Racist Fanatic William Colmer Has A Minority Majority School In Pascagoula Named After Him-- Plus Hawaii Update

The William M. Colmer Middle School is in Pascagoula, Mississippi. 46% of the students are African-Americans and 15% are Hispanic. 79% of the students are eligible for a free or reduced-price lunch program, somewhat higher than the average for Mississippi (71%). The school is named for Representative William M. Colmer who died on September 9, 1980 (age 90) and is buried at Machpelah Cemetery right their in Pascagoula. The students can walk over to the cemetery and visit their school's namesake. Perhaps they should read a little about the 20-terms congressman from Mississippi's Gulf Coast first though.

Colmer won a primary against Robert Hall in 1932, and that turned out to be a very good year for Democrats. Congressional Republicans lost 101 seats in the House that year. Colmer was elected with 94.5% of the vote-- the lowest percentage of any of Mississippi's 7 Members of Congress. He was swept into office as a New Deal Democrat but soon figured out that the New Deal not only helped whites, which he was fine with, but helped blacks… which he was very much not fine with. As time went by, he turned increasingly more reactionary and made opposing racial equality his life's work.

By all accounts he was a disgusting political figure and in no ways-- except the for "D" next to his name-- a Democrat. He was a blight on the party brand, just the way Blue Dogs, New Dems and corporate shills like Israel, Emanuel, Wasserman Schultz, Crowley and Hoyer are today. Even though Colmer endorsed Nixon against JFK, Humphrey and McGovern and endorsed Goldwater against LBJ, the idiot House Democrats allowed him to retain the Rules Committee chairmanship, putting him in a position to slow down desegregation for years. When he finally retired in 1972, his administrative assistant, Trent Lott-- another pile of racist dogcrap-- ran for his House seat and won… as a Republican-- the first elected there since 1873.

I didn't share this Colmer info with you just as another random example of the Republican wing of the Democratic Party, although he was obviously that. I shared it because Karoli seemed so worked up Saturday about a Democratic judicial candidate in Connecticut, Anna Zubkova, whose husband, Rob Freeman, is a very public racist. "If whites had a voice in the government," he wrote, "there might not have been an Iraq war. There might not have been all these horrible trade agreements that are impoverishing everyone. We might have more fuel efficient cars, or more mass transit. Who knows what might have been?" I guess Debbie Wasserman Schultz would call it being part of her twisted conception of a "big tent party."


DREADFUL RESULTS IN HAWAII LAST NIGHT

Voter participation through absentee ballots was high, up over 12% since 2012. But that was the only good news there was yesterday. And although none of the candidates are as bad as William Colmer, it was a good night for the Republican wing of the Democratic Party. As expected, progressive Governor Neil Abercrombie was defeated by centrist David Ige in a huge landslide, 143,835 (67%) to 67,368 (32%). Ige will face Republican Duke Aiona and extreme right-wing ex-Democrat (now Independent) Mufi Hannemann in November. It will be a tough race for him.

With all 113 precincts counted in the first congressional district, the race to replace Hanabusa was won by Mark Takai, a reactionary claiming to have seen the light and miraculously "turned" progressive.

• Mark Takai- 48,510 (45%)
• Donna Mercado Kim- 30,979 (29%)
• Stanley Chang- 11,023 (10%)
• Ikaika Anderson- 7,269 (7%)
• Will Espero- 4,166 (4%)
• Joey Manahan- 3,941 (4%)
• Kathryn Xian- 2,786 (3%)

The Congressional Progressive Caucus undercut progressive Stanley Chang at the last minute by making his endorsement into a dual endorsement of him and conservative homophobe and militarist Takai. The strategy, one of the key players told me, was to stop Donna Kim, an even worse reactionary. Although Takai and Kim have been allies in the legislature and although, when asked, she said if she couldn't win she would like to see Takai win, 2 Japanese-American Progressive Caucus members claimed they could guide Takai in a progressive direction. The last time I heard such a patently spurious argument was when another Progressive Caucus member wanted to endorse Republican-turned-fake-Dem Patrick Murphy in 2012, telling me he could guide Murphy. Murphy did win-- and immediately joined the GOP-leaning, Wall Street-owned and operated New Dems. Murphy has amassed one of the worst voting records of any Democrat in Congress-- a dismal ProgressivePunch crucial vote score of 48.17-- and has worked consistently to undermine progressive values and principles inside the caucus. This cycle he is already the 3rd biggest recipient-- $801,750-- of shady cash from the Financial Sector, right after crooked conservative sell-outs Joe Crowley and Jim Himes.

