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LOUISVILLE /JEFFERSON COUNTY
DEMOCRATIC PARTY NEWSLETTER
Week of March 13, 2009
The link to this electronic newsletter is being e-mailed to 7,500+
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CLICK HERE FOR CURRENT LIST OF EVENTS
Updated on a regular basis
Bulletin Board:
- The Louisville/Jefferson County Democratic Executive Committee meets the 4th Wednesday of every month at 5:00 pm at Democratic Headquarters,
- 640 Barret Avenue .
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Yarmuth Delivers $12.3 Million for Louisville in Omnibus
President Obama signs bill that provides funds to airport, bridges, TARC, Iroquois Park, and other community programs
President Obama has signed the final nine appropriations bills for FY09 into law, and the omnibus bill includes funding for 16 Louisville projects requested by Congressman John Yarmuth’s (KY-3).
“With
the economic challenges facing us, it’s critical that Louisville gets the
federal support necessary to continue moving forward,” Congressman Yarmuth
said. “The programs funded in this bill will keep Louisvillians working,
while improving health care, transportation infrastructure, education, and
public safety and wellness.”
A list of Louisville projects Yarmuth secured in the omnibus—totaling $12.3 million— can be found below.
Transportation – HUD
$1,995,000 — Louisville International Airport
The funding will support numerous capacity and safety improvements at the workplace of more than 40,000 people in Louisville.
$950,000 — Kentucky-Ohio River Bridges Project
The funding will be used for the two new Ohio River bridges as well as reconstruction of “Spaghetti Junction” in downtown Louisville.
$475,000 — TARC Clean Bus Program
The Transit Authority of River City (TARC) will use the funding to replace older, poor performing buses with new, clean-diesel buses. The new state-of-the-art buses will give TARC a top notch and environmentally friendly fleet of buses unrivaled by most major cities.
$285,000 — Home of the Innocents
The children’s village at Home of the Innocents provides a supportive home for children who have been abused, abandoned, or neglected. Residents receive regular counseling and education as well as a schedule of social events, offering them a well-rounded upbringing that empowers them to build strong, successful futures.
Agriculture
$ 235,000 — Woodlands Restoration in Iroquois Park, Olmsted Parks Conservancy
This restoration project will preserve the park by stemming invasive species growth, protecting wildlife, and preventing erosion in the woodlands area.
Labor – HHS
$190,000 — Simmons College of Kentucky
The 130-year-old institution will use the funding to address the education and workforces development shortcomings in the African-American community. This program will involve community outreach and dialogues with Louisville's leading experts, research studies into the severity and causes for disparity, and the dissemination of the results of the research studies to local residents and agencies.
$390,000 — Kosair Children's Hospital
This funding will be used to expand and renovate the neonatal unit in order to decrease infant morbidity, the average length of stay, and costs to the hospital and patients .
$95,000 — Muhammad Ali Center
The Muhammad Ali Center will use the funds to develop an educational outreach program. The program will target local students and incorporate a broad range of educational initiatives, including exposure to other cultures, lessons in leadership, and community service.
$95,000 — Gilda's Club
This funding will provide free education and peer-based counseling to youths and their families regarding cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. By combining a multidisciplinary team representing a local network of cancer support and awareness, this project will increase awareness of each participating organization’s resources, enhance education of the disease and treatment, and provide support to pediatric cancer families.
Financial Services
$196,514— Louisville Central Community Centers, Small Business Incubator
LCCC’s Small Business Incubator will help aspiring entrepreneurs in the Russell neighborhood in West Louisville open businesses in the facility at a low cost and offer support services, including a shared business center, for the emerging companies. LCCC will use this funding to complete the project, which is expected to host 12-15 new businesses in the initial phase with about 35 full-time employees.
Energy and Water
$6,270,000— McAlpine Locks and Dams, Army Corps of Engineers
This funding will finalize construction of a 110ft x 1200ft lock and an access bridge to Shippingport Island located in the Ohio River. Shipping on the river is still the most cost, time, and energy efficient method of moving goods, as the cargo of a single barge tow is equal to that of 870 semi-trucks or 225 jumbo hopper train cars. After falling behind schedule due to lack of funding in FY06, the project got back on track in 2008 and is expected to be completed on schedule, next year.
$190,300 — Energy Efficient Lighting Project, City of Louisville
This funding will allow for the installation of solar powered lights in areas where no electric infrastructure exists, but poses safety problems. The project will include the installation of lights at school bus stops, where children currently have to wait on the street in the dark, early morning hours.
