California Congressional Races Looking Good For Democrats

California went through a nonpartisan congressional redistricting and it looks like it could work out well for Democrats. Although the Republicans were once hopeful they could make conservative Democratic incumbent Jerry McNerney's race competitive (CA-09), last month a poll, from Celinda Lake, the most consistently accurate pollster in America, showed McNerney with a pretty insurmountable 16 point lead over Ricky Gill, an unemployed 25 year old stalker with a fake resume. The NRCC also had some kind of delusion they sold to the clueless media-- and Colusa County supervisor Kim Vann-- that they could beat John Garamendi (CA-03). Two polls have shown Garamendi leading by 15 points.

The DCCC is backing 7 challengers in Republican-held districts: Ami Bera (CA-07), Jose Hernandez (CA-10), Julia Brownley (CA-26), Raul Ruiz (CA-36), Mark Takano (CA-41), Alan Lowenthal (CA-47), and Scott Peters (CA-52). Bera and Peters have been endorsed by the pro-business, anti-consumer/anti-worker New Dem Coalition. Takano is a progressive. The rest are somewhere in between. The most obvious race the DCCC should be pursuing, CA-25, pitting Dr. Lee Rogers, a progressive, against House Armed Services Committee chairman Buck McKeon, who is drowning in a sea of corruption scandals and a local GOP civil war, is being studiously and aggressively ignored by "ex"-Blue Dog Steve Israel. (You can contribute to helping Rogers replace McKeon here.) The DCCC doesn't take on Republican leaders like Boehner and Cantor and they don't take on Republican committee chairs like Paul Ryan and Buck McKeon. They specialize in faceless, unknown backbenchers. OK, someone's got to. But someone has to go after these galoots as well too... and corrupt hacks Steve Israel, Joe Crowley and Debbie Wasserman Schultz take too much cash from the same nefarious interests that finance your Eric Cantors and Buck McKeons and Paul Ryans to ever go up against them.



On the other hand, the good news is that Ventura County Democratic Assemblywoman Julia Brownley (CA-26) leads Republican extremist Tony Strickland by 4 points (48-44%) according to a recent poll by Tulchin Research. She has a decent record in the state legislature and would probably wind up voting with the Democrats on all important issues. Even better news is that the one real progressive the DCCC is backing in the state, Mark Takano (CA-41), is ahead of Chamber of Commerce candidate, Republican John Tavaglione by 4 points (42-38%), even with ConservaDem Riverside mayor Ron Loveridge campaigning for the Republican. And in the new 47th CD (Long Beach, Westminster, Cypress and Garden Grove), state Senator Alan Lowenthal leads Republican Gary DeLong by 11 points (47-36%), despite a huge fundraising advantage by DeLong.

Dr. Ami Bera, who has come close twice before, is tied with far right Congressman Dan Lungren at 47%, and after positives Bera leads by five points (51-46%). Obama leads Romney 52-44% in this same poll. Similarly, conservative New Dem Scott Peters is tied with shady incumbent Brian Bilbray in two recent polls, one at 45-45% and one at 40-40%. Peters is a total Steve Israel brand of candidate and the DCCC is expected to spend close to $2 million on this race.

And even in the two races where the DCCC candidates are losing, they're not losing badly and could make up some lost ground. Dr. Raul Ruiz (CA-36) trails Mary Bono Mack by only two points (43-45%) with 12 percent of voters undecided, according to a recent PPP poll. Obama leads Romney 49% to 48% in this same poll. And freshman Jeff Denham (CA-10) is under 50% with astronaut Jose Hernandez trailing by just seven points (41-48%) with 12 percent of voters undecided, according to a recent PPP poll. Obama and Romney are tied at 47% in this same poll.

Meanwhile, the big one in California is CA-25, the one Steve Israel, for whatever reason, is adamant on throwing. McKeon has been the epitome of right wing conservatism and his career is characterized as being anti-gay, pro-war, and anti-immigrant, and as a leader in the war against women. As chair of the House Armed Services Committee, he opposes any reduction in defense spending or withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan. He promotes proliferation of nuclear weapons, threatening Iran with war, and the use of military drones domestically. He is the top recipient of campaign cash from the defense industry-- more even than any TWO senators!-- and he founded and chairs the drone caucus, which is giving him money hand over fist.

Several other circumstances make McKeon vulnerable for the first time. Redistricting was not favorable to him. The 25th CD used to be the second largest in California and had a 9 point partisan Republican advantage. Now it is a more compact, a mostly LA County district with a 4 point Republican advantage over Democrats and 18% Decline-To-State voters. The district is now 30% Latino, a group McKeon has alienated with his anti-DREAM Act stance and he’s even been caught trying to help overturn California’s state DREAM act.

What makes the race unique is that several large scandals have surfaced this year surrounding McKeon. The largest is the Countrywide Financial VIP program in which McKeon received a preferential loan at the direct intervention of then-CEO Angelo Mozilo. He lied about his involvement and the Oversight and Government Reform Committee recently released their report implicating McKeon. Issa, the chairman, referred to this loan program as a “bribe” on TV. National and in-district media have covered this story extensively. A newspaper poll even showed McKeon losing to an unnamed challenger over this issue.

McKeon has several FEC violations and failure to report in-kind donations and pays his wife to be his treasurer, in effect, illegally funneling vast amounts of campaign contributions into his personal household accounts. She is the highest paid congressional spouse and has made $600,000 from the campaign in recent years. McKeon also pays other family members for questionable services.

In the district, there is a gaping rift in the Republican party. McKeon former district director, Scott Wilk, is running for State Assembly in AD-38, a district wholly located inside CA-25. McKeon and Wilk separated on bad terms and McKeon ran his wife Patricia against him in the primary. Patricia lost embarrassingly, but not before causing irreparable damage to McKeon. In fact, all of his supported candidates in 2012 have lost local and state elections in the district, including the incumbent mayor of Santa Clarita. Being endorsed by McKeon is known as the kiss of death for any local Republican.

