Time To Say Buh-Bye To Reactionary Blue Dog Heath Shuler?

In terms of crucial votes taken in their entire congressional careers, only three Democrats-- Dan Boren (Blue Dog-OK), Jason Altmire (Blue Dog-PA) and Joe Donnelly (Blue Dog-IN)-- have voted more consistently with the Republicans than North Carolina Blue Dog Heath Shuler. And Boren and Donnelly have both announced they're leaving the House. Shuler's Progressive Punch score on crucial votes is 40.73, which means he's followed the lead of Boehner and Cantor on 59.67% of the crucial votes since first being elected to Congress. This year fellow North Carolina congressman, Walter Jones (R) votes more frequently with the Democrats than Shuler does! And no one in western North Carolina was surprised this week when Shuler took a big happy bite of the Satan Sandwich. He almost never votes in the interests of his constituents, so why should anyone have expected him to do so on a bill John Boehner has been bragging achieved 98% of the Republican goals.



The Republican-controlled North Carolina legislature has gerrymandered the 11th congressional district to make it much harder for Shuler to win again in 2012. It's no secret that Shuler has been feeling out his alma mater, the University of Tennessee, for the open Athletic Director job. His time as the school's Heisman-winning quarterback were his glory days... and he's angling for the million dollars a year, seven year contract. He keeps denying that he's also negotiating with the GOP to switch parties and run for the seat as a Republican. That worked out badly for fellow reactionary Blue Dog Parker Griffith, who switched parties and then was defeated by an even more extreme right-wing Republican in the next primary.



Shuler knows he may not have to worry about how he'd fare in the general election in the newly gerrymandered 11th. After his record of supporting the GOP and after his vote last week for Boehner's unpopular deficit plan, many Democrats just want him out. Last spring we talked about Asheville's very popular and very progressive City Councilman, Cecil Bothwell, challenging Shuler either as an independent or as a Democrat. Bothwell is running as a Democrat and he's the first candidate to be added to this year's Blue America anti-Blue Dog page. I spoke to him this weekend about Shuler's vote for the Satan Sandwich and asked him how he would have voted. "With the 95 Democrats who opposed it," he answered firmly, a man who's sense of self-assurance comes from a coherent purpose of serving the interests of his friends and neighbors in western North Carolina.

The debt ceiling deal approved this week is a disaster. I would have joined the other 95 Democrats who voted against the plan, and I believe the new 12-member special commission it has created will prove to be every bit as problematic as the fracas we've witnessed in recent weeks.



President Obama shouldn't have taken the 14th Amendment solution off the table. He should have told the Republicans that if they didn't go along with a straight up or down vote on the debt ceiling he would be forced to intervene for the good of the nation. He permitted his opponents to drag the argument far to the right and agreed to a solution that is far to the right of popular opinion. A significant majority wants to see tax increases on those making more than $250,000 per year. Handing the keys to any tax increase to the GOP majority in the House is a mistake we will all come to regret.



I note that the agreement has had no good effect on the markets, with the Dow collapsing immediately following the agreement, and now Standard & Poors downgrading our national credit rating.

Bothwell feels he can put together a populist coalition that rejects the transpartisan right-wing agenda that has devastated the America economy and ruined job prospects in North Carolina. He sees the new district being entirely up for grabs and not something that should be looked at in terms of how many votes Obama got and how many votes McCain got-- which is the standard the legislature used in their gerrymander. "I believe," he told me, "there's a new paradigm emerging in American politics and it's very apparent here. Both Progressive Democrats and tea party Republicans exhibit a strong populist streak. Surprisingly, tea partiers support Medicare almost as strongly as do Democrats in national polls. Both are discontent with the corporatist policies of the major parties at the national level. I believe our campaign is getting through to people on both sides of the old political divide and I expect we will win."



If you'd like to help Cecil Bothwell do that, please consider donating what you can to his campaign. I expect we'll be hearing a lot more from him as he keeps North Carolina's worst Blue Dog on the run.

