Progressive Democrat Issue 132: THOUGHTS

LOTS going on this week. Most of which I won't be discussing in much detail. Senator Larry Craig of Idaho had to plead guilty to an outright criminal offense...and was proven a complete hypocrite in the process. The main significance of this is that it is one more blow to Republicans in the very heart of their stronghold. Starting in 2004, the Republicans began to lose their hold on some stronghold states. In 2004, Montana began to get fed up with incompetent, anti-environmental Republicans and started voting blue. This trend continued in Montana in 2006 and began to spread. A house race in Wyoming and a house race in Idaho almost flipped from Republican to Democrat as the West got fed up with Republican corruption and a corrupt Republican war.

Senator Larry Craig's scandal is likely to make his re-election more in doubt. This could help Democrats in all three states. I say the best defense is a strong offense and what better way to get aggressive on the Republicans than aim for Montana, Idaho and Wyoming? Now I am not saying we will get any of them going Dem for president, but we have a shot at making a Senate race and two House races highly competative and can defend our gains in Montana in the process. So, if you want to hit the Republicans right in their stronghold, and right in Dick Cheney territory, donate here to make Montana, Wyoming and Idao battleground states.

Lots else going on. Alberto Gonzales got chased out. About time! But for me, the most important thing this week is the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. That was a defining moment in American history because it showed the Bush Administration for what it was: an incompetent, uncaring administration that cared nothing for American citizens unless they were CEOs of companies like Halliburton and Exxon/Mobil. Although many of us had already grown to despise the Bush regime, Hurricane Katrina is what revealed their true nature to for most Americans. Hurricane Katrina is something I will have something to say about this issue.

So here we go...

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TWO YEARS AFTER KATRINA: Revisiting political significance

THE ARTICLES THEY DON'T WANT YOU TO SEE 3

STOLEN MONEY AND STOLEN ELECTIONS: Tom Feeney (FL-24)

NEW HAMPSHIRE FOCUS: Health Insurance for American Children

NORTH CAROLINA FOCUS: Larry Kissell hosts Ambassador Wilson

NEW JERSEY FOCUS: Training for Young Democrats

MONTANA, WYOMING and IDAHO FOCUS: Striking deep into the Red

Two Years After Katrina: Race, Political Relavence, and Survival in America

This diary was originally written once the lessons of Hurricane Katrina had sunk in a bit. This week is the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Two years ag...I remember watching on the weather channel as a category 5 hurricane was bearing down on the Gulf Coast and thinking, "THAT is going to be really bad."

But no one in the Bush Administration seemed to think that. They thought about celebrating John McCain's birthday, buying shoes in NYC, vacationing...while one hell of a hurricane was bearing down on America's Gulf Coast.

The people of America's Gulf coast didn't matter to the Bush Administration. Those people we watched die of neglect in New Orleans died because Republican America considered them insignificant...worthless...useless.

I think the political strength of any group comes down to three things: money, votes and volunteerism. These three things win elections, so they get the attention of both political parties. The low voter turnout among blacks is a problem, and I think this low voter turnout hurts the community. Neither party puts that large a premium on the black community because of this low voter turnout. Of course it is more complicated than that--there are vested interests that don't want a change in the status quo. But imagine the effect it would have if there was a nearly 100% voter turnout in the black community. In some areas like NYC and Virginia, for example, this would make the black community very important in elections and their needs would become higher priorities for both political parties.

Political participation leads to political relevance. What I didn't quite realize until hurricane Katrina drove it home for all of America was that political relevance is required for outright survival in Bush America. If you aren't relevant, your life means nothing. You may be left to die in a hurricane, or sent to die in Iraq or allowed to die of AIDS or executed in a justice system that remains flawed when it comes to providing equal protection to all races and classes. In short, the groups in America who lack adequate political relevance face outright death because of their political irrelevance. This was illustrated even more explicitly when a former cabinet member and current radio show host, Republican Bill Bennett, publicly declared that, "if you wanted to reduce crime, you could - if that were your sole purpose - abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down." (see Congressman John Conyer's diary on this). This is the Republican view of Americans who are not relevant to them.