Even worse news is the still undetermined U.S. Senate race, where corrupt New Dem Colleen Hanabusa has come close to unseating progressive champion Brian Schatz. There are 2 rural precincts on the Big Island that couldn't vote because of Hurricane Iselle-- polling sites at Hawaii Paradise Community Center and Keone-opoko Elementary School-- so it will be some days before the election is decided. Democrats there will vote by absentee ballot. Right now, as best I can tell, the 245 of 247 precincts have given Schatz the tiniest of leads-- 105,794 (49.38%) to 104,008 (48.55%). He's leading her by 1,786 votes and it's a real stretch seeing her make up that kind of a lead in just two precincts.

As of the July 20 reporting deadline, Schatz had raised $4,914,576, spent $3,937,606 and was sitting on $976,970. Hanabusa had raised $2,876,245, spent $2,408,572 and was sitting on $522,566. She wrote herself a check for $117,000 out of the personal bribes she and her crooked husband have taken from developers and other shady operators who have financed her sleazy career. Conservative Democratic group EMILY's List put another $697,920 into independent expenditures on Hanabusa's behalf, including a $75,000 push this week. Environmental and progressive groups spent $591,353 to bolster Schatz.

Again, Hanabusa isn't as bad as Colmer. But this is 2014, not 1950 and she's about as bad as you can be and still legitimately call yourself a Democrat today. Yesterday was a terrible day for Hawaii. At least EMILY's List failed-- and failed miserably-- to foist Donna Mercado Kim on Hawaii. They have become the single most destructive player inside the Democratic Party coalition, almost never a force for progressive politics-- almost always a force for reactionary thinking, a real corrupt, money-based pillar of the Republican wing of the Democratic Party.


UPDATE: Who Are The Voters In The 2 Precincts?

The voters in the remaining precincts aren't exactly off the grid but many tend to be anti-establishment, anti-war, anti-GMO, pro-marijuana legalization, and anti-geothermal-- not exactly Hanabusa's crowd, no matter how you slice it or dice it. And she would have to beat Schatz in the two precincts on the Big Island by a 2-1 margin to take the lead, which isn't likely, no matter how much more money EMILY's List throws into her campaign. This post should give you a better idea about who the 8,000 people are who haven't voted yet. Excerpt: "In our district (Puna), Dennis got 60% of the caucus vote. On our island (Hawaii), 50%. In our state (Hawaii), 33%." Probably not admirers of militarist and corporate shill Colleen Hanabusa.

One Week From Today-- Hawaii Picks Between A Proven Progressive And Two Proven Conservatives

Who fought against LGBT equality? Mark Takai and Donna Kim, the 2 conservatives in the race

"Peace through strength!"-- Reagan’s bellicose slogan emulated by faux-progressive congressional candidate in Hawaii.

"Peace through strength" wasn't thought up by Reagan-- nothing was-- but by Emperor Hadrian around 100 years after the birth of our lord. Mark Takai, candidate for the open seat in Hawaii’s First Congressional District, in a nearly hour-long interview with the Hawaii Independent this week made explicit what’s been obvious to anyone following his 20-year career in politics.

Takai’s a military man, first and foremost.

At the start of the interview, Takai was asked to name his top priorities in Congress. First, he mentioned “climate change” and “sustainability,” without specifying any particular legislative action. He didn’t mention his vision of nuclear-power plants in paradise. Second on the list of priorities (but clearly first in his heart), he talked of his goal to increase military spending. Takai went to express his support for “military use” of drones, with his only caveat being that the weapons should be used on foreign soil.

One of the interviewers, to her credit, noted sustainability and militarism are often at odds. Takai had no counter.

Later in the interview, Takai was pressed on his support for more military spending, which one of the interviewers noted is opposed by the peace community in Hawaii. Takai didn’t back down:

I look at our military strength as a road to peace… I do understand people supporting peace, but I’m a 15-year member of the Hawaii National Guard. I’m a military person.

