Democrats Attempt To Blur Line Between Tea Party And GOP

By Brandon Kosters - Talk Radio News Service

As November’s midterm elections approach, the Democratic Party is moving to link the GOP with the extreme elements of the Tea Party movement.

Speaking alongside a handful of Congressional Democrats at a press conference in the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters Wednesday, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz said that in terms of policy, the GOP and the Tea Party are “one and the same.”

“Essentially, you don’t know where the Republican Party ends and the Tea Party begins,” Wasserman Shultz claimed.

While the Tea Party movement, essentially made up of a collection of conservative activists, has proven to be popular in some circles, it has at times walked a political tight rope. Tea Party favorites Sharron Angle (R) in Nevada and Rand Paul (R) in Kentucky both won their party’s Senatorial primaries due in part to their strict conservative platforms, but have taken a more moderate tone in recent months to garner centrist support.

The House Democrats who spoke at Wednesday’s conference criticized the Tea Party for their opposition to health care reform, Wall Street reform, the Environmental Protection Agency and the 17th Amendment to the Constitution, which gives citizens to directly elect their Senators.

“The Tea Party Republicans offer a retrograde, reactionary program for the American people that is extreme… [and] way out of the mainstream,” Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) said.

"Local Jobs For America" Bill Helps Minorities, Lawmakers Say

By Brandon Kosters - Talk Radio News Service

A group of lawmakers and local politicians spoke to the press today about the “Local Jobs For America Act,” a bill which, if passed, will invest money in job training for and hiring of teachers, police officers and firefighters in economically vulnerable cities throughout the country.

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, believes that this legislation will have a notable affect on the unemployment rate areas with large African American and Hispanic communities.

“The national unemployment rate is about 9.5%, yet in minority communities, in the African-American and Latino communities, it hovers around 16-17 %,” Lee said. “The Congressional Black Caucus wants to make sure [that] on every jobs bill that we work on, that we leave no one behind.”

Congressional Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), who also sits on the Congressional Black Caucus, said that the reduction of state services “diminishes the quality of life for our citizens,” and that the bill will ultimately stimulate the national economy. “Public jobs stimulate private job growth,” he said.

While the members of Congress conceded that there are lawmakers who oppose the bill, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter said that focus needs to be shifted from partisan politics to the people being affect the most by the struggling economy.

“I’m not exactly sure what the mood is in the Senate, but I would only suggest that maybe we need to be a little more concerned about the mood of people who are unemployed, [and] their mood is they’re pissed off,” Nutter said. “They don’t have a job, I think that’s what we need to try to stay focused on.”


New Report Predicts Dismal Job Growth

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) said Tuesday that a new report put out by the Center for Economic and Policy Research signals the need for Congress to pass a bill he co-authored aimed at boosting the labor market.

“When I go back to my state and talk to folks, I see a lot of people really hurting and I see a lot of people who are out of work. We need this bill.”

Franken and Rep. Keith Ellison, each co-sponsors of the Senate and House versions of the Local Jobs for America Act, believe the report’s dim forecast for job growth greatly underscores the need for legislation.

The report, entitled, “The Urgent Need for Job Creation,” shows that the U.S. economy as a whole will not recoup all of the jobs lost since the start of the recession until March of 2014. Additionally, the report highlights the fact that, assuming the trend rate of growth in the labor force, the nation’s unemployment rate will not return to pre-recession levels until April 2021.

Congressmen Talk Health Care With Religious Leaders

by Julianne LaJeunesse- University of New Mexico

U.S. Representatives Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) and Keith Ellison (D-MN) spoke at an interfaith hearing Wednesday, where each agreed that the public option is a vital part of health care reform.

At the American Muslim Taskforce-sponsored hearing, Kucinich, who called for the interfaith community's opinion on health care, said that Americans need to look at health care as a human rights issue.

"Health care is an essential safeguard of human life and dignity," Kucinich said. "And there is an obligation for society to ensure that every person be able to realize that right."

Representative Ellison furthered Kucinich's sentiment, and reminded listeners that health care reform could take time to perfect, just as the 1960s Civil Rights Acts did.

Ellison also said he believed Congress had America on its side, despite what he said was insurance company scare tactics. He petitioned the religious leaders at the hearing to debunk scare tactics saying the religions should work together.

"This is not the time for cynicism, this is to think that 'well, Washington is going to do what Washington generally does...,' this is the time for us to run a risk of hope," Ellison said.

All of the Congressmen agreed that the House bills were looking favorably toward a public option and Schakowsky said "I think that leaving it to the private companies whose motive, it's not a hidden one, of course... is to maximize profits, to leave them as the only source of getting health care, I think will disable us from achieving our goal of universal access to affordable, quality health care in our country."

Kucinich said it would be tragic if Congress' health care reform does not have a public option, saying it would essentially deepen the pockets of insurance companies who could set unfair rates on mandated customers.

"We're talking about a system that maintains the hegemony of the insurance companies," Kucinich said. "Can you take a step towards breaking it with a public option? Yes. So within the context of the system that we're talking about today, public option is important.

The hearing today, included members of the Buddhist, Christian, Muslim and Jewish communities, a faith representation, Ellison said, is important to the current health care reform debate.

Both Kucinich and American Muslim Taskforce Board Member Mahdi Bray took the outlines of health care reform further, saying they both advocate a single-payer system.

Infrastructure improvement may save economy

Investing heavily in the nation's infrastructure may be the key to revitalizing the American economy. That was the theme put forward by the speakers during a conference by the organization Campaign for America's Future.

Representative Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), who penned the National Infrastructure Bank Bill, described infrastructure investment as an important part of any stimulus plan since it would create jobs for those immediately involved in the construction as well as in related trades and industries.

"The infrastructure investment would also have a larger and much longer term impact. A strong and efficient transportation system, especially including sustainable transit solution, creates a healthy environment for business investment which in turn creates more regional jobs long after the roads have been paved and the bridges built."

Ellison went on to describe how improving the infrastructure should not just be based around roads and bridges, but should also include providing broadband internet access to rural communities along with other investments in technology.

Eric Lotke, Campaign for America's Future director, elaborated how investments made infrastructure would yield economic benefits.

"Every billion dollars invested in public transportation creates... 20,000 new jobs," said Lotke. "Every dollar in public transport gets you something like 6 dollars in economic returns. This is growth. This is recovery. This is what we need to get the economy going. We need a short term stimulus."

According to Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), rebuilding infrastructure may serve as a way to improve the environment.

"Today we must build green infrastructure that makes us more energy efficient and reduces our reliance of foreign oil. That means constructing smart power grids, constructing buildings that consume less energy, making alternative fuels more accessible, diversifying our energy sources, and making public transportation systems more efficient," said DeLauro.

Economic Institute research and policy director John Irons countered the conventional wisdom that the recent economic crisis has made improvements financially impossible, arguing that the current deficit is not historically unique and that it may be especially wise to invest now.

"Deficits are okay in a recession...this is precisely the time we don't want to worry about deficits, this is the time we need a rescue package, we need infrastructure investments, and we need other investments to ensure our economy gets back on track," said Irons.