Al Kamen offers a returning congressman a "hiker's guide" to Our Nation's Capital

View of the Potomac River from Weverton Cliffs

Over forty miles of the Appalachian Trail travel across Maryland, with most of the AT following the ridgeline of South Mountain.  Many call this stretch of the AT easy compared to other areas, however there are some steep climbs.  The low point in the state along the trail is 261 feet at the Potomac River and the highest point is near High Rock with an elevation of 1905 feet.

This section of the Appalachian Trail takes hikers to its closest point to the nations capital, Washington, DC. While the AT in Maryland is called easy by some, it still offers plenty of challenges and some impressive scenery. For beginning backpackers or those getting in shape for longer trips, and those with just a few days to spend on the AT, the entire length of trail in Maryland can be done in a four to five day backpacking trip. Trail shelters and backpackers' campgrounds are spaced where most can be reached in a day's hike. Camping is only allowed at designated sites along the AT in Maryland.

-- from the CNY Hiking Web page devoted to
"Appalachian Trail Maryland"

"As your Governor, I abused your trust. And as God is my witness, as your congressman, I will abuse it again."

-- Mark Sanford, on his reelection to Congress, quoted in the
Borowitz Report "Sanford's Comeback Gives Hope to Liars"

by Ken

Now that voters in his CD have decided that they are stinking garbage and deserve to be represented by stinking garbage, former SC Gov. Mark "A Disgrace to Humanity" Sanford is going to have to relearn his way around Our Nation's Capital. Fortunately, the Washington Post's Loop-master Al Kamen has put together a customized guide to some of the basics. (Lotsa links onsite.)

A hiker’s guide to D.C.

A very warm Loop welcome to Mark Sanford, the scandal-scarred former South Carolina governor, who will be returning to our fair city as a bona fide member of Congress.

Sanford, who won a special election Tuesday, served in the House from 1995 to 2001. But things have changed since then — for both Sanford and Washington — so we offer him this handy guide to the city.

● Argentine food. Sanford famously jaunted off to Argentina to consort with his mistress (now fiancee) while he was governor, and so we can assume he and his bride-to-be might like to sample the cuisine of her homeland. In D.C. proper, there are few true Argentinian joints, though we have some fine pan-Latin American restaurants, including Ceiba (try the ceviche, Congressman!). And for the real deal, he might head out to the Maryland ’burbs to try El Patio, which is said to serve some of the most authentic grilled steaks around.

● Sports bars. Sanford got into a spot of trouble during his congressional campaign when it came out that his ex-wife had slapped him with a trespassing charge. The irrepressible Sanford claimed that he was only visiting her home to see his son and watch the Super Bowl with him.

But he need not resort to lawbreaking to catch the big game in Washington. There are many local sports bars with big screens and good brews, including the Pour House, a short walk from the House office buildings.

● Pelosi, in the flesh! One of the weirder moments of Sanford’s campaign was when he debated a cardboard cutout of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). But now that he’ll be her colleague, perhaps he can visit her office in the Capitol (second floor, not far from the House floor) and actually converse with her in person.

● Hiking trails. Perhaps Sanford’s most memorable stumble was when he claimed to be hiking the Appalachian Trail when he was, in fact, visiting his Argentine mistress. Since Sanford is a lover of the outdoors, he’s in luck. Our area is rife with lovely hiking trails. Rock Creek Park is a great place to start.

And, hey, we’re not far from . . . the Appalachian Trail.

#

Read More

Tomorrow South Carolina Voters Decide Between Colbert's Sister And The Obsessive Sex Fiend

Actually, it's not all of South Carolina. We're talking about SC-01, along the coast, a district that's not as crazy and extremist as the up-country congressional districts where talk of secession is still a hot topic. It's next door to SC-06, into which the legislature managed to gerrymander every conceivable African American in the area. SC-06 gave Obama 70.9% of its vote in November and reelected Jim Clyburn without opposition. Of South Carolina's 6 other--basically all white-- districts Obama went above 40% in only two-- SC-05 (with African-American-majority Fairfield and Lee counties as well as Democratic-leaning Chester and Sumter counties) and SC-01, where Obama actually won Charleston County. Nevertheless, if Colbert Busch wins Tuesday, there would only be three Democrats in Congress representing redder districts: Mike McIntyre (Blue Dog-NC), whose district has a PVI of R+12, Nick Rahall (D-WV), whose district has a PVI of R+14, and Jim Matheson (Blue Dog-UT), whose district has a PVI of R+16. SC-01 has a PVI of R+11. The three of them-- particularly the two Blue Dogs, vote with the GOP on crucial roll calls far more frequently than they vote with Democrats. Boehner and Cantor know they can count on Matheson and McIntyre and, to a lesser degree Rahall, whenever push comes to shove. Judging by her campaign statements, Colbert Busch is more likely to fall in around Rahall than McIntyre and Matheson. Unlike them, she's socially liberal-- pro-marriage equality, pro-Choice, pro-immigrant, pro-background checks, for example-- and then goes all GOP when it comes to economic issues. She's made some pretty nasty anti-union statements: “I’m proud to live in and support a right-to-work state" and “This is a right-to-work state and NLRB had no business telling Boeing where they can locate" and she's managed to attack Obama on Chained CPI-- although you might interpret that as backing Bernie Sanders and Alan Grayson-- and on Obamacare, which she says needs "an enormous fix," which most progressives also agree with.

