Sometimes stories happen because of planning; other times serendipity intervenes, which is how we got to the conversation we'll be having today.
In an exchange of comments on the Blue Hampshire site, I proposed an idea that could be of real value to unions, workers...and surprisingly, employers.
If things worked out correctly, not only would lots of people feel a real desire to have unions represent them, but employers would potentially be coming to unions looking to forge relationships, and, just to make it better, this plan bypasses virtually all of the tools and techniques employers use to shut out union organizers.
Since I just thought this up myself, I'm really not sure exactly how practical the whole thing is, and the last part of the discussion today will be provided by you, as I ask you to sound off on whether this plan could work, and if so, how it could be made better.
It's a new week...so let's all put our heads together and rebuild the labor movement, shall we?
(I updated/changed the video of Franken's speech below.)
Last weekend, I had the opportunity to travel to Las Vegas to attend Netroots Nation 2010, the largest gathering of progressive activists and bloggers ever - around 2100 registered! I had a great time and met lots of passionate, progressive folks from across the country. I also had the chance to catch up with several friends that I've met and worked with through my involvement with New Leaders Council, the Truman National Security Project, and the National Democratic Law Students Council.
While I was there, I represented the Daily Kingfish as the leader of the Southern Caucus discussion, and we were honored to be joined in our roundtable talk by Arkansas Lt. Gov. Bill Halter. For more on my personal experience, check out my tweets @MattBailey and @DailyKingfish.
The conference included dozens of fantastic panels, trainings, and speeches. President Obama even recorded a message for the occasion:
If you are involved in progressive politics or activism, I would encourage you to consider attending next year's Netroots Nation in Minneapolis - June 16-19. While I wasn't sure what to expect, I found out that it is not just for bloggers. Indeed, it is a very valuable experience for anyone interested in being a leader in the progressive movement.
Finally, check out some great outtakes from the closing keynote by Senator Al Franken in which he called this year's convention "the most exciting political gathering of the year without guns." It was serious yet comical, engaging, and motivational. Enjoy:
Just in case you missed it...and don't forget to vote in the poll at the end of the article.
I'm going to tell you a secret about one of the political parties in Louisiana, although anyone who keeps up with state politics in Louisiana already knows what I'm going to divulge.
It's been a while since we had to have a real heart-to-heart, the Obama Administration and I, and last time it was because Rahm Emanuel had been a bit snippy toward those of us who are carrying the water for this Administration.
We need to have another one of those conversations today; this time the circumstances are a lot more positive-in fact, if the Administration follows my suggestions here, we have a real chance to put the Democrats on the road to victory, not just this November, but also in 2012.
What I'm proposing will create hundreds of thousands, if not millions of jobs, and it will stimulate millions more as we create a national source of discount electrical power that can be used by business and consumers alike.
Here's the best part: it's no "pie in the sky" promotion I'm offering here; we've already done the same thing before, it's been working out well for almost three quarters of a century...and even better than all that...my idea first pays for itself, and then...it actually makes the Federal Government a profit, forever after.
40 days from today - on May 18 - we will see two HUGE primaries for U.S. Senate. Even though these races aren't in Louisiana, they impact Democrats across the country and, well, the entire country as a whole.
In Pennsylvania, Democratic Congressman Joe Sestak will try to upset Republican-for-decades Arlen Specter.
In Arkansas, Democratic Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter will try to upset corporate lackey Blanche Lincoln.
These two races are tremendously important to defining who and what the Democratic Party is and what we will be fighting for.
If you can volunteer for these candidates (or encourage friends and family in Pennsylvania and Arkansas to do so), that would be amazing.
Of course, if you can help with a contribution to either or both via the Expand the Map! ActBlue page as soon as possible, it will make a big impact.
Polling shows that both Specter and Lincoln are at risk of - if not likely to - hand these Senate seats over to far-right-wing Republicans. (And, even if these two retain the seats, that's not much better on many key issues.)
Congressman Sestak and Lieutenant Governor Halter winning these primaries are critical to keeping these seats in truly Democratic hands. Your support can help make that happen! Please hop over to the Expand the Map! ActBlue page right away to make a contribution - an investment in the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party to pull out an old expression - and show your support.
Thanks SO much for any support you can provide. 40 Days.
It seems that many of those who are regular guests of this space are committed to a worldview based on some degree of reason and rationality.
That's a handy thing if the "Covert Alarm Locator Apparatus" in your Isaac Daniel® Compass Global 1000 GPS sneakers should happen to fail and you need to find your way back to where the rest of us are; sadly, not all voters are equipped with such a helpful worldview.
Luckily for them, there are lots of conservative "mouth organs" ready to fill the "information gap".
They send out lots of emails every day, spreading their Word, and as a public service I receive several of them; this to help keep track of just what's out there, exactly.
If you ever wondered why otherwise normal people believe some of the craziest things about "Obama's Secret Death Care And National Virgin Sacrifice Program", have a look at some of the things I get every single day, and it might all make a bit more sense.
LANGUAGE WARNING: Today's story is uncharacteristically blunt, and from this moment forward we will be using lots of inappropriate language in making our points.
It is by now fairly well known that Rahm Emanuel, President Obama's White House Chief of Staff, had a bit of a blow-up with liberals who were ready to start running ads against "blue dog" Democrats who were working very hard to shut down the health care reform effort.
Now we're not gonna get in the middle of that argument today; instead, since we're finally getting a chance to talk, I figured me and Rahm could get a few other things out of the way that have been on everyone's mind for the past year or so.
We strive to be, if anything, a participatory space around here, and I've had a question come to my inbox that is very much deserving of our attention.
To make a long story short, our questioner wants to know why, on the one hand, despite the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA, also known as the "stimulus"), unemployment in the construction industry continues to increase, and, on the other hand, why there is such a giant disparity, on a state-by-state basis, in the cost of saving a job?
They're great questions, and, having done a bit of research, I think I have some cogent answers.
It was a long hot August for those who would like to see health care reform, as rabid "Town Hall" protesters proffered visions of public options that would lead to death panels and socialism and government tax collectors with special alien mind control powers that would use sex education and child indoctrination and black helicopters as the means for gay people to impose their dangerous agenda on the innocent, God-fearing citizens of someplace in Mississippi that I'm not likely to ever visit.
Part of the reason that opposition was so rabid was because health care interests were spending millions upon millions of dollars doing...well, doing whatever the opposite of giving a distemper shot to the angry mob might be, anyway.
So wouldn't it be great if all the CEOs of all those health care interests were to gather at one time and place so you could, shall we say, gently express your own thoughts regarding the issues of reform and public options?
By an amazing coincidence, that's exactly what's going to happen Thursday in Washington, DC, as the Patient Centered Primary Care Cooperative (PCPCC) holds its Annual Summit.
Follow along, and I'll tell you everything you need to know.
So it's the day of the big speech, Mr. President, and we got trouble with a capital "T" right here in Health Care City.
What are you gonna do? Do we follow the traditional Democratic Party legislative process of passing...something...at any cost, assuming the entire time that the Left and the Netroots will "go along with the program", or is there a risk that the calculus doesn't work as well today as it did in 1994 and 1996?
Well, lucky for you, I'm a fake consultant, and I know a few things about your "target market", so before you answer that question...we need to talk.
So if you're like me, you have been wondering just exactly what all this "tea party" stuff is about. There's going to be some sort of protest, that we know; but beyond that the whole thing seems a little...vague.
Alternatively, it's possible that you were unaware that "tea party" has recently become a word reborn in conservative political circles.
Well, whether you knew it or not, April 15th was indeed a day of protest, with citizens gathering for what were reported to be a series of grassroots events across the nation that was intended to invoke the spirit of the Boston Tea Party.
In an effort to find out exactly what is motivating these folks, and to find out what they are trying to accomplish, I took my handy recorder and captured a conversation with a "tea bag" protester.
We will review that conversation, and we will follow it up with a few thoughts about how this group of voters might impact electoral politics going forward.
Our cable news stations have been consumed as of late with the idea of "change" and whether or not it is happening and how fast. I think it's because there was some new guy sworn in as president in Washington.
But enough of the sarcasm because change is taking place in the city of New Orleans and yesterday's vote to open up the city's business to the public is a perfect example. Now some may think that this is a nuisance and that the public will just get in the way of them making decisions. But if you think about it actually encourages more people to get involved with the community.
City Councilman Arnie Fielkow has been spearheading this legislation and it appears as though measures such as this were long overdue.
There are a lot of political ads out there and yes, I know that is an understatement. But with all of them out there, you find that a lot of them with photo-shopped images of candidates in an attempt to make them look goofy or somehow criminal.
Well in all that mess, there is still nothing that breaks through the clutter than having a real person tell their story. It will always make the biggest impact on voters and here is one to watch:
Securing the votes in Congress to pass real immigration solutions into law isn't going to be easy. The next President - no matter who wins - will need to lead his own party first to get it done.
Speech for Democratic Rally in Abita Springs, LA, Sept. 20, 2008
I want to begin with a story that illustrates the different possible responses to trauma and stress we Democrats are enduring. It is called "The carrot, egg and coffee bean."
Hat Tip to Adrastos for posting the New Orleans voting locations
There is an election this Saturday, March 1 for Louisiana Democrats to select their delegates to the Convention in Denver.
I repeat, the Louisiana Democratic Party is holding an election this Saturday to select delegates to the Convention in Denver. The Baton Rouge area voting locations are listed below:
Louisiana Democratic Party Headquarters - 701 Government St., Baton Rouge, LA
Denham Springs City Hall - 941 Government Dr., Denham Springs, LA
Livingston Town Hall - 20550 Circle Dr., Livingston, LA
Sibly Law Firm - 19 North 1st St., Greensburg, LA
Baker Civic Center - 2225 Groom Rd., Baker, LA
Plumbers & Steamfitters Local 198 - 5888 Airline Hwy, Baton Rouge, LA
Louisiana Leadership Institute - 5763 Hooper Rd., Baton Rouge, LA
Jewel & Jewel Law Firm - 143 East Main Street, Baker, LA
The election is being held from 9 AM to 5 PM. When you arrive at the polls you will ask for a Clinton or an Obama ballot. Declared Clinton delegates are on the Clinton ballot and declared Obama delegates are on the Obama ballot. You are allowed only one ballot. Candidates get delegates in proportion to the vote they received in the February 9th election in each Congressional Districts.
This is something that has been brewing on my mind for the last few weeks, as I have spoken with folks about Louisiana politics, and the fact that the Democratic Party has pretty much had a stranglehold on the State Legislature for the past 40 + years.
Many Republicans say it is time to give their party a chance to run Louisiana, mainly because the State Legislature has been run by the Democrats for all of that time, and we still rank near the bottom in darn near every category we don't want to rank near the bottom in.
To paraphrase my father ... if bullshit were energy, the folks making that argument would be bigger than Entergy. Simply put, that dog don't hunt.
