Dingell foe: "Vote for me, I'm totally inexperienced"

Rob Steele, a wealthy cardiologist, is running against the "Dean of the House", Congressman John Dingell. His campaign is your typical ultra-right conservative blah-blah: cutspendingcuttaxesdemocratsareresponsibleforthedeficit...etc., etc.

But, I have to say, Rob Steele takes the whole "vote for me, not the 'career' politician" thing to a new level. Last night on Sean Hannity's Great American Panel, he accused John Dingell of having been in Congress since he was 12 and asked people to vote for him because he "went to [his] first county convention two weeks ago."

God forbid Michigan put its leadership in the hands of wealthy disgruntled citizens with no experience in public policy, running a huge government or of ... well ... leading.



Direct video link.

Rob Steele: Congressman Dingell, he's served honorably. He's been there since, he's been in Washington, D.C. since he was seven years old when his dad was elected in 1932 and then he took over for his dad in 1955. So he's been there since seven, graduated from the Page High School, so he's actually been in the House of Representatives since he was twelve.

Sean Hannity: And Michigan lost about half its population, has double-digit unemployment and has been, if you want a poster child for the bad liberal redistributive policies and high taxes, go to Michigan, Detroit in particular.

Steele: What they're lookin' for is someone like me, someone who has not been a career politician. I mean I went to my first county convention ever two weeks ago. I mean I've not been involved in politics and that's what I hear out on the trail.

Hannity: You're a cardiologist?

Steele: A cardiologist -- heart doctor.

I don't know about you but I had NO idea that John Dingell had been in Congress since he was twelve. I knew that nobody currently serving has been there as long as him but isn't it some kind of record or something that he became a Congressman at the age of 12? You know, I used to hang out with my grandfather, a carpenter, when I was a kid. Do I get to call myself a carpenter now? Is that part of my "career".

Let's face it, Rob Steele (WHO?) is a physician that has made a ton of money off the status quo with regard to our health system. It should come as no surprise that a conservative like him would like to keep things just the way they are. His only leadership experience, according to his website, is that he is on the board of a group that he himself founded. Well, that and he used to be on the board of his kids' swim club. Until he recently resigned, according to his website.

He starts out by saying that John Dingell has served 'honorably' then goes on to deride him and blame him for Michigan's economic woes. He accuses him of "not reading the bill" when, as John Dingell famously said in his health insurance reform townhall meeting last year, he WROTE most of it! And, despite his appearance of honoring Congressman Dingell, Steele also has an amateur-looking website called Ditch Dingell. Way to honor the Dean of House, there, doctor.

He also claims to be ahead in the polls 46 to 41%!



He doesn't, of course, give any reference to which pollsters have him with a 5% edge over a legendary incumbent like Congressman Dingell. That's probably because the poll was run by Public Opinion Strategies (POS), a self-described "Republican polling firm" and paid for by him. Furthermore, the poll actually shows him trailing the Congressman. The ironically-named POS was responsible for the "Harry and Louise" ad in the early 90's.

Also, too, note that the Cook Partisan Voting Index (PVI) for MI-15 is D +11.

Steele's issues page is full of the same kinds of fluff you'd expect from a far-right conservative with absolutely no political leadership experience of any kind.

SPENDING

Spending is out of control. We cannot afford it today, and our children and grandchildren certainly cannot afford it tomorrow..

How will he rein in this tragic spending? No clue.

TAXES

The tax system must be flatter and fairer for the taxpayer, and not allow the special interests and lobbyists to each have their own line in the tax code…

We don’t have too few taxes; we have too much spending.

Lobbyists each have their own line in the tax code? Who knew? How will he tackle the tax code to make it flatter and fairer? No clue.

HEALTHCARE

Consumer choice and responsibility, price transparency, equal tax treatment of the employed and self employed, in combination with Health Savings Accounts, are more cost effective for the patient and providers. Many of these principles have kept the health care costs in my own business flat for the last 5 years.

Medicare is already broken, with high levels of fraud, claim denial, and decreasing provider base. The taxpayers cannot afford another massive, inefficient, government-run program.

Yeah, Medicare is full of fraud, alright. But, of course, when the Democrats try to cut out fraud, Republicans like Steele scream "HE'S SLASHING MEDICARE!!! How will Steele fix healthcare? No clue (it can't just be Health Savings Accounts, right?)

ACCOUNTABILITY

Members of Congress must live under the laws they pass. They have exempted themselves from Social Security, Medicare, and the proposed government run health care program. The government does not abide by the laws any normal business must, including accounting practices and employment rules of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Medicare and Social Security are run identically to the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme – the one that put him in jail for the rest of his life. Federal employees should not have salary or benefits any better than the average private employee.

Here Steele appears to be condemning ALL of Congress, including his fellow GOPosaurs. Will he immediately introduce legislation to remove them from Social Security, Medicare, and "government run health care" (which, by the way, is a lie)? I wonder if he realizes that Congress is the main customer of "government run health care"? And calling Social Security a "Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme"? Is this the same Social Security system that Republicans are so famous for screaming "Hands off Social Security!!!" about?

What's Dr. Steele's plan to fix these Ponzi schemes? No clue.

And that's it. Those are the four things on his Issues webpage. Pure fluff and no substance.

Dr. Rob Steele benefits handsomely from the health care status quo. He wants to eliminate Social Security, he's anti-choice, and has zero-zip-nada experience in political leadership of any kind whatsoever. And he's running for Congress in southeastern Michigan against one of the true legends in governmental leadership.

Wait. Dr. Steele who?

I'm just sayin'...

Dingell photo by Anne C. Savage.

Catholic Church desecrates site of Oklahoma City bombing

Sure, they were allowed to do it. But that doesn't make it right.

