I saw Joy Reid interview Jim Clyburn from his Columbia fish fry over the weekend. He was sounding more wide awake and chipper than usual, I guess since he was at his own big fete, and that made me happy. Then Reid mentioned that he was a supporter of Jaime Harrison, who has announced his intention to run against Lindsey Graham in 2020. Maybe it was my imagination but he gave a teensy tinsy nod and then went on to the next subject.
I have two problems with that. First of all, this is the second time I have seen Clyburn interviewed on MSNBC when he has been asked about the race for senator in 2020, and he has failed to make a big deal out of it. I understand that Clyburn may just not be comfortable with promoting someone that isn't himself -- Harrison tends to have the same quirk -- but the race against Lindsey Graham should be a huge deal. After 2018, even SC should be chomping at the bit to get rid of this Trump patsy. All his crazy flip flops as he chases down Trump's approval and his temper tantrum at the Kavanaugh hearing only magnify the need and the potential for change, especially after all those fearless women took the House last November.
My second problem is that even feminist and advocate of women of color Joy Reid failed to note that there is an actual primary opponent running for the Democratic contender, Gloria Bromell Tinubu. And not surprisingly, Clyburn has also failed to acknowledge this.
I say "not surprisingly" because a number of years ago, Clyburn threw his two cents into the race against Tim Scott, during Scott's first senate election campaign after his appointment to the Senate by his buddy Nikki Haley. In a primary race among two men and one woman, Clyburn asked the woman to step aside and let the guys fight it out. She did not step aside. And she won the primary. The woman, Joyce Dickerson, is a truly dynamic firebrand. She wasn't afraid to go head to head with Scott. But she really didn't get the chance. Not the money nor the true support of the Democratic Party. Clyburn was silent.
And now we have another dynamic woman who has stepped up against Lindsey Graham. Gloria Tinubu is a former economics professor and a former Georgia state legislator. She is speaking for those who have been left behind because of racial injustice and the failures of the government to address economic inequality.
Tinubu has experienced being overlooked by the Democratic Party machine, local and national, before. She is not likely to get financial support, or even acknowledgement, by the South Carolina Democratic Party, or the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, or, of course, from big Congressional honcho Jim Clyburn. Unless we make waves.
Write and tweet the SCDP and the DSCC. Let them know you expect a fair primary fight. Tell them to put both candidates front and center. I am tired of our senate candidates being the best kept secret in South Carolina, and I hope you are too.
If you believe it takes a woman, a strong, smart woman, to defeat misogynist Lindsey Graham in 2020, please help spread the word. Follow Gloria Bromell Tinubu on Facebook and Twitter, meet up with her on her website, gloriaforussenate.com. Share, contribute, and help in any way you can.
I can be fairly certain, after years of hearing about how we are turning blue, that unless our party leaders put our candidates front and center, and do it now, the only thing that will be turning blue is our mood after the next election. I have suggested that the best way to generate publicity right now is by planning events for both candidates, forums, meet 'n' greets, debates, where both candidates engage each other AND the public. You know, like the presidential candidates have been doing for months.
Or, they can follow the old playbook and support the guy who will attract the most money in lieu of excitement. We know how that will turn out.
Showing posts with label Joyce Dickerson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Joyce Dickerson. Show all posts
Monday, June 24, 2019
Thursday, August 3, 2017
With Friends Like These...
It has been tough enough fighting the forces of evil lately. But just in the past couple of days we have been hit upside the head by our own Democratic Party. Multiple times. Let me just regale you with three items in the news. Hang on to your hats, friends.
My hero, John Lewis, just last year led a sit-in in the House of Representatives, to protest the refusal of republican leadership to allow a vote on gun control legislation.
You may recall that, during the Memorial after the horrific shooting in Charleston, a call for gun control received a standing ovation -- except for Tim Scott and Nikki Haley, notably sitting front and center. Scott receives the complete support of the NRA, with an "A" rating.
I haven't lived in South Carolina long (in southern time: only 18 years). But Tim Scott and I go back to when I was working at my beloved Charleston County Public Library and he was on County Council. In the economic destruction of the Bush years, here in Charleston, Tim Scott voted to drastically cut funding for our award-winning library. The library that teachers in a perennially exhausted school system used to provide the best books to their students, the library that provided an amazing collection to those of us who would never have had that kind of access to literature and science -- Tim Scott voted to slash the budget.
And last week, Tim Scott sat smiling broadly next to Donald Trump as he bloviated about how he was going to get the Senate to pass the health care bill. And then Scott voted to do Trump's bidding and take health care away from millions of Americans.
That Tim Scott, that is the person who John Lewis has just awarded the John Lewis--Amo Houghton Leadership Award for Faith and Leadership. Okay, I understand that this is an award given by a group that is committed to non-partisanship. And I know it is hard these days to find a republican that hasn't compromised himself to hell to follow the leaders of his party. But Tim Scott??? Yes, he will go on about his faith at the drop of a hat. But there isn't a damn way you can call him a leader.
And then yesterday I learned that the DCCC had formalized its desperate need to seek the support of the Trump voter by stating that they would support candidates who were anti-abortion.
I imagine that wimpy Tom Perez is hiding behind Bernie Sanders on that one. Bernie, you may recall, failed us big time when he threw his support behind anti-abortion mayoral candidate Heath Mello in April. Let me clarify my take on this. Bernie Sanders had the clout to offer to support Mello if he changed his position on reproductive rights. Mello didn't have to say he "believed" in abortion; it would have been enough to say that he supported a woman's right to make her own choice. But he did not. Despite appeals from women and women's groups, Bernie stood firm in throwing women under the bus to support an otherwise progressive candidate.
So, with Bernie's transgression as inspiration, the Democrats went on a highly suspect Democratic "listening tour." Suspect because it doesn't appear the Democrats are listening to anybody but their own fearful conservative leaders. Hillary may have won the popular vote by three million, obscenely gerrymandered voting districts and horrendous voter suppression laws may have resulted in Dems winning the vote and losing Congress, but to our Democratic leaders, what we need to do is compromise our values in order to win. The Democratic Party is like an abused spouse, promising ever more vehemently to behave each time they are struck.
Compare and contrast this to the republican party, which has maintained their leadership by promising to derail the programs that best serve their constituents. The difference? They really, really believe in what they stand for. Tom Perez and the DCCC, not so much. It has been nice to see the recent squabbles among republicans when faced with the psychotic behavior of the head of their party, but don't forget, only three republicans voted against the despicable Senate health care bill.
And with Democrats supporting anti-choice candidates, who will they compromise next? Look around folks, because all of us have our vulnerabilities. LGBTQ, affirmative action, gun control, unions.... basically, all the groups that the Democratic Party is supposed to protect and represent. The sad thing about this, other than leaving us all hanging out to dry, is that it won't work. Bigotry-lite will never have the appeal of outright right-wing bigotry. And the thing about the Democratic Party is that they are just aware enough of what they are doing to be embarrassed by it. They will never stand strong no matter what they say they stand for, and then they will still be attacked for being Harvard/Goldman Sachs elites. And when that happens, they will blush and deny it.
With the "listening tour" party sorely in need of a hearing aid, I have taken to firing back at fund-raising emails, saying that there is no way on this still-green earth that I will throw money down that toilet. I do try to say it in a more civilized manner. The other thing I do, and I encourage y'all to do both, is tweet @WhicheverDemIsBeingAWuss to let them know you won't support them unless they shape up. And then send your money and your support to all those great candidates who stand up for all of us. The DCCC may have forgotten what the Women's March and Indivisible are all about, but we remember, and we will continue to stand together.
And speaking of standing together, I glanced at Twitter today and saw one from Bakari Sellers that wasn't really shocking as much as saddening. So I replied.
Here in Bakari's state of South Carolina, the Democratic Party just passed over a highly qualified, politically active and successful woman (white) to go out of state to choose a white man to lead the party, which was at the time being led by a black man.
But you don't have to be a white woman to be passed over by Democrats. In 2014, Joyce Dickerson ran in a primary for US Senator against newly appointed Tim Scott. She was told by our own Jim Clyburn that she should step aside and let the two men fight out the primary. Well, with her powerful voice and message, she won the primary, but you wouldn't know it by the help and support she got from her party.
And just this year our state party put their thumb on the scale of the special election for US House seat for District 5. They unabashedly backed a rich white guy over a young black woman. And they had help from a bunch of big-name out-of-state Democrats. Wasn't a day I could check my email or visit Facebook without seeing that white guy's face or a fund-raising email from Robby Mook or Daniel Barash -- again, before the primary. And yet, that woman who ran without national or state support had a strong message and strong community support; in a three-way race, she got some 22 percent of the vote.
So let's not inject a white woman bias into this debate, okay?
