"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross."
-- Sinclair Lewis
Thursday, August 30, 2018
Why Do Young People Have Such Contempt For The Republican Party? That's Easy
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Last month Paul Ryan's corporately funded, sleazy SuperPAC ran thousands of dollars of really nasty radio ads beating up on progressive Democrat Kara Eastman for having been in a punk band, Pieces of Fuck, when she was in college. Ryan's PAC is desperate to save the Omaha congressional seat-- which is quickly slipping from their grasp-- for failed Trump rubber-step Don Bacon. That's why they've dug up something inocuous from when Kara was in school. What clowns they are-- and they pulled they same sort of silliness on Beto O'Rourke yesterday, in both cases to get voters' minds off the issues that contrast Kara with Bacon and Beto with Cruz.
Today, Philip Trapp, at Alternative Press, wrote about the GOP's rock'n'roll problem. The Texas Republican Party must have thought they were helping their pathetic U.S. Senate candidate-- and former mime-- Ted Cruz, by "tweeting photos of O’Rourke skating, rocking and just generally appearing relatable (as opposed to being a two-faced morality robot) in what seems a misguided effort to discredit the congressman and save Cruz’s [rapidly shrinking] lead."
Failed mime failed U.S. senator, Ted Cruz
Conservatives from both parties have always feared young people and feared and hated everything to do with young people. I remember spending too much time fighting with right-wing asshole Joe Lieberman when he started attacking one of the artists on my label, Ice-T. But it's usually Republicans who are the culprits. Now, they seem to believe that Beto can't be a senator from Texas because he was in a popular El Paso emo band, Foss, that started when he was in high school. One of his bandmates, Cedric Bixler-Zavala, became famous as the lead single for Mars Volta and At The Drive-In. Beto will be even more famous when Texans send him to the U.S. Senate. Here he is, more recently, playing with Texas music icon, Willy Nelson. Anything you want to say about that, Ted Cruz?
And it's not like Beto is the first politician-- or even first member of Congress-- to have been in a band. Probably the only nice thing that anyone can say about Dana Rohrabacher (R-Moscow) is that he was too. And when I asked someone in Palm Springs, some years ago, why they elected a goof ball like Republican Sonny Bono to the House, he said it was because everyone hoped Cher would show up in town sometimes. She didn't.
A few years ago, Blue America backed John Hall for Congress in upstate New York-- and he won. The fact that he had been a member of the band Orleans didn't play much of a part in the race but, if anything, it helped him with name recognition running against an entrenched Republican incumbent. People still love his song, "Still the One," which music-hating conservative Joe Lieberman tried appropriating as a campaign song, forcing Hall to serve him with a cease and desist order. It's still being payed on the radio today-- over 4 decades later. It had a positive impact on people's lives, more than you can say for most politicians.
I'm pretty sure Orrin Hatch was in a band too. He's definitely a serious songwriter. Here he was (below) at a recording session for one of his hit songs, "Eight Days of Hanukkah." It looks like he's trying to be the producer. Maybe he was. He definitely was eager to show everyone he was wearing a mezuzah, at least for the session.
Not my cup of tea but I'll give equal time to another well-known senator who served with Hatch, John Kerry whose 1960 high school band, The Electras has songs all over YouTube. Kerry was the bass player. Give it up or "Guitar Boogie Shuffle":
Back to Utah for a minute-- former governor (and serial presidential hopeful) Jon Huntsman dropped out of high school in the 1970s to join a Salt Lake City band called Wizard. He sported a mullet and played keyboards while they did covers of REO Speedwagon and Led Zeppelin. In 1978, Senate majority whip Robert Byrd released an album called Mountain Fiddler with covers of folksy West Virginia standards like "Rye Whiskey" and "Cripple Creek." Like Beto and Kara, he was proud of his musical roots regardless of what assholes like Ted Cruz have to say. Here he was on TV-- fiddlin' and singing while he was already Senate Majority Whip. Audience loved it too!
Republican senators Connie Mack (FL), Larry Craig (ID, later caught trying to blow an undercover policeman in a public toilet), John Ashcroft (MO), Jim Jeffords (VT) and Trent Lott (MS) were in a barber-shop quartet, more of a Republican thing than a rock band. They released an album, Let Freedom Sing in 1998. Mike Huckabee (R-AR) is always trying to jam with anyone and he was in a band called Capitol Offense, a band that mostly covered Boston songs, until Tom Scholz had him served with a cease and desist order for fucking up "More Than a Feeling" so badly. A video of them playing "Mustang Sally" can still be found on YouTube. Unfortunately, neither Mack Rice nor Wilson Pickett ever made them stop performing it.
Florida congressman-- now MSNBC host-- Joe Scarborough fronts-- to this day-- an eponymous nine-piece band, Scarborough, mostly performing covers of Prince and Eagles tunes. I can't remember, but did the Texas GOP complain when Kinky Friedman ran for governor of their state? He sucked up 13% of the vote too. Others elected to office include Jon Fishman (Phish) who was elected a selectman (like city council member) in Lincolnville, Maine; Martha Reeves-- from Martha and the Vandellas-- who was elected to serve a term on the Detroit City Council; and Jerry Butler, the longest-serving Board Commissioner for Cook County, Illinois.
And still threatening to run for something or other every now and then are three somewhat crazy Republican crackpots, Ted Nugent, Kanye West and Kid Rock. Look, in the course of writing this, I was listening to a lot of songs and when I heard this song just below I literally could.not.keep.myself. from jumping up and dancing my ass off as if I was back at the Brooklyn Paramount Theater waiting to give Maxine Brown a kiss backstage.
One last thing-- this tweet by Dayna Steele, east Texas congressional candidate, absolutely owning the Republican Party of Texas:
UPDATE: Kara Kara Eastman's Communications Director got me this statement, which is worth reading: "The Congressional Leadership Fund was quick to villanize Kara's membership in her college's performance art band, Pieces of Fuck. In high school, she was in a singing group called the All Americans (but you don't see the CLF talking about that band name). We find it ironic that the opposition would want to attack Kara, and Beto, for doing something many American teens do - join a band, sing songs about issues that matter to them, and express themselves through music. Congress would be a better place with more musicians, and while we were joking about a College Band Congressional Caucus, Kara is looking forward to working with politicians like Beto who lead with heart-- and music." If you like music and free expression, you can contribute to Kara's campaign here.
Heroes and Villains In Last Night's Healthcare Votes
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Out of step with American families: 2 dangerous clowns against healthcare-- Calvert & Ryan
I can't imagine that anyone who reads DWT doesn't already know that the two substantive votes on healthcare reform last night were won by the Democrats-- and the American people-- 219-212 and 220-211. The conservatives and their Republican Party right-roots, brainwashed by Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh are predicting the same kind of Armageddon and communism and fascism and every kind of doom under the sky, just as they did when progressives broke free from England, freed the slaves, gave women the vote, made labor unions legal, passed Social Security, passed Medicare, etc. Conservatives, and the foolish people who fall for their selfish bullshit, are all about preserving the status quo and preventing progress.
Interestingly, as soon as the bill passed the DCCC sent out a press release to the media in southeast Wisconsin entitled "Representative Paul Ryan Puts Big Health Insurance Companies Before Affordable Health Care for Americans." They made a lot of sense pointing out that Ryan, "rather than vote to help middle class families, seniors, and small businesses finally afford coverage while reducing the deficit by more than a trillion dollars over 20 years, Representative Paul Ryan sided with the big health insurance companies instead." DCCC spokesperson, Jennifer Crider:
“For decades, big health insurance companies have profited off discrimination and denials and pricing middle class families out of the care they need but that didn’t stop Representative Paul Ryan from continuing to side with insurance companies. Ryan refused to give folks back home access to the same health care that he gets as a Member of Congress.
“After taking $534,071 in contributions from insurance companies, it’s outrageous that Ryan would put insurance company profits before helping middle class families and small businesses afford coverage, closing the Medicare prescription drug donut hole, and reducing the deficit by more than a trillion dollars over the next two decades.”
