Month: March 2012

Meet “Democrat” Jason Hodge: a case study for involvement in local Democratic politics

by David Atkins

I’ve been dismissively accused in various progressive quarters of being a “Democratic Party operative” because I’m vice chair of a local county central committee and serve as one of a few hundred members of the California state executive board. Those making the accusation usually do so to imply that I’m somehow an agent underhandedly using my blogging to enforce the party line–thereby not only severely underestimating my own ethics and personal politics, but more amusingly vastly overestimating the degree of organization in the Party. Insofar as most in the Party have an opinion of me at all, it’s as an Administration critic and troublemaker, which certainly differs from the sinister imaginings of some in the blogosphere. Certain stripes of progressives tend to think of the political parties as mafioso organizations wielding unspeakable control, when the reality is that anyone has been involved in local county committee politics knows that even trying to hold a meeting together to agree on a basic agenda can be a tedious effort in itself. Democratic politics is more like desperately herding cats than like being part of a tightly run ship.

When I first started posting here I offered a general rationale for being involved in the Dem Party. But today I want to offer a more specific one. It’s this:

Meet Jason Hodge, conservative Democrat, harbor commissioner and candidate for California’s 19th Senate District. If you click that website link, you’ll see quotes like this:

“We need a government that protects farmland and gets out of the way of innovators, discoverers, creators and small businesses.”

Yeah. That kind of “Democrat.” He happens to be married to powerful Speaker Pro Tem of the California Assembly Fiona Ma, which is the only reason he’s taken seriously for the Senate District 19 race, which was recently redistricted and is now likely to be taken by a Democrat after being in Tony Strickland’s Republican hands. Strickland defeated progressive champion Hannah-Beth Jackson four years ago by less than 900 votes in a much tougher district. Now Hannah-Beth is running again and is likely to win, but Fiona and her husband are leveraging a great deal of pressure on his behalf.

One piece of that pressure (though Hodge denies it, it’s been an open secret) included trying to get Governor Brown to appoint likely Republican opponent Mike Stoker to a state position in order to clear the way for Hodge to run against Hannah-Beth all the way through November in California’s new open primary. That effort seems to have failed, though not for lack of trying:

He said the ramped-up efforts to secure the appointment were driven by “PACs and the third house” in Sacramento, referring to lobbyists representing business interests.

Their logic went like this: They believe the district is safely Democratic, and they further believe that Hodge would be more sympathetic to their interests than would Jackson. Getting Stoker appointed to the Air Board would have been a win-win for business interests because they would have gained a friendly member of the board and it would have cleared the way for them to openly back Hodge in the primary because there would have been no serious Republican opposition, or perhaps none at all.

Stoker said the reason he had said for the last several months that he was “99 percent certain” to run for the Senate is that “there was one thing that could have trumped that. I said all along that if I could be on CARB, I would be in a better position to make a difference.”

He said he believes it is important that agriculture have a stronger voice on the Air Board, and that he could have provided that voice.

High-placed sources in the Capitol tell me that the appointment proposal was actively being considered two weeks ago but that it was ultimately squelched by officials in Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration.

Had it gone through, the political result would have been to advantage Hodge. Because he has positioned himself as more moderate than Jackson and because the business community has generally found his wife, Assembly Speaker Pro Tem Fiona Ma, to be a Democrat they can work with, business interests were looking for a way to boost Hodge’s chances. They believed that by removing Stoker from the field Hodge would be much better positioned in the primary because he would have had the opportunity to attract some Republican votes.

Four years ago before the arrival of myself and my allies on the local county committee, there was no endorsement process or field infrastructure of note in the Ventura County Democratic Party. After fighting tooth and nail against the opposition of certain labor interests who feared competition against their own more conservative choices of endorsements, there now is just such an infrastructure. Some labor folks have been pretty much at war with most of the leadership of both the Ventura and Santa Barbara Democratic Parties for the last few years now, myself included.