The direct result of this attitude was that while New Orleans drowned:




George Bush and John McCain were partying:



There can be no clearer manifestation of the Republican attitude towards poor and minority Americans than that!

A related manifestation of this is the Republican attitude towards immigration. This attitude was illustrated by some graffiti I saw on the wall in a bathroom in NYC sometime back. One person had written:

"I hate white people."

Charming enough, but to me even more disturbing was someone else's response:

"Then go back to your own country."

The fundamental assumption of the respondent was that anyone who wasn't white wasn't American. THAT, in a brief bathroom wall exchange, is the nature of race relations in America under Bush. The Bush Republicans have a basic assumption that there is a correct American race, religion and belief system and that anyone who does not conform to that correct ideal is somehow less than a true American. That Republican ideal is white and Christian. In Bush America, if you are not white and Christian, you are suspect. You are racially profiled, you are told by Bill O'Reilly to "move to Israel" if you don't like public Christmas displays, you don't get faith based funding, and you are left to die when the levees break.

This Republican ideal of what it means to be an American ignores, of course, that whites are all immigrants to America and that for many white families who came in the 19th and 20th centuries, there were many native American, Hispanic and black families here LONG before their asses immigrated to the US.

The biggest lesson of 2005 may have been this: If you aren't important to the Bush administration you are expendable and are possibly even suspect of being un-American. It is thus of considerable importance for ALL Americans to exert their political relevance.

How do we address the rising racism, anti-Semitism and hatred in America? There is no easy answer. It took this nation nearly 100 years and a Civil War to decide that slavery was unacceptable. In a nation based on the concept of "all men are created equal," that SHOULD have been a no-brainer. So people had to create stupid ideas of what it mean to be a "man" so that they could make entire races less equal than others. The early concepts of evolution even went so far as to hypothesize that whites, blacks and asians were descended from different apes. That is how far people even in America went to justify slavery and racism.

It took another 100 years and the martyrdom of several wonderful people, including Martin Luther King, jr., to get America to admit that every American has the right to vote. Yet we still haven't fully realized that admission that every American has the right to vote as we realize that systematic voter fraud and intimidation affected the outcomes of the National elections in 2000 and 2004 as well as the Georgia elections in 2002. And we are faced with the implementation of election "reform" where we might vote on machines where reliability and fairness are sacrificed for convenience. Will that take another 100 years before the hard earned work of Martin Luther King, jr. goes from legal reality to actual reality?

I am a big fan of empowerment. Again, in American politics there are three things that matter most: money, votes and activism. Money and votes get respect. I firmly believe that the higher the voter turnout of a neighborhood, the more respect and more benefits they get from their government. Poverty and being the constant target of racism seems to inspire apathy. But the people who need to vote the most are those very people who have been abandoned by their government. Poor and minority communities need to vote. Why? Because unless they suddenly get enough money to get noticed by politicians, then votes are the only bargaining chip they have short of rioting. Any neighborhood that has high voter turnout gets noticed. Any community that has high voter turnout gets noticed. Any group, be it racial, religious or ideological, that delivers votes (like the NRA and so-called "moral majority") gets noticed.

I add a third layer to empowerment. Money, votes and...activism. Groups that are known to deliver petitions, write letters, participate in boycotts, shout the loudest also get noticed. The squeaky wheel gets the grease and the right wing have turned being the squeaky wheel into an art form. They can, with a straight face, complain of being persecuted even when they control all national media, all levels of the Federal government, and most state governments. They can sound like the squeaky wheel even when they dominate every aspect of American society. They have become so squeaky they are positively whiny these days. The left can barely make a coherent squeak even when people are dying in New Orleans because they are seen as unimportant by the Bush Administration. This has to change. We have to be the activists who shout louder, volunteer more, vote more, petition more, write more letters, make more phone calls and have more boycotts.

