David Dreier's Constituent Service-- A Horrifying Report From A Parent Of Two Kidnapped Children

The other day I had a call from an old friend, Russ Warner, who I know as a family man and as a father as well as the progressive Democrat running for the seat in a neighboring district currently held by David Dreier, aggressively not a family man. Russ introduced me to Andrew Ko, a neighbor and distraught father whose two 10-year old twin sons, Christopher and William, were abducted to Singapore by his ex-wife. Once his sons were spirited out of the country Andrew went to David Dreier, his congressman. Dreier was unhelpful... even insulting, sending him a letter address to Dear "Mr. Yo" and telling him to "have a nice day." Andrew wound up taking out an ad (left) in the L.A. Times. He also talked with Russ who personally delivered his paperwork to Senator Boxer, who is now working on the case. I asked Andrew to write a guest post to explain what he's been through. I mean, he's actually a Republican and that ad must have cost him a few thousand dollars.

My ex-wife, Yuxin Mei Wang, is a Singaporean. She violated the July 2008 Custody Order and disappeared with the boys on August 31, 2009.  A “Find and Retrieve Order” was issued by the Los Angeles County Superior Court on September 4, 2009, just over a year ago. 
 
Yuxin Mei Wang was able to obtain new Singapore passports for the children from the Singapore Consulate in San Francisco without my authorization or knowledge.  When the children first disappeared, I contacted the Singapore Consulate.  A consular officer, Lea Chan, told me in no uncertain terms that they DID NOT issue passports for the children. She will have to check with the authorities in Singapore to see if the passports were issued from Singapore. 5 days later, she called and said San Francisco actually issued the passports. So much for record keeping.
 
There is a 4-count felony arrest warrant from the State of California and an FBI warrant. An Interpol Red Notice was diffused on November 25, 2009 and Singapore is a member of Interpol. A former Singapore Police Commissioner, Khoo Boon Hwee, is current president of Interpol. Repeated inquiries by the Los Angeles County District Attorney on the status of the Red Notice for arrest of the abducting parent continues to go unanswered.
 
I bring you back to the case of American teenager Michael Fay who was sentenced to 5 strokes of the cane in Singapore back in 1994 for vandalism. 24 US Senators and President Clinton appealed to the Singapore Government to spare Fay, claiming the punishment does not fit the crime.  Here is a link to a few Singapore newspaper articles about this case. The response is that the U.S. does not have to agree with Singapore laws, the U.S. only has to respect them.

The Interpol Red Notice was issued because the abducting parent broke U.S. laws.  No one is saying she broke Singapore laws. Singapore does not have to agree with U.S. laws, Singapore only has to respect them.
 
In April of this year, the Singapore Foreign Ministry released this statement regarding a Romanian diplomat involved in a car accident. Singapore requested Interpol to issue a Red Notice for the arrest of the Romanian diplomat. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, George Yeo, said Romania has a "clear moral obligation" to persuade the diplomat to return to Singapore to stand trial.  Why is it when Singapore wants to arrest someone, the country providing safe haven has a "clear moral obligation" to return the fugitive; but when the U.S. wants to arrest a Singaporean wanted for crimes in the U.S. Singaproe tells the U.S. to go "pound salt."
 
At the 78th General Assembly of Interpol held in Singapore in October 2009, Singapore Minister of Law Mr. K. Shanmugam gave a speech commending the progress made by member countries of Interpol. He highlighted the apprehension of Singaporean fugitive lawyer Tan Cheng Yew by the German authorities after Singapore Police issued an Interpol Red Notice.
 
When the U.S. issues an Interpol Red Notice, Singapore ignores it completely and offers safe-haven to a wanted fugitive.
 
The U.S. trains the Singapore Air Force at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona and Mountain High Air Force Base in Idaho. The Luke AFB training costs $325 million dollars and... who pays for this??

Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-4) has a bill in Congress HR 3240 that will put pressure on countries to prevent child abduction and facilitate the children's return.  Let's amend this bill to say that countries like Singapore, Japan, and Philippines who knowingly ignore valid US requests to return the children will have military and economic assistance suspended until the children are returned. If you want to benefit from the relationship with the U.S., you have to respect our laws whether you agree with them or not.
 
Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont has written to the Singapore Ambassador but the response was not encouraging. Sen. Leahy then wrote to Secretary of State Clinton. My Congressman, David Dreier, has not done much except to forward my letters to a few parties. Singapore's response is that they did not know. They did not know because they did not check and ask some basic questions when a single parent is applying for passports for minor children.
 
The Department of Justice refuses to issue a formal extradition request to  Singapore citing different "interpretation" of the extradition by Singapore. Treaties are not subject to re-interpretation after they are signed according to the Vienna Convention.
 
Another interesting response is from the Singapore Ministry of Education.  They refuse to provide me information regarding the children.  The latest letter asks for a court order. My name is on the birth certificate and the Ministry of Education accepted this as an enrollment document but refuses to provide me information on my children. My lawyer in Singapore has now gone back to the Education Ministry to ask what aspect of law are they basing the requirement that a parent needs a court order before obtaining information on their children. Is this a requirement for all parents or just the left behind parent when their children have been abducted to Singapore? 
 
None of the elected officials I contacted called me regarding my case. I ran the ad above on the 1 year anniversary of the abduction on August 31, 2010 in the L.A. Times.  I even wrote the People's Republic of China Ambassador in Washington DC and their Consulate in Los Angeles asking if they might be able to help as they have a good relationship with Singapore. Guess what? I received a call from a consular officer, Mr. Yang from Los Angeles, within 10 days of my letters. He listened and offered some advice. But at least someone from the Chinese Consulate called; unlike my own elected officials.

Another compelling reason to Dump David Dreier, whose too busy working for Special Interests and galavanting around the globe with his lover/chief of staff to give proper assistance to an American citizen/constituent. Interpol Red Notice:

Throwing In The Towel In The Democrats' Great ATM State

Let me start with California and I'll do the rest of the country soon. Obama won big in California in 2008. He beat McCain 8,274,473 (61%) to 5,011,781 (37%). All 51 of the state's incumbent House members were reelected, 34 Democrats and 19 Republicans. However, in 8 congressional districts with Republican incumbents, Obama beat McCain. Some were very close, like in the 48th CD (the heart of Orange County) where Obama edged McCain by just a few votes in a 49-49% finish and in the 3rd (the Sacramento suburbs), where it was almost an identical result. Other districts broke more resoundingly with their Republican pasts, particularly CA-45 (much of Riverside County) where Obama beat McCain 52-47%, a nine point swing after Kerry's dismal 43% in 2004. There were no congressional districts in California with Democratic congressmen where McCain beat Obama.

What this says is that, at least in theory, there are 8 Republican incumbents who should be in jeopardy in November. This is the list, along with Obama's winning percentage:

Dan Lungren (CA-03)- 49%
Elton Gallegly (CA-24)- 51%
Buck McKeon (CA-25)- 49%
David Dreier (CA-26)- 51%
Ken Calvert (CA-44)- 50%
Mary Bono Mack (CA-45)- 52%
John Campbell (CA-49)- 49%
Brian Bilbray (CA-50)- 51%

Each of these Republican congressmen is running again this year and each has a Democratic challenger. These are the races:

Dan Lungren vs Ami Bera
Elton Gallegly vs Tim Allison
Buck McKeon vs Jackie Conaway
David Dreier vs Russ Warner
Ken Calvert vs Bill Hedrick
Mary Bono Mack vs Steve Pougnet
John Campbell vs Beth Krom
Brian Bilbray vs Francine Busby

So is the DCCC seeing California as eight clear pick-up opportunities? Absolutely not. The DCCC is playing defense this year, not offense. Debbie Wasserman Schultz has made it clear the priority is to save seats of Blue Dogs and other conservative Democrats who have voted against Democratic priorities and thereby turned off the Democratic base. Virtually all the money the DCCC is collecting this year is going to shore up the desperate campaigns of reactionaries like Bobby Bright (Blue Dog-AL), Travis Childers (Blue Dog-MS), Chris Carney (Blue Dog-PA), Frank Kratovil (Blue Dog-MD), and Suzanne Kosmas (FL). The DCCC is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars per district-- as much as a million in some cases-- to help reelect members who vote anti-Choice, antigay, anti-healthcare. Some, like Bobby Bright and Walt Minnick, are even refusing to commit to vote for Nancy Pelosi as Speaker if the Democrats win in November.

