Is Willingness To Fight For The Green New Deal All About Age?

Rachel Ventura with polar bear

-by Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy

Last Friday, the day of the climate strike, one of my Facebook friends posted that he was tired of boomer politicians, and wished they would go away. As a boomer myself, I pointed out to him that not all boomers are the same, and that there is a world of difference between baby boomers like George W. Bush and Elizabeth Warren (Bernie is too old to be a boomer), and between Gen X-ers like Republican Paul Ryan, who might like the Coen Brothers and grunge music but clearly he is no Beto O'Rourke. And technically, Barack Obama is a boomer. Enough of the ageism I said! Judge individuals in each generation by what they stand for and accomplish and not by the decade of their birth.

That being said, I have been very impressed by young activists and candidates who are making their mark and speaking directly to the concerns of their compatriots. As I attended the Climate Rally in my city of Columbus, Ohio, I commented that the two largest recent protests here in Central Ohio have been youth led-- perhaps with some support from elders)-- the March for Our Lives and the Climate Strike Rally. I am happy to see this development and the new generation of leadership tackling these big issue on which there has been so little legislative action.

According to various polls, climate is the number one concern of young voters, and they could weigh in with force. In the midterms, according to the Pew Research Center, voters under the age of 53 cast more votes than the 60 million votes of those over 53. (New York Times, August 2, 2019, Climate Could be an Electoral Time Bomb).

Climate is a dividing issue in some Democratic primaries featuring youthful challengers, and if they are able to harness the energy of the climate strike and turn that into votes it could have an impact on the outcomes, carrying that energy and concern into the House Democratic caucus. These younger candidates can speak to the fears of 18-34 year-olds polled by Gallup earlier this year. Over 60 percent of younger voters, regardless of party, expressed alarm over the impact climate change will have over the course of their lives, and 84% of Democrats overall regardless of age, believed that climate change is an emergency that required action. 79% of those 18-34 believed it to be an emergency that needed action. 84% of Democrats in a Quinnipiac poll in August viewed climate change as an emergency, with 67% of respondents saying more needed to be done, jumping to 82% when looking at younger voters 18-34. Similar concerns among young voters were found in a poll by the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics.

One of the most watched is the primary battle between incumbent Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX)--a boomer-- and the 26 year old progressive human rights lawyer Jessica Cisneros. Cuellar, who represents a very, very blue district, has been called Trump's favorite Democrat based on his voting record. He is a founder of the Congressional gas and oil caucus, and received $60,350 dollars in contributions from that industry so far in this cycle. Not only is he not a co-sponsor of a Green New Deal, he terms it a "job killer" and actively opposes it. A quick look at Jessica Cisneros social media shows that she would represent a complete departure from that view point and sees the impact that climate change has had on her state. She has been endorsed by Elizabeth Warren.

In the rematch between Dan Lipinksi, (Blue Dog-IL) a conservative Democrat in a deep blue seat and Marie Newman, (both on the cusp between the boomer and post-boomer generations) there is again a stark contrast on climate issues. Lipinski voted with the Republicans in 2009 on the House climate change bill, ACES, the American Clean Energy and Security Act and does not support the Green New Deal (GND). Newman does, and her understanding of the perils of climate change and support for the GND has earned her the endorsement of AOC, which in turn caused Lipinski to label Newman an extremist. However in terms of mainstream Democratic voting records, it is Lipinski who deserves the extremist label for not only is he on the wrong side of the environment, but also voted against the Affordable Care Act, has been bad on LGBT rights and opposed women's reproductive rights.

In my search for congressional members who attended or spoke at a climate rally, I only found Reps. Jim McGovern, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, and Ilhan Omar. Congress was in session on Friday, but these 5 made it to the D.C. rally. Of challengers who spoke at a climate strike rally, I found three (although it is possible that there are others).

One is 28 year old African American McKayla Wilkes running against too-old-to-be-a-boomer Steny Hoyer. Wilkes said she is fighting for climate justice and the people who are and will be climate refugees are a concern of hers. She makes the argument that "I grasp the immense need to tackle climate change and realize that we are the last generation who has a chance to do it." She has pledged not to take campaign contributions from the gas and oil industry. Hoyer has not backed the Green New Deal but his web page states that he "believes in the national security benefits of reducing America's dependence on foreign oil and bolstering our clean energy economy." (Note that America has been using less and less foreign oil over the last decade and last year America became a net exporter of oil,and is no longer dependent). If you believe we should keep it in the ground, his statements are not reassuring.

Rachel Ventura at Climate Strike

Thirty-seven year old Rachel Ventura's motivation to run for Congress in Illinois' 11th CD is climate change. She not only spoke at a Climate Crisis rally, she helped to organize it. Her opponent, 63 year old Bill Foster, also voted with the Republicans and against ACES in 2009, and has said he will not support a Green New Deal. His challenger, Ventura, said that "In the same way that Americans pulled together to address the crisis of the great depression and second world war, I believe that we will pull together once again" to address climate, offering hope and a plan." She tweeted that “And it’s really important, especially for our generation because we’re not only seeing how climate change was caused, but then how it can be changed in the future and the drastic effects it’s causing now.”

Joyce Beatty, (69 years), currently represents OH-3, a district with a median age in the mid-30s, and one which will not change parties. The primary will be the biggest choice voters in that district will make. Like Foster, Hoyer, Cuellar and Lipinksi, Beatty has not signed on to the Green New Deal. Her web page does not address climate change, but does state that "Our nation’s energy challenges require new and innovative solutions. These issues affect every American, our economic future, and of course, our planet. I believe it is imperative that we invest in alternative energy sources to move our nation towards a more sustainable and secure energy future that will stimulate our economy, as well as pave the way towards energy independence."

Her primary challenge is a 36-year old progressive lawyer, who was the only candidate or elected official to speak at the Columbus Climate Strike Rally and whose speech was enthusiastically received. She pledged her support for the Green New Deal, and bold new policies to address the climate crisis. She promised to refuse money from the fossil fuel industry, talked about how climate affects low income Americans, very appropriately for a candidate in a district that has a high percentage of people living in poverty, and told the large crowd to "hold her accountable."

Morgan Harper speaking at Climate Strike rally

That of course is what voters can do in primaries, regarding climate or other issue they deem important. Tom Steyer has said that primaries are about intensity. Climate could be the issue that drives young citizens to vote for candidates who are as passionate and concerned about the issue as they are. They see the Amazon rainforest on fire, and they themselves appear to be "fired up, ready to go."

A Federal Court Struck Down Ohio's Super-Gerrymandered Congressional Map-- Creating A True Swing State

The only chance the Ohio GOP has to continue winning congressional majorities is if the US Supreme Court allows extreme partisan gerrymandering-- and most people say it will

Early yesterday, a federal court unanimously struck down-- as unconstitutional-- one of the most corrupt congressional maps any Republican legislature has ever passed-- Ohio's. The court ruled that the new boundaries must be in place for the 2020 elections and the 3 judges gave the state until June 14 to show them a fair map. If the court isn't happy with what the legislature comes up with it will appoint a special master to draw the districts. (This is very similar to a court ruling in Michigan 2 weeks ago.) The 3 judges who ruled were appointed by Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

Although Hillary was so fundamentally wrong for Ohio that the state is lately looked at as a red bastion-- it's a actually a contestable swing state. She lost to Trump-- after giving up on the state-- by a whopping 2,841,005 (51.69%) to 2,394,164 (43.56%). Hillary only won in 8 of Ohio's 88 counties. In 2008, Obama took Ohio 2,940,044 (51.49%) to 2,677,820 (46.92), winning in 22 counties, including all the big ones. Obama took Ohio again in 2012-- 2,827,709 (50.67%) to 2,661,437 (47.69%). Last year Sherrod Brown was reelected convincingly-- 2,358,508 (53.4%) to Trumpist Jim Renacci's 2,057,559 (46.6%). Brown won 16 counties, exactly double the number Hillary won. A PPP survey shows that Trump would beat Hillary again in Ohio-- 50-42%, but the same poll shows that either Bernie or Status Quo Joe would beat Trump next year.

