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The Democrats also lost a powerful former member of Congress yesterday - Illinois Congressman Dan Rostenkowski. When you talk about old school machine Chicago politicians - Rosty is always mentioned.
Dan Rostenkowski was the most important congressman ever to represent Chicago, "Mr. Chairman" of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, confidante of presidents, pride of the Polish community and bringer of millions upon millions of dollars in federal pork home to Illinois, until it all came crashing down in a scandal over minor expenses -- postage stamps and office chairs -- that tarnished his legacy and sent him to prison.
Rostenkowski died today at his summer home in Wisconsin surrounded by family. He was 82.
Never an eloquent speaker, it was Rostenkowski's inside knowledge and useful connections -- especially with Mayor Richard J. Daley -- that eased his rise, first in Springfield, then in Washington, where he was friendly with presidents from John F. Kennedy to Bill Clinton. He and Lyndon Johnson were particularly close.
Among his most significant accomplishments were the 1986 re-writing of the tax code, the passing of the 1993 deficit reduction package, and the ratification of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Rostenkowski was an institution in Congress. He served 35 years until he was sentenced to prison. Congress changed and Rosty did not.
If nothing else has scared you about the Republicans and their agenda, the latest comments from Michele Bachmann should be the biggest motivation as to why you should work to make sure the Republicans fail in their coup de Congress.
"I think that's all we should do," Bachmann said at the GOP Youth Convention in Washington on Thursday. "I think all we should do is issue subpoenas and have one hearing after another and expose all the nonsense that has gone on."
Democrats stand up. Seriously, we can't get Karl Rove to testify in front of Congress. We cannot allow the Republicans to step all over us with their faux "freedom loving" agenda turned witch hunts.
The Republicans will shut down the government to focus on dog and pony hearings and investigations. Never mind that we are less than two years into cleaning up the mess created by the most corrupt deceitful administration in American history. Never mind that we just sat through the pillaging and the looting of the Haliburton Cheney Presidency.
Face it, the system is rigged, and it's rigged against us. Sure, presidents can pretty easily pass tax cuts for the wealthy and powerful corporations. They can start whatever wars they wish and wiretap whomever they want without warrants. They can order the torture of terrorist suspects, lie about it and see that their intelligence services destroy the evidence. But what they cannot do, even with supermajorities in both houses of Congress behind them, is pass the kind of transformative progressive legislation that Barack Obama promised in his 2008 presidential campaign. Here's why.
I'm involved in helping my friend Shelia Smoot in her July 13 runoff election for the AL-07 Congressional seat. I've said a lot about Shelia and why I think she is the best person to represent the constituents of this district. Shelia has also stopped by on several occasions to talk about this historic election. I've seen some negative comments in diaries from people who are hiding behind computer screens that don't personally know Shelia.
Tonight I want to try something different and offer you some quotes and testimony that come from others about Shelia. Here I start with the latest endorsement from a supporter in Eutaw, Alabama that was submitted to the campaign
From Debbie in Eutaw, AL - I believe that Shelia's vision alone, on upgrading technology in the rural area, will bring the black belt into the information age and make this generation competitive.
cross posted from Daily Kos with diarists permission :)
I've been a member of this community since 2008 and have come to treat this place like a home. I've come almost daily to vent, to call to action, to ramble and to humor myself and hopefully get a chuckle out of someone else.
Well today I'm coming to ask you as a personal favor to support my friend Shelia Smoot who is running for Congress in AL-07. I've written diaries about how she could be the first African American female form Alabama elected to Congress. I've written diaries about how she's the most progressive candidate in the field. I've written about her experience and how she fights for the people. But today I'm just here to give you my personal story about Shelia and why it would be great to have her in Congress. Grassroots for Smoot Act Blue
AL-07 EMILY's List made a small independent expenditure (sub-$30K) for mailers and phonebanking on behalf of Terri Sewell. Someone from EMILY really needs to explain why they endorsed Wall Street attorney Sewell over the well-known progressive (and equally pro-choice) Shelia Smoot.
Though Not exactly small in my book for this district (nearly 30k)
Remember when Emily endorsed the awful Nikki Tinker against much more progressive Steve Cohen in 2008. Didn't turn out well for them as Cohen won by 60% points. This won't either as Sewell is running a distant third in this race despite spending nearly half a million and much more than all the other candidates combined.
That picture says it all. Our saving grace in 2010 elections seems to be that public is less happy with Republicans than they are with the Dems. A moral victory that we will take right now.
(also cross posted at Daily Kos. - promoted by admin)
In twenty days, voters in the Alabama 7th Congressional District will have the opportunity to elect the first African-American woman from our great state. This is not new territory for me as I've been a trailblazer. I was the youngest member elected to the Jefferson County Commission and the first ever African-American female.
I'm about people and not politics. I've been telling people on the campaign trail that when we go to Congress, we go together. When people vote for the next member of Congress for this district they should vote to elect someone who will impact their life not their own.
I appreciate the folks at Daily Kos such as alpolitics and MinistryofTruth who have helped me on this journey. Thanks for letting me talk to you why I'm running for Congress and how I will make a difference.
Unfortunately we just lost one of our top prospects for 2010 in AL-03. Here's the text of the email I just received from Josh. We will let you know if we find out any more information. Today is the deadline for Alabama Democratic Party Candidate qualifying. This is disappointing but we wish Josh success in his endeavors and hope to hear more from him soon.
Dear Friends,
After much thought and careful consideration, I have decided not to pursue the office of US Representative for Alabama's Third District. So many of you have been incredibly supportive of my run, and I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your advice, encouragement, and efforts. I am immeasurably proud and appreciative of what we have accomplished together.