On this, Takai gets points for consistency. He never misses an opportunity to point out he’s a military man first and foremost. And by that, he means a military-spending man. On his Facebook page a few months ago, Takai lashed out at President Obama for having the nerve to put some modest checks on Pentagon appropriations:

I was disappointed to hear about the cuts announced recently. As a proud member of the Hawaii Army National Guard, I understand the importance of defense spending.

He went running to a right-wing blog to whine about the Commander-in-Chief:

State Rep. Mark Takai, a member of the Hawaii Army National Guard, said he is “shocked and stunned” by the drastic cuts to the defense construction budget for the military.

. . .“Our military bases are in desperate need of upgrades to accommodate this new focus,” said Takai, a Democrat. “This is not the time to eliminate these military construction projects for Hawaii as the Asia-Pacific Region becomes the priority.”

He’s been less consistent on matters of equality.

Same-sex marriage became a major political issue in Hawaii in 1993. Takai was first elected to the state House of Representatives the following year. In each of his 10 campaigns for the legislature, he ran on opposition to marriage equality. He pledged to Hawaii Family Forum in his two most recent campaigns, 2010 and 2012, to not just vote against marriage-equality legislation, but to actually support a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.

Takai consistently fulfilled his promise to Hawaii Family Forum.

As recently as last year, Takai co-sponsored a proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

The state Democratic Party platform has supported marriage equality for most of Takai’s time in office. But Takai was never swayed, until after deciding to run for Congress late last year. He sure fooled openly gay Japanese-American Congressman Mark Takano, though-- who lied to his colleagues at the Congressional Progressive Caucus and persuaded some of them that the demonstrably homophobic Takai is a fabulous progressive. Ugly identity politics.

He’s been rewarded for his anti-LGBT record by receiving substantial contributions to his congressional campaign from local anti-gay leaders like Mitch D’Olier and Republican activists like Dale Evans. I bet Takano didn't explain that to the folks at the CPC.

Democratic activists, however, took issue with Takai’s open defiance of the party platform. One filed a formal complaint with the party (later graciously withdrawn). The Hawaii Christian Coalition's website still boasts of the Religious Right's support for Takai in the fight:

Eleven state House and Senate Democrats face complaints before the Democratic Party of Hawaii for proposing a constitutional amendment on traditional marriage last session. The complaints allege the bills violate the party platform's support for equal rights and brought forth by Michael Golojuch. REALLY? Equal rights should also be afforded to these lawmakers, Senate President Donna Mercado Kim, Sen. Mike Gabbard, House Vice Speaker John Mizuno, and Reps. Calvin Say, Sharon Har, Henry Aquino, Karen Awana, Ty Cullen, Ken Ito, K. Mark Takai, and Clift Tsuji. Don't they have a right to propose an amendment or a bill, regardless of who, what and where?

In the interview, in between his advocacy for more military spending, Takai boasted that he’s the only alternative to openly right-wing Democrat Donna Kim in this race. He contended progressives need to vote strategically and that he’s the sole candidate with meaningful endorsements.

Takai is obviously seeking votes from supporters of Stanley Chang-- a young liberal attorney and Honolulu City Councilmember who’s the only candidate with a cohesive progressive vision for Hawaii's working families and for America.

Takai’s contention that he’s the only serious contender to Kim dismisses the importance of Chang’s support from Blue America, Climate Hawks Vote, Congressman Alan Grayson, the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, People for the American Way, the state party’s GLBT Caucus and local trade unions.

In his own recent interview with the Hawaii Independent, Chang also talked about peace. But he’s actually for it-- and he spoke at length about the importance of diplomatic solutions to international disputes. He also talked about climate change. Chang spoke with ease-- but distress-- about impacts of climate change both locally and globally, and in contrast to Takai showed a deep understanding of scientific issues and terminology when discussing solutions. He scoffed at those who are touting natural gas as some sort of environmentally friendly answer, and stressed that the renewable-energy future must begin now. Chang went on to emphasize his strong support for labor rights and his opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Chang also expressed his dismay at the National Security Agency's “troubling” excesses in spying on Americans and allies.

