Democrashield
emmagold
Filed under: 2009 Election, Breaking, Meta, Polls, Progressives | Tags: 2009 Weblog Awards, Blog, Blogging, Elections, Voting, Weblog Awards
Best Blog – Best Liberal Blog – Best Political Blog – Best Large Blog
NOTE: We actually qualify for the ‘Best Large Blog’ category, so PLEASE VOTE FOR US THERE INSTEAD!
Democrashield has been nominated for the 2009 Weblog Awards. Please take a moment to second our nominations by clicking on the links above, then clicking on the green plus button next to our name.
[I'm going to keep this at the top for a while; you can find new posts below.]
Filed under: 2009 Election, 2010 Election, Conservatives, Government, Governors, House, Progressives, Senate | Tags: 2009, 2010, Charlie Crist, Congress, FL-SEN, Florida, Kendrick Meek, Marco Rubio, Mel Martinez, New York, NY-23
Undaunted by their epic failure in NY-23, conservatives are looking to scozzafava Florida’s 2010 Senate election.
Incumbent Republican Senator Mel Martinez is retiring that year, leaving his seat open. The Democratic candidate will be (in all likelihood) Congressman Kendrick Meek; the GOP primary will be between Governor Charlie Crist and FL House Speaker Marco Rubio.
Even though Gov. Crist is a pretty strong favorite to win both the GOP primary and the general election, the right has decided that they will do everything they can to keep him from winning the Republican nomination.
Filed under: Breaking, Government, Terrorism | Tags: Barack Obama, Fort Hood, Ft. Hood, Military
Chief Warrant Officer Michael Grant Cahill (Ret.), 62, Cameron, TX.
Maj. Libardo Eduardo Caraveo, 52, Woodbridge, VA.
Army Staff Sgt. Justin DeCrow, 32, Plymouth, IN.
Capt. John Gaffaney, 56, San Diego, CA.
Spc. Frederick Greene, 29, Mountain City, TN.
Spc. Jason Dean Hunt, 22, Tipton, OK.
Sgt. Amy Krueger, 29, Kiel, WI.
Pfc. Aaron Thomas Nemelka, 19, West Jordan, UT.
Pfc. Michael Pearson, 22, Bolingbrook, IL.
Capt. Russell Seager, 51, Racine, WI.
Pvt. Francheska Velez, 21, Chicago, IL.
Lt. Col. Juanita L. Warman, 55, Havre De Grace, MD.
Spc. Kham Xiong, 23, St. Paul, MN.
You can read the President’s remarks below the fold.
Filed under: Conservatives, Government, Health Care, Right-Wing Noise Machine | Tags: 10th Amendment, 9th Amendment, Constituiton, General Welfare Clause, Health, Health Care Reform, Supreme Court, Thomas Jefferson, United States Constitution
I think one of the more creative (though still invalid) right-wing argument against health care reform is that it would be unconstitutional. Which part of the constitution, they ask, allows Congress to establish something like the public option?
Article I, Section VIII. The opening part, to be exact:
The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States…
Filed under: Breaking, Conservatives, Government, Health Care, House, Progressives | Tags: Barack Obama, Bart Stupak, Congress, Democrats, Eric Cantor, Fail, Health, Health Care Reform, John Boehner, Joseph Cao, Republicans, Teabaggers
The House of Representatives voted 220 to 215 to pass health care reform. And the vote was bipartisan–one Republican, Joseph Cao of Louisiana, joined the Democrats in supporting the bill.
Congress erupted in cheers and applause as soon as the 218th ‘yea’ vote was cast.
This vote is the result of months of effort, representing innumerable hours of work. It’s a tremendous accomplishment, even with the reprehensible Stupak amendment attached, and Congressional Democrats should be proud of their victory tonight.
I might also add that this vote represents the utter and complete failure of the Republicans, teabaggers and the conservative movement who, despite all the sound and the fury they spent months whipping up, couldn’t succeed in derailing this bill.
UPDATE: Joan McCarter notes that this is the first time a chamber of Congress has passed health care reform since Medicare was enacted in 1965.
UPDATE II: Two days ago, at the teabaggers’ anti-health care reform rally, Republican Whip Eric Cantor pledged:
“Be assured not one Republican will vote for this bill,” Cantor said, to big cheers and shouts of “Kill the bill.”
In the end, exactly one Republican voted for the bill, forcing Cantor to eat his words.
