Source: Bureau of Land Management. Does not show area available for offshore drillingby Gaius PubliusThe idea of ending the hypocritical role of the federal government in aiding and betting the warming of our planet is not a hard idea to hold, especially if you're a climate-aware citizen, or climate-aware president.
Joe Crowley, the most corrupt Democrat in Congress, is the vice chair of the Party Caucus. Many members see his hand in the Wall Street deregulation dealSometimes the DCCC whines that their favorite right-wing incumbents and candidates have to "change up" messaging because their districts lean red. That "strategy" sure didn't help Republican-backing Blue Dogs like Nick Rahall (WV), John Barrow (GA) and Pete Gallego (TX) last month.
As we mentioned yesterday, election day was bad for the Republican wing of the Democratic Party.
Click here to contribute todayYesterday we helped out with a Jeff Merkely money bomb. 2,528 contributors from all over the country helped raise $73,168.30 for Jeff's campaign.
Today is Jeff Merkley's money bomb. We gave you a heads up yesterday. Merkley isn't just one of the biggest success stories Blue America has had in backing a progressive because he was able to beat a Republican incumbent; that was just the beginning.
Six years ago, then Oregon House Speaker Jeff Merkley was one of Blue America's top Senate priorities-- and, more than most, he has completely lived up to our hopes… and then some. Merkley immediately became one of the progressive leaders in the Senate who knows how to get things done. So when his campaign told us they were doing a money bomb this week, no one had to ask us twice.
After Obama's speech defending the incompetent and corrupt U.S. spy agencies, Democrats who disapprove of the way he has continued the Cheney NSA agenda that completely guts the Constitution, were in an awkward position. How to disagree with his bullshit authoritarian stand without completely trashing him. Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley gave it a try:
Thursday night, just before midnight, the Senate approved the Pentagon Budget 84-15. Disappointingly, only three Senate Democrats had the guts to vote NO, Bernie Sanders, Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden. In the video above, Bernie explains to his colleagues why had decided to vote against it. It's worth watching.
As we mentioned Monday, all but one Republican (Walter Jones) voted to exempt private equity fund investment advisers from regulatory registration and reporting requirements. They were joined by 36 Democrats led by Wall Street whores Steve Israel ("ex"-Blue Dog-$800,019) and Jim Himes (New Dem-$1,853,26). Ever since Boehner became Speaker, whittling away at Dodd-Frank has been top priority-- and he knows there are always a couple dozen corrupt Democrats to tag along for the goodies.
Apparently, President Obama didn't really mean "complete," at least not in the sense anyone ever uses that word, when he said the transition out of Afghanistan would be complete by the end of 2014. As Maddow reported-- in the video below-- the plan is to have "an enduring presence in Afghanistan even after the war is technically over." And that means U.S. troops, not to mention billions of taxpayer dollars sinking into that blackbox hellhole. With the help of Richard Engel, Maddow started getting the word out that there are plans to formalize an agreement to prolong some sort of U.S.