Sanford's campaign is all about trying to make voters forget he's a corrupt philanderer and a serial liar and think he's running against Nancy Pelosi. Colbert's sister is no Nancy Pelosi, not by a longshot. Nor is she some backward sleazy Blue Dog, willing to say anything to get elected. Polling hasn't been going her way lately. Late in April-- before the big right-wing money started pouring into the district (as well as the slimy smear campaign), she was clearing pulling away from Sanford and looked like a sure winner. She had a 9% margin and 56% of poll respondents had a favorable opinion of her-- as opposed to Sanford's 56% unfavorable rating. A more recent poll-- though not as reliable as the PPP poll cited above-- shows the race exactly tied, 46-46% with 7% undecided.

If money is going to decide the race, it's likely Colbert Busch will win. The NRCC, embarrassed by Sanford's ethical problems, pulled out and the DCCC and their House Majority PAC have invested very heavily. Colbert Busch outraised Sanford by around $400,000 but she burned through it faster, leaving Sanford with a $30,000 advantage of cash-on-hand in the final week.

Both campaigns had donors-- individuals and PACs-- from a variety of interest group areas, and both saw support from traditional backers of their respective parties. Lawyers and law firms were the top backers of Colbert Busch's campaign, giving her $38,250. She also picked up support from the education industry and industrial unions. Given her famous brother, it's no surprise to see that donors from the TV, movies and music industry chipped in $13,200.

Sanford received his greatest support from the securities and investment industry, which sent his campaign $54,000, followed by the real estate industry, which sent him $51,000.

Besides raising far less money than Colbert-Busch, Sanford is taking a huge hit when it comes to outside spending. According to OpenSecrets.org's profile of the race, outside groups have spent more than $929,000 on independent expenditures against Sanford. Conservative groups have spent only about $15,000 to help him. Meanwhile only about $4,600 has been spent by outside groups attacking Colbert Busch, while $1,500 has been spent upporting her.

The DCCC has chipped in $458,234 (of which $214,849 came in last week) and their SuperPAC, House Majority PAC put in another $425,851 (including $165,027 last week). Last week a right-wing anti-Choice "women's" group, Independent Women's Voice put down $96,584 slamming Colbert Busch (ad below), a candidate who is viewed with disgust and contempt by most women, regardless of political leanings. And FreedomWorks kicked down $1,614 last week. In teh last couple of days, wealthy Republicans have helped Sanford close the money gap and the last minute poll by PPP shows the race even-- with Sanford momentum.

PPP's final poll of the special election in South Carolina's 1st Congressional District finds a race that's too close to call, with Republican Mark Sanford leading Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch 47-46. The 1 point lead for Sanford represents a 10 point reversal from PPP's poll of the race two weeks ago, when Colbert Busch led by 9 points at 50-41.

Sanford has gotten back into the race by nationalizing it and painting Colbert Busch as a liberal. A plurality of voters in the district-- 47%- say they think Colbert Busch is a liberal compared to 43% who characterize her as ideologically 'about right.' Colbert Busch's favorability rating has dropped a net 19 points compared to 2 weeks ago, from +25 then at 56/31 to +6 now at 50/44.

While Colbert Busch is seen as too liberal, 48% of voters think that Sanford's views are 'about right' on the issues compared to just 38% who see him as too conservative. Sanford's also seen some repair to his image over the course of the campaign. Although he's still unpopular, sporting a -11 net favorability rating at 43/54, that's up a net 13 points from our first poll in March when he was at 34/58.

Alan Grayson (D-FL) asked his own donors to contribute to Colbert Busch's campaign and to support her efforts to beat Sanford. He was relieved she's at least pro-choice and pro-marriage equality, even if they don't see eye to eye on any number of issues. (Grayson, for example, is a major union supporter.) But his feelings are that if there's any chance to beat a Republican with a Democrat, it's worth the effort. "I'm going to ask you to support her campaign because the last thing that we need in the U.S. House of Representatives right now is another Republican. And the thing that we do need is more Democrats. Seventeen more Democrats, to be exact... Let's take back the House."

Read More

Tick, Tick, Tick... Will The GOP Actually Lose A South Carolina House Seat In Less Than A Week?

I suspect that Rand Paul was less reluctant about following Papa Paul in endorsing habitually dishonest South Carolina philanderer Mark Sanford than I was in endorsing Elizabeth Colbert Busch. After all, he's more of a party hack than I am and, after all again, the Tea Party Establishment has rallied 'round Sanford after opposing him in the primary. Tuesday the Koch brothers' FreedomWorks, one of the groups Rand is dependent on, got on board.

GOP congressional candidate Mark Sanford was formally endorsed Tuesday by Sen. Rand Paul, a Tea Party favorite whose support could help in the final days of the special election for South Carolina's 1st District seat. The senator's father, former Texas congressman Ron Paul, threw his support behind Sanford last week.

"More than anything, Washington needs strong and consistent voices for fiscal responsibility and liberty," the younger Paul said in a statement. "Mark has proven during his time in office that watching out for taxpayers and holding the line on spending are his top priorities."

Sanford, a former South Carolina governor, faces Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch in a May 7 election for his old House seat. Once the favorite in the race, Sanford has had to deal with renewed attention on his 2009 extramarital affair and the loss of support from the House GOP campaign committee.