It turns out that after Timothy McVeigh who was raised Catholic destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, the Catholic church had the audacity to build a statue right across the street!

Yes, you read that right. McVeigh took the lives of 168 innocent people including 19 children when he bombed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in 1995. Timothy McVeigh, a man raised as a Catholic his entire life and who, according to Wikipedia entry "throughout his childhood [was]… Roman Catholic and regularly attended daily Mass at Good Shepherd Church in Pendleton, New York".

Also, too, his accomplice, Terry Nichols, was a born-again Christian.

So what did the Catholic Church decide to do? They built a VERY Catholic statue right across the street!!! Can you believe the insensitivity? They call the statue "And Jesus Wept". What a slap in the face to those who lost friends and family in that heinous act of terrorism. I'm not saying that we should restrict the Constitutionally-protected freedom of religious expression or anything. But, honestly, did they have to rub the salt into the bitter wounds of these people like that?

It's like some say, just because it's allowed by the Constitution doesn't mean you should do it.

I'm just sayin'…

"The Tea Party" excluded from Nov. ballot due to font size

An effort to put "The Tea Party" on the November ballot in Michigan has failed. Not because it's a fake group trying to help Democrats at the polls by splitting far-right wing votes (which it is.) No, it's because the font size of the word "the" was wrong. Totally not kidding.

The Michigan Court of Appeals said Monday that a group calling itself "The Tea Party" doesn't qualify for the Nov. 2 ballot because it didn't correctly show its name on petitions.

Republicans and tea party activists say "The Tea Party," which has nominated nearly two dozen candidates, is a fake party controlled by Democrats aimed at drawing away votes from Republican candidates. "The Tea Party" is being investigated following allegations that some of its potential candidates may have been nominated through fraud.

In its decision released Monday, the three-member court said the word "the" was not in 24-point bold face type on the petitions as required by law. Michael Hodge, the lawyer representing "The Tea Party," could not immediately be reached Monday evening to say whether he would appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court.

He has argued that the petitions submitted substantially met the requirements of state law.

I'll admit to being ambivalent about this. On the one hand, I gleefully signed one of the petitions to put "The Tea Party" on the ballot. Standing on a street corner in Ann Arbor I stepped up onto my soapbox and declared to all listeners that tea party types need to own their politics, form their own wingnut party, and stop trying to take over the Republican party, driving away all the moderate and, dare I say it, 'reasonable' Republicans. Not many people listened including the dude getting paid to collect the signatures. But it felt good anyway ; )

On the other hand, this is clearly a ruse intended to disrupt the Republicans' chances to win in some very contested races. It's the same type of dirty trick that Republicans have been doing for ages in this country and, though it cracks me up to see their hypocritical condemnation of this particular effort, I hate it when they do it so it's hard to defend our side doing it.

It was appropriate for Oakland County staffer Jason Bauer, who was responsible for the promotion of ineligible candidates, to be fired (actually he resigned.) It was a clumsy move on his part, a very likely illegal, to notarize candidacy forms of people who were not even aware he was doing it and he did his party no favors at a time when they could least afford to be seen in a negative light.

At any rate, it's not going to happen in 2010 barring a successful appeal.

And all because of the font.

I'm just sayin'

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
UPDATE 1: Over at Daily Kos, ZedMont suggests a new approach for Democrats:

Here's a flyer that you could hand out (beyond the prescribed distance for "electioneering", if it exists) that retains the nefarious intent of the failed attempt to put the teabag party on the ballot.

NOTICE TO ALL TRUE PATRIOTS WHO SAY ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

THE TEA PARTY HAS BEEN DENIED A PLACE ON THIS BALLOT.

THE SOCIALISTS ARE GAMING THE SYSTEM!!

SHOW YOUR OUTRAGE AT THIS TRAVESTY!!!

DO NOT VOTE FOR EITHER MAJOR PARTY CANDIDATE.

WRITE IN A TRUE PATRIOT INSTEAD.

Pure brilliance, I tellzya, pure brilliance.

UPDATE 2: "The Tea Party" does plan to appeal to the state Supreme Court which, as of last week, conveniently now has a Democratic majority for the first time on over a decade.

Mich Dems get a gift from State Supreme Court Justice Weaver

Former Republican Michigan Supreme Court Justice (and former Chief Justice) Elizabeth Weaver is announced today that she is resigning.

Weaver cited the discord on and bipartisan politicization of the Court as a factor in her decision. She has, in the past, said that she felt that 8-year terms were too long for judges.

Weaver called the present system of party nomination of justice candidates who then stand for election "deeply flawed." She pledged to continue her battle to reform the court and make it and campaign funding of judicial races more transparent.

"The open discord on this court over the last 10 years is not really so much about clashes of strong personalities, but rather is the result of the formation of power blocks of justices usually joining together with a majority of four votes to promote agendas of political parties and special interests; personal interests, philosophies, and ideologies, and biases and prejudices," Weaver said. "It's important to civilization where the public has a place they can go to get a fair shake, where judges are not in the pocket of anybody.

At a press conference with Governor Granholm yesterday, she strongly repeated her call for reform of the Michigan Supreme court and the process by which justices are chosen and pledged to work toward that reform. She noted that for one spot, for example, over $7.5 million were spent at the last election. She also pointed the millions of dollars spent by political interests, special interests and corporations to influence the election of justices. The governor pointed to six specific recommendations for reform that she has posted on her personally-funded website (pdf).

At the presser, after lauding Justice Weaver for her nearly 16 years of service on the State Supreme Court, Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm announced Appellate Judge Alton Thomas Davis of Grayling as her replacement. Davis is a Democrat appointed by Governor Granholm. Justice Davis was reported by Interlochen Public Radio as Justice Weaver's first choice. She cited him as the most-experienced judge she has ever appointed and noted that he will be the second-most experienced justice on the Court.

