Two Weeks From Tomorrow-- Oregon Voters Have A Chance To Send Kurt Schrader Off To Join Lipinski In The Blue Dog Kennel

There aren't any Democrats in the House more ideologically antithetical to the legitimate aspirations of working class Americans than Oregon Blue Dog Kurt Schrader. And 2 weeks from tomorrow the all mail-in primary threatening to replace him with a champion of those same working and middle class Oregonians ends. After that, we'll either be celebrating Mark Gamba's victory in a blue district the way we were celebrating Marie Newman's a few weeks ago, or we'll be kicking ourselves for not having done more.

Last week's Northwest Labor Press endorsed candidates in the Oregon races unions felt we're most important. In several there were split endorsements-- as in Eugene, where the endorsement was split between incumbent Peter DeFazio and progressive challenger Doyle Canning and in Portland where the labor vote is split between incumbent Earl Blumenauer and progressive challenger Albert Lee. But in OR-05 there was no such split. In the Salem, Clackamas, coastal district all the union support-- from AFM, AFT, IBT, ILWU, SEIU, WFP-- and the endorsement all went to one candidate-- and it wasn't the reactionary Republican-lite incumbent.

Mark Gamba, the mayor of Milwaukie, is challenging five-term incumbent Kurt Schrader, who has one of the worst labor records of any Democrat in the House. Not only has Schrader voted for every NAFTA-style trade treaty, but he voted to restrict unionization on Indian reservations, sponsored a bill to stop slowdowns by longshore workers, and has engaged in public carping against the national AFL-CIO. This February he was one of only seven Democrats to vote against a bill to make it easier to unionize and eliminate anti-union “right to work” laws. Half a dozen national unions have given a total of about $20,000 to Schrader in the last two years, but no local union appears to back him, and his campaign declined to list any union endorsers or provide a list of union endorsers to the Labor Press. With a $3 million campaign war chest full of contributions from business groups, Schrader may not feel he needs labor support. Meanwhile, Gamba is a well-liked mayor who helped build affordable housing and pass a $15-an-hour minimum wage for city employees. He’s a big advocate of Medicare for All and a Green New Deal.

The Willametter Weekly is now a more establishment-oriented publication and no one expects them to be politically cutting edge any longer. Oregonians expect them to back incumbents-- and, in every case that's exactly what they did this cycle. Although... in reading the Schrader endorsement, one had to wonder what message the editors were actually sending voters.

The flinty former veterinarian did draw a Democratic primary opponent to his left this time: two-term Milwaukie Mayor Mark Gamba, 61, who has moved aggressively to get his city to adopt ambitious climate goals and a generous minimum wage. Schrader, a budget expert in his earlier career as a state legislator representing Canby, hasn't welcomed Gamba's input, accusing his opponent of trying to foist "elitist" metro-area policies on a working-class congressional district that extends from Portland's western suburbs to the central coast. That's funny, given that Schrader is a pharmaceutical industry heir and Gamba is a freelance photographer whose mayoral pay is $3,600 a year.

We like seeing Schrader annoyed-- it seems to wake him up a bit. As a member of the centrist Blue Dog Democrats and the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, he's taken public positions that reflect the balanced nature of his district but can also feel like fence-sitting. (GovTrack, which crunches numbers on members of Congress, ranked Schrader the fifth-most conservative of the 200 Democrats who served in the 2018 session). Schrader publicly opposed the reelection of Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) as House speaker when Democrats reclaimed the majority. And he was slow to call for President Trump's impeachment-- in fact, he was the last Democratic member of Oregon's congressional delegation to support it.

But the most important of the endorserments came from the Portland Mercury, which made a powerful and compelling case for Mark Gamba, reminding its readers that "Rep. Kurt Schrader has a curious distinction: He’s largely recognized as one of the most conservative Democrats in Congress. Whether he’s voting on environmental policies, easing regulations for corporations, or opposing a federal minimum wage raise, Schrader is at best a reliably moderate member of Congress, and at worst a Republican disguised as a Democrat."

Schrader represents a very purple district that includes much of the Oregon Coast as well as Clackamas County, so some might argue he’s the best fit for the seat. But for Clackamas County voters who don’t feel Schrader is representing their values, we suggest instead voting for Milwaukie Mayor Mark Gamba in the primary. Gamba hopes to make universal healthcare and a Green New Deal his top priorities if elected, and has a track record of progressive accomplishments in Milwaukie.

