And The Winner Is... Jon Hoadley

 

This took me over 3 hours to do this morning

Our Blue America contest ended last night-- at midnight (PT). There were 426 individuals who took part. People are still contributing to the candidates on the page, although those contributions, while very welcome, don't count as "votes."

A little over $29,000 was raised. Each candidate, on average, got almost $1,700. That number could be skewered because some candidates got as much as $1,000 while other candidates got lots and lots of $1 donations.

The contest started as a way for the candidates to explain why last minute contributions are useful-- even crucial-- and what they plan to do with the money that comes in from the next 2 weeks.

The big winner was... everybody. Really. Most contributions were divided evenly between all the candidates. But the candidates who motivated their supporters with e-mails and social media activity won the most votes. Jon Hoadley did that the most effectively and wound up with the most votes-- 217-- and will get a $2,000 check from Blue America. The $1,500 check goes to Adam Christensen, who got 168 votes, edging out Nate McMurray's 164 votes, Mike Siegel's 150 and Beth Doglio's 141.

Since around $1,500 went to Blue America itself instead of to candidates, we decided to divide that money equally and send it to McMurray, Siegel and Doglio, especially because their efforts brought so many people to the contest... and because each is on the verge of winning and needs the money. In fact, all of these candidates can use a last minute boost and if you click on the Blue America 2020 congressional ActBlue thermometer on the right, you can contribute whatever you like to any of them, any combination of them or all of them. (Just hit the link on the right side of the page that says "customize amounts.) Meanwhile, congratulations to Jon Hoadley's and Adam Christensen's teams for motivating so many contributions for their candidates and congratulations to all the candidates who "played" the game. Now, let's get in there and kick some conservative ass for the next 2 weeks-- and beyond!

When I called Jon to congratulation him and ask where to send the check, he was very appreciative and added that he wanted to send "a huge thank you to everyone who chipped in a little or a lot. One of the reasons we don't need to take Corporate PAC money is because of our grassroots donor base. It takes a big team to win a Congressional race, and this grassroots energy is just another example of the big team we have working to win here in MI-06."

Criminals Hate Regulations-- Who'da Thunk?

 

You know who hates rules and regulations? Criminals-- and not just the Mafia. It includes the exploitative class and the conservative political parties that represent that class' interests. It's why I've never voted for a Republican. And it's why I've never identified as a Republican... despite knowing how corrupt and worthless the Democratic Party has become over the course of my lifetime, especially since Bill Clinton helped usher in a take-over by the Republican wing of the Democratic Party in 1992.

But even most of the worst of the conservaDems tend to back at least some regulatory protections for workers and the environment. Republicans don't. Many of them will drown in an anti-Trump tsunami in two weeks but they were willing to make that bargain with the devil in order to wreck the American regulatory infrastructure and to pack the courts with the kinds of right-wing zealots who will uphold that for the aforementioned exploitative class.

Last week, The NY Times published a look at the GOP wrecking ball by Eric Lipton. Don't forget, he morons who attend Trump rallies may love chanting "lock her up"-- whether about Hillary, Kamala or Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer-- but those with the money and power behind the GOP are more concerned with allowing their criminal proclivities to run rampant without government interference than with the theatrics of Trumpism. Lipton clearly laid out how desperate the handmaidens of America's criminal class are "scrambling to enact regulatory changes affecting millions of Americans in a blitz so rushed it may leave some changes vulnerable to court challenges... In the bid to lock in new rules before Jan. 20, Mr. Trump’s team is limiting or sidestepping requirements for public comment on some of the changes and swatting aside critics who say the administration has failed to carry out sufficiently rigorous analysis. Some cases, like a new rule to allow railroads to move highly flammable liquefied natural gas on freight trains, have led to warnings of public safety threats.

Every administration pushes to complete as much of its agenda as possible when a president’s term is coming to an end, seeking not just to secure its own legacy but also to tie the hands of any successor who tries to undo its work.

But as Mr. Trump completes four years marked by an extensive deregulatory push, the administration’s accelerated effort to put a further stamp on federal rules is drawing questions even from some former top officials who served under Republican presidents.

...If Democrats take control of Congress, they will have the power to reconsider some of these last-minute regulations, through a law last used at the start of Mr. Trump’s tenure by Republicans to repeal certain rules enacted at the end of the Obama administration.

But the Trump administration is also working to fill key vacancies on scientific advisory boards with members who will hold their seats far into the next presidential term, committees that play an important role in shaping federal rule making.

...The Environmental Protection Agency, which since the start of the Trump administration has been moving at a high speed to rewrite federal regulations, is expected to complete work in the weeks that remain in Mr. Trump’s term on two of the nation’s most important air pollution rules: standards that regulate particulates and ozone that is formed based on emissions from power plants, car exhaust and other sources.

These two pollutants are blamed for bronchitis, asthma, lung cancer and other ailments, causing an estimated 7,140 premature deaths a year in the United States, according to one recent study. The agency is proposing to keep these standards at their current levels, provoking protests from certain health experts and environmentalists who argue that the agency is obligated to lower the limits after new evidence emerged about the harm the pollutants cause.

Scott Pruitt, who served as the E.P.A. administrator in the first 17 months of Mr. Trump’s tenure, set as a goal before he left office to get these new standards adopted by December 2020, even though the agency had previously expected they would not be finished until 2022.

The agency also is rushing to complete a series of regulations that will almost certainly make it harder for future administrations to tighten air pollution and other environmental standards, including a limit on how science is used in rule making and a change to the way costs and benefits are evaluated to justify new rules.

Mr. Trump has played a direct role in pushing to accelerate some regulations. Among them is a provision finished this summer, nicknamed “bomb trains” by its critics, that allows railroads to move highly flammable loads of liquefied natural gas on freight trains. Mr. Trump signed an executive order last year directing the Transportation Department to enact the rule within 13 months-- even before it had been formally proposed.

The change was backed by the railroad and natural gas industry, which has donated millions of dollars to Mr. Trump, after construction of pipelines had been blocked or slowed after protests by environmentalists.

But the proposal provoked an intense backlash from a diverse array of prominent public safety officials. Among them were groups representing thousands of mayors, firefighters and fire marshals nationwide and even the federal government’s own National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates fatal transportation accidents.

The gas is stored in 30,000-gallon rail tanks at minus 260 degrees to keep it compressed. But if accidentally released during an accident, it would rapidly expand by nearly 600 times as the temperature rises and cause what is known as a “boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion” that if ignited could not be quickly extinguished, potentially resulting in widespread injury or death if it occurs in a populated area, the firefighters warned.

“It is nearly certain any accident involving a train consisting of multiple rail cars loaded with L.N.G. will place vast numbers of the public at risk while fully depleting all local emergency response forces,” Harold A. Schaitberger, the president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, wrote in a letter opposing the proposal.

The Transportation Department still adopted the rule and rejected proposed speed limits for the trains, generating a petition for a court review by 14 states and the District of Columbia.