As her spokesperson Liz Boyd said, Granholm's action doesn’t require the approval of the state Legislature. This gives Democrats a majority on the State Supreme Court for the first time in over a decade. More importantly, this is a BFD and a gift because it will likely ensure that this seat is held by a Democrat going forward since Davis will have the word "INCUMBENT" next to his name on the November ballot. That will likely help Democrats hold onto this seat for a long time to come.

Bill Ballenger puts it more bluntly:

"The Republicans are screwed," said Inside Michigan Politics publisher Bill Ballenger. "And there's not much they can do about it."

From the Detroit Free Press article:

Robert Labrant, vice president of the Michigan Chamber of Commerce who has directed the chamber's efforts to secure a pro-business majority on the court, said Weaver's decision could deliver a crushing blow to the GOP's hope of retaining a majority on the court in 2011.

If her replacement receives the incumbency designation on the ballot, which Labrant said he believes is likely, it will be "very difficult" to regain the seat, he said.

"Crushing blow to the GOP's hope..." I kinda like the sounds of that. In fact I like the sounds of that a LOT. And it makes it seem pretty likely that this was intentional on Justice Weaver's part, a parting shot, if you will, to her former Republican colleagues.

More whining from the GOP HERE:

Saul Anuzis, Michigan's member of the Republican National Committee, described Weaver's resignation as "politics at its worst" and "borderline unethical." [snip]

Anuzis said Weaver's resignation is "a slap in the face to the thousands of Republican activists in the state who worked on her behalf to elect her to the court."

"I think she is very bitter," he said. "It's a personal vendetta against the other members of the court."

Anuzis said it's a significant advantage for a new appointee to the Supreme Court to run with the "I" for "incumbent" beside his or her name because many voters do not follow the races closely.

However, "this blatant political move by the governor and the Democrats has the potential of backfiring," he said.

The bigger story here, however is this: Next year is a redistricting year and the Michigan Supreme Court may very well be tilted Democratic. As anyone who knows anything about redistricting knows, no matter how that shakes out, it is very likely to go before the Michigan Supreme Court before it's all over with. Having a mostly-Democratic Supreme Court will help out the Dems in this process mightily.

The Traverse City Record-Eagle has more on Weaver's decision:

"I have done all that I can do as a justice and now believe that I can be of most use as a citizen in helping further the critically needed reforms of the judicial system," Weaver said in an exclusive interview with the Record-Eagle. "Now I will be able to work and speak freely."

Weaver said she would not have resigned without Granholm's agreement to select a northern Michigan replacement. A justice from northern Michigan brings independence and a different perspective to a court currently dominated by justices from the Detroit to Lansing beltway, she said.

"I think I'm proof of the pudding; I'm independent," she said. "That independent-thinking judge is not agenda-driven and does not hold to political party lines."

Weaver served for two 8-year terms as a Republican and announced that she was resigning once before in 2005 (pdf) only to change her mind. She said earlier this summer that she would be running as an Independent in the next election.

Justice Bob Young, a solid target for Democrats this year, has said he would never run on a ticket with Weaver on it, showing the rift that opened between her and her Republican colleagues.

Weaver has won two eight-year terms as a Republican, but she has been at odds with Young and the other two GOP justices, Corrigan and Stephen Markman, ever since they joined to depose her as chief justice in 2001. Young has vowed not to be part of any Republican ticket that includes her, and Republicans are poised to nominate either Wayne County Circuit Judge Mary Beth Kelly or Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Jane Markey for Weaver's seat.

Meanwhile, Justice Weaver said her next step is to "take a full day to float down the Crystal River". As someone who did that twice last weekend, I can only say she shows very good judgment.



I'm just sayin'...

Eff you, 'baggers. Maybe WE should "Go Galt".

Honestly, I'm starting to get a twitch in the corner of my eye and a weird little nervous tic has developed. Watching the contortions of conservatives, particularly teabaggers and the worst of the worst Republicans (I'm lookin' at YOU, John Boehner) is starting to push me to the brink.

Screw you guys. Maybe WE should "Go Galt".

These supposed "strict Constitutionalists" (honestly, some of the worst teabagger candidates run under the banner of "The Constitution Party"), the ones who carry signs demanding that Constitutional lawyer and President Barack Obama stop wiping his ass with the Constitution, can't even hold a meme like that together for more than a few weeks.

• The First Amendment seems to be subject now to reinterpretation such that it's not acceptable to build a community center and place of worship in New York City anywhere near where the World Trade Center used to stand if it's Muslim. Apparently their self-worth and self-awareness and self-confidence is so shaky that they simply can not withstand this sort of non-blasphemy to be tolerated. First Amendment, First Aschmendment.


• The Fourteenth Amendment needs to be repealed according to these mouth-breathers. Can't be havin' no anchor terrorist fetuses and ankle-biters now, can we? Nope. This wholly sacrosanct part of the U.S. Constitution is now considered negotiable. Fourteenth Amendment, Fourteenth Aschmendment.


• The Seventeenth Amendment is disposable, too, according to these totally egotistical assholes (see what I did there?) No, we shouldn't elect our Senators, they say. They should be appointed by the states, they say. That somehow gives us more freedom and liberty, they say. Seventeenth Amendment, Seventeenth Aschmendment.


• But the Tenth Amendment? Well that is a totally different story. These Neanderthals, jerks who are willing to dispose of Amendments that get in their way, want to reinterpret the Tenth Amendment to make sure the health insurance reform is stopped dead in its tracks. Of course the Tenth Amendment was never intended for such a thing but these oh-so-very-strict Constitutionalists are willing to contort it and bend it and reshape it in their own image. Tenth Amendment, Tenth Aschmendment.

