JUST TAKE BACK THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY LABOR AND JUSTICE!!!!
DO NOT DEPEND ON THESE POLITICAL ACTION PETITION GROUPS.....SIGN THE PETITIONS AND RUN/VOTE FOR YOUR OWN CANDIDATES!!!
When the Center for Media and Democracy sends out its petitions for the fight against corporate campaign financing it has a good issue....we all want corporations out of elections and law writing. Here is the problem......the largest factor placing these corporations and hedge funds in this business is the failure to bring back trillions of dollars in corporate fraud. IT IS CLEAR THAT THESE CORPORATIONS WOULD NOT HAVE THE MONEY FOR CAMPAIGNS IF THE FRAUD WAS BROUGHT BACK AND THESE CORPORATIONS DOWN-SIZED BY THIS ACTION. So why are all of the 'progressive' organizations identifying issues that will take decades to fix when the current democratic leadership has only to enforce Rule of Law to do the same thing right now? No Republican can stop that and it funds itself. IT IS NOT HAPPENING BECAUSE THIRD WAY CORPORATE LEADERS IN CONGRESS ARE PROTECTING PROFITS OVER PEOPLE AND THESE 'PROGRESSIVE' POLITICAL ACTION ORGANIZATIONS ARE THIRD WAY AS WELL. See how you can tell the difference?
When a political action group sends out a petition that promotes the Affordable Care Act and doesn't say anything about the need to cap the size of these health systems or the need to pass privacy laws forbidding medical data from being shared for profit, they are not working for you and me. The damage caused by allowing these health systems to become global health systems that will refuse to treat the poor and elderly because it isn't profitable will end entitlements. So a politician saying they are fighting for entitlements or a political action organization that doesn't make that the issue they are petitioning ARE NOT WORKING FOR YOU AND ME!!!!
VOTE YOUR INCUMBENT OUT OF OFFICE!!!!!!!
December 26, 2012
CMD Is Working Hard to Expose the Billionaire Kochtopus! No one person can keep up with Charles and David Koch, two of the richest men in the world. But the sleuths at the Center for Media and Democracy can certainly keep an eye on them -- and we do!
This year, CMD played a leading role in exposing these oil barons and their allies on many fronts:
LAWYERS Because of a CMD complaint, the IRS has been investigating the "charity" shell game played by Mark Block, the former campaign manager for Herman Cain and former director of David Koch’s "Americans for Prosperity" operations in Wisconsin.
GUNS CMD broke the story of how the Koch fortune has helped bankroll the American Legislative Exchange Council's extreme gun agenda with the NRA, including Florida-style "Stand Your Ground" bills, bills to stop cities from barring machine guns and cop-killer bullets or even suing weapons manufacturers, and bills against banning assault-style weapons.
MONEY After the Kochs pledged to spend at least $100 million in the 2012 election, CMD tracked Americans for Prosperity as they rolled out deceptive “issue ads” and contorted themselves to hide the names of their big donors from the American people. We also challenged the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel when they misreported AFP’s role in the recall election of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. We documented that AFP alone was outspending Walker's opponent in the race.
WHO WILL SUBPOENA THE KOCHS? Immediately after the election, we launched a campaign to get the Democratic-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee to “subpoena the Kochs” and hold oversight hearings on the role of dark money in the 2012 elections. The Senate has the power to investigate how the "Citizens United" decision and related election and tax laws are being used to hide big spenders trying to influence who wins and who loses elections, and CMD is calling on Senators to use their power to help expose the Kochs and their buddies, like Karl Rove.
CMD does not accept corporate or government grants. Our breakthrough investigations are made possible by donations from people like you.
Help us hold the Kochs accountable with a donation today! Sincerely,
Lisa Graves and Mary Bottari
P.S. Your tax deductible donation today will help us continue to play offense in exposing the Koch Brothers and their operatives trying to distort our democracy!
About the Center for Media and Democracy The Center for Media and Democracy is a non-profit investigative reporting group whose work aids public awareness about the people, companies, and groups attempting to shape the media and our democracy. Founded in 1993, our national reporting and analysis focus on exposing corporate spin. We accept no funding from for-profit corporations or the government. The Center for Media and Democracy's websites are PR Watch, SourceWatch, BanksterUSA, ALECexposed and Food Rights Network.
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WE ARE SEEING IN THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY THIRD WAY CORPORATE LIBERALS.....REPUBLICAN IN ALL THINGS CORPORATE AND WEALTH.... TRYING TO TAKE THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY AWAY FROM THE DEMOCRATIC BASE. LABOR AND MINORITIES MAKE UP 80% OF THE PARTY AND CORPORATE DEMOCRATS MAKE UP THE 20%. SO WHAT IS A 20% MINORITY TO DO? DIVIDE THE LABOR AND MINORITY VOTE......MAKE LABOR AND THE POOR BREAK TOWARDS THE REPUBLICANS. NPR public media has stated clearly it is a liberal/conservative policy program as of 2011......no fiscal progressives/labor/justice in their news (you'll find them in the wealth and poverty special programming)
JUST TAKE BACK THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY LABOR AND JUSTICE!!!!
