Blog For Arizona

Breaking: Congressman Ed Pastor to retire from Congress

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Arizona's senior member of Congress, Ed Pastor, announced today that he is retiring from Congress. Thank you for your years of service, Ed.

After 23 years in Congress serving the people of Arizona, I have decided that I will not seek re-election this year. It has been a great honor and experience, but it is time for me to close this chapter of my life and start a new one.

I want to thank everyone who has assisted me and supported me throughout my career. Thank you very much for all of your support.

-Ed Pastor

Lincoln Day dinners? Please, this is not your father's GOP

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Arizona Daily Star must be feeling left out today, but don't worry, I haven't forgotten about them.

Instead of publishing warmed-over press releases from the Martha McSally campaign as "news," CD-2 candidate Martha McSally headlines Lincoln Day dinner in Hawaii, maybe the Star should have hired a political reporter to send down to Cochise County to cover the Lincoln Day dinner in closer proximity to Tucson. What, the Star can't afford a stipend for gas and some food? Have Jim Click chip in.

Bill Hess at the Sierra Vista Herald can show your reporter how it's done. Check out this report. Fighting for the ‘will of the people’ (the link has been fixed):

FORT HUACHUCA — Some words spoken more than 150 years ago are still a battle cry for Republicans.

For the GOP today the fight to ensure the will of the people is heard is what the Republican party stands for, Casey Jones, the chairman of the Cochise County Republican Committee, said at the formal opening of the annual Abraham Lincoln Day Dinner.

Quoting Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, the final 14 words of the speech should be the motto of the Republican Party, Jones said.

Those words: “government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth,” remain the clarion call of the party, the county chairman said. “We are in a grand battle to save our nation,” Jones said, noting two speakers at the dinner — U.S. Rep. David Schweikert and Arizona’s Chairman of the Republican Party Robert Graham — will specifically address the issues facing the party in this year’s federal, state and local elections.

Our Tea-Publican lawless legislature loses in court, again (part the infinity)

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Our Tea-Publican lawless legislature has lost in court, again. This time it was our lawless legislature's attempt to overturn the constitutionality of the voter-approved citizens initiative creating the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (AIRC), Prop. 106 (2000), to determine redistricting election boundaries rather than the state legislature. Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (CV12-01211-PHX-PGR).

I have previously explained that, based upon case law precedents, this should be a no-brainer for the court in favor of the AIRC. Arizona Legislature v. the AIRC court hearing this Friday. And it was, except for Justice Paul Rosenblatt, who agreed with part of the ruling, but argued the citizen initiative wrongly removed any power lawmakers would have to influence how the politically sensitive lines are drawn in his dissent. Justice Rosenblatt is simply wrong. It happens.

The Court granted defendant's Rule 12(b)(6) Motion for Failure to State a Claim, which is rare.

The Court's Ruling (.pdf) relies upon the case precedents I previously outlined, as the Court is bound to do:

The Supreme Court, however, has at least twice rejected the notion that when it comes to congressional redistricting the Elections Clause vests only in the legislature responsibilities relating to redistricting. Both cases found that states were not prohibited from designing their own lawmaking processes and using those processes for the congressional redistricting authorized by the Clause. In subsequent cases, the Supreme Court has reaffirmed that a state can place the redistricting function in state bodies other than the legislature.

Ohio ex. rel. Davis v. Hildebrant, 241 U.S. 565, 566 (1916) and Smiley v. Holm, 285 U.S. 355 (1932).

Pro Publica exposé on Sean Noble and the 'Kochtopus' dark money network (Updated)

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Arizona Republic frequently decries "dark money" organizations on its editorial page, but it oddly is limited to concern about public employee union "dark money" organizations that attacked their boy, Phoenix City councilman Sal Diciccio. It's funny (not) how little attention the Republic pays to the vast network hub of "dark money" organizations operating out of Maricopa County. Maybe it's because these people are their friends, neighbors and asssociates whom they hang out with at cocktail parties and political events.

About the only place you can find any reference to Sean Noble* and the "Kochtopus"  dark money network he operates out of Maricopa County is here. This is a fundamental failure of the corporate news media to perform its constitutional function as the "watchdog of democracy."

Kim Barker and Theodoric Meyer at Pro Publica have a richly detailed new exposé on Sean Noble and the "Kochtopus" dark money network, The Dark Money Man: How Sean Noble Moved the Kochs' Cash into Politics and Made Millions:

For a brief, giddy moment, Sean Noble—a little-known former aide to Arizona congressman [John Shadegg]—became one of the most important people in American politics.

Plucked from obscurity by libertarian billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, Noble was tasked with distributing a torrent of political money raised by the Koch network, a complex web of nonprofits nicknamed the Kochtopus, into conservative causes in the 2010 and 2012 elections.

Noble handed out almost $137 million in 2012 alone -- all of it so-called dark money from unnamed donors -- from his perch atop the Center to Protect Patient Rights, a group run out of an Arizona post office box.

AZ Reps. Grijalva and Barber Back Extension of ERA Ratification Deadline

by Pamela Powers Hannley

Ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) has received bipartisan support in the Arizona Legislature, but Arizona's Congressional delegation appears to be lagging behind. Of Arizona's 11 Senators and Representatives, only two--  Southern Arizona Reps. Raul Grijalva (D- CD3) and Ron Barber (D- CD2)-- have signed on to co-sponsor legislation to remove the ERA's ratification deadline.

There are two Congressional bills to remove the ratification deadline. In the House, HJ Res 43 has 104 cosponsors (including Grijalva and Barber), and in the Senate, SJ Res 15 has 34 cosponsors.

The ERA was introduced during every Congressional session between 1923 (when it was originally proposed) and 1972. It finally passed Congress nearly 70 years after it was originally introduced. In the 1970s, there was a ground war at the state level to get 38 state legislatures to ratify the ERA in order for it to become a Constitutional Amendment. The ERA fell 3 states short of ratification; Arizona is one of a handful of states that never ratified the ERA. (Contact and Twitter info for Arizona's Congressional delegation after the jump.)

"Both parties suck! Wah! Why won't you Democrats fix it?!?"

Crossposted from DemocraticDiva.com

Laurie Roberts at the AZ Republic is beside herself that the well-heeled proponents of the dumb Top Two Primary idea are, as she delightedly exclaims, baaaaaack. (Much more after the jump)

Senate GOP to punish the unemployed, will filibuster unemployment insurance extension

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has scheduled a test vote on Thursday to extend long-term unemployment insurance benefits after having rejected Republican requests that they be allowed to propose a number of "poison pill" amendments to the Democratic bill. Reid sets up test vote on jobless aid:

Democrats controlling the Senate have set up a test vote on Thursday for the party’s new plan to extend unemployment benefits for people who have been out of work for more than six months.

The latest plan would extend long-term jobless benefits for three months at a cost of almost $7 billion, paid for by a tweak to pension law that Republicans call a gimmick.

Democrats don’t expect the measure to get enough GOP support to overcome a filibuster threshold of 60 votes. Democrats control the Senate with 55 votes and so far expect just three Republicans to join with them. They are Susan Collins of Maine, Dean Heller of Nevada and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

I would encourage you to call our senators, but we all know how these two losers will vote. By the way, in a real democracy without the tyranny of the minority engaging in obstruction and filibuster, this bill would have already passed the Senate.