These same brainless idiots will fight tooth and nail against their own self-interest at every juncture. They will fight to the bloody death for preserving budget-killing, deficit-escalating tax cuts for their uber-wealthy overlords, the ones that own the shops where they work day in and day out to eke out a living. I feel certain that those overlords that make up the upper 2% of our economic strata laugh and laugh and laugh over their cigars and scotches about the poor "little people" paying for their big tax breaks that they promptly invest rather than pumping back into the economy. And they claim the moniker of the original tea party activists who protested taxation without representation? This is over-representation with under-taxation. The irony – it burns.

And speaking of fighting against their own self-interests, these morans, the ones that benefit from having good health coverage, a forty-hour work week and 401K investments at work go on and on and on about "union thugs" that have paralyzed our country's industrial base. According to them, labor unions are to blame for many of the economic woes we face, not the least of which is how they brought down the Great American Auto Companies. Of course, it didn't have anything to do with the fact that Americans want fuel-efficient, economic cars that only foreign companies were building. Fuel efficiency is for sissies.

These are the people who so devoutly revere the "Founding Fathers", immigrants from another continent. Yet they treat today's immigrants with deep suspicion and distrust. If you aren't Caucasian, if you dress differently than is dictated by American "culture", if you worship to a different god or speak with a non-American accent, you are immediately categorized as the enemy. Papers, please.

These same brainless idiots, the ones who demand smaller government and less government intrusion, they want to legislate everything from sexuality and reproductive rights to the type of medical research that can happen and the places where we can worship. They "support the troops", alright, but when these very same troops could be helped by social programs when they get back (like the social welfare so many of them are on) or could benefit from medical advancements like spinal cord injuries or simply ending the goddam wars and bringing them home out of harms way? Well these brainless idiots are having none of that.

Well, I'm having none of them. Maybe it's time WE "Go Galt". Imagine a scenario where all the progressives of the world could simply divorce themselves from the insanity that the conservative right has become. We can't, of course. We're all on this earthship together. But think about it for a minute.

• Imagine our country without the benefits of environmental regulation.


• Imagine our country without the benefits of the social safety net.


• Imagine our country without the benefits brought to us by organized labor.


• Imagine our country without the benefits of religious freedom.


• Imagine our country without the checks and balances against the "tyranny of the majority".


• Imagine our country without the benefits of financial sector regulation, minimal as it may be right now.


• Imagine our country without developments spurred by the drive for clean energy sources.


• Imagine our country without the benefits of civil rights gained in the past few decades.


• Imagine our country without a drumbeat to roll back all of the progressive gains made in the past century.

That's what Teabaggerstan would look like. If there were some way we could take our ball and split, leaving them to their caveman credos and ethos, Teabaggerstan would become a self-immolating failure in a short time.

But we can't leave. And, more importantly, we WOULDN'T leave. This is OUR country, too. And we don't want our country back, we want our country FORWARD, constantly evolving and improving and moving toward the ideal of the "perfect union".

I don't know how we can be losing the message war against these people. Maybe we need better publicists and marketers for our message. More likely we need to find a way to take the incredible amount of money that goes into our political system and make it so that it's not profitable to be pro-corporation and pro-millionaire when you're in office.

I'm just sayin'...

Tim Walberg is for privatizing social security WHILE he's against it

MI-07 Republican candidate Tim Walberg wasn't for privatizing social security BEFORE he was against it, he is for privatizing security WHILE he is against it.

Seriously.

First we have this press release from the Walberg campaign:

I have always opposed privatization of the Social Security system

Then we have this quote from an interview Walberg did with the tea party-type group, The Independence Caucus:

"Yeah, when you say the word privatization, a seasoned campaigner like me understands that that is a buzzword that is just about as negative as a noose hanging around your neck. But in talking with you, we all understand what that means, and I would definitely support the privatization of the so-called Social Security system."

Full audio of the interview is available HERE.

So, Tim, we have to ask, which is it? Are you FOR privatizing social security or are you AGAINST it? It's a fair question and you seem to be in a debate against yourself on it. Let us know when you get that resolved, will ya?

Meanwhile, his Democratic opponent and current Congressman, Mark Schauer, is unequivocal on the subject:

"I will be out in the district celebrating the 75th anniversary, making my commitment that I will not touch a penny of Social Security benefits," Schauer said Wednesday.
He said he will also point out that Walberg supported privatizing Social Security.

"He may be comfortable in diverting peoples Social Security dollars into private accounts, managed by Wall St. CEO's — I'm not — and I will be talking about that," Schauer said.

Also:

Schauer, who faces Republican Tim Walberg in the race for the 7th Congressional District seat, spoke to a group of about 35 people at the Adrian Senior Center on the 75th anniversary of President Franklin Roosevelt signing the Social Security Act.

To make his point, Schauer signed a written pledge on a poster board in front of the group, promising to strengthen and protect Social Security and fight any attempt to convert its funds to private investment accounts.

"I will oppose with every ounce of energy privatization of Social Security," Schauer said.

Nice to have a clear statement of a candidates position, isn't it?

Hopefully Tim Walberg can sort himself out before the election. C'mon, Mr. Walberg. You can do it.

You can sign a petition demanding that Walberg and his GOP cronies don't privatize Social Security HERE.

Congressman Schauer's Act Blue page is HERE and his website is HERE

I'm just sayin'…

James O'Keefe: "I am the lowest form of morality"

This is aweseome. James O'Keefe, Pimp Impersonator Extraordinaire, has admitted that he is the lowest form of morality.

[What I do] is the nadir of morality.

