50-State Blog Network

On Common Ambitions, Or, Occupy Wall Street Likes Capitalism – Sort Of

October 16, 2011 by Uppity Wisconsin

Well I’m finally back here at work after another recent series of personal adventures; in the middle of all the fun I’ve been finding time to get down to my local “Occupy” event, and for those of you who have not been keeping up I thought we’d take a moment today to compare a bit of Fox-driven perception to the reality I’ve been seeing. What I’ve been told to expect, at least in certain quarters of the public space, are dirty filthy hippies with no jobs or ambitions hoping to destroy America while having deviant public couplings fueled by the free distribution of dangerous psychotropic drugs. Sadly, I’ve found that there’s not really much truth in that description, even as tiny bits of it do ring true; but with a manifesto in hand and a few conversations under my belt we’ll see what we can do to create a picture that will surprise a lot of the 99% who already support Occupy Wall Street, even if they don’t know it yet.

Individuals or individual states may call themselves what they please: but the world, and especially the world of enemies, is not to be held in awe by the whistling of a name.

From the Inbox: We Spoke, They Heard Us

October 16, 2011 by Kenneth

From Alan Grayson:

Have you noticed how all those calls to cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid have faded out? And did you see that President Obama’s plan to pay for the American Jobs Act did not include any benefit cuts, despite the early rumors?

As Sherlock Holmes might say, it’s the dog that didn’t bark.

Why didn’t that dog bark? Maybe it was the changing weather in Washington, DC. Or maybe, just maybe, it had something to do with this:

The fact that over 100,000 of us signed our petition at No-Cuts.com, and those petitions were delivered to the White House.

The First Amendment guarantees our right to “petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” And that’s exactly what we did. Together.

And believe me, even in the Age of the Internet, Washington, D.C. does not see many petitions with over 100,000 names on it.

So to everyone who signed our petition, thank you. Thank you for helping to protect the lives and wellbeing of old people — and old, sick people — and poor, sick people. Thank you for being an active citizen. Thank you for caring about others.

Thank you for being a decent human being.

Courage,

Alan Grayson

Worker Protections?

October 16, 2011 by Blue Oklahoma

Oklahoma Labor Commissioner Mark Costello's use of anti-worker political rhetoric and his independent, anti-union and anti-public employee website, Parity in Oklahoma, raises the question whether an elected official can essentially work against the historical and constitutional mandates of a state office.

Costello referred to public employees as "feral hogs" in a recent speech, which has drawn widespread criticism from the Oklahoma Democratic Party, union officials, state employees and teachers. His website, which is not state funded but uses his name and title prominently, argues state and local governments should not collect union dues from paychecks and criticizes the retirement benefits of some state employees. It also supposedly points out the "perks" of public employees and criticizes state merit rules that "actually reward bad employee behavior."

The Bitter Fruit Of Failing To Challenge Richard Shelby

October 16, 2011 by Left in Alabama

Sen. Richard Shelby's PAC gave $25,000 to help Republicans in Wisconsin recalls

For many years the Alabama Democratic Party had no interest in recruiting or helping a strong challenger to one-time Democrat turned Republican, Richard Shelby.  In fact, it often appeared they actively discouraged Democrats from running against Shelby, as seemed to happen with Bill Barnes last year.

Here is the fruit of that wrong-headed policy:

Shelby's PAC gave $25K to fund Wisconsin Republicans in the recall elections:

"I was pleased to contribute to that victory because I viewed it as a critical battlefront for defending Republican principles."

Democrats won 5 out of the 9 Wisconsin recall elections last summer, picking up 2 Republican seats.  They were within a few thousand votes of gaining a third GOP seat and a majority in the Wisconsin Senate.  Republican PACs like Richard Shelby's Defend America poured millions into Wisconsin to help Republicans hang on to a bare majority.

Federal Court Blocks 2 More Provisions Of Beason-Hammon Immigration Law - Beason & Hammon Pleased

October 15, 2011 by Left in Alabama

More provisions of Alabama's immigration law were struck down yesterday.  The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals blocked implementation of Sections 10 (which made not carrying citizenship papers a crime) and 29 (required schools to check citizenship status) of the Beason-Hammon Immigration Law (HB56).  Reactions have been mixed, to say the least. 

Scott Beason and Micky Hammon say they're pleased with the court's decision.

I remain confident that once the judicial process has run its course, even the handful of provisions that have been stayed will be enacted," House Majority Leader Micky Hammon, R-Decatur, said.

...

 "I'm still very pleased. I don't think either one of those sections is a big loss to the bill. The law is still in place,"  Beason said. 

Beason also said he was "excited."  So they're happy and excited that Alabama is being dragged through the courts and portions of their poorly written law are being struck down?  How bizarre.  I will never understand how the Republican mind works, but those don't seem like normal, healthy, reactions.

11/2: Fundraiser to Celebrate and Support Democracy for New Mexico Blog

October 15, 2011 by Democracy for N...

From Host Committee (In Formation):

You are invited to a fundraiser to celebrate and support 
Democracy for New Mexico (DFNM) Blog 

When 
Wednesday, November 2, 2011 
6:00 – 8:00 PM 

Where 
AFSCME 
1202 Pennsylvania Street, NE, Albuquerque, NM 

Requested Contributions 
Benefactor: $250 ♦ Host: $100
Friend: $50 ♦ Guest: $20 

Click for Flier With More Information

10/15: Occupy Events in Albuquerque and Santa Fe!

October 14, 2011 by Democracy for N...

Albuquerque's Hakim Bellamy: I'm in love with a 1%er (For Occupy Wall St.) Written on Day 26 of the Occupy Wall St. protest in New York City and Day 12 of the Occupy Albuquerque protest. They're making their move on NYC and Denver. Be prepared, my people. Love.

There will be a number of events this Saturday in New Mexico in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street and as part of activities in 719 cities and 71 countries being held internationally all over the globe on that day.

Post of the Day — The Progressive Professor on Occupy Wall Street

October 14, 2011 by Kenneth

From The Progressive Professor:

As the “Occupy Wall Street” and other “Occupy” movements throughout the United States take hold, we see and hear bitter denunciations by the Tea Party Movement in the most wretched and venal manner!

This Tea Party Movement, which brought guns to gatherings, spit on members of Congress, and used racist language against President Barack Obama, and has no concern about the future of millions of middle class and poor families, has the gall and nerve to set out to destroy the reputation of ordinary citizens, who are having their homes taken away from them, their jobs lost, their children’s college education debts soar beyond ability to pay, their health care being denied, and their pensions being decimated, and seem to think this should be reacted to in silence, while the top one percent control 40 percent of the income, and continue through Wall Street to victimize America daily with their greed and selfishness!

…

Martin Heinrich Leads All in Campaign Fundraising for U.S. Senate Race in NM

October 14, 2011 by Democracy for N...

At the end of the third quarter, NM-1 Democratic Rep. Martin Heinrich has an impressive lead over all other candidates in campaign fundraising for the U.S. Senate race in New Mexico. Last Wednesday, Heinrich's campaign released a statement saying that his 3Q report would show him raising more than $650,000 between July 1 and September 30, 2011, with a cash-on-hand total of more than $1.1 million. They also said then that "the impressive total was fueled by 2,596 individuals, 94 percent of whom gave $200 or less."

Today it was revealed that fellow Democratic Senate candidate, State Auditor Hector Balderas, raised about $250,000 in Q3, and has nearly $465,000 in cash on hand.