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DFA NEEDS TO ENDORSE OBAMA NOW!
Linked to groups: Northside DFA
I am on the Steering Committee for Chicago's Northside DFA. This week at our monthly meeting, our group voted 15-0 to endorse Obama. (The vote will be held open for a week so voting members of our group who weren't there can vote on line, but I don't expect the result to change.)
I believe DFA members need to find a way to convince national DFA to hold a membership vote ASAP so DFA can endorse Obama while it still matters. This race is for the soul of the Democratic Party: will we be a party of the people or of corporate lobbyists, grassroots or big money? DFA was founded on the idea of making the Party truly democratic (small d). Endorsing Obama and working toward his election is the way to achieve this.
In Iowa DFA had a campaign to elect a progressive: either Edwards, Kucinich, or Obama. Now that Obama is the only one left of those 3, I think we need to give the DFA membership a chance to endorse him.
When I spoke to Jim Dean 2 weeks ago, he said he did not plan to hold another vote. I think this would be a huge mistake. DFA has a role to play in this fight. We should not sit on the sidelines. I hope people reading this can find a way to persuade the folks in Vermont that the time for a new vote is NOW.
UPDATE: Just want to make it clear, what I am asking for is a VOTE (something we haven't had this year). I am assuming that progressives here have settled on Obama just as they have everywhere else (e.g., MoveOn, Daily Kos, etc.). Once the DFA membership votes overwhelmingly for Obama (preferably via a quick, members-only poll), DFA should make that endorsement official.
Although I am not officially a member I strongly support our endorsement of Obama. H e is a man with vision, with a desire to create a more ethical democracy, and a person who is more than willing to reach across the isle and communicate with those on the other side. And he is also a superb debator. Obama has also commited to sitting down with the enemy, and we certainly know that we have more and more of them internationally, and talk about ways of reducing world tensions. And he has the capaciity to listen and respond with reason. He is the hope of a new direction for our country.
sandra simonson
Although I am not officially a member I strongly support our endorsement of Obama. H e is a man with vision, with a desire to create a more ethical democracy, and a person who is more than willing to reach across the isle and communicate with those on the other side. And he is also a superb debator. Obama has also commited to sitting down with the enemy, and we certainly know that we have more and more of them internationally, and talk about ways of reducing world tensions. And he has the capaciity to listen and respond with reason. He is the hope of a new direction for our country.
sandra simonson
i too agree with jim ginsburg that now is the time to support senator obama in his bid for the presidency of the U.S. He has the vision , leadership, integrity and knowledge of constitutional law which is much needed. so what are we as a group waiting for?
Respectfully submitted,
Sandra Silva, member northside dfa
hammer, meet nail. i could not agree more. and the moment is now!
i am not sure that i agree with the conventional wisdom that a protracted battle for the nomination and even some fireworks at the convention is a bad thing for the party. i find the opposite pattern, where we are left with one candidate in the race after a handful of contests, to be antithetical to democracy. however, with the closeness of the race, i am increasingly worried about a showdown in denver, where neither candidates arrives with enough popular delegates to win outright, and the superdelegates choose the candidate. should these party insiders choose in opposition to the will of the electorate, this party will never be the same.
jim is right. this is a battle for the heart and soul of this party. not only will a strong endorsement from dfa give a little more Omentum to the campaign, it will set down a bright line, for any superdelegates who are paying attention, just where those hearts and souls lie.
i do not think there is much doubt about the sentiments of the dfa'ers that i know. i urge national dfa to take the measure of that sentiment, as jim says, while it still matters.
Most of all, I believed in the power of the American people to be the real agents of change in this country - because we are not as divided as our politics suggests; because we are a decent, generous people willing to work hard and sacrifice for future generations; and I was certain that if we could just mobilize our voices to challenge the special interests that dominate Washington and challenge ourselves to reach for something better, there was no problem we couldn't solve - no destiny we couldn't fulfill.
Our Moment Is Now Des Moines, IA | December 27, 2007
nuf said.
I know that there are a lot of people in Vermont who have been strong Obama supporters from the get-go -- Zepher Teachout (remember her?) has done a lot of organizing for Obama.
This makes sense.
With the field narrowed, I suspect that the vast majority of DFA members support Obama. That makes it reasonable for the group to do so, as well.
They should check this suspicion, of course. A vote is teh way to do this.
Wary U.S. Olympians Will Bring Food to China
By BEN SHPIGEL
Published: February 9, 2008
COLORADO SPRINGS — When a caterer working for the United States Olympic Committee went to a supermarket in China last year, he encountered a piece of chicken — half of a breast — that measured 14 inches. “Enough to feed a family of eight,” said Frank Puleo, a caterer from Staten Island who has traveled to China to handle food-related issues.
“We had it tested and it was so full of steroids that we never could have given it to athletes. They all would have tested positive.”
