Blogs

Specter NRA Ad

Kevin Shaw's blog
Login or register to post comments

Vote Early, Vote OFTEN...Like, now!

If you are a DFA member, you should have received a message yesterday from Michael Langenmayr at DFA's Burlington HQ inviting you to vote in DFA's straw poll on this year's two major statewide races.

DFA does a lot of work both in front of and behind the scenes to support candidates that their membership identifies as important to them. Don't miss this opportunity to weigh in on who those candidates will be in PA and help ensure DFA's national influence benefits candidates in our state.

WHO SHOULD DFA SUPPORT? CLICK HERE TO VOTE NOW

While you are certainly free to support any candidate in the US Senate and Gubernatorial races in the poll, MontcoDFA has formally endorsed Joe Sestak and Joe Hoeffel in their respective races and we would encourage you to support them. Both candidates offer real alternatives to the usual crowd of PA politicians and are rapidly gaining ground against their opponents as they campaign across the Commonwealth. The theory that neither could prevail against the established Democratic machine is rapidly being disproved. That's because voters like you see in them the honesty, sincerity, pragmatic approach to the issues, and dedication to public service that we, as progressives, demand in our public servants. Both have refused to mount sound-bite, name-calling campaigns and are really talking about issues important to Pennsylvanians.

So please take a minute to weigh in on who you want to see as our next US Senator and Governor.

CLICK TO CAST YOUR VOTE NOW!

Onorato Campaign Comes Unhinged

Or was it unhinged to begin with?

If you missed all the drama of the last couple of days, you've missed a clumsy, ill-considered attempt by Dan Onorato to bump Joe Hoeffel form the ballot. Mere minutes before time expired to challenge ballot petitions, Onorato's campaign filed to challenge Hoeffel's petitions. But then, the very next day, the challenges were withdrawn.

The Onorato campaign's reason:

A person familiar with the Onorato campaign told PoliticsPA the challenge was withdrawn after Hoeffel failed to try and knock Williams, from Philadelphia, off the ballot. Onorato, from western Pennsylvania, would seem to have a better chance at winning the Democratic nomination against two southeastern candidates, who would split the region’s vote, instead of just one.

I haven't seen a more cynical, calculated, politically motivated strategy since Dick Cheney changed his registration from Texas to Wyoming in 2000 to circumvent a Constitutional requirement that the POTUS and VPOTUS be from different states. Does Joe Hoeffel have good reasons to try to bump Tony "Throw the parents in jail for the sins of their children" Williams off the ballot? Sure. There's a lot of loyalty in the Philly Democratic machine. Heck, he's only there because the state Dem machine, and Bob Brady in particular, is afraid of Joe. I mean, there's power and influence at stake here! And, corporatists of both parties will do whatever they deem necessary to hold on to it to the exclusion of the voters.

But, while Joe took the high road, the Onorato campaign showed themselves as the depraved professional political classists we've come to expect in PA politics and they presumed Joe was the same. Thank goodness they were wrong.

Lead, Follow, or Get Out of the Way

Republican roadblock I'm sure it's merely coincidence, but shortly after the passage of the Jobs Bill by the Senate today, the DowJones spiked forty points. Or is it? Maybe one of the most deleterious effects of all the Republican stonewalling of the last year is on the economic front. They would like to think that they are making life difficult for Obama and the Democrats, but the rest of us are suffering, too.

After all, we're talking about health benefit reform, fianancial system reform, tax incentives for hiring, investing in the Green economy, and more; all subjects that have enormous impacts on businesses and their planning for the near future. So if you are a business, what are you going to do? You'll wait and see what comes out all these discussions. Unfortunately, this "wait and see" attitude slows down the economy, making it harder for regular people to find jobs, rearrange their retirement funds, and plan their own futures, which just exacerbates the situation.

I hope the electorate will remember this when the Roadblock Republicans come around in the Fall, asking for votes and trying to convince people that it is the Democrats are who are making their futures appear bleak.

MCDC Endorsement Convention

Submitted by Lee Nelson on March 12, 2010 - 1:46pm

Health Care

Last night the Montgomery County Democratic Committee held its endorsement convention. Although many people were most concerned about the senatorial endorsement, I was eager to see what the results would be for the race in the 6th Congressional District or more specifically how Dr. Manan Trivedi would fare, who was the candidate for whom I was rooting. There are so many reasons I like Manan. He’s a progressive without ambiguity, a physician, Iraq War veteran, healthcare advisor during the run up to Obama’s election, and he’s a grassroots believer. Since Manan was still in the navy, he had to enter the race months later than his opponent. He also didn’t have the personal wealth of the other guy. Thus, the other guy had advantages that Manan didn’t enjoy.

The vote was taken by secret ballot, and it took some time to count the votes. I was on the edge of my seat waiting. Frankly, I was hoping that Manan would at least have a decent showing – something that wasn’t an embarrassment. Finally, the results were announced. Manan won over 70% of the vote. A blowout!

Beverly Hahn

Lee Nelson's blog
Login or register to post comments

Freedom Obviously Means Something Different to Republicans

When they talk about Freedom®, Senate Republicans must have a different meaning than the rest of us. It seems Freedom® to them means the ability of selected corporations to be free of the laws that govern the rest of us. It certainly doesn't mean the freedom of association as guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution. To wit:

This week, Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) slammed the brakes on a Senate bill reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), objecting to a change in the House version of the bill that fixes an inequity in labor law that makes it more difficult for truck drivers at Memphis-based Federal Express to unionize than drivers at other shipping companies. Fellow Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander (R) applauded Corker's effort, pledging to "use every right or privilege I have as a senator to make sure that in the end of the process, the legislation does not include the unfair provisions singling out FedEx that's in the House bill." The senators' effort to prevent what they call an "unfair" provision singling out FedEx labor workers is itself a contradiction because, as Jim Berard, a spokesman for House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Jim Oberstar (D-MN) noted, the House language seeks to "treat people who have the same type of job equally under federal labor laws." FedEx has successfully lobbied for years to remain classified as an airline subject to Railway Labor Act (RLA), a law that is technically supposed to apply only to airlines and railroad companies and stipulates that workers can't form local unions. CEO Fred Smith -- "who raised more than $100,000 for 2008 Republican presidential nominee John McCain and was George W. Bush's fraternity brother" -- defends this exception, adding, "I don't intend to recognize any unions at Federal Express." The language that Corker objects to would bring FedEx under the National Labor Relations Act like other shipping companies, such as UPS. Corker announced Wednesday that he will release his hold on the bill after receiving assurances from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) that the FedEx provisions would not appear in the Senate bill. - CAP's Progress Report

It would seem that to their minds, the greatest threat to Freedom® is a group of workers standing together for their family's economic security and their rights as Americans. Canada is looking better all the time.