"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross."
-- Sinclair Lewis
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Boehner's "So Be It" Attitude Spills Over Into Polluted Air And Water
>
An innovative American entrepreneur is selling Boehner wha-wha pedals
Having worked really hard for Justin Coussoule, the Democrat who ran hard last fall against John Boehner, it didn't surprise me to find out that a new poll shows that most residents of the district disagree with Boehner's environmental agenda, including the vote last week to block EPA climate regulations.
About 56 percent of registered voters in the Ohio Republican’s district disagree with a GOP-led effort in the House to handcuff EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Public Policy Polling survey released by the Natural Resources Defense Council.
The House on Saturday morning passed a short-term spending package that would prohibit EPA from regulating stationary sources of greenhouse gas emissions.
Nationwide, about 58 percent of registered voters said they oppose the House vote to block EPA from limiting carbon dioxide emissions, the survey says.
...“Politicians who are considering blocking the EPA and updates to Clean Air Act safeguards should understand that doing so is very unpopular. Americans know where these actions will lead and they want their kids to be able to grow up breathing clean air,” said Peter Altman, climate campaign director for the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Justin won't be running against Boehner again in 2012 but he's still as concerned as ever about Boehner's sell-out to corporate interests over the health and well-being of the constituents who elected him.
Having spent nearly all of last year meeting and listening to the voters of Ohio's 8th District, it comes as no surprise to me that John Boehner is completely out of step with the priorities of the men and women he claims to represent, especially on the environment.
I'm not confident that Mr. Boehner could even locate his district on a map of Ohio, so why would he care about global warming or whether his constituents have clean air to breath? Besides, I'm sure the air's just fine in the private Washington clubs and California fairways where Boehner chooses to spend his time.
Of course, his penchant for elite locales far flung from Southwest Ohio notwithstanding, Boehner's abysmal environmental record during his twenty plus years on Capitol Hill, and the fact that Ohio's largest inland lake is both in his district and was completely killed by toxic pollution during his tenure, says it all about Boehner and the environment-- he doesn't get it and he could care less.
This is just more proof that if something gets in the way of the corporate masters who have propped John Boehner up throughout his career (all the way to the Speaker's chair), then he's against it. The people be damned.
Call me a dreamer, but it would be nice if John Boehner started advancing the people's will on issues, like greenhouse gas emissions, instead of just invoking 'the will of the American people' in speeches and then doing the exact opposite of what we actually want.
69 percent of Americans say they favor the EPA updating standards with stricter limits on air pollution. 26 percent oppose-- a 43 point difference.
68 percent believe Congress should NOT stop the EPA from updating these standards. 28 percent say Congress should stop the EPA-- a 39 point difference.
79 percent support stricter limits on the amount of Mercury that power plants and other industrial facilities can release. 18 percent oppose-- a 61 point difference.
77 percent favor stricter limits on the amount of smog that power plants, oil refineries and other industrial facilities can release. 21 percent oppose-- a 56 point difference.
77 percent favor stricter limits on the amount of carbon dioxide that power plants and other industrial facilities can release. 21 percent oppose-- a 56 point difference.
Whose Side Is The DNC On? This Race Would Have Been Very Different If Howard Dean Was Still Running The Show There
>
Anyone else find it strange that the DNC is running this perfectly good ad in lots of districts... except the one where it could do some good-- the one that includes Butler, Darke, Miami, Montgomery, Preble, and Mercer counties in Ohio? And would it have cost extra to include Justin Coussoule's name in the ad? The district polling that has caused Boehner to release half a million dollars in an emergency media buy-- for the first time ever-- shows that 60% of his constituents think he's doing a lousy job. Unfortunately, the same polling shows that Justin's name recognition is weak. That's where having a visionary with heart, like Howard Dean, makes a difference compared to having a political hack like Rahm Emanuel's disastrous choice to replace Dean, anti-Choice conservative Tim Kaine.
Tonight's Random Thoughts... And Our Nightly Contest
>
Remember when people, generally smitten rather than thoughtful ones, were ordaining Obama a transformative leader? Should dangerous Wall Street shill and empty suit Paul Ryan ever become President of the United States, Obama will have been transformative in the same way Franz von Papen was. Or Kurt von Schleicher, the German Chancellor (and monarchist-- i.e., handmaiden to the elites) between von Papen and Hitler. Von Schleicher sought to thwart Hitler's rise to power, first by putting together a bizarre coalition around a concept of a "non-parliamentary, authoritarian but participatory regime," embracing everything from labor unions to "moderate" Nazis. He failed and, less than 2 months after taking office, was replaced by the elites who felt Hitler had matured and could be trusted-- in much the same way Sunday's Cincinnati Enquirerdescribed their imaginary Mean Jean Schmidt in an endorsement. They fired von Schleicher and put in Hitler, certain they could control him, on June 30, 1933. Hitler had von Scheicher murdered 5 months later when it looked like he was trying to bring back the Hohenzollern monarchy to save Germany from the Nazi scourge. Too late! Be warned I'm writing more about Nazis and completely thumbing my nose at Goldwin's Law in the morning.
Now some more Nixonland; this time a little reflection on war. Our military men and women are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan and no one seems quite sure why... or how to make it stop. Back when Nixon was president, it was the GIs in Southeast Asia who were working the hardest and most effectively to end the Vietnam War. Just as I was leaving for Afghanistan in the spring of 1969, Life Magazine started reporting on GI protests and "the terror it struck in the brass."
On March 20, alongside Route 9 by the Laos border, a captain ordered two platoons to wade into heavy enemy fire. They refused to budge: why fight for these cowards who refused to fight for themselves? A lieutenant colonel pleaded, then ordered; fifty-three still refused. They also refused to give their names. No disciplinary action was taken. The brass feared that the mutiny would spread brigade-wide.
The American army was collapsing in the field. "I just work hard at surviving so I can go home and protest the killing," explained one GI. ... In Vietnam soldiers wrote semi-seditious slogans on their helmet headliners ("The unwilling, led by the unqualified, doing the unnecessary, for the ungrateful...) and, caught in infractions, responded, "What are you going to do about it, send me to 'Nam?"
Reporters were noticing that that soldiers were lamenting "which of them would be the last to die for a war that even the president seemed to admit was a mistake?" Seem familiar?
Mike Pence is certainly the most far right member of the House Republican leadership-- and the most independent, kind a conservative loose cannon. His office called and woke me up a few weeks ago when I exposed him as the surreptitious source of the leak about Boehner's affair with printing industry lobbyist, Lisbeth Lyons, for whom Boehner tanked his own district's once burgeoning paper industry which he helped outsource to China. Many people in Washington think he has been considering challenging Boehner for the Speakership if the GOP manages the seize the majority next Tuesday. Earlier today, though, a less than dependable and certainly less than competent Politico reporter, Ben Smith, claimed that Pence may leave the GOP leadership to prepare for a bid for higher office.
Pence, a former hate talk radio announcer, is an ideologue and purity-queen and he probably doesn't want to be constrained by acting like a semi-adult if leadership needs to act that way from time to time. He joined Boehner, Cantor, Ryan, Sessions and the rest of the House leadership in voting in favor of Chinese currency manipulation, product dumping and job outsourcing although most of the GOP caucus ran from that position and voted with the Democrats. On the other hand, when Boehner, Cantor and Ryan were pimping Bush's 2008 no-strings-attached Wall Street bailout (TARP), Pence drew the line and refused to go along. 91 Republicans voted for the bailout in the House, many feeling strong-armed by Boehner, but Pence was one of the 108 Republicans (and 63 Democrats) who voted NO. Right now his story is that he feels like he can't commit to a two-year term in the leadership, although I've never heard of anyone using that excuse before.
Pence also believes that he can be a more effective conservative voice if he is free of the responsibilities that he would have in leadership of a House Republican majority... Pence was the winner of the presidential straw poll at last month’s Values Voter Summit, showing that he’s attracted a lot of buzz within the social conservative movement.
