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LOUISVILLE /JEFFERSON COUNTY
DEMOCRATIC PARTY NEWSLETTER
Week of March 12, 2010
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CLICK HERE FOR CURRENT LIST OF EVENTS
Updated on a regular basis
Bulletin Board:
House Bans For-Profit Earmarks
Yarmuth Implemented Same Policy for His Congressional Office in 2008
Congressman John Yarmuth (KY-3) released the following statement in response to a decision by the House Appropriations Committee to not approve requests for earmarks directed to corporations and other for-profit entities this year:
“I strongly support this policy change, which is why I implemented it for my own Congressional Office in 2008. I believe that Members of Congress - not just agency bureaucrats in Washington – should have a say in how federal funding is allocated in their Congressional District. However, assuming this responsibility means we must make sure taxpayer funds are not being used to pad a corporation’s bottom line, but are being used to support valuable public services, protect our citizens, improve our schools, and improve our infrastructure.”
The House Appropriations Committee estimated that if a similar rule were in effect last year, 1,000 fewer earmarks would have been approved. The Committee also announced it would establish an online website where all House Members’ earmark requests would be easily viewable.
For more on the decision by the Committee on Appropriations, click here.
THE COOK REPORT, by Charlie Cook
A Shrunken Edge For Dems
Polls showing the party a mere 3 points ahead on the generic congressional ballot test are ominous indeed.
So when is news that appears to be good for a party not really something it should cheer about? This week may have been just such a time, after the Gallup Poll released a national survey showing Democrats with a 3-point advantage, 47 percent to 44 percent, on the generic congressional ballot test.
The results of the March 1-7 poll of 1,585 registered voters sound good for Democrats, who have had a lot of bad news over the past eight months or so, but were they? Two things make them less encouraging than they appear to be at first blush.
No. 1, Democrats hold 59 percent of House seats compared with the Republicans' 41 percent, which gives Democrats an 18-point spread. Democrats won 56 percent of votes cast for major-party House candidates in 2008, compared with 44 percent for Republicans -- a 12-point spread. Obviously, the 3-point edge on the generic is a lot narrower than the House Democrats' 18-point advantage in seats and their 12-point edge in the 2008 popular vote. (In 2006, when Democrats took control of the House, they won the major-party popular vote by 8 points -- 54 percent to 46 percent -- and simultaneously won an 8-point advantage in seats, 54 percent to 46 percent.)
Over the past 10 elections, the percentage of the major-party popular vote won by a given party's House candidates has averaged within 2.5 points of the percentage of seats won by that party. So for a Democratic Party heading into a midterm election in which it will have to try to defend an 18-point advantage on seats, poll results showing it a mere 3 points ahead on the generic ballot test are ominous indeed.
The second problem for Democrats searching for good news is that at this stage the Gallup Organization, which I admire enormously and which delighted me when it began releasing weekly generic ballot test results last week, is now surveying all registered voters, rather than just likely ones. Gallup does not believe in trying to weed out unlikely voters until much closer to the election -- September and October.
But as Gallup Poll Editor Frank Newport pointed out in releasing the results on Tuesday, "Republicans generally are more likely to vote in midterm elections than are Democrats, usually giving the former an advantage among likely voters." Over the years, Gallup has found that when it converts from registered to likely voters, support for Democrats usually drops about 4 points.
Also working in the GOP's favor this year is an enthusiasm gap. Gallup found that Republicans and Republican-leaning independents are 18 percentage points more likely than Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents to describe themselves as "very enthusiastic" about voting this November. What's more, young adults were an important part of the voting bloc that enabled House Democrats to expand their majority in 2008, but only 20 percent of voters who are 18 to 29 years old say they are very enthusiastic about voting this year. By contrast, 31 percent of those who are 30 to 49 are very enthusiastic, as are 39 percent of those 50 to 64, and 35 percent of those 65 or older. The average age of midterm voters tends to be far older than of those who cast ballots in presidential years. And the influx of new, young voters in 2008 may make the disparity even wider than usual.
Another poll released this week -- which veteran Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg conducted February 20-24 for the Democracy Corps and Third Way, a moderate Democratic think tank -- showed Democrats up by a similar margin, 2 points, 46 percent to 44 percent, on the generic congressional ballot. But Greenberg did try to screen the poll of 1,001 registered voters down to the 851 people likely to cast ballots this year. Doing that yielded a 3-point GOP advantage, 47 percent to 44 percent; the 150 voters unlikely to participate this year preferred Democrats by a whopping 25-point margin, 55 percent to 30 percent. Greenberg deemed 85 percent of the people in his overall sample "likely voters." My guess is that he included a lot of folks who are fairly unlikely to vote. Voter turnout for midterm elections tends to be only about two-thirds as high as turnout for presidential ones.
In short, the results of the latest Gallup and Greenberg polls, both expertly conducted, are not nearly as favorable for Democrats as superficial glances would suggest. Indeed, they portend a very challenging election for the party.
THINK FAST
Republicans are criticizing the RNC for producing a fundraising document that includes a "racially charged depiction of President Barack Obama as the Joker from 'Batman.'" Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said the presentation is "unhelpful," while Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) called the presentation "shameful."
House Democratic leaders are considering "declaring a party-wide ban on earmarks this year." The "dramatic move," floated by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) in a meeting with leaders last week, would help House Democrats "outflank their Republican counterparts, who have mulled and rejected such a moratorium in recent years."
How did House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) manage to keep his bronze glow during the D.C. blizzards?
The Census Bureau will hire up to 750,000 workers in May, "a hiring binge that could knock the unemployment rate down by as much as a half-point." The Census hiring comes "at the best possible time" for President Obama, and could lead to positive monthly job growth figures for only the second time in the past year.
Senate Rules and Administration Committee Chairman Chuck Schumer (D-NY) will hold a series of hearings on reforming the filibuster. The first hearing, scheduled for March 24, will "examine the history of the filibuster" and the following two will "likely focus on specific filibuster reform proposals."
The Washington Post reports that shortly after Eric Massa (D-NY) joined Congress last year, "several male staff members began to feel uncomfortable with the sexually loaded language their boss routinely used." Rumors began circulating that he had "sexually propositioned young male staffers and interns," possibly even "groping at least two aides."
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said yesterday that he supports revising the Senate's filibuster rules at the beginning of the next Congress. "The filibuster has been abused," he said, adding that "the Republicans have abused that just like the spitball was abused in baseball and the four-corner offense was abused in basketball."
"House Democratic leaders on Wednesday banned budget earmarks to private industry," one of the biggest steps taken yet by Congress to combat earmark corruption. "The political reality right now is that the public has lost some confidence in this institution, and one of the reasons is the past abuses of the earmark process," said Rep. David Obey (D-WI), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.
President Obama is pushing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) "to go further than Obama has previously disclosed" to strip the special deals for individual senators from the final health care reform bill. These include Sen. Ben Nelson's (D-NE) "Cornhusker Kickback" and a handful of other deals.
YOUR COMMENTS
Recent Senate Votes
Temporary Extension Act of 2010 - Vote Passed (78-19, 3
Not Voting)
The Senate passed this bill that provides short-term extensions of a number
of programs that expired February 28, including unemployment benefits and
federal health care subsidies for jobless workers. The bill was quickly
signed by the President.
Sen. Mitch McConnell voted
NO
Sen. Jim Bunning voted
NO
Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools Act - Vote
Passed (262-153, 16 Not Voting)
The House passed this legislation that would establish the first federal
safety standards on seclusion and restraint in schools, allowing for
restraints in cases when there is immediate danger to the student or others.
The bill now heads to the Senate.
Rep. Brett Guthrie voted
NO
Rep. John Yarmuth voted YES
Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act - Vote Passed
(217-201, 14 Not Voting)
The House approved this bill that would provide $13 billion in payroll tax
relief over 10 years for employers who hire unemployed workers and extend
through 2010 a law that allows small businesses to deduct up to $250,000 in
qualified expenses. The bill goes to the Senate.
Rep. Brett Guthrie voted
NO
Rep. John Yarmuth voted YES
JUSTICE -- LEADING CONSERVATIVES DENOUNCE LIZ CHENEY'S MCCARTHYITE AD: Conservative lawyers and former Bush administration officials have begun to criticize a Keep America Safe ad released last week that suggests Justice Department (DOJ) lawyers sympathize with al Qaeda. Former Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr, Bush administration Defense official Charles Stimson, and Bush DOJ official David Rivkin joined with 16 other "senior officials of the last Bush Administration," and "leading conservative lawyers and policy experts" in denouncing the group's "shameful" attack. The group of conservatives wrote that they "consider these attacks both unjust to the individuals in question and destructive of any attempt to build lasting mechanisms for counterterrorism adjudications." Advocates for the rule of law, from both the left and right, have blasted Keep American Safe's "McCarthyite tactics." Conservative blogger Paul Mirengoff from Powerline also rebuked the ad, adding in a phone interview with the Huffington Post that Keep America Safe's efforts might be "worse than some of the assertions made by McCarthy." "It is just baseless to suggest that [these DOJ officials] share al Qaeda values. ... [T]hey didn't actually say it but I think it was a fair implication of what they were saying," Mirengoff said. The wide rebuke of the ad has not moved Keep America Safe -- a group co-founded by Liz Cheney and the Weekly Standard's Bill Kristol -- from its position. "We regret that they still refuse to tell the American people whether any of these lawyers are currently working on detainee issues inside the Department," Executive Director Aaron Harison said Friday. In a post on The Weekly Standard website Sunday, Kristol called the DOJ appointees "shrinking violets" for their refusal to step forward.
LABOR -- TENNESSEE GOP SENATORS BLOCK EFFORTS TO UNIONIZE FEDEX DRIVERS: This week, Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) slammed the brakes on a Senate bill reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), objecting to a change in the House version of the bill that fixes an inequity in labor law that makes it more difficult for truck drivers at Memphis-based Federal Express to unionize than drivers at other shipping companies. Fellow Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander (R) applauded Corker's effort, pledging to "use every right or privilege I have as a senator to make sure that in the end of the process, the legislation does not include the unfair provisions singling out FedEx that's in the House bill." The senators' effort to prevent what they call an "unfair" provision singling out FedEx labor workers is itself a contradiction because, as Jim Berard, a spokesman for House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Jim Oberstar (D-MN) noted, the House language seeks to "treat people who have the same type of job equally under federal labor laws." FedEx has successfully lobbied for years to remain classified as an airline subject to Railway Labor Act (RLA), a law that is technically supposed to apply only to airlines and railroad companies and stipulates that workers can't form local unions. CEO Fred Smith -- "who raised more than $100,000 for 2008 Republican presidential nominee John McCain and was George W. Bush's fraternity brother" -- defends this exception, adding, "I don't intend to recognize any unions at Federal Express." The language that Corker objects to would bring FedEx under the National Labor Relations Act like other shipping companies, such as UPS. Corker announced Wednesday that he will release his hold on the bill after receiving assurances from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) that the FedEx provisions would not appear in the Senate bill.
BLOG WATCH
Controlling health care costs through lower prices
Mitt Romney praises Massachusetts' health care reform as the "ultimate
pro-life effort" despite abortion coverage.
Fox News
once again creatively uses a "Cavuto
mark."
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
falsely claims that the GOP has used reconciliation only with
"bipartisan support."
Faith group president prays for
Christian control of the media.
Once upon a time, 34 Senate Republicans supported an up-or-down vote.
Sixteen Senators from states with double-digit unemployment
vote against extending unemployment benefits.
DAILY GRILL
"This is a moment that will decide the course of this nation, possibly.
[Former Democratic congressman Eric Massa (NY)] is going to be with me for a
full hour tomorrow, an exclusive interview." -- Fox News' Glenn Beck,
3/08/10
VERSUS
"America I'm gonna shoot straight with you. I think I've wasted your time. I
think this is the first time I have wasted an hour of your time and I
apologize for that." -- Beck,
3/09/10, apologizing for spending an hour interviewing Massa
HUMOR
"Former Democratic congressman
Eric Massa resigned on Monday amid allegations that he groped male staff
workers. Massa claims he was tickling them and then claimed he was being
forced out over his healthcare vote. If you're wondering why we don't have
healthcare, it's because there's too much tickling in Congress." -Jimmy
Kimmel
"Rush
Limbaugh says if the
health care bill passes, he will leave the country. The Democrats are
upset, because if they knew that, they would have passed the bill years
ago." -Craig Ferguson
"According to the New York Post,
Tiger Woods has hired former President Bush's press secretary Ari
Fleischer to help with his public relations campaign. Is George Bush's guy
really the one you want in charge of your approval rating? If it was up to
me, I'd hire Clinton's guy." -Jimmy Kimmel
"Actually, you can see why he hired him. Tiger Woods and
Bush
have similar problems. Neither one knew when to pull out." -Jay Leno
"Record ratings for the Oscars. Kathryn Bigelow won best director for her
film about the Iraq war. But in her speech, she forgot to thank the two
people without whom this film could never have been made -- Bush and
Cheney." -Jay Leno
"Everyone watch the Oscars? Big night for 'The Hurt Locker', which of
course is a film about the war in Iraq, which, I guess explains why
Obama called the director and was like, 'How did you end it?'" -Jimmy
Fallon
"New York congressman Eric Massa has resigned his post this week after
allegations that he groped his male staff. If it's not Charlie Rangel trying
to get into your wallet, it's Eric Massa trying to get in your pants." -Jay
Leno
"He admits to groping, fondling, and tickling. And I'm thinking, well, why
isn't this guy governor of New York?" -David Letterman
"Massa was on
Glenn Beck and he showed a book of graphic photos of things sailors did
for fun when at sea. The book was so graphic, they couldn't show them on the
air. Now if you're trying to convince people you're not gay, you probably
shouldn't show your big book of naked sailors." -Jay Leno
"Former New York congressman Eric Massa admitted to tickling a staffer until
he couldn't breathe. Dick Dick Cheney said, 'We should have tried that at
Gitmo.'" -David Letterman
"Sarah
Palin is getting her own
reality show. It's going to be called 'So You Think You Can See
Russia?'" -Craig Ferguson
INTERESTING
Student Debt
One of the great hardships facing American college students today is student debt. According to a recent report from The Project on Student Debt, the average student in the class of 2008 graduated with $23,000 of debt, "a figure 25 percent higher than what their older brothers and sisters owed when they graduated from college in 2004"; two out of every three college students now graduate with debt, and the Great Recession is requiring students to take out more loans than ever before. In the 2008-09 academic year, federal student loan borrowing "grew about 25% over the previous year, to $75.1 billion." A major reason for the ever-growing debt load America's students are taking on is the broken student lending system, a big part of which involves the government paying student loan companies to originate and service loans. The companies are the inefficient middle men that drive up costs for students without adding any value. To rectify this problem, progressives in Congress introduced the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA), which expands and improves successful student aid programs like the Pell Grant and the Perkins Loan program, and eliminates billions of dollars in subsidies to wasteful private lenders. Last September, by a 253-171 vote, the House of Representatives passed this landmark student lending legislation. Now, SAFRA is a Senate vote away from the President's desk, and a group of Republicans and conservative Democrats, buoyed by "an aggressive lobbying campaign by the nation's biggest student lenders," is all that stands in the way of creating a more just and cost-efficient federal student lending system. Additionally, there are reports circulating that Senate Democrats may pair their "overhaul of federal student lending with healthcare reform" in one reconciliation package, which would allow SAFRA to pass with a simple majority vote in the Senate and avoid a filibuster by lender-friendly conservatives.
THE PATH OF RECONCILIATION: Due to stalwart opposition from Republican senators and wavering support from lender-friendly Democrats, SAFRA may be unable to overcome a filibuster in the Senate. Thankfully, once the Senate's version of the bill is done, it can be passed via reconciliation (which removes the threat of a filibuster)." The Hill reports that "a Democratic official familiar with negotiations" over the student lending bill have already decided to "pair [the] overhaul of student lending with healthcare reform," although Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's office (D-NV) says "no final decision has been made." While the right has already started to scaremonger about "tying two government takeovers so closely together" in one reconciliation bill, the truth is that there is a precedent for using the budget reconciliation process for major education reform legislation. In 2007, the Senate passed the College Cost Reduction Act of 2007 through the reconciliation process by an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 79-12. Although passing the bill through reconciliation would be legal and proper, it would have to be altered in one area. "Because of budget rules tied to the reconciliation process, it's unlikely that Pell Grants...will become a full government entitlement program" in the same year, though Congress is free to separately expand and improve the popular program.
