Making The Congress Less Oriented Towards Banksters-- Bernie Has Some Suggestions

Saturday evening Bernie tweeted a pretty basic concept: "Our economy works for Wall Street because it’s rigged by Wall Street. As long as Washington's bought, our economy won't work for the people." And by "Washington" being bought, he means corrupt politicians on the Wall Street gravy train. Leaving aside his opponent's massive $45,555,929 career-long indebtedness to the Finance Sector, more than any other politician who's ever been in Congress other than Obama, the dozen current members of the House who have taken the most in bribes--redefined as "contributions"-- from Wall Street this cycle are all unscrupulous members who are willing to do anything for bankster bucks:

• Paul Ryan (R-WI)- $1,981,809
• Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)- $1,584,650
• Patrick Murphy (New Dem-FL)- $1,413,950
• Jeb Hensarling (R-TX)- $921,415
• Patrick McHenry (R-NC)- $902,150
• Joe Heck (R-NV)- $889,972
• Ed Royce (R-CA)- $883,850
• Bob Dold (R-IL)- $817,194
• Steve Stivers (R-OH)- $815,970
• Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)- $710,078
• Steve Scalise (R-LA)- $708,358
• Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO)- $693,684

If you count "ex"-Republican Patrick Murphy, who still votes with the GOP on most core issues, as a Democrat, the list of the dozen most corrupt bankster-bots includes 10 ethics-free Republicans and 2 ethics-free Democrats. All the House members on the list have already earned Wall Street's gratitude with services delivered and all are thought by the banksters to be worth investing in for future returns. Three of the most corrupt-- Murphy, Heck and Van Hollen are being furiously pushed by Wall Street for promotion into the Senate.

But sending out a warning tweet about politicians corrupted by Wall Street dollars isn't all Bernie was up to over the weekend. He sent his supporters an e-mail which revealed his commitment to a strategy for continuing the political revolution: after contesting the primary in DC tomorrow-- and making a point about statehood for the district-- he will be taking "our issues to the Democratic Convention in Philadelphia next month." He has already given a significant financial leg up in fundraising to 4 House candidates in upcoming primaries-- Lucy Flores (NV... also tomorrow), Zephyr Teachout (NY), Eric Kingson (NY), Pramila Jayapal (WA), Paul Clements (MI) and Tim Canova (FL)-- and he emphasized why this is so important. These are all Blue America-endorsed candidates you can find my tapping on the "Bernie Congress" thermometer on the right.

But no matter what happens, the truth is that no president, not Bernie Sanders, not Hillary Clinton, not the greatest president you can possibly imagine can address the enormous problems facing the working families of our country by him or herself. That is the truth, and that is why we need a grassroots political movement in this country: a political revolution.

And that political revolution must work to elect candidates up and down the ballot, including members of Congress who are willing to stand up to corporate America and Wall Street. That’s why I am endorsing two progressives who have done that work throughout their careers: Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur and Congressman Rick Nolan.

...Congressman Rick Nolan (Minnesota) represents one of the most competitive congressional districts in the country. Normally when that happens, the elected official moves to the “right” to protect their seat. Not Rick. His election is a great opportunity to prove one can serve as a progressive and still win a difficult race.

Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (Ohio) is a leading voice to adopt fair trade policies which not only raise wages in this country, but lift living standards throughout the world. She has been fighting for a fair trade policy from the day she came to Congress.

I know that if you stand with them, as we have stood together throughout this campaign, we are almost certainly going to transform the Democratic Party, and we are going to transform this country.

From the very beginning, our campaign has been about building a movement which brings working people and young people together to create a government that represents all of us, and not just a handful of wealthy campaign contributors.

Supporting Rick Nolan and Marcy Kaptur is an important extension of that work.

THe likelihood of Bernie being elected president is fading. The likelihood of changing the complexion of Congress-- from one filled with corrupt conservatives to one with more dedicated progressive reformers-- is still within our grasp. Bernie voters haven't always been diligent in supporting down-ballot candidates who stand for his platform. Electing men and women like Pramila Jayapal, Zephyr Teachout, Eric Kingson, Tim Canova-- and the others on this list-- is the crucial next step we can still take to make America Trump-proof. In his note, Bernie asked for $100 contributions for the Berniecrat candidates. If that's steep for you, keep in mind that Tim Canova has built a war-chest of nearly two million dollars with small contributions averaging less than $20. There is no such thing as a contribution too small for a grassroots candidate. If $10 is what you can afford, that is $10 that will be meaningful, appreciated and not wasted on high-priced DC consultants.

Ali G Loves Romans... And Brunch; Caitlin Jenner Really Hates Hillary; And Marcy Kaptur Endorses Bernie

No matter how horrid a monster, Ted Cruz acknowledges all his fanatic racist and bigoted endorsers. He's always "proud" to be endorsed by someone advocating stoning gay people to death or firebombing women's health clinics. But Caitlin Jenner was a step too far. When the reality show celebrity endorsed him he ignored the vote of confidence. And when she offered to be his "trans ambassador," he refused to comment. Undaunted, she's been pretty vicious towards Hillary Clinton, even using her Kardashian spin-off show-- one of the most universally panned TV shows in the history of the medium-- to slap down Hillary. She said she's supporting a Republican candidate because none of the Republicans say "I hate trans people or I hate gays and "I want a driving economy so every trans person has a job... [I]f we’re unfortunate enough get Hillary as our next president, we need her on our side. Although she won’t be. She couldn’t care less about women. She cares about herself." In the video above Jenner explains why she prefers Herr Trumpf over Hillary.

This afternoon a rumor swept the left blogosphere that Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur had endorsed Bernie 4 days before Tuesday's Ohio primary. At first I thought it was just something that started bout a month ago when she said she was staying neutral but made it clear that she's voting for Bernie.

The longest-serving woman in the US House, Kaptur, a Democrat officially neutral in the race, called Sanders “the only voice we’ve had the last three decades, of all these presidential candidates, who is actually talking about the economic issues that are actually affecting American families.”

Kaptur, a longtime ally of organized labor and outspoken opponent of President Clinton’s free-trade policies, stopped just shy of endorsing Sanders, but praised him for his ideological consistency.

