Sometimes stories happen because of planning; other times serendipity intervenes, which is how we got to the conversation we'll be having today.
In an exchange of comments on the Blue Hampshire site, I proposed an idea that could be of real value to unions, workers...and surprisingly, employers.
If things worked out correctly, not only would lots of people feel a real desire to have unions represent them, but employers would potentially be coming to unions looking to forge relationships, and, just to make it better, this plan bypasses virtually all of the tools and techniques employers use to shut out union organizers.
Since I just thought this up myself, I'm really not sure exactly how practical the whole thing is, and the last part of the discussion today will be provided by you, as I ask you to sound off on whether this plan could work, and if so, how it could be made better.
It's a new week...so let's all put our heads together and rebuild the labor movement, shall we?
"I don't really want to stop the show,
But I thought that you might like to know," That the choice becomes clearer.
"So let me introduce to you
The one and only" Carole Kaye, Candidate for Florida House District 86
Local Election Days are upon us. For months now candidates for elected office have roamed their regions. Everyday people have had ample opportunity to meet, greet, and yes, even eat a meal with aspirants. Often, one challenger's name is better known. He or she may be an incumbent, or closely associated with one. Consider the Florida House race in District 86. Two very different Democratic candidates Carole Kaye and Lori Berman appear on the ballot. Who are these office seekers? What will they do for my community, commerce, our children, and me? Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, and parts of Boca Raton constituents, who have not made politics their lives, search for answers as they travel to the polls.
Citizens are inundated with "information." Posters dot the landscape. Banners fly on Boulevards. Constituents don pins and place placards on their lawn. Windows and automobile bumpers have not escaped unscathed. Today, the message heard on avenue is "The time is now." Indeed, it is. Early voting began on August 9 and will continue through August 22, 2010. In Florida, while technically Primary Election Day is August 24, 2010, in reality it is today. In Palm Beach County House District 86, Primary Election Day is the final deciding date. Democrats with different styles compete for state House 86 seat. there is no Republican challenger in this race. The winner of the Primary will represent South Palm Beach County communities. Yet, many people do not feel equipped to decide. Whom might I cast a ballot for, the much lauded Lori Berman or the lesser known, highly qualified, Attorney, Educator, and person who for years has shared and cared for my backyard, Carole Penny Kaye.
In my Diary of June 3rd, I opined that "Obama's Stimulus Plan is Working." With the economy growing, but sputtering at times, some would question my opinion. Here are the realities:
Everyone agreed we needed an infusion of money to prime the pump -- how much, who should get it and how long it would take can be debated for ever.
WHO: Obama selected key industries as targets -- auto, finance, and insurance -- almost all of which have worked well and paid back the stimulus money with interest. Others may have worked better or worse.
HOW MUCH: Obama ended up about in the middle between the D's and R's with $800 Billion. Since much of it has been repaid, the remaining money in play is about what the R's wanted in the first place, so they should be happy with the amount now invested.
HOW LONG IT WOULD TAKE: The time estimate for the investment to take effect was generally given as 2-5 years -- it is now about 18 months to date. But this is election time, so we ignore the required time to be invested.
Many private investors have been spooked into not re-hiring workers and re-investing in their companies because of the call from the Republicans that we are going back into the ditch. Meanwhile, Obama is trying to draw credit to the Democratcs for their leadership, and use the bully pulpit to get the "Mo" behind the rebound.
Some Democrats in the African-American community are beginning to talk. How come in the heart of an important re-election year, not one, but two of the highest profile African-American members of Congress are singled out for full blown ethics investigations? Both are long time veterans of Congress and promiment members of the Black Caucus--Charlie Rangel of New York and Maxine Waters of California. Maybe it is a coincidence, but some of the concurrent activities in Florida make it look strange.
Florida Congressman Alcee Hastings is imploring the White House to fully embrace his colleague Kendrick Meek's U.S. Senate candidacy, especially now against his opponent Jeff Greene's massive TV assault on Meek's integrity. Meek has largely countered the attacks by attacking Greene's integrity back and not answering Greene's attacks. The racial overtones are obvious since Rangel, Waters, Hastings, Meek and of course, the President are African-Americans. Greene is not.
