Trump Says DC Will Never Be A State-- A Majority Of Congress Disagrees With Him

Moscow Mitch and Putin's Bitch say "Nyet" to DC statehood

As of last July, the population of Washington DC was 705,749, about the same as Alaska, North Dakota and Vermont. The population of Wyoming was 578,759. Each of those states has 2 senators-- just like California (pop- 39,512,223), Texas (pop- 28,995,881), Florida (pop- 21,477,737) and New York (pop- 19,453,561). Each of those states also has a member of the House (as do Montana, Delaware and South Dakota). The citizens of Washington, DC have no senators and no member of the House representing their interests in Congress. Next Friday, June 26, the House will vote to grant DC statehood. I do I know? A majority of the House is co-sponsoring it.

It will be the first time that either House has voted to grant Washington, which is still a majority black city, statehood. But no one expects Mitch McConnell-- a notorious racist with a well-known and rarely disguised animus towards black people-- to even allow a vote on the Senate floor. McConnell would never allow any such thing and, according to the Washington Post "the legislation would not get a vote in the Senate as long as he’s in charge." McConnell, always the deceitful cynic who nicknamed himself "the Grim Reaper," called statehood for DC "full-bore socialism."

Not a single Republican has co-sponsored the bill. In fact, ultra-conservative New Jersey Blue Dog Jeff Van Drew signed on as a cosponsor on June 24, the last member to do so, when he was still pretending to be a Democrat. He formally withdrew his sponsorship on February 10 once he was officially a Trumpist Republican. Señor Trumpanzee backs up McConnell and the congressional Republicans in this latest demonstration of their institutionalized racism, saying Republicans would be "very, very stupid" to grant D.C. statehood because the voters there are overwhelmingly Democrats. "District of Columbia, a state? Why? So we can have two more Democratic-- Democrat senators and five more congressmen? No thank you. That’ll never happen." He's right about how there will never be 5 more congressmen. DC is entitled to one congressman, just like Alaska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Delaware, Vermont and Wyoming.

Riverside County's Ken Calvert is one of the lockstep Trump enablers refusing to back statehood for DC. I asked his Democratic opponent, history professor Liam O'Mara, why Calvert is opposing a solution that embraces such a fundamental idea like "no taxation without representation." He told me that "The reason is simple: GOP 'conservatives' do not care about democracy or such founding principles as the one you cite. What they care about is power and serving our neofeudal overlords.Calvert has no problem with systematic disenfranchisement of Americans-- I reckon he would strip the vote from a lot of us if he could. Stopping more people from exercising basic constitutional rights has been a part of GOP orthodoxy for decades. I can think of no better way to respond to BS like this than to challenge Calvert's patriotism, and remind people that he serves the wealthy, not us. 98% of his campaign funds come from corporations and PACs tied to the oligarchy, and they are his only constituents. As far as the taxpayers of DC are concerned-- and those of Puerto Rico, the Marianas, and American Samoa-- Calvert just doesn't give a fuck. He only cares if you can pay him to care. And for myself? I signed the DC statehood pledge last month, and have supported extending it to all territories for decades. Why? Principle matters... at least, it does for those of us who can't be bought."

Like Calvert, Fred Upton now always puts his party before any kind of moral compass he may have once had. So, of course, he is refusing to back fair representation for the hundreds of thousands of Americans living in Washington, DC. The progressive Democrat running for his southwest Michigan seat this cycle, state Rep Jon Hoadley, has a different way of looking at it. This morning, Hoadley told me that "The residents of the District of Columbia are American taxpayers, and deserve to have equal representation on our national stage like the rest of our states. The only reason to vote against statehood for D.C. is if you're more interested in pushing a partisan agenda than fair representation. The population of D.C. is 700,000-- larger than states that already have Congressional representation. It’s past time to end this disenfranchisement and make D.C. our 51st state."

Kendra Horn (Blue Dog-OK), a super-conservative Democrat from Oklahoma City with no guts at all, is one of the only Dems refusing to co-sponsor the bill. Her progressive opponent, Tom Guild, backs statehood for DC. I asked him what's up with Kendra.

"Washingtonians are people, too," he said. "They pay taxes. They are U.S. citizens. They are disenfranchised by not having voting members to represent them in the U.S. House and Senate. It is past time to stop treating the long suffering Americans who live in the District of Columbia like second class citizens. I favor statehood for Washington, DC which automatically would qualify them for at least one voting member in the house and two senators. As Thomas Jefferson said, 'All men are created equal.' Were Jefferson still alive he would certainly add women to his powerful and moving statement. I would vote for statehood and it would be a simple stroke of the pen to add my name as a co-sponsor for a statehood bill. We do not always do the right thing, but this is a chance to correct centuries of discrimination against our brothers and sisters who live in the district. Since they live so close to so many politicians, you might even be able to make a plausible case for Washingtonians being deserving of extra members in Congress representing DC. Jefferson eloquently stated that Americans are entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is past time to deliver happiness to more than 700,000 Washingtonians. Come on Kendra! Your brothers and sisters in the nation’s capital are people and American citizens, too. My fellow Okie, do not forget that it is far better to give to others than to receive!"

I like the way Eva Putzova, the reform candidate in Arizona, summed this up today-- since her opponent Blue Dog Tom O'Halleran is one of the few Democrats who has refused to co-sponsor the bill. "You know what kind of Democrat would vote for voter suppression and against having more representation in Congress? Someone who is a Democrat in name only. Tom O'Halleran was a Republican all his life. When it comes down to important issues, he is still loyal to the Republican Party." BINGO! Please help Eva, Tom, Jon and Liam replace their reactionary opponents in Congress by clicking on the 2020 congressional thermometer above and contributing what you can.

Republicans Oppose The Green New Deal-- But So Does My Blue Dog Opponent

by Tom Guild
Democratic candidate, OK-05

A report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says that humans can still prevent the worst effects of climate change, but that we have less time than previously thought to undertake a dramatic and speedy transformation of the global economy. Every day, there is more concerning news about rising sea levels and climate-fueled disasters. The task ahead of us is urgent. We must fight for the ecological well-being of the planet we call home. The climate change crisis is an existential threat to humans and to the animals and plants with which we share planet Earth. We must redouble our efforts to reduce greenhouse gasses and to institute sustainable energy practices.

My June 30 primary opponent Kendra Horn has refused to sign onto the Green New Deal proposal. There is scant evidence that she considers climate change important enough to take the steps needed to protect our environmental future. One of my goals when elected to the U.S. House is to support bold action to fight climate change. The principles of the GND will be a good guidepost to help us reverse the damage done by excessive use of and dependence on fossil fuels. We will create tens of millions of good paying green jobs as we transition to an environmentally friendly renewable energy policy. According to a consensus of the scientific community, time is running short to effectively deal with climate change. We must not fail to act and thereby help create an irreversible situation that leads to the destruction of our environment that scientists say may in the foreseeable future render planet earth unsustainable for human life.
   
Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-CA) is a current Democratic member of Congress. He is fighting to make sure the Trump administration does not destroy our environment in the name of saving our health when it is primarily concerned with saving the investments of the top 1%. Lowenthal recently said, "The Trump Administration has spent years rolling back decades of hard-fought environmental progress. The White House has worked to undermine science, accelerate climate change, undo decades of work to protect our air, water, and health, and compromise the health of our planet." Lowenthal is doing the hard work it takes to protect the environment by working to stop Trump and protect the future of our planet--something Trump does not spend any time thinking about, while claiming the climate crisis is a "Chinese hoax."

The Paris Climate Accord was negotiated by representatives of 196 nations in Le Bourget, France, and adopted by consensus on December 12, 2015. The previous U.S. Administration of President Barack Obama took a leading role in pushing for the climate treaty. As of February 2020, 189 countries had become party to the agreement. The Paris Agreement's goal is to pursue efforts to limit and substantially reduce the risks and impacts of climate change. This is to be achieved by reducing emissions as soon as possible, to "achieve a balance between anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases" in the second half of the 21st century. The accord also aims to increase the ability of parties to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change and make "finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development."