Another Look At What Happened In Boehner's Dysfunctional House Yesterday

By now you already know the whole sorry Boehner bill story, which was like a Frankenstein monster that finally passed late Friday, without a single Democratic vote (not even a stray Blue Dog-- not even Dan Boren or Jason Altmire, who, respectively, have voted 83% and 79% with the GOP on crucial issues this year!) and still managing to lose 22 deranged Republican teabaggers. The 22 deranged Republican teabaggers who absolutely insist on a default and financial armageddon, for those keeping track, were:

Justin Amash (Grand Rapids)
Paul Broun (John Birch Society)
Jason Chaffetz (Provo, UT)
Chip Cravaack (Duluth, MN)
Scott DesJarlais (central Tennessee)
Jeff Duncan (Anderson, SC)
Trey Gowdy (Greenville, SC)
Tom Graves (rural north Georgia next to SC)
Tim Huelskamp (rural Kansas)
Jim Jordan (a rapidly changing OH-4, just east of Boehnerville)
Steve King (Council Bluffs, IA)
Tom Latham (Ames, IA)
Connie Mack (Ft. Myers, FL)
Mick Mulvaney (Sumter, SC)
Ron Paul (his own world)
Tim Scott (Charleston, SC)
Steve Southerland (Tallahassee, FL)
Joe Walsh (Deadbeat Dads)
Joe Wilson (Columbia, SC)

How ironic that these madmen passed a bill to, in effect, prevent the federal government from paying bills run up mostly by Republican presidents and with overwhelming support from Republican congressmembers going back to the early 1950s! Obama's press secretary sent out an official statement from the White House:

The bill passed today in the House with exclusively Republican votes would have us face another debt ceiling crisis in just a few months by demanding the Constitution be amended or America defaults. This bill has been declared dead on arrival in the Senate. Now that yet another political exercise is behind us, with time dwindling, leaders need to start working together immediately to reach a compromise that avoids default and lays the basis for balanced deficit reduction.

Senator Reid’s proposal is a basis for that compromise. It not only achieves more deficit reduction than the bill passed in the House today and puts a process in place to achieve even more savings, it also removes the uncertainty surrounding the risk of default. The President urges Democrats and Republicans in the Senate to find common ground on a plan that can get support from both parties in the House-- a plan the President can sign by Tuesday.

I enjoyed what Keith Ellison (D-MN), co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, had to say after the bill limped to passage:

At a time when our country is on the brink of a catastrophic default, it is reckless and irresponsible to bring a bill to the floor that not only has no chance of becoming law, but would also devastate the working and middle class. This bill would cost an untold number of Americans their jobs, stunt our already fragile recovery, and destroy vital programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. That is why I did not hesitate to vote against this legislation.

The stakes are too high now for us to continue this way. If there were ever a time for Republicans to put aside ideological attacks for the good of the country, now is that time. Never in the history of the United States of America has our nation’s credit been held hostage. If Republicans fail to join us in avoiding default, they will distinguish themselves as a party that has deliberately harmed the American economy because of obstinacy, stubbornness and recklessness.

But for me the highlight of the day came a few minutes before the vote on Boehner's bill, when Kathy Hochul (D-NY) offered a Motion to Recommit for the Democrats which would have directed the Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction in the Boehner bill to eliminate subsidies for the five largest oil and gas companies, and corporate jet owners, before gutting education initiatives that create jobs, spur growth and invest in the country's future. Only one Republican, the intrepid and independent Walter Jones (R-NC), had the decency and the nerve to vote for it. It failed in this demented House 183-244. And half a dozen Democrats voted against it, a Texas oil industry water-carrier (Gene Green) and 5 of the most disreputable and reactionary Blue Dogs:

John Barrow (Blue Dog-GA)
Dan Boren (Blue Dog-OK)
Jim Costa (Blue Dog-CA)
Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX)
Jim Matheson (Blue Dog-UT)

If you want to help Blue America eradicate the scourge of Blue Dogs... we have a page for that. As for the scourge of Republicans... we're working on that too. Although with leaders like Boehner, they may take care of themselves, the way Mike Pence seems to have this week, utterly destroying the teabag-cred he worked so hard to build up for so long.

Another Of Congress' Worst Blue Dogs, This Time Mike Ross (AR), Is Leaving

This morning, after the President's speech to the nation last night, the Washington Post and ABC News released a poll showing that 77% of Americans think the Republicans aren't willing enough to compromise with the president over the debt ceiling problem. That's a kind of bipartisanship that transcends Beltway politics. But if you bother to listen to Boehner and Cantor and the other right-wing leaders arguing for more tax breaks for millionaires and more loopholes for companies that ship American jobs to China, you may have noticed that they claim that their my-way-or-the-highway approach has "bipartisan support." What are they talking about? Blue Dogs.