McKeon’s Democratic opponent is Dr. Lee Rogers, a surgeon and former national spokesperson for the American Diabetes Association and first time candidate. I know Lee personally and he's an independent-minded progressive who is articulate, intelligent and committed to public service in the same terms he's been committed to serving his medical patients.

Meanwhile, McKeon’s hometown newspaper, The Signal, refused to endorse him for the first time in 20 years in the primary over the CEMEX mining issue that Lee's been all over and will probably be the most important single issue in the minds of voters when they go into the voting booth. Please help us make sure Lee beats McKeon-- even without any help from Steve Israel, Joe Crowley and the rest of the corrupt DC insiders. You can contribute here.

Lungren And Norquist-- Not The Most Popular Corporate Shills In The Sacramento Area

In 2008, the presidential election results in Dan Lungren's northern California district were very close. It was, in fact, Obama's closest margin of victory in the state. Unlike Gore or Kerry, he took CA-3, but just barely, 49-49%! And Dan Lungren, on of the state's most disliked incumbents scraped by with 50% of the vote. The following year Lungren drew a far better-financed opponent Ami Bera, who again held him down to 50%. After redistricting, Lungren will face Bera again-- and in a slightly bluer district. And next year Bera, a medical doctor, should have no problem making sure the district's hard-pressed seniors are aware that Lungren voted to replace Medicare with an inadequate voucher program. The Democratic staff of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has all the facts and figures. The Republican proposal Lungren voted for would have disastrous impacts on seniors and disabled people in the district who are currently enrolled in Medicare. Here's how; this is what it would do to residents of CA-3:

• Increase prescription drug costs for 7,900 Medicare beneficiaries in the district who enter the Part D donut hole, forcing them to pay an extra $77 million for drugs over the next decade.

• Eliminate new preventive care benefits for 109,000 Medicare beneficiaries in the district. The Republican proposal would have even greater impacts on individuals in the district age 54 and
younger who are not currently enrolled in Medicare. It would:

• Deny 570,000 individuals age 54 and younger in the district access to Medicare’s guaranteed benefits.

• Increase the out-of-pocket costs of health coverage by over $6,000 per year in 2022 and by almost $12,000 per year in 2032 for the 127,000 individuals in the district who are between the ages of 44 and 54.

• Require the 127,000 individuals in the district between the ages of 44 and 54 to save an additional $29.7 billion for their retirement-- an average of $182,000 to $287,000 per individual-- to pay for the increased cost of health coverage over their lifetimes. Younger residents of the district will have to save even higher amounts to cover their additional medical costs.

• Raise the Medicare eligibility age by at least one year to age 66 or more for 71,000 individuals in the district who are age 44 to 49 and by two years to age 67 for 444,000 individuals in the district who are age 43 or younger.

This district has 127,000 individuals who will enroll in Medicare for the first time between 2022 and 2032. Under the Republican plan Lungren backs and voted for, their cumulative out-of-pocket costs for Medicare coverage during their first 20 years of program eligibility would increase by $41.2 billion compared to their costs under traditional Medicare, an increase of 235%. And Lungren's Medicaid cuts would be catastrophic for district residents as well. Were Lungren's plan ever to become law, Medicaid’s guarantee of coverage would be eliminated, Medicaid would be turned into a block grant program, and the federal contribution to Medicaid would be reduced by nearly $800 billion over the next decade. Other changes voted for by Lungren would allow states to eliminate coverage for seniors, individuals with disabilities, children, pregnant women, and others currently enrolled in Medicaid. These changes would have a profound impact on Medicaid’s ability to provide health coverage to millions of Americans and in the 3rd CD, these provisions could:

• Reduce coverage for 17,900 dual eligible seniors and individuals with disabilities who rely on Medicaid to supplement their Medicare coverage or pay their Medicare cost sharing.

• Jeopardize nursing home care for 1,100 whose expenses are paid by Medicaid.

• Impair the health care of 63,000 children, including 2,300 newborns each year, who receive coverage under Medicaid.

• Cut payments to hospitals for 18,000 emergency room visits paid for by Medicaid each year.

• Cut payments to hospitals for 5,900 inpatient visits paid for by Medicaid each year.

• Reduce jobs and hurt economic growth by eliminating $1.5 billion in Medicaid spending.

But these are hardly the only reasons so many people in the district dislike and mistrust Lungren-- and why so many are ready to replace him. Many are uneasy about the dangerous, unsecured chemical facility in the area, the Dry Creek Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant, which Lungren has helped out with numerous loopholes to prevent them from securing the facility, even though it puts his constituents at an unacceptable risk.

Lungren led House Homeland Security Committee Republicans in voting to kill amendments that would have closed security loopholes and required safer chemicals at the Dry Creek wastewater plant near his district.

Though he promised to return to Congress to keep the country safe from terrorism, Lungren’s primary accomplishment is a giveaway to chemical companies more interested in short-term profit than protecting the lives of Americans.

And, not unlike what happened last week to New York freshman congressman Chris Gibson, Lungren's constituents also told him they had had enough of his fealty to Grover Norquist instead of to them. Lee Fang:

On Wednesday, a constituent in a town hall meeting challenged Rep. Dan Lungren (R-CA) about his loyalty to Grover Norquist, an anti-tax activist and noted corporate lobbyist. Politicians who sign Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform pledge, a popular commitment among Republicans, promise never to vote for anything designated as a tax increase by Norquist’s organization.

During the meeting, held in the Sacramento suburb of Carmichael, a young woman asked Lungren why he took Norquist’s pledge when he should only pledge an “oath of office to the Constitution.” Lungren seemed dazzled, and first misinterpreted the comment as an accusation that he opposes the Constitution. The constituent asked the question again, only to hear Lungren sneer that she hasn’t “been reading the newspapers.” A few in the crowd yelled “answer the question!”

