Government

Will You Embrace Extremism?

Posted on by Democrashield

The tea party is becoming violently unhinged after the historic passage of health care reform.

Here’s the latest:

Someone smashed a window at the headquarters for Alaska’s Democratic Party in Anchorage this past weekend.

According to Alaska Dispatch, the police officer who inspected the damage called it a “smash and run.” The first pane of a double-paned window that was situated on the front and center of the building was smashed, according to the Anchorage Daily News. The damage extended from the top to the bottom of the window and the metal frame was also damaged.

Statewide party officer Dave Metheny told the Daily News that there were no leads but that the office had fielded calls from angry people before and after Congress’ vote on health care reform.

But don’t forget this:

Just hours after an historic vote in the House of Representatives to pass Health Care Reform, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords got her first feedback.  Early Monday morning, someone vandalized her Tucson office by kicking or shooting out a front glass door.

And this:

Authorities are investigating the severing of a gas line at the home of U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello’s brother following the posting of his address online by Tea Party activists.

The activists are upset with the Virginia congressman’s vote in favor of the health care reform.

And this:

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) issued a statement late Saturday saying that he was spit upon while walking to the Capitol to cast a vote, leading the Capitol Police to usher him into the building out of concern for his safety.

And these:

House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) received racist faxes Monday in the wake of Sunday’s House vote approving health care reform legislation.

Clyburn, a veteran of the civil rights movement, told Keith Olbermann Monday that faxes sent to his office had racist images including a noose.

[…]

On Saturday, Tea Party protesters in a crowd backed by Republican lawmakers called Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) a “nigger”

[…]

Protesters in the same crowd called Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) a “faggot.”

[…]

An anti-reform protester called Rep. Ciro Rodriguez (D-Tex.) a “wetback“ last week at a townhall meeting in his home district

And, from last year, don’t forget any of these either:

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Final Thoughts On Health Care Reform

Posted on by Democrashield

As I’m sure as you all know by now–despite all of the right-wing sound and fury, despite all of the astroturfed protests and fauxtrage and multi-million dollar campaigns–health care reform has become the law of the land.

Reform isn’t  ideal–I would have preferred a bill with a strong public option, if not single payer.  But this was a major undertaking with a lot of competing factions that had to be placated.  In the end, it was still a very good bill that was very much worth passing, and it gives us a good basis for future reforms (and I”m hoping the absence of the right’s promised health care apocalypse will serve to undermine whatever hyperbolic claims they make about the next stage of reform).

While health care reform isn’t exactly popular, some more recent polling seems to show opposition decreasing and support increasing.  In that vein, I think that support for health care reform hit its nadir and is likely to increase over time.

Why? Because its easy to get people angry about a bill still under construction, a bill that nobody knows what it will end up looking like in the end, especially when that bill is at the forefront of everyone’s mind. But now that reform has passed and will start going into effect, it will hard for people to believe the right’s misinformation because they’ll be experiencing the benefits of reform firsthand.

Republicans worked so hard to prevent this bill from becoming law because they knew that, once enacted, it would turn out to be politically popular.  Let’s face it, covering 35 million additional Americans, reducing the deficit, eliminating practices like discrimination based on preexisting conditions all while helping middle-class individuals and families to buy better, cheaper insurance are all very good policies.  The right sought to drown those good policies in a sea of misinformation, and they almost succeeded. But now that reform has become law, it’ll become increasingly difficult for the GOP to sustain such strong opposition.

That’s why I think the oft-rumored GOP campaign to repeal health care reform is a dud–who’s going to say they want to take health care away from 35 million Americans? Who’s going to say they want to repeal a bill that reduces the deficit? Who’s going to campaign on letting insurers deny coverage because of preexisting conditions and yank people’s coverage as soon as they get seriously ill?

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Finish The Job

Posted on by Democrashield

The CBO has scored the reconciliation version of health care reform. Here are the details:

1. CUTS THE DEFICIT Cuts the deficit by $130 billion in the first ten years (2010 – 2019). Cuts the deficit by $1.2 trillion in the second ten years.