Although the GOP managed to devastate the Blue Dog conservative Blue Dog coalition last November-- less than half of them are still serving in Congress-- many of those who are left have consistently supported Boehner's and Cantor's approach on the vast majority of crucial votes this year. And with Boehner and Cantor insisting that July 19th's passage of their Cut, Cap and Balance Act in the House (it failed in the Senate) that's the proof that their plot to gut Social Security and Medicare is bipartisan. It passed 234-190... 5 mangy Blue Dogs voting with the Republicans.

The 5 culprits were Dan Boren (Blue Dog-OK), Jim Cooper (Blue Dog-TN), the only one of the 5 to represent a solidly Democratic district, Jim Matheson (Blue Dog-UT), Mike McIntyre (Blue Dog-NC) and Heath Shuler (Blue Dog-NC). This year Boren, who has already announced that he will be retiring from Congress next year, has, on crucial votes, sided with the Democrats 17.28% of the time. Yes, he's stuck with Boehner and Cantor on a whopping 82.72% of the key votes the House took this year. Just for the sake of comparison, that's more loyal to the right-wing line than 15 Republicans, including die-hard conservatives like Justin Amash, a teabagger from Michigan, and California nutcase Dana Rohrabacher. That dismal 17.28% adherence to Democratic positions is exactly the same percentage that California's most extreme right-wing congressional imbecile, Tom McClintock, voted with the Democrats.

Matheson, who is being wooed by the DSCC to run for a shaky Senate seat in Utah, isn't quite as bad as Boren. He's voted with the Democrats 27.50% of the time. The House Democratic caucus will be much better off without these two corporate shills-- if Matheson can be lured out of (or gerrymandered out of) a relatively safe seat and into a Senate race he's bound to lose. These two, and the rest of the Blue Dogs, are not just giving Boehner and Cantor cover to call their outrageous and extremist right-wing bills "bipartisan," they are consistently pushing the anti-family corporate line within the caucus, undermining cohesion and pulling Democratic positions further and further right, confusing the public about what it means to support Democrats.

Two days after the 5 Blue Dogs supported Cut, Cap and Balance, Cantor pushed through legislation to take the teeth out of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, basically giving the banksters a big wet kiss by ending the Consumer Protection part of the bill. It passed 241-173, 10 right-wing, corporate-oriented Democrats joining the GOP on this one. This is the kind of vote the DCCC likes to go out and raise money on, claiming the Democrats want to protect consumers and the Republicans want to make them easy prey for ravenous and greed-obsessed banksters. It's mostly true... except for the folks who live in districts represented by John Barrow (Blue Dog-GA), Dan Boren (Blue Dog-OK), Ben Chandler (Blue Dog-KY), Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX), Jim Matheson (Blue Dog-UT), Mike McIntyre (Blue Dog-NC), Bill Owens (Blue Dog lite-NY), Nick Rahall (Blue Dog lite-WV), Mike Ross (Blue Dog-AR), and Kurt Schrader (Blue Dog-OR). That's how they roll... on virtually every vote in the House.

Yesterday, while working-family champion Bernie Sanders (I-VT) was railing at the far right for demanding that Congress balance the budget on the backs of seniors, orphans and disabled veterans, there was another development, of a more partisan nature, taking place in Little Rock, Arkansas, where Mike Ross-- the second-worst Blue Dog (21.47% with the Democrats this year) after the execrable Boren-- was announcing his retirement, probably foreshadowing a run for governor in 2014.

Last year Blue America worked tirelessly to defeat the worst Blue Dog in the 2009-10 session, Bobby Bright (AL). We take some credit for his narrow 51-49% loss-- a less than 5,000 vote margin. Here's how we put it right after the election:

The silver lining last night, as I predicted a week ago, was the political demise of the Blue Dogs. Over half the caucus was defeated, including the most reactionary members-- those who voted most frequently with the GOP against working families: Bobby Bright (AL-19.83% with Democrats), Gene Taylor (MS- 22.50), Travis Childers (MS- 22.95), Walt Minnick (ID- 27.64), Harry Mitchell (AZ- 28.46), Glenn Nye (VA- 30.08), Charles Melancon (LA- 32.17), Jim Marshall (GA-32.52). In fact all the Blue Dogs who voted less than a third of the time with the Democrats except for arch-reactionary Dan Boren (OK- 26.50), were defeated, as were so many of the ones who voted against the Hate Crimes bill, for the Stupak Amendment, against the health care bill, against the Wall Street reform legislation. And in the Senate, reactionary Arkansas bootlick to the Walton family, Blanche Lincoln wound up with a stunning 37.2% of the vote.

