30 Seconds For Health Care Reform: Call Your Congresscritter

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Friday January 22, 2010 · 10:54 AM PST

2010/01/22 · 10:54

I'm one of those people who hates asking anyone for anything. But today I'm going to break down and ask for 30 seconds of your time. What do I want you to do in those 30 seconds?

I want you to call your member of the House of Representatives and tell them to support the Senate health care reform bill, combined with a reconciliation bill to iron out differences between the House and the Senate.

If you do not know who your Congresscritter is, simply go to http://www.house.gov and type your zip code into the box in the upper left hand corner.

I did just that this morning and from beginning to end, it took less than 30 seconds. The staffer on the other end of the line in Congressman Mike Doyle's office was courteous and helpful, and the whole thing was painless-even for a non phone person like me.

displacedyankeedemocrat

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Thursday April 16, 2009 · 9:36 AM PDT

2009/04/16 · 09:36

I've always wanted to go hard after a white Southern suburban district in one of the three Southern megalopolises (Atlanta, Dallas/Ft. Worth, and Houston). To win a Southern district, conventional wisdom is that as a starting point the GOP Presidential candidate has to have gotten less than 55% in said district, and the most tempting two are in Texas, where there are at least two intriguing possibilities. There's the 10th District (Houston to Austin) and a DFW metroplex district, the 32nd. Lets take a look at both.

displacedyankeedemocrat

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Monday April 13, 2009 · 6:31 PM PDT

2009/04/13 · 18:31

I've spent the past couple days looking at various redistricting diaries and seeing where we might be looking at new plurality or VRA protected minority majority districts. The consensus seems to be that we will see a new one in the DFW Metroplex, possibly another in Houston's Harris County, and possibly a second VRA opportunity seat in South Carolina. Though I don't discuss it, there is also some chance at another VRA seat in Arizona, though I think its less likely with Arizona already having two VRA hispanic districts (the 4th and 7th). The most remote possibility is a different TX-34, which would be an Austin to San Antonio creature (I'm told this was entertained in the past). Anyways, commentary is welcomed.

displacedyankeedemocrat

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Tuesday September 23, 2008 · 3:04 PM PDT

2008/09/23 · 15:04

It's become clear to me that this bailout, is at best, being horrifyingly rushed with far too little transparency in the same manner that W was trying to push through his Social Security privatization bid. That effort failed largely because Democrats stuck together and said no. That's what we need to do again.

One of the breakthroughs made during the Social Security fight was a sort of public whipping campaign run out of Talking Points Memo, which was an effective tool to push wavering Dems to do the right thing, and just say no.

With that in mind, I propose an open source whip count (with links to news articles if at all possible) that helps us track and pressure those who want to cave to Paulson and Bush. Thus, with that in mind, let me get the ball rolling:

South Carolina
Sen. Jim DeMint-against (even a stopped watch is apparently right twice a day)
Sen. Lindsey Graham-leaning towards some sort of bailout
Rep. Bob Inglis-no comment as of yet

displacedyankeedemocrat

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Monday September 08, 2008 · 5:53 PM PDT

2008/09/08 · 17:53

I've got a question for Governor Palin.

More accurately, President Jed Bartlett has one. (You West Wing fanatics will know where I'm going with this.)

Anyway, below the fold is the question Joe Biden should pose for Sarah Palin in the Veep debate to highlight her hypocrisy on the earmark/small government issue. It's perfect!

Poll

132 votes Show Results

How would Sarah Palin answer this question?

132 votes Vote Now!

How would Sarah Palin answer this question?

Cry sexism

56 votes

Answer that earmarks are ok, but only for small towns and Alaskans

21 votes

Ignore it

54 votes

What's For Dinner?-Tsunami Tuesday Night Edition

displacedyankeedemocrat

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Tuesday February 05, 2008 · 3:49 PM PST

2008/02/05 · 15:49

Thought a non political discussion might do some good while we wait for results.

Here at my household, dinner is something known simply as "The Casserole". Its a mutation of a breakfast bake, which I've Italianized:

"The Casserole"

Ingredients
4 Links of Italian Sausage
1 Bag of Croutons
1 Can of Cream of Whatever You Want (I use chicken)
4 eggs
2.5 cups of milk
1.5 cups of shredded mozzarella
3 pinches of granulated garlic
a few shakes of salt and pepper

displacedyankeedemocrat

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Thursday January 24, 2008 · 6:26 PM PST

2008/01/24 · 18:26

Most of these have a common thread, that the Clintons will when convenient, put themselves first, and the party second. The Clintons embraced some decidedly less than progressive policies, employed as their chief political advisor a Jesse Helms confidant, and failed to work well with Democrats in Congress.