Now, back to California and to the DCCC support for the challengers there. There's virtually none. Just two of the eight, Ami Bera and Steve Pougnet, are listed on the anemic, mostly ignored Red to Blue page, though neither of them, and none of the others, are getting any substantive help from the DCCC. Bera and Pougnet are, of course, grateful with the little help they are getting, though both campaigns, like the other six, are working hard on the ground and not counting on DC for anything. Like I said above, virtually every dime is going to bolster the conservatives who have caused the enthusiasm gap for the Democratic Party with their lockstep votes with John Boehner on so many crucial issues. So far the DCCC hasn't spent any money at all on media buys for any of the California challengers. Pougnet has raised $5,789 on the Red to Blue page and Bera has raised $1,255. Presumably, some Democratic donors will write checks because they're on that list. And the some media outlets interpret the list to mean they're "serious" candidates.

In 2008 the incumbent who came closest to be ousted was corrupt sex predator Ken Calvert, who beat challenger Bill Hedrick 129,937 (51%) to 123,890 (49%)-- in a district that is trending Democratic and where registered Democrats now outnumber registered Republicans. After Hedrick's shocking totals, the DCCC admitted they had made a mistake by not backing him and promised to not let that happen again. Although that's exactly what they're doing again. Not only haven't they given Hedrick any financial help-- which he can really use; they acknowledged last time that he would have won had they helped him-- but they haven't even given him the symbolic gesture of putting him on their limp Red to Blue list.

Calvert, a Big Business fave for his record of unwavering support for corporate bailouts and corporate welfare, has collected $1,368,747 so far this year. Bill's grassroots supporters have contributed $367,698 towards his campaign. (Blue America has helped him raise just over $10,000 so far and the PCCC is on the ground and working their butts off doing the functions that a less venal and confused and more competent DCCC should be doing.)

In CA-48 Beth Krom, the former Mayor of Irvine, is challenging John Campbell, an avowed “Birther” who is widely regarded as one of the most stridently partisan, do-nothing obstructionists in Congress. Beth is no naïve newcomer. She won five consecutive races as a Democrat in Irvine-- right in the heart of conservative Orange County. And she didn’t just win by a hair; she won her second term as Mayor with almost 60% of the vote. And guess what? Irvine is the largest city in the district, representing almost 30% of voters.

If that alone was not enough to catch the eye of the DCCC, she’s raised almost $600,000 with the vast majority coming from new contributors in the district. At a time when it’s pretty hard to separate people-- if not corporations-- from their money, Beth has built a whole new fundraising base. And get this... I'm hearing that more than 20% of her money has come from Republicans and another 20% from independents. That’s unheard of in Orange County, and demonstrates that Beth-- like Obama-- can get the crossover support necessary to win.

From what virtually every candidate and some Insider sources have told me, there are basically two criteria that guarantee the attention of the DCCC: raise $1 million without their help or run in a safe Democratic district where the minute you have won the primary you are the de facto winner of the general election.

I’ve met Beth Krom; she’s got moxy and Blue America was really proud to endorse her. To her credit, she doesn’t seem to have let the lack of enthusiasm by the power elite in Washington distract her from her goal. She made headlines a few months ago by winning the Democracy for America All-stars competition for grassroots organizing, beating out 99 other candidates nationwide. She’s exactly the kind of person we need in Washington, and if the DCCC or EMILY’s List (I don’t know what EMILY stands for today, but it definitely no longer means Early Money Is Like Yeast) were smart, they would have made Beth’s campaign one of their higher profile races.

I asked Beth how she feels about being ignored by these folks, and here’s what she said:

“Is it frustrating? Of course it’s frustrating. I see Joe Sestak on MSNBC talking about how he raised $4 million in four weeks following his primary win, and I understand the power that these endorsements have. Other than the $25,000 we raised following our DFA All-star win, every penny we’ve raised has been through a phone call or event. I’ve put every friendship and relationship on the line to raise what we need to fund a credible campaign-- I’m still $250,000 short, so tapping into a national network of support would be a dream right now. This is a race we can win. Partisan registration has changed dramatically with Republicans representing only 44% of registered voters, and many of those folks supporting me. We’d love to be put on the DCCC Red to Blue List, and know it would help us immensely, but with or without institutional support, our team is determined to do everything we can to make history in November.

I spoke to over a dozen candidates in districts across the country where Obama won but where the DCCC has just given up and there is tremendous frustration and even anger. Most of the candidates, understandably, were reluctant to go on the record and express their contempt for the party organizations. Russ Warner, however, is a straight-shooter and didn't hold back. He ran against David Dreier in 2008 and lost by approximately 32,000 votes out of around 150,000 cast. Russ has raised around a quarter million dollars this year which isn't bad until you see that Dreier, one of Wall Street bankster's most beloved California shills, has $1,021,140 in his campaign warchest. Needless to say, the DCCC has no interest in Russ' race whatsoever. Russ doesn't seem terribly interested in them either.

"The DCCC is one of the most self-serving organizations in Washington, DC. They only help those candidates in the 'good old boy' system. I'm not part of the good old boy system. They didn't help me much last time and this time they're not helping me at all.

Blue America is trying to help Russ overcome the immense financial wall he has to climb to be competitive with Dreier. If you can help, our DumpDavidDreier page is a good place to start. And what Russ had to say is pretty much what I heard from all the candidates who had run before and from almost all of the first time candidates as well. The feeling is that Obama ran a campaign that inspired hope among people disaffected from 8 years of Bush/Republican/corporate rule-- and then handed power to back to conservatives (an effective governing coalition of Republicans and Blue Dogs). It’s obvious the national Democratic party has chosen to play it’s power in ways that serve the party rather than the people. If incumbents lose their seats this November, they will have only themselves to blame.

The Democratic party used to stand for something more than protectionism. We can only hope the Democratic leadership will learn something from the pummeling that pollsters and pundits are predicting. Failing to embrace opportunities to pick up new seats seems like an obvious misstep. What a shame that with a Democratic President and House majority, the party is too short-sighted and self absorbed to support fresh ideas and help inspiring candidates.

Made In America Act Passes With Huge Bipartisan Majority... But Not With David Dreier's Vote

The House has been back in session for a couple days now, voting  on things like the Rhett Schiller Post Office in Waterford, Wisconsin (411-0) and agreeing to honor members of the Army National Guard and Air National Guard of the State of Oklahoma for their service and sacrifice on behalf of the United States since September 11, 2001 (378-0). But there was one vote yesterday that flushed out the most extremist of the kooks and nutjobs on the far edges of the right. (I bet Christine O'Donnell, Rand Paul, Sharron Angle, Ron Johnson, Pat Toomey and Joe Miller are regretting they'll missing out on this kind of stuff while dodging the press and avoiding debates back home.)

Speaker Pelosi brought up Marcy Kaptur's Congressional Made in America Promise Act (H.R. 2039). Basically it amends the Buy American Act to apply Buy American requirements to articles, materials, and supplies acquired for the use of any legislative branch office, including the House of Representatives and the Senate. Sounds like a no brainer-- sort of like agreeing to a post office name, right? Well, for most Members of Congress that's exactly what it was. Blue Dog Leonard Boswell put it like this:

I am proud to support this legislation which will require two major government bodies to lead by example and buy American. It is ridiculous that a visitor to the Capitol Gift Shop could be purchasing an umbrella or mug made in China instead of a souvenir made right here in the U.S. by American workers. These bills will leverage the purchasing power of the federal government to invest in American companies that produce American-made goods, hire American workers, and in turn fill and create American jobs... We must not reward corporations that outsource American jobs for cheaper labor abroad. I will continue to fight for legislation that reinvests and rebuilds America’s manufacturing industry to create jobs and a strong foundation for our nation’s economy.”