Blue America started the ball rolling against Blanche over a year ago by letting loyal Democrats in Democratic parts of the state know what she was up to. And we just did the same thing-- with equal success-- to Bobby Bright in Alabama. With 217,777 votes cast yesterday, Bright won 106,455 (48.9%) to Martha Roby's 111,322 (51.1%). We were able to depress his vote in 4 counties crucial to Democratic candidates, Lowndes, Barbour, Bullock and Butler. Below is a comparison of the votes Bright got in each of these candidates when he won in 2008 and when he lost last night:

Lowndes- 5,667 (79%) in '08 and 3,874 (74%) Tuesday
Barbour- 6,889 (61%) in '08 and 4,822 (59%) Tuesday
Bullock- 4,203 (79%) in '08 and 2,980 (77%) Tuesday
Butler- 5,601 (59%) and 3,878 (55%) Tuesday

We hope right-wing Democrats willing to shill themselves out to Big Business will know there's a price to pay for their perfidy. We'll be thinking carefully about Ben Nelson's race in 2012-- as well as Jim Cooper's, Joe Donnelly's, Mike Ross' and John Barrow's. And then there's our fearless leader.

Our first choice for this year was Boren and our second choice was the grossly corrupt Ross. Donnelly has been redistricted out of a seat and will make some silly run for the Senate and then go to work on K Street. We're looking closely at Barrow and Cooper, each of whom represents a Democratic district. McCain only took 45% of the votes in Barrow's Georgia district and only 43% in Cooper's Nashville district. Either of those Republican-supporting corporatists can be beaten in a Democratic primary. If you'd like to help, please surf over to our Bad Dogs page and lend a hand. We have several leads in across the country for progressives willing to challenge Blue Dogs.

Last year 28 Blue Dogs-- and another dozen or so Blue Dog allies like Ann Kirkpatrick, Suzanne Kosmas and Melissa Bean-- were either forced into retirement or were defeated at the polls. These were the Blue Dogs who were voting with the GOP in 2010 but are no longer in the House:

Mike Arcuri (NY-24)
Robert Marion Berry (AR-1)
Allen Boyd (FL-2)
Bobby Bright (AL-2)
Chris Carney (PA-10)
Travis Childers (MS-1)
Kathy Dahlkemper (PA-3)
Lincoln Davis (TN-4)
Brad Ellsworth (IN-8)
Bart Gordon (TN-6)
Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (SD-AL)
Baron Hill (IN-9)
Frank Kratovil (MD-1)
Betsy Markey (CO-4)
Jim Marshall (GA-8)
Charlie Melancon (LA-3)
Walt Minnick (ID-1)
Harry Mitchell (AZ-5)
Dennis Moore (KS-3)
Patrick Murphy (PA-8)
Scott Murphy (NY-20)
Glenn Nye (VA-2)
Earl Pomeroy (ND-AL)
John Salazar (CO-3)
Zack Space (OH-18)
John Tanner (TN-8)
Gene Taylor (MS-4)
Charlie Wilson (OH-6)

Several are trying for comebacks. We'll be doing our best to make sure that doesn't happen, particularly in the case of the mendacious Chris Carney, who's looking to move down to a bluer district and challenge GOP racist Lou Barletta.

UPDATE: Bleak Future For The Blue Dogs

This morning Aaron Blake and Rachel Weiner laid out a scenario for the likely extinction of the Blue Dogs as a species. There are only 25 left-- although they neglect to mention there are plenty who vote with the Blue Dogs but fear affiliating themselves with the hated caucus-- and prospects for the future look very dim. They make Altmire, Boswell, McIntyre and Shuler as the mostly likely to face defeat in 2012 but point out that John Barrow, Sanford Bishop, Dennis Cardoza, Ben Chandler, Jim Cooper, Jim Costa, Adam Schiff and several others could be redistricted into oblivion. There are only 6 "safe" Blue Dogs by their calculations-- and I think they're being overly generous to Mike Thompson, although that depends on which district he winds up running in.