Here is the thing. The republicans have been able to pit us against each other for decades. We have all been victimized by an unfettered capitalist system run by rich white men. Republicans in the positions of greatest power don't really give a damn about abortion or even the threat of terrorism -- you only have to look at how blase they have been at Trump regime's national security transgressions to know saving the nation is not what they are all about. What they care about is power, maintaining and growing that power. And they do that by making people scared and angry -- at each other.
And boy-o, Dems are an easy target. We are still fighting over Bernie versus Hillary. And when we argue over who has been the most victimized, they score an easy win.
So, let me say again, let's not do that. And let's tell the Democratic Party that they had better stick by ALL of us. And let's keep supporting our great progressive candidates. We have proven that we don't need the Democratic Party if we have the community. And with our social network, our community is the entire country. And these days, much of the world is behind us.
Women marched together, not for one cause or another, but for all of us who are suffering from the callousness and greed of the wealthy and powerful. And men marched too. You could march with us even if you were anti-abortion -- you just couldn't march for that with us, because that would have gone against the whole reason for the march. This is about all the individual rights and freedoms that are being systematically taken away. Jefferson Sessions might don his white hood and come after Muslims today, but tomorrow he will find time to go after sick people who use marijuana to ease the pain, and the day after that he will get to interment camps for Mexicans, and then young women using birth control, and yes, Bakari, affirmative action.
The Democratic Party needs to be reminded what they say they stand for: individual rights and freedom for all. We don't need a party to get behind a great candidate, but we can get their attention and refocus them on who they claim to be.
Shock #1
My hero, John Lewis, just last year led a sit-in in the House of Representatives, to protest the refusal of republican leadership to allow a vote on gun control legislation.
You may recall that, during the Memorial after the horrific shooting in Charleston, a call for gun control received a standing ovation -- except for Tim Scott and Nikki Haley, notably sitting front and center. Scott receives the complete support of the NRA, with an "A" rating.
I haven't lived in South Carolina long (in southern time: only 18 years). But Tim Scott and I go back to when I was working at my beloved Charleston County Public Library and he was on County Council. In the economic destruction of the Bush years, here in Charleston, Tim Scott voted to drastically cut funding for our award-winning library. The library that teachers in a perennially exhausted school system used to provide the best books to their students, the library that provided an amazing collection to those of us who would never have had that kind of access to literature and science -- Tim Scott voted to slash the budget.
And last week, Tim Scott sat smiling broadly next to Donald Trump as he bloviated about how he was going to get the Senate to pass the health care bill. And then Scott voted to do Trump's bidding and take health care away from millions of Americans.
That Tim Scott, that is the person who John Lewis has just awarded the John Lewis--Amo Houghton Leadership Award for Faith and Leadership. Okay, I understand that this is an award given by a group that is committed to non-partisanship. And I know it is hard these days to find a republican that hasn't compromised himself to hell to follow the leaders of his party. But Tim Scott??? Yes, he will go on about his faith at the drop of a hat. But there isn't a damn way you can call him a leader.
Shock #2
And then yesterday I learned that the DCCC had formalized its desperate need to seek the support of the Trump voter by stating that they would support candidates who were anti-abortion.
I imagine that wimpy Tom Perez is hiding behind Bernie Sanders on that one. Bernie, you may recall, failed us big time when he threw his support behind anti-abortion mayoral candidate Heath Mello in April. Let me clarify my take on this. Bernie Sanders had the clout to offer to support Mello if he changed his position on reproductive rights. Mello didn't have to say he "believed" in abortion; it would have been enough to say that he supported a woman's right to make her own choice. But he did not. Despite appeals from women and women's groups, Bernie stood firm in throwing women under the bus to support an otherwise progressive candidate.
So, with Bernie's transgression as inspiration, the Democrats went on a highly suspect Democratic "listening tour." Suspect because it doesn't appear the Democrats are listening to anybody but their own fearful conservative leaders. Hillary may have won the popular vote by three million, obscenely gerrymandered voting districts and horrendous voter suppression laws may have resulted in Dems winning the vote and losing Congress, but to our Democratic leaders, what we need to do is compromise our values in order to win. The Democratic Party is like an abused spouse, promising ever more vehemently to behave each time they are struck.
Compare and contrast this to the republican party, which has maintained their leadership by promising to derail the programs that best serve their constituents. The difference? They really, really believe in what they stand for. Tom Perez and the DCCC, not so much. It has been nice to see the recent squabbles among republicans when faced with the psychotic behavior of the head of their party, but don't forget, only three republicans voted against the despicable Senate health care bill.
And with Democrats supporting anti-choice candidates, who will they compromise next? Look around folks, because all of us have our vulnerabilities. LGBTQ, affirmative action, gun control, unions.... basically, all the groups that the Democratic Party is supposed to protect and represent. The sad thing about this, other than leaving us all hanging out to dry, is that it won't work. Bigotry-lite will never have the appeal of outright right-wing bigotry. And the thing about the Democratic Party is that they are just aware enough of what they are doing to be embarrassed by it. They will never stand strong no matter what they say they stand for, and then they will still be attacked for being Harvard/Goldman Sachs elites. And when that happens, they will blush and deny it.
With the "listening tour" party sorely in need of a hearing aid, I have taken to firing back at fund-raising emails, saying that there is no way on this still-green earth that I will throw money down that toilet. I do try to say it in a more civilized manner. The other thing I do, and I encourage y'all to do both, is tweet @WhicheverDemIsBeingAWuss to let them know you won't support them unless they shape up. And then send your money and your support to all those great candidates who stand up for all of us. The DCCC may have forgotten what the Women's March and Indivisible are all about, but we remember, and we will continue to stand together.
Shock #3
But you don't have to be a white woman to be passed over by Democrats. In 2014, Joyce Dickerson ran in a primary for US Senator against newly appointed Tim Scott. She was told by our own Jim Clyburn that she should step aside and let the two men fight out the primary. Well, with her powerful voice and message, she won the primary, but you wouldn't know it by the help and support she got from her party.
And just this year our state party put their thumb on the scale of the special election for US House seat for District 5. They unabashedly backed a rich white guy over a young black woman. And they had help from a bunch of big-name out-of-state Democrats. Wasn't a day I could check my email or visit Facebook without seeing that white guy's face or a fund-raising email from Robby Mook or Daniel Barash -- again, before the primary. And yet, that woman who ran without national or state support had a strong message and strong community support; in a three-way race, she got some 22 percent of the vote.
So let's not inject a white woman bias into this debate, okay?
Here is the thing. The republicans have been able to pit us against each other for decades. We have all been victimized by an unfettered capitalist system run by rich white men. Republicans in the positions of greatest power don't really give a damn about abortion or even the threat of terrorism -- you only have to look at how blase they have been at Trump regime's national security transgressions to know saving the nation is not what they are all about. What they care about is power, maintaining and growing that power. And they do that by making people scared and angry -- at each other.
And boy-o, Dems are an easy target. We are still fighting over Bernie versus Hillary. And when we argue over who has been the most victimized, they score an easy win.
So, let me say again, let's not do that. And let's tell the Democratic Party that they had better stick by ALL of us. And let's keep supporting our great progressive candidates. We have proven that we don't need the Democratic Party if we have the community. And with our social network, our community is the entire country. And these days, much of the world is behind us.
Women marched together, not for one cause or another, but for all of us who are suffering from the callousness and greed of the wealthy and powerful. And men marched too. You could march with us even if you were anti-abortion -- you just couldn't march for that with us, because that would have gone against the whole reason for the march. This is about all the individual rights and freedoms that are being systematically taken away. Jefferson Sessions might don his white hood and come after Muslims today, but tomorrow he will find time to go after sick people who use marijuana to ease the pain, and the day after that he will get to interment camps for Mexicans, and then young women using birth control, and yes, Bakari, affirmative action.
The Democratic Party needs to be reminded what they say they stand for: individual rights and freedom for all. We don't need a party to get behind a great candidate, but we can get their attention and refocus them on who they claim to be.
Thursday, April 21, 2016
Democratic Insecurity
As our Democratic presidential candidates continue to try to fight a good and honorable campaign, some passionate supporters can be counted on to flare up over the opposite campaign's occasional missteps. I've heard from Bernie supporters about Hillary's emails, and Hillary supporters who claim Bernie is the NRA's best buddy.
This week it's about Bernie. And it is not so much those of us on the ground who are doing the squealing, but those puffed up party officials. This is how it all began:
A few weeks ago, during a taping of Larry Wilmore's The Nightly Show, Sanders responded to a question about whether the primary process was rigged by saying that "having so many southern states go first kind of distorts reality." Oh. My. God. What is he saying, exactly, about us southerners???
Of course, Bernie being a very white man from a very white state, he has been walking a tightrope regarding racial issues. And racial issues, for good reason, have been very, very hot this election season. Not surprisingly, this became a comment about black southern voters being too conservative for Bernie.
Our own Democratic Party chairman, Jaime Harrison, took it upon himself, along with other thin-skinned Democratic party officials from South Carolina as well as other southern states, to very publicly condemn Sanders for his comments. In a letter to Sanders' campaign headquarters, rationalizations were piled on top of a history lesson about the democratic process and diversity, followed by a statement of support for Hillary. Yes, really.
