Sometimes stories happen because of planning; other times serendipity intervenes, which is how we got to the conversation we'll be having today.
In an exchange of comments on the Blue Hampshire site, I proposed an idea that could be of real value to unions, workers...and surprisingly, employers.
If things worked out correctly, not only would lots of people feel a real desire to have unions represent them, but employers would potentially be coming to unions looking to forge relationships, and, just to make it better, this plan bypasses virtually all of the tools and techniques employers use to shut out union organizers.
Since I just thought this up myself, I'm really not sure exactly how practical the whole thing is, and the last part of the discussion today will be provided by you, as I ask you to sound off on whether this plan could work, and if so, how it could be made better.
It's a new week...so let's all put our heads together and rebuild the labor movement, shall we?
This week the Congress passed a $34 billion dollar extension of benefits to Americans who have been out of work for more than 26 weeks, and these benefits where passed along party lines with the Republicans in the Senate blocking the benefits for weeks. Congressional Republicans argued that the benefits should not be passed unless a corresponding amount of budget cuts could be made, however, another argument that Republicans have offered is that unemployment benefits themselves are a disincentive to find work. At a time when long term unemployment is high than at any time since the Great Depression, and there are five workers applying for every one job these arguments seem ludicrous. The unemployment benefits will help 2 million struggling Americans, and the extension of benefits will last through November.
The idea that unemployment benefits will unacceptably add to the deficit is a relatively weak argument, considering that the fall in consumer demand if unemployment benefits are not extending in the long run will add more to the deficit in lack of tax revenue. Also, it seems a bit disingenuous for Republicans to lecture anyone on deficits or government spending. According to analysis by the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, significant causes of our current deficits where due to the 2001 and 2003 Bush Administration tax cuts (which by the way Republicans are still arguing doing not need to be paid for with corresponding cuts in the budget). The other idea that unemployment benefits are a disincentive for people to find employment is another weak argument when you consider that there are not enough jobs for American workers. What these arguments are about is plain and simply politics.
It's been a while since we had to have a real heart-to-heart, the Obama Administration and I, and last time it was because Rahm Emanuel had been a bit snippy toward those of us who are carrying the water for this Administration.
We need to have another one of those conversations today; this time the circumstances are a lot more positive-in fact, if the Administration follows my suggestions here, we have a real chance to put the Democrats on the road to victory, not just this November, but also in 2012.
What I'm proposing will create hundreds of thousands, if not millions of jobs, and it will stimulate millions more as we create a national source of discount electrical power that can be used by business and consumers alike.
Here's the best part: it's no "pie in the sky" promotion I'm offering here; we've already done the same thing before, it's been working out well for almost three quarters of a century...and even better than all that...my idea first pays for itself, and then...it actually makes the Federal Government a profit, forever after.
The campaign for TX-17 looks as though it will go a full twelve rounds, but Democratic Congressman Chet Edwards told Politico that he is ready for a fight.
"Every year the [RNC] predicts my demise. I'm lean and mean and have earned the support of Republicans and independents, as well as Democrats."
As Left of College Station reported last week, Edwards is facing a Republican opponent who recently won a divisive and expensive primary and runoff. While the Edwards campaign has been gearing up for reelection, the Flores campaign now has the challenge of transitioning from primary to general election campaign mode. While the district is predominately Republican it takes more for a candidate to win an election here than an R next to their name in the ballot box. Edwards has spent ten terms in Congress, and has faced well funded Republican opponents before. Like these previous campaigns the Flores campaign is attempting to paint Edwards as a liberal, and to connect him to President Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
"Texans across the 12 counties of this district are chomping at the bit to vote out Chet Edwards and fire Nancy Pelosi, as evidence by more people voting in the March 2010 GOP primary than did for the GOP nominee in November 2006."
After a Republican primary that included five candidates and a runoff between two candidates that was very contentious, Congressman Chet Edwards reminded the Republican nominee Bill Flores this week that the general election campaign has begun. The day after the primary Edwards released a video in which he made the case for why the citizens of Congressional District 17 should reelect him, and he criticized Flores for being the choice of "Washington, D.C. insiders" and being a "Houston oil executive" who has never "once voted in our district." The Waco Tribune-Herald reports that the Flores campaign responded by calling Edwards a "career politician" and that he is "desperately attacking."
