Defining the Progressive Coalition

Right now my primary concern as a Dem is keeping our party together amidst so many different factions.

Our ability to stay together as a party will determine whether or not we accomplish the goals laid out the Democratic Party Platform last year: Health Reform, Energy Reform, Equal Rights, Environmental Reform etc....

To that end, what I'd really like to see is some discussion of "Defining Our Coalition."

The Conservative movement grew and thrived by building what they called a "Triumvirate" composed of 3 major groups within their party: Fiscal Conservatives, Social Conservatives, and Neo Conservatives.

Binding these 3 groups together was an unspoken principle: I will trade my cause with your for the moment, if you will support mine then next time it comes down the road.

Dems have always floundered when we gain power, primarily because we have no discipline between our various groups. To make things even more complicated, we have an even bigger tent than before, with moderate conservatives coming to the Democratic Party in order to support Obama (and perhaps because they didn't want McCain/Palin).

How will we define our new coalition? How we answer this question will be critical to how we do in the mid-term and next Presidential elections.

NEW GROUP: if you are interested in this idea, and if you would like to contribute to the discussion please JOIN the new group Building the Progressive Coalition.

Thanks for everything that you do,
D. Tree

Republicans Want "Death Room" Health Care

You know how the Republicans are always talking about "Death Panels" and such?

And they also talk about how no one is denied care in America "Just go to the Emergency Room," they say.

(p.s. don't worry about being bankrupted, or worse - making the taxpayers pickup your bill).

Well, remember that video that make news last year of a woman dying on the waiting room floor and no one even noticed?

Take a look at that and you will see the kind of health care Republicans are promoting. The are promoting Death Rooms.

That's the kind of care they want for America. They don't think we deserve any better than that. They call that "the best in the world."

Republicans actions reveal their own weaknesses: why haven't they come up with a plan of their own? Because the Status Quo *is* their plan. The like Death Room Health Care just fine.

That's just one reason we need a public option. So people don't have to go to the emergency room in the first place.

A public option will save us so much money.

People argue it will hurt the insurance industry too much - but how else do you propose to cut costs?

The Public Option is the best way to save money, and that's the point isn't it? I could care less about insurance execs losing their multi-million dollar bonuses!

And as for those Republicans who prefer Death Rooms and bankruptcy, they are just useless. And passage of a strong health care reform bill will insure their sound DEFEAT in the next elections.

Do Righties Believe in Magic?

So let me get this straight:

The Economy Magically tanked into the worst downturn since the Great Depression. Of course it had nothing to do with the Republican redistribution of trillions of dollars in surplus to the rich elite, and a trillion dollar war we didn't need to wage.

For 8 years, the GOP told us "be patient, the wealth will Magically trickle down to the rest of you." Of course, for those of us alive during the Reagan years, we already knew "Voodoo Economics" failed before and would fail again.

For 15 years, the GOP claimed the "Free Market" would magically reform Health Insurance on its own. Never mind that 15 years later, Health Care costs us 15% of our GDP and will take up more than 1/3 of our total GDP within 10 Years, making it impossible to fix the deficit unless we change.

Now that we see signs of Economic recovery, the GOP claims it was all going to Magically get better on its own. Of course it has nothing to do with the fact that Progressive economic policies have been proven to work, while Conservative economic policies have been proven to fail.

We've seen this all before. In 1992, when Bill Clinton was elected president - and the economy ruined from the previous 12 years of Republican rule - the GOP critics made the same accusations: "You'll never be able to fix the deficit. You'll only make things worse," they said. 8 years later, a lot of Republicans had egg on their face as our Economy thrived.

Of course, to a Republican all this is because of Magic. Apparently just like they think Climate Change can't be caused by humans, so Conservatives also believe human actions don't cause Economic Change.

For all the "Realism" Republicans like to boast about, they sure do believe in a lot of Magic. Do they also believe in the Tooth Fairy?

Fine. In the meantime, let the rest of us - people who believe in taking the necessary steps to fix our Economy - take care of making all that "Magic" happen. As usual, the Adults have to clean up the mess irresponsible Republican children left behind.

A Majority of Americans voted for our Democratic Platform and our promise to reform Health Insurance, Energy, and more. This is the Will of We The People. Stand Proud to fight this fight - those who stand in the way will regret it in 2010 when they are voted out of office!

Best,
D. Tree

Can Waxman be our Hero? Can Waxman be our Champion?

Rep. Waxman may bypass committee vote and bring Health Care bill to the floor for a direct vote before the August Recess.

"Waxman, a California Democrat, indicated that he would bypass a committee vote if necessary and bring the bill directly to the House floor for a final vote."

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/07/24/health.care.slowdown/index.html

House Democrats, now is your moment to stand strong. It is time to wield the power We The People voted to give you. Reform Health Care now and don't look back.

Please spread the word and tell your friends to let Rep. Henry Waxman know you support him in his efforts to get a vote on Health Care Reform before the August Recess!

Contact Rep. Henry Waxman here:
http://waxman.house.gov/Contact/

Best,

D. Tree

http://twitter.com/partybuilder

Torture Memos Release: Why Are NeoCons So Mad?

Neo-Cons like Dick Cheney, Michael Hayden and Newt Gingrich are up in arms about the release of legal opinions justifying torture during the Bush administration.

Why are they so enraged? They can't be really that mad about "secrets" when the memos simply detail what reporters have already written countless stories on. There is no national security jeopardy in that.

No, they are worried about something else: Being held accountable for creating those opinions, and being written down in history as the authors. Simply put, they are scared for their own backsides!

President Obama's decision in releasing the memos was as much about protecting and restoring patriotic values to our government as it was about protecting the very CIA officers ordered to carry out torture.

I applaud the President's decision to stand strong for our values, while at the same time granting amnesty to the CIA employees who followed Dick Cheney and his Torture Cabal's heinous orders.

By releasing the memos, and at the same time protecting the CIA officers ordered to carry them out, President Obama is doing something no one in the Bush Administration ever did: he is holding those who give the orders accountable.

Its time to bring accountability back to our government and this is a great step. Its time to hold people like Dick Cheney responsible for the programs he initiated.  And this is only the beginning.

Neo-Cons famously like to send subordinates out to do the dirty work. They send troops to die while sitting comfortably in their royal living rooms. They draft opinions on torture thinking they can sacrifice their employees, and avoid responsibility for themselves.

So keep this in mind when you watch how fuming mad Cheney gets from all of this. Remember, for the first time in a decade he may well be worried about being found responsible in all of this.

Put simply, he's worried about protecting his own backside when he thought employees at the CIA would take the fall for him. Not this time, Dick.

Thanks for your time,
D. Tree

Threat of Right Wing Extremism Rising

CNN reported today on the growing threat of right-wing extremism and neo-Nazism on the rise in America as a result of the election of our first African American president.

Of course anyone paying attention has seen the signs since Obama was nominated, with the FBI reporting a sharp increase in the number of assassination threats from day one of his candidacy.

But some on the far-right either want to sweep this news under the rug, or they are in denial about some of the less savory elements of our society.

conservative radio talk show host Roger Hedgecock was not persuaded. "If the Bush administration had done this to left-wing extremists, it would be all over the press as an obvious trampling of the First Amendment rights of folks and dissent," he told CNN.

Unfortunately, as is often the case, CNN did not do their full research when printing this story, because Bush DID name left-wing groups as a domestic terrorist threat when he was president!

The extreme right-wing likes to think they are perfect citizens, somehow singled out and always the victims, but its a fake victim mentality. Perhaps they are too self-absorbed in their own angst to recognize and understand what is happening around them. The ironic thing for people like Mr. Hedgecock who either ignore the facts or deny them, Bush conveniently left out right-wing extremists on his domestic terror threat report because they have ties to the Republican Party,

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) does not include extreme right-wing groups, some of which have ties to the Republican Party, on its list of potential terrorist threats, according to a report last month by the Congressional Quarterly, a publication with high-level sources in Congress and the federal government.

Is it all starting to make sense now? The article continues,

"It is remarkable that there is no mention of the anti-abortion, militia, racist and homophobic groups that do not “publicly ... promote nonviolence,” but rather openly advocate the killing of blacks, gays, abortion providers and government workers. Moreover, these groups have acted on their words.

Fascist, racist and anti-abortion groups are responsible for nearly all the terrorist attacks in the United States—with the exception of September 11, 2001—over the past two decades. These include the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, which killed 168 people, as well as bombings of abortion clinics and assassination of abortion providers, and multiple cases of individual rampages, like that of Benjamin Smith, who went on a killing spree directed at blacks, Jews and immigrants in 1999."

We must acknowledge that we have elements in our society that are broken and have been for a long time. I accept that believing in free speech means hateful people like this can say whatever they want short of inciting violence. But when they make threats on the President, or on any American citizens or places, they should be taken as seriously as any other terrorist group.

Thanks for your time,
D. Tree

Challenging Alex Castellanos on "Change"

CNN's Republican strategist Alex Castellanos published a commentary this week in which he claimed the President is not living up to his promise of Change, and - in a remarkably childish "I'm rubber you're glue" moment - went so far as to boast that the 2012 GOP message will be "Change."

Funny, Mr. Castellanos, it appears that the GOP has been obstructing every major effort for Change since Obama was elected.  How convenient for you, then, to claim he isn't bringing "Change" about!

That kind of reminds me of a kid stealing a baseball and then claiming he should be captain of the team because no one can hit a home run!  Kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy, eh Mr. Castellanos?

But of course Castellanos is intelligent enough to realize this.  Castellanos ("Father of the Modern Attack Ad") is only doing what he does best: making disingenuous arguments.

Let's take a look at some of the other boilerplate arguments Castellanos and other Republicans have been using:

Obama is "Increasing the size of the US Government" - I wonder if Castellanos realizes it was a Republican president who oversaw the last big increase.  Take a look at this Wikipedia page on the Federal Budget and you will notice that George Bush oversaw a  38.7 precent (1.2 Trillion Dollars!) increase in spending during his two terms.  And most of this tax money spent on an unnecessary war. 

Now think about this: While increasing the budget, George Bush redistributed wealth to the richest - the same Wall Street Execs and Bankers we now see getting outrageous bonuses.  If these guys are getting all the tax breaks, then who is paying for all the war?  The rest of us.

Obama is increasing George Bush's budget by 13.8 percent.  This increased spending is due largely to the huge rescue packages for those same bankers and insurance companies who benefited so much for George Bush.  You can't blame Obama for getting stuck with George Bush's tab!

Besides deflecting blame from themselves, what republicans are really mad about is not the size of the budget, but what we will be spending it on: Education, Energy Reform, Healthcare Reform, and Jobs.  This is the Change the American People demanded in the last election.

Republicans want to use government as a police force and friend of the rich. Dems believe in the government intended by our founders: to maintain a healthy and productive Country.  Our founders had no problem with the government they created, why do Republicans seem to hate it so much? 

We should expect more of these rubber-stamp Republicans employing the same tactic as Alex Castellanos: stand in the way of Change, then point the finger at President Obama for not living up to his election promises.  Simultaneously, they offer no no new ideas, instead preferring to recycle the same ones that got us into this mess.

It appears that the GOP has fallen back on their old ways: when you don't have anything new to offer, repeat the same lies about the opposition until people start to believe it... and that doesn't bode well for the GOP in 2012, because people have become wise to their ways and the electorate is much smarter now than they were in 2000 and 2004.

Good luck MR Castellanos, your party is going to need it!