Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Save the Date, RennsCo Dems!

Save the Date - May 23 - for the Rensselaer County Democratic Committee's Spring Fundraiser! A formal announcement will be sent to all town chairs and we will also post details here.


It is always fun to get together with fellow Democrats over food and drink so make sure you plan on being there.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Who's funding Gibson?

Rookie Rep. Chris Gibson had a relatively mediocre first quarter in fund-raising, according to this diary at Daily Kos.

Follow the link in the diary, and you'll find who's funding our Congressman who wants to eliminate Medicare.

There are the usual local Republicans, developers and builders mostly, and lots of PACs and lobbyists interested in Gibson's committee assignments (Agriculture and Armed Services).

Highlights include:

Longtime county GOP operative Rich Crist, who lies about his employment, gave $500.

Former county resident. and state and county GOP chair, Bill Powers, who now lives in Massachusetts, gave $250, and his kids gave another $950.

Mike Russo, a union guy who worked for Kirsten Gillibrand when she held this seat and now does PR for Global Foundries, gave $500.

Gerry Solomon's widow, in for $500 from her government entitlements.

Lots of money from sugar-related PACS -- American Sugarbeet Growers Association ($500), Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group PAC ($2,000), Great Lakes Sugarbeet Growers PAC ($1,000), Snake River Sugar Co, ($1,000), Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative ($1,000), South Texas Sugar Cane Producers ($125), Florida Sugar Cane League PAC ($375), Alexander And Baldwin Federal PAC ($62.50), and the American Crystal Sugar PAC ($5,000).

Lots more from special interests who agree with Gibson on killing Medicare -- Covidien PAC ($1,000), Independent Insurance Agents And Brokers ($2,000), MVP Health Care Federal PAC ($1,500), New York Life Insurance Company PAC ($5,000), Rain And Hail Insurance Society ($1,000), and Blue Cross/Blue Sheild South Carolina ($385).

The military industrial complex has bought instant access to Gibson -- BAE Systems PAC ($1,000), Boeing Company PAC ($2,000), Honeywell International PAC ($6,134.38), ITT Corporation PAC ($1,000), Lockheed Martin Corporation Employees' PAC ($2,000), Rockwell Collins Good Government Commitee ($1,000), and, last but not least, General Electric Co. PAC ($1.000).

These lists are necessarily incomplete, because some contributors have no doubt, like Rich Crist, decided to disguise the real reason they are giving to Gibson.

But one thing is crystal clear -- Gibson is and will be more interested in public policies that benefit his benefactors than he ever was in representing the interests of the working people of the 20th Congressional District.

His voting record so far has shown that in spades, and will continue to do so for what remains of his one term in Congress.

Friday, April 8, 2011

Gibson wants to eliminate Medicare

Rookie Rep. Chris Gibson continues to be a Tea Party parrot, voting to shut down the government and expressing strong support for an extreme Republican/Tea Party budget plan that will eliminate Medicare.

The GOP budget proposal would eliminate the current Medicare program and turn it into a voucher system, with seniors getting inadequate vouchers to use to buy junk insurance from for-profit health insurance companies.

According to a Congressional Budget Office analysis, the Republican voucher (a measly $8,000 a year in 2022!) would pay for just a third of the cost of a health insurance package equivalent to the current Medicare benefit.

So, Gibson and the Republican extremists want to eliminate Medicare and substantially raise what seniors spend for health care, by more than $10,000 a year.

In a remarkably shameless lie, even for such an accomplished liar, Gibson says this will "strengthen and preserve" Medicare.

Far-right Republicans have always hated Medicare, because it actually helps people who need help.

They much prefer helping the rich pay less in taxes, and the Republican/Tea Party plan does some more of that, cutting the income tax rate AND the nominal corporate tax rate from 35 to 25 percent.

Thanks to those massive tax cuts, the extreme Republican budget plan would actually INCREASE the deficit relative to GDP in its first 10 years. Only after the screw-the-seniors Medicare plan kicks in does the deficit go down relative to GDP.

So, when Gibson says this is all about reducing the deficit, he is lying, again.
 
It's really all about even more massive tax cuts for the wealthiest, and killing Medicare.

Monday, April 4, 2011

2012 starts today.

We got this in our e-mail inbox from our GOOD FRIEND President Barak Obama:


Friend --

Today, we are filing papers to launch our 2012 campaign.

We're doing this now because the politics we believe in does not start with expensive TV ads or extravaganzas, but with you -- with people organizing block-by-block, talking to neighbors, co-workers, and friends. And that kind of campaign takes time to build.

So even though I'm focused on the job you elected me to do, and the race may not reach full speed for a year or more, the work of laying the foundation for our campaign must start today.

We've always known that lasting change wouldn't come quickly or easily. It never does. But as my administration and folks across the country fight to protect the progress we've made -- and make more -- we also need to begin mobilizing for 2012, long before the time comes for me to begin campaigning in earnest.

As we take this step, I'd like to share a video that features some folks like you who are helping to lead the way on this journey. Please take a moment to watch:

Watch the video

In the coming days, supporters like you will begin forging a new organization that we'll build together in cities and towns across the country. And I'll need you to help shape our plan as we create a campaign that's farther reaching, more focused, and more innovative than anything we've built before.

We'll start by doing something unprecedented: coordinating millions of one-on-one conversations between supporters across every single state, reconnecting old friends, inspiring new ones to join the cause, and readying ourselves for next year's fight.

This will be my final campaign, at least as a candidate. But the cause of making a lasting difference for our families, our communities, and our country has never been about one person. And it will succeed only if we work together.

There will be much more to come as the race unfolds. Today, simply let us know you're in to help us begin, and then spread the word.

Thank you,

Barack