All that said-- and the GOP gerrymandering of the state gave the Republicans 61 seats in the state House to the Democrats' 38. And in the state Senate it was 24 for the GOP and 9 for the Dems. In the Congress, Ohio has one Democratic senator and one Republican senator-- but the state's 16-member House delegation has 12 Republicans and just 4 Democrats, just like it did since these districts were drawn. As Rich Exner wrote for the Clevland Plain Dealer yesterday, "In each of the four congressional elections with this map, Republicans have won the same 12 seats and Democrats the same four-- just as designed. And the GOP has won those 75 percent of elections with just over 50 percent of the vote."

The court didn't beat around the bush; their ruling stated that "invidious partisan intent-- the intent to disadvantage Democratic voters and entrench Republican representatives in power-- dominated the map-drawing process... Ohio Republicans understood that Speaker Boehner would have considerable input in the 2012 map and were committed to enacting a map that he supported... In some cases, it was clear that national Republican operatives had the authority to 'sign off' on changes before they were implemented by the State-level team'... We are convinced by the evidence that this partisan gerrymander was intentional and effective and that no legitimate justification accounts for its extremity... the 2012 map dilutes the votes of Democratic voters by packing and cracking them into districts that are so skewed toward one party that the electoral outcome is predetermined. We conclude that the map unconstitutionally burdens associational rights by making it more difficult for voters and certain organizations to advance their aims, be they pro-Democratic or pro-democracy."

This hypothetical map was created by Kos redistricting expert Stephen Wolf. All things being equal (no wave elections) it would result in 8 Republican mostly rural seats and 7 Democratic seats, with one very swingy district (OH-09) in Lorain, Medina and Erie counties. Ungerrymandering the state would be expected to bring Democrats a safe Cincinnati seat (OH-01), two Columbus seats, instead of one (OH-02 and OH-12), a Toledo-based seat (OH-05), and three of the four seats in the northeast corner of the state, instead of two (OH-11, OH-13, OH-16).

An old friend of this blog and of Blue America, former Congresswoman Mary Jo Kilroy, was successfully targeted in the last round of unconstitutional Ohio gerrymandering. This morning she told me that "Ohio voters deserve the right to elect their congressional representatives without having the votes of democrats being diluted. For the last 7 years, results have been preordained by a map that both 'cracks' and 'packs' creating 12 very safe Republican seats to 4 safe Democratic seats which doesn’t truly reflect voting patterns in Ohio. Republicans and their corporate sponsors  have used their power to choose who our representatives will be. Extremes of gerrymandering contribute to the dysfunction in Washington where too often the needs of working class and low income people are ignored and those of the big banks and big Pharma are served. These unconstitutionally gerrymandered districts suppress Democratic turnout and have an impact on other state and local races." We didn't get a chance to ask her if she noticed that that potential new district just north of Columbus (OH-12), looks like it would love to be represented by her.

Meet Ohio Congressional Candidate Rick Neal-- A Guest Post By Former Congresswoman Mary Jo Kilroy

Before the Republicans in the Ohio state legislature gerrymandered Mary Jo Kilroy out of a congressional seat, she was a Blue America-backed progressive in the 15th district. Recently she introduced us to the incredible video above and to the Rick Neal for Congress campaign. By design, the district-- which has a PVI of R+7-- is no piece of cake for a Democrat. It’s one of those districts where, in 2016, Trump did better than Romney and Hillary did worse than Obama. Trump beat her 55.3% to 39.9% there and the DCCC is ignoring the district entirely. Mary Jo doesn’t think the district should be ignored and we asked her to write a guest post telling DWT readers about Rick, who seems to us like an extraordinary candidate.


Rick Neal For OH-15
-by Mary Jo Kilroy

I used to represent Ohio’s 15th Congressional District, so I want to introduce you to a candidate for the seat that I once held.  I am taking a proprietary interest in this seat, which even in the face of a “blue wave” will be a tough battle, so I want someone who is progressive, smart, and who will put in the necessary hard work to win.  I think Rick Neal fills that description.

Rick is new to electoral politics, in his first run for office, but he is not new to taking action. He is a former Peace Corps volunteer and international aid worker. In 2014, when the ebola virus was claiming lives, Rick was compelled to travel to Liberia with the International Rescue Committee to build clinics to take care of people. Before going, he and his husband discussed his plan with family and friends, and met with the parents and teachers at the school their daughters attended, answering their questions and addressing their possible fears by letting them know that on his return, he would voluntarily go into isolation for 21 days.

What compelled him to do this? He saw a crisis, he knew he could help people in need, and so he did.

Now he sees a crisis affecting this country, and believes he can help as a Member of Congress. One huge issue affecting our state of Ohio is the scourge of opiate addiction that is claiming lives here at home. As a graduate of a public health program at UNC-Chapel Hill, Rick brings a community-based health perspective to the fight. “our representatives in Washington are more interested in protecting drug companies than putting an end to the opioid epidemic. We need to work together to find real solutions to this problem— starting with treatment programs proven to save lives and get people back their feet. Addiction doesn’t discriminate against young or old, rich or poor.”

Rick has a lot to say on health care as well, believing that the next step after the Affordable Care Act is to move to a “Medicare for All” type of system. “Our health care system is not working the way it is supposed to” he said. “Too many people rely on the Emergency Room for care, or face bankruptcy to pay for a serious health care issue. We have to expand Medicare as a way of ensuring everyone has the health care they need.”

He also wants families to have the resources they need to provide for themselves, supporting an increase in the current federal minimum wage (currently $7.25 an hour), something that was last done in 2009, and vowing to “end the threats to unionized labor championed by Republicans.” “We have to tackle inequality and the insufficient value of work head on.”

He sees investments in infrastructure, including infrastructure that moves us to greater use of renewable energy, as well as investments in our youth, as a priority. “We can create an economic environment to encourage job creation,” but doesn’t see the recent “trillion-dollar tax scam, paid for by the middle class,” as the way to do so. To improve our economy and job growth, he said, “we need representative in Congress willing to put in the hard work” and “serve the people not the special interests.”

“I have always tried to live my politics,” Rick said. “When I joined the Peace Corps, I quickly realized that my role was to take the resources available to me as Westerner-- my education and training, my connections with financial resources and technical expertise-- and put those at the service of the people I was working with, to facilitate change at the speed and in the direction that they felt was right for them and their communities. I gained more experience and got a chance to practice this, every day in my community public health program at UNC-Chapel Hill, and then tried to apply it in some very tough circumstances back overseas working with displaced communities in humanitarian crises.”

Rick has learned a lot from his humanitarian work, including that it is “easy to talk about what you want to do, and talk about what the issues are, or talk about what the priorities are. In the humanitarian field, all that matters is that you save lives and that you get people back on the path to recovery. The action is what matters.”

Steve Stivers, Rick’s opponent, is well-known for telling people what they want to hear, but when you pay attention to how he acts, you find he is the epitome of a congressman who serves corporate special interests. Stivers is a top fundraiser for  Congressional Republicans, and the policies he supports are those that his donors-- Wall St. and the oil industry-- support. Getting big money out of politics means we need to take this seat back from Members of Congress like Steve Stivers.

Rick Neal, someone who tackled a crisis like ebola is the candidate to take on this job as well. Check out this video-- and let Rick now what you think. www.rickneal.com

Alan Grayson Introduces A Constitutional Amendment To End Gerrymandering

Isn't it time to end the anti-democratic practice of gerrymandering? No, it's actually past time-- way past time. In 2012, for example, 59,645,531 Americans (48.8%) voted for Democrats running for Congress and 58,228,253 (47.6%) voted for Republicans. In a mathematically perfect world, the Democrats would have 213 seats and the Republicans would have 207 seats. That would have been a reflection of the popular will. Instead, largely because of gerrymandered districts, the Republicans wound up with 234 seats and the Democrats only got 201.

