Bob Fertik's blog
Let's Beat the BlueDogs - and Blanche Lincoln
I don't know about you, but I've had it with "BlueDog" Democrats.
They claim to be "fiscal conservatives," but they voted for George Bush's trillion-dollar tax cuts for the rich, which turned President Clinton's $6 trillion projected surplus into Bush's $5 trillion added debt.
They voted for Bush's trillion-dollar invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, and spend billions more every month getting our soldiers killed to protect dictators.
And now they're blocking healthcare reform that would save billions for taxpayers and patients.
We need to run progressive challengers against them in Democratic primaries. Help us get started with small contributions to three great candidates:
http://www.actblue.com/page/democratscom
USA Jobs Now
Republicans want to make the 2010 election about jobs.
So what's their plan to create jobs? They will simply repackage their disastrous policies of the past 3 decades: (1) tax cuts for the rich and (2) business deregulation.
Bush's tax cuts for the rich in 2001 and 2003 created the greatest wealth inequality since the Gilded Age, destroyed jobs, and turned President Clinton's projected $6 trillion surplus into $5 trillion in new debt.
And business deregulation caused the financial collapse and Great Recession of 2008 - including the 10% unemployment that will make jobs issue #1 in 2010.
Voters should laugh at disastrous Republican solutions, but they won't laugh unless Democrats offer a better plan to create jobs.
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Yes We Will!
President Obama was elected on an agenda of change: "Yes We Can!"
Unfortunately President Obama's change agenda has run into a brick wall of "No We Can't," led by the entire Republican Party plus "BlueDog" conservative Democrats in the Senate and House.
If we want President Obama's change agenda to succeed, we must replace anti-change Republicans and Democrats in the 2010 election with pro-change candidates.
To succeed, we must unite the broad progressive movement behind a broad slate of pro-change candidates. We're calling this strategy: "Yes We Will!"
Below is a spreadsheet with the Senators and Representatives from every state. The first page contains the Issues we all care about: healthcare, jobs, wars, climate, etc. We'll score every politician (incumbent and challenger) on a scale of 1 (best) to 5 (worst) on each of those issues.
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War Whip 0911
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Pelosi Must Let States Create Single Payer Plans
When Speaker Pelosi announced her "floor version" of the healthcare bill on Thursday, she made a critical mistake: she removed the "State Single Payer" amendment proposed by Rep. Dennis Kucinich.
The "Kucinich Amendment" passed the House Education & Labor Committee on July 17 by a rare bi-partisan 27-19 vote.
States should be free to create the best possible healthcare plans for their residents. If Congress gives States the right to "opt-in" or "opt-out" of a national "public option," it must also give States the right to "opt-in" to a State Single Payer plan.
Tell Congress the "Kucinich Amendment" must be included in a "Managers Amendment" to H.R. 3962 immediately. Pelosi will decide on Monday.
http://democrats.com/state-single-payer
URGENT: We Need 4 House Votes for a Robust Public Option
Capitol Hill sources tell me we're very close to a 218-vote majority for a robust public option, but we're still 4 votes short. Call/fax/tweet everyone below with this message:
The only way to reduce healthcare costs and make healthcare affordable for America's working families is to pass a robust public option based on Medicare+5%. Will you stand with the overwhelming majority of Democrats in supporting Medicare+5%?
Please post their replies in the comments below. Thanks!!
Robust Public Option
On Monday, Harry Reid dramatically announced he would include a "public option" in the Senate healthcare bill. But progressives won't settle for just any old "public option." Here are the minimum requirements for a robust public option that progressives can support:
- based on Medicare rates (Medicare+5%), not rates negotiated with providers (which would delay implementation for several years)
- nation-wide, with no state opt-outs until several years have passed
- administered by Medicare, not a for-profit insurance company
- available in 2010, not 2013
- negotiated discounts for newer brand-name drugs and full coverage of older generics
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Let's Kill Big Brother
It's time to repeal telecom immunity for illegal spying, restore privacy protection to library and bookstore records, and roll back the worst abuses of the PATRIOT ACT.
Glenn Beck Cloned
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Joe Scarborough Equates Bill Moyers With Glenn Beck
On September 20, Joe Scarborough went on a Twitter rampage against Bill Moyers. (All of these tweets were written by Scarborough, some addressed directly to @individuals).
Sun 6pm
I just saw the one of the most unintentionally funny interviews in the history of mankind!! Bill Moyers interviewing the NYTs Sam Tannehaus.
Moyers--who frantically predicted the rise of a theocratic state over the past 8 years--suddenly concerned about GOP's apocalyptic thinking.
The Frantic Bill Moyers: "For the first time in our history, ideology and theology hold a monopoly of power in Washington."
Glenn Beck v. Glenn Beck
Even Glenn Beck hates Glenn Beck's despicable lie that President Obama is a "racist"!
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2009 DEMMY Awards
In honor of Sunday's EMMY Awards, I'd like to give out DEMMY Awards to the best Democrats on TV.
Below are three categories: Pundits, Elected Officials, and Frauds.
We'll open the voting this weekend on Democrats.com, but I'd like to complete the nominations first. So which "TV Democrats" did I leave out?
Pundits
FOX Attacks Glenn Beck's 'Racist' Smear of Obama
On July 28, Glenn Beck declared:
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Glenn Beck Boycott Cuts Ad Revenues in Half
Big news - the boycott of Glenn Beck advertisers has cut show revenues in half!
During the last week in July, Beck’s show pulled in over $1 million from advertising. The first week in September, that number was down to less than $500,000, even as his ratings have gone up.
It’s clear that our campaign is making a significant financial impact, despite Fox’s insistence otherwise.
What’s happening is a simple matter of supply and demand. Fox has a limited amount of time devoted to ads each day. If 62 companies refuse to run ads during Beck’s show, the demand for that time is reduced, and the rates the network can charge for the show plummet. In Beck’s case, almost no major companies are willing to advertise during either of his twice-a-day broadcasts, so Fox can’t collect as much ad revenue as they could before. If we can keep the advertisers away, Fox will have to decide sometime soon whether it’s worth losing money to keep Beck’s poison on the air.
Let's keep the pressure on FOX advertisers by signing this petition:
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Million Moran March

At long last, today is the super-hyped Glenn Beck / FOX / GOP 9/12 March, a.k.a. "Million Moran March." (Name inspired by famous rightwing sign on left.)
Here are some of the signs expressing their positive, unifying post-911 spirit. More photoblogs by Adele Stan, Oliver Willis, NineTwelvePhotos, Tars Tarkas, TPM, Chris Edelson. Also Liveblogs by @DemocracyInUSA