Fact is, South Carolina's Democratic party is a very conservative bunch. They are unlikely to give up a lot of support to anyone who might make waves. It is not surprising that many good people are discouraged from running for office because of exorbitant filing fees followed by little public or financial support from the party. You kind of already have to be a winner to expect our guys to get behind you.
To be fair, this is the party that continues to try to live down the Alvin Greene fiasco. But as overcompensation for being asleep at the wheel in 2010, the party has refused to even acknowledge potentially controversial potential candidates like Jay Stamper in 2014, and pretty much ignored the dynamic Joyce Dickerson in her run against Tim Scott in 2014, despite the fact that she beat out two male primary challengers.
Let me just add that Dickerson's message was just what would have fired up Democrats in South Carolina. Instead, come election day few had even heard of her.
This year, we have two amazing candidates running for president. We also have too many republicans running unopposed in all levels of government, with a few brave souls stepping up to bring the Democratic message to South Carolina.
Slick pols like Tim Scott rub elbows at Hilton Head with the good ole boys with money, while our candidates aren't allowed to stand at the tournament shuttle bus stop to talk about issues. Most South Carolinians don't ever hear about actual issues; what they get is red meat thrown onto the fire by right wingnuts. They don't have to even learn names; they just vote that "R" just like their daddy did.
It will take fearlessness to ever, EVER turn blue. It will take making running more affordable for candidates and it will take the party using some clout to put those names in front of the people. Republican candidates have learned to make it sound like they are one of us, but they are not. Voters need to understand that what republicans say is different than how they run our government, and they need to know just how that affects us all.
Democrats need a platform, and yes, Democratic Party, that is going to cost you money. I know you run lots of programs to try to get people to join the party, but I think you have it backwards. You need to get the candidates in front of the people so that they will understand what you can do for them if they support you.
And you know what? There is nothing like controversy to get the cameras rolling. How about candidates that aren't afraid to be David to the republican Goliath? How about taking a chance on someone who isn't afraid to speak her mind? How about not being afraid to support a presidential candidate that fights for socialist programs like Medicare and public schools?
Jaime Harrison is probably a nice guy; I wouldn't know because he never seems to stop selling himself. He certainly doesn't stop long enough to listen to anybody. He maybe ought to take a couple of steps back and get some perspective on what is going on. Our Democratic contests are NOT about race. They are about different perspectives on how to get the equality we all deserve. And if he stopped being so thin-skinned, he might actually understand what Senator Sanders was trying to say when he talked about southern voters.
More than once, before the presidential primary, I heard people declare that they liked Bernie, but they were going to vote for Hillary because Bernie couldn't win. And that wasn't about race, it was about insecurity.
That could be what he was trying to tell us.
This week it's about Bernie. And it is not so much those of us on the ground who are doing the squealing, but those puffed up party officials. This is how it all began:
A few weeks ago, during a taping of Larry Wilmore's The Nightly Show, Sanders responded to a question about whether the primary process was rigged by saying that "having so many southern states go first kind of distorts reality." Oh. My. God. What is he saying, exactly, about us southerners???
Of course, Bernie being a very white man from a very white state, he has been walking a tightrope regarding racial issues. And racial issues, for good reason, have been very, very hot this election season. Not surprisingly, this became a comment about black southern voters being too conservative for Bernie.
Our own Democratic Party chairman, Jaime Harrison, took it upon himself, along with other thin-skinned Democratic party officials from South Carolina as well as other southern states, to very publicly condemn Sanders for his comments. In a letter to Sanders' campaign headquarters, rationalizations were piled on top of a history lesson about the democratic process and diversity, followed by a statement of support for Hillary. Yes, really.
Fact is, South Carolina's Democratic party is a very conservative bunch. They are unlikely to give up a lot of support to anyone who might make waves. It is not surprising that many good people are discouraged from running for office because of exorbitant filing fees followed by little public or financial support from the party. You kind of already have to be a winner to expect our guys to get behind you.
To be fair, this is the party that continues to try to live down the Alvin Greene fiasco. But as overcompensation for being asleep at the wheel in 2010, the party has refused to even acknowledge potentially controversial potential candidates like Jay Stamper in 2014, and pretty much ignored the dynamic Joyce Dickerson in her run against Tim Scott in 2014, despite the fact that she beat out two male primary challengers.
Let me just add that Dickerson's message was just what would have fired up Democrats in South Carolina. Instead, come election day few had even heard of her.
This year, we have two amazing candidates running for president. We also have too many republicans running unopposed in all levels of government, with a few brave souls stepping up to bring the Democratic message to South Carolina.
Slick pols like Tim Scott rub elbows at Hilton Head with the good ole boys with money, while our candidates aren't allowed to stand at the tournament shuttle bus stop to talk about issues. Most South Carolinians don't ever hear about actual issues; what they get is red meat thrown onto the fire by right wingnuts. They don't have to even learn names; they just vote that "R" just like their daddy did.
It will take fearlessness to ever, EVER turn blue. It will take making running more affordable for candidates and it will take the party using some clout to put those names in front of the people. Republican candidates have learned to make it sound like they are one of us, but they are not. Voters need to understand that what republicans say is different than how they run our government, and they need to know just how that affects us all.
Democrats need a platform, and yes, Democratic Party, that is going to cost you money. I know you run lots of programs to try to get people to join the party, but I think you have it backwards. You need to get the candidates in front of the people so that they will understand what you can do for them if they support you.
And you know what? There is nothing like controversy to get the cameras rolling. How about candidates that aren't afraid to be David to the republican Goliath? How about taking a chance on someone who isn't afraid to speak her mind? How about not being afraid to support a presidential candidate that fights for socialist programs like Medicare and public schools?
Jaime Harrison is probably a nice guy; I wouldn't know because he never seems to stop selling himself. He certainly doesn't stop long enough to listen to anybody. He maybe ought to take a couple of steps back and get some perspective on what is going on. Our Democratic contests are NOT about race. They are about different perspectives on how to get the equality we all deserve. And if he stopped being so thin-skinned, he might actually understand what Senator Sanders was trying to say when he talked about southern voters.
More than once, before the presidential primary, I heard people declare that they liked Bernie, but they were going to vote for Hillary because Bernie couldn't win. And that wasn't about race, it was about insecurity.
That could be what he was trying to tell us.
Monday, November 3, 2014
Some Last Thoughts (Before I Vote)
Unsurprisingly, in the last day before the midterm money leads by, well, a lot.
Take Lindsey Graham, for example. Graham has proven that he is slick and, I have to say, pretty creepy. He can sit back and sound like your kindly uncle who knows what is best and well, he's just going to do it, because it's good for you. Like increasing the social security retirement age. But don't forget that he has also taken some unpopular stands and went up against a slew of opponents in the primaries and, well, he slew them all. Why? Because he's willing to work with those on the other side. Huh. Of course, like that wise old uncle, he tells you that you're going to have to give something up as well.
Here's the thing you need to remember about Lindsey Graham: he is a manipulative s.o.b. He actually said, in his moderate voice, that the reason we needed to vote for him is that it will take a republican to work with the crazy republicans that keep blocking progress in Congress. And in case you thought you had heard him wrong, he said it again.
And then there is the megalomaniac Tim Scott, who sees himself as sent by God (in the guise of Nikki Haley). He is dumber than dirt, and maybe even dumber than his predecessor, Jim DeMint, but he has been polished to a shine even brighter than his nice suit. People I actually know think he is smart, and that he sounds good in public. Maybe I just haven't been around enough to see him preaching to his congregation. But I listened to the debate, and he may have been rehearsed, but he was wooden, as though even he didn't believe his stock phrases anymore. And I saw his ad, the one where he brags on pretending to work next to "everyday people," of whom he apparently no longer counts himself. And I've heard his lies, like about how he voted to reduce the interest on student loans.
And then there is Nikki Haley. Smarmy and flirty, who has wowed all the big bucks, basically because she will do absolutely anything they want her to do, and even more. South Carolina under her watch has sold itself to big corporations and refused to feed, insure and educate its poor. She has worked to deny those who might oppose her right wing plans the right to vote, and she has cost us millions of dollars to fight this battle in court. She is mean-spirited and vindictive, and she can flash a phony smile better than just about anybody I know.
Then we have idiots like Mike Fair, who wears his stupidity with pride and calls it faith. He single-handedly stopped our state legislature from moving health and sex education into the 21st century because the old ways are good enough for him. Of course, he and fellow idiot Kevin Bryant also provided us with better comedy than you can find on cable TV when they argued for putting the Bible in the Columbian mammoth bill.
But we've also got a few tough choices, but choices nonetheless, and some where we have to hold our noses to give it our best shot, and some where that doesn't even help. Parenthetically, when someone distasteful is running unopposed, or unhappily you just can't vote for either candidate, don't leave that space blank. Write-in "None of the Above" so your vote will count.
