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October 01, 2008 03:39 PM UTC

Wednesday Open Thread

  • 51 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

“Prosperity is necessarily the first theme of a political campaign.”

–Woodrow Wilson

Comments

51 thoughts on “Wednesday Open Thread

  1. from CNN

    The servers hosting the Web sites of the House of Representatives and its members have been overwhelmed with millions of e-mails in the past few days, forcing administrators to implement the “digital version of a traffic cop” to handle the overload — for the first time ever.

    We live in a representative democracy and when the people talk – the reps do listen. But the reps aren’t used to the people getting this involved. Here’s hoping they do pay attention to what’s being said.

    1. While the vote was being made, I was listening to Chris Van Hollen, chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, speaking on National Public Radio, who was basically saying that we’re going to use this issue against the Republicans in the fall. Now, then I went and took a look at the vote, and then talked to some members. Now, when you’ve got a big issue like this, and we’ve been through a number of them, the pit of the house in a big important vital vote like this is an emotional place, as people contemplate, literally, whether or not they are going to end their political futures by their vote.

      And so you’ve got Republicans there who are being asked to vote for this, and they’re hearing Chris Van Hollen, literally, there are 16 vulnerable House Democrat freshman who are allowed to vote no. And they’re being told on the floor by Van Hollen and others, ‘you can vote against this.’ There are five committee chairs who owe their positions to Nancy Pelosi – John Conyers, chairman of judiciary. Colin Peterson, chairman of agriculture, Filner, head of veterans, Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, head of homeland security, Gene Green gead of the Ethics Commission – and those five committee chairs are voting no.

      You have senior Democrats like Solomon Ortiz, Pete Stark, the number two guy on the Ways and Means Committee, Fazio of Oregon, Clay of Missouri, Costello of Illinois – Jesse – you know, all of whom are close to the speaker, and they’re voting no. You have some of her close friends and allies like the Sanchez sisters of California and Lynn Woolsey  and Herseth Sandlin from South Dakota and Barbara Lee close friends and allies voting no.

      Republicans are sitting on the floor seeing her take a two-by-four to them and then let these people who are her allies and supporters and friends and committee chairs and members of her leadership  vote no. I mean, what was the speaker thinking?

      Poignant, I thought.  Who said it? Karl Rove.

    2. House members much more than Senators (which is one reason why it’ll be way easier to pass this on the Senate side).  House members being up every 2 years means they are constantly in cycle and even the safest ones usually have a primary challenger.  Maybe it takes being there to see it, but House members absolutely respond to constituent desires, concerns, needs, etc.  

    1. Let’s bring our troops back from Iraq tomorrow, eliminate the no-bid contracts, and let the Iraqis pay for their own damned roads, bridges, schools, and police stations with oil revenue.

      That would save a bunch.

    2. First, the half a trillion greenbacks a year blown in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Plus interest.

      Then a diet for our military-industrial complex.  Do it like we did for base closings.  Sixty percent of our discretionary budge is spent on wars, past, present, and anticipated.  We spend as much as the rest of the world combined and in the end, can’t kick a Quada out of the ball park.

      I think something is really, really wrong with this picture.  

  2. Not sure where he got the number, but from an op-ed from a Wyoming Senate candidate:

    The members of the House that voted for the bailout on Monday received an average of 51% more campaign contributions from the finance, insurance and real estate sector than those that voted against it. That’s no coincidence.

    http://www.rothfussforsenate.c

  3. Some of you have already heard about this, but I think the text of the question is new:

    Why do you think Roe v. Wade is a good or bad decision? What other Supreme Court decisions do you disagree with?

    It’s a slightly harder question than what was suggested before (not just “name another SCOTUS decision,” but “name one you disagree with”).

    Obviously the easiest one is Plessy v. Ferguson. (I think even GW Bush cited that one in a debate.)

    But if you were Sarah Palin, what would you say? There haven’t been a whole lot of Supreme Court decisions conservatives have disagreed with lately; the Kelo decision is the first one that comes to mind, but I had to Google it to remember the name.

      1. I would have gone with Kelo v. New London

        She wouldn’t have to cite it–the name isn’t famous. She could have mentioned the substance

        “I really disagreed with the supreme court decision to allow the government to condemn a private citizen’s property in order to buy it at a sub market price and give it to a private developer.  Property rights are core to American liberty and the government shouldn’t be so casual with violating them”

        Liberals moderates and conservatives would love the answer.  Developers are a small interest group.

        1. It has nothing to do with whether condemning Grandma’s house to help Wal-Mart expand its parking lot is a good thing.  It has to do with the 9th and 10th amendments to the Constitution limiting the powers of the federal government and protecting the rights of states and individuals.

          There is absolutely no limit set on the type or nature of eminent domain in theU.S. Constitution. The 5th amendment says, in full on this point, “nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.”

