The personal blog of David Sirota
This is an interesting role reversal - Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer has been pushing for $400,000 to commission a study on government waste over the next year and a half. The commission would find redundancies and waste in government, that could then be cut out in the next legislative session in 2007. You'd think he'd find some allies for cutting government waste and spending in the Republican Party. You'd be wrong.
President Bush yesterday nominated Rep. Rob Portman (R) to be the new U.S. Trade Representative. At first glance, you might think it is encouraging that he signed up someone from Ohio for such an important position. Ohio, after all, has been ravaged by corporate-backed free trade deals.
But more than nearly any other Member of Congress, Portman is really a corporation. He is supposed to represent the people of Ohio, but he really has been a corporate lobbyist in Congressman’s clothing. He has supported every major piece of free trade legislation that’s come before him, while pocketing hundreds of thousands of dollars from the industries that push these deals. And he has done this as Ohio has hemorrhaged jobs. Worse, he has made statements that insult the public’s intelligence. For instance, he actually claimed "I don't think GM went to Mexico because of NAFTA" He said this even though studies showed that immediately after NAFTA passed, "GM jobs in the United States were cut by 38,000 workers."
But don’t trust me on Portman’s abysmal trade record. Trust the small manufacturers and businesses that have been ravaged by Portman’s free trade orthodoxy. According to the U.S. Business & Industry Council (the trade group that represents America’s family owned Main Street businesses), Portman is the lowest ranked member of the Ohio delegation in helping to create and protect good-paying American jobs.
In my Butte/St. Patrick's Day stupor last night, I made one error from my last post. I should have included Thinkprogress in the list of blogs I love. Hell, why would I write for it if I didn't think it was an important project doing great work reaching out beyond the Beltway?
If you haven't checked it out - go do so right now. It's a great site to visit multiple times a day.
Recently, the question of whether bloggers make a real difference in politics has been raised. Are bloggers really making a difference? Or are they just talking to themselves?
My take is pretty simple: most blogs are simply preaching to the converted – but not because that is inherent in the medium itself. The fact is, most bloggers are focused on inside-the-beltway topics, using such insular language, that they cannot connect with the average Internet users, much less the average American. Sure, maybe that’s not the point – maybe most bloggers only want to influence elite journalists (and that they have been fairly successful at). But as a grassroots communications tool, blogging still has a ways to go.
That said, there are a very few blogs that are transcending this paradigm and trying to speak to average Americans (Atrios, Daily Kos, Altercation and MyDD, for instance)…but many other prominent blogs are still caught in that insular Beltway world that makes it impossible for them to reach out beyond that same scope of regulars on the Washington cocktail party circuit. Sure, they may reap awards from their friends on the Beltway cocktail party curcuit. But that's exactly the problem. As Garance Franke-Rutka recently wrote, "top bloggers in America often know one another, sit on panels and in greenrooms together, and go to lunches and dinners together over time." In other words, despite all the accolades, most blogs are not really serious about trying to connect with average, ordinary Americans outside of a 10 mile square radius of Washington, D.C.
That’s actually part of the reason why I decided to leave Washington, D.C. in the first place, and why I’ve tried to make this blog different. Rather than look down upon the "masses" as so many Washington insiders do, I realy believe this medium is a way to circumvent the corporate media filters and the pathetic you-scratch-my-back-I'll-scratch-yours world of Washington to really communicate WITH the masses.
I’m not sure how successful I’ve been – but its why this site is a bit different from other sites. Here, I try to stick to core principles, rather than just partisan motives (it’s why, on occasion, I go after Democrats who sell out). The fact is, most people don’t think in exclusively partisan terms – they think of their positions on issues first, regardless of party.
That’s why I try to be as direct, straight forward, and hard-hittting as possible, no matter what party or what politician I am talking about. That’s where blogging and the Internet can take the next step from preaching to the converted, to really speaking to America as a whole. Because if authors/bloggers are willing to speak truth to power, and speak to average people outside the Beltway, we will find a whole new audience beyond our own hilariously insular spheres whose importance we so often overstate.
Just got back from my quick trip down to Butte and Anaconda for St. Patrick's Day - what an experience. If you've never been to these two towns, you really are missing something. Filled with gritty character and history, they explode in full color on St. Patrick's Day, with a blustery parade and throngs of people out and about. I was told Butte has the highest per capita population of folks with Irish ancestry, and though I've never been to Ireland, it really seems as if Butte really is "Ireland's Fifth Province." I joined in the fun, having some Jameson right after breakfast...what a blast...
