Who Wants To Extend And Deepen The Bush Economic Miracle?

Even if you don't blame McCain, per se, for the Wall Street meltdown this weekend, there is no getting around the fact that the Republican Party mania against the federal regulatory agenda protecting consumers and workers has been part of the McCain gestalt from the time he was first elected to Congress-- and as recently as May 29, 2007 McCain boasted to the Wall Street Journal that "you are interviewing the greatest free trader you will ever interview, and the greatest deregulator you will ever interview." But Obama was dead on when he said it's Republican Party philosophy we should blame for the economic and financial problems we're facing, not the man who admits he doesn't know squat about the economy and who surrounds himself with the worst set of predators running GOP economic policy since the late 1920s.

I certainly don't fault Senator McCain for these problems, but I do fault the economic philosophy he subscribes to. It's a philosophy we've had for the last eight years-- one that says we should give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else. It's a philosophy that says even common-sense regulations are unnecessary and unwise, and one that says we should just stick our heads in the sand and ignore economic problems until they spiral into crises.

Across the country savvy Democratic challengers to Republican rubber stamps of the Bush Economic Miracle have been explaining to voters the connection between GOP "philosophy" --and policy, and the economic woes and financial meltdown that are engulfing us all. In Nebraska, Scott Klebb is running against an anti-regulatory hack from Bush's cabinet, Mike Johanns. He was quick to explain why his campaign had put together a stomach churning video: "On a day where lax accountability and reckless oversight in Washington are in the forefront of the nation's mind, this 30 second video summarizing four years of broken government encapsulates the need for change in Washington."

Maine Congressman Tom Allen is running for a Senate seat held by one of Bush's most dependable allies on economic issues, Susan Collins, often opposing not just the Maine Democrats in the House, but even the Maine Republican, Olympia Snowe, in the Senate. According to the Portland Press Herald "Senator Olympia Snowe was right when she called these Bush tax breaks for the superwealthy 'cynical' and the 'wrong message for middle class America.'" The whole Maine delegation opposed them-- except Collins, who, as usual, stuck with Bush and the Republican dedication to wreck the federal regulatory system, the results we now see getting a stranglehold on the American economy, an economy in shambles, regardless of how many McCain shills call the American people whiners and exaggerators and no matter how many times McCain insists that the economy is sound and that we're better off under Bush's stewardship of the economy.

As the Dow dropped over 500 points, no doubt on what McCain insists are "strong fundamentals," I heard from several congressional candidates, particularly from candidates running against Republicans directly complicit in the Wall Street meltdown, like New Jersey's far right ideologue Scott Garrett, a member of the House Financial Services Committee. His Democratic opponent, Dennis Shulman, the can-do, blind rabbi lionized in yesterday's NY Times has some very pointed questions for Garrett who, it rightly asserts, helped bring about the subprime mortgage crisis by championing the specific legislative agenda of Countrywide Financial, the arch villain in this catastrophe.

"Countrywide Financial is widely recognized as having been the company at the forefront of these shady practices, practices that are bringing down generations-old investment banks and threatening to further derail the economy. Why did Scott Garrett vote consistently in favor of Countrywide Financial's desired positions, why did he put their former lobbyist on the taxpayers' payroll as his chief of staff, and will Garrett take responsibility for the disaster that occurred under his watch?" Shulman for Congress calls upon Scott Garrett to answer three questions:

• What were the terms of the mortgage you refinanced with Countrywide Financial in May 2003, during the time in which your current Chief of Staff lobbied for Countrywide and when Countrywide was giving congressmen with oversight responsibilities sweetheart deals?

• Why did you vote against anti-predatory lending bills and defend those pro-Countrywide Financial votes this spring by observing, "Just a year ago we were talking about how great it was (that) the highest percentage of Americans ever were in their homes?"

• Will you acknowledge that Dennis Shulman is right to vow to not take any money from industries his committees regulate, given how your votes in favor of Countrywide Financial have led to a national disaster?