For two years now, I have argued that America is a nation that needs consensus and cooperation in politics. We can rebuild trust in our government by investing in infrastructure to create a stronger economic foundation and establishing new rules for accountability and fiscal responsibility. Thousands of Alabamians agree that we must bring agricultural growth back to our state. I am more confident than ever before that these things are true, but for now, I will work to further these causes not in Washington, but as an active and engaged citizen of Alabama.
Again, I want to thank all of you for your involvement in an important cause and for your wonderful generosity. I will talk with as many of you as I can over the next few weeks.
Please, do get in touch with me any time. I wouldn't be where I am today without your support.
A national health insurance reform bill is on the brink of passing and all is well on Capitol Hill.
But that doesn't mean too much for the rest of the country. Much of the country still wants more than a public-option-free, far-from-single-payer, band-aid-like bill to fix our broken health care system. One writer states, from the interesting vantage point of Australia, where they do have universal health care:
But Australia has something that America lacks: a universal public system that provides basic medical services for all.
Here, thanks to Medicare, you can be cared for in a public hospital without going broke regardless of your health insurance status...But the political compromise [Barack Obama's] been forced to adopt fails to address the morbidity at the heart of the system.
It's taking the disease and trying to turn it into the cure.
The solution, the real health care reform that we've been asking for since Teddy Roosevelt's time, lies with the state single payer movement. And, at least here in Pennsylvania, we're moving full speed ahead. All that this bill means for us is that we'd better move fast if we want real health care reform any time soon.
Today in America there is a big and under-reported issue. There are actually people out there, some of them unbelievably in Congress, crazy enough to challenge that great American institution, the military industrial complex. Who doesn't love Halliburton? Or Dick Cheney? Or the Iraq War? Or useless projects that do nothing more than enrich and empower an already powerful and rich elite?
I'll tell you who. 65 good for nothin' Congresspeople. They're the ones who today voted against a symbolic resolution to get our troops out of Afghanistan.
Now, cutting the snark, so many of the other 356 don't even have the gall to vote against a symbolic resolution to end a war! I understand that some people honestly support it, but when less than half of the country supports the war in Afghanistan, it's a bad sign that all of these Congresspeople still do:
So I was sitting around my house today, putting off doing my Latin homework, when it hit me - instead of just opening the fridge a dozen times and checking my facebook a hundred times, I could be putting this time to good use! And I did. I started doing some online phonebanking for Marcy Winograd's campaign for Congress in California's 36th district.
If you're bored, feeling helpless and alone amidst a sea of political currents fighting against you, excited about the upcoming primaries and election, overcome with energy you need to spend on something, or feeling any other emotion, this is for you! Marcy has been a member of the Netroots for years and is a firebrand progressive. Since she's running against a corrupt Blue Dog (Jane Harman), this is one of the best races in the country for progressives to get involved in.
I live in Pennsylvania, yet I'm still able to help Marcy's campaign, because of a neat online phonebanking tool that has been set up. Follow me below the fold to learn how you can help, too.
At a DNC fundraiser last night, President Obama had an interesting exchange with a Democratic organizer about health care reform, wherein he appeared to suggest that Congress could drop the ball and fail to pass a bill--and that voters should judge them harshly if they do.
"[I]t may be that -- you know, if Congress decides -- if Congress decides we're not going to do it, even after all the facts are laid out, all the options are clear, then the American people can make a judgment as to whether this Congress has done the right thing for them or not," Obama said.
So it is said that if you know others and you know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do not know others but you know yourself, you will win one and lose one; if you do not know others and do now know yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle.
Sun Tzu
The Art of War
Chapter Three
Dear Progressives,
The TEA Party faction is not going away. In fact, they seem to be co-opting the Mainstream Republican Party. This is the new opposition. We have to understand how they operate and where they are coming from.
Just hours after federal agents charged banker Allen Stanford with fleecing investors of $7 billion, the disgraced financier received a message from one of Congress' most powerful members, Pete Sessions.
``I love you and believe in you,'' said the e-mail sent on Feb. 17. ``If you want my ear/voice -- e-mail,'' it said, signed ``Pete.''
The message from the chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee represents one of the many ties between members of Congress and the indicted banker that have caught the attention of federal agents.
The Justice Department is investigating millions of dollars Stanford and his staff contributed to lawmakers over the past decade to determine if the banker received special favors from politicians while building his spectacular offshore bank in Antigua, The Miami Herald has learned.
Agents are examining campaign dollars, as well as lavish Caribbean trips funded by Stanford for politicians and their spouses, feting them with lobster dinners and caviar.
The money Stanford gave Sessions and other lawmakers was stolen from his clients while he carried out what prosecutors now say was one of the nation's largest Ponzi schemes.
Very weird stuff. Sessions clearly in the thick of the Stanford congressional relations. However, let's remember that he influence Dems also such as Charlie Rangel, Gregory Meeks and Fla Sen Bill Nelson.
As the scandal unfolded, members of the Caribbean Caucus began returning their contributions.
Nineteen lawmakers gave back a total of $87,800 to the court-appointed receiver as of August. Others, including Meeks, Sessions, Sandlin, Sweeney and Crane, said they turned some of the money over to charities.
In addition, Democratic House member Charlie Rangel returned $11,800 to charities, and Democratic Florida Sen. Bill Nelson $45,000 to charities, half of which came from a fundraiser at Stanford's Miami office in 2006.
``Just like a number of people, [they] started to run for cover the minute Allen was under scrutiny,'' said Schaffer, Stanford's attorney.
Another example of the need for more ethics regs and campaign finance regulations.
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