The Republican Attack On Clean Air And Water Continues

One day you could wake up & find John Mica's wig in your drinking water

Wednesday the House voted 239-184 to roll back the Clean Water Act, by amending the Federal Water Pollution Control Act in a way that cedes enforcement to state governments which are under equipped and prone to be easily manipulated by corporate polluters. 13 Republicans (in Democratic-leaning districts) voted against John Mica's outrageous legislation and 16 right-wing Democrats crossed the aisle to vote with Cantor and the anti-environment caucus. (The bill was co-sponsored by 35 Republican pro-pollution fanatics and 4 conservative Allegheny area Democrats, Jason Altmire, Tim Holden, Nick Rahall and Mark Critz, who are owned by Big Coal). The Democrats-- no surprises on this list-- voting in favor of poisoned water were:

Jason Altmire (Blue Dog-PA)
Joe Baca (Blue Dog-CA)
John Barrow (Blue Dog-GA)
Dan Boren (Blue Dog-OK)
Leonard Boswell (Blue Dog-IA)
Dennis Cardoza (Blue Dog-CA)
Jim Costa (Blue Dog-CA)
Jerry Costello (IL)
Mark Critz (PA)
Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX)
Tim Holden (Blue Dog-PA)
Mike McIntyre (Blue Dog-NC)
Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN)
Nick Rahall (WV)
Mike Ross (Blue Dog-AR)

This was a vote for dozens of Love Canals and for dangerous levels of arsenic and perchlorate in our drinking water-- unless you can afford Fiji Water. Jerry McNerney offered a Motion to Recommit on behalf of the Democrats-- with moderate Republican Walter Jones plus all Democrats but one voting in favor-- that sought to retain the "EPA's authority to set water pollution standards and review permits when pollutants are being discharged into waters that are a source of public drinking water." Cantor insisted the GOP kill it. Nancy Pelosi voiced a concern shared by most Americans aware of what the GOP is up to:

“Americans have been clear that their top priority is creating jobs; this week in Congress, Republicans are ignoring job creation and instead rolling back clean water protections that ensure the safety of the water Americans drink and in which they swim and fish. 
 
“Nearly 40 years ago, the bipartisan Clean Water Act revolutionized the safety of American water; it gave a measure a confidence to families that they can protect their children from toxins and pollutants. Now Republicans want to take our nation backwards. 
 
“This week, Republicans are turning back the clock on progress for the environment and our clean energy future: in addition to today’s misnamed ‘Clean Water’ legislation, they attempted to make light bulbs less energy efficient, at a cost to American consumers of nearly $12.5 billion per year, and voted repeatedly to slash investments in clean energy jobs.   
 
“Republicans should abandon their ideological assault on the environment and get to work creating jobs and strengthening our economy.”

Rachel Maddow was incredible on this last night:

Will Norman Solomon Be facing Off Against A Blue Dog Next Year?

Blue Dog Mike Thompson vs progressive Norman Solomon?

Not every Blue Dog is as bad as Dan Boren, Mike Ross, John Barrow, Jim Costa, Jason Altmire, Collin Peterson and Jim Matheson, the 7 bums who have voted with the GOP more than 65% of the time on crucial roll calls this year. Boren, whose district gave McCain a 66% landslide, has only voted with the Democrats 17% on these crucial roll calls. Normally he just sticks with Boehner and Cantor. California Blue Dog Mike Thompson isn't nearly as bad as Boren or the other 6. He's with the Democrats around 80% of the time. Interestingly, his northern California district was the mirror image of Boren's. Voters there have Obama a 66% landslide against McCain. And under the new redistricting, it looks like Thompson will be running in a district that is made up of the most Democratic parts of his old district plus most of Lynn Woolsey's even more Democratic district in Marin and Sonoma counties. (Woolsey's district gave Obama 76%, one of his best performances anywhere.)

This isn't a district that should be represented by a Blue Dog, even if he's a relatively house-broken one. Mike Thompson's agenda is not even nearly in sync with the progressive voters of the district. He's a middle-of-the-road, corporate-oriented Democrat who has chosen to join and participate in the decidedly anti-working family Blue Dog caucus. And one of the country's most promising progressive leaders, Norman Solomon, is running on a platform to continue and expand the work of retiring Representative Lynn Woolsey, who was often at odds with Thompson on important issues.

Last week, for example, Woolsey co-wrote a letter to Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi bolstering her stand against trading away Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid to prevent the GOP from driving the U.S. Treasury into default. Norman Solomon told me he would have signed that letter. Mike Thompson, of course, didn't. Nor would he ever be involved in any progressive initiatives. He's a party hack who, at best, goes along to get along. His career is that of a backbencher serving his time before transitioning to K Street. This is as good a time as any for that transition. Here's the letter:

Leader Pelosi,
 
We write in strong agreement with your unwavering defense of the Democratic programs that form the bedrock of America’s middle and working classes, and which are overwhelmingly popular.
 
On July 7, you made very clear that “We are not going to balance the budget on the backs of America’s seniors, women and people with disabilities” and that “we do not support cuts in benefits” for vital safety-net programs. We agree completely.
 
Especially in these tough economic times, we should not be cutting Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid benefits that millions of our constituents paid into and depend on. Such benefit cuts should be off the table in current debt discussions.
 
Our Republican colleagues should be embarrassed by their insistence that unless Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits are cut, the nation will default on its debts. Middle-class families have sacrificed enough, and a deal that pushes the American Dream further out of reach, in order to pay for extending tax breaks for the rich and corporations, is simply unacceptable.
 
We are united as Democrats in saying that it’s time to stand up to the Republican hostage-taking. We will not be forced to vote for a “final agreement” that we do not agree to -- and that the American people do not agree to.
 
We stand united with you in insisting that benefit cuts for working families, our seniors, children, and people with disabilities must be off the table, and we stand united with you in fighting for millions of Americans who need Democrats to be firmly on their side.

I think most Democrats and independents in Marin, Sonoma and Napa counties would agree with that-- and they deserve a congressman who will stand up and fight for those ideas. Clearly, that is not Mike Thompson. It is, however, Norman Solomon. Norman is committed to joining the Progressive Caucus once he's in Congress, a caucus Lynn Woolsey chaired for many years. He'll be working on legislation there with people like Raul Grijalva, Jerry Nadler, Donna Edwards, Barbara Lee, Keith Ellison and Barney Frank. Thompson has chosen to spend his legislative career with Boren and Matheson and Barrow and working with them on the toxic Blue Dog legislative agenda. The work of progressive fighters like Bernie Sanders is anathema to that crowd. Norman applauded Sander's approach to keeping Social Security safe-- a far different perspective from how the Blue Dog Caucus views it. Bernie:

Social Security cuts under consideration by the White House in deficit-reduction talks would drive 245,000 people into poverty and lower widows’ benefits $1,200 a year by 2050, according to Social Security Administration calculations provided to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

Changing the way inflation is measured to determine Social Security benefits is one option on the table in high-stakes budget negotiations that resume Sunday at the White House. The so-called Chained Consumer Price Index on average results in a lower inflation levels than the more common formula used to adjust benefits.

“The result would be devastating cuts for millions of American seniors and people with disabilities,” said Sanders. As chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging, Sanders asked the Social Security Administration’s Office of Retirement Policy to calculate the impact on poverty rates and benefits if the revised inflation gauge were to be adopted.

In 2030, according to the report prepared for Sanders, there would be 173,400 more people living in poverty in the United States. The revised formula also would dramatically lower benefits for retirees. Widows would receive almost $70 a month less in benefits, a reduction of $840 a year. People who are 70-79 would receive $49 a month less, a drop of $588 a year. Benefits for those who are 80-89 would drop by $80/month or $960 a year. Benefits for women would fall by 3.5 percent overall while men’s benefits would drop by 2.9 percent.

By 2050, the impact would be much worse. There would be 245,000 more people living in poverty at mid-century. Widows’ benefits would be $1,200 a year less. Those 70-79 would lose $720 a year, and seniors in the 80-89 age bracket would see benefits fall by $1,200 a year. Overall, women would see a 4 percent reduction in benefits while benefits for men would drop 3.4 percent.

As the deficit negotiations were set to resume on Sunday, Sanders emphasized that Social Security has not contributed a dime to the deficit or the national debt. Funded by the payroll tax on workers and employers, Socials Security has a $2.6 trillion surplus and will be able to provide full benefits for every eligible American for the next 25 years.

Sanders called on President Barack Obama to publicly renounce the idea of cutting Social Security as part of any deal to lower deficits. "I am especially disturbed that the president is considering cuts in Social Security after he campaigned against cuts in 2008," Sanders said. "The American people expect the president to keep his word."

And if Norman has to face Thompson, it means he's going to be up against an extremely well-financed Blue Dog, with lots of support from all the worst places. Norman is going to need our help. There is a difference between Democrats who join the Progressive Caucus and Democrats who join the Blue Dog Caucus. It's life and death... for the most vulnerable segments of the population, quite literally. Today Norman put out a press release calling for an all out defense of Social Security:

A day after President Obama urged fellow Democrats to go along with “trimming benefits” for Social Security and other safety-net programs, North Bay congressional candidate Norman Solomon called for “an all-out defense of Social Security.”

Solomon, a progressive Democrat who was elected as an Obama delegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention, said Tuesday [July 12] that Social Security cuts would be “a tragic mistake, undermining our nation’s best values as well as its future.”