Last night's contest was for a rare autographed Patti Smith print and our winner, picked at random, was... Hilary in Baltimore, Maryland. Tonight's contest is for a box of 20 new CDs including new releases by Linkin Park, Neil Young, The Offspring, Eric Clapton + Steve Winwood, the Doobie Brothers, Green Day, Andy Bell (formerly of Erasure), The Corrs and others. So how to win the box? Well, just the way we did it last night, except tonight for the Blue America ad for Justin Coussoule. The ad is below. You can contribute to keeping it on the air on this ActBlue page.
Yesterday I got a message from a friend in Ohio that that state's Democratic Party, headed by a sleazy and corrupt lobbyist and hack Chris Redfern-- whose heavy handed interference and mindboggling incompetence is virtually just handing the state back to the Republicans-- has removed the Coussoule campaign's access to the state's voter data base, the only way the Ohio Democratic Party has even remotely helped Coussoule's campaign. Redfern and his whole corrupt, conservative establishment is circling the toilet but he apparently thinks his lobbying business will benefit by his having helped John Boehner win another term and, perhaps, the Speakership.
In yesterday's Charlotte Observer, North Carolina's #1 newspaper, there was a glowing endorsement of Elaine Marshall's Senate scrappy insurgent campaign. The endorsement was a slap in the face not just to reactionary corporate shill and incumbent Richard Burr, but also to his pal, sleazy New Jersey ward-heeler and failed DSCC chair Robert Menendez. Marshall, they enthused, "dove into this year's Senate race without Democratic Party backing, yet beat the party's hand-picked choice in the primary. 'I don't have to vote with the Senate leadership,' she told us. 'I wasn't their pick'."
Not only was she not their pick, when North Carolina Democrats let Menendez know what he could do with his pick-- and handed the progressive, activist Marshall a decisive win against the corporate-oriented slug-- Menendez took his toys and ran back to Washington. He had forced Marshall to spend almost a million dollars to win a primary fight he insisted on-- even after she won the first round-- and since then has studiously, many would say vindictively, ignored North Carolina, easily the Democrats' best chance of picking up a GOP-held seat in the entire country.
From the time he handed Scott Brown Teddy Kennedy's Senate seat in Massachusetts, right through all his wrong-headed primary meddling, Menendez's place in history has been assured: the worst DSCC Chair ever. He has been the driving force in making John Cornyn look astute and in turning a filibuster-proof Democratic majority into a hodge podge that may or may not be able to cling to a bare majority. Out of touch, self-serving political hacks like Menendez and Redfern are managing to emphasize that the Democratic Party, despite the disciples of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt at the grassroots level is anything but a peoples' party.
Yesterday a friend of mine, Ari Berman, author of the brilliant new book, Herding Donkeys: The Fight to Rebuild the Democratic Party and Reshape American Politics, published an incisive OdEd in the NY Times about the damage Blue Dogs and ConservaDems have done to the Democratic Party and, thereby, to the one hope that working families have for a fair shake in this country. And it isn't only Blue Dogs and ConservaDems, but the political bosses like Redfern, Menendez and, of course, Rahm Emanuel, whose milieu they swim in.
Berman asks how Obama's breathtaking victory just two years ago could have turned to such bitter ashes today. "One important explanation," he begins, "is that divisions inside the Democratic coalition, which held together during the 2008 campaign, have come spilling out into the open. Conservative Democrats have opposed key elements of the president’s agenda, while liberal Democrats have howled that their majority is being hijacked by a rogue group of predominantly white men from small rural states. President Obama himself appears caught in the middle, unable to satisfy the many factions inside his party’s big tent." Even inside the DCCC, which should be theoretically controlled by Pelosi and her sluggish assistant, Chris Van Hollen, a rogue bunch of Emanuel leftovers, basically Jon Vogel and John Lapp-- each of whom has ownership stakes in outside consulting firms (which we'll be discussing at greater length on November 3)-- has taken it upon themselves, for curious reasons (more on... November 3), to bolster the campaigns of violently anti-Obama, anti-family reactionaries like Bobby Bright (see the Blue America response in the video above, which is running as an ad in the Democratic-leaning counties of his Alabama district), Travis Childers, Baron Hill, Ann Kirkpatrick, Harry Mitchell, Joe Donnelly, and Frank Kratovil, while ignoring not just progressive challengers, but even tried and true progressive incumbents like Alan Grayson, Raul Grijalva, Mary Jo Kilroy and Carol Shea Porter.
Conservative Democrats in the House of Representatives-- whose election in 2006 and 2008 enabled Nancy Pelosi to preside over a supermajority (there are 255 Democrats and 178 Republicans)-- increasingly question whether she should relinquish her position as speaker. Representative Heath Shuler of western North Carolina, a leader of the restive Blue Dog Coalition of Democrats, has even hinted that he may run for her job. Representative Shuler is an unlikely candidate for leader of the party-- a devout Southern Baptist who voted against the stimulus, the bank and auto bailouts and health care reform. Yet he’s exactly the kind of Democrat that the party worked very hard to recruit for public office.
In 2005, Howard Dean, who was then the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, carried out a campaign to elect as many Democrats as possible. In long-ignored red states, both Mr. Dean and Rahm Emanuel, then the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, backed conservative Democrats who broke with the party’s leadership on core issues like gun control and abortion rights. Mr. Shuler was one of Mr. Emanuel’s top recruits. The party leaders did not give much thought to how a Democratic majority that included such conservative members could ever effectively govern.
With President Obama in office, some notable beneficiaries of the Democrats’ 50-state strategy have been antagonizing the party from within-- causing legislative stalemate in Congress, especially in the Senate, and casting doubt on the long-term viability of a Democratic majority. As a result, the activists who were so inspired by Mr. Dean in 2006 and Mr. Obama in 2008 are now feeling buyer’s remorse.
Margaret Johnson, a former party chairwoman in Polk County, N.C., helped elect Representative Shuler but now believes the party would be better off without him. “I’d rather have a real Republican than a fake Democrat,” she said. “A real Republican motivates us to work. A fake Democrat de-motivates us.”
Ms. Johnson is right: Democrats would be in better shape, and would accomplish more, with a smaller and more ideologically cohesive caucus. It’s a sentiment that even Mr. Dean now echoes. “Having a big, open-tent Democratic Party is great, but not at the cost of getting nothing done,” he said. Since the passage of health care reform, few major bills have passed the Senate. Although the Democrats have a 59-vote majority, party leaders can barely find the votes for something as benign as extending unemployment benefits. A smaller majority, minus the intraparty feuding, could benefit Democrats in two ways: first, it could enable them to devise cleaner pieces of legislation, without blatantly trading pork for votes as they did with the deals that helped sour the public on the health care bill. (As a corollary, the narrative of “Democratic infighting” would also diminish.)
Second, in the Senate, having a majority of 52 rather than 59 or 60 would force Democrats to confront the Republicans’ incessant misuse of the filibuster to require that any piece of legislation garner a minimum of 60 votes to become law. Since President Obama’s election, more than 420 bills have cleared the House but have sat dormant in the Senate. It’s easy to forget that George W. Bush passed his controversial 2003 tax cut legislation with only 50 votes, plus Vice President Dick Cheney’s. Eternal gridlock is not inevitable unless Democrats allow it to be.
Republicans have become obsessed with ideological purity, and as a consequence they will likely squander a few winnable races in places like Delaware. But Democrats aren’t ideological enough. Their conservative contingent has so blurred what it means to be a Democrat that the party itself can barely find its way. Polls show that, despite their best efforts to distance themselves from Speaker Pelosi and President Obama, a number of Blue Dog Democrats are likely to be defeated this November. Their conservative voting records have deflated Democratic activists but have done nothing to win Republican support.
Far from hastening the dawn of a post-partisan utopia, President Obama’s election has led to near-absolute polarization. If Democrats alter their political strategy accordingly, they’ll be more united and more productive.