 Under the Paris Agreement, each country must determine, plan, and regularly report on the contribution that it undertakes to mitigate climate change. No mechanism forces a country to set specific emissions targets by a specific date, but each target should go beyond previously set targets. In June 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump announced his intention to withdraw the United States from the agreement. Under the compact, the earliest effective date of withdrawal for the U.S. is November 2020, shortly before the end of President Trump's current presidential term. The American threat to withdraw from the treaty is a giant setback for the global effort to reduce climate change and to protect our planet.

We need to break down the corrupt corporate and establishment walls that are holding back progress on the environment and climate change. If you agree that we need bold action to effectively address the crisis, we invite you to join our campaign. If you would like to donate you can do that by clicking on the Blue America 2020 congressional thermometer on the right.

Be safe. Love Your Neighbor. Engage in Random Acts of Kindness. Peace.

Striving for A Future We Can All Believe In.

Trump's Veto Stands-- He Is Free To Attack Iran At Will

Blood On Their Hands by Nancy Ohanian

On Thursday, the Senate attempted to override Trump's veto of the joint resolution that directed him to remove American armed forced from hostilities against Iran that hadn't been authorized by Congress. There was never any chance an override was in the cards-- not with 44 Republicans firmly committed to backing anything and everything Trump does. Every Senate Democrat voted to override but only 6 Republicans had the guts (or sense) to join them:

Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
Bill Cassidy (R-LA)
Susan Collins (R-ME)
Mike Lee (R-UT)
Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
Rand Paul (R-KY)

After the vote, Al Gross, the independent running on the Democratic line in Alaska, noted that "Yet again, party-line Dan Sullivan put National Republicans first, and left Alaska behind. Alaskans don’t believe in party run politics especially when it means putting our military members at risk without oversight and careful consideration. Considering our needs or interests has never been something Dan Sullivan takes to heart so it’s not surprising he voted this way. Dan’s like lap dog for the national Republicans, and Alaskans deserve a real, independent leader to put Alaskans first, whether the president likes it or not."

Had Gross been in the Senate, both Alaska senators would have voted to override. Something tells me Murkowski is hoping that's the outcome in November anyway.

There was no vote in the House, but it's worth remembering that when it passed the House on March 11, there were just 6 no good, dirty, fake Democrats who sided with Trump and the GOP:

• Anthony Brindisi (Blue Dog-NY)
• Kendra Horn (Blue Dog-OK)
• Elaine Luria (New Dem-VA)
• Ben McAdams (Blue Dog-UT)
• Stephanie Murphy (Blue Dog-FL)
• Max Rose (Blue Dog-NY)

The only one of these war-monger fake Dems with a primary os Kendra Horn, where she is being challenged by progressive Democrat Tom Guild. Yesterday, he told OK-05 voters that "Under no circumstances should America become engaged in military action in Iran without prior congressional approval. I am deeply disappointed that my June 30 primary opponent Rep. Horn gave the current president or any president carte blanche to start another costly war in the Middle East. During this widespread and destructive pandemic and unprecedented meltdown in the American economy, we should be rebuilding and investing in America, not engaging in more unauthorized international military actions. The American people are tired to the point of exhaustion with America’s endless wars."

Blue America's most recently endorsed candidate, West Virginia progressive Cathy Kunkel, noted that the Republican in the seat she's running for, Alex Mooney, "the hypocritical Republican Congressman from WV-02, was the only Republican to cosponsor legislation (HR 1274) repealing the Authorization for Use of Military Force, yet to vote against this resolution. When push came to shove, support for Trump in an election year was more important than his previous belief in restoring Congressional authority to make war. H.R. 1274 cosponsor list show that Thomas Massie (KY) and Justin Amash (MI) were the only other Republican co-sponsors, and both were consistent in supporting the resolution to remove U.S. troops from hostilities with Iran)."

Please consider contributing to Tom's and Cathy's campaigns by clicking on the Blue America 2020 congressional primary thermometer above and giving what you can.

Don't Be Misled By People Pushing Identity Politics To Make A Quick Buck For Themselves

Tom Guild & Kendra Horn-- guess which one is better on women's issues

Yesterday the LGBTQ Victory Fund endorsed 25 new candidates around the country, including 5 for state legislative seats. Presumably they're all Democrats, but who knows? The Victory Fund doesn't mention what party their candidates are running on, let alone whether they are progressives or conservatives. The only thing they care about is that these candidates are gay. This is so bizarre to me, especially since Congress has so many gay-- albeit closeted-- members who are no friends of the LGBTQ community. Like Patrick McHenry (R-NC), Adrian Smith (R-NE), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Jason Smith (R-MO)...

And I don't mean to pick on the gays for this identity politics nonsense. Yesterday, a friend of mine sent me a link to an article in the Jewish Daily Forward highlighting 8 candidates for Congress. Some of the candidates are Democrats and some of them are Republicans. All of them, though, are Jewish. All of them are also relatively conservative. The Forward seemed to boast that "Studies have long shown that Jews are not only more likely to vote in elections, but are also overrepresented in political office." They make no value judgement about why a candidate should be backed-- or opposed-- just they're Jewish. Example:

Renee Unterman, Republican from Georgia

Unterman, a health insurance executive and former mayor, is the only Jewish member of the Georgia state senate, where she’s represented parts of the Atlanta suburbs since 2003. She’s an outspoken conservative-- she wrote an anti-abortion “heartbeat bill,” supports a border wall and has been endorsed by the National Rifle Association. But she’s also shown she’s not afraid to buck members of her own party-- in 2018, she called for an investigation into then-Secretary of State Brian Kemp, who was running for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, over questionable campaign donations he had received. After a Kemp spokesman called her “mentally unstable,” she opened up about her history of depression and her son’s death by suicide. “I feel like it’s unusual to be a Republican and Jewish,” she told the Atlanta Jewish Times later that year. “But because of my background, I can connect with certain social issues I may not have if I wasn’t Jewish.” The district is open due to the retirement of incumbent Republican Rep. Brad Goodall, who won the tightest congressional election in the country in 2018 by a margin of 419 votes; Cook rates the race a toss-up.

GA-07 is the most competitive congressional race in Georgia this year. As of December 31, three Democrats-- Carolyn Bourdeaux, Zahra Karinshak (the most conservative of the Dems in this race) and Nabilah Islam (the most progressive in the race)-- and 4 Republicans-- Unterman, Lynne Homrich, Richard McCormick and Lerah Lee-- had raised over half a million dollars each. It's worth noting though that 3 of the 4 Republicans are trying to buy the seat with their own wealth. Unterman's own $602,841 amounted to 63% of her contributions. Homrich's $338,410 was 37% of her contributions. And McCormick's $524,639 was 60% of his contributions. Only one of the Democrats-- Karinshak-- is a self-funder.

All of the Republicans are conservatives as are some of the Democrats. Presumably all that matters, though, is that one is sort of Jewish. (Unterman, who tries playing up her Jewishness, is a convert.)

Anyway, on and on it goes-- very profitable women's operations try to get voters to vote for women; very profitable black operations and latino operations want you to vote for blacks and latinos-- just like gays and Jews-- no matter if they're a Blue Dog like Kendra Horn (women), David Scott (black), Henry Cuellar (Latino), Charlie Crist (gay, albeit semi-closeted) or Josh Gottheimer (Jewish). Many of them are in or have been in primaries against progressives who aren't in the identity group but would be a far better representative of the identity group. Let's take Kendra Horn, one of the 5 most right-wing Blue Dogs in Congress. She's against everything remotely progressive-- virulently opposes the Green New Deal, a living wage and Medicare for All, as 3 painfully obvious examples-- and she's running against progressive educator and college professor Tom Guild in Oklahoma City. It is easy-peasy to make the case that although Horn is a biological woman and will be promoted by very profitable women's groups, Guild is, by far, a better candidate for women.