Those same interests moved mountain and earth to support “Democrat” Jason Hodge over Hannah-Beth Jackson, and to limit progressive influence in Ventura County. That included attempting to unscrupulously game the endorsement process on behalf of Hodge against the local grassroots, an effort which took a great deal of time and energy to derail.

As of today, that now includes fielding full slates–unprecedented in Ventura Democratic politics so far as I know–to run against me and my allies to dislodge us from the county committee elected positions. Some of those who are running against us include folks who were previously kicked off long ago for endorsing Republicans, folks who worked with local Tea Party members to oppose local progressive positions, and various others in that general line. And they will be using their considerable resources to do whatever it takes to defeat me and my allies in June, in order prevent the local Party from doing what is needed to win races for progressive Democrats across the county.

So while I volunteer as much of my time as I can afford to fighting the good fight online when it comes to national politics, I’m even more invested in stopping conservatives both within and outside of the party infrastructure at a local level. And the 19 Senate District is but one of a large number of local races with similar sorts of battles that need support for good progressive candidates.

This is what I do at a local level; and while it may disappoint the conspiracy mavens who imagine dark plots by the “Establishment” against the blogosphere, most of my involvement generally involves taking on some very powerful people very aggressively in a way that far from expanding my own personal power and connections, rather makes me a lightning rod for controversy. Speaker of the Assembly John Perez has, after all, endorsed Mr. Hodge because of his close relationship with his Pro Tem Fiona Ma. Fighting on Hannah-Beth’s behalf is hardly a career boost.

But that’s precisely why I do it–because I believe in progressive principles, and because I’ll crawl over broken glass and sacrifice my own reputation, devoting hundreds of unpaid hours to stop people like Jason Hodge from sinking their claws into office and expanding their conservative power base, rotting the Democratic Party from the inside.

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Getting ready to wake the monster

by digby

Steny and the Miscreants are getting the band back together:

Under fire from progressives for working with Republicans on legislation that would likely cut entitlements and raise taxes, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer told reporters Thursday he thinks there’s an imperative to address long-run budget deficits rationally, before the end of the election, in a way that doesn’t end the explicit guarantees of key government programs.

In a roundtable with reporters in his Capitol office, Hoyer said the group’s still a long way from achieving broad consensus, but sought to reassure critics, constituents and other observers that he opposes the GOP’s radical entitlement proposals.

“I want to emphasize, because I get beat up on, I’m for the Medicare guarantee, I’m not for a Paul Ryan alternative that eliminates the guarantee,” he said. “[Some claim] I’ve said we ought to raise the age. I haven’t said that. What I’ve said is I think everything ought to be on the table.”

Hoyer has noted that a bill devised among a coalition of Republicans and Democrats will be superior to automatic spending cuts set to take effect on Jan. 1 — the result of the Super Committee’s failure late last year. He hopes his current efforts will at least help lay the groundwork for swapping out those cuts — to both national security, Medicare providers and other domestic programs — with a more reasonable mix of tax revenues and spending reductions.

Trust him? No, I didn’t think so.

The deficit monster isn’t dead, he’s only sleeping. And his caretakers are getting ready to throw cold water in his face right after the election. We’ve seen this horror movie before.

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Crystal Mess

by digby

Oh my dear, dear God:

The team became crystallized in your mind, coated with shimmering emotional crystals that give it a sparkling beauty and vividness. And forever after you feel its attraction. Whether it’s off the menu or in the sports world, you can choose what you’ll purchase but you don’t get to choose what you like.

Yes, those are the literary stylings of David Brooks in this morning’s New York Times, waxing all lovey-dovey about baseball like he was Bill Kristol on a cheap cruise to Ensenada with Sarah Palin.

Don’t bother to read it. Read Charlie Pierce’s fisking instead. Charlie knows a thing or two about sports writing. Let’s just say his take down isn’t pretty.

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Krugman nails it again

by David Atkins

Paul Krugman riffs today on the recent anti-education statements of Santorum and Romney, and makes the relevant point:

Don’t they have a stake in America’s future economic success, which is endangered by the crusade against education? Maybe not as much as you think.