Another extreme right ideologue on the Financial Services Committee is Republican Patrick McHenry. Yesterday we did a profile on McHenry's opponent, Democrat Daniel Johnson. Our research turned up an Op-ed McHenry penned for the Charlotte Observer on October 27, 2005. (Keep in mind that McHenry's biggest campaign "donors" are from three industries with one anti-regulatory agenda: Real Estate, Insurance and Commercial Banks.) McHenry's Op-ed was in response to a series of stories that didn't reflect well on his buddies at Countrywide and other predatory subprime mortgage lenders. In his effusive praise for the subprime mortgage industry, McHenry argues against what he and most Republicans call "burdensome regulations," but what normal Americans call society's way of protecting consumers from powerful unscrupulous operators.

Tom Perriello is in a knock down drag out fight with one of the Abramoff-connected operators in the House, Virgil Goode (R-VA). Tom's clear and powerful statement yesterday is how Democrats should speak with their voters about the economic crisis:

The failed economic policies of the Bush-Goode years rear their ugly head yet again. This is another financial crisis that Virginia's middle class families cannot afford. We have rising unemployment rates, an exploding national debt, a housing crisis, and yet, all we see from the gang in Washington is more of the same failed policies, which Congressman Goode has rubber-stamped during his time in Congress. The Good Book says we shall be known by our fruits. Well, Southside has lost over 10,000 jobs on Congressman Goode's watch. It's not surprising that when you take $1.5 million in campaign contributions from the special interests, you protect giant corporations again and again while middle class families pay the price. We need new leaders who will work a double shift for economic revival, which I've pledged will be my number one priority in Congress.

Blue America Welcomes Scott Kleeb

In 2006 Scott Kleeb ran against far right Republican closet queen Adrian Smith in the largest-- like 75% of the state-- and most Republican (R+24!!!) district in Nebraska. In a district that gave Bush 75% of its vote in 2004 (while rewarding the GOP congressional incumbent with 87%), Scott managed to astound political observers with 45% of the vote. People in the ultra conservative 3rd district liked him and saw him as one of them-- but a representative of the very best in them. His appeal, while down to earth and primarily on bread and butter issues, appealed to the angels in people's nature not to the hatred and bigotry normally used by Republicans to appeal to another side of people's natures.

This year Scott was drafted to run for the open Senate seat when Chuck Hagel decided to retire. Nebraska's reactionary Democratic senator, Ben Nelson, persuaded a Republican multimillionaire friend of his to switch parties and try for the Democratic nomination, giving Scott a rough time. Nebraska Democrats, however, were not impressed by the free-spending reactionary and gave Scott around 70% of their votes. Now he's facing a cookie cutter Republican ex-governor, Mike Johanns.

I've spoken with Scott on the phone a few times and followed both his races and I've come to the conclusion that not only will be a far better senator than any Nebraska Republican, he'd also be a huge improvement over the state's two most recent right-of-center Democrats, Bob Kerrey and Ben Nelson. But first he has to be elected, no mean feat in one of the most dependably Republican states in America. But Scott's managed to raise over a million dollars (to Johanns' $2.7 million) and he's running a compteitive, if uphill, race against Johanns.

"The netroots community has been vital to this campaign," he told us. "DWT readers understand the 50-State Strategy and the importance of giving voters a real choice in November. I'm happy to have a chance to visit with you today and have a discussion about the issues facing Nebraska and our nation."

You can meet Scott at any of these upcoming events around the nation: Chicago, 9/17, New York, 9/18, San Francisco, 9/22, Boston, 9/25, and Washington, DC, 9/26.

Many of us have been reading Kid Oakland's brilliant commentary at Daily Kos for years. Kid Oakland's day job is Internet director of Scott's campaign. This morning Scott is at a fundraising brunch in Omaha and he'll be joining us at FDL at 11:30 am (PT). I bet Adrian Smith won't be there. Until then, we can talk campaign tactics, etc with Paul Delehanty (Kid Oakland).