“Studies on how to safely transport liquefied natural gas by rail are still ongoing, and this administration has rushed to implement a rule that will needlessly endanger people’s lives and threaten our environment,” Michigan’s attorney general, Dana Nessel, said.

Even while the challenge is underway, the Transportation Department has moved to enact another rule easing safety standards, in this case removing a requirement intended to limit the number of hours truck drivers are allowed behind the wheel and to mandate rest periods.

Certain drivers who carry agricultural products would now be exempt from this federal mandate in a standard that would again be adopted as an “interim final rule,” meaning it would be put in place before any public comment is accepted, under the plan announced by the agency.

“Fatigued truck drivers remain a stubbornly high cause of fatal highway accidents,” said James Goodwin, a lawyer at the Center for Progressive Reform, a nonprofit group that tracks regulatory actions. “The law permits agencies to take short cuts when there are extraordinary circumstances that call for them. That is not present here.”

Earlier today, progressive state Rep. Jon Hoadley, a congressional candidate who appears to be beating Trump lackey Fred Upton, told us that Upton "continues to tout his supposed victories for the Great Lakes while also enabling corporate polluters to contaminate them along with our groundwater. As Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, he held one of the most powerful positions in Congress and due to his inaction or enacted obstacles, at one point he was deemed 'the worst threat to planet Earth on Earth.' Michiganders need a leader who will actually fight to protect our precious natural resources and hold polluters accountable."

Beth Doglio is in a hot D vs D contest in Washington. Beth is the environmentalist and workers' champion in the race and her opponent, Marilyn Strickland, is an establishment Dem who was president of the Chamber of Commerce and supported... well all the kinds of anti-environment and anti-worker policies conservative and the Chamber support. Not quite as bad as a Republican of course, but... close. Beth told me that "We have to draw a line in the sand when it comes to large new fossil fuel infrastructure that locks in emission for decades to come. I was standing firm leading the fight to stop the seven coal export terminals dead in their tracks, while my opponent openly supported a proposal to site the largest methanol plant in the world in urban Tacoma before it was vetted. Residents of Pierce County rejected it." Both of these women have track records. Beth's is golden; Stickland's is... a lump of coal.

Julie Oliver is rewriting the political history of Texas with her amazing run in a gerrymandered R+11 congressional seat. This morning she told me that her opponent, "Roger Williams consistently toes the party line that he favors limited governmental regulation, unless it benefits his own business, one of the most protected industries by regulation in the state of Texas-- automobile dealerships. But unless Williams or his donors are the beneficiaries of regulations, he fights hard to ensure laws and regulations lose their potency or are eliminated altogether. Williams filed what has to be the shortest bill introduced in Congress, 'This bill terminates the EPA effective 12/31/2018.' He doesn't care that his constituents in Johnson County are fighting for clean water or that his constituents in Burnet County are fighting for clean air; Williams is a loot-the-coffers kind of Republican who is using his position of public trust to enrich himself and his donors. Last week, the Houston Chronicle reported that Williams used his position on the Financial Services Committee to strongarm banks into meetings with his wealthy donors, while ignoring the pleas for help from constituents who have been laid off due to the pandemic."

Adam Christensen, a progressive running against a crumbling GOP power structure in north-central Florida, is aiming at replacing Trump lickspittle Ted Yoho. Earlier he told us that "The Trump administration has constantly attempted to deregulate guidelines that save people’s lives. They actively attempt to deregulate safety standards for railways, pollutants and more. Representative Ted Yoho and my opponent Kat Cammack want to continue these deregulations to help their wealthy donors even if they result in harm and even death to our people. Pollutants are causing Americans to develop dangerous diseases such as asthma and lung cancer. Americans are dying because Republicans like the current administration, Mr. Yoho and Ms. Cammack refuse to stand up for our planet and our people. They will only stand up for power, greed, their donors and their wealth. They are standing by and allowing phosphate mines to sue Union into oblivion. It’s time we stand up and fight people and greed like this. I know that when we win we will stand up and fight for our planet, our people and our future."

The Chaotic Rule Of Donald J Trump Hurtles Towards A Final Denouement... Chaotically

 

Active Shooter by Nancy Ohanian

Based on a national voter survey released yesterday, the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) reported that Trump will lose by 14 points (54% to 40%), unless voter turnout is extremely high-- which looks likely-- in which case Trump will lose by 18 points (56% to 38%).

Some of the most interesting findings show an extremely bifurcated America-- with normal people basing their stands on reality, while Republicans live in a Fox/Hate Talk Radio bubble in an alternative reality.

• About three in four Americans (76%) think that shutdowns, mask mandates, and other steps taken by state and local governments since the coronavirus pandemic began are reasonable measures to protect people, including majorities of Republicans, independents, and Democrats (56%, 71%, and 94%, respectively).
• Nine in ten Democrats (90%), 78% of independents, and 65% of Republicans say they always wear masks in public places. White evangelical Protestants stand out among religious groups as less likely than others to report wearing a mask all the time in public (63% vs. 77% and higher among all other groups).
• White evangelical Protestants are the only religious group who are more likely to say that Trump rather than Biden has strong religious beliefs (43% vs. 18%) and best models religious values with his actions and leadership (49% vs. 18%).
• A majority of Americans (55%), including 24% of Republicans and 77% of Democrats, say they are not at all confident that President Trump will concede defeat if Biden is declared the winner of the election. One-third of Americans (36%), including 26% of Republicans and 46% of Democrats, are not at all confident that Republican leaders in Congress would demand Trump leave office if he refuses to concede an election loss.
• Two-thirds of Americans (66%) say the winner of the popular vote rather than the Electoral College should determine the next president.
• Partisan views of the other party are harsh.

◦ Eight in ten Republicans (81%) say the Democratic Party has been taken over by socialists, compared to 17% who say the Democratic Party is trying to make capitalism work for average Americans.
◦ Eight in ten Democrats (78%) say the Republican Party has been taken over by racists, compared to 20% who say the Republican Party is trying to protect the country against outside threats.

• Democrats (17%) are significantly less likely than they were in both 2018 (26%) and 2015 (32%) to believe that police killings of Black men are isolated incidents, as white Democrats’ views have become more aligned with those of African Americans over the last five years. By contrast, Republican views that police killings of African Americans are isolated incidents (79%) have not changed significantly since 2015 (82%).
• Majorities of all religious groups, including 58% of white evangelical Protestants, say immigrants living in the U.S. illegally should be allowed a way to become citizens, provided they meet certain requirements.
• Majorities of Democrats (91%), independents (79%), and Republicans (53%) oppose an immigration border policy that separates children from their parents and charges parents as criminals when they enter the country without permission.
• Democrats (76%) and independents (61%) are about twice as likely as Republicans (31%) to think that climate change will cause them harm.
• Majorities of Democrats, independents, and Republicans favor guaranteeing all Americans access to affordable childcare (95%, 85%, and 71%, respectively) and guaranteeing all Americans a minimum income (88%, 69%, and 52%, respectively).