Buy American Mention of the Week, By Roger Simmermaker
American-made office furniture for American businesses and consumers
If you have a home office like me, work for a company or corporation that uses office furniture, or have friends or business associates who do, you owe it to yourself to check out the extensive line of high-quality, American-made products available at www.VersaTables.com.
One thing I can tell you right off the bat about this company is that even though they sell to business owners like me that operate small businesses, as well as large American (and foreign) corporations and everyone in between, they go to great lengths to make sure you are completely satisfied with any and all of their all American products.
The extensive list of American-made products available from Versa Products, Inc. should cause every patriotic consumer and American business owner to take notice. At www.VersaTables.com, you’ll find basic computer tables for as low as $185.00, which can be accessorized with other American-made items like sliding keyboard drawers and CPU holders.
When is the last time you saw a computer accessory like a power strip made in the United States? They’re available at www.VersaTables.com. The only product offered that is not made in the USA is their selection of office chairs, but the company will be offering American-made versions in the future, so stay tuned.
Versa Products, Inc. offers American-made adjustable classroom tables and desks, split level adjustment tables and desks, downview tables and desks (where monitors are recessed into the desktop for an ergonomic and clutter-free table), revolution tables and desks, as well as computer racks in different sizes (various widths and depths).
Also available from the Versa Products catalog, which you can view or download online, are drafting and art tables, carts and pedestals for medical, diagnostic, printing and filing purposes, classroom podiums, and wall-mounted laptop computer stations.
Should you order any of the impressive products from www.VersaTables.com, you can rest assured that you’re among great company as a consumer. That’s because Versa Products, Inc. can count over 70 colleges, over 70 hospitals, over 100 corporations, several government agencies and non-profits, and every branch of the U.S. military as satisfied customers.
In particular, I was happy to see the list of foreign-owned corporations that are customers of Versa Products, Inc., because that means at least some of the U.S. dollars consumers used to buy foreign products found it’s way back to an American company to pay American workers.
Only the highest (American-sourced) quality 14 gauge steel beams and laminated wood surfaces are used to make Versa products, and all the manufacturing is done at their Los Angeles facility. At www.VersaTables.com, nothing is outsourced, which translates into outstanding quality. Even their customer care team is in-house and operates under the same roof in the same facility as their manufacturing team.
Versa Products, Inc., which was founded over 10 years ago, invites every potential consumer, and every potential corporate, military, or non-profit customer to ask the question “Why wouldn’t you buy American?” After all, the company was founded upon timeless, attractive, American virtues and standards like high quality, reasonable pricing, smart design, eco-conscious manufacturing, and complete customer control from start to finish on every order. They even offer a lifetime warranty on all of their products, and a 30-day return policy gives you over four weeks to fully consider your purchase. If you decide to return your order, you’ll be credited with a full refund.
As I look at my own furniture and accessories around the office from which I am writing this article in support of a pro-Buy American company, I’m thinking I’ll eventually be adding my own company to Versa Products, Inc.’s long list of satisfied customers, which I’m told now numbers over 45,000. Can that many people who bought American and were happy with their purchase be wrong? Not likely. And it’s not likely you or I would be making the wrong choice either when we divert our purchasing dollars from foreign-made office furniture, accessories, and the like to American-made ones by Versa Products, Inc.
Making simple and common-sense choices like these at www.VersaTables.com mean more American jobs, more happily-employed American workers, less stress on the environment, and more prosperity for the American economy.
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Roger Simmermaker is the author of How Americans Can Buy American: The Power of Consumer Patriotism and writes "Buy American Mention of the Week" articles for WorldNetDaily.com and his website www.howtobuyamerican.com. Roger is a member of the Machinists Union and National Writers Union, has been a frequent guest on Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC, and has been quoted in the USA Today, Wall Street Journal and Business Week among many other publications.
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