Get ready, this is about to get VERY ugly

The opening salvos in the involvement of Super PACs in the 2012 presidential race happened in the past week. There are two very obvious examples and they should give us all a taste of the bitterness we’re going to see over the next seven months.

First, American Crossroads, Karl Rove’s privately-funded group, announced…

Medicare for me only. The definition of freedom is at stake this week in the Supreme Court. Franklin Roosevelt defined the state that all Americans hope to enjoy best with the Four Freedoms. Freedom of speech and expression Freedom of worship Freedom from want Freedom from fear Conservatives have a different kind of freedom in mind. They want freedom from […]

It’s deja vu all over again Paul Ryan and his GOP pals released their latest budget proposal today. While it aims to eliminate the deficit by 2040. How do they hope to do this. No surprise: it cuts Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP and Social Security, leaves military spending alone and cuts taxes on the wealthy. The New Ryan Plan leaves the […]

Breathe deep and think about what you are doing Tomorrow is the Michigan primary. A significant number of Dem-leaning pundits and commentators are encouraging Democrats to cross over and vote for Rick Santorum in the GOP primary. You can do that. It’s totally legal. I’m asking you not to. I’ve already gone on record as to why I think this […]

At what point do we stop calling these assholes “Democrats”? Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson, a moderate Democrat who’s facing a tough reelection next year, said he’ll take a look at the latest jobs proposal — a $60 billion package to help rebuild aging infrastructure — but continues to have concerns about the fact that these bills have been funded by […]

Last December the Republicans in Congress held unemployed Americans hostage in order to secure tax breaks for the nation’s über-wealthy. It was a strategy that worked because Democrats, including President Obama, were unwilling to sacrifice the welfare of our most-vulnerable citizens simply to win a political battle. Once again the country finds the GOP in a hostage-taking situation. In order […]

If you want to get a clear picture of the differences in between the two main political parties, you need look no further than Michigan this week. The differences between the parties could not be clearer … or starker. This week Democrats called for a state constitutional amendment that would guarantee workers the right bargain collectively. Private AND public workers. […]

Much has been made about the epic fail of the Democrats with regard to their messaging. On health insurance reform and nearly every other issue you can name, they always get their asses handed to them by the Republicans. The Frank Luntz right-wing messaging factory has been a far superior operation and has been far more successful at framing the […]

I have found the national political response to the shootings in Arizona a fascinating study this past week. As I blogged earlier this week , when Democrats held out an olive branch to Republicans last year, asking for a mutual statement urging civility in political discourse, they were firmly rebuffed by RNC leadership. I had expected this recent tragedy to […]

This past weekend, Organizing for America (OFA) groups across the country held training sessions for folks interested in getting/remaining involved as we head into the new year. After a debilitating mid-term election, many folks have argued that Democrats are demoralized, unenthused and disinterested in being involved and active. This is hardly the case. In Michigan alone, we had four of […]

President Obama signs bill to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell into law. Another bigoted policy from another era consigned to the rubbish bin of history. Sitting here in one of the most conservative cities in the state of Michigan, I’m almost weepy. I’m just sayin’…