Thursday, June 26, 2008
Ander Hates America and Its Values
It's clear that Americans generally favor more progressive values most of the time. Not Ander. With a lifetime Progressive Punch voting score of 4.7%, it's clear he hates Americans and their values.
Ander is Wasting Your Time in Washington
According to Congress.org, Ander is the 346th most powerful member of the House and as part of the hugely ineffectual Florida Republican delegation in Washington, helps make Florida one of the least powerful states in Congress. Thanks for the great work!
Jay McGovern (FL-4) Strong Challenger in a Red District
One of the key things that we should start to do as activists is expand our playing field when it comes to thinking of elections. Howard Dean's 50-state strategy and Barack Obama's commitment to fighting in every state and territory have produced results that show us this approach is one that can lead to positive change. It can give candidates a chance to win who might not otherwise do so, it can send a message to Republicans that places they have assumed are theirs by birthright must be earned and it can sap Republican resources and make them spread their spending and activity to places they usually wouldn't bother to worry about.
A first step we can take down this road is to support good candidates in supposedly red districts. Frequently this will mean spending money outside your own congressional district. If we only focus on our own districts, we'll never be in the majority, we need to work together to change the state, not just our own backyard. And the more candidates we help and the more candidates we help win, the more our congressional delegation will owe progressives when it comes time for them to vote on things like the recent FISA/telco immunity fiasco. Like it or not, politics works on the you-scratch-my-back-I'll-scratch-yours level a lot of the time. If we scratch their backs with our votes, our voices and our checkbooks, they'll have to scratch ours.
At the recent Jefferson-Jackson fundraiser in Hollywood, I met a candidate in this exact situation. Jay McGovern is running against Ander Crenshaw in Florida's fourth district. He sat and talked with me and a couple of very young Democrats for two hours. We found him to be a funny, intelligent guy who actually listened to what we had to say. He knew a lot about the issues and about his district and he was clearly someone who would be a great member of Congress, particularly when compared to Crenshaw.
The fourth district is a pretty Republican district (R+16) that covers the northernmost part of Florida from the edge of Tallahassee to the East Coast, with the bulk of the district's population sitting in Jacksonville. Since 2001, the seat has been held by Crenshaw, who is currently ranked as the 346th most powerful member of Congress. Tie that it in with his lifetime Progressive Punch score of less than 5% and you've got bad represenation for the District and for Floridians.
But it's a tough District for a Democrat to run in and Crenshaw has rarely attracted a strong challenger. Now he's facing McGovern, a former Naval aviator, engineer, businessman, community activist, family man and owner of a horse farm. He's significantly better on the issues than Crenshaw while still being true to his district and the people he'll represent. Of course, one of his horses would probably be better on the issues than Crenshaw, but I'd feel really comfortable with McGovern representing Florida in Washington.
But how will he get there? With our help. We all know that it takes money to win a congressional race, but we know that hard work and wise spending can help a good candidate defeat a Republican incumbent with more money, particularly such an ineffective Republican like Crenshaw. Especially in 2008, a Democratic year with a presidential candidate who will have long coattails and when the Republican party brand is as week as it has been in two decades.
So I'm challenging everyone who reads this to give what you can -- $5, $10, $25, $50, more -- to McGovern via the new ActBlue page we set up for him. I'm setting a modest goal of 10 contributors and $100 by Monday and I know you won't disappoint. Make sure that you give through our ActBlue page if you give, that way we can track our progress and our response. If it's a good response, it helps us convince candidates and elected officials we can help them and reminds them once they are in office that they should return the favor.
Learn more about Jay
Learn more about Crenshaw
Then help give Jay the resources he needs to defeat Crenshaw.
A first step we can take down this road is to support good candidates in supposedly red districts. Frequently this will mean spending money outside your own congressional district. If we only focus on our own districts, we'll never be in the majority, we need to work together to change the state, not just our own backyard. And the more candidates we help and the more candidates we help win, the more our congressional delegation will owe progressives when it comes time for them to vote on things like the recent FISA/telco immunity fiasco. Like it or not, politics works on the you-scratch-my-back-I'll-scratch-yours level a lot of the time. If we scratch their backs with our votes, our voices and our checkbooks, they'll have to scratch ours.
At the recent Jefferson-Jackson fundraiser in Hollywood, I met a candidate in this exact situation. Jay McGovern is running against Ander Crenshaw in Florida's fourth district. He sat and talked with me and a couple of very young Democrats for two hours. We found him to be a funny, intelligent guy who actually listened to what we had to say. He knew a lot about the issues and about his district and he was clearly someone who would be a great member of Congress, particularly when compared to Crenshaw.
The fourth district is a pretty Republican district (R+16) that covers the northernmost part of Florida from the edge of Tallahassee to the East Coast, with the bulk of the district's population sitting in Jacksonville. Since 2001, the seat has been held by Crenshaw, who is currently ranked as the 346th most powerful member of Congress. Tie that it in with his lifetime Progressive Punch score of less than 5% and you've got bad represenation for the District and for Floridians.