The small-government, anti-tax Tea Party movement might be waning in some areas, but South Carolina has been one of its strongholds. It's also the site of the important "first in the South" presidential primary, and Paul has been trying to make inroads in some of these early states as he considers a 2016 White House bid.

Tonight, South Carolina's hugely unpopular governor, Nikki Haley, headlined a fundraiser for Sanford, her one and only event for her controversial ex-guru. (When she was running for governor, she scrubbed references to Sanford from her campaign website after his scandals became public.)

The event is Haley’s first with her one-time mentor in his race against Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch, a political newcomer and sister of TV comedian Stephen Colbert. The appearance by South Carolina’s first female governor comes as Sanford is trying to overcome a huge gap among women who favor Colbert Busch by 20 percentage points, according to a poll released last week.

The fundraiser is at the home of luxury car dealer Tommy Baker, according to a copy of the invitation obtained by the S.C. blog GOPwrite.com. The event costs from $250 a person to $2,600 for a couple to attend.

...Democrats said Monday that Sanford and Haley, who was cleared last year by two S.C. House investigations into allegations that she used her post as a Lexington state representative for her personal financial benefit, both are “ethically challenged.”

“Haley and Sanford are two peas in an ethically challenged pod, who have proved time and again that they can’t be trusted to act in the best interests of the people or our state,” the S.C. Democratic Party said in a statement Monday.

Read More

Monday Bits-- Colbert's Sister Going To Congress? Will Nestlé And Wall Street Ever Be Held To Account?

PPP shows Elizabeth Colbert Busch opening a more significant lead (16% as of this afternoon) over disgraced ex-Governor Mark Sanford in the first district congressional special election. Voting is on May 7th in the carefully gerrymandered red district, who's voters gave Obama 40.2% in November, while right next door in the 6th district-- into which the state's racist legislature dumped every African-American voter they could find-- Obama won 70.9%. Although John Boehner endorsed Sanford on April 9, less than a week later the NRCC, which he controls, announced that due to Sanford's on-going behavior issues, it would no longer support him or invest in his race, despite the hundreds of thousands of dollars being poured into the district by the DCCC and their House Majority PAC. The new DCCC as:



I don't know if Colbert Busch will wind up voting with Republicans half the time. but it's what I suspect from watching the campaign. Still, that's better than voting with Republicans 100% of the time, which is what we can expect from Sanford. She's already come out in favor of marriage equality and her approach to Chained CPI was pretty good as well: “Not only does President Obama’s plan fail to put our finances back in order, it would cut benefits for our seniors, which is wrong. I believe that our seniors earned their Social Security by putting money away every single paycheck for a lifetime-- knowing that they could count on Social Security when they retired... Simply put, Social Security doesn’t contribute to the deficit, and politicians should keep their hands off the trust fund."

Our Contest Ended Today

Nick Ruiz (FL) wound up with 50 donors so he won the $1,000 PAC check from Blue America. Daylin Leach (PA) had 40 donors, Carl Sciortino (MA) had 38 donors, Andy Hounshell (OH) 31 donors and Ken Sanders (TX) 29. The average donor contributed approximately $53. And the Saving Social Security page now has $9,140 on it. We randomly selected one contributor to thank with the 311 platinum award disc. And that winner is Joyce Bullock from Glenside, PA, who contributed $12.


Wall Street And It's DC Allies Will Enslave Us All... If We let Them

Jeffrey Sachs isn't a radical. He's a kind of mainstream economics professor at Columbia University. The audio on this video was shot April 17 at a conference, "Fixing the Banking System for Good." It sounds like he's almost come around to a less corporate/establishment point of view about how corrupt and criminal Wall Street is, even to the point of advocating out loud the need for "separating the politicians from the (Wall Street) crooks, but maybe that's so close together that they can't actually be separated; maybe it's just the same community." Maybe?

I meet a lot of these people on Wall Street on a regular basis right now. I’m going to put it very bluntly. I regard the moral environment as pathological. And I’m talking about the human interactions that I have. I’ve not seen anything like this, not felt it so palpably. These people are out to make billions of dollars and nothing should stop them from that They have no responsibility to pay taxes, they have no responsibility to their clients, they have no responsibility to people… counterparties in transactions. They are tough, greedy, aggressive, and feel absolutely out of control, in a quite literal sense. And they have gamed the system to a remarkable extent and they have a docile president, a docile White House and a docile regulatory system that absolutely can’t find its voice. It’s terrified of these companies.

...[T]he financial markets are the number one campaign contributors in the U.S. system now. We have a corrupt politics to the core, I’m afraid to say… and both parties are up to their necks in this. This has nothing to do with Democrats or Republicans. It really doesn’t have anything to do with right wing or left wing, by the way. The corruption, as far as I can see, [is] everywhere...

And Speaking Of Antisocial, Nihilistic Greed... Nestlé

Nestlé has been claiming for some time that it invented the medical uses of herbs that have been used medicinally for centuries. And they want patents.

The world’s largest food company, Nestlé, is seeking a patent on the use of Nigella sativa to prevent food allergies, claiming the plant seed and extract when they are used as a food ingredient or drug. Commonly known as habbat al-barakah in Arabic, and frequently called “black seed,” “black cumin” or “fennel flower” in English, Nigella sativa is an ancient food and medicinal crop.

