downwithtyranny

downwithtyranny DownWithTyranny howieklein@aol.com Years ago the manager of one of my favorite bands-- a great guy who serves on a Board with me-- suggested I contribute to a Democrat running for U.S. Senate that he and the band were supporting. The guy had been the governor of Georgia and he assured me he would make a great senator. I have named neither the band nor the manager because the person for whom I wrote a check was Zell Miller. I'm far beyond regret and I'm mentioning this to you because-- as Stan and Kyle (perhaps even Kenny) would say-- I learned something. And you can benefit from what I learned. I will not be soliciting contributions for right wing, corporate Democrats. If I put a page up for a candidate it means I've done my due diligence and feel comfortable enough to endorse the person. I am looking for genuine progressives and for genuine fighters. And for people with a sense of integrity and trustworthiness. If they don't pass my smell test, they won't be on my list. Promise. And you don't have to donate $1,000 or $100 to make a difference. The kinds of candidates I gravitate to are not likely to attract donations from corporations or lobbyists. Even a donation of $25 or $10 helps. The place to find most of the candidates we've endorsed is on the <a href="http://www.actblue.com/page/blueamerica08">Blue America Page</a> which is a combined effort of Firedoglake, Crooks & Liars, Digby and DWT. public true 6990.53 95 Jennifer Brunner false OH-Sen brunner 4800.00 165860.56 992 http://jenniferbrunner.com https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/entity/21794 85.00 3 Jennifer is a working class hero-- a proven and effective <a href="http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2009/06/equality-equality-now-isnt-that-what.html">advocate for working families</a> in a political environment filled with politicians catering to the special interests who fund their campaigns. You might want to go through the live blog session we did with her in May at <a href="http://firedoglake.com/2009/05/16/blue-america-welcomes-ohio-secretary-of-state-jennifer-brunner-candidate-for-us-senate/">Firedoglake</a>. She's the kind of strong and independent voice we need in the Senate, someone who will not buy into the House of Lords mentality that has made that body so useless for anyone without a big checkbook. Paulette Garin false WI-01 garin 2400.00 130.00 6 http://www.paulettegarin.blogspot.com https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/entity/22846 50.00 1 Pat Meagher false CA-41 meagher 2400.00 300.00 5 http://patmeagherforcongress.com https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/entity/22626 150.00 3 Finally a progressive fighter taking on California's most corrupt member of Congress. Often when I ask candidates what caucus they will join if elected to Congress they hum and haw and beat around the bush. Meagher immediately answered "the Progressive Caucus." He supports single payer, marriage equality and ending the war in Afghanistan. Imagine the Inland Empire with a congressman who's fighting FOR working families instead of fighting against them! Joe Sestak false PA-Sen sestak 4800.00 372313.12 2175 https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/entity/22677 295.01 5 Blue America supported Joe Sestak when he ran for Congress and beat Curt Weldon in 2006. Since then we haven't agreed with him about every single vote but we've never felt like he's betrayed progressive values or working families. And unlike many other candidates, Joe has never-- not once-- shied away from discussion and consultation. He's consistently been one of the most open members of Congress with our community. His instincts are great and there are few members of Congress I respect more, even members with whom we agree on a more regular basis. Meanwhile, Arlen Specter has always been-- as a Republican and now as a Democrat-- one of the most corrupt members of the Senate. He's taken more thinly disguised bribes than any other senator who hasn't run for president from lobbyists, the sleaziest segment of our political system. And whenever there is a hot debate with elites and status quo special interests desperate to hold the aspirations of regular American working families at bay, they always turn to Arlen Specter... with their check books. Specter is always on the top of every list of senators who gets the big bucks from corporate interests. Examples: Finance/Insurance/Real Estate Sector- $5,879,085 Medical Industrial Complex- $4,074,683 Energy & Natural Resources Sector- $1,328,280 Regina Thomas false GA-12 thomas 2400.00 8021.24 334 http://www.ReginaForCongress https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/entity/23322 50.00 1 State Senator Regina Thomas is <a href="http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2009/11/regina-thomas-throws-one-of-her-lovely.html">running</a> against one of the worst of the Blue Dog Democrats, John Barrow. In 2008 she took him on, only to see Barack Obama come in with a blazing, and very much misplaced endorsement of the incumbent. Barrow returned the favor by voting against almost every important item on the president's agenda, including the historic health care reform bill-- although not before he took the opportunity to vote <i>for</i> the Stupak Amendment that would severely restrict women's right to choice. Regina differs with him in both instances and there is a <a href="http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2009/09/how-vulnerable-is-blue-dog-john-barrow.html">growing consensus</a> in Georgia's sprawling 12th CD that it's time for Barrow to move back to Athens. Doug Tudor false FL-12 doug tudor 4800.00 41494.66 591 http://www.teamtudor.org/index.asp https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/entity/19447 2385.00 32 Doug's wasn't a race the DCCC targetted in 2008 and it wasn't on any Inside the Beltway radar screens. Many of us first met Doug Tudor here at <b>DWT</b> early in July when he <a href="http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2008/07/uprising-in-florida-meet-doug-tudor.html">came out swinging</a> against Bush's anti-Constitutional FISA bill which encompassed warrantless wiretaps and retroactive immunity for corporate executives who had been illegally spying on American citizens. What made Doug's stand doubly interesting was that he was running against the third ranking member of the Republican House hierarchy, Adam "Howdy Doody" Putnam, in a district centered on Polk County east of Tampa, Florida. Putnam was one of the foremost backers of Bush's FISA plan to strip American citizens of a right to privacy. The Blue America PAC sent Doug $1,000 for <a>his FISA stand</a>. Now that Putnam was kicked out of the GOP leadership and has decided to retire from the House altogether, there is a real opportunity to get a grassroots progressive into that House seat. It's either that or a tweedledee- tweedledum multimillionaire from one of the party establishments. Russ Warner false CA-26 russ warner 4800.00 544417.64 3141 http://www.warnerforcongress.com/ https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/entity/16419 35.00 2 Russ Warner was a great candidate in 2008 against a right-wing rubber stamp for all the worst of Bushism. Ironically, it was Prop 8 that defeated Russ since Mormons turned out in great numbers and voted for the Republican, never suspecting David Dreier is a notorious and hypocritical closet queen. Meanwhile, Russ is running again this year and is looking like an even better candidate for a district that voted for Obama 51-47%. Blue America PAC false blueamericapac 5000.00 605661.15 14974 http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2006/08/have-you-had-enough-song-for-change.html https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/entity/11689 180.50 13