Right Democrat: A Mainstream Populist Voice

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Charlie Rose interviews Senator Jim Webb

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Jim Wallis urges Democrats to welcome pro-life voters

The Reverend Jim Wallis (founder of Sojourners: Christians for Peace and Justice) recently advised Senator Obama to support a plank in the Democratic Party Platform that would aim to reduce abortions by focusing on supporting low-income women and making adoption easier -- exactly what Democrats for Life has been advocating for with their 95-10 Initiative. http://www.democratsforlife.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=48

Wallis is a leading advocate for a finding common ground on the long divisive abortion issue.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/143482 Most Americans fall somewhere between the two vocal extremes on this issue. Many pro-choice individuals are not single issue voters and would like to reduce the number of abortions through voluntary means. At the same time, a number of pro-life supporters have grown tired of being manipulated by a political party that pays lip service to their views but has shown little interest in reducing the abortion rate and poorly reflects their values on most other matters. There is a growing realization among pro-lifers that a total ban on abortion is simply not likely to happen even if Roe v. Wade is overturned at some point.

The appointment of the Reverend Tony Campolo to the Democratic Platform Committee has signaled a willingness by party leaders to include pro-lifers at the table. As a pro-life Democrat, Campolo has been advocating a more neutral position on abortion in the Democratic Platform. Campolo argues that the abortion issue has been a major stumbling block to Democrats in outreach to religious voters. It is important for the Democratic leadership to make it clear that they respect the values of pro-life voters and welcome their participation within the party.

What was in the 2004 Democratic Party Platform with respect to abortion?

The 2004 Platform did not include the conscience language that was advocated by pro-life leaders in the House in 1996 after Governor Bob Casey of Pennsylvania was prevented from speaking at the 1992 Democratic Convention.

The conscience language acknowledged that there are pro-life people in our Party and we respect their views.

The 2000 Democratic Platform also contained the conscience language. The language that provided support for those "with differing views on issues of personal conscience like abortion and capital punishment" was not included in the 2004 Democratic Platform.

The 2004 language stated:

Because we believe in the privacy and equality of women, we stand proudly for a woman's right to choose, consistent with Roe V. Wade, and regardless of her ability to pay. We stand firmly against Republican efforts to undermine that right. At the same time, we strongly support family planning and adoption incentives. Abortion should be safe, legal, and rare.

1996 Democratic Platform plank on abortion:

The Democratic Party stands behind the right of every woman to choose, consistent with Roe v. Wade, and regardless of ability to pay. We believe it is a fundamental constitutional liberty that individual Americans - not government - can best take responsibility for making the most difficult and intensely personal decisions regarding reproduction. This year's Supreme Court rulings show to us all that eliminating a woman's right to choose is only one justice away. That's why the stakes in this election are as high as ever. Our goal is to make abortion less necessary and more rare, not more difficult and more dangerous. We support contraceptive research, family planning, comprehensive family life education, and policies that support healthy childbearing. The abortion rate is dropping. Now we must continue to support efforts to reduce unintended pregnancies, and we call on all Americans to take personal responsibility to meet this important goal. The Democratic Party is a party of inclusion. We respect the individual conscience of each American on this difficult issue, and we welcome all our members to participate at every level of our party. This is why we are proud to put into our platform the very words which Republicans refused to let Bob Dole put into their 1996 platform and which they refused to even consider putting in their platform in 2000: "While the party remains steadfast in its commitment to advancing its historic principles and ideals, we also recognize that members of our party have deeply held and sometimes differing views on issues of personal conscience like abortion and capital punishment. We view this diversity of views as a source of strength, not as a sign of weakness, and we welcome into our ranks all Americans who may hold differing positions on these and other issues. Recognizing that tolerance is a virtue, we are committed to resolving our differences in a spirit of civility, hope and mutual respect."

Democrats for Life is calling for supporters to take action and participate in and/or organize platform meetings.

Steps for a Platform Meeting

1.) Register your event online. This will allow you to invite people to your Platform Meeting.

2.) Invite family and friends to your meeting. The goal is have 15 to 20 people at each Platform Meeting.

3.) Prepare your materials. Please let Democrats For Life www.democratsforlife.org
know if you are planning a meeting. Democrats for Life will help with materials and provide suggested Platform language.