Do not despair, though, because we do have some good choices, and even some very good choices.
We don't have to let Mark Sanford breeze by without opposition, because Dimitri Cherny is running as a write-in independent candidate. He's a good man, and I would love to see Sanford's face if Cherny with no financial backing or name recognition made a decent showing.
Brad Hutto has fought against great odds to unseat Lindsey Graham. What I like about Hutto is that he is not trying to hide the fact that he is a Democrat, and that he supports the Affordable Care Act, and even President Obama. It took guts (and I hear some persuasion by the state party) for him to agree to step up.
Bakari Sellers is running for Lieutenant Governor, and he is smart and caring. He has traveled around the small towns in South Carolina introducing himself to people and talking about what he can do to improve life for South Carolinians. He has been endorsed by Charleston Mayor Riley, among many others. I have to say that I watched the debate, and Bakari's comments were a breath of fresh air compared to those of his opponent, you know, the guy who thinks we should all volunteer for service jobs so people like him don't have to pay taxes.
I haven't mentioned Gloria Tinubu here because she is not running in Charleston or for a state-wide office, but she is an amazing woman running for Congress in the 7th district. She is brilliant and outspoken, and although she lost in 2012, she is determined that she is going to try again so that she can fight for her district, the state and the country in Congress. If you know anybody from the 7th district, tell them to by all means get out and vote for Gloria.
Last but certainly not least, Joyce Dickerson has had to fight to be heard throughout this race. She has run on a shoestring, and in spite of the lukewarm support of the Democratic party (famous for failing to support good candidates in past years). She won the primary against two male candidates in spite of suggestions by male Democratic leaders that maybe she should step aside. She is not just the underdog in this race against Tim Scott, but she is the underdog that we should all be fighting for.
Joyce Dickerson will not be swayed by power or money. She knows who her constituents are in South Carolina: the struggling middle class, seniors, veterans, children. She knows the issues: low wages, lack of health insurance, failing schools, unemployment, crumbling roads, student loan debt. There isn't one of us who would not benefit by having Joyce fighting for us in the Senate.
It was a big step, going from Richland County Council to the U.S. Senate. But, unlike Tim Scott, she is doing it without the dollars and support of corporations, lobbyists, and of course, Governor Nikki Haley, who gifted the seat to him two years ago. And unlike Nikki Haley, she is a woman who will fight for women, and her candidacy has made me proud.
So, I'm happy to say, we do have lots of reasons to vote. It may be that many of these great candidates don't win because they are fighting enormous odds. But they have fought, and it has cost them a huge chunk of their lives, and people have contributed to their campaigns because they believed in the message, and that we need this change.
Given all that, the very least we can do on November 4 is vote. And bring some friends and family members. And if enough of us turn out, well, you never know....
Take Lindsey Graham, for example. Graham has proven that he is slick and, I have to say, pretty creepy. He can sit back and sound like your kindly uncle who knows what is best and well, he's just going to do it, because it's good for you. Like increasing the social security retirement age. But don't forget that he has also taken some unpopular stands and went up against a slew of opponents in the primaries and, well, he slew them all. Why? Because he's willing to work with those on the other side. Huh. Of course, like that wise old uncle, he tells you that you're going to have to give something up as well.
Here's the thing you need to remember about Lindsey Graham: he is a manipulative s.o.b. He actually said, in his moderate voice, that the reason we needed to vote for him is that it will take a republican to work with the crazy republicans that keep blocking progress in Congress. And in case you thought you had heard him wrong, he said it again.
And then there is the megalomaniac Tim Scott, who sees himself as sent by God (in the guise of Nikki Haley). He is dumber than dirt, and maybe even dumber than his predecessor, Jim DeMint, but he has been polished to a shine even brighter than his nice suit. People I actually know think he is smart, and that he sounds good in public. Maybe I just haven't been around enough to see him preaching to his congregation. But I listened to the debate, and he may have been rehearsed, but he was wooden, as though even he didn't believe his stock phrases anymore. And I saw his ad, the one where he brags on pretending to work next to "everyday people," of whom he apparently no longer counts himself. And I've heard his lies, like about how he voted to reduce the interest on student loans.
And then there is Nikki Haley. Smarmy and flirty, who has wowed all the big bucks, basically because she will do absolutely anything they want her to do, and even more. South Carolina under her watch has sold itself to big corporations and refused to feed, insure and educate its poor. She has worked to deny those who might oppose her right wing plans the right to vote, and she has cost us millions of dollars to fight this battle in court. She is mean-spirited and vindictive, and she can flash a phony smile better than just about anybody I know.
Then we have idiots like Mike Fair, who wears his stupidity with pride and calls it faith. He single-handedly stopped our state legislature from moving health and sex education into the 21st century because the old ways are good enough for him. Of course, he and fellow idiot Kevin Bryant also provided us with better comedy than you can find on cable TV when they argued for putting the Bible in the Columbian mammoth bill.
But we've also got a few tough choices, but choices nonetheless, and some where we have to hold our noses to give it our best shot, and some where that doesn't even help. Parenthetically, when someone distasteful is running unopposed, or unhappily you just can't vote for either candidate, don't leave that space blank. Write-in "None of the Above" so your vote will count.
Do not despair, though, because we do have some good choices, and even some very good choices.
We don't have to let Mark Sanford breeze by without opposition, because Dimitri Cherny is running as a write-in independent candidate. He's a good man, and I would love to see Sanford's face if Cherny with no financial backing or name recognition made a decent showing.
Brad Hutto has fought against great odds to unseat Lindsey Graham. What I like about Hutto is that he is not trying to hide the fact that he is a Democrat, and that he supports the Affordable Care Act, and even President Obama. It took guts (and I hear some persuasion by the state party) for him to agree to step up.
Bakari Sellers is running for Lieutenant Governor, and he is smart and caring. He has traveled around the small towns in South Carolina introducing himself to people and talking about what he can do to improve life for South Carolinians. He has been endorsed by Charleston Mayor Riley, among many others. I have to say that I watched the debate, and Bakari's comments were a breath of fresh air compared to those of his opponent, you know, the guy who thinks we should all volunteer for service jobs so people like him don't have to pay taxes.
I haven't mentioned Gloria Tinubu here because she is not running in Charleston or for a state-wide office, but she is an amazing woman running for Congress in the 7th district. She is brilliant and outspoken, and although she lost in 2012, she is determined that she is going to try again so that she can fight for her district, the state and the country in Congress. If you know anybody from the 7th district, tell them to by all means get out and vote for Gloria.
Last but certainly not least, Joyce Dickerson has had to fight to be heard throughout this race. She has run on a shoestring, and in spite of the lukewarm support of the Democratic party (famous for failing to support good candidates in past years). She won the primary against two male candidates in spite of suggestions by male Democratic leaders that maybe she should step aside. She is not just the underdog in this race against Tim Scott, but she is the underdog that we should all be fighting for.
Joyce Dickerson will not be swayed by power or money. She knows who her constituents are in South Carolina: the struggling middle class, seniors, veterans, children. She knows the issues: low wages, lack of health insurance, failing schools, unemployment, crumbling roads, student loan debt. There isn't one of us who would not benefit by having Joyce fighting for us in the Senate.
It was a big step, going from Richland County Council to the U.S. Senate. But, unlike Tim Scott, she is doing it without the dollars and support of corporations, lobbyists, and of course, Governor Nikki Haley, who gifted the seat to him two years ago. And unlike Nikki Haley, she is a woman who will fight for women, and her candidacy has made me proud.
So, I'm happy to say, we do have lots of reasons to vote. It may be that many of these great candidates don't win because they are fighting enormous odds. But they have fought, and it has cost them a huge chunk of their lives, and people have contributed to their campaigns because they believed in the message, and that we need this change.
Given all that, the very least we can do on November 4 is vote. And bring some friends and family members. And if enough of us turn out, well, you never know....
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Two Smart Candidates ... and Tim
This is what the debate for South Carolina US Senator was not: it was not slick (despite the matching suits worn by Tim Scott and moderator Charles Bierbauer). There were not a lot of fancy words or high-minded philosophies. After all, this was South Carolina. Instead, the responses by all three candidates were predictable, and if we did not know the candidates, left us with very little information other than how comfortable each was in front of the camera.
It turns out that the women, Independent candidate Jill Bossi and Democratic candidate Joyce Dickerson, shared similar views on most topics. Both are strongly pro-women, pro-choice, both in favor of strengthening benefits for seniors and veterans. They also (along with Tim) threw out the ever-popular "secure our borders" and "improve education" because who would not?
If you know Joyce at all, you are probably aware that she is not a formidable public speaker. She has the tendency to occasionally mix up words. But her understanding of politics and her democratic beliefs are strong ones. I can see her in the Senate fighting for the middle class, as well as for those who are struggling to earn a living wage, and for children with inadequate health care and nutrition, and students who are unable to compete because of our government's unwillingness to commit to education.