The national minimum wage is the minimum amount per hour employers can now pay most workers. It increases only if Congress passes a bill and the President signs the legislation into law. To the detriment of working people, it has risen slowly over the decades-- it was last raised in 2009, with 2020 marking a record 11-year gap in increases. An increase in the wage to $15 an hour passed the House in 2019, but shamefully Horn was one of a tiny handful of Democrats who voted against raising it. When adjusted for inflation, the minimum wage is 17% lower than it was in 2009, and 31% lower than it was at its peak in 1968. In 1968 the minimum wage put American workers in a position to pay their bills and survive solely on their paychecks. The slow deterioration of the wage now leaves many families unable to pay for their basic necessaries to survive. A living wage regularly adjusted for inflation will bring workers back to a comparable position they were in back in 1968 when they were able to cover their basic expenses every month. Who suffers most? Women and children, of course. On top of that poll after poll shows that it is women who overwhelming support Medicare-for-All and who support an end to endless wars. Horn has a voting record that is shockingly pro-war and anti-healthcare, Guild is anti-war and pro-healthcare... the exact opposite. I spoke to him this morning and we discussed these things and I hope I have his quotes correctly below. Please, if you like what he has to say, consider clicking on the Blue America thermometer and contributing what you can to his campaign.

Under no circumstances, should American troops fight in Iran without prior congressional approval. I’m deeply disappointed that Horn voted twice to give the current volatile and impulsive president or any president carte blanche to start another costly endless war in the Middle East. Enough is Enough! Women tend to be much more reluctant to engage in military adventurism.  Women are especially protective of their families, and do not want them to have their lives prematurely ended in another endless war. Many women consider health care to be the single most important issue affecting their health and welfare and that of their family members and friends. Horn’s refusal to support any particular plan to bring universal health coverage to the American people is disturbing. Her opposition to the one serious plan on the table is baffling and particularly harmful to the women she is charged with representing.

Horn has no serious plan for addressing climate change and the comprehensive and reasonable plan now on the table, with majority support among Americans, particularly women, Horn opposes. Although Horn took money from labor, she voted with Republicans against raising the minimum wage, and has no plan to make sure that all of the people in the fifth district make a living wage. Since American women make up the vast majority of low paid workers, Horn’s position hurts women and their families in their struggle for survival and dignity. Horn also opposed labor’s biggest agenda item this year by voting with the Republicans in the House in an attempt to defeat the Protecting the Power to Organize Act. Women are often greatly benefited by the representation of organized labor. With friends like her, labor and women do not need enemies.

What can we do to make people’s lives better, now and after the pandemic has run its course of destruction? We can provide clean water and air by seriously pursuing ambitious climate action. By pursuing a path of renewable energy, we can create millions of good paying jobs as we repair and restore our environment. We can provide paid family leave and childcare. Rising costs in this area were eating family budgets alive, even before the current health and economic crisis. We can ease the burden on hard working parents and help them care for their most important assets, their children. Seniors are overwhelmed by the skyrocketing price of prescription drugs. By lowering drug prices, we can ease the strain on their finances and improve their peace of mind.

Two Blue America Candidates Speak Out On Healthcare: Dana Balter And Tom Guild

The pandemic has forced progressive candidates to change their means of reaching voters. David Wasserman, writing yesterday for the Cook Report, noted "As the COVID-19 outbreak forces more states to delay spring primary and runoff dates, it's had another, more subtle effect: it's all but frozen the House recruitment process in place and curtailed fundraising, benefiting incumbents and candidates who had already built large war chests and disadvantaging recent entrants." It's especially helpful to conservatives-- on both sides of the aisle. Dana Balter is battling Trump boot-licker John Katko, who had already raised $1,545,336 by the December 31 FEC reporting deadline. Balter's haul-- before the pandemic struck-- was $519,225. Similarly, Oklahoma City Blue Dog Kendra Horn-- a conservative who votes with Trump more than nearly any Democrat in Congress-- had raised $2,277,970 both the end of the quarter and before her progressive primary challenger, Tom Guild jumped into the race.

This week, both Balter and Guild worked to get their core messages on healthcare out. Guild sent an e-mail to Oklahoma City voters. "In this time of national crisis," be began, "we must achieve a degree of isolation, interrupted by an occasional trip to the grocery store, to the pharmacy, and to fill up our vehicles with gas. We do our best to care for others at a distance by contributing to charities and via social media. During this stark and sober time let us reflect on how to improve America as we eventually resume some semblance of normalcy. This emergency is partially a result of a health care system, that really isn’t an integrated system, but a patchwork of institutions and industries focused on maximizing profits. As we transition to universal healthcare in America via Medicare for All, we will put in place an integrated system that is not profit-driven but focused on the health and wellbeing of every American. Deductibles and co-pays will be phased out and the per capita spending for healthcare will very likely be reduced." He continued:

“A government-run, single-payer system may be run with just enough resources for normal times... but unlike the patchwork, for-profit ‘system’ we have, a publicly run system can be ramped up much more quickly to meet crises such as this one.” (Paul Crist)

We face the current crisis woefully unprepared to meet the tremendous challenge before us. We can learn from this experience and redouble our efforts to not be placed in this situation again. As the only candidate for Congress in Oklahoma’s Fifth Congressional District embracing universal health care coverage by adopting MFA, it makes a difference which candidate we nominate and that we elect to represent our district.

Stay safe. Keep your distance. Keep the faith. Take care of yourself and others.

If you would like to financially support our effort to achieve systemic and meaningful change for the future you can do that [by clicking on the Medicare-For-All thermometer on the right].


Vote like your life and health and that of your fellow Americans is at stake.

Yours in the cause,

Tom Guild

Balter was more fortunate, as the Syracuse Post Standard decided to publish her commentary with its message to NY-24 voters and it was able to reach far more voters and potential contributors.

We’re experiencing a crisis unlike anything in our living memory; the toll on our health, lives, and economy will be immense. We all need to do our part to keep our communities safe and we need our leaders to step up and take action to limit the pandemic’s impact.

I have talked with countless people across central and western New York whose lives are being turned upside down. There was the friend who found an elderly couple in their car in the grocery store parking lot, crying because they needed food but terrified to go inside and be exposed to COVID-19. Then there was the owner of a 45-year-old family business who’s afraid it might not open again. Then there was the man recently diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer for whom the world is now unimaginably dangerous. These heartbreaking stories make clear that we must do everything we can to curb the effects of this crisis.

As individuals, we need to take social distancing seriously and closely follow expert guidelines from the CDC. Thankfully, as New Yorkers we have Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s steady leadership. His navigation of this near-impossible situation is extraordinary and will save lives and livelihoods. He exemplifies what we need from our leaders in this moment: calm, confidence and competence.

The governor’s example is made all the more remarkable by a complete absence of leadership from President Donald Trump. His failure to lead us through this crisis is staggering. At every stage, his response has made the situation far worse than it needs to be.

Trump ignored early warnings from his own intelligence agencies that the COVID-19 pandemic was coming. Despite knowing how bad this situation would get, for months he minimized the threat to the public and refused to take necessary action to prepare for the impending danger. The president has continued to downplay the seriousness of this crisis, last Tuesday suggesting that things will be back to normal in a matter of a couple of weeks while health experts have agreed that this will take months to address. Most disturbing is that he actively spreads misinformation about COVID-19, which is incredibly dangerous.

The idea that this is the leadership this country needs is not only absurd, it’s dangerous. And yet, this is the man Rep. John Katko endorses. This is the man John Katko insists has made us better off. This is the man John Katko tells us is the leader we need for another four years.

Trump’s calling himself a wartime president. Would a wartime president leave generals without stocked bases? While Trump dithers, hospital administrators and doctors, left without ventilators and personal protective equipment (PPE), are facing unimaginable ethical decisions about whom they should save and whom they should let die. Absurd. Would a wartime president send soldiers into battle without helmets and body armor? While Trump dithers, we are leaving our front-line healthcare workers unprotected without PPE. So we are sewing face masks at home to donate to hospitals and clinics and nurses are wearing garbage bags because “it’s better than nothing.” Dangerous.

