I got a call on my cell phone from the DCCC this morning, asking for money. The caller clumsily read a script, saying that the dems were working on ending the war and giving more money for children's health.
I stopped her from continuing with the script. "I'm a very active Democrat," I told her, "and I'm not giving the Democratic Congressionial Campaign Committee a nickel until they stop the war, which they can do now, immediately, but not voting to approve any more funding."
I listened to her response. She was gone. I'm sure she's been instructed to hang up.
Okay, there's no doubt she works at some outcall company hired by the DCCC. Her job is to make as many successful calls as possible. But still, her response seems to perfectly represent the Democratic congress's attitude towards we who elected them-- "Send us money, support us, but don't ask anything of us, don't EXPECT anything from us."
When I write things like this, criticizing the Democrats, I usually get one or two cancellations from Dems who think I am too hard on Nancy Pelosi and her ineffective, non-responsive crew. All I can say is that the Dems will keep screwing us, their constituents, if we don't make it totally clear to them that we are wise to them and their bullshit-- that we know they could stop the war by ending funding by NOT voting on legislation.
Then, there's the latest democrat shame. The senate Dem invertebrates, led by Harry Reid (examples of invertebrates: slugs, jellyfish, bacteria, dung beetles, tapeworms) are going to give immunity to the telecoms that helped the Bush amdin spy on Americans. I'd say that makes them part of the problem.
What's the solution to Invertebrate Congress? The solution is to dump a whole lot of incumbents. TO do that, we need to push for laws that make it easier to do. Ideally, we get rid of incumbents altogether, by banning candidates from running for the same job twice in a row. That would get rid of politicians as career people. What a novel idea. Running for office to serve for a limited time, just once, knowing you won't be able to run again.
Failing the elimination of repeated terms of office, we need to make it harder for incumbents to run again and easier for new competition to enter races. And we need to make a level playing field for third party candidates. That means federal legislation requiring equal treatment for third party candidates. Here in PA, an obscenity exists. A third party candidate must get about 30 or 40 times more signatures on petitions to get on the ballot.
Next spring, a whole lot of them should be facing primary fights. Hopefully, a few of them... hell, maybe even a lot of them... will lose. We need to take them on and dump them.
Now, the right wingers are much worse. We need to clear out more of them from congress. A lot have already announced they are not running again. That's good. But this is a bi-partisan thing. We need to get rid of a lot of incumbents on both sides.
If your congressional rep or senator is a "Bush Democrat" who sides with Bush too often, it's time to dump him or her. What are you doing to make that happen. Write an article or blog to report on the status of the efforts for your representative. If nothing's happening yet, then report that and see if you can find others who will work with you. check other sites that are working on this, like dailykos.com, mydd.com, actblue... and don't wait. And if you're not happy with your rep, be sure you're letting him or her know one a regular basis. I check in every week or two with mine. I post to local listserves.
The dems in congress are not doing enough and are too often doing the wrong thing, making the wrong choices. What are you doing, every day, every week, to make a difference? If you are doing something, leave a comment to share your ideas and strategies. IF you aren't doing anything, or as much as you could, what are you waiting for... blackwater knocking at your door... or mine?
Rob Kall is executive editor and publisher of OpEdNews.com, President of Futurehealth, Inc, inventor . He is also published regularly on the Huffingtonpost.com. He is a frequent Speaker on Politics, Impeachment, The art, science and power of story, heroes and the hero's journey, Positive Psychology, Stress, Biofeedback and a wide range of subjects. He is a campaign consultant specializing in tapping the power of stories for issue positioning, stump speeches and debates. He recently retired as organizer of several conferences, including StoryCon, the Summit Meeting on the Art, Science and Application of Story and The Winter Brain Meeting on neurofeedback, biofeedback, Optimal Functioning and Positive Psychology. See more of his articles here and, older ones, here.
The framed magazine cover, with the word "IDEAS" spelled out in lightbulbs, is based on an article Rob wrote for Writers Digest, telling the magazine's quarter million readers how to come up with and pitch article ideas.
