TPMDC Keith Ellison
Super Committee
In Letter, House Progressives Press Super Committee On Jobs, Protecting Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security
Rep. Raul Grijalva
House progressives will press the joint deficit Super Committee to ditch entitlement cuts and pass measures to bolster the economy.
The co-chairs of the Congressional Progressive Caucus are rounding up Democratic signatures on a letter, obtained by TPM, pressing the 12 member panel to pair emergency jobs legislation with deficit reducing measures based on tax increases on wealthy Americans.
"We ask that you lead the Select Committee by these simple core principles," write Reps. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) and Keith Ellison (D-MN). "The American people have spoken loud and clear on their priorities for our nation. They want Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare protected, they want billionaires and corporations to finally pay their fair share and they want to be able to get back to work to earn a fair living."
Their effort is partially bolstered by a new CBO analysis, which found that the unemployment crisis is a massive driver of the deficit. In other words, effective job creation measures will go a good way toward closing the near and medium term hole in the budget.
You can read the entire letter, which has not yet been delivered to the Super Committee co-chairs, below the fold.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: CBO, Congressional Progressive Caucus, Deficit, Entitlement reform, Entitlements, Jobs, Keith Ellison, Medicaid, Medicare, Raul Grijalva, Social Security, Super Committee, Taxes
Van Jones
Liberals Rally Against Debt Ceiling Deal Cuts To Social Security, Medicare (VIDEO)
A day after a poorly attended Tea Party rally against House Speaker John Boehner's debt ceiling plan, liberal organizations and unions gathered outside the Capitol Building to demand Congress not gut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid while keeping the U.S. from going into default.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Debt, Debt ceiling, Keith Ellison, Van Jones
Elizabeth Warren
Dems Press Obama To Recess Appoint Elizabeth Warren To Run Consumer Bureau
Elizabeth Warren
With Senate Republicans committed to blocking all potential directors of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, congressional Democrats are pressing President Obama to accept reality and offer Elizabeth Warren a recess appointment to head the agency she conceived of.
"Regretfully, Republicans in the Senate have now made it clear that they oppose reform," reads a letter from House Democrats that will be delivered to President Obama.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Brad Miller, Carolyn Maloney, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Elizabeth Warren, Filibuster, Financial Crisis, Financial Reform, Keith Ellison, Republicans, Senate Republicans, Wall Street
Keith Ellison
Keith Ellison Shrugs Off Conservative Mockers
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN)
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) isn't sweating the mocking his emotional testimony before Rep. Peter King's (R-NY) hearings on Muslim extremism last week generated from the right.
Asked by TPM Wednesday about the drubbing he's received from conservative pundits since he teared up before King's panel, Ellison basically said, what else is new?
"Well, you know, I don't anticipate some people will appreciate everything that I say and stand for," he said. "But I'll say this: American people realize that when we say freedom and justice for all, that means all. You know, Muslims too."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Islam, Keith Ellison
Roundup
TPMDC Sunday Roundup
Daley: People Talk About No-Fly Zone As If It Were A 'Video Game'
Appearing on Meet The Press, White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley criticized those who call for a no-fly zone in Libya: "Well, you know, lots of people throw around phrases of 'no-fly zone,' and they talk about it as though it's just a game on a video game or something, and some people who throw, throw that line out have no idea what they're talking about," said Daley. "Bob Gates understands the difficulty of going to war. This is a man who spent his--almost his entire life working for the government. He, he knows the difficulty of war and the challenges, as does Admiral Mullen. So when, when people comment on military action, most of them have no idea what they're talking about."
McCain: Qaddafi 'Insane,' A No-Fly Zone Can Send Message To People Around Him
Appearing on This Week, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) reiterated his support for a no-fly zone as part of an effort to oust Muammar Qaddafi. He's insane. But perhaps the people around him would begin to depart the sinking ship," said McCain. He also added: "Again, by a no-fly zone, by declaring our support for a provisional government, perhaps, which is being formed up now - there is a lot of steps we can take."
Topics: 2012 Presidential Primaries, 2012 elections, Barack Obama, Budget, Donald Trump, John McCain, Keith Ellison, Lamar Alexander, Libya, Michele Bachmann, Mitch McConnell, Muslims, Peter King, Pres '12, Roundup, Sunday Shows, Supreme Court, Westboro Baptist Church, William Daley
Labor
Progressive Leaders Press Obama To Use Bully Pulpit In Public Worker Fight
Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)
Leading progressives in the Democratic party are pressing President Obama to get more involved in the fight over public worker rights playing out in Wisconsin and other states across the country.
Obama has publicly sided with state and local government employees against laws meant to crush their right to collectively bargain. But his political shop has run hot and cold on the question of involving him more publicly in the protests.