2. REINS IN WASTEFUL MEDICARE COSTS AND EXTENDS THE SOLVENCY OF MEDICARE; CLOSES THE PRESCRIPTION DRUG DONUT HOLE Reduces annual growth in Medicare expenditures by 1.4 percentage points per year—while improving benefits and lowering costs for seniors. Extends Medicare’s solvency by at least 9 years.

3. EXPANDS AND IMPROVES HEALTH COVERAGE FOR MIDDLE CLASS FAMILIES Expands health insurance coverage to 32 million Americans Helps guarantee that 95 percent of Americans will be covered.

4. IS FULLY PAID FOR Is fully paid for – costs $940 billion over a decade. (Americans spend nearly $2.5 trillion each year on health care now and nearly two-thirds of the bill’s cost is paid for by reducing health care costs).

As Ezra Klein points out, the reconciliation version of health care reform will reduces the deficit more than either the House or Senate version, and it covers more people than the Senate version.

We’ve waited for this long enough. We’ve debated this long enough. It’s time to finish healthcare reform once and for all.

Both the House and Senate have already passed health care reform–it’s just a matter of reconciling the two bills and sending them to the President’s desk.

After nearly 100 years of debate, we’re on the verge of passing real health care reform once and for all. It’s time to end this.

Also…

Posted on by Democrashield

Adding to what  I wrote earlier today, can we please stop treating reconciliation like some kind of unprecedented democracy-ending apocalypse?

The Republicans used reconciliation 7 times between 1995 and 2007–the latest time they used it was to pass a health care reform bill.  At no point was the GOP’s use of reconciliation ever portrayed in any way as scandalous or controversial.

Nor should it have been, since reconciliation is part of the Senate rules–it’s a perfectly legitimate procedure that has been around for decades. If the GOP opposed reconciliation then they should have tried to change the standing rules of the Senate when the 111th Congress began.

There’s something inherently dishonest and shameful about complaining when someone else uses a rule that you had taken advantage of and that you let stand without objection.

The GOP’s sudden opposition to reconciliation is dishonest and hypocritical, and nobody should talk about the reconciliation process without bringing that fact up.

A Few Thoughts On Health Care Reform

Posted on by Democrashield

First, Republicans will pick up seats in November. But can we all stop treating it as proof of some kind of Republican comeback or national opposition to health care reform? It’s standard for the party in power to lose seats in the first election after taking the White House.

It happened in 1994, 1990, 1982, 1978, 1970, 1966, 1962, 1954 and 1946 (2002 and 1974 were exceptions for what should be obvious reasons)–in other words, it’s a phenomenon that goes all the way back to the days of Harry Truman.

So the GOP will win seats this fall, but it’s not exactly the sign of a Republican resurgence–it’s just a normal cyclical phenomenon that has been part of American politics for nearly 70 years.

Second, conservatives keep pointing to the polls showing how unpopular health care reform is as reason why Democrats shouldn’t pass it.

But the entire conservative movement has been waging a year-long misinformation campaign on health care reform–they’ve spent a year lying to and scaring the American people.

So the question isn’t really whether or not the American people support health care reform, but if they even know what reform would do.

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BREAKING: Democrats Will Use Reconciliation To Pass Health Care Reform (UPDATED)

Posted on by Democrashield

Politico Breaking News reports:

Sen. Tom Harkin tells POLITICO that Senate Democratic leaders have decided to go the reconciliation route for health care reform. The House, he said, will first pass the Senate bill after Senate leaders demonstrate that they have the votes to pass reconciliation in the Senate.

It’s about time–if Democrats can pass health care reform within the scope of Congressional rules then they should.

And if any conservative tries to whine about this they should be reminded that–between 1995 and 2007 alone–the GOP used reconciliation 7 times.