To learn more about me and OpEdNews.com, check out this article.
and there are Rob's quotes, here.
To Watch me on youtube, having a lively conversation with John Conyers, Chair of the House Judiciary committee, click here Now, wouldn't you like to see me on the political news shows, representing progressives. If so, tell your favorite shows to bring me on and refer them to this youtube video
My radio show, The Rob Kall Show, runs 9-10 PM EST Wednesday evenings, on AM 1360, WNJC and is archived on www.whiterosesociety.org Or listen to it streaming, live at either www.wnjc1360.com or here.
Or check the archived interviews at:
whiterosesociety.org
A few declarations.
-While I'm registered as a Democrat, I consider myself to be a dynamic critic of the Democratic party, just as, well, not quite as much, but almost as much as I am a critic of republicans.
-My articles express my personal opinion, not the opinion of this website.
I agree with most of what you say, but IMO a blanket ban on anyone running for re-election would be a big mistake. Yeah, you'd eliminate carreer politicians, but what you'd end up with would be a revolving door between government and business whereby people serve their two or four years and then go to work for the companies for which they did favors when in office.
The real problem is the influence of money, and the lack of any mass communications media through which a candidate can get a message out to a lot of people without spending big bucks. Until we address these issues, the problems won't go away.
by
Gary Kleppe (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 2 comments)
on Thursday, October 18, 2007 at 11:47:52 AM
Better mass communications mechanisms for candidates to communicate with the voters?
Make the receipt of a license to use the public's airwaves contingent on providing FREE airtime for candidates to use, instead of being allowed to charge for it.
This would serve a few purposes:
1. Fairer elections where the third (and fourth and fifth) party candidates can compete.
2. Cleaner elections, because it is the networks that push and promote the slime in order to sell more time to both sides.
by
Charlie L (2 articles, 2 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 617 comments)
on Thursday, October 18, 2007 at 12:15:22 PM
Rob you are singing to the choir, but man I am so disgusted with all the spineless democrats and Rush O’Reilly republicans. I wish there was a viable option.I also agree that even a crappy democrat is better than any republican that I can think of with a few exceptions.
I like Ron Paul on constitutional issues but I think the country is better off if we have socialized medical care and Social Security if run right.
The most important issues that we can support if we are to take back our country are Campaign Finance reform by publicly funding all elections from dog catcher to president. We need Independent ethics board, with complete autonomy and financial independence.We must have verifiable voting machines so that our votes will count.
Until we have these things it will be business as usual in the beltway.
by
Michael Chavers (41 articles, 0 quicklinks, 11 diaries, 169 comments)
on Thursday, October 18, 2007 at 12:02:54 PM
Short of a revolution, we need to show these guys we're serious. But I would also agree that the real solution is to get the big money out of politics. Would term limits do that? Would these guys still have a retirement equal to their salary for the REST OF THEIR LIVES? I know a lot of Americans who would be happy with legislative benefits like that! Maybe even a few honest ones...
by
Judy Ramsey (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 72 comments)
on Thursday, October 18, 2007 at 12:04:20 PM
there's already laws in place against the revolving door for pol-lobbyists, and they should be strengthened. I heartily agree with Rob that we need to level the playing field so real people, good people who want to do good, to serve the public interest with their power. Money is not speech, it's power, and while speech must be protected, everyone's speech must be protected and the commons should not be allowed to be exploited to advance the agenda of any private, special interest- and triply not when those interests are ruining the opportunites of other people. I'd like to see politcians with integrity like Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul serve in the public sector as long as they like, and we should have a system in place, as is possible with the Web and will be even more with emerging technologies, that exposes parasitic or useless frauds like Clinton, Obama, Edwards, Giuliani, Romney and Thompson for what they are.
by
Better World Order (4 articles, 302 quicklinks, 13 diaries, 756 comments)
on Thursday, October 18, 2007 at 12:08:02 PM
Rob, I think they might have hung up on you because of phone karma.
I hung up on them a few days ago.