This week in the Arizona GOP's war on democracy

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

This has been some week in the Arizona GOP's war on democracy, hasn't it?

On Thursday, House Judiciary Committee Chairman "Fast Eddie" Farnsworth's (R-Gilbert) bill, HB 2196 (.pdf), to repeal the GOP Voter Suppression Act, HB 2305, and to deny the citizens of Arizona their constitutional right to vote on a citizens referred referendum, was pulled after angry citizens and the media showed up at the hearing. More than 100,000 Arizonans signed the petitions for a "citizens veto" of the GOP Voter Suppression Act, exercising their constitutional right under the Arizona Constitution to vote to veto the legislature's anti-democratic measure. No matter.

The Arizona GOP's plan is to repeal HB 2305, and to pass the separate provisions for voter suppression in the bill as separate bills to make another citizens referendum virtually impossible, and to get their way by "skullduggery," as Arizona Republic columnist Laurie Roberts called it. Are legislators plotting end run around voters in election-law referendum?" "Fast Eddie" promises to bring his bill back up for a hearing, possibly as early as this week.

On Friday, the Arizona GOP was in U.S. District Court arguing to a three judge panel of federal judges that you, the voters of Arizona, by enacting a citizens referred initiative to create the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (AIRC), Prop. 106 (2000), violated their federal constitutional right to gerrymander congressional districts in favor of GOP candidates. (Where are the Neo-Confederate "states' rights" federal "guvmint" haters now?) As I explained, their legal argument is entirely without merit. Arizona Legislature v. the AIRC court hearing this Friday. This is one of those frivolous "junk lawsuits" you hear about.

Happy Obamacare Day

By Michael Bryan

To the critics of the ACA here in Arizona, I present this story, published yesterday, from the NYT:

Kathy Hornbach of Tucson is not wasting any time before using her new health insurance coverage, which took effect on New Year’s Day. Ms. Hornbach, 57, has an appointment with a cardiologist on Thursday for a stress test.

“I’ve had some heart palpitations, and my mom’s side has a history of heart problems starting early,” she said Wednesday in a telephone interview. “So it’s mostly just to double-check that everything is O.K.”

Ms. Hornbach, who has had breast cancer and retired early from the technology industry, said that insurance companies in Arizona had refused to cover her until about two years ago, when she got a policy with monthly premiums of $285 and a deductible of $5,500 a year. Last month, using the federal insurance exchange, she bought a midlevel silver plan with lower premiums and deductible.

“It’s a better policy — lower out-of-pocket, more choice of doctors,” she said. “This is a very happy day.”

The insurance system is now working better - far from perfect - but better, for a real person with real health challenges. That's what the ACA was designed to do; and it's actually doing it.

Obamacare was always designed as a pragmatic approach to reducing the worst abuses and problems of the private insurance system, and to expand our current jury-rigged mixed system of health insurance to millions who could not afford it - or to those who were not ideal customers to the pre-ACA industry.

It's working. It's not perfect - far from it. But it's working for Ms. Hornbach, and millions of others. I now invite Arizona's Republican Congresscritters to explain to Ms. Hornbach and those like her how Obamacare is so terrible we needed to shut down the government rather than allow those millions to benefit? That's exactly the question that needs to be asked of every single Republican running for reelection to Congress in 2014.

Jennifer Longdon interview on Canadian TV

I've had the good fortune of knowing a fair number of Canadians in my time. When I was stationed in Japan in the Navy twenty years ago (!) I hung out with a pack of expats in Tokyo most weekends, several of whom were Canucks. From 1995 to 1997, I was stationed at Keyport, Washington where I was part of a unit that did weapons training ops, mostly off the coast of Vancouver Island. We spent most of our off duty time in a town called Nanaimo, hanging out with locals. I developed a fondness for Tim Horton's that I still have to this day. 

Based on my experience, there are a couple of generalizations about Canadians I can safely make: 1. they think our for-profit health care system is insane and 2. they think we are completely batshit crazy with the all guns and the shootings down here, eh.

The case for aggressive litigation in the AIRC redistricting cases

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

This is the reason why I believe the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (AIRC) should have been aggressive and filed a counter-claim against the secretive GOP redistricting organization FAIR Trust and its lawyer/lobbyists who tried to influence the AIRC on behalf of the Arizona GOP delegation. It would have allowed for litigation discovery and testimony under oath from everyone involved in FAIR Trust, and it would have conflicted out the lawyer/lobbyists who are currently representing the GOP in the redistricting lawsuits before the courts.

The Orlando Sentinel reports, Florida Supreme Court rules lawmakers can be forced to testify in redistricting court fight:

The Florida Supreme Court ruled Friday that state lawmakers can be forced to testify and turn over documents related to whether they intentionally redrew political maps for partisan gain last year.

The fight between voting-rights groups such as the League of Women Voters of Florida and the Legislature stems from 2010 constitutional amendments adopted by voters that specify lawmakers couldn’t base their decisions when re-drawing congressional and legislative districts on the desire for political gain.

Specifically, the Fair Districts amendments outlawed drawing new lines with the intent to favor or disfavor incumbents or political parties.

Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research poll: Democrats should go on the offense on 'ObamaCare'

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

A Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research poll of "battleground" congressional districts for the Women's Voices, Women Vote Action Fund and Democracy Corps released on Thursday recommends that Democrats go on the offensive on "ObamaCare." Are you listening Reps. Barber and Sinema? New WVWVAF Poll: Affordable Care Act Remains Popular with Rising American Electorate:

Survey Shows Unparalleled Support for Women’s Economic Agenda

WASHINGTON, DC – December 12, 2013 – The Affordable Care Act remains incredibly popular with people of color, unmarried women and other members of the Rising American Electorate, and a plurality in Republican districts and a majority in Democratic districts still support implementing “Obamacare” over repealing it. Those are some of the key findings of a major new poll (PDF) sponsored by Women’s Voices Women Vote Action Fund and conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research for Democracy Corps.

“Despite all the noise over the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, our polling shows that it remains popular among African Americans, Latinos, unmarried women and other members of the Rising American Electorate,” said Page Gardner, founder and President of Women’s Voices Women Vote Action Fund. “They realize that the reform law will improve their lives and ensure that they have affordable and reliable health care. These often economically-vulnerable Americans make up nearly 54 percent of the voting-eligible population, and these are the voters who decide elections.”

Fact Check: AFP's 'Pants on Fire' ad about 'ObamaCare'

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The "Kochtopus" organization Americans For Prosperity is running ads in Southern Arizona against Rep. Ron Barber that begins with some innocuous blonde speaking in a concerned voice about how Americans don't like political ads (it is a political ad!) and saying "health care isn't about politics, it's about people." Ahhh, isn't that special.

Remember, this is from the "Kochtopus" organization Americans For Prosperity -- far-right radical politics is all they do, and the "Kochtopus" doesn't give a damn about you or your health care.

In fact, AFP wants to repeal "ObamaCare" which would kick millions of Americans off of health insurance that they did not have before "ObamaCare," and millions of seniors would lose new benefits they received under Medicare. Millions more working poor would be kicked off expanded Medicaid in states like Arizona without the federal funds.