The Swiss giant’s claims appear invalid, as traditional uses of Nigella sativa clearly anticipate Nestlé’s patent application, and developing country scholarship has already validated these traditional uses and further described, in contemporary scientific terms, the very medicinal properties of black seed that Nestlé seeks to claim as its own “invention."

It was already being used in King Tut's time, when the Swiss were still sheltering and shivering around open fires in Alpine caves, gnawing on bones.

In claiming use of Nigella sativa against food allergies, Nestlé’s scientists have not innovated beyond what was already known in traditional medicine from Egypt to India and beyond. Moreover, prior to Nestlé’s claim, researchers in those countries used formal scientific methods to demonstrate the efficacy of traditional use of black seed to treat allergy symptoms.

Those simple facts, however, have not deterred Nestlé from advancing its claim. In November 2011, Nestlé’s patent application in Europe was published. Other national (or regional) applications may exist but have yet to be published. Recently, the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) released a search of scientific literature related to the application, and found problems with Nestlé’s claim to have made an invention, citing some of the same research that is noted in this report. The PCT opinion, however, is not binding on national patent offices, and Nestlé may submit modified claims. Thus, while the opinion is a blow to Nestlé’s application, it doesn’t mean that the claims are dead.

Like well-known biopiracy cases before it, such as patents on uses of neem, Nestlé’s unashamed attempt to appropriate traditional knowledge reflects an ethical lapse and shows profound problems with the company’s intellectual property practices. It can be hoped that Nestlé’s claim will be turned down by patent authorities, but the fact that patent claims over traditional knowledge that preceded it have result in patents shows that intellectual property offices sometime share industry’s disrespect for traditional knowledge. Indeed the fact that a corporation with the resources of Nestlé would pursue a patent on such an obviously pilfered “invention” at all is indicative of the need to improve patent review standards so that such applications are not worth filing in the first place.

Fighting for people over profits is how the blog SumOfUs introduced Nestlé’s ambitious claims.

In a paper published last year, Nestlé scientists claimed to “discover” what much of the world has known for millennia: that nigella sativa extract could be used for “nutritional interventions in humans with food allergy."

But instead of creating an artificial substitute, or fighting to make sure the remedy was widely available, Nestlé is attempting to create a nigella sativa monopoly and gain the ability to sue anyone using it without Nestlé’s permission. Nestlé has filed patent applications-- which are currently pending-- around the world.

Prior to Nestlé's outlandish patent claim, researchers in developing nations such as Egypt and Pakistan had already published studies on the same curative powers Nestlé is claiming as its own. And Nestlé has done this before-- in 2011, it tried to claim credit for using cow’s milk as a laxative, despite the fact that such knowledge had been in Indian medical texts for a thousand years.

Don’t let Nestlé turn a traditional cure into a corporate cash cow.

We know Nestlé doesn’t care about ethics. After all, this is the corporation that poisoned its milk with melamine, purchases cocoa from plantations that use child slave labor, and launched a breast milk substitute campaign in the 1970s that contributed to the suffering and deaths of thousands of babies from poor communities.

Read More

More Bits, More Pieces Than I Actually Intended: Rubio And The Know Nothing Caucus

Bob Perry ist tot

What do you say when the poisonous snake who financed swiftboating drops dead? It never seems good form to cheer that anyone dies. It's possible that right-wing Texas billionaire Bob Perry was kind to a grandchild or a pet, although, publicly he'll always be associated with the money-- a minimum of $65 million-- that went into financing a neo-fascist resurgence within the Republican Party. He gave tens of millions to right-wing causes and candidates and the one Democrat he seems to have liked enough to contribute to is extreme right-wing Blue Dog, Henry Cuellar. Perry was a longtime crony of Karl Rove's and financed his shady operations-- like his series of checks:

Who's Going To Unmask Marco Rubio?

If there was a Democratic version of Bob Perry, he'd be underwriting a good solid look into the sordid past of slimy Florida politician with national ambitions, Marco Rubio. To date the vetting of Rubio-- who was knee deep in Tallahassee filth including organized crime and cocaine-- has been handled with kid gloves by novices who come to idiotic conclusions like “I don't think there's been a knockout blow," without ever tying him to his roommate, David Rivera, one of the most corrupt men to have ever served-- albeit just one term-- in the U.S. Congress. The dossier on Rubio is all about his voting record and good-two-shoes ethics violations, stuff no one cares about. One biographer, Manuel Roig-Franzia, gets close... but no cigar.

Rubio's record contains plenty of fodder for his opponents to use, even if there isn't another major revelation lurking in his past. He pointed specifically to Rubio's friendship with Rep. David Rivera, a Florida Republican reportedly under investigation by the Justice Department, IRS, and state law enforcement for his lobbying practices and potential money laundering. Rivera and Rubio bought a house together in 2005, and Rubio has publicly expressed support for his friend throughout the investigation.

"You never know, there could be an indictment in that case, which could affect Rubio," he said. "Nobody knows the extent to which their business is entangled, but they certainly have had co-mingling of business interests since they own a rental property together. Of course, all of this is in the land of the hypothetical."