Government must prioritize the health and safety of our people. The president should immediately use the Defense Production Act to direct companies to manufacture ventilators and PPE and distribute that equipment. This is necessary to address two dire circumstances: 1. there isn’t an adequate supply of this vital equipment, and 2. currently states are competing with each other for access to the scarce supplies available.

Thankfully, Congress has turned its attention to addressing the economic fallout of this public health crisis. The response must include substantial cash assistance to individuals and families. We have to ensure speedy arrival of funds and recognize that a one-time payment is unlikely to be enough. We should institute a freeze on all mortgage payments, rent, debt collection, and student loan payments without interest or penalty. We must give massive support to small businesses to help them survive the weeks and months ahead. We do not need to bail out giant corporations; they have huge profits and bankruptcy protections that will see them through. Any assistance that is given to corporations must be contingent on: no bonuses or dividends for the duration of the loan; no stock buybacks; no lay-offs; honoring of collective bargaining agreements, a $15 minimum wage.

We’re dealing with the biggest public health crisis we’ve seen in a century and the resulting economic crisis. Both have been made worse by a stunning failure of leadership by the president, whom John Katko endorses. We have to rise above that failure in leadership. And we can. We have a long way to go but if we come together, we will get through this crisis. We all know that we are better than Donald Trump and now is the time to prove it.

Wendell Potter, was formerly vice-president for corporate communications at Cigna, a crooked insurance outfit. Today he's president of Business for Medicare for All. Yesterday The Guardian published a chilling piece he wrote, Millions of Americans are about to lose their health insurance in a pandemic. "The tragic effects of our battle with the novel coronavirus are seemingly endless. But arguably the most mind-blowing is this: the very pandemic that threatens to infect and kill millions is simultaneously causing many to also lose their health coverage at their gravest time of need." And he explained how and why:

Here’s how: the virus has caused a public health crisis so severe that people have been forced to stay home, causing businesses to shutter and lay off workers. And with roughly half of Americans getting their health insurance from their employer, these layoffs mean not only losing their income but also their medical coverage. In other words, just as our need for medical care skyrockets in the face of a global pandemic, fewer will have health insurance or be able to afford it. According to one recent report, the cost of treatment for Covid-19 can run around $35,000. As the patient in the report exclaimed: “I was pretty sticker-shocked. I personally don’t know anybody who has that kind of money.”

So, how did we get to such a dire place? Many will sadly lose their jobs over the coming weeks-- with one estimate projecting as many as 30%. And as they do, Americans are about to learn something horrifying: how irrational and irresponsible it is for so many to be dependent on employers for health insurance. Take it from me. I’m a former health insurance executive who once profited from this system. It’s time for it to stop.

America needs to finally get out of the business of linking health coverage to job status. Even in better times, this arrangement was a bad idea from a health perspective. Most Americans whose families depend on their employers for coverage are just a layoff away from being uninsured. And now, when many businesses are shutting down and considering layoffs, it’s a public health disaster. Across the country we’re seeing reports of layoffs in almost all industries. As we approach a global recession, some analysts suggest that a million or more US workers will lose their jobs in April alone. Consider what this means for health care in this country.

We’ve seen this before. During the last big recession, researchers at Cornell University found that 9.3 million Americans lost their health insurance between 2007 and 2009. Why? As people lost work, their employer-provided insurance went away. During this time, roughly six in 10 Americans who lost their jobs became uninsured. And this problem compounds itself. If the reason you lost your health insurance is that you no longer have steady employment, how are you now going to be able to afford monthly premiums for some other private health care plan? This problem becomes particularly acute when you consider that premiums for health plans sold on exchanges are projected to soar, as well, due to “unexpected Covid-19 costs.”

It’s worth noting that even in good times, the employer-based model fails to cover enough of us, with the number of Americans covered through an employer steadily dropping in general. Since 1999, the percentage of those with job-based coverage has declined by nine points. And it most certainly will drop like a rock in the coming weeks and months.

It’s now clear that this system cannot handle our current reality. With so many Americans sadly on the verge of unemployment, the number that will lose health coverage will be crushing. As we rebuild our country’s economic base and reimagine the roles various industries play in our new future, we must also begin a difficult conversation about health care. If we’re dependent on jobs in order to have it, a lot of us will be left out in the cold. And at a time in our nation’s history where more will need quality care than ever before, the human cost will simply be too much to bear.

Reminder: the men and women you'll find by clicking on the ActBlue thermometer above will take you to a list of candidates-- including but not limited to Tom Guild and Dana Balter-- campaigning on Medicare-for-All.

Dana Balter and Tom Guild

Blue America Congressional Endorsement In Oklahoma: Tom Guild

You may remember our old Oklahoma friend, Tom Guild, from the yeoman's work he did in the past to flip the Oklahoma City congressional district blue. He tilled that field assiduously for years, while the DCCC laughed and ignored him. Then, suddenly when it looked possible, the status quo Democratic Party  establishment stepped in and handed the blue wave nomination to one of their own, Kendra Horn. Horn immediately joined the Blue Dogs and New Dems-- the congressional manifestations of the Republican wing of the Democratic Party. And her voting record has been excruciating. Only 2 House Democrats have worse voting records, Anthony Brindisi (Blue Dog-NY) and Joe Cunningham (Blue Dog-OK). 231 Democrats + Independent Justin Amash have been voting consistently than Horn! She's been a waste-of-a-seat conservative backbencher and doesn't deserve reelection. The DC Democratic establishment freaks out if anyone challenges any of their coddled Blue Dog/New Dem freshmen. But Tom Guild just did exactly that. I asked him how he came to the decision to primary Horn. Here's his response. Please consider contributing to his campaign by clicking on the thermometer below.

A Bridge Too Far
by Tom Guild

To run or not to run for Congress, that is the question. These are the times that try men’s souls. I wish I could support Kendra Horn’s (D-OK) re-election, but there is a bridge too far between her conservative corporate voting record and my own progressive leanings. There is a gulf wider than the Gulf of Mexico between the way she finances her campaigns and the way I finance mine in an effort to rid the current system of big corporate and PAC money and massive out of control campaign spending for a job that pays $285,000 in salary and benefits Horn’s conservative corporate record

• Horn opposes Medicare for All and the gradual elimination of the private profit-driven health care insurance industry. I favor MFA and am deeply concerned about the many millions of Americans who have no health care coverage or are grossly underinsured. The overhead of the private insurance industry too often supports a bureaucracy that is rewarded for denying claims and leaving often desperate policy holders in severe economic and physical distress. Reducing administrative red tape and going to a single payer universal health care system is the right thing to do. It will save trillions of dollars in short order and prevent the heinous prospect of millions of Americans going bankrupt if they face a costly medical emergency. Since the United States pays more than twice as much per capita for health care than any other leading developed country in the world, the savings in treasure, lives, and the increased peace of mind MFA brings is literally priceless for millions of ordinary Americans.

• Horn opposes the Green New Deal. I favor the principles of the GND which in short order will reduce carbon emissions by transitioning to renewable energy and literally save Planet Earth from becoming a dead and uninhabitable planet where life can no longer exist. The scientific community has by consensus determined that if we don’t act quickly the damage to our planet will soon be irreversible. To think that all life on earth will become extinct like the Dodo bird and the dinosaurs is chilling. We must forsake big contributions from the fossil fuels industry and not embrace short term political advantage that will ultimately destroy all life on earth.

• Horn voted against raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. I support a $15 minimum wage and more importantly will work to ensure that wages for all Americans keep pace and will always be at or above the level necessary to constitute a living wage. It’s easy to be hard when you make $285,000 a year on the backs of hard-working American taxpayers, but a living wage is the compassionate and reasonable path to follow. Americans shouldn’t work full time and still fall below the poverty level. A living wage is the right course of action and will strengthen American families and add rocket fuel to the U.S. economy.

