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Cornbread Maxwell
F L I N T O I D
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| Where do you guys see him on the political spectrum? Am I wrong in being confused when a Dem's biggest agenda issue is union-busting, or am I being too simplistic in summary? |
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Sat Jul 24, 2010 8:52 pm |
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Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
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| I does make a person wonder. |
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I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
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Sun Jul 25, 2010 7:03 am |
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J HUNTINGWORTH TUNE
F L I N T O I D
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My take is that he is a Politically naive amateur.Very bright but with the tunnel vision so typical of many with great academic credentials.His career as an elected official is near done,with the signing of the University Park property tax bill ( see W. Stanley ) to be the last act.
I am sure he will land on his feet with a good job in Washington.
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Sun Jul 25, 2010 9:53 am |
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Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
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| Maybe Obama will make him the union czar. |
_________________
I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
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Sun Jul 25, 2010 10:23 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Walling claims to be a Blue Tiger Democrat. Many of his ideas and concepts come from the time he was in Washington DC and was an aide to then Mayor Anthont Williams. The adminnistration of Williams came under investigation for corruption involving the use of illegal nonprofits, some of which were created by the Williams administration and were operated by the administrative staff. Walling left DC about the time of the investigation as did over 50 other mayoral aides.
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Michigan Blue Tiger Democrats is a Michigan Democratic Party project that is coordinated through local Democratic organizations. It is a movement dedicated to civic engagement and community service by Democrats. By demonstrating our commitment to the neighborhoods, individuals and ideals that make our Party great, we believe we can engage people year-round in volunteer activities that help people, and in-turn, strengthen the Party from our grassroots. We acknowledge and thank the founder of Blue Tiger Democrats, Bill Samuels.
Blue Tiger, building upon the excitement created by President Obama’s campaign and election, can achieve great things. We believe that together, we can:
Build respect for the Michigan Democratic Party and our elected leaders;
Increase the capacity of the Party to do good work and have a positive impact on the lives of Michiganders;
Support the people of Michigan through consistent community commitment.
In our attempts to strengthen and grow the Party, we ask you to join us in re-committing yourself to:
Be an Innovator. . . Create a vision of what and how you would like the Party to be seen in your community (aside from politics) and start getting those ideas on paper
Be Bold and Take Action. . . Brainstorm and share your ideas with others of how you can brand and build the Party while serving your community
Be a Leader. . . Share your ideas with local Party organizations, members, elected leaders as well as other people in your community to see if there is potential for you to collaborate on your project and in the process build new relationships
Be an Organizer. . . Set goals, timelines, roles to fill and write up a project description and plan so you can successfully implement your project and get others invested in a clear vision
Be Thoughtful, Thorough and Build the Party. . . Document everything you do so we can share your successes, learn from your mistakes, share best practices and continue to develop a Party that is committed to year-round service in our communities
Michigan Indo American Democratic Caucus reminds us...
"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others." - Mahatma Gandhi.
Be the Change You Want in This World
Get Connected. . . Contact Brad Kent at bkent@michigandems.com or 517-371-5410.
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Paid for by the Michigan Democratic State Central Committee, 606 Townsend, Lansing, MI 48933, (517) 371-5410 Copyright © 2008. All Rights Reserved. |
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Sun Jul 25, 2010 3:14 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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FROM THE DAILY KOS:
The Blue Tiger Dems - An Introduction
by NYBri
Share this on Twitter - The Blue Tiger Dems - An Introduction Thu Aug 17, 2006 at 12:32:19 PM PDT
Let me introduce you to The Blue Tiger Democrats.
This is an organization dedicated to building the Democratic Party through civic engagement and community participation. Essentially, through programs that deal with people's specific needs in their communities and involving the party to address those needs. To make the the party matter in people's lives by solving community problems.
NYBri's diary :: ::
From their web site:
Blue Tiger Democrats believe that civic engagement must be the first and foremost priority of local Democratic and Progressive organizations across the country.
We advocate channeling the massive volunteerism seen during the 2004 election and recent periods of crisis towards civic engagement just as Democrats did historically from the mid 1800s through World War II.
Far too much Progressive political giving goes to funding 30-second commercials.
Our mission is to encourage you to invest a portion of your funds in strengthening the roots of party organizations at the local level through civic engagement.
By performing civic engagement, local party organizations will regain respect in their communities and therefore be able to play a larger role in vetting and grooming new Democratic candidates and workers.
The founder of the BTD is Bill Samuels, a great guy who is dedicated to creating a new paradigm for political involvement. I've met with Bill many times, and his energy for this cause is contagious.
His screen name is, oddly enough, BlueTigerDem. He is presently helping the New York State DSCC win the NYS Senate for the Democratic Party.
Since he recently signed up, he can't post, but he has written a piece I'd like to share with you.
Snarky warning...the piece mentions me as well as our campaign heavily, but I happen to believe in the logic behind the mentions. I would have posted this had it not involved the Keeler2006 campaign.