...For Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District, Ryan’s vote against health insurance reform was a vote against:
o Improving coverage for 506,000 residents.
o Providing tax credits and assistance for 153,000 families and 14,000 small businesses to purchase affordable coverage.
o Improving Medicare for 112,000 seniors, including closing the prescription drug donut hole.
o Guaranteeing that 8,000 residents with pre-existing medical conditions can obtain coverage.
o Protecting 1,600 families from bankruptcy due to unaffordable health care costs.
o Allowing 51,000 young adults to stay on their parents’ insurance plans.
o Reducing the cost of uncompensated care for hospitals and other health care providers by $23 Million annually.
Nothing wrong with that. But do you know what John Adler (NJ), Mike Arcuri (Blue Dog-NY), Bobby Bright (Blue Dog-AL), Travis Childers (Blue Dog-MS), Larry Kissell (NC), Frank Kratovil (Blue Dog-MD), Michael McMahon (NY), Walt Minnick (Blue Dog-ID), Glenn Nye (Blue Dog-VA), Zack Space (Blue Dog-OH), and Harry Teague (NM) have in common with each other and with Paul Ryan. They all voted "no" both times last night. What they also have in common with each other-- though not with Ryan-- is that each and every one of them is on the DCCC's Front Line list. This is the absolutely #1 priority list for DCCC money. If you donate to the DCCC you will be paying for the re-election campaigns of these treacherous anti-family putative Democrats. Everything the DCCC had to say about Paul Ryan is just as true about the 34 Democrats who opposed the healthcare reform last night.
Regina Thomas is running against John Barrow, the only Democrat to vote "no" in a blue district. This morning she told us that Barrow "voted with the health care industry and corporations. He received more than $80,000 this year alone from health care lobbyists. His vote was for them and not the voters of the 12th. His actions prove just what kind of politician he is-- whomever gives him the most money determines how he will vote. July 20th will be here before we know it-- then we will have an opportunity to vote him out." We added Regina to the Blue America endorsement page yesterday and urge you to consider helping her campaign.
Another progressive Democrat endorsed by Blue America had a strong message about the vote last night as well. Connie Saltonstall's opponent, Bart Stupak, after nearly derailing the bill, took stock of his career mortality and pulled back from the ledge, though not before doing his worst to weaken women's choice. "First, let me say ‘thank-you’ to Congressman Stupak for his vote on this historic reform bill," she wrote in a statement to north Michigan media. "Healthcare reform will create a real difference in Michigan’s First District with provisions that extend healthcare coverage to 44,000 uninsured residents, protect 1,100 families from bankruptcy due to unaffordable health care costs, grow jobs by extending tax credits to small businesses, and improve Medicare for 141,000 beneficiaries, including closing the donut hole. And let’s not forget, healthcare reform is also about jobs-- about saving auto plants in Michigan from having to move jobs to Canada to save $7.25 an hour in healthcare costs." But what about Stupak; don't worry; she addressed that too:
Representative Stupak’s support has come at a very high cost. Mr. Stupak’s dogmatic insistence on inserting his own religious views into the legislative debate and threatening to deprive his constituents of needed healthcare reform has eroded people’s trust in him. Throughout this debate there is the sense that our Congressman has let us down. It appears he has been more interested in promoting his own personal agenda than in representing the people of Michigan’s First District.
The healthcare debate should never have been sidetracked into an abortion debate. For more than 30 years, the Hyde amendment has assured that there is no federal funding for abortion and this bill includes that provision; there will be no federal funding for abortion.
This is not a perfect bill. I believe universal healthcare is a right, not a privilege or a luxury. When I get to Congress, I will continue to fight for a single payer system which I believe is the most efficient and cost effective way to deliver healthcare to all. Quality healthcare also allows women the opportunity to make responsible life decisions for themselves and their families.”
Blue America-backed Bill Hedrick in Riverside County is up against right-wing fanatic Ken Calvert, who cavalierly voted against the interests of his own constituents last night, Bill's press release:
“For 18 years, Ken Calvert has put party politics before the people of this district. Today he had a chance to redeem himself by voting for the landmark health insurance reform bill that would directly help hundreds of thousands of people in the 44th. But Ken Calvert, once again putting his personal and party interests first, voted against it.
Because of the vote today, 107,000 residents of the 44th who had no access to health care have access. 19,600 residents with pre-existing conditions can obtain coverage. 81,000 young adults can remain on their parents' insurance plan. And 76,000 seniors will have their Medicare improved. Those are the facts of this bill.
What Calvert fails to see is that these facts are more than just numbers on a page-- these numbers represent real people that will benefit from this reform. Ken Calvert had the chance to do right by them, and he failed. Just as Calvert failed when he repeatedly opposed expanding insurance coverage to children, opposed re-importation of prescription drugs, and opposed low-cost health insurance plans for small businesses.
Two more facts worth mentioning: This bill will reduce the deficit by over $100 billion over the next ten years and by about $1 trillion over the next twenty. This is fiscally responsible legislation. Putting the party line ahead of the financial future of our children and our country is irresponsible leadership.
Today’s vote was ultimately about responsibility. Fiscal responsibility to bring America forward and the moral responsibility to keep America healthy. Ken Calvert’s record is clear-- he is not the person to lead us forward as we fight to further reform and balance the budget. It is time for new, responsible leadership in Washington-- leadership we can trust to get the job done.”
Washington state Senator and progressive champion Craig Pridemore congratulated the outgoing congressman, Brian Baird for switching, at the last minute, from a no vote to an "aye," right in line with Craig's own attitude about healthcare reform. "I'm grateful that so many regional voices joined me in calling clearly and unequivocally for a straight up or down vote on the issue," said Pridemore, who has made a clear vote on health care reform a top issue in his grass roots driven campaign. "Baird shifted from opposition to equivocation and then support. While I applaud his ultimate vote, it took too long for Congress to reach this day, undermining public confidence and delaying the needed pace of change and reform." His opponent for the Democratic nomination, a multimillionaire conservative corporate shill has also equivocated on and no one has a clear idea of where he stands on it.
Ann McLane Kuster (D-NH) is locked in a tough primary battle against a very conservative Democrat, Katrina Swett (the former head of Joe Lieberman's national race for the presidency). Last night Ann issued this statement: "Tonight the U.S. House of Representatives passed historic health care reform that will make a real difference for New Hampshire families and businesses. This bill will cut the deficit by $130 billion in the next decade alone, extend coverage to 31 million Americans without health care, stop insurance companies from denying coverage to people who get sick or have a pre-existing condition, and close the so-called "donut hole" in the Medicare prescription drug benefit that otherwise leaves thousands of New Hampshire seniors without coverage. In Congress I'll continue to work for and support a public insurance option that increases competition and will drive down insurance premiums and health care costs for New Hampshire families. I'm looking forward to President Obama signing this historic bill into law. Health care costs are out of control and are crippling New Hampshire families, small businesses and our national budget. The time for health care reform is now."
The only incumbent to vote with the GOP who Blue America helped to win office was Larry Kissell. We withdrew support for Kissell sometime ago when we saw a pattern of him deciding to vote against the constituents he had promised to support when he ran in 2006 and 2008. He has been a terrible disappointment. All the other Blue America-endorsed incumbents were upbeat about their support for the bill. John Hall (D-NY): "Today we took a huge step forward in our fight for affordable health care for all Americans. I cast my vote in favor of health insurance reform because it was the right thing to do. It was the right thing to do for the woman in Warwick who was dropped by her insurance company in the middle of her breast cancer treatments. It was the right thing to do for the family in Wappinger whose premiums are soaring because of their son's pre-existing condition. It was right thing to do for the Seniors in Somers who are stuck in the Medicare donut hole, paying more than they can afford for the medications they need. When I originally ran for office, I promised I would vote for anything that moved us towards universal health care coverage. Today I feel much closer to delivering on that promise."