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.

Boehner and Lungren... Sittin' In A Tree

With a crew of corrupt extremists like Gary Miller, Ken Calvert, Jerry Lewis, Dana Rohrabacher, Brian Bilbray, Wall Herger, Tom McClintock, David Dreier, Buck McKeon, Elton Gallegly, Dan Lungren, Darrell Issa and John Campbell, how the hell do you figure out who the worst congressman from California is? We've spent time investigating each one of these loons and there isn't a decent human being between them. Dan Lungren, however does stand out as particularly foul even in this bunch. After his original congressional district in Long Beach proven to be inhospitable to Lungren's brand of reactionary politics mixed with standard racism and bigotry, a brief stink in Sacramento attracted him to the smell of pork in that area and the former Gingrich lackey carpetbagged his way into the House district that represents most of the Sacramento suburbs.

Lungren is a doctrinaire right-winger-- so far right that he only managed to get around 38% of the California vote when he ran against Gray Davis for governor. And so far right-wing that in 2008 he challenged John Boehner for the Minority Leader position. At the time he wrote a letter to every Republican in Congress whining that the GOP is headed in the wrong direction and would continue to face electoral defeats unless major changes are made. “If we don’t admit our difficulties and address them aggressively, we not only run the risk of becoming a permanent congressional minority but we will do a disservice to our nation,” Lungren wrote. “If we choose by inaction to ignore the real challenges we face, then paraphrasing President Reagan, we deserve to be regulated to the trash heap of history.”

This year Lungren is facing being dumped on the trash heap of history once more-- this time by ascendant Democratic challenger Ami Bera. And who's trying to bail him out? Well, John Boehner, of course, who needs every Republican vote he can muster in his desperate bid to replace Nancy Pelosi as Speaker. Besides, when most Republicans were fleeing in terror from Bush's no-strings-attached Wall Street bailout, who did Boehner find to help him bring the TARP bill back from the dead? Yes, corrupt Wall Street darling Dan Lungren.

I hope Boehner gets back to Ohio to see the new billboard down the road from his gated golfing community McMansion

Boehner, who seems to have forgotten he's supposed to be representing a hard-pressed district in southwest Ohio still reeling from his championship of Big Business' trade policies-- like NAFTA and CAFTA and all kinds of concessions to China that he helped usher through Congress-- is scurrying around the country raising money for crooks like Lungren. Next Thursday, September 9, the two of them will be hobnobbing with the rich local Republicans at the Carmichael home of crooked real estate developer, Angelo Tsakopoulos, who was fined by the EPA for violating the Clean Water Act, took the case all the way to the Supreme Court before being forced to pay up. Tsakopoulos and his family and their shady companies have dumped millions of dollars into campaign coffers on both sides of the aisle. He doesn't seem to care as much about ideology as about corruptibility and that would explain a particular affinity with the likes of John Doolittle, Rudi Giuliani, the DCCC, Richard Pombo, Jerry Lewis, and, of course, Dan Lungren.

For the super-rich there's an exclusive reception at 6pm where you can get your picture taken with the Orange golfer for $1,000. The hoy polloy are admitted at 7pm ($250 a pair). You're supposed to rsvp to Lindsey Seitchik-- (916) 476-5240 (Lindsey@SeitchikHQ.com). Or you can just show up and say you're with John Boehner or Howie Klein, Boehner's Special Assistant. The address is 7380 Nob Hill Drive, Carmichael, CA 95608.

Dan Lungren Comes Out Strongly Against Fair Election Reforms

If you've been following the Blue America PAC at all, you may already be aware that we've decided that we won't be endorsing any candidates for the House in 2010 unless they are genuinely enthusiastic about passing John Larson's Fair Elections Now Act (HR 1826). We're not asking for some unenforceable pledge; we want nothing less than heartfelt enthusiasm. Right now Larson has 117 co-sponsors from across the political spectrum-- not just stalwart progressives, but even reactionary Blue Dogs (2) and Republicans (2).