CENTRIST DEMOCRATS ARE JUST REPUBLICANS MINUS THE RELIGION.
NPR AND PUBLIC MEDIA HAVE STATED LOUDLY AND STRONGLY THEY OFFER CENTRIST NEWS AND VIEWS.
Third Way corporate liberals have said more than once they no longer represent the labor/minority/ poverty crew. That is why we are seeing such gross injustice in Third Way states and cities regarding police brutality, charter schools as gentrification tools, and school to jails opportunities. It is why labor is seeing wages and benefits plummet in democratic states. This is in Third Way Maryland....a supposedly blue state.
When you watch Fox News, notorious for their conservative political views, they are always the ones showing local minority news and that is because of this recruitment that is happening now. What Third Way democrats are trying to do is make the democratic base....labor and justice ....feel they are no longer a part of the democratic party. This coming from a caucus that has the shareholder class of 5% of the voters behind them. The democratic base is 95% of the democratic party, they just are deliberately uninformed as to the nature of the party.
The labor and justice caucus of the democratic base needs to recognize that they are the democratic party. These Third Way democrats are only Reagan Liberals......Republicans on all things fiscal. They will promote issues that will through granny under a bus if it turns a profit. These are the Clintons and sadly the Obama's. So rather than be fooled into thinking you must go to the republicans for representation.....oh yeah....realize you simply need to take back your democratic party by running and voting for labor and justice candidates.
Centrists are CORPORATE AND ARE KILLING LABOR AND JUSTICE!!!!
Minorities May Spurn The GOP, But The Party Welcomes Them by Alan Greenblatt
December 26, 2012 2:24 PM Enlarge image Incoming Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who spoke during the Republican National Convention this summer in Tampa, Fla., is among a number of minority politicians seen as rising stars in the GOP.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images As the nation's first African-American president, Barack Obama benefited from and expanded his party's enormous advantage among minority voters.
But as he prepares to start his second term, Obama hasn't managed to usher in behind him many Democrats who are minorities to top elected office. Conversely, Republicans — despite their highly limited support among non-Anglo voters — have managed to elevate more top politicians from minority backgrounds.
"It's just an objective, empirical fact that more members of minority groups have done well winning in the Republican Party," says Artur Davis, a former Democratic congressman from Alabama who has switched allegiance to the GOP.
"The Republican Party has proven welcoming to minorities, and its voters will elect minorities as long as those minorities share their worldview, as long as those minorities are conservatives," Davis says.
Thinner Lineup
Obama's success disproves the notion that minorities can't be elected as Democrats, and in terms of lower offices, far more minorities are elected as Democrats than Republicans. But when it comes to major statewide offices, Davis is right. OBAMA RAN AS A PROGRESSIVE AND RULES CENTER RIGHT......HE IS NOT A DEMOCRAT.
Minority Democrats face several obstacles, if only because they often represent congressional districts that are more liberal than their states as a whole. Many of them, in fact, hail from Southern states that are unlikely to elect Democrats of any color statewide these days.
For their part, Republicans are happy and eager to promote politicians of color who embrace the party's conservative agenda.
When Congress reconvenes next month, Democrats will make history by seating the first caucus in House history comprising more women and minorities than white men. The House GOP caucus will remain dominated by white males.
By contrast, the lineup of Democrats holding top statewide offices is thin — limited to Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, who is African-American, and Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, who is Hispanic. THESE TWO ARE WALL STREET THROUGH AND THROUGH.
Republicans can boast of a number of minority officeholders whose first two names in news accounts seem to be "rising star," including Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and incoming Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
Once newly elected officials are sworn in, Republicans will have more female governors and more Hispanic U.S. senators than the Democrats. Republican Tim Scott of South Carolina will be the only African-American in the Senate — appointed by Nikki Haley, one of two Republican governors of Indian descent. (Louisiana's Bobby Jindal is the other.)
Minority politicians are likely to have "a smoother path" running for top offices as Republicans, says Robert C. Smith, author of several books about race and politics.
"The left highway is crowded, and the right highway's less so," he says.
Hobbled By Success?
The nature of the districts many minority Democrats represent handicaps them when they set their sights on statewide offices, says Lara Brown, a Villanova University political scientist.
"When you look at those minority-majority districts, this is why Democrats don't have statewide elected officials [from minority groups]," she says. "Their constituents and these districts are very liberal, and that makes it very hard for these individuals to moderate [their positions] to win their states."
Smith, who teaches political science at San Francisco State University, says this argument was more true 10 or 20 years ago than it is today.
He notes Democratic black politicians with aspirations for higher office — such as Davis, who ran as a Democrat for governor in 2010, and then-Rep. Harold Ford, who ran for Senate in Tennessee back in 2006 — self-consciously adopted moderate or even conservative positions to run statewide.
"Twenty years ago, black politicians had little ambition to seek office beyond being in Congress or being a big-city mayor," Smith says. "Now, they're positioning themselves as centrists so they can run for statewide office." Centrists are CORPORATE
The Need For Crossover Appeal
Still, reaching the top rungs can be difficult for African-American politicians in particular — because the vast majority of those holding elected office are in the South.