In preparing to take a delegation of more than 600 athletes to the Summer Games in Beijing this year, the U.S.O.C. faces food issues beyond steroid-laced chicken. In recent years, some foods in China have been found to be tainted with insecticides and illegal veterinary drugs,...
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/09/sports...
========
this the country that is loaning our government money to function
On endorsing a candidate;
1. I don't want DFA to go into what James Ginsberg suggests as if it were a forgone conclusion.
...who knows? Sen Clinton may come out on top!
2. The last vote was ugly and made us look wacky IMHO.
_____________
TTFN
we could have a vote to make it official
Thanks to all you wonderful people of Chicago, the place where I was born.
Yes, DFA does need to endorse Obama, the sooner the better. If DFA doesn't, then I question why any of us progressives are here.
8.
The last vote was ugly and made us look wacky IMHO.
Paine,
Yes it did make us look wacky because Kucinich was never a viable candidate to begin with.
So if Clinton comes out on top, so what? We should never be afraid to support or endorse the candidate we support and who best represents DFA.
I think there were people who would have been upset had Kucinich been left out -- because he does speak for values that many of us share. My dilemna has always been that while I agree with what DK says, I don't agree with his methods -- I don't see him building coalitions to get things done, I see him out there saying "look at me" -- imho. So he needed to be there to capture those who really believed in him ... but he wasn't viable.
But now that we're down to a horse race, why not send out a two-person straw poll? See what happens? If its split 50-50 between Clinton and Obama, I'd be surprised -- but you never know. It would be interesting to see where the strong support is (myself, I rate my support of Clinton "soft" support -- I'll support her if she's the nominee, but I prefer Obama).
It seems odd that DFA was involved in this through Iowa, and has since been silent. Yes, there are other races .... but why talk about it at all and then drop the discussion? So I think another endorsement poll is entirely appropriate.
The U.S. economy in the doldrums and the ongoing costs (both financial and human) of the war in Iraq, are tied together:
http://www.sj-r.com/News/stories/24865.asp
Illinois voters worry about economy, its ties to Iraq war
By JOHN O’CONNOR
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published Friday, February 08, 2008
Twice as many Illinoisans are worried about the economy as the Iraq war, surveys in Tuesday’s primary show. But that’s no surprise to anti-war activists and voters who see the two issues as inseparable. ...
It’s understandable that people whom the war hasn’t personally touched would be more aware of lighter pocketbooks. And it doesn’t discourage war opponents, who say more people are recognizing the war’s monetary drain.
“The underlying issue is the war,” said Sister Karen Nykiel of the Lisle-based Illinois chapter of Pax Christi, a Catholic peace and justice group. “The economy is where it is because of the war.”
The American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker-backed peace movement, estimates the U.S. has spent $1 trillion in Iraq through the end of last year.
“If you want to stimulate the economy, stop the war and spend that money domestically,” Friends regional director Michael McConnell said.
...
AP Poll: Stimulus Checks Welcome, but to Really Help the Economy US Should Leave Iraq
JEANNINE AVERSA
AP News
Feb 08, 2008 18:00 EST
The heck with Congress' big stimulus bill. The way to get the country out of recession — and most people think we're in one — is to get the country out of Iraq, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll.
...
Pulling out of the war ranked first among proposed remedies in the survey, followed by spending more on domestic programs, cutting taxes and, at the bottom end, giving rebates to poor people in hopes they'll spend the economy into recovery.
The $168 billion economic rescue package Congress rushed to approval this week includes rebates of $600 to $1,200 for most taxpayers, the hope being that they will spend the money and help revive ailing businesses. President Bush is expected to sign the measure next week. Poor wage-earners, as well as seniors and veterans who live almost entirely off Social Security and disability benefits, would get $300 checks.
However, just 19 percent of the people surveyed said they planned to go out and spend the money; 45 percent said they'd use it to pay bills. And nearly half said what the government really should do is get out of Iraq.
Forty-eight percent said a pullout would help fix the country's economic problems "a great deal," and an additional 20 percent said it would help at least somewhat. Some 43 percent said increasing government spending on health care, education and housing programs would help a great deal; 36 percent said cutting taxes.
"Let's stop paying for this war," said Hilda Sanchez, 44, of Waterford, Calif. "There are a lot of people who are struggling. We can use the money to pay for medical care and help people who were put out of their homes."
The subject of leaving Iraq shows a sharp partisan divide — 65 percent of Democrats think it would help the economy a lot, but only 18 percent of Republicans think so.
Just 29 percent of people think putting more money in the hands of the poor would help a great deal in fixing the country's economic problems.
...
Hi Alderman Moore, if you're still around. And all of the other new bloggers.
I'd also like to see the result of a straw vote just to take the DFA temperature.
When we had the last endorsement here, we had a pretty full list of candidates on board. Now we have only two.
So I am wondering if Jim Dean is reluctant for DFA to endorse anyone because of the possibility that it might be portrayed as an endorsement by Howard. This hasn't been the Dean blog for years so I would say thr portrayal would be a bogus attempt to attack Dean.
