Schweitzer's Question

With a new poll out today showing Americans overwhelmingly support legalizing prescription drug reimportation, Gov. Brian Schweitzer is giving the official Democratic radio address this weekend on the subject. Though President Bush paid lipservice to the issue, he continues to take his orders from the drug industry and do everything possible to prevent allowing Americans to buy cheaper, FDA-approved medicines from Canada, even as prices skyrocket here.

And that begs this great question from an embargoed copy of Schweitzer's address: "President Bush was recently here in Montana. And we had just one question for him – why allow bad beef to enter the US from Canada and not allow safe medicine?"

What say you, Mr. President?

Amen, Harold Meyerson

Just read this terrific piece by the American Prospect's Harold Meyerson. As he points out, the critical problem for Democrats right now is that "55 percent of white working-class voters trusted Bush to handle the economy, while only 39 percent trusted Kerry." That is obscene, considering Bush's Cadillac Conservative policies of cutting taxes almost exclusively for the rich, not to mention his record leading America into a recession as one of the worst jobs presidents in modern times.

Meyerson concludes that Democrats "need to side with Main Street over Wall Street...Like the conservatives 40 years ago, the Democrats need to offend their own elites to build an America that reflects their best values, and in which working people can and do count on them for support."

After I wrote an earlier piece touching on similar ideas, I took my share of attacks from the Democratic Party's corporate elite in Washington - the same elite Meyerson says Democrats need to challenge. I say Amen, Harold - you're right on the money.

NEW: Permanent Minority vs. Towards the Majority

My latest "Permanent Minority vs. Towards the Majority" section in the Nation about what the Democrats are doing to help and hurt their chances to regain the congressional majority:

PERMANENT MINORITY: Eighteen Senate Democrats voted with all Republicans to pass a bill limiting citizens' ability to bring class-action suits against abusive corporations. Barack Obama, touted as a future progressive leader, voted for the measure, despite its being attacked by civil rights organizations, labor unions, consumer groups, state prosecutors and environmental advocates.

TOWARD THE MAJORITY: Senator Harry Reid staked out a strong principled position against the class-action bill, saying, "It limits corporate accountability at a time of rampant corporate scandals" and it is "one of the most unfair, anticonsumer proposals to come before the Senate in years."

Debate the Future of the Democratic Party

Just when I thought I had left the east coast, I received an invitation to speak next Tuesday, March 1st at the Philadelphia Constitution Center at an NPR-sponsored debate about the future of the Democratic Party. NPR will air the hour-long event on about 100 stations. Tickets for the event are free, so if you are in the area and want to attend, just reserve a seat here.

If you want to tune in, check Justice Talking's website for local listings.

Helena, Montana

Here we are coming over the Wyoming border into Montana:

And here we are entering our new hometown, Helena, Montana:

Allen Called Onto the Carpet

A friend of mine just sent me a transcript of Sen. George Allen (R-VA) having to answer a question on CNN pulled directly from Sirotablog. Here is the excerpt (see this link for the full transcript):

WOODRUFF: You and Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu introduced a resolution formally apologizing for the failure of the U.S. Senate to pass anti-lynching legislation. That is obviously getting some attention. But now there is a fellow at a Democratic think tank called the Center for American Progress, pointing out to the media that there was criticism of you during your campaign for governor, that you had promoted Confederate history month, that you opposed the Martin Luther King state holiday and so forth. They're asking, isn't there a contradiction here?

ALLEN: Virginia has a very complex history, and the Confederacy and the Civil War is part of our history. In Virginia, there's a lot of tourism in battlefield sites involved in that. One goes through life learning, and when one sees things that are wrong in the past and folks come to request my assistance, I wanted to help them. I think it's a deplorable lack of activity on the part of the U.S. Senate in years past to not pass an anti-lynching bill which would have helped, I think, prevent a lot of these deaths as well as help prosecute those involved in it. I could go through all of my record, but I'm one who's grown up believing that every person, regardless of their race, their gender, their religion or ethnicity ought to have an equal opportunity to compete and succeed...

Clearly, George Allen still has no answer for his embarassing past.