Kissell a complete FRAUD. (4.00 / 3)

That guy is really something.  I donated some change to his campaign in 2006. Then he made some xenophohic anti-immigrant comments and I vowed not to fund him in 2008.  Then he had the guts to go on to Daily Kos again and again to write diaries that were rec'd over and over again.  What a #&%*ing fraud. He had better never show his face on a liberal blog again.  Troll rate on sight.  

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by: the new @ Thu Mar 19, 2009 at 16:01:22 PM CDT

Larry Kissell!? (4.00 / 1)

Talk about a guy who knew how to use populist appeals!  

"Here's a song about blind faith. That's always a dangerous thing, whether it's in your girlfriend--or if it's in your government." Bruce Springsteen, quoted in Glory Days (Born in the USA tour??)  

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by: 4jkb4ia @ Thu Mar 19, 2009 at 16:57:12 PM CDT

Notable (0.00 / 0)

Larry Kissell voted against this and Heath Shuler voted for it.  

"Here's a song about blind faith. That's always a dangerous thing, whether it's in your girlfriend--or if it's in your government." Bruce Springsteen, quoted in Glory Days (Born in the USA tour??)  

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by: 4jkb4ia @ Thu Mar 19, 2009 at 16:58:11 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Walt Minnick??? (0.00 / 0)

Are you actually saying we should try to primary the only elected Democrat in the state of Idaho for Federal office? Primary him with who, exactly? One of the other 7 Dems in the State Senate (out of 35!)? Or maybe one of the lucky 18 Dems out of 70 in the State House? Most of which are probably to Walt's right in any case.

I understand the anger. There's no serious justification for voting against this bill. But I think we can give a pass to a deep deep red state insurgent like Minnick.

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by: MacGumaraid @ Thu Mar 19, 2009 at 16:59:35 PM CDT

i agree (4.00 / 1)

but if there some that voted like this in blue districts they should definitely be primaried.

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by: hartelc @ Thu Mar 19, 2009 at 17:30:12 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

If we don't (4.00 / 1)

then it's plausible that a right-wing populist candidate will come in and take the seat. His vote on AIG has close to zero support from any side of the political spectrum.

VISA is Hungry! http://www.funnyordie.com/vide...

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by: mildewmaximilian @ Thu Mar 19, 2009 at 18:50:29 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I hardly believe (4.00 / 1)

Walt Minnick is going to lose to a Republican because of his vote on this and I would believe that if no where else, THIS district would be the one where this wasn't popular.

Remember, this is the same place that twice reelected a woman who had fundraisers where she served endangered salmon as food.  

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by: dfr1417 @ Thu Mar 19, 2009 at 18:58:01 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

That's right populism for ya -- (4.00 / 2)

brutal and savage. But remember, "conservatives" love to run on hating endangered salmon and gays, not on their quietly held elitist economic positions. I repeat: nobody anywhere supports the AIG bonuses.

VISA is Hungry! http://www.funnyordie.com/vide...

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by: mildewmaximilian @ Thu Mar 19, 2009 at 19:06:08 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Not True (4.00 / 1)

a lot of people are angry about the AIG bonuses and fell taxing then at 90% was over the top.

Taxes are poison in Idaho.  

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by: dfr1417 @ Thu Mar 19, 2009 at 19:12:30 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

A lot of Wall Street billionaires in Idaho, I guess. (4.00 / 1)

Who knew?

If you liked Bush, you'll love McCain

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by: Sadie Baker @ Fri Mar 20, 2009 at 07:23:33 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Distrust of the Federal Gov't (0.00 / 0)

Particularly the IRS, is perhaps best described as a secular cult here in ID.  

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by: Jbearlaw @ Fri Mar 20, 2009 at 10:31:19 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Maybe (4.00 / 1)

but I also know that my enemy's enemy is my friend. As much as Idohoans hate the government, you can't convince me they don't hate the fatcats more.

If you liked Bush, you'll love McCain

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by: Sadie Baker @ Fri Mar 20, 2009 at 11:05:01 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

They don't like taxes on ANYBODY (0.00 / 0)

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by: dfr1417 @ Fri Mar 20, 2009 at 11:03:49 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Rush Saith Bonus Good! (0.00 / 0)

Rush Roolz!  Walt Do What Rush Order!  Good Boy, Walt!  Seriously, Minnick only won because Sali was so utterly despised (and he damn near won anyway, because of his stand against taxes and abortions).  Many Idaho Republicans wanted Sali out office worse than Democrats.  Sali's candidacy was too right, even for Idaho's standards.  But it took a coalition of Democrats and "moderate" Idaho Republicans to defeat him.  They'll field a "moderate" Republican in the next election, is my guess, and s/he'll will be able to rally the full resources of the Idaho Republican Party.  Without the support of all the Repubs who crossed over just to get rid of Sali, Minnick doesn't stand a chance.  His only chance is to, in essence, BE the "moderate" Republican to such an extent that the cross-overs find him acceptable, which in turn means focusing on the only thing, other than abortion, which will give him a chance in the next election:  attacking government spending.  Any other message is unthinkable.  Minnick's chances of staying in office after the next election are already slimmer than a supermodel.  

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by: Jbearlaw @ Fri Mar 20, 2009 at 10:41:38 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

OK, what next (0.00 / 0)

I'm all in favour of primaries, although for the record I think Bean is the only one of those we have even half a shot at. But whilst the groundwork of that may need quietly laying now, that's primarily a job for 2010.