Eleanor Norton [D-DC]
Neil Abercrombie [D-HI1]
Robert Andrews [D-NJ1]
Michael Arcuri [D-NY24]
Tammy Baldwin [D-WI2]
Earl Blumenauer [D-OR3]
John Boccieri [D-OH16]
Bruce Braley [D-IA1]
Michael Capuano [D-MA8]
Ben Chandler [D-KY6]
William Clay [D-MO1]
Steve Cohen [D-TN9]
Gerald Connolly [D-VA11]
John Conyers [D-MI14]
Jim Cooper [D-TN5]
Jerry Costello [D-IL12]
Joe Courtney [D-CT2]
Elijah Cummings [D-MD7]
Kathleen Dahlkemper [D-PA3]
Danny Davis [D-IL7]
Peter DeFazio [D-OR4]
William Delahunt [D-MA10]
Rosa DeLauro [D-CT3]
Lloyd Doggett [D-TX25]
Michael Doyle [D-PA14]
Donna Edwards [D-MD4]
Keith Ellison [D-MN5]
Anna Eshoo [D-CA14]
Sam Farr [D-CA17]
Chaka Fattah [D-PA2]
Bob Filner [D-CA51]
Bill Foster [D-IL14]
Barney Frank [D-MA4]
Alan Grayson [D-FL8]
Raymond Green [D-TX29]
Raul Grijalva [D-AZ7]
Luis Gutiérrez [D-IL4]
Phil Hare [D-IL17]
Jane Harman [D-CA36]
Alcee Hastings [D-FL23]
Martin Heinrich [D-NM1]
James Himes [D-CT4]
Maurice Hinchey [D-NY22]
Mazie Hirono [D-HI2]
Paul Hodes [D-NH2]
Rush Holt [D-NJ12]
Michael Honda [D-CA15]
Steve Israel [D-NY2]
Jesse Jackson [D-IL2]
Sheila Jackson-Lee [D-TX18]
Eddie Johnson [D-TX30]
Henry Johnson [D-GA4]
Walter Jones [R-NC3]
Steve Kagen [D-WI8]
Marcy Kaptur [D-OH9]
Dale Kildee [D-MI5]
Ronald Kind [D-WI3]
Larry Kissell [D-NC8]
Suzanne Kosmas [D-FL24]
Dennis Kucinich [D-OH10]
Barbara Lee [D-CA9]
John Lewis [D-GA5]
David Loebsack [D-IA2]
Zoe Lofgren [D-CA16]
Nita Lowey [D-NY18]
Ben Luján [D-NM3]
Daniel Maffei [D-NY25]
Carolyn Maloney [D-NY14]
Betsy Markey [D-CO4]
Edward Markey [D-MA7]
Eric Massa [D-NY29]
Carolyn McCarthy [D-NY4]
Betty McCollum [D-MN4]
James McDermott [D-WA7]
James McGovern [D-MA3]
Jerry McNerney [D-CA11]
Michael Michaud [D-ME2]
Bradley Miller [D-NC13]
George Miller [D-CA7]
James Moran [D-VA8]
Christopher Murphy [D-CT5]
Scott Murphy [D-NY20]
Jerrold Nadler [D-NY8]
Grace Napolitano [D-CA38]
John Olver [D-MA1]
Solomon Ortiz [D-TX27]
William Pascrell [D-NJ8]
Thomas Perriello [D-VA5]
Gary Peters [D-MI9]
Chellie Pingree [D-ME1]
Todd Platts [R-PA19]
Jared Polis [D-CO2]
David Price [D-NC4]
Charles Rangel [D-NY15]
Silvestre Reyes [D-TX16]
Steven Rothman [D-NJ9]
Dutch Ruppersberger [D-MD2]
Linda Sánchez [D-CA39]
Janice Schakowsky [D-IL9]
Robert Scott [D-VA3]
José Serrano [D-NY16]
Joe Sestak [D-PA7]
Carol Shea-Porter [D-NH1]
Louise Slaughter [D-NY28]
Adam Smith [D-WA9]
Fortney Stark [D-CA13]
Betty Sutton [D-OH13]
Harry Teague [D-NM2]
Bennie Thompson [D-MS2]
Paul Tonko [D-NY21]
Niki Tsongas [D-MA5]
Christopher Van Hollen [D-MD8]
Timothy Walz [D-MN1]

Is your own congresscritter on the list? If not, you should call him or her and ask why not. If you live in the Sacramento suburbs or in Mother Lode Country, don't bother looking. You're congressman, Dan Lungren, is helping to lead the battle against Fair Elections. This week he penned an editorial against reform for USAToday using every deception in the book to try to turn readers away from campaign finance reform. Most Americans have seen what the corrupt campaign financing system we have today has done to our legislative process and how much it has cost all of us-- much to the delight of Big Pharma, the Insurance Industry, the banksters, etc. Responses to Lungren's hackish OpEd, ran 100% opposed to his views. "Lungren misses the point" sums them up:

Campaign financing for public office by private donors is more about influence peddling than it is about First Amendment, freedom of speech rights. The manner in which political campaigns are run requires incredible sums of money.

It is presumed that spending more money guarantees a win because more media time can be purchased.
Further, the wealthy who run for office inject their money to ensure success.

The present system also favors the incumbent because this person is most likely already doing the bidding of his private financiers.

The benefits of using public money far exceed the drawbacks. Political campaigns would be shorter and more focused since fewer dollars would be available.

The perceived, if not actual, buying of influence by lobbyists, industry associations and unions would be eliminated.

This would then give the voter a bigger voice in the selection process. It would likely also reduce the seemingly endless insulting campaign ads that do more to mislead the public than educate it.

As to Lungren's-- and the GOP's-- claim that free speech and the right to bribe members of Congress are one in the same, one respondent asks "Am I the only one who sees that money is not speech, that it is the megaphone through which speech is transmitted? It is like any meeting, if one speaker has a megaphone and the other doesn't, which one gets heard?"

Lungren, of course, has benefited handsomely from the status quo. Widely considered a congressman who will sell his vote to any corporate interest, his voting record corresponds totally to the demands of the special interests that have funded his sleazy political career. Lobbyists figure very prominently in his election efforts-- to the tune of $122,921 so far. Here's what he's taken in from the sectors whose bills he has been voting for:

Finance, Insurance, Real Estate- $590,217
Energy & Natural Resources- $111,600
Medical-Industrial Complex- $197,912

That's closing in on a million dollars, a lot more attractive to a hack like Lungren than appealing to individual donors. What he-- and his crooked colleagues-- fear most is putting the power in the hands of those who can organize lots of people into politics with small checks, rather than those who bundle large contributions. The good news is that the progressive running against Lungren, Dr. Ami Bera, is a proponent of HR 1826. Last year Obama won the district and Lungren only managed to hold onto his seat with 49.5% of the vote. In 2006 he had won re-election with 59.5% and his opponent, Bill Durston, pulled 86,318 votes. Last year Durston surged to 137,971 votes. Next year if Bera manages to make the Fair Elections Now Act a salient issue in the district, it should help him send Lungren into the retirement he's earned.

Who's To Blame For AIG? Well, How About California Congressmen Serving Big Business' Special Interests Instead Of Their Own Constituents'?

Who does Dan Lungren really work for-- when he's working?