$142,725 — Energy Conservation Initiative, City of Louisville, Louisville Zoo
This program will work with partners to design and implement energy conservation measures, including green roofs. This project will provide an opportunity to create an environmental education program and will serve as demonstration projects of best practices.
Commerce-Justice-Science FY09
$375,000 — Mobile Data Computers, Louisville Metropolitan Police Department
Louisville Metro Police Department will use this funding to replace mobile data computers that are outdated and unable to be repaired. LMPD depends heavily on these machines, but the outdated models have been failing and are not compatible or upgradeable to use with current programs. The funding will be used to support the continuation of this replacement program which is already underway.
$225,000 — Crime Prevention Services for the Elderly, ElderServe, Inc.
ElderServe offers a network that coordinates existing services to help prevent elder abuse and neglect and offer care to seniors who are victims of crime. This funding will be used to expand the programs, giving them the ability to provide seven day-a-week preventative services and crisis intervention requests to homebound elderly, as well as a “safe house” for crime victims. Last month, Congressman Yarmuth introduced legislation to expand Louisville’s ElderServe program to a national level.
$150,000 — Second Chance Veterans Transitional Program, Volunteers of America.
In three years as a pilot program, the Second Chance Veterans Transitional Program has been remarkably successful, cutting recidivism by 90 percent. This funding will provide critical services to veterans transitioning out of prison, who are at high risk of homelessness upon their release. The program costs $700-$1,200 per veteran and matches them with mentors to help them acquire the tools need to get jobs, find housing, and reintegrate into civilian life. By contrast, the taxpayer cost to incarcerate individuals is $18,000 per year. Kentucky, which has the fastest growing prison population in the country, saved about $2 million per year through the Second Chance pilot program, which served 328 veterans in three years.
The FY09 budget also includes $75 million for Louisville’s VA hospital, $1.6 million for University of Louisville’s research into minimizing health effects of air toxics on military personnel, $1.7 million for UofL’s Digital Directed Manufacturing research, and $1.6 million for Composite Tissue Allotransplantation at the National Foundation to Support Cell Transplant Research in Louisville. All four projects were signed into law last year.
OFF TO THE RACES
Obama's Friction Points, By Charlie Cook
Despite President Obama's historic election, the hoopla around his victory obscures significant elements of his election and message. When Obama first began running for president, many observers reasonably questioned his experience, given that he was barely two years removed from the Illinois Legislature.
Obama argued that while he hadn't been in Washington long, he had been there long enough to see that it didn't work and not long enough to be contaminated or seduced by its ways. On the surface, that sounds like some fancy footwork, trying to turn lemons into lemonade. No doubt it was a self-serving argument, but maybe there was some truth to it.
What we've seen emerge from his presidency are three broad themes, or friction points, with the Washington political establishment: party, ideology and reform.
The American people sent a clear message of change by choosing Obama over a wide variety of other choices. In fact, in each of these three areas, Obama's opposition exists as much in his own party as on the Republican side, as much among liberals as conservatives, as much from those in power today as those who were in power when Republicans held the White House and controlled the House and Senate.
The first is grandly called by some "post-partisanship," an effort to reach beyond party lines to achieve policy objectives. Voters weren't just looking to replace partisan Republicans with partisan Democrats or knee-jerk conservatives for knee-jerk liberals or one group of insiders and status quo enablers for another.
In 2008, Gallup polls showed 36 percent of adults considered themselves Democrats, 36 percent independents and 28 percent Republicans. When you "push" independents to lean to one side, most go to Democrats, pushing them just over 50. But, these people consider themselves first and foremost independents.
These independents cheer when Obama reaches out to Republicans and jeer when he is rebuffed. When they hear Democrats complain about his efforts to reach out to Republicans, they wonder if those partisan, liberal Democrats are any better than Republicans.
Many congressional Democratic leaders see bipartisanship as, at best, simply rhetoric and posturing. Others see it as a nuisance and a waste of time, a sign of weakness and unwillingness to fight or simply a mistake.
"We won; they lost; we get to run the show, just as they did when they were in power," seems to be the thinking. They even tend to see politics as a struggle between right and wrong, good and evil, and think there is no good to come from compromising with those who are evil or wrong.
