Tag Archives: congress

Wright Calls for Hastings to Step Down as Chair of Ethics Committee

Posted on October 10th, 2006 | Comments Off on Wright Calls for Hastings to Step Down as Chair of Ethics Committee

House Speaker Dennis Hastert appointed Washington State Rep Doc Hastings to Chair the House Ethics Committee. Hastert sacked the previous Chair and 3 other Republican members after they too aggressively investigated Tom DeLay. Hastert is Hasting’s boss and with the sacking he clearly sent a message to Hastings as to what he wanted him to do. Since then the committee has been pretty much inactive.

Today at 10 A.M. Hasting’s Democratic opponent, Richard Wright, is holding a press conference calling for Doc Hastings to step down as Chair of the House Ethics Committee.

You can read the press release over at McCranium.It’s good to see Wright getting more aggressive in this race.

Wright questions the unbiasedness of anyone called to impartially investigate someone, then saying. “I think the Speaker has done a great job” Um, great job at what. You can see a video clip of Hastings remarks here.

The problem is that anyone who chairs the Ethics Committee would be appointed with the approval of the Speaker. Hastings was appointed by Hastert. That’s a conflict of interest because the Speaker is part of the investigation.

The House Speaker controls the legislative future of whoever sits on that committee and everyone knows it. What is needed is the appointment of an independent counsel. Otherwise all you are going to get is a whitewash.

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Posted in Congress, Democrats, Elections, Republicans

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New Poll Says Goldmark can win 5th Congressional District Seat!

Posted on August 4th, 2006 | 1 comment

Peter Goldmark is the dark horse Democratic candidate charging ahead in Washington State’s 5th Congressional District. A new poll by Lake Research Partners may be a surprise to some but not to those who have met Peter. It says Goldmark can win the 5th Congressional District Seat.

Posted yesterday on Daily Kos by peagreen and posted today on Washblog by switzerblog is part of the summary of Goldmark’s recent poll that confirms what I have long been saying. Peter Goldmark can win the 5th Congressional District in Washington. He can defeat Cathy McMorris.

He is the dark horse candidate charging ahead. But he needs our help. Read below and then click on ActBlue today to make a contribution today.

Here’s the poll:

*In the initial ballot, incumbent McMorris receives less than a majority of the vote against Goldmark despite a vast name recognition advantage. After both candidates get their messages out, Goldmark pulls into a virtual tie with McMorris–37% for Goldmark to 39% for McMorris.
*Bush’s favorability rating is only 44% (very or somewhat favorable) versus 53% (very or somewhat unfavorable) with a plurality (42%) giving him a very unfavorable rating, making Bush a liability for McMorris in the district.

*McMorris’ own job performance rating is low. Just 44% rate McMorris’ job rating as good or excellent versus 47% who say it is just fair or poor, for a net negative job performance rating (-3%).

*McMorris has certainly not sealed the deal on her reelection, as just 38% are ready to re-elect her. The remaining 62% of the electorate would consider voting for someone else (24%), vote to replace McMorris (20%), or aren’t sure (18%). These findings are based on 400 completed interviews with a random sample of likely November 2006 voters. Interviews were conducted from July 20-23, 2006. Sampling error is +/- 4.9%.

It’s key of course for Goldmark to get his message out. That’s why it’s important that you contribute today to help him get his message out. There is nothing worse that on election day to say, “If only we had helped a little more, Goldmark would have won.” You can do something today.

We know now that he can win. Go to his campaign website at Vote Peter Goldmark to read more about his campaign. Contribute at MajorityRulesBlog ActBlue now.

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Congressional Candidate Peter Goldmark Starts Galloping in Eastern Washington

Posted on July 17th, 2006 | Comments Off on Congressional Candidate Peter Goldmark Starts Galloping in Eastern Washington

Democrat Peter Goldmark, running in eastern Washington’s 5th Congressional District, has raised more money than his Republican opponent during the latest reporting period. Goldmark reported to the Federal Elections Commission that for the April, May, June 2006 reporting period he has raised over $200,066. His opponent, Cathy McMorris, has only raised $125,945 during this same time period.

McMorris is the incumbent. Her campaign has already spent $648,922 she previously raised and only has $466,955 in cash on hand. This is not a lot of cash on hand for an incumbent. Meanwhile Goldmark has not frittered away what he’s raised and has $134,911 in cash on hand. Considering this is Goldmark’s first quarter of raising funds, he has made an impressive start.

When I had a chance to ask Congressman Jay Inslee on Friday how he thought Goldmark was doing, Inslee said that Goldmark’s campaign is picking up momentum. He called Goldmark “a great fit for his district”.