Progressives: Coming in from the cold
The debate about the meaning of the LamontLieberman Democratic primary fight missed the point.
On the right, conservative columnist David Brooks of the New York Times incorrectly likened Ned Lamont's challenge to Lieberman as no less than a "liberal inquisition" to reinforce a notion that Democrats are in continual disarray.
Conversely, Liberal commentators held up the Lamont candidacy as a manifestation of the long simmering backlash against the Democratic Senators who voted in favor of the war in Iraq. This too is basically an incorrect reading of the current situation.
In reality, the Lamont candidacy is signaling something far more important for the Democratic Party.
Lamont's candidacy is an indicator of a homecoming for "progressives" as they return to work within the Democratic Party at the local level versus criticizing it from the outside.
The fact that Lieberman has now chosen to run as an independent signals his complete lack of understanding of how important people feel it is to make the Democratic party relevant again, a party that stands up strongly against the Republicans on an array of issues, not just the war. In short, Lieberman is out and the progressives are moving back in.
This is not just occurring in Connecticut. For example, in a lower profile, but important race across the border in upstate New York, progressive Democrat Brian Keeler's campaign for State Senate is gaining momentum both on and offline. Last month, Keeler raised more than $10,000 online in a single fundraiser. Since announcing his candidacy last May, Keeler has raised money from more than 500 small donors; a good deal of it online. Keeler, who is a well-known progressive in the Netroots community, like Lamont represents a growing cadre of progressive and liberal candidates who have decided to rejoin the Party at the local level.
Over the years, the word "Progressive" has come to represent activists who are uncomfortable identifying and associating with the Democratic party. Lamont and Keeler are examples of progressives moving from criticizing the Democratic Party from the outside, to rejoining it and running for office.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Democratic Party was hot and activists debated and fought within the party over priorities such as the Vietnam War, civil rights, the environment and women's rights. By 2000 the same issue oriented activists were working outside the party rather than within it. This was problem was exacerbated by McCain-Feingold, which forced activists to find alternative methods of financing outside of the party. The party literally could not coordinate with "progressives". This has moved energy away from the party structure, creating a larger chasm between voters and local Democratic organizations, once the backbone of the party.
By 2004, this started to change. When the history books are written, the most important thing to come out of the 2004 election will be the approximately $170 million online by Democrats within the party at low dollar increments, signaling a promising shift away from the high dollar donors who have for so long dominated Democratic politics. This was clean money. These contributors were not looking for a seat at the table, they were looking to change the table itself.
Now, two years later, active progressives are still raising funds within the party. Politicians at every level are embracing the power of small dollar fundraising. According to a recent piece in the Washington Post, "In 2002 at this point in the election, the DCCC had raised $6.5 million from donors who gave less than $200." This year, the DCCC tripled those donations to nearly $21 million. The other Democratic fundraising apparatuses are having similar experiences.
Lamont, Keeler and the other progressive candidates who are running for office at many levels will be measured not only in their performance at the ballot box, but in the profound effects they have had in bringing their fellow progressives home to the Democratic Party where they belong. The goal of this progressive movement into the Democratic Party is to increase the party's relevance.
With Lieberman running as an independent, he again misses the big picture as he did when he aligned himself too closely to the Republicans on the war and other issues. Lamont has won the Connecticut primary. He should be supported by all Democrats, because the most important goal is to bring independents and progressives back to the Democratic party.
You'll be seeing more about the Blue Tigers in the future. I hope you can support the effort and give Bill a listen.
My Best, Brian
Tags: Blue Tiger Democrats, Bill Samuels, Brian Keeler, Ned Lamont (all tags) :: Previous Tag Versions |
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Sun Jul 25, 2010 3:20 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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THIS EXPLAINS THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH ACORN:
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South County Democratic Club
SOUTH COUNTY BLUE TIGERS
Michigan Becomes First State to Adopt Blue Tiger Democrats
Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer announces that his state will become the first in the nation to adopt the Blue Tiger Democrats program as a part of its permanent mission starting in 2007
Jackson Hole, Wyo. — Determining that the Democratic Party must embrace civic engagement in order to further restore credibility and respect among citizens, Mark Brewer, Chair of the Michigan Democratic Party and Vice-Chair of the Democratic National Committee, announced today that Michigan will become the first state in the nation to adopt the principles of the Blue Tiger Democrats organization and make it a permanent part of their state organizational structure.
Brewer made the announcement Friday before the post-election meeting of the Association of State Democratic Chairs, of which he is the President, in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
At the meeting, Brewer and Bill Samuels, founder of Blue Tiger Democrats (www.bluetigerdems.com), made a presentation to the state chairs reviewing the organization’s 2006 programs and plans to implement the next phase of civic engagement.
Frank Houston, who spearheaded the initial Blue Tiger Michigan pilot project, was named as the Civic Engagement Organizer (CEO) for the MDP’s Blue Tiger Democrats activities in Michigan.