Let's look at it from a different perspective. 2012 saw a presidential election and a senatorial election in Ohio statewide. Democrats Barack Obama and Sherrod Brown beat Republicans Mitt Romney and Josh Mandel. Across the state, Obama won 2,697,260 votes (50%) to Romney's 2,593,779 (48%) and Brown won 2,645,901 votes (50%) to Mandel's 2,371,230 (45%). In theory, at least half of Ohio's 16 House seats (8, perhaps 9) would have gone to Democrats. But because the Republican-controlled legislature drew the district lines-- with the guidance of a secret committee staffed by Republican operatives and controlled by John Boehner-- and which were then approved by a highly partisan Republican governor, only 4 Ohio seats went to Democrats and 12 went to Republicans. All are extremely safe for their incumbents.

Republicans took the opportunity to oust progressive Democrat Dennis Kucinich by drawing a strange-looking district that stretched along a think swathe of Lake Erie from Toledo to the west side of Cleveland and throwing him into a primary with long term Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur. Both Cleveland and Toledo are majority Democratic areas. Further south progressive Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy had represented Ohio's 15th congressional district, a very competitive swing district. Before gerrymandering, it included half of Franklin County, with a significant number of Democrats, along with two rural Republican counties. Her own immediate neighborhood was divided up so that people on her short street were now in three different congressional districts and, adding insult to injury, the boundary of the new majority Democratic 3rd CD went up to her property line, putting her a few feet outside the new Democratic district-- the old 15th-- and into a deep red 12th GOP hellhole. Yesterday we asked Mary Jo what this kind of gerrymandering does to public policy and the interests of actual Ohio families, rather than just to the careers of politicians and power-games of the parties.

"Voters in Ohio," she told us, "have little opportunity to vote for change. When Representatives Stivers and Tiberi vote to defund Planned Parenthood or eliminate Obamacare, or do favors for the big banks that underwrite their political campaigns, they do so with impunity, knowing that they chose the voters for their hugely Republican districts."

And Ohio is just one example of this kind of political chicanery. Virginia, Michigan, Indiana, North Carolina, Florida, Texas have all seen corrupt Republican state legislatures draw district maps to thwart the will of the voters and give control to their own party.

North Carolina's most promising political leader, Rep. Brad Miller, was gerrymandered out of a district by a sharp GOP legislature who saw what a powerful force he could become. This morning I asked him how gerrymandering has changed his state. "It has been a long time since the Republican Party in the South has been the party of Lincoln," he told me. "The modern Republican Party in the South was born of opposition to the civil rights movement."

The strategy of Republican redistricting in the South has been to segregate African-Americans into a few districts no matter how garbled the lines, and claim that federal law made them do it. Jim Crow districts hurt African-Americans and hurt race relations. There might be a handful more African-American politicians elected as a result, but in office they are in a permanent minority. I represented a district that was 29 percent African-American. On Sundays, I was as likely to be in an African-American church as my own church., and I showed up every time a local branch of the NAACP had a banquet.  Southern Republicans with bleached districts don’t care in the slightest about African-American concerns.

North Carolina is now a purple state in national politics, and the congressional seats should be roughly evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans as they were before the last redistricting. Instead, there are ten Republican seats and three Democratic seats, and the state legislature is just as bad. I have some friends running in very uphill districts and I wish them the best, but they have no chance to put together the coalition that elected me.

Democrats have wrung their hands and whined about this-- and in some cases fought back with the same kind of ugly corrupt practices, particularly in Illinois and Maryland. Monday, Orlando-based Congressman Alan Grayson offered the first-ever constitutional amendment to end gerrymandering nationally, something he based on a fair-districts amendment recently passed-- overwhelmingly and across party lines-- by Florida voters for their own state constitution.

Kilroy noted that Ohio will be stuck with the current congressional map unless Grayson's bill or something like it is passed. "And you can bet your powerball winnings that the Ohio legislature won't fix their handiwork. It will take intervention like Alan's bill to do it."

Grayson's amendment draws on the Florida provisions in several ways. His proposal would prevent congressional districts from being "drawn with the intent to favor or disfavor a political party or an incumbent" or to disadvantage "racial or language minorities," and would require districts to "consist of contiguous territory" and use "existing political and geographical boundaries" whenever possible.

Mark Pocan, the Wisconsin congressman with the most progressive voting record in the entire Congress understand why this is so very important. "I think the basic principles of our democracy lay out pretty clearly that voters should choose their elected officials and elected officials should not be in the business of choosing their voters. Unfortunately, it has become more and more common for those in power to set the rules and draw the lines for the next election. The only way forward to ensure fair and free elections is to have simple, nonpartisan rules for drawing congressional districts. I’ve seen firsthand in Wisconsin what happens when elected officials are allowed to weigh in on how political districts are drawn and the results lead to a government that does not necessarily reflect the people’s will. This is exactly why I believe this process should be entirely removed from the hands of elected officials."

And President Obama endorsed the idea that's behind Grayson's amendment at the State of the Union last night: "We have to end the practice of drawing our congressional districts so that politicians can pick their voters, and not the other way around." People applauded; let see how they vote-- if Ryan even ever allows it to come to a vote.

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).

Whoever Wins The Primary In Columbus Next Month Goes To Congress-- Let's Make Sure It's The Progressive

(Not the progressive)

As Markos pointed out at Daily Kos yesterday, the Ohio Republican Party is looking like it's going to the bottom of the lake in November. But 'til then, they're still running the show, however badly. When Kasich's legislature ignored all logic and drew new congressional lines to protect their favorites, they also threw a bone to Democrats in Columbus, the biggest city. They created a solidly blue, potentially progressive, bastion for the next 10 years, until the party in control redraws the boundaries. Whomever wins the March 6th primary-- yes, less than a month away-- will be a Member of Congress.

Of course, in the statewide gerrymander conservatives did all they could to protect their BFF and former banking lobbyist, Rep. Steve Stivers. They also tried to keep his nemesis and progressive champion, Mary Jo Kilroy, out of Congress by recruiting a "business friendly" candidate with deep ties to the very special interests that Mary Jo fought throughout her career. Keep in mind, it's because Mary Jo has battled against these special interests, that Blue America originally endorsed her and we were eager to endorse her again this year.

Joyce Beatty, the business community’s hand-picked political shill, just “finished” her $326,000 a year job with Ohio State University (A do-nothing giveaway position that OSU won’t even bother filling after her departure) to run for election in the newly created district. So how does one receive a job that pays $326,000 at a public university, and how can you get one? Well, in 2008 former state Representative and Minority Leader Joyce Beatty used her influence to lobby for a job at Ohio State and instantly almost quadrupled her salary from $75,971 to $320,000. Since Ohio calculates pension rates based on the top three highest salary years, Beatty's pension payment quickly ballooned to a starting payout of $211,200 annually. Her 18 year pension total will balloon to a whopping $4,771,008. BOOM! She must be extremely special to merit such a high rate of compensation in a state where most people struggle to make $25,000 annually without benefits.

I wonder what she did to get that position. Well, this wonderful "business Democrat" voted in favor of the biennial budget, which included an increase in tuition rates. Hey, somebody has to pay for her salary and pension, right? Why not drop it on the backs of Ohio’s youth? The budget specifically allowed Ohio State University to raise tuition 12.9 percent. Ca-ching! According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer “… the $320,000 salary and the timing of [the] job offered to outgoing State Rep. Joyce Beatty [has] people talking. The Columbus Democrat will become OSU's senior vice president for outreach and engagement in January, just after term limits force her out of the legislature.”

Ok, ok, ok. So she jumped at the chance to cash in on a legislative career and appears to be a bit shady. Well, let’s look a little deeper here (just a little) and see what we find. In 2008, Beatty voted for a bill that reduced the annualized interest rate for payday loans from 391 percent to 28 percent. It also prohibited loan terms of less than 31 days and limited borrowers to four loans per year. It also banned online payday lending. Sounds good, right?

Well, kind of. In 2007 prior to supporting the legislation, Beatty urged the Democratic caucus not to support the payday lending bill. This move surprised political insiders including State Sen. Ray Miller and State Rep. Hagen who described Beatty as a roadblock standing in the way of financial reform. Beatty's steadfast opposition to payday lending reform began to waffle after the Cleveland Plain Dealer published an article highlighting her husband's work as a lobbyist for national payday lender CheckSmart. Beatty contends that her husband’s position did not affect her early opposition to the bill, but refused to disclose her husband’s compensation. Her political director also took a position with a payday lending lobbyist while the legislation was still pending!