Republicans in Congress see Obama's efforts as cheap political tricks and gestures, believing he is just pretending to show bipartisanship and that the actions of Democratic leaders are how Obama really feels. They don't see that when they reject an Obama entreaty, independents watch and say, "Obama 1, Republicans 0."
It has become too tempting to stuff politicians into ideological pigeonholes. While some fit comfortably into those assigned to them, others do not.
Obama seems more of a pragmatist than a liberal, populist or centrist. Witness the backing off on "Buy American" provisions in the stimulus and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's brush-off of liberals' criticism on human rights while she was visiting Beijing. Many of Obama's Cabinet appointments and senior adviser picks project experience more than any ideological view.
Take, for example, his economic policy team: Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, Chief Economic Adviser Larry Summers, Economic Recovery Board Chairman Paul Volcker, National Economic Council Deputy Director Jason Furman -- nary a Robert Reich in the bunch. Instead, a group of pragmatists who could have been handpicked by former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin.
Or the national security team: Defense Secretary Robert Gates; National Security Adviser James Jones. These aren't the picks of a liberal.
If you graphed the partisan views of the American people, it would look much more like a bell curve than the bimodal distribution -- the "camel with two humps" shape -- of our two parties and their political dialogue. The majority is between the 30-yard lines, and they'd like to see their government there, too.
While independents are more sympathetic and ideologically closer to Democrats, it is hardly carved in stone. Identifying with independents is central to governing, as former President George W. Bush and Republicans so painfully learned.
That brings us to the transformational part. There is one constant, regardless of whether the White House is occupied by a Democrat or a Republican, or which party controls Congress. Over the last 50 years, Americans have grown increasingly disillusioned with Washington. Things happen because that is the way it has always been, whether or not it is the right or best way.
Take the fight over earmarks: federal funds distributed on the basis of the seniority, the committee assignments or the clout of lawmakers, rather than on merit. It's not where the money would be best or most effectively spent, but who is asking for it.
This could be one of Obama's greatest challenges, changing the way
Washington decides how money is spent.
Imagine If Anti-EFCA Corporations Used Their Lobbying Money To Pay Their Employees Union Wages…
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Rep. George Miller (D-CA) introduced the Employee Free Choice Act in both houses of Congress. The bill would give workers a fairer path to forming unions, affording them an opportunity to bargain for higher wages and better benefits.
Predictably, this has set off a swarm of lobbying, as business leaders, in conjunction with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, try to squash the legislation. The Chamber and and rest of the anti-Employee Free Choice lobby “have said they will spend about $200 million on advertising and lobbying to block the measure.” That’s $200 million dollars to ensure that workers can’t have a fair shot at earning better wages.
But if that $200 million was instead put toward raising workers’ wages to union levels, it could do a lot of good. In fact, about 85,091 workers could earn the union wage premium — the difference between unionized workers’ wages and their non-union counterparts on average — for six months with that money. The Wonk Room examined what percentage of employees working for some of the Employee Free Choice Act’s premier corporate opponents this number represents:
|
Company |
Number of Workers |
Percentage of Workforce That Could Earn Union Wage |
|
48% |
||
|
26% |
||
|
24% |
Just a few days ago, Burger King reiterated its opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act, citing the “significant implications” it could have on small franchises.
But what about the significant implications that higher wages and better health insurance could have for Burger King employees? Big business is betting that $200 million will ensure we never find out.
Methodology: $200 million / $2.26 per hour (union wage premium) / 40 hours per week / 26 weeks (six months) = 85,091
Southern Oligarchy and the Labor Unions, By Joseph B. Atkins http://www.populist.com/09.02.atkins.html
Cheap labor. Even more than race, it's the thread that connects all of Southern history--from the ante-bellum South of John C. Calhoun and Jefferson Davis to Tennessee's Bob Corker, Alabama's Richard Shelby and the other anti-union Southerners in today's U.S. Senate.
It's at the epicenter of a sad class divide between a desperate, poorly educated workforce and a demagogic oligarchy, and it has been a demarcation line stronger than the Mason-Dixon in separating the region from the rest of the nation.
The recent spectacle of Corker, Shelby and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky leading the GOP attack on the proposed $14 billion loan to the domestic auto industry--with 11 other Southern senators marching dutifully behind--made it crystal clear. The heart of Southern conservatism is the preservation of a status quo that serves elite interests.
Expect these same senators and their colleagues in the US House to wage a similar war in the coming months against the proposed Employee Free Choice Act authorizing so-called "card check" union elections nationwide.