Neither Davis nor Ford was able to win election, and other blacks nominated to statewide posts in the South have done even more poorly.
In addition to the region's conservative nature, in the Deep South, "in terms of statewide elections, there's high racial polarization," says David Bositis, an expert on black politics at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.
Democratic politicians of color frequently are nominated to statewide office in the South, but they rarely win. In recent races in states such as Mississippi and Florida, black candidates have taken roughly 30 percent of the general election vote — about the same share as the minority populations there as a whole.
Following his keynote address to the Democratic National Convention this summer, San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro was widely touted as a potential star. But despite prognostications that Texas may eventually turn "blue" in presidential voting, Castro has to include in his calculations the fact that Texas hasn't elected a Democrat to statewide office in nearly 20 years.
HOW CAN TEXAS TURN BLUE? IF YOU LET THIRD WAY CORPORATES DEFINE 'DEMOCRAT' THEN ALL THEY HAVE TO DO IS SHED THE RELIGIOUS DOCTRINE.
Things may be different for Cory Booker, the African-American mayor of Newark, who recently made clear his intentions to run for U.S. Senate. If he's nominated, he'll have a strong chance in the generally Democratic state of New Jersey, Smith says.
Minorities running in Northern states with relatively small minority populations "absolutely" need to have crossover appeal, says Arturo Vargas, executive director of the National Association of Latino Elected & Appointed Officials. ONLY IF LABOR DOESN'T UNDERSTAND CORPORATE DEMOCRATS ARE WORKING AGAINST THEM
He notes that both Menendez, from New Jersey and former Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar (now Obama's interior secretary) carried states that are both about 15 percent Hispanic.
GOP's Welcome Mat
By contrast, Vargas notes, even successful minority Republican officials have mostly failed to carry majorities among their own ethnic communities. Rubio, the Florida senator, is a notable exception, having won 55 percent of the Hispanic vote in his 2010 election.
Given the usual lack of support for Republican blacks and Hispanics within their own groups, there's a certain quality close to tokenism that prevails on the GOP side, Bositis suggests.
"The Republican Party has always tried to have a certain number," he says. "If they could find some black or Hispanic or Asian person to put out front, they were always happy to do it."
There's no question Republicans are eager to showcase minority politicians. Their national convention in Tampa, Fla., at times seemed to feature more black and brown faces on the podium than were otherwise in the hall.
Smith, the San Francisco State political scientist, says this is done from necessity. Giving prominent roles to minority politicians, he suggests, may not help the GOP make deep inroads into minority communities that find the party's platform hostile to them on issues such as voting rights and immigration.
"But it gives the party the image of being an inclusive, multiethnic party," Smith says. "White suburbanites would not be comfortable with a party that is not inclusive."
If an ambitious politician who happens to be African-American or Hispanic or Asian also happens to be conservative, the GOP is going to welcome that person with open arms.
"If you're an African-American or a Hispanic of conservative bent — and you will be, or you wouldn't be in the Republican Party — you're going to be in the mainstream of your party more often than not," says Whit Ayres, a GOP consultant.
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MOVE ON IS A 'PROGRESSIVE' ORGANIZATION THAT SHOUTS OUT ABOUT BAD BANKS BUT THEN ENDORSES THE SAME POLITICIANS WHO ARE LETTING CORPORATIONS STEAL TRILLIONS WITH NO PENALTY. MOVE ON ENDORSED ALL OF MARYLAND'S THIRD WAY CORPORATE DEMOCRATS EVEN AS THEY SIT SILENT THROUGHOUT ON HOLDING CORPORATIONS ACCOUNTABLE. THESE CORPORATE DEMOCRATS HAVE BEEN SHOUTING LOUDLY FOR CORPORATE TAX BREAKS AS THE PUBLIC STARVES AND THEY ARE SUPPORTING PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS THAT ARE KILLING LABOR AND UNIONS. SO WHY DOES MOVE ON KEEP TELLING ITS EMAIL LISTS TO VOTE FOR THE SAME POLITICIANS WHO ARE KILLING THE MIDDLE-CLASS AND LABOR? WHY AM I HAVING TO YELL AT DEMOCRATIC POLS SUPPORTED BY MOVE ON TO NOT VOTE FOR CUTS IN SOCIAL SECURITY? THERE IS DEFENSE SPENDING THAT CAN BE USED TO NEGOTIATE!!!
BECAUSE THEY ARE A THIRD WAY CORPORATE POLITICAL ACTION GROUP....
LOOK AT WHO THESE GROUPS SUPPORT AND THEN WATCH HOW THESE POLS VOTE OR ARE SILENT ON ISSUES IMPORTANT TO YOU AND ME!
I will go to shout at Elijah Cummings as to why he is not demanding Rule of Law be enforced and trillions of dollars in corporate fraud used to pay down this national debt!!
Cindy- Just a reminder that this is happening today—and we need all hands on deck. Can you drop by Rep. Cummings's local office today with the message: Don't cut Social Security benefits!
Click here to sign up: http://moveon.org/pac/lameduckdropby/index2.html?id=59947-23326133-FHKuoYx&t=1
Here's the address for Rep. Cummings's office:
1010 Park Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21201
You'll be joining more than 1,600 other MoveOn members around the country delivering a message to members of Congress on their first day back to work that they must not cut Social Security benefits, and that they must not let the interests of millionaires and billionaires stand in the way of tax cuts for 98% of Americans.
