40 days from today - on May 18 - we will see two HUGE primaries for U.S. Senate. Even though these races aren't in Minnesota, they impact Democrats across the country and, well, the entire country as a whole.
In Pennsylvania, Democratic Congressman Joe Sestak will try to upset Republican-for-decades Arlen Specter.
In Arkansas, Democratic Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter will try to upset corporate lackey Blanche Lincoln.
These two races are tremendously important to defining who and what the Democratic Party is and what we will be fighting for.
If you can volunteer for these candidates (or encourage friends and family in Pennsylvania and Arkansas to do so), that would be amazing.
Of course, if you can help with a contribution to either or both via the Expand the Map! ActBlue page as soon as possible, it will make a big impact.
Polling shows that both Specter and Lincoln are at risk of - if not likely to - hand these Senate seats over to far-right-wing Republicans. (And, even if these two retain the seats, that's not much better on many key issues.)
Congressman Sestak and Lieutenant Governor Halter winning these primaries are critical to keeping these seats in truly Democratic hands. Your support can help make that happen! Please hop over to the Expand the Map! ActBlue page right away to make a contribution - an investment in the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party to pull out an old expression - and show your support.
Thanks SO much for any support you can provide. 40 Days.
I sat in on a conference call with firedoglake contributor Jon Walker yesterday. I learned quite a bit I didn't know. I haven't been paying quite as close attention once it passed the House. Furthermore, I'm now confident that Senators Klobuchar and Franken will vote for a public option if it's in the bill so from a MN angle, this isn't really a story for MPP.
However.
What does pass could have a huge impact on our lives here in Minnesota.
If you have specific questions about what's going on, please say something in the comments and I will get an answer for you.
For those of you following the healthcare reform efforts in Congress, we are getting really close. The problem now is getting past the Republican filibuster in the Senate and four Democrats who have indicated they might or would stand with the Republicans and with the insurance companies and against us.
Now that the sausage-making process is in the Senate and our Senators, Franken and Klobuchar, are on board, I usually can only watch with a mix of powerlessness, fear and disgust. But SEIU has created a way to make a difference.
The Senate is introduced its health care reform bill yesterday, and only four fricking members of the Democratic Senator caucus are standing in the way of passage. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana are the only four remaining "Democratic" Senators who have not ruled out joining with a Republican filibuster of health care reform.
What the #%@*!?!
What's worse, these four don't really give a rat's a$$ what you think, even though their vote affects you. Unless you are a resident of Arkansas, Connecticut, Louisiana or Nebraska, as far as they are concerned, you might as well live on Pluto.
Fortunately, Open Left is teaming up with SEIU to do something about it. Even if you do not live in Arkansas, Connecticut, Louisiana or Nebraska, SEIU has developed activist tools that allow you to contact voters in those four states, and tell those voters to tell their Senators to get on board with health care reform. Fight back and make a difference--sign up and tell one, or all four, of these "Democratic" Senators to pass health care reform with a public option:
"I'm just tremendously busy," Franni Franken responded. I'd asked how it was going. I then asked about how Rosh Hashanah went, the Jewish New Year.
"Well, Al had to go back to Minnesota for some events," she explained. "So he celebrated with the Hornsteins. Thomasin and I stayed in DC and celebrated with the Ornsteins."
Rep. Frank Hornstein (DFL-Mpls) is married to a well-known Rabbi, Marcia Zimmerman. Norm Ornstein, a well known political scientist, has known the Frankens for many years. Funny how that worked out.
"But I've got to tell you about the Congressional Hunger Caucuses No Lunch Luncheon for the spouses," she continued after I got done chuckling. "I went with Gwen Walz and Kim Ellison. They've seen the problems of hunger on an every day basis as they've been involved in education."
"So many more kids are affected by this," she explained. The economy has sent many, many families into poverty and many kids are going hungry. MAZON and the National Anti-Hunger Organizations (NAHO) host an annual bi-partisan Congressional Spouses Luncheon Without Lunch briefing to provide the latest news and information to these very influential men and women about hunger in America.
"We all got paper plates with a photo of a face of a child," she said.
"Next week Al is going to introduce legislation in the Senate," she told me. "Keith Ellison is going to introduce the House version."
You can find out more at this blog when the bills are introduced.
"I'm just tremendously busy," Franni Franken responded. I'd asked how it was going. I then asked about how Rosh Hashanah went, the Jewish New Year.