Chang knocked on nearly 20,000 doors to win an awe-inspiring upset election to the Honolulu City Council as a first-time candidate in 2010. He’s working just as hard and is poised to finish strong leading up to the Aug. 9 Democratic primary. Help him do it.

Stanley kicked ass at the KITV debate last week-- the only televised debate of the campaign. Immediately afterward KITV polled and viewers were very clear about who they want for their next congressmember:

Identity Politics Rearing Its Ugly Head Again-- In Hawaii, Michigan And California

This week, EMILY's List dropped a last minute $17,441 into an independent expenditure for the extremely conservative candidate they're supporting in Honolulu, Donna Mercado Kim. Many elderly ladies who remember when EMILY's List was founded by Ellen Malcolm 30 years ago don't realize EMILY's List has swung from being a basically progressive organization to being one of the most conservative and untrustworthy elements in the Democratic coalition. "We don't care about anything except electing pro-choice women to office," they use as their excuse for backing absolutely horrible conservatives most of the time-- even when their conservative candidate, like Kim, isn't even really pro-Choice. It's identity politics at its ugliest. EMILY's List is backing Kim because Kim is a woman. Other candidates in the race are much more pro-choice than Kim but… well, that's EMILY's List 2014. Maybe EMILY's List should have consulted with the Patsy T. Mink PAC, which is Hawaii's progressive version of EMILY's List. They have never once endorsed the conservative Donna Kim in her 30 years of politics. There's a reason for that.

Last week we looked at how progressive Congressman Mark Takano threw his progressive cred to the winds, lied to the Congressional Progressive Caucus that another conservative, Mark Takai is somehow not a conservative despite a record that proves he is, and tricked them into backing someone based on an ethnic kinship-- Takai and Takano both being Japanese-American. More ugly identity politics.

Today I got a letter from a former Blue America-endorsed Michigan congressional candidate, Syed Taj, from the 11th district. He's a Muslim and last cycle when he could have beaten insane teabagger Kerry Bentovolio, except that anti-Muslim sleaze bag Steve Israel refused to allow the DCCC to help him. So he lost. This year, Israel is trying to insert some ex-CIA agent, Bobby MacKenzie, as the Democratic nominee. Dr. Taj's letter this morning urged me to support another MD, Anil Kumar. I spoke with Kumar a few months ago. He seemed like a nice enough man but, unlike Taj, there was absolutely nothing about him that qualified him for public office, especially not as a Democrat. He and Taj, though, have some identity politics between them.

But the one that really took the cake for identity politics this week wasn't religious, or gender-oriented or ethnic. It was mayoral-- the very conservative, fake-Democratic mayor of San Jose, Chuck Reed, endorsing the Republican mayor of Fresno, Ashley Swearengin, for state Comptroller against a superbly qualified Democrat, Betty Yee. "Ashley Swearengin and I have worked together as part of the Big Ten Mayors, a bipartisan group organized to focus on statewide issues impacting our residents and taxpayers," said Reed. Swearengin’s "focus is not on partisan politics, but rather on getting the job done right. I’m proud to support her."

Reed’s decision to give the cold shoulder to Betty Yee, the state Board of Equalization member who is the Democrats’ choice in the Nov. 4 race, shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Reed, who has always been well out on the conservative edge of the Democratic Party, is termed out of office this year and has even less reason now to go blue.

Even before Reed was elected in a landslide back in 2006, local Democrats grumbled that the Air Force veteran and land-use attorney was way too conservative for the South Bay. But with San Jose on the brink of financial disaster, voters liked his tough stand on public spending and re-elected him with 77 percent of the vote in 2010.

But when Reed persuaded San Jose voters in 2012 to pass Measure B, which called for city workers to pay more into their pension fund and required a citywide vote before retirement benefits could be increased, labor unions howled and filed lawsuits that are still making their way through the courts. And when Reed pushed for a statewide initiative allowing cities and other government agencies to cut future pensions in a fiscal emergency, Democratic leaders joined their labor allies in loud opposition.

Reed ended up suing Democratic state Attorney General Kamala Harris for what he claimed was a biased title and summary of the initiative written by her office. After losing the court battle, he dropped efforts to put the measure on the 2014 ballot.