          In short, condemn granny’s house, give it to Wal-Mart and you’re cool with the U.S. constitution as long as you pay granny “just compenstion.”

           Does that mean Granny has no rememdy?  Of course not, it means the remedy lies with your state legislatures or city councils.  States are absolutely free to give protections beyond the federal bill of rights, though not less than, and if they want to put additional restrictions on the definition of “public use” then go for it.

           But right wingers who demanded that the SCOTUS once again invade powers “reserved to the states” by the 10th amendment were flaming hypocritics.  Kelo proved, once again, that right-wing critics of “judicial activism” are actually only demanding right-wing activism from the bench.

           On the other hand, SCOTUS should forthwith, on a 9-0 vote, declare the designated hitter rule unconstititional for violating the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment!

            1. of right-wing tub thumpers like the “Institute for Justice” drives me nuts.

              I’d like to think Palin shared my views and that accounts for her restraint.  It’s more likely that she didn’t think fast on her feet. But let me cherish my illusion, OK?;-)

        2. Being pretty controversial when the decision came down. It might be because I was about to enter law school, but I bet the name would resonate.

  4.    Wonderful news today…..Quinnipiac University poll out today has Obama over McCain 51% to 43% in Ohio, and 50% to 42% in Florida.

      These eight point differences are significant because the Tom Bradley Effect probably runs about five percentage points. Which means Obama’s got at least a three percent lead over McBush in these two Republican states!  

      1. Up in the panhandle, though, it’s McCain country.  Very conservative.  A recent story gave many examples of people who have really been hurt by the Bush policies, but lo and behold, will be voting for McBush.

        Unreal.  

  5. The BIG bill the Congress is voting on is being sold as necessary to unleash credit.

    Why does 700 billion $ have to be sent through the stupid banking system which can’t understand the bundles of mortages which it created?

    The government has lots of trained, honest civil servants in field offices all over the country. They could make that “new” money available directly to people who need it.

    The Agriculture Department’s various local agents; the Commerce Department’s Small Business Administration; and even the IRS who can tell who can repay. They could unleash credit directly from the government.

    Since the whole mess revolves around home mortages, why have we heard nothing from the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development?

    Simply, it’s the last blast from Bush for the filthy rich.

  6. They both came out against Amendment 54 and they both applied the same logic, that A54 would violate the free speech rights of many Coloradans.

    It’s the same argument that I have been making for a couple of weeks against A54. I hope the voters are paying attention,

    Related, http://steampoweredopinions.bl

  7. It was mainly a voter registration thing. They say there are 170,000 young people (students?) who are eligible to register but still haven’t, so the main message was imploring people to tell their slacker friends and/or family to register.

    Speakers included Joe Neguse (running unopposed for CU regent), Jared Polis, Maggie Fox (wife of Mark Udall; is her name Maggie Fox Udall or Maggie Udall, because she was called all three by various people?), the CU Chancellor G.P. Peterson (giving a nonpartisan civic duty speech), and former football player Rod Smith, who joked about how many students were skipping classes and made two short jokes about Joe Neguse.

    Then there was a short break, and Jeannie Ritter (Bill’s wife) came out and asked, “Whose idea was it to have a break?” A student whose name I can’t recall spoke briefly, then introduced Michelle Obama.

    It was interesting to see the graduation of speaker quality, from Maggie Fox (who kept clapping right in front of the microphone awkwardly) to Jeannie Ritter (who was brief, enthusiastic, but businesslike) to Michelle Obama (who is a great speaker still). Obama mainly spoke about her family life and Barack’s family life: the message was that the Obamas understand people’s problems because they’ve grown up in difficult situations. A bit different emphasis from the convention speech, and a sharp contrast from the guy who was screwing strippers in the Naval Academy growing up.

    Didn’t look like they filled up the football field when I saw, although I was around the corner at the front, so I couldn’t see most of the crowd. Also, it was strange that there was an extremely long line an hour after the doors had opened, wrapping halfway around the field. I tried to get in the back, but then they opened up another entrance right behind me. They were checking tickets and bags, and then a couple minutes later they just said, “OK, everybody come in. We just want to fill up this field!” So they didn’t really do any security checks, which was surprising (and welcome).

    1. ……here’s the really exciting news. Eva Longoria (a/k/a Gabrielle Solis of “Desperate Housewives”) will be leading a voter registration tour from Denver to Ft. Collins for the Obama campaign this weekend, according to the Rocky.  

  8. As Political Notebook reports, the Western Slope has turned dark blue.  The new Ciruli poll shows that Senator Obama has opened up a double digit lead here. And Represenative Udall’s lead over Schaffer has now grown to 21 points!  

    Great news for hard work.  But with still another month to go, we can’t let up yet. We have many Republicans supporting our efforts.  But we still have a few to convince.

