Oakland Progressive presents stark contrast

by Brian Leubitz

At the DNC convention, Rep. Barbara Lee presented the platform with much enthusiasm. Her speech is below.

I am so pleased I had a role in drafting this remarkable document. It embodies the values we hold dear as Democrats and as Americans. And it sets forth our great President’s vision for our future where together we will reignite the American Dream for ALL.

Because the reality is: four years ago, the American Dream had slipped out of reach for too many. And it had turned into a nightmare for millions.

President Obama changed our course. He invested in our future and put men and women back to work rebuilding our roads and bridges. He raised educational standards, invested in early childhood education and worked to make higher education more affordable for everyone. He invested in clean energy and enacted the broadest tax cut in history – reducing taxes on the middle class to near historic lows. He saved the American auto industry. He produced historic health reform. And he put forward a balanced deficit reduction plan that will put us on sound fiscal footing.

Keep reading…

Today, our economy is growing again.

Our platform states that America faces a clear choice: move forward as a nation where everyone has the chance to get ahead, or go back to the same failed ideas that created the crisis in the first place. We will move forward, not backward.

Republicans will raise taxes on low-income and the middle class to pay for tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires.

They’ll end the fundamental guarantee of Medicare that people have earned.

They’ll let Wall Street write its own rules again.

They’ll allow the secret and unlimited special interest money in campaigns to advance its dangerous assault on our democracy.

They’ll shred the safety net and gut vital investments in education, innovation, and infrastructure in order to help the wealthiest avoid doing their fair share.

And they’ll allow insurance companies to once again deny health care to working families and interfere with women’s health care decisions

President Obama and Democrats will not let this happen. We will move forward, not backwards.

We believe we are bound together by a shared set of ideals and values – rooted in the notion that together we can overcome the greatest challenges that come our way.

We stand for an economy that’s built not from the top down, but from the middle out, and that provides opportunity for those aspiring to join the middle class. And we make ending poverty a national priority. We are a big tent party of inclusion and our platform speaks to the aspirations of all.

Our platform ensures that the opportunity to live the American Dream not only survives but thrives for generations to come.

We can’t afford to go back or abandon the change we’ve fought so hard for. We will not turn back the clock. We can move forward, we must move forward, and under the leadership of President Obama we will move forward!

Thank you.

Rep. Barbara Lee [D-CA9], proved she has a backbone when in 2001 she stood up against war and became the only member of congress to vote “No” on the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists (AUMF), and she was oh so right.

Now, Barbara has again taken the lead in trying to stop the insane decision to expand and escalate the war in Afghanistan. Her bill, H.R. 3699 “To prohibit any increase in the number of members of the United States Armed Forces serving in Afghanistan,” has been referred to the House Armed Services Committee. Link: http://www.govtrack.us/congres…  

Cosponsors:

Yvette Clarke [D-NY11]  Emanuel Cleaver [D-MO5]   Steve Cohen [D-TN9]

John Conyers [D-MI14]   Donna Edwards [D-MD4]     Keith Ellison [D-MN5]

Bob Filner [D-CA51]  Alan Grayson [D-FL8]  Raul Grijalva [D-AZ7]

Maurice Hinchey [D-NY22]  Michael Honda [D-CA15]  Sheila Jackson-Lee [D-TX18] Dennis Kucinich [D-OH10]  John Lewis [D-GA5]      James McDermott [D-WA7]

James McGovern [D-MA3]    Jerrold Nadler [D-NY8]  Fortney Stark [D-CA13] Edolphus Towns [D-NY10]  Nydia Velázquez [D-NY12]Maxine Waters [D-CA35]

Diane Watson [D-CA33]    Lynn Woolsey [D-CA6]

As you can see, MOST of our 53 California representatives have NOT signed onto the bill. No Waxman. No Berman. No Sherman. No Schiff. Just those heroes in bold above are on this short list. CONTACT your representative to ask that they co-sponsor and support this important legislation to take back the war powers as in our constitution. And thank those who have signed on.

Here’s the link to the committee: http://www.govtrack.us/congres…  The Democratic Chair is Rep. Ike Skelton [D-MO4] with the ranking Republican member Rep. Howard McKeon [R-CA25] (Santa Clarita and east), Rep. Duncan Hunter [R-CA52], and the TWO DEMOCRATS from CA:

Rep. Susan Davis [D-CA53] (San Diego) and Rep. Loretta Sanchez [D-CA47] (Garden Grove-Santa Ana).