4.) Hold your meeting. Suggestions on how to host a meeting on the Obama for President Web Site. http://mybarackobama.com/page/content/listening

5.) Submit your suggestions.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

New country-bluegrass album "Moneyland" tells story of working class economic crisis

The following is a press release from McCoury Music promoting a new album focused on the economic concerns of working class and rural America. The album features the Del McCoury Band, Merle Haggard, Chris Knight, Marty Stuart, Bruce Hornsby, Patty Loveless, Emmylou Harris and more. And don't forget to check out Del McCoury's My Space page to hear his latest song "Moneyland."
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=154165063

NASHVILLE - Modern day bluegrass patriarch Del McCoury adds a new dimension to his role as a musical leader on July 8, 2008 when his family owned McCoury Music label, distributed by powerhouse RED Distribution (a division of SonyBMG) releases Moneyland, a timely multi-artist collection that offers a hard-hitting look at today's economic injustice through a thoughtful selection of six new (or newly recorded) songs, mixed with eight neglected gems and classic favorites. Framed by excerpts from two of Franklin Roosevelt's Depression-era "fireside chats," Moneyland revitalizes country and bluegrass music's connections to the lives of hardworking people in ways that honor the past, look to the future and challenge listeners to act in the present.

Moneyland's musical bookends are found in Bernard "Slim" Smith's Depression era classic, "Breadline Blues," as the original 1931 recording at the start of the album is matched by a new "Breadline Blues 2008," featuring McCoury, the legendary Mac Wiseman, Grammy winner Tim O'Brien and the harmonies of Gillian Welch & David Rawlings. Between the two, the collection explores the hardships of rural and small town working people and their families.

Familiar names and songs abound-the Del McCoury Band brings two original songs to the table, Country Music Hall of Famer Merle Haggard supplies the 1973 classic "If We Make It Through December" and the more recent "What Happened?," which appeared on his McCoury Music bluegrass debut of last year, and the set includes Emmylou Harris's and Rodney Crowell's glistening take on his "Mama's Hungry Eyes"-but there's also room for Dan Tyminski's 2001 recording of "Carry Me Across The Mountain," based on a true Depression era story, Haggard and Marty Stuart's searing "Farmer's Blues," Chris Knight's "A Train Not Running," a more recent tale of economic devastation, and more.

Yet whether new or old, bluegrass, country or something else, each song contributes to the profound impact of Moneyland. That impact is more than musical, and it doesn't take long to learn that for McCoury, the new album is more than just a thematic collection-it's a project that reflects deep and abiding concerns shaped both by observation and experience. "I grew up on a farm myself, back during the late '40s, and we raised everything. We raised hogs and chickens, had dairy cows, we shipped milk. Times were good for the farmer in those days, but now the farmers are just hanging on by their fingernails."

"It's sad to me that country kids can't stay in their hometowns any more. There's no opportunity, there are no jobs, there's just nothing. And at the other end of life, there are a lot of people losing the pensions they worked for-that happened to my wife, Jean-and there are more people relying on Social Security than ever. You know, we have a little fun on this album with that Beatles song, 'When I'm 64,' but really, it's no joke. It used to seem like 60 was really old, but nowadays, it feels more like middle age, and to have a lot of years ahead of you without being sure that what you spent a lifetime working for, like a pension or Social Security, is going to be there-well, that just doesn't seem right."

Yet as pointed as the critique is, and as sharp as the thoughts and stories embedded in Moneyland's songs are, Del and his associates-his manager, Stan Strickland shares executive producer credits with Del, while Strickland produced the project with Del's sons, Rob and Ronnie-never lose sight of two key points: first, that the album's musical artistry be as compelling and irresistible as its sentiments are strong, and second, that it be not only critical, but inspirational, too. While Moneyland's stories may tell of trials and even desperation, they're never without hope-along with plenty of incisive wit and flashes of humor.

"Moneyland has a message that people need to hear and think about," McCoury says reflectively. "And, especially in an election year, take action on. This isn't about party politics, it's about doing what's best for our country and everyone in it, not just a lucky few."

http://www.mccourymusic.net/index.cfm

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Ray Charles-America The Beautiful

Ray Charles sings America the Beautiful.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOHoN-8ibsY

Happy Fourth of July !

St Petersburg Times: Middle class continues its sad disappearing act

St. Petersburg Times http://www.tampabay.com/ columnist Robin Blumner is right on target about the decline of the American middle class.