      1. As Field likes to say “yard signs don’t vote”

        I suspect the campaign is deliberately slow in getting signs to the office to save money.

        Of all forms of advertising they are the worst cost/vote trade off.

        The campain often uss them as a reward for people who phone bank or canvas.  

        1. at least here in Boulder. People have literally been waiting weeks to get them. Rumor has it that yard signs will be available for the first time on Thursday.  

    1. Mike Saccone took down his original article about Western Slope Democratic advantages and replaced it with milk toast.  I won’t assign nefarious motivations because I believe Mike to be a good reporter but it is reminiscent of The Daily Sentinel’s editor taking down an article critical of Josh Penry after he got a call from Tim Foster.

      1. or interests disappear off the Sentinel website.  One in particular, which was in the print edition, involving an oil and gas mishap, was also online for a brief time in the morning, then gone down the memory hole.

  9. Allow me to introduce myself. I am a traitor and an idiot. Also, my mother should have aborted me and left me in a dumpster, but since she didn’t, I should “off” myself.

    Those are a few nuggets randomly selected from thousands of e-mails written in response to my column suggesting that Sarah Palin is out of her league and should step down.

    Who says public discourse hasn’t deteriorated?

    The fierce reaction to my column has been both bracing and enlightening. After 20 years of column writing, I’m familiar with angry mail. But the past few days have produced responses of a different order. Not just angry, but vicious and threatening.

    Some of my usual readers feel betrayed because I previously have written favorably of Palin. By changing my mind and saying so, I am viewed as a traitor to the Republican Party — not a “true” conservative.

    Obviously, I’m not employed by the GOP. If I were, the party is seriously in arrears. But what is a true conservative? One who doesn’t think or question and who marches in lock step with The Party?

    The emotional pitch of many comments suggests an overinvestment in Palin as “one of us.”

    Palin’s fans say they like her specifically because she’s an outsider, not part of the Washington club. When she flubs during interviews, they identify with that, too. “You see the lack of polish, we applaud it,” one reader wrote.

    Of course, there’s a difference between a lack of polish and a lack of coherence. Some of Palin’s interview responses can’t even be critiqued on their merits because they’re so nonsensical

    1. .

      not any more.  

      Goldwater, if alive today, would NOT be a Republican.  

      How could a “conservative” President enable the engineering over the last 2 years of the coming economic crash ?

      How is it “conservative” to spend trillions we don’t have ?  

      Iraq War.  Imperial Unitary Presidency.  Domestic spying.

      You get the point.  

      .  

      1. You are a great example of this fact.

        My dad was a career military officer, Viet Nam vet, and lifelong Republican–until 1988, and he’s been voting Democratic ever since.

        The GOP has stolen the brand.

        True conservatives should be in open revolt about what their once Grand Old Party has done in the name of political expediency (which is failing miserably, btw).

        I am a proud liberal, but I have several true conservative friends and they are totally dismayed at what the Republicans have become.

      2. …and in his later years, penned an op ed piece on gays in the military where he argued that you don’t have to be straight, to shoot straight!

          Goldwater believed in keeping the government out of people’s wallets and out of their bedrooms!  

          Intellectual consistently like that is hard to find these days.

        1. .

          I sometimes may imply that I am a pure, “true” conservative,

          but I don’t agree with Goldwater’s support for abortion.  

          Now, I’d say that that my position was more conservative, seeing as how I can point to the enumerated Right to Life in the Declaration of Independence

          (which does NOT have the force of law,)

          and what I claim is the traditional stand on this issue.

          But I did use him as an example of old-style conservatism,

          so I’ll have to concede that point.  

          I think I may distinguish “conservative” from “libertarian” more than he did.  

          .

  10. In an email obtained by the Huffington Post, Vets for Freedom field staffer Laura Meyer offered a fraternity at St. Louis University a “sizable donation” – plus free lunch – if it could use their pledges to demonstrate outside the VP debate.

    “I was emailing you today,” wrote Meyer, “because I am trying to find people who would be willing to hold up signs for a few hours in the afternoon this Thursday outside the VP debate site. It’s only for a few hours and you can gain a lot from it…. first off, lunch for any guys who agree to volunteer will be on me. Secondly, they will get lots of media attention! My organization did a similar thing in Mississippi last week and a ton of them were on TV. Meaning, the guys could wear their [REDACTED] gear while holding up our signs and get attention for their frat. Also, they will get to hang out with a bunch of really cool Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans.

    “Lastly, and here’s the kicker…. if you guys can get us at least 20 volunteers for those few hours, my organization will make a sizable donation to your fraternity. If you use pledges you could look at it as ‘free money and free publicity’. If this sounds like something you may be willing to help us out with, please let me know ASAP!”

    If these college students were such war supporters wouldn’t they have joined the Marines?

    Well at least it pulls them away from a night of binge drinking, hazing and date rape.

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