It is a potentially volatile political card to play, and that is why today it is a whisper.
If it were not for botching the "Bay of Pigs" invasion, President Kennedy and the Democrats probably would have had the appreciation and support of the grateful immigrants from Cuba, lasting even to today. With mutiple members of Congress, legislators, and even the front runner for the U.S. Senate, the Cubans have been major players in Florida politics, but commited almost exclusively to the Republican Party.
But, if the rabid R's, prompted by the instant TV Republican candidate for Governor Rick Scott, do introduce "Arizona" type immigration legislation in the upcoming special session on oil drilling, look for the hispanic communities around the state to object and probably strongly.
So if it happens, could this be a once in a lifetime opportunity for the D's, especially in South and Central Florida, to regain serious inroads with the hispanics? The ground swell is immense--look at Republican Senate candidate and Cuban Marco Rubio--at first against it, now very cautiously speaks about the issue.
To seize this opportunity it will take a well coordinated effort with a thoughful and sincere response. Are the D's up to the challenge?
It's been a while since we had to have a real heart-to-heart, the Obama Administration and I, and last time it was because Rahm Emanuel had been a bit snippy toward those of us who are carrying the water for this Administration.
We need to have another one of those conversations today; this time the circumstances are a lot more positive-in fact, if the Administration follows my suggestions here, we have a real chance to put the Democrats on the road to victory, not just this November, but also in 2012.
What I'm proposing will create hundreds of thousands, if not millions of jobs, and it will stimulate millions more as we create a national source of discount electrical power that can be used by business and consumers alike.
Here's the best part: it's no "pie in the sky" promotion I'm offering here; we've already done the same thing before, it's been working out well for almost three quarters of a century...and even better than all that...my idea first pays for itself, and then...it actually makes the Federal Government a profit, forever after.
My campaign took me to Central Florida on Saturday June 26, so instead of joining my fellow Miamians on South Beach, I showed up at 10:30 AM at Lori Wilson Park on Cocoa Beach for Hands Across the Sand.
Tony Sasso, Amy Tidd, members of the Sierra Club and Surfrider Foundation and hundreds of caring Americans held hands for ten minutes, joining thousands along other beaches in Florida with a simple, firm, clear message: NO, to offshore oil drilling; YES, to clean energy.
You heard it here first. Florida Governor Charlie Crist will announce a switch from Republican to Independent this week because:
1. Nothing short of a murder charge against Rubio will turn around the Tea Baggers in the Republican party to support Crist.
2. There are pro-Crist, moderate Democrats and Republicans that will still support him as an independent.
3. He will veto SB 6 and that will bring pro public education forces to his side, like never before.
4. At least for a while, Crist, not Rubio, would be the buzz across the country about the nation's 4th biggest state--generating badly needed "big mo" for Crist, and helping him raise $.
40 days from today - on May 18 - we will see two HUGE primaries for U.S. Senate. Even though these races aren't in Florida, they impact Democrats across the country and, well, the entire country as a whole.
In Pennsylvania, Democratic Congressman Joe Sestak will try to upset Republican-for-decades Arlen Specter.
In Arkansas, Democratic Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter will try to upset corporate lackey Blanche Lincoln.
These two races are tremendously important to defining who and what the Democratic Party is and what we will be fighting for.
If you can volunteer for these candidates (or encourage friends and family in Pennsylvania and Arkansas to do so), that would be amazing.
Of course, if you can help with a contribution to either or both via the Expand the Map! ActBlue page as soon as possible, it will make a big impact.
Polling shows that both Specter and Lincoln are at risk of - if not likely to - hand these Senate seats over to far-right-wing Republicans. (And, even if these two retain the seats, that's not much better on many key issues.)
Congressman Sestak and Lieutenant Governor Halter winning these primaries are critical to keeping these seats in truly Democratic hands. Your support can help make that happen! Please hop over to the Expand the Map! ActBlue page right away to make a contribution - an investment in the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party to pull out an old expression - and show your support.
