left wing

Democrats Spend Big in Efforts to Take Back Wisconsin's Statehouse

Submitted by Sara Jerving on August 6, 2011 - 9:14am

More than 56 groups have taken to the airwaves this summer telling Wisconsin citizens how to vote, and now it's down to the wire. The first recall election is Tuesday, where six Republicans senators will have their positions challenged.

The recall elections are a result of a movement of state citizens upset with what many have called Governor Scott Walker's radical efforts to limit the rights of workers in the state and the recently signed GOP budget, which included severe cuts to public education and safety-net programs. Citizens have pushed to have the Republican senators who voted for these measures removed from office. Two Democratic senators will also face recall on August 16th. The Democrats will have to win at least three Republican seats next week to take back control of the State Senate.

Live Reporting from the Wisconsin Protests

Submitted by Jennifer Page on June 7, 2011 - 9:00am

It had to start somewhere.Since Monday, February 14, CMD reporters have been on the streets providing live coverage of the historic protests in Madison, Wisconsin and related legal and political battles. We focus on the corporations and spinmeisters pulling the strings. CMD is supported by small contributions from people like you.

Debate Over Swing Vote on High Court in Labor Battle Sparks Discussion of Judicial Agenda and Demeanor

Submitted by Erica Pelzek on March 22, 2011 - 4:37am

JoAnne KloppenburgAmidst the ongoing labor struggle in Wisconsin and national efforts to cut programs while giving breaks to business, the race for a swing vote seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court has heated up.

Justice David Prosser, who is up for reelection, has been the subject of TV ads attempting to tie his views and judicial decisions to controversial Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. Prosser has rejected these claims and stated that a statement earlier this year by his campaign staff that he should be re-elected to "complement" Walker's efforts was not approved by him in advance.

At the March 21 debate at Marquette Law School between the two candidates -- Prosser and JoAnne Kloppenburg -- in the non-partisan race for the highest court in the state, Prosser faced questions about his temperament and the lack of judicial collegiality on the Court. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (MJS) endorsed Prosser during the primary while noting that in "an interview with the Editorial Board [in February], he was surprisingly blunt in his criticisms of the chief [Justice Shirley Abrahamson], blaming her for the backbiting and divisiveness of the court."

Progressives Up In Arms Over Brand Obama's Insult

Submitted by Steve Horn on August 10, 2010 - 2:53pm

Barack Obama buttonsA year and a half after his November 4, 2008 election, the progressive left is, rightfully, up in arms over the lack of integrity President Barack Obama has shown across the gamut of burning contemporary political issues. These include, but are not limited to issues such as war, health care, secrecy, warrantless wiretapping, and environmental issues, among many others.

A healthy and flourishing representative democracy depends on an engaged citizenry standing up and demanding that their representatives represent them. President Obama said so himself at this year's Netroots Nation conference in Las Vegas in his desperate plea to show progressive activists that he is, indeed "one of them." It does not take a political guru to understand that this was a desperate attempt to garner support from progressive Democrats for the 2010 elections, who, according to soundbites his Administration pulled together from The Rachel Maddow Show and included in the video address to the attendees at Netroots Nation, have fought so hard for that magical buzzword he used so loosely in 2008: change!

Reading Between the Lies

Submitted by Chelsea Lawliss on August 4, 2010 - 1:12pm

Iraq's Ministry of Interior recently released a civilian casualty count for the month of July. Their report accounted for the lost lives of 535 Iraqis, making this past month the most violent since June 2008. This escalation in violence can be attributed in part to a situation which Jeremy Scahill, writer of the ground breaking novel, Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army and correspondent for Democracy Now! explains as an unstable country. Iraq is as "unstable as it has ever been," Scahill says. "They [Iraqis] can't form a government. The vast majority of people don't have consistent access to potable water, to electricity, to gasoline... Iraq is a disaster right now."

This is what seven years of war has led up to -- a living situation so poor that Scahill felt compelled to mention that many Iraqis are saying, "It was a better under Saddam Hussein."

Cutting the Military Budget Has Been Absent From the Debate -- Until Now

Submitted by Anne Landman on July 14, 2010 - 12:48pm

Thanks, Taxpayers!When legislators talk about cutting the country's deficit, they invariably propose slashing Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security as the primary options. Now, in a rare display of bipartisanship, House Representative Barney Frank (D- Massachusetts) and Tea Party favorite, Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) issued a join statement of support for cutting the U.S. military budget as part of future deficit reduction efforts.

Main Source: 
The Hill.com, July 6, 2010

DNC Co-Opting Conservatives' "Hands off My Health Care" Slogan

Submitted by Anne Landman on March 25, 2010 - 10:51am

handsoffThe Democratic National Committee is launching a radio ad campaign co-opting the conservatives' slogan "Hands off My Health Care!" The ads warn voters that the consumer protections conferred upon them in the newly-passed health care reform bill will be stripped away if they vote Republicans into office. The ads say, "Leading Republicans are vowing to repeal reform and put the insurance industry back in charge of your health care.

Main Source: 
Huffington Post, March 24, 2010

Deceptive Big Bank Ads Will be Key to Election 2010

Submitted by Mary Bottari on February 22, 2010 - 8:15am

Even before a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision blew the lid off corporate campaign spending, it was clear that the big banks would be key players in the 2010 election cycle.

Unemployment will remain high, and so will resentment against the banks -- a volatile combination that will encourage savvy members of Congress to continue to fight for meaningful reform of the financial sector. While a major reform bill is winding its way though Congress right now, it only addresses aspects of the problem, leaving loose ends for reformers to pick up and pursue in 2011.

Tea Party Money-Bomb Elects Scott Brown, Blows-Up Obamacare

Submitted by John Stauber on January 19, 2010 - 10:28pm

Six months ago, the vocal factions of the Tea Party revolt organized among anti-Obama right wingers were mostly an annoyance to the Democratic Party. Today, the Congressional Democrats are scared for their political lives after Scott Brown, with the help of a Tea Party-organized online "money bomb" and get-out-the-vote campaign, won back for Republicans Ted Kennedy's former Massachusetts senate seat. The "money bomb" is a tactic borrowed from MoveOn and the liberal netroots movement through which the Tea Party activists raised way over one million dollars online in 24 hours for Scott Brown. Even though the Republicans have only reduced the still large fifty-nine member Democratic senate majority by one person, the fact that Brown ran an uphill campaign that came from nowhere and steamrolled to victory means that all the Congressional Democrats are now looking over their right shoulders, fearing a similar populist attack as the 2010 electoral season heats up.

The Tea Party money bomb has also blown up Obamacare, the President's muddled health care reform plan. While many pundits point to local issues that helped Brown win, the fact is that Brown ran hardest against Obama's health care bill, and won despite personal appearances in Massachusetts by Obama and Bill Clinton, and despite a desperate but failed Democratic effort to beat back the insurgency.

How Obama Manages the Liberals

Submitted by John Stauber on October 15, 2009 - 6:51am

Christopher Hayes reports on the Common Purpose Project: "From day one the (Barack Obama) administration has pursued a strategy of keeping its progressive allies on the White House playbook. In a weekly Tuesday night meeting called Common Purpose, representatives from dozens of well-established progressive groups--environmental organizations, labor unions, MoveOn, Planned Parenthood, Human Rights Campaign and others -- gather at the Capital Hilton to meet with White House reps.

Main Source: 
The Nation, October 26, 2009 (print edition)
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