"Dinosaurs," Shelby of Alabama called General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler as he maneuvered to bolster the nonunion Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai and other foreign-owned plants in his home state by sabotaging as many as three million jobs nationwide.
Corker, a multi-millionaire who won his seat in a mud-slinging, race-tinged election in 2006, was fairly transparent in his goal to expunge what he considers the real evil in the Big Three and US industry in general: unions. When the concession-weary United Auto Workers balked at GOP demands for a near-immediate reduction in worker wages and benefits, Corker urged President Bush to force-feed wage cuts to UAW workers in any White House-sponsored bailout.
If Shelby, Corker, and McConnell figured they were helping the Japanese, German and Korean-owned plants in their home states, they were seriously misguided. The failure of the domestic auto industry would inflict a deep wound on the same supplier-dealer network that the foreign plants use. The already existing woes of the foreign-owned industry were clearly demonstrated in December when Toyota announced its decision to put on indefinite hold the opening of its $1.3 billion plant near Blue Springs in northeast Mississippi.
The Southern Republicans are full of contradictions. Downright hypocrisy might be a better description. Shelby staunchly opposes universal health care--a major factor in the Big Three's financial troubles since they operate company plans--yet the foreign automakers he defends benefit greatly from the government-run health care programs in their countries.
These same senators gave their blessing to hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies to the foreign automakers to open plants in their states, yet they were willing to let the US auto industry fall into bankruptcy.
In their zeal to destroy unions and their hard-fought wage-and-benefits packages, the Southern senators could not care less that workers in their home states are among the lowest paid in the nation. Ever wonder why the South remains the nation's poorest region despite generations of seniority-laden senators and representatives in Congress?
Why weren't these same senators protesting the high salaries in the financial sector when the Congress approved the $700 billion bailout of Wall Street? Why pick on blue-collar workers at the Big Three who last year agreed to huge concessions expected to save the companies an estimated $4 billion a year by 2010? These concessions have already helped lower union wages to non-union levels at some auto plants.
The idea of working people joining together to have a united voice across the table from management scares most Southern politicians to death. After all, they go to the same country clubs as management. When Mississippi Republican Roger Wicker warned of Democratic opponent Ronnie Musgrove's ties to the "Big Labor Bosses" in this year's US Senate race, he was protecting the "Big Corporate Bosses" who are his benefactors.
The South today may be more racially enlightened than ever in its history. However, it is still a society in which the ruling class--the chambers of commerce that have taken over from yesterday's plantation owners and textile barons--uses politics to maintain control over a vast, jobs-hungry workforce. After the oligarchy lost its war for slavery--the cheapest labor of all--it secured the next best thing in Jim Crow and the indentured servitude known as sharecropping and tenant farming. It still sees cheap, pliable, docile labor as the linchpin of the Southern economy.
In 1948, when the so-called "Dixiecrats" rebelled against the national Democratic Party, Strom Thurmond of South Carolina declared war on "the radicals, subversives, and the Reds" who want to upset the Southern way of life.
Seven years later, Mississippi's political godfather, the late US Sen. James O. Eastland, told other prominent Southern pols during a meeting at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis that the South will "fight the CIO"
(Congress of Industrial Organizations) and unionism with just as much vehemence and determination as it fights racial integration.
Eastland, Thurmond and their friends lost the integration battle. Their successors are still fighting the other enemy.
Joseph B. Atkins is a veteran journalist, professor of journalism at the University of Mississippi and author of Covering for the Bosses: Labor and the Southern Press (University Press of Mississippi, 2008), a book that details the Southern labor movement and its treatment in the press. A version of this column appeared in the Hattiesburg (Miss.) American and the Jackson (Miss.) Clarion-Ledger.
From The Progressive Populist, Feb. 1, 2009
YOUR COMMENTS
AMERICAN ???????
This past weekend I was at Kroger. I needed 60 Watt light bulbs and Bounce dryer sheets. I was in the light bulb aisle and right next to the GE brand I normally buy was an off brand labeled, "Everyday Value". I picked up both types of bulbs and compared the stats - they were the same except for the price. The GE bulbs were more money than the Everyday Value brand but the thing that surprised me the most was the fact that GE was made in MEXICO and the Everyday Value brand was made in - get ready for this - the USA by a company in Cleveland, Ohio.
So throw out the myth that you cannot find products you use every day that are made right here.
So on to another aisle - Bounce Dryer Sheets - yep, you guessed it. Bounce cost more money and is made in Canada. The Everyday Value brand was less money and MADE IN THE USA ! I did laundry yesterday and the dryer sheets performed just like the Bounce Free I have been using for years and at almost half the price !
So my challenge to you is to start reading the labels when you shop for everyday things and see what you can find that is made in the USA - the job you save may be your own or your neighbor's !
If you accept the challenge, pass this on to others in your address book so we can all start buying American, one light bulb or dryer sheet at a time !
Stop buying from China .......
(We should have awakened a decade ago …. or longer)
Let's get with the program…. Help our fellow Americans.
DAILY GRILL
"[Vice President Joe Biden went] down to address this AFL-CIO convention
in Miami Beach -- it's closed to the press. We don't have any idea what he
said there." -- Fox News host Jon Scott, 3/07/09
VERSUS
"Biden's office asked for the policy to be lifted, so that a pool of print
reporters could cover his speech and a full transcript of the Vice
President's remarks will be sent out this afternoon." -- The New York
Times, 3/05/09
**********************
"We do need earmark reform...I wish [the president] would veto the bill,
we'd get back together and come up with the earmark reform process." -- Sen.
Linsdey Graham (R-SC),
03/08/09
VERSUS
"I voted to take all earmarks out, but I will come back in the new process
and put that back in...I think I should have the ability as a United States
senator to direct money back to my state." -- Graham,
03/08/09
*********************
"Listen, health care is a privilege." -- Rep. Zach Wamp (R-TN),
3/5/09
VERSUS
"[F]or some people it's a right." -- Wamp,
3/5/09
********************
"[Y]ou'll never hear me claim that global warming isn't real." -- MSNBC's
Tucker Carlson,
3/10/09
VERSUS
"[F]or the record let me say that I think global warming is a crock
too." -- Carlson, 3/03/09
Quotes of the Day
VP Joe Biden, who heads the White House Task Force on the Middle Class, told the council the Obama administration is dedicated to rebuilding the nation’s middle class.
"You can’t have a strong middle class without a strong labor movement. We will judge the success or failure of our administration at the end of our four years, based on whether or not the standard of living of the middle class has increased or not. That’s the bottom-line measure. And guess what. Neither one of us believes it can get better without you getting stronger."
Recent Senate Votes
No Votes this week
Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009 - Vote Passed
(234-191, 7 Not Voting)
The House passed this bill intended to prevent mortgage foreclosures and
enhance mortgage credit availability.
Rep. Brett Guthrie voted NO
Rep. John Yarmuth voted YES
Making further continuing appropriations for FY2009 - Vote Passed
(328-50, 53 Not Voting)
The House passed this resolution to continue funding most government
programs for fiscal year (FY) 2009 at FY 2008 levels through Wednesday, in
anticipation that the Omnibus Appropriations Act will be passed by then.
Rep. Brett Guthrie voted YES
Rep. John Yarmuth voted YES
HUMOR
"In a stunning announcement, Citigroup showed a profit and
had its best quarter since 2007. They made $8 billion dollars in profit.
That just shows you: If you give a company $45 billion in government bailout
money, they'll show you how to turn it into $8 billion in profit." --Jay
Leno
"Over the weekend in D.C., first lady Michelle Obama was at a homeless
shelter serving food to the homeless. Isn't that nice? Reaching out to the
middle class." --Jay Leno
"The federal government agreed on Sunday to provide an additional $30
billion to AIG. According to AIG, $15 billion will be used to build the
world's biggest toilet, down which the other $15 billion will be flushed."
--Seth Meyers
"John
McCain's daughter, Meghan, she wrote yesterday that
Ann Coulter is 'offensive,' 'radical,' and 'insulting.' Wow. That is by
far the nicest thing anyone has ever said about Ann." -- Jimmy Fallon
"According to a new study, people are sleeping less because they're worried
about the economy. I think it might also have something to do with the fact
that they are sleeping under bridges." --Craig Ferguson
"No wonder
Obama has
gray hair. That was the big story in the paper yesterday, Obama has gray
hair. Wow, now his hair isn't black enough." -- Bill Maher
"The Republican Party says they want a big tent. They want to be
all-inclusive, they want the big tent, and they're going to make it out of
Rush Limbaugh's pants." -- David Letterman
"Rush Limbaugh is the new face of the Republican Party, however. And he says
that he can defeat President Obama in a debate. I'm thinking maybe a
competitive eating contest, but I don't know about a debate." -- David
Letterman
"And astronomers say they have discovered enormous black holes 5 billion
light years from Earth that is sucking up everything in their path. They
named the black holes 'AIG-1' and 'AIG-2.'" -- Jay Leno
"President Obama got some good news today. It seems so many of his cabinet
appointees have been forced to pay their back taxes, he now gets a finder's
fee from the IRS." -- Jay Leno
"Here's a cute story. You know the Obama kids? They got a swing set there on
the White House lawn. And here's the nice thing. This is what you like about
Obama. He is a very conscientious guy. Thinks of everything, because the
swing set didn't cost the taxpayers anything. They built the swing set out
of old pieces of
Dick Cheney's guard tower." -- David Letterman
"So they got a swing set there on the White House lawn and I got to
thinking, 'Wow! There really hasn't been any swinging at the White House
since that heavyset intern.'" -- David Letterman
LABOR -- BIG BUSINESS RALLIES AGAINST EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT:
Today, Democrats in both houses of Congress will introduce the Employee Free
Choice Act, which provides a "fairer
path for workers to unionize by enabling them to form a union by signing
cards of consent." The bill has been called "a
power struggle among labor unions and businesses" and business leaders,
in conjunction with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, are bringing in lobbying
giants to kill the legislation. Rick Berman, executive director of the
lobbying firm Union Facts, which
spent $20 million last year trying to defeat the bill, is
spearheading a new campaign featuring TV and radio ads in states
where Democratic senators are wavering. One such
TV ad features
George McGovern saying the bill "cannot be justified." On a February
conference call hosted by Bank of America, Berman boasted that "we have
mounted the largest public education on this in the
target states where there are Senate races that are still in play." In
addition, the Chamber of Commerce has raised
at least $10 million to supplement this effort and launched a nationwide
campaign to fly 180 business leaders to pressure legislators still on the
fence. They will follow up with a second round in April when the bill must
be voted on. Although over-matched, the
SEIU organized a competing "fly in" of 300 workers to speak with
legislators about the benefits of the legislation in
expediting health benefits and increasing wages. President
Obama reaffirmed his support for the Employee Free Choice Act in a
recent interview in the Oval Office.
RADICAL RIGHT --
LIMBAUGH CALLS GINGRICH A 'FLY-BY-NIGHT OPERATOR'
FOR HOPING OBAMA SUCCEEDS: This past Sunday on Meet the Press,
former House Majority Leader Newt Gingrich took a shot at Rush Limbaugh,
saying that anyone who doesn't want President Obama to succeed is "irrational."
Yesterday, Limbaugh
responded on his radio show. "You know, I'm frankly getting
tired of talking about Newt," Limbaugh began. "I mean, it's a pointless
exercise." He then ripped Gingrich for being a typical finger-in-the-wind
politician who can't be trusted. "They are fly-by-night operators, and most
of them stand for nothing until they see a poll about what the American
people want, and then they go out and try to say one way or another what the
American people want while trying to falsely hold onto an ideology at the
same time -- and you can't count on them. You can't depend on them. They
will sell you out; they will throw you overboard to save themselves, faster
than anything," Limbaugh said. Limbaugh claimed that Gingrich is simply
jealous of his influence. "I know that Newt would give his whatever to have
what I've got," he said. "So would any of these other critics of mine. Newt
Gingrich wishes they [progressives] were running TV ads against him. But
they're
running TV ads against me. So I love it. I'm up for it." Gingrich is
looking "seriously"
at a 2012 run for the presidency. How far can Newt get if the
leader of the Republican Party won't give him his blessing?
ECONOMY -- VITTER STANDS BY HIS $249 MILLION IN EARMARKS WHILE COMPLAINING
THAT THE OMNIBUS BILL IS 'BLOATED': Republicans like Sens.
Jon Kyl (R-AZ) and
Lindsey Graham (R-SC) have been attacking the
$410 billion omnibus spending bill, claiming that it has too much
spending and too many earmarks. One of the
loudest voices calling for the bill's defeat has been Sen. David Vitter
(R-LA), despite his earmarks worth
$249 million for 142 projects. In an interview on Laura Ingraham's radio
show yesterday, Vitter defended himself against charges that his position is
hypocritical. "I
don't think it's wrong to advocate for specific priorities in your state
if it doesn't change your opinion about an overall bill, which I think in
this case is way too bloated," said Vitter. Pressed by Ingraham about
whether it was "worth it to put these earmarks in," Vitter said that "the
important bottom line" was that he would vote against "a bloated bill, $410
billion." "Ever since I've known the size and scope of this bill, I've said
that's way out of line," claimed Vitter. But that claim is questionable. The
House
passed the $410 billion omnibus on Feb. 25, but as recently as March 1,
Vitter was telling his constituents that he was
undecided about how he would vote on it. Vitter has repeatedly said that
the bill is "too bloated"
but never suggested that he would be willing to do his part to slim it down
by cutting his own earmarks. Considering that the bill is
expected to pass, Vitter appears ready to take credit for the earmarked
projects after voting against the bill.
MEDIA -- CHRIS WALLACE DEFENDS LIMBAUGH: 'HE WASN'T SAYING I WANT THE PRESIDENT TO FAIL': Yesterday on Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace asked DNC chair Gov. Tim Kaine (D-VA) if "going after Rush Limbaugh" is a "perfect example of the stale ideology and petty partisanship" that President Obama discussed recently regarding divisions over the stimulus bill. "We wouldn't even be talking about Rush Limbaugh at all had he not said he wanted the president to fail," Kaine replied, adding, "At a time of crisis in this nation, nobody should be rooting for this president to fail." But Wallace quickly came to Limbaugh's defense. "I think if you read what he says, he wasn't saying I want the president to fail. He was saying I want his policies, his agenda to fail and that he disagreed with them and thought they were bad for America," he said. Yet, while Limbaugh has indeed expressed desire that Obama's policies fail, he has also specifically called for Obama himself to fail. "'I hope he fails," Limbaugh said shortly before Obama's inauguration. Just last month, Limbaugh expressed similar sentiments. "The dirty little secret...is that every Republican in this country wants Obama to fail but none of them have the guts to say so; I am willing to say it. We want him to fail because we want to preserve our country as we found it. We do not want to see a successful attack on capitalism."
Think Fast
Key Senate Democrats "are wavering in their support" of the Employee Free Choice Act which is expected to be introduced today. Six Democratic senators and one Republican who have voted to move forward with the legislation “now say they are opposed or not sure -- an indication that Senate Democratic leaders are short of the 60 votes they need for approval.”
"Republican infighting escalated Monday" at the RNC, after chairman Michael Steele issued $1 million checks to the campaign committees -- checks some tell The Hill were slashed from the $3 million promised by former chairman Mike Duncan. "That is a 'lie,' says the RNC -- and so another round of recrimination begins."
In an interview with the Washington Times yesterday, Howard Dean said that Republicans would likely suffer in the 2010 election cycle if they attempted to block health care reform or demonize universal coverage as "socialized medicine." "If they want to filibuster this to death, be my guest and let’s see how they do in 2010," Dean said. Dean would not comment on what he would do if he was offered the role of Surgeon General by Obama.
Senior members of the Republican Party of Virginia "are asking Chairman Jeff Frederick to resign or face ouster at the party's State Central Committee meeting next month." Under Frederick's leadership, "Obama became the first Democratic presidential candidate to win the state since 1964."
"No one wants [President Obama] to fail," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) claimed in an interview with Bloomberg. "But saying 'no' to bad policy is not saying 'no' to everything." McConnell was singing Rush Limbaugh's praises at the CPAC convention last month.
"Four million to five million voters did not cast a ballot in the 2008 presidential election because they encountered registration problems or failed to receive absentee ballots," according to a study that will be presented to the Senate Rules Committee today. Another two million to four million registered voters were "discouraged" from voting due to administrative hassles, like long lines.
INTERESTING
Government Insured Republicans Reject So-Called ‘Government-Run’ Health Care
In the lead up to last week’s White House Health Care Summit, Republicans publicly repudiated President Obama’s proposal to give Americans the choice of enrolling a new a public health plan.
Despite a show of bipartisanship and openness for debate, the GOP sent a letter to Obama, effectively taking this option off the table. At the summit, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), the ranking member of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, warned Obama that “there’s a lot of us that feel that the public option that the government is an unfair competitor.”
Over the weekend, Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO) — the chairman of the Republican party’s health care task force– doubled down on this opposition and dedicated the Republican radio address to opposing so-called “government run programs”:
Some people are spending a lot of time talking about how to spend more of your money on bigger government run programs…That’s why real competition is the key - it encourages innovation so that the health care treatments and services available to you are the ones that you need and you want. Republicans are committed to common-sense solutions that promote competition and innovation…Republicans will lead the effort to make health care work for Americans.
If Republicans plan to “lead the effort” on health care reform, their current approach leaves much to the imagination. In fact, Blunt’s so-called health care task force is concerned about messaging, not policy; rhetorical flourishes, instead of real workable solutions and compromise.
But on a larger scale, government workers complaining about government-sponsored health care is a bit like governors complaining about the stimulus, but then accepting the funds. If Republicans are really concerned about subpar care or rationing of treatments, then they should publicly abandon their government sponsored insurance (which they receive through The Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program) and try their luck in the individual health insurance market. Until that exodus occurs, the Republican message sounds like hypocritical ideological stubbornness.
The FEHB, it should be noted, does not include a public option and is not a model for lowering health care costs. As Jacob Hacker points out, “the growth rate for FEHBP is virtually identical to that for private health insurance…This suggests that simply replicating FEHBP on a broader scale—without public plan choice—would be unlikely to provide the long-term cost restraint essential for successful reform.”
Government involvement in health care is certainly an uphill climb for the GOP. Most Americans support government involvement in health care and a large majority support a public option. After all, injecting competition into the health insurance market (in the form of a public plan) is a uniquely “American solution” — the very thing conservatives seem to be asking for.
Buy American Mention of the Week, By Roger Simmermaker
American Art on American-made canvases
How would you like to beautify and brighten up every room in your home in a one-of-a-kind fashion that literally no one else could duplicate?
Every family member or friend that visits your home will feel more warmth when they’re there with any of the many art paintings available at www.AntonelaArt.com.
All the original paintings from Antonela’s Fine Art Portfolio at www.AntonelaArt.com are created right here in the USA. And it doesn’t matter if you like watercolor, acrylic or oil paintings. All the work is done exclusively on American-made canvases and paper.
My favorites are of course the patriotic paintings like the Flying Eagle or the American Eagle and Flag. Either one of these (or both) will make a bold, patriotic statement in your home just like they have in mine. Even though these particular paintings are marked “sold,” they are still available as prints (replicas of the original – which command a much lower price that the original). If you would like an original of an already sold painting, simply email the artist (Antonela) at ant_simm@yahoo.com and you will receive it as soon as possible.
If traditional style is more your style, how about one of Antonela’s many oil landscapes like A Dream in the Spring, Waterfall in the Woods, The Heart of the Woods, or any seascape as well? If you prefer impressionistic style, The Romantic Lighthouse can be a perfect one.
Maybe you’d prefer a flower painting which can be the most beautiful and full-of-grace gift in any occasion. My old childhood home in Illinois had a Tulip tree, so I knew a watercolor painting like that was perfect for me. You can see another one of my favorites that reminds me of the home I grew up in here.
On the watercolor flowers page, you’ll find all kinds of beautiful paintings of roses, magnolias, poppies, pansies, hibiscus, poinsettias, anemones, amaryllis, and of course tulips. Watercolor flower paintings are less expensive than the oil or acrylic offerings.
The acrylic paintings include all the seasons (Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter) in spectacular colors and impressions, as well as A Song of Love at Paris which was accepted for exhibition at the Orlando Museum of Art. The great thing about this painting is that it actually looks like you are viewing the Eiffel Tower in Paris at night (impressionistic style). Also featured are three Venice paintings, the spectacular Sunset Florida, and peaceful mountain lake painting called Serenity.
Just as many of the greatest Americans were self taught rather than formally schooled (Abraham Lincoln comes to mind) Antonela, who is originally from Romania (and my wife as of almost two years ago) did not receive her gift of art through art school. She was constantly fascinated by the magic between light, colors and spaces from her childhood following a pure talent – a gift from God - inherited from her grandfather who was an artist as well.
She has been sharing her talent and gifts with other people with a lot of giving, combining also her love for painting, writing and psychology making her own life style. She says these areas complement each other and represent an endless source of imagination and positive energies for her.
One of her favorite original quotes is “If we don't have love, light and giving in our lives, what do we have?!”
All of the prices listed on www.AntonelaArt.com include FREE shipping. She can honor any style and size of painting after the customer's desire. Antonela can be contacted at either by phone at 321-297-5097 or by email at ant_simm@yahoo.com. Enjoy!
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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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