If you don't have the money to get noticed, get the activism and votes in your neighborhood to get noticed.

So, what do I recommend people do? It doesn't matter where you live, who you are or how red your area is. Your survival depends on your political relevance and your political relevance depends on the affluence, the level of activism and the voter turnout in your area. It isn't easy to affect the affluence of your neighborhood. But you are a community member with friends and family around you. You are a potential catalyst for activating your community, which in turn, over years, can be a catalyst for raising your community's relevance within your city, state and nation. In some ways that is what my newsletter is all about--helping people be that catalyst for their community. Katrina and the Iraq show us that political irrelevance can mean death. The poor blacks died in New Orleans because they were irrelevant to our government. The poor of America and Iraq die in the Iraq War because they are irrelevant to our government. In Bush America, if you are not politically relevant, your life may be threatened.

So, reach out to your community and give them the message that they better make themselves relevant to the government or they may be the next hurricane victims left to die. Start a local Democracy for America group. Get your neighbors joining you running for Democratic County Committee or any other local positions. Saturate your neighborhood with voter registration drives. But don't do voter registration just because you want Dems to win. Get your entire community to register and vote because that is the path to empowerment and political relevance.

Finally, this year I want to add another aspect of empowerment: insurance. The insurance industry has hit the victims of Katrina almost as hard as the original hurricane. People are being forced out of what was left of their homes, forced to sell to rich developers who want to build casinos and luxury hotels, because insurance companies are refusing to cover people. In Mississippi the State Insurance Commissioner has been helping the insurance companies rather than the citizens of the state. This has led to a grassroots effort, led by Democracy for America, to elect a grassroots progressive, Gary Anderson, as Inusrance Commissioner of Mississippi. This might be the last chance for Mississippi victims of Katrina to get justice. And so far Gary Anderson has won the Democratic Primary! Next is the general election in Novemeber 2007. Help Gary Anderson give justice to Mississippi.

The Articles They Don't Want You to See 3

Two weeks ago I started something without even realizing it. I posted my second ever recommended diary on Daily Kos called "The Articles They Don't Want You to See." The success led me to even start it as a new blog, as well as a regular Daily Kos article.

The response was good enough that it is clear I should try and make this a weekly thing. The idea is to highlight articles/infromation/videos, new or old, that are important, under-reported and/or forgotten. And to provide YOU to post articles that YOU think need more attention. This week I will review last week's articles, YOUR suggestions from last week, and present a new set of articles that I think deserve more attention. And if you think I forgot anything, please post in the comments! New articles come first, last week's articles are at the end.


Mitt Romney:
aka Hezbollah Mitt

Something is DEEPLY wrong with Mitt Romney. I already highlighted how Mitt Romney is either an abusive or at least abyssmally stupid pet owner. But he also appears to be a fan of Hezbollah! Mitt Romney has said the United States should emulate Hezbollah. If he wanted an example of civic activism, he could have looked to practically any church, synagogue, mosque, Buddhist temple, etc. in America. Instead he looks to Hezbollah for inspiration.

And let's not forget Mitt Romney's flip flopping on abortion. I can't find a good YouTube of Romney's incomprehensible flip-flopping comments on abortion from the Des Moines debate, but I heard it on NPR and wondered what kind of idiot couldn't get his own stand on abortion straight. If anyone has a link to footage of Romney's abortion babble from Des Moines, please let me know! THIS is a man you cannot trust.

Here's an old article I dug up that deserves more attention. From 2005 there is a report that Mitt Romney illegally used corporate funds to pay a political operative. Can't find a follow up to the story, but definitely is one that should not be buried now that Mitt is running for President.


How about actually LISTENING to our soldiers, something Republicans never actually do:

We always hear crap from right wing chickenhawks about supporting the troops. Trouble is, when the right wing nuts aren't outright cutting veterans benefits, they are STILL ignoring the troops. I prefer paying attention to what our troops and veterans actually have to say.