On Sunday, NY Times reporters tried Maggie Haberman and Alexander Burns explaining why Trump's campaign seems so dysfunctional and is flailing so badly. "Away from their candidate and the television cameras," wrote Haberman and Burns, "some of Mr. Trump’s aides are quietly conceding just how dire his political predicament appears to be, and his inner circle has returned to a state of recriminations and backbiting. Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, is drawing furious blame from the president and some political advisers for his handling of Mr. Trump’s recent hospitalization, and he is seen as unlikely to hold onto his job past Election Day. Mr. Trump’s campaign manager, Bill Stepien, has maintained to senior Republicans that the president has a path forward in the race but at times has conceded it is narrow. Some midlevel aides on the campaign have even begun inquiring about employment on Capitol Hill after the election, apparently under the assumption that there will not be a second Trump administration for them to serve in. (It is not clear how appealing the Trump campaign might be as a résumé line for private-sector employers.)... Among some of Mr. Trump’s lieutenants, there is an attitude of grit mixed with resignation: a sense that the best they can do for the final stretch is to keep the president occupied, happy and off Twitter as much as possible, rather than producing a major shift in strategy. Often, their biggest obstacle is Mr. Trump himself."

Instead of delivering a focused closing message aimed at changing people’s perceptions about his handling of the coronavirus, or making a case for why he can revive the economy better than Mr. Biden can, Mr. Trump is spending the remaining days on a familiar mix of personal grievances, attacks on his opponents and obfuscations. He has portrayed himself as a victim, dodged questions about his own coronavirus testing, attacked his attorney general and the F.B.I. director and equivocated on the benefits of mask-wearing.

Rather than drawing a consistent contrast with Mr. Biden on the economy, strategists say, the president’s preference is to attack Mr. Biden’s son Hunter over his business dealings and to hurl personal insults like “Sleepy Joe” against a candidate whose favorability ratings are much higher than Mr. Trump’s.

[S]ome prominent Republicans have noted in newly direct language the possibility-- and even the likelihood-- of defeat for the president. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a close ally, said this week that Democrats had “a good chance of winning the White House,” while Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska said his party might be facing a “blood bath.”

Though fear of retaliation by Mr. Trump has muzzled most members of the party, strategists are deeply concerned that Mr. Trump might spend the final weeks of the campaign entertaining and energizing his existing supporters while eschewing any concerted effort to find new ones-- an approach that could cripple other Republicans running for office.

And that retaliation theme against Republicans was highlighted by Sam Stein and Asawin Suebsaeng at the Daily Beast yesterday where they reported on a virtual game of chicken about who is going to throw who under the bus sooner-- Trump going nuts on Republicans in Congress or Republicans in Congress claiming they never heard of anyone named Trump.

Under The Bus by Nancy Ohanian

"That sense of paranoia," wrote Suebsaeng and Stein, "has been fed by the president’s aides and confidants, who have flagged news coverage for him of Republican politicians either openly criticizing his conduct or else trying to distance themselves from a looming possible electoral bloodbath. According to one of the sources with direct knowledge, the president is already contemplating retribution... Some of the coverage that has been bookmarked for Trump includes recent stories on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who has not only split with the president on coronavirus-related stimulus legislation but made a point of saying he hadn’t been to the White House in weeks because of its cavalier approach to the pandemic. Trump’s frictions with Republican senators don’t stop there. This past week, the president attacked Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) on Twitter over 'a nasty rumor' that she was going to oppose his Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett. He said of the endangered incumbent: 'Not worth the work!'... Beyond that, there is strong suspicion within Trump’s inner sanctum that Sen. Ben Sasse’s (R-NE) office leaked the contents of a call he held with constituents in which he chastised the president for embracing dictators and not condemning conspiracists. Trump’s anger with the call boiled over on Saturday with yet another Twitter attack."

Back to Haberman and Burns who wrote that "There is also growing frustration among congressional Republicans that the White House has not driven a strong positive message about Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court nomination-- a confirmation battle that Republicans until recently regarded as their best chance for a political turnaround. Republicans and allies of the president have trained their ire specifically on Mr. Meadows, viewing some of his actions, like showing up at Ms. Barrett’s hearings, as a form of personal brand-building.

In some respects, the trajectory of Mr. Trump’s campaign in its final weeks reflects longstanding structural weaknesses and internal divisions.

...For much of the past four years, Mr. Kushner [basically a moron] had cast himself as the chief executive of the re-election effort, but he pulled back from that role during the summer and in September, when the political environment had clearly soured. Instead, he thrust himself into a number of diplomatic negotiations in the Middle East that have little evident salience in the election. He has become more engaged in recent weeks, officials said.

...Many Republicans have resorted to hoping that the president might be disciplined enough for the remaining 16 days to narrow the gap with Mr. Biden and salvage the party’s House and Senate candidates.

But few people close to Mr. Trump present the path ahead to him in those terms, Republicans say. They recognize that the president knows he outpolls most G.O.P. candidates in their own districts or states and that suggesting to him that he is on track to lose would be unlikely to produce constructive results.

Early Monday morning, Paul Kane wrote in his Post column that "In competitive Senate races across the country, including states where Trump remains popular, Republican incumbents are facing a conundrum: how to prove their pro-Trump bona fides to a MAGA movement that sees many longtime Republicans as insufficiently pure while stopping the hemorrhaging among suburban moderates who wonder why they have enabled the president... The result for [Joni] Ernst and as many as a half-dozen of her GOP colleagues may be the worst of both worlds, in which they risk alienating energized Trump backers if they criticize the president but then, if they stick with him, lose some centrist voters who have soured on Trump and are open to voting for a Democrat."

The same is happening in House races, of course. I asked Audrey Denney how her Trump-loving opponent Doug LaMalfa is walking that tight-rope. "LaMalfa isn’t walking the tight rope," she told me. "He has let his extremist obstructionist flag fly with zero regard to facts or science. That is leaving all of the more moderate Republicans and conservative NPP voters up for grabs! We’re going to pull this off."

I also asked Michigan state Rep. Jon Hoadley the same question about the Trump enabler he's running against."Time and time again, Fred Upton has failed to stand up to President Trump. Just as with all other decisions in his 34-year career, Upton considers political expediency first and foremost before weighing the interests of the district he's been elected to represent. As Donald Trump continues to stoke the flames of domestic terrorism and incite violence amongst his supporters, Upton remains unsurprisingly silent. Our district deserves better, and it's past time we change our Representative."

There Are People In Congress Working On Sustainable Energy And Environmental Justice-- But We Need More Of Them

In its mission statement, Congress' Sustainable Energy & Environment Coalition lays out two overarching goals:

• Advance policies that promote clean energy innovation and domestic manufacturing, develop renewable energy resources, and create good green jobs across the economy and the country.
• Advance polices to address climate change, protect our nation’s clean air, water and natural environment, and promote environmental justice.