Although he was asked, for the sake of some semblance of party unity, to back off, what Berman is saying is very much what the dean of California's congressional delegation said this summer: the Democrats would be better off without the Blue Dogs.
“I think a lot of the House seats we’re going to lose are those who have been the toughest for the Democrats to pull into line-- the Democrats that have been the most difficult,” Waxman said.
Waxman, one of the Democratic Party’s stalwarts, is simply voicing publicly what many in his party have said privately as the reality of the looming November elections sets in. If Democrats retain a majority, it will be smaller but more cohesive.
As Waxman sees it, the fractious coalition of Democrats that House leaders have cobbled together to pass sweeping healthcare and energy bills is not markedly different from the bipartisanship of the past, when Democrats partnered with centrist and liberal Republicans, whom Waxman says are “practically nonexistent at the moment.”
“We’ve been trying to get the Democratic conservatives together with the rest of the Democratic Party, so in effect we’ve gotten bipartisan support among Democrats in the House,” the chairman said with a laugh. “Now we’ll have to work on genuine bipartisanship in the future.”
The Bobby Bright Blue America ads were paid for with a single contribution from a dedicated progressive who feels much the same way about this that Henry Waxman and Ari Berman feel. But if you'd like to chip in a little to hammer home the message... here's The Bobby Bright Page on ActBlue.
UPDATE: And Don't Forget The New Dem Coalition
They're a couple steps further away from the white sheets and hoods than the Blue Dogs, with this group of conservative Democrats has been nearly as lethal, especially when it comes to protecting their corporate benefactors. Sebastian Jones and Marcus Stern blew the whistle on these bad dogs at ProPublica today. Usually the ugly public faces of the New Dems have been Illinois corporate whores Rahm Emanuel and Melissa Bean but right now the chairman of the corporate Wall Street bagmen is Joseph Crowley, whose under investigation for collecting bribery checks. A congressional friend of mine told me the Democratic Caucus has decided to elevate him in the leadership-- and probably not in spite of all the bribes he takes but because of them! After all, they reason, how can the Democrats fight Boehner, Cantor, Ryan and that lot without people just an unsavory and criminally-minded?
In a review of data collected by the nonprofit Sunlight Foundation, ProPublica found that at least 16 other New Democrats also held fundraisers in the days leading up to the December vote on Wall Street reform. Several explicitly mentioned their membership in the New Democrat Coalition or their seat on the Financial Services Committee on invitations distributed to lobbyists.
Throughout their rise to power, the New Democrats have maintained that their pro-business positions are based not on the campaign contributions they receive but on their personal convictions, their experiences in the private sector, and on the politics of the affluent suburban districts many of them represent.
Staffers for the New Democrat Coalition refused to answer questions on the record, but the group's spokesperson, Natalie Thorpe, read a one-sentence statement over the phone: "The fundraising activities of the NewDemPAC are completely separate from the New Democrat Coalition and have no effect on the official work of the coalition or the positions taken by our members."
...The Blue Dogs took the lead in protecting business interests during healthcare reform. Although the Blue Dogs and the New Democrats have much in common, including 21 members and many of the same K Street backers, there are differences as well. Because of their generally Southern and rural constituencies, the Blue Dogs’ top concerns involve the national debt, energy legislation and social issues. The New Democrats represent suburban districts, some of them solidly Democratic, and are more interested in hi-tech industries, trade policy and finance.
This evening the extremely right wing Gannett Corp newspaper in Cincinnati, the Enquirer, as expected, endorsed all the regional GOP candidates for Congress: Mean Jean Schmidt, Steve Chabot and, needless to say, John Boehner. The page is a tutorial on the reactionary instincts of the small-minded, stultified, fearful and confused petit bourgeouisie that is presiding over the unwinding of the great American experiment. One line sums it all up:
Democratic challenger Justin Coussoule has an impressive background of military service and business experience, but little in the way of political or financial resources.
And "little in the way of financial resources" is a detriment to public service? Certainly in the narrow minds of the Enquirer editorial board it is. They couldn't name a single thing Boehner has ever done for southwest Ohio-- mostly because, as they well know, he hasn't done a thing. But imagine the feeling of self-importance these worms will feel if "their" congressman is Speaker!
The first two comments are more interesting that the endorsement:
wendy64 wrote:
Amazing. They don't even pretend to have good reasons for these endorsements which to me, is a good enough reason to vote against them.. Hope the winning candidates remember, the Enquirer can be stiffed for interviews at any time.
ChapelHillWHODEY wrote:
20 years of Boehner - the Enquirer can't name ONE thing Boehner has done for the district. Oh, he supports "pragmatic Conservative values." Such as...?? He voted for a HUGE bank bailout. He helped craft the "Contract With America" that included a 12 yr term limits pledge and has exceeded that promise by nearly a decade.
He "counters" that his STAFF is adept at constituent relations? IF they're ever around, they nod, say thanks and send you on your way with no real interaction or dedication to exploring your concerns.
Boehner got $$$ from SALLIE MAE and then voted against student loan consolidation and lowering interest rates. Boehner got $$$ from the Univ. of Phoenix Online and then voted to make "online universities" legit (and now they're defrauding students, according to the GAO). Boehner got $$$ from big health insurers and then voted against Health Care. Boehner voted FOR Big Tobacco then handed out their $$$ on the floor of Congress.
BOEHNER IS CORRUPT.
Help Justin fight back here so we can keep this ad running right through election day:
You may have read about our radio buy in Bobby Bright's Alabama district earlier in the week. Congressman Bright didn't like the idea of a progressive group like Blue America engaging Democrats in this race. His spokesperson told Alex Isenstadt of Politico that "It’s not surprising that partisan political organizations on both sides of the aisle would take issue with Congressman Bright being the most independent member of Congress. Standing up to political parties and special interests to do what’s right for his district will naturally upset those who want him to toe the party line. Congressman Bright will continue to be an independent voice for those he represents and is looking forward to receiving the support from the only group that matters: voters in the 2nd Congressional District of Alabama."
His own media ad campaign is aimed squarely in a very different set of voters than the true blue Democrats our ads were talking to. Bragging that he's voted 80% of the time with Boehner and that he won't help the Democrats win the leadership of the next Congress may work well in the rich, white suburbs of Montgomery with McCain voters-- Bright's political strategy every day of his life-- but we think the Obama voters in Barbour, Lowndes, Butler and Bullock counties needed to be part of the conversation too-- and hear just what Bright is telling his target audience.
So today we released a TV spot to further bolster our message. You can watch it up top. The ad was paid for by one donor and no money donated to the Blue America PAC has gone into making the ads or running them-- except the money raised at The Bobby Bright Page, and if you'd like to kick in there... well, we can run it longer and wider.
But running ads with the express purpose of defeating the most reactionary Blue Dog in the House isn't all Blue America is up to in the final two weeks of the campaign. Thanks to generous contributions we've been able to aggressively up our TV ad schedules on southwest Ohio for Justin Coussoule and in northwest North Carolina for Billy Kennedy. The DCCC has point blank refused to help either candidate. They're spending all their money on anti-Choice, antigay, anti-healthcare, anti-reform conservatives like Bobby Bright instead. As of yesterday they'd poured $1,135,508.95 in attack ads alone into Bright's campaign. Nothing for Justin; nothing for Billy. Both of them have made gigantic strides against, respectively, John Boehner and Virginia Foxx. The biggest newspaper in NC-5, the Winston-Salem Journal, broke with its former editorial stance and endorsed Billy, pointing out that Foxx "has angered and embarrassed many with her sometimes wild statements" and recommending that "it’s time for a fresh, progressive voice in the 5th District. We believe that Democrat Billy Kennedy, a Watauga farmer and carpenter who says he’ll work to reverse the high rate of unemployment in the district, is that voice. He’s the best candidate in the Nov. 2 election for the 5th District." Billy then went on to win both debates hands down. The problem, of course, is name recognition. Billy isn't a wealthy man; like the editorial says, he's a farmer and a carpenter-- a regular middle class working man. He's not friends with millionaires and he isn't promising to do any favors with special interests or carry water for Wall Street or China. So he hasn't had the money to reach all the voters across the sprawling, unfocused district. That's where a competent and vibrant DCCC would come in. Would. Instead, it's up to grassroots efforts that Billy's feisty volunteers are making and up to whatever we can do for him.