The View from Iraq, by seven returning soldiers

Reminds me of something I heard on the Henry Rollins show which bears more attention: Chasing Ghosts, by 1st Lieutenant Paul Rieckhoff.


But rather than LISTEN to our Veterans, Republicans outright run away from Americans when the subject of Iraq comes up...sometimes literally.

The following come from Americans Against Escalation in Iraq:

PA: Rep. Tim Murphy Locks Door in Constituents’ Faces:

IL: Congressman Mark Kirk Runs Away from Iraq Vet, War.

VA: Rep. Thelma Drake Runs From Iraq Question.

MI: Rep. Vernon Ehlers Ducks Out on Iraq.

IA: Mother of Iraq Veteran Confronts Rep. Tom Latham on the war.

NY: Invitation to Take a Stand Day delivered to Rep. Randy Kuhl (in protective vests), but are shut out.

VA: Rep. Thelma Drake seeks "protection" from "unexpected questions.

NH: Sen. Sununu (R-NH) Refuses to Take A Stand

Remember. It is time to get right in the face of every Congressman, Republican OR Democrat, and confront them over Civil Liberties, Iraq and Impeachment. Call to make an appointment with your Rep today.


Now we turn to what I consider a PARTICULARLY interesting story. This is all about how bloggers are the real investigative journalists of the 21st century. I mentioned last week the very strange battle going on in NY State that the MSM has largely been showing only one side of. The MSM told a story that Governor Eliot Spitzer has abused his power to have Republican Joe Bruno followed by state troopers. But it turns out that this may be another Whitewater fraud. The troopers were there at Bruno's request and there is a suspicious campaign by a particular pair, Michael Caputo and Roger Stone, to smear Spitzer. The question that the Albany Project and Daily Gotham is raising is whether Joe Bruno is behind this campaign. Michael Caputo, the frontman of the smear campaign, swore up and down that he had no ties to Roger Stone and Joe Bruno. Roger Stone, who was once a Nixon operative, worked for Joe Bruno. Turns out that Roger Stone is INDEED behind Michael Caputo in a scandal called "emailgate". Here are the stories I posted last week which now are background to the REAL story that broke since then on The Albany Project and Daily Gothm:

The Strange Case of Michael Caputo

Bruno, Stone and Caputo: Emailgate

Caputo Responds

Caputo Speaks

Caputo's comment in response to a posting on Daily Gotham

And a related story.

NOW we come to the meat of it. Michael Bouldin and Liza Sabater of the Daily Gotham traced the precise connections that link Michael Caputo and Roger Stone, showing both of them are liars. Read through it...it really shows how blogging works at its best and what the MSM SHOULD have caught.

Very soon after the Roger Stone/Michael Caputo connection broke on The Albany Project and Daily Gotham, Roger Stone apparently went into a rage. And who did he take it out on? Eliot Spizter's elderly father. Stone called Spitzer's father and threatened him viciously. Stone then claimed that he had not been home at the time but rather had been at a play. Problem is, the play he claimed to be seeing was closed that night, showing him to be not just a liar...but a really, really bad liar. Some think that once his link to emailgate was revealed, Roger Stone may be losing it.

Roger Stone was subsequently fired by Joe Bruno...though this leaves unanswered the question as to whether Bruno knew what Stone was doing. There are also some legal issues that may soon be raised by all of this...but more of that later.

So three cheers for the people who uncovered this! Now, for those familiar with my work, I do write for Daily Gotham, but I wasn't involved very much in this story. But my collegues at DG did!


And speaking of Republican corruption, did you hear the one about the Bush Administration's use of YOUR tax money to elect Republicans? Needless to say, Karl Rove was behind the scam. In some ways it is business as usual for Washington, in that every administration use Federal appointees to go to districts where candidates need help...but Rove took it further than any administration ever has. It may be the ultimate in government corruption.

Finally, a bit of history for those too young to remember: The Tragedy of Bhopal Continues 23 Years Later. It is one of the most disgusting moments in the history of capitalism.


