Spector may not be automatic Vote.. but he's a realist

“I will not be an automatic 60th vote,” Specter said Tuesday afternoon. “I would illustrate that with my position on employee choice, also known as card check. I think it’s a bad deal and I’m opposed to it. I will not vote to impose cloture. … If the Democratic Party asks too much, I will not vote with them.” -Politico

What does this mean for this like the EFCA vote? Well according to Employee Free Choice Report, even though he said in his statement he would not change his vote on EFCA, it might.

"My change in party affiliation does not mean that I will be a party-line voter any more for the Democrats that I have been for the Republicans. Unlike Senator Jeffords' switch which changed party control, I will not be an automatic 60th vote for cloture. For example, my position on Employees Free Choice (Card Check) will not change."

Spector was the only Republican to vote for cloture last year on HR 800 EFCA. I am hopeful that a small change in the bill might help him change his mind. Further, Spector now realizes that he will need Democratic Party support in the next election. Without their support with one of the central issues being EFCA, he can't expect be elected for a 5th term. I Believe with enough pressure, he can become the needed vote for labor.

Spector Makes 59..Franken makes 60

The news is in. Yes! Arlen Spector a life long Republican from Pennsylvania decided recently to switch party's making the race..assuming Franken is seating (which is all but inevitable) up to 60 votes. This is so important because it would provide a veto proof majority in Congress that wuold allow the President to sign crucial legislation loike Health care, energy, education and hopefully Labor reform

Spector was seen as a vulnerable candidate in 2010, where he was loosing in his Republican primary. This is a symptom of a larger issue of Republicans driving moderates out of the party. In his statement He cited that the party was taking ideology over political relevance. "They don't make any bones about their willingness to lose the general election if they can purify the party. I don't understand it but that's what they say."

60 votes... 60 that's huge. It has always been the magic number. With Franken getting seated in the future, real reform will happen in this Congress. The last few months have been filled with Republicans using their Senate minority to block legislation and to make the Democrats look bad, but with this vote, that could change. Granted Spector isn't an automatic vote, butmif he wants to do well in the Democratic primary in 13 Months, he will have to take Democratic Party Platform possitions.


What Does this mean For Franken?

This means the stakes just hot higher. A 60th vote in the senate would make the minority party less relevent. This makes the Coleman lawsuit even more applicable and John Cornyn's push for the Supreme Court appeal even louder.

But.. Pawlenty said that Spector's decision didnt affect the contest in Minnesota, or when he would sign a certificate. This could be good or bad news for Democrats because Pawlenty remains vague on the issue.
"We're going to follow the law with respect to the Franken/Coleman litigation and when and how a certificate gets issued," Pawlenty said. "So again, the situation with Pennsylvania has no connection or impact on what's going to happen in Minnesota."



This could be a historic moment. We will just have to wait and see.

Bachmann....crazier than ever

Bachmann has had some really juicy stuff that she has said lately. false one's about Keith and Obama among others. Take a look at my blog roll. Read the link DUMP MICHELE BACHMANN
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That Being said. Her fear mongering has done her well in the camp0aign office. She raised more than 300,000 dollars in the first quarter of the year. This is on top of another quarter million in the bank reports the MN INDY

Reich 4 One

Hey all of you Northeasters. I apologize for not posting immediately after the endorsing convention but I have been busy. regardless, Northeast and the first ward had overwhelming support for community organizer and Co Chair of Windom Citizens In Action Kevin Reich. He has secured the DFL endorsement. I encourage you folks to volunteer for his campaign. Kevin is a nice guy and has a solid past in the community. Sure he has the DFL endorsement now, whivh is practically the biggest step to CityHall, He still needs volunteers for the primary, where he will face Susan Howitz-Hanna and possible other candidates. Then a general election.

The Importance of volunteering for zKevin, is that if you volunteer, you get the ear of the candidate. Being an activist will help you get your issues heard. So go get your voice heard.

Go here:

http://www.reich4ward1.com/donatevolunteer.html


Even in an election that looks pretty solid, it is important to get involved because there are always important issues like the debt, projects and workers rights that need attention.

Coleman -sore loser - Minnesotan's want him gone

It is sure nice living in this little old state tucked away and near Canada getting noticed on a national scale. But frankly, I don't like that we are noticed for our crazy politics.

Coleman recently told the Pioneer Press that "We Will Never Know who won." claiming that margin is so close that it our elections were not designed.

What Coleman forgot, is that we have a system for this. It is called a recount panel and a challenging trial. Norm Coleman has exhausted his chances of winning outside of appeals. Not only did the the tri-partisan trail judges soundly reject his claims...and pretty much already answer the questions presented to the supreme court, but they made it clear only legal votes were aloud to be introduced.

Minnesotan have now seen that Coleman's time has past to concede. In a recent poll Minnesotas now believe he should concede by about 2:1

Do you think Norm Coleman should appeal the decision and continue to fight in court or should Coleman concede the race?

Appeal: 37%
Concede: 63%

"It's just wrong" - says MIT economist about Bachmann

G.O.P. leaders in the house have perpetually been using a $3128 figure to try and scare people into not supporting the cap and trade system that is being proposed by Obama and the Democratic leadership. Most recently was our own crazy lady Michele Bachmann. She decided in yesterday's Oped that she would perpetuate the wrong numbers used by the GOP that crunch two irrelevant numbers.

Bachmann and her friends use a number ($3128 per household) that nowhere can be found in the M.I.T. report. This number in fact was debunked by the MIT economist John Reilly in an article by the St. Petersburg Times more than two weeks ago.

"It's just wrong," said John Reilly, an energy, environmental and agricultural economist at M.I.T. and one of the authors of the report. "It's wrong in so many ways it's hard to begin."

Not only is it wrong, but he told the House Republicans it was wrong when they asked him.

"Someone from the House Republicans had called me (March 20) and asked about this," Reilly said. "I had explained why the estimate they had was probably incorrect and what they should do to correct it, but I think this wrong number was already floating around by that time."

The report by MIT used a figure 100 times smaller than the Bachmann number. The average increase per household would come out to be $30.89. That is an absolute world of difference. 100 times larger than the MIT figure, really? How many flaming pants can we send to her before she gets the message?

So basically, here we see another stumble with Congresswoman Bachmann, with nearly 20 staff in her office and additional staff in her campaign, you think they could come up with a number that supports what the researcher at MIT used. In fact the article in the SPT is from the 24th of March, in my opinion plenty of time to get your facts straight. Making up and misrepresenting numbers is lying. There is noway around it. Bachmann is doing herself no favors by taking false information from talking points and perpetuating them in the media.

It is pretty evident that Bachmann will continue to advance her slanted agenda, News outlets need to be aware of her figures vs the ones that actually exist. I invite her to use figures that may support her political agenda, but don't use numbers that make a liar out of yourself. Bachmann needs to get her numbers straight,and the Strib needs to fact-check when they publish articles like this.

P.S. - sorry for the blog vac. -I've been swamped with other responsibilities