When you think of rubber stamp Republicans in the House who worked most closely with the Bush Regime to dismantle our nation's regulatory system on behalf of the predators and parasites who have financed-- and continue to finance-- the GOP, you would normally think of John Boehner (R-OH), Eric Cantor (R-VA), Frank Ryan (R-WI), Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI), Spencer Bachus (R-AL), Scott Garrett (R-NJ), and Roy Blunt (R-MO). But here in California a gaggle of right-wing Republicans is no less guilty and today the DCCC begun an initiative to make sure voters in nine California districts with representatives who have been especially negligent in their duties and towards their constituents. These are the members:

Tom McClintock (CA-04)
Dana Rohrabacher (CA-46)
Brian Bilbray (CA-50)
Ken Calvert (CA-44)
David Dreier (CA-26)
Elton Gallegly (CA-24)
Dan Lungren (CA-03)
Buck McKeon (CA-25)

Since the fish rots from the head, let's start with Bush and work our way down to Lungren. Unless you're world is all about Britney Spears' heroic struggle with Adnan Ghalib this week or Meghan McCain's three-way with dread duo, Coultergeist and Ingraham, you're probably aware that everyone else in the country is seething with anger over the giant rip off of American taxpayers by corporate behemoth, AIG. Oddly enough, even the authors of that giant rip off are expressing outrage and indignity.

The GOP spin machine is working overtime trying to blame a mess that took years of hard work from the Bush Regime and their congressional rubber stamps to accomplish, on President Obama and the congressional Democrats. Yet when Democrats tried putting a cap on executive compensation-- when Bush was still president-- he and the champions of unregulated capitalism and unfettered markets drew a line in the sand. They'd play Samson and bring down the whole economy if Democrats tried to impose communism by regulating compensation for the GOP's donor base. Alabama reactionary Richard Shelby (who has gobbled up $4,384,492 in legalized bribes from the finance/insurance/real estate sector) was especially vituperative that anyone would presume to tell Big Business how to spend their our money. "It should be up to the board of directors of a private corporation," he drawled, "to set the compensation of an executive; it shouldn't be Congress's role." He had earned his keep for the week.

Similarly, the GOP's biggest hypocrite on all matters financial, Eric Cantor-- who managed to suck down $3,121,188 in legalized bribes from the very same sector-- more than any Republican in the House other than Big Business' favorite shill, Spencer Bachus-- never stopped defending Big Business' "right" to set their own compensation scale (with our tax dollars). Of course, now they're singing a different tune-- one that's even at odds with the last remaining right-wing bastions of Law of the Jungle Economics, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck.

Now the Republican talking points have leaked out about how they plan to undermine America next-- read 'em now so you won't be surprised when you hear Hate Talk Radio, Paul Ryan, and Fox "News" all ablaze with 'em for the rest of the month.

* “The budget is a radical proposal that will change the character of our nation, trampling on freedom and liberty.”

* “The only approach that has not been tried is the conservative approach-- limited bureaucracy, lower taxes, and responsible regulatory structures.”

* “The administration is disingenuous, unfocused, and reckless.”

Well at least if you're in one of the districts in California represented by the list of kooks and nuts above, you may also hear a discussion of how, for example, Dan Lungren, has worked for years-- with Bush-- to block any and all efforts to limit the outrageous salaries and bonuses of corporate executives. If Lungren hadn't interfered these kinds of outrageous bonuses and compensation packages-- with taxpayer money-- would never have been on the table to begin with. DCCC: "It’s easy for Republicans to play to angry Americans and say they’re offended by bonuses during a firestorm, but the reality is that Representative Dan Lungren’s offense rings hollow after years of being part of the problem that led to outrageous executive pay and bonuses.” And they document Lungren's-- and the rest of the monkeys-- ritual obstructionism and unwillingness to stand up for their constituents' interests over the special interests of their contributors. (Lungren, by the way, has scooped up $519,067 from the finance/insurance/real estate sector.) First the obstructionism:

Republicans unanimously opposed eliminating all future golden parachutes for TARP senior executives, stopping incentives for top executives to take unnecessary risks, and cracking down on future bonuses, retention awards, and incentive compensation for all TARP executives.

In 2007, when House Democrats passed a bill, 269-134 to allow company shareholders to vote of executive compensation, Lungren, along with Gallegly, Bilbray, Calvert, Dreier, and McKeon all voted no. (McClintock wasn't in Congress yet and Rohrabacher was surfing or talking on the phone with the Taliban when the vote was taken.) That same year Lungren, along with rubber stamps Bilbray, Calvert, Dreier, Gallegly, and McKeon (Rohrbacher out with the Taliban again), all voted for an amendment by Georgia sociopath Tom Price attempting to strip investors of the right to have a say in executive compensation and golden parachutes in the companies they own.

Is it any wonder that the finance/insurance/real estate sector has rewarded their diligent servants so very, very handsomely? Here's what some of California's worst corporate whores have taken in legalized bribes from the sector.

Brian Bilbray- $1,242,506
Ken Calvert- $773,076
David Dreier- $2,118,538
Elton Gallegly- $737,201
Tom McClintock- $353,294
Buck McKeon- $1,015,098
Dan Lungren- $519,067
Dana Rohrabacher- $467,795

Don't interpret the relatively small amount that McClintock has scooped up with any kind of dissatisfaction from Big Business. Just give him a little time. He's only been in office two-and-a-half months.

Oh, and if you want to see how a real congressman represents his constituents' interests, instead of the interests of the crooks, watch this clip of Alan Grayson of Orlando grilling career criminal Edward Liddy about the two dozen losers who ran the credit default swap business that has destabilized the country's, and the world's, financial system.


 
UPDATE: SO WHO SUPPORTED THE AIG BONUSES?