And the bill passed, of course. 371 Members voted for it but 35 right-wing ideologues from the bowels of the GOP decided the bill violated the spirit of their version of free enterprise and cast NO votes, kooks and clowns like Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Ron Paul (R-TX), Steve King (R-IA), Mike Pence (R-IN), Louie Gohmert (R-TX), Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), Steve Kingston (R-GA), closet queen Trent Franks (R-AZ), and, obviously, Paul Broun (R-GA). But also among the cadre of dangerous anti-American extremists and fanatics were two southern California congressmen who go to some lengths to try to pass themselves off as vaguely mainstream, John Campbell and David Dreier. I reached the progressive Democratic small business owner running against Dreier, Russ Warner, and asked him why Dreier had thrown his lot in with the crackpots and fringe elements on this kind of a bread and butter bill that even his own ultraconservative party leaders voted for.

"His vote yesterday against the Buy American Act didn't surprise me. David Dreier is a hypocrite who says one thing and votes the totally opposite. He pretends to support the middle class, but all he cares about are the corporations and wealthy CEOs who have contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to his campaign over the years and have helped make him the 20th richest member of the U.S. House of Representatives. He doesn't care about small businesses, the people of his district or the image of America. All he cares about is himself and the wealthy corporations that have kept him in power for nearly 30 years. I say-- enough!

"It's just another example showing that David Dreier supports free trade at any cost, even though it has meant the loss of tens of thousands of good-paying jobs for Americans and a growing trade deficit. As of late, Dreier has been pushing for "fast track" approval of a free trade agreement with South Korea, even though Seoul's strict vehicle standards would inhibit U.S. Imports and jeopardize U.S. jobs by eliminating import duties on Korean pick up trucks. South Korea imposes a partial ban on imports of U.S. Beef, which should be pulled back before we make any trade concessions of any kind.

"David Dreier has been pushing his free trade agenda for the nearly 30 years he's been in office. Look where it's gotten us. He doesn't care at all about the American worker. He's just interested in advancing the interests of the transnational corporations who count on him and his vote."

It's time to revitalize DumpDavidDreier.com!

How Do You Spell "Hypocrisy?" G-O-P

Yesterday Ryan Grim pointed out a poll that bodes poorly for the Establishment's concerted efforts to terrorize the public into Austerity, something both the Washington Post and NY Times are working on assiduously. (No need to mention the Wall Street Journal, since that's always their malevolent and misleading schtik.) So while a nincompoop like Matt Bai was reminding anyone who had forgotten that clueless Wall Street shill Paul Ryan is his kind of guy, Grim warned Obama that throwing his lot in with the reactionaries could be catastrophic for Democrats.

Social Security turns 75 this week and remains an intensely popular program with voters of all ages, who strongly oppose cutting it to reduce the deficit, according to a new survey paid for by AARP and conducted by GfK Roper.

The poll, which was provided exclusively to HuffPost, finds that 85 percent of adults oppose cutting Social Security to reduce the deficit; 72 percent "strongly oppose" doing so.

Numbers like that simply don't appear in surveys of almost any other national issue that is subject to debate.

But while conservatives nurture their seven decade long dream of dismantling Social Security, Republican leaders like John Boehner, Eric Cantor and Tom Price tried to dismantle Congress... or at least render it ineffective from November through January. Their nonsensical and hypocritical drive for an extended paid vacation after the elections was thoroughly beaten back Tuesday (236- 163), only six scurrilous, treacherous Boehner Boys crossing the aisle to vote with the Republicans-- Bobby Bright (Blue Dog-AL), Mike McIntyre (Blue Dog-NC), Michael McMahon (D-NY), Charlie Melancon (Blue Dog-LA), Walt Minnick (Blue Dog-ID) and Glen Nye (Blue Dog-VA).

Interestingly, among the Republicans following Boehner into the demand that Congress stop working-- self-proclaimed Georgia clairvoyant Tom Price asserting that Democrats could use a lame duck session "to override the will of the American people"-- were several dozen who have only recently come to their odd point of view, Price and Boehner among them.

After Democrats regained control of the House in 2006, Price was all for holding a lame duck session to advance Republican goals. "Most members feel we ought to stay in as long as we need to get done as much as we can do realistically," he said. "If that's a week, fine.  If that's four weeks, fine."

Republicans also used the lame duck session to pursue the impeachment of President Clinton in 1998, despite overwhelming public opposition. In total, 60 sitting House Republicans supported Clinton's impeachment, but hypocritically voted yesterday to bar a lame duck session this year.

Among the culprits were a gaggle of some of the worst corporate shills Congress has ever seen like oily Joe Barton, former and future lobbyist Brian Bilbray, 119-times-a-year golfer John Boehner, bailout queen-- banksters only, not teachers, firemen or policemen-- Mary Bono Mack, real estate swindler Ken Calvert, fake moderate Mike Castle, David "Living A Lie" Dreier, and Jerry "the real Duke Cunningham" Lewis.

Progressive Democrat Russ Warner, who is running for the Los Angeles-area seat currently occupied by Dreier, pointed out the hubris and unmitigated hypocrisy in the move: "This is just another example of David Dreier and the Republicans trying to bend the rules. The people's business can't wait while the Republicans try to change more than 200 years of precedent."

Deficits and Economic Recovery

And if that little slide show isn't enough for you, how about this graphic from today's Washington Post showing the difference between the Democratic and Republican tax plans? Any ambiguity? If you don't get it, Speaker Pelosi spelled it out today: "Underscoring the hypocrisy of the GOP’s recent concern for our nation’s fiscal outlook, Congressional Republicans continue to call for an extension of the deficit-busting Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest few-- saddling Americans with nearly $700 billion in debt."

And Now For The Electoral Politics Of Saturday's Health Care Vote

The votes had barely been cast when the fundraising letters started flying. I'm mostly on the lists of progressives so the e-mails I got were celebratory. Yesterday we looked at the e-mails explaining the only two "no" votes from progressives-- Dennis Kucinich and Eric Massa-- who felt the bill didn't go far enough towards their goals: single payer. This morning's CQPolitics tried to answer the question, Who Took A Risk By Voting For The Health Care Bill?, presumably a question framed by the RNC, since it didn't ask, Who Took A Risk By Voting Against The Health Care Bill?"

Dozens of House Democrats bucked their party on Saturday's health care vote. But how about those who might have taken a political risk by siding with their party?

Let's look at the Democrats from Republican-leaning districts who voted for the bill and Republicans from Democratic-friendly districts who opposed it.

Of the 49 House Democrats that represent districts that John McCain won in 2008, 18 of them voted for the bill.

The Democrat from the most pro-McCain district who voted for the health care bill was Marion Berry of Arkansas, who's in his seventh term representing an area that gave McCain 59 percent of the vote. Of the 15 Democrats from the most pro-McCain districts who voted for the measure, Berry was the only "yes" vote. Also voting yes were West Virginia Reps. Alan B. Mollohan and Nick J. Rahall Jr., whose districts gave McCain 57 percent and 56 percent respectively.

Yet Berry, Mollohan and Rahall are veteran members who usually win their elections overwhelmingly; Berry and Mollohan didn't even draw GOP opposition in 2008, and Rahall won a 17th term with two-thirds of the vote. All three districts have median incomes far below the national average.

They posit that less senior members who voted yes, freshmen and sophomores like Ann Kirkpatrick, the Arizona Democrat from the most pro-McCain district who voted for the bill, Blue Dogs Chris Carney (PA), Zack Space (OH) and Kathy Dahlkemper (PA), plus generally progressive Tom Perriello (VA) are the most vulnerable. Adam Blake at The Hill also looked at this today from a similar perspective, At Risk Democrats Defend Their Tough Votes On Health Care. Blake, though, started by talking about the risk that Democrats who voted against the bill took. And the worst of the Democratic shills of the Insurance Industry, Suzanne Kosmas, a Florida conservative, is surely the most likely Democrat to be defeated next year, having done that old Creigh Deeds magic of completely turning off the base. She was trying to back-pedal as fast as she could.

“Though I will not be voting in favor of the House bill, it has improved since first being released last summer, and it shows promise,” said Rep. Suzanne Kosmas (D-Fla.) before voting no. She was picketed afterward by supporters of the legislation.

Another freshman, Rep. John Boccieri (D-Ohio), said he held out hope.

“I hope when the healthcare reform bill comes back from the Senate, the concerns of my district are addressed,” he said.

Rep. Larry Kissell (D-N.C.) also announced before the vote that he would be opposing the bill. That has irritated the blogosphere, which helped put him on the political map three years ago.