What's the priority now? The bonus tax has got huge amounts of momentum behind it, so what should that be used for? Has anybody introduced concrete regulatory measures or efforts to lessen the potential harm these companies could be doing to the economy? The bonuses were important because they focused outrage. That needs to be used before it dissipates.

Forgotten Countries - a foreign policy-focused blog

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by: Englishlefty @ Thu Mar 19, 2009 at 17:04:48 PM CDT

About Larry Kissell (4.00 / 1)

I wouldn't count on much local support in ousting Kissell.

He is known and very well liked by local progressives here in the state, including bloggers, despite some of his conservative leanings.

Further, who do you think you will get to run against him? Good luck with that too.

It was a small miracle that Kissell, a Democrat, beat a five term Republican incumbent in that district; don't expect anyone more progressive than Larry could win that area anytime soon.

I don't know if you have ever been to that part of NC, Chris, but it is very conservative.

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by: NCDemAmy @ Thu Mar 19, 2009 at 17:52:10 PM CDT

Not even a rational vote-chasing conservative vote (4.00 / 1)

There is no support for the AIG bonuses in any state, no matter how conservative. What an incredibly dumb vote -- whose support is he even whoring for? Landlords? Ayn Rand fans? Sorry: no electorate anywhere is on his side.

Kissell has now needlessly opened up a political line of attack for any populist candidate (or, sadly, someone posing as a populist) to exploit. That candidate could come from the right or the left. Better for everybody if it's the left.

VISA is Hungry! http://www.funnyordie.com/vide...

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by: mildewmaximilian @ Thu Mar 19, 2009 at 18:58:45 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Are you sure? (4.00 / 1)

It's not a rampantly liberal area, but Obama won Kissell's district 53-47.

I'd also argue, based on Kissell's message, that populism works well there, so Larry is vulnerable on this issue.

I don't believe he's vulnerable yet. But this is certainly not an action you'd expect somebody trying to put down roots on their district to take.

Forgotten Countries - a foreign policy-focused blog

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by: Englishlefty @ Thu Mar 19, 2009 at 18:59:50 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I would say NCDem knows this district (0.00 / 0)

being that he lives there...just because Obama won it doesn't mean it isn't still conservative.

Obama won in a lot of conservative areas.  

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by: dfr1417 @ Thu Mar 19, 2009 at 19:10:55 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Sad about Harry Mitchell (4.00 / 1)

Harry Mitchell was the mayor of my hometown when I was growing up. He came to my elementary school class and talked to us and he was really nice. Everyone in town loved him (Tempe is a pretty liberal area except for all the rampant Mormonism), he did a LOT of great things for Tempe.

I always thought of him as a solidly liberal person. He did so much good for Tempe and he was always on the right side of the issues. I was thrilled when he beat JD Hayworth. Not only because Hayworth is a total slug, but because Mitchell was the one who beat him.

Why the hell did he vote against this?

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by: Marcelo @ Thu Mar 19, 2009 at 18:17:53 PM CDT

Maybe he's worried that the... (0.00 / 0)

...Snotsdale vote will rise up against him for punishing the uber-wealthy. This is really sad, there's no electoral reason for Harry Mitchell to be voting against this, I think he just is looking to distance himself from Pelosi and other Dems...

And forget about primarying Harry Mitchell. Defeat him in a primary and kiss AZ-5 goodbye. Wait until re-districting when it'll better favor Democrats and when he's more likely to retire anyways.

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by: Fox~Ringo @ Thu Mar 19, 2009 at 19:05:44 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

NY-13 (4.00 / 1)

That's be great, but we already had a progressive candidate for that position:  Steve Harrison.

He got virtually no help from the party whie Vito Fossella was still a viable candidate, then once Vito was out, the party swept in with their own man.

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by: lutton @ Thu Mar 19, 2009 at 19:10:04 PM CDT

I said this at BlueNC (4.00 / 1)

And I will say it here, even though it will be even more unpopular here.

I'm happy Larry voted against this bill.  Its a stupid, half assed attempt to do something that should have been done proactively months ago, and every single one who votes for this and voted against the multiple attempts to keep this from occurring are hypocrites of a Cheney magnitude.  We are spending a week talking about how to get back 150 million dollars while not spending a second talking about the wasting of billions.  All this bill does is retroactively punish some greedy individuals, while doing nothing to fix or address the underlying results of all their other actions that have destroyed this economy.

Its a stupid bill, it will be tied up in court for months, and he is right.  Tax policy shouldn't be our only resort when we don't like stuff.  These assholes should be brought up on charges by Holder, not taxed and then let free.

"Keep the Faith"

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by: blue south @ Thu Mar 19, 2009 at 21:31:22 PM CDT

And by the way (4.00 / 3)

Larry has signed on as a cosponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act.  Not exactly the move of a sell out to business interests...

"Keep the Faith"

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by: blue south @ Thu Mar 19, 2009 at 21:51:47 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

really? (0.00 / 0)

Is diversity of opinion really something that we think should be punished now?  There are quite a few very valid reasons for disagreeing with this bill, and quite a few really awful ones for supporting it.

83% of the country is angry and frustrated and doesn't understand the ramifications of this bill.  I'm a Democrat and a liberal and think that this is a crappy bill that has no business becoming law.

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by: ccarollo @ Fri Mar 20, 2009 at 12:21:37 PM CDT