“He hasn’t changed anything, and people are hearing the message now. Unvarnished, now, for the first time in my career,” she told the Globe in a phone interview Wednesday afternoon. “First time in my career that I’ve heard a candidate give voice to what we’ve been struggling for and against in this Congress for the last quarter century.”

She contrasted that with Clinton, saying, “I must say that when Secretary Clinton was secretary of state, I don’t recall her ever attempting to balance [free-trade agreements] or change them in any way.”

...A Toldeo Democrat and member of the House Progressive Caucus, Kaptur said her comments Wednesday were her most discursive yet about Sanders’s candidacy, and came in response to a question about the day’s back-and-forth between Sanders and Clinton over progressive credentials.

Much of the sizzle in the Democratic primary has focused on Sanders’s ability to corral the energy in the party’s left-wing base, assailing Wall Street and pushing populist rhetoric. In Wednesday night’s town hall, Clinton pushed back, arguing that she and Sanders share the same goals. But she also stumbled over questions about her six-figure payments for speeches to investment bank Goldman Sachs.

Said Kaptur, “Senator Sanders has always been there. He has never been a ‘Johnny-Come-Lately’ and he has never changed positions.”

Kaptur said Clinton had belatedly come to oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership, noting, “Senator Sanders was there from the very beginning.”

“The issue that has been the most cutting for the American people has been their economic welfare,” Kaptur said. “Over the last quarter century, they have been dealt such heavy blows. I have always regarded Senator Sanders as one of the most pristine voices on their behalf, whether it was auto workers in Ohio or farm workers from New Mexico.”

Comparing Sanders to former President Harry Truman, Kaptur said, “In many ways, his struggle in this campaign is very noble, because he is up against the most powerful forces, economic forces, that have caused so much harm … They’ll try to diminish him. I admire the fact that he’s running, that he is an agent of change in our society, and he doesn’t have the billionaire class lined up behind him. He’s a senator from Vermont.”

However, late in the day, I found a story by Tom Troy in the Toledo Blade that confirmed Kaptur had indeed ditched the neutrality and formally endorsed Bernie when she introduced him at a rally at the SeaGate Convention Centre in Toledo. Until today, she was the only member of the Ohio Democratic Congressional delegation to not endorse Hillary. Now she's the sixth sitting Member of Congress to have endorsed Bernie, following Raul Grijalva (AZ), Keith Ellison (MN), Alan Grayson (FL), Tulsi Gabbard (HI) and Peter Welch (VT).

Miss Kaptur thanked the crowd for "coming to build a stronger a better America. We love you and we desperately love this country and want it to be a country for all, not just the privileged few."

"I come here to introduce the next president of the United States," she said.

Who Wants Congress Pushing Us Into A War With Russian Over Ukraine?

McCain, Ayotte, Graham want to spend billions to provoke a war with Russia over Ukraine

Marcy Kaptur should be home demanding answers about why her constituents can't drink the water that comes out of their taps. (They can't brush their teeth or shower with it either and they can't let their pets drink it. There's cylindrospermopsin in what used to be their drinking water and, according to the EPA "the primary toxic effect of this toxin is irreversible damage to the liver." Oh, and it causes cancer in mice.) Last week, Kaptur was busy in Washington introducing legislation with Republican Jim Gerlach to give $100 million in military aid to Ukraine. That';s on top of the billion dollars in aid to Ukraine Congress has already approved. "It is a country that wants to move towards liberty and democracy," said Kaptur. "We need to help them." Is it? I'm sure some people do. Others running the show there want to move towards fascism. And others want to break the country up. I hope they work it out. The U.S. can't afford to send a billion dollars to every dysfunctional country spiraling into civil war.

The Lake Erie water problem has spread to southeast Michigan now and that state's senior senator, Carl Levin, also seems more concerned with flushing taxpayer money down the Ukrainian sewer than figuring out what to do about the drinking water for 150,000 people who live in Monroe County, a Democratic bastion in southeast Michigan, I might add, and the only county of the 7 that make up MI-07 to have voted to replace right-wing extremist Tim Walberg with a Democrat last cycle. Monroe went for Senator Stabenow with 57% against Republican challenger Pete Hoekstra. They deserve the attention of their elected officials, instead of Levin breaking with Obama to try to force more money into more lethal weapons systems for Ukraine, including surface to air missiles (which the rebels don't have and which can only be used against Russia).

President Obama, however, on Tuesday ruled out providing arms to Ukraine, one day after the country’s defense minister asked for more military assistance.

“The issue, at this point, is not the Ukrainian capacity to outfight the separatists,” Obama said.

Levin said he disagreed.

"What the president said … is not satisfactory to me, when he said 'we're hoping for a peaceful outcome,’” Levin said. “Obviously we are."

“I don’t think it’s defensible to draw a line between lethal and non-lethal as to what type of assistance we provide,” he added.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Ukraine’s wish list includes items ranging from body armor and Humvees to F-16 fighter jets.

Levin said Ukraine understands the U.S. would not send in troops, but acknowledged that if Russian forces did cross the border “it would be very difficult to stop them.”

He said Ukraine’s military leader recognize they might be undertaking a “difficult road” that could lead to a “guerilla-type effort against the Russians.”

Levin predicted that Moscow would give a “flimsy excuse” to move across the border into Ukraine.

Who does Levin think he is, John McCain? And the 2 other stooges, Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) are both backing spending more money-- no offsets?-- on weapons fro Ukraine. Lindsey, a simpering, twisted and pathetic closet case afraid of his own constituents, sought to goad Obama into a path towards war with nuclear-armed Russian by braying that "The bottom line is this administration is afraid of confronting the Russians." What an asshole!

Super Tuesday- Ohio

Romney vs Santorum vs Paul vs Gingrich has a certain amount of entertainment value for political junkies... but let's be real-- the decision by the Republican Party Establishment to select Romney as their party's nominee was made long ago. This whole primary thing was, in retrospect, probably a gigantic mistake for them. So as much as I'll be passively looking to see which clown won Tulsa or which doofus had the most votes in Montpellier... it doesn't matter. It's a foregone conclusion that even if Santorum wins Oklahoma, in November that state is firmly in the Romney column and Vermont is firmly in the Obama column. But that doesn't mean there's nothing important happening tomorrow. There certainly is. Ohio's political parties have primaries to pick their November nominees-- and not ever race is a foregone conclusion.