“From the day I announced my candidacy for this office, I promised to protect Medicare,” Kissell said in his statement. “I gave my word I wouldn’t cut it and I intend to keep that promise.”

But for every targeted member voting against the bill, there was another who voted for it. And many of them were happy to pin their names and political futures to the legislation.

Rep. Chris Carney (D-Pa.), who according to the Cook Political Report represents the most Republican district held by a supporter of the bill, said Democrats “stood firm.”

“Today’s legislation is a strong start in the healthcare reform process, and we look forward to working closely with our Senate colleagues to move the issue forward in the coming weeks,” Carney said.

Carney acknowledged that the bill wasn’t perfect, but Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.) had nothing but good things to say about it. While many voting against the bill stressed that the cost was too high, Titus said the bill will help small businesses and Americans.

“The House took a giant step toward making healthcare reform affordable and accessible for more people in southern Nevada and across the country,” she said.

Rep. Steve Driehaus (D-Ohio) said Monday that he would campaign on  the vote.

...But several Democrats appear dead-set against the bill, including many of the 15 who voted against bringing the bill to the floor — a procedural motion that in general breaks solidly along party lines.

In that group were vulnerable Reps. Bobby Bright (D-Ala.), Travis Childers (D-Miss.), Frank Kratovil (D-Md.), Parker Griffith (D-Ala.) and Walt Minnick (D-Idaho), as well as Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-La.), who is running for Senate in deep-red Louisiana.

Those six members all represent districts that went by double digits for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in last year’s presidential race, and most of them have broken with their party on other big-ticket items this year, including the stimulus package and the energy bill.

Hard to imagine how any of them expect to turn out Democrats-- who overwhelmingly favor meaningful health care reform-- to vote for them in 2010. And the districts' already have anti-health care Republicans running. The House will be a far better place, though, without the likes of quivering, confused reactionaries like Bright, Childers, Kratovil, Griffith, Minnick, and Melancon, something we invite you to help us achieve at the Blue America Bad Dogs page.

Most Democrats are out there telling their constituents why this is a step in the right direction. Gwen Moore, the Democrat from Milwaukee who personally debated GOP and Insurance Industry shill Paul Ryan, was very proud of her vote for the bill. She wrote to her constituents today that Congress had "tirelessly debated and reviewed this bill-- and its numerous amendments--  and I believe that this legislation is a crucial step toward providing quality, affordable health care to the working people of Milwaukee, the citizens of the great state of Wisconsin and to everyone in our nation."

The legislation will drastically improve our current health care system to make quality and affordable health care available to families who are struggling under the crushing costs of health care at a time when they are also suffering in the worst economy since the Great Depression. I'm proud to have supported a public option in this bill and to have voted for a plan that I believe meets President's Obama's criteria for reform-- offering stability, reducing the cost of health care for everyone, and not adding to the deficit.

...I take my responsibility to best represent Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and all of America very seriously. When we have seniors being forced to choose between expensive medication and their next meal,  there can be no question that the current health care system is broken. As a Member of Congress, the Vice-Chair of the Women's Caucus, a mother, a grandmother, a woman and an American, I simply refuse to sit by and allow our great nation to fall behind when it comes to ensuring the health of our citizens.

Our nation deserves better and this is why I am proud to have voted "Yes". Yes for you, yes for our seniors, yes for our children, yes for real health care reform.

But what about Republicans? Do you think an electorate craving health care reform is going to endorse systematic, mindless obstructionism from the entire party? Even between a quarter and a third of Republican voters favor a public option. CQPolitics made an off-handed mention of some risk for a few Republicans at the tail end of their story.

Of the 33 House Republicans who represent districts Obama won in 2008, all but one -- Anh "Joseph" Cao of Louisiana, whose black-majority New Orleans district gave three-fourths of its votes to Obama-- joined the rest of the GOP Conference in opposing the health care bill.

After Cao, the Republican from the most strongly pro-Obama district is Delaware Rep. Michael N. Castle, who is a candidate for the Senate seat formerly held by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. Democratic officials last week pressed Castle to vote for the legislation, though the congressman said that it "over-reaches by creating new government programs costing over $1 trillion, paid for from tax increases and cuts to Medicare which are more gimmicks than real entitlement reform."

Illinois Rep. Mark Steven Kirk also voted no, despite representing a district that voted nearly as strongly for Obama (61 percent) as the state at-large (62 percent). He's running for an open Senate seat in 2010 and faces little-known but vocal opposition on his right in a primary election and more serious competition on his left in a general election.

Except for Cao, Reps. Erik Paulsen of Minnesota and Leonard Lance of New Jersey are the only first-term House Republicans from districts Obama carried, though neither is presently a top target for defeat by Democratic strategists.

Funny they didn't mention all the races where Republicans voted against the wishes of their districts, including 8 vulnerable California Republicans in districts Obama won-- including several, David Dreier, Ken Calvert, Mary Bono Mack, Brian Bilbray and Dan Lungren-- who have vigorous challenges coming up next year. Similarly, unless he resigns, Bill Young in Florida is likely to be defeated and Michigan Republicans Thaddeus McCotter, Fred Upton and Dave Camp are all considered on shaky ground. Also likely to regret having voted against health care reform are Charlie Dent (PA), Judy Biggert (IL), Paul Ryan (WI) and Dave Reichert (WA).

Dreier's opponent, Russ Warner, wrote a letter to the editor of the local paper, explaining the difference between his position and Dreier's negativity. He called the victory on Saturday "bittersweet" for his district because of Dreier's obstructionism. "I applaud," he wrote, "Congress’ passage of the Affordable Health Care for America Act because it includes a strong public option and will ensure affordability for the middle class. It also provides security for our seniors; ends discrimination for pre-existing medical conditions; invests in wellness and prevention; and ensures responsibility to our children-- by not adding a dime to the deficit. A great deal of work remains before President Obama can sign the act into law. Please join me in urging our Senators to support healthcare reform. And, don’t let David Dreier off the hook-– let him know you’re disappointed with his actions." And Francine Busby, who's taking on Brian Bilbray further south was quite to put out a press release making it clear that unlike her opponent she supports the bill.

Francine Busby, candidate for the 50th Congressional District, joins the American Medical Association and the American Association of Retired People in supporting the landmark Affordable Health Care For Americans Act of 2009.

“Although it is not perfect, the Affordable Health Care Act is a first step in the right direction for all Americans including the voters of the 50th District. Americans can breathe a sigh of relief that Congress has taken a stand against the status quo that allows insurance companies to dictate medical decisions to healthcare professionals, ration care, bankrupt families, increase costs to employers, and deny coverage to millions of Americans.”

Congressman Bilbray voted against this bill. Bilbray voted against providing access to insurance to over 60,000 uninsured people in his own 50th District, and over 500,000 San Diegans across the county. Bilbray seems to be more concerned with the health of health insurance companies than his own constituents. And maybe for monetary reasons: Bilbray has received $51,000 from health insurance giants including Blue Cross, Cigna and Aflac, along with $33,000 from insurance political action committees such as the Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers and the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America. Taking insurance companies payoffs and then doing their bidding in Washington-- such as voting against the Affordable Health Care Act-- puts insurance company profits before the well-being of his constituents.

In fact, savvy Democratic challengers all over the country are castigating Republicans-- and anti-choice Blue Dogs-- for their bad votes Saturday. Ohio is a state where voters are very much in favor of meaningful health care reform. The progressive candidate for the open Senate seat, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, has been a longtime proponent of both healthcare reform and Choice. She was out fast and strong on Saturday's vote.

The Stupak-Pitts amendment makes it virtually impossible for private insurance companies that participate in the new system to offer abortion coverage to women, even if they pay for such coverage with their own funds. The amendment disallows any coverage of abortion in the public option and disallows anyone receiving a federal subsidy from purchasing a health insurance plan that includes abortion.  Under the amendment, private health insurance plans are forbidden from offering through the planned insurance exchange a plan that includes abortion coverage to both subsidized and unsubsidized individuals purchasing through the exchange.

The Stupak-Pitts amendment would leave women worse off than they are today in obtaining reproductive health services by denying them the right to use their own money to purchase an insurance plan with abortion coverage. This restriction is far more onerous than the Hyde Amendment, which has prohibited public funding of abortions since 1977. Presently, more than 85 percent of private-insurance plans cover abortion services.