Please CONTACT these people on the committee right away and ask that this bill be brought to a vote immediately. With the impending announcement coming from Obama, there is no time to lose.////

Back in 2001, Rep. Barbara Lee was the lone vote against the Afghanistan authorization. Today, she is still fighting our presnce, though now the last 8 years have proven her prescient.

It’s time to ratchet up the rhetoric not only against a U.S. troop increase in Afghanistan, but in favor of withdrawing our troops and rescinding the authorization that sent them there eight years ago, Rep. Barbara Lee told a cheering crowd Monday.

Lee, D-Oakland, staged a rally outside the federal building on Clay Street in support of HR3699, a bill she introduced Oct. 1 that would forbid spending any money to expand the nation’s military presence in Afghanistan. President Barack Obama is currently considering what to do in Afghanistan; military leaders want more troops, but the public and Congress are divided.(OakTrib 11/23/09)

She praised President Obama for thoughtfully pursuing a redefinition of the mission. However, this President still seems on the precipice of moving at the very least 10,000 troops into a country that clearly doesn’t want us there.

At the recent CDP E-board, a resolution sponsored by Marcy Winograd calling for getting our troops out of Afghanistan sailed through the resolutions committee and general session.  Furthermore, CDP Chair John Burton also called for the President to find an exit strategy.  California Democrats desperately want to see our troops back at home, rather than risking their lives for a nebulous mission for a people that most deeply want to be left alone.

While the President is looking for a better solution in Afghanistan, it is important that Lee and other progressive leaders remind him that there are solutions that the Generals aren’t giving him.

A new initiative organized by Howie Klein, Jane Hamsher, fellow Calitician Dante Atkins and myself to verbally and financially reward Congressmembers who pledge to vote down any healthcare bill that does not include the public option is catching fire today.  The objective is to use carrots as well as sticks to achieve progressive goals.  As I said in the diary kicking off this intiative at DailyKos:

Human beings are psychologically predictable creatures, much like Pavlov’s famous canine.  We do respond well to punishment, but we respond just as well if not better to positive reinforcement.  Do nothing but beat a dog with a stick, and the dog is likelier to be aggressive than lovingly loyal.  Do nothing but scream at a child, and the child will eventually fail to respond to her abusive parent.  Senators and Representatives, no matter how elevated, are still just people: the rules of psychological conditioning still apply.  If all we can do is scream at people who don’t do what we want, eventually no one will listen to us at all.

Utilizing Jane Hamsher’s signatory list, Howie Klein set up an ActBlue page called They Took the Pledge.  Spurred on by Jane Hamsher’s post, my dkos diary, Dante’s dkos diary, and Howie Klein’s efforts at Blue America PAC, the online effort has raised over $60,000 since this morning, becoming ActBlue’s top fundraising page.  And the media has begun to take note, with stories on CBS Online, Politico, and The Plum Line.

On the list are 13 deserving CA Legislators who could use your dollars and/or words of encouragement:

Judy Chu (CA-32)

Sam Farr (CA-17)

Bob Filner (CA-51)

Mike Honda (CA-15)

Barbara Lee (CA-09)

Grace Napolitano (CA-38)

Laura Richardson (CA-37)

Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-34)

Linda Sanchez (CA-39)

Jackie Speier (CA-12)

Maxine Waters (CA-35)

Diane Watson (CA-33)

Lynn Woolsey (CA-06)

If you have the resources, please consider donations to our excellent California legislators.  For those who can’t chip in, DFA has a thank you action item to thank our healthcare heroes.

With an approach that uses more carrots and less sticks, hopefully we can encourage others in California and across the country to join these brave progressive leaders.

Across the state, female leaders are coming together to oppose Proposition 8.  In Oakland, Senator Boxer will be joining Representative Barbara Lee and Asm, soon to be Senator, Loni Hancock. In Los Angeles, Rep. Hilda Solis will be joined by LA City Councilmember Jan Perry and legendary labor leader Dolores Huerta. And in Sacramento, Mayor Heather Fargo and future Asm. Mariko Yamada will rally against prop 8 at the CTA headquarters. These press events express the seriousness of which our Democratic leaders take Proposition 8. Leaders like Reps. Solis and Lee understand the importance of this fight right here in California.

The future of gay rights will be decided on Tuesday, and that is no exaggeration.  That is not to say that there aren’t a myriad of other issues that we should be fighting for, but this is a vote which could set back marriage equality for a decade or more.  And these brave women are standing up for the freedom to marry. Many of these leaders are not in competitive races this time, but it still takes guts to do this.  