Blumner writes:

In case you haven't been keeping up with the fortunes of the fortunate, the private jet business is booming. In the first quarter of this year, shipments of private jets were up 41 percent. It seems that servicing America's elite is a thriving niche. There are so many new mega-yachts that owners can't keep them staffed, says the New York Observer.

Now, back on Earth, let's look at how the rest of us are doing. Hmm. Not so well. Even for those in steady jobs, there is a creeping sense of instability, a generalized disquiet and unspoken worry that sits on one's shoulders adding drag to the day.

Packaged in this malaise is the spike in oil prices and what that will mean for gas prices and every other thing we buy, the bottoming out of the housing market, companies announcing huge layoffs, and rises in food and health insurance costs outpacing salaries and wages.

This volatility has led to a shift in how we see ourselves. "Vulnerable" is probably the best descriptor. Our thoughts turn to hunkering down rather than plans for the future.
But what makes this coming decline in economic security different from the one visited upon American families in the 1970s, for example, is that we are much less well-positioned to withstand the financial buffeting. The work of Harvard law professor Elizabeth Warren indicates there is a coming collapse of the middle class and she can prove it with a raft of scary statistics and charts.

Warren says we are moving toward a two-class rather than a three-class society, where there is a somewhat larger upper class made up of the financially comfortable and then there is the rest of America, people who are "constantly living on the edge of a cliff." These are families who might appear to earn a decent income but they enjoy none of the financial security that we normally associate with middle-class status.

Warren compares the median American family of 1970 with that of 2003. She unpacks why our savings rate has dropped to zero from a rather healthy 11 percent of take-home pay in 1970, even as the family added Mom as a breadwinner.

Typically, blame for this lands on families themselves. They're spending themselves into penury by buying designer clothes for their kids and indulging in $4 lattes, say social commentators.
Not so, Warren counters. She says that Americans are actually spending far less in inflation-adjusted dollars for things like clothes and food, including eating out, than they did in 1970. What has substantially changed, Warren reports, is the cost of big-ticket, fixed expenses. So that even though the income of the median two-parent, two-child family is higher, because both parents are employed, the family has less income available to shore itself up against a rough patch.

Housing costs for a median-sized house (which has gotten modestly bigger since 1970 by adding either a second bathroom or a third bedroom but not both) have increased 76 percent. Health insurance costs are up 74 percent. Also up sharply are taxes (due to the second income), child care and car-related expenses. Americans keep a car more than two years longer than they did 30 years ago, but they now need two cars to get to two jobs.

These big, inflexible expenses cost the median family three-fourths of its two-earner income. In 1970 they cost half of the single breadwinner's.

We now live in a country where there is no financial margin for most families to fall back on in case someone gets sick or a job is lost. Life is far riskier.

Then add on an energy crisis and you can almost hear the foundation cracking.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, has received hundreds of e-mails from Americans who suddenly have found themselves in desperate financial straits. He's been reading their plaintive stories on the Senate floor. How they were middle class but are no longer.

I fear that Warren's collapse has begun.

http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/columns/article646320.ece

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Democrat Bob Conley brings fresh approach to South Carolina U.S. Senate race

Bob Conley has been certified as the winner of the South Carolina's Democratic U.S. Senate nomination. Running against big-business Republican Lindsay Graham, Conley offers a refreshing alternative for South Carolina voters fed up with special interest-controlled Washington politicians. Here is some information concerning Conley's positions on issues obtained from his campaign website:

Energy: Bob Conley sees solutions to reduce your gas prices through the use of alternative energy and conservation. To end our dependence on foreign oil, we need to change our energy policy. Bob will fight for this change by: encouraging more energy production at home, promoting the development of alternative energy sources, wider use of proven alternative energy solutions, and encouraging the use of energy-saving technologies. We’ll regain energy independence and create good jobs in the process!

Iraq: Bob Conley believes it is time to end the occupation, and support our troops by bringing them home!

Jobs & Immigration: Corporate greed is robbing us of our jobs and driving our down our wages. Bob Conley supports secure borders. Corporations that fuel the immigration fire must pay the price. Greedy corporations and unscrupulous businessmen profit, while our working families and taxpayers foot the bill for services for illegals. This is corporate welfare, and it must end.
The legal importation of foreign workers is also driving down wages, and placing Americans in unemployment lines. This is wrong, and must end. Policy needs to change and should be based on what is good for our workers, our families, and our communities – not the bottom lines of corporations and their lobbyists’ demands!

