November 14, 2014

SIGN A Congratulatory Card For Elizabeth Warren's NEW Senate Leadership Job!

The Huffington Post reports:



This is a good reminder that when PCCC members invest early in progressive leaders, it’s not just about winning elections in the short term — it’s about building power over time.


As Elizabeth Warren advocates for big ideas like reforming Wall Street, making college affordable, and expanding Social Security benefits, her voice will now be even louder — because she’ll be at the Democratic leadership table.

Click here to sign a congratulations card to Elizabeth Warren (and add a personal note), which the PCCC will deliver to her.

The PCCC ran the “Draft Elizabeth Warren for Senate” campaign and was her #1 grassroots supporter in 2012 raising over $1.17 million through over 70,000 small-dollar donations for her campaign. The PCCC partnered with Warren on big legislative pushes in 2013 and 2014. With this news, that partnership grows stronger — and all of Elizabeth Warren’s and the PCCC’s work together has more impact.



http://boldprogressives.org/2014/11/breaking-elizabeth-warren-in-senate-leadership/

November 14, 2014

Senate Democrats Have No Idea WHY Elizabeth Warren Got a NEW LEADERSHIP ROLE

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) got a promotion on Thursday. She now has a seat at the Senate Democratic leadership table and, in a role created just for her, she will serve as a policy adviser and voice for progressives. Her colleagues have no idea why this is happening.



Asked if he thought it was to help position Warren for a potential 2016 presidential run, Manchin said, “I really couldn’t speak to that.” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) was the driving force behind creating the role for Warren, and he and his leadership team worked privately to figure out where she would best fit ahead of a Thursday caucus meeting, where Democrats elected their leaders for the next Congress. As the new strategic policy adviser to the Democratic Policy and Communications Center, Warren will attend weekly leadership meetings and help shape caucus policies. The move to bring such a prominent progressive into Senate leadership will certainly fuel speculation about Warren’s interest in a White House bid, a topic she regularly brushes off. It also signals that Democratic leaders plan to keep pushing progressive polices, even as Republicans take control of the chamber next year. But Democrats didn’t get to vote on whether to put Warren in leadership. Reid appointed her, so the caucus held a voice vote affirming the move.



To be sure, Democrats were quick to sing the praises of Warren, even if they were caught off guard by her new role. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), a moderate member of the caucus, called it “terrific” that Warren was getting the post and said it’s wrong to brand the Massachusetts Democrat solely as a voice for progressives. “She is not a lonely voice when it comes to trying to make sure Americans in this country get a fair shot,” McCaskill said. “I think Elizabeth Warren speaks for a lot of us when she talks about those issues, not just the more liberal organizations out there.” “She's going be a strategic adviser to Sen. Schumer and I ... I think it’s a great idea,” said Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), a co-chair of Democrats' policy group with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). “We are just reaffirming our commitment to do everything we can to make sure government works for folks so they have a fair shot to get ahead.”





cont'


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/13/elizabeth-warren-senate-leadership_n_6154784.html

November 13, 2014

Landrieu IMPLORED Senate Republicans Wednesday To ALLOW A VOTE On The Keystone XL Pipeline

After two years of inaction on the Keystone XL pipeline, it could be a Louisiana Senate run-off that finally forces Congress to vote on the measure. The so-called Bayou Brawl was on full display on Capitol Hill Wednesday as the two candidates – Democrat Sen. Mary Landrieu and Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy – raced to be first to hold a vote on the Keystone XL pipeline. Fresh off the campaign trail, Landrieu, D-La., implored Senate Republicans Wednesday to allow a vote on the Keystone XL pipeline in the lame duck session, saying it would be a good moment for future Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to work in a bipartisan manner.






But Republicans on the other side of the Capitol are working swiftly to hold a vote of their own on the pipeline, a measure that is sponsored by Landrieu’s opponent Cassidy. The House Rules Committee announced it was holding a meeting Wednesday night to consider the Keystone XL pipeline bill, described as an “emergency measure,” and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said the measure would be considered on the House floor Thursday. The Senate agreed to hold a vote on Keystone XL as early as Tuesday. On Tuesday, Bloomberg News reported that Senate Democrats were considering holding a vote on Keystone XL to help Landrieu in her December 6 run-off in Louisiana. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, called the idea a “bad joke.”







cont'

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/louisiana-senate-candidates-race-hold-votes-keystone-xl/story?id=26871209

November 13, 2014

Senate Democrats BETRAY THEIR SUPPORTERS By Scheduling A Vote On KEYSTONE XL

In a move that mirrors their failed midterm election strategy, Senate Democrats are trying save Sen. Mary Landrieu’s job by voting on approval of the Keystone XL pipeline next week. The Senate will vote on Tuesday on whether or not to greenlight construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.

National Journal reported,





The vote on the Keystone XL pipeline is an attempt to save Mary Landrieu’s job. Landrieu still needs five Democrats to join her in supporting the bill, or it will fail next week. The problem with the vote is that it is an obvious betrayal of the values that Democrats have been championing for years. With their majority gone in January, Harry Reid is allowing a vote on a bill that he has refused to bring to the floor for years. The vast majority of Democrats are still opposed to Keystone, but this is an obvious ploy to boost Mary Landrieu’s chances in her Senate runoff. What is frustrating about this vote is that it is another example of Democrats refusing to act like Democrats. Their willingness to go back on years of arguments against this pipeline in order to help one senator save her seat is discouraging.