I got that call and I interupted the caller to simply say: "Oh, sorry, I'm not giving any money or support until I hear that impeachment is back on the table. Thanks." and then I hung up on her.
BTW, the fact that they are an outservice doesn't forgive the DCCC at all. DCCC provides the script and instructions, and if the client said: "No matter what happens, do NOT hang up on a Democratic constituent." then they wouldn't. They are paid to follow instructions.
by
Charlie L (2 articles, 2 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 617 comments)
on Thursday, October 18, 2007 at 12:17:59 PM
The Democrat Party is JUST like the Republican Party... they don't give a RAT'S Behind about our interests... They care about their big corporate donors' interests, but that is as far as that goes...
People like US, the TAXPAYING Citizens of the United States are simply expected to donate to their cause while keeping our mouths shut... As soon as we OPEN our mouths, they become annoyed, tune us out, or throw us out of their offices...
This is the reason I am a Libertarian.. I know many people on this board think that my vote is wasted.. that I am not making a difference, but at the end of the day, what the big party wants, the big party gets, and your trying to change things from the inside is even more fruitless... The difference is that people who think they are making a difference while trying to enact change from within the party are ignoring the fact that our two major parties produce the best politicians MONEY CAN BUY.
Ciao, CZ
by
steve scheetz (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 439 comments)
on Thursday, October 18, 2007 at 12:24:13 PM
"The Democrat Party is JUST like the Republican Party... they don't give a RAT'S Behind about our interests..."
Yup. They are just two heads of the same snake. They work together shifting spins so that we are so wound up in lies that we don't know what to believe. The choices they offer us on both sides are really non-choices. Do we want chocolate flavored rat poison or cherry? Might taste different, but the end result is the same.
by
Barbara Peterson (46 articles, 80 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 416 comments)
on Thursday, October 18, 2007 at 1:22:55 PM
My Rep is Lynne Woolsey, and overall she's doing a great job.
I have just one issue with your article. Term limits is not a solution. The implicit assumption is that there's a shortage of hacks waiting in line to replace the incumbent hacks. And a House or Senate full of amateurs is not an appealing proposition. And to focus our energy on term limits can only take away from the real solution, which is getting Big Money out of elections.
Jim
by
Jim Arnold (12 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 78 comments)
on Thursday, October 18, 2007 at 12:24:26 PM
When you say that the "real problem" is "getting Big Money
out of politics," how do you suppose that that might be achieved? It sounds like you're well aware that most of today's Congress is bought & paid for, right? Do you suppose those very same bought politicians are going to pass laws which would hurt the Big Money interests who put them in office?
I don't mean to pick on you, but isn't it obvious that a Congress elected to serve Big Money interests is not going to turn around & strike an important blow against those same interests?
by
Richard Mynick (2 articles, 3 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 1026 comments)
on Thursday, October 18, 2007 at 12:46:40 PM
is to get, at the federal level, legislation passed that allows citizens in any state to get resolutions on the ballot, like they do in California. so that citizens can circumvent the politicians.
First step, enable citizens to pass laws without politicians in the middle.
second step, pass laws that the politicians would never pass.
by
Rob Kall (728 articles, 3775 quicklinks, 311 diaries, 1521 comments)
on Thursday, October 18, 2007 at 3:04:11 PM
I agree, we need a citizen initutive, however that is just a start. more and more I see the problem not as one party or the other. It's blind allegance to ever expanding economy. The bigger it grows the worse the problems. We have to start solving it at both the national and the local level. Bigger isn't better when we are running out of such things as oil, water and food. Just starting to conserve the resources at the local level is part of the answer. the other part is not allowing the illegal Federal Reserve (Bank0 to continue to print money and charge us interest on it.
by
Robert N Smith (7 articles, 0 quicklinks, 5 diaries, 68 comments)
on Thursday, October 18, 2007 at 10:52:07 PM
"When you say that the "real problem" is "getting Big Money"
It's more likely than expecting them to vote for term limits. They hate trolling for money all the time, they don't hate being re-elected. Some would vote for federally-funded elections now. To vote against it would be difficult for many, if people get the word out on the importance of the issue. What's your alternative?
by
Jim Arnold (12 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 78 comments)
on Friday, October 19, 2007 at 1:23:10 PM
Jim, I don't agree with richard much, but his point...