The ad makes three specific claims:

>> "Millions of people have lost their health insurance": This is objectively FALSE. The ad is conflating the recent cancellation notices for substandard insurance policies with "losing insurance," but these policy holders are being offered other plans, or can purchase a plan from the Marketplace health insurance exchange. The key provision of "ObamaCare" is that individuals cannot be denied insurance because of pre-existing conditions, or hitting an annual cap or lifetime cap on benefits.

Once again, Barber and Sinema fail a gut check vote

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The recent media hysteria over "if you like your insurance plan, you can keep it" is all about ignoring sound public policy for "gotcha" political gamesmanship. That's all the Beltway media villagers and pundits care about. It's always a political game of meaningless polls and election speculation for these effin' idiots, they are too damned ignorant to comprehend complex public policy. The corporate media is complicit in the failure of effective government, and aids and abets those who seek to undermine government.

Let's be clear: the elimination of substandard health insurance policies that provide no real coverage and leave the insured vulnerable to medical costs in the event of a serious injury or illness that can leave them bankrupt is not a bug but a feature of the ACA. The policy was designed to eliminate these fraudulent insurance policies from predator insurers. The "grandfather" clause for these substandard policies gave these predator insurers until 2015 to sell their fraudulent product, but many of them used the ACA as a ready excuse to cancel these fraudulent policies now, blame it on "ObamaCare," and upsell their policy holders into more expensive policies without advising them that a less expensive policy may be available from that insurer, or available on the Marketplace insurance exchange. Predators do not inform their marks, or send them to their competitors.

All the media hysteria in favor of predatory insurers and the broken health care system status quo that existed prior to the ACA has created so much background noise that it encouraged Tea-Publicans to engage in further sabotage of the ACA, and made Democratic squishes go soft on sound public policy.

The GOP rigs the game

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

A must-read article from Tim Dickenson at Rolling Stone, How Republicans Rig the Game:

Not only did Barack Obama win a second term in an electoral landslide in 2012, but he is also just the fourth president in a century to have won two elections with more than 50 percent of the popular vote. What's more, the party controls 55 seats in the Senate, and Democratic candidates for the House received well over a million more votes than their Republican counterparts in the election last year. And yet, John Boehner still wields the gavel in the House and Republican resistance remains a defining force in the Senate, frustrating Obama's ambitious agenda.

How is this possible? National Republicans have waged an unrelenting campaign to exploit every weakness and anachronism in our electoral system. Through a combination of hyperpartisan redistricting of the House, unprecedented obstructionism in the Senate and racist voter suppression in the states, today's GOP has locked in political power that it could never have secured on a level playing field.

Despite the fact that Republican Congressional candidates received nearly 1.4 million fewer votes than Democratic candidates last November, the Republicans lost only eight seats from their historic 2010 romp, allowing them to preserve a fat 33-seat edge in the House. Unscrupulous Republican gerrymandering following the 2010 census made the difference, according to a statistical analysis conducted by the Princeton Election Consortium. Under historically typical redistricting, House Republicans would now likely be clinging to a reedy five-seat majority. "There's the normal tug of war of American politics," says Sam Wang, founder of the consortium. "Trying to protect one congressman here, or unseat another one there." The Princeton model was built, he says, to detect "whether something got pulled off-kilter on top of that."

David Cay Johnston on seriously flawed reporting on 'ObamaCare'

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

[T]he headline atop the front page of The New York Times Monday morning: “Talk of Penalty is Missing in Ads for Health Care.” I damn near spit out my coffee when I saw that mosleading headline -- from a Times reporter no less.

Tax expert David Cay Johnston at the National Memo had the same reaction. Obamacare Penalized By Flawed Reporting In The New York Times:

News flash – there is no penalty for failing to get health insurance under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare.

Reporter Anemona Hartocollis built an entire piece around a faulty premise, stated clearly in her third sentence.  Times editors embraced her flawed reporting with the gusto of prominent placement, giving unwarranted credibility to what is, to be polite, a pile of misinformation.

Had Hartocollis read the law – or had any of the dozen or so Times editors who review every Page One story done so – they would not have published such nonsense anywhere in the paper.

* * *

Had anyone at the Times read the law, they would know that is bunk. Here is what the law says, with statutory numbering removed:

WAIVER OF CRIMINAL PENALTIES. – In the case of any failure by a taxpayer to timely pay any penalty imposed by the section, such taxpayer shall not be subject to any criminal prosecution or penalties with respect to such failure.

LIMITATIONS ON LIENS AND LEVIES. – The Secretary [read IRS] shall not – file notice of lien with respect to any property of a taxpayer by reason of any failure to pay the penalty imposed by this section, or levy on any such property with respect to such failure.

There is a simple way for the world’s most authoritative newspaper to stop embarrassing itself this way – require reporters to actually read the laws they write about, a policy I suggested when I was a reporter there, obviously to no avail.

Why you cannot appease economic terrorists

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Arizona congress critters Ron Barber and Kyrsten Sinema are targeted by the RNCC in 2014, and this has led them to accept some really bad advice from Democratic pols and consultants on how they need to position themselves on votes in the House.

This led Congressman Ron Barber to twice vote with the Republicans for a delay in the individual mandate of the Affordable Care Act aka "ObamaCare," and to vote for a series of "mini-CR" funding bills for government agencies that the Tea-Publican economic terrorists did as political theater (it was never going to become law). Congressman Barber in his press releases explained that he did this to "keep the government open." Congresswoman Sinema did the same.

If they thought that voting with the Tea-Publican economic terrorists on these political theater bills would somehow insulate them from political attacks or give them political cover, they were naively mistaken. The billionaire bastard Koch brothers were always going to attack them anyway. Tea Party Group Begins Anti-Health Care Law Blitz in Four House Districts:

Americans for Prosperity, the Tea Party group that has made rolling back the health care law one of its priorities, is starting a $2 million campaign of television, radio and Internet advertisements aimed at lawmakers facing tough re-election battles in four House swing districts.

The group, backed by the billionaire industrialist brothers Charles and David Koch, is focusing on two Democrats — Representatives Ron Barber of Arizona and Scott Peters of California — about the problem-plagued rollout of the program’s online health insurance exchanges.

And it is using the ads to thank two vulnerable Republicans — Representatives Mike Coffman of Colorado and Steve Southerland of Florida — for ‘’fighting back’’ and voting to repeal the law.

John McCain threatens us, says he may run again

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Senator John McCain is threatening us, saying he may run again. What did Arizonans do to deserve his enmity? McCain says he is 'seriously thinking' about 6th term in 2016:

Sen. John McCain said Tuesday he is “very seriously considering” running for a sixth term in 2016.

McCain, a veteran Arizona Republican and the 2008 GOP presidential nominee, first made the announcement in an interview on Phoenix radio station KFYI-AM (550) and later reiterated his comments to reporters after a constituent event.

McCain, who would turn 80 by Election Day 2016, previously had been saying he had not decided whether to retire. His Tuesday remarks appear to reflect an evolution in his thinking about a possible re-election campaign.

McCain reiterated that he still has a year or so to make a final decision about running again.

