Showing posts with label Congress. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Congress. Show all posts

Saturday, December 23, 2006

Minimum Wage Hike NOT ENOUGH-We Need 12-20 Million ILLEGAL WORKERS Deported

Wetback Nation?
Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats are making a lot of hay out of a $2.00 per hour raise in the minimum wage rate...this is NOT ENOUGH. First, $7.25 per hour after taxes leaves millions of Americans lanquishing in POVERTY. Further, unless this raise in the minimum wage is coupled with a GET TOUGH POLICY on illegal aliens, and the companies who hire them, it is an very empty gesture. Cheap WAGES will remain a reality until we CULL THE HERD of those here illegally.

Wages and benefits raise and fall based on the simple law of supply and demand, and BIG BUSINESS and the National Chamber of Commerce know this...it is why they oppose a wage hike, and support Amnesty for illegals, and a liberal Guest Worker Program. The time has come for Americans to COME FIRST, time for us to TAKE CARE OF OUR OWN, and this means deporting those who illegally and wrongfully steal our jobs, and depress our wages. The battle cry of the business community is let the market drive wages...that would be fine if we DEPORTED 12-20 million illegal workers who are depressing our wage base by over $200 Billion a year. Congress and Pelosi need to make raising of the minimum wage worthwhile, by combining it with enforcement only comprehensive immigration reform that hands down harsh penalities for any one who hires illegals (eliminate the word knowingly), and eliminates access to all social services for illegals and their children including prenatal care, and education.

Dems eyeing $2 raise for minimum earners
POSTED: 6:09 p.m. EST, December 22, 2006
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/12/22/minimum.wage.ap/index.html
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Imagine what it would be like to work without a pay raise for nearly 10 years.

That's been the plight of some workers who for almost the past decade have been earning the federal minimum wage. Their last pay increase -- to $5.15 an hour -- came in 1997.

There could be some relief in sight.

When the Democrat-controlled 110th Congress convenes in early January, a top priority is boosting the federal minimum wage to $7.25 an hour. The increase is likely to be phased in, perhaps over 26 months. (Watch why some say a minimum wage hike is long overdue )

Alice Laguerre is among the millions of workers now earning less than $7.25 an hour.

She makes $6.55 an hour driving cars headed for the auction blocks in Orlando, Florida, and says a boost in the federal minimum wage would help her build a nest egg for emergencies.

"I would be able to save more," says Laguerre, a part-time worker. "I've always been thrifty with money. When I was young, I'd take a nickel and stretch it five ways."

That can be tough these days, acknowledges Laguerre, 53, after paying the monthly rent and utilities on her two-bedroom apartment and after recently buying a car -- a blue 1994 Buick Century.

Employers could feel squeeze
On the other side of the minimum wage debate is employer Wayne Reaves, president of Manna Enterprises Inc., in Anniston, Alabama, who says he may boost menu prices and cut workers' hours at his fast-food restaurants, which serve up hamburgers, fried chicken, gravy and biscuits and other fare, if the federal wage is lifted.

The average hourly rate for his workers is around $6.39. All of his workers are paid above the current $5.15 minimum, he says. The lowest hourly rate is around $5.50, while a recently hired biscuit maker fetched $8 an hour.


Thursday, December 14, 2006

Tired of Government Secrets and Lies? New Whistleblower Site Gets It Into Public Domain FAST


We know how it works...unidentified sources, someone unknown leaked the document to the New York Times or the Washington Post. However, what about the documents we NEVER SEE, the stories we never know...if it were not for the efforts of a blogger, we never would have known about the Foley Situation, he would still be in Congress. A new site (blog) aims to end that problem.



Thursday, December 14, 2006
World Hot Docs-Stop The Secrecy Launched



Back in my days as an environmentalist in Ohio who dealt with NUKE ISSUES, we knew that hot docs had to be quickly and widely distributed before government or the NUKE Industry (Think Entergy) tried to silence us. We would quickly make copies and mail them on so that it was impossible to stop us from making the documents publicly known...the Midwest Compact was brought down as a result of just such efforts when we found a smoking document they did not want us to have...WHOOPS. Reading an article last night on the ACLU, and the Federal Governments attempts to silence/remove a document they have in their possession, the idea of a World Hot Docs Blog was born. Washington Scandal is pleased to announced that this site has been officially launched and you can link to it here.




The goal is simple...WE WILL PUBLISH ALL SECRETS, from illicit affairs, to illicit and/or treasonous acts, and deploy them fast, in some cases on up to 11 blogs in hours.

Thursday, December 14, 2006
World Hot Docs...Rapid Publication Network

Seems that Bush, and our government are taking secrecy to ever greater extremes, as are the corporations...perfect case in point, the Nuclear Industry (think Entergy), or any company hiring illegal aliens while swearing THEY HAD NO IDEA what they were doing. The time has come for a RAPID DEPLOYMENT Hot Doc Blog. The premise is simple...have a document you want out in the public domain? Email it to roycepenstinger@aol.com and they will be put out on this blog within six hours of their receipt. Corporate scandal, government coverup, political corruption, environmental disaster, or even tawdry photographs...does not matter, we'll put it out to the world wide web here at World Hot Docs-End The Secrecy. Think of this site as the counter punch to Bush's unlawful NSA spying on American Citizens...in this case, it is a blog dedicated to keeping government and big business honest.


Thursday, November 30, 2006

Protections From Enron Era To Be Rolled Back?


We all remember the horrors of the Enron collapse five years ago, it was only a scant few months ago that some of the sage came to a close. Investors lost millions, many older Americans lost their retirement nest eggs, and in the aftermath Congress passed legislation to keep such a tragedy from happening again...or did they?

It seems that business lobbyist, special interest money from the investment world who represent the ULTRA rich are lining up to push for a change, that change being a roll back to the GOOD OLD DAYS. In short, they want much of the regulations eliminated, want those nettlesome (good word) private citizen lawsuits done away with. In short, they want the right to rape, screw and take advantage of small investors, a return to investment selling with no accountability and no protections for the small guy.

Middle America, be AFRAID...be very, very AFRAID, and write your elected Representatives.

Five Years After Enron, Firms Seek Weaker Rules

By Carrie Johnson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 29, 2006; Page A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/28/AR2006112801686.html

Business interests, seizing on concerns that a law passed in the wake of the Enron scandal has overreached, are advancing a broad agenda to limit government oversight of private industry, including making it tougher for investors to sue companies and auditors for fraud.

A group that has drawn support from Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. plans to issue a report tomorrow that argues that the United States may be losing its preeminent position in global capital markets to foreign stock exchanges because of costly regulations and nettlesome private lawsuits.

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Has The Time Come For Americans To Defend Our Borders And Our Homes Ourselves?


To understand some Americans and their anger where illegal aliens are concerned, you first have to go back in time, back to 1986, back to the great Reagan Era Illegal Alien Amnesty with all of its false and unkept promises. The old saying states that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Reagan and those in office promised Americans that we were seeing the last Amnesty, that after it went to in effect, our laws would be enforced, employers would be punished, and those here illegally would be deported back to their home country...we as Americans believed those promises, bought into the lie and Amnesty was signed into law over the skepticism of America, and with many angry it happened at all, who believed it would not work.


That amnesty did not work, and now some six years into the Bush Presidency, a full twenty years from that last failed presidency, we are faced with the same issues, the same problems, but this time they are bigger, more magnified that one could have ever pictured. Sadly, if the political winds blowing through this once fine land are any example, our government learned nothing from history, are not only doomed, but EAGER to repeat history again, prepared, with the help of traitorous help from a newly elected Democratic Majority, to force amnesty down the throats of America yet again, legalizing the stealing of our jobs, the depression of our wages, the ruination of many of our lower and middle class communities in the name of CHEAP WAGES, and in the hopes of winning the Latino voting block.


