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Democrats 
Mon Feb 28, 2011 at 02:53:44 AM MST
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So it's Day 3 of my fake campaign for Congress, and we've run into our first obstacle
The Fake Campaign, as you may recall, is fake headed for Wisconsin, to show solidarity, and we've fake hitched a ride on a delivery truck headed for Rush Limbaugh's Florida broadcasting studios-but we fake found ourselves caught up in the all-too-real Giant Grip Of Winter that has seized the Midwest over the past week.
We're back on the road now, but we were stuck for darn near a half-day there at Wall...and if you know anything about South Dakota, you know there are really only two things to do in the City of Wall: you can shuffle back and forth between Gold Diggers and the Badlands Bar, partaking of numerous intoxicating liquors along the way...or you can head on into Wall Drug (the same one that's on all those bumper stickers and signs) and partake of the finest display of Giant Jackalopia on the planet.
The Campaign, naturally, chose Jackalopia-and that's why today's Manifesto is all about the fake impromptu 5-cent-coffee-fueled Social Security Town Hall that we held in the Wall Drug Mall for several hours while we waited for I-90 to reopen.
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Wed Jan 26, 2011 at 13:15:32 PM MST
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( - promoted by Fong)
Deep down I knew they were probably bullshitting us again, but I had somehow hoped Democratic Senators wouldn't get punked on filibuster reform by their intransigent colleagues.
They did: "To be able to invoke the constitutional option, a resolution has to be placed on the Senate calendar and to place something on the calendar you need unanimous consent," a Senate aide said. "Unanimous consent was rejected last night." So I don't want to hear this bullshit from Mark Udall. And I don't want to hear this bullshit from Michael Bennet.
When they are fired for dereliction of duty by Colorado's voters they should know the primary reason is they were too cowardly to take on the most dysfunctional institution in DC: The United States Senate. They instead chose to bullshit their constituents and pretend they were going to do something about the filibuster.
They didn't.
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Sun Jan 16, 2011 at 12:15:11 PM MST
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There have been many unlikely things that have happened this past month or so: some of them appearing as legislation, some of them appearing in the form of Republicans who set new records for running away from the words they used to get elected-and some of them appearing in the markets, where, believe it or not, many Europeans finds themselves wishing for our economic situation right about now.
There are even improbable sports stories: our frequently hapless Seattle Seahawks, the only team to ever make the NFL Playoffs with a losing record, are today preparing to knock the Chicago Bears out of their bid to play in the Super Bowl, having crushed the defending holders of the Lombardi Trophy just last week before the 12th Man in Seattle.
But as improbable as all that is, the one thing I never thought I would see is Barack Obama getting into a political argument with himself over Social Security-and then losing the argument.
Even more improbably, it looks like there's just about a week left for him to come to a decision...and it looks like you're going to have to help him make up his mind.
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Sat Jan 15, 2011 at 10:17:14 AM MST
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It is about time for the 112th House to come back into session, and the first thing on the agenda appears to be an effort to take away any healthcare reform that have been passed by this Administration.
Next comes an effort to slash Social Security and Medicare, an effort to reverse financial reforms, and proposals to "slash" spending-but only on domestic discretionary items.
If the House majority had its way there would be no restrictions on offshore drilling, no rules designed to prevent climate change-in fact, few if any environmental protections at all...and all of this is intended to bring to life the philosophy that government, for all intents and purposes, should just go away and leave us all alone.
I don't buy into that kind of thinking-not even a little bit-and today we're going to look around the world and see if we can't figure out why.
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Sat Jan 08, 2011 at 11:29:56 AM MST
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( - promoted by Fong)
Atrios:When will Democrats learn that running as a Democrat who hates Democrats doesn't really work all that well?
Too late as well for Markey. Salazar will need a reminder if he runs for Congress again.
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Thu Jan 06, 2011 at 09:46:16 AM MST
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We have been following the story of Betsie Gallardo lately, she being the woman that, due to a medical decision, was being starved to death in a Florida prison.
She has inoperable cancer, her death is imminent, and her mother was working hard to make it possible for Betsie to die at home with some dignity.
As we reported just a couple days ago, half the battle was already won, as the Florida Department of Corrections had agreed to place her in a hospital so that she could again go back on nutritional support.
On January 5th, the Florida Parole Commission voted to allow her to end her life at home-and that means you spoke out, made a difference, and achieved a complete victory for the effort.
But even as we celebrate that victory, I think we should take a moment to realize that there is a bigger lesson here: the lesson that the fights over "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT), benefits for 9/11 first responders (the Zadroga Bill), and Betsie Gallardo's imminent release are all actually pointing us to a political strategy that works, over and over, if we are willing to understand the wisdom that's been laid before us.