This campaign will be expensive. Flores dramatically outspent Curnock in the primary; while Curnock spent $175,000 in the primary Flores spent $750,000. However, now Flores faces one of the best funded Democrats in Texas, and also already spent a considerable amount of money in the primary (a significant amount of which was self-financed). The Tribune-Herald reported that the Edwards campaign announced that it raised $594,000 during the current reporting period, compared to the $29,000 that Flores raised during the same period. After depleting much of their finances the Flores campaign reported $60,000 cash on hand, while the Edwards campaign is sitting on $1.7 million cash on hand. Edwards is of the few Democrats in Congress that has been targeted by the Republican Party who has been able to raise more money than his opponent. However, Flores has already contributed nearly a half million dollars to his campaign, so it appears as if there is going to be a large amount of money that will be spent over the next 200 days.
It seems that many of those who are regular guests of this space are committed to a worldview based on some degree of reason and rationality.
That's a handy thing if the "Covert Alarm Locator Apparatus" in your Isaac Daniel® Compass Global 1000 GPS sneakers should happen to fail and you need to find your way back to where the rest of us are; sadly, not all voters are equipped with such a helpful worldview.
Luckily for them, there are lots of conservative "mouth organs" ready to fill the "information gap".
They send out lots of emails every day, spreading their Word, and as a public service I receive several of them; this to help keep track of just what's out there, exactly.
If you ever wondered why otherwise normal people believe some of the craziest things about "Obama's Secret Death Care And National Virgin Sacrifice Program", have a look at some of the things I get every single day, and it might all make a bit more sense.
LANGUAGE WARNING: Today's story is uncharacteristically blunt, and from this moment forward we will be using lots of inappropriate language in making our points.
It is by now fairly well known that Rahm Emanuel, President Obama's White House Chief of Staff, had a bit of a blow-up with liberals who were ready to start running ads against "blue dog" Democrats who were working very hard to shut down the health care reform effort.
Now we're not gonna get in the middle of that argument today; instead, since we're finally getting a chance to talk, I figured me and Rahm could get a few other things out of the way that have been on everyone's mind for the past year or so.
During elections an enormous amount of money is spent on campaigns, and the dollars spent have been increasing during both Presidential and midterm elections. During the Presidential election in 2000 $3,082,340,937 was spent by presidential candidates, senate and house candidates, political parties and independent interest groups trying to influence federal elections, and that number increased to $5,285,680,883 in 2008. During the last midterm election cycle, in 2006, candidates and others groups spent $2,852,658,140, and if the trend continues even more will be spent this year.
Local residents have donated over $118,000 to political candidates and campaign during the current election cycle, and over half of those donations originated from two different zip codes. The largest amount of donations came from south College Station, a total of $39,295 in political donations originated from the 77845 zip code. The second largest amount of donations came from eastern Bryan, at total of $23,741 originated from the 77802 zip code. Residents of College Station have donated $63,429 to political campaigns, while residents of Bryan have donated $54,835.
In local Brazos County campaigns County Commissioner Duane Peters, who is a Republican primary candidate for County Judge, has spent $12,451, the most out of any other candidate. Representative Fred Brown has spent the most out of local Texas legislature candidates, spending $9,404 during the current reporting period. In the local congressional district, Congressman Edwards has already spent more than all of the Republican candidates involved in the primary combined; all five Republican primary candidates have spent a total $268,481 during the current election cycle while Edwards has spent $308,832.
I have never seen tiny type used to make asides in a news release before, but obviously Harold Cook is on something ... I mean, on to something.
For immediate release Contact: Harold Cook
January 11, 2010 (512) XXX-XXXX
In Stunning Move, Land Commissioner Candidate Hector Uribe Already up on Statewide TV
(Austin) Democratic candidate for Texas Land Commissioner Hector Uribe announced today that he's already on TV state-wide, when the USA cable network aired "No Country For Old Men" on January 6, and twice during their programming yesterday. Uribe had a speaking role in the film, which garnered four Academy Awards...for other actors. Uribe, for his part, managed to become one of only a few actors in the film to achieve the vaulted status of not being violently murdered by the end of it.
This surprise move makes Uribe the first candidate for Land Commissioner to be up on TV state-wide this election season.
"This is the kind of publicity that makes people. Things are going to start happening to me now," said Uribe,
shamelessly pilfering a line from another movie, "The Jerk."
Uribe's campaign will focus on maximizing revenue from state lands to help fund neighborhood schools, while also concentrating on how the state can best promote renewable energy.