And even if he doesn’t win, a strong primary showing for Gamba might send Schrader a message about what Democrats in his district value. If you want to shake up the status quo, vote for Gamba.

Even if you can't vote in the Oregon primary, please consider contributing to Gamba's campaign by clicking on the Blue America Primary A Blue Dog thermometer above. This is one of the best chances left in the 2020 cycle to replace a very bad Democrat with a very good Democrat. Gamba entitled the first guest post he wrote for DWT-- last July-- What We Need Are A Lot More People Like AOC In Congress. At the time, he wrote that "As a country, we have some very serious things to accomplish, some of them have a very short clock. We have 11 years, as of now, to radically shift the way our country does a whole lot of things like how we make energy, grow food, manage forests, build buildings and transport people and goods. It’s going to take a Congress with a can-do attitude and the guts to stand up to corporations, to tackle these issues."

But it was an e-mail he send to his supporters last January that made me redouble my efforts of his behalf:

What can we do to address the fact that the rich are getting richer and the middle class and poor are  struggling to keep up with the costs of living?

Many children in today’s America will be poorer than their parents.

We need to identify the systems allowing this to happen. Then we need to dismantle them.

There is absolutely no reason why income equality should be on the rise when we can see the catastrophic effects of it in recent history.

...I will work to pass legislation that takes on the business behemoths and stops them in their tracks. Together with other representatives like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar, I will hold corporate demagogues’ feet to the fire and demand accountability where inequity has previously reigned.

Income inequality is a systemic failing, not a personal one. To tackle it requires courage, persistence, and a national community standing shoulder to shoulder. I am proud to stand on the front lines with you and for you as we turn the tables and create economic freedom for ALL.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cheri Bustos, Koch brothers ally against working families

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I will continue to fight for it with your support.

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

Reward Candidates Whose E-mails Aren't Meaningless Spam-- Meet Mark Gamba Of Oregon

Remember that series I started a couple of months ago to demonstrate how candidates can write worthwhile e-mails rather than the hackish garbage turned out by the media consultants spawned by the DCCC? We've got another one today, this by the progressive mayor of Milwaukie, Oregon, Mark Gamba, who is competing for a congressional seat with reactionary Blue Dog Kurt Schrader. It does what every e-mail to voters should do; it lets the reader know what kind of a representative the writer will be. Mark doesn't say he will work with Pelosi and Hoyer to protect the status quo. Instead he says "Together with other representatives like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar, I will hold corporate demagogues’ feet to the fire and demand accountability where inequity has previously reigned." Isn't that the kind of elected officials we want in office-- need in office?

Currently, Schrader has raised $736,454 (with $2,836,780 of corporate cash in his war chest) to $77,201 raised by Gamba. Obviously Mark needs some help. I hope after you read the e-mail he just sent to his list you'll consider chipping in for his campaign-- which you can do by clicking on the 2020 Primary A Blue Dog thermometer on the right. One candidate in this race is actively campaigning for Medicare for All, for affordable house and for implementing the Green New Deal-- and the other candidate is leading the fight against both. In terms of the progressive agenda, Kurt Schrader is no better than an actual  Republican. That's a heavy statement, but, it is very precise and exactly correct. Kurt Schrader votes with the Democratic establishment on many of their bills-- after helping water them down-- but when it comes to anything remotely progressive, Schrader can always be counted on to be on the warpath to kill, kill, kill.

This is Gamba's e-mail:

I want to take a moment to address a question  on many peoples'  minds these days.

What can we do to address the fact that the rich are getting richer and the middle class and poor are  struggling to keep up with the costs of living?

Many children in today’s America will be poorer than their parents.

We need to identify the systems allowing this to happen. Then we need to dismantle them.

There is absolutely no reason why income equality should be on the rise when we can see the catastrophic effects of it in recent history.

We need only look to the 20th century to see the relationship between economic discontent and the rise of political extremism. The Nazi party offered a way out of deepening poverty and economic instability that financially overburdened people were willing to follow.

America’s true polarization is not Republican vs. Democrat. It is a segregation of wealth and resources from the majority of Americans.

We all want to have our basic needs met. We all need to have stable work and good health.