And do you know what the most recent bill the GOP passed through reconciliation was? It was a health care reform bill, passed in 2005.

UPDATED: People should also remember that Congress won’t be passing the entire health care reform bill through reconciliation.

Health care reform already passed through the House and Senate–the problem here is that the House bill and Senate bill differ slightly.

So reconciliation will be used to, well, reconcile the two bills into one so that it can be sent to the President’s desk.

Just remember that health care reform has already passed through Congress–this is merely intended to iron out the differences between the two versions.

GOP To Unemployed: ‘Tough Sh*t’

Posted on by Democrashield

So says GOP Sen. Jim Bunning, who is blocking an extension of unemployment benefits that would serve to benefit 1.2 million Americans:

Jim Bunning, a Republican from Kentucky, is single-handedly blocking Senate action needed to prevent an estimated 1.2 million American workers from prematurely losing their unemployment benefits next month.

As Democratic senators asked again and again for unanimous consent for a vote on a 30-day extension Thursday night, Bunning refused to go along.

And when Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) begged him to drop his objection, Politico reports, Bunning replied: “Tough shit.”

Not only did Bunning kneecap America’s unemployed, he then had the gall to complain that his obstructionism caused him to miss–wait for it–a basketball game:

And at one point during the debate, which dragged on till nearly midnight, Bunning complained of missing a basketball game.

“I have missed the Kentucky-South Carolina game that started at 9:00,” he said, “and it’s the only redeeming chance we had to beat South Carolina since they’re the only team that has beat Kentucky this year.

That’s the GOP for you–they got theirs, so they don’t care about anyone else.

Jim Bunning has a massive, taxpayer-funded salary, so he cares more about his basketball game than the 10.7% of Kentuckians who are unemployed.

Unemployed? Tough. Uninsured? Tough. Sorry, Republicans have basketball games to go to, they don’t have time for you and your problems.

But there is hope–Jim Bunning’s retiring. And, this year, we have a chance to replace him with someone who really cares about the people–Dr. Dan Mongiardo.

BREAKING: NY-GOV: Paterson Out

Posted on by Democrashield

David Paterson–New York’s unpopular, scandal-plagued, accidental Governor– will not seek re-election this year:

Embattled New York Governor David Paterson has decided to withdraw from the race for governor and will not seek election this year, local media reported on Friday.

The Democratic governor, implicated in newly raised questions of impropriety involving a top aide, has been under growing pressure to pull out of the race.

His withdrawal, reported by the New York Daily News and the New York Post, focuses political attention on state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who has been widely expected to challenge Paterson for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.

[…]

Paterson was elected lieutenant governor and ascended to the top post two years ago when former Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned amid a prostitution scandal.

It now looks almost certain that Attorney General Cuomo will enter the race. On the Republican side, their candidate is likely to be former Congressman and failed Senate candidate Rick Lazio.

An Important Distinction

Posted on by Democrashield

Reconciliation is a process, outlined in the Senate rules, through which certain kinds of bills can be passed by a simple majority.

The ‘nuclear option’ was a proposed change to Senate rules that would have eliminated the filibuster in all circumstances.

Why bring this up? Because Republicans are pretending that the nuclear option and reconciliation are the same thing–they’re trying to attack Democrats as hypocrites for opposing the nuclear option but supporting reconciliation for health care reform.

Sorry, Republicans, but words have meanings–you can’t just redefine them in order to smear your political opponents. Reconciliation and the nuclear option are not the same thing, no matter how often you lie about it.

UPDATE: And if conservatives try to claim that reconciliation is rarely-used or somehow unprecedented they should be reminded that–between 1995 and 2007–the GOP used reconciliation 7 times.