Meanwhile, Uribe's Republican opponent threatened to shoot him last week.
Uribe said he isn't at all disturbed by the empty threat, explaining that if he can survive a Coen Brothers script, he can survive Jerry Patterson.
Twitter has become an indispensible part of politics and political campaigning; it is a simple yet effective way to convey an idea to many people at no cost. It has become one of the tools that many upstart and candidates are using during the primaries. Many established politicians use Twitter as a way to convey quick messages without sending or press release. How are candidates in the Brazos Valley using Twitter? I took a look at some of the candidates for Texas Congressional District 17 and found out who tweets, who doesn't, and who doesn't want me to follow them.
Congressman Chet Edwards, incumbent Democrat, does not advertise a Twitter account on his campaign web site, although Edwards does maintain a Facebook page that is regularly updated. However, Edwards has tended to be a low profile Congressman, and rarely appears in interviews on cable news and has focused most of his campaign on tradition means such as radio advertising and yard signs. While Edwards might be able to provide some interesting tweets it is doubtful that he would say anything overly partisan or controversial in 140 characters.
Republican primary candidate Rob Curnock, who tweets under the name rob4congress, has focused less on specific campaign issues and more on promoting partisan attacks from Congressman Mike Pence to political commentator Dick Morris. Recently Curnock did promote a list to his 229 followers of "10 reasons why 2010 will be a year to celebrate for Central Texans" that his campaign web site published. Curnock's number one reason was a "Consistent, common-sense conservative message of less government, lower taxes and more personal freedom," and that "this campaign is about ideas and message." Which is interesting because that means that the Curnock campaign in 2010 should be completely different that the Curnock campaign in 2008 when its focus was not on ideas but on negative campaigning and saying the words "liberal" and "Edwards" in the same sentence over and over again.
Last night was the deadline to file for the Democratic and Republican primaries, and both Democrat and Republican incumbents are facing challenges from both the left and the right. In Brazos County and throughout the rest of the Brazos Valley there are several notable candidates, and what takes place in March is going to greatly affect the complexion of the election in November.
The campaign for the Republican nomination for Congressional District 17 is much more crowded than it was last year. Last year's Republican nominee, Waco businessman Rob Curnock, is joined by fellow Waco businessman Chuck Wilson, College Station nurse Timothy Delasandro, Houston businessman Bill Flores, and Texas A&M security expert Dave McIntyre. The Republican primary will probably be between Curnock and McIntyre, however, Flores is well funded and will be able to spend more than the other candidates. Democratic Congressman Chet Edwards is going to have a financial advantage over whichever Republican emerges from the primary. How the Republican primary evolves is going to greatly affect the general election in November and whether or not a Republican candidate can serious challenge Edwards.
Texas State Senator Steve Ogden had announced his retirement and State Representative Dan Gattis appeared to be the front runner to receive the Republican nomination for the vacated Senate seat. However, after Gattis withdrew from the campaign for personal reasons Ogden decided to run for reelection and facing a primary challenge from Ben Bius. Ogden will be campaigning as his experience as a State Senator, but the budget and the economy are going to be central issues in the campaign.
Texas State Representative Fred Brown is facing a primary challenge form three candidates; former Brazos County Tax Collector Buddy Winn, former candidate for Brazos County District Attorney Rick Davis, and Blinn College professor Blanche Brick. During the 2008 election Left of College Station reported on the almost unopposed Republican, who only faced a Libertarian opponent in the general election. However, during the primary Brown will face a longtime Brazos County public office holder in Winn, and candidate that will pull no punches during the campaign in Davis. Brown's record as a legislator will be the focus of the primary debate, including the dubious distinction as being named by Texas Monthly as being a piece of furniture.
Two in five Democratic voters either consider themselves unlikely to vote at this point in time, or have already made the firm decision to remove themselves from the 2010 electorate pool. Indeed, Democrats were three times more likely to say that they will "definitely not vote" in 2010 than are Republicans.
I can't find any numbers specifically for Texas, but if the Governor's race heats up with Bill White entering for the Dems, I suspect we will get much better statewide numbers.
The conclusion that DailyKos draws from these numbers is the importance of a viable Heath Care bill being passed. I agree. Having spent this much energy on this policy, we damn well better be able to have something positive to show for it.
The poll also included this bad news: a -17 in the right versus wrong direction for the country question.
Anybody in the dark as to why all the lying and manufactured outrage on the other side? I thought not.