Thanks,
–Frank
P.S. Check out the easy suggestions below for how to deliver your message.
I'm taking action this Thursday to stop Congress from cutting Social Security benefits for me and millions of others. Will you join me by dropping off a message at Rep. Cummings's office this Thursday? It could be our last chance.
Take action Thursday Dear fellow MoveOn member, I've paid into Social Security for more than fifty years. My five children and six grandchildren are paying into Social Security now. I retired ten years ago, and in 2008 and again this year, I campaigned for President Obama. I elected the President, and other Democrats, to protect Social Security and to ask the wealthy to pay their fair share in taxes—not to cave in to Republican demands to cut the benefits that my family, and millions of other families, depend on.
But last week, in fiscal talks with Republican Speaker Boehner, President Obama offered to cut Social Security benefits. Negotiations are still in flux, but there's a real risk that a deal could be struck this week that includes those cuts. Democrats in Congress—whose support is needed to pass a deal—have been split on whether they'd allow Social Security cuts.
This is an unusual time for politics. We're taking much needed holiday breaks. We're traveling. We're holding our family and friends very, very close.
Amid all of this—in fact, because of all of this—on Thursday, I'm walking into my representative's local office with a few friends and family members, and we're delivering a clear message before it's too late: Don't cut Social Security benefits.
I won't sit back and let my Social Security—which I've earned and paid for—be cut. I won't sit back and let my children and grandchildren's Social Security be jeopardized.
Can you join your voice with mine by dropping by Rep. Cummings's office in Baltimore this Thursday?
Yes, I will take action Thursday.
Here's where to go:
1010 Park Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21201
Members of Congress are home this week for the holidays, and when they head back to Washington on Thursday, they may be asked to vote to cut Social Security. If this happens—and it breaks my heart to think about it—Barack Obama could become the first Democratic president in history to cut this core social insurance program. Even if President Obama is willing for that to be his legacy, I just won't tolerate it—will you?
You don't have to do exactly what I'm doing. But, please do something. This is our last, best chance, and it really is in our hands. Here are a few ideas I've heard for what you can do on Thursday, but really, do whatever moves you:
Yes, I can take action Thursday. Again, here's where to go:
1010 Park Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21201
I'd love to hear what idea you have for Thursday—sign up using the link above and share your idea, or use one I've suggested.
Thank you, and happy holidays,
Frank Burton
MoveOn member
Castro Valley, CA
P.S. New districts and newly-elected members of Congress don't go into effect until January, so the information above is still current.
PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. This email was sent to Cindy Walsh on December 27, 2012. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.
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I like Russ Feingold and the Progressives United but every time I ask them to highlight the trillions in corporate fraud that need to come back and the Third Way corporate democrats who are blocking that.....they tell me that isn't their issue. So, we are going to shout at the billionaires who have the money from fraud, but only about paying more taxes. Paying more taxes is good, but Rule of Law is a principle of democracy......wouldn't a labor/justice political group make that the issue? A Third Way corporate group would not.
DO NOT DEPEND ON THESE POLITICAL ACTION PETITION GROUPS.....SIGN THE PETITIONS AND RUN/VOTE FOR YOUR OWN CANDIDATES!!!
Cindy,
We saw more corporate meddling in this year's election than any election in recent memory. But don't expect it to let up any time soon.
Corporate interests and a handful of eccentric billionaires aren't just out to buy an election. They're out to buy what happens after elections: the policies that affect how all of us live our lives every single day.
That's why, together, we're fighting back right now against a right-wing lobbyist-backed deal to slash essential benefits for America's elderly, disabled, and poor.
That's why we speak out when corporate and wealthy interests try to rig the game by slanting the playing field in their favor -- both in and out of election seasons.
And that's why we must hit our year-end $100,000 goal. We have to be organized to take back the field.
Help ensure we're strong before we enter the New Year. Contribute $5 today, and help reach our year-end goal.
Progressives United never took our eye off the ball in calling attention to some of the most egregious attacks on our democracy this year.
As a result, broad majorities of Americans have seen -- and rejected -- the politics of unlimited, corrupting corporate money. Together, we're creating the conditions for reform -- and we're doing it from the bottom up.
But corporate America is redoubling their efforts to take their spoils from sweetheart deals and favorable loopholes made at the expense of hardworking families when Congress meets in the New Year.
Already, we've stopped attempts to inflict damaging cuts to crucial programs. But further attacks are around the corner, and we have more to do -- it's time to play offense.
Contribute $5 today to help reach our year-end organizing goal.
I'm excited for what we can accomplish -- just as we have time and again -- in the coming year. But we need the resources to succeed. Please contribute today.
Thank you for uniting as a progressive,
Russ Feingold
Founder
Progressives United
DO NOT DEPEND ON THESE POLITICAL ACTION PETITION GROUPS.....SIGN THE PETITIONS AND RUN/VOTE FOR YOUR OWN CANDIDATES!!!