Reed said the pension reform was desperately needed because “skyrocketing retirement costs are crowding out funding for essential public services and pushing cities, counties and other government agencies closer to insolvency.” There’s little love lost between the San Jose mayor and the Democratic Party leaders who joined with labor to help quash the measure.

That partisan attack left a mark, as Reed made clear in his pointed endorsement of Swearengin.

The Fresno Republican has “demonstrated the leadership and determination that we need to reform government and improve efficiency, without regard for party labels,” Reed said in his statement.

At least this seems to be based on politics and issues-- albeit from a decidedly right-wing, anti-family prospect that Reed and Swearengin share. I respect that, as much as I disagree with it, much more than picking people based on factors that having nothing to do with policy, the way Takano, Taj and EMILY's List did. Obviously, I still hope Swearengin loses and have every intention of voting for Betty Yee, a far better choice.

August Primaries

There are quite a few of them but the ones progressives have a stake in, in chronological order, are Hawaii (August 9), Wisconsin (August 12), and then a late super-Tuesday on August 26 for Arizona, Florida and Oklahoma. That same day has primaries in Alaska, Missouri, Oregon and Vermont with interesting races but no races that pit a progressive against a shill from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party.

Up top is the brand new video from one of the most grassroots campaigns anywhere, the Tom Guild campaign for the open Oklahoma City congressional seat. Guild came in a strong first in the 3-way June 24th primary, beating non-courageous, and conservative Establishment Democrat Al McAffrey:

• Tom Guild- 11,597 (42.1%)
• Al McAffrey- 8,505 (30.9%)
• Leona Leonard- 7,424 (27%)

McAffrey, who is being partially financed by Krumme Oil, has out-raised Guild but small contributions through ActBlue are keeping Guild competitive. OK-05 doesn't have an astronomical media market and Guild is using contributions to keep his ad on TV news shows and on a field operation and get out the vote effort.

Yesterday we took a brief look at the WI-07 primary, where a Republican right wing lunatic and gun fanatic, Mike Krsiean, switched his party registration so he could primary progressive Democrat Kelly Westlund in the race to replace Paul Ryan-clone Sean Duffy. The other Wisconsin primary to watch is in the southeast part of the state, WI-01, where an L.A.-based UFO conspiracy buff, Amar Kaleka, is challenging Rob Zerban (on the same day that a Republican marijuana activist named Jeremy Ryan is challenging Paul Ryan in the GOP primary. Republican crossbow expert Ryan Ryan says he will challenge whichever of the two Ryans wins when he's old enough to run in 2016.) So far Paul Ryan raised $6,938,372; Rob Zerban raised $494,878; Amar Kaleka raised $138,353; and neither Jeremy Ryan nor Ryan Ryan has raised enough to file with the FEC. In WI-07, Sean Duffy has raised $1,808,688; Kelly Westlund has raised $303,214; and Mike Krsiean and his 700 pound pig Barney are refusing to report their fundraising to the FEC.

There's an important primary in Phoenix, where Ed Pastor, first elected in 1991, is retiring from a super-blue district, AZ-07 (PVI D+16). Obama beat hometown boy John McCain there 65-34% and in 2012 wiped out Mitt Romney 72-27%. Whoever wins the Democratic primary August 26 will be the next congressmember. There are 4 Democratic candidates, Ruben Gallego, Randy Camacho, Jarrett Maupin and, from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party, Mary Rose Wilcox. Gallego, who has been endorsed by Raul Grijalva, Dolores Huerta, MoveOn, the Sierra Club, Climate Hawks Vote and Daily Kos, is the progressive fave in the race and Mary Rose Wilcox is just another grotesquely conservative, corrupt EMILY's List pick. They're the only two who have raised any money-- $434,873 for Gallego and $335,656 for Wilcox. Celinda Lake has done the only published poll (May 22) and it shows Gallego leading Wilcox 38-32%.