Thanks SO much for any support you can provide. 40 Days.
The St. Petersburg Times editorial calling for an IRS investigation of the credit card usage by the big shots at the RPOF changes what was an interesting and juicy story to a downright serious matter. Now the Democrats can look for the same kind of microscope analysis of their party's credit card spending. The Democrats have just aired a clever new ad describing former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio's (R., Miami) spending with his RPOF credit card as "priceless."
This Blogger had previously speculated on my ABC News TV Political Commentary that the PSC and Sansom scandals might very well drive the upcoming Session of the Florida Legislature to delve into ethics reform. Now, because of CARDGATE in Florida, it is a certainity.
I've been enjoying the antics of the few Democrats in congress who seem to have guts. The Democrat firebrands as some are calling them are good theatre and give an impression of passionate advocates and people who aren't afraid. I'm wondering whether the theatrics are useful on the whole.
To some degree these theatrics seem like the kind of thing that get us into trouble. We don't do them as well as Republicans and don't have the discipline not to make a misstep. Sooner or later I fear we might get hoist on our own petard. Are we playing with fire?
I also find that in an era of massive unemployment, the impression that we're "playing" at finding a solution may be counterproductive. For a guy who's been looking for a job for 8 months, too much partisanship may eventually wash us with the same stink as the other side. The Republicans are good at playing partisan politics, I wonder if we need to rise above it. It will hurt in the short term, but it may be the ticket in the long term.
Right now I think people are tired of flash. I'm hoping we're seeing a return to real work, instead of investment bankers stealing money and everyone hoping to get rich flipping houses or day trading. Even if it works in the short term, I'm not sure this kind of rhetoric reflects the eventual outcomes we'd like to see.
Historically there have been a lot of "thanks but no thanks" moments in the plights of various groups. I remember distinctly in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, Al Qaeda trying to make some tenuous links to helping the Palestinian people. The Palestinians of course immediately distanced themselves from these offers of help, "Thanks but no thanks." There was nothing to be gained from the "support" of madmen, so they of course didn't accept their token of support.
Similarly in the 90's I always remembered thinking that Rush Limbaugh was the best thing to ever happen to the Democratic party. I felt like there were a lot of people who listened to his show and thought to myself "I don't agree with that, I must not be a Republican." His vitriol wasn't helping anyone but his pocketbook and of course the situation now is even more bizarre.
As a progressive I have a lot of people where I don't want their help either. As usual these people tend to occupy the fringe and worry about rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. I was reading today about a British MP complaining that Disney didn't have a disabled princess yet. Honestly I think that would be great, but I don't think we need to be concerned about things like that when we just got our first black princess.
Ultimately I feel like the extreme left doesn't see the forest for the trees. I constantly feel like I'm trying to promote an agenda that can be swallowed by a country that's leery of my beliefs to begin with, and I'd appreciate it if they didn't periodically decide to "help out," with suggestions that undermine any chance of consensus. I'm as progressive as the next guy, but I'd like to see some progress in my progressiveness.
Seems that just when the Rs thought they were swinging back into gear, they are again grinding to a halt. McCollum cannot be happy that his entire support organization is going to be wrapped up with a civil war until February, and even then the party players will be politicking more for next year than they will for him.
The mid-term elections, since the President's historic win last year, occur in 2010. As typical of most elections, some surprises occurred in 2008--notably, Democrats elected from districts where the voters also preferred Barack Obama's opponent, Senator John McCain (R., AZ). Lumping first and second term members together, the total number falling in this category is approximately 50 members of the U.S. Houseof Representatives. Now the question is 'who brought them to the dance?' Said differently, one of the following probably apply to the 50:
1. They won their seats based upon their original conservative and perceived independent campaigns, and they created a comfortable distance from the Obama Campaign.
2. Their opponents were vulnerable and probably too tied to the unpopular President George Bush. However, their electorate supported the Republican nominee, thinking Senator McCain was sufficiently different from President Bush.
