April 28th, 2010 · Politics
DNC releases its 2010 strategy. Democrats announced their strategy to woo voters in November. According to DNC chairman Tim Kaine, “[w]e think Americans will reward results rather than obstruction, and we think we have a capacity to do much better in these midterm elections than a lot of people think.” Running on “results,” Kaine believes will allow the party to tout health care reform and promote its idea that the GOP is the party of obstruction.
The Senate Appears Ready to Move Ahead with Immigration. A story at Roll Call looks into what is an “alternate plan” to tackle immigration. John Staton and Kathleen Hunter write, “Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Conference Vice Chairman Charles Schumer (N.Y.) and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Bob Menendez (N.J.) released a detailed summary of a comprehensive immigration reform bill.” According to the story, the bill will be largely based on earlier negotiations between Sens. Schumer and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).
D.C. Awaits for Arrival of “Mystery” Climate Bill. It seems the legend of the Senate climate bill grows with each day it is not released. According to Kate Sheppard at Mother Jones, some are jokingly referring to the bill as “sasquatch.”
A Florida Foursome Could Be in the Cards. Ben Smith at Politico noted that Democratic Florida billionaire Jeff Greene could be the next to throw his hat in the ring. According to Smith, Democrats are worried such a move could upset Rep. Kendrick Meek’s race for the seat. This seems unlikely, as Smith also points out that Green made some of his fortune betting against the housing market as it was collapsing. Even better–Mike Tyson was the best man at Smith’s wedding and he purportedly enjoyed a friendship with Heidi Fleiss.
Tags:Charlie Crist·Election 2010·heatlh care·Immigration Reform·Jeff Greene·Kendrick Meek·Lindsey Graham·Marco Rubio
April 27th, 2010 · Politics
Florida is Set to Have a Three-Way…Race. St. Petersburg Times reports that Charlie Crist is set to make official his run as an Independent in the Florida Senate race. As the paper points out, between Crist, Rubio and Meek, the next governor of Florida could win with just 34 percent of the vote.
WSJ reports on the GOP’s “Suburban Strategy.” As part of its 2010 strategy, the GOP will be focusing on winning the suburbs, which according to the WSJ comprise nearly half of the country’s population. According to one poll cited in the article, “Hofstra University’s Center for Suburban Studies found that 31% of suburban voters felt that government actions had hurt their family’s finances—up from 15% the year before.” Such a shift, despite gains made by Democrats in 2008, could be troublesome.
House votes to forego pay hike. It seems Congress can’t justify a pay raise while ordinary Americans are still feeling it in the pocketbooks.
Texas Governor Rick Perry goes jogging, shoots a coyote. He says it’s to protect himself from snakes. I’m guessing it’s an attempt to steal crazy from Sarah Palin.
Sens. Schumer, Bennett (Colo.), Begich, and Franken, go after Mark Zuckerberg. The foursome sent a letter to Zuckerberg, raising questions about information sharing between third parties. The senators wrote, “We are writing to express our concern regarding recent changes to the Facebook privacy policy and the use of personal data on third party websites … The expansion of Facebook — both in the number of users and applications — raises new concerns for users who want to maintain control over their information.”
Democrats are planning another August health care push. This time it’s to sell the bill to constituents and with the PR war. As Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) put it: “We’re going to go out to the American people and let them know exactly what’s in the bill … I think you’re going to see a big difference this August than last August.”
Tags:2010 Election·Begich·Charlie Crist·Facebook·Franken·health care·Kendrick Meek·Marco Rubio·Mark Zuckerberg·Michael Bennet·Schumber
April 27th, 2010 · Politics
This afternoon, Gallup released a new poll showing the majority “enthusiastic voters” are leaning in favor of the GOP. While Democrats and Republicans remain essentially tied, at 45 vs. 46 percent in terms of voter preference, those most “enthusiastic” are choosing the GOP by a whopping 57 percent. This number isn’t terribly surprising and it underscores the harsh reality facing many in the Democratic party.
The country is in the midst of a perfect storm–high unemployment and rising consumer prices (2.3% in 12 months) are conspiring to slowly delay an economic recovery. Any resulting discontent among voters will ultimately be passed on to the party in power, despite populist efforts to reform health care or reign in Wall Street. Combined with the trend of the party in power losing seats during a midterm election, and Democrats could lose up to 50 seats in the House. Nate Silver at FiveThirtyEight recently suggested the best case scenario is a 20 seat loss. Ouch.
This shouldn’t be surprising, as discontent has taken over the country in the form of not only “tea partier” types, but I would argue so-called “mainstream Americans” as well–Democrat or Republican. Whether it’s the person we buy our coffee from, your kid’s soccer coach or the people we work with, the questions asked remain the same. Will I have my job tomorrow? Will my family have adequate health care? Can we afford to fill up the car with gas? No matter how many pieces of legislation we pass, whether it be health care or climate bills, these questions will not be answered in full by November. But it’s possible Democrats can go a better job of selling the “win.”
November will be about reminding the American people why Democrats were put in the majority to begin with–to bring about the long term and forward-looking notion of change. This means fighting for Main St., not Wall St. And this certainly means laying the ground work to begin a transition to an easier and more cost-effective health care system. One that will ultimately save lives and the money of tax payers–a real pocketbook issue.
Tags:2010 elections·Barack Obama·Climate·Democrats·Energy·GOP·health care·Republicans
April 26th, 2010 · Politics
Sen. Kerry: Still pushing forward on climate bill.
“We’re still pushing, we’re still talking, we’re still fighting, it’s very much alive – and I won’t quit until they’re high-fiving on Main Street America not Beijing, Tehran, or Caracas.”
Despite calls for immigration reform, some in the Senate are hesitant.
According to the Washington Post, unnamed Senate aides are pushing back against immigration reform. According to one aide, “We don’t even have a bill yet.” Some argue immigration reform led to climate talks falling apart.
Eliot Spitzer asks: Do investment banks do anything that helps America anymore?
While some are suggesting Spitzer will challenge Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, he seems to be playing the role of potential candidate quite well. He’s been working hard to polish his image and go after the man. Spitzer’s recent piece at Slate likens Goldman Sachs to a “casino” and asks whether or not investment banks any longer perform “economically useful functions.”
Lastly, it seems Pat Buchanan has once again flown off the handle. He claims that without immigration reform, the United States risks being broken into a set of ethnic enclaves. Ok Pat, how’s this for a set of enclaves? Several groups, including the city of San Francisco, are calling for economic sanctions against the state of Arizona. It seems Pat, that the Arizona immigration law has in fact, turned the state into an enclave. Good one.
Tags:Climate·Climate bill·Eliot Spitzer·Graham·Immigration·Immigration Reform·Kerry·Kirsten Gillibrand·Lieberman·Pat Buchanan·Reid·Spitzer 2010
February 10th, 2010 · DC
We’ve all heard the stories about people and being holed up in their homes and apartment for almost a week now. Then we see that WeLoveDC.com posted a story about “condoms in short supply” at local stores. This seems ripe for a contest. How about you e-mail me or comment below, the date the Washington Post first writes a profile of the “D.C. baby boom” resulting from the snow storms. If you guess correctly, I’ll give you a prize. I’m not sure what it will be, but it should be something decent. This is going to take a while, 9 months I hear. So if waiting isn’t your thing, sorry.
In the case of a tie, I’ll randomly draw a name.
Send entries to matt @ itsgully.com or comment below.
Tags:Contest·DC·Snowmageddon·Snowpocalypse·Washington DC
January 18th, 2010 · Random
This post has been a little delayed, but the idea originally came to me while I was in Texas for Christmas. The premise is that within every guy’s group of friends there should be a bartender, a doctor, and a lawyer. Such friends provide unique services and opportunities. These are just a few quick, rough thoughts .
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Tags:Doctors·Drinking·Friends·Gentlemanly adventures·Guys·Lawyers
January 11th, 2010 · World News
According to the Wall Street Journal, Yemen’s most influential scholar, Sheik Abdul Majid Al Zindani, has warned his country against allowing foreign troops or an occupying force inside the country in an attempt to pursue suspected al Qaeda terrorists. Zindani however also encouraged his country to accept international aid in stabilizing the country. Zidani said, “We accept any [international security] cooperation in a framework of mutual respect and common interest … But if someone occupies your country … a Muslim has a duty to defend” against such invaders.
The WSJ article also noted, not surprisingly, that “Mr. Zindani’s comments highlight a deep mistrust that Yemenis have toward the U.S. and its recent overseas actions. Many people here believe that U.S. troops, fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, are waging a war against Muslims, not terrorists.”
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Tags:Al Qaeda·Sheik Abdul Majid Al Zindani·Terrorism·Yemen
January 10th, 2010 · Music
As a kid I was never terribly interested in paying much attention to music. This is actually something that I find myself constantly reflecting upon and asking myself why I never took the time to explore music. I’m not a believer in New Year resolutions, but I suppose it’s never too late to start doing something different and the New Year is a great time to begin.
Before 2009 was over, I was already thinking about paying more attention to music, especially to help myself understand the various aspects of pop culture I had ignored for nearly 25 years. In a sort of strange coincidence, I received a copy of the latest Spin Magazine courtesy of Lollapalooza last week. I’m not sure how they deemed I was worthy of such a gift, but thank you.
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Tags:Music·New Year Resolutions·Sprin Magazine