There are 67 members-- all Democrats-- who have joined the Caucus. This week, Blue America has been working with their SEEC PAC to help raise last minute campaign contributions for congressional candidates who have been endorsed by both groups, the men and women who will be helping to lead the group's future.

One member, Ted Lieu, was a California state Senator when I first got to know him. At a discussion, someone asked him whey he would want to move away from his life in balmy California to go to the DC snakepit. He immediately focused on what turns out to be the SEEC mission statement. It was all about leaving his two young children a livable world. Yesterday, now-Congressman and now-SEEC member Ted Lieu reminded us that "One of the main reasons I ran for Congress was to work on legislation to address climate change on the national level. But in order to make any meaningful progress, we need to elect more Members of Congress who want to expand sustainable energy and address our climate crisis. That is why I am so grateful that Blue America is partnering with SEEC PAC to help these great candidates."

SEEC was founded in 2009 by now-Governor Jay Inslee (D-WA) at the start of the 111th Congress and is now a key green voice in the Congress. Last Congress, the coalition introduced its Sustainable Infrastructure Proposal and has continued to call for an infrastructure bill that takes bold steps to address climate change. Through its advocacy efforts, SEEC has seen increased funding for clean energy programs at the Department of Energy and the inclusion of water sustainability policy in the Fiscal Year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). It also successfully opposed anti-environmental riders in the 2018 Farm Bill and focused early attention on the dangerous health consequences of Trump’s Clean Power Plan replacement. Another California SEEC member, Katie Porter told us today that "The climate crisis demands an all-hands-on-deck approach, and that includes strengthening our research in and use of green technology. We need allies in Congress who will fight for a more sustainable future and invest in the innovative clean energy we need to protect our planet."

Please consider helping elect new members of Congress who have prioritized the SEEC agenda in their campaigns and will be the kinds of allies Porter is talking about. Click on the thermometer on the right for the whole list-- and to contribute to the carefully and doubled-- vetted candidates, like Jon Hoadley, who is taking on Trump enabler and friend of polluters Fred Upton in southwest Michigan. Hoadley noted that "Michigan is the Great Lakes state, but we're still facing a drinking water crisis as a result of corporate pollution. We need to put an end to the large-scale contamination of our water and air we've seen from fossil fuel companies, and take bold action to preserve our climate for future generations."

Electing Kara Eastman to replace Trump puppet Donald Bacon in Omaha is a top priority for both SEEC PAC and Blue America. This morning she told us that "It's incredibly important to have the support of SEEC and Blue America because climate change is the number one national security threat to our country now, and it's the number one moral crisis facing America going forward. In Nebraska, we've fought against the Keystone XL Pipeline and successfully pushed our public power district to move to a carbon neutral plan. Let's turn up the heat on climate change together."

Mike Siegel's campaign has been almost an embodiment of the SEEC mission statement-- cleaning up the environment, ameliorating climate change and working with unions to guarantee good green jobs in the new economy. "I'm honored to have the support of SEEC and Blue America as we build a broad national coalition to combat climate change and build the renewable economy we need," he said this week. "As a Democrat running for Congress in the heart of Texas, I know how important it is that we take bold, courageous steps to address climate change and environmental degradation, even when those steps require difficult conversations with workers and businesses that depend on fossil fuel revenue. The Texas 10th Congressional District is already suffering from the impact of our fossil fuel economy. We have a coal plant in Fayette County that has been polluting the air and water for 40 years; we have widespread fracking operations that release chemicals into our groundwater and methane into our air; we have a Houston region that has suffered five 500-year flood events in five years; and we have Bastrop county, which was devastated by a massive wildfire nine years ago. These natural and unnatural disasters can all be traced to fossil fuel emissions. Even though Texas is built on a fossil fuel economy, we can't put our heads in the sand and pretend that change is not needed. I'm running for Congress to build an unparalleled coalition of unions, environmentalists, ranchers and farmers, progressives and activists of all types, to fight climate change, to create jobs in a renewable economy, and to address the legacy of pollution and environmental injustice. Thank you, SEEC and Blue America for your belief and support, and I look forward to joining with you in the days, months and years ahead, for the good of our planet, and for the good of our nation."

Audrey Denney is taking on Trumpist do-nothing Doug LaMalfa again in the northeast corner of California. She told us she's "honored to have the support of Congress' Sustainable Energy & Environment Coalition! Human induced climate change is already here and we are living through the consequences. We can’t grow cherries in Butte county because there aren’t enough chill hours. Fire season is almost year round and our fires are burning hotter than ever before. In some cases creating their own weather. Through our horrific fires of the last two years my district became the face of this crisis. As evidenced by politicians on both sides of the aisle using our devastation for photo ops. But this district can become the face of the solution. I’m talking about restoring our forests to health so they become carbon sinks not sources. We’re talking about ag policy that equips and trains farmers to use practices that sequester carbon-- that actually turn the dial back on climate change. I cannot wait to get to Congress and work with the members of the SEEC to push this policy agenda forward!


 


UPDATE: Nate McMurray (NY-27)

"Receiving the support from SEEC and Blue America is not just important for my campaign but also for the people of the NY-27. Climate change is the most pressing environmental challenge facing our planet and communities in the U.S. and around the globe are already experiencing its impacts. We feel the impact of increasingly extreme weather quite dramatically in Western New York, the NY-27, where we live alongside not one, but two of the Great Lakes-- Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. So Western New Yorkers see every day, in every season that effects of decades of bad environmental policies. And finally people see that we have an obligation to ourselves, our children, and the states and our neighbor to the north, to take immediate action to address climate change’s threats to our economy, health, and environment. In Congress the NY-27 and I as their representative, will have great partners in SEEC and Blue America in the fight for the region's environmental priorities, like supporting 100% transition to clean energy by 2050, access to clean air and water as well as regionally funded initiatives such as the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Plan 2014, more conservation-focused planning by the Great Lakes' International Joint Commission, and improved Farming and Conservation initiatives. I cannot thank SEEC and Blue America enough for their support and belief in my campaign. We are on the cusp of victory and making a Democratic supermajority in Congress a reality in 2020!"

Trump, Mentally Impaired From COVID-19 Treatments, Orders McConnell And McCarthy To Stop Negotiating With Democrats About A Pandemic Relief Bill

 

Active Shooter by Nancy Ohanian

Yesterday, Democrats on Congress' Joint Economic Committee put out a statement reminding people that "In the early months of the coronavirus crisis, prominent former officials from both Democratic and Republican administrations released a public letter stating that 'saving lives and saving the economy are not in conflict right now; we will hasten the return to robust economic activity by taking steps to stem the spread of the virus and save lives.' A new JEC issue brief explains how America has failed and why full economic recovery remains far off."