In 1890 the United States of America passed The Sherman Act, the first of a series of anti-trust laws designed to prevent companies from forming industry monopolies and suffocating competitors. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis believed that large corporations struck at the very soul of American democracy, limiting the opportunities of the average American to thrive.

The rise of mega-corporations and multinational conglomerates today are directly responsible for the widening gap in income between rich and poor.

For example, Boeing’s late CEO, Dennis Muilenburg was given a severance package of at least $26 million but potentially up to $60 million DESPITE failing to heed several safety warnings on the Boeing 737 MAX  which cost hundreds of people their lives.

I promise you, a barista at Starbucks isn’t going to be offered millions after negligent manslaughter. They’ll go bankrupt trying to pay for legal fees.

We need to break up the big companies like Amazon and Facebook. We need to interrupt corporate escapism and hold executives responsible for the impact of their sacrosanct “bottom line”. Corporations are set up to protect people like Muilenburg whose criminal choices destroy families, communities, and the planet. This is wrong.

I will work to pass legislation that takes on the business behemoths and stops them in their tracks. Together with other representatives like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar, I will hold corporate demagogues’ feet to the fire and demand accountability where inequity has previously reigned.

Income inequality is a systemic failing, not a personal one. To tackle it requires courage, persistence, and a national community standing shoulder to shoulder. I am proud to stand on the front lines with you and for you as we turn the tables and create economic freedom for ALL.

In solidarity,

Mark Gamba

Congress Needs More Mayors, Fewer Corporate Executives-- Meet Mark Gamba Of Milwaukie, Oregon (Pop- 20,000)

It wasn't hard for Blue America to decide to endorse Mark Gamba for Congress. He's running for an Oregon seat held by one of the most venal Blue Dogs in the House, Kurt Schrader, and Mark's record as mayor of Milwaukie speaks as loudly as his stellar platform. I asked him to introduce himself to DWT readers today. If you like what you read, please consider contributing to his uphill, grassroots campaign by clicking on the 2020 Primary a Blue Dog thermometer below.


What We Need Are A Lot More People Like AOC In Congress
by Mark Gamba

I occasionally hear this question: “Why should we elect a small-town mayor to Congress?”

Here is my answer: We have a plethora of problems facing America right now: We are the only industrialized nation on earth that does not have universal health care and this has been the case for a couple of decades. We spend more on our military industrial complex than the next 10 largest militaries in the world combined-- six of which are our allies. We have more of our citizens incarcerated than any other country on earth. Our infrastructure is crumbling, our schools are underfunded, more and more people are homeless every day and we have not done a damn thing about the greatest existential crisis that human kind has ever faced-- Climate change.

Why do you think sending the same status quo, corporate sellouts back to Congress, year after year, is going to change any of that?”

Perhaps it’s time to replace many of them with Mayors who have actually proven they can get stuff done and truly serve the people who elected them! I’ve been the Mayor of my small town for 4 years; I’ve been on the council a little over 6 years.

When I ran for Mayor I didn’t have any experience doing that either.

And yet I got things done:

I was told by the current all-male council that it was impossible to fund the build out of our safe routes to school, and the rest of our active transportation system, and that was when we thought it would cost around $30 million. Once I encouraged and helped a couple of smart women run for council and replace two of those obstinate men, and we actually did the work, we found that it was going to be more like $50 million. With outstanding outreach, we engaged with the community and gave people opportunities for input. The council passed the plan and the funding mechanism and we will have it built out in 9 years. That’s just one concrete example. People had been asking for sidewalks for decades, councils had been failing to build them for decades.

As a country, we have some very serious things to accomplish, some of them have a very short clock. We have 11 years, as of now, to radically shift the way our country does a whole lot of things like how we make energy, grow food, manage forests, build buildings and transport people and goods. It’s going to take a congress with a can-do attitude and the guts to stand up to corporations, to tackle these issues.

Having vast experience navigating the vicissitudes of corporate lobbyists and the obstructionist behavior from the other side of the isle has managed to solve exactly zero of these major problems, as a matter of fact I would say that things have actually gotten worse over the last few decades. Everyone below the top 10% of the population is getting poorer, less money is being spent on affordable housing, infrastructure and education. Simultaneously the top 0.1% are getting dramatically richer and we are spending more subsidizing the very industries that are killing our planet. Tell me how all of that experience is benefiting us?

