AZ Congressional Delegation

Action Alert: Call your senators and tell them to vote for Sen. Bernie Sander’s VA bill

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mccain_flakeEarlier this week I reminded you about The real VA scandal: GOP filibustered the VA bill in February. That’s right, Arizona’s senators Tweedle-Dumb and Tweedle-Dumber filibustered the VA bill because they wanted an amendment that would have undermined current negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program, because Neocon war monger John McCain wants to get his war on with Iran. Also, because it “costs too much” and “adds to the debt.”

Congress should have thought of that before it created a boatload of veterans in need of health care because of the unnecessary and illegal war in Iraq that George W. Bush put on the nation’s credit card creating that debt.

Our veterans were made a promise for their service to their country. Raise taxes on the wealthy who did not serve their country in Iraq and Afghanistan, but who financially profited off the military-industrial complex to pay for veterans health care going forward. This is the price of freedom — who are these Plutocrats to deny those who served in their place?

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The VA scandal The Arizona Republic has failed to investigate

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PhoenixVAThe Arizona Republic investigative report on the Veterans Administration hospital in Phoenix has led to a national scandal in which the inspector general of the Veterans Administration issued the nineteenth report since 2005 about scheduling delays at VA hospitals that may have compromised patient care. The Secretary of the Veterans Administration, General Eric Shinseki, did the honorable thing for an old soldier and submitted his resignation to the President on Friday.

The editors of The Arizona Republic, as well as many politicians here in Arizona, had called upon Gen. Shinseki to resign, so “mission accomplished.”

The VA scandal that The Arizona Republic has failed to investigate is this: every congressional office has staff that spends their days dealing with constituent services. Veterans in particular are not shy about calling their members of Congress when they are having problems with the VA. How is it possible that members of Congress were unaware of the problems at the VA? Our members of Congress have all sounded like Captain Renault in Casablanca, “I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!”

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Link for my Sunday Square off Appearance

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Crossposted at DemocraticDiva.com

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ICYMI, and you probably did because it was Memorial Day weekend and it aired on Sunday morning at 8 a.m., you can watch me on the panel with Chip Scutari and Shane Wikfors here. Again, sorry I can’t embed but the videos tend to open immediately when you click on the site if I do.

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Gov. Jerry Brown signs bill to regulate the ‘Kochtopus’ dark money laundering operations of Sean Noble

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KochYou will recall the Pro Publica investigative report from earlier this year into The Dark Money Man: How Sean Noble Moved the Kochs Cash into Politics and Made Millions. I have posted frequently about the bag man for the “Kochtopus” money laundering operations in the state of Maricopa, who was at the center of California’s Biggest “Campaign Money Laundering” Scheme.

Governor Jerry Brown has now signed legislation strengthening California’s campaign finance laws. The Sacramento Bee reports, Jerry Brown signs law requiring political nonprofits identify donors:

Nonprofit organizations that make political contributions in California will have to disclose more information about the source of their money under a law Gov. Jerry Brown signed Wednesday.

Senate Bill 27 was inspired by the 2012 ballot measure wars in California, when two out-of-state nonprofit groups poured $15 million into fighting Proposition 30 and supporting Proposition 32. Because of the groups’ nonprofit status, they were not required to report where their donations originally came from, leading some to describe the contributions as “dark money.”

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Do progressives even sit out elections? The numbers say no.

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Bob Lord and AZ Blue Meanie are having an interesting dialog on whether progressives should or shouldn’t withhold their votes to punish DINOs who regularly vote or embrace positions that go against progressive values. Bob argues that progressives have not done themselves favors by rewarding the DINOs with electoral victories and that reorienting the country from the massive rightward shift of the past three decades may require be willing to lose some elections to Republicans. Meanie counters that it’s about basic math and caucuses. In other words, the party that wins the majority of seats controls what even goes up for a vote.

For my part I’ll just say my heart is with Bob but my head is with Meanie on this. I’m a pro-choice activist and I cannot in good conscience withhold my vote from a pro-choice Democrat even if I am furious at her about several other things. Not with this relentless barrage of attacks on women’s reproductive rights going on. See, when Republicans lose a few elections to push the party to the right actual people don’t get hurt. If progressive Democrats did that then a lot of people, mostly poor and vulnerable, would be substantially harmed. I say “if” because the empirical evidence that we have on voting patterns demonstrates that progressives do not sit out elections.

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