My only question would be, is that why Jim Dean hasn't jumped on this already?
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/06/us/politics/06region.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Obama Takes Connecticut, Helped by Lamont Voters
By DAVID W. CHEN
Published: February 6, 2008
Ned Lamont was not on the ballot, but his presence was nonetheless felt in Connecticut’s Democratic presidential primary.
...
voters who called Iraq the top issue who helped provide the margin of victory for Senator Barack Obama in Connecticut
...
Tuesday’s primary suggested that although he lacks a political office, Mr. Lamont, chairman of Mr. Obama’s campaign in Connecticut, might yet have a political legacy.
“The Lamont campaign was part of my political awakening,” said Bill Dauphin, 47, a technical writer who attended the Obama campaign’s victory party Tuesday night at the Sweet Jane Bar in Hartford. “That’s the thing that got me off the sofa and onto the street.”
In a state where Mrs. Clinton consistently held double-digit poll leads until mid-January, Mr. Obama ran strong among voters who made up their minds in the last month, the last week and the last three days, the exit poll showed. Thousands of unaffiliated Connecticut voters joined the Democratic Party in recent weeks in order to cast ballots in the primary, and among the nearly 20 percent of voters surveyed on Tuesday who identified themselves as independents, Mr. Obama won 6 of every 10 votes.
...
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/06/focus-on-iraq-war-worries-positioned-obama-for/?partner=yahoo
Focus on Iraq War worries positioned Obama for win
David Montero
Rocky Mountian News
Feb 6, 2008
...
Our checks will be used for a new boathouse roof which will create a job for someone local who may be short of work right now.
Since creating new jobs is probably not what the neocons have in mind, I'm sure that is what we will be doing with ours.
I'll give my WA caucus report later today. We've been up all night with a very sick boy so I'll give my info later today. Caucus starts in three hours.
BBL
"I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream":
http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/samgrahamfelsen/CyzD
Former Edwards Supporter Ben Cohen Endorses Barack Obama
By Sam Graham-Felsen - Feb 9th, 2008 at 11:14 am EST
...
Joan wrote: Yes it did make us look wacky because Kucinich was never a viable candidate to begin with.
Joan,
Maybe you don't mean it, but this is just offensive. Who are you to tell everyone who is viable or not? Obama wasn't "viable" a few months ago. Let's stop acting like the conventional media and saying who we all should support, please.
That doesn't mean I would be against another vote. I never thought DFA should sit on the sidelines and they/we haven't. DFA promoted three progressive candidates that together made up 75% or more of the vote: Kucinich, Edwards and Obama. Only Obama is remaining.
If DFA has another vote, they should restrict it to existing members, not an Internet free-for-all ripe for rigging.
Since Obama is the ONLY candidate remaining of the top three that DFA promoted, would it be safe to assume that we endorsed him. I think DFA delicately held together a progressive coalition which has led us to Obama.
People will work and support whomever they want regardless of DFA. But Obama is the one left standing.
mary vb
Sat, 02/09/08
Looking forward to it, Mary! I do hope Obama wins in my home state of Washington but that doesn't mean he is great on everything.
I still think he has made a critical mistake on health care and we likely won't see truly universal insurance if he pursues it as he plans.
Obama may already have coattails in Maryland. Let's watch to see if he brings out new voters and sweeps in Donna Edwards in her primary there. She is one last hope of removing a DINO in a primary.
AURORA -- Democrat John Laesch knows at least one outstanding vote for him that hasn't appeared in any election totals.
"As of today, my brother's vote has not been counted," Laesch said, referring to Peter Laesch, a sergeant in the U.S. Army stationed in Germany.
As long as all outstanding provisional and absentee ballots are counted around the 14th Congressional District, Laesch doesn't care if his brother is the only supporter he has left, Laesch said Friday morning at his Aurora campaign headquarters.
» Click to enlarge image
John Laesch Laesch trailed former Fermilab scientist Bill Foster by 355 votes on Tuesday in the regular Democratic primary election in the 14th District.
"We still don't have a final number," Laesch said of how many ballots are unaccounted for. "We have no choice but to await the final results."
Earlier this week, Kane County Clerk Jack Cunningham explained that those ballots, if properly postmarked before Tuesday, can be counted until Feb. 19. Based on state law, the primary results must be certified by March 7.
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/couriernews/news/785379,3_1_EL09_A1LAESCH_S1.article
rdorgan,
Do you know of any legit count of Edwards' superdelegates and whether they have switched to Clinton or Obama?
What is a Brit doing poking her D & G (doom and gloom) opinion in American politics ? --
British Nobel literature laureate Doris Lessing , IMO is contributing "less" to the conversation:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080209/en_afp/usvotenobelliteraturebritainswedenlessing_080209175746
Obama will be assassinated if he wins: Nobel winner Lessing
32 minutes ago
STOCKHOLM (AFP) - If Barack Obama becomes the next US president he will surely be assassinated, British Nobel literature laureate Doris Lessing predicted in a newspaper interview published here Saturday.