After all, over the past 30 years, there has been a stunning disconnect between huge income gains at the top and the struggles of ordinary workers. You can make the case that the self-interest of America’s elite is best served by making sure that this disconnect continues, which means keeping taxes on high incomes low at all costs, never mind the consequences in terms of poor infrastructure and an undertrained work force.

And if underfunding public education leaves many children of the less affluent shut out from upward mobility, well, did you really believe that stuff about creating equality of opportunity?

So whenever you hear Republicans say that they are the party of traditional values, bear in mind that they have actually made a radical break with America’s tradition of valuing education. And they have made this break because they believe that what you don’t know can’t hurt them.

The underinvestment in public education is very intentional. Thanks largely to Grover Norquist and his buddies, it now costs more to attend a public university in California than it does to attend Harvard. The elites don’t really need that many skilled workers in America. They need some, but not that many. A lot of the needed skilled workers can come from overseas immigration. The vast bulk of the American population is much more useful to them as desperate, unskilled labor.

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Totally Fracking Nuts

Wha?

A dozen earthquakes in northeastern Ohio were almost certainly induced by injection of gas-drilling wastewater into the earth, Ohio oil and gas regulators said Friday as they announced a series of tough new regulations for drillers.

Among the new regulations: Well operators must submit more comprehensive geological data when requesting a drill site, and the chemical makeup of all drilling wastewater must be tracked electronically.

The state Department of Natural Resources announced the tough new brine injection regulations because of the report’s findings on the well in Youngstown, which it said were based on “a number of coincidental circumstances.”

For one, investigators said, the well began operations just three months ahead of the first quake.

They also noted that the seismic activity was clustered around the well bore, and reported that a fault has since been identified in the Precambrian basement rock where water was being injected.

I read this and I feel as if I’m losing my mind. Are people really defending this practice knowing that it’s causing earthquakes and failing to even bring the benefits it purports to bring (while lining the pockets of a bunch of energy fat cats?) Apparently they are ….

Meanwhile, God forbid we use energy efficient lightbulbs.

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Wankstock 2012

by digby

Here’s the latest email from our good friends at No Labels:

To think Dave Weigel once called Americans Elect “gooey and pointless” in contrast to this group.

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Following up my post below, I just have to point out how one-sided this “dangerous association” “palling around with extremists” meme is. Here we have the wingnuts hyperventilating over Barack Obama hugging a Harvard professor who wrote about race in a way they apparently find objectionable back in 1991.

But get a load of one of the GOP presidential candidates from just yesterday:

This afternoon [Rick Santorum] appeared on one of the most extreme Religious Right programs in the country – American Family Radio’s Focal Point with Bryan Fischer.

Fischer, the Director of Issues Analysis for the American Family Association, has been accused of crossing the line against “decency and civility” and of using “poisonous language” – by none other than Mitt Romney at the Values Voters Summit, who was trying to cautiously distance himself from Fischer’s repeated attacks on his Mormon faith while still courting the Religious Right. Later in January, Fischerclaimed that a electing a Mormon president would threaten the “spiritual health” of the country.

But Fischer isn’t only out to get Mormons. He has an extensive history of bigotry against groups like Muslims (who are stupid because of inbreeding), gays and lesbians (who are responsible for Holocaust), Native Americans (who are “morally disqualified” from controlling land) , low-income African Americans (who “rut like rabbits”), and basically anyone who isn’t a “real” Christian. Fischer has also likened President Obama to Adolf Hitler and called him a tyrant who has a “hatred for the United States” and a “hatred for the white man.”

That brings us to Rick Santorum, who is hoping today’s appearance on American Family Radio will help him reach right-wing voters in Alabama, Mississippi and Kansas – the next states to vote in the GOP primary. He even gave a shout-out to the Deep South at the top of the interview: “We spent yesterday in Mississippi and Kansas and today we’re in Alabama. I’ll tell ya, there’s just nothing friendlier than the Deep South. We’re just enjoying the heck out of it here.”