As of tomorrow it will be official that the malevolent incompetents at the DCCC have failed to even offer an opponent for John Boehner. They were so aggressively unhelpful to Justin Coussoule in 2010 that no one in the district even put a name forward to try this year. So Boehner, who has raised $12,944,563 so far this year will be free to spend all that plus his time and energy campaigning against Democrats from coast to coast instead of defending himself the way he was forced to do by Coussoule. (He does have a GOP primary opponent, teabagger David Lewis, who, as of February 15, had raised $7,896, spent $7,876 and has $20 cash-on-hand heading into tomorrow. Thats district 8. In the newly redrawn district 9 there's something very different happening.

The GOP is putting on a clown show with Joe the Plumber. But the real race is the primary between Democratic incumbents Marcy Kaptur and Dennis Kucinich, a contest we covered last week. Short version:

Marcy Kaptur voted to fund Bush’s wars. Dennis did not.

Marcy Kaptur voted for the Patriot Act. Dennis did not.

Marcy Kaptur supports the Keystone pipeline. Dennis does not.

Dennis has worked relentlessly for nuclear safety at Davis-Besse. Marcy Kaptur has not.

Dennis supported the Dream Act. Marcy Kaptur opposed it.

Dennis supports Marriage Equality. Marcy Kaptur opposes it.

Dennis fully supports Choice. Marcy Kaptur opposes it.

Many progressives feel he's the #1 best Member of Congress. But Marcy is usually a reliable progressive on almost everything but Choice. She even has had one great moment, when she urged foreclosed on constituents to refuse to leave their homes. Like Kucinich, she's good on economic justice issues. But, all in all, she's just another Member of Congress, better than most but... she's no Dennis Kucinich. Sunday night he sent out an e-mail to supporters reminding them that "This election is not just about one seat. This is about the future of our country and the soul of the progressive movement. In primary elections all over the country right now, corporate-owned Democrats are trading the soul of the Democratic Party for the magic beans of big campaign contributions." The campaign wants to remind Democratic primary voters not just that Dennis took a stand against the war in Iraq, and voted against funding it every single time but that Kaptur voted to fund the war over and over, and she took almost a quarter-million in campaign funding from war contractors. He calls it "a street fight for the soul of the Democratic Party" and reminds people that she gets a lot of PAC and corporate money. Her average donation was $1,307; his was $48. "How," he asks "can any person or any party fight for average Americans when they are funded by the special interests?"

The other redrawn district with a crucial primary tomorrow is in the 3rd CD (basically, Columbus). There are three frontrunners, Mary Jo Kilroy, a stalwart progressive who has been endorsed by Blue America, plus business-friendly Joyce Beatty and an ex-Governor's brother, Ted Celeste. We covered the race a month ago and today I just want to remind everyone in the district, that as inconsequential as the GOP primary is, this race really is important. The winner of tomorrow's primary will be the next congressmember from OH-3. Let's make sure it's a lifelong progressive fighter, Mary Jo Kilroy, not a corporate shill.

Yesterday Mary Jo was going from meeting to meeting talking with voters about the issues that concern them. And foreclosures was right at the top of everyone's list. Mary Jo, like her colleagues in the Congressional Progressive Caucus, wants real action and accountability. "I call on Mr. De Marco to do the right thing for communities struggling with the problem of wave after wave of home foreclosures. His policy is unfair to the homeowners, unjust, and hurts us all as this crisis lowers property values and is a drag on the economy." Big Business and Wall Street interests have helped finance a campaign against Mary Jo by backing a conservative "business-friendly" Democrat. Tomorrow, if you're in Columbus or if you have friends or relatives in Columbus, please don't forget this is a key seat for progressives that will be won-- or lost-- now, not in November.


UPDATE: Well... At Least Mean Jean Schmidt Lost Her Seat

Southern Ohio voters never liked her much and they finally managed to take her out, getting behind moderate podiatrist Brad Wenstrup, who beat her 49-43%. The two Democrats vying for their party's nomination, David Kirkorian and William Smith, are locked in a 50/50 tie. In the 9th CD, Marcy Kaptur beat Dennis Kucinich. His national prominence just couldn't hold up to the fact that most of the new district was made up of her constituents. He won in his areas and she won in hers. In the end she beat him 42,451 (56%) to 29,892 (40%). But the biggest tragedy was the narrow victory by conservative shill Joyce Beatty over progressive Mary Jo Kilroy in the new OH-3 (Columbus).

Dennis Kucinich vs Marcy Kaptur

Ohio's radical right Republican state legislature just gerrymandered that state's congressional districts. One of the effects was to push Dennis Kucinich and Marcy Kaptur into one district. Both are basically progressives-- and both are members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. But there are differences. The election is in 12 days. Last night Kucinich sent out a list of reasons why he's the better choice:

Marcy Kaptur voted to fund Bush’s wars. Dennis did not.

Marcy Kaptur voted for the Patriot Act. Dennis did not.

Marcy Kaptur supports the Keystone pipeline. Dennis does not.

Dennis has worked relentlessly for nuclear safety at Davis-Besse. Marcy Kaptur has not.

Dennis supported the Dream Act. Marcy Kaptur opposed it.

Dennis supports Marriage Equality. Marcy Kaptur opposes it.

Dennis fully supports Choice. Marcy Kaptur opposes it.

Democrats are loathe to get involved in this kind of a fratricidal fight. Blue America doesn't endorse in primaries unless there is one really bad Democrat-- like, say Tim Holden (Blue Dog-PA)-- running against one really good Democrat-- like Matt Cartwright. This northeast Ohio race was one we were never going to jump in as a PAC. I will say, however, that for all her economic populism, Kaptur doesn't measure up to Kucinich, one of Congress' most outstanding Members. Alan Grayson has been campaigning for him-- and raised $50,000 for his race. [UPDATE: A Kucinich supporter informed me that Grayson has raised another $100,000 for Dennis since that original push!] “Congress is full of replaceable parts," Grayson explained. "But Dennis Kucinich is not one of them. Dennis is unique.” And on his Facebook page Tuesday Grayson explained why he had maxed out personally to the Kucinich reelection campaign:

Two weeks from today, the remarkable 43-year political career of Congressman Dennis Kucinich will either continue, or it will end. I want it to continue. So I’m maxing out to Dennis Kucinich’s campaign.
 