Inslee noted that he had recently gone to a major fundraiser for Goldmark in eastern Washington . Over 200 people were in attendance. Inslee will soon be doing a mailing for Goldmark.

There are a lot of good signs his campaign is picking up momentum. Goldmark brings to the 5th C.D. a strong background in ranching, education, public service and science. He has a forward looking agenda to help the district. You can read more about Peter Goldmark by going to his official campaign website – Vote Peter Goldmark.

Majority Rules Blog has previously posted on Peter Goldmark several times See:

Peter Goldmark – Eastern Washington’s Dark Horse Candidate

Democrat Peter Goldmark Rides into Spokane to Kickoff his Campaign for Congress.

Goldmark is a great candidate and is working hard but he needs your support. I have set up a link through ActBlue – a Democratic fundraising site – where you can easily make an on-line contribution to Peter Goldmark’s campaign. Click here MajorityRulesBlog ActBlue .

Our goal is to raise $5,000 for Peter Goldmark’s campaign through MajorityRulesBlog ActBlue.

Clicking on the ActBlue link will show both how much has been raised and also what other blogs and sites have raised for Goldmark using ActBlue. You can also link to other Democratic campaigns across the country

Looking at the finance report of Goldmark’s opponent reveals that almost two thirds of the money McMorris raised this last quarter has come came from special interest PAC’s. Some in particular, like Labor Ready and Wal-Mart shows insight into her recent vote opposing raising the minimum wage. Most of Goldmark’s money has come from individual contributions.

Her are some of McMorris’s largest donors. The first number is their most recent contribution and the second number is their total contribution to her campaign.

Altira Group Inc PAC, NY $2500 ($5000)

American Health Care Association PAC $1000 ($5000)

American Road and Transportation Builder PAC, Washington, DC $1000 ($1000)

Assoc General Contractors of America PAC, Alexandria, VA $1000 ($4000)

Avista Corp Employees Effec Govt PAC $1500 ($5750)

Boeing PAC, Arlington, VA $2000 ($7000)

Burlington Northern Santa Fe Co. Rail PAC, Washington, DC $1000 ($3000)

Fair Credit Council PAC, Washington, DC $250 ($6363)

Growth and Prosperity PAC, Washington,DC $4500 ($9500)

Int Council of Shopping Center, Inc. PAC, Alexandria, VA $1000 ($2000)

Labor Ready Inc,PAC, Tacoma, WA $1000 ($6000)

Mine PAC (American Mining Assoc.), Washington, DC $1000 ($2000)

Nat. Assoc. of Insurance and Financial Advisors PAC, Falls Church, VA $1000 ($4500)

NelNet Inc PAC, Washington, DC $3000 ($5000)

Old Castles Materials Inc, Washington, DC $2000 ($4000)

Paccar Inc Employees Org for Pol Leadership, Winston Salem, NC $1000 ($3000)
RJ Reynolds PAC, Winston Salem, NC $1000 ($4000)

Road to Victory PAC, Alexandria,VA $5000 ($5000)

United Parcel Services Inc PAC, Atlanta, GA $2500 ($10,000)

Wal-Mart Inc PAC , Bentonville, Alabama $3500 ($3500)

Washington Group Int PAC, Arlington, VA $7000 ($7000)

Wine and Spirit Wholesalers of America, Inc PAC $2500 ($2500)

With this type of special interest money funding McMorris’s campaign, one can clearly see the type of interests she has and will support in Congress. Just some more reasons why to help get Peter Goldmark elected. Again you can click on MajorityRulesBlog ActBlue to make a contribution today to Peter Goldmark. Thanks.

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Dollars for Democrats – Contribute to Peter Goldmark, Darcy Burner, and Maria Cantwell Today

Posted on June 30th, 2006 | Comments Off on Dollars for Democrats – Contribute to Peter Goldmark, Darcy Burner, and Maria Cantwell Today

Click now on MajorityRulesBlog’s ActBlue link to contribute to the Congressional campaigns of three Democrats that need our help. Today June 30th is the deadline for second quarter contributions from April through June, 2006. Campaigns must submit their reports by July 15.

This quarter’s reports will be viewed very closely by the media, campaign consultants, pollsters, pundits, opponents, and others as an indication of the strength of a candidate’s campaign. So if you’ve thought about giving a contribution, today is a good day to do so. And if you haven’t thought about making a contribution, shame on you. Again click on ActBlue now.

ActBlue is the online clearinghouse for Democratic candidates. It is set up nationally and is proving to be a valuable addition to the ways candidates and their supporters can reach out to people on the internet.

The stakes in who controls Congress are critical. Without control of either the House or the Senate, our present totally one party governemnt will continue to run over the rights of average citizens in favor of the corporations and multimillionaires.

They will continue to add right wing conservatives to the Federal Courts, and as if the present Republican Supreme Court lackeys aren’t bad enough, just think what it will be like if another Bush appointee reaches the Supreme Court.

A day ago they endorsed DeLay’s partisan Republican power grab of Texas redistricting and you can expect more of that nowin other states. And don’t forget in 2000 they were the ones that voted to put George Bush in office, not the voters of this country. They stopped the Florida recount. If the voter recount had been stopped in Washington it would have been Governor Rossi. The Republican Supreme Court system is for process only as long as they are winning.

So starting at the top. Here are my recommendations:

We need to keep Maria Cantwell as Washington’s U.S. Senator

Next are the Democratic candidates for the 2 U.S. House seats currently held by Republicans:

Peter Goldmark – Washington’s 5th Congressional District

Darcy Burner – Washington’s 8th Congressional District

You can contribute to these candidates by going to the MajorityRulesBlog page at Act Blue.
Clicking on this link will also let you connect to the websites of each of the candidates if you want to check out their campaign’s a little closer.

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Republicans Fail to Protect God. Satan Removed Earmarked Exemption from Constitution

Posted on June 29th, 2006 | Comments Off on Republicans Fail to Protect God. Satan Removed Earmarked Exemption from Constitution

Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives yesterday failed once again to save their omnipotent God from the potential ravages of a Satan tampered with U.S. Constitution. They proclaimed that the U.S. Constitution must have been tampered with while God was sleeping and that Satan had removed an earmarked exemption to protect “under God” from constitutional review, Republicans tried to undo the terrible deed. God sleeping meant that he was not able to really input his ultimate wisdom upon those who wrote the U.S. Constitution, so Republicans yesterday tried in vain to make the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance sacrosanct and beyond judicial scrutiny as to its constitutionality in the future.

Never mind that the Constitution is several hundred years old and that the phrase “under God” was added in 1954 to the Pledge of Allegiance. But God is prescient also so he should have forseen this happening.

Because, heaven forbid, if this nation “under God” allowed the judicial system set up “under God” to do its will, the courts just might find the words “under God” conflicted with the First Amendment of the US Constitution. So the Republicans tried passing legislation exempting the words “under God” from being able to be reviewed by the Federal Courts. They failed to get the legislation out of committee.

In a way its very similar to the recent Republican effort saying Congress would not set a date to get out of Iraq. Because then they might be held accountable for failing to get us out of Iraq. Because Republicans control Congress and the Presidency and the US Supreme Court is currently a partisan conservative Republican Court, Republicans can do pretty much whatever they want. But they don’t want to be caught making any promises they can’t keep.

One has to wonder why God who is supposed to be omnipotent and omnipresent now needs Republican Senators to protect his holiness. Won’t the Nation still be “under God”, even if we don’t say it in the Pledge of Allegiance? Won’t God still be in people’s hearts and guide their actions? Won’t Congress still act based on God’s wisdom and will and his commandments?

And what is this thing about desecrating the flag? Does a piece of cloth really represent our nation or do the people and their actions represent our nation? Seems to me this piece of cloth is really some kind of false idol by indications of all the attention the Republicans give it these days. They are using this piece of cloth to try to rally conservative voters. Wouldn’t they be more successful if they really did a compassionate act, like raised the minimum wage or helped really rebuild New Orleans?

Republicans under Chief Priest and Holy Intrepreter of the Conservative Church of America, Karl Rove, are desperately trying to rally the right wing ideologues to save America from heathen Democrats. It’s a real threat.

But if the Republicans really want to show God that they are saved and have seen the light, then maybe they should spend their time and the taxpayers money dealing with some real issues instead of doing the bidding of corporate America and the oil companies.

Like why don’t we have car fuel efficiency standards that would really reduce our dependence on foreign oil?

Why are we not engaging in a serious effort for energy independence?

Why can’t we raise the minimum wage from $5.15 an hour which it has been for the last 10 years? Congress raised their own salary $30,000 during the same time?

Why are thousands of mobile homes taxpayers paid for sitting unused while people are still homeless as a result of Hurricane Katrina?

Why have billions been spent on Iraq and Afghanistan reconstruction without getting results?

Under Franklin Delano Roosevelt, we has a C.C.C. It was the Civilian Conservation Corps. It employed the unemployed during the Depression when the free reign American economic system broke down. Government and its citizens went to work rebuilding and building new roads and bridges and parks to benefit our country.

Today the Republicans have instituted a new C.C.C. It is called the Congressional Corporate Cronyism program. Under this new C.C.C. the Republicans have decided to give large tax breaks to wealthy multi-millionaires and corporations while passing token tax cuts for the rest of us taxpayers.

Republicans refuse to raise the minimum wage from $5.15 an hour. It’s been the same for the last 10 years. Meanwhile Republicans in Congress have raised their own salary by $30,000 per year.

Republicans in Congress dole out large contracts to non-governmental entities to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan. Billions are spent with little to show. Republicans in Congress refuse to investigate.

Likewise millions are spent in contracts without government supervision to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina with much being wasted. Government entities like the Army Corps of Engineers are bypassed because Republicans believe in private enterprise.

It’s almost like a conspiracy by the Republicans to carry out their oft stated purpose of reducing the Federal Government. We bomb the hell out of Iraq with an Awe and Shock campaign, destroying their infrastructure. Remember how at the time the rationale was that Iraq oil would pay for reconstruction. Never happened.

Instead billions in tax dollars from hard working Americans flow into the hands of private contractors that the Republicans favor in promoting free enterprise. Domestic programs are cut, reducing education, health care and other social service programs.

The end result. Both Osama Bin Laden and George Bush win. Osama Bin Laden gets us to spend billions and billions in a war on terror that drains our domestic economy. Bush having spent billions and billions in his personal war in Iraq forces Congress to both cut current expenditures for domestic programs and indebt future generations for war costs.

It is a rehash of the Reagan era military spending buildup to run the Russian economy into ruin. It worked then and it’s now being flipped back on us. And Osama Bin Laden doesn’t even have to expend billions. He just has to threaten us.

Americans are getting the results of reduced government under Bush. Corporations, oil companies and multimillionaires get tax breaks, while students and parents pay more to go to college, taxpayers pay the bills for higher medical costs and programs to help the poor decrease.

Instead of a compassionate government under God we have a mean spirited Republican Government hell bent on promoting increased wealth for the wealthy and giving tax breaks for corporations and oil companies. The Republican free enterprise doctrine is rapidly taking place in America as Republicans are successfully implemented their attack plan of limiting government for most citizens while giving special protections to corporate America.

Why is that not surprising? Americans put an oilman in the White House, not an educator, or a social worker. The Bush Republicans have done a great job of hoodwinking America as to their goals and intentions.

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Washington State Congressional Campaigns Heating up!

Posted on May 31st, 2006 | 1 comment

Interest has been picking up on the internet in the 3 Congressional House seats in Washington state where Democrats are challenging Republican incumbents.

These are the :

WA 8th CD – Democrat challenger Darcy Burner vs incumbent Dave Reichert

WA 5th CD – Democrat Peter Goldmark vs incumbent Cathy McMorris

WA 4th CD – Democrat Richard Wright vs incumbent Doc Hastings

In the 8th Congressional District Democratic candidate Darcy Burner (WA 8) is literally burning a hole in the seat of the pants of incumbent Dave Reichert. You have to have your pants on fire to call President Bush in to help you these days, considering Bush’s low approval ratings. Yet this is just what Reichert has done.

In an article written by Neil Modie of the Seattle PI, it is confirmed that Bush will be coming to attend a private fundraiser for Reichert on June 16 th at the home of Microsoft executive Peter Neupert. It will cost $1000 a head to see President Bush close up. For only $10,000 you can get a picture with Bush. That money will be donated to the state Republican Party.

Neil notes that this is the President’s only stop in the state. As such I am sure that the President is officially taking time off from his busy job at the White House and that the cost for the plane, secret service time and all the rest will be paid for by the National Republican Party or come out of campaign funds raised, since attending a political fundraiser is not an official duty of the President of the United States.

And I am also sure that Washington State taxpayers will not have to pay for any additional local police and security forces due to the President attending a private political fundraiser on his own time. After all we’re already paying billions of taxpayer dollars for the President’s private war for oil in Iraq that he pawned onto a gullible Congress and American taxpayers.

Darcy Burner, meanwhile had a fundraiser yesterday with Congressman Rahm Emanuel -Chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.see writeup at the NPI Blog.

In the 5th Congressional District race in Eastern Washington, Democrat Peter Goldmark held his official kickoff in Spokane last week and did a three day tour of events to reach out to voters. A series of articles and blogs document the increased interest in this race.

In the 4th Congressional District more attention is emerging for Democrat Richard Wright who is running against incumbent” lack of action” House Ethics Committee Chair Doc Hastings.

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