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I wonder if Obama will finally start acting more progressive if he loses the Massachusetts Senate Seat, or will he just be all that more willing to rollover?
Hope I don't get to find out.
@Repulikkan: Well first I suggest you keep listening to Thom's show, he definitely has some great insights. Second (and you will hear this from Thom). Go to your local Democratic or Green Party meetings (or Republican if you're so inclined) and take it over. Bring up this subject and any other subject you feel is important and push for that branch to put it forward to their/your representatives.
All politics are local.
Sorry Repulikkan . . . The Teddy R thingy was not aimed at you . . . Your moniker fired up loose brain cells . . . AND I could be wrong . . .
THOM: HEY! Is not today the 98th anniversary of Theodore Roosevelt quitting the Republican Party in disgust?
@ Repulikkan: Grass-roots campaign finance reform . . . This has gotta be a bottom up, local driven thing. Government paid campaigns removes corporate-paid campaigns for corporate welfare . . .
I have a Credit Union account. If I want cash, I generally will just ask for change back at pretty much any supermarket, drug store etc... which really solves the standard requirement of taking out multiples of 20's if you only want $10 or $15, or $30 so on and so forth. If a need a somewhat large amount of cash (more than I can get out at such stores) free of charge ATM's aren't really all that far to find (generally the same places I can go to deposit money).
Any way Credit Unions are wonderful, if you can join one, I'd highly recommend it.
OKAY- lets do something about these book standards. Just contacted my Assembly member Dave Jones office. We love Dave. His staff took my concerns down and said she would look into the matter. I told her I was going to note this on the blog and follow up with her. I will send your link to her Richard.
Nels,
I only just discovered this show today. Clearly, REAL campaign finance reform is a key. But how do you get REAL campaign finance reform with so many agents of compromise in the house and senate?
More importantly, how do we make this a priority with voters? How do we get "unbeholden" legislators to voice this issue and make it a topic in the mainstream media?
Personally, I would love it if President Obama would scrap efforts at a healthcare bill and tell America that real healthcare reform is impossible with certain republicans and conservative democrats in the legislature. Dems could focus efforts on gaining a compromise-proof majority in the senate in 2010. Focus all attention on the obstructionists! Make a list of legistators who stand in the way of what Americans want and publish that list. Pretty much blackmail the bad seeds, stand for the people or get a job with your corporate handler.
@AVATAR... if the current Democratic party really believed you had somewhere to go, perhaps they would stand up for such things.
But they don't, so they won't.
As Thom says, take the infiltrate and takeover the local Democratic party meetings. Kinda like Blitzkrieg tactics, schwerpunkt und aufrollen (thrust and rollout).
Avatar,
But you can see that person's point. They take our votes for granted, it seems. But not voting in effect gives the Republicans an extra vote, which is far worse. Instead of not voting, I'd tell that person to directly email or mail or call whichever Dem they are irritated with and tell them why and tell them they won't be voting for them (but secretly still do). Politicians need to know there could be repercussions for their actions.
But doing what that person suggests is kind of like quitting a job in frustration before you have another one. It doesn't make sense.
The war on drugs is silly, wasteful (money-wise and human-wise), and only is useful to give politicians kudos for being "tough". It really impresses me to lock up pot smokers! Oh, wait, no it doesn't.
I agree with you.
@Jeanie, how about we end the war on drugs and invest the money we're wasting on that fiasco on providing medication to all that need it.
While I was over at Firedog Lake, I found this gem. Supposedly an 'intelligent' progressive who will not vote for Martha Coakley. Letters like this are the exact reasons why we keep losing. This person's letter is a self fish childish unintelligent one that documents why we will just not be able to pass legislation to favor our causes: Ironically, the person calls themselves 'real world'
I am a life long PROGRESSIVE Democrat. However, it is becoming clear that the Democrats now in the Senate do not represent progressive views but instead the interests of corporations and CEO’s who are continuing to ruin the country.
Regressive taxation justified by paid for research, transfers of wealth to banks and insurance companies with no REAL accountability. Sacrificing woman’s and gay’s rights for no good reasons. This is what the democratic party has become.