The Federal Election Campaign Act permits me to contribute $2,500 toward Dennis’s March 6 primary. That’s what I’m doing. Today.
 
I’m doing it for all of us – everyone with a head, a heart and a spine. Every good progressive who will benefit if Dennis Kucinich remains in Congress.
 
I’m doing it for Dennis, because he’s my friend.
 
And I’m doing it for myself. Because:
 
(1) If I’m elected to Congress again this year, all of us will get more good things done – myself included – if Dennis is there to energize and galvanize the Democrats in the House. And . . .
 
(2) When I wake up on the morning of March 7, the day after Dennis’s primary, I don’t want any regrets. No “if only I had . . . .”s. Whether Dennis wins or he loses, I want to feel that I did everything that I could to help him.
 
Maybe you do, too.

Who should we listen to, Marcy Kaptur or Our Davy Brooks? (Yes, but who'll GET listened to?)

Notice how grudgingly Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) is given the floor. Can't you just feel the rage, even the hatred, of Republicans forced to put up with the ravings of the crazywoman from Ohio? Fortunately, from their perspective, they know that no one's going to pay a damned bit of attention.

by Ken

Howie passed this video along from Nepal. (Our information "back channels" at DWT are way back.) He asked, "Does this appeal to you?" And by the time I got this far into Marcy's speech, I wrote back, "Not only does it appeal to me, it's perfect for the post I'm pulling together for 6pm dumping on David Brooks as part of the 'them' conspiracy. Here's somebody who ISN'T."

Now we even have a bill that's going to take food away from about 350,000 women and children. Now whose fault is that?

Here's a little note from somebody in my district. [Reads from a paper plate.] She says -- [waving paper plate] she signed up this plate at the food bank, the local food bank -- she says: "Without help from the food bank, I would be on the street. I struggle every day to make ends meet, so my kids have a place to lay their heads at night. I have a job, but with two kids it's still very hard. I have a lot of trouble paying rent, and bills. I just wish there were more help for parents like myself.

That's from the rural part of my district. From the urban part of my district [holding up another paper plate] and plate is signed at the food bank: "My income is spent on bills which leave very little money for me to purchase food for myself and my two daughters."

You know, the majority of people in this house are Christians, and I'm not pushing that, though I am one of them, but the First Beatitude says, "Feed the hungry." It doesn't say, "Rugged individualism." I'm as individualistic as anybody else in this chamber, but I'll tell you what, there's a heartlessness that goes with people who take everything for themselves and turn their back on the rest of the American people. So when Big Oil makes record profits and pays no taxes, there's something really wrong.

There's something really wrong with the country, and the American people know it. They didn't clean house here last November because they thought you were better. They just wanted a change. And they'll vote for it again if their lives don't get better, and their lives won't get better unless we fix what Alan Greenspan and Goldman Sachs and Bank of America and the whole rest of those buzzards up there did to this country.

And they're taking bonuses! In fact, they're making so much money, they take members of Congress out. You know the average amount of the meal? $193. $193 a plate. These folks [holding up the paper plates], a couple of bucks in a day they spend on food.

So I stand with the American people, not those wealthy interests who took the nation to the cleaners. . . .

Speaking of "who took the nation to the cleaners," you'll be thrilled to know that no less intrepid a detective than Our Davy Brooks has figured it out. And you know who it was? Freddie Mac!

As I suggested earlier, media dunce-whores like Our Davy are crucial to the corporatist juggernaut now running roughshod over non-plutocratic America.

And how does Our Davy know this? He read a book. Well, apparently he read part of a book -- the part that said what his dunce-whore ears wanted to hear. See, Our Davy "thought" (using the term in the very broadest possible sense), it wasn't the fault of the Godlike Rich People who make it possible for me to enjoy my scrumptious standard of living as their dunce-whore bitch!

But of course, as always, he's wrong. And it apparently doesn't bother the people at the NYT who have his checks cut that he's always wrong. People like Our Davy and the Rose Douchebag given them "balance" -- balancing their roster of moderates with right-wing dunce-whores gussied up to look like people with working brains.

We'll go more into the specifics of how Our Davy f**ked up this particular scoop tomorrow.

#

Will Taliban Dan Protect Florida Families From Illegal Foreclosures? Does He Even Know What They Are?

 

Last week we learned that, under intense pressure from Congressman Alan Grayson and other determined congressional and executive watchdogs, Bank of America decided to join banksters JPMorgan Chase and GMAC in suspending foreclosure processes in 23 states that "weren't reviewed properly." How many illegal foreclosures have already forced families out of their homes? It's why Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), early in 2009, told her constituents to stay put in their homes if some crooked bankster tried to force them out.

In the video above, Rep. Grayson explains, in layman's terms-- and with horrifying details-- what kind of unconscionable fraud the banks have been up to. Even the staid old NY Times has taken note of the scandal this week.

The foreclosure machinery that has forced millions of Americans out of their homes is beginning to seize up as some lenders and their lawyers are accused of cutting corners in their pursuit of rapid home repossessions.

Evictions are expected to slow sharply, housing analysts said, as state and national law enforcement officials shine a light on questionable foreclosure methods revealed by two of the country’s biggest home lenders in the last two weeks.

Even lenders with no known problems are expected to approach defaulting homeowners more cautiously and look more aggressively for resolutions short of outright eviction.

Despite the turmoil, some economists said the breakdown could ultimately lay the groundwork for a real estate recovery.

Stricken neighborhoods across the country, for example, could benefit. One big factor undermining home sales is fear of a large number of foreclosed homes coming to the market. If the foreclosures are delayed or never happen, housing prices might find a floor.