Now that she is running for Congress, Beatty’s grown even more bold. Without shame, she’s taking money from T.J. Banks. Yes, that T.J. Banks. The guy convicted of ethics violations for taking $3.7 million in no-bid state contracts while providing Republican then-Gov. Voinovich’s Chief-of-staff with a six-figure knock-off on his fiancé’s home remodeling project. The project included a luxurious 1200 sq. ft. two-story addition and brand-new 1400 sq. ft. garage.

When Voinovich’s Chief-of-staff Paul Mifsud learned of the investigation into his fiancé and his not-so-little pet project, he convinced the Union County Clerk of Courts to give him the original construction addition permits. While in his possession, he altered the documents in a blatant attempt to cover up the deal between himself and Banks. Mifsud eventually resigned as Voinovich's Chief-of-Staff and both Banks and Mifsud served jail time.

So… let’s recap. The people of Central Ohio finally get a Democratic district that a true progressive like Mary Jo should represent, but the special interests who she stood up to have hand-picked a yacht-owning (yes, she has a yacht), ethically challenged woman who’s married to a payday lending lobbyist. Are you kidding me?

Ohio needs Mary Jo Kilroy. Our nation needs Mary Jo Kilroy. As a former Congresswoman she supported healthcare reform, Wall St. reform and the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. She’s the REAL DEAL.

Voters need to ignore Beatty, because the last thing we need in Congress is another Democrat who votes Republican. Mary Jo is a true progressive champion. There are far too few of them among us, and she deserves our strong and unwavering support. Again, if you'd like to help Mary Jo's campaign, you can do it here at our Blue America page

Did Cantor & Boehner Allow NRA Fanatic Cliff Stearns To Cost The GOP A Dozen House Seats?

Last week Florida psychopath Cliff Stearns' off the rails National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2011 (H.R. 822) passed the House 272-154. It's one of the most extreme gun bills ever passed by Congress and it trampled on the rights of states to regulate their own gun control laws. Three Republicans from New York state broke with Boehner and Cantor to vote against it-- Peter King (Long Island), Bob Turner (Brooklyn/Queens) and Michael Grimm (Staten Island/Brooklyn)-- but that was more than made up for by NRA-fearing Democrats (43 of them) who rushed to join the parade of madmen.

Before passing the bill, the House rejected (150-276) Memphis Democrat Steve Cohen's amendment to allow states to bar citizens of other states who were under 21 years old from carrying concealed handguns and David Cicciline's amendment would have kept guns out of the hands of terrorists and child sex predators. Republicans and their Blue Dog allies voted that down by even greater numbers, 146-277.

Blue Dog extremist Heath Shuler, who co-sponsored the bill, joined Stearns in writing a deranged and misleading editorial in the Washington Moonie Times pimping the legislation. It was very different from the NY Times editorial that pointed out the gross hypocrisy of the legislation's intent.

House Republicans usually claim to be champions of both small government and states’ rights, which makes it hypocritical, and downright reckless, that they are obsessed with taking away the authority of states to decide who is allowed to carry a concealed and loaded handgun.

At least 36 states now set a minimum age of 21 for carrying concealed guns, and 35 states require some sort of gun-safety training. Thirty-eight states prohibit people convicted of certain violent crimes like misdemeanor assault or sex crimes from carrying concealed weapons.

The act would override those rules, requiring states with tight restrictions, like New York and California, to allow people with permits from states with lax laws to tote concealed and loaded guns in their jurisdiction. Wording added by the committee exempts people with a concealed-carry permit from one state from having to meet eligibility standards set by the state they are visiting.

The measure, pushed by the National Rifle Association, would undermine legitimate states’ rights by nationalizing lenient gun rules most states have rejected for themselves. It would increase the chance for gun violence and make it harder to combat illegal gun trafficking.

Connecticut, according to their Attorney General, George Jepsen, "has one of the lowest per-capita rates of death due to firearms in the country, due in large part to our sensible gun-control laws that keep guns out of the hands of dangerous individuals." He's urging the Senate to oppose the Stearns/Shuler bill the House just passed.

Suburban Republicans outside of the Deep South are worried that their votes for this extreme measure will hurt them in their reelection bids next year. Leonard Lance, a New Jersey congressman who once worked hard to pass himself off as a mainstream conservative has now gone all extreme right-- on this and everything else. The mask is off and Lance voted for the crazed gun bill last week. His Democratic opponent, Ed Potosnak-- a candidate endorsed by Blue America-- chastised him for ignoring serious work on job creation and opting for these kinds of crackpot social engineering projects Lance has embraced in the past two years.

Instead of creating jobs and improving the economy, the Republican Congress continues to stagnant America's recovery by focusing on legislation that is not putting people back to work.

Last Wednesday, the GOP passed the National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act (H.R. 822). A bill allowing gun owners, which also includes those with a criminal record, to carry hidden weapons across state lines.

How does this bill get people back to work? It doesn't. Republicans are failing to address the needs of our families and businesses. Instead, they are expanding the role of the Federal Government to create federal mandates onto States that put New Jerseyans lives at risk. This bill does not create a single job and is an affront to the tough gun laws of our state by allowing a person to register to carry a concealed weapon in another state with lax rules and then carry it with them in New Jersey to the mall, sporting events, restaurants, and bars. It drags New Jersey's gun laws down to the lowest common dominator of state laws. 

The disregard of the Republican Congress for our safety and state laws, coupled with their inaction on job creation measures proves once AGAIN that Congress is broken.

We need NEW representation and that begins with me. When elected to Congress, I will fight every day to stop the radical Tea Party Republicans from holding our nation hostage to their extremist agenda. I will ensure America's future is strong with a vibrant economy, high quality education, clean air, and water and ensure that bills like these do not get passed.

Even more extreme and off the rails than Lance are Republican congressmembers in Ohio who actually represent congested urban areas-- like Mean Jean Schmidt (Cincinnati), Steve Chabot (Cincinnati), Jim Renacci (Canton), Mike Turner (Dayton), and Steve Stivers (Columbus). Mary Jo Kilroy, running for her old Columbus-based seat, has a strong record for working with law enforcement on sane gun legislation that will keep the public safe as a real priority. And she has a strong understanding for the problem Boehner and Cantor have created for the few mainstream Republicans left.

"House Republicans who represent urban or suburban districts often claim the title of "moderate." Yet moderate voters in urban areas tend to support sensible gun laws. So it is hard to see how they are voting their districts, or living up to the image they projected when elected as a so-called "moderate" by sponsoring or voting for the "National Right to Carry Reciprocity Act."

"Looking at it another way, Republicans who have campaigned against "big government," decrying what they see as the federal government forcing its will on the states, are shown to be hypocrites. These former "states' rights" champions have no hesitation in voting for federal laws that effectively overrule a concealed carry law a state legislature may have enacted with some level of restriction, (such as age, no history of crimes of violence, no history of drug or alcohol abuse, evidence of having completed training) by mandating that those states must allow someone with a permit from a state like Utah, with virtually no restrictions, not even residency, to carry a concealed weapon. The laws of New York or California, for example, would be subject to this back door veto.

"I find this another example of the power of the NRA to scare Members of Congress. It is incredible to me that in the 10 months following the attack on Rep. Gabriel Giffords, including the deaths of 6 people in Tucson, that no progress has been made on closing the gun show background check loophole, or prohibiting high capacity magazines that allow for a mass slaughter to occur in seconds. Instead, federal law is being used to make it easier to carry a concealed weapon, no matter what the laws of your state would require."

Ed Potosnak and Mary Jo Kilroy are both on the same page-- when it comes to gun control and when it comes to Blue America. If you can, please consider helping these two win seats in Congress, seats that will be part of the solution to the country's problems, not seats that are held by people exacerbating those problems with extreme ideological mania.