Obama, who is vying to become the first black president in US history, "would certainly not last long, a black man in the position of president. They would murder him," Lessing, 88, told the Dagens Nyheter daily.
Lessing, who won the 2007 Nobel Literature Prize, said it might be better if Obama's Democratic rival Hillary Clinton were to succeed in her bid to become the first woman president of the United States.
...
It might be calmer if she were to win, and not Obama," she said.
Time for honest assessment of MMR vaccine's risks
Another weak scientific research paper is paraded as definitive proof that no link exists between the controversial MMR vaccine, bowel disease and autism (your report, 5 February)...
...In contrast, parents should note that in 2006 an American medical scientific team (led by Stephen Walker MD, Wake Forest University School of Medicine) clinically examined 275 regressive autistic children with bowel disease (the target group). Of the 82 children tested, 70 proved positive for measles virus in the gut and/or gastro-intestinal tract. All were vaccine strain and none wild virus measles. I quote: "This research proves that in the gastro-intestinal tract of a number of children who have been diagnosed with regressive autism there is evidence of measles virus."...
http://news.scotsman.com/opinion/Time-fo...
I personally hope that DFA will not conduct a "runoff" vote between Obama and Hillary. MoveOn now has a lot of self-inflicted wounds from endorsing Obama and has only IMHO made the uniting process harder for us all when Hillary gets the nomination.
A DFA endorsement will change very few if any remaining votes. But then that's why they played the Super Bowl and that's why they will continue to hold primaries and caucus sessions in the remaining states.
Mike W
President, DFA Tulsa http://www.dfalink.com/tulsa
President, DFA Oklahoma http://www.dfalink.com/oklahoma [where Hillary got 25 more delegates and Obama got 14]
30.
* rdorgan
Sat, 02/09/08
==============
He's a lot easier to murder on the campaign trail. If Obama get murdered, it won't be because he is half African-American. It will be because he is a liberal and a reformer of corporate elitism.
32.
Mike Workman
Sat, 02/09/08
Reply to this
I personally hope that DFA will not conduct a "runoff" vote between Obama and Hillary.
=========================
I don't see how we could have a bone fide endorsement, void of elitism, without a vote.
FRED from Ashland OR
Sat, 02/09/08
We had a vote: DFA took it to mean support for all three progressive candidates who were at the top of the vote: Kucinich, Edwards and Obama.
Obama is the only one left so to me that means an endorsement of his candidacy. Clinton got very low votes.
If DFA has another vote, it should be among registered "members" only and short in duration so it can't be scammed.
Joel Stein on Obamaphilia:
"You are embarrassing yourselves. With your 'Yes We Can' music video, your 'Fired Up, Ready to Go" song, your endless chatter about how he's the first one to inspire you, to make you really feel something -- it's as if you're tacking photos of Barack Obama to your locker, secretly slipping him little notes that read, 'Do you like me? Check yes or no.' Some of you even cry at his speeches. If I were Obama, and you voted for me, I would so never call you again.
" . . . .
"What the Cult of Obama doesn't realize is that he's a politician. Not a brave one taking risky positions like Ron Paul or Dennis Kucinich, but a mainstream one. He has not been firing up the Senate with stirring Cross-of-Gold-type speeches to end the war. He's a politician so soft and safe, Oprah likes him. There's talk about his charisma and good looks, but I know a nerd when I see one. The dude is Urkel with a better tailor.
"All of this is clear to me, and yet I have fallen victim. I was at an Obama rally in Las Vegas last month, hanging at the rope line afterward in the cold night desert air, just to see him up close, to make sure he was real. I'd never heard a politician talk so bluntly, calling U.S. immigration policy 'scapegoating' and 'demagoguery.' I'd never had even a history teacher argue that our nation's history is a series of brave people changing others' minds when things were on the verge of collapse. I want the man to hope all over me."
" . . . .
"Thing is, I've watched too many movies and read too many novels; I can't root against a person who believes he can change the world. The best we Obamaphiles can do is to refrain from embarrassing ourselves. And I do believe that we can resist making more 'We Are the World'-type videos. We can resist crying jags. We can resist, in every dinner argument and every e-mail, the word 'inspiration.' Yes, we can."
Indy wrote to Joan "Who are you to tell everyone who is viable or not?"
It's kind of simple if you bother to put some thought and effort into it. Here's another big news blast for you: Ron Paul isn't viable, either.
Barack Obama and the Euphoria of Madness
Larry Pinkney
The Black Commentator
February 6, 2008
Those who ignore reality and the lessons of history do so at their own peril. Ignoring reality, whether in a state of euphoria or not, is nonetheless a sure recipe for disaster.