...As more defaulting homeowners become aware of the lenders’ problems, they are expected to hire lawyers and challenge the proceedings against them. And if completed foreclosures were not properly done, families who bought the troubled homes could be vulnerable to claims by the former owners.

Apparently alarmed about such a possibility, one of the major title insurance companies, Old Republic National Title, has sent a bulletin to agents saying that “until further notice” it would not insure title to properties foreclosed upon by GMAC Mortgage, the country’s fourth-largest home lender and one of the two big lenders at the center of the current controversy.

GMAC declined to comment, and Old Republic representatives did not return calls.

GMAC has acknowledged legal missteps in processing mortgages, and JPMorgan Chase has acknowledged the possibility of missteps, and both have suspended all foreclosures in the 23 states where they need a court’s approval. That’s 56,000 in the case of Chase alone; GMAC declined to provide a number.

Attorneys general in half a dozen states are demanding action or opening investigations. The Treasury Department said Thursday it was asking regulators to look into “these troubling developments.”

“We’re seeing a fundamental breakdown in the system, because no one cared that much about getting things right,” said Representative Alan Grayson, a Democrat of Florida, who unsuccessfully asked the Florida Supreme Court to halt all foreclosures in that state.

Grayson, of course, was maligned and viciously slandered again and again by Fox News for having the temerity to interfere. However, after Grayson got Florida to act, other states did likewise. Friday Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal ordered a moratorium on all foreclosures by all banks for two months and California Attorney General Jerry Brown ordered J.P. Morgan to prove it is following the law before it continues foreclosures in California.

[I]n Connecticut, Blumenthal said in a statement that he is investigating J.P. Morgan Chase and Ally, formerly GMAC, which is the recipient of a $17 billion federal bailout and majority-owned by the U.S. Treasury, as well as other lenders.

He said the actions of J.P. Morgan and Ally are a "possible fraud on the court undermining the integrity of the legal process and consumers' ability to fight foreclosures.

"This freeze should stop a foreclosure steamroller based on defective documents and enable effective remedies," Blumenthal said.

It's worth noting that Michael Moore, in a kind of open letter to the fractured and bumbling Democrats, laying out a roadmap for salvaging the midterms and turning them into a landslide victory instead of what pundits are predicting, calls for just this kind of action in the 3rd of 5 suggestions:

3. Announce a Moratorium on All Family Home Foreclosures.
Last month (August) there were more home foreclosures than in any month in U.S. history. Worse than any month in the worst year ever, 2009. The bleeding hasn't stopped-- it's only gotten worse. And now, this week, two of the largest crime organizations who are throwing hundreds of thousands of people out of their homes (GMAC and JPMorgan Chase) have been forced to momentarily stop doing this. It turns out, they don't really have the paperwork to prove they actually own these houses! It's madness. So if you do one thing for the middle class this week, do this. It will take an hour of your time to draw up the decree and issue it. We'd rather watch It's a Wonderful Life than Poltergeist.

Obviously, with corporate shills like Steny Hoyer and his collection of mangy, bribe-hungry Blue Dogs, having so much say in the Democratic Party, this is never going to happen. It's Sunday, a very good time to get Grayson's back; he about all we've got standing between us and what Frank Rich referred to today as "the billionaires and corporate interests that have been steadily annexing the Tea Party movement and busily plotting to cash in their chips if the G.O.P. prevails... Wall Street potentates and corporate titans."


UPDATE: Of course there's a simpler way of dealing with this... as Donald Duck can easily explain:

Who Are The 40 Anti-Choice Democrats Bart Stupak Claims To Have In His Pocket To Kill Health Care Reform?

Republicans are all atwitter that, between the Blue Dogs and the Democratic anti-choice fanatics their new best friend Bart Stupak (D-MI) has herded together, they'll be able to stop the health care reform momentum and kill the bill. This morning's Washington Post was fanning the flames of false hope.

House leaders were still negotiating Monday with the bloc of Democrats concerned about abortion provisions in the legislation, saying that they could lead to public funding of the procedure. After an evening meeting of top House Democrats, Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (Md.) said, "We are making progress," but added that they had not reached an agreement.

The outcome of those talks could be crucial in deciding the fate of the health-care bill. Democrats need the vast majority of their caucus to back the bill, since nearly all congressional Republicans have said they will oppose the legislation.

"I will continue whipping my colleagues to oppose bringing the bill to the floor for a vote until a clean vote against public funding for abortion is allowed," Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) said Monday in a statement. He said last week that 40 Democrats could vote with him to oppose the legislation -- enough to derail the bill.

Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, cast Stupak as "attempting to ban abortion coverage in the private insurance market."

The problem with Stupak's math is that (a) he doesn't really have 40 votes pledged to kill health care and (b) most of the ones he does have can't be added to the Blue Dogs who oppose it; they are the Blue Dogs who oppose it. When Stupak and Lipinksi drafted a whiny letter to Nancy Pelosi crying about funding women's health, they only wound up with 19 signatories: Dan Boren (Blue Dog-OK), Bart Stupak (D-MI), Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN), Tim Holden (Blue Dog-PA), Travis Childers (Blue Dog-MS), Lincoln Davis (Blue Dog-TN), Heath Shuler (Blue Dog-NC), Solomon Ortiz (D-TX), Mike McIntyre (Blue Dog-NC), Jerry Costello (D-IL), Gene Taylor (Blue Dog-MS), James Oberstar (D-MN), Bobby Bright (Blue Dog-AL), Steve Driehaus (D-OH), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Charlie Melancon (Blue Dog-LA), John Murtha (D-PA), Paul Kanjorski (D-PA) and Kathleen Dahlkemper (Blue Dog-PA). Eleven of them are die-hard reactionary Blue Dogs who routinely vote with the GOP on many-- in some cases most-- substantive measures. Gene Taylor, Bobby Bright, Travis Childers, Charlie Melancon, Heath Shuler and Dan Boren vote so consistently with the Republicans that they are Boehner Boys.

In past years Blue America would sometimes interview candidates who would present themselves as progressives and somehow neglect to tell us that they would join the Blue Dog caucus and vote against progressive legislation on a regular basis. Chris Carney was the worst of the slimy and deceitful candidates to have done that, but Patrick Murphy, Kirsten Gillibrand and Mike Arcuri all presented themselves as being far more progressive as candidates than they turned out as Congress members. These days we ask for an explicit promise, taped, before we endorse anyone that they are not now, nor will they ever be, a Blue Dog.