NAFTA: Let me begin by saying that I grew up in a steel town just outside of Pittsburgh. That part of the country has yet to see the fruits of the promise that "NAFTA meant jobs". We, along with Ohio, Michigan (both of which voted for Bill Clinton, twice), and much of the rest of the industrial Midwest are still waiting 15 years on. My problems with NAFTA run deeper than my regional roots, though. To put it bluntly, in my opinion, it was an issue where the Clintons decided it was in their own self interest to throw a huge chunk of the base under the bus and side with big business and the GOP. All that labor got in exchange as a lousy consolation prize is a pair of side agreements that have turned out to mean very little in the long run. Democrats voted against NAFTA by a 3-2 margin while the GOP supported it by a 3-1 margin. I'm pretty sure I want a President who's willing to stand with his friends, not help his enemies.

displacedyankeedemocrat

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Wednesday January 23, 2008 · 6:33 PM PST

2008/01/23 · 18:33

Let me just say that the events of the last two days has the feeling of Ohio last cycle (and that was a beautiful sight). There, scandal, bad governance, and the national mood combined to decimate the once vaunted Ohio GOP machine. The only difference is that where that took months, this has been an absolute fall from grace relatively rapidly. Yeah Blunt sucked, but before the damage seemed relatively contained to Blunt himself. From what I'm hearing, this sounds like a scandal big enough to cause statewide/ticketwide damage.

In retrospect, Chris Koster's defection wasn't an isolated event; rather he was smart enough to know that the negative synergies of Bush Republicanism combined with Blunt Republicanism created an electoral black hole, sucking everything with a R next to its name down it.

displacedyankeedemocrat

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Thursday January 17, 2008 · 4:35 PM PST

2008/01/17 · 16:35

Now, we all know that the GOP's 2008 field has been, well, lets be generous...underwhelming. You must be thinking that they seriously can't do much worse. Just wait until you see their theoretical '12 talent pool...actually its a puddle.

Looking at all sitting Governors and Senators, I came up with a total of nine possible names, one of which is probably too old (Lamar Alexander), another two to three who are probably too obscure (Hoeven, Rounds, and Heineman). Of the remaining 5, there are only two who have something resembling a shot in my mind. So realistically, here's their 2012 list, in all of its shakiness; the reasonings behind it are post jump.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty (MN)

Sen. John Thune (SD)

----giant fall off here------

Gov. Haley Barbour (MS)

Gov. Mark Sanford (SC)

----even bigger fall off here------

Sen. Richard Burr (NC)

Sen. Lamar Alexander (TN)

Gov. Dave Heineman (NE)

8/9. John Hoeven/Mike Rounds (The Dakotas)

displacedyankeedemocrat

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Tuesday January 15, 2008 · 5:44 PM PST

2008/01/15 · 17:44

It's up on their website. This is a big get for Obama, as the LVRJ is the biggest newspaper in the state.

Review-Journal to recommend Obama

In Wednesday's Review-Journal, the editorial board recommends Democrats in the Saturday caucuses support the candidacy of Sen. Barack Obama. The board notes he is the most viable of the remaining candidates for the party.

With the endorsement of the Culinary Workers and SEIU Nevada, things are looking like they're gonna be mighty interesting this weekend.

Why CA Congressman George Miller's Obama Endorsement Is Big

displacedyankeedemocrat

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Thursday January 10, 2008 · 5:09 PM PST

2008/01/10 · 17:09

While John Kerry's endorsement of Barack Obama has drawn the lion's share of the attention today, the endorsement of California Congressman George Miller may be just as (if not more important) than Kerry's endorsement.

Now, you're probably wondering why Miller, the Chair of the House Health, Education and Labor Committee, is such a big get for Obama, right? While he's certainly no backbencher, he's also not exactly a nationally recognized figure either.

However, Miller is, for all intents and purposes, Speaker Nancy Pelosi's top lieutenant and confidant in the Congress. According to Chuck Todd, NBC's political coverage director:

This is perhaps the closest thing to getting a Nancy Pelosi endorsement as you can come without actually getting it. Miller is incredibly close with her politically. He wouldn't be doing this without her consent of sorts.

displacedyankeedemocrat

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Sunday January 06, 2008 · 7:58 PM PST

2008/01/06 · 19:58

The mere few days that serve as the gap between Iowa and New Hampshire are just too few to even have a chance of letting the Obama euphoria wear off and for her to build herself up again. Michael Whouley, HRC's chief ground guy is very, very good-but I still think the calendar puts it out of reach for her. So lets make the big assumption that Obama wins New Hampshire on Tuesday (by any margin).

The race then shifts, for all practical purposes, down to South Carolina (yes I know there's Michigan and Nevada but neither have much gotten the media's attention), which is a lousy state for her now that Barack has broken through. HRC was depending on strong support in the African-American community and that has probably disappeared with Iowa. If Obama wins NH, then he should romp through SC and into Florida with a lot of momentum. I'm not saying that Obama has FL in the bag then, but if I'm Hill, I know that I've only probably got one last shot, and I'd want to fight the battle on the ground that I choose.

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