Stand up for REAL CHANGE and you will win me back.
Stand up for single payer health care.
Stand up for real banking reform including ending tolerance "too big to fail" corporations.
Stand up for foreign policy that does not pander to the military to international corporate interests and the defense industry.
Stand up for a carbon tax that will end our dependence on fossil fuels and lead us through the 21’st century.
Stand up for Democratic principles and I will support Democrats again. Until then, you will loose my support even in a close race as Martha Coakley now faces. Is the republican candidate worse. Yes. But, I can no longer support the lesser of the evils. When will the Democrats again represent a good choice and not just the less bad one?
Then you will have my support.
http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/24086
Instead of $250/senior, how about negotiating drug prices down, like we do for Medicaid and the VA? Or allowing them to be re-imported from Canada. Or for that matter, just selling them for the price the Canadians negotiate for them (I never understood why we need to re-import something we make. Just don't import it in the first place).
But the drug companies were promised no negotiation and no reimportation, right?
@Republikken
Firedoglake sent me this last evening. They surveyed their members last evening. A number of the questions were if we thought there should be consequences as primary challenges for Democrats who did not vote how us progressives wanted them to vote.
I clicked on the survey link today and it does not take me to the actual survey I filled out last eve. I do not know how Survey Monkey works. Perhaps there was some time limit. But here is the actual letter and link they sent out last evening:
Hi Karen,
We're coming down to the wire on the health care reform bill, and there's still a lot of unsolved issues: a public option, taxes on health care plans, and penalties for not buying private insurance.
Where do you stand on a final bill?
Please take our health care survey:
http://action.firedoglake.com/hcsurvey
In order to best fight for real reform, we need to know what you think. The survey will take you 5 minutes or less.
Thanks so much for letting us know what you think about the health care bill, and for all you do.
Best,
Michael Whitney
Firedoglake
@Richard, I can't really disagree with your Obama point of view, but the only other feasible choices for 2008 were Clinton and McCain.
Sure Obama and Clinton are both wolves in sheeps clothing, but at least they know they have to dress the part. I'm hoping that it will encourage real progressives to continue to vote for progressive candidates.
I'm glad you see them for what they are, don't get discouraged by apologists that look through rose colored glasses. Keep holding the fire to their feet.
WTF?!?!?!? $250 check for Seniors? $250.00 won't cover the co-pay on some name brand meds.
Awww the Nuclear industry won't move forward if we don't guarantee them 100% financial backing.
Sounds like a self solved problem to me. Bye-bye radioactive waste production.
Bernie is the eternal optimist . . . Obama is not a Progressive and has never been a Progressive and bless his little corporate sponsored heart will go down in flames before he will ever pretend to consider considering adopting a Progressive agenda.
Obama for President 2008
Brilliant marketing campaign for a crappy third rate product.
@Rob, it's been said on this show a thousand times: The one thing we can do to assuage the most problems is public campaign financing.
In answer to the money that each politician has to raise to be elected... Campaign Finance Reform and Instant Runoff Voting.
Couldn't hurt to get rid of paperless voting machines either.
Give the people their voice!
Bernie,
How do Americans go about kicking the corporate owned legislators out of congress? How do we call attention to the fact that too many legislators make decision based on the wishes of their corporate handlers?
Maybe I'm delusional but it seems to me to be the core problem here in America.
Thanks,
Rob
(Indiana)
Do people ever talk about the possibility that EVEN ONE Republican may decide to vote for health care reform? I don't understand why none of them will, unless it's because the GOP threatens them. There are Republicans who are decent. So where are they? And when the media talks about Democrats making deals to get votes for this bill, do they ever consider that if there were some Republicans who would vote for health care, then the conservative Dems wouldn't have to be given hundreds of millions of dollars? Or the deals (threats) that the GOP makes to their people to get them to NOT vote for this bill? Shouldn't that be relevant?
Ralph's question is a good one (To paraphrase):
Is Ben Bernanke just another Bernie Madoff, running a Ponzi scheme on the American dollar?