Click the graphic on each of these ads
It's very much the same story for Justin Coussoule. He's made immense progress, But he's up against a name recognition problem. The only public polling in the district-- which was carried out independently last week by the Hilary Clinton Legacy PAC-- shows the district doesn't like Boehner and doesn't want to re-elect him. But they don't know who's running against him. Again, thanks, DCCC. "Boehner is leading his Democratic opponent Justin Coussoule 30.4 percent to 19.6 percent." But the poll found that three quarters of congressional district residents have never heard of Coussoule and that an astounding 60% of the respondents rated Boehner's job performance as "unsatisfactory." Justin has been endorsed by Congress' most outstanding progressive leaders, Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Alan Grayson (D-FL), Mary Jo Kilroy (D-OH), Betty Sutton (D-OH), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Bob Filner (D-CA), Henry Waxman (D-CA), Barney Frank (D-MA), and Jim McDermott (D-WA) as well as by organizations like VetPAC, People for the American Way, the Alliance for Retired Americans, DFA and all the labor unions active in southwestern Ohio, from the AFL-CIO to the United Steel Workers, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the Teamsters, Firefighters, Auto Workers, Laborers, Machinists and Electrical Workers. But no DCCC. If you want to donate to our newest TV spot-- or even see it-- you can do that here. The web-ad at the top of this paragraph, though, is something we're getting out to over 330,000 voting age residents of OH-8. (In 2008, a presidential year, 297,000 people voted in the congressional election in this district and in the last midterm it was 207,000.)
Yesterday Digby penned a Blue America donor letter to our members which read, in part:
A lot of people are trying to say that all politicians are the same, that your vote doesn't matter. Well, let's look at the evidence. In the last month, here are some headlines about politicians.
"Democrat Alan Grayson Calls for Foreclosure Moratorium"
"Democrat Ohio Secretary of State Attacks Foreclosure Fraud"
"President Obama Pocket Vetos Pro-Bank Bill That Would Increase Foreclosures"
"Democrat Harry Reid Calls for Foreclosure Moratorium"
"Democrat Nancy Pelosi Calls for Investigations of Foreclosure Fraud"
"Democrat Ohio Attorney General Attacks Foreclosure Fraud, Sues GMAC"
"Democrat Illinois Attorney General Asks for Foreclosure Halt in Illinois"
"Democrat Maxine Waters Calls for a Foreclosure Freeze"
"Democrats Alan Grayson, Barney Frank, and Corrine Brown Call for Fannie to Stop Working with Foreclosure 'Mills' Being Investigated for Fraud"
"Democrat Earl Blumenaur Asks for a Foreclosure Freeze in Oregon"
"Democrat Jeff Merkley Calls for a Special Investigator for Foreclosure Fraud"
"Democrats Luis Gutierrez and Dennis Moore Call for Investigations of Bailout Recipients Engaging in Foreclosure Fraud"
"Democrat Attorney General in California Asks for Foreclosure Halt"
"Democrat Attorney General in Massachusetts Asks for Foreclosure Halt"
Notice a pattern here? If not, let me give you another hint.
"Republican Richard Shelby Tries to Weaken Rules, Kicks Regulators"
And people wonder why banks and corporations are spending $5 billion on this election, nearly all of that for Republicans.
We think this shows the fundamental difference between the two parties. With the exception of some Blue Dogs and Conservadems, most Democrats have rallied instinctively to the side of the average citizen caught in this foreclosure fraud mess. The national Republicans have rallied to the side of the banks and Wall Street. As usual.
We will be running some web based local newspaper ads in the closing days of this election asking people to vote for some of our Blue America candidates who have been out front on this issue. And we could use your help to pay for them.
This foreclosure fraud issue is still unfolding before our eyes and we don't know where it will lead. But we know for sure that unless we have these progressives in congress, average working Americans and their families will be the ones left holding the bag.
Please donate to this campaign by hitting the link above and giving to Blue America PAC. (And if you happen to feel like passing a few dollars to our worthy candidates on the way, we're sure they would appreciate it.)
And these ads aren't just for Justin. We're running them for Mary Jo Kilroy in Columbus, Alan Grayson in Orlando and Raul Grijalva in Tucson, three proven progressives who have stood up and fought time after time against the corporate interests and for ordinary American working families. We think it's the least we could do. We wish we could do more. If you can, please chip in. A little inspiration-- this is the ad Earl Blumenauer is running on TV in his Oregon district. It's the polar opposite of the ads Bobby Bright is running. And I want you to know that Earl has reached out and shared some of his own contributions with some of the struggling progressives-- like Justin Coussoule-- who have been ignored by the DCCC. This is the kind of positive, inspiring ad Democrats should be running everywhere:
The Republicans See An Opportunity To Fulfill A Long Sought Dream-- Dismantling Social Security
>
"John Boehner has suggested the Social Security age should be raised to 70. His Republican colleagues have called for privatization or elimination of the Social Security program altogether, even after the economic meltdown of the past decade. In fact, there has never been a greater need for the safety net Social Security provides our senior citizens. Mr. Boehner's priorities are more than a little backward if he wants to give money to the wealthiest 2% of Americans through unfunded tax cuts and then rob our seniors of the security of a program they've paid into all their lives."
The above quote is from Justin Coussoule, the progressive Democrat running for the southwestern Ohio congressional seat currently held-- for the past two decades-- by John Boehner, the man with pretensions towards the Speakers Chair. This week Justin joined with Kentucky Attorney General, and Senate candidate, Jack Conway, and more than 200 other incumbents and Democratic challengers in signing a pledge to protect Social Security from the forces at work attempting to privatize it or dismantle it. Dozens of Republican candidates are claiming, like their antecedents in the 1930s and '40s did, that the program is unconstitutional, as though any of them had a clue or a care about the Constitution. The pledge states unequivocally that the candidates won’t privatize Social Security, either partially or fully, or allow the retirement age to go up, no matter how many times Big Business shills like Sharron Angle shriek incomprehensibly about "manning up."
You can find the growing list of candidates and incumbents at the PCCC website, SocialSecurityProtectors.com. Meanwhile Raúl Grijalva, Chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and one of the original signers of the pledge, sent a letter to President Obama, signed by 136 incumbents, firmly opposing any Social Security cuts. Along with Dan Maffei (D-NY) and John Conyers (D-MI) Grijalva has been working on their letter for several months. Grijalva is eager to point out that "there’s simply no reason to cut Social Security, and now we see just how much support we have across the country. The uninformed and misguided belief that it will reduce the deficit is dangerous for America’s current retirees, working families and students who will soon enter the workforce. Social Security is a fundamental compact between the government and the American people, and it’s not on the negotiating table in this Congress or the next Congress.”
Obama’s deficit commission, something that could easily prove to be the death knell of an already shaky presidency, and which is meeting in secret to plan ways to cut the budget deficit, will need a combination of Republicans and conservative Democrats in Congress if it wants to pass any Social Security reductions. The 136 Democrats who signed on mean there is no other way to pass it other than for the conservatives-- all the Republicans and whichever Blue Dogs and their fellow travelers remaining after November 2-- to come out of their closet and show America that they are all basically Pat Toomey, Sharron Angle, Rand Paul, Ken Buck, Joe Miller, Ron Johnson, Marco Rubio and the other right-wing extremists whose contempt for ordinary working families has been bubbling over and unbounded.
“Social Security is not a gift, it’s a fundamental part of our social fabric and national support network,” said Grijalva. “This is not something you can just turn off or tune out.” This is the letter they sent to the President.