Haters Gotta Hate... The GOP Has Plans For Immigration Reform

Yesterday Rubio and the rest of the Senate's immigration Gang of Eight presented their outline for a way to move forward with comprehensive immigration reform. Before they had presented it another little gang, this one not bipartisan, in the House was already plotting to crap all over it. Led by notorious bigot Steve King (R-IA), the House's worst Know Nothings are trying to derail reform and ship 11-14 million immigrants back to their original homelands. The other 5 members are fringy crackpots Michele Bachmann (R-MN), Lou Barletta (R-PA), Mo Brooks (R-AL), Louie Gohmert (R-TX), and Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA). King: “The meetings of the Gang of Eight and the secret meetings in the House of Representatives-- the people who have been standing up for the Constitution and the rule of law haven’t been invited to those meetings." Paranoid and off-balance, former drug addict Dana Rohrabacher added, "We’ve got all the rich guys and the elitists talking to each other. Unfortunately us regular folks don’t have that kind of coordination.”

Sources close to House conservatives say that King is working behind the scenes to sour his right-wing colleagues on the Gang of Eight’s plan, and he made calls over the weekend to finalize his strategy with members and conservative activists. Insiders say King is confident that conservatives will come to reject the Gang’s plan once they actually read it and see how it will lead to legalization for people who entered the country illegally, even though it is expected to also include enforcement triggers.

...Gohmert says Boehner’s indecision about how the House will handle immigration reform gives conservatives an opening to press the speaker to follow “regular order,” by which lawmakers would put the bill through the full committee process, instead of rushing it through with minimal hearings. The House Judiciary Committee is likely to play an especially important role, and its chairman, Bob Goodlatte (Va.) told ABC News on Sunday that it’s “absolutely important” that the bill moves through his committee, and not get pushed from “the top down.”

Goodlatte’s emphasis on slowing down the process plays to King’s favor, since he has long been an influential player on Judiciary’s subcommittee on immigration and border security, and he knows how to snag up a bill with hearings and amendments. In the coming days, look for King’s group to keep making “regular order” their rallying cry. “[Boehner] has pledged, absolutely, we’re following regular order,” Gohmert says. “The speaker would make himself a liar if he didn’t follow regular order.”

Rohrabacher agrees with the Texan’s observation. “There would be a revolt among Republicans if [Boehner didn’t] follow regular order,” he says. For the moment, though, the sentiment is more wishful thinking than a warning. The challenge for King’s Gang of Six is to make their case beyond a hearing room in Rayburn and to get fellow conservatives in the House and among the public to share their agitation.

Like the other five, Rohrabacher knows they’re in a difficult spot-- a group of rabble-rousers with limited political capital inside the House trying to stop legislation that GOP grandees and many prominent conservatives have largely blessed. But he believes that the fight against comprehensive immigration reform is far from over. “What the leadership would like to shove down our throats, in terms of immigration reform, is bad policy and bad politics,” he says. “In the long run, the Republican party would be destroyed.”

Bad Couple Of Days For Mark Sanford

First a judge demanded he show up at court to explain why he was caught trespassing at his ex-wife's house. And then-- as part of the revulsion that this no-bounds egomaniac is their candidate-- Greg Walden, Cantor and Boehner decided the NRCC will no longer back his congressional run in SC-01. Colbert's sister was already ahead in polls asking about the May 7th election but with the DCCC pouring money into the district (about half a million into airing the ad below, for example), the withdrawal of the NRCC could really hurt Sanford's chances.

"At this time, the NRCC will not be engaged in this special election... This is an unfortunate situation but this is what happens when candidates aren’t honest and withhold information,” is how Republican Party operatives are phrasing it.



Wheel Spinning In The House

Monday Jason Chaffez's proposal that "persons having seriously delinquent tax debts shall be ineligible for Federal employment" needed a 2/3s majority and was defeated 250-159 even though 35 Democrats-- mostly Blue Dogs and New Dems-- joined all but 7 Republicans. Making common ground with the Republicans on GOP issues has become a hallmark of the New Dems and several of their leaders-- Chairman Ron Kind and vice-chairs Jim Himes and Allyson Schwartz-- were among the gaggle who broke with the Democrats on this. The worst of the freshman New Dems-- Patrick Murphy (FL), Suzan DelBene (WA), and Scott Peters (CA)-- went along on that ride as well.

Ro Khanna Is Wasting His Time And His Donors' Money

Another slimy Democrat who would like to get in on that kind of action is opportunist Ro Khanna, currently trying to unseat progressive champion, Mike Honda. Daily Kos came across some disturbing news for Khanna, whose claim to fame is that he's an effective bundler of cash from the Indo-American community. "This is pretty awesome. After rolling out endless endorsements from powerful elected officials throughout California and even nationally, here's Rep. Mike Honda's capper: an article in the newspaper India Abroad headlined 'Five desi stalwarts pitch for Honda'... five Indian-Americans who have run for Congress all over the country in recent years: Raj Goyle (KS-04), Upendra Chivukula (NJ-07), Ashwin Madia (MN-03), Ravi Sangisetty (LA-03), and Manan Trivedi (PA-06)... [T]his may be a case of politics (and ideology) winning out over ethnicity. Not only is Honda the more liberal of the two, but he's done a great deal during his many years of service to support the broader pan-Asian community. And in their letter jointly endorsing him, this quintet of former candidates praised him both for 'fighting for our communities' and for individually helping their campaigns. This all makes you wonder what Khanna's 'base' looks like, to the extent he even has one. Silicon Valley tech types eager to have one of their own in Congress? I think wealthy nerds and venture capitalists will only take you so far, though, particularly when your opponent has the network that Honda does-- and the ability to call in lots and lots of favors."

