Over the past 3 days I spoke with 31 Democratic members of Congress and asked each one the same question. With a promise of anonymity I asked them who would you rather have come to their district and campaign with them at a public rally, Joe Crowley or Randy Bryce. I didn't single out Crowley because he's the boss of Queens County, though he is.
The other day I was talking with a first-time Democratic candidate who has a bit of a reputation as a centrist, although he insist-- at least to me-- that he's a progressive. I'm not persuaded. He says he's kind of, sort of good with Medicare-For-All but there's no way he'd say he's going to co-sponsor John Conyers Medicare-For-All bill.
Last night we talked a little about the Trumpanzee Regime's role in exacerbating the planet's Climate problems. Ultimately Trump will probably turn on his odious EPA head, Scott Pruitt and blame the whole thing on him.
Jews voted overwhelmingly for Hillary against Trump last year, but immigrant Jews, especially from Russia, voted for Trump. Emma Lazarus was born in 1849 to a family of Jewish immigrants from Germany, although she is known for her writings about Russian Jewish immigrants who fled the pogroms that followed the assassination of Tsar Alexander II in 1881.
If you missed Bernie on CNN with Jake Tapper yesterday, the interview is above. Bernie's plans are the polar opposite of what Paul Ryan (plus Mike Pence, Mitch McConnell and the rest of the Republicans) are trying to do. He explained to Tapper how he's working to perfect a Medicare-For-All bill that can-- eventually-- pass Congress. Meanwhile the Republicans are not just trying to defund Medicaid in their "healthcare" bill but are also using their budget plan to weaken and start defunding Medicare and Social Security.
Who wouldn't be attracted to Jeff Goodell's excellent piece in the new Rolling Stone, Scott Pruitt's Crimes Against Nature. It would be impossible to make a short list of Trump's worst appointments and leave off Pruitt.
Eric Hogensen is an old friend who was instrumental in helping elect Chris Larson, the most progressive member of the Wisconsin legislature. His firm, HSG Campaigns has relocated from Wisconsin to L.A. and in recent months he's been releasing "how to" newsletters for candidates that offer free advise worth more than what expensive Beltway consults sell.
Yesterday, the House passed H.R. 3219, the Department of Defense appropriations bill for the fiscal year ending in September, 2018. The final vote was 235-192, 5 libertarian-leaning Republicans refusing to go along with it and 5 of the most right-wing Democrats-- all Blue Dogs-- voting with the GOP and giving Ryan and McCarthy the opportunity to claim the bill is "bipartisan."But don't you dare criticize the 5 bribe-laden Blue Dogs unless you don't mind be accused of being a purity freak.