Via Webster's Dictionary:

na·dir
Pronunciation: \ˈnā-ˌdir, ˈnā-dər\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, from Arabic naḍhīr opposite
Date: 15th century

1 : the point of the celestial sphere that is directly opposite the zenith and vertically downward from the observer
2 : the lowest point

Video, courtesy of Think Progress:



Here's the full quote:

I can’t get to the point where they finally admit to me that I’ve gone too far. And then they say that this is immoral. How is this immoral? Beloch has said that salaried — shouldn’t salaried public servants should be perpetually watched, be kept under control, be suspicious? I think this is the nadir of morality. I think this is the most moral thing you could possibly do.

Jim, Jim, Jim, you most-moral pimp impersonator. Here's the deal: you ask us to take you at face value and to hear what you say. I have done this and here's my take:

I agree with you.

Yes, Jim, you ARE the nadir of morality. You are the absolute lowest point on the morality scale. I never thought you and I would agree with you on anything at all but, on this, we are in complete confluence. You and your posse, supported by the other lowest-on-the-morality-scale henchman on cable news, took down ACORN, a group that is was doing more to help poor people in this country than anyone else.

Well done, sir. Thank you for expressing your opinion about yourself in a way I probably wouldn't have done so succinctly.

You are here by christened "Mr. Nadir". The lowest form of humanity. Except that we'll pronounce it properly (NAY-der), not like YOU pronounce it (Neh-DEER).

I guess it's true that, sometimes, being an idiot is self-punishing.

UPDATE: As psnyder at Daily Kos points out, this illiterate piece of crap also used the wrong word when he said this:

Beloch has said that salaried — shouldn’t public servants should be perpetually watched, be kept under control, be suspicious?

Suspicious? Uh, yeah, dude. Suspicious of idiots like you, for sure. Suspect, though? Not so much.

To paraphrase Keith Olbermann: That man is an idiot.

I'm just sayin'...

It wasn't an auto company "bailout" and, btw, it WORKED!

Remember back in the "good old days of 2009 when the Obama administration stepped in to keep two of the largest American auto companies from going under? Remember how, even though it was only a loan program and a temporary stock purchase that it was characterized as a "taxpayer-funded bailout"?

Well check out these headlines:

Chrysler Tops Operating Profit Outlook, Delays Increase

GM posts another profit, moves toward stock sale

Here's my message to Jim DeMint, James Inhofe, Richard Shelby and Tom Coburn:

SUCK IT!!!

Here's DeMint from December 2008:

The argument that is being made today is that people will not buy a car if a company is in bankruptcy, is a bogus argument. Americans are not stupid… They know that this bailout is only a temporary solution. They're much less likely to buy an American car with this bailout plan.

No, dude, YOU are stupid as has now been proven.

Here's Shelby:

I think this is a bridge loan to nowhere. This is a down payment on many billions to come… The first, the first down payment, it's just the beginning. It's an installment plan of billions and billions and billions and we don't know the end game.

Uh...actually -- NO! Bzzzt! You're wrong!

Here's Inhofe, perhaps the worst of all:

“In Congress, we are currently considering an irresponsible $14 billion bailout of the Big Three auto manufacturers,” Senator Inhofe.

“This legislation empowers one unelected bureaucrat, which has come to be known as the ‘car czar,’ to spend money how he sees fit to keep the auto companies afloat and make the U.S. government part owners of the companies…

"The ‘car czar’ will also be empowered to dictate how these companies are to structure and run their business. This is a bureaucratic, command and control approach to industrial policy in lieu of market forces and Chapter 11….

“Why do we now believe that government bailouts and government ownership of shares of these companies without a clear idea of what these companies will do to significantly alter their business models, at least until well into next year, is going to be a successful venture? The history of even the last couple decades clearly shows that the approach we are considering in this legislation has a track record of waste and failure. We need to ask ourselves: Are we not simply throwing good money after bad? More importantly, are we not simply throwing taxpayer dollars down the drain?

In response to your last question, Two-Word Answer Guy^TM sez: No, dumbass.

Guess what, assholes? You were wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. These bridge loans are well on their way to being paid back and the Obama administration estimates that 1 million jobs were saved by doing it.

GM is nearly ready to issue their Initial Public Offering (IPO) and the magic number for their stock price in order for the U.S. government to regain all it's money is $114 per share. That's certainly an achievable goal if they keep on being profitable.

And profitable they are. They made $1.3 billion in Q2 2010. Chrysler made $183 million. Ford, who didn't accept any government funds, made $2.6 billion.

It won't happen immediately but the government will recoup the money it loaned to Chrysler and GM. And let us never forget that Republicans in the Senate filibustered passage of the legislation that allowed this to happen. This was, in my mind, never anything more than an anti-union position taken by Republicans. They have almost no votes to lose by kicking union workers in the teeth time and again because union workers know that the Republicans will never get their backs or look out for their interests.

Republicans: Once again, on the wrong side of history. Once again, on the wrong side of working Americans.

I'm just sayin'…

This. Is. Awesome.

This kinda restores a bit of my faith. Literally.

More than 40 prominent Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders and religion scholars issued a statement today condemning the "xenophobia and religious bigotry" fueling the increasingly strident opposition to a proposed Islamic center and mosque near Ground Zero. These leaders from New York City and across the country are specifically challenging the divisive rhetoric of Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin, who have strongly opposed a center that will promote interfaith relations, combat extremism, and offer community programs for Americans of all religious backgrounds.

"It's simply wrong for Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin to malign all Muslims by comparing this cultural center and mosque with a radical ideology that led to the horrific attacks of 9-11," said Sister Simone Campbell, Executive Director of NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby. "We fail to honor those killed by terrorists when we betray the bedrock principle of religious freedom that has guided our democracy for centuries."

Newt Gingrich recently claimed that the Cordoba House "... is a sign of their contempt for Americans and their confidence in our historic ignorance that they would deliberately insult us this way." Palin called plans for the center a "provocation" that "stabs at the heart."