Is bang on.. I dare say that there are quite a few people here that are starting to wake up to the fact that we have the best politicians money can buy....
the question is how do we stop them from doing what it is that they are doing... That is a bit more complicated...
First of all, campaign contributions are protected as free speech... If you DEMAND that CONgress do something about that, you are going against that
"CONGRESS SHALL MAKE NO LAW......." part of the first amendment.... The idea of having amature night in the DC beltway is a bit absurd, even though I wold love to see the entire nest of vipers ripped out...
Personally, I think the solution comes with voter choice.. REAL CHOICE... Third Party candidates with real messages that get away from the petty bickering we have been conditioned to accept as debate...
In PA, Voters lost their choice on the ballot, in favor of keeping said ballot clear of "clutter"
the US Supreme Court decided not to bother itself with even hearing the case...
this tells me that the Supreme Court is
AGAINST The VOTER's RIGHT TO CHOOSE
Land of the FREE? PLEASE.....
Ciao, CZ
by
steve scheetz (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 439 comments)
on Thursday, October 18, 2007 at 2:57:16 PM
We're slipping past the point where we as Americans can repair our democracy. Eventually, the fascist state (which Naomi Wolf can be seen talking about here) will be permanent. Our hegemony over the world will be secured and that hegemonic power will turn from "benevolent" to something that targets us relentlessly.
We must act now. And this can't be us just talking anymore. Grow a pair and call your representative or senator today. Force him or her to take a stand in agreement with you or against you (hang ups mean he or she is against you ). Post articles about it. We've got Rob, an amazing man who gives us an outlet for free speech (something a fascist state will threaten).
Practice Democracy People! And Enjoy Every Minute of It!
by
Kevin Gosztola (172 articles, 89 quicklinks, 62 diaries, 710 comments)
on Thursday, October 18, 2007 at 12:34:53 PM
I saw the writing on the wall in 2005 when I started the Liberal Party. Since then I let it fold for lack of support. During the time I folded it in Decemberr of 06, I havr=e recieved e-mails and phone calls to start it back up. I put a poll on the Liberal Partys blog and 77% of people responded that the party should start back up. Yet, nobody wants to work to get ballot signatures. This seems to be the norm. People bitch and moan about the Democrats, but nobody seems to want to do anything but bitch. Meanwhile, they pull the wool over everyones eyes.
Senator Leahy promised he would see the administration respond to his subpeona's. Today we hear that the administration gave him "some" of the information he requested. Right off the bat, without so much as hours to read what was in the information requested, the Senate approved the F(ISA bill that gives immunity to the telecommunications industry that allowed the NSA to spy on Americans and inherent in that immunity is the immunity that the administration sought for itself.
When are people going to understand that working "within" the party is useless? The fix is in and the Democrats have proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that they will not stand for doing what is right and nessessary. Whether it is collusion with the Republicans and the administration or lack of a backbone it doesn't matter. They will not support the progressive base of their party. It's time we found a new home.
by
Timothy V. Gatto (348 articles, 177 quicklinks, 38 diaries, 575 comments)
on Thursday, October 18, 2007 at 12:59:25 PM
My proposal that would take the business out of politics is that all elected officials are not allowed to earn more than the median income of their constituents. Quit allowing them to get rich and powerful off of corporate lobbies and they'll be in it for the good of the country , not the power and money.
by
Ron DeYoung (1 articles, 1 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 2 comments)
on Thursday, October 18, 2007 at 1:03:31 PM
The Best Green in U. S. Politics Isn't the U. S. Currency...