Most recently, the GOP used reconciliation to pass–wait for it–a health care reform bill:

  • 2005 – Legislation That Reduced Spending on Medicaid and Raised Premiums on Upper-Income Medicare Beneficiaries
  • 2003 – President Bush’s 2003 Tax Cuts
  • 2001 – President Bush’s Signature $1.35 Trillion Tax Cut
  • 2000 – $292 Billion “Marriage Penalty” Tax Cut (VETOED)
  • 1997 – Balanced Budget Act
  • 1996 – Legislation to Enact Welfare Reform
  • 1995 – “Contract With America” Agenda

[Emphasis mine]

Senate Passes Jobs Bill

Posted on by Democrashield

Thanks to newly-elected Senator Scott Brown, Democrats were able to pass a jobs bill through the Senate earlier today; the final vote was 70-28.

For your convenience, here are the 28 Senators who voted against putting Americans back to work:

Barrasso (R-WY)
Bennett (R-UT)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)		 Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Gregg (R-NH)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johanns (R-NE)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Lugar (R-IN)
McCain (R-AZ)		 McConnell (R-KY)
Nelson (D-NE)
Risch (R-ID)
Roberts (R-KS)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Thune (R-SD)
Vitter (R-LA)

Scott Brown, The Right’s Falling Star?

Posted on by Democrashield

A day after the Massachusetts special election, I wrote:

[W]hile Scott Brown may be the GOP’s golden boy of the moment, keep in mind that he’s up for re-election come 2012. In Massachusetts.

So, unless Brown is content being a partial-term Senator, I highly doubt he’s going to remain a right-wing darling for long.

In fact, Brown could end up being the Dems go-to guy when it comes to peeling off GOP votes in order to beat a filibuster.

And here’s what happened this morning:

In his third vote as a Senator, Brown vote against Republicans, helping break a filibuster on a jobs promotion bill crafted by Democrats.

Now, I’m sure a lot of conservatives are telling themselves this morning that Sen. Brown is still better than Sen. Coakley would have been.

But there’s a huge gap between the raucous support Brown received since the election and a begrudging “at least he’s not a Democrat.”

I imagine that, with a few more votes like these (necessary if Brown wants to be more than a partial-term Senator) his popularity on the right will end up being a mere shadow of what it once was.

The President’s Health Care Reform Plan

Posted on by Democrashield

will:

  • Provide the largest middle class tax cut for health care in history, reducing costs for tens of millions of families and small businesses.
  • Cover 31 million currently uninsured Americans.
  • Create a health insurance market that will give tens of millions of Americans access to the same insurance choices members of Congress have.
  • Set policies to lower premiums and prevent abuse and denial of care.
  • End discrimination against Americans with pre-existing conditions.
  • Reduce the deficit by more than $1 trillion in the first two decades.

Of course, I expect Republicans to oppose the plan. My question to them is, which parts specifically are you against? The middle class tax cut? The $1 trillion deficit reduction? Giving Americans more choices? Ending waste, fraud and abuse? Preventing discrimination based on preexisting conditions? What part of this, exactly, doesn’t sit well with you?

I mean, the right can gibber on and on about ‘socialism’ and ‘big government’ and ‘one-size-fits-all’ policies but–unless they can point to specific parts of this plan they oppose–that’s all just so much empty fearmongering.

We’re dealing with concrete proposals and detailed policies here — if the right can’t tell us which specific policies they oppose then they don’t really have a leg to stand on, do they?

UPDATE: And for anyone who tries to complain that the President’s plan doesn’t contain any Republican policies–guess what? You’re wrong.

BREAKING: Lieberman To Introduce Senate DADT Repeal

Posted on by Democrashield

I don’t often have much praise for the junior Senator from Connecticut, but he deserves considerable acclaim for this:

Next week, the Connecticut senator will announce that he’s taking the lead on repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the 1993 law that prohibits gay people from serving openly in the armed forces. Since implementation of the statute nearly 20 years ago, the military has discharged some 14,000 qualified men and women, many of them serving in critical jobs like Arabic and Persian translation.

[…]

The reasons why Lieberman, who was asked by the White House and gay rights groups to sponsor the legislation, would choose this battle are not hard to divine. Indeed, they strike at the heart of the political tradition of which he is the lonely standard-bearer: Social progressivism married with foreign policy hawkishness.