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Mon Jan 03, 2011 at 07:28:21 AM MST
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I was told by my more aggressively Lefty friends before the election that even if the Republicans won control or one or both houses of Congress it would not really be that different. I can even suppose that is true, from a 100,000 foot perspective. There will be legislation that we don't approve of, there will be fights about funding unemployment for the growing number of Americans who are becoming 99ers and other issues. It is to be hoped and expected that the President will hold the line on issues like abortion or the Affordable Care Act, but there will be some horse trading that none of us will enjoy because even though the Republicans are in large part insane, the work of the government has to continue.
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Thu Dec 30, 2010 at 07:27:26 AM MST
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The abuse of the filibuster has been a story that every political junkie in the nation is aware of. It might be a little opaque to most folks but the fact is that right now a filibuster, which is just an insistence of continuing the debate and amendment process in the Senate, does nothing of the sort. When a motion for cloture (cutting off of debate and moving to voting) fails in the current Senate, that august body does not keep working on the issue at hand but moves on to other work.
This is where legislation basically dies or is pushed to the end of the year where Republicans can complain that it is "being rammed down the throats of the American people". It also holds up nominations for things like Ambassadors and Federal Judgeships.
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Thu Dec 16, 2010 at 23:52:11 PM MST
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So it has come to pass that Elizabeth Edwards has died.
Despite having more things thrown at her than anyone I've ever had the chance to support in my entire political life, she managed to represent, in her very presence, a sense of grace and kindness and concern for those who were looking to have a better life than the one they had now, and I don't know that I could ever live up to the quiet courage she showed as her life came to an end.
And, bless her heart, it appears that she took the time to make sure that her kids knew her, and that she helped them put away enough "past" to, hopefully, ease some of the pain of the future.
But now the time has come to look beyond death, and, John...that's why I want to talk to you today.
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Thu Dec 09, 2010 at 02:14:39 AM MST
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So here it is, almost halfway through this President's first term, and it's starting to become abundantly clear that there is no way Obama is going to pursue the same agenda that he ran on in 2008.
In fact, as the President announces a deal that even he agrees the majority of the American people do not support, and he prepares the Nation for the news that we're going to have to borrow money for the very tax cuts he said we couldn't afford a few weeks ago, it's starting to look like Obama isn't even going to pursue the same agenda he campaigned for in October.
Now it is true that a lot of the problem here is the President's-but it's also fair to say that we Progressives have failed to force the President, and certain reluctant Members of Congress, to govern in a way that promotes that agenda.
That's a real problem, and it needs a real solution; before we get done today I'll offer a suggestion that could be not only highly effective, and a lot of fun besides, but a great chance to release your artistic muse as well.
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Wed Dec 01, 2010 at 22:02:20 PM MST
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I took a couple of weeks off, as Thanksgiving and snow came around (a subject we'll address in a day or so), but we are all again occupied as lots of things we've been talking about either will or won't come to pass, and it seems like all that's happening all at once.
Today we'll take on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT); this because the Pentagon's top leadership just came out and reported that revocation of the policy, following a period of preparation, would be their preferred way to go.
There will be lots of others who will take on the question of what's right and wrong here, and exactly how implementation might occur; my interest is, instead, to focus on one little fact that makes all teh rest of the conversation a lot more relevant.
That is the fact that about 70,000 LBGT troops serve in the military today, DADT notwithstanding, and, that if it wasn't for DADT, almost 45,000 more troops would be serving that aren't today.
And that one little fact leads to today's Great Big Question: exactly how much military would 115,000 troops be, exactly?
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Tue Nov 16, 2010 at 09:13:14 AM MST
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Over the course of the past couple of weeks we've been talking about how the War On Social Security was about to get under way and what happens when countries choose to privatize their systems.
Today we take on another bite-sized chunk of economic analysis: how can you get to a situation where Social Security is financially stable for the next 75 years?
We'll describe some proposals that are out there-but the big focus of this conversation will be to look at one change that, all by itself, could not only solve the entire funding problem, but could actually allow us to lower the Social Security tax rate, immediately, and still achieve fiscal balance.
"Well, if that's such a bright idea" you might ask, "why haven't we adopted it already?"
That's a great question-and after you hear the proposal, you may well have explanations of your own.
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Wed Nov 10, 2010 at 06:17:50 AM MST
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( - promoted by Fong)
So if you've been following my work lately, you know that there is a renewed effort underway to change Social Security, and that the fight officially began just this very morning.
Now what's supposed to happen is that a television ad buy sponsored by a Wall Street billionaire is supposed to get you enthused about cutting your own Social Security benefits in the future; this is the tip of a "disinformation iceberg" that is trying to get you to act, right now, because if you don't you will never, ever, ever, ever, see a single dime of Social Security when you get older.
I was on a "let's talk strategy" conference call today that laid out some ideas for the "next steps"; we'll be talking about that call over the next couple of stories...but for today, we're going to talk about something you can do that will bring the message right to your favorite Member of Congress.