UPDATE III: Not long after Cao’s unexpected victory in 2008, Minority Leader Boehner held him up as an example to other Republicans, proclaiming ‘the future is Cao.’
I imagine Boehner regrets those words tonight. In reality, though, the GOP would have a shot at the majority with a few more folks like Cao around. The GOP wishes their future was Cao…
UPDATE IV: Read President Obama’s statement on this historic vote below the fold…
Filed under: Conservatives, Government, Health Care, Progressives, Scandal | Tags: CNMI, Congress, Fail, Health, Health Care Reform, Immigration, Jack Abramoff, Labor, Northern Mariana Islands, Republicans, Wages
As it turns out, the GOP’s health care reform bill is worse that previously thought.
Yesterday, I discussed how the GOP plan will let insurance companies sell plans across state lines. As part of that, insurers would be able to choose a ‘primary state’ to operate out of; that state’s laws would then govern that company’s insurance policies everywhere they do business.
My theory is that, under the GOP plan, insurance companies would simply pick the most laxly-regulated state as their ‘primary state,’ thus allowing them to continue the same shoddy practices which helped cause our health care crisis in the first place (such as denying coverage due to preexisting conditions and dropping coverage for those who become seriously ill).
Well, it turns out I was wrong, because it will actually be worse than that. In the GOP bill, the list of potential ‘primary states’ isn’t just limited to states–it includes American territories such as American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands.
That last one will probably jump out at some of you…
Filed under: 2009 Election, Conservatives, Government, Governors, Health Care, House, Progressives, Right-Wing Noise Machine | Tags: 2009, Bill Owens, Congress, Dede Scozzafava, Democrats, Fail, Health, Health Care Reform, Republicans, Sarah Palin, Special Election, Teabaggers
Newly-elected Rep. Bill Owens says he will vote for the Democratic health care reform bill:
Rep. Bill Owens (D-NY) can be counted on as a “yes” in this weekend’s expected vote on the House Democrats’ health care bill, announcing his support in a press release.
“This legislation will reform the insurance industry and provide increased access to affordable healthcare without taxing healthcare benefits, cutting Medicare benefits or raising taxes on the middle class, and that is exactly the direction we need to go,” said Owens. “There are still changes I would like to make, including raising the payroll exemption for small businesses, but like I said last week, there is a fundamental need for reform and we must act with a sense of urgency.”
[Emphasis mine]
Let’s give credit where credit’s due–this vote for health care reform really belongs to Sarah Palin and the teabaggers.
Filed under: 2009 Election, Conservatives, Economics, Government, Health Care, House, Polls, Progressives | Tags: Barack Obama, Democrats, Economic Stimulus Package, Fail, Health, Health Care Reform, Michael Steele, Numbers, NY-23, Polling, Republican National Committee, Republicans, RNC, RNC Chair, Teabaggers
There goes the big tent (again)
By the Chairman of the Republican Party himself:
“[C]andidates who live in moderate to slightly liberal districts have got to walk a little bit carefully here, because you do not want to put yourself in a position where you’re crossing that line on conservative principles, fiscal principles, because we’ll come after you,” Steele told ABC’s Top Line in response to a question about Republicans who support the White House’s stimulus and health care plans.
“You’re gonna find yourself in a very tough hole if you’re arguing for the president’s stimulus plan or Nancy Pelosi’s health plan. There’s no justification for growing the size of government the way this administration and this Congress wants to do it.”
Let’s review:
Filed under: Conservatives, Economics, Government, Health Care, House, Progressives, Right-Wing Noise Machine, Senate | Tags: CBO, Congress, Congressional Budget Office, Democrats, Fail, Health, Health Care Reform, Health Industrial Complex, Insurance, Insurance Industry, Legislation, Republicans
The CBO has scored the GOP health care reform bill, proving that sometimes the only thing worse than no plan is a bad plan.
Filed under: 2009 Election, Conservatives, Government, House, Polls, Progressives | Tags: 2009, Bill Owens, Congress, Dede Scozzafava, Democrats, Doug Hoffman, Fail, NY-23, NY23, Republicans
The special election in NY’s 23rd Congressional District should have been a walk for Republicans–that part of NY has been represented by the GOP for more than a century and its most recent Republican Congressman, John McHugh, never won less than 63%.
This was a strongly Republican seat–the election was conservatives’ to lose.
And lose they did.