In an exclusive interview with the Daily News, Lieberman told me that his commitment to repealing DADT is twofold. First, allowing gays to serve openly fulfills the bedrock American promise of providing citizens with “an equal opportunity to do whatever job their talents and sense of purpose and motivations lead them to want to do – including military service.” Second, and no less important for a lawmaker whose commitment to national security the Pentagon can’t doubt, is that “When you artificially limit the pool of people who can enlist then you are diminishing military effectiveness.”

[Emphasis mine]

While I still hope that the 113th Congress has no Senator Lieberman in it, if he continues like this then perhaps there is hope for him yet.

The Party Of No (Ideas) (UPDATED X2)

Posted on by Democrashield

So, I had a post all set to go about the GOP’s Mount Vernon Statement, which is supposed to be the political blueprint for Republican success in November.

I was going to examine the 1994 Contract with America and point out how much of it the Republican Congress failed to pass, demonstrating how the GOP is long on making big election-year promises but short on delivering.

Problem is, I couldn’t do that. Why? Well, here’s the most substantive portion of the Mount Vernon Statement, which advocates:

A Constitutional conservatism based on first principles provides the framework for a consistent and meaningful policy agenda.
  • It applies the principle of limited government based on the
    rule of law to every proposal.
  • It honors the central place of individual liberty in American
    politics and life.
  • It encourages free enterprise, the individual entrepreneur, and
    economic reforms grounded in market solutions.
  • It supports America’s national interest in advancing freedom
    and opposing tyranny in the world and prudently considers what we can and should do to that
    end.
  • It informs conservatism’s firm defense of family, neighborhood,
    community, and faith.

Yup, there’s the much-hyped Mount Vernon Statement–a list of cliched talking points without a single concrete proposal.

Are they serious? They want us to vote for them based on nothing more than vague notions like “the central place of individual liberty” and “the individual entrepreneur?”

Concerned about health care? On one side we have President Obama and the Democrats, who worked for more than 6 months and put together a health care reform bill that will reduce the deficit, help middle-class families buy good insurance and cover 31 million uninsured Americans.

On the other side you have Republicans, who didn’t even think health care was important enough to include in their little manifesto.

Care about jobs and the economy? President Obama and the Democrats passed the recovery act, creating 1.6 million jobs (with another million on the way). They’re also working right now on a jobs bill that will put millions more Americans back to work.

The Republicans are offering nothing but talking points about “free enterprise,” “the individual entrepreneur” and “economic reforms grounded in market solutions,” whatever those mean. If you ask them what they’ve actually done to fix the economy and create jobs, you’ll get silence.

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All You Need To Know About CPAC 2010 (UPDATED)

Posted on by Democrashield

FL-SEN GOP candidate Marco Rubio makes a joke about President Obama’s teleprompter while reading his speech off of a sheet of paper.

UPDATE: And Sen. Jim DeMint complains about ‘the federal government.’

You know, a United States Senator complaining about the size and influence of the federal government is a bit like a Wall Street CEO complaining about the size and influence of big banks.

If DeMint wants to shrink the federal government he should start by resigning.

Don’t Blame Me, I Voted For Deeds

Posted on by Democrashield

It’s going to be a long four years:

Gay and lesbian state workers in Virginia are no longer specifically protected against discrimination, thanks to a little-noticed change made by new Gov. Bob McDonnell.

McDonnell (R) on Feb. 5 signed an executive order that prohibits discrimination “on the basis of race, sex, color, national origin, religion, age, political affiliation, or against otherwise qualified persons with disabilities,” as well as veterans.

It rescinds the order that Gov. Tim Kaine signed Jan. 14, 2006 as one of his first actions.

[Emphasis mine]

It would be bad to prevent LGBT Americans from being legally protected in the first place, but it’s far, far worse to strip them of protections they already have, which is what McDonnell just did.

Then again, this shouldn’t surprise anyone–back during the campaign, Bob McDonnell’s law school thesis gave us a window into his radical right-wing views.  There was no evidence that McDonnell had changed any of his views since then–in fact, he pushed those same beliefs while serving in VA’s legislature–and this just confirms how much of a right-wing ideologue he truly is.

The good news is that McDonnell is limited to only one term in office. The bad news is that he has only just begun to wage war against American values.

The Recovery Act: One Year Later (UPDATED X2)

Posted on by Democrashield

A year ago today, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act–also known as the economic stimulus package–went into effect.

And here’s all you need to know about it:

[Click for full-sized version]

But, what the heck, here’s some more info, just for kicks:

Just look at the outside evaluations of the stimulus. Perhaps the best-known economic research firms are IHS Global Insight, Macroeconomic Advisers and Moody’s Economy.com. They all estimate that the bill has added 1.6 million to 1.8 million jobs so far and that its ultimate impact will be roughly 2.5 million jobs. The Congressional Budget Office, an independent agency, considers these estimates to be conservative.

[Emphasis mine]

We know now that the right’s the-stimulus-has-failed touchdown dance was more than a little premature–while GOP was spiking the ball at the 5 yard line, President Obama and the Democrats were creating 2.5 million new jobs.

Yes, unemployment is still high. Yes, there aren’t enough jobs out there yet. But nobody can dispute now that the Recovery Act has put us back on the right track and has kept millions of Americans off of the unemployment lines–something that never would have happened if the Republicans had their way.

UPDATE: In their typical dishonest fashion, some conservatives are pointing out that the unemployment rate when Obama took office was 7.7% and that it now stands at 9.7%.

I mean, I’m glad they’re finally acknowledging that President Obama inherited much of our economic troubles from his predecessor, but they’re missing the point.  The recovery act was intended to staunch the bleeding, to prevent a massive recession from turning into a massive depression, not to significantly reduce unemployment–it’s  likely that no one bill could have done that.

So yes, unemployment is still high–but it would have been much higher if the GOP had their way and we did nothing. And had Congress listened to progressives and passed a larger stimulus package, I imagine that unemployment would be lower today.

UPDATE II: You know how you can tell that the recovery act worked?

Because the very Republicans who railed against it–and voted against it–are now trying to take credit for it:

Ah, hypocrisy.

Congressional Retirement Watch

Posted on by Democrashield

In the Senate, 5 Democrats are retiring (Dodd, Kaufman, Burris, Bayh & Dorgan).

Meanwhile, 6 Republicans Senators are retiring (LeMieux, Brownback, Bunning, Bond, Gregg & Voinovich)

In the House, 14 Democrats are retiring (Davis, Berry, Watson, Snyder, Meek, Abercrombie, Melancon, Moore, Hodes, Sestak, Kennedy, Gordon, Tanner & Baird).

Meanwhile, 18 Republican Reps. are retiring (Boozman, Shadegg, Radanovich, Castle, Putnam, Deal, Diaz-Balart, Buyer, Kirk, Moran, Tiahrt, Hoekstra, Ehlers, Blunt, Fallin, Brown, Barrett & Wamp).

Just something to keep in mind the next time some dopey Republican tries to say that Democrats are dropping like flies.

IN-SEN: Bayh Out (UPDATED X4)

Posted on by Democrashield

In an unexpected turn of events, Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh (D) has announced that he will not seek reelection in the fall:

Two-term Sen. Evan Bayh says ever-shriller partisanship and the frustrations of gridlock made it time for him to leave Congress. Republicans aren’t buying it, saying he and fellow Democrats sense that voters will be after their heads this fall.

The Indiana Democrat, a moderate who twice came close to being added to his party’s national ticket, said Monday he will not seek re-election this November. The announcement gives Republicans a strong chance of capturing his seat and makes it likelier that the 59 votes that give Democrats command of the 100-seat Senate will dwindle.