I would argue that the most effective congressperson at the moment is the former bartender from Brooklyn. She doesn’t take corporate money and is therefore not beholden to the lobbyists; she is there for the right reason which is to serve the people’s best interests-- all the people, not just the rich people. She is bold, smart, aggressive and is not “doing it the way it’s always been done.” What we need are a lot more people like AOC in Congress. Let’s take climate change as an example.

The U.S. government has known for at least three decades, what it is and what it will do if left unchecked, and for three decades we have allowed Big Coal, Oil and Gas to dictate our policy. We have dabbled around the edges and utterly failed to address the biggest threat to our species in the history of humankind.

It’s not rocket science, it’s not like we need to learn a whole lot more to solve the problem. We just have to have the political will to do it.

For starters we need to utterly stop subsidizing the industries that seem dead set on killing us.

Secondly, we need to put a price on carbon-- simple, straight forward, no carve outs, no exceptions.

Those two alone will send the economic signal to change. Had we done them both 30 years ago, it might have been enough, but now it’s not.

So, we need the Green New Deal. Which apparently required someone who hadn’t been in congress for a decade to kick start.

We need to hire and train millions of people for living wage jobs that help people and our environment:

We need to carefully and effectively replace all the HFCs in all the refrigerators and air conditioners worldwide with natural refrigerants.

We need to build solar, wind (on and offshore), geothermal, tidal and wave energy systems as fast as we can until there is enough to power our entire country.

We need energy storage systems created and installed-- like Lithium Ion batteries, flow batteries, pump storage, hydrogen and more.

We need to build a smart grid.

We need to upgrade our building codes to Net Zero ready.

We need to upgrade our existing building stock to radically increase their energy efficiency.

We need to accelerate the switch to electric vehicles and create an enticing trade-in process to encourage anyone willing to trade in their gasoline powered vehicles.

We need to radically increase our mass transit systems-- electrify them, make them faster, more efficient and far more robust. Make transit the faster, more efficient, more comfortable way to get to work.

We need to build out our bike and pedestrian infrastructure and subsidize electric bikes.

We need to begin to convert farming to much more sustainable methods, switch no-till farming and restore our soils. We should radically reduce the chemicals we use for farming. We need to break up giant agribusinesses by ending subsidies to them and instead subsidize smaller family farms that are farming sustainably and growing food that is healthy for people and non-destructive to the planet.

We need to encourage more plant-based diets by giving people a chance to experience really great vegetarian options and teach people how to prepare those themselves.

We need to change the way we manage forests: longer rotations, selective cuts, maintain all current old growth and begin to restore it. We probably need to plant and nurture about a trillion trees worldwide. Instead of investing in war overseas perhaps we could invest in protecting, restoring and enlarging the great forests of the planet.

We need to educate girls and provide family planning worldwide; these are some of the most powerful things we can do to help alleviate poverty and slow and reverse population growth.

We need to buy less stuff and we need to make sure that the stuff we buy isn’t designed to break as soon as the warranty expires (designed obsolescence) and can be completely reused by the manufacturer when it does need to be replaced (cradle to cradle). We should also have tool libraries available in all communities so that we don’t have to buy things we will only use once or twice.

There are about 100 things beyond these that need doing just to address climate change and poverty. We can easily employ all the people in the carbon industries and millions more to do get them done. In the process we can lift people out of poverty and make sure that this transition improves the lives of the marginalized communities more than it does the billionaires.

I’d imagine that most of congress thinks this can’t be done. I don’t really care what they think, I know it MUST be done and so I will not take no for an answer and I will not be stopped. Maybe what we need is a congress full of small-town mayors that have done the impossible already.

Primaries Are A Healthy Component Of Democracy But... Some Are More Crucial, In Effect, Than Others

Frances Motiwalla

The district right next door to mine, CA-34, includes Angelino Heights, Eagle Rock, Highland Park, El Sereno, Koreatown, Lincoln Hights, Boyle Heights, the Arts District, Chinatown, City Terrace... I'll tell you how great this district is. It's the only district in Los Angeles where Bernie beat Hillary in 2016. It's a young, vibrant, bustling district, alive with immigrants working to make a better life for themselves and their families. The district is 65% Latino and 20% Asian and the PVI is D+35. Trump won just 10.7% of the vote there.