It is both sad and simultaneously horribly fascinating to observe so many euphorically pinning their hopes and dreams on Barack Obama, a chameleon who speaks liberally of “change” but who is, himself, beholden to the very same blood-sucking corporate vampires (including Lockheed and others) who are ravaging the peoples of America, and the entire planet. It seems we have moved euphemistically from Dracula to a corporately repackaged Blackula in the person of Barack Obama. In the very name of “change,” Obama is moving America euphorically backwards.
All of America, but most especially we Black, Brown, and Red peoples, need to pay heed to the unfolding debacle known as the “Obama phenomenon.” This so-called “phenomenon” is propelled by blind euphoria, while being steeped in double-speak and disinformation. The danger in this is self-evident.
Never mind that Barack Obama is a stalwart supporter of apartheid / corporate Zionism and is beholden to the Zionist corporate lobby in the US, which wags the people of America as a whole to the tune of billions upon billions of dollars from the coffers of this nation. It should be noted that Barack Obama made it quite clear in The Jerusalem Post newspaper (Israel) of January 29, 2008, that the Palestinian people whose lands are, and have long been, illegally and militarily occupied by Israel, “do not have the right of return.” Similar to the wanton genocide that America carried out against the indigenous, so-called “Indian” peoples on this North American continent under the cover of Manifest Destiny, so it is that the Zionists are simultaneously carrying out de facto apartheid and genocide against the Palestinian people. Black, Red, and Brown peoples should pay close attention to this horrible reality, which is supported by Barack Obama, and no amount of Obama double-speak can obfuscate this outrage. Black Americans must realize unequivocally that every Israeli or Jewish person is not necessarily a Zionist, just as every German was not necessarily a Nazi (Adolph Hitler in fact also murdered thousands of non-Jewish Germans who opposed him). However, make no mistake about this: Nazism, Zionism, and apartheid are inextricably tied together. Moreover, it should be clearly understood that Semitic peoples include both Arab and Jewish peoples, including Palestinians. Thus, the constant tactic of depicting any who criticize the actions of Zionists as being “anti-Semitic,” is inaccurate, diversionary, and ridiculous. Barack Obama is deeply beholden to apartheid / corporate Zionism at the expense of the Palestinian people and peace with justice throughout the so-called Middle East.
McCain’s Presidential Ambitions Set To Be Swiftboated
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet
Friday, February 8th, 2008
Remnants of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth group that contributed to torpedoing John Kerry’s presidential ambitions in 2004 are set to derail John McCain’s hopes of becoming the Republican nominee by forcing the GOP to jettison the Senator and instigating a revolution within the party to return it to its conservative roots.
It was McCain himself that leapt to Kerry’s defense during the Swift Boat controversy four years ago and now the individuals that started the offensive against Kerry are set to turn on McCain.
The campaign is being led by Sergeant Ted Sampley who has devoted much of his post-military career to campaigning for the safe return of lost POW’s stranded behind enemy lines. He is Vice President of Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Rally Washington, D.C., which has no less than half a million active members.
Sampley also runs Vietnam Veterans Against John McCain organization, which has been instrumental in exposing the fact that McCain’s status as a war hero and the claim that he was tortured in Vietnam is a complete fabrication, as well as highlighting the fact that McCain poses as a veteran’s advocate yet abandons them on every turnkey issue.
"We are planning right now a counter-offensive called GOP Tea Party, and in the spirit of 1773 when the colonists rebelled against the King of England and tossed all that tea over, we’re going to rebel against the Republican Party and toss McCain over," Sampley told the Alex Jones Show.
"We hope to start a revolution within the Republican Party to cleanse it of all the left-leaning Republicans and McCain is a leftist if you look at his major activity," he added, pointing out that McCain has direct links to the Clintons and would be no different than having Hillary in the White House.
Sampley said that the move would consist of convincing around 10 per cent of Republicans to sign a pledge promising that they would not vote for McCain, and re-establish the real conservative roots of the Republican Party.
"We were the first to open up on John Kerry and we took a lot of crap," said Sampley, "the same stuff’s going to be thrown at us about McCain that was thrown at us about John Kerry," said Sampley.
"McCain is a deceiver, he is the great deceiver, you can’t trust him," he added.
Sampley dismissed the importance of McCain’s delegate support, saying that as long as 10 per cent could be made to sign the pledge, the Republicans would be forced to jettison McCain, leading to a brokered convention and the selection of a different nominee.
"When the Republican establishment is confronted with the cold fact that if the party nominates McCain, all efforts to win the presidency will be in vain. It will be forced to "broker" the leftist McCain into oblivion where he rightfully belongs," reads the GOP Tea Party website.
Whether Sampley’s efforts will be successful largely hinges on whether establishment Republican-leaning and Neo-Con news outlets and talk radio give the campaign any attention. Can the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Fox News and Glenn Beck really be relied upon to sink McCain’s aspirations or will they mothball the story to ensure a completely staged McCain vs. Hillary contest ensues?