I can’t imagine Bayh worried about being defeated–he was elected statewide 5 times in Indiana, including 2 Senate terms, and he started 2010 with a staggering $13 million in the bank. In addition his likely Republican opponent, former Sen. Dan Coats, is–for lack of  a better word–a joke.

Not only that, but the filing deadline to run in this race is this Friday, meaning that any potential Democratic candidate has 4 days to collect 500 valid signatures from each of Indiana’s 9 Congressional districts.  Unless someone puts forth a herculean effort to get on the ballot, the Indiana Democratic Party will be the ones to select whose name will replace Bayh’s on the ballot.

I would also hope that most–if not all–of Bayh’s massive warchest is transferred to whoever eventually ends up being the Democratic candidate, considering that $13 million is a huge amount of money for a state like Indiana.

Overall, this is just a headache that the Democrats don ‘t need–it’s not a given that the Republicans will win this race, but the Dems are going to have to spend time and money fighting for a seat that, had Bayh not retired, would have easily remained in their column.

UPDATE: There has been some confusion about the filing deadline but–as you can see on one of the official signature forms–the filing deadline is noon today. Apologies for erroneously claiming that the deadline was Friday.

UPDATE II: There are rumors that a Bloomington cafe owner by the name of Tamyra d’Ippolito–obviously a political newcomer–might just have enough valid signatures to get on the ballot, making her the only Democratic candidate in the race.

Unsurprisingly, some conservatives are putting on their dirty tricks hat and are helping d’Ippolito gather the required signatures.

UPDATE III: A few hours after the filing deadline and state officials are saying that only Bayh had enough valid signatures to qualify as a Democratic candidate.

This gives the state Democratic Party the power to decide who will replace Bayh on the ballot. In all likelihood, it will probably be either Rep. Brad Ellsworth or Rep. Baron Hill.

UPDATE IV: The above-linked Politico article gives us a taste of what’s to come:

The state Democratic Central Committee, a group of 32 party leaders loyal to Bayh, must choose a candidate by June 30. Bayh’s late decision effectively prevented the prospect of a contested primary for his seat — and allows the senator to play a pivotal role in determining his successor.

Surprise: Tea Party Full Of Crazy People (UPDATED)

Posted on by Democrashield

I don’t have very many reasons to give Glenn Beck praise, but I do have to give him credit for exposing the Tea Party candidate in the GOP TX-GOV primary as a 9/11 truther:

BECK: Do you believe the government was in any way involved with the bringing down of the World Trade Centers on 9/11.

[DEBRA] MEDINA: I don’t have all of the evidence, there, Glenn. So I don’t… I am not in a place — I have not been out publicly questioning that. I think some very good questions have been raised in that regard. There’s some very good arguments. And I think the American people have not see all of the evidence there. So I have not taken a position on that.

Then again, this shouldn’t be surprising–here’s what conservative journalist Jonathan Kay wrote after attending last weekend’s Tea Party Convention in Nashville:

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GOP To Filibuster Jobs Bill?

Posted on by Democrashield

Even though unemployment dropped to 9.7% last month, the economy is still suffering.

We need to do more to put Americans back to work, which is why President Obama is urging Congress to pass a jobs bill full of tax breaks for small businesses and other incentives for job creation.

But now there are reports that the GOP may–surprise surprise–filibuster the President’s proposal. Even though millions of Americans are out of work, the GOP wants to stay true to their obstructionist roots to block the creation of millions of new jobs.

My message to Democrats: if the GOP wants to filibuster the jobs bill, let them.

Look, there’s no sense in going to the negotiating table–the GOP will never, ever support a Democratic policy, particularly a policy designed to help millions of Americans. They want to deny President Obama and the Democrats anything even approaching a political victory and they will throw the American people under the bus to do it.

Try to negotiate, Democrats, and you will spend months making concession after concession–and, in the end, you still won’t get any Republican votes. And, by then, the jobs bill will be unpopular simply because the process dragged on for so long–just look at health care reform.

