New Hampshire

While GOPers Debate, Progressives Blitz NH With Medicare Message

Evan McMorris-Santoro | June 13, 2011, 6:45AM

Mitt Romney

The Republicans who gather on stage in New Hampshire Monday night for their first major presidential primary debate are all scrambling to position themselves on Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-WI) plan to replace Medicare with a voucher system.

And thanks to a blanket of advertising in New Hampshire by progressive groups, primary voters in the Granite State watching tonight's debate will be confronted with the Democratic view of Ryan's budget -- namely, that it forces seniors and the poor to bear the burden of the federal budget woes while making life easier on the rich.

Major progressive groups are flooding New Hampshire with Medicare messaging, previewing the fight for Medicare they hope to have with the GOP next year. Online or on the air, it will be hard for primary voters tuning in to the debate to avoid the progressive position on the Ryan budget, providing contrast for the Republicans on stage who are expected to heap praise on Ryan, even while the big names try to put at least some distance between them and Ryan's unpopular proposal.

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Medicare

PCCC Ad On Medicare Not Getting Pulled, Despite NRCC Complaints

Eric Kleefeld | June 3, 2011, 6:15PM

The liberal Progressive Change Campaign Committee has won a round against the National Republican Congressional Committee -- with the liberal group turning back an effort to get an ad targeting Republican proposals on Medicare pulled from broadcast.

As Greg Sargent reported, the NRCC wrote a letter to WMUR in New Hampshire and Comcast, complaining that a PCCC ad attacking Rep. Charlie Bass (R-NH) for having "voted to end Medicare" was false and demanding that it be taken down.

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Medicare

Progressives Take Medicare Fight To NH Republican (VIDEO)

Evan McMorris-Santoro | June 2, 2011, 12:23PM

Rep. Charlie Bass (R-NH) has become the latest Republican to face his vote for Medicare-ending House budget in the form of a TV ad. In the first major ad buy since Democrats used the issue to pull off a surprise win in the NY-26 special election, progressives are targeting Bass over his vote for Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-WI) budget plan, which eliminates Medicare and replaces it with a voucher system.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Democracy For America say they hope to do significant damage to Bass, as well as bolster their choice to replace him, Ann Kuster. She's the progressive star who barely lost to Bass in 2010 after defeating Sen. Joe Lieberman's presidential campaign chair for the Democratic nomination. Kuster's running again this year.

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Elizabeth Warren

Number Of Democrats Calling For Warren Recess Appointment More Than Doubles

Evan McMorris-Santoro | June 2, 2011, 8:48AM

Chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel created to oversee the expenditure of TARP, Elizabeth Warren.

As Republicans have stepped up their attempts to prevent Elizabeth Warren's confirmation as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Democrats and progressives are building steam behind their call for President Obama to go around the GOP's obstruction.

In the past week, the number of Democratic lawmakers who have signed a letter calling on Obama to use his recess appointment powers to install Warren at the head of the newly-created CFPB has more than doubled from the 36 who were on the list last week.

The formal announcement of the new number of signatories -- which is expected to include some members of House Democratic leadership -- will come at a Capitol Hill press conference on Thursday. Progressive groups are already calling the amped up recess appointment support a victory for their pro-Warren grassroots organizing efforts.

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Deficit

Progressive Groups: Polls Show Deficit Panic Is Republican Illusion

Evan McMorris-Santoro | May 25, 2011, 8:41AM

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD)

A day after House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (MD) confirmed that cuts to Medicare are a part of deficit reduction negotiations, progressives are out with new polling they say shows Democrats falling into a Republican trap.

The fresh numbers from Ohio, Missouri, Montana and Minnesota jibe with what national polls have shown in the past: Americans are far more concerned about job creation than they are about deficit reduction. Progressives say that shows Democrats should be leaving the deficit panic to the GOP and getting back to an agenda that protects entitlements and stimulates job growth.

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Medicare/Medicaid

Poll: Voters Ready To Penalize Democrats Who Mess With Medicare

Evan McMorris-Santoro | May 24, 2011, 8:40AM

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO)

Voters in key Senate swing states don't want cuts to Medicare and Medicaid benefits -- and they're prepared to exact revenge on politicians who vote in favor of them.

That's according to new Public Policy Polling (D) numbers from Ohio, Missouri, Montana and Minnesota, where Democratic Senators face what could be tough reelection fights. The polling, published first by TPM, was sponsored by a coalition of progressive groups.

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Social Security

New Polling Says Overwhelming Majority Wants Social Security Left Alone

Evan McMorris-Santoro | May 23, 2011, 8:44AM

Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT)

Ask the voters and they'll tell you: Social Security cuts are off the table when it comes to cleaning up the budget mess in Washington.

Fresh polling from Ohio, Missouri, Montana and Minnesota published first by TPM show voters in the states overwhelmingly oppose any cuts to the Social Security entitlement program, even in the name of reducing the national debt. The coalition of progressive groups which sponsored the survey say the polls send a clear message to the Democratic Senate incumbents up for reelection in each state: cut Social Security and you'll incur the wrath of an angry electorate.

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Wisconsin Protests

Progressive Groups Step Up Recall Ad Campaign (VIDEO)

Evan McMorris-Santoro | March 17, 2011, 9:05AM

They've asked the voters, they've filled the airwaves and now they're getting down to business: Starting Thursday, a coalition of national progressives is openly calling for the recall of several Republican state Senators in Wisconsin with new TV ads aimed directly at them.

Recall fever is catching among the Wisconsin left these days. The state Democratic party has collected just about half of the signatures necessary to make a run at recalling eight state Senators eligible to have their terms cut short (Wisconsin law says only a politician who's been in office for a year or more can be recalled.)

The progressive coalition of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Democracy For America is banging the recall drum, too, after spending more than a half-million dollars on TV ads lambasting the Republican state Senate and Gov. Scott Walker (R). Now the groups are launching the first TV spots to call for recall directly.

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Wisconsin Protests

Progressives Get Serious About Wisconsin Recalls

Evan McMorris-Santoro | March 8, 2011, 8:49AM

Demonstrators outside the Wisconsin state Capitol, February 16, 2011.

A coalition of progressive groups are taking their threats to recall several Republican members of the state Senate in Wisconsin to the next level this week.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Democracy For America say they've raised more than a half million dollars from a TV ad the groups have been running in two Wisconsin media markets for a week. Now they plan to take that money and refocus their attention on recalling three Republican Senators.

PCCC and DFA first raised the recall threat last week, launching an automated phone campaign to gauge voters interest in recall in several state Senate districts. The response? Voters are ready to give their Senators the boot -- and the PCCC and DFA are ready to help.

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Wisconsin Protests

Progressive Pro-Union Ad In Wisconsin Raises $225K In A Day

Evan McMorris-Santoro | March 3, 2011, 2:35PM

If the money pouring in is any indication, supporters of union workers in Wisconsin like the TV ad campaign launched by two national progressive groups on Wednesday.

The groups behind the ad, which targets Gov. Scott Walker (R) and the Republican majority in the legislature, tell TPM they've raised "over $225,000" from "10,000 grassroots donors" since the ad and its accompanying online fundraising campaign went live yesterday.

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Labor

Progressive Leaders Press Obama To Use Bully Pulpit In Public Worker Fight

Brian Beutler | February 24, 2011, 1:48PM

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.

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Net Neutrality

95 Candidates Who Pledged Support For Net Neutrality Lost On Tuesday

Jillian Rayfield | November 4, 2010, 1:27PM

Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA)

The FCC's push for Net Neutrality legislation suffered another setback on Tuesday, after 95 of the candidates who pledged their support for it lost their elections.

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