We've had a bit of a rocky road with Tom Perriello but he came through for Virginia families last night. This is what he sent out to his constituents after voting for the reform bills:
You sent me to the People's House to do a job. For a century, leaders from both parties have pledged that all Americans deserve access to quality, affordable health care. Tonight we delivered on that promise. After more than a year of substantive debate and vicious smears, I had started to lose hope that we would deliver on the change we promised--that we would solve the problems others had simply kicked down the road. I say tonight that our dream of a better kind of politics stands restored.
A few moments ago, wearing an old suit of my father's, I cast my vote for universal affordable health care. Because you sent me here, I got to be part of this historic moment. Because you sent me here, I voted to make coverage available to 49,000 residents of my district. Because you sent me here, tonight I voted to reduce costs for more than 400,000 of my constituents by over $1,000 every year. Back home, those savings mean something.
Beyond the dollars and cents, tonight I think of those families without insurance who live in fear that they are one illness away from bankruptcy. I think of those with insurance who are one pink slip away from losing their family's coverage. I think of the small business owner who doesn't want to be forced to choose between closing up shop or cutting benefits to his or her workers. I think of the medical student who feels called into pediatrics but sees that our system simply doesn't make that a credible option. And I know tonight that we have made things better.
Some say that this vote seals my political fate, but I didn't come to Congress to do what's easy--I came here to do what's right. I came here to solve problems, to work on legislation that would mean something to families in my district, to be a leader, as you sent me here to do. Thank you for giving me this opportunity tonight.
Jim Himes said he was well aware that "taking a stand against the status quo means that I will be under constant attack from special interests" but he felt that "this was one of the most important votes that I will ever take. Not only will this historic legislation lower costs, improve quality and rein in the insurance industry-- it's also the largest deficit-reduction package in nearly two decades. The bill contains nearly every tested idea for controlling growth in health care costs, including new requirements for insurers to disclose and justify premium increases, new insurance exchanges to promote competition, and historic new incentives for wellness and preventive care."
Paul Hodes (D-NH) is another Blue America alum who fought for reform. He's currently running for the open U.S. Senate seat in his state and sent this to New Hampshire voters last night:
Moments ago, Congress successfully passed health care reform. I proudly cast my vote in favor of this historic reform because it was the right thing to do.
It was the right thing to do for the people of New Hampshire’s second district that I am honored to represent. It was the right thing to do for the 1.3 million people in the Granite State who have fought a broken, backwards health care system for far too long. It was the right thing to do for the thousands of small businesses on Main Streets across New Hampshire that have been forced to downsize, lay off or shut down completely in the face of uncontrollable premium prices.
And it was the right thing to do for every single middle-class family in this country, gathered around their kitchen tables trying to figure out how they can possibly make ends meet.
Above all else, this bill is a jobs bill. It will fundamentally fix a broken system that has let insurance companies jack up premiums and eliminate health care choices, killing jobs across New Hampshire. In this reform proposal, nearly 35,000 small businesses across New Hampshire will be given tax credits to provide the health coverage of their choosing. This bill will help put the Granite State back to work.
It will extend coverage to 60,000 of our uninsured neighbors, reduce the federal deficit by $130 billion in the next decade, improve Medicare coverage for 200,000 New Hampshire seniors, and will rein in some of the most egregious practices of health insurance companies.
Insurance companies and their corporate allies spent billions trying to bully us into giving up. Today, we showed them what we are made of. They fought reform at every step, desperately trying to protect their own profits. But together, you and I stood strong, stayed tough and never gave up fighting because we knew it was the right thing to do.
Today is an historic day for this country. I am proud and humbled to be a part of it.
Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), Chairman of the Congressional Progressive Coalition fought harder than almost anyone to make this bill better for ordinary working families. He voted for the half full glass and correctly called it a work in progress: "The vote we just cast is a beginning, not an end. It establishes once and for all that health care in this country is a basic right, not a privilege. Our system can be improved in the future, and it will be. I will make fighting for those improvements a priority as long as I am in Congress, because as much work as we’ve done over the past year, more remains before us. Major advances in our quality of life are rarely easy. They are not achieved in a single stroke. They are the result of years of persuasion, discussion and sometimes false starts. This bill is a foundation that we will look back on in five years, 10 years and 20 years and thank ourselves for laying now.”
And the president:
UPDATE: Waterloo
Not everyone is celebrating this morning. Republican propagandist David Frum seems depressed today as he reprises Jim DeMint's prediction about President Obama's Waterloo:
Conservatives and Republicans today suffered their most crushing legislative defeat since the 1960s.
It’s hard to exaggerate the magnitude of the disaster. Conservatives may cheer themselves that they’ll compensate for today’s expected vote with a big win in the November 2010 elections. But:
(1) It’s a good bet that conservatives are over-optimistic about November – by then the economy will have improved and the immediate goodies in the healthcare bill will be reaching key voting blocs.
(2) So what? Legislative majorities come and go. This healthcare bill is forever. A win in November is very poor compensation for this debacle now.
So far, I think a lot of conservatives will agree with me. Now comes the hard lesson:
A huge part of the blame for today’s disaster attaches to conservatives and Republicans ourselves. At the beginning of this process we made a strategic decision: unlike, say, Democrats in 2001 when President Bush proposed his first tax cut, we would make no deal with the administration. No negotiations, no compromise, nothing. We were going for all the marbles. This would be Obama’s Waterloo-- just as healthcare was Clinton’s in 1994.
Only, the hardliners overlooked a few key facts: Obama was elected with 53% of the vote, not Clinton’s 42%. The liberal block within the Democratic congressional caucus is bigger and stronger than it was in 1993-94. And of course the Democrats also remember their history, and also remember the consequences of their 1994 failure.
This time, when we went for all the marbles, we ended with none.
I never said "motherfuckers" on DWT before and I recall even editing it out of guests' posts. But the sobs accompanying the tears I was just shedding weren't silent. They shook my whole body and they were loud. The sobs were for my country as it cascades towards dissolution, self-appointed arbiters of Americanism-- slaves to greed, selfishness and hostile bigotry themselves, from Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage and Glenn Beck to Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity and Ann Coulter-- cheerleading the end of civility. I can barely write about it without shaking.
Civil rights hero Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) and fellow Congressional Black Caucus member Andre Carson (D-IN) related a particularly jarring encounter with a large crowd of protesters screaming "kill the bill"... and punctuating their chants with the word "nigger."
Standing next to Lewis, emerging from a Democratic caucus meeting with President Obama, Carson said people in the crowd yelled, "kill the bill and then the N-word" several times, while he and Lewis were exiting the Cannon House office building.
"People have been just downright mean," Lewis added.
Watch Tim Ryan on the House floor speaking for almost all Americans (not Republicans, of course):
As Tim Ryan said, John Lewis has stood up to far worse in his heroic life and he's not likely to get turned away from the historic moment tomorrow when Congress starts down the road to putting the U.S. in a position to compete with the rest of the industrialized world, all of which makes sure their citizens are able to get healthcare. No, he'll proudly vote "aye," probably extra proudly after President Obama's speech yesterday. Here was part of it:
I have the great pleasure of having a really nice library at the White House. And I was tooling through some of the writings of some previous Presidents and I came upon this quote by Abraham Lincoln: “I am not bound to win, but I’m bound to be true. I’m not bound to succeed, but I’m bound to live up to what light I have.”
This debate has been a difficult debate. This process has been a difficult process. And this year has been a difficult year for the American people. When I was sworn in, we were in the midst of the worst recession since the Great Depression. Eight hundred thousand people per month were losing their jobs. Millions of people were losing their health insurance. And the financial system was on the verge of collapse.
And this body has taken on some of the toughest votes and some of the toughest decisions in the history of Congress. Not because you were bound to win, but because you were bound to be true. Because each and every one of you made a decision that at a moment of such urgency, it was less important to measure what the polls said than to measure what was right.
A year later, we’re in different circumstances. Because of the actions that you’ve taken, the financial system has stabilized. The stock market has stabilized. Businesses are starting to invest again. The economy, instead of contracting, is now growing again. There are signs that people are going to start hiring again. There’s still tremendous hardship all across the country, but there is a sense that we are making progress-- because of you.