Let's face it-- and more and more Americans now "get it," Trump "has done more to spread the coronavirus than to stem it-- telling Americans it isn’t dangerous, refusing to lead efforts to contain it, defying public health experts, discouraging the use of masks, pressuring governors to prematurely lift social distancing guidelines, holding super-spreading political rallies, attempting to restrict testing, and recently telling the public not to fear the virus. Now more than 210,000 Americans are dead and it is projected that the number will reach 400,000 in early January."

The weak economy is a direct result of this failure to contain the coronavirus. There are almost 11 million fewer jobs than there were in February, over 26.5 million workers are receiving unemployment benefits and temporary layoffs are becoming permanent as businesses close for good. Economists predict that the failure to fight the coronavirus will have a serious economic impact well into the future. As Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said recently, “until the public is confident that the disease is contained, a full recovery is unlikely.”

An unheeded message to Congressional Republicans

Yesterday, in a speech to the National Association for Business Economics, Powell urged Congress to move rapidly to inject more stimulus into the economy. "Even if policy actions ultimately prove to be greater than needed, they will not go to waste. The recovery will be stronger and move faster if monetary policy and fiscal policy continue to work side by side to provide support to the economy until it is clearly out of the woods." NPR reported that "He also warned the group that without additional support, the economy could slip into a downward spiral 'as weakness feeds on weakness. A long period of unnecessarily slow progress could continue to exacerbate existing disparities in our economy,' Powell said. 'That would be tragic, especially in light of our country's progress on these issues in the years leading up to the pandemic.'"

Over the weekend, Trump seemed eager for additional relief, tweeting, "OUR GREAT USA WANTS & NEEDS STIMULUS."

But by Tuesday afternoon, the president had changed course, rejecting Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's call for an additional $2.4 trillion in aid.

"I have instructed my representatives to stop negotiating until after the election when, immediately after I win, we will pass a major Stimulus Bill that focuses on hardworking Americans and Small Business," Trump tweeted.

The president's move sent the stock market tumbling. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 index, which had been up before Trump's tweet, both closed in the red, with the Dow losing 375 points or 1.3% and the S&P down 1.4%.

Powell credited the "extraordinary" relief measures passed early in the pandemic with helping to avoid a deeper recession and setting the stage for a partial rebound.

But recent indicators have shown the economic recovery is starting to slow as infections continue to spread. The labor market also remains under stress: Almost half the 22 million jobs lost in the spring have not been replaced.

Powell said Tuesday it may be some time before people whose jobs require a lot of in-person contact can safely return to work.

"While the combined effects of fiscal and monetary policy have aided the solid recovery of the labor market so far, there is still a long way to go," the Fed chairman said.

"The right thing to do and the smart thing to do is to continue to support those people as they return to their old jobs or find new jobs in different sectors of the economy," Powell added.

..."The longer it goes on, the more likely there is some lasting damage," Powell said. "For many people, and it's a lot of women, it's winding up being in the home with young children who really should be in school and you would much prefer to be working. So it's a real issue."

Several of the progressive congressional candidates were actually shocked that Republicans are letting this happen. Michigan state Rep. Jon Hoadley is taking on multimillionaire Trump-enabler Fred Upton. He told me this morning that "Upton and his Republican Party have failed to deliver, again, for people across America. At a time when southwest Michigan families need just a little help, Mr. Upton's 34 years in DC can't produce results. Problem not solved."

In a message to her supporters yesterday, Marie Newman wrote that she has "come to expect carelessness and cruelty from the Trump Administration, but this level of disregard for Americans’ pain is truly astounding. Millions are out of work and many more will lose their jobs, and even lose their lives, without the economic relief our country desperately needs and deserves. I’ve spent the past five months meeting with community members, small business owners, and first responders across Illinois’ Third District. They desperately need relief. Now. Working families need additional federal support as they struggle to find work and keep food on the table, small businesses need continued relief to stay afloat and pay their employees, and states and municipalities need immediate assistance to continue providing essential public services. Trump and his allies in Congress see these negotiations as a political game, but in reality, American lives are on the line. I’ve had enough with politicians who ignore the needs of their constituents. Vote them out."





"The decision to postpone a pandemic relief package until after the election is a disaster for thousands of West Virginia families struggling in this economic depression," WV-02 congressional candidate Cathy Kunkel told us this morning. "Congressman Mooney has never been an advocate for relief for working families, voting against the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and expressing more concern about the federal deficit (except when it comes to military spending) than his constituents who have lost jobs or whose small businesses are struggling to survive. The reality is that our economy will not recover as long as this virus continues to impact our daily lives, and working people need monthly economic relief checks to avoid evictions, foreclosures, and utility shutoffs."

Biden Is Taking The Offensive Against A Floundering Trump

COVID-Kemp

Thanks to an incompetent ideologically-insane Trumpist governor, Georgia is one of the worst hit states by the pandemic. Georgia is the 8th most populous state but has the 5th most COVID cases of any state-- and the third most active cases, behind just Florida and California. Yesterday, Georgia reported 1,498 new cases, bringing the total to 270,471 cases, which comes to 25,474 cases per million residents (6th worst in the country and likely to overtake Alabama, for 5th place soon). Georgia now has had more cases than Italy, a country that was considered a disaster zone and that has around 6 times more residents than Georgia. Simple fact: Georgia has been, and still is, a text book case of how not to handle a pandemic. Republicans-- locally and nationally-- are allowing partisanship and ideology to drive decision-making, rather than science and public health concerns. Perhaps that helps explain why Trump is in trouble with independent voters in a state he won in 2016 by 5 points.

Almost all polling this summer has shown Biden and Trump within the margin of error. The most recent poll-- a PPP survey released yesterday-- shows Trump's approval underwater (52% disapproving and 46% approving) and shows Biden narrowly ahead 47-46% (within the margin of error).

Georgia has been a state where Republicans could count on winning without spending much-- and Democratic presidential candidates haven't seriously contested the state since... Jimmy Carter. This year, both Trump and Biden are spending money on advertising there. Biden has reserved ads in 9 states besides Georgia that Trump won in 2016: Arizona, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin. Trump has ads booked in just 3 states that Hillary won in 2016-- Minnesota, Nevada and New Hampshire.

Trump is playing defense in Florida, Georgia, Arizona, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, North Carolina and Pennsylvania and is likely to start taking Texas seriously as well.

Yesterday, CNN's Chris Cillizza reported that "the number of swing states is far larger than we've seen in any recent election, a reflection of President Donald Trump's asymmetrical politics and the rapidly changing demographics in the country."

That there are 15 states that meet that bar is a remarkable testament to how wide the two sides see the potential playing field-- and how far we have come in the past two decades in terms of what can be considered a swing state. If you think back to the 2000 and 2004 elections, the group of swing states was familiar-- and small. Colorado, Florida, Iowa, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and maybe one or two others. And that was pretty much it. Both sides were forced to dump tens of millions of dollars into that handful of states, not because they wanted to, but because they couldn't justify spending that money in other states in hopes of turning them.