CISPA Vote In The House Today




Mike Rogers' and Hoyer puppet "Dutch Ruppersberger's "Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act" (H.R. 624) has 25 Republican sponsors and 12 Democratic ones, mostly conservative corporate whores. If the bill were ever to be enacted-- which isn't likely-- it would override every existing computer privacy statute to allowing private corporations to share personal information with the government to help with vaguely defined "cybersecurity purposes," for which they would be immune from prosecution. The last time it passed the House, almost a year ago (248-168, most Democrats voting NO and most Republicans, being part of the Big Brother Authoritarian Party, voting YES) it was successfully filibustered in the Senate 4 months later and was never voted on.

The new bill has a few superficial protections that protect no one and satisfy no one. One of the leading Republicans fighting against CISPA is Michigan libertarian Justin Amash, who also voted against the bill in 2012. He still has overriding privacy concerns.

Critics have called the legislation, which seeks to streamline the sharing of data between private corporations targeted by cyberattacks and the federal government, a serious overreach of government power.

On his Facebook, Amash wrote he would oppose CISPA when it is brought to a vote.

"The bill grants corporations and other entities broad immunity to share your personal and confidential data (e.g., e-mails) with the government," Amash wrote. "CISPA overrides contracts and even federal and state privacy laws."

CISPA has been likened to two widely unpopular bills considered by Congress during the 2011-12 session: the Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, and the Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act, or PIPA.

Those bills, which sought to curtail Internet piracy and illicit trafficking of intellectual property, died in Congress after a groundswell of online activism from critics who said they threatened innovation and amounted to government censorship.

President Obama is strongly suggesting that he would veto the bill if it passes the way Rogers and Ruppersberger wrote it. Even the White House recognizes it is way too broad and allows too much personal information to be turned over to the government without warrants. The White House is "concerned that the bill does not require private entities to take reasonable steps to remove irrelevant personal information when sending cybersecurity data to the government or other private sector entities. Citizens have a right to know that corporations will be held accountable-– and not granted immunity-– for failing to safeguard personal information adequately.”

And About That 311 Platinum Award Contest?

Please don't forget the Blue America Save Social Security contest, in which you can win a 311 platinum award and your favorite congressional candidate can win $1,000 check from our PAC. It's pretty neck and neck between most of the candidates now... so your "vote" could make all the difference.

Read More

Are South Carolina Republicans Going To Hand Elizabeth Colbert Busch A Path To Victory Today?

Today is run-off day in South Carolina's first congressional district, a strip of coast below Myrtle Beach and Georgetown almost as far as Savannah's suburbs (including white Charleston south of Calhoun Street). On Saturday we pointed out that underdog Curtis Bostic had Man-On-Dog Rick Santorum campaigning for him-- as well as hilarious endorsements from Ann Coulter, religious right charlatan James Dobson, and the district's former congressman, once-removed, Henry Brown.

Conventional wisdom has it that this deeply red district-- Romney beat Obama 58.3-40.2% (mostly because the latest GOP gerrymander ghettoized all the African-American neighborhoods into SC-06 next door, where Obama won 70.9-28.1%)-- could be in play. In November Tea Party Republican Tim Scott was reelected 62-35% but the seat is now open because he was appointed to the Senate seat vacated by Jim DeMint. Districts this red aren't normally in play. But because disgraced ex-governor Mark Sanford appears likely to win the primary, mainstream voters will have to decide if they're buying in to his pious claims of redemption. Too implausible? South Carolina is the capital of the Culture of Personal Crisis, where everyday is Jerry Springer Day and where celebrating pious claims of redemption, no matter how opportunistic, are a standard way of life.

The general election is May 7, so there will be plenty of time for voters to mull this over. But it certainly appears that Republican primary voters have already made up their hive mind. It looks like by the end of the night, the Colbert Busch camp will be celebrating. Her only real chance lies in a Sanford primary win. Even with Coulter's stark prediction that if Sanford is the nominee, Colbert Busch will win the seat-- oddly reminiscent of her prediction about a Romney debacle-- GOP voters just cannot resist that Culture of Personal Crisis drama-- not even with Pat Boone endorsing Bostic!

He finished a distant second in the first round of voting, with 13 percent, compared to Sanford’s 37 percent.

And despite the high-profile endorsements, there are no clear evidence Bostic has done much to rally the voters who backed other candidates in the first round of voting.

“It's Sanford's to win-- he's a professional politician and knows how to run a race,” said Katon Dawson, a former head of the South Carolina Republican Party.

Just one of the 14 other Republicans who ran for the seat has backed Bostic, while six have endorsed Sanford.

Bostic emerged from first round of voting flat broke and has been able to spend only $40,000 on television during the runoff, while Sanford is flush with cash and has advertised heavily.

Those watching the race closely say Sanford remains the heavy favorite to win, but note that the likelihood of an extremely low turnout could play to Bostic’s advantage.

“It's two days after Easter, it's spring break in the low country, and neither one has a ton of extensive get-out-the-vote, I know for a fact,” Dawson said. “Still, it would be the surprise of the year if Curtis wins.”

A recent poll from the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling showed Sanford leading Bostic by 53 to 40 percent, though special elections and House primaries are notoriously hard to predict.

Politico's Alex Isenstadt is also predicting that the final match-up will be between Colbert Busch and Sanford. "[I]f polling proves accurate, Sanford’s universal name ID, bigger war chest and carefully tailored plea for redemption to the district’s large contingent of social conservatives will prove too much for his little-known rival to match."