Faithful America - an online community of more than 100,000 people of faith - is also standing up for the American Muslim community and interfaith cooperation today in response to anti-Muslim sentiment and fierce opposition to proposed mosques in communities across the country. Faithful America members are signing a petition to honor the "many contributions of American Muslims toward global peace" and denounce bigotry and limits on religious freedom as a betrayal of American values.

H/T AnnetteK at Daily Kos.

I'm just sayin'...

What the hell is up with Obama, anyway?

It's a question I've been asking myself a lot lately. I've been called an Obama apologist, an Obamabot, a lemming and a number of other assorted things on this site but the reality is that I actually don't support some of what he has done or how has done some of what he has done.

In the final analysis, I still think he has done the vast majority of things the best way he can but I have been asking myself why on earth he's doing (or not doing) some of the things I have issue with.

Today, I think I landed on something that helps me to understand him a bit better. I'd be interested in your comments. Feel free to be polite and not totally rude and nasty ;^)

Here's a list of the top five things that really gripe my cookies about the Obama administration:

1. Capitulation on telecom wire tapping and a failure to pursue it.


2. Failure to close Guantanamo Bay.


3. Failure to use an Executive Order to end DADT separations until Congress can get its shit together enough to do it properly, once and for all.


4. Failure to hold Bush administration officials responsible for war crimes, perjury, and a number of other crimes against our country that, to my mind, verge on treason.


5. An absurd and repeated effort to start negotiations with Republicans at the half-way mark rather than from a more progressive position resulting in countless examples of (a) getting crappy bills because we don't negotiate from a more liberal position and (b) getting the football jerked away right before we kick it every goddam time by Republicans that demand concessions then vote against the legislation anyway.

I'll start with the last of these five first. I honestly believe, in my heart of hearts, that Barack Obama, in his heart of hearts believed his own rhetoric about being able to bring disparate sides together. He's been somewhat successful at it in the past, something he talks about in great length in The Audacity of Hope and I think he really thought that he'd be able to bring those skills to the White House and actually get Republicans to move in his direction.

I think what he didn't count on, and this is pretty naive in retrospect, was the incredible polarization that this country has gone through. It started with the Reagan administration that demonized liberals and made the "liberal" label something to sneer at and ended with the Bush administration that took that sneer to new levels (like right on Dick Cheney's face.) In between, the rise of the conservative radio and cable network drove the steel wedge right down the middle of the country, splitting us in two.

I have always defended his efforts to bring the sides together. I admired it, even. Perhaps the best example of it was the health insurance reform round table he held.

But it's not working. And it's not going to work. Not in the foreseeable future. Especially not until Americans on the right turn their backs on vitriol and hyperbole and caricaturization of those they disagree with. When Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity and their brethren are finally out of a job because nobody listens to them anymore and when the teabaggers have finally been sent packing back to the early 1900s where they belowng, then will have a prayer of finding common ground with conservative legislators (and conservatives in general) in this country.

I think the sooner he realizes this and changes his game plan, the better. What I think HE might be able to do that others may not is to figure out a way that gets the progressive agenda moved down the road without making the division worse.

The first four things on my list all boil down to a recognition on the president's part that if he pushes his agenda on Congress more vociferously than he already is, it will not only face more rabid resistance but it will pour gasoline on a fire that's already raging in the hearts and minds of conservatives right now. Listen to their rhetoric:

"He's shoving his liberal socialist agenda down our throats!"

"Obama is ramming his commie agenda through Congress using every political trick in the book!"

"That One is taking our country down the path to a Nazi dictatorship using Chicago-style politics."

When Bill Clinton attempted to pass significant health care reform during his time in office, he used fairly strong tactics to pressure Congress. He and Hillary played a significant role in writing the bill and President Clinton owned it every step of the way. He had so much political capital wrapped up in it that, when it failed, it hampered his ability to other things afterward and it effectively took Hillary out of any future role where she could have made a much bigger difference while Bill was in office.

I believe the President Obama deliberately has chosen to let Congress take the heat, saving his political capital for future battles on immigration reform and clean energy policy and climate change legislation and education reform and the myriad other fights he has in store for him.

If he had decided to pursue putting Bush administration officials on trial for war crimes, it would have consumed the nation, sucking the oxygen out of the country at a time when he had to deal with a collapsed economy and two wars (among all the other things he's had to contend with). He knew that a distraction like that would keep him from accomplishing so much of what he needed Congress to focus on.

Closing Guantanamo requires Congress to allocate the funds which they have not done. He has chosen not to strong arm them on that, as well.

Repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell requires a sea change, particularly among the age cohort that inhabits Congress. He KNOWS this will be difficult but that, in order for it to be permanent, it is Congress that must act.

But I'm still pissed about these five things. I want him to expend his capital on them. When he does, it will come back to him, I believe.

Start with an Executive Order on DADT. Do it. Do it tomorrow. It's time. The country is already there and Congress will catch up. Listen to Rachel Maddow!

Move immediately to close Gitmo. Do whatever it takes. Go on television every goddam night talking about the shame that America has on it because of the very existence of that facility. Get your Dems in line and close that damn hell hole of torture and God-only knows what.

And STOP beginning negotiations from a position of capitulation. Start from a strongly progressive stance, even if it seems out of the mainstream. Negotiate to the middle rather than starting there. Give liberals something to cheer about and they will come to your aid gladly and strongly.

I love that the president has begun calling Republicans on their bullshit. More of that, please! And not just during Election Silly Season. Do it every single time they act like the idiotic, backwards cartoon characters that they've become.

Every. Single. Time.

I have faith in you, President Obama. I believe that you can be a strong, solid progressive and I believe you can pull it off without being viewed as "the angry black man". I believe that you can do it in a way that moves America forward and doesn't further the division that already exists. (Honestly, how much wider can it really get?) That's your strongest suit. Play it!