The one exception is Sacramento Mayor Fargo; she is in a competitive race against Kevin Johnson.  She has been unequivocal in her opposition to Prop 8 and support for marriage equality. And she has been vocal about her support for the progressive position on a number of issues (No on 4, etc.). This is worth considering as the run-off for mayor of Sacramento concludes on Tuesday.

One more thing.  In Sacramento, the event is being hosted by the California Teachers Association.  CTA has gone above and beyond the call of duty this year.  They have effectively run the campaign against the two ineffective, yet expensive “ToughOnCrime” measures, 6 & 9. They have been an asset to the No on Prop 10 campaign run by the Consumer Federation.  And most importantly, they have been there for the LGBT Community, as not just the largest donor to No on 8, but also an active coalition partner.  While we may have occasional disagreements on one policy or another, it is clear that CTA is a powerful force for positive change.

(Some good contenders in there… – promoted by Brian Leubitz)

One Voice PAC is an organization I created to help bring progressive change to Washington, and one of our top priorities this year is helping elect progressive candidates to Congress who will challenge the status quo.

Last month, we introduced an initial slate of endorsed candidates: Darcy Burner (WA-8), Andre Carson (IN-7), Joe Garcia (FL-25), Mary Jo Kilroy (OH-15), Ashwin Madia (MN-3), Dan Seals (IL-10), and Carol Shea-Porter (NH-1).

In addition to our initial slate, we’re asking the progressive community to tell us which challenger we should support next. We accepted nominations last week, and now we’re holding a vote on 10 Congressional challengers — including 4 Californians:

Click here to cast your vote today!

Here are short summaries of each of our nominees, ordered by Congressional District:

	Jeff Morris — CA-02: Jeff is a Trinity County Supervisor and he's challenging Republican Wally Herger in California's 2nd Congressional District, which stretches from just north of Sacramento up to the Oregon border. Jeff believes that our country must redefine its role in the affairs of the world, which should start with disengaging from our fully integrated presence in Iraq. Click here to learn more at Jeff's website.
	Bill Durston — CA-03: Bill is a Vietnam War veteran and is challenging Republican Dan Lungren in California's 3rd District, and a recent poll shows the race to be a statistical dead heat. Bill has pledged that he will not vote for any further funding for military operations in Iraq that is not tied to a prompt, orderly, and complete withdrawal of U.S. forces. Click here to learn more at Bill's website.
	Charlie Brown — CA-04: 26–year Air Force veteran Charlie Brown is running for the open seat in California's 4th District. This is a reprise of 2006, when Charlie ran a strong campaign and finished within 3 points of the incumbent Republican. This year, the polls show him in a statistical tie with right–wing Republican Tom McClintock. Click here to learn more at Charlie's website.
	Debbie Cook — CA-46: Huntington Beach Mayor Debbie Cook is challenging Republican incumbent Dana Rohrabacher.  As a former PTA president and school volunteer, Debbie believes that the best education solutions are created locally by teachers and parents. Click hear to learn more at Debbie's website.
	Alan Grayson — FL-08: Alan is running against Republican incumbent Ric Keller in Florida's 8th Congressional District. Alan has spent the last four years of his life combating some of the worst abuses of the Iraq war, filing dozens of citizen lawsuits against crooked contractors who have cheated American troops and taxpayers. Click here to learn more at Alan's website.
	Annette Taddeo — FL-18: Annette is challenging Republican incumbent Ileana Ros-Lehtinen in Florida's 18th district. Annette is running for Congress to put her experience as a business owner to work and to bring real change to Florida's 18th Congressional District — which won't be hard considering Ros-Lehtinen's record of strong support for President Bush. Click here to learn more at Annette's website.
	Colleen Callahan — IL-18: Colleen is running for an open seat in Illinois' 18th Congressional District. Colleen wants to bring our troops home from Iraq and use some of the billions of dollars spent each month on the war on domestic programs such as schools, healthcare and infrastructure. Click here to learn more at Colleen's website.
	Gary Peters — MI-9: Gary is challenging Republican incumbent Joe Knollenberg in Michigan's 9th District. Gary is a former Lieutenant Commander in the Navy Reserve, and an accomplished businessman who served as Vice President for two major investment firms. Click here to learn more at Gary's website.
	Dennis Shulman – NJ-05: Author, educator, and clinical psychologist, Dr. Dennis Shulman is challenging right-wing Republican Scott Garrett in New Jersey's 5th District. Blind since childhood, he has overcome significant obstacles to earn an Ivy League diploma and rise to the top of his profession — and become an ordained rabbi. Click here to learn more at Dennis' website.
	Sharen Neuhardt — OH-07: Sharen is challenging Republican incumbent David Hobson in Ohio's 7th Congressional District. Sharen has promised to end the war in Iraq and to bring our troops home safely and responsibly, and is also committed to expanding health care coverage for the tens of millions of Americans who are uninsured. Click here to learn more at Sharen's website.