ARTICLES FROM LAST WEEK: (with minimal comment)

My reminder that although there are good Republicans out there, it seems like Bush might just be the death of the Republican Party.

Last week I focused on the Taliban Twins, two right wing religious fanatics, Sam Brownback and Mike Huckabee.

Rolling Stone has run an article showing what a fundamentalist Christian fanatic Sam Brownback is. He is NOT mainstream Christianity.

The extreme anti-choice stand of Sam Brownback, forcing women to bear the child of their rapist even at the risk of her own life, is particularly disturbing.

Equally disturbing is how eagerly Mike Huckabee lets rapists off the hook...letting them rape again. Taliban Huckabee seems soft on crime!

Mike Huckabee's Family Values are also quite disturbing.

Mike Huckabee is calling for religious jihad right in America.

His jihad also extends to Iraq where Mike Huckabee wants even MORE escalation, more American soldiers and money sent into the Iraq quagmire.

And here is a good summary of "what's wrong with Mike Huckabee"

Then I cover again the NY-13 Congressional race between Bagdhad Vito (also called Bush's Lap Dog) and Steve Harrison.

Daily Gotham broke the news that Steve Harrison is our man to defeat Bagdhad Vito.

This led to Vito Fossella, Freaking Out.

Vito Fossella is already in debt from last time around. By contrast, Harrison has some money left over, though not much yet.

A little on Vito Fossella breaking campaign finance laws.

But if you really want to know how bad Vito Fossella is, you can read my article titled
Vito Fossella: Bush Lap Dog, Social Security Flip Flopper, and Friend to Criminals.

And I will end this week's Vito Fossella/Steve Harrison Rematch segment with a quote from Steve Harrison on Iraq

What are we doing in Iraq? Saddam is dead, we found no weapons of mass destruction, and we know that Iraq didn't attack us — we need to get out.

— Steve Harrison, Democratic Candidate for Congress


I also covered emailgate last week, but since I cover it again above in more detail I won't repeat the links.

Republican Corruption in Florida: Tom Feeney (FL-24)

Corruption is one of the issues I focus on the most. On Daily Gotham I focus a lot on problems within the Democratic party in Brooklyn, NY. But nationally I find that generally it is Republican corruption that is most prevalent and damaging to America.

Right now, I want to focus on a particularly vile, corrupt Republican Congressman, Tom Feeney (FL-24). This is a man closely connected with the Abramoff scandal that Republicans want you to forget but you and I know is still playing out. But Feeney is also majorly involved in voter fraud. In fact, Feeney should be the poster boy for the most un-American attack on democracy America has seen in recent years.

Feeney is a sitting Congressman, but let's start out by realizing that Tom Feeney has already been fined by the House ethics committee for his Abramoff connections. He has already been found to be corrupt by the House Ethics Committee, yet is still a "respected" member of the Republican Party and has not resigned from Congress.

But there is probably more coming...it seems that the FBI is investigating Tom Feeney further for those Abramoff connections. Gee, and the Republicans wanted us to think the Abramoff scandal had blown over.

But perhaps the worst Feeney has done is active participation in voting fraud. Yes, I say ACTIVE PARTICIPATION in voter fraud. Tom Feeney has been accused of recruiting computer programmers to write software that could alter vote totals on touch-screen voting machines in Florida. From the Seminole Chronicle:

Republican Congressman Tom Feeney of Oviedo asked a computer programmer in September 2000, prior to that year's contested presidential vote in Florida, to write software that could alter vote totals on touch-screen voting machines, the programmer said.

Former computer programmer Clint Curtis made the claim Monday in sworn testimony to Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee investigating allegations of voter fraud in the 2004 presidential election involving touch-screen voting in Ohio.

In his testimony, Curtis said that Feeney, then a member of the Florida House of Representative, met with Curtis and other employees of Yang Enterprises, an Oviedo software company, and asked if the company could create a program that would allow a user to alter the vote totals while using the touch-screen machine. The program had to be written so that even the human-readable computer code would not show its illicit capabilities, Curtis recalled.