R.E.M. Supports OccupyWallStreet-- So Does Every Single Blue America Candidate... But Conservatives Of Both Parties HATE It, Of Course

Yes, R.E.M. may have broken up as a band but they just lent their support to the OccupyWallStreet Movement with their 1987 classic, "Welcome to the Occupation" (from Document). But on Ed Schultz's show Monday night, they weren't asking for rock bands' support; they were asking for Democrats' support. Love Ed! He helped Blue America more than anyone else in the media-- much more-- when it came to our anti-Boehner campaign for Justin Coussoule last year. He nailed it... night after night after night. This Monday night, though, he didn't seem to realize-- nor does anyone in the media-- how integrated so many candidates for office are with their local OccupyWallStreet movements.

I mean if someone is asking Inside-the-Beltway corporate whores like Steny Hoyer, Ben Nelson, Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Max Baucus to come down and join the drum circle... get a clue. These are the BAD GUYS. These people are the problem, not the solution to the problem. We're in a mess today because of conservatives-- not just Republican conservatives, but Democratic conservatives as well-- and conservative in the real sense of the word, not just whether or not someone opposes Choice or gay marriage or how they stand on the divisive social issues. I read these lines from Corey Robin's book, The Reactionary Mind on Nicole Sandler's show Tuesday morning (when normal people were still asleep):

Conservatism, then, is not a commitment to limited government and liberty-- or a wariness of change, a belief in evolutionary reform, or a politics of virtue. These may be byproducts of conservatism, one or more of its historically specific and ever-changing modes of expression. But they are not its animating purpose. Neither is conservatism a makeshift fusion of capitalists, Christians, and warriors, for that fusion is impelled by a more elemental force-- the opposition to the liberation of men and women from the fetters of their superiors, particularly in the private sphere. [Emphasis added by DWT editorial staff.]

Tuesday morning brought a much-discussed OpEd by one of the most corporate-oriented, money-grubbing whores who ever polluted the Democratic Party, Doug Schoen. There are plenty like him-- from a now unmasked Joe Lieberman to a Thomas Friedman-celebrated Rahm Emanuel to a helicopter-flying Harold Ford and the entire Blue Dog and New Dem caucuses in the House and corporately funded outfits from the DLC to Third Way-- who Wall Street and Big Business pay very, very well to pretend to be "Democrats" while hammering home the 1% message. These are the enemies of the 99% as clearly and surely as the Republicans are. There is NO difference, except around the edges. Schoen, posing as a pollster, warned Democrats to distance themselves from OccupyWallStreet. The kinds of Democrats who take the ravings of Citibank's paid shill seriously should stay away from OccupyWallStreet... as far away as possible. Schoen, last heard from demanding that President Obama resign, begins his trash-talk with a dire warning that "President Obama and the Democratic leadership are making a critical error in embracing the Occupy Wall Street movement-- and it may cost them the 2012 election... [T]he Occupy Wall Street movement reflects values that are dangerously out of touch with the broad mass of the American people-- and particularly with swing voters who are largely independent and have been trending away from the president since the debate over health-care reform."

I don't think Wall Street pays him by the word-- although they may-- but, he's dead wrong about his narrative, as he always is-- and misrepresenting his own "poll" numbers to get his political/business point across. Legitimate pollsters-- the ones who don't pull the numbers out of their asses and tailor them to whichever client is writing the check-- have found that 77% of Americans want higher taxes on the wealthy. CNN is reporting a poll showing 76% of Americans want a surtax on millionaires. Yesterday another New York poll, this one from Siena shows overwhelming support from ordinary Americans for the grassroots OccupyWallStreet over the Astroturf Tea Party. Greg Sargent also pointed up some of the specifics of bedrock American working families' solidarity with the OccupyWallStreet movement and how its reinvigorating and enthusing the 99% after a three years of disappointment from Obama and the Democratic Party Establishment. "Working America," he wrote, "the affiliate of the AFL-CIO that organizes workers from non-union workplaces, has signed up approximately 25,000 new recruits in the last week alone, thanks largely to the high visibility of the protests."

The candidates Blue America supports were not asked if they support OccupyWallStreet as a precondition for our endorsement. Their candidacies predate the movement. Their candidacies, however, are animated-- to use Corey Robin's phraseology-- by exactly what motivates the movement. And many of these men and women were among the organizers of the local OccupyWallStreet movements in their home areas. Yesterday, for example, we introduced you to Ken Aden, a young blue collar working guy and veteran from a deeply red district in northwest Arkansas. He's fired up and taking on clueless corporate shill and 1%-er Steve Womack. I asked Ken what he thinks of the Occupy movement. I bet Ed Schultz would love his response:

"I am a staunch and proud supporter of the Occupy Wall Street Movement. In fact, I helped folks here in Arkansas start an Occupy chapter in the Northern part of our state. This is a true grassroots movement made up of young people, veterans, students, and folks from across the middle class just like me who are sick and tired of irresponsible corporations buying politicians of both parties while many in the government stand idly by and give corporate America the keys to the proverbial candy store. It's truly nauseating to know that so many politicians can be so easily bought, and not even loose an ounce of sleep over the fact that they are destroying everything which we hold dear. I  firmly believe that more people need to become involved, and stand up for what is right! Corporate greed is the new pandemic in this country. The ratio of CEO pay to that of the average worker is a prime example of the kind of reckless behavior that corporations in this country are exercising on a daily basis. Just look at how many politicians Koch Industries has bought over the last ten years alone. As the next congressman from Arkansas I would support an amendment to destroy the destructive influence of Citizens United. The last time I checked, corporations are NOT and will never be real people.

Nor is he the only one of our candidates to have been in on organizing. These people aren't like money-grubbing whores like Steny Hoyer and Debbie Wasserman-Fanjul-Schultz and Doug Schoen. These people are in politics because they are activists and because they're fighting for the lives of their families and their friends and their neighbors. "I've participated in three 'Occupy' gatherings in this congressional district during the last week-- Eureka (Humboldt County), Ukiah (Mendocino County) and San Rafael (Marin County)," Norman Solomon told me last night. "I'm in full support of this progressive populist upsurge. From the outset, since launch of our campaign last winter, fighting Wall Street and insisting on economic equity have been central to our campaign. On Sunday, I marched with a few hundred people through the streets of Ukiah as we visited Chase and Bank of America. 'We are the 99 percent!' Our campaign draws strength from progressive social movements because we're part of them!" Ed should have Norman on his show... or Ken Aden. Or blue collar New Deal Democrat John Waltz from Kalamazoo, who had this to say about the Occupy movement where he lives:

"What started out with a handful of folks on a windy day in Kalamazoo ended up growing into a protest with over 200 people as part of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Talking to several folks I could tell that they were frustrated that the top one percent of this nation is being coddled while the rest of us are getting trampled on. I heard concerns that ranged from economics to education and they were focused on making a difference.

"It was an honor to take part in this day of action in Kalamazoo. While we marched the streets with the sound of chants and drums there were several folks who were honking in support. It appears that the sleeping masses have awoken and there is a sea change coming. Question is whether this can be sustained and the answer I heard was a resounding yes."

"We," not "they." These people don't need permission to get involved with the movement; they are the movement. Nick Ruiz, the Green-turned-Democrat running against teabagging imbecile Sandy Adams in central Florida is, as usual, one step ahead of the game:

"Everyone's trying to figure out how to capitalize on the OCCUPY consciousness. But there's little mystery in it, and nothing honorable in trying to 'profit' politically from it. Reasonably, citizens are ever distrustful of politicians of every stripe because they have seen the political establishment legislate against Main Street's needs too many times to count.

"They 99% want to believe that it is possible to thrive again, in a country whose political establishment continues to fool them with bait and switch politicians who make legislative decisions that instead ensure the 99% will suffer. The 99% want to be represented by people that they can believe in, but they know in their heart of hearts there are few people they can trust.

"The people I spoke with at Occupy Daytona Beach knew I didn't arrive there with my pockets stuffed with $250 and $500 checks from the colossal donor network. The 99% is not interested in fundraising totals for Beltway machinery candidates. They believe in me, because I believe in them, in us-- in the concept of shared governance and socioeconomic fairness. They know I won't sell them out. They know I want the same things they want for America. And they know such a representative is truly hard to find. They won't put their faith and trust, and support in a party or political establishment, that does not include the truly liberal representatives they want to see in Congress and the White House.