Primary day in Hawaii, two weeks from yesterday, is really important and it features two races, one for Senate and one for the House, that pit shills from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party against proven progressives. The Senate race is a match-up between Senator Brian Schatz, one of the best members of the Senate-- right up there with Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Jeff Merkley and Tom Harkin-- against a corrupt conservative New Dem, Colleen Hanabusa. Everything you need to know about the Senate primary is here. The House race is to replace Hanabusa in the seat she gave up to run against Schatz. The progressive in the race is Stanley Chang and he's being challenged by two conservatives, Mark Takai and Donna Kim. Back in May the Congressional Progressive Caucus endorsed Chang. Last week, Japanese-American congressman, Mark Takano, lied to his fellow caucus members and convinced them that his Japanese-American pal Takai is not really a conservative and railroaded them into making it a "dual endorsement." They should have known better because Takano, one of the least effective and least trustworthy members of the CPC, also went to bat for corrupt conservative Pete Aguilar (a New Dem) on behalf of DCCC chairman Steve Israel (a Blue Dog who was behind both Aguilar and Takai).

One of the CPC members I respect, even admire, sent me a note that explained how Takano had persuaded him and other members to go for the dual endorsement. I don't have permission to publish it but I will publish my own response to that member:

Yeah, I know. And Brat had no chance to beat Cantor either. So Stanley had "no chance" so you endorsed an anti-gay conservative who's slightly better on most things-- but not all-- than Donna Kim, splitting the progressive vote and guaranteeing that Kim will win. Sorry it took so long to get back to you but the electricity in my neighborhood was down all day 'til just now.

Takai talks a good game, but he's not a progressive, as I've been writing about on my blog.

Many Democrats including el presidente have "evolved" on marriage equality in recent years, but Takai's flip-flop is very recent and smacks of opportunism, which is how the press in Honolulu interpreted it. Takai voted no on civil unions twice and was in favor of a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman in 2012. He only reversed his position after deciding to run for Congress, a few months ago. Does a "progressive" go from no on civil unions and pro-marriage amendment to yes on marriage in the blink of an eye?

Takai introduced bills to drug-test welfare recipients twice. He's terrible on choice. You mentioned emergency contraception as an issue that is important to you, but Takai has repeatedly said that he would vote for religious exemptions for hospitals that don't wish to offer emergency contraception, including in statements to the Hawaii Family Forum in 2010 and 2012. This is not ancient history.

You expressed concern about the polling, but the most recent poll (by Civil Beat) was conducted over two months ago. It had a sample size of 249 people and a margin of error of nearly 5%. This poll was in the field just 2 days after Stanley's first TV ad went live and right at the point where Stanley's campaign began ramping up their voter outreach. It does not reflect today's reality on the ground. The media in Hawaii paid barely any attention at all to this race until very recently, due to the high-profile primaries for Senate and Governor. In May, voters were not knowledgeable about the candidates and were only responding on the basis of name recognition.

Labor unions and other local organizations are notoriously risk-averse in their endorsements and tend to go for establishment figures. Stanley has gone out of his way to court labor and all the local unions like him. Many of the major unions like HGEA have decided to stay neutral in this race. The endorsement by Equality Hawaii is a joke. There was no questionnaire, no process, no interview; just a few board members getting together to back Takai. Equality Hawaii is widely mocked and hated by the progressive LGBT community in the state. Takai's endorsement by the Star-Advertiser is meaningless and they are very conservative, having endorsed the worst Democrat in contemporary Hawaii politics Mufi Hannemann (anti-equality so-called Democrat turned Independent this cycle) twice for Governor in 2010 and Congress in 2012. Needless to say, he lost both times.

I'm not sure what evidence Takai gave you for his strong ground game, but we have people on the ground in Honolulu and they are NOT seeing it. Except for Schatz, Stanley's campaign is the only one in the state that has a serious field operation. I'm talking about real voter outreach, not just appearances like sign-waving, which is what many in Hawaii mean when they talk about canvassing.

Kim said in this week's debate, when asked who she would vote for if she weren't running: "To be very honest, I would be supporting Mark Takai, because I've worked with Mark Takai for many years in the State House of Representatives. We get along very well and I respect Mark."

Takai is going through the motions to pander to the progressive community, and if you watch his talking points over the past several months you will notice this evolution. Sure, it's great that he's on our side now for some issues, but I have a hard time imagining him in the Progressive Caucus-- MAYBE the way Jared is-- and I very much doubt that he'll be a reliable progressive vote if elected. His interest first and foremost is bringing more military resources to Hawaii.

XXX, I don't expect anything better from Takano, but you got sold a bill of goods and I feel awful about it.