Dear Mr. President,
We write today to express our strong support for Social Security and our view that it should be strengthened. We oppose any cuts to Social Security benefits, including raising the retirement age. We also oppose any effort to privatize Social Security, in whole or in part.
You have charged the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform with proposing recommendations that improve the long-term fiscal outlook and address the growth of entitlement spending. It is our view that Social Security-- which is prohibited by law from adding to the national budget deficit-- does not belong as part of those recommendations.
By 2023, Social Security will have built up a $4.3 trillion surplus, and, without any action, can pay full benefits until 2037 and at least 75 percent of all benefits thereafter. Because Social Security is funded separately from the general treasury and has no borrowing authority, it has not contributed to the federal deficit. Despite these facts, some Commission members have repeatedly alleged the need to cut Social Security for budgetary reasons.
For 75 years, Social Security has been a promise to the American people that if they work hard and pay their fair share, they will have a financially secure retirement. In communities across this country, Social Security benefits are often the only source of income helping families maintain a decent standard of living. Social Security’s benefits are modest, averaging less than $13,000 a year, but they are vital to the vast majority of Americans who receive them.
Cutting Social Security benefits beyond the already scheduled increase in the retirement age from 65 to 67 would create even more needless hardship for millions of vulnerable Americans. This is especially true in the face of an economic downturn that has wiped out trillions of dollars that Americans were relying on for their retirement security and the increased dismantlement of the private and public pension systems.
If any of the Commission’s recommendations cut or diminish Social Security in any way, we will stand firmly against them. We urge you to join us in protecting and strengthening Social Security rather than letting it fall victim to a misguided attempt to reduce budget deficits on the backs of working families.
As for the pledge, every Blue America-endorsed candidate has signed it-- incumbents Alan Grayson, Mary Jo Kilroy and, of course, Raúl Grijalva as well as challengers Bill Hedrick, Beth Krom, Fred Johnson, Tarryl Clark, Billy Kennedy, Ann Kuster, Ed Potosnak, Justin Coussoule, and Joyce Elliott.
Let me go back to Coussoule for a moment, since he's how we started and his opponent is the one likely to make the first move against Social Security if-- as looks disturbingly possible-- he gets the opportunity. Below are two ads. The first is the Coussoule campaign's TV spot and the second is the Blue America TV spot. This page affords you the opportunity to donate to the one you like better-- or, hopefully, to both of them. Both are running in Ohio's eighth CD now. Both need some help staying on the air 'til November 2nd. If you want to see the first ad stay on 'til the end, put your money in the slot that says "Justin Coussoule." If you want to see the second ad on all the way to the finish line, put your money in the slot that says "Blue America PAC." The link again is here: Time For Boehner To Retire.
Meet Donnie Blatt Of The United Steel Workers-- From Boehner's Ohio District
>
John Boehner has never met a "free" trade agreement has hasn't liked... never. And he's voted for and whipped for every one of them, from NAFTA and CAFTA and WTO/GATT to special treatment for China and fast track legislation for every low-wage anti-union hellhole on the face of the earth. Just 2 weeks ago Boehner led the opposition to ending Chinese currency manipulation and failed so dramatically that most of the Republicans in his own caucus-- 99 of them-- abandoned him and fled across the aisle to vote with the Democrats (and America). I asked the bill's sponsor, Tim Ryan, also of Ohio, why Boehner would be at odds with working people in Ohio who are so nervous about middle class jobs being outsourced, and at odds with the majority of Republicans. Rep. Ryan pointed out that Boehner and his entire leadership team (Eric Cantor, Mike Pence, Pete Sessions, Paul Ryan, David Dreier, etc) voted against the bill because they have to work with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce which is raising millions of dollars from foreign sources, including China, of course, to influence the outcome of the elections in favor of "free" trade and a wide agenda that weakens America. I was flabbergasted to hear Ryan lay it out in such a straightforward way.
Today, I want to introduce you with someone who has been working on this issue for some time, Donnie Blatt of the United Steel Workers. He sought help from his congressman to stave off the shipping of paper manufacturing jobs-- and the paper industry-- to China. His congressman, however, is John Boehner. Donnie sent this today:
I have been hearing about your articles concerning Ohio Congressman John Boehner (R) in the 8th Congressional District and his lack of response and attention to China’s violations of the World Trade Organization (WTO) rules and their dumping of yet another manufactured product in the United States, this time coated paper, and the harm these violations have done to our domestic markets in the United States. I wanted to tell you about my personal experience with Mr. Boehner’s Congressional Office in West Chester, OH when we went to talk on this particular issue.
First let me say, I am a representative of the United Steelworkers in District 1 which covers the State of Ohio and we represent the workers at many paper companies, some in Congressman Boehner’s District, so this is an issue we have paid close attention to and are working with as many Congressmen and Senators to take whatever steps possible to level the playing field for domestic workers in this industry in the United States. When our Organization recognized China was again violating the rules they agreed to abide by when becoming a member of the WTO we filed a case in front of the International Trade Commission as we have done in the past with other manufactured products such as small passenger and light weight truck tires, steel welded tubing and others.
Since the year 2002 the United States has lost approximately 30% of its domestic paper industry because of rising imports of cheap paper products from China. Although China violates human rights and worker rights everyday and manipulates its currency this particular case goes even a step further. Since the year 2002 the Chinese government has provided over $30 billion in subsidies to their paper industry which another direct violation of the WTO. China doesn’t have a huge timber industry so they have to import pulp and recycled paper to support their paper industry. This is pretty expensive for the industry because of transportation cost but the money they save on cheap labor makes the transportation costs a wash. The government subsidies are what have made the imports of coated paper products so cheap which are a direct violation of the rules of the World Trade Organization.
We met with some representatives of Congressman Boehner’s office in West Chester, OH along with some workers from his District that work at Appleton Paper. Appleton Paper, by the way, was a participant with the United Steelworkers in filing the unfair trade case to the International Trade Commission. Congressman Boehner did not meet with us as he never does, but we talked to the staff in this Congressional Office about this case and the harm China’s violations were doing to the US domestic paper industry. The office staff listened to us but their first concern was whether we had contacted the media about our meeting and if we planned to talk to the media about this issue. Our purpose was to get Congressman Boehner to sign on to a letter with other Congressmen and woman asking President Obama to use all remedy options at his disposal, including the maximum tariff on coated paper from China to level the playing field for our domestic industries and workers. The Congressman never did contact any of us who met with the office staff about the issue but they put out a statement saying Congressman Boehner thought we ought to be doing more trade agreements with China and other countries just like the ones that have lost over 8 million manufacturing jobs in the U.S. since the year 2000.
It is clear to me and obvious to the workers in our domestic paper industry that Congressman Boehner’s agenda only includes things that are good for “Multi-National Corporate America” and not the workers of the 8th Congressional District or the United States of America. This is why we support his opponent, Justin Coussoule to be the next Congressman in Ohio’s 8th Congressional District.
–Donnie Blatt, United Steelworkers
This is the letter, which Boehner refused to sign on to, although dozens of conservative Republicans did, including Senator Jim Bunning (KY), 4th ranking GOP House member Thaddeus McCotter (MI), and senior Ohio Republicans Mike Turner and Steve LaTourette.
Some in Washington say that Boehner betrayed paper workers in Ohio because of his close relationship, exposed by rival Mike Pence, to Lisbeth Lyons, a lobbyist for the printing industry, which seeks cheap paper. Boehner and Lyons refuse to confirm (or deny) the relationship. But what they can't deny is that Boehner has been a key player in a policy that has destroyed hundreds of thousands of jobs in his own state and his own district and is one of the architects of the de-industrialization of the United States. It's time to say ENOUGH. He's campaigning on more unbalanced "free" trade agreements with Colombia and South Korea and a handful of other low-wage countries. Is that what Ohio voters want? Is it what any of us want? This "free" trade madness has to stop-- on both sides of the aisle, which is why Blue America is asking for contributions to help us put this ad on TV in Ohio's eighth congressional district:
You can donate to the Blue America PAC here or, if this ad isn't the way you think we should go about this... donate directly to Justin Coussoule on the same page.