"The OCCUPY phenomenon is a national cry for a more liberal, New Deal government. 2012 is going to be a referendum on liberal credibility in the eyes of the 99%. And very few candidates have it."

His neighbor up the road, Alan Grayson, has been pushing the message and inspiring the 99%-- loudly-- for several years. "Having been to the one in Orlando, I can tell you that it's like a street carnival for progressives. Democrats should go, and they should bring their friends. They'll be glad-- and proud-- that they did." Lance Enderle, also running against an Establishment suck-up in hard-pressed Michigan (Mike Rogers) wrote that everyone who knows him "knows I am not a politician that is worried about 'polls', I am concerned with people, and that is what OWS is. OWS is people, it is not a political party or group; OWS is people, citizens of the United States being hit by a force greater than freedom; corporate greed and deception!  I fully support this movement that is based on social and economic justice.

"On October 8th, OWS hit Lansing, Michigan. The citizens set up their camp at Reutter Park, beginning with 2 brave souls. 'Solidarity Park' has now grown to over 100 people nightly, with hundreds filtering through daily showing support for the '99%.'

"I have been amazed with what I have seen in just one week. I have seen and listened to many different views and opinions come together and form a coalition of one. I have watched the citizens feed and clothe the homeless daily from the park. I have watched the old look after the young and share experience and education. I have also watched the young give back the gift of youth and vitality to the old, creating an energy that I have never felt from a group of people before. 

"But, the greatest thing I have experienced from OWS is DEMOCRACY! This is a living and breathing example of what democracy is.

"It is time for Americans to stand up, be strong, and say we are not going to take the greed and deception anymore; stand up for America and our way of life, stand up for the 99%!"

Democratic candidates should spend time at OccupyWallStreet, huh? I bet Ed Schultz would LOVE Lance Enderle. He'd probably love New Mexico state Senator Eric Griego as well: "I was there on Saturday with my wife and son Lucas. We saw seniors, small business owners, teachers, veterans, students, union members and kids. They were diverse in background but united in their belief that we are a community and all in this together. They called for Wall Street reform, investment in our infrastructure to create jobs, and ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Rather than some fringe group it was a slice of America and of our community."

The first candidate who ever told me she was going to an OccupyWallStreet event was Mary Jo Kilroy, a former Ohio congresswoman from Columbus who Blue America was live blogging with early on in the movement. She's recognized instantly that protesters were motivated by many of the same things that have motivated her political life. Yesterday she reminded me that she "spent part of an afternoon with Occupy Wall St. Columbus in front of the Ohio Statehouse. They are expressing an anger many of us feel about conditions in this country. People want good paying jobs, not more bad cuts. I talked to one young African American protester who had obtained a college degree and the only job he could get was delivering cars for a car rental company. He is underpaid and wants to move forward, use his talents and earn enough to have a home and a family someday. Yet he sees little opportunity for him at this time. All these talented young people see in Washington is a willingness to block crucial programs that would help working people, while the banks get bailed out, and corporations are coddled. The unique thing about the movement is that it can express the different frustrations in each community. Right now in Ohio, for example, much of this anger is focused on stopping a huge assault on workers by making sure that collective bargaining isn't taken away and replaced by collective begging. The whole point is that we need to reset our priorities in this country, and I am proud to stand with the 99% in that effort."

Plenty of people for Ed Schultz to have on his program.


UPDATE: What Does Pressure Do?


Rep. Steve Womack (R-AR) is about as far from the 99% as you're going to see. His claim to fame is that he was one of the South's most bigoted mayors (in Rogers, Arkansas, where his motto was "If you're coming to America illegally, you don't want to come to Rogers"). But protesters Occupying Fayetteville and Fort Smith were shocked yesterday when Womack, who inherited his family's radio business, claimed, through a spokesman, that he "supports" the movement. He's been under immense pressure from his Democratic opponent, Ken Aden-- one of the organizers of OccupyNorthArkansas-- but, despite a record that is pure 1%, he seems frightened of a growing populism that could unseat him. Aden's response was "Womack's record speaks for itself... plain and simple. He is a tool and a corporate owned tool at that."

UPDATE ON THE UPDATE: Womack Reiterates That He Hates Drum Circles

No one really believed this creep would support the OccupyWallStreet movement and, of course, he doesn't.

A spokesman for Womack said that Woodard had misunderstood the conversation that he had with Womack’s aide.

“I think there was a big misunderstanding,” said J.R. Davis, a spokesman for Womack.

The congressman, Davis said, does believe that measures should be put in place to make sure another financial crisis doesn’t occur. He supports efforts to combat corruption. But he believes there are better ways to address the issue than to protest on Wall Street.

“He definitely stands by freedom of speech; that is a right. But he doesn’t stand with the philosophy behind Occupy Wall Street,” Davis said.

Ken Aden reiterated his support for the movement and the people in Arkansas who are behind it. "Congressman Womach is clueless and he's spineless. He doesn't understand what regular working folks here are going through and doesn't understand that a real Representative for this part of the state would be standing with the OccupyArkansas movements, not against them."

Aden has been endosed by DWT and you can contribute to his grassroots campaign here at our ActBlue page.

Question Of The Season: Which Side Are You On?

Ever hear of a police officer treating a teabagger disrespectfully at one of their hateful rallies? Even when they showed up at them with guns? Any teabaggers ever get pepper-sprayed in the face? Yesterday we found out that the two chief financiers of the astro-turfed fake "movement." the Koch Brothers, were making their billions while illegally trading with Iran and doing business by bribing foreign tyrants all over the world. Anyone think they'll be pepper-sprayed? Just before Bloomberg blew the whistle on the Kochs, economists Joseph Stigliz and Jeff Madrick showed up, impromptu, at OccupyWallStreet (see video above) for a good old fashioned teach-on. Is this threatening, more threatening that the practices of the Kochs? Well, of course it is... it's revolutionary. The powers that be don't want to hear "We have too many regulations stopping democracy & not enough regulations stopping Wall Street from misbehaving... The balance of rights has been distorted. We bailed out the banks with the understanding that there would be a restoration of lending. All there was was a restoration of bonuses." And, as the NY Times pointed out Sunday, the NYPD white shirts have taken in on themselves to roll out the old fashioned police brutality on behalf of the Wall Street/K Street Conservative Consensus.


Michael Moore, like many of us, is asking our congressional representatives to pick sides. That's going to be excruciating for many of them, not knowing what exactly our side stands for or where it's going... what's likely to happen. Some of the more intrepid Blue America candidates have already led the way. On Saturday former (and future) Ohio Congresswoman Mary Jo Kilroy (one of the Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee who fought for re-regulating the banksters), while blogging at Crooks and Liars answered a question about her thoughts on OccupyWallStreet with this statement:

"The protests on Wall Street demonstrate the anger and discontent that remains around the country over the damage to the economy that reckless Wall Street behavior caused, the lack of accountability, the lack of jobs, and the stranglehold that corporate money has on our political process. I share that anger. And the 99% of us need a voice in Washington. I will work for jobs, to protect people's homes, their savings, their Social Security and pensions. I want to make sure young people have a future."

Ed Potosnak isn't an anarchist or even a revolutionary; he teaches school, runs a small construction business and worked as a policy advisor for Congressman Mike Honda. And he's running in a moderate suburban New Jersey district where people commute to their jobs on Wall Street. I asked him what he thinks about the occupation of Wall Street just up the road from his home. I admire the forthrightness and logic of his response:

"These protests are striking-- I support the movement to hold Wall Street accountable. The OccupyWallStreet protest stands in contrast to the Koch Brother’s prompted Tea Party gatherings I have seen. The Wall Street gatherings are comprised of diverse people, frustrations, and solutions. The protesters in NYC represent the tens of millions who have been adversely affected by the greed and recklessness of Wall Street and Big Banks.

Media criticisms of the group’s lack of focus are ridiculous. What are they expecting, an OccupyWallStreet TV commercial and jingle? The focus of these REAL people is Wall Street and the pain our families and businesses are enduring at their hand.

