Reid Leads in Nevada Senate Race – Democracy NOW! — 9:50.

Harry Reid to Bloggers at Netroots Nation: “I’m Proud of You for Taking On The Tea Party” — 9:29.

Uncertain Future for Reid Despite Rebound in Nev., ABC News Politics, July 25, 2010, by MICHAEL R. BLOOD AP Political Writer (Associated Press, quoted verbatim:

Despite Reid’s rebound in Nev. against GOP foe, Dems worry poor economy could drag him down.

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid’s chances for six more years in Washington may be like tossing dice in a casino, even if he has made headway against Republican challenger Sharron Angle in a state with the nation’s highest rate of joblessness.

The four-term Reid holds a slight lead over Angle in the latest polling, thanks in part to her unsteady performance since winning the June primary and to Democratic ads portraying her as an extremist. Video of Angle scurrying away from reporters has mixed with television commercials of older voters upset about her call to phase out Social Security and Medicare.

But an internal memo obtained by The Associated Press says Reid has a “a serious problem” with voters frustrated with the economy and “receives a great deal of blame.” The July 15 memo is based on polling research conducted for Patriot Majority, a union-funded group that is running TV ads against Angle.

How did Sharron Angle blow an 11-point lead on Harry Reid in seven weeks?

How did Sharron Angle blow an 11-point lead on Harry Reid in seven weeks?, Christian Science Monitor, July 28, 2010, by Brad Knickerbocker, excerpt quoted verbatim:

Just a few weeks ago, Senate majority leader Harry Reid seemed headed for political flameout.

Nevadans were down on their senior senator, according to the polls. The “tea party” movement was zeroing in on him as representative of all that’s wrong with big-government politics back in Washington. And it looked like any of his likely GOP opponents could beat the four-term incumbent in November.

Shortly after Nevada Republicans chose former state assemblywoman Sharron Angle to run against Reid, the beleaguered Democrat was trailing his opponent by 11 percentage points in a Rasmussen Reports poll of likely Nevada voters.

But things can change in a hurry.

Reid has moved ahead of Ms. Angle in the polls – by as much as seven points in the latest Mason-Dixon Polling & Research survey for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The Angle campaign – with help from an increasingly worried national party – is having to beef up its campaign staff with outside professionals. And Angle is scrambling to change the subject regarding her earlier controversial positions and assertions.

“Reid has gone from being a very heavy underdog to being a slight favorite,” says Ted Jelen, a political scientist at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. “The fact that Sharron Angle won the primary was a major break for him.”

Meanwhile, Republicans “are growing increasingly frustrated with Sharron Angle and her lackluster campaign … fearing she is jeopardizing what they had long viewed as a sure pickup and costing them a chance to reclaim the majority,” reports CQ Politics.

Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), acknowledges the challenge his party faces in Nevada.

“While running for election is not rocket science, it does require knowledgeable people, it does require some discipline, and that’s always a struggle for every first-time candidate,” Senator Cornyn told CQ Politics.

See and watch Majority Leader Reid, live from Netroots Nation, Daily Kos, July 24, 2010, by Jed Lewison, video and transcript with updates. (we gave you the audio of Reid’s comments at Netroots Nation, above.

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Extension of Benefits for the Jobless Clears Senate Hurdle, © The New York Times, July 20, 2010, by Carl Hulse, excerpt quoted verbatim:

WASHINGTON — The Senate broke a stalemate on Tuesday over extending unemployment benefits for Americans who have been out of work for six months or more, voting to override Republican objections that the bill’s costs would add to the federal deficit.

On a vote of 60 to 40, the Democratic-led Senate agreed to cut off debate on the $34 billion plan to distribute added unemployment compensation through November for those who have exhausted their standard 26 weeks of aid.

The 60 yes votes were the minimum required to overcome the threat of a filibuster and advance the bill to a final vote, expected later on Tuesday, when it is all but certain to pass. Two Republicans, Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine, joined 56 Democrats and two independents in voting for the legislation; 39 Republicans and one Democrat, Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska, opposed it.

An estimated 2 million Americans have seen their benefits run out over the past two months while the legislation has been stalled in the partisan impasse.

“Finally, finally, finally,” said Senator Barbara Milkuski, Democrat of Maryland. She called the unemployment insurance program a social compact with American workers that means, “when you hit a speed bump and have to be laid off through no fault of your own, there will be a safety net so that you do not fall.”

Republicans said they backed the idea of extending benefits, but were determined to prevent the costs from being piled onto the mounting deficit.

“We believe the federal debt has grown to an alarming level, where it is threatening the future of our children and grandchildren,” said Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, the No. 3 Republican in the Senate.

After the Senate completes its final vote on the measure, the House must still act on it, a vote that is expected to come on Wednesday. President Obama would then quickly sign the bill into law at the White House, freeing the aid.

The Senate action came just minutes after Carte Goodwin was sworn in as the new Democratic senator from West Virginia, replacing the late Robert C. Byrd. While the seat was vacant, Democrats lacked the votes to overcome the Republican filibuster.

At age 36, Mr. Goodwin, a former legal adviser to Governor Joe Manchin III, becomes the youngest member of the Senate, replacing the eldest.

Read the full article, here.

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Progressive Breakfast: Financial Reform Gains Votes In The Senate, Campaign for America’s Future, July 13, 2010, by Terrance Heath, used with permission, quoted verbatim:

Dems Get Votes for Financial Reform

With Sens. Brown and Snowe signalling support, financial reform moves closer to a filibuster-proof majority: “Maine Republican Olympia Snowe came out in favor of the sweeping overhaul Monday, saying ‘I intend to support passage of the legislation when it’s brought before the Senate.’ She added, ‘While not perfect, the legislation takes necessary steps to implement meaningful regulatory reforms, create strong consumer protections and restore confidence in the American financial system.’ Earlier, Sen. Scott Brown (R., Mass.) sounded a similar theme about the so-called Dodd-Frank bill. In a statement, Brown also noted that the legislation ‘isn’t perfect,’ but that it’s a ‘better bill than it was when this whole process started,’ citing safeguards designed to forestall another financial meltdown as well as consumer protections. In addition, ‘it is paid for without new taxes. That doesn’t mean our work is done,’ Brown said.”

Also in Finance, the FDIC gained more power to evaluate banks: “Federal bank regulators have agreed to give the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation unlimited authority to investigate banks, clarifying the agency’s power, which was in question during the financial crisis. The F.D.I.C.’s board on Monday approved an agreement between the agency and regulators at the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department. It spells out the F.D.I.C.’s authority to make special examinations of banks. It was approved 5 to 0. Federal bank regulators were widely criticized during the financial crisis for failing to signal high-risk practices before the institutions failed. The F.D.I.C., which takes over failed banks, has said it lacked access to information it needed to evaluate banks’ risk.”

It’s Still The Economy, Stupid

Wall Street is having it’s best recovery since the Great Depression: “Many Americans are still waiting for an economic recovery. But for corporate America, a recovery of sorts is already at hand. The corporate earnings season, that quarterly rite of Wall Street, begins in earnest on Monday, and investors are hoping for some good news. Major corporations are expected to report some of their strongest profits in years. ‘It has been one of the strongest profits recoveries ever,’ said David S. Bianco, chief United States equity strategist for Bank of America Merrill Lynch. ‘You have got to go back to the Depression to find a profits recovery that outpaces this one. The question on many economists’ minds is whether this corporate recovery will last — and if it does, when it will yield jobs for recession-weary Americans.”

Small businesses say that banks aren’t lending: “The worst may be over for small businesses struggling to obtain credit, but this important corner of the financial system doesn’t show signs of recovering very quickly, according to officials and business leaders who gathered at the Federal Reserve for a one-day conference. ‘Overall, the survey data seem to suggest that current economic conditions for small businesses, though still quite challenging, are less dire than they were in 2009,’ said Robin Prager, an assistant research director at the Fed, at the forum on small-business lending. …Small business owners and the groups that represent them said they haven’t seen lenders becoming more lenient. ‘It still feels very depressed,’ said Leslie H. Benoliel, executive director of the Philadelphia Development Partnership, one of the area’s largest providers of micro-enterprise business advice.”

Fed. Chair Ben Bernanke called on banks to boost lending to small businesses: “Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke on Monday called on banks to do all they could to lend to small businesses, pointing out that they were ‘central’ to creating jobs. Credit conditions for small businesses have barely improved since the depths of the financial crisis. This is emerging as one of the main barriers to a strong economic recovery in the US. ‘The formation and growth of small businesses depends critically on access to credit. Unfortunately, those businesses report that credit conditions remain very difficult,’ Mr Bernanke said at a Federal Reserve conference on small-business lending being held in Washington. Mr Bernanke noted that small companies created about 60 per cent of gross overall new jobs in the US. A lack of new jobs – which pay wages that therefore support consumption – is the biggest concern about the health of the US economic recovery.”

Don’t count on the Fed to stimulate the economy. Federal Reserve Governor Elizabeth Duke says it’s not gonna happen: “Federal Reserve Governor Elizabeth Duke said the central bank has no current plans to deploy additional tools for stimulating the economy. The Fed could alter its communications strategy, lower the interest rate it pays on excess reserves or replace mortgage- backed securities that are rolling off its balance sheet, Duke said today in an interview with Bloomberg Television, when asked what tools the central bank has at its disposal. ‘I would emphasize there are no plans to do that at this point,’ she said. ‘There are a lot of reserves out there in the system,’ Duke said. ‘We don’t think the barrier is there’s not enough money out there.’ She also said ‘I think we are in the right place’ on monetary policy.”

When American consumers go down for the count, they will take the economies of several countries with them: “It’s not just that one out of four Americans is unemployed or underemployed (working part-time, overqualified, or at a lower wage than before). More significantly, the Great Recession burst the housing bubble that had let American consumers turn their homes into ATMs. Now the cash machines are closed. So the Administration figures foreign consumers will have to fill the gap. Problem is, most other economies also relied on American consumers. Remember the trade gap? Americans used to be the world’s biggest and most reliable customers — sucking in high-tech gadgets assembled in China, car parts from Japan, shirts and shoes from Southeast Asia, and precision instruments from Germany. With American consumers pulling back, these other economies have also been slowing down. Their unemployment is rising.”

The next wave of the foreclosure crisis may be building right now — nearly 2.4 million Americans with prime loans seriously delinquent on their mortgage: “They are the new face of the housing crisis. Unlike subprime borrowers, most of these homeowners did everything right. They bought houses they could afford and used standard mortgages. But falling home prices and a protracted recession have pushed them into a classic squeeze: They can’t keep up their mortgage payments because someone in the household has lost his or her job. They can’t sell because they owe more than the home is worth. ‘In the next 12 months it’s going to be tragic — most people are just starting to fall behind now,’ said Avi Liss, a lawyer helping homeowners avoid foreclosure in the Boston area. According to the Center for Responsible Lending, a nonprofit research and policy group, as many as 9 million homeowners could go into foreclosure between 2009 and 2012. Is there a solution? Yes, but it’s controversial. Congress would have to force banks to write off part of homeowners’ troubled loans as a way to keep them in their homes.”

Ezra Klein has five practical (and one impractical) ways Congress can improve the economy by November: “If elections are dependent on the economy, then the obvious question is what, if anything, can Democrats in Congress actually do to improve the economy between here and November? The answer, even if they had the votes, is probably not that much. But that’s not to say nothing. First, Congress can pass policies to keep things from getting, or feeling, worse. Unemployment insurance and state and local aid are probably the biggest players here. If unemployment insurance isn’t extended, millions of unemployed Americans will stop getting checks. As angry as they are about the economy now, they’ll be much angrier after Congress deserts them.”

The unemployment benefits standoff is going to continue for at least another week, as the Senate waits for Robert Byrd’s replacement: “Senate Democrats will remain one vote short of the 60 needed to reauthorize unemployment benefits for the long-term jobless at least until the end of the week, as West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin says he wants to wait until the state legislature has cleared up the law on how to fill the Senate seat left behind by the late Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.). …Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has repeatedly said that Senate Democrats need Byrd’s replacement to break the filibuster by Republicans and Nebraska Democrat Ben Nelson, whose approval — had he decided to give it — would have ended the endless debate that has already cut off unemployment checks to some 2.1 million people.”

Republicans not only don’t like the unemployed, but they lie about them too: “In the latest example, we see Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett (R), the frontrunner in this year’s gubernatorial race, arguing publicly that jobless workers in his state are choosing not to work, preferring to live on meager unemployment aid. …I obviously can’t speak with confidence about what some guy told some other guy who in turn told Corbett. But the general argument is getting quite tiresome. ‘The jobs are there’? No, they’re really not. Nationwide, there are five applicants for every one opening, which is a terribly painful ratio. Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate is currently at a 26-year high. Corbett not only seems confused about economic conditions, but his animosity about the jobless’ attitudes is awful. Yes, I can appreciate the fact that an unemployed worker who’s exhausted his/her benefits will be more desperate to take any job than an unemployed worker who’s still receiving public aid. But this dynamic matters a whole lot more when there are plenty of job opportunities for those who want them. That’s just not the current reality.”

Robert Samuelson diagnoses the recessions stranglehold on some Americans: “Another theory — more powerful, I think — is that the Great Recession, though jarring to almost everyone, has been most disruptive and disillusioning to those who were previously the most protected. It punctured their cocoons so unexpectedly that they became more cautious and fearful, whereas those who even in good times faced job loss and income shifts (many blacks, the young and the poor) were less surprised. One legacy of the Great Recession is that insecurity and uncertainty have gone upscale. People feel more exposed. They tend to plan for the worst rather than hope for the best. Their reluctance to make major purchase commitments (a new car or home) validates their pessimism by retarding recovery.”

Jon Kyl Says The Darndest Things

Sen. Jon Kyl has shown the GOP’s hand on deficits and tax cuts: “‘[Y]ou should never raise taxes in order to cut taxes,’ Jon Kyl said on Fox News Sunday. ‘Surely Congress has the authority, and it would be right to — if we decide we want to cut taxes to spur the economy, not to have to raise taxes in order to offset those costs. You do need to offset the cost of increased spending, and that’s what Republicans object to. But you should never have to offset cost of a deliberate decision to reduce tax rates on Americans.’ What’s remarkable about Kyl’s position here is that it appears to be philosophical. ‘You should never have to offset cost of a deliberate decision to reduce tax rates on Americans,’ he said. Never! This is much crazier than anything you hear from Democrats. Imagine if some Democrat — and a member of the Senate Democratic leadership, no less — said that as a matter of principle, spending should never be offset. He’d be laughed out of the room.”

They rarely every say it, but Kyl plainly laid bare the GOP’s philosophy: “We rarely see it said quite so openly as all that. Except that it wasn’t really a very honest statement, because where Kyl says “Americans” what he in fact means is those who earn more than $250,000, because they’re the only Americans who’ll be affected. As for the impact of the Bush tax cuts on the deficit, opinions of course differ. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which I would tend to trust, reported that the cuts accounted for around $240 billion of the 2004 deficit. The Heritage Foundation begs to differ but it acknowledges that the cuts had a minimal negative deficit impact of $58 billion. Either way, they were not deficit neutral. But see, under Republinomics, they don’t have to be. Rich people are good, see.”

First, he showed the GOPs hand (and political philosophy) on deficits and tax cuts. Now Sen. Jon Kyl says unemployment benefits are a “necessary evil”: “Kyl said that the government would prefer not to have to pay unemployment benefits. ‘It’s a necessary evil in a sense. You’d like not to have raise revenue in order to pay people for not working – or not to pay them for not working, but because they can’t get work. You want them to get work so you don’t have to pay them. It’s something the government would just as soon not have to do if it could avoid it,’ he said. ‘To me, you shouldn’t look at it as an economic matter. It’s a humanitarian matter. You’ve got people who are out of work who can’t find work, you want to help them out. Families need help. That’s why you provide it. You don’t do it because it’s going to stimulate the economy.’”

Chris Weignant suggests how Democrats should respond to Jon Kyl: “Democrats have a wonderful opportunity here to hoist Republicans on their own petard. Any time a Republican starts talking about tax cuts, the first thing out of a Democrats’ mouth in response should be: ‘Well, how are you going to pay for these tax cuts so they don’t hike the deficit?’ Republicans are already on the record opposing a relatively modest unemployment benefit extension, for the sole reason that ‘it adds to the deficit.’ So they’ve laid down the rules they’re supposed to be standing up for. Meaning it is entirely fair game to ask them “How will you pay for your proposed tax cuts?” Since they never have an answer to this question — other than the widely-discredited and thoroughly-debunked ‘tax cuts pay for themselves’ nonsense — this immediately leads to framing the issue as: ‘You’re OK with adding seven hundred billion dollars to our debt to give wealthy taxpayers an enormous Christmas present in the form of tax cuts — without even pretending to pay for it — but you howl when we try to keep millions of out-of-work Americans from financial ruin for a fraction of the same price?’ In fact, Democrats really should go completely on the offensive on this issue. I know the “family budget” metaphor is both overused and oversimplified to begin with, but it seems to be the one that has taken hold among the public, so this might be the way to go.”

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Deepwater Drilling And Gulf Update

BP is ready to test a new cap on it’s runaway oil well: “BP prepared on Tuesday to test a new cap on its runaway well, arresting the flow of oil which has been gushing into the Gulf of Mexico for the last 12 weeks. As the oil giant prepared for a potential turning point in the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history, it also said its plans to sell non-core assets, which will help pay for a $20 billion clean-up fund, were moving forward. ‘We are in discussions with a number of companies about a number of assets. Talks are going well,’ spokeswoman Sheila Williams said in London, declining to give details. In Dubai, Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahayan said the emirate was considering an investment in BP.”

NYT reports on BP’s “History of Boldness and Costly Blunders”: “From its base in London, the company struck bold deals in politically volatile areas like Angola and Azerbaijan and pushed technology to the limit in the remotest reaches of Alaska and the deepest waters of the Gulf of Mexico — ‘the tough stuff that others cannot or choose not to do,’ as its chief executive, Tony Hayward, once put it. The company also led an industry wave of cost-cutting and consolidation. It took over American competitors like Amoco and Atlantic Richfield and eliminated tens of thousands of jobs in several rounds, streamlining management but forcing the company to rely more heavily on outside contractors. For a long time, BP’s strategy seemed to pay off. But on April 20, the nightmare situation occurred: the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded, killing 11 workers and sending millions of gallons of oil gushing from BP’s Macondo well like so much black poison. Although the accident is still under investigation, preliminary findings by Congressional investigators indicate that BP made a series of decisions that compounded the chances of disaster.”

The BP spill or leak, or whatever you want to call it, is a true disaster on a number of levels, many not easily seen or realized by most Americans: “In terms of the big picture, the BP disaster marks the beginning of the real decline of America as an empire and a world power. Make no mistake that people in many parts of the world today openly mock our nation for its near-complete inability to truly rally as a people and to show a true spirit of nationalism in the face of adversity. It’s summer, and countless numbers of high school and college students are jobless, not to mention millions of jobless workers, yet nobody considers hiring any of these people for disaster clean up. We are told that the BP disaster is a national problem and a national emergency, if not an international one, yet there is no real sense of urgency anywhere, except perhaps for the pressing problem of immigration in Arizona. It’s too bad fish and water mammals and sea birds don’t vote. If they did, this disaster would have been behind us weeks ago.”

Interior Sec. Ken Salazar has issued a revised ban on deep-water oil drilling: “U.S. Interior Secretary Kenneth Salazar issued a revised ban on deep-water oil drilling that he said may allow new wells if the industry shows it has raised safety standards. The policy announced today may let some deep-water operations resume earlier than the six-month pause ordered by the Obama administration May 27, according to an e-mailed statement today from the Interior Department. A federal judge rejected the initial moratorium, imposed in response to the BP Plc oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. ‘I remain open to modifying the new deepwater drilling suspensions based on new information,’ Salazar said in the statement. ‘But industry must raise the bar on its practices and answer fundamental questions about deepwater safety, blowout prevention and containment, and oil spill response.’”

Is It 2012 Already?

Never mind this November. Eyes are already on the 2012 race. And Sarah Palin has emerged as the million dollar woman: “Sarah Palin’s political action arm raised more than $865,000 in recent months, and now has more than $1 million on hand to give to favored candidates in the run-up to the fall midterm elections. That’s quite a cash cushion. And in politics, donations – especially donations made as a vote nears – are favors that can produce return favors, with interest, in years to come. ‘We’re going to really help a lot of Republican candidates get a chance to win,’ said SarahPAC treasurer Tim Crawford.”

Newt Gingrigh says he’s “never been this serious” about running for President: “Gingrich, 67, told The Associated Press that he would focus on helping Republican candidates through the midterm elections in November, then decide in February or March whether to seek the GOP nomination. ‘I’ve never been this serious,’ Gingrich said. ‘It’s fair to say that by February the groundwork will have been laid to consider seriously whether or not to run,’ he said. Gingrich, in Des Moines for a fundraiser and workshop for local Republican candidates, predicted President Barack Obama would be a one-term president. Obama’s poll numbers have dropped below 50 percent, and Gingrich predicted they would continue to fall, making him vulnerable in 2012.”

E.J. Dionne writes that the left needs a “right brain”: “Passion counts in politics. It motivates a movement’s most fervent followers but can also carry moderates attracted to those who promise change and profess great certainty about how to achieve it. Barack Obama got himself elected president by understanding this. Passion may come especially hard to Democrats this year, and even in the best of times it can be difficult to muster among liberals. …On paper, Democrats have a rational solution to their political math problem. They must still find the passion that executing it will require.”

Meanwhile, polls show that confidence in President Obama has reached an all-time low: “Public confidence in President Obama has hit a new low, according to the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll. Four months before midterm elections that will define the second half of his term, nearly six in 10 voters say they lack faith in the president to make the right decisions for the country, and a clear majority once again disapproves of how he is dealing with the economy. Regard for Obama is still higher than it is for members of Congress, but the gap has narrowed. About seven in 10 registered voters say they lack confidence in Democratic lawmakers and a similar proportion say so of Republican lawmakers. Overall, more than a third of voters polled — 36 percent — say they have no confidence or only some confidence in the president, congressional Democrats and congressional Republicans. Among independents, this disillusionment is higher still. About two-thirds of all voters say they are dissatisfied with or angry about the way the federal government is working.”

Terrance Heath is the Online Producer at Campaign for America’s Future. Prior to his current position he worked as a Blogging and Social Media Consultant for a number of organizations and agencies, as an outgrowth of his work as Blogmaster for EchoDitto, Inc. He stumbled into blogging and social media after starting his own blog, The Republic of T., but cut his teeth as an activist working on LGBT equality and HIV/AIDS issues. In that capacity he worked for the Human Rights Campaign and the National Minority AIDS Council. Terrance has kindly allowed Evans Liberal Politics to publish his works on an ongoing basis. He sums himself up: Black. Gay. Father. Vegetarian. Buddhist. Liberal.

In the News: NAACP to condemn ‘racist elements’ in ‘tea party’ movement, L.A. Times, July 12, 2010, by Kathleen Hennessey and Michael A. Memoli.

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Taking Your Message to the World

Republican Senate wants homeless vets’ families to stay homeless, Daily Kos, June 29, 2010, by Joan McCarter, quoted verbatim:

Those patriotic Republicans are at it again. This morning, Patty Murray spoke on the floor, requesting unanimous consent to pass the Homeless Women Veterans and Homeless Veterans with Children Act. Mitch McConnell, on behalf of Tom Coburn, objected to the bill. Watch:

Murray’s office sent out this statement:

“I am deeply disappointed that Senate Republicans continued to put politics above people and blocked my bill that would provide support for homeless women veterans and their families,” said Senator Patty Murray. “This is a bipartisan, common-sense bill that would support veterans in my home state of Washington and across the country. I am going to continue fighting for it to pass. And I urge Senate Republicans to end their obstruction and allow homeless women veterans across the country to get the support they have earned.”

Senator Murray’s bill, S.1237, would expand assistance for homeless women veterans and homeless veterans with children and would increase funding and extend federal grant programs to address the unique challenges faced by these veterans.

I guess these means they’ve abandoned the whole idea of compassionate conservatism. Or they all get their news from Bill O’Reilly, and think that there’s no such thing as a homeless vet.

Commentary by Evans Liberal Politics owner Paul Evans: Typical Bill O’Reilly and FOX for you. Well if there ARE no homeless vets, then the bill which is to benefit them wouldn’t cost anything, right? So why are the Republicans demanding that the bill be paid for “up front”… if there are no homeless vets??? Typical doublespeak and doubletalk and lack of any compassion. I guess the “compassion” left the conservative arena about the same time as Barry Goldwater’s Presidential run, right?

A few small minded, uncompassionate and fiscally arrogant Republicans have blocked vital legislation here. Isn’t the first time and won’t be the last.

And I have to ask the question, is a homeless veteran more deserving, does he or she have less inherent worth and dignity than does an ordinary citizen living on the street? I am all for veterans, but helping just veterans is not what I’m after. I want a compassionate society towards ALL our brothers and sisters.

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Jobs Bill Officially Stalls Out in the Senate, The Washington Independent, June 16, 2010, by Annie Lowrey, quoted verbatim:

Yesterday evening, Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) withdrew his filing for cloture on the jobs bill, also known as the tax extenders bill or H.R. 4213, currently in the Senate. Instead, today, the Senate voted on whether to waive paygo rules on the $140 billion provision that would keep up Medicare payments to doctors, provide states with money for Medicaid and extend unemployment insurance.

The measure lost, 45-52, with a 12 Senate Democrats voting in opposition. Essentially, the Senate said the $80 billion the bill would add to the deficit does not qualify as “emergency” spending and therefore is not exempt from paygo. Deficit concerns trumped concerns about the plight of the jobless. Already, 903,000 Americans have not received checks due to the expiry of the unemployment insurance exemption at the beginning of June.

So how do Democrats move forward? Likely by finding funding for some of the provisions, or continuing to argue they are emergency. It is not clear what will get cut and what will get paygo funding at this point.

See Jobless aid bill hits deficit wall in Senate, AP hosted on Yahoo! News, June 17, 2010, by The Associated Press, excerpt quoted verbatim:

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama’s plea for more stimulus spending as insurance against a double-dip recession hit a roadblock in the Senate on Wednesday, the victim of election-year anxiety over huge federal deficits.

A dozen Democrats joined Republicans on a key 52-45 test vote rejecting an Obama-endorsed, $140 billion package of unemployment benefits, aid to states, business and family tax breaks and Medicare payments for doctors because it would swell the federal debt by $80 billion.

Poll: GOP grows stronger in generic congressional ballot, L.A. Times, June 2, 2010, by Michael Muskal, quoted verbatim:

Riding a wave of unhappiness among independents, Republicans have increased their lead over Democrats in the preference poll for Congress, the Gallup organization reported Wednesday.

Republicans were preferred over Democrats by 49% to 43% in the generic vote in which those surveyed were asked to pick a party rather than a candidate. It is the largest lead by Republicans in the 2010 midterm election year, according to the polling organization.

The results are based on telephone interviews of 1,594 voters between May 24 and 30. The margin of error is plus or minus three percentage points.

The GOP’s continuing strength in the generic ballot suggests a strong showing in the congressional battle this year, though it is unclear whether Republicans can recapture either chamber. In general, the party out of power runs strongly against the president’s party. The latest results coincide with a general drop in approval for President Obama, according to most polls.

The percentage of those surveyed saying they were Republicans remained constant at 33%, but there was a drop among those calling themselves Democrats from 38% to 33% and an increase of those who saw themselves as independent, from 27% to 32%.

The growing number of independents is shifting toward Republicans in their voting preferences, according to the weekly poll. Independents who said they would vote for a Republican rose from 46% to 47% while those who said they would vote for Democrat fell two percentage points to 34%.

–Michael Muskal
Twitter.com/LATimesmuskal

See Democrats Need to Mind the Enthusiasm Gap, Firedoglake, May 13, 2010, by Jon Walker.

See
Conservatives Enjoy Big ‘Enthusiasm’ Advantage in This Year’s Elections, Politics Daily, May 17, 2010, by Bruce Drake.

See Republican Advantage in 2010 Voting Enthusiasm Shrinks, Gallop, May 5, 2010, by Jeffrey M. Jones, excerpt quoted verbatim:

PRINCETON, NJ — Republican registered voters’ enthusiasm about voting in this year’s midterm elections has declined significantly in recent weeks. As a result, Republicans’ advantage over Democrats on this measure has shrunk from 19 points in early April to 10 points in the latest weekly aggregate.

Commentary by Evans Liberal Politics owner Paul Evans — the polls and the Gulf Oil Crisis: Democratic slippage in the latest poll are indicative of a failure of leadership by the Obama administration and Congress, too. We are the party in power, and right now, good things are not happening for ordinary Americans. Enthusiasm gap or no enthusiasm gap, preferences expressed in the latest poll here by Gallop are alarming. I really feel that this is blowback because of a fairly bungled handling of the Gulf oil crisis by the Obama administration. (The failure to get the economy working for Main Street and ordinary Americans is also very disappointing to almost everyone but the rich.) There is NO WAY that BP should have been allowed to use Corexit dispersant when other dispersants which are much more effective and far less toxic are readily available. Two weeks ago we were calling for the Obama administration to take off the kid gloves with BP and take ownership of this crisis. The complete failure to force BP to do the right things, to call their supertankers over from the middle east and to use a better dispersant — this is a failure of leadership and I believe that’s how Americans are reading it.

It’s still not to late, President Obama. Take over from BP and bring in the military to run this cleanup effort. BP is corrupt and only interested in saving money. The chance to demonstrate leadership and get some positive credit out of this oil spill is slipping away with each passing day. Wake up, President Obama. BP is not your friend and the American people have begun blaming you. Meanwhile Congressional elections are looming and party identification is slipping, along with your own chances of re-election in 2012. Please President Obama, taking over from BP is not only the right thing to do, it’s the only way to save Congress and redeem your reputation with the American people.

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Congress Begins the Final Push on Financial Regulation, Truthout, May 31, 2010, by David Lightman and Kevin G. Hall of McClatchy Newspapers, excerpt quoted verbatim:

Washington – The fate of the biggest overhaul of the nation’s financial regulatory system in generations now rests with a small group of Capitol Hill lawmakers who are known for their ability to compromise.

In early June, negotiators from the Senate and the House of Representatives are expected to begin work on merging two competing but similar visions for revamping the way the government regulates banks and financial markets.

The Senate passed its version of the legislation on May 20; the House approved its bill last December.

“This is one of the rare occasions when the two bills are really very close to each other. There’s not a great deal of difference,” said Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn.

Even if they’re in the ballpark on the big issues, the two bills have some significant differences.

For example, while both chambers favor the creation of an equivalent of the Consumer Product Safety Commission for consumer credit products such as mortgages, student loans and credit cards, they’d go about it differently.

The House would create a new, standalone agency called the Consumer Financial Protection Agency; the Senate envisions a Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection within the Federal Reserve.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce hopes to weaken the bill during the negotiations, arguing that the new consumer panel’s leader would have powers beyond those of other government agency heads.

“I don’t know that I’m going to persuade people that my approach to consumer protection is the right way, but we should have a debate about having this much power concentrated in one individual,” said David Hirschmann, senior vice president at the Chamber.

Assistant Treasury Secretary Michael Barr, an intellectual author of the consumer panel, countered that there are numerous checks built into the creation of the new independent agency. It’ll have public rulemaking, must conduct cost-benefit analyses on measures it proposes, and the agency head would serve at the pleasure of the president and require Senate confirmation.

“We’re in fundamental disagreement with the Chamber on this point,” Barr said.

Also contentious is whether auto dealers should be subjected to the consumer panel’s rules. Consumer advocates argue that some auto dealers make more money from lending than they do from selling cars.

“The whole point of this agency is to make sure that lenders have to play by better rules and be fairer,” said Travis Plunkett, legislative director for the Consumer Federation of America.

Pointing to support from the Pentagon, which thinks that auto lenders have preyed on servicemen and servicewomen, Plunkett added that resolving the dealer exemption “is going to be all about raw political power.”

House and Senate lawmakers agree with the auto dealers, who argue that they didn’t cause the financial crisis and aren’t financial institutions. The House bill exempted car dealers; the Senate bill didn’t, but a majority of senators have voiced support for the exemption.

Another battle will be over complex financial instruments called derivatives, which helped cause the near meltdown of financial markets in 2008. The Senate bill would force banks to spin off their derivatives businesses, but the Obama administration and House lawmakers think that goes too far and could prove disruptive.

The Senate language came out of the Agriculture Committee, where Arkansas Democrat Blanche Lincoln, the chairman, faced a primary challenge and wanted to show voters she was tough on Wall Street. Lincoln now faces a June 8 runoff, a day after the Senate returns from its Memorial Day recess — freeing her, and Democrats, from having to keep up the appeal to Arkansas liberals.

Congressional leaders, with the help of the White House, have chosen a bipartisan team of negotiators, called conferees, who’re likely to find common ground on these issues quickly.

…SNIP…

Among the reasons for the unusually conciliatory mood surrounding the talks:

_ Politics: “If I were a Republican, I’d be hard pressed to vote against financial regulation,” said Burdett Loomis, professor of political science at the University of Kansas, especially less than six months before congressional elections. Politicians must show they can get tough with Wall Street, erasing voters’ memories of the unpopular 2008 bailouts of troubled financial firms.

_ Bipartisanship: Dodd and Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the top committee Republican, made sure during this month’s debate that the two parties alternated offering amendments. As a result, some major GOP changes were accepted, such as Florida Sen. George LeMieux’s plan to instruct government agencies to stop relying solely on credit ratings when measuring creditworthiness.

_ The Players: Dodd and Frank will lead the committee, and both have a long history of working with Republicans on major legislation. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., will participate, even though it’s unusual for a junior member of the Senate to be included in such talks. Corker was involved earlier this year in compromise efforts, complaining later that his views were largely ignored.

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What You Can Do to Bring Wall Street Under Control, Robert Reich.org, May 28, 2010, by Robert Reich, used with permission, quoted verbatim:

The most important remaining battle to rein in Wall Street is over Senator Blanche Lincoln’s measure to stop the big banks from being subsidized by taxpayers for their risky derivative trades. Miraculously, it’s still in the bill but it’s on life support. The bill has now gone to the conference committee where differences between the House and Senate bills are to be ironed out.

But official Washington (read: dependent on Wall Street for money) is dead set against it. Even Barney Frank — who Massachusetts voters used to consider a reliable progressive until he became chair of the House Financial Services Committee — has vowed to kill Lincoln’s provision. And the White House says the measure is “not core,” which in Washington-lingo means “you’re free to dump it.”

Big, big money is at stake.  Wall Street’s five largest banks have a corner on the trade, raking in about in about $30 billion in over-the-counter derivatives last year. It’s the single largest reason they’re too big to fail. So they’re spending like mad on Washington lobbyists and campaign donations in order to keep the subsidy in place. (Lincoln’s provision doesn’t force them to give up derivative trading, by the way; it only forces them to do it in a separate entity that doesn’t get subsidized by deposit insurance or the Fed’s discount window).

All the guns are aimed at this measure. But it’s still possible that the people can prevail, if we’re organized and active. Here’s a list of all the Dems on the Senate Banking and House Finance Committee, as well as Republican conferees. All conferees are indicated by ->.

Organize and mobilize your friends and acquaintances, especially those who live in these states or districts, to call their members and make their voices heard. Tell them you want Lincoln’s measure (Section 716 of the Senate bill) to remain in the final bill. Say you’ll hold them responsible if it goes.

Alabama -> Senator Richard C. Shelby (202) 224-5744

Arkansas -> Senator Blanche Lincoln (202) 224-4843

California -> Rep. Maxine Waters (202) 225-2201 (California-11)
    Rep. Brad Sherman, CA (202) 225-5911
    Rep. Jackie Speier, CA (202) 225-3531
    Rep. Joe Baca, CA (202)225-6161

Colorado -> Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) (202) 224-5852
    Rep. Ed Perlmutter, CO 202.225.2645

Connecticut -> Chairman Christopher J. Dodd (D-CT) (202) 224-2823
    Rep. Jim Himes, CT (202) 225-5541

Florida -> Rep. Ron Klein, FL (202) 225.3026
    Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, FL (202) 225-2706
    Rep. Alan Grayson, FL (202) 225-2176

Georgia -> Senator Saxby Chambliss 202-224-3521
    Rep. David Scott, GA (202) 225-2939

Hawaii -> Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI) (202) 224-6361

Idaho -> Senator Mike Crapo (202) 224-6142
Rep. Walt Minnick, ID (202) 225-6611

Illinois -> Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (202) 225-8203 (Illinois-4)
    Rep. Melissa L. Bean, IL (202) 225-3711
    Rep. Bill Foster, IL (202) 225-2976

Iowa -> Senator Tom Harkin (202) 224-3254

Indiana -> Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN) (202) 224-5623
    Rep. Joe Donnelly, IN (202) 225-3915
    Rep. Andre Carson, IN 202-225-4011

Kansas -> Rep. Dennis Moore (202) 225-2865 (Kansas-3)

Massachusetts -> Chairman Barney Frank (202) 225-5931 (Massachusetts-4)
    Rep. Michael E. Capuano, MA (202) 225-5111
    Rep. Stephen F. Lynch, MA (202) 225-8273

Minnesota -> Rep. Keith Ellison, MN (202) 225-4755

Mississippi -> Rep. Travis Childers, MS (202) 225-4306

Missouri -> Rep. Gary Peters, MI (202) 225-5802

Montana -> Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) (202) 224-2644
    Rep. William Lacy Clay, MO (202) 225-2406
    Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, MO 202.225.4535

New Jersey -> Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) (202) 224-4744
    Rep. John Adler, NJ (202) 225-4765
    Rep. Scott Garrett (NJ) (R) (202) 225-4465

New Hampshire -> Senator Judd Gregg (202) 224-3324
    Rep. Paul W. Hodes, NH (202) 225-5206

New York -> Senator Charles E. Schumer (202) 224-6542
    Rep. Gregory W. Meeks 202/225-3461 (New York-6)
    Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez, NY (202) 225-2361
    Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, NY (202) 225-5516
    Rep. Dan Maffei, NY (202) 225-3701

North Carolina -> Rep. Melvin L. Watt (202) 225-1510 (North Carolina-12)
    Rep. Brad Miller, NC (202) 225-3032

Ohio -> Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) (202) 224-2315
    Rep. Charles Wilson, OH (202) 225-5705
    Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy, OH (202) 225-2015
    Rep. Steve Driehaus, OH (513) 684-2723

Oregon -> Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) (202) 224-3753

Pennsylvania -> Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski (202) 225-6511 (Pennsylvania-11)

South Dakota -> Senator Tim Johnson (202) 224-5842

Tennessee -> Senator Bob Corker (202) 224-3344

Texas -> Rep. Rubén Hinojosa, TX (202) 225-2531
    Rep. Al Green, TX (202) 225-7508
    Rep. Jeb Hensarling (TX) (R) (202) 225-3484

Wisconsin -> Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI) (202) 224-5653
    Rep. Gwen Moore, WI 202-225-4572

Vermont -> Senator Patrick J. Leahy (202) 224-4242

Virginia -> Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) (202) 224-2023

Comment by Evans Liberal Politics owner Paul Evans: It’s easy – and it’s a huge cop out, to say to yourself, I’m just one person, I don’t really matter in this whole thing. And it’s dead wrong.

Evans Liberal Politics had a post on May 2, 2010 called Inspirational Thoughts for a Sunday. This being a Sunday, there’s no time like the present to give you just a few relevant quotes for inspiration. Call your friends and get everybody together and make some phone calls. You probably want to wait until tomorrow (Monday) as the Congressional offices are basically closed for the weekend. (Use the email this post feature by loading the individual article from the small title at the top of the article. Or you might print this out, because these are the “swing” Congressmen whose vote is crucial to passing liberal and progressive legislation; you might want to refer to these phone numbers in the future.):

Check out Evans Liberal Politics new page of feature length famous liberal movies, with reviews, available for immediate download from Amazon.com.

“The best time to plant a tree was always 20 years ago. The second best time is always today.” ~ old Chinese saying

“Destiny is not a matter of chance, It’s a matter of choice; It’s not a thing to be waited for, It’s a thing to be achieved.” ~ William Jennings Bryan

“Someone once asked me why do you always insist on taking the hard road? and I replied why do you assume I see two roads?” ~ unknown

“The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen.” ~ Frank Lloyd Wright

“I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.” ~ Thomas Jefferson

“I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have: three meals a day for their bodies, – education and culture for their minds – and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits.” — Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. — And that’s why I am a liberal. ~ Paul Evans

On political activisim: “If you think you’re too small to be effective, you’ve never been in the dark with a mosquito.” — source unknown.

Given to us by GreenSooner over at DailyKos: “Policies that were wrong under George W. Bush are no less wrong because Barack Obama is in the White House.” – Bob Herbert

“To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end of life.” ~ Robert Louis Stevenson

Attention Readers!

About Comments on Evans Liberal Politics: Sorry to bring this up but a few bad apples spoil it for everyone. In the first place, I have some kick ass anti-spam operating on the comments, and if your comment has a link to a website, 98 percent of them get kicked into my spam comment folder. In other words, those comments only post if I individually approve them and move them from the spam folder. So you people from the same websites that sell stuff and keep posting comments like “Great post, keep up the good work”…. Do you really think I don’t remember the website the individual commenter has come from? I’ve been nice about it, but here’s the rule. If you’re pushing a commercial site and post some comment that consists of nothing but some generic praise, you’re going to get one such comment and then I’m not going to move any more such comments from you out of the spam folder. Would you? What I’d really like to see are some comments which actually discuss the topic of the article…. Let’s get real, people!