44th CD (Riverside/Orange counties), where we expect Bill Hedrick to win in November. But conservative Chris Riggs ran a good-- if underfunded-- campaign against Ken Calvert from the right and managed to mobilize church-goers and teabaggers for a respectable showing:

Ken Calvert- 66.6%
Chris Riggs- 33.4%

Conventional wisdom-- and teabagger ravings-- had predicted a close call for corporate shill Mary Bono Mack-- a supporter of the two Bush bailouts and cap-and-trade but the 45th CD Republicans largely stayed with her, although she's likely to be ousted by conservative Democrat Steve Pougnet in November. Last night's finals:

Mary Bono Mack- 70.4%
Clayton Thibodeau- 29.6%

The only other GOP primary I was watching closely was in the 19th CD, where Dirty Dick Pombo was trying to a comeback and had the support of many of his old colleagues and, of course, every major polluter in America. He came in a distant third:

Jeff Denham- 36.4%
Jim Patterson- 30.4%
Dick Pombo- 20.8%
Larry Westerlund- 12.4%

It's On! Progressive State Senator Jim Wilson Is Challenging Blue Dog Dan Boren In Oklahoma's Democratic Primary

Jim Wilson, flanked by Senators Andrew Rice and Debbe Leftwich, surrounded by Oklahoma medical professionals

More than a few Blue Dog watchers think that the worst of the whole mangy bunch is Oklahoma son of privilege Dan Boren. It would be hard to argue otherwise. To the delight of Oklahoma Democrats and independents news started leaking out yesterday that the most beloved-- and progressive-- state legislator in Oklahoma, state Senator Jim Wilson, has decided to challenge Boren in the July 27th primary. Wilson represents a rural district in the northeast part of the state.

Adair County, which is on the Arkansas border, is about 42% Native American. The per capita income in 2000 was $11,185. Around 20% of the people live below the poverty line. Just to the west is Cherokee County, which is around 32% Native American and where the per capita income is $13,436, and where something like 1 in 5 residents live below the poverty line. Sequoyah County is south of the other two and its population is around 20% Native American. Per capita income was $13,405; and slightly less than 20% of the population lives below the poverty line. The three counties are part of Oklahoma's sprawling second Congressional District (25 counties), represented by, like I said, one of the most conservative of all the Blue Dogs. And yet these three counties are represented by the most progressive member of the Oklahoma state legislature, Jim Wilson, once a state Rep, now a state Senator.

The two lawmakers, both Democrats, could hardly be further apart politically. Boren flaunts his default position as an aisle crosser who votes against most Democratic Party initiatives, healthcare reform being only the most recent. Wilson's signature issue in the state legislature has been fighting for the kind of healthcare reform his constituents need so badly.

Wilson is challenging one of the House's most entitled members. Boren, widely viewed as among the most mediocre and ineffective politicians in Washington, is the son of David Boren, a former Oklahoma Governor and Senator, currently the president of the University of Oklahoma. Dan's grandfather, Lyle Boren, also represented a large portion of the district on Congress. Among the most reactionary Democrats in Congress, Boren is on the board of directors of the NRA and made a news splash by refusing to endorse President Obama. A member of the Natural Resources Committee, he takes immense amounts of money ($504,610 so far), generally seen as thinly veiled bribes, from the oil and gas interests whose profits he protects.

Boren is a sponsor of H.R. 25, John Linder's proposal to abolish progressive income taxes and replace them with a highly regressive flat sales tax, something that would dramatically shift the burden of taxation away from the wealthy and powerful and onto the backs of the middle class and would likely destroy the federal government's already limited ability to act as a control on the power of avaricious transnational corporate predators. Every other sponsor is an extreme right wing Republican, characters like Steve King (R-IA), Mike Pence (R-IN), Paul Broun (R-GA) and Trent Franks (R-AZ).

Boren is even better known as one of the least environmentally-friendly members of Congress and has the lowest environmental score of any Democrat in the House. On the other hand, Boren's the only politician other than George W. Bush, who was endorsed by Toby Keith.

Wilson won't be running as another Republican-lite reactionary but on a solid record as a forward-looking state legislator. In 2007 he was one of only 13 members of the state Senate to vote against Oklahoma's ban on funding abortions and one of only 8 members to oppose redefining homicide as to include a fetus. In 2006 He was one of only 5 members of the Senate to vote against a law that made it legal to shoot anyone you feel threatened by, including in public areas. And last year when the governor vetoed a ban on stem cell research, Wilson was one of the 19 members to keep the veto from being overridden.

I managed to get a hold of Jim late yesterday and he went through some of the dynamics on the ground that have compelled him to enter the race. "I've been working on healthcare in the state legislature for 10 years," he told me. "Oklahoma ranks 50th in overall delivery of healthcare statewide. And we're 49th in education funding." But the movers and shakers in the state-- wealthy oil and gas interests and the big media outfits-- are eager to continue defunding public education, while having no problem at all for $60 million of taxpayer money going into incentives to lure the Seattle Sonics, now the Oklahoma City Thunder, to the state. Jim has a different set of priorities. "21% of the people in the second district are living below the poverty level. Average household income in around $32,000 but for a family that has to pay for their own health insurance there's a $13,000 outlay. It's just unachievable... The Oklahoman is the state's ultra-right big newspaper. Yesterday in an editorial they tried disparaging me as the Harry Reid of the Oklahoma Senate because I reject further cuts to education. I'll wear that as a badge of pride."

This is going to be a tough, uphill battle and the second Jim was on ActBlue, Blue America added him to our BadDogs page. I hope you'll want to click on the link and welcome Jim to the race with a contribution for feel comfortable with.