If the race had been between Jill Bossi (I) and Tim Scott (Tea Party Republican), Bossi would get my vote easily. But what concerns me about Bossi is her emphasis on her willingness to compromise, to find the middle ground, in an America where there have been too many compromises to an uncompromising right-wing. Our middle ground is far right of where it was in the 60's and 70's, and our environment, our health care, our education, our infrastructure, have all suffered the results. Bossi emphasizes her business creds, and I fear that once in Congress she would be all too eager to lean toward the big business dollars and lobbyists that would come her way. Jill Bossi says she wants to institute a "fair, flat tax," a term that sends chills up and down my spine.
Tim Scott, on the other hand, for all his grooming by the big guns that control him, when left to his own devices, will talk about pretending to work alongside "everyday people," clueless as to the condescension. Right from his introductory comments, he talks about wanting to be in the US Senate so he can spend time with his family, and help build a future for his nephew. Clumsy, maybe, but he pretty much lets us know with this Freudian slip that the rest of us "everyday people" don't feature much in his consciousness. Matter of fact, please go to C-Span and listen to his introductory comments, because I just can't do them justice. You really do want to hear him say in regards to Washington, that if it weren't for relatives, people wouldn't like him at all.
But let's please get back to the issues. Actually, not the issues, just the platitudes, because that is what Tim is all about. Somebody invented something called an "Opportunity Agenda" for Tim, and if you listen to him talk about it, you will walk away wondering just what he's going to do to create all this opportunity. Because he won't tell you. The answer to the economy is creating "certainty" and "stability" in the workplace. Now you know this doesn't mean certainty and stability for the workers. This is just Tim Scott bullshit for cutting corporate taxes and deregulation. Which has continued to drag us into the dark ages since Ronald Reagan's handlers first packaged it for the American people.
Of course, Scott called upon the evil Obamacare and was even told to bring up Dodd-Frank, as in "Dodd-Frank and Obamacare" as reasons why our country was failing. Like Mark Sanford debating the cardboard Nancy Pelosi, this is a matter of throwing out red meat to the snarling and brainless base. I am hoping that more than a few of us heard him and said, "say what???" Apart from just the stupid pat phrases, there were the bizarre "facts," like that our corporate tax rate is ten points higher than the rest of the world. Or that through Nikki Haley's leadership Spartanburg and Greenville are at nearly 100% employment. And responding to the comment about his missed votes, that he has a "99% voting record" -- whatever that means.
Scott goes on to say that he "voted to reduce interest rates on student loans," which plain old made my head spin around. So I looked it up. HR 4628, prettily called the "Interest Rate Reduction Act," also repeals parts of the Affordable Care Act...
establishing and appropriating funds to the Prevention and Public Health Fund (a Fund to provide for expanded and sustained national investment in prevention and public health programs to improve health and help restrain the rate of growth in private and public sector health care costs). Rescinds any unobligated balances appropriated to such Fund.
This bill had something in it for nearly everybody to hate, from those on the right that opposed keeping student loan rates low, to those on the left who opposed this sneak attack on essential parts of the Affordable Care Act. In fact, the only group that officially supported the bill was the Christian Coalition of America. Which made it good enough for Tim Scott. Funny, though, how Scott made it sound like it was the student loan part of the bill he was supporting and not the strangling Obamacare part....
Oh, my, I wish I was a better writer, I could write a comedy and a tragedy on Tim Scott. What's most important about the Senate debate for me, however, is that I got to hear just how lame he is next to the two smart women running against him. I also had the chance to hear Jill Bossi, who was well-spoken and has lots of good ideas. But not enough.
Joyce Dickerson may not have had time to rehearse for the debate because she appears to be spending every moment of her waking day running to different parts of the state to introduce herself to voters. She is running on a shoestring, and doesn't have the staff to prep her and polish her. But I prefer my candidate without the polish. She is knowledgeable and caring, and she is not in it for the money or the power. She is not likely to sell us out for business interests, and she understands the difference between healthy compromise and caving in.
So I will continue to support Joyce Dickerson, and I hope you will as well.
It turns out that the women, Independent candidate Jill Bossi and Democratic candidate Joyce Dickerson, shared similar views on most topics. Both are strongly pro-women, pro-choice, both in favor of strengthening benefits for seniors and veterans. They also (along with Tim) threw out the ever-popular "secure our borders" and "improve education" because who would not?
If you know Joyce at all, you are probably aware that she is not a formidable public speaker. She has the tendency to occasionally mix up words. But her understanding of politics and her democratic beliefs are strong ones. I can see her in the Senate fighting for the middle class, as well as for those who are struggling to earn a living wage, and for children with inadequate health care and nutrition, and students who are unable to compete because of our government's unwillingness to commit to education.
If the race had been between Jill Bossi (I) and Tim Scott (Tea Party Republican), Bossi would get my vote easily. But what concerns me about Bossi is her emphasis on her willingness to compromise, to find the middle ground, in an America where there have been too many compromises to an uncompromising right-wing. Our middle ground is far right of where it was in the 60's and 70's, and our environment, our health care, our education, our infrastructure, have all suffered the results. Bossi emphasizes her business creds, and I fear that once in Congress she would be all too eager to lean toward the big business dollars and lobbyists that would come her way. Jill Bossi says she wants to institute a "fair, flat tax," a term that sends chills up and down my spine.
Tim Scott, on the other hand, for all his grooming by the big guns that control him, when left to his own devices, will talk about pretending to work alongside "everyday people," clueless as to the condescension. Right from his introductory comments, he talks about wanting to be in the US Senate so he can spend time with his family, and help build a future for his nephew. Clumsy, maybe, but he pretty much lets us know with this Freudian slip that the rest of us "everyday people" don't feature much in his consciousness. Matter of fact, please go to C-Span and listen to his introductory comments, because I just can't do them justice. You really do want to hear him say in regards to Washington, that if it weren't for relatives, people wouldn't like him at all.
But let's please get back to the issues. Actually, not the issues, just the platitudes, because that is what Tim is all about. Somebody invented something called an "Opportunity Agenda" for Tim, and if you listen to him talk about it, you will walk away wondering just what he's going to do to create all this opportunity. Because he won't tell you. The answer to the economy is creating "certainty" and "stability" in the workplace. Now you know this doesn't mean certainty and stability for the workers. This is just Tim Scott bullshit for cutting corporate taxes and deregulation. Which has continued to drag us into the dark ages since Ronald Reagan's handlers first packaged it for the American people.
Of course, Scott called upon the evil Obamacare and was even told to bring up Dodd-Frank, as in "Dodd-Frank and Obamacare" as reasons why our country was failing. Like Mark Sanford debating the cardboard Nancy Pelosi, this is a matter of throwing out red meat to the snarling and brainless base. I am hoping that more than a few of us heard him and said, "say what???" Apart from just the stupid pat phrases, there were the bizarre "facts," like that our corporate tax rate is ten points higher than the rest of the world. Or that through Nikki Haley's leadership Spartanburg and Greenville are at nearly 100% employment. And responding to the comment about his missed votes, that he has a "99% voting record" -- whatever that means.
Scott goes on to say that he "voted to reduce interest rates on student loans," which plain old made my head spin around. So I looked it up. HR 4628, prettily called the "Interest Rate Reduction Act," also repeals parts of the Affordable Care Act...
establishing and appropriating funds to the Prevention and Public Health Fund (a Fund to provide for expanded and sustained national investment in prevention and public health programs to improve health and help restrain the rate of growth in private and public sector health care costs). Rescinds any unobligated balances appropriated to such Fund.
This bill had something in it for nearly everybody to hate, from those on the right that opposed keeping student loan rates low, to those on the left who opposed this sneak attack on essential parts of the Affordable Care Act. In fact, the only group that officially supported the bill was the Christian Coalition of America. Which made it good enough for Tim Scott. Funny, though, how Scott made it sound like it was the student loan part of the bill he was supporting and not the strangling Obamacare part....
Oh, my, I wish I was a better writer, I could write a comedy and a tragedy on Tim Scott. What's most important about the Senate debate for me, however, is that I got to hear just how lame he is next to the two smart women running against him. I also had the chance to hear Jill Bossi, who was well-spoken and has lots of good ideas. But not enough.
Joyce Dickerson may not have had time to rehearse for the debate because she appears to be spending every moment of her waking day running to different parts of the state to introduce herself to voters. She is running on a shoestring, and doesn't have the staff to prep her and polish her. But I prefer my candidate without the polish. She is knowledgeable and caring, and she is not in it for the money or the power. She is not likely to sell us out for business interests, and she understands the difference between healthy compromise and caving in.
So I will continue to support Joyce Dickerson, and I hope you will as well.