The GOP was completely splintered over this with half the caucus sticking with Rush Limbaugh's demands that the AIG executives deserve their taxpayer-funded bonuses and half agreeing with the Democrats that the bonuese were basically stolen and have to be returned. The California Republicans who stuck with AIG and Limbaugh were the worst corporate shills in the state:

Dan Lungren
David Dreier
Buck McKeon
John Campbell
Duncan Hunter
Darryl Issa
Kevin McCarthy
Devin Nunes

(The cowardly Gary Miller was afraid to vote and stayed away from the House floor.)

Are Republicans Committing Political Suicide With Obstructionism? Let's Look At Florida's And California's Foreclosure Crisis

Several readers have asked me to explain why a gaggle of rubber stamp Republican obstructionists crossed the aisle Friday to vote with the Democrats on ameliorating the foreclosure epidemic, when it was rigid Republican/Blue Dog policy to kill that bankster-opposed legislation. It passed 234-191. Among the rubber stamp obstructionists who changed tack and voted in their constituents' interests instead of for the banksters, were Mike Castle (DE), the notorious Diaz-Balart Brothers (FL), Walter Jones (NC), John McHugh (NY), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL), and Mike Turner (OH).

Have these congresscritters seen the error of their ways? The light? Are they getting nervous that the American people are behind President Obama and do not approve of the Republican obstructionist strategies? Are they about to jump the fence and eschew the Party of Greed, Avarice and Corruption? Short answer... no.

Congress Matters has updated numbers on where the worst epidemic of foreclosures is hitting, by congressional district and the revised numbers show a much greater concentration of projected foreclosures in California, Florida, Nevada, Arizona and Georgia. In fact, there's not a district in the top 50 hardest hit districts that isn't in one of these five states! Florida, for example, has just been devastated by the economic meltdown, with among the worst unemployment rates and the worst foreclosure rates. And although most Republican congressmembers from that state-- even ones representing the hardest hit districts (like extremists Connie Mack, Ginny Brown-Waite, Jeff Miller, Vern Buchanan, John Mica, Gus Bilirakis, Bill Young and freshmen kooks Tom Rooney and Bill Posey, who represent exactly half of the worst hit districts in all of America!)-- 3 of the 7 Republicans who did cross the aisle Friday are from Florida, and all represent districts with foreclosure rates far above the national average. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is no moderate but she understands that in a blue-trending district-- Obama took 51% of the vote there-- with over 16,000 foreclosures, you'd better be seen as part of the solution and not part of the problem... if you want to keep your seat in what looks like what's shaping up to be a midterm election that will all but wipe the GOP off the face of the political map-- even in Florida. Ros-Lehtinen's Miami-based district is the 19th hardest hit in the country.

Mario Diaz-Balart came closest to losing his seat of any incumbent in Florida this past November-- he scraped by with 53% and is sure to be targeted big time in 2010. McCain edged Obama by less than one percent in the district, which is the 27th most foreclosed upon district in America-- over 15,000 foreclosures. His brother Lincoln is also a hard core right-wing loon but he too knows which way the wind is blowing-- 14,569 foreclosures and the 32nd most forecloses in the country.

Allow me to skip across the country and look at my own state, California, which is nearly as hard hit as Florida. Not a single Republican-- not even those representing the districts with the worst avalanches of foreclosures-- voted for the bill that was specifically designed to keep families in their homes. In some cases the districts are so reflexively reactionary that the gamble that it won't matter will probably pay off-- like for lunatic fringe reactionaries like George Radanovich, Jerry Lewis and Devin Nunes. But several Republican obstructionists in California may well have just sealed their electoral fates by sticking with the banksters and abandoning their own constituents. And in none of these districts can they put forward the Republican claim that only African-Americans get foreclosed on; in these districts it's almost all white people who are losing their homes, often because African-Americans have been carefully gerrymandered out of the districts!

The worst hit district in California is CA-03 way up north. Only 4% of the population is black. The district has the 15th highest foreclosure rate in America, nearly 18,000 families out on the streets, and their representative is one of California's craziest extremists, Dan Lungren. (As you can see from the photo, he isn't black either... not by any stretch of the imagination.) Lungren, with ZERO help from the DCCC, came close to defeat in November (he was re-elected with 50% of the vote, while Obama and McCain were tied). Another far right ideologue who was nearly defeated by a political unknown in November is the GOP's corrupt screwball Ken Calvert in CA-44, the 21st hardest hit district in America (second worst in California), with 16,043. Obama beat McCain in the formerly solid-red Inland Empire district and Calvert's winning percentage was 52%. The district is 5.5% African-American, so the Republican racist mantra about who gets foreclosed on won't fly there either.

Other Republicans in similar situations are, in order of how badly their districts are faring, freshman Tom McClintock (CA-04- 15,994 foreclosures), Mary Bono Mack (CA-25- 15,328 foreclosures), Buck McKeon (CA-25- 14,898), David Dreier (CA-26-13,487 foreclosures), and Wally Herger (CA-02- 10,909 foreclosures). They all voted "no" and not one of them coasted to victory in November. Obama won in McKeon's, Dreier's and Bono-Mack's districts. And McClintock's win was so razor thin that it took weeks of recounts to finally be decided; I suspect a great many of the people who voted for him are having very severe cases of buyers' remorse.

Maybe the Republicans won't have to worry though. After all, they have a somewhat off-kilter Michael Steele (not to mention Mark Sanford) doing outreach for them to minority communities. You think this'll work?

Boehner Beats Lungren As Minority Leader-- But Is Forced To Take On Two Far Right Extremists

100 bottles of beer on the wall, 100 bottles of beer...

Republican members of Congress like Boehner cause he's so hands off and lets them do whatever they want and because he keeps the corporate cash flowing their way-- even though this cycle was the first time since 1994 that slimy corrupt PACs gave more to Dems than to Repugs. But they have managed to notice that there are almost 5 dozen fewer of them than there were before Boehner took over. And it isn't only that the GOP is failing to win open seats in red districts-- which they are failing to do spectacularly-- but that they are also seeing, despite all the carefully crafted incumbent protection schemes in place-- colleagues being defeated in every part of the country. This month they watched GOP hotshots like Robin Hayes (NC), Joe Knollenberg (MI), Tim Walberg (MI), Randy Kuhl (NY), Virgil Goode (VA), Thelma Drake (VA), Marilyn Musgrave (CO), Chris Shays (CT), Steve Chabot (OH), Jon Porter (NV), Ric Keller (FL), Tom Feeney (FL) all lose their seats, some in landslides. On top of that, another two dozen more managed to eke out another 2-year term by the skin of his or her teeth, guaranteeing well-financed challenges in 2010. Among those who just barely escaped near death experiences are rightists John Shadegg (AZ), Mario Diaz-Balart (FL), Michael McCaul (TX), Brian Bilbray (CA), Mean Jean Schmidt (OH), Michele Bachmann (MN), Ken Calvert (CA), Dean Heller (NV), Henry Brown (SC), Judy Biggert (IL), Dana Rohrabacher (CA), David Dreier (CA), Thaddeus McCotter (MI), Dave Reichert (WA), Jim Gerlach (PA), Addison Wilson (SC) and Dan Lungren (CA).

And speaking of Lungren's near loss-- he barely managed to win 50% of the votes-- he made a lunatic attempt to unseat Boehner today on behalf of all the GOP's walking wounded. He only got a small handful of votes against the seemingly teflon Boehner. "It's as though the captain of the Titanic survived and got tapped to run another transatlantic cruise."

But the Republican caucus did force the hapless but well-tanned and weepy Boehner to accept two radical right extremists, Mike Pence (IN) and Eric Cantor (VA) as his #2 and #3, scapegoating Roy Blunt (MO) and Howdy Doody (FL) as the culprits in the disaster that the Republican House caucus just went through. Tom Cole (OK), a dismal failure, was booted out of his job as NRCC chair-- how did he last as long as he did??-- and replaced by Pete Sessions (TX), who is likely to be even more inept and a bigger failure.

Blunt and Doody are terrible leaders; no doubt about it. But were they responsible for the spectacular losses this year? Of course not. God was. And although if He exists I'm sure he recognizes the GOP as the enemy of all Creation, I'm not talking about this-- or rather conservative columnist Kathleen Parker (in today's Washington Post) isn't-- in terms of God hating Republicans.

[T]he evangelical, right-wing, oogedy-boogedy branch of the GOP is what ails the erstwhile conservative party and will continue to afflict and marginalize its constituents if reckoning doesn't soon cometh.

Simply put: Armband religion is killing the Republican Party. And, the truth-- as long as we're setting ourselves free-- is that if one were to eavesdrop on private conversations among the party intelligentsia, one would hear precisely that.

The choir has become absurdly off-key, and many Republicans know it.

...It isn't that culture doesn't matter. It does. But preaching to the choir produces no converts. And shifting demographics suggest that the Republican Party-- and conservatism with it-- eventually will die out unless religion is returned to the privacy of one's heart where it belongs.

Religious conservatives become defensive at any suggestion that they've had something to do with the GOP's erosion. And, though the recent Democratic sweep can be attributed in large part to a referendum on Bush and the failing economy, three long-term trends identified by Emory University's Alan Abramowitz have been devastating to the Republican Party: increasing racial diversity, declining marriage rates and changes in religious beliefs.

Suffice it to say, the Republican Party is largely comprised of white, married Christians. Anyone watching the two conventions last summer can't have missed the stark differences: One party was brimming with energy, youth and diversity; the other felt like an annual Depends sales meeting.

The dominant Know Nothing/KKK wing of the party, however, sees it differently. That's because in their backward, dark precincts, bigotry, racism, homophobia, hatred and a dependence on ignorance and fear works for them. Know Nothing hacks like Mark Sanford (R-SC), Eric Cantor (R-VA), Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) and, of course, Miss Alaska are driving the train as it hurtles over the Bridge to... you guessed it.

You've got the lunatic fringe-- now the GOP mainstream-- screaming that McCain is a traitor to conservatism and that they need to clean house and make the Republican Party the exclusive domain of witch hunters, exorcists and hooded knights like Sarah Palin and Bobby Jindal, and Mark Sanford.

That Republicans are coalescing around these three governors is also revealing for who is not included. Several years ago Christie Todd Whitman, former governor of New Jersey and EPA administrator, wrote a book called It's My Party Too. She used that treatise to argue for the party to abandon its conservative roots. Even after two serious GOP drubbings at the polls, she has found no takers. Likewise, Lincoln Chaffee, the former Rhode Island Senator once labeled a "Republican in Name Only," was still complaining last week to the Washington Post that "right-wing talk show hosts and the Ann Coulters and that ilk" never understood that the GOP needs people like him.

Far Right's Knives Come Out-- Threating Boehner, Slashing McCain

DeMint favors selling South Carolina out to Mormon cult

A few days ago GOP poet laureate Ted Nugent declared war on "moderates" (i.e.- mainstream conservatives) within his own shattered and bleeding party. He especially attacked the man he had been campaigning for 2 weeks ago, John McCain and decreed that McCain should have no role in determining the future of the GOP. Instead he'd like to see silly right-wing gossip columnist Michelle Malkin play a dominant role. And the following day, the very same Malkin, as if on cue, was calling the presidential candidate she had been urging her brain dead supporters to vote for McLame.

OK, granted, no serious people anywhere take either of these clowns seriously. Or do they? It wasn't that long ago that America's most reactionary senator, South Carolina lunatic fringe loudmouth Jim DeMint was planting stories in right-wing blogs that McCain was considering him as a running mate. No one ever invited him to any of the McCain picnics at any of the 13 or 14 homes. But DeMint, good little zombie and unprincipled partisan hack that he is, was stumping for McCain anyway. The it turns out that DeMint was less than truthful when he was urging his constituents to vote for McCain-- either than or he's had a sudden change of heart. Yesterday DeMint, telling a GOP planning session that the party needs to advocate more of a theocratic form of government, blamed McCain for dragging the party into ruin by betraying conservative values. According to CNN, "DeMint offered a long list of complaints about McCain's record in the Senate and on the campaign trail."

"McCain, who is proponent of campaign finance reform that weakened party organizations and basically put George Soros in the driver's seat. His proposal for amnesty for illegals. His support of global warming, cap-and-trade programs that will put another burden on our economy. And of course, his embrace of the bailout right before the election was probably the nail in our coffin this last election. And he has been an opponent of drilling in ANWR, at a time when energy is so important. It really didn't fit the label, but he was our package."

And McCain isn't the only conservative leader coming under attack by the clueless and power-hungry fascists in the Republican Party. One of California's most extreme right-wing members of Congress, Dan Lungren, despite nearly being defeated by a largely unknown and unfinanced progressive Democrat, has declared that he's going to hold John Boehner accountable by challenging him for the very diminished House Minority Leader position. Keep in mind that Boehner's two top lieutenants, Blunt and Putnam, have already fallen on their swords as the scapegoats for the catastrophe of 2006/2008.

The much disliked Lungren only managed to scrape by his own re-election bid with 50% of the vote, seriously under-polling McCain, and is likely to face a far more serious challenge in 2010. He blames Boehner's inept leadership for the problems he sees the Republican House caucus mired in.

“If we don’t admit our difficulties and address them aggressively, we not only run the risk of becoming a permanent congressional minority but we will do a disservice to our nation,” Lungren wrote. “If we choose by inaction to ignore the real challenges we face, then paraphrasing President Reagan, we deserve to be regulated to the trash heap of history.”

An extremist even by Republican standards, Lungren isn't likely to get more than a dozen votes if he pursues his challenge, which isn't likely now that he's managed to get his name in the newspaper for something other than being the California Republican incumbent with the smallest percentage of votes.

ANOTHER RIGHT WING NUT-CASE, DAN LUNGREN GETS A CHALLENGER-- WELCOME BILL DURSTON, MD & VIETNAM WAR VET

Dan Lungren is probably the most extremist right-winger among a pretty disreputable batch of California Republican loons. While other lockstep rightists in the California delegation voted between 92% and 96% with indicted ex-Republican crime boss leader Tom DeLay, Lungren voted 99% with DeLay. There's a man who has no trouble making up his mind (since he doesn't have one of his own). A few weeks ago I was asking why there wasn't a good Democrat running against this whacko. Well, thanks to Matt from Pomboville for turning me on the answer. An emergency room doctor and much-admired Northern California activist, Bill Durston, has filed to run against Lungren in the 3rd CD.

This is a very red district-- the current loon having won by 62% last time-- but Durston is the right man to give him a real battle. A former Vietnam veteran, Durston says he is "saddened to see our country involved in another war started on false pretenses. Like many other veterans, I support the sacrifices our troops are making, but I don't support sacrificing our troops. I will work toward a prompt but orderly withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and replacement of U.S. forces by a truly international security force." His views on the so-called "War on Terrorism" also show that, unlike Lungren, he isn't suckered by the Bush/neo-con nutty agenda. "History shows that conventional military force is not only ineffective, but counter-productive in combating terrorism. The Bush Administration's belligerent military response to the September 11 terrorist attacks has created more terrorists than it has eliminated, and security in our own country has been weakened by deployment of reservists and diversion of resources abroad. We need to adopt a smarter approach to terrorism that includes international cooperation, better coordination of intelligence, and addressing the root causes of terrorism. The Bush Administration has scorned international law, the Geneva Convention, and the U.S. Constitution. I will work to restore democracy within our own country and to restore our country's tarnished image abroad."

Everything I read about Durston tells me he's a thoughtful grassroots progressive who would make a great congressman. A working physician-- rather than a big pharma pawn operative like "Dr" Frist-- Durston is particularly interested in health care. He believes that access to necessary health care "is a basic human right, not a privilege based on one's ability to pay. Throughout my career as an emergency physician, I have provided the best possible care to patients without regard to their financial status. As a U.S. Representative, I will continue to be a patient advocate."

With progressive grassroots positions like Durston's, it's reasonable to assume Rahm Emanuel will find some corporate shill to fight him tooth and nail. Boss Emanuel, like Lieberman, won't put up with any challengers opposing Bush's war in Iraq.

Bill grew up in what is now known as the Silicon Valley. He was president and valedictorian of his high school class. Rather than go directly on to college, though, he enlisted in the U.S. Marines at the height of the Vietnam war. He served in Vietnam with the Marines 3rd Force Reconnaissance Company, and he received the Navy Commendation medal for bravery under combat. Uh oh-- an American hero; someone call the Republican swift boaters so they can start the smear campaign! After completing his military service, he graduated first in his class in Biochemistry at U.C. Berkeley and entered Medical School at the University of California, San Francisco, where he was a Regent's Scholar. He is board certified in both Internal Medicine and Emergency Medicine and has practiced in Sacramento for over 20 years, where, among other things he served as Chief of the Kaiser, South Sacramento Emergency Department from 1985-1989. He helped found the UC Davis/Kaiser Emergency Medicine Residency in 1989. More recently, he served as Injury Prevention Chairperson of the California Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians (Cal/ACEP) from 2000 to present. He has helped craft state legislation related to injury prevention, and he has testified on numerous occasions before committees of the California State Legislature. He received a special Cal/ACEP Injury Prevention Award in 2002 for service to the people of California. He was President of the Sacramento Physicians for Social Responsibility from 2003 until he stepped down to run against the reactionary Lungren.