By voting late Saturday to block women from essential reproductive health care services, the anti-choice obstructionists in Congress have abandoned women and would render a woman's constitutional right to choose ineffective at best. The final health care bill must not only guarantee each American woman’s right to the health care she needs when she needs it, it also must also provide access to reproductive health services for all, regardless of income level and regardless of whether or not they receive government subsidized care.

Less well-known in the political world, but probably better known in the world of pop culture, Surya Yalamanchili, a marketing executive whose apolitical moment of fame came when he was a contestant on Donald Trump's Apprentice, is having a run, as an independent, at reactionary knuckledragger Mean Jean Schmidt (R-OH). Schmidt is widely disliked in her very Republican district and has never won a convincing victory. Yalamanchili thinks next year will be her last year in Congress.

“The overriding issue for this campaign is to get special interests out of the way and get individual people’s voices heard in government again,” he said.

Yalamanchili, who is not accepting PAC contributions, bemoaned the large amounts of campaign funds that the financial services industry has bestowed on both the Democratic and Republican parties, which he said have engaged in partisan bickering and ignored the nation’s long-term challenges... [He] said that the economic stimulus law President Obama signed into law in February included a “lot of pork” but was a “painful pill that we probably had to take.” He said the health care bill the House passed last weekend was “better than what we have now,” but didn’t include enough consumer choice or “tort reform” to curb lawsuit abuse.

Townshirt Disruptive Tactics Come To L.A. Health Care Forums

My Congresswoman, Diane Watson (D-CA), held a town hall forum in the district last night. I didn't even know about it, which is odd since I tend to pay attention to these kinds of things. Fortunately a friend did go and he told me it was a peaceful affair, with around 400 people at the AME Church in West Adams, overwhelmingly people who support health care reform. There were a few teabaggers, two of whom came in costumes-- one as Dracula and one as hideous and bloated version of Ted Kennedy. It's almost as though the two idiots were begging to be assaulted so they could go running to Fox. They sat scowling at the audience, taking photos. Congresswoman Watson was one of the first members of Congress to sign the letter to Speaker Pelosi saying she would not vote for any health care legislation that didn't include-- at least-- a public option. She's one of the 65 members of the House that Blue America has been collecting thank you contributions for. If you'd like to take a look at our campaign, or add to it, here's the link.

Meanwhile, in another part of L.A. County there was a health care town hall hosted by the Peace and Justice Committee of the Religious Society of Friends and the Claremont Democratic Club in Claremont. The area's congressmember-- David Dreier, an absentee congressman in the best of times-- predictably refused invitations to come. He runs his family's real estate development business near Kansas City and lives there when he isn't in Washington. But without Dreier, citizens of Claremont gathered for a respectful give and take about the health care debate. At least that was the intention. Teabagging rightists immediately attempted to unfurl their agenda of disruption.

The crowd was large and enthusiastic and spilled out the door of the 150 seat auditorium, many attendees straining to listen from an outdoor patio. A determined heckler, Charles Cox from an extremist group calling itself Survivors of Abortion Holocaust, was removed from the auditorium by the crowd when he shouted "Unamerican" at a panelist who was advocating for a single payer system. The heckler, who is from Riverside, muscled his way back into the forum, was disruptive again and was removed again. He the went around to a side door and was blocked from entering. When he continued to shout out "this meeting is breaking the law." Organizers were forced to shut the door leaving many people out of the town hall. The heckler's female friend, who was inside, then opened the door and he attempted to enter. One of the organizers was forced to push the heckler back, and the heckler fell to the ground loudly claiming assault-- a now all to familiar right wing self-victimization strategy-- and made a plea for the cavalry to come. While on the phone with paramedics, this disruptive outsider had to ask "What city are we in?"

Funny thing-- he refused care when the paramedics rolled a stretcher up to the door and was overheard talking about a preexisting condition. Word is, he is pressing assault charges against the volunteer who was trying to keep the peace. No doubt, he'll soon be peddling his tale of martyrdom on Glenn Beck's or Bill O'Reilly's anti-health care circus. Here, it goes to show, this is such a hot button issue, it can even get blood boiling in pacifist Claremont.

When the forum finally got back on track after the disruption many people had the chance to get up on their soap boxes and make pleas for everything from tort reform to maintaining the status quo. Russ Warner, the progressive Democrat who is running for Congress-- and has been endorsed by DWT received a huge round of applause when he acknowledged how passionate people are about the issue and how important it is to be part of the live town hall forum. "I will never hide behind the telephone."

An owner of a local small business in the district himself, Warner has been a backer of health care reform for a very long time. He's been pointing out to voters in CA-26 how the bill Congress is crafting now would bring enormous benefits to the local area, particularly to seniors and to over 13,000 small businesses in the district. Over 1,300 families in the district wouldn't have to face the trauma of health care related bankruptcy if the bill passes. Dreier isn't supporting health care reform-- he's picked up a cool $287,642 from the Insurance Business and another hefty $602,339 from the Medical-Industrial Complex-- but Warner is, and he's paying very close attention to the bills in Congress. Yesterday the Energy and Commerce Committee released a study about how their bill would impact CA-26.

• Help for small businesses. Under the legislation, small businesses with 25 employees or less and average wages of less than $40,000 qualify for tax credits of up to 50% of the costs of providing health insurance. There are up to 13,200 small businesses in the district that could qualify for these credits.

• Help for seniors with drug costs in the Part D donut hole. Each year, 11,200 seniors in the district hit the donut hole and are forced to pay their full drug costs, despite having Part D drug coverage. The legislation would provide them with immediate relief, cutting brand name drug costs in the donut hole by 50%, and ultimately eliminate the donut hole.

• Health care and financial security. There were 1,300 health care-related bankruptcies in the district in 2008, caused primarily by the health care costs not covered by insurance. The bill provides health insurance for almost every American and caps annual out-of-pocket costs at $10,000 per year, ensuring that no citizen will have to face financial ruin because of high health care costs.

• Relieving the burden of uncompensated care for hospitals and health care providers. In 2008, health care providers in the district provided $35 million worth of uncompensated care, care that was provided to individuals who lacked insurance coverage and were unable to pay their bills. Under the legislation, these costs of uncompensated care would be virtually eliminated.

• Coverage of the uninsured. There are 92,000 uninsured individuals in the district, 13% of the district. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that nationwide, 97% of all Americans will have insurance coverage when the bill takes effect. If this benchmark is reached in the district, 71,000 people who currently do not have health insurance will receive coverage.

• No deficit spending. The cost of health care reform under the legislation is fully paid for: half through making the Medicare and Medicaid program more efficient and half through a surtax on the income of the wealthiest individuals. This surtax would affect only 6,750 households in the district. The surtax would not affect 97.8% of taxpayers in the district.

The concerted astro-turfing of the health care debate is very well-documented and the Republican Party success at diverting the debate from health care reform to unfocused hatred, fears, anger, racism and generalized divisiveness has disqualified them from being taken seriously as participants.

I don't have video of either of last night's Los Angeles County town hall meetings but I'd like to share a clip from two earlier health care debates (1971 and 1974) that will probably sound awfully familiar to anyone who's been paying attention this year. First, please check how Miss McConnell (R-KY), who has received $943,507 in thinly disguised bribes from the Insurance Industry and another startling $2,770,168 from the Medical-Industrial Complex, is approaching the health care debate. Playing strictly by the Insurance Industry's playbook, he contends that everything's pretty hunky-dory-- which it is... if you're a millionaire or a member of Congress (he's both) with no worries about health care.

David Dreier (R-CA) Caught Up In Ethics Scandal

The ranking member of the Rules Committee shouldn't be systematically bending the rules for his personal gain

Last night The Hill broke the news that San Gabriel Valley Congressman David Dreier seems to have been breaking the law in the use of campaign contributions for personal expenses, something observers have long suspected. It appears that he's stolen as much as $200,000 from the legalized bribes paid to him by his big corporate donors. That's not just unethical; it's illegal. Dreier claims he uses a personal credit card "for campaign purchases in order "to keep things simple and avoid fraud when it comes to meals at restaurants or catering charges and that each credit card statement is reviewed by four people to ensure proper charges." Dreier's frequent dining companion and traveling companion is his highly paid chief of staff and long-time lover, Brad W. Smith.