Democrats lost the midterm election because they adopted a strategy of running away from their president and the successes of the last six years. They have upped the ante on that losing hand by holding a vote on an issue that most of their caucus have spent years opposing.





cont'

http://www.politicususa.com/2014/11/12/senate-democrats-betray-supporters-scheduling-vote-keystone-xl-pipeline.html

November 13, 2014

If We Want LIBERALISM In America, We Cannot Be Liberals

If you listened to the pundits after the last election, the Democratic base did not turn out, it did not support their party. What was lost in the discussion is that the party itself does not reflect their own base. This is not due to the Democratic Party not wanting to mobilize, but that the political reality of this country has put them in a very awkward position. In the US we have in effect a center-right party, the Democrats, and a far-right party, the Republicans. As in any body politic, they will gather support from either side. For the Republicans, this means the solid-right to the far-right. For the Democrats it means the near-right to the center-left. Each of these positions makes sense when you study our political rhetoric, not from our politicians, but from the voters and pundits in this nation. For the Democrats, the progressive/liberal group is center-left, and pushes for what they consider common sense ideas such as Medicare for all, tighter EPA regulations, and such. Their rhetoric is solidly center-left, arguing for the positions desired directly. For the Republicans, you have the tea party far-right pushing for their own agenda. This will of course put the political center solidly in the right-wing spectrum of politics, a balance between the two.



This of course frustrates the progressives, who continually feel left out of modern politics. They know their ideas are good, and work in every other nation which implements them, but they are in effect frozen out due to this center-right/far-right balancing act our political discourse is in. But, with the Democratic party only one step removed from them, center-right from center-left, they have little recourse for support in our current winner-take-all political climate. And there is no incentive for the Democratic Party to change either, for the progressive rhetoric is solidly under their umbrella. The far-right feels frustrated as well, but not to the same degree. Their continual rightward push has dragged discourse conservative, which means that even when they cannot get the extreme positions desired, they still can have some sense of accomplishment. We can witness decades of policies to demonstrate this. The problem is that there is no national far-left rhetoric to counter the far-right in the political space. Liberals and Progressives push for center-left positions, which gives the effect of arguing for the ideal end-position as the starting point. This in turn drags the ideas to the right as the far-right engages against them. And with this dragging of policies to the right, there is no incentive for the Democratic Party to move left. By being where they are, they are in a good position to getting enough policies approved, center-right to near-right, to keep themselves in office.



If you want to hit a target, you aim past it as any good archery or rifle instructor will teach you when learning to shoot. This works equally as well for politics. Progressives instead aim for their target, then get frustrated when it does not hit. To have progressive or liberal policies in this country, this base rhetoric cannot be progressive or liberal, to get center-left policies, one cannot push for center-left policies. Instead, one must go further to the left on every position, to push for programs which are so extreme that they would make Karl Marx smile. Want single payer health insurance? Demand a full government takeover of the healthcare industry. Want $15/hr minimum wage? Demand $25/hr. Want the EPA to regulate greenhouse gasses? Demand that the government take over all polluting industries. Otherwise, by default the progressive position is doomed. This is how the right-wing does it. They argue for eliminating all taxes in order to get a tax cut. They argue for eliminating all regulations to overturn some troublesome restrictions. This is the tactic which works, and how progressives must do it. To have progressive policies, the rhetoric from the left must be more than progressive policies, more than liberal ideas. After all, the right-wing will call them communists anyways. The only way to beat them is not to attempt and show the difference between a progressive and a communist. Instead, they must show them what real communist demands are for once.



This past election demonstrated clearly the issues of this nation, and of the public discourse. So long as the progressive arm of the Democratic Party argues only for moderate, common-sense progressive policies, the reality of political life will forever thwart it. To drag the Democratic Party to the left, to drag the political discourse and policies to the left, there must be a real, hard movement of rhetoric to the left. People need to show up to Democratic meetings wearing a Che shirt, to show up to rallies waving a flag sporting the hammer and sickle, to read to other Democrats aloud from the Communist Manifesto. It requires concerted effort for everyone to do their part. And it will take time. A century of anti-leftist policies, of targeted dismantling of leftist rhetoric, cannot be eliminated overnight. But concerted effort will drag the rhetoric back over to the progressive column, just as the far-right has dragged the rhetoric over to the right over the past several decades. It also requires learning. Much of the popular viewpoint of leftist policies after all comes from a right-wing media and propaganda campaign done over decades. Do not let the right define you – instead define yourself. Let them slap a label on you, and rather than run from it, own that label. But the rhetoric cannot stay progressive if there is to be any progressive politics in the United States. The nature of our system, of compromise, makes that impossible.





cont'

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2014/11/12/america-needs-leftists/

November 12, 2014

KKK Passing Out Fliers Promising To USE LETHAL FORCE Against Ferguson Protesters

The Traditionalist American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan started distributing a flier in the St. Louis area promising to use lethal force against any protesters in Ferguson they deem to be violent. Frank Ancona, the imperial wizard of the chapter, spoke with the Riverfront Times regarding the flier and the intentions of the KKK in Ferguson as large-scale protests loom with the approaching grand jury announcement in the Darren Wilson case. Ancona not only claimed that the protesters are “terrorists,” but he also said recruitment for the chapter has soared in the wake of the protests that began in August after unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed by Wilson. Ancona said the following to the RFT regarding the group’s membership ranks:





As for the flier, it began making the rounds on Twitter and Facebook Tuesday afternoon and started to gain attention.






