Re-elect Tom Perriello to Virginia’s 5th District

This is the last weekend to show show that you have the President’s back. Can you commit to do at least two hours of GOTV in the next four days.

Here is the call tool, and remember if you cannot make calls or phone bank, try canvassing this weekend, it WORKS!

https://call.barackobama.com/…

And here is the Democratic Committee HQ phone number, to ask what the number is to your local COUNTY Democratic Committee.   That is if you would like to participate in a very organized ground game of canvassing.

1-202-863-8000

http://www.democrats.org/

TOM PERRIELLO needs your help!

African-Americans have been under-polled by many of the popular polling outfits.  A reporter from Politico flatly admitted that their polls did not include  African-Americans because blacks don’t vote in midterm elections.  So they are not expecting black folks to show up in a midterm election…..WRONG!  We will be showing up in droves according to the Washington Post.   The Post predicts that black folks are fired up to 2008 levels. 

A major survey conducted by The Washington Post, the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard University found that 80 percent of black Democrats are as interested or more interested in the midterms than they were in the 2008 presidential election, when their enthusiasm helped propel Barack Obama into office.

Here is another tidbit

The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a premier African-American research institute, just published an opinion poll suggesting that African-American interest in this election may be sufficient to close the traditional gap between white and black turnout in off-year elections.

good news link

Keep up the momentum!  We will prove conventional DC wisdom wrong if everyone not only votes themselves but take a friend who has never voted in a midterm as well as one who has.  The GOP has promised to defund Healthcare and Wall Street reform so this midterm election on November 2nd is CRITICAL.  The GOP is trying to take down the President as was clearly illustrated by Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) who said “[t]he single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.”  So jobs, healthcare, two wars….all secondary to making the President a one-termer.  The cost to the nation and more specifically the working and middle class?  The GOP could care less.

Wouldn’t it be ironic if after all the bigotry, race-based dog whistling, and fear mongering of the Tea Party and Glenn Beck it is the African-American vote that shuts down any perceived gains by the teapublicans in this election cycle?  Sweet justice!

The President will be stomping to re-elect Tom Perriello at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville on Friday.  Congressman Perriello is a candidate who stands for what he believes and believes what he stands for and is currently in a tight race with Robert Hurt in Virginia’s very Republican 5th district.  But Perriello is holding his own not by running to the right like a couple of his colleagues but by staying true to his principles.  Throughout his two years as a freshman congressman Perriello has been omnipresent and responsive to the needs of his constituents throughout the conservative district.  Perriello supported the President on Health Care Reform, Wall Street Reform, and the Lilly Ledbetter Act because it was in the interest of 5th District residents.  Congressman Perriello also voted for an extension of unemployment benefits to the unemployed during this recession because that is the humane thing to do.  The Congressman is a man of faith who genuinely cares about his constituents in Virginia’s 5th.  We need more people like Perriello in Congress, so if you live in: 

• Albemarle County
• Appomattox County
• Bedford County
• Brunswick County
• Buckingham County
• Campbell County
• Charlotte County
• Cumberland County
• Fluvanna County
• Franklin County
• Greene County
• Halifax County
• Henry County
• Lunenburg County
• Mecklenburg County
• Nelson County
• Pittsylvania County
• Prince Edward County
• City of Bedford
• City of Charlottesville
• City of Danville
• City of Martinsville

PLEASE VOLUNTEER AND VOTE!

After Think Progress exposed the Chamber of Commerce a couple of days ago for running partisan attack ads funded by foreign corporations - which make sense since they are the ones that benefit from the outsourcing of jobs – more information has come to light about the REAL agenda of the Chamber of Commerce.  The Chamber has refused to disclose who is paying for its attack ads against Democratic candidates.