Barack Obama broke that deadlock in 2008 with wins in Indiana, North Carolina and Virginia, states no Democrat had won at the presidential level in decades. And Trump further widened the swing-state category by notching wins in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, typically Democratic victories, in 2016.

What's clear from the ad reservations for this fall is that the we are now dealing with an even wider playing field. Both campaigns have reserved time in Arizona, a state long safely in the Republican column. Ditto Minnesota, a state a Republican presidential candidate hasn't won since 1972(!).

Viewed broadly, the size of the playing field -- and the states included in it-- suggest that Biden is a) playing more offense than defense and b) sees a massive Electoral College victory as a genuine possibility.

...The most fascinating part of the ad reservation is that Biden has blocked out time in Texas and Georgia, two major electoral vote treasure troves, and two states that haven't been won by a Democratic running for president since 1976 and 1992, respectively. Polling in both states shows the race close; Trump has a 3.5 point lead in the Real Clear Politics polling average in Texas and a 1.1 point average margin in Georgia.

If Biden were to win one or both of Texas and Georgia, he would have at least the possibility of a major-- 350-plus electoral votes-- Electoral College landslide. (House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said for the better part of the last two years that Democrats must win "big" in order to avoid Trump aggressively contesting the result and refusing to concede.)

But it's more than just Electoral College calculus at work here. If Biden goes through with his plans to spend on ads in Texas and Georgia -- which is a big "if" given how expensive statewide TV buys are in both states -- he would likely force Trump's campaign to spend (and spend heavily) in those states, too. And every dollar Trump spends defending Texas or Georgia (or both) is a dollar he can't play offense with in Minnesota or Nevada or Virginia.

The widening of the electoral playing field has been happening gradually over the past three elections. But for 15 states to be in the mix this late in a presidential election cycle-- including Electoral College monsters like Texas and Georgia-- is a new chapter in modern American politics. And one that holds all sorts of possibilities-- for both parties-- in future races.

I asked how Julie Oliver how it will play out in her district. Democratic presidential candidates haven't really campaign in Texas is ages. "Texans," she told me this morning, "put our state in play, running everywhere as hard as we could in 2018-- before anyone thought it was winnable. Just everyday people, standing up, building the movement to take our state back from the corrupt ideologues who for too long have tried to keep all of us divided while they enriched themselves. And in 2020, it's time for real change.

Like Julie and all Democratic candidates in swing states, Michigan state Rep and congressional candidate Jon Hoadley is happy to see Biden taking the Democratic case to voters in his state. "It's welcome news that the Biden/Harris ticket is campaigning in Michigan," he told me this morning. "We saw what happened four years ago when people took Michigan for granted. Voters want us to not only make the case why we're better for the job than the other candidates, but why we deserve their vote at all. A strong Biden/Harris ticket in Michigan will help bolster the case we're making for change in southwest Michigan, push back against the lies being spread by secret dark money groups, and remind even more voters what's at stake in this election." Meanwhile, Hoadley is hardly waiting; yesterday he launched his own first TV ad:

Is The Tent So Big That The Party Has Become Meaningless As Anything MoreThan A Vehicle To Save The Country From Trump?

Can you see who's driving the truck in this Nancy Ohanian drawing?

In 1945, when the legislation that finally became Medicare twenty years later in 1965, was first seriously pushed by Harry Truman, it was Medicare for All. It covered all Americans' doctor visits, hospital visits, laboratory services, dental care and nursing services. The Democrats had just won 20 more seats in the House and controlled it 242-191; Sam Rayburn was speaker. The Senate consisted of 58 Democrats (+ one Progressive) and just 37 Republicans. 3 more GOP incumbents had been defeated-- including unabashed fascist Gerald Nye (R-ND). But Medicare failed. Why? The Republican wing of the Democratic Party, which very much controlled the Congress and was always happy to work with the Republicans to stop progressive legislation. It finally passed-- albeit horribly watered down-- in 1965 because the 1964 blue wave gave the Democrats a net of 37 new seats and massive 295 to 140 seat majority. In the Senate, there were 68 Democrats and 32 Republicans. The new President, Lyndon Johnson, used his massive mandate, to push Medicare through, the Republican wing of the party unable to muster the strength to work with the GOP to stop it.

But, unfortunately, the Republican wing of the Democratic Party wasn't dead, just laying low. When Obamacare came to a vote, the filthy, corrupt Blue Dogs and New Dems and fellow travelers were at it again-- killing, for example-- the public option. The Republican wing of the party whines and scratches and kicks and threatens anytime anything remotely progressive is brought up. I've been told by half a dozen congressional Democrats that their conference-- and some mention our country as well-- would be better off if Anthony Brindisi, a detestable whiny Blue Dog from New York, is defeated in November since all he ever does is work against even modestly progressive proposals from inside the party.

The Blue Dogs and New Dems like Brindisi-- there are over 100 of them, though just one or two as bad as him-- continue to crap on the Democratic brand to such an extent that many people don't know what the Democratic Party even stands for any more. Is the future of the party with AOC, Andy Levin and Pramila Jayapal-- who are all sailing to smooth reelections-- or with Brindisi, Joe Cunningham and Kendra Horn, who are all in danger of losing... and in the midst of a massive anti-red wave?

The progressive Democrat, taking on Trumpist yes-man Ken Calvert in Riverside County is Liam O'Mara, a history professor. This morning he told me that "We win elections when we stand for something, not when we stand against something. Hope and belief are what motivate the kind of voters open to our messages. It saddens me that after all the work out there on voter psychology, we still need to scream at establishment Democrats who think fear of Trump is a good election strategy. Should we fear Trump? Absolutely. The man is a menace, and his ideology will finish off this country quicker than any other. But few voters will ever know enough of why they should worry, and most of those are already our voters. To rebuild this country-- to move past not only Trump but Trumpism-- we need to tackle the real issues and win over undecided voters, and that means presenting a positive vision of where we could go as a society. Is the Democratic party a big tent? Sure. Does that mean we roll over for a regressive agenda and stop dreaming? Only if the goal is more Trumps in our future. For myself, I say we get back in the trenches and win the war of ideas. Voters can and will listen if you come at them openly, honestly, and present a compelling vision for their future. Pretending that all we need to do is yell 'Orange Man Bad!' and expect people in the middle to stick with us is the height of hubris. If we want those voters in our corner, we need to tell them why."

"Crooked Ken Calvert," O'Mara continued, "is trying to win his race with two things: money and fear. He's going to suck in as much dirty cash as ever, and spend it to call me a radical hippie commie God-hating son-of-a-bitch terrorist anarchist-- whatever he thinks will stick. I'd rather spend time talking about what we could do if we had a government that gave a crap about human welfare, civil rights, and a thriving economy. I'll continue to show that my policies will save the voters money, raise their standard of living, and drain that damned swamp in DC. And I'm going to hope enough listen so we can keep building a government of the people, by the people, and for the people."