Sometimes we run into confused candidates who don't understand what the Blue Dogs are. Palm Springs Mayor Steve Pougnet looks like a great candidate on paper. He certainly supports women's right to choice. And as for gay equality, he's married to a man and they have two children. But when I asked him about the Blue Dogs, he hedged. He likes them. Even after I pointed out that the only Democrats who opposed the hate crimes bill were all slimy Blue Dogs, he still couldn't promise he wouldn't join their caucus. I still hope he beats Mary Bono-Mack, but he won't be getting any endorsement or contributions from Blue America for his efforts.

For Blue America, supporting a woman's right to choice is nonnegotiable. Last January-- long before Michael Moore stumbled onto her and made her a heroine of his latest film-- we applauded Ohio Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur for her powerful populist message about illegal foreclosures by slimy banksters. More recently we have included Kaptur in our list of the 32 Democratic heroes who voted against Obama's war supplemental in June. But when people started getting wildly enthusiastic about her and yelling and screaming that she should be president, I asked them if they were aware that she's an anti-choice Democrat. It goes beyond just her religious convictions. She uses her position in Congress to try to impose her beliefs on all the women in America. She's good on almost every single issue that comes up-- better than most Democrats, in fact, but when it comes to choice, she's no better than Michele Bachmann, Mean Jean Schmidt or Virginia Foxx. And she did sign on to the Stupak-Lipinski letter.

Would she vote with the Republicans against health care reform because of her anti-choice mania? There are 75,000 uninsured people in her Lake Erie district centered on Toledo and stretching all the way to Lorain and Oberlin. Around 56,000 will be covered if the bill passes. And around 12,400 small businesses in the district could qualify for tax credits of up to 50% of the costs of providing health insurance for their employees. Annually 7,600 seniors in Kaptur's district fall into the Part D doughnut hole. The bill she's threatening to block would rescue them. I can't believe if push comes to shove she's going to side with John Boehner, Eric Cantor, Michele Bachmann, Bart Stupak and the Boehner Boys against her own constituents. Can you?

Watch Marcy Kaptur with Bill Moyers last month:




UPDATE: Stupak's Legions Come Out Of The Closet

Here's the full list of the anti-choice Democrats who are voting against allowing a vote on the health care bill unless women's choice is explicitly denied:

Jason Altmire (Blue Bog-PA)
John Barrow (Blue Bog-GA)
Dan Boren (Blue Bog-OK)
Bobby Bright (Blue Bog-AL)
Chris Carney (Blue Bog-PA)
Travis Childers (Blue Bog-MS)
Jerry Costello (D-IL)
Kathy Dahlkemper (Blue Dog-PA)
Artur Davis (D-IL)
Lincoln Davis (Blue Dog-TN)
Steve Driehaus (D-OH)
Parker Griffith (Blue Dog-AL)
Tim Holden (Blue Dog-PA)
Dale Kildee (D-MI)
Frank Kratovil (Blue Dog-MD)
Dan Lipinski (D-IL/TN)
Jim Marshall (Blue Dog-GA)
Jim Matheson (Blue Dog-UT)
Mike McIntyre (Blue Dog-NC)
Charlie Melancon (Blue Dog-LA)
Michael McMahon (D-NY)
Alan Mollohan (D-WV)
Jim Oberstar (D-MN)
Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN)
Nick Rahall (D-WV)
Mike Ross (Blue Dog-AR)
Heath Shuler (Blue Dog-NC)
John Tanner (Blue Dog-TN)
Gene Taylor (Blue Dog-MS)

Basically just a bunch of reactionary Blue Dogs who are opposed to health care reform regardless of choice issues. And, of course, Marcy Kaptur has disassociated herself with these unsavory characters.


UPDATE: 2014

With the exceptions of Blue Dogs Dan Lipinski (IL) and Collin Peterson (MN) every person on the list above of Democrats from the Republican wing of their party has been defeated or forced to retire rather than face certain defeat... and one died. Lipinski and Peterson will be the only ones who will be back in Congress next year. Although both should be primaried, Lipinski's seat is safely blue and if he's beaten by a real Democrat, everyone will be better off.

Another Watered Down Bill To Ameliorate Foreclosures Passes-- No Big Deal, Unfortunately

Yesterday the House passed the amended (watered down) version of the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act. As usual, the Senate-- you know, that exclusive, conservative club that's owned by the banksters-- made it less friendly towards working families and more friendly for their powerful campaign contributors. The authorization for bankruptcy judges to change mortgage terms under certain circumstances has been stripped out of the bill. It's better than a poke in the eye but far less than working families distressed by predatory banksters should have expected. In fact, the Senate screwed up Conyers' original bill badly enough so that the original 234-191 passage back in March turned into an overwhelming... victory. All the slimy Blue Dogs and a shitload of Republicans who had voted no back in March, were on board yesterday.

Yep, back on March 5 only 7 Republicans voted yes (and 2 dozen, mostly slimy, Democrats, voted no). But yesterday there were only 3 Democrats who voted no-- and only one a Blue Dog-- and 123 Republicans abandoned the most extremist and obstructionist and corrupt in their caucus to cross the aisle and vote with the Democrats. It passed, overwhelmingly, 367-54-1.

The Republicans voting "no," were the usual suspects-- Todd Akin (R-MO), Michele Bachmann (R-MN), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Paul Broun (R-GA), John Culberson (R-TX), Virginia Foxx (R-NC), Scott Garrett (R-NJ), Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), Darrell Issa (R-CA), Steve King (R-IA), Doug Lamborn (R-CO), Connie Mack (R-FL), Tom McClintock (R-CA), Patty McHenry (R-NC), Mike Pence (R-IN), Tom Price (R-GA), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Pete Sessions (R-TX), John Shadegg (R-AZ), Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA)... the whole batch of irrelevant imbeciles who always just vote against everything that would go even part way towards relieving the burdens their policies have places on working families. But it isn't the 54 who voted "no" or the 367 who voted "yes" that I want to focus on today.

Instead, it is the one member who voted "present," Marcy Kaptur, who I want to take a look at this morning. She supported the original bill, enthusiastically. Perhaps you remember the powerful and inspiring speech she made urging the victims of predatory banksters to get lawyers and fight their evictions. We asked her what changed her mind. She didn't mince words:

This is just another cosmetic bill that continues to severely disadvantage-- indeed "hollow out"-- communities impacted by huge subprime foreclosures in allowing Wall Street megabanks and their outside investor allies to buy up affected properties at a huge discount.

It allows Wall Street operatives to substantially underbid local communities in acquiring affected properties, thus severely limiting the effectiveness of the NSP. It does nothing to bring Wall Street firms to the table to achieve the necessary workouts.

She's right.



UPDATE: Senate Waters Down Two More And Sends Them To The House For Passage-- House Does As Its Told

After the Senate partially gutted the Truth in Lending Act, meant to "establish fair and transparent practices relating to the extension of credit," the House complacently agreed to their bankster-approved version in three consecutive votes. First came a general rule to consider which passed 247-180, only two Republicans crossing the aisle to lend a hand to consumers being preyed upon by crooked credit card companies. Meanwhile, 4 of the most corrupt and reactionary Democrats voted, as they always do, with the GOP: Baron Hill (Blue Dog-IN), Walt Minnick (Blue Dog-ID), Gabby Giffords (Blue Dog-AZ), and Jason Altmire (Blue Dog-PA). Two principled progressives, Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) and Caroline McCarthy (D-NY), voted "no" for the same kinds of reasons Marcy Kaptur couldn't bring herself to vote for the watered-down foreclosure bill. The House then voted 361-64 to pass the whole bill not counting Coburn's attempted poison pill (an OK to bring heavy weapons into national parks). The only Democrat voting against the bill was Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (Blue Dog-SD) whose career has been purchased by the credit card companies. And the 63 Republicans were just the regular motley crew of the worst of the worst bottom-feeders: major bribe takers like Blackburn, Boehner, Cantor, Mack, McHenry, Ryan, Shadegg, etc... the whole shameful bunch.

A few minutes later they voted specifically on Coburn's Section 512-- the NRA nonsense that the shitheads in the Senate blithely passed. Most Democrats voted against it but 195 joined 174 Republicans to allow guns into National Parks. All the most reactionary Democrats were part of that brigade-- plus anyone afraid of the right-wing media attack machine. Those who favor gun control should thank Republicans Mike Castle (DE) and Mark Kirk (IL) for joining most of the progressive Democrats in opposing this, particularly Democrats in tough districts who know this will be used against them, such as John Hall (D-NY), Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH), Joe Sestak (D-PA), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Dave Loebsack (D-IA), Loretta Sanchez (D-CA), and Gary Peters (D-MI).

When Lawrence Wilkerson said the Congress has been "spineless" he was talking about how they put up with a systemically dishonest CIA but he could just of easily have been speaking about the Democrats on domestic policy. The clip is worth watching (even if it forces you to watch the brain-dead ex-Fox nitwit, Kirin Chetry, questioning him). "I'm talking about the leadership in the Congress. This has been the most feckless Congress ever since 2000 that I’ve seen in my 65 years. I just don’t think there’s leadership over there. It’s spineless, it lacks courage, lacks political will. I shudder for the fact that we’ve got to face these economic and financial challenges we’ve got to face-- Iran, Afghanistan, North Korea and other things-- and we don’t have a Congress that has any leadership.”

Buying A Home In The Midst Of The Bush Depression-- And The Squatting Option

Marcy Kaptur-- a voice for Americans who can't afford to rent a lobbyist

My friend is a school teacher in Compton. He makes around $55,000 a year, give or take. It's never (at least not since the Republican takeover of government) been enough to buy a home in L.A. and these days of frozen credit the dream of home ownership is further away than ever-- even as home prices drop down to more affordable levels. Banks just will not lend-- even to the most qualified buyers with steady, tenured jobs. The Bush Regime shoveled $300 billion-- no strings, no adult supervision, no accountability-- at the banksters and what happened was predictable: some of it went to scooping up other, more distressed banks and related businesses and some of it was simply stolen (in the form of self-awarded "bonuses" for... jobs well done? Rudy Giuliani may think $18.4 billion in taxpayer money to crooked, grasping millionaires (like himself) is a perfect way to get the economy moving-- in essence that is the heart of the GOP trickle down theory-- but most Americans are howling mad and want the stolen money returned. Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill would go even further.

Sen. Claire McCaskill has delivered a sharp threat to the wallets of corporate executives who took large compensation packages even as their companies accepted government bailout funds. Things, she warned, are going to change.

"I've been mad for a while," said the Missouri Democrat. "When we passed the initial half of the TARP money, [there were] rumors about bonuses, the fact that too many of these guys were holding onto the jobs even though they were running these companies into the ground. Reality didn't seem to be the order of the day."

So McCaskill took to the Senate floor on Friday to put an end to the surrealism. In a bill that came to the surprise of reporters, her colleagues, and the White House alike-- there was no coordination with the Obama administration, she said-- the Missouri Democrat called for compensation for employees of bailout recipients to be capped at $400,000 a year.

"They don't get it," McCaskill said on the floor. "These people are idiots. You can't use taxpayer money to pay out $18-billion in bonuses... What planet are these people on?"

Planet Republicana, of course. And we elected Democrats, by substantial margins, to save us from that deadly, toxic, sociopathic planet. And that brings us back to our topic of home buying.

My friend found a house in the Glassell Park neighborhood of L.A.-- a changing neighborhood-- that has been hard hit by the foreclosure mania. A hard working man who speaks little English had literally been tricked into a complex variable rate mortgage that he was assured was safe for his family of six. The house is beautiful and he got it for around $500,000 with 5% down (around $25 grand). It was a stretch but he was able to make all ends meet for two years, in the meantime upgrading everything in the house-- electric, plumbing, a guest cottage, a gorgeous garden... And then the full force of Bush's Republican Economic Miracle hit. His mortgage payments more than doubled. He had just been able to make things work before this inexplicable rise in his payments. Now he couldn't. The bank was willing to renegotiate, but not substantially. He faced foreclosure and the complete destruction of his credit-- let's hope Vice President Biden takes an active role in reforming the disgraceful bankruptcy law he helped Bush shove through Congress for his pals in the banking community now that he's in charge of that middle class task force-- and he realized he'd have to sell the house. Unfortunately, houses aren't selling-- at least not at the prices people paid in the last 15 years.

He put his house on the market as a potential short sale for $250,000, half what it was valued at when he bought it. If the bank approved-- and ate the loss-- he would be able to save his credit. My friend the school teacher saw the house and offered $270,000 in cash (borrowing money not from a bank but from a friend). The deal was approved by the homeowner's bank. But then the homeowner realized he had nowhere to go with his family. After spending months looking for a place to relocate-- even out in the dreary desert communities between L.A. and Las Vegas-- he realized that unless he was willing to split his children up among relatives, he couldn't leave the home he could no longer afford to pay for.

Legally, my friend the school teacher could have forced him out at this point. Escrow was about to close and he was entitled to pay the agreed amount and take possession. Ethically... well, how do you evict a family from their home? Instead, we found him another home (in Hollywood), and we suggested the Glassell Park guy follow the advice being offered by Ohio Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, the longest serving Democratic woman in the House: squat in his own home.

Rep. Kaptur, who is being mentioned as a replacement for retiring Republican incumbent George Voinovich-- the GOP is putting up a hapless and pathetic Bush clone, Rob Portman-- is, like many Americans, steaming. She's angry because the federal government has squandered the TARP funds without helping out homeowners. Her area of northwest Ohio has been hard hit, like southern California. Her advice is startling-- and not exactly what Americans are accustomed to hearing from Inside the Beltway or from the Establishment's media: "Unless [you] have good legal representation do not leave your home because remember possession is 90 percent of the law." The revolution has started?

"So I say to the American people, you be squatters in your own homes," said Congresswoman Kaptur before the House of Representatives. "Don't you leave."

She's called on all of her foreclosed-upon constituents to stay in their homes and refuse to leave without "an attorney and a fight," said CNN.

"If they've had no legal representation of a high quality, I tell them stay in their homes," Kaptur told Griffin.

Kaptur is a high-profile advocate of an increasingly popular mode of fighting foreclosures best known for it's key phrase: "Produce the note."

By telling a bank to "produce the note," a homeowner can delay foreclosure by forcing the lender to prove the suing institution is actually the same which owns the debt.

"During the lending boom, most mortgages were flipped and sold to another lender or servicer or sliced up and sold to investors as securitized packages on Wall Street," explains the Consumer Warning Network. "In the rush to turn these over as fast as possible to make the most money, many of the new lenders did not get the proper paperwork to show they own the note and mortgage. This is the key to the produce the note strategy."

Watch the CNN video to get a better idea about why Kaptur is so angry at the banksters and how to hold the vultures accountable. She says if you can't afford to hire a lawyer, legal help is available through a number of organizations including legal aid and Advocates for Basic Legal Equality.

What Would You Think If You Opened Today's Paper And Read That A Dozen Corporate CEO Were Lynched By Their Mistreated Workers?

I was reading Robert Wexler's book, Fire-Breathing Liberal, at dinner tonight, specifically the chapter about how Bush stole the 2000 presidential election in Palm Beach County. For a few moments I relived in great sadness the ultimate un-American nature of the Republican operation down there. Wexler:

The Republican strategy was simple: Get George W. Bush into the White House at all costs. Do whatever was necessary and worry about how to rehabilitate later. Don't worry what you look like, don't worry about the consequences to the nation.

There was pillage and plunder at stake and they were determined to have it at any and all costs. A nation if sheep let them have it at practically no cost at all. Their proposed $700,000,000,000 bailout/fleecing is the ultimate payout for them and it looks like they'll get that at no cost either.

Not so in India-- and for not nearly as great a crime-- yesterday. There the Labor Minister, Oscar Fernandes, warned the same breed of corporate criminals that the lynching this week of Lalit Kumar Choudhary, the CEO of Graziano Transmissioni in Noida near New Delhi, should make them rethink their predatory employment practices.

“People are employed on contract basis. There is disparity in wages of permanent workers and contract workers. There is simmering discontent among workers and they should not be driven to such an extent as happened in Greater Noida...Managements have to see this as a warning and they should also respond adequately,” Fernandes said.

He said that companies tend to hire people on contracts even when they are in a position to make permanent appointments, leading to fewer jobs in the organised sector. “Workers react violently when they lose their jobs,” the Minister said, adding, “At the same time, managements have their problems also. But what I am saying is that the whole issue should be viewed with compassion. I appeal to companies to treat workers’ problems with compassion.”

Indian corporatists have taken a different view and are screaming how the murder will "sully the country’s image amongst overseas investors." God forbid.

The law of the jungle rarely works out well for working people. The rich had the money to hire all the mercenaries they need. But wouldn't you just love to see a few Bushies, McCain lobbyists and corporate scumbags hanging from lamp posts? Meanwhile, though, at least the polls have turned around strongly enough to make it more difficult for Republicans to steal the election again.

Turmoil in the financial industry and growing pessimism about the economy have altered the shape of the presidential race, giving Democratic nominee Barack Obama the first clear lead of the general-election campaign over Republican John McCain, according to the latest Washington Post-ABC News national poll.

Just 9 percent of those surveyed rated the economy as good or excellent, the first time that number has been in single digits since the days just before the 1992 election. Just 14 percent said the country is heading in the right direction, equaling the record low on that question in polls dating back to 1973.

More voters trust Obama to deal with the economy, and he currently has a big edge as the candidate who is more in tune with the economic problems Americans now face. He also has a double-digit advantage on handling the current problems on Wall Street, and as a result, there has been a rise in his overall support. The poll found that, among likely voters, Obama now leads McCain by 52 percent to 43 percent. Two weeks ago, in the days immediately following the Republican National Convention, the race was essentially even, with McCain at 49 percent and Obama at 47 percent.

Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) is angry, but not enough to hang any CEOs or Bushies: