Finally, There Is A Price To Be A Blue Dog Dem

In this past legislative session Congress has disappointed us on several occasions. While the Democrats regained the majority, it is not a party that is in lockstep. Conservative members in the party, known as blue dogs, have sided with the President on highly controversial....and unconstitutional measures, such as FISA. It is heart breaking to see members of Congress who were elected to change Congress become the status quo and a few of them did so as freshmen. One of those people is Chris Carney, representing the 10th district of Pennsylvania and groups like Blue America are sick of him.

From Politicker PA:

The liberal wing of the Democratic Party is turning on U.S. Rep. Chris Carney (D-Dimock), actively campaigning against the incumbent despite his difficult re-election bid against Republican Chris Hackett, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The political action committee Blue America is campaigning against Carney and other Democratic lawmakers it perceives aren't progressive enough, particularly after some sided with President George Bush's domestic-surveillance program. The paper reports the PAC has taken out radio, TV and newspaper ads against Carney, who considers himself a moderate Democrat, also known as a "Blue Dog."

"Our goal is to attach a real price to the type of things Chris Carney is doing. If that means he ends up losing, then so be it," said Glenn Greenwald, one of the group's organizers, told the Journal. "I would rather see a smaller majority but fewer Blue Dogs than a big majority with the Blue Dogs in charge."

Within the party, this is a highly controversial move. Democratic activists are supposed to be electing more D's, not less of them. The mantra on DailyKos and across the blogosphere is "more Democrats and then better Democrats." Well, we have more Democrats, currently the majority has a 30+ seat lead and will likely increase that number by a significant amount.

Personally I want to see a large majority, but what does it matter if members of your caucus put the interests of George Bush and the telecom lobby ahead of the people that think they are protected by the 4th amendment in the Constitution? Right now Carney and other Blue Dogs think they can get away with these kinds of votes as long as they go along with some of the party platform. Nancy Pelosi certainly hasn't been able or willing to herd the cats when push comes to shove. So now that we have more Democrats, we need to elect more Democrats with better progressive principles.....or else we'll just have more of the status quo under the guise of Democratic leadership.

Five Million Reasons Not To Vote For McCain

Another brilliant ad from the Democratic Party. Of course credit is due to the man on the screen, he just can't help himself from providing ample material for which to be attacked on:

Millionaire's Tax Added Into NYS Budget Mix

Governor Paterson is looking to make major spending cuts in order to close a significant budget gap (except for those that make generous donations to his campaign). However, Assembly Democrats are laughing at the former legislature and will do as much in the budget they are set to pass today. One of the biggest items in there that will make waves is the re-introduction of the millionaire's tax. That progressive measure will in turn help to fund another bright idea, a circuit breaker (no, not the electrical kind).

From Press Connects:

Assembly leaders submitted a bill Monday to increase income taxes on those making more than $1 million a year and bump up taxes higher for those making more than $5 million a year.

The extra money would pay for tax breaks for middle-class homeowners by linking their property taxes to a percentage of their household incomes.

The measures have been pushed by a teachers' union as an alternative to a school-property-tax cap backed by Gov. David A. Paterson and the Republican-controlled Senate. The Senate remains opposed to the Assembly's plan, making it unlikely to pass today.

"The Assembly will pass a circuit breaker and a millionaires' tax," said Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, D-Greenburgh, Westchester County. "It's a step in the right direction. What we should be doing is reducing property taxes, not capping them."

The Assembly is doing the right thing here, though who knows if it is merely a political calculation and not a moral one. The Senate and the once-progressive Governor are opposed to such measures. Taking from the rich to give to the poor is a scary thing to Paterson and the slim Republican majority in the Senate, likely because that is how their campaigns are funded by and large.

For a while the Governor made decisions that looked like compromises and a way of currying favor with the Republicans after a stormy Spitzer reign. Now that we are a few months in to his term, it is way past the time that Paterson get on board for things that make sense for his supporters....unless he is looking to lose the favor of people that got him into the Senate (not counting his family name of course).

Well, at least the Assembly is protecting the majority of New Yorkers from him for now.

Some Karma For Global Warming Deniers

Ah there's nothing like the smell of karma in the morning! Those people that hate Al Gore for speaking up about global warming never stop trying to create a debate where there really isn't any to begin with. On and on they go, spinning anecdotal evidence to prove they're right while the burden of proof actually shows our planet heating up. Well they tried to get together this week to have a "townhall" meeting, but something got in the way.

From ThinkProgress:

This week, Americans for Prosperity (AFP) planned to have town hall meetings in Ft. Myers and West Palm Beach, FL. As the Wonk Room’s Brad Johnson notes, “AFP is a front group for the right-wing pollution company Koch Industries, with an agenda of attacking ‘global warming alarmism‘ and promoting increased offshore drilling.” In an ironic twist, AFP has canceled its meetings because of Tropical Storm Fay. From a message on the group’s website:

Ft. Myers and West Palm Beach Town Hall Meetings Rescheduled

The August 19th Ft. Myers town hall and August 21st West Palm Beach town hall will be rescheduled as a result of Tropical Storm Fay. We apologize for any inconvenience.

More on how global warming intensifies tropical storms here.

Those pesky facts always get in the way of the deniers, but sometimes that isn't enough. Fossil fuel industries may be powerful thanks to their connections into government and their massive lobbying budgets (thanks to everyone who pays $4 a gallon or more) but there is nothing more impressive than the strength of mother nature. Especially so when we are collectively making her stronger.

Two Years Ago, A Campaign Started To Die

YouTube was known for video sharing before Jim Webb ran for Senate two years ago but the political power of viral videos was unknown until George Allen's big racist mouth set up his undoing.

Newt Is Still An Idiot

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich must think that Sean Hannity's audience is pretty damn stupid. Do they really believe all the lies that Hannity and his guests tell them? Well probably, but some things are just too hard to swallow. One of those untruthful stones was force-fed last night on the Fox News show.

From ThinkProgress:

Last night on Fox News, host Sean Hannity and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) returned (as they often do) to Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-IL) recent suggestion that Americans inflate their tires properly in order to save energy costs.

Seeming to outdo his previous false attacks on this issue, Gingrich claimed that Obama’s idea is actually encouraging Americans to “enrich Big Oil” because selling air has “a higher profit margin than selling gasoline”:

GINGRICH: Well, I got a very funny e-mail from a retired military officer in Tampa who pointed out that most tire inflation is done at service stations and you pay for it. And it’s actually a higher profit margin than selling gasoline. So Sen. Obama was urging you to go out and enrich Big Oil by inflating your tires instead of buying gas.

Um, since when do gas stations buy air from oil companies? Why would oil companies sell air? The fact of the matter is, the only profits go to the service station owners, not big oil...that is if the station in question charges for air at all. Also, people can go out and buy an air pump or pressure tank and do it themselves. Of course, Newt probably never deals with the maintenance of his car(s), so what the hell would he know anyways?

Paterson Plays Quid Pro Quo With State Troopers

Governor Paterson sure does know how to talk tough when it comes to cutting budgets. He is even better at pissing legislators off by demanding $600 million in additional cuts. Though when it comes to getting campaign donations from select groups, he listens to the donors more closely than his own overriding message of fiscal restraint.

From The NY Sun:

Weeks after state police troopers padded Governor Paterson's campaign war chest with a $25,000 contribution, the governor is awarding the troopers a 14% pay raise over four years.

The contract agreement with the Police Benevolent Association of the New York State Troopers could present a problem for Mr. Paterson, as he has been sounding the alarm over the health of the state's budget and has summoned lawmakers back to Albany for a special session tomorrow to trim the budget by $600 million.

He has told New Yorkers to prepare for "painful" cuts to close a budget gap of some $6.4 billion, and warned that the state's economic downturn could turn into the next Great Depression.

By agreeing to pay raises for 3,600 state police troopers represented by the police union, he is seemingly sending mixed messages.

Mixed, blended or stirred, those messages are certainly off. While going on television for $600 million in cuts, this adds approximately $45 million to the budget over four years. Not bad for a $25K donation I might say. Now I am all in favor of giving troopers (and all middle-class state workers) raises but if the state needs to cut back, it has to be collectively, no exceptions made, even if you have $25,000 to give to the Governor's election fund.

Paul Waldman Shreds Jerome Corsi

When you aren't on an obnoxious cable news show like one of CNN's or Fox News, C-Span viewers can hear an argument (and answers to callers' questions) on Jerome Corsi's new book that defames Barack Obama:

How You And McCain Define Rich...Not Even Close

One of the questions at last night's "discussion" at Rick Warren's church with the Presidential candidates was extremely telling of two. Barack Obama mentioned that he'd decrease taxes for those that make less than $150,000 and raise taxes (or restore taxes on the rich that Bush cut) for those that make more than $250,000. To me, that sounds pretty on target. A comfortable life can be had for a quarter-million dollars in America, but not for John Sidney McCain.

From The Carpetbagger Report:

“Some of the richest people I’ve ever known in my life are the most unhappy. I think that rich is — should be defined by a home, a good job and education and the ability to hand to our children a more prosperous and safer world than the one that we inherited. I don’t want to take any money from the rich. I want everybody to get rich. I don’t believe in class warfare or redistribution of the wealth. But I can tell you for example there are small businessmen and women who are working 16 hours a day, seven days a week that some people would classify as, quote, ‘rich,’ my friends, who want to raise their taxes and raise their payroll taxes. Let’s have — keep taxes low. Let’s give every family in America a $7,000 tax credit for every child they have. Let’s give them a $5,000 refundable tax credit to go out and get the health insurance of their choice. Let’s not have the government take over the health care system in America.

“So I think if you’re just talking about income, how about $5 million. But seriously, I don’t think you can — I don’t think, seriously that — the point is that I’m trying to make here seriously — and I’m sure that comment will be distorted, but the point is — the point is — the point is that we want to keep people’s taxes low and increase revenues. And my friend, it was not taxes that mattered in America in the last several years. It was spending. Spending got completely out of control. We spent money in a way that mortgaged our kids futures. My friends, we spent $3 million of your money to study the DNA of bears in Montana. Now I don’t know if that was a paternity issue or a criminal issue, but the point is — but the point is it was $3 million of your money. It was your money.

“And you know, we laugh about it, but we cry and we should cry because the Congress is supposed to be careful stewards of your tax dollars. so what did they just do in the middle of an energy crisis when in California we are paying $4 a gallon for gas, went on vacation for five weeks. I guarantee you, two things they never miss, a pay raise and a vacation. And we should stop that and call them back and not raise your taxes. We should not and cannot raise taxes in tough economic times. So it doesn’t matter really what my definition of rich is because I don’t want to raise anybody’s taxes.”

Let's start with the first paragraph. First of all, when it comes to a national debate about the gap between rich and poor, I don't care if the wealthy are unhappy. Happiness is an inside job and yes, having all the money in the world won't make you happy, joyous and free, but robbing the poor to pay the upper echelons of society is just downright criminal. Secondly, keeping taxes low by giving tax breaks (to those that qualify) is basically a handout to the insurance companies that have been screwing us for decades now. We need a better system, not to feed the currently broken one.

Next paragraph. Um, wtf? Five million dollars is your line on who is rich or not? Maybe when you suck at the teet of a beer baroness, but for millions of Americans not living paycheck to paycheck would be a huge step up. Claiming that comment will get distorted? No, that came out crystal clear Senator. Now I agree that spending has run amok, but I could care less about a $3 million dollar study on bears, what makes me livid is wasting trillions.....TRILLIONS on a war in Iraq that nobody wants except for your friends in the defense industry (mercenaries too).

Third and final paragraph....hypocrite alert! Congress should be good stewards of our tax dollars, but guess what? McCain is in that Congress. Vacationing for five weeks (they've done this for a long time now, it is called a summer recess) is nothing compared to John McCain's almost non-existent voting record in the Senate this term. He doesn't show up for anything anymore. The state of Arizona has technically had one Senator and one that the country pays for (talk about a waste of taxpayer dollars) to not show up and pretend to be President while campaigning for the job.

John McCain had a lengthy answer about what it takes to be rich, but that response made double fudge cheesecake brownies taste like a sugar-free mousse.

One Year Later And All They Get Is A Memorial

Today is the one year anniversary of the tragic Deutsche Bank Building fire that claimed the lives of two of New York's Bravest. The two men, Joseph Graffagnino and Robert Beddia will be memorialized at their firehouse in SoHo. Yet besides that, not much is being done about what happened that terrible day.

Oh sure, safety has improved, don't get me wrong on that. The New York Post tells us all about it and that the godforsaken building will probably stand for another year. What I am ticked off about is getting justice for them. It wasn't just one negligent construction worker that set up these conditions, it was the whole damn city.

From The NY Daily News:

"The issue of fire watch and reviewing the fire watch was extremely important, as were any other safety issues," he said. "They served as one component of a system in which job-site issues were monitored and corrective action taken as necessary."

Other city, state and federal inspectors regularly trolled the site, yet none stopped the practices that led to the fatal blaze.[...]

The Fire Department, which failed to inspect the tower every 15 days as required by law, now says it meets the 15-day target on 93% of buildings.

"It was the perfect storm last year: a contaminated building being taken down by a shady company, and our guys weren't doing the inspections," one FDNY source said.

So now the building is being taken down and every piece removed is quadruple checked. To some that is justice, that things at the site are being done in a safer manner. To me that just seems like they are covering their asses now. For the families, friends and firefighters across the city, those responsible need to be held accountable, no matter how high the blame goes up on the chain of command.

Do You Support George Bush More Than You Did Four Years Ago?

Then why the hell would you vote for more of the same in McCain?

Despite Republican Opposition, U.S. Becomes Top Wind Power Producer

Countries across the world have realized the amazing potential in wind power, places like Holland have recognized it for centuries. Yet only recently has the U.S. begun to truly commit to investing in the raw power of the Earth's atmosphere. While oil men like T. Boone Pickens have ulterior motives in the wind business, many investors have good business sense with relatively pure hearts. So in the face of government knuckle-dragging, we have still forged ahead of everyone else on the planet.

From Celsias:

According to Environmental Finance , the U.S. is now the leader in wind energy generation with total installed wind power capacity currently at 19,549MW, up 2,726MW from the end of 2007. And although Germany has more installed generating capacity, the U.S. actually produces more electricity due to stronger winds. Further, "U.S. wind capacity is expected to increase 45% in 2008 although Congress' failure to extend the production tax credit (PTC) for the renewable energy industry threatens to derail further development, according to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA)."[...]

Despite all of this good news on wind, there is a grey lining:

The rapid growth of the wind energy industry, however, is being threatened by the inability of Congress to pass legislation to extend the PTC for renewable energy projects, he said. The PTC is set to expire at the end of 2008, and many projects are being rushed to completion by the end of this year, Swisher said [American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) executive director Randall Swisher].

Investment in new wind energy projects beyond 2008 has stalled due to the failure to extend the credits, Swisher said. "If there is a great deal of uncertainty in the market and in policies in the market, that investment capacity will be deployed elsewhere", he said. "It's just ludicrous that the Congress is letting this opportunity slip away." - Environmental Finance

The potential in our country, especially in the midwest and mountainous regions is incredible. Even with the limited amount of turbines we have installed, they outperform other sites on the planet. And although Congress has largely ignored alternative energy for decades, it is time for the coming 111th Congress to get it's act together and succeed where prior Republican majorities failed. I am convinced that we can power the planet with wind and solar technology alone. Pushing these budding industries along is the smartest....and most necessary thing we as Americans and ultimately as a planet must do in the early part of the 21st century.