Jobs & Trade: Bob Conley says no to trade agreements that send our good, well-paying jobs to foreign lands. Multi-national corporations profit while our working families and our communities suffer. This is wrong, and must change. The U.S. needs to withdraw from trade agreements that have cost us 3.5 million of our good manufacturing jobs since 2001!

Bob will promote and restore America First trade policies. We need to follow the Constitution – where Congress is to regulate trade with the foreign nations – and cannot continue to allow unelected foreign bureaucrats in far away places to decide and dictate our trade policies. We must end most favored nation status for Communist China. Bob is our fighter to change trade policies, correct our massive trade imbalance, and keep our good jobs here at home.

Economy: We must implement fiscal policies to end deficit spending. Bob Conley believes we must change our monetary policy, restore sound, honest money, and halt the fall of the dollar. We must stop predatory lending practices, end the Wall Street bailouts, and put a lid on massive expenditures abroad.

Military: Overseas deployments of occupation are breaking our military. Deployments in recent years have left 80% of our National Guard units without the necessary equipment for training – and the missions they should be prepared to serve here at home. Our National Guard needs to be rebuilt.

Veterans: Bob Conley believes veterans need to be given adequate care, not shuffled around in a Veterans' Administration that should be overhauled. Bob will work to pass a new GI Bill for our veterans who have fought in the twenty-first century.

Constitution and the Bill of Rights: Bob Conley will fight to repeal the Big Brother legislation passed by rubber-stamp Republican Congresses. We cannot afford to give up essential liberties under the false pretense of security. Measures that infringe on our individual liberties protected by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights must be repealed! We must restore the Constitution and respect the principles on which our Republic was founded.

http://www.bobconleyforsenate.com/

Domestic manufacturers urge Congress to pass stronger trade countermeasures

U.S. Business and Industry Council -- Manufacturing Business Technology, 6/17/2008

http://www.mbtmag.com/article/CA6570709.html?rssid=231

WASHINGTON, D.C.: As the latest round of the Chinese-American Strategic Economic Dialogue begins, the U.S. Business and Industry Council (USBIC) urged Congress on Monday to de-fund future U.S. participation in the two-year-old talks and immediately pass a series of hard-hitting measures to combat what USBIC calls China’s damaging trade cheating, and protect Americans from China’s unsafe products.

According to USBIC President Kevin L. Kearns, whose organization represents 1,550 domestic manufacturers and other companies, “Any presidential candidate genuinely concerned about America’s working families and the beleaguered domestic industries employing them will endorse these actions as well. Instead of providing rebate-check handouts, our political leaders must give the American people their factories, labs, and jobs back.”

Kearns called China “an economic rogue state—one that keeps stealing production, revenue, R&D, and jobs from our domestic manufacturers and their employees. Beijing’s American victims need their government’s help now. They can’t wait for a new president and Congress.” Since the Bush administration won’t act, Kearns adds, “Congress needs to wake up and take responsibility. It’s time for House and Senate leaders to display some legislative competence and build majorities for effective unilateral action on unfair and dangerous Chinese practices.”

The Council urged Congress to:
Immediately pass a resolution formally declaring the Strategic Economic Dialogue a failure, plus legislation to prevent the administration from spending any funds to prepare for or participate in the Dialogue’s next session, at year’s end;

Pass the House and Senate bills that would make currency manipulation a countervailable subsidy under U.S. trade law. This three-year-old legislation has a long list of bipartisan cosponsors in the House, but House leaders refuse to act, and the Senate has dawdled;

Pass an immediate ban on all imports of toys and other children’s products from China;
Pass legislation requiring detailed labeling for imported processed food and drug products that would specify their ingredients and levels of content from China; and other countries lacking effective domestic regulatory systems;

Pass legislation banning U.S. sales of internet surveillance hardware and software to China; and
Significantly expand funding and staffing for China-specific counterespionage programs and anti-hacking efforts throughout the U.S. government.

Concludes Kearns, “Forcing the current president to veto such measures would send a powerful message to China’s leadership—and to the next occupant of the White House. The time is past for talk on China’s flagrant trade cheating and egregiously unsafe industrial practices. Now it’s time for action."

http://www.americaneconomicalert.org/

* SHORT TAKES

AFL-CIO: McCain's trade policy is a third Bush term