When the Center for Media and Democracy sends out its petitions for the fight against corporate campaign financing it has a good issue....we all want corporations out of elections and law writing. Here is the problem......the largest factor placing these corporations and hedge funds in this business is the failure to bring back trillions of dollars in corporate fraud. IT IS CLEAR THAT THESE CORPORATIONS WOULD NOT HAVE THE MONEY FOR CAMPAIGNS IF THE FRAUD WAS BROUGHT BACK AND THESE CORPORATIONS DOWN-SIZED BY THIS ACTION. So why are all of the 'progressive' organizations identifying issues that will take decades to fix when the current democratic leadership has only to enforce Rule of Law to do the same thing right now? No Republican can stop that and it funds itself. IT IS NOT HAPPENING BECAUSE THIRD WAY CORPORATE LEADERS IN CONGRESS ARE PROTECTING PROFITS OVER PEOPLE AND THESE 'PROGRESSIVE' POLITICAL ACTION ORGANIZATIONS ARE THIRD WAY AS WELL. See how you can tell the difference?
When a political action group sends out a petition that promotes the Affordable Care Act and doesn't say anything about the need to cap the size of these health systems or the need to pass privacy laws forbidding medical data from being shared for profit, they are not working for you and me. The damage caused by allowing these health systems to become global health systems that will refuse to treat the poor and elderly because it isn't profitable will end entitlements. So a politician saying they are fighting for entitlements or a political action organization that doesn't make that the issue they are petitioning ARE NOT WORKING FOR YOU AND ME!!!!
VOTE YOUR INCUMBENT OUT OF OFFICE!!!!!!!
December 26, 2012
CMD Is Working Hard to Expose the Billionaire Kochtopus! No one person can keep up with Charles and David Koch, two of the richest men in the world. But the sleuths at the Center for Media and Democracy can certainly keep an eye on them -- and we do!
This year, CMD played a leading role in exposing these oil barons and their allies on many fronts:
LAWYERS Because of a CMD complaint, the IRS has been investigating the "charity" shell game played by Mark Block, the former campaign manager for Herman Cain and former director of David Koch’s "Americans for Prosperity" operations in Wisconsin.
GUNS CMD broke the story of how the Koch fortune has helped bankroll the American Legislative Exchange Council's extreme gun agenda with the NRA, including Florida-style "Stand Your Ground" bills, bills to stop cities from barring machine guns and cop-killer bullets or even suing weapons manufacturers, and bills against banning assault-style weapons.
MONEY After the Kochs pledged to spend at least $100 million in the 2012 election, CMD tracked Americans for Prosperity as they rolled out deceptive “issue ads” and contorted themselves to hide the names of their big donors from the American people. We also challenged the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel when they misreported AFP’s role in the recall election of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. We documented that AFP alone was outspending Walker's opponent in the race.
WHO WILL SUBPOENA THE KOCHS? Immediately after the election, we launched a campaign to get the Democratic-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee to “subpoena the Kochs” and hold oversight hearings on the role of dark money in the 2012 elections. The Senate has the power to investigate how the "Citizens United" decision and related election and tax laws are being used to hide big spenders trying to influence who wins and who loses elections, and CMD is calling on Senators to use their power to help expose the Kochs and their buddies, like Karl Rove.
CMD does not accept corporate or government grants. Our breakthrough investigations are made possible by donations from people like you.
Help us hold the Kochs accountable with a donation today! Sincerely,
Lisa Graves and Mary Bottari
P.S. Your tax deductible donation today will help us continue to play offense in exposing the Koch Brothers and their operatives trying to distort our democracy!
About the Center for Media and Democracy The Center for Media and Democracy is a non-profit investigative reporting group whose work aids public awareness about the people, companies, and groups attempting to shape the media and our democracy. Founded in 1993, our national reporting and analysis focus on exposing corporate spin. We accept no funding from for-profit corporations or the government. The Center for Media and Democracy's websites are PR Watch, SourceWatch, BanksterUSA, ALECexposed and Food Rights Network.
________________________________________________
WE ARE SEEING IN THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY THIRD WAY CORPORATE LIBERALS.....REPUBLICAN IN ALL THINGS CORPORATE AND WEALTH.... TRYING TO TAKE THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY AWAY FROM THE DEMOCRATIC BASE. LABOR AND MINORITIES MAKE UP 80% OF THE PARTY AND CORPORATE DEMOCRATS MAKE UP THE 20%. SO WHAT IS A 20% MINORITY TO DO? DIVIDE THE LABOR AND MINORITY VOTE......MAKE LABOR AND THE POOR BREAK TOWARDS THE REPUBLICANS. NPR public media has stated clearly it is a liberal/conservative policy program as of 2011......no fiscal progressives/labor/justice in their news (you'll find them in the wealth and poverty special programming)
JUST TAKE BACK THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY LABOR AND JUSTICE!!!!
CENTRIST DEMOCRATS ARE JUST REPUBLICANS MINUS THE RELIGION.
NPR AND PUBLIC MEDIA HAVE STATED LOUDLY AND STRONGLY THEY OFFER CENTRIST NEWS AND VIEWS.