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Sat Nov 06, 2010 at 19:01:06 PM MST
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( - promoted by Fong)
It is my job to bring to you not just the news that took place, but the news that has yet to happen.
Today, that's exactly what we have.
There is a war coming to try to change Social Security from a social safety net to a "revenue stream" for certain corporate interests, and that war is set to begin Tuesday morning, according to information that was provided to me yesterday afternoon.
Follow along, and you'll be both forewarned and forearmed.
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Fri Nov 05, 2010 at 13:51:47 PM MST
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( - promoted by Fong)
As Democrats/progressives we don't have a lot to be proud of after this election. Yes Hickenlooper won the governorship, but it's not like there was any doubt. We barely held on to the Senate seat, but in doing so cost ourselves a lot more. This diary is about how the Colorado democrats nearly lost everything because of incompetence and decisions made because of personal allegiances over professional ability.
This is going to be long, but I think the full story needs to be heard to understand...
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Wed Nov 03, 2010 at 11:23:30 AM MST
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( - promoted by Fong)
The Republican spin has started:
"'Listening to what they've had to say this morning, they may have missed the message," McConnell warned. "I get the impression that their view is that we haven't cooperated enough. I think what the American people were saying yesterday is they appreciated us saying 'no' to things that the American people indicated that they were not in agreement with.'"
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo...
Gridlock and Congressional hearings to stymie any work the administration can do.
Wasting taxpayer dollars on "tin foil hat" investigations. Does anyone remember the 43 million dollars spent on Whitewater? Or the numerous investigations into Vince Foster's suicide?
This is what President Obama will face for the last two years of his term relentless investigations aided by Fox News.
When the Party of "NO" believes in their own mantra of "all government is bad" then they will govern badly to reinforce their ideological goal.
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Wed Nov 03, 2010 at 05:39:39 AM MST
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Okay, we got beaten. We did, there is no getting around it. What is important is why did we get beaten? Is it a repudiation of liberal policies? No. Is it that the nation is center-right and wants government to be that way too? No, else the voters would not have put the Republicans in the driver's seat. The reason we lost as a party is a political failure on our part. We did not excite our base and the Republicans did excite theirs, it really is that simple.
In the last four election cycles the party with the most excited base won. 2004, 2006, 2008 and this cycle all saw the base of the party who won turn out and that swept along the low-information independents. I am not talking about folks who have left one party or the other but still vote for them, but the real independents. To quote Blazing Saddles, simple farmers, the common clay of the New West, you know, morons.
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Tue Oct 26, 2010 at 14:06:02 PM MST
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( - promoted by Fong)
It's been a few days now since we began a conversation that addresses the issue of how frustrated some number of LBGT voters are with the Democratic Party this cycle; this because they find themselves either frustrated at the lack of progress on the civil rights issues that matter to them, or because they see both the Democratic and Republican Parties as unreliable partners in the struggle to assure equal rights for all.
In an effort to practice some actual journalism, I assembled a version of an online "focus group" at The Bilerico Project ("daily adventures in LBGTQ"), with the goal of gathering some opinions on this subject in the actual words of those frustrated voters.
Part One of this story focused on "stating the problem", and today we'll take on Part Two: in this environment, with Election Day staring us in the face, what is an LBGT voter to do?
As before, there are a variety of opinions, including a very informative comment I was able to obtain from a genuine Member of Congress, Patrick Murphy of Pennsylvania's 8th District, and that means until the very end you won't hear much from me, except to help "set the stage" for the comments that follow.
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Tue Oct 26, 2010 at 07:25:43 AM MST
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( - promoted by Fong)
The Denver Post says it all:
"With one week until Election Day, Republicans have cast about 25,000 more votes than Democrats at either early-voting sites or through the mail. About 443,600 ballots have been cast statewide.
Republicans are also winning the turnout battle, with about 17 percent of Republicans having cast a ballot so far compared with about 15 percent of Democrats, according to the figures released Monday."
Read more: More Republicans head to ballot box early in Colorado - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/elec...
We need to get our "game on" for GOTV! Do we want to live under Ayn Rand's John Galt society?
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Tue Oct 26, 2010 at 06:11:09 AM MST
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One of the things that kills democracies is political violence. When outright violence and more aggressive forms of intimidation become the norm in politics there is very little change that the will of the people, any people, can be accurately heard. While there will be those who are so in love with the idea of government by the people that they will not be cowed, larger numbers of people will think of their families, their children and their own health and well being and bow to the fear of violence.
We in the United States have been witness to a set of trends which have been edging us closer and closer to political violence. Just last night some supporters of Rand Paul knocked down a MoveOn.org activist as she tried to give a mock employee of the month card to the radical Republican Senatorial Candidate. They then head locked her and one of their members stomped on her head and neck. At this time it is unknown exactly how injured she is, but this kind of assault could have maimed or even killed her. Being held down and kicked is no little scuffle, it is serious assault.
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