Endorsed Mark Takai, who has a virulently homophobic voting record, but… what the hell?

Mark Takai Proposed Testing Homeless Veterans For Drugs

"I am proud to support Stanley Chang for Congress. Stanley knows what needs to be done to fix Wall Street and protect the rights of consumers. He has declared his support for the Better Off Budget, which would create 8.8 million jobs by 2017 and reduce our deficit by $4 trillion over the next ten years. Stanley is a champion for civil rights for all and will work toward a more secure and peaceful world. The Progressive Caucus and its members will work hard to support Stanley to see that he joins us in the 114th Congress."
- Keith Ellison, co-chair, Congressional Progressive Caucus

"Stanley Chang is the clear choice to represent Hawaii’s first district in Congress. His Agenda for Change calls for universal early childhood education, which has been a key focus of my work as a member of the Committee on Education and The Workforce. Stanley has proposed a bold job creation plan and is fighting for an increase in the federal minimum wage. I look forward to working with him on important environmental priorities such as preserving wilderness and protecting endangered species. We need more bold progressives like Stanley in Congress."
- Raúl Grijalva, co-chair, Congressional Progressive Caucus

Congressional candidate Mark Takai wants to subject homeless veterans to drug tests.

Ironically, he’s campaigning as a supporter of military veterans. Takai, who is running for the open seat in Hawaii’s First Congressional District, campaigns in his National Guard uniform-- which isn't legal-- and recently secured a Vote Vets endorsement. More identity politics, like EMILY's List endorsement of the other conservative in the race, Donna Mercado Kim.

As the Vote Vets PAC has highlighted for years, unemployment and homelessness have long been rampant among veterans.

As a Democratic back bencher in Hawaii’s legislature for the past 20 years, Takai has compiled precious few legislative accomplishments. Takai is a former athlete at the University of Hawaii, and much of his work has focused on raising money for the school’s athletic department (notably, not for its libraries). But over the last three years, his other pet cause has been imposing warrantless, suspicionless drug tests on anyone seeking public benefits.

Served your country in Iraq and Afghanistan, but returned home to face difficulty finding good work and feeding your kids? Takai wants you tested for drugs.

He introduced legislation for that purpose in both 2012 and 2013. The 2012 bill would have imposed the most stringent drug-testing program in the country, requiring all applicants for temporary assistance for needy families to pass a drug test as a prerequisite to receiving any benefits. A failed test would result in the applicant being denied benefits. That bill went nowhere. The 2013 bill had an even more far-reaching policy goal: “to ensure that only those who choose not to use illegal drugs” would be eligible for any “public assistance programs.” The proposal was mitigated by the prerequisite of cost-benefit analysis. Takai’s colleagues recognized suspicionless drug testing of welfare recipients is not only cruel, but also inefficient, and also defeated this bill.

In Wednesday night’s debate-- the final candidate forum before the August 9th Democratic primary-- Takai had the nerve to express concern for the more than 800 homeless veterans in Hawaii. But it’s clear he’s much more of a pro-military candidate than a pro-veteran candidate.

He’s been most comfortable in debates talking about the need for more Pentagon spending. It’s a topic he turns to again and again-- often including strong critiques of President Obama (despite this being Obama’s birthplace and a 70-percent Obama district)-- even giving exclusive interviews to right-wing blogs and talk shows.

Takai’s use of his military uniform while campaigning and constant defense references are attempts to give him some foreign-policy gravitas. But he in a recent debacle, he showed he’s over his head when it comes to foreign affairs, while also committing a serious ethical breach.

Takai took a free trip-- valued at $8,000-- to Azerbaijan last year to participate in a conference sponsored by oil companies. He came back home and promptly introduced two resolutions drafted by the Azerbaijan government-- expressing anti-Armenian viewpoints-- and actually scheduled them in his committee. An international embarrassment was narrowly avoided as Armenian-Americans from Hawaii and U.S. Mainland expressed outrage and convinced Takai’s colleagues to defeat the resolutions.

Ben Lowenthal, a local newspaper columnist has more on the story:

And what about an oil-company sponsored holiday? Is that an ethical problem? No way, says Takai. Civil Beat reported that Takai explained to its reporters that at the time of the trip, the Hawaii Legislature had not addressed any relevant issues that directly would benefit Azerbaijan so there was no ethical problem in going on the trip.

But that may not be the case for the future. Taka and Cabanilla introduced in the House this session two resolutions addressing a very touchy subject in that part of the world.

House Resolution 13 states a number of facts that you would not expect to find floating around our legislature. It addresses an armed conflict that broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia as the Soviet Union collapsed. The countries have been (and continue to be) locked in a territorial dispute for some time.

According to the resolution, the town of Khojaly in Azerbaijan was the site of a massacre on February 25 and 26, 1992. There, the resolution states that six-hundred men, women, and children were killed, and thousands were wounded and captured by Armenian and Russian forces. The resolution marks the twenty-second anniversary of the “Khojaly tragedy.” The other resolution urges the United States to strengthen ties to Azerbaijan in coming up with some kind of settlement with Armenia over this disputed region.

The factual claims in the resolutions have been hotly disputed by our local Armenian-American community and the greater Armenian population.

. . . Mark Takai doesn’t seem to have a problem with taking sides. Last year he-- along with other American legislators-- signed off on a birthday note to the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev. Takai congratulated Aliyev in his efforts to reduce crime within the country and promoting allegiances abroad.

Aliyev has been criticized by many diplomats and those that follow international relations as an autocrat. After taking office in 2003, he eliminated term limits for himself from the constitution. He’s been accused of running a corrupt government, clamping down on a free press, and rigged elections. The infamous Wikileaks website released a cache of diplomatic cables in 2012 that compare him to a mafia crime boss. Surely, Takai was aware of this before congratulating him on reducing crime in his country eight time zones away, right?

With just over two weeks left in what figures to be a close election (with seven candidates), Takai is scrambling for support and even reaching out to gun guys. The Hawaii Rifle Association recently lauded him for his “supportive record,” which the organization noted contrasts with his two main rivals in the congressional race, Donna Kim and Stanley Chang. A Hawaii-based gun rights blog last week featured this entry: “I have been personally been contacted by Mark Takai requesting my vote and monetary contribution toward his campaign. . . He claims to be the closest one that will get an endorsement from HRA.” On his campaign website, Takai goes out of his way to voice his support for hunting and notes he’s only concerned about regulating “military grade weapons.”

Courting the Right has been part of Takai’s campaign strategy throughout his tenure. For instance, he’s repeatedly bragged to the Hawaii Family Forum that he opposes the right of rape victims to receive emergency contraception at all hospitals.

Amazingly, Takai is being touted in some circles as the progressive choice in this race. But how could anyone who pays attention to his record possibly fall for that one?

Thankfully, Chang provides an actual liberal alternative.

He’s been winning the debates with clearly stated progressive views-- he was the only candidate Wednesday to state concern about children refugees at the border-- as noted in real time via social media:

Chang: It’s our responsibility to facilitate open, transparent consensus building process with Native Hawaiians #KITVdebate
— Honolulu Civil Beat (@CivilBeat) July 24, 2014

Could be just me but Stanley Chang has the clearest platform and clearest message delivery. #KITVdebate
— Cedric Duarte (@cedricduarte) July 24, 2014

RT @CivilBeat: Chang: Create new industries to move economy forward. Clean energy is a great example #KITVdebate
— Climate Hawks Vote (@ClimateHawkVote) July 24, 2014

So pleased that the people of HI-1 got to hear from @stanleypchang tonight on @kitv4 #hipol #kitvdebate pic.twitter.com/X6VtsEPskS
— Alina Meltaus (@alinacm) July 24, 2014

You won. RT @stanleypchang: I will not only protect, I will expand social security. What did you think of the debate? #HI01
— Jeff Melland (@Jeff_Melland) July 24, 2014

A committed environmentalist and civil libertarian, Chang has been endorsed by People for the American Way, the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, the new Climate Hawks Vote and Blue America. With absentee voting already underway, Chang needs help in getting out the vote to ensure the only progressive candidate emerges as the victor in this crowded field, and that neither of the two conservatives from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party, Kim and Takai, pulls the wool over voters' eyes and succeeds as passing themselves off as progressives.

Stanley with Juan Antonio Vargas