Tea Party 4-1-1. Or: Wait, do we have to take this sh*t seriously now?!

So, the long march toward November continues, and it's getting closer and closer to voting time. Today, some links on the Tea Party for those of us who are still a little baffled about how a bunch of whiners and/or flag-waving crazies sponsored by corporate Republican interests have become an actual political movement in this country:

CNN.com's "What is the Tea Party?"

Leo Hindry, Jr. of the Huffington Post explains Tea Party Politics & Economics.

And here's NPR's take on how the Tea Party of today and its namesake.

The Big Everything

I predict that the central question of U.S. politics for the next few decades is going to be "how much control do private corporations have over our government?" Corporate interests have either publicly or covertly been at the heart of the most recent and ongoing debates our country faces: health care, climate change, financial regulation and reform, raising the cap on oil spill liabilities for companies like BP.

You've probably heard already (but no sweat if you haven't heard) about the JanuarySupreme Court decision that allows corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money in political elections. This so-called "corporate personhood" set back the movement toward people-centered, people-owned government. Point, corporations.

Counter-point, people. Recently, the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act out of committee and it's headed to the House and Senate floors soon for a vote.

In a nutshell, this bill could be the big everything of financial reform for the Obama presidency. Here are the highlights:

Consumer Protections with Authority and Independence: Creates a new independent watchdog, housed at the Federal Reserve, with the authority to ensure American consumers get the clear, accurate information they need to shop for mortgages, credit cards, and other financial products, and protect them from hidden fees, abusive terms, and deceptive practices.

Ends Too Big to Fail Bailouts: Ends the possibility that taxpayers will be asked to write a check to bail out financial firms that threaten the economy by: creating a safe way to liquidate failed financial firms; imposing tough new capital and leverage requirements that make it undesirable to get too big; updating the Fed’s authority to allow system-wide support but no longer prop up individual firms; and establishing rigorous standards and supervision to protect the economy and American consumers, investors and businesses.

Advance Warning System: Creates a council to identify and address systemic risks posed by large, complex companies, products, and activities before they threaten the stability of the economy.

Transparency & Accountability for Exotic Instruments: Eliminates loopholes that allow risky and abusive practices to go on unnoticed and unregulated -- including loopholes for over-the- counter derivatives, asset-backed securities, hedge funds, mortgage brokers and payday lenders.

Executive Compensation and Corporate Governance: Provides shareholders with a say on pay and corporate affairs with a non-binding vote on executive compensation and golden parachutes.

Protects Investors:Provides tough new rules for transparency and accountability for credit rating agencies to protect investors and businesses.

Enforces Regulations on the Books: Strengthens oversight and empowers regulators to aggressively pursue financial fraud, conflicts of interest and manipulation of the system that benefits special interests at the expense of American families and businesses.

California also scored points for the people with the recently defeated Propositions 16 and 17. 16, sponsored by Pacific Gas & Electric, was an effort to make it very difficult for local governments to create municipal utilities, or community wide clean electricity districts called Community Choice Aggregators (CCAs). Prop 17 would have allowed insurance companies to offer a discount to new customers who have been covered continuously for long time. Opponents argued that what it would really do would be allow insurance companies to hike up rates for new customers who hadn't been insured continuously, i.e. a lot of working poor people. Voters rejected both.

As for me, I'm on the side of the people, and I'll fight for legislation and politicians that are, too. The Dodd-Frank bill has the potential to protect American freedom and democracy in a huge way if it's successful in reining in the power of financial corporations. Stay tuned here for updates!

NC Primaries: Results

Elaine Marshall swept the NC Democratic runoff yesterday, taking almost 60% of the vote. I can't say that I'm surprised, mostly because I know several Marshall supporters and no real Cunningham supporters (just people who say either candidate could be okay).

I CAN say that this makes me feel good about politics in North Carolina. Cal Cunningham was endorsed early on by the national Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, meaning that Elaine had to raise a lot more money and support from the grassroots level, which she and her campaign did. I also think that this "non-establishment-ness" of Marshall will help her in challenging Richard Burr in November, as will the hearty endorsements of both of her former Dem opponents, Cunningham and Ken Lewis.

On to the general election!

NC Primaries: Runoff edition

Action Alert, North Carolinians!

The NC Senate Democratic runoff election is going on NOW - the last day to vote at a one-stop location is Saturday. You can find your one-stop early voting site here. Else, you'll have to vote next Tuesday, June 22nd.

This one's easy, just one race, two candidates: Elaine Marshall and Cal Cunningham.

As usual, I voted absentee, by mail. See below for the Cara Politica endorsement, then get to the polls!

Stepping In It

So, here's the latest from Florida politics. And it is messy! If you're not following along in the news, fear not. I'll make this simple. There are 4 main characters here.

It all starts with the Senate primaries.

Charlie Crist (the orange one) Florida's Governor, decided to run for Senate.

He found out he was trailing hopelessly in the polls to this man, Marco Rubio (the "Real Republican" one - you can tell by the flag).

If Crist lost to Rubio in the primaries, he would be knocked out of the election, so in a dicey move Crist switched parties and became an Independent to ensure that he would get to run in the fall.

We've also got Kendrick Meek (the Democratic one) running for FL Senate. According to my FL politico relatives Adam and Gina, he is the favorite of the cool progressives and "has been quietly crossing the state talking to anyone and everyone" but is not very well known.

Stop! Scandal time!

Enter Jim Greer (the white, philandering one), the ex-chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, hand-picked for the position by Crist (the orange one). He was arrested this week for grand theft, fraud, and money laundering. He had already stepped down as chairman amid reports of his using a party credit card for personal expenses such as travel. Not only was this guy hand-picked by Crist, but Crist stood by him even when colleagues begged him to look into Greer's spending. Uh oh.

So now, it appears that Crist (who was narrowly ahead in the polls last week) stands to lose big from his ongoing support of the philandering one, and the big question is, what will all this GOP drama do to "Real Republican" Rubio? And what about the Democratic one? Surely he stands to gain from all the muckraking. The St. Petersburg Times reports:

"Strikingly, there is little indication at this early stage that Democratic candidates in Florida are positioned to take advantage. Given the level of scandal, one would think half a candidate could run against the Florida GOP today and win. Average together recent polls, however, and leading Democrats like gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink and U.S. Senate candidate Kendrick Meek are still trailing."

This is going to be an interesting race, folks. Feel free to cut out the characters for a guide over the coming months, and another big thanks to the Tebrugges for their contributions. Stop back in -we'll keep you updated here!

Primaries 2010: Progressives Win Big Edition

There's so much talk flying around about last night's primaries that I would be remiss if I didn't add my $0.02.

The main theme of the headlines is "Establishment loses big," "Dem and GOP Incumbents Go Down." This is true, but I agree with what Cenk Uygur (commentator on The Young Turks, a spectacular progressive internet talk show) says: the establishment lost, but Progressives won. Who cares about losses by "Establishment" Democratic candidates who are so far from progressive, it's hard to even claim them as Dems? Their losses are a win for the party. It seems to me that Democrats are working to use their voice as a party and are willing to fire candidates who aren't representing the party's values and goals, and from where I'm standing, that's a very good sign.

On to the results roundup:

Pretend-Democrat Arlen Specter is out in Pennsylvania, replaced by Joe Sestak. Anti-Progressive "Democrat" Blanche Lincoln faces a runoff in Arkansas, and the AFL-CIO, for one, says the runoff will not be a problem for challenger Bill Halter. Back to Pennsylvania, where Democrats will hold on to the late Representative John Murtha's seat, won by Mark Critz in a special election last night.

Not quite the "Republican Sweep" that the GOP had talked up, eh? Well, a sweep maybe, but not in the direction they had hoped.

And finally, in a follow-up to the NC primaries and now runoff, third-place candidate Ken Lewis is endorsing Elaine Marshall. This is great for the Marshall campaign, as Lewis brings a nice chunk of votes from the Triangle area. The main focus of the Marshall campaign should now, I think, be getting out the vote on June 22 so that we can defeat Burr soundly.