Here are some pictures from the parade:
Here's (from left to right) State Auditor John Morrison, Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger, and Gov. Brian Schweitzer before they headed to the M&M Bar:
Here are some pictures from inside the historic M&M Bar:
Here's a shot at the beginning of the Anaconda parade:
Just finished a chapter of my book, and am taking the day off to head for Butte to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Gov. Schweitzer, as I've noted on this blog, just re-opened the M&M Bar in Butte, and the town is supposed to be quite a scene on St. Patty's Day. I'm bringing my camera, and hope to have some pictures from my adventure.
"Wealth and power control most everything in this country. But one thing they do not control -- wealth and power does not control the Internet. Through the Internet, regular ordinary people have a voice. That’s why I go out of my way to communicate any way that I can on the Internet and I think the blogs are a tremendously important way for the American public to find out what’s really going on."
- Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), 3/16/05
The Associated Press reports President Bush is appointing Kevin Martin to head the Federal Communications Commission - the agency that oversees, among other things, broadcasters and cable programmers. Martin, of course, is no stranger to those issues. According to the lawfirm of Wiley, Rein & Fielding where Martin used to work, Martin spent his early career "work[ing] primarily for broadcasters and cable programmers" - most likely, representing them at the lawfirm. Oh, and according to Communications Daily (a trade publication) he also did a stint in Kenneth Star's Office of Special Counsel.
In a sense, Martin is the perfect Bush nominee - someone with both close ties to the industry he's expected to regulate (and thus won't regulate), and a experience pushing an extremist partisan agenda. And make no mistake about it - this is an important appointment because the FCC is playing such a critical role in weakening cross-ownership rules and allowing more media consolidation. During debates over the last few years, Martin used his position as one of the five FCC commissioners to tamp down criticism of the administration and spearhead that deregulatory scourge.
Boston Globe columnist Bob Kuttner does a fantastic job exploring what the hell is wrong with Democrats these days. While most of the party's members in Congress are fighting the good fight, Kuttner notes that the party still doesn't have a coherent message because there are still a cadre of Democrats who regularly bail out and vote for legislation that persecutes the middle class (see the recent bankruptcy bill as a good example).
Why is this? "Dozens of Democratic legislators vote with Bush, usually to curry favor with organized corporate business interests that write these bills (and campaign checks)...This blurs the distinction between the parties and leaves the impression that Democrats don't know what they stand for. Nobody wants to follow a wimp."
Second, "center-right Democrats urge their party to avoid 'populism.'" But as Kuttner notes, "sticking up for the economic interests of ordinary people is not populist in the sense of class warfare. It's the essence of what once made Democrats the majority party."
Read the whole article - it's powerful.
If you are an ordinary American, your bank may think nothing of losing your private personal financial information, and putting you at risk of identity theft.
But if you are a brutal, murderous dictator, your financial dealings are safe and sound. As the Associated Press reports, a group of U.S. banks Allowed Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet "to use phony account names, offshore companies and other deceptions to hide an estimated $13 million or more from U.S. examiners and from international prosecutors."
The hypocrisy never ends...
MAINSTREAM:
A February 2005 poll found “only 12 percent of Americans say they would support cutting Social Security benefits to retirees; a full 85 percent would not, including: 83 percent of Republicans, 86 percent of Democrats, 84 percent of Independents; 82 percent of 18 to 34-year olds, 83 percent of 35 to 44-year olds, 85 percent of 45 to 54-year olds and 87 percent of those 55 years old and older.”
- Newsweek poll, 2/5/05
OUT OF TOUCH:
On March 15th 2005, 90 percent of Senate Republicans voted against legislation encouraging the Congress to “reject any Social Security plan that requires deep benefit cuts or a massive increase in debt.”
- Senate vote #49, 3/15/05
I have just added a neat little feature to the site (on the right) whereby you can sign up for regular e-mail updates on politics, progressive issues and breaking news, some of which I will post on Sirotablog, some of which I'll just send out on e-mail. See the subscription form in the right sidebar of the page - and don't forget to send back the confirmation email you will receive.
Unbelievably, this was sort of lost in the whole bankruptcy debate over the last few weeks...
On March 1st, Bank of America announced it had lost personal financial data of more than 1 million customers, meaning a huge amount of people might experience identity theft, including thousands of federal employees, and even potentially Senators' own staff members. Often times, when you get your identity stolen, it destroys your credit and your entire finances. That’s why two days later Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida introduced legislation to exempt debtors from tougher bankruptcy laws if their financial problems were caused by identity theft. But in a Senate apparently owned by credit card companies and banks, it was voted down by a wide margin.
Consider how disgusting that really is (beyond the truly unfathomable fact that the Senate didn't even care about its own staff members): Your bank can be responsible for losing your personal information and having your identity stolen, and then, when you are faced with the financial consequences of identity theft, your bank can actually use the situation to milk you for more money, because you now have almost no bankruptcy protections.
If, on the other hand, Nelson's amendment had passed and banks were not able to go after you when they contribute to your identity being stolen, Congress would have created a big financial incentive for them to protect your private information. They would know that if they lost it, their own bottom line would be threatened, because they wouldn't be able to go after your debts.
But Congress actually created an incentive (or at least no disincentive) for the opposite – banks can lose your information, and then use their own negligence as an opportunity to bleed you dry with higher interest rates, late fees, and all the other horrible things that are heaped upon citizens as they accrue debt.
In the midst of a terrible drought in Montana that threatens to create a bad fire season, we finally got some snow in Helena and other parts of the state yesterday...
Let's hope for more!
Article 3, Section 3, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution says “No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.” Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum bills himself as a strict Constitutional constructionist. The question, however, for Santorum is whether he violated the Constitution?
1990:
“A Republican challenger, Rick Santorum, is claiming home is not where Rep. Doug Walgren's (D-Pa) heart is…Santorum's spot is the essence of simplicity. Strange music plays while a picture of an attractive white house is shown. The announcer says, ‘There's something strange about this house.’ The reason is because Walgren lives in McLean, which is ‘the wealthiest area of Virginia’ rather than his suburban district.”
- Roll Call, 12/5/90
1995:
“Rick Santorum, the state's junior U.S. senator, has moved his family to Farlington, a northern Virginia suburb of the nation's capital, according to Mike Mihalke, Santorum's press secretary. Santorum and his wife, Karen, have put their Mt. Lebanon, Pa home up for sale.”
- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 3/19/05
2004:
“Rick Santorum of Leesburg, Va., is saying that he is and he isn't a resident of Pennsylvania…The senator has to prove to the people of Pennsylvania that he is one of them, not just a visitor from the state of Virginia.”
- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 11/19/04
I read this USA Today story on Google's AdSense program and figured I'd give it a whirl, that's why you may be seeing a strip of text ads up top (I can't vouch for what the ads are on a given day...and some, strangely, are even for GOP memorabilia!)...I figured if I am lucky, I might generate enough income to pay for the cost of hosting the site each year...I'm not holding my breath...
Salt Lake Tribune columnist John Yewell has this interesting piece about why the West is the most fertile ground for Democrats to reclaim the majority.
In his follow-up post about the article on New West, Yewell notes that "Westerners are not proselytizers - they believe in live and let live," an attitude that is increasingly at odds with the GOP. Because of this, he writes:
Democrats nationwide are wrapped up with figuring out what to believe in that will appeal to voters. I think that’s the wrong question. They should be asking: How do I learn to live with people I disagree with, and still reach out to them, still help them, still find ways to make this complicated country work together. What is the right way to live? Westerners can teach Democrats the answers to these questions.
Yewell is definitely on to something here - and the sooner national Democrats recognize it, the better.
Check out my good friend Matt Villano's new essay in this week's edition of Newsweek. It's on major league baseball's erosion through everything from over-commericalization to the recent steroid scandals. It's a sad commentary that makes us fans of the game long for eras past.
My only problem with it was it didn't mention my own pet peeve: baseball's decision to corrupt the playoffs with all this wild card nonsense. I'm more of a traditionalist who liked the regular season to mean more, and liked that when a team actually made the playoffs, it meant something very, very special. But then again, that's just my own issue.
In all seriousness, give Matty's column a read - its a great one.
I am a fellow at the Center for American Progress, and a twice-a-week guest on the Al Franken Show. I am currently writing a book for Random House's Crown Publishers. I also write a bi-weekly section for the Nation Magazine called Permanent Minority vs. Towards the Majority about Democrats failures and successes. And I write a regular column for In These Times. For more on what I do, see this Washington Post story about my blog, this Molly Ivins column about my work, or this Newsweek profile about me. Feel free to email me at david@davidsirota.com with any thoughts/criticism. Note: this blog represents my personal views, and not the views of the Center for American Progress.