Santorum knew he would be warmly received, and the interview was nothing short of a lovefest. Fischer gushed that his wife was a Santorum supporter from back when “being a Rick Santorum fan wasn’t cool,” and Santorum responded in kind: “We appreciate all the help and support. We were in your home town there, Tupelo, yesterday, and had a great reception from folks.

National Republicans make pilgrimages to the most retrograde far right nuts in the land and it’s perfectly acceptable to everyone — including the mainstream media. CNN doesn’t invite Right Wing Watch on to talk about it. Except for a few liberal cranks who follow these lunatics, nobody gives a damn.

These right wing extremists are out there spreading their lies and hate on a daily basis and Republican presidential candidates scramble to kiss their rings. But Breitbart’s outrage machine drops a completely benign video from 20 years ago and everyone gets all excited. This is the power of the right wing noise machine.

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Big Dummies

by digby

This has got to be the dumbest “controversy” we’ve seen this month and that is really saying something.

Big Government is stalking Soldedad O’Brien, naturally with screeching denunciations of her sad tweets upon the death of Professor Derek bell. Evidently, she’s now Hughey Newton. This Breitbart Industry race baiting is truly disgusting, particularly with the accompanying screeching about victimization.

As Paul Waldman writes:

From the beginning of Breitbart’s enterprise, race-baiting was a key element of his attack on Barack Obama, one that continues even after his death. And he always had plenty of company, from Glenn Beck saying Obama “has a deep-seated hatred of white people,” to Rush Limbaugh’s repeated insistence to his white listeners that Obama was motivated by racial hatred in everything he did. “Obama’s entire economic program is reparations,” Limbaugh proclaimed. “The days of [minorities] not having any power are over, and they are angry,” he said. “And they want to use their power as a means of retribution. That’s what Obama’s about, gang.” When in 2009 he found a story about a white kid getting beaten up by a black kid on a school bus, Limbaugh said, “In Obama’s America, the white kids now get beat up with the black kids cheering, ‘Yay, right on, right on, right on, right on.'” And yes, he did that last part in an exaggerated “black” accent.

The message is always the same: Obama and the blacks are mad, and they’re coming for you. Yet people like the Breitbart folks and Limbaugh have two problems. First, they’re running out of material. There aren’t any more shocking revelations to be had. The best they can do is try to make mountains of racial resentment out of the most innocuous molehills, like the fact that Obama supported Derrick Bell’s effort to diversify the faculty when he was a law student. And second, by now anyone who can be convinced that Obama is a secret Black Panther never thought otherwise. The guy has been president for three years. Americans are pretty familiar with him. He hasn’t actually started herding white people into concentration camps, and it’s an awfully tough sell to tell people that he might any day now.

This is a version of the larger problem conservatives have as we get into the 2012 election. The argument many of them will be making, in various forms, is this: Forget about what Obama has actually done. That doesn’t tell you anything. Let me tell you a story about his secret desires, his wicked thoughts, his venomous heart. That’s what your decision should be based on. You hear it from media bloviators, you hear it from interest groups, like the NRA screeching that if he’s re-elected Obama will outlaw guns, and you hear it from Mitt Romney, who is forever claiming that deep down Obama doesn’t much love America and wants to turn it into a European-style social-welfare state. Who are you going to believe, them, me, or or your own eyes?

Or as Stephen Colbert put it:

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

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President Obama Waives Indefinite Military Detentions

by David Atkins

The Washington Post reports:

President Obama issued an order Tuesday night laying out broad new waivers that allow U.S. law enforcement agencies to retain custody of al-Qaeda terrorism suspects rather than turn them over to the military.

The new waivers are Obama’s response to a law passed by Congress last year that requires that alleged al-Qaeda terrorists who are not U.S. citizens be held in military custody rather than being processed through the civilian court system. Key GOP senators said Tuesday night that the president’s measures raised “significant concerns,” and they vowed to hold a hearing to scrutinize them.