And by the way, my favorite place to track polling, primary results, and general elections-specific news is the Swing State Project. Check out their post about yesterday's primaries for more detailed results and analysis, but if you're not into that sort of thing, no worries. You can always check back here for more quick and dirty distilled politics.

Miscellany

I haven't been able to put my thoughts on any one subject into readable form for almost a week, so I thought I would give a quick list of topics that have been on my mind and radar screen this week. What's been on yours?

• Boycotting Arizona. I like the overwhelming nationwide response to the AZ immigration law. Apparently hotels and other tourist industries are worried, and several major US cities are calling on their citizens to collectively join the boycott. Forthcoming: a list of AZ-based businesses for those of us who don't have any fancy Grand Canyon vacations to cancel.

• Drugs in pop music. The newest Ke$ha song/headache "Your Love is My Drug" is filled with not-original substance abuse references as analogies for an obsessive relationship. Again, this is not new, but this song catches my ear every time I hear it, and every time I get a little bit upset. I've always struggled with how and where to draw the line between free speech and destructive culture. I'm upset by this song in particular because I work at a rehab community of recovering substance abusers, and I think what it must be like when they inevitably hear the line "keep it up like a lovesick crackhead."
  

• NC Primaries. Turnout was terrible as usual, but Elaine Marshall was the front runner, if not the official "winner" of the Senate race. She will now face off against Cal Cunningham in a runoff in June. In not-so-great news, progressive, young judge Leto Copely was soundly defeated by not one, but two uber-Conservative judges.
  

• Job searching in a down economy. As you probably know, I am currently completing a fellowship-type position that ends June 30. Thus, I have started my job search with the goal of being unemployed for as little time as possible. What a great way to really feel the recession. There are some jobs out there, if you're a certified child care worker or a certified nurse assistant. I'm not a certified anything, but I do have a bachelor's in public policy. Also, most waitstaff/kitchen/driver/general labor positions ask for at least two years experience! This is going to be a tough one. Stay tuned for updates and insights into the world of jobseeking 2010, and if you have any leads for me, let me know.
  

Primaries 2010: Early Voting and Senate Endorsement

I had the pleasure this past weekend of voting in my hometown, I mean physically IN town, for the very first time. I've had to vote absentee since I turned 18 and went to college, so actually getting to walk into a polling place and use the touch screens to vote in the Democratic primaries was exciting. Getting the sticker for once was great, too.

I was really happy at the number of people who were voting early in my small hometown. It was the first Saturday of NC One-Stop Voting, and while there was no waiting, there were about 7 people voting when I was, and 4 more were coming in as I left. The woman signing people in said there had been a steady flow all day. Not bad for a county of 37,000.

The candidate I was most excited to vote for, by far, was Elaine Marshall for U.S. Senate. She's currently running in the Democratic primary to replace Richard Burr, who FireDogLake calls "the most endangered sitting Senate Republican" and who is, in my opinion, a terrible representative of NC's interests. He is pro-big business, anti-health reform, anti-choice, anti-immigrant...the list goes on.

As the current NC Secretary of State and former state senator, Elaine Marshall has a reputation for being fair, energetic, and down-to-earth. She has continued to run a strong campaign even after the national Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee chose to endorse another candidate, Cal Cunningham, and after losing her husband late last year. She is committed to advocating for the just treatment of all Americans, and is strongly pro-woman and pro-civil rights, leading her to land an endorsement from one of my favorite bloggers and activists, Pam Spaulding at Pam's House Blend. It's exciting to see a North Carolina "purple state" candidate declare her opposition to the Defense of Marriage act and support of the Employee Non-Discrimination Act on her website. Further proof that we're moving in a good direction for civil rights for everyone.

I am adding my name to the long list of people who support Elaine Marshall. Please check out her website and get to know her. And most importantly, please vote! In NC, look here for a One-Stop Voting site, where you can register and vote all at once. Early voting continues through Saturday, May 1st and the primary is on May 4th!