“I am very seriously considering it, and I don’t see any reason why I shouldn’t,” McCain said after an afternoon town-hall-style meeting in Phoenix.

Hermey, er, Paul Gosar has lost his freakin' mind

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Hermey the Misfit Elf Paul Gosar, the dentist who plays a congressman on TV, is a "Debt Denier." He has lost his freakin' mind. He told the Arizona Republic:

Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., said he was frustrated many Republicans caved to Democrats by voting for the bipartisan deal to reopen the government and raise the debt ceiling.

“All we’ve done is taught a spoiled child they’re going to get their way,” he said.

Despite the outcome, it was worth the effort, Gosar said. He vowed that he and other Republicans will continue to try to block the 3-year-old health-care law for the remainder of Obama’s presidency.

“I don’t know how Republicans lost at all,” he said. “We had a conversation with the American people on a program that is destined to fail.”

UPDATE: Oct 16 PDA Tucson Fall Membership Meeting Postponed until Nov 14

by Pamela Powers Hannley

October 15 Update:

Yesterday, I posted a notice about the Fall Membership Meeting of PDA Tucson. The headline speaker was to be Congressman Raul Grijalva.

The Congressman had to cancel, so the PDA meeting is being postponed until Thursday, Nov. 14. 

Here is a link to the event on Facebook. You can find updates there or on this blog. We had hoped that Grijalva canceled because he was called back to DC to vote on lifting the shutdown and the debt ceiling, but given this afternoon's headlines that vote appears to be a distant dream.

October 14 Blog Post:

With the government shutdown, historic gridlock in Congress, and multiple protests errupting, Washington DC has been a hotbed of political activity.

While some Arizona Democrats are cozying up to the Republicans, Congressman Raul Grijalva continues to be a leader of the progressive movement. Last week, he and other progressive Congressmen were arrested at a recent immigration reform protest in DC (above). He also spoke with Democracy Now about the shutdown and immigration reform.

This Wednesday, October 16, Grijalva will give a Washington update at the Fall Membership Meeting of Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) Tucson Chapter at the Ward 6 midtown office.  

(Update) Time to build the Grand Alliance

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Washington Post reported on Saturday, White House finds unlikely alliance in business community:

President Obama, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and senior adviser Valerie Jarrett spoke to nearly 150 business executives on a conference call Friday with an update on their efforts to avoid a default, according to a White House summary of the call.

When the call ended, Jarrett entered the Roosevelt Room of the White House to meet with lobbyists for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, the Financial Services Roundtable and other business groups representing aerospace and technology companies. During the meeting, Jarrett and Brian Deese, deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, asked the business groups to encourage their member companies to communicate with lawmakers on the urgency of finding a negotiated solution[.]

* * *

[T]he U.S. Chamber is doing research on key states where it can battle back against tea party candidates willing to use the country’s debt repayments as a bargaining chip.

“I do think we need to act. We need to combine and concentrate our efforts to succeed,” said Bruce Josten, the U.S. Chamber’s executive vice president for government affairs, noting the interest he and others have in exploring primary challenges of tea party candidates. “But the equation is complicated and requires very good information.”

Grijalva, other legislators arrested at immigration rally

by David Safier

Raul Grijalva was one of nine of legislators who allowed themselves to be arrested at today's immigration rally (official name: “Camino Americano” [“American Road”]). Another was John Lewis, who said, “I’ve been arrested a few times, and I don’t mind getting arrested again for something that is right and fair and just."

Along with Grijalva and Lewis, according to Politico, Reps. Charlie Rangel of New York, Luis Gutierrez of Illinois, Joe Crowley of New York, Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, Keith Ellison of Minnesota and Al Green of Texas were also arrested.

Other Democrats participated in the rally, including Nancy Pelosi, Robert Menendez and Mike Honda. Four Republicans participated as well, including David Valadao of California, Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida, and two others whose name I couldn't find in the article.

Thank you, Raul, for representing Southern Arizona so forcefully and so well.

The shutdown in the news -- False Equivalency edition

by David Safier

There's what happens and what the media says happens. Sometimes they're pretty close to the same, other times, not so much. The most important thing to watch in the reporting of the shutdown isn't the purely factual reporting. That's reasonably straightforward. It's whether coverage follows the false equivalency viewpoint -- a pox on all their houses for the shutdown, no matter who bears the brunt of the blame -- or points out that the Republican party, led by its far right wing, has created the messwe're in.

My verdict based on coverage I'm seeing in the Star and a few other papers: false equivalency is still rearing its ugly head, but lots of the commentary, especially editorials, is getting it right.

The AP story the Star put on its front page is pure false equivalency. It actually lets the Republicans draw first blood, saying in the second paragraph, "Republicans said it was [Obama's] fault, not theirs, and embarked on a strategy — opposed by Democrats — of voting on bills to reopen individual agencies or programs."

But then you turn to the editorial, which tells the story correctly.

[T]here are times, as we have reached now, when a small number of elected officials — this time a fundamentalist subset of the Republican Party — can monkey-wrench the legislative process and hold the country hostage to their unreasonable demands.

The bottom line, to our mind, is one of practicality: One cannot reason with bullies. Any attempt to do so presupposes a position of good faith that we have yet to see in the tea-party Republicans who are putting their beliefs and political aspirations above the law of the land.

A Concerned Constituent of Congressman Ron Barber

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

A new CNN poll finds Congress’ approval rating is now all of … 10 percent. Perhaps the reason is things like this:

I received an end of third quarter fund raising email captioned "On The Brink" from Congressman Ron Barber this morning (after the midnight September 30 deadline) in which the congressman's pitch to contribute to his campaign read as follows:

That's what the Tea Party extremists who are threatening to shut down our government have on their agenda—targeting me for defeat because I won’t give in to their demands.

If you are as outraged as I am with these extremists and their irresponsible political games that threaten our economic recovery then please stand with me now.

This poorly timed fund raising email came after Congressman Barber voted last night -- twice! -- to stand with the "Tea Party extremists who are threatening to shut down our government have on their agenda." "I won't give in to their demands"? You most certainly did, congressman. Imagine the choice language I used when I opened your email.

In an act of political cowardice, you voted for the second attempt by the Tea-Publican economic terrorists yesterday to delay the individual mandate of "ObamaCare" for a year -- so that the GOP can run on "repeal ObamaCare" for the third election in a row -- which also included a GOP spending plan that would cut support for victims of domestic violence:

Republican members of the House tossed in an amendment to the spending bill that would not only delay implementation of the new health law known as Obamacare but also allow certain employers and insurers to opt out of specific provisions of the law based on moral or religious grounds.

Specifically, the continuing resolution says:

“Section 2713(a)(4) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg-13(a)(4)) shall not be effective for any period before January 1, 2015, with respect to the requirement for specific coverage for any sponsor of a group health plan (or, in the case of student health plans, the institution of higher education offering such plans), health insurance issuer, or individual opposing such requirement for coverage based on religious or moral objections.

Senator, You Are No Five-Sylable Henry

By Tom Prezelski

Re-posted from Rum, Romanism and Rebellion

I was going to write a snarky piece which said that Senator John McCain's takedown of Ted Cruz, while effective, was nowhere nearly as awesome as what his predecessor, Senator Henry Fountain Ashurst, did to Huey Long in 1935, but my brother beat me to it in the Tucson Sentinel.