The Wall Street Journal Almost Gets It Right On Trade Issues... Almost
>
In their headline yesterday, the Journal trumpeted Americans Sour On Trade. That's patently ridiculous, of course but what increasing numbers of Americans are souring on are unfair, Big Business "Free Trade" policies that have been used to fatten corporate bottom lines, while systematically dismantling the American manufacturing base, shipping millions of middle class jobs to low wage hellholes, and driving down the cost of labor, long a right wing nirvana, here in America. The Journal, one of the worst proponents of these policies seems almost surprised Americans are "becoming increasing hostile to it," worried that potentially devastating "free trade" pacts with Colombia and South Korea-- being vigorously pushed by Boehner and the Republican House caucus-- could fail. Americans are pro-trade and pro-fair trade and are no longer buying into corporate lies about what they call "free trade."
In the latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, more than half of those surveyed, 53%, said free-trade agreements have hurt the U.S. That is up from 46% three years ago and 32% in 1999.
Even Americans most likely to be winners from trade-- upper-income, well-educated professionals, whose jobs are less likely to go overseas and whose industries are often buoyed by demand from international markets-- are increasingly skeptical. [Less likely... but not as less likely as was once thought.]
"The important change is that very well-educated and upper-income people compared to five to 10 years ago have shifted their opinion and are now expressing significant concern about the notion of...free trade," said Bill McInturff, a Republican pollster who helps conduct the Journal survey. Among those earning $75,000 or more, 50% now say free-trade pacts have hurt the U.S., up from 24% who said the same in 1999.
Worries about side effects of trade and outsourcing seem one of the few issues on which Americans of different classes, occupations and political persuasions agree. The vote in the House last week to arm the administration with more levers to pressure China to let its currency rise, and thus restrain its export machine, was bipartisan: 249 Democrats and 99 Republicans voted for it.
...In the recent Journal poll, 83% of blue-collar workers agreed that outsourcing of manufacturing to foreign countries with lower wages was a reason the U.S. economy was struggling and more people weren't being hired; no other factor was so often cited for current economic ills. Among professionals and managers, the sentiment was even stronger: 95% of them blamed outsourcing.
...Some Republicans are reasserting their commitment to trade. The Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Ohio, former U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman, is leading in the polls. Others are quiet. The House Republicans' recent "Pledge to America" doesn't mention free trade. And of eight tea party Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate, only two mention support for free trade on their websites. In the Journal poll, 61% of those who identify themselves as tea-party supporters say trade agreements have hurt the U.S.
As we mentioned before, when Boehner and the GOP House leadership decided to support China's currency manipulations against the dollar, 99 Republicans immediately crossed the aisle and voted with the Democrats. Boehner was left with a mere 74 Republican votes with his inherently anti-jobs policy. In his own hard-hit state of Ohio, not only did every Democrat support the bill, but so did the three senior Republicans in the state delegation-- Steve LaTourette, Pat Tiberi and Michael Turner-- plus Steve Austria. The only Ohio Congressmembers the would-be Speaker managed to hang onto were pathetic backbenchers who and all dependent on Boehner's goodwill for their campaign financing: Jim Jordan, Bob Latta and Mean Jean Schmidt.
Boehner's Democratic opponent, Justin Coussoule, is basing much of his campaign on getting Ohioans back to work and constantly points out how Boehner's corporate agenda has wrecked Ohio's economy and devastated the middle class in his own district. Many feel it is the primary reason Boehner has adamantly refused every non-partisan invitation to debate the issues with Coussoule. "What's he going to say," asked Coussoule rhetorically, "that shipping good paying American jobs to China and Vietnam is good for the corporate donors who are pouring tens of millions of dollars into GOP campaign coffers this year?"
A Democratic Senator who has fought vigorously against NAFTA and special status for China and the unfair trade policies that have been so destructive to this country is, unsurprisingly, Russ Feingold (D-WI). And he's battling a corporate shill and multimillionaire who has a long record of supporting exactly the kinds of unfair trade policies Americans are sick of, Ron Johnson. "These unfair trade deals," a Wisconsin Democratic Party spokesman told us, "have led directly to at least 64,000 Wisconsin workers losing their jobs. Nationally, 5.6 million jobs were lost or displaced by the trade deficit... While Russ has opposed all unfair trade deals like NAFTA, when Ron Johnson was specifically asked by the media if he supported NAFTA, Most Favored Nation trading status for China and the Korean trade deal currently before the U.S. Senate, Johnson said he supported those deals, saying: 'I’m definitely supportive'.”
In a follow-up question from the media, Johnson celebrated unfair trade deals as “creative destruction."
WisPolitics Moderator: "You're supportive of these free trade agreements? Because some manufacturers here, they blame those free trade agreements somewhat for hurting their business. I don’t know which companies but I've heard that from executives in Wisconsin because the manufacturing job loss has been so great here in this state.”
Ron Johnson: Well in a free market capitalist system there are always winners and losers. It's creative destruction. That just happens. It's unfortunate. But let’s face it, if it weren't for that we'd still have buggy whip companies.”
Sounds like he's been drinking from the same Ayn Rand cup of nonsense that has made Paul Ryan drunk and dangerous. Ryan, of course, was one of Boehner's top supporters in their failed attempt on behalf of Chinese currency manipulation. Another one of the Republicans who has stuck with Boehner on these misguided trade policies is Iowa sociopath Steve King. He was one of the minority of the minority who voted in favor of Chinese currency manipulation, something that costs Americans billions of dollars in lost jobs growth. You may recall that back in July we spoke with King's opponent, tax expert Matthew Campbell who did a guest post here about preserving Social Security by making the wealthy pay their fair share of the payroll tax, just like everyone else does. This morning Matthew, an avid pro-trade Democrat, told us he would have voted for Tim Ryan's Currency Reform Act for Fair Trade that Steve King voted against. "House GOP members such as Steve King are evidently more concerned with Chinese jobs rather than U.S. jobs. We shouldn't allow China to continue to have an artificial advantage in the global economy that goes against America's self-interest to have a strong manufacturing base and strong middle class in the U.S. It is wrong that China doesn't let is currency float. This is giving the Chinese currency an artificial advantage in the global marketplace of up to 30% that is gutting the American manufacturing base and costing American jobs. Americans are committed to foreign trade, they just want to make sure its fair trade and that it's leaders aren't asleep at the wheel hurting America's self-interest." No one should be elected to Congress, regardless of political party, who doesn't commit to the same point of view. And if you'd like to help Matt out against King, you can do it here.
Across America, Just Like In California, The DCCC Has Its Priorities Ass Backwards-- And Is Giving Away The Democratic House Majority
>
A few days ago I took a look at the 8 California congressional districts with both Republican incumbents and a majority of 2008 voters who went for Obama-- and how the DCCC is blowing the opportunity to win the seats by focusing all their resources on Blue Dog types in red districts outside of California. The DCCC is spending money-- ineptly-- on candidates like Blue Dog Frank Kratovil who have voted against the entire Democratic agenda, from protecting a woman's right to choice, to the healthcare reform bill to equality for all citizens. In fact, Kratovil, whose Progressive Punch score is an abysmal 35.54, has voted more frequently with John Boehner against his own party than all but 4 Democrats! Another Blue Dog, Bobby Bright of Alabama is also a recipient of massive amounts of DCCC aid and not only did he vote more frequently with Boehner than any other Democrat, he actually voted more frequently with Boehner than two conservative Republicans! In fact, when asked if he would vote for Nancy Pelosi as Speaker if he winds up being reelected, he demurred. “I would prefer a conservative Democrat, a Blue Dog Democrat like myself. If that doesn’t happen, then I will vote for who I think will allow me to represent my constituents the best.”
Another Blue Dog, North Dakota's Earl Pomeroy, is so desperate that he's actually running TV ads touting his close relationship with the President... President Bush!