Ancona claims that this isn’t about race (yeah, right) but more about protecting people and property in and around Ferguson. He points to the language in the flier that says “the good people of St. Louis County of all races, colors and creeds” as proof that is about just opposing violent protesters and not black residents of the area. The flier also points to a Missouri statute as justification of the right to use lethal force.

Below is the actual flier:






Ancona and his chapter of the KKK have made news before in the St. Louis area. Back in May, they passed out fliers in nearby Jefferson County promoting a neighborhood watch program to protect residents from drug dealers. Shortly after Brown’s death, Ancona got into a beef with another KKK leader over a Darren Wilson fundraiser in Missouri. At the time, a South Carolina chapter of the KKK was promoting the fundraiser in Sullivan, MO, roughly 60 miles from Ferguson. Ancona stated that it was a sham and seemed to strike a somewhat moderate stance on the situation in Ferguson. Of course, it wouldn’t take long before the ‘imperial wizard’ and his KKK chapter would take advantage of the protests to feed on racial tension to grab some attention. Last month, the chapter passed out fliers in mostly-white neighborhoods in St. Louis and Jefferson Counties telling residents to “sleep tonight knowing the Klan is awake!” Ancona has also sent out tweets saying he was at the Ferguson police station. Now, he’s distributing this flier in the area in the hopes of ginning up fear to hopefully boost his organization’s numbers.

But, you know, this has nothing to with race. Not at all.


FERGUSON KKK FLYER



http://www.politicususa.com/2014/11/12/kkk-passing-fliers-promising-lethal-force-ferguson-protesters.html

November 12, 2014

WOW! First Image From COMET!!

November 12, 2014

Confirmed: Landing Has Taken Place!

The Rosetta Lander Imaging System (ROLIS) on Philae took this picture 3 kilometres above the surface as the craft descended.







Philae took this shot when it was still 10km above the surface. Photograph: Esa/Rosetta/Philae/ROLIS/DLR






LIVE BROADCAST:

http://www.theguardian.com/science/across-the-universe/live/2014/nov/12/rosetta-comet-landing-live-blog

.

November 12, 2014

Breaking News: BLUE DOG Joe Manchin Has SUDDENLY Found His Spine!

This hybrid-fence-squatting weasel has suddenly found his balls........FU!!






TPM:




It's always so precious when they find their voice just in time to help Republicans. God forbid they would have been standing up when Democrats had the Senate. After Manchin's 'bipartisan' background check bill got hammered I didn't see him calling out anyone, did you? Just the bothsidesbothsides song. Bipartisan is beautiful, especially when half of the 'bi' doesn't do a damned thing. The only group promising obstruction since the election has been Republicans and their tea party keepers. If he wants to use that newly-discovered spine, perhaps he should call them on THAT BS.



http://crooksandliars.com/2014/11/senator-joe-manchin-suddenly-finds-his

November 12, 2014

The FCC Weighs BREAKING WITH OBAMA Over The Future Of The Internet

Call your reps and PRESS THEM........



~snip~

"..Wheeler, a former lobbyist for the cable and telecommunications industry, has floated proposals that aim to limit the ability of service providers to charge Web companies, such as Netflix or Google, to reach their customers. But critics have argued that his approach would give the providers too much leeway to favor some services over others.


Given the high stakes, White House aides had wrestled over whether Obama should publicly prod the FCC to adopt the strongest rules possible on the “net neutrality” issue. Ultimately, aides felt that a public stance would galvanize allies in Congress as well as young, tech-savvy progressives, a key part of the Democratic base, according to several people familiar with the matter. The decision to speak out also comes as Democrats are aggressively courting Silicon Valley in preparation for the 2016 campaigns.


A growing source of frustration for White House and congressional Democrats is that they have three of their own on the five-member commission at the FCC, a majority that should give them the power to push through a policy of their liking. But if Wheeler charts a different course, he could bring the other members along with him. And, as Wheeler reminded participants at his meeting with Web companies Monday, the FCC does not answer to the Obama administration. “I am an independent agency,” Wheeler told them repeatedly, according to several officials.


Both Wheeler and the FCC declined to comment for this story. The White House had no additional comment beyond the president’s statement Monday, in which he said the FCC is an independent agency and “ultimately this decision is theirs alone.” Obama’s statement caught industry observers by surprise, but it was the product of mounting concern at the White House that Wheeler and the FCC were clouding the issue.




cont'


http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/11/11/the-fcc-weighs-breaking-with-obama-over-the-future-of-the-internet/