Ashurst, a Shakespeare-quoting cowboy turned lawyer, was elected to the Territorial House of Representatives in 1897 where he became Speaker at the age of 23, the youngest legislative leader in Arizona's history. There, the Coconino County Democrat was credited with the legislation that created the normal school that eventually became Northern Arizona University.

Upon statehood, Ashurst was one of Arizona's two new United States Senators. While never known as a particularly effective legislator, his unparalleled skill as an orator made him well loved in the halls of Congress and the ideal man to put the self-aggrandizing Senator from Louisiana in his place.

As I said, go check out Ted's piece in the Sentinel.

Sen. Jeff Flake issues a ransom note in the The Arizona Republic(an)

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

A new New York Times/CBS News poll today finds that:

* Eighty percent of Americans, including 83 percent of independents and 75 percent of Republicans, say threatening a government shutdown is not an acceptable way to negotiate.

* Americans say overwhelmingly that Republicans are not trying to work with Obama by 70-23. By contrast, 51 percent say Obama is trying to work with Republicans.

Which is to say that the Tea-Publican economic terrorism act of taking America hostage to extort concessions from the Democrats to defund "ObamaCare" and to give them a grab bag of their wish list items in exchange for not destroying the American economy is opposed by 80 percent of Americans, who don’t see this as a fundamentally acceptable way of governing.

And yet . . . this morning Sen. Jeff Flake issued a ransom note to the American people in the The Arizona Republic(an). Delay 'Obamacare' to kill it:

[This] is why we have introduced legislation that would delay all Obamacare provisions and taxes for one year. H.R. 2809 and S. 1490 seek to postpone all provisions of the Affordable Care Act taking effect on Jan. 1, 2014 or later by one year from the date of enactment.

Delaying Obamacare is a necessary step in our efforts to get this law off the books and replace it with real health-care solutions that work for American families and businesses. It builds on efforts already taken by the House and Senate to delay both the individual and employer mandates. In fairness to American taxpayers, the best thing we can do right now is to implement a one-year delay so we can continue to chip away at this disastrous law.

Bob Schieffer schools Rep. Matt Salmon on the reality based world

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Rep. Matt Salmon is a right-wing ideologue who only knows what he reads from the GOP talking points. Somehow he was a guest on Face the Nation on Sunday, and host Bob Schieffer had to school him on the reality based world. CBS Host Schools GOP Rep. on Defunding Obamacare: 'This Is the Land of What's Real':

CBS host Bob Schieffer on Sunday encouraged Rep. Matt Salmon (R-AZ) to come back to the "land of what's real" and realize that President Barack Obama was never going to sign bill that defunded his signature health care reform law.

"We just had a conservative Democrat and a Republican both say there's no way, no how that this is going to get done in the Senate," Schieffer explained during an interview on Face the Nation, adding that the push to defund Obamacare by forcing a government shutdown was like "a Kamikaze attack, a suicide mission." [Wall Street Journal op-ed The Power of 218.]

"I find it ironic that the president will negotiate with Vladimir Putin, but he won't negotiate with Republicans in the House of Representatives," Salmon opined. [John Boehner talking point.] "I heard loudly and clearly during the August recess, 'We want Obamacare gone.'"

Schieffer reminded Salmon that many business leaders [Business lobby says don't shut down the government!] -- and even elected Republicans -- agreed that Obamacare opponents in the House were "just wasting everybody's time by going down one of these exercises again to shut down the government."

[The Democratic Policy & Communications Center has compiled a list of 20 Republican senators who have gone on the record acknowledging that they can’t prevent the implementation of ObamaCare either legislatively or through a government shutdown.]

Gosar, Franks, Salmon and Schweikert Gang up to Kick the Poor in the Teeth

By Michael Bryan

The Republicans of Arizona's Congressional delegation ganged up with their Tea Party hooligan buddies to kick the poorest and most defenseless among us while we are down last week. The bill slashing SNAP (food stamps) passed on a purely partisan vote, including those of all four of Arizona's Republican Congressional Representatives, cutting $40 billion from the program over the next decade.

Of course, the bill won't become law, but will likely become the basis for compromise" -but still crippling - cuts to the program; that's a policy that most Americans (more than 70%) say is the wrong way to cut government spending. The result will be more poverty and food-insecurity, adding to the staggering 50 million Americans already living on the edge of insolvency, poverty and hunger, and pushing millions of those already hurting deeper into misery.

Here in Arizona, a monthly average of one million Arizonans were assisted by SNAP in 2011. The number qualifying for assistance more than doubled following the 2008 fiscal crisis. These folks are the hard-working poor and their dependent children, and seniors living on insufficient fixed incomes, not "takers" living high on their average of $133 dollars a month in benefits.

SNAP isn't just good for the recipients of aid, it's good for our economy. Each dollar spent on food support generates $1.80 in economic activity. With over $1.5 billion a year in aid in Arizona alone, that translates to an ongoing boost to Arizona's economy of $2.7 billion a year. Apparently, these four congressmen think that feeding the poor and supporting Arizona's economic recovery are a poor use of your tax dollars. Most of you disagree, and should tell them as much.

There are hundreds of thousands of families who will be harmed by these cuts just in the districts of these four pro-hunger Arizona Republicans. Many families will fall into poverty and their children will know hunger because of the heartless, un-Christian, immoral votes of these men. The Congressional GOP has gone insane, leaving even the majority of Republicans (60%) who support assistance to the poor scratching their heads in wonder at the heartlessness and depravity of their elected representatives.

I hope these Representatives will be forced to look those men, women, and children in the eyes back in their districts and explain why, at a time when the Federal deficit has been cut by half since Obama took office, this essential anti-poverty program had to be so drastically restricted.

Shame of each of you, Representatives Gosar, Franks, Salmon and Schweikert. I challenge each of you to answer for your immoral vote to consign millions of our fellow citizens to poverty and hunger.

The anti-gay campaign against Daniel Hernandez

by David Safier

Daniel Hernandez, who came to Gabby Giffords' aid when she was shot and has become a national figure in the campaign for sane gun registration laws, is also a member of the Sunnyside School Board. Right now, battling school board recalls are going on, and one of them is directed at Daniel. That's fine. That's politics. What isn't fine is the flier attacking Daniel, saying, "Put a REAL Man on the Sunnyside Board." It continues,

"Daniel Hernandez is LGBT. We need someone who will support Sports and cares about our kids. We don't need someone who hates our values. RECALL Daniel Hernandez TODAY."

No one has claimed credit for the flier. You can see it below the fold.

The flier has gained national attention. Daniel was on MSNBC Live this morning discussing the issue. The Pima County Democratic Party put out a media release. Now Grijalva, who graduated from the Sunnyside School District, has joined in.

Grijalva Calls for Joint Investigation of Attacks on Sunnyside School Board Member

Tucson, Ariz. – Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva will hold a press conference at 12:30PM Arizona time to discuss the recent aggression directed at Sunnyside School Board Member, Daniel Hernandez. The event is at The Historic Y located at 738 N. 5th Avenue in the conference room. In advance of the event, the Congressman released the following statement.