Filed under: 2009 Election, Conservatives, Progressives, Rights | Tags: Equal Rights, gay rights, Maine, marriage
By EmmaGold
Yesterday, 53% of voters in Maine chose to deny equal rights to gay couples.
We don’t really know why. So, we have to wonder what the effect the Yes on 1 campaign had.
Their campaign focused on the idea that, if Question 1 was rejected and gay marriage remained legal, it “would be taught in schools”
And sadly, at least some of the electorate seems to have responded to that message. The Boston Globe cites one person who voted for Question 1:
He said he wasn’t particularly passionate about the issue until he worried, because of advertisements, that same-sex marriage could be taught in schools.
Filed under: 2010 Election, Conservatives, Governors, House, Polls, Progressives | Tags: Bill Owens, Bob McDonnell, Chris Christie, Chris Daggett, Congress, Creigh Deeds, Dede Scozzafava, Democrats, Doug Hoffman, Elections, Jon Corzine, New Jersey, New York, NJ-GOV, NY-23, Republicans, VA-GOV, Virginia
It looks like the conservative spin machine is firing up, looking for the most favorable ways to portray whatever today’s election results end up being. Let’s counteract their spin and look at what today’s major races might actually mean:
Virginia
It’s telling that conservatives are portraying VA—the one race they’re pretty much guaranteed to win—as today’s most important election. That’s right-wing logic for you—the races the GOP win are significant while any races they lose are insignificant.
Now, I’m not saying that a GOP win here wouldn’t mean anything—it’s always meaningful when a Governorship changes parties—but I don’t think it would be as significant as many Republicans will try to make it out to be.
Filed under: 2009 Election, Breaking, Government, Governors, House, Polls, Progressives, Rights | Tags: Bill Owens, Creigh Deeds, Elections, Jon Corzine, LGBT, Maine, New Jersey, Numbers, NY-23, Polls, Proposition 1, Virginia, Volunteer, Vote, Vote No on 1
If your state is holding elections today, get out there and vote.
And if you have any free time at all then go volunteer for the candidate/cause of your choice. You can click on the icons below for information on how to help progressives win today:
Filed under: 2009 Election, 2010 Election, Conservatives, Government, Governors, House, Polls, Progressives, Senate | Tags: 2009, 2010, Analysis, Congress, Elections, New Jersey, Numbers, NY-23, Polling, Virginia, Vote
Even though I’ve been writing a lot about NY-23, there are several other major elections going on tomorrow–namely, the gubernatorial elections in VA and NJ.
It’s doubtless that, no matter how those elections turn out, some people are going to try to argue that the results indicate how the 2010 elections will play out.
But is there really any kind of reliable correlation between the gubernatorial elections in VA and NJ and the following year’s Congressional elections?**
Well, let’s take a look:
Filed under: 2009 Election, Conservatives, House, Media, Polls, Progressives | Tags: Bill Owens, Congress, Dede Scozzafava, Democrats, Doug Hoffman, Endorsements, Fail, New York, Numbers, NY-23, Polling, Republicans, Special Election
And the local paper, the Watertown Daily Times, follows suit:
Dierdre K. Scozzafava’s decision to suspend her campaign for the 23rd Congressional District seat is a shocking development in what had already been an extraordinary race.
In her statement Saturday morning, the assemblywoman explained the reasons behind her decision: “It is increasingly clear that pressure is mounting on many of my supporters to shift their support. Consequently, I hereby release those individuals who have endorsed and supported my campaign to transfer their support as they see fit to do so.”
During the day Saturday, she began to quietly and thoughtfully encourage her supporters to vote for Democrat William L. Owens.
Filed under: 2009 Election, Breaking, Conservatives, House, Media, Polls, Progressives | Tags: Bill Owens, Congress, Dede Scozzafava, Democrats, Doug Hoffman, Epic Fail, Fail, Michael Steele, New York, Numbers, NY-23, Polling, Republicans, RNC
From upstate NY’s Watertown Daily Times:
Dede Scozzafava, the Republican and Independence parties candidate, announced Saturday that she is suspending her campaign for the 23rd Congressional District and releasing all her supporters.
The state Assemblywoman has not thrown her support to either Doug Hoffman, the Conservative Party candidate, or Bill Owens, the Democratic candidate.
Ms. Scozzafava told the Watertown Daily Times that Siena Research Institute poll numbers show her too far behind to catch up – and she lacks enough money to spend on advertising in the last three days to make a difference. Mr. Owens has support from 36 percent of likely voters in the poll, with Mr. Hoffman garnering 35 percent support. Ms. Scozzafava has support from 20 percent of those polled.