Two reports today should have Americans up in arms, show that Washington did not listen to us on November 7th, and have no intentions of bringing us change. Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats want to beat their drums of bipartisanship, and speak of their GRAND AGENDA for the first 100 hours of the 110th Congress, the crowning jewel of that time frame a raise in the minimum wage to $7.25 (supposedly promised as a stand alone piece of legislation). First, if the average America looks at this promise, it's NOT ENOUGH, and even worse, if not coupled with serious border and immigration enforcement, and the deportation of millions of illegal aliens, may be a detriment to those LEGAL AMERICANS on the lowest rungs of our economic ladder. If low life, fetid, repugnant, law breaking companies and employers are already hiring illegals now because they work for less, isn't and increase in the minimum wage without dealing with this issue going to see even more companies following suit?


The Freshman Class positions on immigration reform are out, and they are at best very disappointing. The first thing noticeable, is what is missing...any mention of how to deal with the 12-20 million illegal aliens, and their 4 million anchor babies...a very disturbing and telling absence, proof that Pelosi has Democrats GOOSESTEPPING TOWARDS AMNESTY. Secondly, though many Democratic Freshman CLAIM they want enforcement first, they lay out no plan for such enforcement, while at the same time saying they do not embrace the building of the fence that we Americans had already been promised, had already seen signed into law. In short, a move is afoot to eliminate any fence, to backtrack from a bill already signed into law. If this is the message coming out of the Freshman Class, you already know what the Democratic Party's position is....sell out the middle class they promised to protect in the Fall Election to get elected. Sell out American workers to BIG BUSINESS and the racist La Raza/Latino Agenda, and begin the implementation of Bush's One World Order call to create a North American Union by the year 2010.


Much like the Jews at the beginning of the Holocaust, America's lower and middle classes have remained quiet, even meek, hoping against hope that if we behaved ourselves, kept quiet and went along, that our government would come to its senses, would protect us, our jobs, our homes, our communities.


Sadly, it has not worked, and Americans are the victims of a Job Holocaust that is threatening to steal away our way of life, all in the name of Cheap Wages, all in the name of La Raza (the one race). We are being boxed in, slowly forced into submission and eventual slavery at the hands of the rich and elite who wish to be our masters, us their surfs. If you doubt this, ask yourself this simple question, "Do you think your children will be better off than your generation has been?" There are no gas chambers, no furnaces, but leave no doubt...the middle class here in America is being deliberately, systematically eradicated, we are both witnessing and the victims of a massive extermination like none ever before witnessed in the history of the world, a Class Holocaust whose numbers dwarf even those of Nazi Germany's extermination of the Jews.


Pick up your phones and call to report illegals living in the home right next to yours, packed in like sardines and they laugh at you, could care less. Report a company or individual hiring illegals, same response. We have SS like public officials like Michael Bloomberg of New York who openly DEFY federal laws, go on TV to openly state that his city, his big companies need ILLEGALS, and the cheap labor they represent. Like some sinister agent of the AMNESTY Gestapo he openly stomps on any one who speaks out against illegals, or tries to have our laws enforced when it comes to cracking down on illegals and those who hire them...Mayor's like him in a sense are the gate keepers of the modern day Concentration Camps meant to keep American Workers out, instead of being locked in.


Leave no doubt, we have been targeted for extermination, the weapon of choice financial strangulation. So the question becomes, what to do if our own government, those sworn to protect us refuse to do their jobs? If our government is bent on granting Amnesty to illegals, and providing even more avenues for them to invade our towns and cities, give them a means by which to steal even more of our jobs, what options have we left? If our government refuse to close our border, do we have any choice but to close it ourselves, using our legal rights to bear arms, our legal right to protect our properties and way of life as justification for the actions that we take? Harsh questions, but it was only last month we heard about the story of a Mexican Drug Dealer being given immunity from prosecution while to Border Patrol Agents were WRONGFULLY sentenced to long prison terms for doing their jobs. Perhaps the time has sadly come for a citizens militia, a group of true Americas who will willingly stand up to do the work our government refuses to do.


How many armed American Heroes from the middle class would it take to secure our Southern Border with Mexico? Ten per mile, or should it be 20? Let's have a nice round number of say 50,000 Armed citizens, each of them being paid by a citizens enforcement fund, a privatized border protection service run for and by the middle class. At a salary of $50,000 a year, we need $2,500,000,000 (2.5 Billion) dollars. That sounds like a lot until you divide by say 150,000,000 lower and middle class citizens. Ask yourselves....if you could secure our Southern Border, stop the flow of illegal aliens into America, end the depression of your wages, would you be willing to contribute $25.00 for each person in your house to such a cause? With that small donation, we could easily hire, arm and outfit a citizens army to our Southern Border, buy vehicles, begin building infrastructure, such as our own fences. What if we double that $25 to $50.00 so that we could hire our own work force enforcement officers, retain attorneys to bring civil claims against any one targeted as hiring, aiding or abetting an illegal.


We the middle class are under attack. Our government has not, and is not heeding our call. Our wages are depressed, our jobs are being stolen, and many of us are losing the value of our homes as illegals move in and take over our neighborhoods. The time has come to take action, rather than wasting our time sending faxes and making calls to and electorate who will not listen, will not heed our calls for change. So, the question I ask of all Americans in the Lower and Middle Class...would you support such a private mobilization of our citizens to deal with this issue head on? If you have four people in your home, is it worth $200 per year to you knowing that the illegal alien problem is being dealt with instead of being ignored? Would you support a Minuteman type organization on steroids if they accomplished the work your government refuses to even begin? Corporations already have their own private armies, already have tens of thousands of well trained Corporate Mercenaries ready to do their bidding for a price...isn't it time that America's lower and middle class incorporates itself and lays claim to these self same protections of our own?

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Majority Leader Fight Was a Nice Side Bar, Now Let's Get Down To Business

Many of the pundits, especially Republican ones would have us the voting public believe that this weeks race for Majority Leader was/is in some way a defining moment for the Democrats, that Murtha's loss in some fashion has ruined Nancy Pelosi's reign as Speaker of the House before it ever began. Poppycock! It was the typcial infighting and positioning for political clout and power than makes Politics in Washington such a great spectator sport, but in the big picture of the new Democratically controlled Washington, it was a side show, something to keep us amused with while waiting for January when the Democrats take off.


Within a few days, the news media will be onto other stories that are already unfolding, such as George Bush's bold attempt to push through a large list of radical right wing judges in the Lame Duck session of Congress now in process. My suggestion on those judge's....the Democrats in the Senate need to close ranks and stall on them, on Bolton, on the NSA spying on Americans without a warrant debacle until the new 110th Congress. Concentrate on finishing off budget issues so that valuable time is not wasted in Janaury.


Pelosi won...a BIG CONGRATULATIONS is in order. Hoyer won, and again a big congratulations is in order. Murtha lost...I supported him, I'll get over it and move on, the sky has not fallen. The Democrats have bigger fish to fry, and the Republicans know this...they will do anything they can to paint a picture of discord where none exists. Murtha, Pelosi and Hoyer are all adults and will set aside this contest and begin working together as a TEAM to do what is right for America...something the Republicans were incapable of doing for 12 years.

Hoyer Beats Pelosi’s Pick in Race for No. 2 House Post

WASHINGTON, Nov. 16 — House Democrats chose Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland as their majority leader today after a bruising fight that cast a cloud over the party’s post-election celebration.

The election of Mr. Hoyer over Representative John P. Murtha of Pennsylvania, by a vote of 149 to 86, was an embarrassing setback for Representative Nancy J. Pelosi of California, who will be Speaker of the House in the new Congress and who had backed Mr. Murtha.


Tuesday, November 14, 2006

The Washington Agenda...The People's Agenda

Speaking Out, this citizen speaks to the elected officials on BOTH sides of the Isle.

A video response:



A Open Letter To All Members of Congress:

This email is being sent out to members of Congress on BOTH SIDES OF THE AISLE. We the American People voted for change on November 7th, spoke loud and clear that we are tired of business as usual, tired of STAY THE COURSE, in Iraq, and in our Federal Government. It is time to return to a government run BY AND FOR THE PEOPLE, not a government run for and by the rich and elite.

One week into the new Washington, and it is already starting to SMELL like the old one did. So, since none of you seem to have a clue about what most Americans (which means the lower and middle class) want, we'll give you a clue. The peoples AGENDA.

1. Iraq War-Stop stalling, bring out Baker's report, and let's change the course. Changing the course does not mean changing the slogan, and letting Bush maintain the Status Quo there. There is a civil war raging, and our troops are caught in the middle. Regardless of what some think, Murtha had it right...it's time for a NEW PLAN.

2. Illegal Aliens...yes, ILLEGAL ALIENS. We do not care how hard working they are, they are stealing our jobs, depressing our wages, and in many cases they are ruining our neighborhoods and lowering our property values...maybe some of you should get out into your districts and SEE what it is like to live next to a house with 30-40 illegal aliens living in it. We want our fence, we want ARMED troops on the border, we want ANYONE hiring illegals severely punished...no exceptions. We do not want Catholic Charities using OUR TAX money to run job centers, and we OPPOSE amnesty by any label including Earned Citizenship or a liberal Guest Worker program. It's TIME WE TAKE CARE OF OUR OWN. Immigration Reform should not be about winning over the Latino Vote, it should be about what is best FOR MOST AMERICANS.

3. Tax Cuts...we oppose of of them that have benefited the rich and elite, which is almost ALL OF THEM. Trickle down economics did not work under Reagan, and it is not working now. Stop saddling our children and their children with an out of control national debt.

4. Social Security...first, repay ALL THE IOU's! We want it SAVED, not privatized. Do not tell someone who has paid into the system for 34 of their 50 years of life that they ARE OUT OF LUCK.

5. Medical Coverage...it should be available for all LEGAL AMERICAN CITIZENS.

6. Prescription Drugs for our seniors...we want competitive bidding.

7. Minimum Wage...raising it to $7.25 and hour should be just the start. Ireland now has a minimum wage of $9.50 and hour and is thriving! The concept of a living wage has arrived, and Congress needs to make it happen.

8. Estate Tax....KEEP IT. Stop trying to throw millionaires and billionaires a bone.

9. Earmarks...get rid of them COMPLETELY.

10. Term Limits...we want them, and you people need to ENACT THEM.

There is more, but like Letterman, we'll start with the top ten. The Republican Dynasty collapsed in this election, and the Democrats are now on probation. If both sides of the aisle stop their infighting, and learn to work together FOR THE PEOPLE, there is a good chance that most if not all of you will be re-elected in 2008. However, stay the course inside the beltway, and we will toss ALL INCUMBENTS OUT, regardless of the party they claim as theirs.

Respectfully,

Porgie Tirebiter

Clamp Down on Illegals Continues

In breaking news, communities in both Texas and Maryland have passed local ordinances cracking down on the Illegal Alien problem. The new ordinances will crack down on landlords and employers that CATER to the illegal population by hiring them, or providing them housing. Further, the new laws make English the official language, and allow police officers to question apprehended suspects about thier LEGAL STATUS. This should be a SERIOUS WARNING to Democrats even considering Amnesty, Earned Citizenship or a Guest Worker program leading to citizenship. WAKE UP WASHINGTON, we want deportations, and criminal prosecutions of all those who hire illegals, provide housing to illegals, or aide and abet them in remaining in America illegally...can we say CATHOLIC CHARITIES?

Sunday, November 12, 2006

Unions and Others Demanding Large Piece of Pie

In the now banished Republican Reich, special interest lobbyist and the K-Street gang seemed to be running the nation, doling out dollars to own votes, Congressman and, I am sure, a few Senators not yet named in various ongoing investigations. On November 7th voters spoke up very loud and clear...we are tired of special interest, lobbyist and BIG MONEY owning the electorial process, and we want meaningful change in Washington politics. No more shrinking middleclass, no Amnesty, no foreigners stealing our jobs and lowering our wages. We want an increase in minimum wage, we want our troops home from Iraq, and a way to clear off the federal deficit. So, have they listened to us, are the individual Americans who cast their votes going to have the voice they deserve?

Probably not...if you go visit "The Hill" blog, you'll find that the AFL/CIO is claiming to have WON the election for the Democrats, and in short demanding they be granted a LARGE VOICE in the 110th Congress. Now, I'd be the first to admit that the AFL/CIO helped in delivering the Democratic majority in both the House and the Senate, but was their help any more important than mine, or yours? I can count over 30,000 views of my blogs and video's railing against Sue Kelly here in New York's 19th district...a small number till you realize that John Hall won the election by well under 5,000 votes!

Sure, I'd love to have a voice, want the grassroots to have a seat at the negotiation table in Washington, but do not see this happening...there is already movement afoot to downplay the importance played by grassroots, bloggers and You Tuber folks. It's business as usual, and the big players are pushing and shoving us out of the way, pushing us back into the shadows. Sure, we'll see some sway given to Move On.Org and be told they are our voice, but they are not. Perhaps it is time to change the game, eliminate the majority party by creating a third, and even a fourth party, so there has to be negotiation and compromise to find consensus. Let the Independent Party grow and prosper, maybe give space to the Green's Party as well. Could a four party system, even a five party system be any worse than what we have right now? Would such a scenerio eliminate a lot of the lobbying and special interest money owning Washington? It's a thought worth thinking on as we look to the 2008 Presidential Election.


Union Voters Deliver on Election Day
November 12th, 2006

You know the “thumping” President Bush acknowledged Wednesday? Union voters delivered it.

A close look at exit polling shows the rest of the country split evenly, 49-49 percent, between votes for Democrats and Republicans. But Democrats won the union vote by huge margins–by 30 percentage points among union household voters and by 50 percentage points among AFL-CIO union members.

Our election-night survey by Peter D. Hart Research Associates shows members of AFL-CIO unions supported Democratic candidates by a 74-percent to 26-percent margin in House races and by 73 percent to 27 percent in battleground Senate races.

Unions are not an arm of the Democratic Party, and we base our endorsements not on party affiliation but on individual candidates’ records on working family issues. This year’s election, however, pitted Democratic candidates against a congressional majority that has a record of downright hostility to regular working people, rubber-stamping the anti-worker policies of the Bush administration.

Saturday, November 11, 2006

FOX...Drop Republican SLANT, or FAIL

If any one has been following show rankings, one thing is crystal clear. Show's such as The O'Reilly (Unfair and Unbalanced) Factor, and Hannity and Colmes are rapidly losing market share as they continue to rail away at the Democrats, showing thier own special brand of bigoted hatred of the so called Liberal Dems. As their ratings continue to slide into the toilet, with them go lucrative commercial revenues. So, move it (to the center) or lose it.
Nor more can FOX News Channel afford to be the MOUTH PIECE of George Walker Bush and the Republican Third Reich. Gone are the days when Hannity can invite rabid Republican shrews such as Michelle Malkin and Ann Coulter on to their shows to spend five minutes poking sticks at the Democrats. To the victors go the spoils, and it looks like CNN is making major headway in taking FOX's lost base of viewers.

Friday, November 10, 2006

We Want Our Fence...Calderon Mind Your Own Business

The elections are over, Rumsfeld is gone, and it seems Washington (with pressure from Mexico's incoming president Calderon) is trying to renege on it's promise to the American people to build a 700 mile fence, and crack down on illegal aliens. Well, here's a WAKE UP CALL TO THE DEMS who are about to take office...I voted for you, because I am tired of the lies and corruption in Washington, BUT I WANT THE FENCE, and will vote against every one of you at a local, state and federal level in 2008 if you do not follow through on the building of this much needed deterent to illegal immigration.
Washington needs to get a SERIOUS CLUE. If they are here illegally, WE WANT THEM TO BE DEPORTED. If they are hiring illegals, we want them imprisoned and harshly fined. If they are helping them (Catholic Charities) in remaining in America illegally, we want them imprisoned. The law is the law, and it is time we as lower and middle class citizens stop paying the price for Corporations love affair with CHEAP SLAVE LABOR. It's time Mexico deal with it's own problems, and stop lowering our citizens standard of living by sending their citizens here to steal our jobs. In short, if you cannot come here LEGALLY, we DO NOT WANT YOU HERE.
WASHINGTON — Divided over a border fence, President Bush and Mexico's
president-elect pledged on Thursday to work together on stopping illegal
immigration.
Felipe Calderon, who takes office on Dec. 1, has called the U.S. plan to build a 700-mile fence along the border "deplorable" and compared it to the construction of the Berlin Wall. After a meeting in the Oval Office, the leaders struck a tone of cooperation.

"I expressed to President Bush my concern regarding the issue of migration," Calderon said through an interpreter. "President Bush was very open to all the arguments that I presented to him. We both stressed the need to have a comprehensive vision with which we can move forward."

Bush signed the law authorizing the fence on Oct. 26. He wants more — temporary
worker permits for foreigners willing to take low-wage jobs and a path for illegal immigrants working in the United States for some time to become citizens. But Congress has not agreed. Bush said Thursday that Mexico is a priority for his administration. He said he stands by his push for a comprehensive immigration overhaul.

Thursday, November 9, 2006

Give Bloggers/You Tubers Their Due

The elections are over, and everyone seems to be fighting over who should get credit for the Democratic Victory at the polls. In short, it's the proverbial POWER GRAB as everyone decides who should have special access to our elected officials inside the beltway. One thing is apparent as this dance unfolds...THE OLD GUARD wants to minimize the effect that Bloggers and You Tubers had on this election, want to deny credit where credit is due. In short, they want to keep us from wielding power within the House and Senate, want to keep us lined up against the wall watching the dance, instead of being a part of it.
Politicians do so at their own peril, and no matter example of this can be found than New York's 19th Congressional District where John Hall scored a STUNNING upset win over incumbent Sue Kelly. The National Democratic Party sat on their hands, threw little money into this race until the closing moments when it became apparent that WE COULD WIN. We were in a position to win to a great degree because of grassroots activist who used the Internet and its resources to relentlessly attack Sue Kelly and her record. The charge was led by the folks over at Take 19 who weighed into this election 18 months ago, and NEVER LET UP. Sue Kelly's flanks were attacked at every turn by people like Porgie Tirebiter who never stopping putting up posts and video's attacking Sue Kelly and the Republican Party.
John Hall's win happened because a whole lot of people worked hard to make it happened. John Hall's friends from the music industry such as Bonnie Raitt and Pete Seager were there when it was most needed. The unions were instrumental as well a army of grassroots volunteers who worked tirelessly clear up to the end for John Hall, and BLOGGERS. We all played a part, we all deserve a chance to be a part of the dance.
In handing out credit for this huge Democratic Win, don't be stingy with handing out slices of the pie. On liners played their part and we deserve credit along with everyone else, and it is time we be given our chance to play, our chance to have access to those within the halls of Congress.