Third Way corporate liberals have said more than once they no longer represent the labor/minority/ poverty crew. That is why we are seeing such gross injustice in Third Way states and cities regarding police brutality, charter schools as gentrification tools, and school to jails opportunities. It is why labor is seeing wages and benefits plummet in democratic states. This is in Third Way Maryland....a supposedly blue state.
When you watch Fox News, notorious for their conservative political views, they are always the ones showing local minority news and that is because of this recruitment that is happening now. What Third Way democrats are trying to do is make the democratic base....labor and justice ....feel they are no longer a part of the democratic party. This coming from a caucus that has the shareholder class of 5% of the voters behind them. The democratic base is 95% of the democratic party, they just are deliberately uninformed as to the nature of the party.
The labor and justice caucus of the democratic base needs to recognize that they are the democratic party. These Third Way democrats are only Reagan Liberals......Republicans on all things fiscal. They will promote issues that will through granny under a bus if it turns a profit. These are the Clintons and sadly the Obama's. So rather than be fooled into thinking you must go to the republicans for representation.....oh yeah....realize you simply need to take back your democratic party by running and voting for labor and justice candidates.
Centrists are CORPORATE AND ARE KILLING LABOR AND JUSTICE!!!!
Minorities May Spurn The GOP, But The Party Welcomes Them by Alan Greenblatt
December 26, 2012 2:24 PM Enlarge image Incoming Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who spoke during the Republican National Convention this summer in Tampa, Fla., is among a number of minority politicians seen as rising stars in the GOP.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images As the nation's first African-American president, Barack Obama benefited from and expanded his party's enormous advantage among minority voters.
But as he prepares to start his second term, Obama hasn't managed to usher in behind him many Democrats who are minorities to top elected office. Conversely, Republicans — despite their highly limited support among non-Anglo voters — have managed to elevate more top politicians from minority backgrounds.
"It's just an objective, empirical fact that more members of minority groups have done well winning in the Republican Party," says Artur Davis, a former Democratic congressman from Alabama who has switched allegiance to the GOP.
"The Republican Party has proven welcoming to minorities, and its voters will elect minorities as long as those minorities share their worldview, as long as those minorities are conservatives," Davis says.
Thinner Lineup
Obama's success disproves the notion that minorities can't be elected as Democrats, and in terms of lower offices, far more minorities are elected as Democrats than Republicans. But when it comes to major statewide offices, Davis is right. OBAMA RAN AS A PROGRESSIVE AND RULES CENTER RIGHT......HE IS NOT A DEMOCRAT.
Minority Democrats face several obstacles, if only because they often represent congressional districts that are more liberal than their states as a whole. Many of them, in fact, hail from Southern states that are unlikely to elect Democrats of any color statewide these days.
For their part, Republicans are happy and eager to promote politicians of color who embrace the party's conservative agenda.
When Congress reconvenes next month, Democrats will make history by seating the first caucus in House history comprising more women and minorities than white men. The House GOP caucus will remain dominated by white males.
By contrast, the lineup of Democrats holding top statewide offices is thin — limited to Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, who is African-American, and Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, who is Hispanic. THESE TWO ARE WALL STREET THROUGH AND THROUGH.
Republicans can boast of a number of minority officeholders whose first two names in news accounts seem to be "rising star," including Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and incoming Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
Once newly elected officials are sworn in, Republicans will have more female governors and more Hispanic U.S. senators than the Democrats. Republican Tim Scott of South Carolina will be the only African-American in the Senate — appointed by Nikki Haley, one of two Republican governors of Indian descent. (Louisiana's Bobby Jindal is the other.)
Minority politicians are likely to have "a smoother path" running for top offices as Republicans, says Robert C. Smith, author of several books about race and politics.
"The left highway is crowded, and the right highway's less so," he says.
Hobbled By Success?
The nature of the districts many minority Democrats represent handicaps them when they set their sights on statewide offices, says Lara Brown, a Villanova University political scientist.
"When you look at those minority-majority districts, this is why Democrats don't have statewide elected officials [from minority groups]," she says. "Their constituents and these districts are very liberal, and that makes it very hard for these individuals to moderate [their positions] to win their states."
Smith, who teaches political science at San Francisco State University, says this argument was more true 10 or 20 years ago than it is today.
He notes Democratic black politicians with aspirations for higher office — such as Davis, who ran as a Democrat for governor in 2010, and then-Rep. Harold Ford, who ran for Senate in Tennessee back in 2006 — self-consciously adopted moderate or even conservative positions to run statewide.
"Twenty years ago, black politicians had little ambition to seek office beyond being in Congress or being a big-city mayor," Smith says. "Now, they're positioning themselves as centrists so they can run for statewide office." Centrists are CORPORATE
The Need For Crossover Appeal
Still, reaching the top rungs can be difficult for African-American politicians in particular — because the vast majority of those holding elected office are in the South.
Neither Davis nor Ford was able to win election, and other blacks nominated to statewide posts in the South have done even more poorly.
In addition to the region's conservative nature, in the Deep South, "in terms of statewide elections, there's high racial polarization," says David Bositis, an expert on black politics at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.