In 2017 there was a special election to replace Xavier Becerra, who was reelected Attorney General and Blue America helped elect state Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez. He beat a more conservative Democrat, Robert Lee Ahn, in a very low turnout race-- 25,569 (59.2%) to 17,610 (40.8%). Gomez has been a bit of a disappointment in Congress. He takes dirty money and hangs back on important congressional activities. In the end, he pretty much always votes right but anyone who was looking for a leader from the most cutting edge district in Southern California (as we were) is disappointed. ProgressivePunch rates him an "A" and his lifetime crucial vote score is a hearty 95.14%-- right between Barbara Lee and Jerry Nadler. Hard to ask for anything better... except for some leadership. He always seems to hang back. He gets behind things like the Green New Deal and Medicare-For-All after everyone else has. He's not what we expected when we backed him-- no real regrets, but... Wouldn't it be great to have someone like AOC or Rashida Tlaib? The district can easily support that kind of leader.

So it was exciting this week to hear from a young activist, Frances Motiwalla, who is seriously considering primarying Gomez. I went to meet her over the weekend. Definitely AOC material, no question about it.

We'll come back to Jimmy and Frances sooner or later, but what I want to talk about now is something that Marie Newman, the progressive Democrat primarying Blue Dog Dan Lipinski in Chicagoland for the second consecutive cycle reminded me about over the weekend. She told me on Sunday, "alignment with your district is everything. If current incumbents are not in alignment, yes they should be primaried for sure. However, if an incumbent is still in strong alignment and producing proactive ideas, we should not be primarying just to do it. As a party, we need to work with focus and clarity."

I think primaries in general are healthy for democracy and I still agree with Marie and think there should be some kind of prioritization for organizations who work in the field. Yesterday I spent a lot of time on the phone with a super-progressive mayor in Milwaukie, Oregon, Mark Gamba. Mark, a full-on Berniecrat with a stellar record of accomplishment to prove it, is primarying one of the most venal Blue Dogs in the House, Kurt Schrader. How much more important is it to steer all the help we can to Gamba, while taking a back seat when it comes to races launched against incumbents who are merely... disappointing.

Yesterday a Chicago attorney, Andrew Heldut, popped up out of nowhere to say he's primarying one of the most effective progressives in the House, Jan Schakowsky. She's been a great member for her constituents (and for the country). I can't wait to see what kind of case Heldut makes. So far it was just that she's old and it's time for new leadership and that he's Polish-American. I doubt that'll fly in Schakowsky's district-- which goes from Lincoln Park through Evanston and Wilmette up to Winnetka and then west as far as Morton Grove, Des Plaines and Arlington Heights. That race hasn't moved me yet-- not the way Gamba's and Newman's have. And it isn't as intriguing as Motiwalla's either.

I noticed that Sunday USMC colonel (ret) and Iraq War veteran Sheila Bryant, an attorney launched a primary challenge against New Dem Anthony Brown, pointing out that he's detached from his job and just using it as stepping stone for a second run for governor in 2022. ProgressivePunch gives him a "D" grade-- far from acceptable in a district with a PVI of D+28 and where Hillary beat Trump 77.2% to 19.7%. So we'll look into Ms. Bryant and see if how much better a Rep. she would be. Like Brown, she's a Harvard graduate and a Bronze Star recipient. Her activism has been mostly in the field of criminal justice reform and is also running on affordable housing and healthcare. She made a good case for challenging him: "Anthony Brown doesn’t understand the tremendous urgency of now. Our president is out of control, our country is not dealing with our problems, and we need leadership that is ready to speak up, speak out and make a difference, not just show up to vote and call it a week. The country is falling apart, and Anthony Brown is treating Congress like it’s his nine-to-five, all while hoping he can use this as a stepping stone for the governorship. Congress is not a day job-- it’s a calling, and that’s why I’m running for this seat."

And then yesterday, Eric Swalwell decided to stop messing around with a pointless presidential "run" and get back home to the East Bay and see if Hayward, Dublin. Pleasanton, Union City and Livermore voters are still with him. While he wasn't minding the store, Aisha Wahab, a member of the Hayward City Council, decided to run. She has quite a following among activists and he may be in for a real fight. She's a lot more progressive than he is, with his ProgressivePunch lifetime crucial vote rating of "D."