Yesterday, yet another life-long Republican, former Bucks County Congressman Charlie Dent, endorsed Biden, not because he necessarily believes in much of anything that has to do with Democratic values; it's just that he recognizes the existential danger Trump-- and his party-- have put the country in. The current congressman from Dent's old district, Brian Fitzpatrick (R), refuses to say whether he'll vote for Biden or Trump, and not a single current member of the House-- all of whom face the voters in November-- has come out against Trump. All cowards. You want them in the Democratic Party? One big party? No! One big union? Yes! Who do you feel solidarity with? Tonight billionaire Republican Michael Bloomberg addresses the boring, unwatchable Democratic Convention, which will surely cause the already horrifyingly ratings to further plummet.



Also yesterday the Washington Post published a piece by Marc Fisher, William Wan and Jeff Stein noting-- in the midst of a convention where this should be clear-- that some Biden voters are wondering what the party stands for beyond just dumping Trump. They introduced voter in Georgia who "has had it with Trump," but who wants fundamental change and told them she found the convention "very disappointing, a kind of People magazine personal interest story. I’m not voting for a roommate. It’s very easy to show a lot of people’s faces, but that doesn’t tell anybody what you’re going to do for working-class people... [M]aybe I’ll just stay home. Last time, I gritted my teeth and voted for Hillary Clinton, and I really don’t know if I can do that again for another corporate Democrat."

In opinion surveys and dozens of interviews, Democrats see a nation adrift, a people in pain. Together, they yearn for hope and inspiration. They want to be able to trust again-- trust their leaders, institutions and their fellow Americans. Yet like the country as a whole, they fall into sharply divided factions with decidedly different perspectives on what needs to be done and who ought to do it.

...The pandemic, Black Lives Matter and the protests have made it obvious to everyone that we’re in such a tough situation because everyone in the country is not equally protected,” said David Sinaiko, who teaches theater and English at a high school in Marin County north of San Francisco.

Sinaiko has three children in their 20s, and “they’re all dying to see what the future of the Democratic Party will look like,” he said. “So it’s really disappointing that they have their convention and it’s Hillary and Bill Clinton speaking again. The Clintons represent something young people are eager to move on from-- economic policies that created this vast inequality in the country.”

...For the many Americans who don’t follow politics closely, this week is the first major opportunity to see what the Democrats stand for. In Portland, Ore., Andrea Haack hopes the convention will clarify whether the Democratic message is primarily one of relief from Trump or is an assertion that issues such as health care, homelessness, immigration and police reform must be addressed.

Haack, a 45-year-old staffer at Portland State University, grew up believing politics was a tool for change.

“I’m a typical Portland person,” she said. “I wear lots of black. I’m tattooed everywhere. And of course I protest.” She’s been to dozens of marches since high school-- for gay rights, against President George W. Bush, for labor unions.

Haack believes it will be necessary to keep protesting under a Democratic president, to assure that the issues she cares about stay front and center, but she worries that putting too much emphasis on difficult issues during the campaign might backfire.

“The anti-Trump message might work better to pull in right-of-center people, but the policy positions are what are important to people already left-leaning,” Haack said. “How do you thread that needle? I honestly don’t know. Because, to be honest, I don’t know very many Republicans, so I don’t know what would appeal to them.”

Democrats don’t agree on what policies will get the country back on track, but many are united in their craving for a sense of belonging and for a rekindling of the trust they once had in the system and in each other.

Many cited the divide over how to address the coronavirus crisis-- the wildly different attitudes toward wearing masks, opening stores or holding school in-person-- as evidence that too many Americans no longer trust their neighbors, medical and scientific experts or government authorities.

Fifty-seven percent of Americans said in a Pew Research Center poll earlier this year that people mostly look out only for themselves, a number that didn’t vary much according by party affiliation.

Celia Sgroi, a retired city judge in Oswego, NY, near the Canadian border, wants the convention to restore her faith in America. The party’s previous two White House occupants won with messages of hope-- Clinton’s “man from Hope” campaign and Barack Obama’s “hope and change” theme-- and Sgroi now seeks a similar approach from the man who would be the country’s oldest president ever.

“I’m not proud of being American anymore,” she lamented. “I never had the feeling like I do now that people in the world are absolutely disgusted with us. I want a vision for the country, for what I used to think of as America-- a leader in education, science and technology, a country that helps others.”

The country needs an emotional boost, Sgroi said, and so does she.

“I watch MSNBC a couple hours every night, and lately the tone has been ‘We’re all going to die,’ ” she said. “I can’t take much more of that. I don’t want to be hanging black crepe all the time. What I need from the convention is the tiniest sense of hope.”

For three years, Sgroi, 71, has felt as if she were in a waking nightmare.

“I’d like to be able to sleep again,” she said. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve woken up in the middle of night with my mind racing about Trump policies.” Children in cages, bullying, lying, denigrating nicknames for everyone-- “he’s come to be too much of a negative influence in my life, and he’s everywhere. I want him out of my life.”

...At 15, Dhruvak Mirani is already a veteran of several political campaigns; the junior at Glenelg High School in Howard County, Md., sent tens of thousands of texts on behalf of Sanders before he dropped out of the race.

Mirani shifted his support to Biden, if reluctantly. “Look, Joe Biden is a far better alternative than Trump, but it’s not what a lot of people like me were looking for,” he said.

The teen is casting his eye beyond this fall, hoping that the convention will signal what might come after Biden. “I’m curious how long the progressive wing will be okay supporting mainstream centrist candidates that keep undermining progressive movement,” Mirani said. “The primary goal right now is to get Trump out. But what happens after that?”

Levi Bradford, a third-year student at the University of Florida law school, doesn’t want to wait for his party to change.

“I’m kind of conflicted,” said the 25-year-old from Sarasota. “I want them to send a message that we’re all on the same team, and we’re going to get this guy out of office. But at the same time, I want them to recognize that this is not the ideal ticket for a lot of us. I feel like, once we get Trump out of office, that’s great, we’re taking down a demagogue. But how are they actually planning to really revamp the party so it’s more representative of minority voters?”

State Rep. Jon Hoadley is running for the southwest Michigan seat held by Trump bootlick Fred Upton. "From the beginning," Hoadley told me this morning, "my work has been about advocating for people, and that's exactly why I'm running for Congress. I have a reputation as a state legislator as someone who will work with everyone but never lose sight of progressive values. That means making the case for why the old way of doing things isn't working for working people. The real issues facing our families - fighting to get healthy instead of fighting with insurance companies, the ability to trust the water coming out of the faucet, calling out racism and discrimination-- requires leadership. While Congressman Upton may talk the talk on bipartisanship, it's not lost on anyone that during the first two years of Trump's Administration Upton voted for his agenda 96% of the time. We need folks who will take on the challenge of tough policy changes that benefit our communities and working families, and I'm ready to take on that challenge."