Do these things and you will be able to accomplish even more of the change we are all hoping against hope for. You'll take an already amazing and transformative presidency to an new and higher level.

And you won't have to worry about the "professional left" ever again.

I'm just sayin'...

Americans for Prosperity slink in, then limp out of Michigan

The Americans for Prosperity "NOVEMBER IS COMING!" tour slunk into Michigan yesterday in its Koch Industries-funded bus to rile up their conservative base with the typical fear-mongering we've come to expect from them and their Tea Party pals. But, when they got to both Jackson and Saline, they found nearly equal numbers of supporters of Democratic Congressman Mark Schauer as they did their own mostly over-50-and-white fans.

In Jackson, they held an outdoor rally that was disrupted by chanting Mark Schauer supporters and cut short by a well-timed rain shower (thanks, Mother Nature.) Write-ups and videos HERE and HERE.

In Saline, the event I attended, they held their "rally" indoors at an American Legion Post. However, right from the start they encountered problems. First of all, the mayor of Saline, bless her heart, told them they could not park their gigantic Koch Industries-funded bus outside this government building. No political events allowed, don'tchya know?


The Koch Industries-funded AFP bus being 'blessed' by Tim Walberg's buddy, The Outsourceror".

The "Outsourceror" in the picture above is a Schauer supporter who is mocking Schauer's GOPosaur opponent, Tim Walberg, who has signed an anti-tax pledge that would have him voting against tax-cutting legislation that would remove the tax incentives for businesses outsourcing jobs to foreign countries. Koch Industries, the money behind this astroturfing group, is also a big proponent of business profits-over-people including when jobs are being sent to other countries. For more, see my previous blog entry HERE.

Attendees, again mostly over-50-and-white, also were greeted by 60 or 70 smiling, chanting supporters of Congressman Schauer.


Supporters of Congressman Schauer greet AFP rally attendees.

Protesters were not allowed inside (apparently they were not going to put up with any opposition in Saline) so we held our own party outside and received many honks and thumbs-up from passersby and cars. Inside, attendees where handed AFP t-shirts. Despite the large amount of money flowing from this group to fight all things Democratic Party, they felt compelled to purchase t-shirts made in Honduras.

The outsourcing continues.

And where did the "NOVEMBER IS COMING!" bus end up? It was relegated to a sad parking lot down the street at the Pancake House.


A very lonely AFP bus sits alone and despondent on the cracked pavement of the Pancake House.

All in all, a pretty lame showing by the AFP. They got virtually no publicity from their events and, at at least two of their stops, they were greeted by large numbers of happy, smiling and quite vocal Schauer supporters.

And that, as someone once said, is a Good Thing.

Congressman Schauer's Act Blue page is HERE and his website is HERE.

I'm just sayin'...

P.S. Don't forget, before they completely limp out of Michigan, there's one more AFP event today in Delta Township, just west of Lansing at 5:30 at the Udder Creamery, 4131 W. Saginaw Highway.

What he said...

The morons from the Westboro Baptist Church just seem to bring out the best humor in liberals, don't they?

To wit:



I'm just sayin'...

Why Michigan (all???) Democrats should be scared

Michigan dodged a bullet last week when we chose Virg Bernero as our Democratic candidate for governor over Blue Dog Andy Dillon.

But here's something to chew on:

Number of people who voted for a Republican gubernatorial candidate in last week's primary election in Michigan: 1,047,048

Number of people who voted for a Democratic gubernatorial candidate in last week's primary election in Michigan: 528,119

That's a 2:1 ratio. That's an "enthusiasm gap", kids, I suspect it is playing out similarly across the country.

So what are we going to do about it?

May I suggest hooking up with your local Organizing for America (OFA) group? Our single-minded focus ("Vote 2010") between now and the election in November is getting first time voters from 2008 and sporadic voters back to the polls in November. They are being asked to sign pledge cards saying that they promise to vote and we'll be sending those cards back to them right before the election to remind them of their pledge.



This is an effort that will benefit all Democrats up and down the ticket. It's an easy ask, an easy task, and we'd love to have you on board.

I'm just sayin'...

Dingell faces the teabaggers: One year later (PHOTOS)

This is a repost of my blog entry from last year where Congressman John Dingell held a pair of town hall meetings one year ago today on the topic of health insurance reform during the Congressional summer break. This event along with my wife's iconic images became one of the signature events, defining how angry, nearly apoplectic teabaggers set out to shut down discourse, disrupt civic events and completely overwhelm any event where a rational discussion of health insurance reform was attempted.

It many ways the event galvanized health insurance reform advocates around the country. Particularly here in Michigan, those of use promoting health insurance reform or any reform put forth by the Democrats began to turn out to public events in much larger numbers. In fact, at some of them organized by the Republicans themselves, we ended up outnumbering them at their own events.

It's worth checking out the Comments section of the original posting on my blog where a good deal of back-and-forth took place between me and some teabaggers. Clear revisionist history began taking place only a day or two after the event, pointing out how important these types of blogs are at preserving history, even if they are from one specific viewpoint like my own.

It's amazing what has transpired in just one year:

• Health insurance reform has passed, albeit without the public option that Congressman Dingell advocated and certainly a far cry from the single-payer system he has long advocated for.
• Wall Street reform has passed against the opposition of nearly all Republicans.
• We've had a monstrous oil spill disaster in American waters, calling into question the unbridled deregulation and inadequate oversight of this industry (and others) that can lead to catastrophic results.
• Teabaggers have seen their hand-picked candidate Doug Hoffman in NY-23 essentially hand over that seat to a Democrat for the first time in many decades by splitting the conservative vote.
• The Obama administration has signed numerous other progressive initiatives into law despite fierce political oppoosition.
• The teabaggers are watching their "movement" eat itself alive with anger and disharmony as they argue over ideology, money, power and all the other things that have ruined social movements over time. Despite their claim at simple, common-sense beliefs and goals, they themselves have proven to be as corruptible as any other political party. In the end, they have been revealed as just one more political movement in history, no more capable, and in some cases LESS capable of holding their alliance together than any other political movement has been.