But even before this crisis, each and every one of us knew that there were millions of people across America who were living their own quiet crises. Maybe because they had a child who had a preexisting condition and no matter how desperate they were, no matter what insurance company they called, they couldn’t get coverage for that child. Maybe it was somebody who had been forced into early retirement, in their 50s not yet eligible for Medicare, and they couldn’t find a job and they couldn’t find health insurance, despite the fact that they had some sort of chronic condition that had to be tended to.
Every single one of you at some point before you arrived in Congress and after you arrived in Congress have met constituents with heart-breaking stories. And you’ve looked them in the eye and you’ve said, we’re going to do something about it-- that’s why I want to go to Congress.
And now, we’re on the threshold of doing something about it. We’re a day away. After a year of debate, after every argument has been made, by just about everybody, we’re 24 hours away.
As some of you know, I’m not somebody who spends a lot of time surfing the cable channels, but I’m not completely in the bubble. I have a sense of what the coverage has been, and mostly it’s an obsession with “What will this mean for the Democratic Party? What will this mean for the President’s polls? How will this play out in November? Is this good or is this bad for the Democratic majority? What does it mean for those swing districts?”
And I noticed that there’s been a lot of friendly advice offered all across town. (Laughter.) Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, Karl Rove-- they’re all warning you of the horrendous impact if you support this legislation. Now, it could be that they are suddenly having a change of heart and they are deeply concerned about their Democratic friends. (Laughter.) They are giving you the best possible advice in order to assure that Nancy Pelosi remains Speaker and Harry Reid remains Leader and that all of you keep your seats. That’s a possibility. (Laughter.)
But it may also be possible that they realize after health reform passes and I sign that legislation into law, that it’s going to be a little harder to mischaracterize what this effort has been all about.
Because this year, small businesses will start getting tax credits so that they can offer health insurance to employees who currently don’t have it. (Applause.) Because this year, those same parents who are worried about getting coverage for their children with preexisting conditions now are assured that insurance companies have to give them coverage-- this year. (Applause.)
Because this year, insurance companies won’t suddenly be able to drop your coverage when you get sick-- (applause)-- or impose lifetime limits or restrictive limits on the coverage that you have. Maybe they know that this year, for the first time, young people will be able to stay on their parents’ health insurance until they’re 26 years old and they’re thinking that just might be popular all across the country. (Applause.)
And what they also know is what won’t happen. They know that after this legislation passes and after I sign this bill, lo and behold nobody is pulling the plug on Granny. (Laughter.) It turns out that in fact people who like their health insurance are going to be able to keep their health insurance; that there’s no government takeover. People will discover that if they like their doctor, they’ll be keeping their doctor. In fact, they’re more likely to keep their doctor because of a stronger system.
It’ll turn out that this piece of historic legislation is built on the private insurance system that we have now and runs straight down the center of American political thought. It turns out this is a bill that tracks the recommendations not just of Democrat Tom Daschle, but also Republicans Bob Dole and Howard Baker; that this is a middle-of-the-road bill that is designed to help the American people in an area of their lives where they urgently need help.
Clearly that video up there was Tim Ryan, an Ohio Democrat, not radical right corporate shill Paul Ryan from Wisconsin, the bank bailout king who has been making up all kinds of nonsense about the healthcare reform bill-- well, not making up... just recycling the same arguments that conservatives used when they opposed Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the right of workers to organize, the minimum wage, child safety, women's emancipation, and so on. It's the same scare and smear tactics. Today Paul Ryan told his constituents why they shouldn't have healthcare reform. He touched on every debunked GOP talking point-- debunked but still ingrained in the craniums of the violent mob of teabaggers Glenn Beck, Steve King and Rush Limbaugh called out to attack Congress today. Ryan:
Congress stands at the brink of jamming through the largest entitlement expansion in 40 years, the largest tax increase in American history, and a consequential acceleration of our nation's march toward bankruptcy. Through a cynical "deem-and-pass" procedural maneuver, the U.S. House of Representatives is set to send the Senate-passed health care overhaul to the President's desk on Sunday, while voting on a "reconciliation" bill that includes an array of new tax hikes and back-room deals.
If the consideration of the bill progresses as the Democratic Leadership intends, the House will send the 2700 page overhaul of one-sixth of the U.S. economy to the President's desk without an up-or-down vote. The use of "deeming and passing," employing the budget reconciliation process, and making deals with Members behind closed doors have all fueled resentment among the American people, further eroding our trust in Washington. The ugly process speaks to the even more troublesome policies that have been unable to stand on their own merits.
...When you strip away the gimmicks and the faulty assumptions, it is clear this bill does not reduce the deficit and it does not contain costs. Instead, it creates a brand new open-ended entitlement at a time when we have no idea how to pay for our current unsustainable entitlement programs. This overhaul imposes job-killing tax hikes on all Americans at a time when we desperately need to get sustained job creation and economic growth going again. Most importantly, this legislation fails to improve the quality and affordability of health care in America.
...We all agree that meaningful health care reform is long overdue, but it is increasingly clear that Washington's trillion-dollar, two-thousand page overhaul will not only fail to address what's broken in health care - but will actually make matters worse. If we are serious about reaching bipartisan solutions, we ought to scrap this massive overhaul and start over - working from a clean sheet of paper to advance common sense patient-centered reforms.
Conservatives-- on both sides of the aisle, will oppose the bill today-- just as they have opposed all moves forward, from the Declaration of Independence to the freeing of the slaves to consumer protections that were needed to save Americans from Big Business predators. And whether it's Paul Ryan, Republican, or John Barrow, Blue Dog Democrat, conservatives are the servants, first and foremost, of the wealthy special interests who will also demand a maintenance of the status quo and, as I mentioned as an addendum to Ken's post yesterday on why right wingers are trying to expunge Thomas Jefferson from our history books, an exceptionalism for a class of ultra-wealthy parasites living off the rest of us. A quote of Jefferson that drives them insane with rage: "There is a debt of service due from every man to his country, proportioned to the bounties which nature and fortune have measured to him."
There are parts of this country so steeped in ignorance and bigotry that there's no chance of voters understanding how they destroy their own interests by electing conservatives. But this year offers grassroots Democrats opportunities to replace conservative Democrats like John Barrow and Bart Stupak with progressive primary challengers Regina Thomas and Connie Saltonstall, respectively in Georgia and Michigan. And it offers an opportunity to remove particularly onerous Republican radicals like Virginia Foxx (NC) and Ken Calvert (CA) and replace them with thoughtful progressives Billy Kennedy and Bill Hedrick.
In a district widely considered "too red" for a Democrat to win in, Billy is making headway against Virginia Foxx without mincing any words and without ever buying into conservative framing. Yesterday, for example, he sent this to voters in NC-05:
This is an historic moment in our country. Tomorrow the Congress will either pass or defeat a health insurance reform bill. I believe the incumbent is on the wrong side of history, and that's why I wanted her to explain her vote against working families on health insurance reform. My question is, if it's okay for our tax dollars to subsidize a career politician's insurance premiums, why can't the politicians extend the same access and affordability to the tax-payers?
Time and time again career politicians try to scare us into thinking that helping working families is somehow a "government takeover." My father was a minister and an educator. After he retired, he was elected Mayor of Black Mountain. He found that he could help others by serving in government-that GOOD government DOES help people.
I am going to Washington because I believe that the bickering, grand-standing and scare tactics have to end. Simply put, our leaders need to put the "service" back into "public service," and get back to doing the people's business in the peoples' House.
John Hall (D-NY), who is being targeted by Republicans in the hope off knocking off a progressive voice from a swing district, also announced his support for healthcare reform yesterday. This is the letter he sent to Upstate voters:
After listening to thousands of constituents, meeting with health care professionals, and reading the pending health care insurance reform bills, I have decided to vote YES on Sunday.
