Florida Speaks

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Daily Humor

What's W. up to? Covering "White Lines," by Grandmaster Flash:

Saturday, November 21, 2009

President Obama's Weekly Address

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Does House passage give Senate momentum?

Hit the Blue Dogs!

From the PCCC:

This week, "Blue Dogs" and other bad Democrats voted to kill health care reform. They betrayed us on this core Democratic issue.

It's payback time.

Can you chip in $25 to help run online ads in the districts of 10 bad Democrats?

Together, we can hold them accountable to Democratic voters back home who trusted them with their time, money, and votes. You can see all 10 targets at the above link.

Poll after poll in "conservative" states shows that voters want health care reform -- and yes, they want the public option. Yet these bad Democrats put their corporate contributors ahead of their constituents.

Here are some of our targets:

Scott Murphy (D-NY). Murphy won a special election in April with ads featuring President Obama in a district Obama won. He told voters "the United States is facing a health care crisis." Yet Murphy voted against Obama's #1 domestic priority: health care.

Heath Shuler (D-NC). In 2006, Democrats spent millions helping Shuler win what is now a safe seat. As chief "whip" for the Blue Dogs, Shuler recruited other Democrats to vote against health care reform.

John Barrow (D-GA). Barrow won his 2008 Democratic primary solely because Obama endorsed him in a highly African-American district -- a district that Obama won by double digits.

Suzanne Kosmas (D-FL). Kosmas represents a district near Rep. Alan Grayson, but is the polar opposite of Grayson. Instead of being bold and having a people-powered campaign, she is corporate-funded and consistently votes against the people.

Mike Ross (D-AR). Ross is a top Blue Dog who Keith Olbermann featured for selling out to his insurance contributors. Our PCCC poll showed that Arkansas voters want a public option by 56% to 37%.

Fortunately, health care reform squeaked by without their votes. But If we don't hold bad Democrats accountable when they betray us on core Democratic issues, they will do it over and over again.

Can you chip in $25 to hold them accountable?

Then, please forward this to others. Thanks for being a bold progressive.

--Aaron Swartz, Stephanie Taylor, Adam Green, Andrew Perez, and the PCCC team

"Poll after poll shows that even voters in conservative areas want health care reform and demand the public option. Blue Dog Democrats like Suzanne Kosmas are wholly owed subsidiaries of corporate America, and they will pay a political price back home for putting their corporate contributors ahead of their constituents who want reform."

-- Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a 250,000 member progressive activist organization dedicated to electing bold progressives to Congress.

Recent polls:
NBC/WSJ Poll Shows 76% Support For Choice Of Public Plan
September New York Times poll: 65% overall, 47% of Republicans, 61% of Independents, 81% of Democrats support public option.
October CNN poll: 61% to 38% support public option.
Arkansas Oct 2009, Research 2000: 56% to 37% support public option.
Indiana Oct 2009, Research 2000: 52% to 42% support public option.
Nebraska Oct 2009, Research 2000: 46% to 44% support public option
Nevada Oct 2009, Research 2000: 54% to 39% support public option
Connecticut Sept 2009, Research 2000: 68% to 21% support public option.
Maine Oct 2009, Research 2000: 61% to 28% support public option.

Getting Back Our Power (From the Tea Party "Patriots")

Just as we have to assert our Sovereignty, I feel we need to take other action to restrict the power of our government.

After the New Year, I will be starting a Ballot Initiative here in the State of Florida, to set Term Limits. I am gearing for this Amendment to be placed on the 2012 ballot - which should be enough time to collect the necessary funds for the petition & collect the required number of signatures.

I recommend that States that have Ballot Initiatives should do the same. Below is a link that gives a list of States that have Ballot Initiatives for State Amendments, to Initiate New Laws, Overturn State Statutes, & Recall Officials.

http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/States

I suggest you check this out, as your State may have an Initiative that you are unaware of. You may have more power than you think!

The Ballot Initiative is one of the most powerful tools that "We the People" have, as we are able to circumvent the Legislature. This is solely between the People & the State Division of Elections.

When I contacted the Florida Division of Elections concerning a Ballot Initiative that I was considering, they gave me three links. The first link gave a complete explanation of the procedure for setting up a Ballot Initiative. The second link gave a sample copy of a petition (it must be in a specific form). The third link gave forms that I needed to fill out. I found the Florida office to be very accommodating. One of you, in each State, would need to find out your specific procedures.

If you don't find your State listed under any of the options, you will have a more difficult time getting something like term limits passed. Obviously, your Representatives are not going to be thrilled with passing legislation that will restrict them in any way,

I suggest the best route would be to try to get your State to pass a law allowing Ballot Initiatives. You would have to find a representative who would be willing to submit this to your legislature. More difficult - but not impossible

What is most important is that we take whatever action is necessary to "take back our power". It is a matter of researching & investigating our options.

The best option would be to get a US Constitutional Amendment limiting terms - that would effect all States. At this time, the Federal Government does not allow Ballot Initiatives:

The US has no initiative process at the national level. In order for any federal initiative to be ever put to voters nationwide would require Congress to propose an amendment to the US Constitution which in order to take effect would need to be ratified by three-fourths of all the state legislatures or constitutional conventions because the frames of the US Constitution, in Article I, Section I, bestowed all of the legislative power upon the legislative branch of the federal government , the United States Congress.

So, we have to do it State by State.