According to a review of Dreier’s FEC reports since 2000, his campaign has listed a total of about $200,000 worth of expenditures for the purpose of “candidate reimbursement.” But the forms don’t say, as the FEC appears to instruct, what Dreier had to reimburse himself for.

According to the FEC’s candidate guide, candidates must “report the reimbursement as an operating expenditure” and itemize any expenditure over $200.

...According to the Center for Responsive Politics, he reimbursed himself nearly $63,000 during the 2008 election cycle and more than $78,000 during the 2006 cycle. The numbers were smaller in the cycles prior and included $34,000 in the 2004 cycle and $23,000 in the 2002 cycle.

All but two expenditures from the committee to Dreier are listed as “candidate reimbursement.” One expenditure, from 2006, is listed under “seminar reimbursement,” while another, from 2002, is listed as “luncheons, dinners, etc.”

Beyond those reimbursements, though, it’s not clear what Dreier was reimbursing himself for.

Dreier has spent more than $7 million from his campaign account on his last four reelection races, but he did not face serious opponents in any of them. The incumbent, who has served in his Southern California district since 1980, has rarely faced a tough reelection throughout his tenure.

When I went to work at Warner Brothers, a senior manager tried to show me how to use my credit card to steal from the company. I was appalled. He laughed and said "everyone" does it. I pointed out that claiming handmade Italian suit was an allowable dinner for clients in a high-end restaurant was nothing short of stealing. I watched many executives pull off similar penny-ante shenanigans over the years and I always knew that people with this kind of low moral standing would never be trustworthy. When I became president of my division I was careful to make sure that executives who stole from the shareholders (owners) in this way weren't placed in temptation's way. An inherently dishonest man like Dreier, who has been in office virtually his entire adult life, comes to feel "entitled" to live beyond his means. And it spills over into his job performance.

Dreier has been a relentless and dogged fighter against health care reform-- far out of proportion to the moderate nature of his suburban L.A. congressional district, the 26th. The district has been trending blue and McCain took a mere 47% of the vote, down from 55% for Bush in 2004. The 26th has also been one of the hardest hit districts in the country in terms of the mortgage crisis-- 13,487 foreclosures, and 44,903 projected foreclosures over the next 4 years. But again, Dreier has been in the forefront of stubborn Republican opposition, the kind of stone-cold opposition one might expect from a backward district in rural Georgia or suburban Dallas but not from a Representative whose mainstream constituents live in places like Claremont, Glendora, San Dimas, Monrovia, Arcadia, San Marino, La Canada-Flintridge... It makes no sense-- at least not until you look at the sources of campaign contributions that have bought David Dreier his lucrative political career.

Dreier has been a favorite of the FIRE Sector (Finance/Insurance/Real Estate) and a favorite of the Medical-Industrial Complex. The two sectors and their lobbyists have pumped immense sums into Dreier's career and Dreier has never hesitated to vote for their interested-- even when those private interests are in direct opposition to the interests if his own constituents, like in the foreclosure and banking crisis. The banksters and Big Insurance CEOs have lavished $2,124,338 on Dreier, far more than your average congressman. In fact the only California congressman to have profited as handsomely as Dreier from his pro-bankster voting record is notorious Big Business shill Ed Royce ($2,597,049).

And Dreier is in the top ranks of recipients of legalized bribes from the Medical-Industrial Complex as well-- $597,439, the only California Republican taking in more being ex-lobbyist Brian Bilbray ($720,086). When the Energy and Commerce Committee looked at the benefits the Affordable Health Choices Act would bring to Dreier's district, his opposition seems downright insane.

America’s Affordable Health Choices Act would provide significant benefits in the 26th Congressional District of California: up to 13,200 small businesses could receive tax credits to provide coverage to their employees; 11,200 seniors would avoid the donut hole in Medicare Part D; 1,300 families could escape bankruptcy each year due to unaffordable health care costs; health care providers would receive payment for $35 million in uncompensated care each year; and 71,000 uninsured individuals would gain access to high-quality, affordable health insurance. Congressman David Dreier represents the district.

• Help for small businesses. Under the legislation, small businesses with 25 employees or less and average wages of less than $40,000 qualify for tax credits of up to 50% of the costs of providing health insurance. There are up to 13,200 small businesses in the district that could qualify for these credits.

• Help for seniors with drug costs in the Part D donut hole. Each year, 11,200 seniors in the district hit the donut hole and are forced to pay their full drug costs, despite having Part D drug coverage. The legislation would provide them with immediate relief, cutting brand name drug costs in the donut hole by 50%, and ultimately eliminate the donut hole.

• Health care and financial security. There were 1,300 health care-related bankruptcies in the district in 2008, caused primarily by the health care costs not covered by insurance. The bill provides health insurance for almost every American and caps annual out-of-pocket costs at $10,000 per year, ensuring that no citizen will have to face financial ruin because of high health care costs.

• Relieving the burden of uncompensated care for hospitals and health care providers. In 2008, health care providers in the district provided $35 million worth of uncompensated care, care that was provided to individuals who lacked insurance coverage and were unable to pay their bills. Under the legislation, these costs of uncompensated care would be virtually eliminated.

• Coverage of the uninsured. There are 92,000 uninsured individuals in the district, 13% of the district. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that nationwide, 97% of all Americans will have insurance coverage when the bill takes effect. If this benchmark is reached in the district, 71,000 people who currently do not have health insurance will receive coverage.

• No deficit spending. The cost of health care reform under the legislation is fully paid for: half through making the Medicare and Medicaid program more efficient and half through a surtax on the income of the wealthiest individuals. This surtax would affect only 6,750 households in the district. The surtax would not affect 97.8% of taxpayers in the district.

Do you detect a pattern? Dreier is notoriously dishonest in his personal life-- a lifelong homosexual living in the closet, hypocritically refusing to acknowledge his sexuality while voting against equality for ordinary gay families who don't have the protections afforded the high and mighty-- in the same way he enjoys tax-payer funded health insurance, though he's a multimillionaire, while he is absolutely hysterical about denying even a modicum if that kind of health insurance to his own constituents.

This year Russ Warner, a progressive independent businessman with very different ethics and very different solutions-- real ones-- to the problems people in CA-26 are facing, is running for Dreier's congressional seat again. If you'd like to see someone who wants to rein in the banksters and Insurance CEOs and the HMOs, in office-- instead of seeing someone who sups at their table and does their bidding-- please consider making a donation to Warner's campaign. Russ issued a statement calling on Dreier to explain.

“I've always told my boys, ‘if you haven't done anything wrong, then you having nothing to hide.’ I think that's why these reimbursements are such a cause for concern for myself and so many others,” Warner said. “Maybe it is just a matter of Congressman Dreier cutting corners again, but given his long track record of putting his own interests ahead of those of his constituents, one can't help but think the worst.”

Which California Congressmen Are Owned By The Special Interests?

Dreier supports property rights-- for banksters & predatory lenders, but not for ordinary California families

Yesterday we looked at the dynamic between congressmen who have taken large quasi-legal bribes from the banking sector and their willingness to always support the banksters' special interests regardless of how gravely it impacts their own constituents. Yesterday's occasion was the overwhelming passage, by the House of the Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights Act of 2009 which  seeks to protect consumers from predatory and unscrupulous banksters and credit card lenders by:

·    Ending unfair, arbitrary interest rate increases;
·    Letting customers set hard credit limits, stops excessive "over the limit" fees;
·    Ending unfair penalties for cardholders who pay on time;
·    Requiring fair allocation of consumer payments;
·    Protecting cardholders from due date gimmicks;
·    Preventing companies from using misleading terms and damaging consumers' credit ratings;
·    Protecting vulnerable consumers from high-fee subprime credit cards;
·    Baring Issuing Credit Cards to Vulnerable Minors;
·    Requiring Better Data Collection from Credit Card Industry;
·    Swiftly Implementing the 45-Day Notice Requirement

Every Democrat but one mangy Blue Dog in bed with the credit card industry voted yes-- and so did 105 Republicans! There were only 69 Republicans voting no, a combination of the well-bribed and the sociopath extremists. Here in California, 6 members-- who always oppose regulations for their campaign donors-- voted no:

Ed Royce (CA-40- $2,506,414)
David Dreier (CA-26- $2,118,538)
Gary Miller (CA-42- $765,988)
Devin Nunes (CA-21- $499,235)
Kevin McCarthy (CA-22- $461,138)
Tom McClintock (CA-04- $353,294)

Yesterday David Dayen did an excellent preview of how the 2010 congressional cycle is shaping up in California. He points out that two on this list of sell-outs, Tom McClintock, who has emerged as the most extreme right member of the California delegation, and Dreier, who only wound up with 53% of the vote and whose district went for Obama in November.