(John Robert Behrman is an economist and fifth-generation Texan. He is Executive Vice-Chair of the Progressive Populist Caucus of the Texas Democratic Party and State Committeeman for Senate District 13 writing his column here on Texas Kaos with his personal views only - promoted by boadicea)
This Saturday, the SDEC will end a year of time-wasting and start to do something. However, on the agenda will not be ...
Fixes to the delegate credentialing process as recommended by the Permanent Committee on Credentials at the last convention
Comprehensive reform of the Presidential nomination process (Royce Commission)
In fact, the "Governor's Convention" next year in Corpus Christi is planned to be little more than a fund-raiser.
We strive to be, if anything, a participatory space around here, and I've had a question come to my inbox that is very much deserving of our attention.
To make a long story short, our questioner wants to know why, on the one hand, despite the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA, also known as the "stimulus"), unemployment in the construction industry continues to increase, and, on the other hand, why there is such a giant disparity, on a state-by-state basis, in the cost of saving a job?
They're great questions, and, having done a bit of research, I think I have some cogent answers.
It was a long hot August for those who would like to see health care reform, as rabid "Town Hall" protesters proffered visions of public options that would lead to death panels and socialism and government tax collectors with special alien mind control powers that would use sex education and child indoctrination and black helicopters as the means for gay people to impose their dangerous agenda on the innocent, God-fearing citizens of someplace in Mississippi that I'm not likely to ever visit.
Part of the reason that opposition was so rabid was because health care interests were spending millions upon millions of dollars doing...well, doing whatever the opposite of giving a distemper shot to the angry mob might be, anyway.
So wouldn't it be great if all the CEOs of all those health care interests were to gather at one time and place so you could, shall we say, gently express your own thoughts regarding the issues of reform and public options?
By an amazing coincidence, that's exactly what's going to happen Thursday in Washington, DC, as the Patient Centered Primary Care Cooperative (PCPCC) holds its Annual Summit.
Follow along, and I'll tell you everything you need to know.
Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) has become a breath of fresh air and the outspoken voice for progressives. He's become our new hero challenging Republican obstructionists -- and the Democrats who enable them. He tells Democrats to remember: you don't beat Republicans by being a Republican. He reminds us what a civilized society really is all about, and what the true American heart has always been about.
His newfound acclaim is well earned. He's been asking questions of banking and government hacks as a junior member of his Congressional committee hearings since February.
· He questioned CEO Edward Liddy on the AIG cover-up.
· He questioned Citi Group's CEO, Vikram Pandit, about government's assumed liability of Citi group's 250 billion dollars worth of "toxic assets".
· He Grilled Fed Vice Chair Donald Kohn about the The Fed's balance sheet that has expanded by $1.2 trillion since September 1, 2008. That's over a trillion dollars right before the Bushies left office.
· He sparred with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke at a hearing in July. The Florida lawmaker laughed in Bernanke's face during an exchange in which the Fed chairman said "I don't know" in response to a question about what foreign central banks do with $550 billion in loans from the Fed.
. He and Ron Paul have written to Chris Dodd, asking that the confirmation of Ben Bernanke be postponed until the Federal Reserve releases documentation that will allow the public and the Senate to have a full understanding of the commitments that the Federal Reserve has made on our behalf, (Barney Frank (House Financial Services Committee Chairman) predicted in August that the House would pass legislation to audit the Fed this fall). If this bill passes, the audit will be the first time the central bank has been independently audited.
· He amended the de-fund ACORN bill to include the names of contractors guilty of fraud. According to Rep. Grayson, the Defund ACORN bill is written so broadly that it literally compels the de-funding not only of that group, but also the de-funding of, and denial of all government contracts to, any corporation that "has filed a fraudulent form with any Federal or State regulatory agency." By definition, that includes virtually every large defense contractor, which -- unlike ACORN -- has actually been found guilty of fraud. As The Huffington Post's Ryan Grim put it: "the bill could plausibly defund the entire military-industrial complex. Whoops.
· He wrote a bill, the Pay for Performance Act, which caps executive pay.
. He told Republicans to "get out of the way' in regards to health care reform.
The Grayson Effect - may it spread like melted butter.
He makes me proud to be a democrat. It can be exhausting sometimes; and then someone like Grayson comes along and injects much needed fight into the rest of us. I'm hoping his outspoken efforts rub off and others will follow his lead. He actually talks about caring about people you don't know, about having humane goals, which don't always involve profit margins. The Republicans with their shallow Randianism have ceded this ground of rational empathy.