To have a Republican candidate–who is running to replace a Republican incumbent–drop out due to lack of support and money is a massive, epic failure on the part of the Republican Party.
Really, it’s hard to overstate how much of a defeat this is for the GOP. Scozzafava started this race with a significant lead; for her to wind up trailing both the Democrat and a third-party challenger so much that she has to quit the race entirely makes hers one of the most disastrous campaigns in recent history.
It’s hard to say how Scozzafava’s resignation will affect the election. It’s probable that some of her supporters were conservatives who will switch to Hoffman, but it’s also likely that some of her supporters won’t back someone as right-wing as Hoffman and will instead vote for Owens. With only three days left until the election, though, I don’t think anyone can say for sure how things will go from here.
No matter who wins, though, the Republican Party has already lost. This is a humiliating defeat for Michael Steele and company, though I don’t doubt that RNC staffers will be working through the weekend trying to find some way to spin this failure.
Filed under: 2009 Election, Conservatives, Government, House, Polls, Progressives, Right-Wing Noise Machine | Tags: Bill Owens, Dede Scozzafava, Democrats, Doug Hoffman, New York, NY-23, Polling, Republicans, Special Election
The special election in NY’s 23rd Congressional District has become defined by the right-wing infighting between supporters of Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava and backers of Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman.
Despite the fact that Scozzafava is more conservative than your average New York Republican, the right has deemed her insufficiently conservative and are instead flocking to Hoffman.
My question is, who is the real Doug Hoffman? Do any of the people flocking to his candidacy really know all that much about him? Or are they simply backing him in order to stick it to a Republican Party they have also deemed to be insufficiently conservative? Is the right trying to make this race step 1 in an ideological purge of the GOP?
Filed under: Conservatives, International, Progressives | Tags: Barack Obama, Conservatives, Democrats, Dover Air Force Base, George W. Bush, Iraq Afghanistan, Republicans, Soldiers, Troops
This morning, President Barack Obama traveled to Dover Air Force Base to personally welcome home and honor some of our fallen soldiers:
Remember that image. Keep it in mind whenever anyone on the right accuses Obama of being anti-American or hating the troops or putting soldiers’ lives in danger by ‘dithering.’
And then remember that George W. Bush—the President we’re not supposed to talk about—never did this. Despite sending several thousand young men and women to their deaths, Bush never bothered to welcome them home in person or attend a single military funeral.
President Obama is on the verge of making a decision on Afghanistan that could result in more of those flag-draped coffins coming home. He should be thinking long and hard about whether or not that’s a price America should pay.
Take a look at that picture again. That’s being tough. That’s being Presidential: personally facing the potential consequences of your actions.
Just something to keep in mind…
Filed under: Conservatives, Government, Health Care, Progressives, Senate | Tags: 2006, Campaign Contributions, Congress, Democrats, Fail, Harry Reid, Health, Health Care Reform, Joe Lieberman, Opt Out, public option, Republicans
Yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid revealed that the Democratic health care reform plan will contain the public option, but will also let states opt out of it if they so choose.
There’s a catch, though–states won’t be able to opt out of the public option until 2014, meaning that every state will at least have to try it before they can eliminate it.
Filed under: 2012 Election, Conservatives, Corruption, House, Progressives, Scandal | Tags: 2012, Bill Clinton, Craziness, Ethics, Mike Gravel, Newt Gingrich, Primaries, Republicans, Speaker of the House
Apparently, Newt Gingrich is considering running for President:
On C-SPAN this morning, Newt Gingrich was asked if was going to run for president in 2012.
Said Gingrich: “Callista and I are going to think about this in February 2011. And we are going to reach out to all of our friends around the country. And we’ll decide, if there’s a requirement as citizens that we run, I suspect we probably will. And if there’s not a requirement, if other people have filled the vaccum, I suspect we won’t.”
Newt Gingrich for President? Really?
Newt Gingrich, who hasn’t held elected office in 11 years?
Newt Gingrich, the first Speaker of the House to be disciplined for ethics violations?
Newt Gingrich, whose ethics problems led to him being forced out of office by his own party?
Newt Gingrich, who admitted to having multiple extramarital affairs?
Newt Gingrich, who admitted to having multiple extramarital affairs while going after Bill Clinton for his extramarital affairs?