If you're contributing to the DCCC you're contributing to anti-Choice zealots, any-gay bigots, and Blue Dogs who put Big Business before middle class families, just the way the Republicans do. The alternative to donating to the DCCC is to donate directly to the campaigns of progressive incumbents, like Alan Grayson-- who the DCCC adamantly refuses to help-- or to fiery and unapolgetically progressive challengers like Bill Hedrick and Beth Krom in California, Ann Kuster in New Hampshire, Billy Kennedy in North Carolina, Ed Potosnak in New Jersey, and Justin Coussoule in Ohio. All of them are on the Blue America ActBlue page.
Back to Bobby Bright for a moment. His case-- like so many Blue Dogs'-- is the very opposite of the 8 California Republicans in districts Obama won. Bright's Alabama district isn't too partial to Democrats to begin with... and African-American Democrats? McCain took 63% of the vote in AL-02. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if ole Bobby got this ad-- which comes on top of his jokes about Nancy Pelosi dying and his promise to vote against her for Speaker in January-- approved in advance by the DCCC-- which is either directly or indirectly subsidizing it. Yes, my friends, the DCCC can't find money to help a progressive like Justin Coussoule campaign against John Boehner because they're, in effect, paying for an ad to extol the wonderfulness of John Boehner. Yesterday they dropped another $176,002.00 into this race with a TV ad attacking Bright's opponent, allowing Bright to run his own spots, like the one below. Watch this-- and if you're donated a nickel to the DCCC in the last 4 years, hang your head in shame:
Blue Dog after Blue Dog is trying to hold onto deeply red districts, mostly in the South, where McCain racked up tremendous wins against Obama, like Mike Ross (AR), where McCain scored 58%, Travis Childers (MS), which gave McCain 62% of its vote, and the 3 conservative Arizona so-called Democrats, Harry Mitchell, Ann Kirkpatrick and Gabby Giffords. These and more like them in states like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Tennessee are the battleground states for the DCCC, while they all but ignore-- mostly ignore-- three dozen districts where Obama beat McCain.
In Wisconsin, for example, there are two districts where Obama bested McCain, the 1st and the 6th, Ryan's and Petri's. In the 1st, the DCCC drove a viable candidate out of the race and replaced her with a sadly nonviable one, who, of course, they are studiously ignoring, despite the fact that Ryan is widely recognized as one of the 3 or 4 most dangerous Republicans in the House-- and the only one in a vulnerable district. His opponent is John Heckenlively, who has raised so little money that he hasn't been required to file an FEC report. He somehow managed to take in $885 through ActBlue (as opposed to Ryan's $2,613,651 haul this year). And that's actually better than what Petri's opponent, Joe Kallas, has taken in (zero on ActBlue and, again, too little to file an FEC report overall). And we're talking about a district that voted for Obama, not for McCain, just 2 years ago. Chris Van Hollen and Debbie Wasserman Schultz are looking forward to big promotions for the great job they've both been doing.
And there are Republican incumbents, basically unchallenged, sitting in seats Obama won, from Frank Wolf and Randy Forbes in Virginia, four in Michigan (Dave Camp, Fred Upton, Thaddeus McCotter and the detestable Mike Rogers and 3 in Illinois (Peter Roskam, Judy Biggert and Don Manzullo) to two each in Florida (Bill Young and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen) and New Jersey (Frank LoBiondo and Leonard Lance). Actually in Lance's district, there is a very vigorous neck-and-neck challenge from Blue America-endorsed Ed Potosnak, who would probably win if not for the studied indifference of the DCCC.
The DCCC has made no acknowledgment the Democrats even have a candidate running against the corrupt GOP hack, Lance. Instead of helping solid progressive Ed Potosnak win a race polling within the margin of error (in a district where McCain only managed to take 48% of the vote, the DCCC is pouring money into hopeless races by worthless, cowardly conservatives like Suzanne Kosmas (FL), Frank Kratovil (MD) and Glenn Nye (VA).
In Florida's 24th district Rep. Suzanne Kosmas (D) trailed state Rep. Sandy Adams by 10 points, according to an NRCC poll that was in the field Sept. 22 and 23. Adams led 49 percent to 39 percent in the survey of 400 likely voters. The poll was conducted by the GOP firm Fabrizio Mclaughlin & Associates and had a 4.9 point margin of error.
...In the Eastern Shore-based 1st district, Rep. Frank Kratovil (D-Md.) trailed state Sen. Andy Harris (R) 39 percent to 43 percent, with 3 percent going to third party candidates. The survey of 400 likely voters was conducted by the Republican firm OnMessage Inc. and was in the field Sept. 20 and 21. It had a 4.9 point margin of error.
...In Virginia's 2nd district, Rep. Glenn Nye (D) trailed car dealer Scott Rigell (R) by 5 points. The Congressman took 40 percent to Rigell's 45 percent. Independent Kenny Golden, a former Republican, took 7 percent. The survey of 400 likely voters was conducted by the GOP firm Ayres McHenry & Associates Sept 23 to 26 and had a 4.9 point margin of error.
The DCCC will probably wind up wasting over $2,000,000 trying, unsuccessfully, to save the three seats of three incumbents who aren't worth a bucket of spit and whose default position is to always cross the aisle and vote with Boehner, Cantor and Pence. Their ProgressivePunch scores are startling low-- Nye 30.58, Kratovil 35.54, and Kosmas 50.41. One tenth of that money would probably win the New Jersey seat for Potosnak, who would be a sharp, tireless crusader for the values and principles that motivate Democrats (not Inside the Beltway careerist Democrats, real Democrats in America). The D-Trip ain't gonna do squat; Ed is progressive, independent-minded, openly gay and incorruptible-- not exactly traits admired by the Insiders. If you'd like to help, he's the newest endorsed candidate by Blue America.
I just got off the phone with Alliea Phipps, campaign manager for Justin Coussoule. She told me how the Hillary Clinton Legacy PAC, which has endorsed one Democratic House challenger in Ohio-- Justin-- and has fielded a field operation to get out the vote for him, went to the DCCC for some funding. The DCCC turned them down flat, saying they have their own way of defeating Boehner. From what I can tell, their way is to reelect lots of Blue Dogs who support the same conservative ideas Boehner supports. But that will at least keep the Capitol Hill corner offices and best parking spots in Democrat hands. Alliea made a good point-- cloistered away Inside the Beltway, these folks don't know anything about the district. They probably think everyone is a wealthy, tanned golfer 'cause that's all they know about OH-8. But people there are soybean farmers and blue collar workers. "I am extremely frustrated with the DCCC's shortsighted take on beating Boehner," she told me. "For the first time since I can remember, having actively worked in politics since I was about 7 (and I'm nearly 46 now), I can honestly say it defies logic. The 8th District is so removed from John Boehner, golf and his country club lifestyle that it really would not require much effort to take this seat from him if they backed the Army Vet running on their own ticket. What the fuck are they waiting on? An engraved invitation to beat him where it really matters most?"
Unless the engraved invitation came with a stack of hundred dollar bills, I don't think it would do much good. The DCCC isn't looking for progressives and it isn't looking for independent minded champions of working families. And, more than anything, it isn't looking for idealistic Americans who are impervious to the kinds of corruption that make Steny Hoyer's, John Boehner's, Debbie Wasserman Schultz's and Eric Cantor's world go round and round and round. Justin Coussoule and Ed Potosnak aren't the kinds of candidates who will do what they're told by political hacks working for Special Interests. They want to represent their neighbors, not Steny Hoyer's donors. So... when you go over to donate to Ed, think about Justin too!