There are allot of good points made here for endorsing Obama and it can go on & on & on,afterall DFAers support Progressives and it's why Dean started this group. A DFA Endorsement is visibility for DFA, not a bad thing, but the real support right now comes in the way of YOU, your vote, donating, phonebanking, visibility, volunteering in some capacity. Wasn't Dean's mantra all about "People Power" and now it's Obama's "Yes You Can". People Power should make a "runoff" moot.
What really turns my gut is anyone even mentioning "murder/assination" as some valid logical part of this discussion, RU KIDDING ME! Go back to sleep, you're clueless.
Keepin it REAL in Chicago!
S.L.
Neocon Limbaugh to Raise Money for Hillary Clinton
ABC’s Political Punch
February 8, 2008
Rush Limbaugh Thursday said he’s considering raising cash for Sen. Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign so as to ensure she’s the Democratic nominee.
Earlier in the week Limbaugh said that if Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, is the Democratic presidential nominee, the GOP this November is "doomed."
After the withdrawal of Mitt Romney from the GOP race, Limbaugh said to his listeners, "might it be required (she’s having to loan herself money), do you think I should conduct a fundraiser for Mrs. Clinton? Mitt did his part today. He got out so as not to fracture the party any further and not to harm the effort to win the war in Iraq. Should I do my part, not by joining my liberal friends in the Republican Party, but actually raising money for Mrs. Clinton, and asking you to join me, so that she would have a chance here to once again have a good shot at getting a Democrat nomination so that we win the White House?"
Limbaugh underlines that "the reason for raising money for Hillary is because that apparently my party is relying on fear and loathing of Hillary to get the nomination, to unite Republicans, who are, some of them, off the reservation. The Republicans do not seem to be relying on leadership in their party to unite the party. They seem to be relying on all these external things, nobody is going to vote for Hillary, negative turnout factor. What if she’s not the nominee? We’ve got make sure she’s the nominee if the Republican Party is to be unified. What more loyal thing could I do than to run a fundraiser for Mrs. Clinton? You watch, though, you watch how that will be questioned."
On Wednesday, Limbaugh said of Clinton, "she just polarizes people. I think she’s going to gin up enough anti-Hillary turnout out there to perhaps be a boon to whoever the Republican nominee is. …Now, if Obama is the nominee, we are doomed, and you should get ready and prepared for it now."
Limbaugh, who has been a thorn in the side of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the GOP presidential frontrunner, predicted that as it becomes more certain that McCain will be the Republican nominee, the media would soon turn on him, "doing stories on his age, and they’re not going to be mean, they are not going to be vicious, they’re going to be almost sorrowful. … We’re going to get the worst pictures of McCain. We’re going to get him looking tired. We’re going to hear references to his forgetfulness. ‘Isn’t it just a shame?’ And if that doesn’t work, then they’re going to do stories on the fact he’s nuts. Just mark my words."
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Cedar Rapids, IA – Today, Hillary Clinton laid out a plan to restore America’s middle class. After six and a half years of Bush administration policies, the middle class is struggling to succeed in an economy that is leaving more and more Americans behind.
Income inequality has risen to the highest levels since 1929, and wages have stagnated. In the meantime, health care premiums and college tuitions have skyrocketed, squeezing middle class families who have largely relied on their home equity to make ends meet. The burgeoning problems in the housing market further threaten many middle class families.
Understanding that a vibrant middle class is essential to America’s prosperity, Hillary vowed to implement a broad set of policies to once again restore opportunity for all Americans.
“I believe that middle class is the backbone of our economy, the key to real growth, and the guarantor of the American Dream. America is only as strong as our middle class. And so I judge the health of our economy by asking whether our middle class is expanding and getting ahead. This Administration has failed that test. Mine will not,” Clinton said.
“Today, I propose a new economic blueprint for the twenty-first century economy, a plan to create the new, good jobs essential to broad-based prosperity; to restore fairness to our economy; to renew the basic bargain that if you work hard, you can get ahead; and to put our fiscal house in order again.
“The secret to America’s past economic success is clear: Whenever the economy changed, we changed with it – and mastered it. We innovated. We invested in our people. We managed downturns – and overcame them. We generated wealth – and made sure it was shared.
“We have to change our economic course just as we have to change course in Iraq, and change course when it comes to health care. When it comes to the economy, I believe I have the strength and experience to make that change -- and make our economy work again for our middle class and for all our people.”
Hillary’s economic blueprint to restore the American middle class includes:
- Harnessing innovation to create the high-wage jobs of the 21st Century
- Creating a $50 billion Strategic Energy Fund to jumpstart research and development of alternative energies
- Strengthening unions and ensuring our trade laws work for all Americans
- Providing quality, affordable health care to every American
- Making college accessible and affordable
- Confronting the growing problems in the housing market
- Bolstering retirement security by promoting savings and investment
- Returning to fiscal responsibility and moving towards balanced budgets
HILLARY’S PLAN TO REBUILD
THE ROAD TO THE MIDDLE CLASS
The Challenges:
Income inequality is rising. In 2005, all income gains went to the top 10% of households, while the bottom 90% saw their incomes decline. The wealthiest 1% held 22% of America’s income – as compared to only 9% in 1970 – the highest level since 1929.