Wouldn't it be good to have someone in Washington fighting for the people instead of what we from Texas currently have in the Senate and most of The House? I am jealous of the people in his Florida district! I'm stuck with John Cornyn, Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Culberson. All the three of them ever say is 'NO'.
Let's elect some Democrats. I wish we could clone Alan Grayson.
So it's the day of the big speech, Mr. President, and we got trouble with a capital "T" right here in Health Care City.
What are you gonna do? Do we follow the traditional Democratic Party legislative process of passing...something...at any cost, assuming the entire time that the Left and the Netroots will "go along with the program", or is there a risk that the calculus doesn't work as well today as it did in 1994 and 1996?
Well, lucky for you, I'm a fake consultant, and I know a few things about your "target market", so before you answer that question...we need to talk.
If you get a phone call tonight it could be from your Congressman. Chet Edwards is holding a telephone town hall meeting tonight between 6:30-7:00pm, and will call over 200,000 households throughout the twelve counties of Texas' 17th Congressional District. It should be expected that those phone calls will be filled with questions about the Obama Administration's health care reform plan. Many of the people that Edwards will talk to tonight will be critical of the plan to reform health care. It is evident from reading the internet forums, the comment sections of local media, and the letters to the editor that conservative constituents, that comprise a significant portion of this district, are critical of Edwards and have expressed their disapproval. However, in reality the people that should be expressing their disapproval are Progressives. While Edwards may not be conservative enough for some of his constituents, who would never vote for a Democrat, he may be losing support from the very people that help him get elected. While conservatives may have the loudest concerns with Edwards, progressives have the most legitimate concerns with Edwards.
Health care is one of the most important issues facing Americans today, and perhaps the most significant problem in the health care system is the number of uninsured people in America. The National Coalition on Health Care notes that "nearly 46 million Americans, or 18 percent of the population under the age of 65, were without health insurance in 2007." According to Health Affairs, due to the economic recession the number of uninsured people in America will increase by 6.9 million by 2010. Bloomberg reports that health-insurance premiums for families have risen 119 % since 1999, and in the last fifteen years America has increased the amount it spends on health care from $912 billion to $2.5 trillion and the amount of uninsured has only increased.
Edwards states that his goals are "lowering costs, maintaining competition and choice, and preserving quality health care." However, the most significant way to lower cost is to provide a public option, without a public option it is unlikely that health care reform will actually be able to significantly lower the cost of health care. Also, the idea that Edwards supports maintaining competition and choice suggests that there is current competition and choice, while for many Americans that only competition is the choice they have to make on whether or not they will actually be able to afford health insurance. It is obvious that "preserving the quality of health care" is important, but the real goal should be expanding access to the quality health care that is currently not available to many Americans. It is often said that the best quality health care can be found in the United States, however, who is that health care actually available to?
Liberty University has prohibited privileges granted to other student organizations, and these privileges where denied based solely on what the organization believes. Did Liberty deny recognition to a white supremacy group, or did Liberty not allow an anti-Semitic organization to use the universities name in association with their group? The university has denied the College Democrats to ability to use the university's name or to receive any funding from the university, based on their support of candidates.
According to a Liberty press release, the College Democrats are allowed to meet on campus, however the student group could no longer identify with the university and the university will no longer sponsor or endorse the group. The university has stated that this would be a better situation for the student group because they did not have to gain approval for meetings and could endorse candidates that are pro-life. However, this also means that the student group cannot participate in promoting their group on campus, and will not be allowed to invite speakers or hold any other events besides the unofficial meetings.
According to a National Public Radio (NPR) report, the chancellor of the university, Jerry Falwell, Jr., said that ""It's not about Democrat/Republican. It's about protecting the sanctity of life." Falwell stated that the reason the student group is not longer recognized was because of its support for pro-choice candidates and candidates that support gay rights. The College Democrats on campus have not publically endorsed abortion rights or same-sex marriage, and in fact the group's constitution expresses their opposition to those policies. In the NPR report Brian Diaz, the President of the College Democrats, said that "Jesus talked about the poor more than he did about abortion or gay marriage."
According to another article in the Washington Post, Diaz stated that the group's constitution, which was approved by university officials, gives the group latitude to endorse candidates. Both the College Democrats and the College Republicans endorsed candidates. Also, according to the same article the two groups where preparing to organize anti-abortion events this fall.
