Why is our government such a mess? Follow the moneyBy 2008, no one considered reactionary Georgia Blue Dog John Barrow an actual Democrat. He was voting for the toxic Republican agenda more consistently than a dozen Republicans were! That year progressives in Georgia felt they had finally found a candidate who could beat him in a primary, highly respected and accomplished state Sen. Regina Thomas, once Deputy Majority Whip of the Georgia House and in synch-- unlike Barrow-- with every issue Obama was presenting to the American people. When Obama stabbed her in the back and endorsed Barrow, recording a radio spot for black radio stations heralding the Republican-lite Barrow as a hero of working families, it pretty much ended any chance for Regina to win the primary-- the ultimate betrayal. Of course, no one who remembered Obama's fulsome endorsement of Joe Lieberman against Ned Lamont could have been that surprised.
Aside from the radio spot that was played exclusively on black radio, Barrow's spots from the primary were all repetitions of GOP talking points scapegoating immigrants, railing against the "death tax," boosterism for the Bush/McCain perspective on wars in the Middle East... Obama's ad said "We're going to need John Barrow back in Congress to help change Washington and get our country back on track." Back in Washington, Barrow voted against virtually every proposal Obama made to Congress. By the way, Hillary Clinton endorsed him too-- the NRA's top Democratic shill in Congress, against the African-American woman state senator who was campaigning on gun safety. Because of Obama and the Democratic establishment's support for the faithless Barrow, the Democratic Party lost the seat, not to a progressive Democrat but to a rabidly right-wing Republican.Today one of the most loathed Democrats in Congress, #DebtTrapDebbie Wasserman Schultz, is being primaried by one of the best candidates for Congress anywhere. Once again, Obama stepped into the fray on behalf of the symbol of all that is worst and most hated about the Democratic Party; he endorsed Wasserman Schultz Monday-- and, as he did when he backed Barrow against Regina Thomas and backed Wall Street errand boy Patrick Murphy against proven progressive champion Alan Grayson, he just flat-out lied to low-info voters: "Debbie has been a strong, progressive leader in Congress and a hardworking, committed Chair of our national Party since I proudly nominated her to the role in 2011. She always stands up and fights for what is right for her district while passionately supporting middle class families."In fact Debbie is progressive the way John Barrow was progressive-- not. And the families she always stands up and fights for are families like the notorious sugar barons, the Fanjuls, who have financed her rise to power. It is a tribute to Tim Canova that he has Wasserman Schultz so precariously on the ropes that she had to call in Obama for help in a primary! And it's just like Obama to back a slime-bag like Wasserman Schultz, the same way he backed John Barrow and Patrick Murphy and the same way he is sure to back Hillary and every right-of-center Democrat who needs help against a progressive. (He's got a presidential library in Chicago to build and money doesn't grow on trees; it comes from rich donors like Patrick Murphy's parents and like Debbie Wasserman Schultz's career-long backers/investors.)Just up the I-95 from FL-23, the Broward/Miami-Dade County, district Wasserman Schultz occupies, is FL-18, the district Patrick Murphy is abandoning in pursuit of the open U.S. Senate seat. The Democratic Party establishment insists on corrupt big money plutocrat Randy Perkins over the progressive candidate in the race, Jonathan Chane. Standard DCCC operating procedure.Many of K Street's sleaziest and most criminal lobbyists-- led by Haley Barbour's BRG Group, the shadiest of all the DC lobbyist firms-- threw a big bash for their boy Perkins a few days ago.One logo is Romney's and one is Perkins'-- same differenceBRG lobbyists like Jonathan Mantz, Maya Seiden and Josh Lamel were yucking it up about it being a "Red to Blue" event, since, at least in theory, Murphy is no longer a Republican-- so the district is "blue" not "red," and they all know very well that Perkins is anything but "blue." Other of Washington's most corrupt lobbyists in attendance were Libby Greer of Forbes-Tate, John Michael Gonzalez of Peck Madigan Jones, and Tom O’Donnell of Gephardt Government Affairs. And 5 of the most corrupt, in-the-pocket-of-the-Wall-Street/K-Street-Axis Democrats were in attendance: Steny Hoyer, Joe Crowley, Alcee Hastings, Jim Himes, and Denny Heck. That should give any progressive an idea about what kind of "Democrat" Randy Perkins hopes to be.Barbour, who was the longtime Chair of the RNC, and was always thrilled by the hundreds of thousands of dollars Perkins gave Republican candidates, had been hired by Perkins as his company's lobbyist. Barbour engineered $100 mlion+ in no bid contracts for Perkins from Chris Christie after Hurricane Sandy. The dirty money goes round and round-- it's what keeps the two corrupt parties in power-- Perkins hires Barbour to be AshBritt's lobbyist (AshBritt is Perkins' company), Barbour gets Perkins millions and millions of dollars in no bid contracts from Christie and Rick Scott, Perkins makes a hefty contribution to the Republican Governors Association (while Christie is chair-- more than $761,000), and gives Rick Scott $200,000 for his campaign against Democrat Alex Sink and Barbour hosts a fundraiser for Perkins' Congressional campaign... and so it goes.Like Trump, Perkins calls buying corrupt politicians "just business." Business very much encouraged by the most corrupt of politicians, like... Steny Hoyer, Joe Crowley, Alcee Hastings, Jim Himes and Denny Heck. Not to mention Wasserman Schultz. Suggestion: step up to the plate for the progressives running against Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Patrick Murphy, Tim Canova and Alan Grayson... here at the thermometer; let's beat the bosses:
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