But it's a tough District for a Democrat to run in and Crenshaw has rarely attracted a strong challenger. Now he's facing McGovern, a former Naval aviator, engineer, businessman, community activist, family man and owner of a horse farm. He's significantly better on the issues than Crenshaw while still being true to his district and the people he'll represent. Of course, one of his horses would probably be better on the issues than Crenshaw, but I'd feel really comfortable with McGovern representing Florida in Washington.
But how will he get there? With our help. We all know that it takes money to win a congressional race, but we know that hard work and wise spending can help a good candidate defeat a Republican incumbent with more money, particularly such an ineffective Republican like Crenshaw. Especially in 2008, a Democratic year with a presidential candidate who will have long coattails and when the Republican party brand is as week as it has been in two decades.
So I'm challenging everyone who reads this to give what you can -- $5, $10, $25, $50, more -- to McGovern via the new ActBlue page we set up for him. I'm setting a modest goal of 10 contributors and $100 by Monday and I know you won't disappoint. Make sure that you give through our ActBlue page if you give, that way we can track our progress and our response. If it's a good response, it helps us convince candidates and elected officials we can help them and reminds them once they are in office that they should return the favor.
Learn more about Jay
Learn more about Crenshaw
Then help give Jay the resources he needs to defeat Crenshaw.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Ander Joins Bi-Partisan Crime Syndicate to Obstruct Justice
Laws? We don’t need no stinkin’ laws...sez Ander. At least no laws for the Washington elite and those we PAY to represent us.
Apparently incapable of independent thought and judgment, Ander, as usual, voted with his party and a bunch of lawless Democrats to support the cover-up of Bush’s illegal spying and to even give the Criminal in Chief expanded powers to eavesdrop on innocent citizens. Included in this gem of legislation was blanket retroactive amnesty for the telecoms who helped Bush spy on us, all without warrants, of course.
Ander hides behind the corrupt Democrats, Jay Rockefeller and Steny Hoyer, to excuse his vote for this piece of crap. I think his meaning is something like – Jay and Steny did it, so I did too. The truth is this bill is not supported by the American people and has no public benefit. It sets a dangerous precedent of a two-tiered justice system...one for the important, well-connected folks, and another for the little guys. So let’s test this theory. Here is Ander’s address. Send in your traffic tickets. Ander should be able and willing to issue a letter excusing them for you.
-
Jacksonville District Office:
1061 Riverside Avenue
Suite 100
Jacksonville, FL 32204
Main: 904-598-0481
Fax: 904-598-0486 -
Lake City District Office:
212 North Marion Avenue
Suite 209
Lake City, FL 32055
Main: 386-365-3316
Tollfree: 888-755-5607 -
Washington, DC Office:
127 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Main: 202-225-2501
Fax: 202-225-2504
Friday, June 13, 2008
Ander has a good job – tough luck if you don't
Yesterday Ander joined 143 of his Republican buddies in voting NAY to defeat the Emergency Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 2008.
This bill would provide for 13 more weeks on unemployment benefits to workers exhausting their regular unemployment compensation. In states with unemployment rates above 6 percent, it would provide an additional 13 weeks, for a total of 26. The extension would apply to anyone whose benefits are exhausted before January 2009, an estimated 3.5 million.
But I'm sure no republicans in FL-04 have lost their jobs, so this won't anger Ander's base. Right?
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Ander says our laws are for sale...sells out 4th amendment
Ander sells out our 4th Amendment rights to AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, etc.
The House will soon vote again on the Protect America Act, a revision to FISA that includes retroactive immunity to telecoms that have helped the Bush administration spy illegally on innocent Americans. I've written and called Ander several times about this asking him to vote against retroactive immunity for lawbreaking and against giving the government expanded powers to spy on citizens. Ander stands firm that the telecoms should not be punished for this lawbreaking stating falsely that if they are not allowed to break the law, they will not be inclined to provide surveillance to help stop terrorist attacks in the future. This is a lie because the telecoms are required to respond to lawful court orders to wiretap when a warrant is issued.
I won't write all the details of the Protect America Act here as mcjoan at DailyKos, Glen Greenwald, digby at Hullabaloo, and others have written extensively and more eloquently than I could. Please read them for background if you are unfamiliar with this issue. The issue is really retroactive immunity for the Bush administration. If Congess passes this legislation with retroactive immunity, the current lawsuits will be dismissed, and we will never learn the extent of the lawbreaking the Bush administration has committed in spying on us.
Ander thinks we're stupid. Call him. Tell him to vote no on any legislation that includes retroactive immunity. Ander is supposed to represent his constituents, not AT&T. Let him know we're on to him. There may be a vote this week or next. He has already voted YES on a previous vote...he'll do it again.
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