Democratic politicians of color frequently are nominated to statewide office in the South, but they rarely win. In recent races in states such as Mississippi and Florida, black candidates have taken roughly 30 percent of the general election vote — about the same share as the minority populations there as a whole.
Following his keynote address to the Democratic National Convention this summer, San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro was widely touted as a potential star. But despite prognostications that Texas may eventually turn "blue" in presidential voting, Castro has to include in his calculations the fact that Texas hasn't elected a Democrat to statewide office in nearly 20 years.
HOW CAN TEXAS TURN BLUE? IF YOU LET THIRD WAY CORPORATES DEFINE 'DEMOCRAT' THEN ALL THEY HAVE TO DO IS SHED THE RELIGIOUS DOCTRINE.
Things may be different for Cory Booker, the African-American mayor of Newark, who recently made clear his intentions to run for U.S. Senate. If he's nominated, he'll have a strong chance in the generally Democratic state of New Jersey, Smith says.
Minorities running in Northern states with relatively small minority populations "absolutely" need to have crossover appeal, says Arturo Vargas, executive director of the National Association of Latino Elected & Appointed Officials. ONLY IF LABOR DOESN'T UNDERSTAND CORPORATE DEMOCRATS ARE WORKING AGAINST THEM
He notes that both Menendez, from New Jersey and former Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar (now Obama's interior secretary) carried states that are both about 15 percent Hispanic.
GOP's Welcome Mat
By contrast, Vargas notes, even successful minority Republican officials have mostly failed to carry majorities among their own ethnic communities. Rubio, the Florida senator, is a notable exception, having won 55 percent of the Hispanic vote in his 2010 election.
Given the usual lack of support for Republican blacks and Hispanics within their own groups, there's a certain quality close to tokenism that prevails on the GOP side, Bositis suggests.
"The Republican Party has always tried to have a certain number," he says. "If they could find some black or Hispanic or Asian person to put out front, they were always happy to do it."
There's no question Republicans are eager to showcase minority politicians. Their national convention in Tampa, Fla., at times seemed to feature more black and brown faces on the podium than were otherwise in the hall.
Smith, the San Francisco State political scientist, says this is done from necessity. Giving prominent roles to minority politicians, he suggests, may not help the GOP make deep inroads into minority communities that find the party's platform hostile to them on issues such as voting rights and immigration.
"But it gives the party the image of being an inclusive, multiethnic party," Smith says. "White suburbanites would not be comfortable with a party that is not inclusive."
If an ambitious politician who happens to be African-American or Hispanic or Asian also happens to be conservative, the GOP is going to welcome that person with open arms.
"If you're an African-American or a Hispanic of conservative bent — and you will be, or you wouldn't be in the Republican Party — you're going to be in the mainstream of your party more often than not," says Whit Ayres, a GOP consultant.
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MOVE ON IS A 'PROGRESSIVE' ORGANIZATION THAT SHOUTS OUT ABOUT BAD BANKS BUT THEN ENDORSES THE SAME POLITICIANS WHO ARE LETTING CORPORATIONS STEAL TRILLIONS WITH NO PENALTY. MOVE ON ENDORSED ALL OF MARYLAND'S THIRD WAY CORPORATE DEMOCRATS EVEN AS THEY SIT SILENT THROUGHOUT ON HOLDING CORPORATIONS ACCOUNTABLE. THESE CORPORATE DEMOCRATS HAVE BEEN SHOUTING LOUDLY FOR CORPORATE TAX BREAKS AS THE PUBLIC STARVES AND THEY ARE SUPPORTING PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS THAT ARE KILLING LABOR AND UNIONS. SO WHY DOES MOVE ON KEEP TELLING ITS EMAIL LISTS TO VOTE FOR THE SAME POLITICIANS WHO ARE KILLING THE MIDDLE-CLASS AND LABOR? WHY AM I HAVING TO YELL AT DEMOCRATIC POLS SUPPORTED BY MOVE ON TO NOT VOTE FOR CUTS IN SOCIAL SECURITY? THERE IS DEFENSE SPENDING THAT CAN BE USED TO NEGOTIATE!!!
BECAUSE THEY ARE A THIRD WAY CORPORATE POLITICAL ACTION GROUP....
LOOK AT WHO THESE GROUPS SUPPORT AND THEN WATCH HOW THESE POLS VOTE OR ARE SILENT ON ISSUES IMPORTANT TO YOU AND ME!
I will go to shout at Elijah Cummings as to why he is not demanding Rule of Law be enforced and trillions of dollars in corporate fraud used to pay down this national debt!!
Cindy- Just a reminder that this is happening today—and we need all hands on deck. Can you drop by Rep. Cummings's local office today with the message: Don't cut Social Security benefits!
Click here to sign up: http://moveon.org/pac/lameduckdropby/index2.html?id=59947-23326133-FHKuoYx&t=1
Here's the address for Rep. Cummings's office:
1010 Park Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21201
You'll be joining more than 1,600 other MoveOn members around the country delivering a message to members of Congress on their first day back to work that they must not cut Social Security benefits, and that they must not let the interests of millionaires and billionaires stand in the way of tax cuts for 98% of Americans.
Thanks,
–Frank
P.S. Check out the easy suggestions below for how to deliver your message.