“As a proud graduate of Sunnyside School District, I find myself deeply offended and disgusted by the malicious attacks being directed at Mr. Hernandez. In public life, we all endure some baseless personal attacks but the trend to malign political figures based on race, gender, or sexual orientation is unfortunately becoming a norm of campaigning which has no place in our democratic process.

You can find Grijalva's entire media release, the Pima County Dem media release and the anti-gay flier below the fold.

Poverty, Hunger, Inequality, Violence: American Women Are Being Screwed

by Pamela Powers Hannley

It's time for a status update...

93 years after American women won the right to vote,

90 years after the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the US Constitution was proposed,

53 years after The Pill,

50 years after The Feminine Mystique awakened middle-class housewives from the slumber of the 1950s,

47 years after the creation of the National Organization for Women (NOW),

40 years after Roe v Wade legalized abortion in the US,

and 31 years after the ERA died because it fell short of state ratification by 3 state legislatures...

Where are we? Find out after the jump.

Grijalva discussing No Child Left Behind at the Loft Tuesday

by David Safier

Voices for Education is sponsoring a town hall with Raul Grijalva Tuesday, August 27, at 5:30pm at the Loft (3233 E. Speedway). It's free, of course.

Grijalva sits on the US House Education and Workforce committee and keeps a close watch on education issues.

No telling what the crowd will be, but if you want to assure yourself a seat, it's best to get there early.

Valdez: 'Let's roll House Speaker John Boehner'

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Arizona Republic's Linda Valdez joins the discharge petition movement today. Roll Boehner for immigration reform:

It’s called the discharge petition.

Under House rules, you need a majority of the 435 members to bring a measure directly to the floor. With 200 Democrats currently in the chamber, only a few Republicans are needed.

* * *

President Obama says he’s “absolutely certain” the Senate’s comprehensive immigration reform bill would pass the House if it came to the floor. Arizona Democratic Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick told The Arizona Republic editorial board this week, “It would pass.”

So let’s roll Republican House Speaker John Boehner.

If Kirkpatrick and president are wrong, and the Senate bill fails, we can start over in two years.

This might not be a complete disaster.

For one thing, the GOP will get the blame, and — as GOP Sen. Marco Rubio suggested — Obama can extend deferred deportation to the parents of the Dreamers. This will help Democrats in 2014 and anoint Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Rep. Matt Salmon on immigration reform - 'no citizenship for you!'

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

At least one editor of The Arizona Republic appears to be OK with the Republican National Committee (RNC) position of "no citizenship for you!" in immigration reform. The Republic editorials have previously been supportive of the "Gang of Eight" comprehensive immigration reform bill sponsored by Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake.

Joanna Allhands, writes Does Salmon have the right immigration answer?

It’s becoming increasingly clear that the immigration reforms most likely to pass the U.S. House won’t involve a path to citizenship for adults. Too many in the GOP simply won’t go for it.

But can reform still be meaningful without that piece?

U.S. Rep. Matt Salmon, one of the Republicans who remains against the path to citizenship, is pressing to grant undocumented adults a type of provisional status that they can renew every few years. It would allow them to get driver’s licenses and work here legally as long as they are employed and don’t break the law. But it would just be that: presence, not belonging.

When asked Wednesday during a meeting with The Republic‘s editorial board if such a status would create a second class of citizens, Salmon answered with a question: “Well, what are they now? … They’re not really anything.”

Offering legal presence, he said, at least moves the ball up the field.

Grijalva asks how well charter schools are serving ELL students

by David Safier

Raul Grijalva wants data on ELL students who are enrolled in charter schools. He and Rep. George Miller (D-Calif), the ranking member of the House Education and Workforce Committee, sent a letter to Ed Sec Arne Duncan asking for more information. saying that some charters aren't reporting the necessary student data to let the feds know whether they're meeting the needs of ELL students.

Public charter schools are required to report how many ELL students and students with disabilities attend their school to ensure that they aren’t turning children away or denying them services. Some Democrats have complained that some charter schools aren’t providing adequate educational services to students with special needs.

It's an important question. Most reports indicate that charters serve fewer ELL students than district schools. The same goes for special education students. You can give all kinds of reasons, like the difficulty of setting up specialized programs in small charter schools. But if the conservative "education reform" movement wants to make the inaccurate assertion that charters provide better education than school districts, they need to admit that charters have a selective enrollment which often skips over students who need more services -- which means more money -- than the average student.

UPDATED: Monthly Progressive Roundtables Give PDA Members a ‘Seat at the Table’ (video)

by Pamela Powers Hannley

UPDATE: This article was picked up by the national publication In These Times and by the Daily Kos Progressive Blog Round-up. Check out the In These Times version for more details: Knights of the Progressive Roundtable.

Deals are made, and bills are negotiated not only in the halls of Congress but in offices and meeting rooms around DC. Since December 2012, Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) has been conducting monthly, Educate Congress roundtable meetings with Congressional representatives and key staff.

With a give-and-take format, these meetings allow PDA representatives and allies to discuss proposed legislation and related progressive ideas and allow Congressional representatives and staffers to offer updates, insights, and strategies.

The Progressive Roundtables provide a forum to address a broad range of issues– from Wall Street gambling and hunger in America to voting rights, immigration, fracking, universal healthcare, the living wage, austerity, tax reform, mass incarceration, and more.

“One of the things I love about PDA is you stand up for ‘the little guy,’ and that’s what government’s all about,” Massachusetts Rep. Jim McGovern told the roundtable audience in July 2013. “Donald Trump doesn’t need us [Congress], but somebody who is unemployed or somebody who is working and making so little that they still qualify for SNAP [food stamps], they need us!” More roundtable details and videos after the jump.)

MoveOn Members Blast Blue Dogs Sinema & Kirkpatirck for Obamacare Vote (video)

MoveOn.org members have launched petitions against 14 Democrats– including Arizona’s Congresswomen Kyrsten Sinema and Ann Kirkpatrick– for siding with Republicans in their vote to delay implementation of the Affordable Care Act from 2014 to 2015.

According to The Hill, these members were targeted with MoveOn.org petitions: Reps. Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.) Scott Peters (D-Calif.), Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), Julia Brownley (D-Calif.), Sean Maloney (D-N.Y.), Elizabeth Esty (D-Conn.), Dan Maffei (D-N.Y.), Ann Kirkpatrick (D-Ariz.), Bill Enyart (D-Ill.), Bill Owens (D-N.Y.), Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.) and Collin Peterson (D-Minn.).

Video and more background after the jump.

NRCC's 'pants on fire' - the $700 billion lie that will not die returns

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The GOPropaganda machine is shameless. No matter how many times the lie has been debunked and refuted, they continue with their Big Lie because propagandists know that if you repeat it often enough, there are enough ignorant dumbasses out there who are going to believe it is true because they heard it somewhere.

The GOPropaganda machine is going to try for the third consecutive election cycle in a row to recycle the $700 billion lie that will not die (up fro $500 billion in 2010). See, (Updated) Fact Check: Romney-Ryan 'pants on fire' - the $700 billion lie that will not die.