A few weeks ago Scott debated Johanns at the Nebraska County Fair in Lincoln. Let's listen to Scott answering a question about the retroactive immunity granted to telecom executives under Bush's FISA bill and then see the stark difference between Scott and pure Bush apologist Johanns:

Good News For Scott Kleeb (D-NE) And Jeff Merkley (D-OR)

Scott Kleeb-- with Darcy Burner and Charlie Brown behind him

Early yesterday someone told me that former Nebraska Governor Mike Johanns, who served as Bush's Agriculture Secretary, was finally so embarrassed by the bribe money he had taken from Alaska's crooked (and indicted) Senator Ted Stevens, that he felt compelled to return all the money from Stevens' Northern Lights PAC, a Republican Party money laundering operation that took in hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribery from corporations and then distributed it to incumbents and challengers. Johanns was one of the last recipients to agree to disgorge his share.

Then yesterday he announced-- again, only more loudly than the last time he announced it-- that he won't be going to the Republican Convention in St Paul. He's vying with progressive Democrat Scott Kleeb for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Senator Chuck Hagel. Yesterday announced that he's made plans to be out of the country when his party tries for four more years of shame and destruction. Neighboring Kansas' Senator Pat Roberts, who's in a tight re-election battle, is also not all that eager to identify with a political party detested by most Americans and he won't be at the convention either. In fact, quite a few Republican senators hoping to be re-elected are staying away: Elizabeth Dole (R-NC), Ted Stevens (R-AK), whether he's in prison or not, Susan Collins (R-ME), Roger Wicker (R-MS), John Sununu (R-NH)... Then there's Larry Craig (R-ID), who has been asked to stay away since he was arrested in a St Paul men's room trying to fellate a handsome young police officer.

But the funniest Republican sad sack of them all is Gordon Smith. A few days ago he ran his second TV ad trying to glom on to Barack Obama and make believe he wasn't part of the catastrophic Republican agenda for the past 12 years. But he was and all he's managed to do is get Republicans angry and make everyone else laugh at him. He resigned as McCain's Oregon campaign chairman and he's refused to campaign with the right-wing extremists running for Congress on the GOP line. Today he released his third and most pathetic ad yet. I wonder what McCain thinks of this guy who said he wouldn't go to the Republican Convention, wouldn't work to elect McCain and is now giving free TV time to Obama! Watch this clown... and imagine what you would think if you were a Republican:

ELECTION RESULTS IN WEST VIRGINIA, NEBRASKA AND MISSISSIPPI

I just turned on Infotainment TV to catch the results in West Virginia's primary. The first thing I heard was Wolf Blintzer saying how Clinton would probably win and how she is saying that he victory would mirror what could happen in November. What does that mean? Is she planning to run as VP under McCain or Bob Barr? No? OK, then she won't be running in November. Did she mean that in November West Virginia will vote for the Republican? Does she consider herself the representative of the Republican wing of the Democratic Party? Or does she just mean that McCain will be as shameless as she has been in exploiting racism against Obama? Or am I missing something?

The exit polls actually, again, according to CNN, indicate that Obama and Hillary each score almost identically against McCain in November.

Tonight I'm far more interested in seeing the results in Nebraska's senate primary and in the House special election in MS-01.

Nebraska's Democratic primary pits a grassroots moderate, Scott Kleeb against a conservative millionaire Republican who decided to run as a Democrat, Tony Raimondo. He won't even commit to backing Kleeb if he loses today. Kleeb, an actual Democrat, said that of course he would endorse Raimondo and work for his election. Polls in Nebraska close at 8pm Central Time. We'll be watching results here at the Secretary of State's site.

Mississippi polls also close at 8pm, but Eastern time (so any hour earlier). We'll be watching results at the Mississippi Secretary of State's website or, if that doesn't work (as seems likely) at the Commercial Dispatch's site. DeSoto County, the Memphis, Tennessee suburbs (and Davis' home base) is where Davis has his biggest support. Voting there has been very heavy today, a good sign for Davis. Childers' biggest counties were Prentiss (85%), Clay (65%), and Monroe (62%).

Within seconds of the polls closing and before one vote was counted, CNN called the primary for Clinton and said her margin would be big. OK, now we'll wait for the important races to come in from Mississippi and Nebraska.