One note about the piece you're about to read: the African American man holding the Obama-as-Hitler poster was said to be a Democratic plant by people interviewed on Fox News a few days after the event. A teabagger couple went on one of their shows claiming to have seen Democratic literature at the table where the misguided young man was standing after the rally. It was later clear that he was from the Lyndon Larouche's "LaRouchePAC" and their minions were seen at other teabagger events around the country.

So, with that preface, I give you a reposting of:
"Rep. Dingell Town Hall: A Teabagger Extravaganza".
=========================
Heading into last night's health care town hall meeting with U.S. Representative John Dingell, my wife and I anticipated that there would probably be a decent turnout of opposition from the teabagger side of the tracks. I've been reading about how the Disrupticans (hat tip: Detroit Mark) have been shutting down any semblance of civil discourse at these events all around the country and there was little reason to think it would be any different here in Michigan.

And, of course, we were right.



All pictures by my wife, Anne Savage. Visit her website at Anne Savage Photography, and her Flickr page.

Representative Dingell, bless his heart, did not shirk the crowd or the tough questions. There wasn't a single softball lobbed at him the entire night. Yet even when he refuted some of the most ridiculous myths and accusations of the teabaggers, he was shouted down, called a liar and treated as if he was personally responsible for the euthanasia of all senior citizens in the country.

The event was held at the Romulus Athletic Center which sits at the end of one of the runways of Detroit Metro Airport. As we neared the venue a half hour before it was scheduled to start, it was clear that the turnout was HUGE. Before I had even parked the car, I saw a young African American guy carrying a 5-foot tall picture of President Obama with a Hitler mustache.



Game on.

Americans for Prosperity attacks Dem. Schauer - ACTION

Cross-posted at Blogging for Michigan.

Democratic Congressman Mark Schauer (MI-07) is in one of the toughest Congressional races in the country this year. Facing off against former nemesis, bible salesman and Baptist minister, Tim Walberg, Schauer will soon face the prospect of conservative money which is sure to begin flowing into our district (as it did in 2008.)

In fact, it is already beginning as the astroturf group, Americans for Prosperity (AFP) (sorry, no direct linkage from me) is on a "tour" through the 7th District to smear Congressman Schauer.

AFP is decidedly an astroturfing group. Funded by Koch Industries, a fact reported on in-depth by Rachel Maddow and others, it pretends to be a grassroots group. However, in all its efforts to derail climate change legislation, health insurance reform, net neutrality, and other Democratic initiatives, the money behind the group is decidedly corporate.

Background:

Americans for Prosperity Founded by billionaire CEO:

• "Mr. Koch, a major contributor to the Republican Party and supporter of conservative causes... helped establish the nonprofit Americans for Prosperity Foundation, which supports free-market policies." [New York Times, 7/10/08]
• "Americans for Prosperity got over $5 million from Koch Foundations between 2005 and 2008." [MSNBC, 3/31/10]

Koch Industries subsidiary won award for outsourcing American jobs to China:

• "Freeborders and INVISTA Named Winners of Outsourcing Excellence Award; Prestigious Award Recognizes New Sales and Sourcing Platform for the Global Textile Industry." [Freeborders Press Release, 6/1/06]
• Invista is a key subsidiary of Koch Industries. [www.invista.com/page_whois_shareholder_en.shtml]

Walberg has signed a pledge to defend tax loopohles that encourage companies to ship jobs overseas:

• In May 2010, Americans for Tax Reform stated that their pledge required opposition to The American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010. The legislation would have closed a variety of different loopholes that actually create tax incentives for companies to move American jobs overseas. [Americans for Tax Reform, 5/20/10, Washington Post, 6/9/10]

According to the Schauer campaign, AFP is spending $260,000 this week alone in attack ads against Mark that distort his record. Additionally, they have a four-stop tour in the 7th District on Monday and Tuesday next week.

The stops are as follows:

8/9 Monday
9:00 am – Battle Creek , Mi
Holiday Inn, 12182 Harper Village Dr .

8/9 Monday
12:30 pm – Jackson, Mi
Pacific Tan, 615 Northwest Ave.

8/9 Monday
6:30 pm – Saline, Mi
American Legion Post 322, 320 W. Michigan Ave.

8/10 Tuesday
5:30 p.m. – Delta Township
Udder Creamery, 4131 W. Saginaw Highway

If you are going to attend, please contact me at eclectablog at gmail dot com. Plan on arriving at least 30 minutes before the rally starts.

In March of this year, Schauer supporters turned out at an anti-healthcare reform rally sponsored by the Republican party and outnumbered the protesters at least five to one. We hope to do something similar on Monday. If you are in the 7th district and are available Monday and Tuesday, please consider showing up to show your support for Congressman Schauer and to fight the astroturfing Americans for Prosperity.

While AFP is out to stop the efforts of Congressman Schauer and the Democrats to improve the lives of Americans, Congressman Schauer himself has been busy helping to level the playing field for US companies, promoting a light rail system in Michigan, and holding the company that dumped a million gallons of oil into the Kalamazoo River responsible for their actions and helping to prevent another such occurrence (also here.)

In other words, why Tim Walberg and the AFP throw poo at Democrats, Dems like Congressman Schauer are acting like adults and actually getting things done. Please help out by turning out for these 'rallies' and showing your support.

Congressman Schauer's Act Blue page is HERE.

I'm just sayin'...