I held more than 80 public events and meetings to get input from local families, businesses, and health care professionals. I’ve heard from local business owners in Stony Point and Somers who told me they couldn't afford the annual double digit increases in the insurance premiums for their employees. I sat in a living room in Warwick where a woman told me her insurance company canceled her policy while she was undergoing treatments for breast cancer. I heard from countless Seniors who are trapped in the Medicare donut hole and have to choose between food and medicine because they can't afford to pay more for their prescription drugs.
Tomorrow the House of Representatives will take an up or down vote. I will be voting YES and here is why. The bill: • Immediately protects people with preexisting conditions • Prevents insurance companies from dropping people when they get sick • Prohibits annual and lifetime caps on benefits • Closes the Medicare donut hole for prescription drugs • Provides tax credits for small businesses who provide coverage for their employees • Allows young people to stay on their parents' coverage until they turn 26, and • Allows 32 million Americans who are currently uninsured to have access to high quality, affordable health care
You elected me to solve the problems we face. The status quo is unacceptible. We all know someone who is harmed by the current health insurance system. Just saying no will not change anything. This bill demonstrates we can make progress towards achieving our goals.
I will cast my vote YES
Another targeted Blue America alumnus, Gary Peters (D-MI) sent his constituents a similar letter last night, explaining why he too is voting yes today:
Far too many of our seniors, small businesses, families and loved ones are being hurt by a broken health care system that puts insurance companies and their profits ahead of people. That’s why yesterday I announced my support for health care reform legislation that will reign in costs, make coverage more accessible and end the shameful practice of denying people coverage because they or a loved one gets sick or has a pre-existing condition like diabetes or cancer.
I did not reach this decision lightly. I thoroughly reviewed this legislation and have taken into consideration the views of the thousands of Oakland County residents I've met with in person and the countless calls, letters and emails to my office. We need reform, but it was critical to make sure it was the right kind of reform. I said last year that health care reform legislation must do three things: it must drive down health care costs for middle class families and small businesses, it must crackdown on the worst practices of the insurance industry and it must not add to the deficit. This legislation accomplishes these goals.
A vast majority of Americans want health care reform and support the approaches this bill takes to achieve it. It’s no secret that the insurance industry is spending millions of dollars trying pressure me and others in Congress to vote their way-- against reform. I want you to know that I will not be intimidated. I represent you, not insurance companies or any other special interests. I read the bill, I talked with local residents and small business owners, I searched my conscience and I did what I believe is right.
...In the end, inaction simply was not an option. If we do not reform our system, businesses and families right here in Oakland County will suffer the consequences, and higher costs will continue to add to our national debt and weigh down our economy. The threat of losing health coverage because of a job loss or a serious illness, or not being able to regain health coverage because of a preexisting condition will continue to hang over the heads of families everywhere.
These reforms are far better than the status quo. After discussing the issue for 100 years, I believe America cannot wait any longer for reform.
Jackson Browne Suing McCain For Music Theft-- Sammy Hagar Plays GOP Bash And McCain Turns Out To Be An ABBA Fan
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The first time I met Jackson Browne was at a Velvet Underground show on St Marks Place. We were both teenagers. He and his two pals, Tim Buckley and Steve Noonan, came back to my college and stayed for a few months. Jackson even wound up singing a few times with a local band that became the Blue Oyster Cult. More recently I ran into him at a benefit for progressive New York Congressman John Hall. I don't know Hall, who was a musician (in the band Orleans) before becoming a congressman in 2006. I first met him when I heard that Joe Lieberman was pirating his song classic smash "Still the One," using it but not paying any licensing fees. I called Hall to encourage him to sue Lieberman. But Lieberman was still masquerading as a Democrat back then-- although music stealing for political campaigns is a GOP thing, not a Democratic thing; their whacky definition of "free markets" I guess-- and Hall demurred. Today Jackson needed no pushing. And I don't think it was because he wasn't invited to the Republican National Convention.
I was reading a Q&A with entertainer Murray Hill at breakfast today and I noticed that when asked to describe his vision of hell it was entertaining at a Republican convention. Something tells me he isn't likely to be asked. In fact, except for Sammy Hagar (the appropriately nicknamed Red Rocker) and the faux Beach Boys-- actual Beach Boy Brian Wilson wouldn't be caught dead anywhere near the St Paul Hate Fest-- the Republicans only invited (mostly second and third rate) glitzy Nashville country singers.
Sammy's an old friend. He's the first rocker I ever met who was a Republican. And from Marin County! Well, actually he grew up in Fontana which completely explains it. Once he asked me for a "hip" song he could cover. Taking his political disability into consideration, my friend Chris and I gave him a Patti Smith song, "Free Money," which did so well for him that he asked me for another. I gave him a tape of "Wild Youth" by Generation X and he thought Billy was singing "Wild Jews" and... well, thankfully he never covered it. Had he, he might not be gracing the same stage as Joe "Wild Jew" Lieberman in St. Paul next month. I know for a fact they didn't invite Billy Idol.
Anyway, the NY Times says the Democratic Convention looks like it will have the edge over the Repugs' bash. Denver's events cover 16 pages and include shows by Black Eyed Peas, Kanye West, Jennifer Lopez, Willie Nelson, Melissa Etheridge and Jerry Jeff Walker. The Republican entertainment covers 5 pages (double spaced... with wide margins) and features Gretchen Wilson, Cowboy Troy (is that the closet case Attorney General of Alabama?), John Rich and the Charlie Daniels Band.
I don't think McCain is actually a fan of any of the low-brown crap they booked for the convention. His list of his favorite 10 songs includes (in order): "Dancing Queen" ABBA, "Blue Bayou" Roy Orbison, "Take a Chance On Me" ABBA, "If We MakeIt Through December" Merle Haggard, "As Time Goes By" Dooley Wilson, "Good Vibrations" The Beach Boys, "What A Wonderful World" Louis Armstrong, "I've Got You Under My Skin" Frank Sinatra, "Sweet Caroline" Neil Diamond, and "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" The Platters. Not a bad list-- and no Andrews Sisters!
Obama's is a little more up to date, as you might expect: "Ready or Not "Fugees, "What's Going On" Marvin Gaye, "I'm On Fire" Bruce Spingsteen, "Gimme Shelter" Rolling Stones, "Sinnerman" Nina Simone, "Touch the Sky" Kanye West, "You'd Be So Easy to Love" Frank Sinatra, "Think" Aretha Franklin, "City of Blinding Lights" U2, and "Yes We Can" will.i.am. I guess he hasn't heard the new songs by Gary Lucas or Joss Stone yet. Randy Newman critiques their selections for Blender.
REPUBLICAN CAUGHT STEALING DEMOCRATIC MUSIC, PART 958
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Rep. John Hall with 3 bloggers
If my memory serves me well, the first time I spoke with John Hall was when I found out Joe Lieberman was using his classic smash, "Still The One," as a campaign song in his fruitless primary campaign against Ned Lamont. Knowing John is a committed progressive, I called to warn him that the reactionary, warmongering Lieberman had misappropriated his much-loved song. Since Lieberman was still claiming-- albeit falsely-- to be a "Democrat" in 2006, even if he wasn't voting like one, Hall let it slide. Blue America endorsed him anyway, he won and has served with great distinction, one of the best of 2006's freshman class.
MSNBC is reporting that Hall just found out that one of Lieberman's closest conspirator's, John McCain, is also using his song without permission. Although Hall still isn't calling out Holy Joe, he has pointed out that song theft is just another in a long list of ways John McCain is just like George Bush (another crooked pol claiming to worship at the alter of property rights who stole "Still the One" without paying any royalties).
"This is yet another example of John McCain not learning anything from George Bush's mistakes,” Hall wrote First Read in an interview over e-mail. “First, McCain adopted Bush's failed policy of an open-ended war in Iraq, then he wrapped his arms around the failed Bush economic policies that have put the squeeze on middle class families. Now, he's making the same mistake George Bush made illegally using a copyrighted song without asking either the writers or the performers for permission."
...Hall, in fact, who was elected to Congress in 2006, demanded Bush to stop using his song in 2004, issuing cease-and-desist letters to the sitting president’s presidential campaign and the Republican National Committee.
"What is at issue here is Senator McCain's use of the song to try and advance an agenda that I do not support without respecting copyright law and intellectual property," Hall continued.
This isn’t McCain’s first run-in this cycle with a liberal rocker. An irked John Mellencamp asked the Arizona senator to delete his music from the campaign event shuffle.
In the waning days of the 2004 presidential campaign, Hall was watching television when he heard his song used at a Bush-Cheney rally.
"George Bush was busy campaigning on an 'ownership society,' yet never asked me, the band, or the publishers for permission," Hall said. "The next day attorneys for the band, the writers and the publishers all sent cease-and-desist letters to the Republican National Committee and the Bush-Cheney ’04 Campaign. By 2 p.m. that day the campaign sent out a spokesperson who said, 'In deference to Mr. Hall, we will stop using his song.'
"I hope we don't have to resort to the same actions to get Sen. McCain to stop using the song."
Not long ago I went to see Hall play some songs with his old pal, Jackson Brown but for recreation in DC, he jams in a band with Paul Hodes (D-NH) and Dave Obey (D-WI).
CONSEQUENCES OF THE 3 LOSSES FOR THE GOP IN THE RECENT SPECIAL ELECTIONS
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Stender & Hall, beneficiaries of Republican Party disintegration
The other day I was working on our Carney campaign and I pulled up the Progressive Punch Chips Are Down table that shows the relative adherence to Democratic positions on key substantive matters. Predictably, Carney was way towards the bottom of the barrel with a 41.54 score, one of the half dozen Democratic freshmen voting again and again and again with the GOP on key issues. But then when my eyes drifted down into GOP territory, I noticed there was a Democrat who was voting far worse than Carney, even worse than perennial Dixiecrats John Barrow, Nick Lampson and Jim Marshall. Look at this chart. It shows Don Cazayoux voting more frequently with the GOP than 3 Republicans-- and virtually tied with Michael Castle, a mainstream conservative from Delaware. In fact, Cazayoux's voting record, so far, has more in common with Mean Jean Schmidt's, Patrick McHenry's, Tim Walberg's and the other most extremist Republicans than he has with even moderate Democrats like John Salazar (CO), Jim Cooper (TN), or Blue Dog caucus chair Mike Ross (AR).
I warned friends of mine who were working for his election that they would need to keep an eye on him after the election because it seemed likely that he would be prone to vote exactly how Woody KKKpecker, the neo-fascist he defeated, would vote. And he has.
That said, it has been even more than a great joy seeing the Republican Party thrown into a death spiral of dismay, panic and finger-pointing after the losses of the 3 special elections won by Cazayoux and 2 other conservative Democrats, Bill Foster (IL) and Travis Childers (MS). I say more than a great joy because one sees concrete political results of the Republican debacle every single day. Yesterday the minority leader of the Westchester legislature, Republican George Oros, abandoned his challenge to progressive freshman Congressman John Hall.
In a “Dear Friends” letter to supporters, Oros said he felt he could win a primary, but, citing recent Republican defeats in special congressional elections elsewhere, he has concluded the odds of winning in November, this time around, are slim.
The GOP-- at all levels-- has been plagued with recruitment problems, unable to find plausible candidates to run even in once solidly Republican districts. They have had to settle for self-funding vanity candidates and for wild-eyed ideological firebrands in race after race. Even in high profile races for the U.S. Senate they've been stuck with largely lackluster second and third tier non-contenders. In Arkansas, the four very mediocre Democrats who make up that state's Democratic congressional delegation will all waltz back to their seats without a single challenge between them.
And this morning's CQPolitics reports that in New Jersey, a state where the GOP has been suffering in more than most states from Republican top tier candidates passing on runs this year, another race to hold a Republican seat looks like a lost cause. Today a p.r. agent, the daughter of a failed GOP politician and a couple of hackish also-rans will meet in a bitter primary-- after half a dozen actual contenders dropped out of the race-- to determine which Republican will be beaten by Democratic state Senator Linda Stender in November.
At stake is a House general election race that projects to be one of the nation’s most competitive this year. The Democrats are making a strong push to take over the seat that four-term Republican Rep. Mike Ferguson left open with his surprise decision to retire, announced last November.
It is likely that Republican primary voters, out of step with mainstream Americans, will pick the wildly right wing extremist p.r. agent, Lenny Lance, over the more mainstream conservative daughter of Christine Todd Whitman, guaranteeing a blow-out for the Democrats in November. Previously rated as "Leans Republican" (Bush won here with 53% in 2004), CQPolitics didn't even wait for the primary results to come in to upgrade the race to "No Clear Favorite," which, for a timid, conservative organization means: "Landslide for the Democrat No Matter Who Wings the GOP Primary."
HOLDING TYRANTS AND THEIR CHICKEN-SHIT ENABLERS ACCOUNTABLE
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Has he earned your trust?
This morning Glenn Greenwald kicked off the latest initiative of the Blue America PAC, an attempt to hold some members of Congress accountable for their decisions (and actions) to grant the Bush Regime and their cronies retroactive immunity. To me this egregious travesty of justice spells the doom of the Rule of Law and a return to pre-French Revolution societal norms.
House Democrats are expected to unveil and possibly vote on their FISA bill this week. While they may (or may not) end up securing some additional, mild safeguards against eavesdropping abuses as compared to the Rockefeller/Cheney Senate bill, it is almost certain that they will ultimately end up granting amnesty to lawbreaking telecoms and gutting most of the long-standing, core protections of FISA. The recent, extraordinary revelations of just how sweeping is the administration's spying on domestic calls and emails of Americans seem to have had little effect thus far on what appears to be the inevitable course.
As this week's red-district election to Congress of anti-telecom-amnesty candidate Bill Foster demonstrates, they're not doing these things because it's politically necessary. They're doing it because more than enough Democrats believe in the virtues of telecom amnesty and warrantless eavesdropping -- just as they believe in the continued occupation of Iraq, the abolition of habeas corpus, the "enhanced interrogation techniques" authorized by Military Commissions Act, concealing Bush's illegal eavesdropping programs, and a long array of other radical Bush policies that now have bipartisan Congressional support.
There's absolutely no point in helping to elect Democrats like that to Congress or helping them to stay there. Yesterday, there was some celebration over the fact that Arkansas Sen. Mark Pryor will be re-elected without opposition this year. That's the same Mark Pryor who voted for the Military Commissions Act, for the Protect America Act, for telecom immunity, against every Iraq redeployment measure, and scores of other similar votes. The fact that he's being re-elected with no opposition demonstrates his extremely strong political standing, i.e., that he cast these votes because they reflect what he believes. What's to celebrate about the fact that someone like that -- with that belief system -- is returning to the Senate?
Democrats are never going to change their behavior if there continues to be no price for what they're doing. If even the most pro-Bush Democrats continue to receive reflexive support from other Democrats, regardless of how fundamentally they reject the political values of those Democrats, they will continue on the same course. Why wouldn't they? And if Democrats whose political values are violated by these office holders refrain from ever working against them, solely because they have a (D) after their name, then this process will continue unabated.
We want to ask you which Bush Dog we need to focus in on first-- with an educational plan for their constituents. These 6 have been consistent Bush Regime rubber stamps across the board and each signed a letter to Nancy Pelosi supporting retroactive immunity. John Barrow (GA) Chris Carney (PA) Leonard Boswell (IA) Brad Ellsworth (IN) Zack Space (OH) Heath Shuler (NC) Help us pick our winner here on our Get Even for FISA page. And if you'd like to contribute to the effort, to help us hold the winner accountable through action above and beyond railing against him on our blogs, we have a new contribution page set up for this specifically.
We want to move a little more aggressively than Senator Leahy and Congressman Conyers feel they can. The two of them sent a joint email message to their lists today, encouraging their supporters to write letters-to-the-editor and help build grassroots support in their communities for fixing FISA the right way: protecting national security, preserving civil liberties, and denying retroactive telecom immunity. By all means, write a letter to the editor and support what Conyers and Leahy are doing, but we think there must be much stronger action accompanying their efforts.
Yesterday Rep. John Hall (D-NY), twice endorsed by Blue America, sent an Op-Ed to all the newspapers in his district. Here is what he told his moderate suburban/exurban district-- which is about a third Republican, a third independent and a third Democratic-- about the FISA bill:
The highest priority of Members of Congress – on both sides of the aisle – is to protect our nation and to uphold our Constitution. Congress and the President must work together to come to an agreement that modernizes FISA. I remain committed to detecting, identifying and defeating terrorists and to preserving the freedoms that define America. Thus, it is disappointing that President Bush and his allies have chosen to play politics and to misrepresent the facts in the continuing debate on updating the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
FISA was passed by Congress in 1978 in response to President Nixon's abusive use of wiretaps against his political adversaries and the press. The existing FISA law has protected American citizens both from foreign terrorism and from infringement on their Constitutional right to privacy. Intelligence agencies should have the tools to intercept cellular or fiber optic communications through switches in the US while protecting Americans' rights.
Unfortunately, President Bush is using scare tactics in an attempt to bully Congress on this issue, much like he did in the build up to the war in Iraq. He has repeatedly made statements that officials within his administration and outside experts have indicated are untrue. Since the President and his allies are likely to continue these attacks, it is important to separate myth from fact.
The President continually states that with the expiration of the Protect America Act (PAA) last month, the capability of intelligence agencies to track terrorists will be weakened. The fact is that authorizations ordered under the PAA to conduct surveillance will continue for at least six months, and in some cases for up to one year. All known terrorist organizations and targets are already included in those orders, and new targets can be added quickly. Here's the bottom line—if a terrorist was being tracked a month ago, he can still be tracked today.
The President also claims that intelligence efforts are impeded by a requirement to obtain a warrant in a FISA court. The fact is that a FISA court order can be obtained up to three days AFTER intelligence collection has already begun. In the 30 year history of the FISA courts, the government has asked for over 23,000 warrants, and only five have been denied. Obtaining a warrant from a FISA court when there is concern that an American will be overheard during collection of evidence is clearly not a high hurdle.
Last November, the House passed a strong, balanced FISA bill, and I supported it. However, it was opposed by President Bush and his Republican allies in the Senate and did not become law. I will not support any FISA legislation that lets the executive branch alone decide who is a terrorist suspect and to forego judicial warrants altogether. This would completely undermine the system of checks and balances that is the bedrock of our Constitution. I also will not support a FISA bill that gives legal immunity to telecom companies who cooperated with the Bush Administration's efforts to overstep its authority.
The debate over FISA is extremely important and President Bush will not make America stronger or safer by attempting to stampede Congress into accepting a severely flawed bill. I will work quickly with my colleagues and the President to pass a strong bill that protects our nation and our civil liberties, and I will never let my family or yours be put at risk.
Martin Heinrich, the progressive candidate for the New Mexico congressional seat being abandoned by Heather Wilson, has written about retroactive immunity at DWT in the past in a guest post. Yesterday the extreme right-wing maniac the Republicans plan on running against him, Darren White (the 2004 Bush/Cheney Campaign Chair) attacked Martin for his strong and principled stand against retroactive immunity. In a typical right wing fundraising missive, White lies about Martin's stance, tries to use Blue Dogs as a wedge and calls all of us "extreme left-wing groups." White:
My likely Democrat opponent... is opposed to the Terrorist Surveillance Program and has used the issue to drum up support for his candidacy among extreme left-wing groups. He believes that we should not immediately intercept calls from known terrorists and has even gone so far as to attack middle-of-the-road Democrats who support this bipartisan bill. I believe his position on the Terrorist Surveillance Program clearly demonstrates that his views are out-of-step with common-sense New Mexico values.
Martin is a progressive leader and a real champion of the values that draw us to a progressive world view. He doesn't back down. Here's how he answered White and the Republicans:
"...I stand with the American people who say fear mongering is not acceptable. Not acceptable from George Bush, not acceptable from Karl Rove and not acceptable from Darren White. I agree with Bill Richardson that we can keep our country safe without resorting to unconstitutional, warrantless wiretaps. I support a strong FISA that authorizes our intelligence community to intercept the communications of foreign terrorists, not American citizens minding their own business."
That's how you respond to a budding little fascist turd.
Congressman Hall has been a real leader on the issues that made him want to get into politics and government. Even in a Republican leaning district he hasn't catered to the knuckledragging mouth-breathers Rahm Emanuel thinks need to be coddled by Democrats. Hall won his race last year despite Emanuel's hysterical warnings that he was too anti-war for the district-- and despite the fact that Emanuel backed a conservative insider against him. But John stuck to his guns and went out of his way to stay in close touch with his constituents and to bring them along on his key ideas about the war. He's been an excellent representative for the 19th CD in New York.
But he had a problem-- a big one. A billionaire Republican hack, Andrew Saul, promised to spend whatever it takes, as much as $5 million of his own money in fact, to beat Hall. Notice I said "had." After being slammed by the NY Times a couple days ago for serious ethical-- if not criminal-- problems, Saul and his wife decided they could do without that kind of publicity-- what will the people at the countryclub think?-- and he pulled out of the race and told the RNCC to go find someone else.
Saul was vice chair of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and was taking "political donations from two developers [one of whom has a company Saul is a part owner of!] bidding for the right to build a mammoth residential and commercial complex over the authority’s West Side railyards." Not good, although Saul at first tried toughing it out by claiming he was above these kinds of considerations, presumably because he's too rich to be bribed. That didn't fly and today he announced he was giving up his bid to unseat Congressman Hall.
UPDATE: AND THE REPUBLICANS HAVE... NOTHIN'
Republicans started scurrying for a candidate as soon as Saul dropped out. But the list is less than impressive in a district where Hillary Clinton (who lives there) is likely to have massive coattails and against a very impressive and popular incumbent who is voting in Congress the way most of his constituents want him to-- and who has put together a million dollar war chest. "Several Republican names surfaced immediately as possible standard-bearers for the GOP in the district. The list of potential contenders includes state Sen. Vincent Leibell, Assemblyman Greg Ball, Orange County Executive Ed Diana and Michael Finnegan, an investment banker and longtime aide to former New York Gov. George E. Pataki, according to a Republican operative and interviews conducted by CQ Politics."
One of the hapless Repugs, Assemblyman Ball knows 2008 isn't likely to be a Republican year. “George Bush," he said, "has not only hurt the Republican Party, he’s left the nation without leadership. It’s going to be a tough year to run as a Republican at the national level.”
David at Swing State makes the point, eloquently, that New York isn't the only place where the Republicans are experiencing a "debacle" in candidate recruitment. Even before right-wing nut Jon Bruning dropped out in Nebraska this morning, Republicans have been pulling their heads out of their asses, sniffing the fresh air of reality and shoving their heads right back in again. Potential GOP disasters due to recruitment loom in Virginia, New Jersey, Ohio, Connecticut, Illinois, New Mexico, and Colorado.
CONGRESSMAN JOHN HALL GOES TO IRAQ, LOOKS AROUND AND RETURNS TO AMERICA TO EXPLAIN WHY HE WILL NOT VOTE FOR BUSH'S SUPPLEMENTAL BUDGET REQUEST
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left to right: that's Howie, John Hall, John Amato and Lucas Gardner a couple weeks ago
John Hall is an outspoken progressive freshman congressman in a Republican-leaning district and he's facing a multimillionaire opponent who is willing to spend millions of his own dollars smearing him and distorting his record. But unlike some Democrats in similarly uncomfortable positions, John is not playing the Republican-lite game. Instead, he stays in touch with his constituents and actually tries explaining his thinking on key issues to them so they understand where he's coming from when he votes as their representative.
Last week he was part of a small congressional fact-finding delegation that went to Iraq. In a letter to his constituents he went through all of his experiences from visiting with soldiers from Westchester County who are stationed there to doing one of those heavily guarded McCain market tours in a part of Iraq Bush claims is safe-- "If this is one of the safest parts of Iraq," writes John, "I worry what the dangerous parts are like"-- to playing songs on his guitar for recovering military personnel at Landstuhl Medical Center at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany on the way back to the U.S. He concludes by explaining why he has decided to vote against Bush's request for more money for an endless occupation.
My conclusion is that we should never send our Armed Forces to carry out a mission that is not militarily achievable. Based on comments by Ambassador Crocker, and the fact that since the September report to Congress the top four Iraqi leaders have not even been in the country at the same time, I continue to believe that American involvement in this war must be ended. This is a political and civil conflict that can only be resolved by the Iraqis themselves, by deciding whether they want to compromise and live together, or continue to fight along religious, ethnic, or tribal lines. This week President Bush asked for more war funding, bringing his total request for this year to nearly $200 billion. Based on what I just witnessed, and in order to bring the Maliki government back to reality, I will not support such a request without a timeline for redeployment or withdrawal of our troops. I recognize the imperfection of any proposed solution, but if the Sunni Shayks in Anbar can get together, perhaps the Shia mullahs in Basra can also. The Kurdish north already has a functioning government, if they can restrain the PKK from attacking Turkey. Baghdad is a problem, but it is and should be the Iraqis’ to solve.
We should start by turning over Saddam's palaces to the Iraqi government; I heard repeatedly that our control of the palaces is seen by local population as a sign of occupation.
We should assure the Iraqis and surrounding countries that we have no plans for permanent bases, and cease building anything that can't be eventually turned over to them.
We should follow the reductions in troop levels already announced by General Petraeus this fall and next spring with more redeployments and continue to hand Iraq back to the Iraqis. We must determine a date to end this unnecessary war, which has sapped our military, drained our treasury, and damaged our reputation around the world.
As you know, John is, like last year, a Blue America-endorsed candidate for Congress. If we like his approach and would like to see him continue working for us in Washington, please consider making a contribution to his campaign.
PRAYER FOR PEACE WITH JACKSON BROWNE, DAVID CROSBY, GRAHAM NASH AND JOHN HALL
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I want to start the day off with a little music and a lot of inspiration. Blue America-endorsed Congressman John Hall's re-election campaign sent me this clip just now. It was shot last night at Washington's National Cathedral-- Prayer For Peace. Yesterday Crooks & Liars had the heads-up about the event.
AMERICAN CITIZENS WILLING TO FINANCE THE END OF RIGHT-WING DOMINATION AND NIP THE FASCIST TAKEOVER IN THE BUD
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With Republican incumbents jumping ship in unprecedented numbers and with the antipathy Americans are feeling towards the Bush Regime coming into clear focus so early in the election cycle because of his S-CHIP veto and the Republican congressional rubber stamping of that, at least Republicans don't have to worry about oodles and oodles of cash to fight a resurgent Democratic Party. Right? Uh... no. Not this time.
Mark Warner raised over $1 million dollars in his Senate race since announcing he would run a few weeks ago. Democrats throughout Virginia are on the rise and Gov. Kaine is leading a campaign to capture the state legislature in time for redistricting. Congressional candidates are doing well too. Judy Feder-- in the northernmost district in the state, the 10th-- raised three times as much money as rubber stamp Republican incumbent Frank Wolf. She raised $223,000 and has more money on hand than her opponent.
Nice-- and similar to what I've been hearing from our candidates all over the country. In fact, just last night, I read on Burnt Orange Report that even the congressman who represents Clear Channel, rubber stamp GOP hack/son-in-law of CC chieftain, Michael McCaul, who is in a desperate race to keep his seat from a surging Dan Grant, is way in the red. Not just in the red in terms of his horribly reactionary voting record, but in the red financially-- to the tune of $170,857. He's spending far more than he's taking in-- even with daddy-in-law's big bucks pals desperate to keep junior in office. But McCaul and other Republicans across the country have gotten so used to deficit spending that they don't know how else to do it. Similarly a report at Horsesass.org showed that only ill-disguised bookkeeping tricks would make anyone think rubber stamp Republican Dave Reichert could even approach the grassroots fundraising prowess of Blue America-endorsed Darcy Burner. Even with a high profile fund-raiser with Bush-- or maybe because of it, Darcy stomped all over Reichert, a prelude to what he can expect next November.
And another thing they have gotten used to is following the leader. And in terms of fundraising, they're doing that too. While donations are pouring in to Clinton's and Obama's campaign, Giuliani and Romney are spending money faster they can take it in. Right now Hilary has $35 million in the bank, Obama has $32 million and the two top Republican fundraisers, Giuliani and Flip Flop Mitt, have, respectively $16 million and $9 million (and Romney only has that much because he keeps writing his campaign checks, over $8 million $17.3 million). In fact, Romney sent $21 millions and only raised about $10 million. Giuliani also spent more than he raised. Full O'Mitt ran "more ads in Iowa and New Hampshire than have all of the other Republican candidates combined. Romney had placed 10,893 television and radio ads through Oct. 10, according to the Nielsen Company, and advertising accounted for almost a third of Romney's outlay over the past three months." Thompson's campaign was laughing at Romney, calling his efforts a disaster. "I’d be frustrated too if I had spent tens of millions of dollars so far on a campaign and was still in third place. There are some things money can’t buy. For everything else, there’s flip-flops.” Meanwhile McCain is $94,000 in the red, i.e.- bankrupt.
Many of our Blue America candidates are reporting great contribution numbers. Even though Andrew Rice only announced 60 days ago and is taking on the daunting task of challenging a well-known Oklahoma incumbent, Inhofe, he has already banked over $300,000. He's gotten oven it from over 1,100 donors, 76% of whom live in Oklahoma. John Halls has raised over a million dollars so far and as he announced at a recent house concert/fundraiser with Jackson Browne, he may not have Occidental and Exxon, but he does have Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt. He also has David Crosby and Graham Nash, who are playing for him in Beford Hills, NY on October 28. Another Blue America candidate who did really well this quarter was Vic Wulsin in OH-02, where her $160,000 haul far outpaced Mean Jean Schmidt's take.
If you'd like to lend a hand, there is no such thing as too small an amount at our Blue America page. Worthy progressives on our list facing early primaries include Donna Edwards (MD), Mark Pera (IL), Sam Bennett (PA), John Laesch (IL), Steve Cohen (TN), Rick Noriega (TX), Jon Powers (NY), Victoria Wulsin (OH), and Russ Warner (CA). Do you live in any of those states? Can you spare $5 or $10? Believe me, it adds up-- to a free America.
COMPREHENSIVE CONGRESSIONAL FUNDRAISING ROUND-UP
Our pals over at Swing State Project have all the data on the key House races. Predictably, it looks dire for the Republicans. Here are some nuggets:
• Republican challengers who out-raised Democratic incumbents: Richard Goddard, fake Dem. Jim Marshall's opponent (GA-08), Jim Ryun (KS-02), John Stephen (NH-01), Andrew Saul, a self-funding, check-writin' multimillionaire (NY-19), Chris Hackett, fake Dem. Chris Carney's opponent (PA-10)
• Democratic challengers who out-raised Republican incumbents: Darcy Burner (WA-08), Charlie Brown (CA-04), Charlie Stuart (FL-08), Nels Ackerson (IN-04), Andrew Duck (MD-06), Mark Schauer (MI-07), Linda Stender (NJ-07), Vic Wulsin (OH-02), Steve Black (OH-02), Tom Perriello (VA-05), Judy Feder (VA-10), Gary Trauner (WY-AL)
• Republican incumbents who were out-raised by other Republicans: Wayne Gilchrest (MD-01), John Doolittle (CA-04)
• Democratic incumbents who were out-raised by other Democrats: Dan Lipinski (IL-03)