Establishment DLC hack Howard Wolfson is babbling away on CNN and spinning the Clinton case without anyone giving the position of the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party. ABC News just reported some pretty ugly exit polls that show Hillary attracted not just low income and badly educated voters but also the racists she and her husband did her little dog whistle routine for.


UPDATE ONE

Results are trickling in from Mississippi. So far Childers has 1,174 votes (57%) to Davis' 900 (43%); irrelevent.

Now with 39 precincts (of 462) reporting it's Childers with 3,666 votes (60%) and Davis with 2,474 (40%). although these are from Democratic areas and it's not indicative of anything unexpected. No votes in from DeSoto, the big GOP county.

Over at CNN the talking heads are still beating off. They keep pointing out that as income levels go down, Clinton's support goes up. Also as education levels go down, Clinton's support goes up. Does that mean these Democrats are going to turn to McCain in November? Many of them voted for Bush-- twice. Maybe they should look at this:


UPDATE TWO

Nebraska polls have closed but early results are not significant. Kleeb has 72% and Raimondo, who will probably go back to being a Republican if he loses tonight, has 21%. In Mississippi, with 90 precincts reporting Childers has 9,150 votes (55%) to Davis' 7,583 votes (45%).


UPDATE THREE

Democrat Travis Childers beat the Republican Gary Davis 57,276 (54%) to 49,314 (46%), even with Davis winning 75% of the vote in DeSoto County, the Memphis suburbs. With 85% of the Nebraska vote counted Kleeb beat the Republican-disguised-as-a-Democrat (a major repudiation of Nebraska's reactionary Democratic Senator Ben Nelson who had persuaded Raimondo to pull that stunt) 64,573 (69%) to 23,636 (25%). Raimondo has conceded.

WHY WOULD ANYONE SUPPORT REPUBLICAN TONY RAIMONDO IN A DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY?

The first time we ever mentioned Tony Raimondo on DWT was on September 8, 2007. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) had just decided that he wouldn't be seeking re-election to the Senate. "Nearly half a dozen Republicans have been salivating over the prospects of winning the Nebraska Senate seat and one far, far right extremist, Jon Bruning, had already challenged Hagel to a primary duel. Aside from Bruning, other wingnuts promising to jump in after Monday are former Governor Mike Johanns, former Omaha Mayor Hal Daub and businessmen Pat Flynn and Tony Raimondo."

Two of those Republicans are still in the hunt, ex-Gov. Johanns and businessman Tony Raimondo, except Raimando assessed his chances to beat Johanns in a Republican Party primary and decided to declare himself a Democrat. Really. There's also an actual Democrat in the race, Scott Kleeb.

Raimondo was in the news this weekend because he triggered the millionaires amendment on Friday by writing himself a $450,000 check. Many Democrats in Nebraska haven't bought into Raimondo's "conversion" in the first place, and are now uncomfortable that just as he's talking about laying off more Nebraska workers from his business-- not Chinese workers from his business there though-- he's spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy himself a Senate seat.

In Columbus, Neb., orders at Behlen Manufacturing Company for its pre-engineered metal buildings have slowed. So far, the company, which employs 1,100 people, has avoided layoffs, Tony Raimondo, the chairman, said.

Behlen plans to build up inventory and perhaps shift workers into busier areas, like building grain silos, while waiting for better days, he said. But if trends continue, about 50 workers would be vulnerable.

“We’re on the bubble,” Mr. Raimondo said. “The odds are against us that we will get through the summer without layoffs.”

When Nebraska Democrats and working men and women think about Raimondo's much-touted Business experience, the first thing that comes to mind is how, in typically Republican fashion, he took over a company, Behlen, Inc and almost immediately set out to decertify the union, soon followed by exporting good paying Nebraska manufacturing jobs to low-paying China, also in typically Republican fashion.