3. These districts had unusually discriminating voters.
What ever the reason, these 50 folks have problems now, and they are creating additional problems for their Democratic President. The Republicans are obviously targeting them, and the Administration cannot necessarily count on them on make or break votes on health care, energy and financial services reform, among many others. Also, keep in mind, historically the majority party usually loses seats in a mid-term election like this.
The outcome of these 50 House races may very well dictate the success or failure of this historic President's first term.
As a result of the media evolution, those who have ready access to mainstream media have shifted the balance of political power away from the Voters towards entities who have the ability and money to drive and influence national conversations towards their point of view.
This very public access creates instant attrition to any Election result, as the winning Politician breaths a sigh of relief from the Voters and then begins facing anywhere from 730 to as many as 2192 days where Lobbyists and Media attention comprise their worst fears for no less than two years without end.
Today our news comes in undending fashion, 24/7 relentlessly requiring something either new and different from all sources.
This 24/7 society has led to the weakening of the Voter's Election Day power, rendering decisions made on election day that direct their Officials to do their bidding or else, be fired at the next election.
Voters now have one day that their Representatives must either respect or fear, namely Election day.
All other days belong to whomever can afford to relentlessly pound their messages into the consciousness of the Nation, all it takes is the money, and a strategy that feeds the media culture by providing "intellectual" analysis from Institutions set up to advance a philosophy, usually conservative, generally from a think Tank with a name that is designed to multiply it's authority.
Think about the disparity between "endless 24/7" and elections conducted every two, four, or six, years.
For every Congressional election there are a minimum of 730 24/7 cycles that 435 members of Congress can be subjected to the infamy that comes from being publicly excoriated by the political power of money, legally screaming loudly from any media outfit that lives off of Advertising revenue.
Presidents have a minimum of 1461 of those daily news cycles per Election.
Senators face the electorate at a rate of once every 2191-2 of those 24/7 news cycles. It's little wonder that Senators are the least responsive to the Voters, and appear always to be pondering their positions. The insulation from the Electorate enjoyed by Senators ensures them little Voter pressure while exposing Senators to three times the amount of "high priced political speech" from entrenched interests.
While the Internet has given rise to the Blogger and commentators of all types and from all political views. This type of speech is powerful only in as far as the Bloggers have to either get noticed by feeding into the mainstream 24'7 news cycle.
This isn't an easy task, and the blogging world knows that most media look for our shiny aluminum helmets prior to involving themselves, unless their point is to make fun of a blogger.
Breaking that barrier requires quite a bit of ingenuity, hard investigative work, or by doing something strange and off the wall.
The other way is for the individual sources to come together and by using financial appeals gather the necessary funds to message as media Advertisers.
The evolution from Voter Power to Messaging Power driving Congress and Legislatures decision making processes is a 21st century problem that must be addressed.
Perhaps the best solution will never occur, because only a few brave Politicians would be willing to face the electorate more often, nor would such a change necessarily be beneficial in the long term.
Absent that, a US Supreme Court decision, removing the free speech rights from any non human entity, would go far to re-leveling the political playing field.
Corporations will not go away, nor will the nation's political discourse be impinged, the change will merely recognize that it is the individual citizen that holds the reins to his/her own Government.
While writing about the Florida flavor of politics for the last couple of months, I've been watching as battle lines get drawn over Obama administration initiatives meant to fix some of the more badly broken pieces of The American Dream - the healthcare system, the environment, the working middle class, for starters.
And I want to get in the game. While I'll keep covering Sunshine State doings, I'm also going to start writing more about these core national issues, and the related legislative reform efforts so necessary to restore -- and create anew - some semblance of socioeconomic equilibrium in our American Democracy.
But first, I need to get some Big Picture context off my chest - hanging a frame, if you will, in which the canvas of those and related stories can then be methodically mounted for maximum cumulative impact.
Because, if taken individually and out of their larger context, each of the aforementioned political battles now raging - and those yet to come -- may seem to some Americans to be just another round of partisan political bickering and business as usual BS - which is just what cynical Conservative and Republican politicians and pundits want people thinking.
