As the calendar flips from June to July, we are now halfway through 2009 (although calendar geeks will be quick to point out that since the first six months of the year have fewer days than the second half, the REAL midway point of the year is at noon tomorrow). Sanford and Lieberman made some news today, but there is campaign news as well on this first Wednesday of July: NJ-Gov: New FD Polls Shows...
We're going to learn a lot about Tom Reed in the next few weeks and months. Reed finds himself in much the same spot as Eric Massa did in 2005. He's unknown in most of the district, never held a legislative position, and he doesn't have a lot of money. How Reed introduces himself will tell us a lot about the kind of candidate he is, and whether he has a chance to beat Eric Massa. My main interest...
Tom Reed, the mayor of the small upstate New York city of Corning, announced Wednesday that he is challenging freshman Democratic Rep. Eric Massa for the state’s 29th District seat. Reed’s decision to run gives Republican strategists their preferred candidate for one of their priority races in the 2010 national House campaign.
From Eric’s website comes this press release: Rep. Eric Massa votes against Cap and Trade Legislation 06/26/09 WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Rep. Eric Massa voted against H.R. 2454, the much anticipated American Clean Energy and Security Act. On Tuesday evening, Rep. Collin Peterson, the Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, and Rep. Henry Waxman, the Chairman of the [...] Related posts: I...
The lousy-but-maybe-better-than-nothing climate bill has passed: 219-212. Only 8 Republicans voted for it. All but 44 Dems voted for it. Here is the vote. The Farm Bureau asked people to vote NO. So how did the Dems on the Ag committee vote? Ag Committee Yes Votes: Collin Peterson Joe Baca John Boccieri Leonard Boswell Dennis Cardoza Henry Cuellar Debbie Halvorson Steve Kagen Frank Kratovil Betsy Markey...
Politico: Democratic leaders are working furiously to corral votes for a controversial climate change measure, hoping to build a big enough margin so that vulnerable Democrats can be freed to vote against it. At the White House on Thursday, President Barack Obama declared: “Now is the time to act.” Former Vice President Al Gore, who had planned to rally Democrats en masse in Washington,...
The more things change, the more they stay the same. President Obama and Defense Secretary Bob Gates both want to limit production of the F-22 Raptor to 187 units. The Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee begged to differ and offered an amendment to produce 12 more of the planes (a combined cost of $369 million). The amendment would not have passed if six Democrats had not crossed the...
Congressman Eric Massa was asked where he stood on the war supplemental and Massa gave a clear answer to Howie Klein : I held George W. Bush accountable and I will not vote for any more Iraq war funding until we have a strategy in place and under way to bring our troops home. This is not about Democrats vs. Republicans, it's about our troops and I will not bend in this position. Massa stood by his...
Here is our final whip count. For those who have been following, Barney Frank called me on Thursday June 4, after the Republicans said they would vote en masse against the supplemental. Barney told me about the Graham-Lieberman photo suppression which really wasn't on anyone's radar yet. Our first commited vote was Eric Massa, 11 days ago on June 5.
"Just putting it in self-interest terms, how would I have had the enthusiasm and the fight if I had actually cast a vote I didn't believe in?" he asked. "I couldn't do that." - Paul Wellstone explaining why he was one of 23 members of the U.S. Senate to vote against the Iraq War in 2002. In 2007, at least 90 members of Congress signed a letter that said they would not support war...
I took a look through Tom Reed's YouTube channel and his campaign website to get an idea of what kind of challenge he'd provide Eric Massa if he decides to run. Reed seems like a reasonable, affable guy, and he's probably well-liked in Corning. Though he was running against a fairly divisive blowhard, Frank Coccho, Reed wisely chose to show, not tell, to get the point across that he'd be a better...
A choice-- Jane Harman for the status quo, Marcy Winograd for REAL change When the War Supplemental budget came up on May 14, granting Obama another $97 billion to fight wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, quite a few Democrats who would never have voted to give more money to Bush, voted for it because it's Obama. David Obey (D-WI) spoke for a great many of them when he said that he supported it, reluctantly,...
Each is too old for a trade in voucher Betty Sutton's bill, H.R. 2751 , colloquially dubbed "Cash For Clunkers," passed yesterday evening 298-119 . 59 Republicans of all stripes abandoned their party's leadership to vote with the Democrats-- from right-wing extremists like Steve King (IA), David Dreier (CA), Phil Gingrey (GA) and Gary Miller (CA) to mainstream conservatives like Frank LoBiondo...