Sue Thorn is a Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt kind of Democrat, one who comes to the political arena as a champion of ordinary working families, not so she can suck up to corporate special interests. That makes both political establishments in DC uncomfortable. And it's why, in a traditionally Democratic district in the northern third of West Virginia, Sue is on her own. Tuesday she'll be joining us here live for her Blue America endorsement and a live chat. Meanwhile, we had a strong feeling she'd have something to say about the GOP attempt to wreck the American regulatory system last week. (By all means, though; don't wait if you like what you read here, please consider making a contribution to her grassroots campaign.)

After finally correcting the typos in previous versions of the bill, the House succeeded Thursday in passing H.R. 4078, a bill designed to increase corporate profits at the expense of people’s health and safety. The original bill would have frozen any government regulation costing $100 million or more until unemployment rates fall to 6 percent. West Virginians were particularly interested in the debate because that wasn’t outrageous enough for their own local crackpot. David McKinley, the freshman Sue is running against in November. He proposed an amendment lowering that threshold to $50 million, a change the House stood behind in a 240-178 vote, although 10 Republicans found it too extreme and voted with the Democrats against the amendment. It’s evident that McKinley believes corporate profits and CEO bonuses can’t ever be too high, even when it hurts workers and their safety.

We asked Sue if she thought this was a good example about how voters could measure the difference between herself and McKinley. “An elected official," she told us yesterday, "should report to the people they represent, not super PACs and campaign contributors. Voting for decreased regulation for corporations doesn’t make you a friend of workers; it makes you a puppet for greedy industry lobbyists. And sponsoring legislation to bring in profits for coal companies doesn’t make you a friend of coal miners. It makes you a mouthpiece for the coal barons.”

McKinley has a clear history of expressing indifference towards the people he was elected to serve. Time after time, he puts corporate profits before clean air, drinkable water and safe communities. He has a consistent voting record of opposing regulation that protects the public from unfair, deceptive and abusive financial practices and always makes a nasty point of standing against collective bargaining. McKinley has demonstrated that he will always hide behind corporate interests and put profits before the people of West Virginia. Coal mining interests make up McKinley’s largest group of campaign contributors. Those in the mining and utility industries have already spent more than $360,000 on McKinley's re-election campaign, according to reports provided to the Federal Election Commission. Just 3 weeks after taking office, he introduced a bill that would benefit his contributor, Arch Coal, but put the water supply at risk for families that live near coal mining communities. And he’s also shown that he is single-mindedly focused on passing a coal ash bill that is incredibly dangerous for West Virginia communities, all to rake in profits for his campaign backers, all this despite protests from residents of the 1st district that have already been devastated by coal ash pollution. Sue didn't need any encouragement from us to keep going on how differently she sees the role of government.

“Congress must be accountable to the people. Representatives owe it to constituents to ensure we are protected from unsafe food, dangerous consumer products, hazardous work environments and predatory lending practices. Instead, House Republicans are focused on ensuring record profits for members of the profit-hungry top 1%.

“The Citizens United decision to allow unlimited corporate spending in elections was not only detrimental to society; it was unethical and wrong. As patriotic Americans, we have to get big money out of our campaigns for the good of all. Yesterday House Republicans made it clear they’ll do anything to keep campaign contributions flowing and corporate profits soaring while workers are put in danger. As a member of the House of Representatives, I will always support people before the profits of any company.”

Like I said, Sue will be joining us live Tuesday (2pm, EST) here at C&L. If you can handle it, please consider a contribution to her campaign here on our Blue America page.

Tuesday, Blue America will be officially endorsing Rob Zerban for Congress-- looks like I let the cat out of the bag-- and he'll be our special Valentine's Day live guest here at C&L (11am PT; 2pm ET).

When I spoke to him a few minutes ago I reminded him that to the Netroots and to progressive activists outside of the district, Paul Ryan is known to be one of the most extreme and dangerous members of the conservative movement. This view is shared by many in Wisconsin, of course, including in the First Congressional District, but there is a still a great deal of work to be done convincing undecided and independents. I wanted to know what Rob is doing to make sure voters in Janesville, Kenosha, Racine, the southern Milwaukee 'burbs and even Waukesha get that. He says "there are three main factors why people are energized about this race and fed up with Ryan-- Ryan's ideas, his behavior, and the movement in Wisconsin. My campaign is focusing on harnessing these opportunities, drawing clear contrasts, and delivering that message to voters." When I asked for details, they came out like a gusher:

The privatization of Medicare and Social Security is an awful idea. Let’s start there. That is something the vast majority of people understand in this district, and across the nation. Supporters of Paul Ryan’s plans have admitted it does not save money. These proposals open these programs to huge risk and cuts, and are clearly just a ploy to take money away from seniors and put it into the hands of Wall Street and private health insurance companies. (Of course, these are the same special interests funding Ryan’s political career).

Paul Ryan’s agenda is not just cuts and privatization, but also wasteful spending on big tax cuts for the wealthy. Everyone is furious that Mitt Romney is paying only 13.9 percent on his millions while many in the middle class are paying tax rates in the 30 percentile. I point out to people that Paul Ryan makes this possible. He has pushed for every tax cut for millionaires and billionaires possible including the Bush tax cuts, capital gains, carried interest, and many other loopholes. Ryan wants to protect these loopholes for Mitt Romney instead of funding our students, seniors, and economic recovery efforts.