Curtis said he wrote a prototype program for Feeney, and that he believed the program might not only be usable on touch-screen voting machines, which some counties - predominantly in South Florida - now use, but also on optical-scan machines, which most of the state's counties used in the 2004 elections.

Feeney could not be reached for comment.

If true, THIS is one of the most disgusting attacks on American democracy I can think of, whether you are Republican or Democrat. Tom Feeney is accused of trying to subvert American democracy, plain and simple.

And Curtis' accusations got a boost recently. Many criticized Curtis for claiming that people were trying to subvert the touchscreen machines BEFORE the 2000 election when supposedly no one was thinking touch screen. Well, some actual investigativg journalism by Dan Rather has revealed that people WERE thinking touch screen before the 2000 election and, in fact, the problems that arose in 2000 in Florida may have been part of the push for touch screen machines. This was broken, as far as I know, by the Brad Blog:

The recent Dan Rather report (complete video here) on the gaming of the paper punchcard ballots by Sequoia Voting Systems in Florida, just prior to the 2000 election, plugs up at least one important "hole" in the Clint Curtis story. We first broke Curtis's story back in late 2004 and have been reporting on it ever since.

You'll recall that Curtis alleged --- in sworn affidavit [PDF], live video-taped testimony before a U.S. House Judiciary delegation, and via polygraph test --- that he was asked by Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL) to create a touch-screen vote-rigging prototype program, just months prior to the 2000 election when they both worked at the same Florida software firm.

One of the main criticisms of Curtis's striking allegations was that "nobody was even thinking about touch-screen voting systems in Florida prior to the 2000 Presidential Election debacle."

Dan Rather's remarkable investigative report, however, would seem to indicate otherwise: seven Sequoia company whistleblowers reveal on camera that, despite their objections, they were forced to use poor quality paper for the punchcards to be used in Florida in 2000. They also revealed that they had been instructed to deliberately misalign the chads for ballots going to Palm Beach County, FL, only.

As well, another recent revelation puts the lie to Feeney's claim, made years ago, that he no longer had anything to do with the owners of the Oviedo, Florida, firm where he was the general counsel and registered lobbyist in 2000 (even as he served as Speaker of the FL House at the same time). Curtis was employed as a computer programmer for the company, which had multi-million dollar contracts with both the state and NASA, where Feeney's wife has worked for several years.

New information reveals that the owners of the company remain personal friends with Feeney, and continue to funnel money to him even while they hope for further contracts from the U.S. House Subcommittee on Space & Aeronautics, in which Feeney has recently been promoted to ranking member.

Go to the Brad Blog for MUCH more on the issue. Hanging chads...intentional? Use of low quality paper and intentional misaligning? In California I used punchcard voting for years...and never had a problem. I always wondered why it was such a problem in Florida. Sounds like it is because certain companies wanted to see states high priced touch screen machines and certain Republicans wanted to subvert the vote using such machines.

Tom Feeney may have been part of the stolen 2000 election...

Now I want to turn to Feeney's voting record. Feeney's probable corruption is damning enough. But his voting record damns him at least as much. Simply put, Tom Feeney votes AGAINST Americans: (voting record from Project Vote Smart)

Feeney opposes a woman's right to choose, and essentially supports forcing a woman to carry a rapist's child to term...even at the risk of her own life. Feeney receives 0/100 ratings from Planned Parenthood every single year.

Feeney gets a 0/100 rating from National Farmers Union. He sure isn't pro-farmer!

Feeney is anti-freedom: Gets 0/100 from ACLU, Arab American Institute, National Council of La Raza, Human Rights Campaign and low ratings from NAACP. Feeney does not believe in Civil Rights.

Feeney hurts our children: gets 0/100 from Children's Defense Fund.

Feeney hurts working class Americans: Gets below 10/100 from almost every Union out there, including SEIU, AFL-CIO, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Worker, American Postal Workers Union, United Auto Workers, International Brotherhood of Boilermakers...shit, if I were Feeney I'd worry about meeting any of these folk in a dark alley. Solid, working class Americans hate Feeney.