It is increasingly hard for middle class families to make ends meet. While the typical household’s income is $1,000 lower today than it was in 2000, college costs have risen 40%, health care premiums have nearly doubled, and gas prices have doubled as well.
The impact of globalization. Since 2001, the trade deficit has doubled, and the Economic Policy Institute estimates that we have lost 1.8 million manufacturing jobs to China. Anxiety about foreign competition is no longer limited to the manufacturing sector. American workers in service industries are increasingly competing against low-wage counterparts around the world.
The Bush administration’s lack of fiscal discipline is burdening today’s middle class and future generations. Reckless tax cuts for the rich, and a war costing upwards of $300 million a day, have contributed to the national debt rising to over $9 trillion. Every baby born today starts life with $30,000 of our national debt on her shoulders—the largest birth tax in our history.
Weakness in the housing market is hurting families. Rising house prices had allowed families to draw on the equity in their homes to pay bills and put their children through college. But with home prices weakening, that is increasingly difficult to do. Some experts now estimate that house price weakness could erase $3 trillion in household wealth. Additionally, too many families are losing their homes as their mortgage rates reset upwards. There have been more than 1.3 million foreclosure filings so far this year. Also, economists are now concerned that the problems in housing could spillover and hurt the broader economy.
Rebuilding the Road to the Middle Class:
As President, Hillary will:
[1] Harness the power of innovation to create high wage jobs of the 21st Century. Investments in alternative energy can create new jobs for the 21st century; expanded access to broadband will bring opportunities to underserved and disadvantaged communities; the manufacturing base can be re-energized through creative partnerships; and increased government support for research will stimulate the development of new technologies and life-saving medicines. Hillary will restore integrity to science policy, reversing Bush administration policies that are holding our nation back.
Hillary will create a $50 billion Strategic Energy Fund to finance an energy research agency that gathers the best minds from academia, the private sector, and government to devise ways to make the United States energy independent and reduce the threat of global warming. Oil companies would have the choice of either investing in alternative energy or contributing a portion of their earnings into the Fund. The Fund would also provide tax incentives for homeowners and businesses to make their houses and offices more energy efficient; provide gas station owners a tax credit for installing E85 (ethanol) pumps; provide loan guarantees for the commercialization of cellulosic biofuels; and provide incentives for the development of new technologies that contribute to a cleaner environment. By investing in alternative energy, we can create hundreds of thousands of well-paying new jobs in the United States.
[2] Empower our workers and ensure that all Americans contribute their fair share. Hillary will ensure that unions, which have played an important role in forming and sustaining the middle class, are strong. She will also ensure that trade policies work for average Americans. Trade policy must raise our standard of living, and they must have strong protections for workers and the environment. Hillary will:
- Pass the Employee Free Choice Act so that unions can organize for fair wages and safe working conditions.
- Appoint a trade enforcement officer within the office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and double the size of USTR’s enforcement unit. The Bush administration has been extremely lax about enforcing our trade agreements, and workers are suffering as a consequence. Hillary will appoint a trade enforcement officer within USTR who will be responsible for ensuring that our trade agreements are vigorously enforced. She will also double the size of the enforcement unit. The current staff is too small to monitor and enforce the increasingly complex agreements.
- Overhaul the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program to ensure that workers who have lost jobs because of global competition get the support they need. TAA provides job training, income support, a health care tax credit, and job placement assistance. Hillary will modernize the program to ensure that it is truly helping workers hurt by global trade. First, she will extend TAA benefits to service workers. Today, workers who produce a service rather than a product are ineligible for TAA, leaving everyone from call-center operators to radiologists, without assistance. Second, Hillary will broaden TAA to cover all workers whose plants have moved abroad. Workers are currently ineligible for TAA if their plants relocated to countries with which we have not signed free trade or trade preferences agreements. This outdated rule means that when plants shift from America to low-wage countries like India and China, laid-off workers are ineligible for TAA. Third, Hillary will double funding for TAA’s job training program to $440 million. And fourth, she will overhaul the Health Coverage Tax Credit (HCTC) to ensure that it is actually making health care affordable for laid-off workers. She will increase tax credit to 90% of premiums from the current 65%. And for laid-off workers without access to COBRA or a qualified state plan, she will make other options, she will allow them to use the HCTC to buy into the Federal Employees Health Benefit Plan (FEHBP).