Paul Ryan likes to sell himself as a big thinker similar to the way Newt Gingrich has done. I realized early on that his grandiose and self-promoting plans, including the Path to Prosperity, are little more than the reheated and repackaged extremism of past eras.

The second problem many Wisconsinites have with Ryan is his behavior. He is cavorting with the ultra-wealthy at every opportunity and only occasionally returns to the district. His “listening sessions” with constituents compromise of him delivering a PowerPoint presentation on topics including why students don’t need Pell Grants and why seniors programs should be privatized. He routinely kicks out anyone who disagrees with him. He behaves like people’s boss- not their representative. In my opinion, he acts like someone who does not feel he owes his district or his constituents any consideration. He is a man with a philosophy and everyone else can take his way or the highway. This makes people mad!

The third and final factor I think is playing a big role in why people are so energized is the movement in Wisconsin. Wisconsin is the epicenter of the movement by the middle class to stand up for themselves and for their futures. The recall effort of the governor is an inspiring grassroots effort to get rid of someone who has stepped far outside of the lines to attack the middle class. The crushing and coordinated political attack on working families that happened in Wisconsin was outrageous. The attack was orchestrated by outside money networks and secret coalitions, including the Koch Brothers and ALEC, which allowed for radical legislation to be quickly rammed through Wisconsin state government. It was clear to everyone that our legislators and Governor were acting as puppets for outside interests and had little understanding what they were doing.

This all-out assault on the middle class woke a lot of people up. We saw great things in Madison. The Recall has also spread to my district and had a great impact. Formerly Republican-leaning areas of the district, including Waukesha County, had record participation in the recall.

In short, things have changed here in Wisconsin! People have woken up and blue collar retirees are remembering just how unacceptable the Republican agenda is. Seniors and students are realizing the deep cuts Ryan is ramming through will hurt them and will force many in the middle class to fall into poverty.

It doesn’t take a weatherman to know which way the wind blows! Paul Ryan has the wrong ideas for America and we just need to keep promoting the simple truth.

Good answer! Come meet Rob Tuesday, right here-- 11am PT, 2pm ET. And if you'd like to help his campaign before then... be our guest, over at the Blue America ActBlue page.

Tomorrow is the two year anniversary of the infamous Citizens United decision. And what better way for Crooks and Liars to "celebrate" than by inviting out old and trusted friend Alan Grayson back for a live chat? Blue America has decided to endorse his campaign for Congress again and he's joining us at 2pm Eastern/11am, Pacific for a live chat. Although Mitch McConnell, the evil man behind the curtain in the effort to wreck McCain-Feingold, was the only senator in the Supreme Court on that day, Grayson was the only Member of the House there. They even said hello to each other. But they had very different reactions. McConnell, Alan recalls that "Floyd Abrams sat between us. I have said publicly before that McConnell was delighted by the decision, and what I heard from him was either a giggle, or some other bodily function. Clarence Thomas looked like if he tipped his chair back just an inch further, he would fall backward."

Alan introduced half a dozen bills-- some just before the decision and some just after it-- to forestall the dreaded consequences of unleashing virtually unrestrained corporate cash into the electoral system. He was alarmed. Not enough Beltway Democrats shared that alarm and the result-- so far-- was the Tea Party takeover of the House and the crippling of the Senate's ability to move forward and the catastrophes for working families in Wisconsin, Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan and several other states. One of Alan's bills, the Business Should Mind Its Own Business Act (H.R. 4431) would have implemented a 500% excise tax on corporate contributions to political committees, and on corporate expenditures on political advocacy campaigns. Another, the End Political Kickbacks Act (H.R. 4434) sought to prevent for-profit corporations that receive government money from making political contributions, and limit the amount that employees of those companies can contribute. But my favorite was the End the Hijacking of Shareholder Funds Act (H.R. 4487). This bill requires the approval of a majority of a public company's shareholders for any expenditure by that company to influence public opinion on matters not related to the company's products or services.

Alan got over 100,000 people to sign our petition at SaveDemocracy.net, and delivered the petition to the Supreme Court. This was a new experience for the Supreme Court and the clerks had no idea how to handle it.

Please come back tomorrow and join in the free-ranging discussion with Alan, whose new Orlando-based district, is much friendlier territory for a Democrat. And if you can't wait 'til then to help his efforts to get back into Congress, please visit the Blue America page and chip in now. As you can see, even $5 and $10 contributions have been mounting up rapidly. By the way, the video above, which was watched by millions of Americans on YouTube, was the one that launched Grayson into the national consciousness-- and caused corporate America to spend more negative campaign money in his congressional district than in any other district in America. (More about that on Saturday).

We're very excited to announce that Grammy Award-winning musician Peter Frampton and his son Julian will be at Crooks and Liars today for a live chat to promote their album Thank You Mr Churchill and the single "Road to the Sun". Please join us at 3:00 pm Pacific/6:00 pm Eastern to chat with Peter and Julian.