It is clear that the Chamber of Commerce, Karl Rove, and the Koch brothers (Americans for Properity), are trying to buy this election.  Two of whom, the Chamber and Karl Rove, appears to be doing so with foreign money and they are not disclosing that fact.  Why? Because it is in the best interest of such companies for jobs to continue to be OUTSOURCED overseas but not in the interest of those same companies for you to know that they are funding attack ads against Democrats.  Thanks to the 5-4 decision by Supreme Court of the United States Citizens United, free speech is now foreign-controlled, anonymous, BOUGHT SPEECH. 

Don’t allow them to buy your vote.

Re-elect Tom Perriello for Congress (VA-5th Dis)

Re-elect Tom Perriello (VA-5th District) for Congress on November 2, 1010.

According to some very good reporting by Eugene Robinson, and as predicted by all except the Supreme Court of the United States, the Citizens United ruling by SCOTUS last session has made it possible for corporations, foreign and domestic, to contribute unlimited money to influence United States elections and theyare doing just that.  Such corporations have wasted no time in making there presence known, anonymously of course.

The Republican grab for Congress is being funded by a pack of wolves masquerading as a herd of sheep.

How sweet and innocent they seem, these mysterious organizations with names like Americans for Job Security. Who could argue with that? Who wants job insecurity?

It turns out, according to The Post, that an entity called Americans for Job Security has made nearly $7.5 million in “independent” campaign expenditures this year, with 88 percent going to support Republican candidates. Who’s putting up all that money? You’ll never know, because Americans for Job Security — which calls itself a “business association” — doesn’t have to disclose the source of its funding.

Likewise, the American Future Fund has spent $6.8 million on campaigns this year, with every penny of that money benefiting Republicans. The patriotically named group — and, really, who doesn’t want America to have a future? — is based in Iowa and has never before been a big player in the Great Game of campaign finance. Now, suddenly, it has a king’s ransom to throw around.

Whose money is it? The American Future Fund won’t tell you.

And then there’s American Crossroads, which at least is being “advised” by some people you’ve heard of — Republican strategists Karl Rove and Ed Gillespie. This group has spent $5.6 million so far but is just getting started: American Crossroads says it will spend an astounding $50 million in this election cycle.

First Republican Justices on SCOTUS used a direct route to give us Republican president George W. Bush by way of Bush v. Gore.  However, it received too much flack for that decision.  So now they have decided to influence the elections indirectly by treating corporations as people entitled to first amendment rights.  Foreign and domestic corporations who are part of Big Oil, Big Insurance, and Wall Street, would like to thank SCOTUS from the bottom of their black hearts.

NOTE:Attorney barred in the District of Columbia and California currently looking for opportunities in the private and government sectors.  Specializes in ediscovery/litigation efficiency project management but can do straight litigation or litigation management.  Feel free to contact me with opportunities at progress@progresspolitics.com

Today, September 23, 2010, as a result of the passage of health care reform Americans have the following protections with respect to their health insurance thanks to the Democrats in the Senate and the House.  Also today, Republicans in the House and Senate are unveiling their pledge to Americans to repeal all of the consumer protections listed below if they gain control of the House and the Senate on November 2, 2010.

These are summarized by USA TODAY:

• It is now against the law to discriminate against Children with Pre-existing conditions:“New rules prevent insurers from denying coverage to children under age 19 with pre-existing medical conditions, such as asthma or cancer.”
• It is now against the law for Insurance companies to arbitrarily rescind your insurance policy because of a clerical error made by the consumer in their initial application:  Yes insurance companies repeatedly engaged in this deceptive practice as a part of their revenue model.
• It is now against the law for Insurance companies to impose lifetime caps on benefits received:  ”The amount a plan will pay in a person’s lifetime cannot be capped.”
• It is now against the law  for insurance companies to impose ANNUAL caps on benefits: “Insurance companies with annual limits on essential health benefits must provide an increasing amount of coverage. Initially, their annual limit can be no less than $750,000, rising to $1.25 million in September 2011 and $2 million in 2012. Annual limits are prohibited in 2014.”
• The law requires the establishment of high risk pools for Americans with preexisting conditions:  “Now people will not lose their house and life savings because they have been stricken with an illness.  Americans with pre-existing conditions can now buy health insurance in on the high risk pools established in each state.”
• The law requires that Consumers receive a right to appeal coverage denial decisions made by insurance companies:  “Consumers have the right to appeal insurers’ decisions through their plans’ internal review processes, as well as to an independent, third-party reviewer.”
• A $250 Prescription Drug benefit for Seniors:  A $250 check to seniors to help close the donut hole that exists between coverge and eligibility forprescription drug benefits.
• The law requires that Consumers receive Free Preventative Care under their policy:  “Insurers must completely cover a wide range of recommended preventive services — such as immunizations, mammograms and colonoscopies — and can no longer charge co-payments, co-insurance or deductibles for them.”
• Young adults can stay on there parents insurance policies until the age of 26:   “Teens and young adults can stay on or be added to their parents’ health insurance plan until age 26. They don’t need to live with their parents or be financially dependent on them. They can even be married.”
• New $10,000 college tax credit for each child attending a 4-year college/university:  This is essentially a tax cut or tuition relief for American families with multiple children attending college.  You get the $10,000 tax credit for each child attending a 4-year college.  This was included in the health care reform bill. 

Believe it or not prior to health care reform and as late as yesterday insurance companies were rampantly engaged in the above deceptive and unconscionable practices to increase their profit margin. 

This is how BIG Insurance is lying about the health care reform law:

Sebelius sent a letter this month to Ignagni alleging that insurers are sending letters to consumers “falsely blaming premium increases for 2011″ on the health law and warning that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in partnership with states, “will not tolerate unjustified rate hikes.” 

And Republicans would like to allow Big Insurance to continue business as usual.

The GOP promises to repeal all these benefits if they take control of the House and Senate on November 2, 2010.  In fact, we currently have several attorneys general in several Republican leaning states who are litigating the overturning of the health care reform law right now. 

Did we mention that entire health care reform bill is paid for and will not add a penny to the deficit?!  The Democrats are working toward making your lives as Americans better, what are Republicans doing?  Making it easier for Big Business, Wall Street, and Big insurance to screw the consumer in the name of big profits.  Vote on November 2, 2010.

NOTE:Attorney barred in the District of Columbia and California currently looking for opportunities in the private and government sectors.  Specializes in ediscovery/litigation efficiency project management but can do straight litigation or litigation management.  Feel free to contact me with opportunities at progress@progresspolitics.com

When the President was asked yesterday about the tea party and its motivation he asked a very good question in response.  What would you [tea party] do to control the “out-of-control spending” that you continue to complain about?

“So the challenge, I think, for the Tea Party movement is to identify, specifically, what would you do?” he added. “It’s not enough just to say get control of spending. I think it’s important for you to say, I’m willing to cut veterans’ benefits or I’m willing to cut Medicare or Social Security benefits or I’m willing to see these taxes go up. What you can’t do, which is what I’ve been hearing a lot from the other side, is we’re going to control government spending, we’re going to propose $4 trillion of additional tax cuts, and that magically somehow things are going to work. Now, some of these are very difficult choices.”

The real reason for the deficit as reiterated by the president:

“As I said before, we had to take some emergency steps last year. But the majority of economists will tell you that the emergency steps we take are not the problem long-term. The problems long-term are the problems that I talked about earlier. We had two tax cuts that weren’t paid for, two wars that weren’t paid for. We’ve got a population that’s getting older. We’re all demanding services, but our taxes have actually substantially gone down.”

So the next time you hear a Republican complain about the deficit ask him/her to be specific about which program or agency  he/she would cut to reduce the deficit?  Would they get rid of the Department of Education?  Medicare? Social Security?  Also, don’t fall for the standard GOP talking point of “we need to cut entitlement programs.”  Ask for specifics like which entitlement programs would you cut?   If you are interested in casting an informed vote on November 2, 2010 the only way to do so is to ask the GOP to move beyond generalities and be specific.

NOTE:Attorney barred in the District of Columbia and California currently looking for opportunities in the private and government sectors.  Specializes in ediscovery/litigation efficiency project management but can do straight litigation or litigation management.  Feel free to contact me with opportunities at progress@progresspolitics.com

Wow….just wow.  The most interesting results from last nights primaries.

Tea Party candidate Christine O’Donnell won in Delaware against long time Congressman Mike Castle as the Republican candidate vying for Joe Biden’s old Senate seat.

And the race between Tea Party candidate Kelly Ayotte  and Conservative attorney Ovide Lamontagne for the Republican nomination  for Senate in New Hampshire is too close to call.

Tea Party pick Carl Paladino beat former Congressman Rick Lazio as the Republican candidate to go up against Democrat Andrew Cuomo for Governor of New York.

Not to mention Tea Party candidates Rand Paul in Kentucky and Sharon Angle in Navada. 

We will have more on the outrageous positions and background of these candidates in future posts.  For example, one of the candidates admits to sending around racist emails to his friends about the President in addition to pornographic material.  There is just so much material with this group that all cannot be documented in one post.

Oh yea…Democrat Adrien Fenty lost his DC Mayoral seat because he had a bad personality.  Congratulations to DC’s new mayor Vince Gray(D)!!

NOTE:Attorney barred in the District of Columbia and California currently looking for opportunities in the private and government sectors.  Specializes in ediscovery/litigation efficiency project management but can do straight litigation or litigation management.  Feel free to contact me with opportunities at progress@progresspolitics.com

The Republican party really think that voters are stupid.  The GOP honestly believe that the American people have forgotten the disasterous eight years of Republican rule.  Not only do they think voters have forgotten but they also believe that they do not need to offer up anything so far as a plan for the American people to put them back in control of Congress.  You remember when the GOP controlled Congress?  They shut down the government (think the current situation in California).  Republicans also spent millions of taxpayer dollars investigating a Democratic president that resulted in nothing more than a slap on the hand.  Republicans did recently announce that they plan to launch several investigations of the current administration for things like the alleged job offer to Joe Sestak; the new black panthers ridiculousness; repeal health care and wall street reform and virtually everything that has been accomplished by this administration in the last two years.   So no ideas of its own just repeal all the laws that have been passed in the last nineteen months by Democrats and cut more taxes for wealthy Americans.  To hell with the ballooning deficit that it was critical to decrease when it came to extending unemployment benefits for the nation’s most vulnerable.  But rich folks must be able to pay for that extra luxury car.

You see, the GOP believes that all the large companies need to stop hoarding money and start hiring is more tax cuts.  Because when we lowered interest rates for banks borrowing money from the Fed they went straight out and started lending to small businesses and homeowners?  They didn’t???  What..the Fed is basically giving banks free money in an effort to stimulate lending and the banks are not following through and lending it to small businesses?  We are shocked, shocked that gambling is going on in here! (Casablanca). 

We have played the game of giving corporate America more money through tax breaks and they will hire.  Heck..George W. Bush gave unprecedented tax cuts to corporate America and he had the worst job creation record in history in addition to driving the country/economy into the ditch!  Yes we remember!  How about we not encourage the rich to take money out of their businesses by way of tax breaks but instead raise their taxes so that they are incentivized to invest profits into their business by way of innovation and expansion?  It is clear that corporations are not going to do anything that does not make sense for their business.  The President is onto something by making business expansion more desirable than hoarding through a tax increase.  If the GOP thinks that all of a sudden because Wall Street got tax breaks it is suddenly going to start hiring the people who make up the grand old party are delusional.

Yes, our memories are still fresh from twenty months ago.

NOTE:Attorney barred in the District of Columbia and California currently looking for opportunities in the private and government sectors.  Specializes in ediscovery/litigation efficiency project management but can do straight litigation or litigation management.  Feel free to contact me with opportunities at progress@progresspolitics.com