U.S. law enforcement officials had feared that the law on sending alleged al-Qaeda members to military custody would inhibit their ability to get suspects to cooperate. The White House threatened to veto the measure, part of the 2012 Defense Authorization Act.

In December, a compromise was reached between Sens. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.), requiring military custody for non-U.S. citizens who are suspected members of al-Qaeda or its affiliates and who have planned or carried out an attack against the United States or its coalition partners — unless the president waives that provision.

On Tuesday night, Obama issued the rules for the waivers, which are so broad that the transfer of any suspect into military custody is now likely to be rare.

“This is essentially a 3,450-word line-item veto, rendering the mandatory military detention provision mostly moot,” said Tom Malinowski of Human Rights Watch.

The NDAA is still an awful law, and delivers far, far too much power into the hands of the Executive Branch and the Pentagon. The Administration is attempting to thread a needle on this stuff, which is a good thing. The President’s attempt to nullify the worst parts of NDAA through this action and through his signing statement are good, but they only reflect well on him, not on the law the itself. The next Administration may not be so enlightened.

On the other hand, it would be nice if we had a Congress worth its salt exercise its own authority. The President took political risk in trying to bring Guantanamo detainees to trial in the United States, and the Congress overwhelmingly blocked the detainees from being transferred to U.S. soil. Had the President vetoed the entire NDAA, it’s probable that the Congress would have overruled his veto with a 2/3 vote, something all Presidents try desperately to avoid.

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Progressive Mommification

by digby

I’ll wrap up International Woman’s Day by linking to this open letter to Chellie Pingree by Ilise Hogue at The Nation:

Representative Pingree,

Your announcement yesterday that you will not seek the open Senate seat in Maine made my heart sink. My emotional reaction to your well-reasoned decision surprised me. After all, as someone who has operated in the political arena for quite a while now, I’m accustomed to the pragmatic decisions and political calculations that are the bread and butter of incremental progress. Still, there are moments where outrageous circumstances should trump reasonable decision making, and recent events in the world of US women have been outrageous enough to warrant one of those moments.

The reasons for your decision are apparent and undeniable: early polling shows a nearly impossible pathway to victory in a three-way race; former governor and independent candidate Angus King has established himself as the presumed front-runner and your constituencies overlap; absent one of you dropping out, the race will likely be won by the Republican candidate. The Progressive Change Campaign Committee lauded your decision as the right one for the people of Maine and progressive causes, since neither will benefit from adding another Conservative Republican to the Senate. I am quite certain that party operatives and others are lining up to thank you for “taking one for the team.” But, me? I just wonder when it will be someone else’s turn to step aside for our team.

Yeah, me too.

She goes on to lay out all the statistics that show dramatic inequality and all the good reasons why it’s so important for more women to be in leadership positions, including some startling information I didn’t know myself, like this:

[D]isparity isn’t only present at the bottom end of the economic spectrum either. In a culture that places a premium on innovation, male-founded startups receive venture capital funding by a margin of four to one over women-founded startups. Women-led companies are twice as likely to get debt capital versus equity capital, requiring that women shoulder more of the risk on their own. These facts are true in spite of research that shows that gender diversity within senior ranks of organizations translates into financial value, especially where innovation is part of the equation.

The issues outlined above have been marginalized as “women’s issues,” despite the fact that they are issues of family, issues of economic competitiveness and issues of national public health.

And they are “issues” that apply to half the fucking population of the world. It’s not as if we’re talking about some small discrete group here.

What Ilyse is describing is this ongoing “mommification” of women in which they are required to be the good soldiers, step aside, quit the race, be the peacemakers for the good of the family. I expect that to be the case in Republican circles (it just happened to Michele Bachmann)because these women actually do buy into this retrograde vision of the family. But it happens constantly in Democratic politics as well. Look back at the health care debate for a refresher. And it’s tiresome.

If these last few weeks have taught us anything it’s that there’s still a whole lot of consciousness raising to do about this. I was struck by these amazing pictures of the protests in Virginia over the ultrasound legislation. This one says it all for me: