Re-Opening the "Ideal Bar"

Though I haven't been yet, I hear the M&M Bar in Butte is an institution, and I'm glad to hear it re-opened this week. Jack Kerouac once described it as "the end of my quest for an ideal bar." Check out this AP photo from Gov. Schweitzer's trip down to re-open the bar.



As the AP reported, he took a shot of scotch to celebrate, and then said, "It's great to have it open again. May she never close."

A Solid Step on Trade

There is a lot of nasty debate between free traders and fair traders these days, especially with news of the U.S.'s record-breaking trade deficits. but it is nice to see that at least some Members of Congress are trying to find common ground on the issue. Check out this press release from Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Evan Bayh (D-IN). As it notes, while massive government subsidies are illegal under current trade law because they create unfair advantages, "current trade law does not allow the U.S. to enforce these laws on countries that traditionally operate under a state-controlled economy." The Bayh-Collins bill would "update the law to take into account the fact that many of these countries, like China, now allow their manufacturing industries to operate as relatively free markets engaged in international trade."

Blogger Matt Yglesias, who I usually agree with on stuff, uses an unfair stereotype, claims this bill is "anti-trade" and then says he's against it because he wants to buy cheap goods. What he seems to ignore - or just not care about - is the unfair disadvantage foreign subsidies create for American workers and businesses. The fact is, the very least our trade system requires is a fair playing field.

He also goes on to say that "unfairly cheap goods and services are exactly the kind of goods and services I want to be buying." He's allowed to have an opinion, of course, but I disagree - I don't want to be buying goods made artificially cheap because dictatorial regimes like China and others abuse trade law and subsidize these products in order to usurp economic power and put American workers out on the street.

This is real progress - members of both political parties, and even some free-trade Democrats, are finally starting to realize that the trade playing field needs to be made fair for American workers. Sure, this isn't a panacea for all the problems that come with free trade, and the free-trade vs. fair trade debate will continue, but this is a very good step.

Mitt Romney: Invertebrate

CLAIM:
"Most people who have been successful in the public arena have a position that people understand and appreciate. It doesn't change depending on the crowd."
- Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA) promoting what he says are his positive traits, 3/1/05

FACT:
"Governor Mitt Romney backed away yesterday from his proposal to give the state's top revenue official new discretion to pursue corporations that lower their tax bills by transferring profits outside Massachusetts, as national antitax groups chastised the governor for his broader, three-year quest to close what he calls tax loopholes benefiting corporations."
- Boston Globe, 3/2/2005

"They're Pathetic"

Republicans have been manhandling and intimidating Democrats for years. Yet now, Montana Republicans are crying about being pushed around by Gov. Schweitzer in a series of press stories (See Exhibit A and B) . Apparently, they think it is out of line for a governor to aggressively press his agenda through the legislature.

But as the Missoulian notes in its editorial today, "they make it sound like Montana's brawny new governor is serving up knuckle sandwiches in the foyer." But, "as it turns out, all they're whining about is that the Democrat threatens to campaign against Republicans when they run for re-election if they don't support his proposals...They call that harassment? They're pathetic!"

The editorial concludes by saying "We certainly have more respect for Schweitzer and his willingness to push for something he believes in than we do for Republican legislators who whimper about intimidation rather than standing up for what they believe in."

Amen.

The Populist Agenda In Action

What's going on in Montana is truly amazing. The state has its first populist governor in a long time - and the agenda moving through the legislature is setting a standard for other populist reformers throughout the country. Just look at what's going on - it is a model for others:

REDUCING CORPORATE INFLUENCE ON GOVERNMENT: Bills are being pushed to remove the influence of corporate lobbyists on government.

CRACKING DOWN ON WEALTHY TAX CHEATS SO NO TAX INCREASES ARE NEEDED: Bills are being pushed to crack down on wealthy and corporate tax cheats, so that Democrats can figh any tax increases on average citizens.

FORCING THE DRUG INDUSTRY TO START BEING ACCOUNTABLE: Bills are moving through the legislature to force drug companies to start disclosing how much money they are spending to corrupt medical decisions.

REDUCING DEPENDENCE ON FOREIGN OIL: Bills are moving through the legislature to build a renewable wind/ethanol energy industry, so as to reduce America's dependence on foreign oil, while building Montana's economy.

HELPING MAKE COLLEGE AFFORDABLE FOR EVERYONE - NOT JUST THE WEALTHY: Bills are on their way to passage that would provide new college scholarships to hard-working students that are in financial need.

This is not just me personally liking Gov. Schweitzer - this is very real, very serious progress in building a populist agenda, coming from a conservative Democratic governor and his legislative allies in a red-state. I hope other states take heed - and replicate it.

Guilty As Charged

DLCers in Congress have claimed for years they really aren't corporate shills, but now we have proof in this press release from the New Democrat Coalition - the DLC's congressional arm:

Washington, D.C.--With consumer debt reaching record highs of more than $2 trillion, members of the New Democrat Coalition (NDC) sent a letter today to Speaker Dennis Hastert, urging him to schedule House action on the bankruptcy reform legislation as soon as the Senate completes its consideration of the bill. The letter, signed by twenty NDC members, including the four NDC leaders, reiterates New Democrats' long-standing support for common-sense bankruptcy legislation and states an intention to work across the aisle to pass bankruptcy reform into law.

"I'm pleased to see so many New Democrats band together in calling for a mainstream solution to bankruptcy reform. I hope Speaker Hastert will heed our calls and move promptly to bring this legislation to the floor soon," said Rep. Ellen O. Tauscher.

See more here...

Look no further for why Democrats are in the minority. When you sell out America's working class over and over again as the DLC/New Dems do, this is where you end up.

NOTE: In my last post, I should have added Noam Scheiber to the list of TNR writers who manages to keep it real over there.

The New Republican

Since I've gotten such a tremendous outpouring of support for calling out the New Republic for parroting the worst right-wing caricatures of the left, I wanted to point folks to this terrific piece by my friend Eric Alterman from 2001.

Frankly, I used to like the publication on some issues, and I still think it has a few very good reporters like Ryan Lizza and Jonathan Chait. But the publication as a whole has clearly sold its soul to various questionable and hard-right causes (here's just one example) under its new leadership. As Alterman notes, TNR is a magazine now funded by "a major funder of the right-wing Manhattan Institute and the American Enterprise Institute." It has "helped launch the careers of a bevy of hawkish writers who have carried the talent for malevolent invective with them like a communicable disease." Many of their writers "do their best to revive the tactics of Joe McCarthy and Roy Cohn during this war" - such as editor Peter Beinart, who essentially says that if you aren't a hard-right neo-conservative you are weak.

It's no problem, of course, that TNR is a conservative publication. There are lots of them. But its a problem for them to continue trying to speak on behalf of "liberalism." As the evidence shows, they are anything but. Maybe this intellectual dishonesty and backstabbing is why its circulation has dropped so precipitously over the last few years, at the very same time magazines like The Nation have increased their subscribership.

Stop Crying, Start Shaking...And Dems Will Start Winning

There's been a lot of vitriol lately coming from the political Establishment aimed at progressives and the grassroots elements of the Democratic Party. Despite Democrats' now assuming a seemingly permanent-minority position, it seems progressives are shunned or vilified anytime they speak up about how sellouts who claim to be Democrats are a big part of the party's problem.

Believe me - you should see the email I've gotten for having the nerve to point out that the Democratic Leadership Council and the New Republic are making their name these days reinforcing conservative's dishonest stereotypes, and shamelessly attacking the Democratic Party. You should see the nastiness (both private and public) directed at me when I've proposed alternative, constructive ideas that have been tested in the heartland. Most of the email from outside Washington has been laudatory, but there has been some of it from within the Washington media/political Establishment that has been harsh (don't worry, I take it as a compliment).

You see, the conventional wisdom among the class of political elites that helped drive Democrats into the ground is that progressives should just shut up and continue playing dead as right-wing forces speak in our name. Worse, they say progressive grassroots elements of the left should be purged from the Democratic Party because the cocktail party elites in Washington know what's best. That, they say, is the way for Democrats to win back the majority.

Let me be crystal clear in where I come down on this one: a person who describes themselves as a Democrat or a “liberal/progressive”, yet who advocates purging the grassroots while pushing a right-wing agenda on fundamental issues is just as dangerous - if not more dangerous - to both the progressive movement and the Democratic Party's long term viability than any Republican. Why? Because they use the guise of speaking for the Democratic Party to attack it, giving those attacks a false sense of credibility, when in fact they speak for no one except the tiny cadre of insulated snobs who barely ever travel more than 5 miles outside of Washington, D.C.

Because of this insular Establishment, the Democratic Party is now at rock bottom. Yet the same Establishment that got us here now rails against progressives, parrots right-wing language, and reads the grassroots the riot act. Are we really supposed to just shut up and take it? No. Its time to finally have the debate between the Establishment and the progressives they demonize, and its time for us progressives to not FEAR having that debate, no matter what the tired old pundits and political consulting class says about it being "counter-productive." The fact is, the conservative Establishment is the one most viciously engaging in these attacks. And they believe they - AND ONLY THEY - have the exclusive right to attack their opponents, and to ruthlessly call for purges of the party. Standing up against this kind of behavior and this weakening of the Democratic Party's principles is anything but “counter-productive” – it is vital to the future of the progressive movement and the Democratic Party’s long-term viability itself.

Again, this is not about just railing on the Establishment just because it is fun. It’s far more important than that – it’s about reconnecting the Democratic Party with its working class roots, and thus bringing it back into the majority. That means having the guts to look at the current situation honestly, instead of constantly pretending there's no problem. It’s about calling out the sellouts for what they are because they hurt the cause, instead of pretending everyone is "on the same team." It's about admitting there's a problem when when people who claim to speak for liberals/progresives are being promoted by the far-right.

Remember, just because you call yourself a "Democrat" or on the "left" or a "liberal/progressive" doesn't mean you really represent the party of the working class, and doesn't mean you are on the same team as everyone else. The recent Democratic votes on bankruptcy and class action reform, for instance, should make that point loud and clear. If those examples don't make the point, then just think back to how Zell Miller referred to himself as a Democrat, even as he took the stage at the Republican National Convention.

So to all my friends in the Establishment who think they can push the grassroots and the progressives around, I say, fine, have at it. But quit behaving like a pathetic bully who pushes people around, and then cries when we fight back. Stop your crying and instead start shaking in fear, because you know very well how your leadership has driven the Democratic Party into the ground over the last decade, and you hear the footsteps of change coming.

Populism 101: Crackdown on Tax Cheats

In my earlier article for the American Prospect, I discussed how red-state progressives were using economic populism. And out here in Montana, Gov. Schweitzer is giving national Democrats a fine display about exactly how to do that. Today, the Associated Press reports that he unveiled a plan "to crack down on cheating taxpayers that he said could mean an additional $20 million in tax collections for the state over two years."

"The long-term consequences of abusive tax shelters could be severely detrimental to Montana's economy," Schweitzer said, invoking populist themes. "Montana's hardworking and law-abiding citizens do not deserve to be ripped off by high net worth individuals and multistate corporations who aren't playing by the rules."

This is a perfect example of how progressives don't have to avoid tax issues - they can take the lead on them in a way that appeals to most hard-working citizens. All it takes is a little courage.

Is Peter Beinart a GOP Operative?

New Republic editor Peter Beinart has been showing up on television and in the newspaper purporting to represent “liberalism” and Democrats in general. But a comparison of his rhetoric and language with that of the far-right’s spin machine begs a very simple question: is he just a Republican operative in disguise?

“LIBERAL” PETER BEINART ON NATIONAL SECURITY:
"Many Americans have questions about the degree to which liberals are willing to defend the country.” - Peter Beinart, 3/6/05

RIGHT-WING SPIN MACHINE ON NATIONAL SECURITY:
“The problem the Democrats have is, no one really believes they're authentic patriots and they would ever say that any war in defense of America is the right war at the right time in the right place. They wouldn't fight any place. Everyone knows that Democrats won't fight a war.” - Ann Coulter, 10/6/04

“LIBERAL” PETER BEINART ON TAXES:
Liberals must ask themselves “Does a tax credit do something better or does a government program?” - Peter Beinart, 3/6/05

RIGHT-WING SPIN MACHINE ON TAXES:
“[Liberals] just want money to spend on more government programs, which results in a permanently bigger government. That's why they want to reduce the tax cut.” - White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, 4/9/01

“Democrats don't like tax relief. They want unfair taxes taken in an unfair way from the American people to be brought to Washington and spread around in the Washington government programs the way they want it. They hate tax cuts.” - U.S. Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS), 2/6/01

“LIBERAL” PETER BEINART ON THE MILITARY:
“Democrats have been alienated from the military since Vietnam.” – Peter Beinart, 3/6/05

RIGHT-WING SPIN MACHINE ON THE MILITARY:
“Half of the [Democratic] base hates the military, hates America.”
- Rush Limbaugh, 9/17/04

Executives Raise Own Pay, Lobby Against Min. Wage

FYI - as Big Business executives lobby furiously against a proposal in Congress today to raise the minimum wage, it is important to see today's USA Today story about how many of these same executives are jacking up their own pay.

As the story notes, "the average director's pay at Fortune 200 companies could surge to $200,000, up 14% from 2004. This salary for what essentially amounts to part-time work, even as these same companies say American workers should continue to have a minimum wage below the poverty line.

Sen. George Allen: "I Don't Give a S__t" About My State

CLAIM:
“I don’t give a shit about Community Development Block Grants. Virginia doesn’t see any of that money.”
- Virginia Sen. George Allen (R)
Source: Roll Call newspaper, 3/7/05

FACT:
In 2004 alone, Virginia received almost $50 million in Community Development Block Grants for priorities like affordable housing, neighborhood security, and small business assistance.
- U.S. Government Budget, 2005 State-by-State tables
Source: President Bush's Office of Management and Budget

FACT:
President Bush’s proposed 2005 cut to Community Development Block Grants “could derail dozens of local efforts [in Virginia] to create jobs, increase homeownership and restore areas.”
- Hampton Roads Daily Press, 2/25/05