Click here to cast your vote today!

The response to our request for nominations was tremendous, and I have little doubt that the members of the progressive community will make their voices heard on which of these fine candidates to support.

Voting will be held open until this Friday the 17th at 5pm Pacific Time, so I hope you'll click here to cast your vote today!

California needs more progressives in DC – contribute to the Calitics Match to make it happen!

While the traditional media is focusing on the spat between the House Republicans and Nancy Pelosi, credit also goes to progressive Democrats who refused to go along with a huge giveaway to Wall Street that lacked accountability and repayment guarantees. Some of them have given statements explaining their votes.

Hilda Solis:

Today, I voted against H.R. 3997, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (EESA), compromise legislation to bailout financial institutions saddled with large debts. I am very concerned about the credit crisis created by the housing market meltdown and while I appreciate efforts of the Democratic leadership to work in a bipartisan fashion to improve the Bush Administration’s proposal, this legislation lacks needed taxpayer protections and assistance for Main Street families like those in the Congressional District I represent.

“I cannot in good conscience, vote for legislation that gives $700 billion to the same firms that helped cause the current financial crisis through irresponsible lending without providing meaningful help for homeowners who are in danger of foreclosure. In the 32nd Congressional District, housing foreclosures have nearly tripled in the past few months, with over 2,300 homeowners currently going through the foreclosure process. The impact of such widespread foreclosures on our local economy and community is devastating.

“Unfortunately, this legislation will not help the families who are stretching paychecks and trying to hold onto jobs without additional steps to stabilize our housing market. It lacks needed reform of bankruptcy laws to allow consumers to renegotiate the terms of their mortgage in bankruptcy courts to help keep their homes. Homeowners on Main Streets should have the same rights to renegotiate their loans, especially those for their primary residence, as Wall Street.

Pete Stark:

President Bush tells us that we face unparalleled financial doom if this $700 billion bailout is not approved today.  He and his Treasury Secretary – a former Wall Street fat cat – tell us that we have reached the point of “crisis.” That is a familiar line from this President.  It sounds like the disastrous rush to war in Iraq and the subsequent stampede to enact the Patriot Act.   As I opposed the Iraq War and the Patriot Act, I stand in opposition to his latest rush to judgment.

“We are not in a sudden crisis.  It has been building over the past 8 years of the Bush Administration. Lax oversight of the financial industry ballooned into a house of cards….

“The bill before us today is basically the same three-page Wall Street give away first put forth by President Bush.  The fig leaf adjustments are not enough to outweigh the fact that no one knows if this bill is what’s needed.  I’m not willing to make a $700 billion gamble that President Bush is right after 8 years of seeing all that he’s done wrong.

Matt Stoller has the progressive bailout plan authored by Barbara Lee and Lynn Woolsey, which I blogged about a few days ago. The key points of their plan:

• A 0.25% tax on all stock trades and “exotic transactions” such as derivatives trading as a kind of “progressive PAYGO” to ensure that the taxpayers won’t be paying the costs of the bailout.
• Equity shares in any companies that benefit from the bailout
• “Major bankruptcy reform” including homeowner renegotiation of mortgages. Obama undercut progressives on this when he said bankruptcy reform didn’t need to be part of the package, perhaps a telltale sign of how unprogressive an Obama administration might be. But it’s still a necessary part of any financial solution.
• A detailed list of new regulations to protect consumers and provide more stable, responsible regulation of the financial industry to prevent a recurrence of this crisis.

If we want to ensure that we have more and better Democrats to push progressive economic policy in the Congress next year, we need to help them win this November. Join our Calitics Match and help send Charlie Brown and Debbie Cook to Congress, and Hannah Beth Jackson, Manuel Perez and Alyson Huber to Sacramento.

UPDATE by Dave: On the flip, a list of the ayes and nays among out Congressional delegation.