Republicans Still Holding Up Pandemic Relief-- Hoping To Make Political Points

Trump has a stronger hand than the Democrats do in the negotiations over the pandemic relief package. That's because he doesn't care about the impact on the American people and even the most conservative and corporatist Democrats do care-- or, at the very least, have to appear to. Trump couldn't care less if millions of people starve or are evicted-- especially if he can blame it on his political opponents.

Yesterday, The Hill reported that Pelosi and Schumer offered a split the difference deal-- the Democrats $3.4 trillion package that passed in May would meet the GOP $1 trillion plan that McConnell proposed in the middle to something between $2 billion and $2.4 billion. Trump refused. At a press conference, Pelosi said "'We'll take down a trillion, if you add a trillion in.' They said absolutely not... I will once again make the offer: We'll come down a trillion, you go up a trillion, and then we'll be within range of each other. But again, this a very different set of values across the table."

Mnuchin confirmed that by calling Pelosi's offer a "non-starter." Trump appears to want to get into a fight with the Democrats by claiming he can fix everything by executive order. He can't. He never quite understood that Congress authorizes spending not presidents or even would-be dictators.

Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT), a senior member of both the Financial Services Committee and the Intelligence Committee has a good overview of this kind of negotiation. "Maybe you can accuse Democrats of being overcomprehensive in our initial offer," he told me yesterday, "but when people are suffering that’s no sin. What is ludicrous is the Republican idea of deductions for fancy business lunches and more fighter planes. And of course, they can’t even pass that awful idea in the Senate."

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) was as brutal in what he had to say about this ugly hostage situation as McConnell and the congressional Republicans deserve: "When Mitch McConnell called himself the Grim Reaper, like most people I assumed he was talking about killing legislation. Sadly it looks like he is taking the self-proclaimed position a bit more literally these days. With more than 1,000 Americans dying every day from COVID-19 and millions out of work, the Republican Senate’s refusal to act on an additional relief package is as heartless as it is stupid. Let’s review the facts: House Democrats passed a bill in May extending unemployment insurance, preventing evictions, funding local government etc. We asked Republicans to work with us and negotiate a compromise. They refused (the Senate Majority Leader even implied states should just go bankrupt). Then they recessed the Senate for half of July wasting more time as relief was set to expire. And now Leader McConnell is negotiating in bad faith and trying to gaslight the American people. Did I miss anything? Oh yeah, don’t be stupid, wear a mask in public!"

Hopefully California Democrat, historian Liam O'Mara will be joining Himes in Congress next year. "There are, indeed," he said, "very different values at play in discussion of pandemic relief. Ken Calvert is whining about the presence of support for cannabis banking protections in the House bill. Excuse me, Congressman?? You have farmers harassed left and right in Riverside County because federal policy is out of touch with both medical needs and reality itself. And helping to protect small farmers and provide relief to patients is a sticking point, while billions is pork to defence contractors is not?? The GOP isn't interested in helping the American people. They are interested in funnelling ever more money into the hands of their corporate overlords, and offer the most minimal relief to ordinary people only when forced. As it stands, the now-expired small business lending system we created for this emergency was extensively raided by profitable corporations, and Calvert voted against oversight for that spending. He wants welfare for the rich, and to hell with stores, restaurants, barbers, and the rest. Ken Calvert will never fight for you-- he will continue to raise your taxes, steal your wealth, and laugh all the way to the bank. It's time we stood up and said no."

Another top Democratic challenger, Mike Siegel, who is running against Trump crony Michael McCaul in central Texas, noted that "Creating a mountain of public money out of thin air to backstop Wall Street and donor interests, while refusing to do the same for working people is sadly par for the course with this corrupt administration. We need new leadership that fully funds solutions that fit the actual scale of the problems we face with the coronavirus and with our crumbling economy."

Kara Eastman, one of the 5 mostly likely Democrats to flip a red district blue, told us that "One of Trump's chief enablers in Congress, Don Bacon, seems to be in line with the Administration's approach. He voted 'no' on the HEROES Act and he's made public statements that show he cares very little about the people in Nebraska who are facing evictions and a loss of unemployment benefits. It's no surprise from a representative who has voted 95% with Trump but it's the opposite of what we need here in Nebraska's Second. If I had been in Congress I would have voted 'yes' for the HEROES Act and I would have strongly pushed for aid for more cities when the CARES act first passed, too. Bacon failed to do so and now Omaha is facing a massive budget shortfall."

State Rep. Jon Hoadley just won her primary in Michigan's 6th congressional district on Tuesday. This morning he told me that his opponent, serial Trump-enabler Fred Upton "stood with Trump against much needed funding for working people, first responders, teachers, and health care workers. Right when Southwest Michigan needs a leader to work on these issues, Upton isn't putting his 33 years in Congress to any use for us. Time for change."

 




Bernie has introduced the Make Billionaires Pay Act which is a one-top 60% tax on billionaires' profits from the pandemic to pay for Americans healthcare costs. Bernie: "The legislation I am introducing today will tax the obscene wealth gains billionaires have made during this extraordinary crisis to guarantee healthcare as a right to all for an entire year. At a time of enormous economic pain and suffering, we have a fundamental choice to make. We can continue to allow the very rich to get much richer while everyone else gets poorer and poorer. Or we can tax the winnings a handful of billionaires made during the pandemic to improve the health and well-being of tens of millions of Americans... In my view, it is time for the Senate to act on behalf of the working class who are hurting like they have never hurt before, not the billionaire class who are doing phenomenally well and have never had it so good... Instead of more tax breaks for the rich while more Americans die because they cannot afford to go to a doctor, let us expand Medicare and save lives by demanding that billionaires pay their fair share of taxes."

Sanders' legislation would cover all medical bills, including prescription drugs and coronavirus-related expenses, over the next 12 months with the tax staying in effect until January 1, 2021.

So who's he talking about? The tax would generate over $421 billion and these 5 would make up for $87.1 billion of it. The amount is how much their wealth grew between March and May

• Jeff Bezos (Amazon)- $71,299,000
• Bill Gates (Microsoft)- $14,452,000
• Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook)- $37,968,000
• Larry Ellison (Oracle)- $13,665,000
• Warren Buffet (Berkshire Hathaway)- 7,791,000

The other big losers would be Jim, Alice and Ron Walton, Steve Balmer, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Michael Bloomberg, Charles and Julia Koch, MacKenzie Scott (+$22,946,000), Phil Knight, Sheldon Adelson, Jacqueline and John Mars, Elon Musk (+$45,902,000), Michael Dell, Jim Simons, Len Blatvatnik, Laureen Powell Jobs, Stephen Schwarzman, Rupert Murdoch... Bezos would pay $42,779,000 and Gates would pay $103,780.Each Koch would pay around $2.6 million and it would only cost Bloomberg $2.7 million. If you're on this list, it's going to cost you; otherwise-- not.