Democracy for Delaware

All:

Rich Trumka is talking this Labor Day about the need for Economic Patriotism. It’s a message/theme we think will resonate–certainly among working people and the millions of jobless workers–and one that certainly can apply in many ways: EG: Corporations acting anti-patriotic by moving jobs out of this country. (In the much-discussed New York Times artilcle yesterday on Wall Street deserting Obama, this graf buried toward the end hit me hard:

***Just last week, Paul S. Otellini, chief executive of Intel, said at a dinner at the Aspen Forum of the Technology Policy Institute that “the next big thing will not be invented here. Jobs will not be created here.”

Mr. Otellini has overseen two big acquisitions in the last two weeks — the $7.7 billion takeover of the security software maker McAfee and the $1.4 billion deal for the wireless chip unit of InfineonTechnologies. If he is true to his word, those deals will most likelylead to job cuts in the United States, not job creation.***

Piling on to not only call out such behaviors but cast them for what they are–unpatriotic, anti-American–can help us take back the ground grabbed by reactionaries for so long, with the Tea Party just the latest manifestation of such warped usage of the red, white and blue.

Also, check out our national television ad running this Labor Day weekend during baseball, NASCAR and college football events:

www.aflcio.org

It’s downloadable from our homepage.

Tula

……………………………………….
Tula Connell
AFL-CIO Managing Editor
815 16th St., N.W.
Washington, DC 20006
www.aflcio.org

Follow the AFL-CIO at
Facebook: www.facebook.com/AFL-CIO/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/AFLCIO
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/AFLCIONow

CNN: Tea Party group that assisted Miller now helping O’Donnell

Paul Steinhauser

August 30, 2010

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/08/30/tea-party-group-that-assisted-miller-now-helping-odonnell/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_politicalticker+%28Blog%3A+Political+Ticker%29&utm_content=Twitter

(CNN) – A leading Tea Party organization that supported Republican Senate nominees Sharron Angle of Nevada and Mike Lee of Utah, and which gave a big boost to Senate candidate Joe Miller of Alaska, says it’s coming to the aid of Christine O’Donnell of Delaware.

Tea Party Express, one of the best known national Tea Party groups, says it will go up with commercials in support of O’Donnell, who is facing off against Rep. Mike Castle in the battle for Delaware’s GOP Senate nomination.

Tea Party Express spokesman Levi Russell tells CNN that his group hopes to start running two pro-O’Donnell commercials on television in Delaware by the end of the week. Russell says Tea Party Express will spend around $250,000 for the initial ad buy, and says “we’ll see where it goes from there.”

The group endorsed O’Donnell in late July but the ads are the first the organization has produced in support of O’Donnell. In backing O’Donnell, Tea Party Express said the candidate has “established a reputation as a strong voice for conservative constitutionalist principles consistent with the ideals of the Tea Party movement,” and they criticized Castle.

“Mike Castle is so liberal he voted for Barack Obama’s agenda nearly 60 percent of the time,” says the narrator in one of the two ads in the works. Russell says that besides the two TV commercials, three radio spots are also in production.

Russell tells CNN that “this race is another example, much like Nevada and Alaska, where a true conservative is going toe-to-toe with a RINO [Republican in name only] Republican backed by the establishment.”

Castle is a popular nine-term congressman and former two-term governor who’s considered much more moderate than O’Donnell, a conservative commentator and marketing consultant who ran unsuccessfully for the Senate in 2006 and 2008.

Castle defeated O’Donnell in May at the state GOP convention and is backed by the state party chapter. The Republican Party of Delaware describes O’Donnell as a “perennial candidate” and Chairman Tom Ross terms the involvement of the Tea Party Express as “unfortunate.” A Republican source tells CNN that O’Donnell’s trying to piggyback off the Tea Party movement.

The winner of November’s general election will fill out the remaining four years of Vice President Joe Biden’s final term in the Senate. Biden stepped down from the Senate after his election in November 2008 as vice president. Former Biden aide Ted Kaufman was named as an interim replacement. Kaufman is not seeking a full term.

After much speculation that he would run for his father’s old seat, Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden announced in late January that he would instead run for re-election as his state’s top lawyer. Nine days after the younger Biden’s announcement, New Castle County Executive Chris Coons officially announced his candidacy for the Democratic Senate nomination. He is the presumptive Democratic Senate nominee in a race political handicappers consider a prime pick-up possibility for the GOP.

The involvement of the Tea Party Express in assisting O’Donnell comes after the group poured nearly $600,000 to help Miller, who leads Sen. Lisa Murkowski by 1,668 votes, according to unofficial results from last Tuesday’s GOP Senate primary in Alaska. Counting of up to 15,000 absentee ballots begins Tuesday.

Tea Party Express is one of the most recognized national Tea Party organizations thanks to its three high-profile bus caravans and rallies. The Tea Party Express has also become a major player in Republican politics, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on ads for Republican Senate candidate Scott Brown in Massachusetts, who in January upset Democrat Martha Coakley in a special election to fill the late Sen. Ted Kennedy’s seat.

More recently, the organization helped the little-known Angle win the Republican primary in Nevada to face Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, endorsing her and spending about a half-million dollars on ads.

The group also targeted incumbent Republican Sen. Bob Bennett in Utah for his vote on the Troubled Assets Recovery Program and helped defeat his bid for a fourth term. It then backed underdog Mike Lee’s successful primary campaign and Lee now appears to be a shoo-in to win the general election in November and join the Senate next year.

This summer, the National Tea Party Federation, which seeks to represent the Tea Party political movement around the country, expelled the Tea Party Express because of an inflammatory blog post one of its leaders, Mark Williams, wrote responding to criticism from the NAACP. Williams later stepped down as spokesman for Tea Party Express.

Follow Paul Steinhauser on Twitter: @psteinhausercnn
Read the rest of this entry »

“I’m sure we’ll be spending six figures in Delaware,” Russell predicted.

The Hill: Tea Party Express ready to spend on Rep. Castle challenger

Shane D’Aprile

August 30, 2010

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/gop-primaries/116429-tea-party-express-ready-to-spend-on-rep-castle-challenger

The Tea Party Express, which spent some $600,000 to aid Alaska Republican Joe Miller’s primary challenge to Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R), says it’s preparing to do the same on behalf of Christine O’Donnell (R) in Delaware.

O’Donnell is challenging Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.) from the right in the state’s September 14 Senate primary, but she has yet to capture the same kind of attention from conservative activists as other Tea Party-backed candidates have this cycle.

Tea Party Express spokesman Levi Russell said Monday that his organization is already cutting TV and radio ads in Delaware and expects to be on the air by the end of the week. Russell said he hopes to match the support the group offered in GOP primaries in Utah, Nevada and Alaska this year.

“All of our spending is dependent on the enthusiasm of the Tea Party Express members,” Russell said. “It’s up to that race and that candidate to capture their imagination.”

As to whether O’Donnell has done that to this point, Russell admits “not quite yet.” But he expressed confidence that the money will flood in over the coming days.

“I’m sure we’ll be spending six figures in Delaware,” Russell predicted.

In an interview with The Hill, O’Donnell said the same sort of outside support that helped promote Miller in Alaska could put her over the top in her primary against Castle.

“We’re already ahead of where Joe was in the polls,” O’Donnell said. “If we could just get that extra push.”

Of the Tea Party Express and other third party groups like the Club for Growth, O’Donnell said, “I hope they see the potential difference they could make.”

O’Donnell is working hard to gin up enthusiasm for her challenge to Castle, one of the most moderate Republicans in Congress. She noted that her consulting team includes strategists who worked on Doug Hoffman’s race in the special election for a New York congressional seat last year.

She’s also trumpeting polling from earlier in the year showing her ahead of Democrat Chris Coons. More recent polls on that hypothetical general election match-up, however, put Coons ahead. A Rasmussen poll from earlier this month shows Coons ahead by double-digits.

The Republican establishment in the state is also downright hostile to O’Donnell and doesn’t seem to fear any sort of backlash from conservative activists or voters.

State Republican Chair Tom Ross labeled O’Donnell “a perennial candidate who lacks the standing in Delaware to get elected to anything.”

Ross also took a shot at the Tea Party Express, calling it “unfortunate that a group like that would get involved and try to override the choice of local activists in Delaware.”

Ross said that O’Donnell was defeated soundly at the state’s GOP convention and accused the Tea Party Express of “monkeying with the primary process.”

But before the pundits could say “Joe Miller,” the Republican establishment had mobilized to shake Castle’s lapels and try to energize his campaign. Washington Republicans laid into O’Donnell, saying she could hardly be viewed as a paragon of fiscal virtue when she owes back taxes, had her home foreclosed on, and never received a diploma because she didn’t pay her tuition.

Wall Street Journal: Tea Party Endorses O’Donnell in Delaware

Jonathan Weisman

August 30, 2010

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2010/08/30/tea-party-endorses-odonnell-in-delaware/tab/print/

Delaware tea party candidate Christine O’Donnell got a major boost today in her long-shot campaign to take the Republican Senate nomination from under the nose of Rep. Mike Castle, who is considered the overwhelming favorite. The Tea Party Express announced it would spend around $600,000 ahead of Delaware’s Sept. 14 primary on her behalf.

But before the pundits could say “Joe Miller,” the Republican establishment had mobilized to shake Castle’s lapels and try to energize his campaign. Washington Republicans laid into O’Donnell, saying she could hardly be viewed as a paragon of fiscal virtue when she owes back taxes, had her home foreclosed on, and never received a diploma because she didn’t pay her tuition.

For months, political handicappers have put Delaware at the top of their list of Senate seats most likely to flip from Democratic to Republican. Sure, the seat once held by Vice President Joe Biden is in a Democratic state, but Delawareans statewide have been pulling the lever for Castle for decades, first as governor, then as the First State’s only House member.

O’Donnell has portrayed Castle, a leading moderate Republican, as a classic RINO (Republican in Name Only), blasting his stands on gun control, his support for embryonic stem cell research, and his votes on taxes and budgets – never mind that he opposed President Barack Obama’s health care plan, his stimulus plan, and much of the rest of his agenda.

Now, O’Donnell may be presenting an unexpected threat to Castle.

The Delaware primary is “closed,” meaning only Republicans can cast ballots in the GOP nomination contest, and Democrats and independents who have been voting for Castle for years are excluded.

After Joe Miller’s tea party-fueled upset of Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski in Alaska, the media is looking for the next big shocker. (Murkowski is running second to Miller after last Tuesday’s voting, and state officials will begin counting absentee and questioned ballots on Tuesday.)

But before folks get too excited, they might want to take a deep breath. A Republican operative says the closed Republican primary could help Castle. Because the deadline for registering has long passed, a wellspring of newly energized conservative voters can’t materialize to dilute the sea of long-time Castle supporters. Even a Democratic strategist watching the race closely will need a lot more than the Tea Party Express to start predicting a stunner.

Stimulating Hypocrisy: 114 Lawmakers Block Recovery While Taking Credit For Its Success

http://thinkprogress.org/touting-recovery-opposed/

This is a very detailed, well-documented list. Please look for your member of Congress and publicize what you find in your local media, community and blogs.

Delaware’s Castle features prominently in this list.

My sister-in-law Nicole sent me this and I have to share it with all of you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHvgH5m1ujU

I absolutely love this video!

-Stephen Crockett

www.americansunitedforchange.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Lauren Weiner, 202-470-5870
August 9, 2010 Jeremy Funk, 202-470-5878

Does U.S. Rep. Mike Castle Agree With His Leader John Boehner That Delaware Cops, Fire Fighters, and Teachers Are Nothing But “Special Interests”?

Republican House Leader John Boehner Reacts to Vote Tomorrow on Emergency Job-Saving State Assistance by Insulting Delaware’s First Responders and Educators

Will Castle Condemn Boehner’s Statements – or Join Him in Voting to Fire Hundreds of Delaware Public Service Workers?

Washington DC – Americans United for Change challenged U.S. Rep. Mike Castle to condemn outrageous statements made by House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) that legislation to provide emergency state assistance that will save the jobs of 290,000 public service workers — including teachers, police officers, firefighters and nurses – amounts to a “pay off” to “special interests.”

Tom McMahon, Executive Director, Americans United for Change: “Republican House Leader John Boehner isn’t just out of touch with reality, he must be out of his mind if he thinks the folks working hard every day to educate our children and who are putting their lives on the line to keep us safe are nothing but “special interests.” Boehner has offered no apologies for insulting Delaware’s cops, teachers, nurses, and fire fighters, and Congressman Mike Castle’s constituents deserve to know: does he stand behind his leader?”

“Considering the Republican House Leader has perhaps the coziest relationships in Washington with CEO’s and lobbyists for the big Wall Street banks, big Oil, and the big insurance companies, he’s the last guy you’d expect to be preaching about “special interests.” Like Boehner, Representative Castle has taken money hand over fist from the real special interests and voted to protect their bottom line time and again over the interests of middle-class families in Delaware.”

“But tomorrow, Representative Castle will have an opportunity to get his priorities straight by voting for emergency state assistance that will ease the burden on cash-strapped local governments and protect the jobs of nearly 300,000 Americans,” added McMahon. “Make no mistake: a vote against this emergency aid is a vote to fire hundreds of thousands cops, fire fighters and teachers across America and to leave those remaining stretched to the breaking point. Will Rep. Castle stand with Delaware’s brave first responders and educators, or will he stand with his Leader that considers them nothing but “special interests?”

FACT SHEET: The U.S. House is set to vote Tuesday on an emergency state assistance bill that:

1. Saves and creates 290,000 American jobs (140,000 teacher jobs saved and 150,000 jobs created or saved, including police officers, firefighters and nurses).

2. These funds are needed immediately to prevent layoffs or actually rehire teachers and prevent law enforcement officers from losing their jobs.

3. Completely paid for, in part by closing tax loopholes that encourage corporations to ship American jobs overseas.

4. Cuts the deficit by $1.4 billion over 10 years, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.

SOURCE: http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=2439

FOR RELEASE: August 5, 2010

CONTACT: Emily Spain (202) 224-2441

Carper Votes for Funding to Protect Education and First Responder Jobs, Provide Medicaid Assistance to States

WASHINGTON - Today, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) voted with the majority of his colleagues in supporting the Federal Medicaid Assistance Percentage (FMAP) and Education Jobs Fund amendment to H.R. 1586.

The Senate recently passed H.R. 1586 to create a $10 billion Education Jobs Fund to pay educators’ salaries as states face crippling budget shortfalls. The Fund is modeled after the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (SFSF), which was created last year under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and is currently funding more than 300,000 education jobs. The $10 billion Education Jobs Fund would keep approximately 140,000 educators employed next year. Delaware could receive up to $27 million from the fund.

In addition, the legislation included a provision safeguarding the support the federal government provides to state Medicaid programs that offer health care to more than 50 million low-income families, seniors, and individuals with disabilities. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act increased the federal assistance to help states pay for Medicaid as they faced falling revenue due to the recession and an increasing demand for health care from vulnerable citizens. This legislation extends that increase in the federal Medicaid funds for an additional six months, through June 30, 2011. This will ensure that states slowly recovering from the recession continue to receive this additional support throughout state fiscal year 2011. The provision is estimated to cost about $16 billion, and Delaware could receive up to $48 million.

The $26 billion cost of the legislation is paid for by cuts to federal spending and by closing offshore tax loopholes.

“This legislation helps some of the most self-sacrificing Americans, our teachers and first responders,” said Sen. Carper. “Nearly 140, 000 teachers won’t face a pink slip in the coming weeks and tens of thousands of fire fighters, police, and other first responders will be able to continue to provide the critical aid that saves lives and protects communities. In these tough economic times, we need to take responsible measures to support our nation’s recovery efforts. Saving hundreds of thousands of jobs is one of those measures. I also fought hard to ensure that this federal assistance did not come at the expense of vital education programs which are driving state- and local-level education improvements for students across the country, like the Race to the Top program, the teacher-incentive fund, and charter school start up funding.

“The six month extension in Medicaid assistance in this legislation will help states continue to provide health care for their most vulnerable citizens during these tough economic times,” continued Sen. Carper. “States across our country are facing high budget deficits and this funding will help states maintain these vital social services as they continue to recover from the recession. I hope the House of Representatives will swiftly pass this bill and send it to the President’s desk for his signature.”

The House of Representatives is expected to pass the Federal Medicaid Assistance Percentage (FMAP) and Education Jobs Fund amendment to H.R. 1586 next week.

Congressman Castle (R-DE) seems to think that shareholders should not control how their money is spent on politics. Castle seems to think that the employees of the shareholders (corporate executives) should have the right to spend others people’s money even if the majority of shareholders are opposed.

Shareholder Protection Act Stands on Shaky Legs
Wednesday 04 August 2010

by: Yana Kunichoff, t r u t h o u t | Report

http://www.truth-out.org/shareholder-protection-act-stands-shaky-legs61991

The House Financial Services Committee approves the Shareholder Protection Act, granting a corporation’s shareholders new oversight in the company’s political expenditure.

The act requires shareholders to approve a corporation’s political spending for federal races, a move by House Democrats calculated to mitigate the effects of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. This Supreme Court decision treated corporations as individuals, giving them the right to spent unlimited funds from their treasuries to support or attack political candidates.

By forcing the Securities and Exchange Commission to issue rules requiring corporations to disclose any political activities they carry out with company money, the act would allow shareholders to vote on proposed political expenditure in excess of $50,000 for that fiscal year. A majority vote would be needed for approval.

Lee Mason, the director of nonprofit speech rights for OMB Watch, a nonprofit focusing on oversight of the Office of Management and Budget, called the Shareholder Protection Act “a start in the right direction” to give shareholders oversight of corporate political spending, but noted that the act still contained a loophole.

“A part of the act says, though, that if you have separate, segregated funds you basically can get around the shareholder requirement,” he said, referring to separate accounts that corporations may traditionally hold apart from the general account for investment purposes. “More corporations will probably take that route.”

The legislation, first introduced by Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Massachusetts) in March, was strongly opposed by the US Chamber of Commerce, which sent a letter to the Financial Services Committee calling the bill “an assault on First Amendment Rights.”
Mason said the proposed legislation does just the opposite, by expanding the shareholders right to free speech through giving them a voice in a corporation’s decision making on political expenditure.

Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D- Massachusetts) further defended the shareholder’s right to this information and denied that it is an attempt to circumvent the Citizens United decision. Instead, the bill and the Citizens United decision “work hand-in-hand,” Frank said, and “would simply require companies to add an additional item to their annual proxy materials and, as such, would not impose new costs.”
Opposition to the bill also came in the form of a failed amendment by Rep. Michael Castle (R-Delaware), which would have allowed states to opt out of complying with the bill. A majority of major US corporations are headquartered in Delaware.

The Shareholder Protection Act will now move to the full House, and is likely to be considered in September.

However, Mason says, opponents of the bill do not have much to worry about. The fight to pass the Shareholder Protection Act will be an uphill battle, Mason said, and because the bill is so contentious, “between the Blue Dog Democrats and the Republicans they probably don’t have the votes to make it out of the Senate.”

Red State: Why is Mike Castle Running From Christine O’Donnell?

Erick Erickson

August 2, 2010

http://www.redstate.com/erick/2010/08/02/why-is-mike-castle-running-from-christine-odonnell/

If Mike Castle becomes the next United States Senator from Delaware he is going to get sworn in, serve a bit, then become a Democrat, resign, and let Beau Biden get an appointment.

It’s a done deal. The deal has been made already. I’m hearing this not just from Christine O’Donnell people, but party regulars in Delaware, some of whom support Castle. It is insane.

Maybe that is why Mike Castle is running from Christine O’Donnell. He is afraid to have to answer questions about this. The man will not debate her to save his life.

In fact, Christine O’Donnell, unlike Mike Castle, is actually ahead of the Democrat in the polls in Delaware. Read that sentence again people because too many of you think we must support Castle to win the seat.

Christine O’Donnell is ahead of the Democrat in the polls.

Mike Castle is not.

And here’s another dirty little secret Mike Castle would prefer you not know. This election? It’s a special election. Whoever wins it gets sworn in immediately. Immediately as in prior to any lame duck session of Congress.

In a lame duck session of Congress, would you rather have Christine O’Donnell or Mike Castle? One of the two will defend freedom. The other will become a Democrat.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: Looks like Castle is going to have a serious problem with the Republican Right. Red State is a major Republican Right website. If you go to the original article link on Red State, you will find many embedded links in the article worth checking out.