His own TV ad sounds like it comes right from a GOP playbook-- denigrating "academics" and smart people and extolling the virtues of "businessmen." I'd say most Americans have had enough of that bull under the "CEO-President" and his pals at Enron, WorldCom, Big Pharma, Big Gas and Oil, etc.

I think Raimondo, with all his money and the help of Ben Nelson, the Senate Democrat who votes more frequently with the GOP than any Democrat-- and even more than Joe Lieberman-- has a chance to beat Kleeb in the primary next week (May 13). But can he beat his fellow Republican, Mike Johanns? Virtually impossible. He will depress the vote of the Democratic base and anger Republicans who don't like a self-serving turncoat.

And, being a Republican, albeit one trying to make believe he isn't, Raimondo's positions are neither fish nor foul. Well... they actually are pretty foul. To start, he takes the very Republican position of opposing universal health care (something strongly supported by Kleeb-- and virtually all actual Democrats). His position of taxes for the wealthy are-- word for word-- the same as Bush's and McCain's, and very different from Kleeb's, who favors tax breaks for the middle class and wants to end the give-aways for the wealthiest Americans. Raimondo also takes the Republican position on the occupation-- endless war forever and ever-- as opposed to Kleeb who wants to start drawing down our troop presence and turning responsibility over to the Iraqis. One sounds like a Democrat and one sounds like a Republican; that's because one is a Republican and one is a Democrat.

SCOTT KLEEB-- A NEW PRAIRIE POPULIST FROM NEBRASKA... IN THE U.S. SENATE?

Nebraska, once the home of inspirational progressives like William Jennings Bryan and, later, George Norris, is now one of the reddest states in the Union. Since I was born it has been the second most dependable supporter of the GOP's horrid presidential candidates. And the Democratic senators and governors Nebraskans elect... in many cases-- think Bob Kerrey and Ben Nelson--they vote as badly as Republicans. By any measurement Nelson is the absolute most reactionary Democrat in the U.S. Senate, voting with Republicans as much as he does with Democrats and always the second (after Lieberman) to start spouting right-wing talking points as soon as a difficult issue comes up. His voting record-- on substantive matters-- has more in common with rubber stamp Republicans like Olympia Snowe, Arlen Spector and Susan Collins than with even the most right wing, triangulating Democrats (Mary Landrieu, Evan Bayh and Mark Pryor).

With the retirement of a disgusted and disillusioned Chuck Hagel, there is an open seat in Nebraska. For a while there it looked like it would be two very conservative Republicans, ex-Gov. Mike Johanns and stinkin' rich businessman Tony Raimondo (thinly disguised as a freshly minted Democrat) battling it out to see who would go to Washington and do the most damage. Before we talk about the wonderful new development yesterday in Nebraska, I want to point out Raimondo's campaign contributions. Between he and his wife, there have been 78 political contributions since 1994 for a total of $53,750. The vast bulk of the money has gone to right-wing Republicans and to one right-wing Democrat: Ben Nelson (nearly $18,000). All the donations he's given to political committees have been to Republican ones and when he's given to local Democrats it's usually in small amounts, like a fraction of what he gives to their GOP rivals. Example in 2006 he donated $250 to Democrat Scott Kleeb who was running against far right nutcase and closet queen Adrian Smith (who he gave $2,000, followed by another $2,000 in 2007).

Yesterday that same Scott Kleeb, after a tremendous push from a draft movement among grassroots Nebraskans, decided his state deserved the opportunity to pick between an actual Democrat and a Republican. As many had hoped, he declared his candidacy. All my friends who know him have something nice to say about him. Ben Nelson, on the other hand, who convinced Raimondo to drop his intention to run a primary campaign against Johanns and switch to the Democratic Party, is seething. The Hill reported that Scott will file his papers today.

There are a ton of stories today about Scott announcing. I've been unable to find any-- or locate a place on his website-- that mentions specific policy positions. I'm certain he's better than the other creeps running and I know he's an intelligent guy whose heart is in the right place. I also know he is a firm believer in grassroots democracy, in practice as well as in theory. We'll be interested in seeing where he stands on the tough issues of the day when the rubber meets the road. And we'll let you know.