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.
