Exasperation Within

July 3rd, 2011

Milt Shook recently wrote a "101" lesson plan for progressives who are as much under siege from their own fringe as they are from the conservative movement:

"...a large number of far-left “progressives” were actually crowing at the “silver lining” in the 2010 election results; that about half of all “Blue Dog” Democrats lost. Yes, that’s right; they were HAPPY. Nancy Pelosi was replaced by an orange Boner, the committee chairs all went from being progressive Democrats to being right wing Republicans. We went from having a House of Representatives that passed hundreds of relatively progressive bills to one that has repeatedly tried to kill Medicare and damage Social Security.

And do you know WHY this happened? In part, it’s because about 25 “Blue Dogs,” almost all of whom voted with Democrats at least 80% of the time, were replaced by right wing Republicans and teabaggers.

Does that sound like ":progress" to you? Really? If you do, then you must be one of those geniuses who thinks both major parties are the same."

Indeed, many of those Shook refers to as "far-left" bear the responsibility for last November's poor turnout. The fear that was stoked by the Drudge/FOX/Red State types on the right was matched and, in some ways, surpassed by the cynicism spawned within liberal ranks by our own self-declared purists.

BIG Numbers

Feb 8th, 2011

America's registered lobbyists spent 3.47 billion dollars last year trying to get what they want for their patrons. To be fair, the previous year's figure was slightly higher making 2010 the first time the number has dropped in over a decade. The reduction is of little consequence as the 2009 number was still almost 2.5 times the 1998 total of 1.44 billion dollars.

It occurred to me that these numbers could use a human face. There are 7,382 state level senators and representatives in the U.S. When added to the 535 at the federal level, the total number of the men and women who most directly influence our lives and administer our tax-borne resources, for better or worse, comes to 7,917.

For the sake of argument, let's imagine that last year's reported lobbyist spending was actually distributed evenly between them. That would come to roughly $429,455 for each.

Did you give close to half a million dollars to any elected official last year? Do you feel that you have access to your representatives? How's that working out for you?