Joyce Dickerson
for US Senate
Saturday, October 25, 2014
Tim Scott's Anti-Environmental Agenda
Hooray for Tim Scott! Once again, he has received an award -- and just in time for the upcoming election -- for his service to, well, to the wealthy and powerful. In Newspeak, it is called, The Award for Manufacturing Legislative Excellence. With emphasis on the word "legislative" of course. What it means is that our Tim has worked hardest of all hard-bought legislators to make laws that protect big business.
You might not be surprised to learn that the National Association of Manufacturers is associated with our friends the Koch brothers. Their agenda is also not much of a surprise: they are anti-environmental regulation and have fought efforts by the government to control greenhouse gas emission. Most recently, they lobbied to exempt certain external power supplies from complying with federal energy standards in February of 2014. Yeah, Tim!
It's been a bit like word-puzzle fun to get an email from Tim about an award and trying to figure out what it really means, but not that much of a challenge. As usual, Tim doesn't ever break new ground. He pretty much does what all those fancy corporate lobbying groups tell him to do.
But I am tired of our state being held hostage by ALEC and the Kochs. Our workers are underpaid and there are too many unemployed (latest figures show the numbers creeping up in spite of the nation's continued downward trend). We sacrifice improving schools and roads and bridges so we can cut taxes on big corporations who are willing to do business in South Carolina if we treat them real good. Too many in South Carolina are needlessly uninsured and suffer poor nutrition because Tim continues to vote against programs that would give his constituents a fighting chance.
Tim Scott and his buddy Nikki Haley have gotten pretty tiresome. Their press releases are lies that cover up their true alliances as we continue to hold down the bottom rungs of any measure of education, health, public safety.
This is why we need to talk up the November 4 election. Lots of our friends and family don't know it's coming up, and too many don't think it is important. With only two more years of the Obama administration we need to give him a Congress that will support his environmental, health care, and immigration initiatives. We need to give him a Congress that does not force him to compromise on programs that will truly move us forward.
Joyce Dickerson is a woman who will accomplish that in the US Senate. She has been fighting to be heard over all the cash that is flowing on the other side, and she needs our help to let others know who she is. She is the candidate that will work for better health care, better education, better services for seniors and veterans. She will fight so that we all can earn a living wage, and so that women have the same rights as men. She will protect our rights to privacy and a safe and healthy environment.
So please, spread the word. The time is getting short and this election is too important to skip out on. Use Facebook and Twitter, send out emails, call your friends and family and talk to your co-workers. Tell them how Tim Scott's votes have kept them from improving their lives and those of their family. Let's not let the phony awards get in the way of the truth.
You might not be surprised to learn that the National Association of Manufacturers is associated with our friends the Koch brothers. Their agenda is also not much of a surprise: they are anti-environmental regulation and have fought efforts by the government to control greenhouse gas emission. Most recently, they lobbied to exempt certain external power supplies from complying with federal energy standards in February of 2014. Yeah, Tim!
It's been a bit like word-puzzle fun to get an email from Tim about an award and trying to figure out what it really means, but not that much of a challenge. As usual, Tim doesn't ever break new ground. He pretty much does what all those fancy corporate lobbying groups tell him to do.
But I am tired of our state being held hostage by ALEC and the Kochs. Our workers are underpaid and there are too many unemployed (latest figures show the numbers creeping up in spite of the nation's continued downward trend). We sacrifice improving schools and roads and bridges so we can cut taxes on big corporations who are willing to do business in South Carolina if we treat them real good. Too many in South Carolina are needlessly uninsured and suffer poor nutrition because Tim continues to vote against programs that would give his constituents a fighting chance.
Tim Scott and his buddy Nikki Haley have gotten pretty tiresome. Their press releases are lies that cover up their true alliances as we continue to hold down the bottom rungs of any measure of education, health, public safety.
This is why we need to talk up the November 4 election. Lots of our friends and family don't know it's coming up, and too many don't think it is important. With only two more years of the Obama administration we need to give him a Congress that will support his environmental, health care, and immigration initiatives. We need to give him a Congress that does not force him to compromise on programs that will truly move us forward.
Joyce Dickerson is a woman who will accomplish that in the US Senate. She has been fighting to be heard over all the cash that is flowing on the other side, and she needs our help to let others know who she is. She is the candidate that will work for better health care, better education, better services for seniors and veterans. She will fight so that we all can earn a living wage, and so that women have the same rights as men. She will protect our rights to privacy and a safe and healthy environment.
So please, spread the word. The time is getting short and this election is too important to skip out on. Use Facebook and Twitter, send out emails, call your friends and family and talk to your co-workers. Tell them how Tim Scott's votes have kept them from improving their lives and those of their family. Let's not let the phony awards get in the way of the truth.
Joyce Dickerson
for US Senate
November 4
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Owning the Bad News
It was inevitable. Obama's economic push could only work in red states for so long before our own backwards economic policies dragged us back down. We've been listening to Nikki Haley brag on -- and take credit for -- South Carolina's declining unemployment rate for some time now. I wonder if today's news about its recent upswing will cause her any problem, message-wise.
Here's where our Democratic candidates should be jumping in, first of all, to let us voters know that this has happened. And then they need to offer the logical explanation, and the logical alternative.
Where candidates like Alison Lundergan Grimes in Kentucky have stumbled has been in their fear of owning the best policies of the Obama administration. In fact, employment began growing due to stimulus dollars, and has continued to grow because of programs like those he has undertaken to encourage alternative energy initiatives as well as protecting the environment. Good for business, good for jobs.
Imagine where we might be if Obama had not had to waste time and tax dollars fighting a Congress which Republican members have had as their sole priority blocking administration initiatives.
Because of old-timey Republican philosophy, we have continued to have wealth stagnating in the reaches of the top one percent, while the consumers who are the actual "job creators" are unable to spend dollars they don't have. Robert Reich describes in his documentary Inequality for All the "virtuous cycle" of economic growth that occurred up to the 1980's, followed by the "vicious cycle" that has resulted in the economic stagnation and increasing inequality that continues to this day.
What is frustrating is that the evidence is clear. But we continue to spiral downhill due to lies and misdirection by right-wing politicians.
Take, for example, Nikki Haley. Her policies have not been able to stop some economic growth in South Carolina in the past six years, but the bad ideas she has been pursuing have caught up with us. The jobs she claims she has brought to the state have been not enough to counterbalance the drain on services that have resulted from her tax giveaways. Bad business like refusing to accept Medicaid expansion dollars not only hurt uninsured individuals but result in loss in business due to employee illness, public safety issues, and loss of thousands of jobs in the health sector.
And then, of course, we have Tea Party's poster child, Tim Scott. As long as he is prospering, he will promote any program groups like ALEC and the Koch Brothers are trying to sell. And sell they do. Scott's message sounds like Reagan's Morning in America, pretty words that belie the bad policies during the 80's "trickle down" years that began our decline from prosperity. And if you look at his pro big business and anti middle class voting record, it becomes obvious why those polices just don't work.
So as we see our unemployment rate creep back up, let's spread the word that it's because of the bad policies of politicians like Nikki Haley and Tim Scott. We have a state that stands to grow and prosper if only we are able to understand why we are in decline even as national employment continues to grow.
We have some great candidates and despite the occasional ambivalence of our state party and shoestring budgets, the word is getting out about them. Joyce Dickerson is one candidate to watch. She is not afraid to speak up about what has been wrong with our state, and what national policies need to change to get us working and thriving again. The thing is, that with Tim Scott's wealthy supporters, it is all too easy to miss this strong, wonderful opponent. I am hoping that we all will do our best to spread the word about the election coming up on November 4, and the difference between our Democratic candidates and their fiscally backward opponents.
Here's where our Democratic candidates should be jumping in, first of all, to let us voters know that this has happened. And then they need to offer the logical explanation, and the logical alternative.
Where candidates like Alison Lundergan Grimes in Kentucky have stumbled has been in their fear of owning the best policies of the Obama administration. In fact, employment began growing due to stimulus dollars, and has continued to grow because of programs like those he has undertaken to encourage alternative energy initiatives as well as protecting the environment. Good for business, good for jobs.
Imagine where we might be if Obama had not had to waste time and tax dollars fighting a Congress which Republican members have had as their sole priority blocking administration initiatives.
Because of old-timey Republican philosophy, we have continued to have wealth stagnating in the reaches of the top one percent, while the consumers who are the actual "job creators" are unable to spend dollars they don't have. Robert Reich describes in his documentary Inequality for All the "virtuous cycle" of economic growth that occurred up to the 1980's, followed by the "vicious cycle" that has resulted in the economic stagnation and increasing inequality that continues to this day.
What is frustrating is that the evidence is clear. But we continue to spiral downhill due to lies and misdirection by right-wing politicians.
Take, for example, Nikki Haley. Her policies have not been able to stop some economic growth in South Carolina in the past six years, but the bad ideas she has been pursuing have caught up with us. The jobs she claims she has brought to the state have been not enough to counterbalance the drain on services that have resulted from her tax giveaways. Bad business like refusing to accept Medicaid expansion dollars not only hurt uninsured individuals but result in loss in business due to employee illness, public safety issues, and loss of thousands of jobs in the health sector.