When I was in High School I boycotted McDonald’s for using polystyrene and you know what, they changed. Consumers are powerful when they stand up to the Big Guys. Together ordinary people can provoke changes the government has failed to accomplish by coming together, standing up, and pushing back. Hopefully Congress will fight back too, I know I will.

John Waltz, our candidate in Kalamazoo who's battling it out with reactionary plutocrat Fred Upton, one of the richest men in Congress-- all of which was inherited. While Upton's company continues to ships tens of thousands of American jobs overseas to low wage hell-holes, Waltz is campaigning for bringing jobs back to the American heartland... to places like Michigan. And he's fired up over OccupyWallStreet. Fight The Power!

You can only beat someone down for so long before they get up and start fighting back. It seems that 2011 has been the year that the mass of folks who make up this nation became tired of being beat down. Call it the year of revolution if you like, but the fact is we are tired of being held hostage to policies that favor Wall Street, corporations, and the wealthy.

Let me make it clear though this is not class envy because it is part of the American spirit to succeed. The problem we face though is that for many years the prevailing attitude is that once you make it to the top you pull up the ladder to make sure no one else can make it up. This runs against the grain of who we are as a nation and it is time we get back to the practice of holding a hand out to help others up rather than giving them a boot in the face.

From woman’s suffrage to the civil rights movement, our nation’s history has answered the call of injustice by standing up and fighting back. Fittingly Saul Alinsky once said that history is a series of revolutions and my friends our generation is fighting with all our might for economic justice.

I fully support the Occupy Wall Street movement and I say it is time to occupy Washington D.C. Let us remember that it was the politicians who created deregulation policies that allowed Wall Street to get away with the crimes they partook in that ended up destroying our economy.

Waltz has a genuine plutocrat, from a self-styled aristocratic family, to battle and Potosnak is fighting it out with a slick-talking career politician who goes back and forth between putting on a moderate outfit or a radical outfit depending on who he's addressing that evening. Nick Ruiz is taking on an actual member of Michele Bachmann's Tea Party Caucus, Sandy Adams, generally considered the most ignorant member of the entire Congress. Nick stands in complete solidarity with the OccupyWallStreet movement and feels the need to channel their energy into the political system.

The Occupy Wall Street phenomenon is a fragile chance to channel positive, practical energy into the heart of America's problems. But will it?

Will activists realize they are only as effective as the representatives they elect? Will they focus on the electoral process that puts representatives in the position to help people or hurt them? Will activists reject media and politicians who ignore representative democracy and replace it with propaganda and royalty committees who negotiate secret deals that secure the security of the status quo corporate trough and crony spa steam room?

And if activists do all this-- will it be enough to breathe new life into American democracy?

Yes, but only if they are willing to become truly political by engaging in the politics of electing names and personalities that will politically activate the collective energy that Occupy Wall Street represents.

Yep, there's an inside/outside strategy that progressives need to keep activated... the way self-serving reactionaries and their astro-turfed faux-movements do. Sunday Richard Eskow explained how big a mistake it was for progressives to think that because Obama had been elected, all would go well. It hasn't and Obama isn't representing the same energy or even the same interests that OccupyWallStreet is all about.

This movement can help encourage genuinely progressive politicians at the local, state, and national levels. Because it's independent, it can also keep the pressure up to make sure they carry out their promises. The President and his staff seem to resent pressure from the left, but they're responding-- and his new left-leaning approach could help him, too.

That still leaves a lot of questions unanswered: How should this independent movement be organized? How much of its efforts should be "inside the Beltway" and how much should focus on the rest of the country? Is there a role for a third party? How can the labor movement help-- and be helped-- by such a movement? How can grassroots actions like the Wisconsin sit-ins and #OccupyWallStreet be supported and expanded? Do we need primary challenges in 2012 or later?

Those questions and others are the reason why we're gathering next week in Washington for the "Take Back the American Dream" conference to have a series of in-depth conversations.

But a little self-congratulation is in order, along with the soul-searching. Four years ago the country elected a different kind of President-- one with some explicitly progressive positions-- and gave him both houses of Congress. That's a pretty huge accomplishment, whatever's happened since.

Since then we've seen the uprisings in Wisconsin, the failure of austerity economics in Europe, and the sudden appearance of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Like the old saying goes, this could be the start of something big. In other words, it's almost prom night. Once the dancing starts, will progressives follow ... or lead?

Waltz, Potosnak, Ruiz and Kilroy are all Blue America-endorsed candidates. You can find the 4 of them on this page... in case you were wondering.

Occupy L.A.... Or Not

Joke's on me. When I got home I had an irresistible urge to wash my car... so at least I accomplished that. Oh, and the best thing about my trip downtown to Occupy L.A. today was that KCRW played a great new Tom Waits song as I was driving home.

I went alone. None of my friends would come. "It's too early." "It's too late." "I'm hung over." "Howie who?... this is a bad connection; call back some other time." Screw them, I was energized. After all I went to the first big Tea Party rally in L.A.; and if I couldn't go to Wall Street for the real thing, I would go share a little solidarity with my L.A. brothers and sisters. I even drove through Historic Filipinotown and Angeleno Heights to get that working class camaraderie in full gear. And just as I was leaving the phone rang and it was a kid I know from New York who's in town and wanted to get together. I shouldn't call him a kid anymore. He's a grownup now... and a lawyer who manages rock bands. I was positive he'd want to drive over with me. "OccupyWallStreet," he repeated tentatively. "I think I heard of them. Kind of salsa-punk?" I explained. He passed. But he promised to read the Nick Kristof piece in the NY Times.

After flying around the world this year to cover street protests from Cairo to Morocco, reporting on the latest “uprising” was easier: I took the subway.

The "Occupy Wall Street" movement has taken over a park in Manhattan’s financial district and turned it into a revolutionary camp. Hundreds of young people chant slogans against “banksters” or corporate tycoons. Occasionally, a few even pull off their clothes, which always draws news cameras.

“Occupy Wall Street” was initially treated as a joke, but after a couple of weeks it’s gaining traction. The crowds are still tiny by protest standards-- mostly in the hundreds, swelling during periodic marches-- but similar occupations are bubbling up in Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Washington. David Paterson, the former New York governor, dropped by, and labor unions are lending increasing support.

I tweeted that the protest reminded me a bit of Tahrir Square in Cairo, and that raised eyebrows. True, no bullets are whizzing around, and the movement won’t unseat any dictators. But there is the same cohort of alienated young people, and the same savvy use of Twitter and other social media to recruit more participants. Most of all, there’s a similar tide of youthful frustration with a political and economic system that protesters regard as broken, corrupt, unresponsive and unaccountable.

“This was absolutely inspired by Tahrir Square, by the Arab Spring movement,” said Tyler Combelic, 27, a Web designer from Brooklyn who is a spokesman for the occupiers. “Enough is enough!”

The protesters are dazzling in their Internet skills, and impressive in their organization. The square is divided into a reception area, a media zone, a medical clinic, a library and a cafeteria. The protesters’ Web site includes links allowing supporters anywhere in the world to go online and order pizzas (vegan preferred) from a local pizzeria that delivers them to the square.

In a tribute to the ingenuity of capitalism, the pizzeria quickly added a new item to its menu: the “OccuPie special.”

Where the movement falters is in its demands: It doesn’t really have any. The participants pursue causes that are sometimes quixotic-- like the protester who calls for removing Andrew Jackson from the $20 bill because of his brutality to American Indians. So let me try to help.

I don’t share the antimarket sentiments of many of the protesters. Banks are invaluable institutions that, when functioning properly, move capital to its best use and raise living standards. But it’s also true that soaring leverage not only nurtured soaring bank profits in good years, but also soaring risks for the public in bad years.

In effect, the banks socialized risk and privatized profits. Securitizing mortgages, for example, made many bankers wealthy while ultimately leaving governments indebted and citizens homeless.

We’ve seen that inadequately regulated, too-big-to-fail banks can undermine the public interest rather than serve it-- and in the last few years, banks got away with murder. It’s infuriating to see bankers who were rescued by taxpayers now moan about regulations intended to prevent the next bail-out. And it’s important that protesters spotlight rising inequality: does it feel right to anyone that the top 1 percent of Americans now possess a greater collective net worth than the entire bottom 90 percent?

One of my wiser friends who avoided going downtown with me, simply said, "I think the NY protest is different. L.A. doesn't know from Wall Street." How right she was! I didn't really know exactly where City Hall was. I mean, like, I know the area it's in... near the Disney Center. So I drove there and parked and figured I'd walk around and either see a commotion or ask someone. Lucky for me five happy-go-lucky lesbians around my age where walking up the hill while I was coming to grips with the fact that the parking meter was not only in effect on Saturdays, but that it takes twenty-five cents for every 10 minutes. And they excuse no increased COLAs by telling seniors there's zero inflation! Anyway, the friendliest of the crew told me City Hall was exactly 3 blocks away and on the very street-- First-- I was on and "see that giant tower-- that's it. But be prepared for some abuse." Abuse? "Is this your Prius? Some guy at the mic is yelling about what self-satisfied assholes Prius owners are." She owns one too. I guessed that was why they were headed in the opposite direction.

The first thing I saw when I got down the hill was a dozen or so young Ron Paul activists waving signs about The Fed and about Ron Paul at passing cars. Half of them were Hispanic and very passionate and melodramatic. I'm guessing they haven't read much of Dave Neiwert's stuff about Ron Paul. Oh, well... I wasn't about to let some skunks spoil my picnic. Into the little park I went. And the little park was... filled with Ron Paul activists. And Revolutionary Communist Party, USA activists. It was filled with the people who stand in front of the post office and rant and rave and bother everyone going to mail a package. And they had a small, inadequate sound system-- and an audience. The audience was busy making signs and posters. Apparently this protest is about making signs and posters. And they were cool.

Reading them was the best part. Some managed to get entire political philosophies on them. Others just said stuff like "John Galt Can Go To Hell," "No Banks Period," "The Invisible Hand Bitch-Slapped Us," "Occupy Wall Street, Not Iraq and Afghanistan." One said "Free Hugs For Activists." Oddly I saw a ton of Joy Division shirts.

And there was a lot of ranting and raving about a "resource based economy" by very well-rehearsed quasi-professional street speakers. Either the Paulistas or the Bob Avakian Communists; hard to tell. I read the morning session was better and not run by the lunatics. I missed the beginning because I was hosting the newest Blue America candidate, Mary Jo Kilroy, at Crooks and Liars. Digby asked her what she thinks of the Occupy Wall Street/We Are The 99% movement before I could.

Mary Jo: The protests on Wall Street demonstrate the anger and discontent that remains around the country over the damage to the economy that reckless Wall Street behavior caused, the lack of accountability, the lack of jobs, and the stranglehold that corporate money has on our political process. I share that anger. And the 99% of us need a voice in Washington. I will work for jobs, to protect people's homes, their savings, their Social Security and pensions. I want to make sure young people have a future. I disagree with the protesters who say that they don't believe in voting. It is a power that people in other countries fight to achieve. And the protesters, while for the 99%, do not seem to have a clear demand or political agenda. In 2010, the Tea Party seemed to harness some of the same anger but used it politically to defeat Democrats, and to push the deficit as the country's main problem rather than the loss of jobs.

Digby: Well, the difference is that the Tea Party was organized and promoted by corporations and corporate media that backs the Republican Party and this is a genuine grassroots uprising. I think those always start from this emotional sense of dissent and then grow more organized with time. It's only been a couple of weeks, after all.

It's terrible that there's such a sense of despair about the system that some people don't think voting helps anymore, but I understand where it's coming from. After the high of 2008, there was bound to be a let-down among the young and idealistic in any case-- and the let-down has been much more precipitous than it needed to be. It's beyond political-- their lives are really being impacted.

I hope you are able to articulate the feelings of these protesters in your campaign. People need to see that politicians "get it" and if they do, I think they'll support them. Nobody wants to give up on the government-- they're just not feeling heard there.

I think your voice will be important.

That was more inspiring than what I saw at City Hall, though... what kind of revealed wisdom could I have possibly expected to see? I guess I'm a worked up because I've been reading the second edition of David Korten's fantabulous Agenda For A New Economy, a Declaration of Independence from Wall Street. It would serve all the protesters well-- not to mention the public. "Leadership for transformational change," he reminds us on page 1, "must come, as it always has, from outside the institutions of power." His book is a call for a national conversation, the one-- it appears-- OccupyWallStreet is getting started.

Most calls for action seek only to limit the excesses and deceptions of greedy bankers and financiers. We have yet to engage a much-needed national-conversation that addresses essential, yet unasked, questions. For example:

1- Do Wall Street institutions do anything so vital for the national interest as to justify opening the national purse strings and showering them with trillions of dollars in order to save them from the consequences of their own excess?

2- Is it possible that the whole Wall Street edifice is built on an illusion that has no substance yet carries deadly economic, social, and environmental consequences for the larger society?

3- Might there be other ways to provide necessary and beneficial financial services with greater effectiveness and at a lower cost?

I suspect most of us would answer, as Korten does, no, yes, yes. He says that "ultimately it comes down to a question of the values we believe the economy should serve. Should it give priority to money, or to life? To the fortunes of the few, or the well-being of all? ... Our future and that of our children depend on replacing the values and the institutions of the Wall Street economy with the culture and institutions of a New Economy designed to provide an adequate and satisfying livelihood for all people in balanced relationship to Earth's biosphere."

I guess that's what they were all doing and saying-- one way or the other-- downtown today too. Maybe I should call Amato and suggest he get everyone a copy of Korten's book instead of more pizza. Radiohead didn't play and there's still no articulated unified "aims" on Wall Street, but Outernational is promising to play in L.A. and they're way more to the point and, L.A. needs something like that to help get it up to speed with NY quicker anyway.

By the way, you won't find many as eloquent and as prescient as Van Jones in describing what's going on around OccupyWallStreet. This weekend at HuffPo he hit the mail right on the noggin:

Wall Street has long been the home of the biggest threat to American Democracy. Now it has become home to what may be our best hope for rescuing it.

For everyone who loves this country, for everyone whose heart is breaking for the growing ranks of the poor, for everyone who is seething at the unopposed demolition of America's working and middle class: the time has come to get off the fence.

A new generation has gone to the scene of the crimes committed against our future. The time has come for all people of good will to give our full-throated backing to the young people of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

The young heroes on Wall Street today baffle the world because they have issued no demands. The villains of Wall Street had their demands-- insisting upon a massive bailout for themselves in 2008, while they pocketed million dollar bonuses. The Wall Street protesters are not seeking a bailout for themselves; they are working to bail out democracy.

The American experiment in self-governance is at a moment of crisis. The political system thus far has proven itself incapable of responding to a once in a lifetime economic calamity. With income inequality and unemployment at the highest rates since the Great Depression, it's no wonder that almost 80 percent of the country thinks we're on the wrong track.

...The hundreds of young people from all five boroughs that camp out every night, in the heart of the financial district, in the rain and the cold, at risk of arrest, are providing the inspiration to draw more and more out of the shadows and into the bright light of the public square. The occupation grows larger and more diverse every day. Young people, the majority of whom are under 25 and have never before engaged in activism, are managing the arduous task of a consensus rules meeting with no sound system. The nightly general assemblies are attracting crowds in the thousands to stand amongst a group of their peers and debate our path forward as a people.

The occupation is a revival of a proud tradition of authentic, people-powered movements that have been dormant-- and that we need now more than ever. It is building into the kind of massive public demonstrations-- like those in Egypt, Madison, and Santiago-- that can shake the foundation of a system of power that has lost sight of the public good.

Now is our time to choose. Will we keep rewarding those whose financial manipulations have brought us to ruin? Or will we stand with those whose democratic innovations are breathing life into our finest ideals? Both groups are within blocks of each other in downtown Manhattan.

For the past 30 years, the country has stood behind the titans on Wall Street and their values. We listened when they said that their banks were too big too fail. Today, there is only one thing that's too big to fail: the dreams of this new generation, finding its voice in Liberty Park. All of America should now stand with them.