The co-chairs of the Congressional Progressive Caucus yesterday both called on him to speak out more loudly -- or even join the protesters in Wisconsin.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Barack Obama, Congressional Progressive Caucus, Keith Ellison, Labor, PCCC, Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Progressive Community, Progressives, Raul Grijalva
Judson Phillips
Tea Party Nation Doubles Down On Rhetoric Against Muslim Rep.
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN)
Tea Party Nation founder Judson Phillips is defending an email he wrote calling on supporters to help "retire" Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) because, among other reasons, "He is the only Muslim member of congress." In an email to supporters sent last night and in an interview with The Daily Caller, Phillips said he wouldn't apologize for having a "problem" with Islam.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2010 elections, House '10, Islam, Judson Phillips, Keith Ellison, Tea Party Nation
Keith Ellison
Tea Party Nation: Retire Rep. Ellison For Being A Muslim
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN)
This weekend, Tea Party Nation (TPN) sent an email in support of Lynne Torgerson, who is running against Rep. Keith Ellison in Minnesota. In the email, TPN lists the reasons Ellison should be "retired." Among them: "He is the only Muslim member of congress."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2010 elections, Andre Carson, House '10, Islam, Keith Ellison, MN-05, Tea Party Nation
Sunday Shows
The Sunday Show Line-Ups
Austan Goolsbee, Chief Economist on the Economic Recovery Advisory Board
Here are the line-ups for the Sunday talk shows this weekend:
• ABC, This Week: White House Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Austan Goolsbee, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf.
• CBS, Face The Nation: House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), former 9/11 Commission Co-Chairman and former Gov. Tom Kean (R-NJ).
• CNN, State Of The Union: FreedomWorks Chairman and former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R), former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS).
• Fox News Sunday: White House Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Austan Goolsbee, former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA).
• NBC, Meet The Press: Senior White House Adviser David Axelrod, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R)
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Austan Goolsbee, David Axelrod, Dick Armey, Feisal Abdul Rauf, FreedomWorks, John Boehner, Keith Ellison, Newt Gingrich, Rudy Giuliani, Sunday Shows, Tom Kean, Trent Lott
Cordoba House
The Dems Who Have Spoken For Cordoba House
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL)
With all the attention we've given to politicians who have attacked the Muslim community center set to be built near Ground Zero in New York, let's take a different look at the story: A list of the Democratic politicians who have stood up in support of it.
Opposition to the project has been brewing for weeks, and the issue came to a head a week and a half ago, when President Obama voiced his support for the right of organizers to build it.
[TPM SLIDESHOW: Hundreds Protest Islamic Center In Downtown Manhattan]
Since, some Dems have come out and said that the project should be moved -- most notably Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), who nevertheless affirmed the right of Muslims to build it. So let's look at the other side of the equation: Dems who have spoken out on the project's behalf, both before and after Obama's remarks.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 'Ground Zero Mosque', Al Franken, Alexi Giannoulias, Carolyn Maloney, Charlie Crist, Cordoba House , Dick Durbin, Jerrold Nadler, Joe Sestak, Keith Ellison, Kirsten Gillibrand, PA-SEN, Russ Feingold, Senate '10, WI-SEN
MN-05
GOPer's Web Ad Depicts 'Monstrous' (Truck) Challenge Of His Campaign (VIDEO)
A new ad from MN-05 candidate Joel Demos (R).
Joel Demos, the Republican candidate running against Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison in a very safe Dem district in Minnesota, has a truly great Web video as part of his fundraising effort.
Demos's video provides a metaphor for just how difficult his campaign is: By showing the candidate attempting to drag a monster truck across a finish line -- and receiving help from supporters to get it across. "Joel Demos is running against Keith Ellison in Minneapolis. You could say that's a big challenge," the announcer says. "In fact, it's monstrous."
The district voted for Barack Obama by a 74%-24% margin in 2008, and before that it voted for John Kerry by 71%-28% in 2004. The latest FEC filings, covering the dates up to July 21, show Ellison with $209,464 on hand, compared to only $1,289 for Demos.
It's safe to say that Demos doesn't stand much of a chance in November. But nevertheless, monster trucks are awesome.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: House '10, Joel Demos, Keith Ellison, MN-05
Michele Bachmann
Bachmann To Campaign And Fundraise With Palin -- In Someone Else's District
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN)
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) will be welcoming a very special guest to Minnesota today: Sarah Palin, for a rally together in Minneapolis.
The much-anticipated rally will begin at 3 p.m. ET, and will be streamed online by Bachmann's campaign. Other guests will include Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a potential presidential candidate, as well as right-wing talk show host and Bachmann ally Sean Hannity.
The really interesting -- not to mention mystifying -- thing about this event is that it's not in Bachmann's district, which does not include any part of Minneapolis.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2010 elections, Keith Ellison, MN-06, Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin, Sean Hannity, Tim Pawlenty
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