Dreier will once again be forced to face a top rate challenge in 2010, Russ Warner, who has every intention of making sure voters from Rancho Cucamonga, Upland, and Claremont to San Dimas, Monrovia, Sierra Madre, San Marino and La Crescenta know that Dreier is strictly a representative of the special interests that have done such grievous damage to the state's economy and to the financial well-being to his own constituents. “Time and time again," Russ told us this morning after going over the vote yesterday, "David Dreier proves the interests of his corporate donors take precedent over the people he was elected to serve. Dreier’s never felt the pressure of supporting a family and has lived off the taxpayer dime for nearly three decades, so its not surprising he has no idea how harmful these predatory credit card companies are."

I'd like to hear that kind of talk from every candidate making a serious attempt to help us get rid of these congressional parasites. And each one of them should run an ad like this on cable TV:

California Democrat Russ Warner Announces Another Bid For Congress

With everyone preoccupied with Arlen Specter's label switch, I imagined that the only big news out of California today would be the appropriately stiff sentence for former Republican Party crown prince, "America's Sheriff," Mike Carona. One of the most overtly crooked politicians in California history got a stern lecture, a $125,000 fine and five and a half years in prison, of which he'll have to serve a minimum of 4 years and seven months. But an announcement of far greater significance for California progressives just came down the transom.

One of Blue America's hardest working candidates from last year, Russ Warner, just announced what grassroots and progressive Democrats were hoping against hope he would do: Russ has decided to finish the job he started and he'll be running against David Dreier again. First a little background. Obama won the suburban L.A. area district 51-47%. Ironically, Russ-- while bringing Dreier's 2006 winning number (57%) down to the incumbent danger zone (53%)-- didn't win largely because of a massive Mormon turn out for the bigoted Prop 8 their church was pushing. I say "ironic," because few of those anti-gay Mormon voters understood that by pulling the lever for Dreier, they were voting for one of Washington's most notorious and hypocritical closet queens.

At the California Democratic Party Convention Saturday, Howard Dean presented Russ with the Ron Platt Courage Award on behalf of the Red to Blue Coalition and Russ told the participants he would run again next year. It's official now! And Russ is already out there swinging. "Don't be fooled," says Russ Warner. In announcing he would take on Dreier, who spent $2,919,351 last year told hold onto his seat (Russ spent $1,261,171), Russ reminded Democratic activists that "This is the same David Dreier who voted against the best interests of this district and stuck with House Republicans in an effort to block President Barack Obama's $787 billion economy recovery package in February. It's high time Dreier stop playing party politics and start looking out for the needs of the people he was
elected to represent."

The former chair of the House Rules Committee, and now ranking member, Dreier has routinely voted for every single special interest bill the banksters and crooked realtors have asked for. He's been a fanatic deregulation extremist. And, what a coincidence, he's taken $367,750 from the finance/insurance/real estate sector in "donations," far more than the average corrupt member of Congress. The banksters are delighted that they always get what they pay for from Dreier, who even voted against allowing bankruptcy judges to re-adjust mortgages on families being threatened with foreclosure, despite the fact that CA-26 is one of the three-dozen hardest hit districts in the country by the foreclosure blight. (It is estimated that 13,487 families have been kicked out of their houses in the district, something that has had a devastating impact on property values.) Dreier, who lives in DC and Kansas City doesn't have much contact with the district and knows nothing at all about the strains on area homeowners.

Anyway, please help me welcome Russ back into electoral politics with a donation to his campaign. He's going to need all the help he can get if he's going to finally retire Dreier. Volunteers are welcome and can sign up at his website.

Annette Taddeo, Sam Bennett and Alan Grayson-- Red To Blue

It was probably just a fortuitous coincidence but at the end of our Blue America contest last week-- which featured the generous offer of a $5,000 matching check from DCCC chair Chris Van Hollen for our winner-- checks started coming in from some previously... reticent Democratic leaders including Rahm Emanuel and Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Good for them! DWS is now officially on the Annette Taddeo train and, no doubt, was key in getting her into the Red to Blue program.

Like Annette, another Blue America candidate, Sam Bennett, moved from "Emerging Races" to... fully emerged. She's also in the DCCC's Red to Blue program now. Tomorrow afternoon the DCCC will announce that three Blue America candidates, Annette Taddeo (FL-18), Sam Bennett (PA-15) and Alan Grayson (FL-08) have been added to the Red to Blue program. Six other Democratic candidates have as well, including Michael Skelly (TX-07), Dan Johnson (NC-10), Sharen Neuhardt (OH-07), Alice Kryzan (NY-26), Jim Esch (NE-02) and David Boswell (KY-02).

Meanwhile, the DCCC has recognized the tremendous grassroots support Russ Warner has managed to mobilize and has put him into the Emerging Races category, apparently the preliminary step before the big enchilada. I have a feeling there will be more Emerging Races announced tomorrow. I'm hearing Larry Joe Doherty (TX-10).

Like we've explained before, the reason this is a big deal is because institutional Democratic donors,  wealthy insiders and, especially other members of Congress, feel a comfort level in giving when they give to candidates sanctioned by "the party." The definition of that-- for better or for worse-- is the DCCC and its Red to Blue program. That Van Hollen's DCCC seems to be paying some attention to the efforts of grassroots and netroots activists-- inconceivable under Emanuel-- is a great step in the right direction. Let's thank them today. May I suggest contributions to Annette Taddeo, Alan Grayson, Sam Bennett and Russ Warner in honor of a smart move by the DCCC?

A few more like this and we'll be looking at 70 new Democratic freshmen:



And YouTube already has an even cooler version up, so... if you want a cooler version...

Voter Registration Reversals Killing California GOP In Their Own Strongholds

Between January 22 and May 19, over 400,000 new voters registered in California. 75% of them registered as Democrats. The news gets much worse for Republicans; almost all the rest registered as independents (Decline-to-State). The GOP picked up less than 15,000 of those new voters (3.6%). Nor was this all happening in San Francisco and Los Angeles. The fastest growing area of the state, the heavily Republican Inland Empire is trending away from Republicans as well. Riverside County is growing faster than any other part of the state but the GOP has lost close to 34,000 there since the last presidential election.

And in the Fresno Valley-- Fresno, Tulare, Kings, Madera, Mariposa and Merced counties-- Republicans are feeling very threatened. Four very conservative congressmen represent the Fresno Valley, two far right extremist Republicans (George Radanovich and Devin Nunes) and two Blue Dogs from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party (Dennis Cardoza and Jim Costa). McCain is likely to lose this former solidly Republican stronghold but there is no chance for any changes in Congress from the area. Although the 4 congressmen are all too right for the area, none had any primary opponents and neither the Blue Dog Cardoza nor the neo-fascist Radanovich faces an opponent in November. Nunes is certainly one of the worst representatives the state of California has ever sent to Congress-- half a step above out-and-out crooks like John Doolittle, Jerry Lewis, Dick Pombo and Gary Miller-- but he hasn't drawn effective opposition. Democrat Larry Johnson has raised $32,919 to Nunes' $961,183. And the Republican running against Blue Dog Jim Costa, James Lopez, is in even worse shape, having raised, as of June 30, nothing at all. The most important issue, in his mind, is to attack Costa for voting against Bush's highly unpopular trade policies (CAFTA)... a dead dog issue, even in an agricultural area like the Valley. Largely because f Lou Dobbs, people have a good understanding of how the Republican trade policies have helped wreck the middle class.

The GOP's decline is most obvious in Fresno County, where the losses have turned into an avalanche, even as the party gears up its efforts to keep the White House in GOP hands by electing Arizona Sen. John McCain as president.