How Sanford has managed to bring himself back from the political wilderness is just the latest test of voters’ willingness to look beyond their elected officials’ transgressions. Sanford purposefully crafted a message of remorse and redemption that he believed would resonate with socially conservative voters who dot the district.

His personal troubles, Sanford tells voters, have made him a more religious person. He said at the debate that he had failed “very publicly”-- but insisted that he’s learned from his mistakes.

“I think, by and large, people are forgiving, especially if they believe your repentance is real. If they believe you are asking for forgiveness authentically and sincerely, then I think people are willing to give people a second chance. I’ve been around the governor, and it seems authentic and sincere to me,” [South Carolina GOP Chairman Chad] Connelly said. “I do think the people of the 1st Congressional District know him well. He’s run there before, and they’ve supported him. If there’s any group that’s willing to give him a second chance, this is it.”

...Sanford is also benefiting from simply being better known than his opponents. At the restaurant, he was treated like a celebrity as diners asked to have their photo taken with him. And as he stumped at the Charleston strip mall, it was hard to find a passerby who didn’t do a double take when the former governor walked by. Many of them stopped to talk with Sanford and to offer him their congratulations.

Long known for his love of retail politics, Sanford ate it up. He asked some voters for their phone numbers so he could call later to discuss the issues they were interested in. Bostic, by contrast, has struggled to draw sizable crowds. Even a joint appearance last week with former GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum, a favorite among Christian conservatives, was sparsely attended.

“I just think Bostic has too little, too late,” said Warren Tompkins, a longtime Republican strategist in the state. “I think Sanford is going to win by a pretty significant margin.”

Colbert Busch is holding her breath. The latest PPP survey of the district shows her and Bostic tied 43-43%-- but shows her beating Sanford 47-45%. Over the weekend, The State did an in-depth look at Colbert Busch and found her pretty credible as a person and a candidate, also focusing on her strategy:

South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District changed in 2011 when lawmakers created a new, 7th Congressional District anchored in Horry County.

The Republican strongholds of Horry and Georgetown counties were removed from the 1st District. Remaining are Beaufort, Charleston and Hilton Head Island.

“Dropping Horry and Georgetown, it has made this district much more Libertarian-leaning, much more fiscally conservative to the point that social issues aren’t nearly as important to the average Republican voter,” said Scott Buchanan, a political science professor at The Citadel in Charleston. “I don’t think it’s necessarily making it friendly for Democrats, but making it more friendly for those who run a fiscally conservative platform. People more willing to give you a pass on the social issues.”

It appears Colbert Busch is shaping her campaign along that model. She supports gay marriage, telling The State newspaper in an interview “this is a matter of civil rights and this is a matter of equal protection under the law.” And she supports “a tough but fair path to citizenship” for the country’s millions of undocumented immigrants, including having them pay back taxes.

“This is about keeping the best and the brightest in our country. We have to find a sensible way to be able to keep them here,” she said.

And when she starts talking about fiscal policy, she sounds more like a Republican-- drawing on her 25 years of business experience, railing about the nation’s $16 trillion debt and saying on her website that “if Congress were a business, our leaders would be fired.”

She said she is not in favor of new taxes “in the short term” but did not say if, or when, Congress should raises taxes to address the budget deficit. She says she is against the budget sequester-- the $85 billion in automatic spending cuts that went into effect March 1-- pointing out the federal government first needs to get rid of fraud, waste and abuse, especially in the Medicare program.

She says the Medicare program-- health insurance for anyone over 65-- could save $24 billion a year if Congress would allow the program to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies on prices. And she cites studies from the federal Government Accountability Office and the nonprofit Rand Corporation estimating Medicare has $142 billion in overpayments and fraud, waste and abuse each year.

“Here is ... $166 billion that we know from the GAO is in fraud, waste, overbilling and pharmaceuticals, right? And that’s just one part of the entire budget. But that one part is twice what the sequester is,” she said. “We have to look through the entire budget, find out where else are we overpaying.”

She added that “being fiscally conservative is not unique to any party”-- which is true, especially when you are potentially running against Mark Sanford. The former governor probably won’t win over many social conservatives because of his lying and cheating on his wife in 2009. But conservatives love his record on fiscal issues, which Sanford would undoubtedly make a major part of his campaign should he win on Tuesday.

Brad Friedman points out another advantage Republicans have in the May 7th general election-- they control the vote counting apparatus, "the state's oft-failed, easily-hacked, always 100% unverifiable touch-screen voting systems. The candidate announced as the 'winner' of that election, based on those unverifiable voting systems, will either be the one who received the most votes from SC voters in the 1st Congressional District-- or the one who didn't. There will never be any way for anybody to know for sure one way or the other."

UPDATE: Latest Polling

One of the most consistently accurate polling companies in the country, Celinda Lake Partners, was out with a new poll late yesterday, paid for by the Colbert Busch campaign, showing Colbert Busch beating Sanford in a general election match-up 47-44%, just slightly better than the PPP survey from last week.

LAST UPDATE: No Surprises From GOP Primary Voters

Sanford won everywhere but Beaufort County, taking 26,066 votes (57%) to Bostic's 20,005 (43%). Keep in mind what Ann Coulter predicted: "If, in some horrible twist of fate that's been stalking Republicans, Sanford wins the runoff, he will lose the general election. Worse, he might win, making Republicans look like utter hypocrites on family values.