• Horn and I disagree on many other important issues such as her recent vote against labor when she voted no on the PRO Act (Protecting the Right to Organize Act). The Act that passed the U.S. House in early February of 2020 gives workers more power during disputes at work, adds penalties for companies that retaliate against workers who organize and grants hundreds of thousands of workers collective bargaining rights they don’t currently have. It would also weaken right-to-work laws that in 27 states allow employees to benefit by union representation but forgo paying union dues.

• Horn solicits PAC contributions and benefits by “Leadership” PAC money, and Super PAC assistance, including from Dark Money sources. I refuse all PAC contributions and accept only individual contributions from Americans investing in our country’s future. I favor outlawing PAC contributions and transitioning to publicly financed campaigns for Congress. Horn took $422,000 from a single Super PAC in her last general election campaign. Her campaign kitty is chock full of millions of dollars in PAC and special interest money. She is milking the current corrupt campaign finance system for all its worth.

Because of her very conservative corporate positions on major issues and her dependence on PAC, Leadership PAC, Super PAC, including from dark money sources, and big special interest money, I cannot in good conscience fail to give the voters in the Fifth Congressional District of Oklahoma another option in the June 2020 primary. Sometimes duty calls and an obligation to serve your state and nation seeks you. Life does not always conform itself to our convenience. Because I love my state and nation, I have decided to challenge a very conservative corporate incumbent. If not me, who? If not now, when? Your support is not only welcomed but is essential to support this important mutual undertaking. Join us!

Can Unions Make Right-Wing Democrats Who Voted With The GOP Against The Working Class Pay A Penalty?

A few weeks ago, we looked at the vote in the House for the PRO Act-- Protecting the Right To Organze (H.R. 2474)-- which passed 224-194. There were seven anti-union Democrats who voted against the bill:

• Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX)
• Joe Cunningham (Blue Dog-SC)
• Kendra Horn (Blue Dog-OK)
• Ben McAdams (Blue Dog-UT)
• Lucy McBath (New Dem-GA)
• Stephanie Murphy (Blue Dog-FL)
• Kurt Schrader (Blue Dog-OR)

Last Thursday, the Communications Workers of America sent a letter to DCCC chair Cheri Bustos urging the committee to end campaign support for the 7 incumbents who voted with the Republicans and against unions.

The union says that these Democratic members voted against strengthening workers’ rights, a fundamental principle of the Democratic Party, and therefore should not receive campaign support from the DCCC moving forward.

The seven Democratic House Members who voted against the PRO Act are: Rep. Henry Cuellar (TX-28), Rep. Joe Cunningham (SC-01), Rep. Kendra Horn (OK-05), Rep. Ben McAdams (UT-04), Rep. Lucy McBath (GA-06), Rep. Stephanie Murphy (FL-07), and Rep. Kurt Schrader (OR-05). The letter comes after CWA members last week protested outside the offices of Reps. Cuellar, Murphy, and McBath to hold the Members accountable for voting against the PRO Act.

“I urge you to deny DCCC services to the seven Members of the House of Representatives who caucus with House Democrats and betrayed working people and America’s Labor Movement by voting against the final passage of the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act,” wrote CWA President Chris Shelton in a letter to DCCC Chair Cheri Bustos.

The U.S. House of Representatives last week voted in support of the PRO Act, a historic piece of legislation that would make it easier for workers to join a union, protect strikes and other bargaining activities, and weaken “right-to-work” laws. The legislation passed after tireless work of CWA members and a broad coalition of labor, civil rights, environmental, religious immigrant rights, and women's groups, who fought to ensure that the voices of working people would finally be heard.

“The PRO Act is a continuation of the long history of the Democratic Party’s policies to strengthen workers’ voices in the U.S. economy and create a level playing field and an engine for millions of workers to reach the middle class and, therefore, a stable and comfortable life,'' added Shelton. “Those who voted against the PRO Act have betrayed this fundamental principle of the Democratic Party. And due to those votes, it is impossible for CWA to urge our members to support any of these seven candidates. They must be denied the support of the Democratic Party for refusing to stand with working Americans.”

The letter outlines how the Democratic Party has long recognized that the ability for workers to organize, join a union, and bargain for their fair share has been critical to building a strong and vibrant middle class. However, corporate special interests are trying to exert their influence and push their anti-worker agenda in the Democratic Party-- with the latest example being the Democratic members who voted against the PRO Act. CWA has vowed to defend against these efforts, and hold Democratic members accountable for putting the interests of corporations ahead of the interests of working people.

Bustos is reported to have crumpled up the letter from the 700,000 member union and thrown it in the trash can, cursing and spitting. The DCCC is heavily supporting Kendra Horn, Joe Cunningham, Henry Cuellar, Ben McAdams and Lucy McBath and has said they will step in if Kurt Schrader or Stephanie Murphy look like they win up in jeopardy.

Our old friend, Tom Guild, an Oklahoma City progressive so busy trying to get Bernie over the hump that he hasn't even had time to officially announce his own campaign for the seat held by anti-union Blue Dog Kendra Horn, one of the conservative fake-Democrats who voted against the PRO-Act. When I asked him why he had decided to run again, he told me that Horn's vote against the PRO-Act was one of the top reasons. "I’m very disappointed that Ms. Horn voted against the PRO-Act. Her vote is an unpardonable sin and damages the rights of working people. To achieve a healthy economy and further economic justice, workers must be able to effectively organize, join unions, and bargain for their fair share of the fruits of their labor and hard won economic gains. That will build and sustain a strong and vibrant middle class. It is tragic when conservatives cripple workers’ rights, and much worse when members of the Democratic Party collaborate with powerful corporate interests and strengthen their anti-worker agenda. Americans should hold members, especially Democratic members of Congress, accountable at the polls for crippling the interests of working people. The DCCC should not support these anti-worker congresspersons by giving them aid and comfort and funding their campaigns. Enough is enough. A key question in 2020 is whose side are you on. The Democratic Party should stand unapologetically in solidarity with working people to lighten their load, and make it easier for workers to join unions, engage in strikes and pursue other essential bargaining activities. To do otherwise betrays the better part of a century of standing beside and supporting America’s beleaguered workers."

In the South Texas district where progressive Jessica Cisneros is battling DCCC Blue Dog Henry Cuellar, likely to be the next Jeff Van Drew, the labor movement has backed Cisneros and the Chamber of Commerce and the Koch brothers have backed Cuellar. The Kochs are funneling money to his campaign their their front groups and PACs. Their outright endorsement of Cuellar marks the first time they’ve ever openly backed a Democrat in a federal race. They've now launched a massive sewer money campaign on TV to destroy Cisneros, largely to repay Cuellar for his anti-union vote. So we have the Koch Brothers and Cheri Bustos' DCCC marching hand in hand into hell. "Congressman Cuellar siding with his big corporate donors over working people in our district once again shows why he’s Trump’s favorite Democrat," said Cisneros. "Workers deserve the right to negotiate for proper pay, good working conditions, and benefits they deserve. I’m proud to have the support of workers in our district and local unions, who have our back because they know we have theirs."

Mark Gamba, the progressive mayor of Milwaukie, Oregon is taking on one of the most virulently anti-union Democrats in Congress, Blue Dog Kurt Schrader. "You have to ask yourself," said Mark, "what the DCCC stands for? What's important to them? Is it the lives, and livelihood of working class people? Obviously not. Is it a healthy economy (which can only come from a strong middle class)? Obviously not. Is it holding bad employers responsible for their actions? Obviously not. This bill only begins to claw back some of the rights workers used to have. Rights that have been slowly worn away by the republicans and the corporatist, millionaire, Democrats-in-name-only that support the Republicans. If someone like Schrader doesn't support the working people, and therefore the middle class, what is he doing in the Democratic Party?  People in our district call him "traitor Schrader" because he votes with Republicans on so many critical issues. He talks about representing a purple district and reaching across the aisle. But this bill doesn't benefit working people on the Republican side either. It only benefits the giant corporations that line his pockets and in turn those of the DCCC. Which then answers my original question. The DCCC doesn't stand for anything. But it will bend over for a fat corporate check. Just like traitor Schrader will.  I would have voted for the PRO-Act. I would have co-sponsored the PRO-Act. I would have used political capital and twisted arms for the PRO-Act because I believe in protecting the rights of workers and in making the middle class. and therefor our economy, the strongest it can be."