Post-JJ Rhetorical Poll Question #1: Whether you're talking Alex Sink or Kendrick Meek, is it possible -- through the lack of intramural ideological debate and challenge, through the absence of constructive internal competition -- that the Florida Democratic Party risks both the alienation of some younger and more Liberal voters, and the absence of the kind of battle-honed sharp edges these campaigns will need heading into the general election?
I'm tired of hearing Florida Democrats tell me how much they like Governor Crist, now an official candidate for the U.S. Senate seat soon to be vacated by Mel Martinez. "He’s such an improvement over Bush.” they say, or ”He's not a real Republican." Really? Okay, maybe Charlie Crist is the Florida Republican version of Miller Lite Beer -- you know, “Tastes Great!” -- compared to the bad taste Jeb left on our political palates. No, wait; make that “Less Filling!” -- of our heads with empty Republican rhetoric. But that's not good enough for me, and it shouldn't be good enough for any self-respecting Florida Democrat.
May 1st marked the official end of the 60-day legislative session in Tallahassee. No balloons or ticker tape. No, you see, the one and only task that the legislature was actually required to accomplish by May Day was to pass the state budget for the next fiscal year, which starts July 1st. They couldn’t get it done. So now House and Senate “leaders”, Republicans like House Speaker Larry Cretul and Senate President Jeff Atwater, huddle over the weekend and try to come up with a final budget that the entire legislature can vote on next week. These are the same Republicans who had promised an open budget process last week -- just before making a mad dash for closed-door budget negotiations amongst themselves. Talk about an economic strategy echo chamber. After their secret meetings, they refused to reveal any details of what they’d discussed. But they did want to make an announcement: that the budget negotiation “will be an open process…a very, very open process.” Does that sound more than a little like the twisted double-talk that came out of the Bush administration for eight long years?
This, after weeks and weeks of the usual Florida legislative war dance -- the overwhelmingly Republican House vs. the less-overwhelmingly Republican Senate. How about a couple of examples? Well, Florida homeowners’ “insurer of last resort”, government-backed Citizens Insurance, wanted a rate hike. The state Senate approved a 5% hike. Then the House said no, that’s not enough. They wanted to give them increases of up to 20%. That's called chutzpah in Yiddish, cujones in Spanish, shameless in any language. Then there’s the Clean Energy bill, intended to force electric utilities to use more renewable energy sources, like wind and solar. Even our Republican Lite governor, Charlie Crist, is a big advocate of the legislation. But House Republicans blocked the bill throughout the session.
What are badly outnumbered Democrats to do? Some continue to fight for what's right. Others are just desperate for a win. In the case of the Clean Energy bill, at the last minute the Senate tacked on a ridiculous new feature that would allow nuclear power to also be classified as a renewable energy source. And that, folks, is the kind of wrong-headed cave-in that leaves so many principled citizens disgusted or disengaged with politics, and politicians.
However, it is important to note that there are in fact some hard-working, ethical, progressive Democrats in the state legislature, fighting the good fight against all odds -- people like Dan Gelber, Ted Deutch, Dave Aronberg, and others. But far too often, their hands are tied. There just aren’t enough of them. And that’s because of how successfully the Republicans have gerrymandered our legislative districts. The good news is, there's hope on the horizon. A vitally important new ballot referendum initiative called Fair District Florida may just be the beginning of a new day in state politics. Stay tuned for an upcoming article on this potentially game-changing new initiative.
Securing the votes in Congress to pass real immigration solutions into law isn’t going to be easy. The next President – no matter who wins – will need to lead his own party first to get it done.
As of 8/21/10: We're fooling around with Tumblr; any suggestions? Check out this book.
Immediately below, in the "Candidates" section, are links to select candidates' Twitter, Facebook and contribution pages.
These are not paid ads.
The campaign web sites of select candidates; click on "FB" to check them out on FaceBook, "T" to follow them on twitter, and "$" to donate. These are not paid ads.
- At "After All, He Is Black", we look at the inability of Florida "conservatives" to deal with racial issues.
- "Take this job ..." is a compendium of some of the things Florida employers are permitted to do to their employees.
Please leave comments or e-mail us with additional material for these projects.
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