Feeney hurts America's Senior Citizens: He consistently gets below 10/100 ratings from Alliance for Retired Americans.

Feeney hutrs American soldiers and Veterans: Gets an abyssmal D+ grade from Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America in 2006, and gets a 0/100 rating from Disabled American Veterans in 2004 and 2005 (he did better in 2006 with a 66/100 rating).

THIS is the Republican who represents FL-24. The DCCC has more information on Tom Feeney and his anti-America, corrupt stands. Here are some examples:

* Rep. Feeney voted against cracking down on the oil and gas industries price gouging.
* Big oil and gas industries have given Rep. Feeney $15,200. Any surprise?

* Rep. Feeney voted to strip overtime protection from millions of workers.
* Rep. Feeney voted to allow federal loans to American companies that have escaped paying U.S. taxes by moving offshore.

* Rep. Feeney voted to continue awarding contracts to Halliburton even if the Pentagon's own audit processes found that more than $100 million of their contractor's costs in Iraq were unreasonable.
* Rep. Feeney opposed expanding access to the military's TRICARE health insurance program to thousands of Reservist and National Guard members, even though 20 percent of all Reservists do not have health insurance, and 40 percent of Reservists aged 19 to 35 lack health coverage.
* Rep. Feeney voted against granting a bonus to grant a $1,500 bonus to every American service member serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, including National Guard and Reserve forces.

You can help defeat Tom Feeney in FL-24 by donating to the FL-24 Congressional race on this Act Blue Page. If you want to preserve American democracy against corruption and voter fraud, send Washington a message by donating at the above Act Blue site to win in Florida in 2008.

NEW HAMPSHIRE FOCUS: Health insurance for our children

The Democratic Governor of New Hampshire is trying to lead a bipartisan effort to ensure quality healthcare for American children. His message focuses on New Hampshire but his efforts are aimed nationally and his call to action is for all of us to write Congress and the White House to lobby for affordable, quality healthcare for all American children. Here is Governor Lynch's message:

Here in New Hampshire, we are working to make sure every child has access to quality, affordable health care. Just this year, we passed a budget that will allow us to provide affordable health insurance to another 10,000 children and expand our outreach efforts.

That is why I am so disturbed about rule changes that the Bush Administration proposed last week.

If we are serious about giving every child the opportunity for a good education and a good life, and if we are serious about strengthening New Hampshire's future, then we need to be make sure every child in New Hampshire has access to quality, affordable health care. Now is not the time for the federal government to make it harder for states like New Hampshire to provide coverage - we should be expanding access to health insurance.

These proposed changes could negatively impact 2,000 kids currently enrolled in Healthy Kids. It also could jeopardize part of our efforts to enroll 10,000 additional children in the Healthy Kids program over the next three years.

Children's health insurance is not a partisan issue. Over the last few months, I have joined with governors from across the country - both Democrat and Republican - to urge the President and Congress to reauthorize the Children's Health Insurance program and to continue to allow states the flexibility to provide coverage to children with needs.

Children's health insurance is one of the best partnerships in our nation. States, the federal government, nonprofits, and parents all join together to help ensure quality health care for kids. I am hopeful that Congress will act to make sure that we can continue to provide affordable health insurance to families in need.

In the meantime, we are going to keep working aggressively here in New Hampshire to make sure families know that they can receive affordable health insurance for their kids. We've developed an outreach plan to make sure we are doing everything possible to provide health care for kids - and we're going to go forward and implement it.

Like you, I strongly believe no parent in New Hampshire should have to worry about being able to afford to take a sick child to the doctor, no sick child should go without health care, and no child should go without preventative health care. That's why New Hampshire's Children's Health Insurance Program is so important.

You can help in this effort by letting Congress and the White House know how important Children's Health Insurance is to you. You can also help by making sure every child that you know has health insurance.

