Paul Hogarth: Barack Obama and Joe Biden are upset at progressive Democrats. But which Democrats are being divisive?
Latinos Boosting Democratic Voter Enthusiasm
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Randy Shaw: Recently polls shows Latinos’ positive perceptions of Democrats sharply rising in the wake of the Party’s unsuccessful effort to enact the DREAM act last week.
Super Rich Get Richer, Everyone Else Gets Poorer, Democrats Punt
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Robert Reich: Only twice before in American history has so much been held by so few, and the gap between them and the great majority been a chasm — the late 1920s, and the era of the robber barons in the 1880s.
The Base’s Hissy Fit
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Tom Degan: Then there is the core of the Democratic vote, the so-called “base”. Like the half-witted six-year-old who didn’t receive the toy he wanted for Christmas, they’re in the process of having a blue-faced tantrum. Because they didn’t get all of that nice hope and change stuff that Barack Obama promised them two years ago, they’re just going to stay home and sulk on Election Day.
The Defining Issue: Who Should Get the Tax Cut — The Rich or Everyone Else?
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Robert Reich: Republicans are hell bent on demanding an extension of the Bush tax cut for their patrons at the top, or else they’ll pull the plug on tax cuts for the middle class. This is a gift for the Democrats.
How Corporations Own Congress
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Shamus Cooke: A “lesser of two evils” approach to politics equals evil politicians for labor, no matter who wins. In fact, the lesser-evil Democrats have become increasingly evil over the years, to the point where the party as a whole is more Conservative than the Nixon-era Republicans.
Harry Reid in the Arena
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Brent Budowsky: Harry Reid led Senate Democrats to a large majority in historic elections, while Senate Republicans obstruct everything to negate those elections, which has never been done in the history of the republic. Voters who want more action to create more jobs should vote for more Harry Reids, and fewer Senate Republicans.
Forecasting the 2010 Congressional Elections
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Ted Vaill: There is hope, in spite of what the pundits say, if we work hard over the next two months to get progressive Democrats elected.
The Two Stories of This Terrible Economy, Yet Obama and the Dems Won’t Tell Theirs
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Robert Reich: Republicans lack specific policies but they have a story. Obama and the Democrats have lots of specific policies but don’t have a story. That spells even more trouble for Democrats.
Tax Jujitsu: Why Democrats Should Propose a “People’s Tax Cut”
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Robert Reich: Democrats should propose eliminating payroll taxes on the first $20,000 of income, and making up the revenue loss by applying payroll taxes to incomes above $250,000.
We Have Met the Enemy and He Is Us
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Berry Craig: Bottom line: It’s plain loco for liberals to punish Democrats for being insufficiently liberal by staying home on election day and letting the Obama’s-a-Kenyan-Islamo-Socialist crowd win.
Cowards vs. Hypocrites: Why Democratic Politicians Despise the “Professional Left”
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Randy Shaw: But progressives believe the public supports more progressive stands (e.g. polls showed strong support for the public option that Obama abandoned), leaving Democrats to fend off charges that they talk about serving the public good but instead serve corporate interests inimical to the public welfare.
Are Teachers and Democrats Headed for Divorce?
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Shamus Cooke: The Democrats continue on the road to corporate-inspired charter schools, using the tried and true method of “stronger teacher evaluations” to undermine “underperforming” schools and teachers — thus opening the door wide to private charter schools with their non-union workforce.
Winograd vs. Incumbent Harman: The Margin Narrows
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With less than 3 weeks to go in the primary election, a new poll shows the Winograd/Harman race is competitive and may be reflecting an anti-incumbency wave. The IVR Poll of nearly 1,000 Likely Voters Indicates Winograd is within four points of the embattled incumbent. The poll of likely primary voters shows Congressional Candidate Marcy Winograd (CA-36) may well defeat opponent Jane Harman in the June 8th Democratic Party primary.
Banks, Markets Now Just Shearing Pens
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Jim Fuller: For the first time in the 50-plus years I’ve been paying close attention to the securities markets and banking and looser attention to commodities markets — most of those years covering such businesses for newspapers and magazines — I am close to concluding that the only place for the modest savings of the average Jane or Joe is a tightly sealed jar buried in the garden or an envelope under a mattress. Maybe in a mixture of currencies.
Evan Bayh and Harold Ford: Hypocrites Who Cut and Run
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Paul Hogarth: Evan Bayh and Harold Ford Jr. have a lot in common, and not because they’re both legacies who rode into public office on their family name. Both are anti-progressive Democrats who have built their political careers on making the Left feel small and weak – egged on by a corporate media that likes to call them “centrist.”
Time for a New DNC Chair!
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Steve Ybarra: The $28 million that the Big O spent on Latinos and Chicanos was well spent and did the job of helping Latinos nationwide figure out that the Democratic Party was indeed on their side. So far, since the new DNC Chair (whoever he is) has been in office, we have seen absolutely no evidence that he gets it. So it is time for him to be shown the door and let’s get back to winning the midterms and finding a dogcatcher to elect.
Friday Feedback: Idiot Responds
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Fridays the LA Progressive features a comment that was particularly noteworthy. This week we are featuring a comment submitted by Robert Illes responding to comments on his article, Obama, Never Mind FDR, How about JKP?, by Ianam. Here’s Robert’s comment: Idiot responds: The point of the article was that Polk, the only President in history [...]
Did Obama Make the South Irrelevant?
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The polls had hardly closed, it seemed, before the punditry of print and blogosphere were positively a-twitter at the possibility that Barack Obama’s near-landslide victory is both substance and symbol of the happy reality that “The South has moved from being the center of the political universe to being an outside player in presidential politics.”
Latino Immigrants Played Key Role in Obama’s Red State Victories
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Among the most overlooked stories this political season was the major impact of Latino voters in Barack Obama’s red state victories. While Latinos’ 67% support for Obama has gotten some attention, the media has largely overlooked the fact that Latino immigrants backed Obama by a 78% margin, and their support was critical in the Democrat’s [...]
McCain Gaming Pals Set 2,000% Odds Against Native American Vote
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Hispanic? Congratulations, you’ve only a 500% chance your vote will not be counted. Black, 900%. Native American, 2,000%! While you may have been purged from voter roles in the first two classes, you can cast a provisional ballot (of course it will not be counted on election night). If you’re a Native American though, you’re [...]
When You Act Like a Jerk, You’re Gonna Be Treated Like a Jerk
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It would be one thing if John Edwards’ big boo-boo stood alone. But it isn’t working out that way. Enough by now has been written about the bimbo eruption itself, the charismatic married Democrat and the “other woman,” the betrayed wife, the irate and brokenhearted supporters. Hmm… sounds familiar. Didn’t we just go through this [...]
Thank God for Howard Dean
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After watching Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama slug it out and beat each other up, there is one name that shines for me and still gives me hope. It’s neither of the above. It’s Howard Dean. The Pennsylvania primary results make me nervous. I’m in the midst of weighing staying strong for one candidate versus [...]
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No Good News for Democrats Because There’s No Good News
Joseph Palermo: Yet it’s hard to believe that the American people this November are going to return the party to power that not too long ago lied the nation into war, doubled the national debt, and collapsed the economy.