== The Best Green in U. S. Politics Isn't the U. S. Currency but the U. S. Green Party! ==
Recent rumors on the internet have it that former Democratic congresswoman Cynthia McKinney plans to run for president as a Green Party candidate. Some of us may recall that her most positive congressional legacy consists
of her having filed, during her last few weeks in office, a resolution of impeachment against Herr Bush. If any Democrat fundraiser dare call me for a donation, I plan to demand that they resurrect McKinney's resolution ASAP before I send 'em so much as a dime. Today, alas, we have two look-alike parties serving as one -- each harboring a fascist element competing for power against the fascist element of the other party.
The short-term solution to this disaster has three parts: (1) impeachment, (2) impeachment, and (3) impeachment.
To help us help Amerika's Rip Van Winkled populace fully awaken and begin speaking out more often and in greater numbers and with louder voices, I suggest that they begin organizing local versions of the "IMPEACH HIM button/yard sign" project begun about two years ago by the Washington Area Impeachment Fund, LLC ( http://www.waifllc.org ).
by
LarryWBryant (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 55 comments)
on Thursday, October 18, 2007 at 1:10:25 PM
Not one thing you mentioned will work. I don't mean they aren't worthy ideas, they just don't hit the root cause.
One, blogs, smogs. Not enough people have a computer and for the one's that do most spend little time reading political sites as they do playing games or watching porn.
Two, we don't have a government anymore. We have a shell game of millionaires who couldn't give a fat rat's ass for the people they're supposed to represent. For if we had a fair and honest election system we'd never be fighting wars. We'd have National Health Care. We'd have more jobs and less prisons. We'd have schools that actually educate. We'd have bridges that don't collapse. We'd have streets that are safe to walk and drive down. We'd have affordable housing for everyone. We'd have a lot of commonsense measures going on instead of this Mad-Hatter Tea Party, Dog & Pony Show that only gives us the illusion that "we the people" have some say it what goes down.
And besides, most people are too busy, lazy, complacent, fearful, in debt, misinformed or in denial to do anything you've mentioned because it means getting off their lazy butts, breaking their routine and placing themselves in harms way. And you're targeting the wrong people. The politicians are just the mouth pieces for the one's they really represent - big money.
But that doesn't mean that things a hopeless. The strategy just needs to target the elites that have over the past few centuries created this situation. And how do we do that? We do it by following the practices of those that have brought great powers to their knees in the past without firing a shot. Gandhi when the British taxed salt simply lead his people to the waters edge and scooped it up by hand and told them to "tax this"!
Rob, we could get even the worst of the so-called representatives of the people to actually do OUR bidding if we stopped the money flow. You have contacts and the respect of many of the other progressive sites. I don't know the numbers, but I'm sure if you combined all the members from MoveOn, Think Progress, Thomas Paine and the dozens of other major sites, and if you added on the hundreds of smaller ones we'd be a million strong or more. If all these sites would coordinate and call for a massive General Strike, I mean one that would bring this country to a standstill for just one day the powers that be would slit their own mother's throats to get us back to work and buying things again.
Even if 10% of the nations work forced just stayed home and didn't buy a thing for one day, they'd take notice. If 30% joined in we'd have our country back tomorrow. And the good thing about General Strikes they're easy to participate in and no one's placed in harm's way. The worst is you lose a days pay.
I have contacted as many of the sites as I can about forming a General Strike and I get back the same thing you got, a request for a donation. Apparently one old-fart sitting on his couch making a commonsense suggestion means about as much to them as you meant to the to the DCC representative you talked to.
Michael Moore touched on the point in one of his explanations of how he's allowed to distribute his films even though the every people that distribute them are the people Moore is railing against - he brings in money. That's just how much tunnel visioned the greedy elites have. Now think what they would do if the money stopped? If millions boycotted GE products I'd bet my remaining time of life that we'd start drawing troops out of Iraq in a week.
So, Rob, maybe you can do what one old fart can't. Talk to the heads of the other progressive sites and let's have a General Strike. Be our Gandhi.
by
Mr M (4 articles, 0 quicklinks, 5 diaries, 1067 comments)
on Thursday, October 18, 2007 at 1:51:40 PM