If you'd like to help Mark and Jessica replace their anti-union/anti-worker opponents... that's what the thermometer is for. Just click and contribute what you can to their campaigns. (Tom will take a few minutes out of campaigning for Bernie to file his candidate papers with the FEC... soon. We'll let you know when he has his ActBlue page up and ready for contributions.)

Cheri Bustos, Koch brothers ally against working families

Blue No Matter Who? Very Bad Idea-- And One That Allows The Status Quo-Loving Establishment To Push The Democratic Party Further Right

Voters to candidates: tell us what you are going to do for us and our families and how you're going to do it. We do not care about your offing bullshit made-up fund-raising deadlines. Seems simple, right? But most DCCC candidates can't get it through their heads. They really have nothing positive to offer, so they bombard us with asinine e-mails about their deadlines.

Let's look at two e-mails that came to my box yesterday. The first was from worthless Blue Dog Kendra Horn of Oklahoma City, sho got into Congress and voted against progressive initiatives more than almost any other Democrat in the House. She has an "F" from ProgressivePunch and the 3rd worst voting record among House Dems:

Her e-mail reflection the "vision" of her her fellow DCCC-Blue Dogs and has nothing to do with anyone but herself: "Urgent news: Our first fundraising deadline of 2020 is this Friday."

"On top of that,"this self-absorbed turd continued, "a national dark money group launched another round of attack ads against me." Go whine to EMILY's List.

"Fighting these attacks," she wrote, "and setting the record straight is one of our top priorities-- so we really can’t miss any of our fundraising goals right now!" I bet it is. Her priorities have never once been about the people who sent her to Congress from OK-05. Kendra Horn's is one of the most wasted seats in Congress. And no-one deserves more than she does to be defeated in November. The ceaseless refrain from her and her type: "Please, will you click here to pitch in $10 to help us close our $10,000 budget gap before midnight on Friday? Our campaign is a top target for outside dark money groups, and they’ll stop at nothing to flip this seat." Ready for the big pukeworthy closing?

But with supporters like you beside me, I know we’re ready for the challenge. I know this team has what it takes to muster every ounce of grassroots support and reach every single voter in our district between now and Election Day.

Will you help make sure that happens by chipping in $10 before our deadline on Friday?

EMILY's List and the DCCC forced pitiful moron-incumbents like Horn to hire "consultants"-- highly paid ones-- to write these useless e-mails. Read it again. Is there one repulsive Blue Dog or New Dem it can't be sent out for without changing a single word?

Now this e-mail came at the same time and I guarantee you, the voice you hear is not some asshole consultant; it's a candidate who wants you to know him and wants you to know why you should contribute to his campaign. This is from Mark Gamba, the progressive mayor of Milwaukie, Oregon who's taking on one of the worst Blue Dogs ever, Kurt Schrader.

This weekend I had the honor of being endorsed by Our Revolution in Salem.

You know, I decided to run for Congress in no small part because I wanted to help Bernie Sanders take on the corporate establishment and pass laws that truly benefit the American people and our planet.

The Green New Deal is a big part of the initiatives I will champion, and so is Universal Healthcare.

Just this morning, I was listening to a broadcast on OPB that talked about the tough choices Americans are making when their insurance fails to cover the cost of life-saving prescription drugs. Folks who need epi-pens are opting to wear long sleeve shirts hoping that they will protect them from bee stings because they cannot afford the $300 generic epi-pen, much less the name brand product that costs over $600.

The problem is heartbreaking. Doctors are prescribing drugs that their patients cannot afford even with health insurance that has prescription coverage.

Medical debt is the leading cause of bankruptcy in this country and we pay over twice as much for healthcare as the average industrialized nation. Yet our health outcomes are worse than most countries in the industrialized world.

This is wrong on so many levels, but it is easy to trace the problem to its source. Mega-corps are more interested in profit than they are in people or planet. In the case of healthcare, Big Pharma and the Insurance industry are looking after their bottom line at the expense of our very lives.

I promise that I will work tirelessly to pass legislation that curbs the rapacious corporate greed costing so many Americans their futures.

My opponent may say that he is working to get cheaper life-saving drugs to market, but his voting record and financial investments tell a different story. He both invests in Big Pharma and takes campaign contributions from them. Even his oft-touted BLOCKING Act, which he claims gives generic drugs easier access to come to market does the exact opposite.

We need people in Congress who will not be bought by the highest bidder. People who will stand for what is right in the face of seemingly limitless power and not bow down. Can I count on you to join me on this quest?

With your help we will stand shoulder to shoulder and take back our democracy. As Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said, “They have the money, but we have the people.”

All people deserve to have access to health care. It should be a human right.

I will continue to fight for it with your support.

I stuck in that Primary A Blue Dog thermometer in case you feel inspired to contribute to Mark or any of the other progressives challenging a Blue Dog or New Dem this cycle. And this Bernie tweet from this morning is a reminder that it isn't just Republican assholes who are the sworn enemies of the working class, but many from the status quo Democratic Party establishment as well, and certainly the Blue Dogs and New Dems!

What Conservative Dems-- The Republican Wing Of The Democratic Party-- Don't Want

The Green New Deal is complicated and partially abstract and certainly not easy to understand for an idiot. It's aspirational too. Medicare-For-All isn't as complicated, but it's complicated too. You know what's not complicated? Raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, a semi-livable wage. That;'s pretty straight forward. But it's something that infuriates conservatives almost as much as the Green New Deal and Medicare For All do. Conservatives have always opposed the minimum wage and always opposed raising the minimum wage.

In the late 1800s anti sweatshop activism began gaining strength in Australian, the U.K. and the U.S., leading to calls for minimum wages. Massachusetts passed the first minimum wage legislation in the U.S. in 1912. A decade later there were 15 states with minimum wage laws. The very conservative Supreme Court kept striking them down, declaring them unconstitutional, because they interfered with the ability of employers to freely negotiate wage contracts with employees. And then came the bane of every conservative heart: the New Deal. The Supreme Court struck down the first national minimum wage in the '30s. After FDR was reelected in the biggest landslide in history in 1936 and started discussing putting more justices on the court, the conservatives on the court finally saw the light and ruled a minimum wage law constitutional. The federal minimum wage started at 25 cents an hour and by 1990 it had grown to $3.80. Today the federal minimum wage is $7.25, although only $2.13 for "tipped labor."

Most of the states in the Old Confederacy-- particularly where Republicans have complete control-- don't have any minimum wage at all, of course-- Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, Louisiana, Tennessee. Georgia's is $5.15. California, Washington and Massachusetts have the highest minimum wages among states-- $12.00 that will gradually rise, along with New York's and New Jersey's, to $15.00.