Though Republicans opposed the creation of Medicare in 1965, sought deep cuts to ensure that it “wither on the vine” in 1990s, and now support a dramatic restructuring (vouchers) that would substantially privatize Medicare, the National Republican Congressional Committee is out today with ads criticizing Democrats for cutting $716 billion from the program -- the lie that will not die returns. Politicians Celebrate Medicare’s 48th Anniversary With Attack Ads:

Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick’s (D-AZ) “vote against the Republican balanced budget isn’t the only vote that hurt Medicare recipients,” says an NRCC release first published in Politico’s Morning Score. “Kirkpatrick has also opposed fully repealing ObamaCare, which gutted Medicare by $716 billion.” Similar ads will target Reps. Ron Barber (D-AZ), Scott Peters (D-CA), Patrick Murphy (D-FL), Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH) and others.

Sen. John McCain calls for review of Arizona's 'stand your ground' law

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Careful, Johnny. Arizona's "Ms. NRA," Governor Jan Brewer, will be sticking her boney finger in your face next like she did to President Obama. Brewer: Fla. case doesn't change her mind on 'stand your ground'.

Appearing on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, Sen. John McCain joined President Barack Obama's call to review so-called "Stand Your Ground" laws in the aftermath of the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the 2012 shooting of black teen Trayvon Martin. NBC reports, McCain joins Obama in calling for review of 'Stand Your Ground' laws:

Sen. John McCain, Ariz., a prominent Republican who's been known to break ranks with fellow members of the GOP at times, urged state legislatures to review Stand Your Ground laws in the wake of the Zimmerman trial, which became a national flashpoint for race relations in America.

"I can also see that Stand Your Ground laws may be something that needs to be reviewed by the Florida legislature or any other legislature that has passed such legislation," McCain said on CNN.

Asked whether his home state legislature should consider revising its own similar law, McCain said yes. 

"I think that, yes, I do, and I'm confident that the members of the Arizona legislature will because it is a very controversial legislation," he said.

Arizona GOP all-in on 'states' rights' voter suppression

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Well isn't this special. Governor Jan Brewer, who supported the U.S. Supreme Court striking down the preclearance provisions of the Voting Rights Act in Shelby County v. Holder, nevertheless is still smarting from that same court striking down Arizona's Prop. 200 proof of citizenship requirement to register to vote in Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Arizona.

While it is a certainty that Governor Brewer does not support amendments to the Voting Rights Act which would reinvigorate its preclearance provisions, she does support an amendment to federal law to require proof of citizenship to register to vote for all Americans, not just Arizonans. Arizona's GOP voter suppression knows no limits. Brewer backs Salmon’s voter-ID bill:

Gov. Jan Brewer wants Congress to allow states to require citizenship documents from all prospective voters before they can cast a ballot.

Brewer sent a letter Wednesday to U.S. Rep. Matt Salmon, R-Ariz., expressing support for a bill the Mesa congressman introduced in response to a recent Supreme Court decision on the issue. The court ruled Arizona could demand proof of citizenship from would-be voters only when they register using state registration forms, not federal ones.

“The responsibility of state and local governments to protect the integrity of the voting process is essential to maintaining the democratic process and protecting the freedom and power of every citizens’ vote,” Brewer wrote. “I commend your efforts to improve federal law so that only United States citizens are voting. ... As a Governor, I particularly appreciate the respect for states’ rights inherent in this legislation.”

PDA Street Heat: Robin Hood Ready

Don't forget the Prosperity Not Austerity Rally at Raul's today.

10:30-12 noon, 738 N. 5th Ave.

Brings signs.

We will thank Congressman Raul Grijalva for his progressive leadership while promoting the Robin Hood Tax, jobs, and universal healthcare. More background here.

We'll also celebrate the 48th birthday of Medicare with cupcakes and "Happy Birthday."

PDA Street Heat: Prosperity Not Austerity Rally at Raul's

by Pamela Powers Hannley

Progressives in Congress and across the country are fighting the tide of right wing extremism on multiple fronts-- from food stamps to cuts in Social Security to stalled immigration reform to anti-woman legislation to austerity for the middle class, while the wealthy live high on the hog.

Congressman Raul Grijalva has been at the forefront of the progressive movement in Congress. As another budget battle heats up in the House of Representatives, Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) want to thank our stalwarts like Grijalva, and at the same time want to celebrate Medicare's 48th birthday.

This rally at Grijalva's office  is part of a nationwide action at multiple Congressional offices by PDA and National Nurses United (NNU). The event is 10:30 a.m.-12 noon at the old YWCA (738 N. 5th Ave.)

At some locations-- like Congressman Ron Barber's-- PDA members will do letter drops urging Congressional representatives to support certain bills or issues. This month the focus is on prosperity vs austerity, Medicare expansion, jobs, and progressive financial legislation like the Robin Hood Tax. (More details below.) At Grijalva's office and others, there will be street heat rallies, as there were last month when PDA members were protesting cuts to food stamps nationwide and helped stop the Farm Bill.

Details are still being formulated; so, watch this blog and the PDA Tucson Facebook page for updates. Details after the jump.

Boehner & the White Man’s Party Prepare to Kill Immigration Reform

by Pamela Powers Hannley

Knuckle-dragging Republicans in the US House of Representatives have said that they will NOT– that is NOT with capital letters– pass an immigration “reform” bill that includes a path to citizenship for 12 million immigrants living in the US.

After all, the Republican Party’s corporate masters are making big bucks exploiting and imprisoning undocumented workers; I guess their motto is: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” For big business, immigration ain’t broke (except that they would like easier access to  cheap, skilled labor from India).

The US Senate’s much-celebrated bill did have a path to citizen (plus lots of other stuff the Democrats agreed to in order to get a handful of Republicans to vote for it.)

In the spirit of full disclosure, I didn’t like the US Senate’s version of Immigration Reform for multiple reasons. Read them and more about the White Man's Party after the jump.

John Nichols: US Needs 3 Constitutional Amendments to Save Our Democracy (video)

by Pamela Powers Hannley

One hundred years ago, at the dawn of the last American Progressive Era, the United States was a very different place– a place of inequality, discrimination, and wealth disparity, author and historian John Nichols told a gathering of Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) in June.

Although slavery had been abolished in 1865 (#13), the rights of citizens were established in 1868 (#14), and the right to vote for all men was established in 1870 (#15), the majority of Americans could not vote.

At the turn of the last century, women and adults 18-21 years of age were barred from voting, and because of racist, state-level machinations and poll taxes, many African Americans and poor Americans of any color also were kept from voting. In addition, citizens didn’t have representation in the US Senate, since Senators were chosen by robber barons in back room deals (not elected by the people).

This sounds all too familiar, doesn’t it? Are Republicans trying to take our country back to 1900? Consider these current scenarios:

• The passage of voter suppression laws in Arizona and at the state level nationwide,
• Today’s supreme court decision striking down the formula that guides the Voting Rights Act of 1965,
• Ownership of the US Senate, the House of Representatives, and most state legislatures by the military-industrial complex and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC),
• The ongoing war on women and minorities.

The energy and activism of the Progressive Era (1900-1929) brought many positive changes and new Constitutional Amendments; it’s up to those of us in the New Progressive Movementto fight back against new regressive and discriminatory laws to save our country. 

Videos and details after the jump.