Democrats should just put together the jobs bill they want, and when the GOP tries to filibuster it, let them. And if they succeed, then Democrats should hit them–hard–for killing millions of new American jobs.

Then Democrats should re-introduce the same exact bill and let the GOP filibuster again. And then they should hit the Republicans, again, for killing millions of new American jobs.

And keep doing that, for as long as it takes. Propose the jobs bill, let the GOP filibuster it and then hit the GOP for that filibuster, because it’s time the Republicans started paying a political price for their obstructionism.

Like President Obama said during his State of the Union, if the GOP is going to filibuster everything than they need to take some responsibility for governing this country. If the GOP blocks the jobs bill then they should get the blame for keeping millions of Americans out of work. Democrats should shame them into passing it.

The GOP is playing hardball. It’s about time Democrats started playing hardball, too–especially since Democrats are on the side of the American people, here, and the GOP is out for nothing more than political power.

Unemployment Fell In January

Posted on by Democrashield

There’s some good news coming out of the Bureau of Labor Statistics today–the unemployment rate dropped from 10% to 9.7% in January.

While it’s only a slight drop–and the overall economy still lost some jobs last month–the dip in the unemployment is good news.

And there’s more data from January that points toward a positive future:

One interesting fact to note, however, is that the U-6 measurement, which includes people who have lost work hours and those who have given up on finding a job alongside the unemployed, dropped relatively dramatically, from 17.3 of the labor force — where it had held steady for the last several months — to 16.5 percent. This could augur well for the jobs situation: The decrease comes from part-time workers transitioning back to the full-time — nearly 850,000 involuntary part-time employees made the switch — a sign that broader hiring could be in the offing as demand for labor increases.

[Emphasis mine]

Still, we cannot afford to get complacent. Unemployment is still high and there’s no telling whether or not it will continue to drop or remain where it is.

That’s why we need to pass the President’s jobs bill as soon as possible–because the more we do to put Americans back to work, the better off we as a nation will be.

Dan Coats (Lobbyist-VA) For…Indiana? (UPDATED)

Posted on by Democrashield

Former Indiana Senator Dan Coats (R) is jumping into the ring to take on Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh.

After a decade in the Senate, Coats retired in 1998–ironically while being challenged by Bayh, who at that point was Governor of Indiana.

The GOP sees Coats as a recruiting win, but I don’t exactly know why since Coats hasn’t held elected office in more than a decade and doesn’t even live in Indiana–he lives in Virginia and has been voting there since at least 2000.

In addition Coats, who served as Ambassador to Germany for George W. Bush, is currently a federal lobbyist.

So I don’t get why a Washington lobbyist who lives in Virginia is supposedly the GOP’s savior in Indiana–particularly since he’s up against Bayh, who has been a Senator for the past decade and was Governor for the 8 years before that.

Plus, Bayh has $13 million in the bank–that’s a massive warchest, particularly in Indiana.

Of course, nothing is impossible; if I were Bayh I wouldn’t take anything for granted. But something tells me that Coats’ career as a lobbyist and his sudden return to the state he abandoned more a decade ago could dump some water on the GOP’s ambitions.

UPDATE: And this probably won’t help Coats’ campaign:

Flashback: GOP Senator Challenging Bayh Questioned Clinton’s Motives For Targeting Bin Laden

[…]

[B]ack in 1998, Coats questioned Bill Clinton’s motives in ordering air strikes targeting Osama Bin Laden and associates, in the wake of the bombing of U.S. embassies in east Africa.

Coats hinted it was a wag-the-dog effort to distract from the Monica Lewinsky scandal:

“The president has been consumed with matters regarding his personal life. It raises questions about whether or not he had the time to devote to this issue, or give the kind of judgment that needed to be given to this issue to call for military action.”

This was something of a radioactive position even at the time, and those who voiced similar sentiments came under severe criticism for undermining efforts to counter a genuine terrror threat.

[Emphasis mine]