And if you find a child without health insurance, please make sure they know that may be eligible for help through New Hampshire's Healthy Kids Children's Health Insurance Program. Find out more at www.nhhealthykids.org.

Let's work together to make sure every child in New Hampshire has access to health insurance.

So I would add, let's all work to gether to make sure every child in AMERICA has access to health insurance. Not too long ago I said we all should get in the faces of our Congress Critters, Dem or Repub, and demand an exit strategy for Iraq, impeachment hearings and restoration of civil liberties. I would add that we should get in their faces about insuring our children.

NORTH CAROLINA FOCUS: Larry Kissell hosts Ambassador Joe Wilson

When Bush lied about Iraq's WMD program so we could invade, one man called foul: Ambassador Joe Wilson who KNEW Bush was lying and said so. For his loyalty to the truth, his wife, a CIA agent, was punished by having her identity leaked to the media.

Larry Kissell, who probably won the NC-8 Congressional race but was cheated of his victory by Republican fraud, has invited Ambassador Joe Wilson to come to Charlotte, NC to speak in September. Here are the details from Larry Kissell:

Being willing to stand up and tell the truth, regardless of the consequences, is heroic. Unfortunately, we don't see too many heros in politics these days. I'm proud to tell you that Ambassador Joe Wilson, someone who has truly stood up to defend our Constitution as well as his family, is coming to campaign for us in Charlotte.

Please help me in welcoming Ambassador Wilson to Charlotte, NC September 22 for a fundraising reception. Ambassador Wilson is the author of the July 2003 New York Times Op-Ed piece "What I Didn't Find in Africa" and the memoir "The Politics of Truth: Inside the Lies that Led to War and Betrayed My Wife's CIA Identity: A Diplomat's Memoir."

See on-line for details and advanced tickets.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Congressman John Spratt and I are hosting the evening.

Saturday, September 22, 2007
7:00 - 9:00 pm

Spratt's Kitchen & Market
Bank of America Building
100 N. Tryon Street
Charlotte, North Carolina

Tickets: $50
Young Democrats/College Democrats $25

Sponsorships available: $250 - $500 - $1000

Please join us.

Sincerely,

Larry Kissell
Democratic Candidate for Congress
North Carolina's 8th District
Someone Working...For a Change

If I lived in Charlotte, I'd be eager to go to this event!

NEW JERSEY FOCUS: Campaign Training for Young Democrats

From Democrats 2000:

Calling all New Jersey Democrats ages 18 through 25 ...

Are you interested in campaign work?
Would you like to learn campaign basics from some of New Jersey’s top campaign professionals?
Would you like to network with some of New Jersey’s top political operatives?
Do you want to meet other young activists?
Are you interested in working on a campaign in New Jersey?

If so...
Apply for the New Jersey Democratic State Committee’s
Annual Next Generation Training scheduled for September 7th from 8am to 4pm at Bally’s Casino and Resort in Atlantic City.

How to apply...
If interested please mail, fax, or email the requested information to the following:

New Jersey Democratic State Committee
Attn: Future Generation Training
196 West State Street
Trenton, NJ 08608
609 396 4778 (fax)
training@njdems.org

Questions?
Feel free to contact the New Jersey Democratic State Committee if you have any questions regarding the training or nomination process at 609-392-3367.

IDAHO, MONTANA AND WYOMING FOCUS

I believe the best defense is a good offense. Since 2004 Montana has been turning bluer. Starting in 2006 Democrats started catching up to Republicans in Wyoming and, yes, Idaho. The Senator Larry Craig scandal now opens Idaho up even more.

I used to plug Frontier PAC, a group aiming to help Democrats throughout the Western States. Sadly from what I can tell, Frontier PAC has disappeared. But I think MT, WY and ID should be prime targets for 2008.

To this end I have created what might be my most aggressive Act Blue Page to date: My Turn Montana, Wyoming and Idaho Blue page. Help me help these three states break the hold Republicans once had on them. We have a shot at a Senate race, two House races and we can head off an assault from the Republicans on Montana Dems.