And then, of course, we have Tea Party's poster child, Tim Scott. As long as he is prospering, he will promote any program groups like ALEC and the Koch Brothers are trying to sell. And sell they do. Scott's message sounds like Reagan's Morning in America, pretty words that belie the bad policies during the 80's "trickle down" years that began our decline from prosperity. And if you look at his pro big business and anti middle class voting record, it becomes obvious why those polices just don't work.
So as we see our unemployment rate creep back up, let's spread the word that it's because of the bad policies of politicians like Nikki Haley and Tim Scott. We have a state that stands to grow and prosper if only we are able to understand why we are in decline even as national employment continues to grow.
We have some great candidates and despite the occasional ambivalence of our state party and shoestring budgets, the word is getting out about them. Joyce Dickerson is one candidate to watch. She is not afraid to speak up about what has been wrong with our state, and what national policies need to change to get us working and thriving again. The thing is, that with Tim Scott's wealthy supporters, it is all too easy to miss this strong, wonderful opponent. I am hoping that we all will do our best to spread the word about the election coming up on November 4, and the difference between our Democratic candidates and their fiscally backward opponents.
Joyce Dickerson
for US Senate
Let's make sure our elected officials own the bad news they have created through their bad policies, and let's elect candidates that will truly make a difference.
Sunday, October 12, 2014
And THIS Phony Award Goes to... Tim Scott
I don't usually have so much to say on one subject that I do it in two consecutive days, but I have just learned from Senator Tim Scott that he has just been awarded the "Taxpayers' Friend Award," and, well, it was just too juicy to resist.
Yesterday I wrote about how I nearly choked while forcing myself to watch Tim Scott's TV ad about how he has been hanging around us "everyday people." Call it masochism, but as one of the simple folk, I subscribe to Senator Scott's email newsletter, in order to be better informed as to what headaches the royalty are experiencing on my account. Usually it has to do with battling that great beast, Obama. But at times Scott feels he owes it to us to share the good news. Which, of course, has to do with him, not us.
When Scott was running for the House of Representatives two short (or maybe too long) years ago, he was conveniently awarded the folksy sounding, "Standing Up for Seniors Award." He got that by insisting that we seniors would be far better off if we got off our butts and supported ourselves for a couple more years, and if we stopped letting the government coddle us the way it coddles Congress.
Quelle surprise! The award was given out by a group called RetireSafe, whose name really referred to the fact that you should climb into bed and pull the covers up if you really wanted to be safe from these guys. They are a group of right wingnuts that make buckets of money for Big Pharma; they are still out there doing their best to keep us away from drugs that don't maximize profit for their members.
As Arlo Guthrie once said, "Some things change; some things don't." This year's "Taxpayers' Friend Award" is brought to Tim by the National Taxpayers Union (yes, a union), one of those groups that like to throw around words like "freedom" a lot. Their goal, of course, is to cut taxes, the byproduct of which would be to cut government services. Oh, but they fail to mention the cutting services part. Tim calls it a "nonpartisan advocacy group," which is what you do when you have a bunch of rich partisans giving you an award and you want to lie about it.
Anyway, I want to end once again by saying that Tim Scott is a phony, and I wouldn't believe him if he told me what day of the week it is. What I would do is urge everyone who really does work hard and pay taxes and try to do the best they can to support someone who really will work in Congress for us.
Yesterday I wrote about how I nearly choked while forcing myself to watch Tim Scott's TV ad about how he has been hanging around us "everyday people." Call it masochism, but as one of the simple folk, I subscribe to Senator Scott's email newsletter, in order to be better informed as to what headaches the royalty are experiencing on my account. Usually it has to do with battling that great beast, Obama. But at times Scott feels he owes it to us to share the good news. Which, of course, has to do with him, not us.
When Scott was running for the House of Representatives two short (or maybe too long) years ago, he was conveniently awarded the folksy sounding, "Standing Up for Seniors Award." He got that by insisting that we seniors would be far better off if we got off our butts and supported ourselves for a couple more years, and if we stopped letting the government coddle us the way it coddles Congress.
Quelle surprise! The award was given out by a group called RetireSafe, whose name really referred to the fact that you should climb into bed and pull the covers up if you really wanted to be safe from these guys. They are a group of right wingnuts that make buckets of money for Big Pharma; they are still out there doing their best to keep us away from drugs that don't maximize profit for their members.
As Arlo Guthrie once said, "Some things change; some things don't." This year's "Taxpayers' Friend Award" is brought to Tim by the National Taxpayers Union (yes, a union), one of those groups that like to throw around words like "freedom" a lot. Their goal, of course, is to cut taxes, the byproduct of which would be to cut government services. Oh, but they fail to mention the cutting services part. Tim calls it a "nonpartisan advocacy group," which is what you do when you have a bunch of rich partisans giving you an award and you want to lie about it.
Anyway, I want to end once again by saying that Tim Scott is a phony, and I wouldn't believe him if he told me what day of the week it is. What I would do is urge everyone who really does work hard and pay taxes and try to do the best they can to support someone who really will work in Congress for us.
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| Joyce Dickerson Not afraid to speak her mind. |
Joyce Dickerson has been and will continue to fight for our individual freedoms -- as opposed to Tim's battle for corporate rights. The right to earn a living wage, the right to health care equality and privacy, the right to a good education, which requires investing in good teachers and good schools in order to invest in our kids. The right of veterans and the unemployed to get back on their feet. The right of each of us to vote. The right to have our government work for us, and not against us.
Don't forget, the ETV SC Senate debate is on October 28. Listen for yourself, and spread the word.
Joyce Dickerson
US Senate
Saturday, October 11, 2014
Pretending to Be ... You and Me
You know I fast forward through TV commercials, but when I saw Tim Scott I slowed it down ... then I rewound it ... then I did it again ... and then I wrote it down. Then I shut my mouth, which had been hanging open for some time.
Here's the appointed Senator:
First of all, what is this "everyday people" crap? Obviously he is talking about us. Which sets us apart from... Tim Scott. Oh, he throws in the word "strong" so it doesn't sound condescending. Only because he is being condescending.
Well, Tim Scott apparently has been out in the upper reaches for so long that he felt the need to come down to commune with us "everyday people." He's bagged groceries. The man has "even" separated clothes at Goodwill. Excuse my French as well as my redundance, but what a condescending piece of crap.
And the human props in the ad: one African American woman (might as well kill two demographics with one stone), one Hispanic looking man, dressed as though he's just come from his middle class job. And an assortment of middle-aged, pleasant looking and prosperous white men. Imagine the auditions.
But back to the rousing speech. Because we are about to find out what our fellow Tim has learned that is "so powerful...."
I'm figuring that after a few eight hour shifts "cutting chicken" (and is there a Tyson poultry plant hereabouts?) and sweeping floors, he's probably gotten an earful. No doubt he's heard about how hard it is to get a day off to take care of a sick kid, not to mention stay home with the flu. Or maybe his co-workers have proudly told him about their kids who graduated college but can't find jobs, or have been having a hard time paying down their student loans. I'm thinking he must have heard lots of stories about living on the wages from that job sweeping floors, and about trying to find the money to pay the month's rent as well as the car repair.
But NO.
What our Tim Scott has learned in the time he spent with those people he obviously has to go out of his way to meet these days, is that "everyday people understand that they have been empowered by the greatness of our country."
Well, let me just say this about that. Tim, you really need to not just push those brooms around when you go out to be with us "everyday people." You need to listen to what we are telling you. Because you are really the one who has "been empowered by the greatness of our country." The rest of us have just been getting by, one day at a time. We worry about our family's health, our children's "minimally adequate" education, our jobs -- which, I might add, don't come with the great benefits that your job provides. We worry about whether we will make it to retirement age before our tired old bones give out, and whether we will have enough in our monthly social security checks to get by.
You, Tim, are smarmy and self-satisfied. You have had those rich folks praising you for so long you actually believe the crap they are telling you. They are paying you, and showering you with praise and fake awards, so that you will continue to vote to give them power without responsibility so that they can continue to make buckets of money while us "everyday people" struggle with all the things that can go wrong in our lives, while you spend a couple of hours pretending you are one of us.
Paul Ryan tried that once during his vice presidential campaign. He pushed his way into a soup kitchen, pretending to clean already clean pots and pans, in order to create a photo op. Tim Scott is using the same political playbook. And I truly hope it works as well for Scott as it did for Ryan.
Back to Tim's pandering TV ad. This disgusting ad ends by calling him "A senator for all of South Carolina." Well, no, he's not. He's not even much of a senator for most of South Carolina. He is a man who has his head set on getting ahead, so he can hobnob with his wealthy friends.
So lets spread the word about the woman who is running against this puffed up hypocrite. We need to elect someone who truly knows what her constituents are going through day to day. We need someone who understands what it is like to be afraid of losing a job, to worry about your child's education, to work hard for too little pay. We need someone who will fight for us. That someone is Joyce Dickerson.