The White House is hosting a live chat on the President's speech this morning on immigration reform. You can join it yourself and ask questions.

We're working on getting video of the speech to you. In the meantime, here's the transcript:

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. (Applause.) Everyone please have a seat. Thank you very much. Let me thank Pastor Hybels from near my hometown in Chicago, who took time off his vacation to be here today. We are blessed to have him.
I want to thank President Neil Kerwin and our hosts here at American University; acknowledge my outstanding Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis, and members of my administration; all the members of Congress -- Hilda deserves applause. (Applause.) To all the members of Congress, the elected officials, faith and law enforcement, labor, business leaders and immigration advocates who are here today -- thank you for your presence.

I want to thank American University for welcoming me to the campus once again. Some may recall that the last time I was here I was joined by a dear friend, and a giant of American politics, Senator Edward Kennedy. (Applause.) Teddy’s not here right now, but his legacy of civil rights and health care and worker protections is still with us.

I was a candidate for President that day, and some may recall I argued that our country had reached a tipping point; that after years in which we had deferred our most pressing problems, and too often yielded to the politics of the moment, we now faced a choice: We could squarely confront our challenges with honesty and determination, or we could consign ourselves and our children to a future less prosperous and less secure.

Continue reading »

I had to slow down posting for a few days since my nerve damage kicked up, but Dave and I will be over on Daily Kos at 4pm Pacific to do a live chat about our new book, OVER THE CLIFF with the great SusanG. She also interviewed us as part of the chat.

Sadly, No! documents how wingnut welfare queens like Mark Levin sell their books.

Disappearing from The Corner with the usual sound effect of Archie Bunker’s toilet flushing, and with the familiar lingering odor of Bay Rum and sock feet on the ottoman, it’s legal expert Mark Levin.

You know, we would LOVE for. . .oh, let’s say Dahlia Lithwick for instance, to question Mark Levin — the right-wing talk radio zealot and wingnut welfare author, the character who used the National Review to falsely claim that he had nominated Rush Limbaugh for a Nobel Peace Prize — about his knowledge of the Constitution, let alone Supreme Court decisions.

The Limbaugh Code: The New York Times best seller no one is talking about
By Dahlia Lithwick
Posted Friday, April 1, 2005, at 6:21 PM ET

[...]

I use the word “book” with some hesitation: Certainly it possesses chapters and words and other book-like accoutrements. But [Mark R. Levin's] Men in Black is 208 large-print pages of mostly block quotes (from court decisions or other legal thinkers) padded with a foreword by the eminent legal scholar Rush Limbaugh, and a blurry 10-page “Appendix” of internal memos to and from congressional Democrats—stolen during Memogate. The reason it may take you only slightly longer to read Men in Black than it took Levin to write it is that you’ll experience an overwhelming urge to shower between chapters.

It gets more scathing from there. Luckily, Mr. Levin is also a financial expert.

They make the case as do so many of us that conservative authors like Levin use the wingnut welfare system to finance their intellectually barren arguments and books. That's why it's important to support 'Liberal Authors' who don't use the Ctrl+C keyboard short cut as their primary research tool and if you can: Buy this book.

David Neiwert and I have finished our new book and it will be released very, very soon. The graphic above is the book cover and both of us are really excited about our collaboration. We've documented much more than just the talking heads you see in "bubbles" falling off the cliff.

We'll be making a big push for it once the process begins starting with a live chat on C&L.

I think you guys will be just as proud of it as I am.

Follow me on Twitter here:

http://twitter.com/JohnAmato

As part of Michael Moore’s DVD and Blue-ray release of Capitalism: A Love Story, he is available for an exclusive online live video and live chat on Tues, March 16 at 12:00-12:30 pm PST/3-3:30 pm EST .

The 30 minute session will be conducted on BraveNewFilms.org site. No log on required to view or to participate in the session. A $5 DVD/Blue-ray coupon for Capitalism: A Love Story is available for people to print from the site as well as a chance to win the baseball cap off of Michael’s head.

Coupon page with contest below it is here.

People can submit questions to Michael now as well as post them during the live chat. This link will also host the chat on 3/16.

C&L is honored to have proud progressives Congressman Joe Sestak of Pennsylvania, and 2006 Democratic nominee for US Senate from Connecticut Ned Lamont, joining us for a live chat at 3 pm Pacific / 6 pm Eastern. The conversation will be wide-ranging, from health care and the economy to the upcoming 2010 mid-term elections. Ned Lamont endorsed Joe Sestak in the Pennsylvania Senate race earlier today.

Everyone is invited; if you haven't registered as a commenter here you will need to do that at this link in order to participate.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi is scheduled to do a live chat with us today at 10:30 PST/1:30 EST. The topic will about the New Health Care Reform Bill they've just released. Henry Waxman says it'll be worked out in the House in the next few weeks and in Congress by the end of the year.

America’s Affordable Health Choices Act

It's receiving very good marks so far. Please check out Ezra Klein's post also on the Health-Care Reform Bill so you'll have a better idea about what we'll be chatting about. I'll have more reactions to the bill when we begin the chat. We'll see you later.