Kucinich tells his side of the story on Democracy Now!

by: rossl

Sat Mar 13, 2010 at 14:48:38 PM CST

I mean, I have a responsibility to take a stand here on behalf of those who want a public option. There's about thirty-four members of the Senate, at least, who have signed on to saying they support a public option. If I were to just concede right now and say, "Well, you know, whatever you want. All this pressure's building. Just forget about it," actually weakens every last-minute bit of negotiations that would try to improve the bill. So I think that it's really critical to take this stand, because without it, there's no real control over premiums. Without it, we have nothing in the bill except the privatization of our healthcare system.

Does your representative show the military industrial complex enough love? (I'm naming names)

by: rossl

Wed Mar 10, 2010 at 19:16:48 PM CST

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:

Glenn Greenwald: 'This is what the Democratic Party does; it's who they are'

by: rossl

Wed Feb 24, 2010 at 17:44:13 PM CST

It is an explanation for the "lack of spine" that Democrats are often said to have - which, we can now see, is merely a convenient illusion for prominent Democrats.  It is a scapegoat that they can use so that progressives will continue voting for them even though we get nothing that we ask for, and instead have to take whatever crumbs are given to us.

So what is it?

This is what the Democratic Party does; it's who they are.  They're willing to feign support for anything their voters want just as long as there's no chance that they can pass it.  

Bob Barr booed at CPAC for saying 'waterboarding is torture'

by: rossl

Sat Feb 20, 2010 at 11:00:58 AM CST

Instead of adhering to the Constitution or the Geneva Conventions, conservative ideological leaders and Republican leaders have decided to shoot for political expediency, stubbornness, and sadism.

Feeling bored? Helpless? Excited? Energetic, perhaps? Then you should help Marcy Winograd!

by: rossl

Thu Feb 18, 2010 at 14:12:16 PM CST

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.

More change from the states: New Mexico joins the Move Your Money campaign

by: rossl

Wed Feb 10, 2010 at 15:47:48 PM CST

In the context of the larger movement against the greed and irresponsibility of Wall Street, this is a dramatic repudiation of that behavior from a somewhat unexpected source.

The bill enables a possible switch of $2-5 billion of state funds into CUs and small banks.

If enacted, the municipal funds bill, in the works since last year and still subject to a Senate vote, would represent a setback to large national banks, like Bank of America and Wells Fargo, which have had a lock on such funds.

The altered view of New Mexico lawmakers in favoring local control of state funds, officials said, follows national mention of the New Mexico effort in the "Move Your Money" campaign of New York pundit Arianna Huffington in her online Huffington Post columns.

BREAKING: Democrats endorse single payer!

by: rossl

Tue Feb 09, 2010 at 19:29:19 PM CST

When it finally came time for the Committee to meet and vote the result was almost anti-climactic. Jack Hanna, the Chair of the Rules Committee said that there that there was "great concensus in support of this resolution" and urged that the entire membership be permitted to consider it." Democratic Chair T.J. Rooney shepherded the resolution to the floor, and in seconds it was over. The resolution was passed by acclamation.

Former Green Party candidate to challenge Mass. gov. Deval Patrick as a Democrat

by: rossl

Mon Feb 08, 2010 at 14:44:23 PM CST

Talkin' 'bout my generation...

by: rossl

Sun Feb 07, 2010 at 06:06:41 AM CST

Well, we all know Dylan, Lennon, and Young.  But what about Francis, Folds, and Morello?  If you take a look at the music scene today, it's apparent that there are a lot of young people who care.  There's currently a lot of music in the same spirit, if not the same style, as the classics of protest music.

Civil rights and election fraud: New study asks, 'Was Prop 8 straight?'

by: rossl

Thu Jan 14, 2010 at 21:23:53 PM CST

A new analysis of independent exit polls conducted in L.A. County at the November 2008 election indicates significant likelihood that the official vote counts are incorrect. It is indeed possible that the California state constitution was amended to strip marriage rights of some of the state's people as a result of vote counts that were incorrect and possibly even fraudulent.

A "no" vote for Prop 8 meant that you wanted marriage equality.  In some places in Los Angeles, the difference between the official vote totals and this study were a not so alarming 2%, but in other places they approached a shocking 18%.  Just to clarify, this study is saying that in some places the actual votes that people cast differed from what was recorded by the state by nearly 18%.  And Prop 8 passed by a margin of less than 5% of the vote.

Some good ways to start 'The Year of Resistance'

by: rossl

Thu Jan 07, 2010 at 19:14:39 PM CST

(Included:  Cindy Sheehan's thoughts on recent events and a list of upcoming action events you can get involved with.)

Time to get our hands dirty

by: rossl

Mon Dec 21, 2009 at 19:38:15 PM CST

I'm afraid this might be so.  And it's time to turn that around. On Bill Moyer's Journal this past Friday, economist Robert Kuttner brought up a striking fact that is missing from nearly all of the plethora of analyses - ranging from Obamapologist to Obama hater to everything in between - that I've seen of this presidency:

ROBERT KUTTNER: The other thing that's missing, if you compare him with Roosevelt or LBJ or Lincoln, the other thing that's missing is a social movement. In all of these great periods of transformation, you had social movements doing a complicated dance with the president, where sometimes they were working with him, sometimes they were beating up on him. That certainly describes the civil rights movement and Lyndon Johnson. It describes the abolitionists and Lincoln. It describes the labor movement and Roosevelt. Where's the movement?

State single payer bill in PA Senate gets a hearing... because of a Republican!

by: rossl

Sat Dec 05, 2009 at 16:10:05 PM CST

In the words of HealthCare4AllPA:

The hearing will take place on December 16, from 9:00-10:30 AM in room 8E-A East Wing, located on the lower level of the Capitol building. Those in support of SB400 will have 45 minutes to present their information and arguments, and those opposed will also have 45 minutes.

This is a vitally important step forward, and one of the only times in history that a state-based single payer bill has been granted a senate committee hearing.

Whether you live in Pennsylvania or not, this is great news for progressives.  Follow me below the fold to find out more and see how you can help.

Nationwide protests this week against Afghanistan escalation

by: rossl

Sat Nov 28, 2009 at 14:19:26 PM CST

Throughout next week, there will be protests in at least 31 cities. (list below the fold)

Please join me in observing Buy Nothing Day tomorrow

by: rossl

Thu Nov 26, 2009 at 12:36:01 PM CST

We're in a pretty messed up place politically and environmentally.  Multinational corporations and financial firms pretty much own the government.  Global warming is not only a real and present danger, but rapidly accelerating.  There is a plastic "raft" in the Pacific Ocean bigger than Texas.  And as people we're constantly being taken advantage of to make this situation last longer so that corporate profits and bonuses can climb even higher than they are now.

The strong link between these two things - our society's consumerism and the terrible political, social, environmental, and economic situations we're in - demands action.  By buying things from these corporations and feeding into this model of an economy, we only encourage it.  So I'm asking you:  please join me in buying nothing tomorrow.