House Passes The Currency Reform For Fair Trade Act-- GOP Splits Apart
>
Earlier today the House tackled a wide array of bills. The Republicans-- along with some sleazy corporate Blue Dogs-- voted as a bloc to try to derail everything by opposing an early morning resolution to allow consideration of the bills, which included Mary Jo Kilroy's Medical Debt Relief Act, prohibiting a consumer reporting agency from making any report containing information related to a fully paid or settled medical debt that had been characterized as debt in collection for credit reporting purposes (splitting the GOP almost evenly down the middle among supporters and opponents); Carolyn Maloney's 9/11 Health and Compensation Act for World Trade Center first responders-- only 17 Republicans voting in favor; and Tim Ryan's Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act, which is the one I want to go into in a little more depth. (Mary Jo will be the Blue America live blogging guest on Saturday and we can talk with her about her legislation then and why it's so important for so many families across the country.)
Ryan's bill seeks to deter China from manipulating its currency by putting in place a mechanism to determine whether the exchange rate of the currency of an exporting country (i.e.- China) is fundamentally and actionably undervalued or overvalued (misaligned) against the U.S. dollar for an 18-month period which would then lead to "certain actions under a countervailing duty or antidumping duty proceeding to offset such misalignment in cases of an affirmative determination." The bill passed 348-79, with the Republican caucus torn apart by "free" fanatics and ideologues led by the architect of GOP trade policy, John Boehner. Most of his own caucus deserted him, although the right-wing kooks most in thrall to Big Business' money machine-- Mike Pence, Paul Ryan, David Dreier, Pete Sessions and Eric Cantor (as well as the lunatic fringe types like Paul Broun, Steve King, Michele Bachmann and Louie Gohmert)-- stuck with Boehner.
Ironically, few states have been as disastrously hit by these conservative trade policies as Boehner's home state of Ohio, where thousands of good middle class manufacturing jobs have gone right to China, decimating Ohio businesses and Ohio families. Right after the vote Scott Paul, Executive Director of the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM), expressed tremendous optimism. "Today, the House of Representatives sent a clear message to Beijing: Stop your cheating. America's workers and businesses deserve a level playing field, and passing this bipartisan bill is a significant step in that direction... Voters are mad and Congress is finally responding." Boehner, of course, dug his heels in and refused to budge.
Justin Coussoule, who is running on a platform that includes replacing misnamed "free" trade with FAIR TRADE and with bringing middle class jobs back to southwest Ohio, has been an avid supporter of Tim Ryan's legislation. This evening he told us that "Tim's bill is long overdue and I know he's been working hard, in a bipartisan way to pass it. It says a lot about this issue that more Republicans voted with the Democrats than with John Boehner. Congressman Boehner hasn't even seen fit to come to a single candidate's forum in any county in the district and he's consistently refusing to debate any issues. He's taking the district for granted and that's what he did today by voting against his own constituents and just sticking with the Wall Street bankers and Big Business instead of with workers, small businesspeople and ordinary Ohio families who are sick and tired of watching China cheat us year after year after year. Over 2.4 million jobs have been lost, across the country, since 2001 because of the trade deficit with China and Chinese currency manipulation has been a policy they have pursued with vigor. It's time for the 8th district to have a congressman who's going to be looking out for regular folks here, not just the Special Interests who write the big political campaign contribution checks."
Justin's campaign against Boehner is a strictly grassroots effort and Blue America is lending a hand by running some independent media... the billboards and cable TV ads. Can you give us a hand with the effort? Believe me, the last thing you want to see the morning after election day is a Speaker with an eery orange glow. Here's a page dedicated to Justin's campaign and the Blue America ads in Ohio's 8th CD.
Every Ohio Democrat voted for Ryan's bill, of course. And, interestingly Boehner lost the three senior Ohio Republicans-- Steve LaTourette, Pat Tiberi and Michael Turner-- plus Steve Austria. The only Ohio Congressmembers the would-be Speaker managed to hang on to were pathetic backbenchers, newcomers with no influence-- and all dependent on Boehner's goodwill for their campaign financing: Jim Jordan, Bob Latta and Mean Jean Schmidt.
Yes, John Boehner Sleeps With Lobbyists-- And Not Just Figuratively
>
"Everyone" (but the voters) knew Mark Foley (R-FL) was molesting underage boys and "everyone" (but the voters) knew Larry Craig (R-ID) was trolling the Washington, DC public toilets looking for love and "everyone" (but the voters) knew John Boehner was an inveterate skirt-chaser who's had numerous affairs. His poor wife, Debbie, never leaves the gated community of McMansions he has her stashed away in. But what makes the Boehner sex scandal more compelling is that he's doing it with a lobbyist-- and everyone, even the voters know he's one politician infamous for his shady relations with lobbyists-- and that he had warned Republican caucus members back in July that they weren't allowed to screw the whores attractive young female "lobbyists" that the big K Street firms hire specifically to get on the good side of legislators-- at least not until after the elections. Notorious GOP philanderers Lee Terry, Duncan Hunter, Jr. (a lazy alcoholic like Boehner), Sam Graves, and Bill Shuster were singled out for special lectures. And the GOP closeted gay blades-- like David Dreier, Patrick McHenry, Trent Franks, Adrian Smith, Aaron Schock, etc-- were all told to keep it buttoned up 'til November or risk being out in the cold.
So to have Mike Pence leak the news to the media about Boehner running around with a female lobbyist wasn't remarkable because of the sex and hypocrisy, it was remarkable because of the motivation inside the GOP caucus to keep Boehner from ever becoming Speaker, where even those people realize what a catastrophe that would be for America.
Meanwhile, this week Boehner and his cronies tried again to derail Democratic plans to push the toxic corrupting influence of corporate lobbyists and corporate cash out of the political system. Two weeks ago Boehner was at the home of crooked real estate magnate Angelo Tsakopoulos raising campaign cash for one of California's dirtiest politicians, Dan Lungren. This week, when most Republicans were unwilling to go on the record about why the party allowed lobbyists to write The Pledge and why the GOP was opposing both the DISCLOSE Act and the Fair Elections Now Act, Lungren was the one to come out publicly, albeit in committee, against campaign finance reform.
Lungren introduced an amendment that would take money donated to a public election fund and use it to offset the deficit, in the event there is a deficit.
The committee passed the Fair Elections Now Act (H.R. 6116/1826), legislation that would take members of Congress off the fundraising treadmill and let them focus on their constituents.
The Fair Elections Now Act would allow candidates for Congress to run competitive campaigns for office by relying on small contributions from back home. Candidates would collect donations of $100 or less from residents of their state, which would then be matched four-to-one with Fair Elections funds. Fair Elections would be funded by the sale of unused broadcast spectrum, ensuring that in this time of debt and deficits, it wouldn't cost taxpayers a dime.
With Fair Elections, constituents don't have to wonder if their elected officials are standing up for them or their big money donors when casting their votes on Capitol Hill. Congress would be accountable to them, not wealthy donors or lobbyists.
I might add that all Blue America incumbents are already co-sponsors of the legislation and that all Blue America candidates have pledged to sign on as co-sponsors if they are elected. Today we'll be chatting live with New Jersey progressive Ed Potosnak, Blue America's newest endorsee, a stalwart enthusiast of taking corporate cash out of the political system. Last night I spoke with Ed on the phone and this is what he said about the brewing scandal:
I am sick and tired of career politicians who pal around with lobbyists, taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from them to fill their campaign coffers and then representing their special interests instead of voting for the needs of our families and businesses. We need real world people in Congress to stand up against these special interests, pass tough campaign finance reforms, and allow the voice of the American people to be heard over the shouts of special interests. I think it is absolute disgrace the Republican Platform was written by a lobbyist--it speaks volumes to where Rep. Boehner and my opponent Congressman Lance's interests lie.
And speaking of Blue America candidates, because of the money you've been donating to Justin Coussoule's campaign-- and, remember, he has not gotten even one slim dime from the Blue Dog-obsessed DCCC-- the campaign has these two ads that will start running in southwest Ohio on Monday. Please keep sending Justin's campaign the money they need to keep running these ads-- and help put John Boehner out of business... permanently. It costs just under $900 for a whole week of the Colbert show in every nook and cranny of the district.