- Restore fairness to the tax system. Hillary will return to the income tax rates for upper-income Americans that we had in the 1990s – rates that were consistent with a balanced budget and economic growth. She will level the playing field when it comes to taxing the income earned in investment partnerships. Right now, some Wall Street investment managers making $50 million a year could pay just 15% on their earned income – while someone making $50,000 a year pays 25%. That is simply wrong, and Hillary will change it. In addition, Hillary will extend middle class tax relief, the child tax credit and marriage penalty relief, and reform the AMT to ensure people don’t face stealth tax increases.
[3] Restore the basic bargain. Hillary will restore the basic bargain that if Americans work hard and take responsibility, government will do its part to make sure they have the tools to get ahead. Hillary will:
- Make college affordable. On Thursday, Hillary will detail a plan for making college affordable for all Americans. Her plan will include modernizing the HOPE Scholarship Program that provides tax credits to help young people attend college. As President, Hillary will also provide more support for community colleges and institutions that prepare people for good jobs.
- Ensure that every American has quality, affordable health care. Hillary has a plan to ensure that every American has quality, affordable health care. If you have a plan you like, you keep it. If you don’t have insurance – or don’t like the insurance you have – you can choose from the same menu of private plans available to members of Congress, or you can opt into a public plan option like Medicare. Tax credits will be available to make health care affordable. Your coverage will be guaranteed – even if you lose your job. Even if you decide to start your own business or stay home with the kids for a few years. And you’ll never be denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions or risk factors because Hillary will ban insurance company discrimination. Hillary’s plan also provides tax credits to help small businesses. Hillary will help them create new jobs with good health care benefits as well.
- Confront the growing problems in the housing market. Hillary has laid out plans to address the problems in subprime mortgages; crack down on unscrupulous brokers; curb mortgage lending abuses; assist families facing foreclosure; and expand affordable housing options. Homeownership is a fundamental part of the American dream, and Hillary is committed to helping families preserve and realize it. Home price declines, and mortgage rates resetting, makes it critical that additional steps be taken to help families replace unworkable mortgages. Today, Hillary announced new proposals:
- Implement the “Save Our Homes” program. The Save Our Homes program would temporarily use Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the state housing finance agencies to help reduce foreclosures. The program would be in effect for 2 years. First, Hillary will temporarily increase Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s portfolio caps by 5% to give the companies approximately $70 billion in incremental mortgage purchasing capacity. With the caps lifted, the two companies will be directed to work with state housing agencies and private lenders to help at-risk homeowners replace their unworkable mortgages (mostly adjustable rate mortgages) with stable, fixed-rate loans. For example, the companies would help lenders and state agencies set responsible underwriting standards for the new loans; and the companies would also purchase some of these loans for their portfolios.
Second, Hillary will temporarily modify the Mortgage Revenue Bond (MRB) program to help families refinance unworkable mortgages. Under the MRB, state housing finance agencies use the proceeds of tax-exempt bond issuances to provide low-cost mortgages to low- and moderate-income families. Hillary will modify the MRB program in two ways to address the foreclosure crisis: First, state agencies will be permitted to use MRBs to refinance mortgages (under current law, MRB funds can only be used for original mortgages). And second, Hillary will increase the federal cap on the MRB program by roughly 25% to provide an additional $2.5 billion in refinancing capacity. Empowering the state housing agencies to refinance unworkable mortgages would enable them to help low- and moderate income people replace resetting ARMs with stable, fixed-rate loans. - Implement the “Realizing the Dream” Program. The goal of this program is to ensure that responsible borrowers have access to mortgage credit. At present, banks are reluctant to write new mortgages, and they are especially reluctant to write mortgages that exceed the loan size ($417,000) that Fannie and Freddie purchase. To increase mortgage credit availability, Hillary will temporarily introduce a separate GSE loan limit for high cost areas. The loan limit will be indexed to median area home prices and capped at $650,000. Hillary will also direct Fannie and Freddie to make immediate use of their increased purchasing capacity to add liquidity to the mortgage markets. These actions would be immediately beneficial to credit-worthy middle class families who live in high cost areas and now have difficulty obtaining reasonably priced mortgages.
- The Foreclosure Rescue Fraud Act. An increasing number of people are seeking the aid of “foreclosure consultants” to help them avoid losing their homes. While some of these consultants are legitimate professionals, others are con-artists taking advantage of distressed homeowners. The fraudulent consultants take money from homeowners without providing any actual service, manipulate homeowners into transferring their property deeds to them, or strip the equity from people’s houses. Hillary will pass legislation that sets national, minimal standards of conduct for foreclosure consultants. The legislation would impose criminal penalties on violators, and allows victims to sue for damages. The law would also make $100 million available to states for prosecuting foreclosure rescue fraud and assisting homeowners who have been conned by forec
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By Joe Moore on Feb 9, 2008 3:59 AM ESTI couldn't agree more. Senator Obama's campaign has inspired re-newed energy, excitement and grassroots activism in the Democratic Party. Let's harness that energy and use this once-in-a-generation opportunity to truly change the direction of our nation. DFA needs to lead the way.
Alderman Joe Moore
Chicago, Illinois City Council