“Our leaders should be fighting to protect seniors, children, the jobless, the disabled and other vulnerable Americans, not throwing Social Security on the table and pulling out knives,” he said.

“I support the efforts by many Democrats in Congress to resist this looming assault on seniors and others who depend on Social Security and Medicare,” Solomon added.

“The idea of cutting Social Security and Medicare is not only a moral outrage-- it is a disastrous approach that would end up costing us dearly in the long run, severely damaging people’s quality of life and escalating healthcare costs,” Solomon said. “This is not how a civilized society solves its budgetary problems.”

Responding to the president’s statement Monday that “I’m prepared to take on significant heat from my party to get something done,” Solomon said: “We need to turn up the heat to protect Social Security.”

“Social Security does not add a penny to the deficit,” he said. “As it is now, the program will be solvent for more than two decades-- and adjustments such as raising the cap on Social Security taxes for well-to-do recipients can easily render it solvent through mid-century and beyond.”

Two More Slimy Self-Serving Conservatives Headed From Congress To K Street

Earlier in the week many of his were chuckling in resignation when it was announced that Indiana corporate shill and reflexive reactionary Evan Bayh-- also well as paid Fox contributor-- is going to work for a long-time fascist organization as a lobbyist.

Not long after announcing his plans to retire in 2010, then-Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) offered this bit of commentary on why he'd opted to leave Congress after two terms in office: "I want to be engaged in an honorable line of work." It was taken as a biting critique of the increasingly polarized and dysfunctional Senate, and a hint that Bayh's post-Senate plans might include a quiet career in academia, away from politics.

Now Bayh is eating his words. As iWatch News' Peter Stone reports, Bayh has signed on with one of the most corporate-friendly, anti-environment shops in all of Washington, DC: the US Chamber of Commerce. According to an internal memo penned by Chamber president Tom Donohue, Bayh, along with former Bush White House chief of staff Andy Card, are now part of the Chamber's anti-regulation messaging team, doing "speeches, events, and media appearances at local venues."

The Chamber's hiring of Bayh, a big name in Washington circles, will only help its efforts to delay or kill new regulatory legislation in Congress. Indeed, Donohue's memo touts how the Chamber has filed legal briefs to challenge the validity of President Obama's health care reform bill; successfully delayed a new Securities and Exchange Commission rule on giving shareholders a say on corporate directors; unveiled plans to undermine the clout of the fledgling Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; and delayed a rule forcing companies to disclose when they use conflict minerals from the Congo in their products. Bayh and Card, the memo says, will help the Chamber push this pro-corporate agenda in Washington and beyond.

But just as we were hoping Bayh's revolving door would hit him in the butt on the way out, news broke that an even worse example of a right-wing Democrat would soon be scurrying from Capitol Hill to K Street. This year-- as almost every year-- spoiled child of privilege and scummy dishonorable Blue Dog Dan Boren was the Democrat who voted most frequently with the Republicans on key substantive issues before the House. His ProgressivePunch Crucial Votes score for the current session is a dismal 17.43, not just the worst for any Democrat, but worse than 16 Republicans. Boehner and Cantor have been able to count on his support as much as George Bush always did. The Democratic caucus will be infinitely better off without him, even if fellow Blue Dog Brad Carson, the district's former congressman, wins the seat.

With Boren gone the once-mighty Blue Dog caucus of rightists and racists will have been cut down from 54 to 23. That's 23 too many. As Politico reported, former Tennessee Rep. John Tanner, a leading conservative Democrat who helped found the coalition in 1995, acknowledged that the Blue Dog wing is, for the time being at least, struggling for survival.

“It ought to concern us from the standpoint that we need to put aside strongly held philosophies,” said Tanner, who retired last year.

Former North Dakota Rep. Earl Pomeroy, a Blue Dog who lost his seat last November, put it more directly: “I think you could say this was the most disastrous House election that Democrats ever had, and those who paid the highest price were those in swing districts and those who were Blue Dogs.”

While Boren didn’t announce his plans, many in the growing ranks of former Blue Dogs have beaten a path to the lucrative environs of K Street, where they aren’t regularly berated by progressives who resent their departures from party orthodoxy or Republicans insisting they are tools of a liberal national party. In just the past few months alone, former South Dakota Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, former Tennessee Rep. Bart Gordon, Pomeroy and Tanner are among those who have taken the lobbying path.

I was on the phone with a senior progressive Democrat when the news of Boren's retirement hit the transom. I asked her if she had heard the news about Boren. And she shot back, "Did he finally make if official and switch parties?" I told her he was retiring and she asked me if I knew he was related to Paul Ryan by marriage. Boren, who's on the Board of Directors of the NRA, didn't endorse Obama in 2008 and voted against healthcare reform and was always strictly anti-Choice.

Last November Blue America helped defeat the only Democrat with a worse voting record than Boren: Bobby Bright, an Alabama Blue Dog. This year our ActBlue page, Send The Democrats A Message They Can Understand is assisting progressives who fighting for nominations against Blue Dogs and other conservative Democrats. We have three on our list so far and if you'd like to help them in their struggle we'd be most appreciative.

Are Republicans Attempting To Create An American Train Wreck To Advance Their Partisan Agenda?

When I was growing up in Brooklyn and on Long Island, I always had the idea that Florida was like a second home for everyone I knew. My first big trip alone was when I was 13 and I hitchhiked to visit my grandparents in Miami Beach over Easter. By electing a deranged ideologue as governor, Florida voters just decided, in effect, to give all the Northeast snowbirds a big wet kiss and a thank you for all the money they've spent in the Sunshine State over the years. Rick Scott vetoed the high speed rail system and the 2 billion dollars allocated for it and Monday the Obama Administration announced where all that money-- and all the jobs that money will create-- is going instead.

Rail riders along the California coast and the Boston-Washington "Northeast Corridor" are set to reap much of the benefits from $2 billion that Florida policymakers had earlier rejected for high-speed rail development.

The Obama administration on Monday announced the reallocated funding, part of its push to spur environmentally friendly transportation and modernize the nation's infrastructure that's supported partly by the 2009 economic stimulus package.

Fifteen states and Amtrak will receive the money to back 22 high-speed intercity passenger rail projects. Among other things, the funds will be used to improve speed and service in the Northeast, add faster rail lines in the Midwest and help spur more efficient train service between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Nearly $300 million will be spent to reduce major delays for trains coming in and out of Manhattan-- the nation's busiest passenger rail junction. Within the next four years, high-speed rail advocate Petra Todorovich estimated trains between New York and Philadelphia will routinely move at 160 mph because of a host of upgrades aimed at improving "train speeds, capacity and reliability."

...Supporters insist the emphasis on faster rail transportation is a necessary investment in the country's economic competitiveness. Critics contend it's little more than a massive boondoggle that is contributing to skyrocketing federal deficits while providing few proven benefits over the long term.

Scott's decision this winter to reject what eventually worked out to $2 billion in federal funding for the Orlando-to-Tampa plan surprised a number of observers. This came after the Obama administration pulled another $1.2 billion in funding from Ohio and Wisconsin after their newly elected GOP governors vowed to kill high-speed rail projects that were under way.

LaHood portrayed those cases Monday as relatively rare exceptions, noting that the Transportation Department received $10 billion worth of requests for the $2 billion available.
"Who says America does not have a pent-up demand?" he asked.

Amtrak officials note that they set a new annual ridership record of more than 28 million passengers for the last fiscal year.

The plutocrats who fund the Republican Party-- and the Blue Dogs-- simply do not want to pay for American infrastructure. They have their own private planes anyway and they don't see America as a worthwhile investment. Whether it's Medicare, transportation, education, or infrastructure, the rich refuse to pay their share and they have the political muscle to get their way but financing conservative politicians to do their bidding. It was heartening to hear Harry Reid tell Boehner-- who's demanding more tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires by cutting spending-- to start his jihad by cutting $2 trillion in taxpayer subsidies for Big Oil. Obviously that's off the table for the Koched-up GOP.

An amendment on March 1st to repeal taxpayer-funded subsidies to Big Oil. The amendment would have prohibited large oil companies from receiving certain tax breaks, like the domestic manufacturing deduction in the 2004 international tax law. Repealing these tax breaks would save taxpayers tens of billions of dollars over the next decade. 100% of House Republicans voted no.

Slimy Blue Dogs who feed at the same corruption-filled troughs as the Republicans crossed the aisle and voted with them against cutting off taxpayer subsidies for Big Oil. Among the most corrupt of the Blue Dog bribe takers who voted with every House Republican on March 1 were:

Jason Altmire (Blue Dog-PA)
John Barrow (Blue Dog-GA)
Dan Boren (Blue Dog-OK)
Dennis Cardoza (Blue Dog-CA)
Ben Chandler (Blue Dog-KY)
Jim Costa (Blue Dog-CA)
Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX)
Jim Matheson (Blue Dog-UT)
Mike Ross (Blue Dog-AR)