I'm taking action this Thursday to stop Congress from cutting Social Security benefits for me and millions of others. Will you join me by dropping off a message at Rep. Cummings's office this Thursday? It could be our last chance.
Take action Thursday Dear fellow MoveOn member, I've paid into Social Security for more than fifty years. My five children and six grandchildren are paying into Social Security now. I retired ten years ago, and in 2008 and again this year, I campaigned for President Obama. I elected the President, and other Democrats, to protect Social Security and to ask the wealthy to pay their fair share in taxes—not to cave in to Republican demands to cut the benefits that my family, and millions of other families, depend on.
But last week, in fiscal talks with Republican Speaker Boehner, President Obama offered to cut Social Security benefits. Negotiations are still in flux, but there's a real risk that a deal could be struck this week that includes those cuts. Democrats in Congress—whose support is needed to pass a deal—have been split on whether they'd allow Social Security cuts.
This is an unusual time for politics. We're taking much needed holiday breaks. We're traveling. We're holding our family and friends very, very close.
Amid all of this—in fact, because of all of this—on Thursday, I'm walking into my representative's local office with a few friends and family members, and we're delivering a clear message before it's too late: Don't cut Social Security benefits.
I won't sit back and let my Social Security—which I've earned and paid for—be cut. I won't sit back and let my children and grandchildren's Social Security be jeopardized.
Can you join your voice with mine by dropping by Rep. Cummings's office in Baltimore this Thursday?
Yes, I will take action Thursday.
Here's where to go:
1010 Park Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21201
Members of Congress are home this week for the holidays, and when they head back to Washington on Thursday, they may be asked to vote to cut Social Security. If this happens—and it breaks my heart to think about it—Barack Obama could become the first Democratic president in history to cut this core social insurance program. Even if President Obama is willing for that to be his legacy, I just won't tolerate it—will you?
You don't have to do exactly what I'm doing. But, please do something. This is our last, best chance, and it really is in our hands. Here are a few ideas I've heard for what you can do on Thursday, but really, do whatever moves you:
- Deliver holiday cards to Rep. Cummings's office with the message, "I hope this isn't the last holiday card I write you—but it will be if you cut my benefits."
- Sing different words to holiday songs that carry your message—look online, or make up your own! Or, picket outside the office and call your local TV news station to come along.
- Bring your family—especially your kids or grandkids if you have them. They'll give punch to your message.
- If you want to make your message memorable, do something fun and creative. Drop off a bag of nuts (peanuts, pecans, whatever you've got!) at Rep. Cummings's office with a note saying, "This is nuts! No Social Security cuts!"
Yes, I can take action Thursday. Again, here's where to go:
1010 Park Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21201
I'd love to hear what idea you have for Thursday—sign up using the link above and share your idea, or use one I've suggested.
Thank you, and happy holidays,
Frank Burton
MoveOn member
Castro Valley, CA
P.S. New districts and newly-elected members of Congress don't go into effect until January, so the information above is still current.
PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. This email was sent to Cindy Walsh on December 27, 2012. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.
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I like Russ Feingold and the Progressives United but every time I ask them to highlight the trillions in corporate fraud that need to come back and the Third Way corporate democrats who are blocking that.....they tell me that isn't their issue. So, we are going to shout at the billionaires who have the money from fraud, but only about paying more taxes. Paying more taxes is good, but Rule of Law is a principle of democracy......wouldn't a labor/justice political group make that the issue? A Third Way corporate group would not.
DO NOT DEPEND ON THESE POLITICAL ACTION PETITION GROUPS.....SIGN THE PETITIONS AND RUN/VOTE FOR YOUR OWN CANDIDATES!!!
Cindy,
We saw more corporate meddling in this year's election than any election in recent memory. But don't expect it to let up any time soon.
Corporate interests and a handful of eccentric billionaires aren't just out to buy an election. They're out to buy what happens after elections: the policies that affect how all of us live our lives every single day.
That's why, together, we're fighting back right now against a right-wing lobbyist-backed deal to slash essential benefits for America's elderly, disabled, and poor.
That's why we speak out when corporate and wealthy interests try to rig the game by slanting the playing field in their favor -- both in and out of election seasons.
And that's why we must hit our year-end $100,000 goal. We have to be organized to take back the field.
Help ensure we're strong before we enter the New Year. Contribute $5 today, and help reach our year-end goal.
Progressives United never took our eye off the ball in calling attention to some of the most egregious attacks on our democracy this year.
As a result, broad majorities of Americans have seen -- and rejected -- the politics of unlimited, corrupting corporate money. Together, we're creating the conditions for reform -- and we're doing it from the bottom up.
But corporate America is redoubling their efforts to take their spoils from sweetheart deals and favorable loopholes made at the expense of hardworking families when Congress meets in the New Year.
Already, we've stopped attempts to inflict damaging cuts to crucial programs. But further attacks are around the corner, and we have more to do -- it's time to play offense.
Contribute $5 today to help reach our year-end organizing goal.
I'm excited for what we can accomplish -- just as we have time and again -- in the coming year. But we need the resources to succeed. Please contribute today.
Thank you for uniting as a progressive,
Russ Feingold
Founder
Progressives United
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