Shenna Bellows

Michael Douglas has been a generous political contributor over the years. He's given to real progressives like Dennis Kucinich, Howard Dean and Russ Feingold, to conservatives like Bob Kerrey, Joe Baca, Adam Schiff and Max Baucus, and to corporate career Dems like Hillary Clinton, Tom Daschle and Dick Gephardt. Mostly, though, he just likes Democrats and has given tens of thousands of dollars to Beltway Democratic committees like the DCC, DNC and the DSCC. In a letter he sent out yesterday-- on behalf of the Council for a Livable World-- he pointed to 3 crucial Senate races.

The big endorsement news in L.A. yesterday was when Mayor Eric Garcetti-- or as many people around here refer to him, future POTUS Eric Garcetti-- backed Ted Lieu for Congress in the CA-33 seat Henry Waxman is giving up. "Tuesday's election is extremely important for the future of our region," said Mayor Garcetti.

Shenna Bellows (D) and Rand Paul (R)-- a real bipartisan approachThank God, some of our candidates-- particularly Shenna Bellows (ME) and Jay Stamper (SC) for Senate and

All the Blue America bloggers have been agitating for Pelosi to refuse to legitimize the Benghazi clown show and to instead appoint just one Democrat-- Alan Grayson, who is bound to make the Republicans wish they were not the party of sedition and obstruction. Yesterday, Grayson told Brett Logiurato at Business Insider that the Republicans are "scandalmongers without a scandal.

The vote yesterday to shut down the Republican Party filibuster of the minimum wage bill ended badly, 54 in favor, 41 opposed (not counting Harry Reid who had to switch his vote to oppose so he can bring the bill up again later). It needed 60 votes to overcome the filibuster. Five votes shy.

The Koch brothers prefer a veneer of respectability. Their skins crawl when they are publicly called out by name as fascists and Birchers intent on destroying American democracy. It drives them mad when the media mentions how difficult they have made it to follow the trail of cash they use to bribe right-wing legislators.

Do conservative voting records by vulnerable Democrats like Mary Landrieu (LA), Mark Pryor (AR), and John Walsh (MT) make it hard for you to get worked up about Democrats whining that they could lose the Senate?

Martin Gilens at Princeton and Benjamin Page at Northwestern just published an academic paper everyone interested in the struggle for equality in America should consider reading, Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites Interest Groups, and Average Citizens.

More than a few people have been asserting that Republican Governor Paul LePage, knowing he's already lost his reelection fight, is now only working for an audience of two: Texas neo-fascists David and Charles Koch.

I was reading the other day that one of the poor, benighted states controlled by Republicans is about to pass a bill allowing for campaign contributions from foreign nationals, not dual citizens like Israeli agents Sheldon and Miriam Adelson, but full blown foreigners with a position they want to see supported in the U.S. Congress.