"In any event, so many resources will have to be diverted to save an easy Republican House seat that even if Sanford wins, some other Republican candidate will lose a close election after having to beg for money.

"And the payoff is: Yay! We win one of the most Republican districts in the country with a high-risk candidate!"

"The Republican Party owes Sanford nothing. He had a chance and he blew it. National Review wasted five years of cover stories on how awesome he was, but he never accomplished anything of substance."

Read More

Will South Carolina Republicans Vote Strategically Tuesday?

Sanford's not even good enough for these two charlatans

Ole Man-on-Dog Santorum was down in South Carolina's first congressional district all last week, campaigning for little known former Charleston city councilman Curtis Bostic, who came in a distant second (with 13%) in the Republican primary and will face off against former Governor/former Congressman Mark Sanford (37%). More accurately, of course, is that Santorum was down in South Carolina campaigning against Sanford. I doubt Santorum gives a damn that Sanford was caught cheating on his wife-- in a spectacular, scandalous way-- as much as he's worrying that if Sanford wins the runoff, Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch could wind up winning a very red district in the May 7 general election. Keep in mind that although Obama only managed to get 39% of the vote in November and that then-Congressman Tim Scott (R) was reelected with 62%, it was just a few years ago that Democrat Linda Ketner almost beat long-time incumbent Henry Brown (R) 177,540 (52%)- 163,724 (48%).

Normal voters in a general election might shy away from a character like Sanford-- who isn't just an adulterer but was widely considered one of the most corrupt governors in South Carolina's history-- but the GOP primary voters... they thrive on this kind of thing. This is the Party of The Culture of Personal Crisis. Failing ethically and morally is a positive if you mock Jesus loudly enough in your disingenuous public repentance-- and the more lurid the failing, the more these evangelical suckers are likely to be taken in. That's why Sanford may well win the runoff Tuesday and lose then lose the actually election when independents and Democrats will also be voting.

In their debate Thursday, Bostic said Sanford's infidelity has made him a "compromised candidate" who could lose the seat to Colbert's sister. "We will lose this and lose it because of this issue of trust," he predicted... Democrats are excited at the possibility of taking this seat back."

Desperate to hit back, Sanford accused Bostic of missing votes on the city council, but the accusations fell flat since many in the city remember that Bostic missed the votes while he was at his wife's bedside while she was suffering with cancer-- a horrible contrast for Sanford, who missed his work as governor when he was off tangoing in Buenos Aires with his mistress. One of Sanford's most vicious mouthpieces in this race, FitsNews, has also accused ex-marine Bostic of supporting human trafficking or some kind of crazy right-wing nonsense they usually reserve for Democrats.

The redemption meme may have been at least partially neutered Friday when Bostic was endorsed by James Dobson, who plays the role of judging whether or not politicians' apologies have been accepted by Heaven. Like Ann Coulter, he endorsed Bostic, a very big deal among right-wing primary voters in the fevered Confederate swamplands. Coulter, who refers to Mark Sanford as "the Todd Akin of South Carolina:"

You would think Akin would stand in history to teach Republicans to stop giving away winnable seats by running ridiculous candidates. Alas, no.

What's next? A Republican candidate whose campaign consists exclusively of demanding vaginal probes and discussing different types of rape?

If, in some horrible twist of fate that's been stalking Republicans, Sanford wins the runoff, he will lose the general election. Worse, he might win, making Republicans look like utter hypocrites on family values.

In any event, so many resources will have to be diverted to save an easy Republican House seat that even if Sanford wins, some other Republican candidate will lose a close election after having to beg for money.

And the payoff is: Yay! We win one of the most Republican districts in the country with a high-risk candidate!

The Republican Party owes Sanford nothing. He had a chance and he blew it. National Review wasted five years of cover stories on how awesome he was, but he never accomplished anything of substance.

He showed off about getting his hair done at Super Cuts, sleeping in his office in Congress and not turning on the air conditioning in the governor's mansion. He wore the same pair of shoes for 30 years-- they've been re-soled 70 times!

Big deal. He saved taxpayers $300 in petty cash, but he didn't implement any lasting reforms. The most memorable thing Sanford did in his entire life was to make himself a laughingstock as governor by running off with his Argentine honey and then going on TV to announce-- in front of his wife and children-- "I've fallen in love!"

Republicans need to be like Luca Brasi and tell Sanford: "You screwed up; we didn't do anything to you. Have fun, I'm sure Maria's fantastic, but you can't run for Congress."

Dobson described Bostic as "steadfast in supporting traditional marriage and defending the unborn child, matters of preeminent importance at this crucial hour in our nation's history." Bostic also nabbed the endorsement of an extremist Republican Women's anti-Choice group, Concerned Women for America PAC. "The decision," they exulted, "that he and his wife, Jenny, made to embrace their faith, disregard medical advice, and have their fifth child clearly shows that Curtis honors his commitments and stands in strong contrast to Mark Sanford's abandonment of his core principles."

UPDATE: Does Anyone Care What Henry Brown Says?

Bostic has been promising a game changing endorsement. Apparently it was former Congressman Henry Brown. The district was different when Brown was congressman and he was nearly defeated by a Democrat and then retired rather than face a primary from the Tea Party. “I’ve known Curtis and his family for many years, and know him to be a man of integrity and principle. He is the best choice for District 1,” said Brown.

Read More