Ander thinks we're stupid

The day Ander voted to destroy our 4^th Amendment rights to privacy, his office issued this news release. It's kind of long, but I didn't want to be accused of quoting our esteemed representative out of context.

Crenshaw Welcomes Passage of Terrorist Surveillance Bill

FISA Compromise Reached and Approved
by Congress after Long Delay

(Washington, DC) – Today, 125 days after the Democratic Congress allowed America's terrorist surveillance abilities to expire, Congress passed bi-partisan Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) legislation that restores and modernizes our Nation's ability to keep Americans safe from potential terrorist attacks.

That's a whopper, Ander. Neither the Democratic Congress, nor anyone else allowed America's terrorist surveillance abilities to expire. The 30-year-old FISA law, had been doing an adequate job until it met up with George Bush. The FISA law had not expired, it merely needed to be enforced.

Congressman Ander Crenshaw said, "The government was trying to regulate cutting edge surveillance technology with decades old legislation. It was time for a FISA makeover."

"It is the number one responsibility of the federal government to protect its citizens. I have consistently fought to ensure our nation has every possible tool to keep us safe from terrorist threats. While I am disappointed that it took so long to restore and strengthen these tools, I am pleased that we were able to work together and reach a compromise."

No, Ander, according to your oath of office, your number one responsibility is to protect and defend the CONSTITUTION. The Bush administration is the biggest terrorist organization our Constitution has ever seen.

The legislation was the latest effort to overhaul the 1978 FISA law – which sets procedures on overseas and domestic electronic surveillance. Due to new communications technologies developed since the first FISA law, this bill required a complete overhaul and modernization of surveillance rules.

Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Michael McConnell asked Congress to update the FISA legislation, making it "technologically neutral." He also requested that warrantless surveillance of suspected foreign terrorists be allowed when they are communicating with individuals within the United States.

The delay in passage was due to a political battle over whether or not telecommunications companies who provided the government information immediately following the attacks of September 11, 2001 could be sued retroactively. There are currently over 40 suits being filed against these companies who voluntarily worked with the government. The bill passed today, adds appropriate liability protections for such companies.

What's a little lawbreaking among friends and donors? And the public never gets to know the extent of the violations of our privacy, who was spied on or why or what the information is used for and who has access to it. And why won't the Bush administration show Congress proof of terrorist attacks that have been thwarted by this illegal spying?

"Protecting America is a responsibility that I take very seriously. There are radicals around the world who are actively planning attacks against us and we must be proactive in our efforts to stop them. This legislation strengthens our ability to do just that," added Crenshaw.

Oh, yeah, Ander? If you're all into "protecting America," then when are you going to serve in Iraq or send your family members? Not that attacking Iraq had anything to do with "protecting America" in the first place.

You just have to wonder if Ander is delusional. Ander, like a good representative of the Bush administration, insults his actual constituents in FL-4 with these distortions, exaggerations, misinformation, and outright lies.

Let's show Ander the door this year. Please donate to Jay McGovern, a worthy candidate for FL-4.

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.

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

Ander needs to go.

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?

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.