The most recent voter registration numbers show the Democrats are closing the gap and are now fewer than 9,000 voters behind the Republicans.

At the peak in 2004, GOP registrations were ahead by more than 23,500 voters.

"We are concerned," said Fred Vanderhoof, chairman of the Fresno County Republican Party. "We're looking back, and we see they're gaining on us."

But the party seems unable to put its finger on how it lost almost 13,000 Fresno County voters in less than four years.

They acknowledge that some voters-- likely moderates younger than 35-- have migrated to the Democratic Party or have become independents, known in California as "decline-to-state" voters.
They think some fiscal conservatives also have left the party in disgust as the national debt soared under President Bush and, for most of his two terms, a Republican Congress.

At the same time, the cash-strapped state party organization has been unable to mount an aggressive registration drive to woo new voters.

Democrats most likely to gain from collapsing support for the GOP brand and for increased Democratic registration are Jerry McNerney, just north of the Fresno Valley, whose defeat was once a big GOP priority but looks more and more unlikely by the day, plus two southern California candidates, Debbie Cook and Russ Warner. Cook's and Warner's opponents, respectively Dana Rohrabacher and David Dreier, are being looked at seriously by dissatisfied voters for the first time in their careers. In fact Russ Warner's campaign just finished polling and discovered that almost 80% of respondents were unhappy with the direction of the country and two-thirds disapprove of the job Bush is doing (in a district that Bush took in 2004 with 55%). Even more encouraging is that Dreier’s favorability rating is below 50% and when participants were given unbiased info on each candidate they are in a statistical dead heat.

Florida has also had a tremendous upsurge in Democratic registrations. Since January, 2008, the Florida Democratic Party has gained 286,901 new members, including 236,214 newly registered voters and 49,575 former Republican who have switched to become Democrats. During this time, Democrats have seen huge gains in new registrations in all age and demographic groups-- 131,400 voters under the age of 35 (compared to just 63,392 who joined the GOP); 87,154 voters between 35 and 65 years old (compared to the Republicans 48,012); 49,381 new Hispanic Democrats (compared to just 19,759 Republicans); and 75,155 African Americans (compared to just 3,442 new African American Republicans). This is going to be a good year to be Annette Taddeo, Joe Garcia, Alan Grayson and Doug Tudor.

National registration figures: 27% of Americans are registered Republicans. 37% are registered Democrats. 31% of Americans are registered independents. The remaining 5% are classified as “other.” Seems to be that "independents" need some representation.

THOUGHT OF THE NIGHT

And if you want to make this a reality... click here and pitch in. Russ Warner's name is towards the bottom, between the fabulous Regina Thomas (Blue America's live guest Saturday) and Barry Welsh, Indiana's dragon slayer.

VIDEO OF THE DAY

MODERN DAY GI BILL PASSES BY WIDE MARGIN IN THE HOUSE-- McCAIN & McCONNELL VOW TO KILL IT IN THE SENATE

Although the fight that matters will be in the Senate, the House passed the bill to modernize the GI Bill today, HR 2642, 256-166. Those numbers are pretty overwhelming and the reflect the fact that 32 Republicans crossed the aisle to vote against Bush and their own reactionary leadership and for our military vets. At the same time, the Blue Dog caucus was unable to muster it's own members to bolster their Republican allies. Only 7 of the sleaziest and most Bush-oriented Democrats voted against vets today:

Melissa Bean (IL)
Dan Boren (OK)
Joe Donnelly (IN)
Brad Ellsworth (IN)
Nick Lampson (TX)
Tim Mahoney (FL)
Jim Matheson (UT)

Our newest conservative Democrats, Don Cazayoux (LA) and Bill Foster (IL) both voted with the Democrats on this crucial bill, Foster even stepping away from Bean's apron strings. This bill will allow vets who fought in Afghanistan and Iraq to go to college-- just what it was intended to do. McCain and McConnell have vowed to kill the bill in the Senate.

I took a look at the Blue America House races to see how the Republican opponents of our candidates-- all of whom support the bill-- voted Most of them voted against vets, as they usually do. Joining the dead-end minority today were Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), Tim Walberg (R-MI), Scott Garrett (R-NJ), David Dreier (R-CA), Ric Keller (R-FL), Randy Kuhl (R-NY), Michael McCaul (R-TX), Gary Miller (R-CA), Mike Pence (R-IN), Dave Reichert (R-WA), Dana Rohrabacher (R-OH), and Mean Jean Schmidt (R-OH). Heather Wilson (R-NM) is running for Senate and she stuck with Bush, as she usually does. John Doolittle (R-CA) is retiring under a cloud of corruption charges and he also stuck with Bush.

Interestingly, some of the tightest and most competitive races we're following saw die-hard reactionaries abandoning Bush, not because they wanted to or because they suddenly want to help vets, but because they are scared to death that they're about to lose their cushy jobs. John Barrow, a Georgia Blue Dog who almost always supports Bush on these matters is so frightened of the surging state Senator from Savannah, Regina Thomas, that he actually abandoned his usual stance and voted, reluctantly, with the Democrats. Same story in Iowa, where Leonard Boswell's fear of Ed Fallon voters caused him to vote like a Democrat for a change. Republicans Robin Hayes, Chris Shays and Charlie Dent are so worried about the likelihood that they will be defeated by, respectively, Larry Kissell, Jim Himes and Sam Bennett that each switched positions and voted with the Democrats today.

Up top you see a picture of Blue America candidate Russ Warner and his son, Greg, currently back from active duty in Iraq and studying at West Point. Click on that and see what Russ and Greg have to say about this war and how Bush has botched every aspect of it. Here's what Russ had to say about the vote today, after Dreier (whose net worth has increased by over $10,000,000 since he's come to Congress) again demonstrated that he is incapable of any kind of action accept rubber stamping all that Bush sends down the pike:

"I would have voted differently on this bill. It's important to make the veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan part of an American economic recovery, just like the veterans of World War II were. They put their lives on the line for us, and deserve to be able to come home and go to school if they so choose. We need new leaders with new priorities in Washington, and that's why I'm running for Congress. I believe that fully equipping our soldiers, providing them with good medical care and paying them a fair wage should be considered costs of war. But David Dreier seems to believe that we don't owe our veterans anything."

Nor was Russ the only Blue America candidate furious about how their opponent refused to stray away from Bush long enough allow our military vets this one hard earned benefit. We also spoke with Larry Joe Doherty in less-red-by-the-day Texas. Like many Texans, Larry was steamed. "Michael McCaul has voted against health care for veterans. He's voted against disability coverage for veterans. Now he's voted against education for veterans. He'll vote any sum of money necessary to put them in harm's way, but he won't help them get ahead in America when they come home. They come home wearing a badge of honor, and are denied the opportunity to get ahead. This is a disgrace." It is a disgrace. At election time McCaul is always trying to smear Democrats by screaming that only he supports the troops. Well, since Tom DeLay created a district for him, McCaul has voted 18 times on vet-related matters. And guess what-- he voted all 18 times against them. He has the worst voting record in Congress. He's also voted 15 times on issues directly impacting the well being of our active duty military personnel-- you know, the troops he claims to support. Well, he's voted against our troops' well being all 15 times. And don't be shocked to read that David Dreier has the exact same rubber stamp record as McCaul-- zero votes for vets and zero votes for our troops well-being! David Dreier and Michael McCaul have a clear message for our troops and our vets-- a middle finger-- and it's a very different message than the one they send to corrupt military contractor and war profiteers. If you'd like to send a message to David Dreier and Michael McCaul, you can contribute whatever you can spare to Russ Warner and Larry Joe Doherty.


UPDATE: REMEMBER MEAN JEAN SCHMIDT?

She first came onto the national scene by embarrassing herself, her party, her colleagues and her constituents by smearing decorated war hero and ex-Marine colonel Jack Murtha. Today she proved once again that she hasn't learned a thing in the interim and still has no regard for our fighting men and women or our vets. I asked Victoria Wulsin if she had heard about Mean Jean's anti-vet vote-- her 7th anti-vet vote since being elected. "Rep. Schmidt's vote is nothing short of an embarrassment to the people of Southern Ohio. To deny the brave men and women who serve this country financial security and opportunity is unconscionable."