Every passage in every jurisdiction and every increase has been fought by conservatives. That has usually broken down to meaning that nearly all Republicans oppose it and nearly all Democrats support it. But something's changing. Not in the Republican party; they're as opposed to workers' having the ability to live with any sense of dignity as they ever were. Unfortunately, the change comes among Democrats. Starting with Bill Clinton, the Democratic Party began catering more to corporate and financial interests and less to unions and workers. That ugly neoliberal trend has accelerated since Clinton's presidency and now we have immense power resting in the hands of the Blue Dogs and New Dems in Congress, perhaps enough to kill the super-popular calls for a $15 national minimum wage. Let me start by making sure you know who, very specifically, the New Dems are. Almost every Blue Dog is also a New Dem; the only 6 who aren't are Jeff Van Drew (NJ), Filemon Vela (TX), Sanford Bishop (GA), Mike Thompson (CA), Collin Peterson (MN) and Dan Lipinski (IL). This is, at least in the House, the Republican wing of the Democratic Party:

• Pete Aguilar (CA)
• Colin Allred (TX)
• Cindy Axne (IA)
• Ami Bera (CA)
• Don Beyer (VA)
• Lisa Blunt Rochester (DE)
• Brendan Boyle (PA)
• Anthony Brindisi (NY)
• Anthony Brown (MD)
• Julia Brownley (CA)
• Cheri Bustos (IL)
• Salud Carbajal (CA)
• Tony Cárdenas (CA)
• André Carson (IN)
• Ed Case (HI)
• Sean Casten (IL)
• Joaquin Castro (TX)
• Gil Cisneros (CA)
• Gerry Connolly (VA)
• Jim Cooper (TN)
• Lou Correa (CA)
• Jim Costa (CA)
• Angie Craig (MN)
• Charlie Crist (FL)
• Jason Crow (CO)
• Henry Cuellar (TX)
• Joe Cunningham (SC)
• Sharice Davids (KS)
• Susan Davis (CA)
• Madeleine Dean (PA)
• Suzan DelBene (WA), vice-chair
• Val Demings (FL)
• Eliot Engels (NY)
• Veronica Escobar (TX)
• Lizzie Fletcher (TX)
• Bill Foster (IL)
• Vicente Gonzalez (TX)
• Josh Gottheimer (NJ)
• Josh Harder (CA)
• Denny Heck (WA)
• Katie Hill (CA)
• Jim Himes (CT)
• Kendra Horn (OK)
• Steven Horsford (NV)
• Chrissy Houlahan (PA)
• Bill Keating (MA)
• Derek Kilmer (WA), chairman
• Ron Kind (WI)
• Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ)
• Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL)
• Ann Kuster (NH), vice-chair
• Rick Larsen (WA)
• Brenda Lawrence (MI)
• Al Lawson (FL)
• Susie Lee (NV)
• Elaine Luria (VA)
• Tom Malinowski (NJ)
• Sean Patrick Maloney (NY)
• Ben McAdams (UT)
• Lucy McBath (GA)
• Donald McEachin (VA)
• Gregory Meeks (NY)
• Seth Moulton (MA)
• Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (FL)
• Stephanie Murphy (FL)
• Donald Norcross (NJ)
• Tom O'Halleran (AZ)
• Chris Pappas (NH)
• Ed Perlmutter (CO)
• Scott Peters (CA), vice-chair
• Dean Phillips (MN)
• Mike Quigley (IL)
• Kathleen Rice (NY)
• Cedric Richmond (LA)
• Max Rose (NY)
• Harley Rouda (CA)
• Raul Ruiz (CA)
• Adam Schiff (CA)
• Brad Schneider (IL)
• Kurt Schrader (OR)
• Kim Schrier (WA)
• David Scott (GA)
• Terri Sewell (AL), vice-chair
• Mike Sherrill (NJ)
• Elissa Slotkin (MI)
• Adam Smith (WA)
• Darren Soto (FL)
• Abigail Spanberger (VA)
• Greg Stanton (AZ)
• Haley Stevens (MI)
• Tom Suozzi (NY)
• Norma Torres (CA)
• Xochitl Torres-Small (NM)
• Lori Trahan (MA)
• David Trone (MD)
• Juan Vargas (CA)
• Marc Veasey (TX)
• Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL)
• Jennifer Wexton (VA)
• Susan Wild (PA)

It's Wall Street financed, pro-corporate, anti-labor organization, but not every member is anti-worker-- or at least not every member can manifest anti-worker tendencies given the constituencies they represent. And these are the people, for the most part, who went whining to Pelosi and Bustos about being protected against primaries. Some aren't even members because of the ideology but because of the corruption, since the New Dems are the nexus of bribery in the House.

Now, with all that in mind, let's consider how the New Dems are leading the opposition to the progressive plan to pass a $15 minimum wage bill, which the Democrats can certainly do and which Democratic and independent (and even Republican) voters very much want. The big campaign contributors who pay for the cushy careers of the New Dems don't want it. Take a look at this polling of registered voters. The majority of Americans want that raise of $15, which Bernie has already proposed in the Senate and has integrated into his presidential platform and campaign.

According to these pollsters 70% of Republican voters want a higher federal wage floor, with 36% supporting $15 per hour. Thirty percent of GOP respondents said they wanted to keep the amount the same, reduce it or eliminate it. A majority of both Democratic (73%) and independent voters (53%) support a $15 rate. Minimum wage increases are broadly popular across all demographic groups. The $15 proposal was supported by a majority of all age groups in the Hill-HarrisX poll. Now read this carefully, because it's going to help you understand what the New Dems are all about and who they really are and why it's foolish to help get them elected:

Support for a higher minimum wage also is strong across the ideological spectrum. Seventy-seven percent of self-described "strong liberals" supported an increase to $15, as did 66 percent of respondents who said they lean liberal. Sixty percent of moderates backed the proposal as well.

Among those who described themselves as strongly conservative or leaning conservative, support for increasing the wage to $15 did not reach majority levels; however, a majority wanted an increase to an amount above $7.25.

Seventy-two percent of respondents who said they leaned conservative indicated they wanted an increase of some amount, as did 67 percent of strongly conservative respondents.

Eva Putzova, who is running for Congress against an "ex"-Republican Blue Dog/New Dem, Tom O'Halleran, is the chair of the Flagstaff Living Wage Coalition. She reminded us that "Not a single ballot measure raising the minimum wage has ever failed-- not in a blue state or a red state. In Flagstaff, we raised the minimum wage to $15 per hour through a local initiative that was on the same ballot in 2016 as the increase of the Arizona's state minimum wage to $12 per hour. Raising the minimum wage is simply what people want. When the Raise the Wage Act passes (and I hope it will), it will be the first time in the history of this country that at least one chamber of Congress legislates the full minimum wage for tipped workers, most of whom are women and many are people of color and immigrants. The federal subminimum tipped wage has been frozen at an exploitative $2.13 since 1991 thanks to the power, money and influence of the "other NRA." Living mostly off tips forces tipped workers to tolerate sexual harassment and leads to economic instability for millions of families across the country. If Congress cares more about working families and women than short-term corporate interests, $15 per hour will be the new minimum wage floor. In the long run, even corporations benefit from stronger consumer purchasing power that comes with higher wages and more economic security."

Writing for Politico yesterday, Sarah Ferris reported on the New Dem/Blue Dog push to kill the $15 minimum wage legislation, calling it a broadening rift between the party’s progressive and moderate members, insisting on calling the conservatives from the Republican wing of the party, "moderates," the most admired political term among American voters and an implication that progressives are something other than moderate-- like extreme or radical. That's ALWAYS the Beltway media. Watch how Ferris subtly frames the news against progressives, even knowing that a majority of Americans want to $15 minimum wage.

Progressive leaders in the House are attempting to stamp out a push by some red state Democrats to soften the party’s $15-an-hour minimum wage proposal, which they see as a betrayal of last fall’s campaign promises.

Leaders of the Congressional Progressive Caucus are now lobbying fellow Democrats to help extinguish a competing plan backed by more than a dozen moderates that would permit lower hourly wages in more rural areas. And they’re prepared to wield the power of the 96-member caucus to ensure their full $15-an-hour proposal reaches the floor.

“We want to pass a full $15 minimum wage bill. Not a regional bill. We’re very clear about that,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) said in an interview. “Being in Congress means leading, and we need to lead on minimum wage.”

Democratic leaders have publicly and privately committed to passing a universal $15-an-hour wage, a priority that they say helped deliver the House majority. But the idea is running into some resistance from moderates in red states like Georgia, Iowa and Alabama, who have balked at doubling the federal minimum wage over a five-year stretch because they fear it will cost jobs, and votes, back home.

And with the $15-an-hour proposal still short on votes, some progressives fear that Democratic leaders will be forced to soften their signature bill to win over moderates, even though it will still go nowhere in the Senate.