She doesn't have the buckets of money flowing into her campaign like Tim Scott has, because she doesn't cater to the wealthy and the big corporations. So you might not see a lot of ads, but mark your calendar to see her debate Scott on ETV on October 28.
And spread the word.
Here's the appointed Senator:
"I've gone all throughout South Carolina, doing everyday jobs with strong, everyday people, so that I could understand their dreams, their passions and what inspires them. I've bagged groceries, I've waited tables, cut chicken and swept floors..." (group of well dressed, mostly white older folk milling about, hanging -- casually -- on his words, laugh), "...even separated clothes at the Goodwill. And what I've learned is so powerful.... Everyday people understand that they have been empowered by the greatness of our country."
First of all, what is this "everyday people" crap? Obviously he is talking about us. Which sets us apart from... Tim Scott. Oh, he throws in the word "strong" so it doesn't sound condescending. Only because he is being condescending.
Well, Tim Scott apparently has been out in the upper reaches for so long that he felt the need to come down to commune with us "everyday people." He's bagged groceries. The man has "even" separated clothes at Goodwill. Excuse my French as well as my redundance, but what a condescending piece of crap.
And the human props in the ad: one African American woman (might as well kill two demographics with one stone), one Hispanic looking man, dressed as though he's just come from his middle class job. And an assortment of middle-aged, pleasant looking and prosperous white men. Imagine the auditions.
But back to the rousing speech. Because we are about to find out what our fellow Tim has learned that is "so powerful...."
I'm figuring that after a few eight hour shifts "cutting chicken" (and is there a Tyson poultry plant hereabouts?) and sweeping floors, he's probably gotten an earful. No doubt he's heard about how hard it is to get a day off to take care of a sick kid, not to mention stay home with the flu. Or maybe his co-workers have proudly told him about their kids who graduated college but can't find jobs, or have been having a hard time paying down their student loans. I'm thinking he must have heard lots of stories about living on the wages from that job sweeping floors, and about trying to find the money to pay the month's rent as well as the car repair.
But NO.
What our Tim Scott has learned in the time he spent with those people he obviously has to go out of his way to meet these days, is that "everyday people understand that they have been empowered by the greatness of our country."
Well, let me just say this about that. Tim, you really need to not just push those brooms around when you go out to be with us "everyday people." You need to listen to what we are telling you. Because you are really the one who has "been empowered by the greatness of our country." The rest of us have just been getting by, one day at a time. We worry about our family's health, our children's "minimally adequate" education, our jobs -- which, I might add, don't come with the great benefits that your job provides. We worry about whether we will make it to retirement age before our tired old bones give out, and whether we will have enough in our monthly social security checks to get by.
You, Tim, are smarmy and self-satisfied. You have had those rich folks praising you for so long you actually believe the crap they are telling you. They are paying you, and showering you with praise and fake awards, so that you will continue to vote to give them power without responsibility so that they can continue to make buckets of money while us "everyday people" struggle with all the things that can go wrong in our lives, while you spend a couple of hours pretending you are one of us.
Paul Ryan tried that once during his vice presidential campaign. He pushed his way into a soup kitchen, pretending to clean already clean pots and pans, in order to create a photo op. Tim Scott is using the same political playbook. And I truly hope it works as well for Scott as it did for Ryan.
Back to Tim's pandering TV ad. This disgusting ad ends by calling him "A senator for all of South Carolina." Well, no, he's not. He's not even much of a senator for most of South Carolina. He is a man who has his head set on getting ahead, so he can hobnob with his wealthy friends.
So lets spread the word about the woman who is running against this puffed up hypocrite. We need to elect someone who truly knows what her constituents are going through day to day. We need someone who understands what it is like to be afraid of losing a job, to worry about your child's education, to work hard for too little pay. We need someone who will fight for us. That someone is Joyce Dickerson.
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| Joyce Dickerson ...and she's not afraid to speak her mind. |
And spread the word.
Joyce Dickerson
US Senate
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Dickerson v. Scott on November 4
In September, in another blog, I wrote about Joyce Dickerson. For those of you who may not know, there is an election coming up, on November 4. And you may know that there is an election, but you may not know who is running against Tim Scott. The answer is, Joyce Dickerson. And the reason you may not have heard of her, is that all the money, I mean, all the big money, is on Tim Scott. He is being financed by all those cats from all those foundations that have the word "freedom" in them. You know, freedom as in don't mess with my freedom to keep making big bucks and not have to be responsible to anyone for how I do it.
Well, in the time it has taken for Nikki Haley, who has never met a big donor she didn't like, to appoint Tim Scott to take care of her supporters in the US Senate, he has become a Big Name in politics. Not because he is smart, because he is not. Not because he makes tough choices, because he doesn't. Not because he cares about the people of South Carolina. Tim Scott's claim to fame is that he is an African American. Yes, the media loves Tim Scott for being an African American senator the same way they love Nikki Haley because she is a woman governor.
But Tim Scott, like Nikki Haley, are rubber-stamp Tea Party conservatives. Scott has been, since his appointment by Haley, groomed by the right wing, and he is delighted to do their bidding, and to believe that he is doing it for the good of the people. But if you look at his voting record, there is no question whose camp he is in.
He may send out flowery emails on all the days that commemorate our veterans, but he does not hesitate to vote against anything that might improve their lives when they are done fighting for their country. He is quick to tell how he was raised by a hard working mother who sacrificed to help him get where he is today, but he will flush down the toilet any bill that might give other children that same chance, or make the going a little easier for the moms that raise them. He has learned to talk about how he is pro-small-business, but small businesses take a back seat to the big corporations that control him.
And then there is Joyce.
Even our own Jim Clyburn couldn't quite figure out why a woman would want to run against two men in the SC primary election. But she knew why she needed to run, and without a whole lot of help, she beat her opponents. She is outspoken and unafraid, and she will be heard.
Joyce Dickerson is uncompromising when it comes to working for the middle class and the disadvantaged. She understands that freedom includes the right for a woman to determine her own reproductive health care, and without the intrusion of the government. She knows that supporting the veterans isn't just about waving a flag and sending out emails on Veterans Day, but about making sure they have health care, and jobs or the opportunity to train for jobs that will provide them a living wage when they get home. She will fight for a living wage for workers and the right to affordable health care. Joyce will make sure that our children don't go hungry, and that they will be educated in good schools by well-trained and well-paid teachers. Improve our roads? Keep the oil barons out of our port?
What Joyce's candidacy means to me is just about every issue that matters. She's not afraid to speak her mind and follow that up with action. I can imagine her on the floor of the Senate, and being interviewed about critical issues and votes. She is a woman we could be proud to have represent us in South Carolina. What a breath of fresh air!
So, if a breath of fresh air is what you think we need, please be sure to vote. Equally important: don't be afraid to talk to friends, family, co-workers, neighbors about the upcoming election. Ask them what they are unhappy about, and then tell them how Joyce Dickerson will work to change those things.
Well, in the time it has taken for Nikki Haley, who has never met a big donor she didn't like, to appoint Tim Scott to take care of her supporters in the US Senate, he has become a Big Name in politics. Not because he is smart, because he is not. Not because he makes tough choices, because he doesn't. Not because he cares about the people of South Carolina. Tim Scott's claim to fame is that he is an African American. Yes, the media loves Tim Scott for being an African American senator the same way they love Nikki Haley because she is a woman governor.
But Tim Scott, like Nikki Haley, are rubber-stamp Tea Party conservatives. Scott has been, since his appointment by Haley, groomed by the right wing, and he is delighted to do their bidding, and to believe that he is doing it for the good of the people. But if you look at his voting record, there is no question whose camp he is in.
He may send out flowery emails on all the days that commemorate our veterans, but he does not hesitate to vote against anything that might improve their lives when they are done fighting for their country. He is quick to tell how he was raised by a hard working mother who sacrificed to help him get where he is today, but he will flush down the toilet any bill that might give other children that same chance, or make the going a little easier for the moms that raise them. He has learned to talk about how he is pro-small-business, but small businesses take a back seat to the big corporations that control him.
And then there is Joyce.
Even our own Jim Clyburn couldn't quite figure out why a woman would want to run against two men in the SC primary election. But she knew why she needed to run, and without a whole lot of help, she beat her opponents. She is outspoken and unafraid, and she will be heard.
What Joyce's candidacy means to me is just about every issue that matters. She's not afraid to speak her mind and follow that up with action. I can imagine her on the floor of the Senate, and being interviewed about critical issues and votes. She is a woman we could be proud to have represent us in South Carolina. What a breath of fresh air!
So, if a breath of fresh air is what you think we need, please be sure to vote. Equally important: don't be afraid to talk to friends, family, co-workers, neighbors about the upcoming election. Ask them what they are unhappy about, and then tell them how Joyce Dickerson will work to change those things.
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| Joyce Dickerson for US Senate |
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