(Join the call tonight for live election updates and learn about the 50 state action plan. - promoted by Levana Layendecker)
It's working. Politics Daily: Poll Watch is reporting:
"The two latest polls on the primary battle between Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter and Rep. Joe Sestak for the Democratic senate nomination has them statistically tied, with just two points separating them."
And, TIME declared today:
"Blanche Lincoln is finding that the middle of the road can be a dangerous place."
This is truly a testament to grassroots work going on in the states. I know it's not surprising, but when we get out there and talk to voters about what matters to them in their daily lives - like ending Wall Street corruption -- people get excited. Kudos to all the volunteers who are getting out there today. Just this last weekend the coalition of DFA, MoveOn, and PCCCvolunteers made more than 3,000 calls to voters in AR resulting in more than 200 new volunteers.
Voters simply don't care about DC partisan parlour games and it shows in the polls. Voters do care about corporate lobbyists are dominating the real game in Washington. That's why as soon as the polls close tomorrow, DFA is rolling out the game plan to win real victories on the issues that we care about like ending Wall Street corruption, stopping Big Oil domination, and reigning in Insurance Company greed. Join us on our 50 state action plan call tomorrow night, May 18th at 8:00 PM to hear about the plan.
We know it's going to be a nail biter, so Jim Dean and Arshad Hasan will be giving live updates from the ground in PA and AR. Meanwhile, we will be setting up the plan to win progressive change in Congress in 2010 and beyond.
In 2006 and 2008, the 50 State Strategy elected scores of Democrats, and it will elect scores of progressives this fall. Democrats in Washington are still playing defense, but DFA is playing offense. On the conference call, you'll hear from Governor Howard Dean and DFA Field Director Matt Blizek about our strategy to elect progressives and keep growing our community with the 50 State Action Plan. After the call, we'll meet back here -- at OpenLeft -- for live blogging as the results from PA, KY, and AR come in.
SIGN UP HERE FOR THE CALL ON TUESDAY, MAY 18 @ 8:30PM EST.
I can't wait to work with you on the winning team for progressives.
The good news on the Senate financial reform bill these days is that we have a few provisions worth fighting for. Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) has introduced one of the most important - a bold section in the Dodd bank reform bill (Section 106) that will force the biggest banks to spin off their swaps (or derivatives) desks into a separate entity. That entity will be regulated and can remain part of the bank holding company, but it no longer has access to the Federal Reserve's flow of funds, FDIC insurance and the taxpayer guarantee. Supporters include legendary economists and public policy experts such as Robert Reich, Joseph Stiglitz, Nouriel Roubini, and Michael Greenberger.
In one fell swoop, Lincoln's measure will effectively protect taxpayers, downsize the behemoth banks, and end the federal guarantees behind big bank gambling. It's the strongest structural reform measure in the bill. These swaps have previously helped the 5 largest banks grow to mega-size and then take down the country. The 5 of them - J.P. Morgan Chase, Citibank, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley - account for 90 percent of these derivatives. Lincoln's amendment will go right after the deals that Goldman Sachs is now being officially investigated for and Lincoln's language is #1 on their hit list.
But the problem of course is that the Goldman Gang in Congress, like Senators Gregg and Chambliss, are lining up to strip this provision one way or other. They are being aided and abetted by conservative democrats like Indiana Senator Evan Bayh. Watch this smug interview where he talks about his hopes to defeat every good amendment. I, for one, am thrilled that he announced he will be retiring this year.
We have a right to know if our Senators will vote to end the federal funding of the Wall Street casino or vote to take Blanche Lincoln's language out of the bill.
We know what we need to do -- it's time for a whip count and a little push and shove. We need to find out which senators will support real reform and which ones won't. Just follow these three easy steps to make sure Senators work on our behalf. Please make your call today. It takes two minutes to reach out to two Senators.
1. Call (202) 224-3121 and ask for your Senators representing your state.
2. Ask them: "Does Senator XXXX support Blanche Lincoln's proposal for spinning off swap desks?" and you can follow up with something like "I expect my Senator to support the Lincoln language and to reject any amendments that weaken derivatives reform in the bill, such as Senator Gregg's amendment to kill Lincoln's language."
"In my view, banks were never intended to perform these activities, which have been the single largest factor in these institutions growing so large that taxpayers had no choice but to bail them out in order to prevent total economic ruin," says Lincoln.
This is the Holiday which, as far as I can tell, is designed for Car Dealers more than it is to revere the men who made our country great.
When I was growing up we had separate holidays for Washington's Birthday and Lincoln's Birthday. The first honored the man who was our first President and who led us through the military activities of the Revolution. We also remembered every year that he voluntarily stepped down after two terms when he could easily have become a lifetime American King. The second holiday honored the man who kept our nation together, freed the slaves and suffered assassination.