How Progressives Stopped the Farm Bill

by Pamela Powers Hannley

When Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) rallied its membership and asked them to take to the streets, their computers, and their telephones to oppose food stamp cuts in the farm bill, stopping the multi-year, behemoth looked bleak.

Both versions of the bill had cuts to food stamps and school lunches; the House of Representatives version, which was defeated on Thursday, had $20 billion in cuts to food stamps + increased subsidies to agribusiness, and the Senate version has $4 billion in cuts. This is immoral– feeding the military industrial complex but not the children.

PDA mobilized nationally to stop this– hundreds of letter drops at Congressional offices around the country and in Washington DC, thousands of phone calls and e-mails to Congressional representatives. And it worked– for now. Details of the mobilization after the jump.

Breaking News: Farm Bill Defeated 234-195, AZ Dems Split

by Pamela Powers Hannley

The Farm Bill-- which included $20 Billion in cuts to food stamps-- went down in flames in the US House of Representatives this morning. The vote was 234-195, with 62 Republicans voting "no", and 24 Democrats voting for it, according to the Huffington Post.

The roll call vote (after the jump) reveals that Arizona Congressional Democraic Representatives Ron Barber and Kyrsten Sinema voted "yes" (with the Republicans), while Representatives Ann Kirkpatirck, Raul Grijalva, and Ed Pastor voted "no". (On the Arizona Republican side, Paul Gosar voted the party line, while Matt Salmon, Trent Franks, and David Schweikert voted "no".)

More details and the roll call after the jump.

Street Heat: Progressives Protest Against Food Stamp Cuts Nationwide

by Pamela Powers Hannley

For weeks, Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) has been turning up the heat on Congressional Democrats in an effort to stop the proposed $20 billion in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, AKA food stamps).

On Monday, June 17, PDA members nationwide protested athigh-profile Congressional officesfrom California to Florida to Illinois to Massachusetts.  (At right is the PDA protest outside of Congressman Henry Waxman's office. PDA Advisory Board Chair Mimi Kennedy is in the middle Other photos here.) PDA activists demonstrated at the offices of influential members of Congress, like Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman-Schultz. Here is the list:

• Rep Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader, CA-12: (415) 556-4862
• Rep Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, DNC Chair, FL-23 954-437-3936
• Rep Steny Hoyer, House Minority Whip, MD-05 (301) 474-0119
• Rep Henry Waxman CA-33 310-652-3095
• Rep Richard Neal, MA-05 (413) 785-0325

On Wednesday, June 19, PDA members visited the offices of more than 200 members of Congress and urged them to vote against the food stamp cuts. In Arizona,PDA activists delivered letters to the offices of Ron Barber, Ann Kirkpatrick, and Kyrsten Sinema.

Read the letter delivered to Congressional offices after the jump.

Obama Opposes Food Stamp Cuts, Threatens Veto of Farm Bill

by Pamela Powers Hannley

President Barack Obama has issued an official statement saying that he opposes the current form of HR1947, the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013 (AKA the Farm Bill).

Specifically, he opposes the deep cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program(SNAP– food stamps) and the spending increases in the form of subsidies. Cutting food subsidies (in the form of food stamps) to the poor while increasing subsidies to agribusiness is immoral. (You’ll remember that, in public, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives is all “we gotta tighten out belts and reduce spending”, but in reality, they love spending money on pet projects– like war and corporate welfare. They passed the $640 Billion Pentagon Pork Bill last week. )

Will Obama’s statement and threatened veto give weak-kneed Blue Dog Democratsthe back-up to stand up for what’s right? I hope so. (The House of Representatives is still working on this bill; there is still time to call your representative and urge him/her topreserve funding for food stamps.) Read the President's full statement after the jump.

Senator 'complete the danged fence' just voted against it

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Senator John McCain is a chameleon who changes his positions to the ever-changing political landscape. His only principle and conviction is his own political survival.

Senator "comprehensive immigration reform" in 2007 said he would vote against his own bill when he ran for president in 2008. By 2010 when he ran for reelection to the U.S. Senate, he was Senator "just complete the danged fence" (video below the fold).

Today, McCain just voted against himself from 2010. Senate rejects Thune amendment requiring 350 miles of border fencing:

[A]n amendment from Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) would have prevented the government from granting provisional immigrant status until the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has built 350 miles of Southern border fencing. Another 350 miles of fencing would have to be constructed before those with provisional legal status could apply for a green card.

Thune's amendment needed 60 votes to pass. Republican Gang of Eight Sens. Lindsey Graham (S.C.), John McCain (Ariz.), Marco Rubio (Fla.) and Jeff Flake (Ariz.) voted against the border fence amendment, while Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Mark Pryor (Ark.) voted for it.

The Senate voted 39-54 on Tuesday to reject the Thune amendment.

Sinema Touts Bipartisanship: Is It Really a Good Strategy for Democrats? (video)

by Pamela Powers Hannley

Bipartisanship is a popular buzz word in some political circles. Republicans use the call for “bipartisan solutions” to strong-arm Democrats into voting for bad ideas (like increased militarization and drone surveillance on the border in exchange for a long and complicated path to citizenship).

Democrats tout the quest for bipartisanship as code for “I’m a Democrat who votes with Republicans when it’s politically expedient.”

When the vast majority of American voters want higher taxes on the 1%, universal background checks, bans on assault weapons, immigration reform, a higher minimum wage, good jobs, relief from crushing student and credit card debt, safe roads and bridges, regulatory controls on Wall Street, safe guards on Social Security, legalization of marijuana, and the right to vote, Congress devolves into inaction and gamesmanship.

When real action is needed, but no action is taken, the “bipartisan solutions” rallying cry is revealed as a sham. The threatened filibuster that stopped the universal background check bill is the quintessential example of something that 90% of Americans wanted, but 40 men stopped.

Is bipartisanship a good strategy or just a trap to get Democrats to “punt on the first down”? More details and the video after the jump.

Can You Live on $4.50/day? 20 Congressional Leaders, Staff Join Food Stamp Challenge

by Pamela Powers Hannley

Could you live on a $4.50/day food stamp allotment?

Rep. Jim McGovern, who has been leading the charge to stop billions of dollars of cuts to the food stamp program (SNAP), will begin a food stamp challenge tomorrow, June 13, to draw attention to the plight of the poor and hungry in America. Twenty Congressional leaders, staffers, and supporters have joined the challenge to live on $4.50/day for  one week.  Here is information from McGovern's website.

Starting on June 13th, 2013, I will be joining over 20 of my Congressional colleagues, staffers and Massachusetts Secretary of Health and Human Services John Polanowicz for the 2013 National Food Stamp Challenge.

I will live on $4.50 a day for food for a week to bring attention to hunger and the $20 billion in cuts SNAP millions of Americans are facing. This is a conversation we need to have, and I hope this Challenge will help us continue the dialogue. Stay tuned to this page for updates from many of the participants!

And for more on my ongoing efforts to bring attention to hunger on the House floor, visit my #EndHungerNow page.

McGovern has given a series of speeches on ending hunger in America. Watch them here. Fifty million Americans are living with food insecurity. Now is not the time to cut billions from food stamps-- while adding billions to the Pentagon budget.

A list of Congressional Representatives taking the National Food Stamp Challenage is after the jump.