Democrats:

Aye

Berman, Capps, Cardoza, Costa, Davis, Eshoo, Farr, Harman, Honda, Lofgren, Matsui, McNerney, George Miller, Pelosi, Richardson, Speier, Tauscher, Waters, Waxman

No

Baca, Becerra, Filner, Lee, Napolitano, Roybal-Allard, Linda Sanchez, Loretta Sanchez, Schiff, Sherman, Solis, Stark, Thompson, Watson, Woolsey

There’s almost no rhyme or reason to this.  The CW is that No was an easier vote in close races, but the only close race on the Dem side in California, Jerry McNerney, resulted in a yes vote.  You have progressives on both sides of this.  You have Bush Dogs on both sides (Costa and Baca, for example).

Republicans

Aye

Bono Mack, Calvert, Campbell, Dreier, Herger, Lewis, Lungren, McKeon, Gary Miller, Radanovich

No

Bilbray, Doolittle, Gallegly, Hunter, Issa, McCarthy, Nunes, Rohrabacher, Royce

Paging Russ Warner… this is a gift for you.  Dan Lungren and Mary Bono Mack might have some trouble, too.  At the same time, depending on the short-term economic circumstances, this could rebound back on those intransigent Republicans.  So the political fallout is completely unclear to me.

I just returned from a Memorial Day vigil at the Lafayette crosses.  Built by members of the community over the past two years on a steep five-acre hillside that overlooks the freeway and BART station, the crosses exert a magnetic draw on Memorial Day.  Today, the total number of crosses stood at 4,084.

About 100 people came together near dusk to honor the soldiers represented by those crosses on the hill, soldiers who have given so much for their country.

 

Tony Thurmond, Democratic candidate for AD-14 (l.) and a spokeswoman from Rep. Barbara Lee’s office (CA-09)(r.)

Gradually, a theme emerged from the series of speakers there on that hillside:

We are incredibly grateful to our soldiers and service members for the sacrifices they have made. Going forward, we can best honor the dead by bringing our troops home from Iraq so that no more are killed, by ensuring that our troops are never again heedlessly sent into harm’s way, and by working tirelessly to make this the kind of country for which they gave their lives, one that provides respect, fairness and opportunity to all.

Penny

Online Organizing Director

California Democratic Party

(bump cause I like congressional and numbers – promoted by Lucas O’Connor)

Turnout from Tuesday’s primary by party.  Every district with a Republican leaning PVI plus Barbara Lee just for fun and comparison’s sake. Of the Republican leaning districts, Dem turnout was higher in 8 and close in several others.  Might be an interesting November. Just sayin.

Numbers on the flip.

Update: I should have mentioned in the first place, there are still no Democratic candidates in CA-02, CA-19, CA-22, or CA-25.  Turnout was dead even in the 19th and higher for Dems in the 25th, just for starters.

CA-02; R+13

Wally Herger (R)

R 80,090

D 70,563

CA-03; R+7

Dan Lungren (R)

R 70,544

D 80,070

CA-04; R+11

Open (R)

R 107,757

D 89,717

CA-09; D+38

Barbara Lee (D)

R 13,384

D 124,070

CA-11; R+3

Jerry McNerney (D)

R 69,766

D 81,650

CA-19; R+10

George Radanovich (R)

R 63,766

D 62,331

CA-21; R+13

Devin Nunes (R)

R 51,272

D 44,053

CA-22; R+16

Kevin McCarthy (R)

R 86,234

D 61,123

CA-24; R+5

Elton Gallegly (R)

R 78,422

D 82,293

CA-25; R+7

Buck McKeon (R)

R 60,837

D 64,048

CA-26; R+4

David Dreier (R)

R 73,144

D 74,934

CA-40; R+8

Ed Royce (R)

R 66,027

D 59,372

CA-41; R+9

Jerry Lewis (R)

R 68,055

D 59,833

CA-42; R+10

Gary Miller (R)

R 79,622

D 63,182

CA-44; R+6

Ken Calvert (R)

R 57,083

D 57,317

CA-45; R+3

Mary Bono (R)

R 53,635

D 59,067

CA-46; R+6

Dana Rohrabacher (R)

R 81,427

D 74,084

CA-48; R+8

John Campbell (R)

R 92,187

D 75,845

CA-49; R+10

Darrell Issa (R)

R 62,658

D 53,493

CA-50; R+5

Brian Bilbray (R)

R 78,489

D 82,358

CA-52; R+9

Open (R)

R 74,593

D 67,849