A group of Democrats, led by Rep. Terri Sewell of Alabama, plan to introduce their own bill Thursday morning that would create a “regional” minimum wage-- based on local cost of living-- instead. Thirteen Democrats have signed on as co-sponsors as of Wednesday afternoon, but that number could grow, according to Sewell’s office.

Sewell is a corrupt conservative who represents the 431st (out of 435) poorest district, in terms of median income. 64% of her constituents are African-Americans and the PVI is R+20. Do you think Blue America should tell her constituents with radio and TV ads that she's leading the fight against increasing the minimum wage to $15 on behalf of her corporate campaign donors? I suspect they wouldn't be all that pleased. A vice-chair of the New Dems, she's more loyal to them than to her own constituents. Just outrageous!

Supporters include freshmen Democrats like Rep. Lucy McBath of Georgia and Dean Phillips of Minnesota-- who is a small business owner who pays his own workers $15-an-hour but has said it is not a “one-size-fits-all wage.”

Sewell’s bill would dramatically slow the wage hikes in hundreds of smaller cities from Cincinnati to St. Louis compared to metropolis areas like San Francisco and New York.

But many other Democrats-- including House Education and Labor Committee Chairman Bobby Scott, the chief author of the $15-an-hour minimum wage bill-- detest the idea.

“Low income areas would be locked in to lower wages. We don’t have differentiated payments for Social Security,” the Virginia Democrat said in an interview.

The introduction of Sewell's bill on Thursday will intensify a brewing clash between progressives and some moderates that has taken mostly behind the scenes.

Tension erupted last month at a meeting of New Democrats Coalition, as Scott dismissed the idea of a regional bill-- in a roomful of moderates [not moderates-- conservatives], many of whom supported Sewell's bill-- as he sought to sell his own.

Supporters of Scott's bill-- including virtually all CPC members, who got a private briefing from Scott on the bill in January-- have argued that the competing proposal is costing votes and stalling the party’s hallmark $15-an-hour policy from reaching the floor.

“The regional minimum wage proposal is a clear attempt to water down the Raise the Wage Act,” an aide to one progressive member said. “Poverty wages shouldn’t be acceptable anywhere in America.”

Progressive leaders are now stepping up the pressure on Democratic leaders to fend off changes to the $15-an-hour bill, possibly hinting at the first time the CPC decides to go to the mat to defend a progressive priority.

So far in the majority, the CPC has mostly refrained from aggressive tactics to ensure their top agenda items make it to the floor. But some members and aides are eying the battle over the minimum wage bill as the first real test for Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her lieutenants to prove their commitment to a progressive agenda, even if it means cornering moderates on a difficult issue in their districts.

"We're getting to get a vote on the $15-an-hour. I think there's just too much pressure that's going to build up on our caucus to do that. That was the commitment," Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) said in an interview. "We need to follow through on that."

They argue that Sewell's bill would also raise wages, only more slowly. Cities like El Paso, Texas, and Topeka, Kansas would need to raise their wages to $8.10 next year, while wages would jump to at least $10.60 in sprawling cities like San Francisco, Washington and New York City.

“More than doubling the wage over five years is going to result in lost jobs,” an aide to a member in favor of a regional wage bill said. “A lot of people would prefer to have a $10 wage than no job.”

Scott and other critics of the idea are quick to point out the flaws of the bill, as well, such as a congressional district in New Hampshire that would have three different minimum wages. Critics have also pointed out that Sewell's bill would result in sharp spikes in the minimum wage in certain areas, like a $3 increase in Virginia next year alone.

Some moderates have argued that Sewell's bill has interest from Republicans, unlike the Democrats' dream proposal, but long-time Democrats argue they need to send the message to their base.

“I think if it's not gonna go anywhere, I think we’ve got to make a statement. We’re for living wage everywhere,” said Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY), who is a cosponsor of Scott's bill.

Marie Newman, a champion of a $15 minimum wage is working on a rematch with reactionary Blue Dog Dan Lipinski in a solid blue Chicagoland seat. She nearly beat him last time and his fellow Blue Dogs fear she will easily do so this cycle. This morning, she told us that "One of the things I am most proud of about my 2018 primary challenge to Dan Lipinski, is that we forced him to change his stance on $15/hr. He went from contending '$12 is enough', to signing on to the current $15/hr legislation in the last 6 weeks of the campaign. The district and I pushed him hard. It was worth it. I cannot stress how important this legislation is to our country. In an environment where 80% of the country is living paycheck to paycheck and we have an ever-escalating patchwork of jobs phenomenon (the situation where people must cobble 2-4 jobs together to make ends meet on a consistent basis), we need hardworking folks to be paid for their efforts. The dignity of work is our bedrock in the U.S. We must give hard work dignity. We must."

Tom Guild lives in a red district based around Oklahoma City. His freshman Rep, Kendra Horn, is a big disappointment to Democrats nd many have been urging Tom to primary her. I suspect that her posture on the minimum wage legislation is going to be a key determinant for him. Early this morning, he told us that "It’s easy for members of the U.S. Congress to pontificate on a $15 minimum wage. After all, each member of the U.S. House or Senate is guaranteed $285,000 in salary and benefits each year. They are guaranteed the same lofty compensation shortly after joining Congress, even if they are involuntarily retired from the House or Senate by voters who think they did a lousy job of representing them. For folks with a golden spoon in their mouths and a lucrative retirement to die for, it’s apparently easy to be hard. Phasing in a $15 minimum wage is the right thing to do. The longer we wait, we may need to phase in a much higher dollar amount. In Oklahoma, a relatively low cost of living state, $15 an hour would allow an individual to survive and to take an annual three day vacation-- to Tulsa! $7.25 an hour is a starvation wage. A person can’t survive anywhere in the country on $7.25 without roommates, second or third jobs, or a patron saint helping them along the way. It’s easy to be hard. It’s apparently easy to be hard-- especially if you have a guaranteed $285,000 job at taxpayer expense. It sounds suspiciously like “socialism” to me. It is way beyond time to bring hard working Americans, many of them single parents with hungry mouths to feed, up to a level where they are not living in poverty while working full time. If not now, when? If not us, who will do the right thing to help our beloved neighbors?"

If you know who Randy Bryce, you know that when it comes to working people, he knows what he;'s talking about. Last night, he told me that "Republicans view average citizens as 'money farms' instead of people. They all believe that they are destined to win the lottery and when they do-- you’d best be ready to help them maintain their lavish lifestyle. We have a few Democrats who also don’t seem to see things as the rest of us do. They view the .01% as benefactors who donate to their campaigns which allows them not to need a job that may require them getting their hands dirty. The same party that rails against socialism for people is fully complicit allowing corporations-- who they see as people-- to receive handouts. That doesn’t make any sense to me especially considering that we have an existing tax code that allows for loopholes that don’t require people to pay into the pot that their hands are continually taking things out of. When it comes to fair pay for a day’s work it shouldn’t be too much to ask for one full time job to be enough to pay one’s bills. A livable wage will keep people from needing government assistance but it won’t keep corporations from grabbing every penny that they can. What will it take to start seeing the companies that get tax breaks but refuse to pay their employees a fair wage as a freeloader instead of the woman or man trying to feed their child? Raising the minimum wage isn’t about getting wealthy. It’s about dignity. Every time I hear a rich CEO state that 'hard work has gotten me where I am,' I follow with the question" 'who’s hard work'?"

Is this part of why Hillary Clinton lost Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, North Carolina...? Sewell and the New Dems are taking a position identical to the one that just about mandated that Hillary Clinton lose the 2016 election to... Trump.

UPDATE: From Texas

Mike Siegel: "I support a $15 minimum wage, period. We need a living wage for American workers, and $15 will be a strong step in the right direction. We need to address the massive wealth inequality in this country, and a $15 wage will help. We need to address homelessness, access to transportation, and mental health-- and $15 an hour make an impact. No one should be forced to work two and three jobs just to survive. Raising the minimum wage is one of the most important things we can do to guarantee the economic security of our workers."