Brewer also announced that he would form a Blue Tiger advisory board that includes Democratic state chairs, vice-chairs, executive directors and elected officials to provide input on Michigan’s new program. To start, Brewer named the following officials to the advisory board:
Terry Lierman, Chairman, Maryland Democratic Party; David Waid, Chairman, Arizona Democratic Party; and David Paterson, New York State Senator and Lt. Governor-elect “Despite the gains the Democratic Party made in the midterm elections, many people still do not believe either party cares much about them. Our goal is to regain respect for the Democratic Party and for the political process.” Brewer said. “The Michigan Democratic Party is committed to making civic engagement an integral part of our state organization. By giving Democrats things to do between elections and providing meaningful services we Democrats can show citizens that parties want to engage them more than just on election day.”
The Michigan Democratic Party and Blue Tiger Democrats perceive the lack of respect and credibility for politicians and political parties to be a paramount problem. Consider this:
From 2000 to 2004, there has been a 21% increase in the number of self-identified independents;
Membership in state and local political organizations has been cut in half over the past forty years while financial contributions have increasingly replaced time commitment; 70% of all funds raised go to television advertisements that generally hurt the credibility of political parties; and $1.6 billion in 2004 campaign contributions went to political advertisements while nearly nothing went to local civic engagement. Collectively these facts have led to a trend where citizens’ alienation from the political parties and elected officials is at a high water mark.
Samuels, founder of Blue Tiger, said, “We are excited that Michigan has agreed to be first in the nation to become a full-fledged Blue Tiger state. In addition to civic engagement helping to regain trust for the party in communities, we believe that community projects will provide young, idealistic people enormous opportunities to enter the world of public service. Mark Brewer recognizes that and is why he is such a visionary.”
“Blue Tiger’s approach of civic engagement, campaign finance reform and greater accountability and transparency in government can go a long way to helping address the respect gap between people and party. It’s time to put the self back in self-government.”
About the Michigan Democratic Party
The Michigan Democratic Party (MDP) is chaired by Mark Brewer. Active in the Party for 25 years, Brewer has an extensive record of successful grassroots activity. A 1973 graduate of Mount Clemens High School, Brewer obtained his A.B. with Honors from Harvard College in 1977 and his law degree from Stanford University Law School in 1981. After working for two years for federal and state courts, he joined Sachs, Waldman, O’Hare, Helveston, Hodges and Barnes, PC in 1983, becoming a shareholder in 1989. He resigned from the firm upon becoming Chair of the Michigan Democratic Party.
In 2006, MDP ran a Blue Tiger pilot project, designed to help low-income families to become more energy efficient and show them ways to lower the cost of their utility bills. The program reached over 28,000 people helped to save many working families over $1,000 each.
About Blue Tiger Democrats
Blue Tiger Democrats is a not-for-profit corporation whose goal is to energize Democrats and Progressives through the promotion of community based initiatives. Blue Tiger was founded in 2005 by Bill Samuels a longtime activist in Democratic and Progressive causes.
Besides from the program in Michigan, Blue Tiger is currently promoting activities such as: running veterans benefits drives to collect “wish list” items for local VA hospitals, holding briefings on emergency preparedness with certified experts and teaching senior citizens to use email, download digital photographs and surf the Internet for the best price on prescription drugs.
Blue Tiger believes that civic engagement must be a priority of local Democratic and Progressive organizations across the country. By performing civic engagement, local party organizations will regain respect in their communities and therefore be able to play a larger role in vetting and grooming new Democratic candidates and workers. Learn more at www.bluetigerdems.com
Principles
A Party isn't a Party if it's built top-down or supported primarily by large individual and corporate donors.
A Party isn't strong if it only debates the major issues or refines a concise message that can be communicated in a thirty-second commercial.
A Party is only as strong as its number of involved and dedicated members who believe in individual responsibility and demonstrate it by working in their communities.
A Party must not just debate the issues of the day, but demonstrate its values by individual actions.
A Party is strong if it is connected to its community through day-to-day work solving problems that exist in that community. People working outside the government, outside the bureaucracy, connect the Party to the voters.
For Politicians to be Respected, we must free them from the humiliating and enormously time-consuming task of fundraising.
Civic Engagement is a two-way street: it not only benefits individuals in the community, but it ensures that the Party is in touch with communities across America.
POSTED 11/20/06
Blue Tiger” Democrats Restore Activist Roar to Michigan Democratic Party
LANSING - Today, Michigan Democratic Party (MDP) Chair Mark Brewer provided an update on a pledge he made a year ago to “regain respect for the Democratic Party and the political process” from the public by supporting local efforts to provide meaningful services and support for issues in their community beyond politics.
“I’m happy to report that the Blue Tiger Democrats are successfully returning the Democratic Party to its roots of community service and civic engagement,” said Brewer. “One-third of our local party organizations currently have community service projects and more are coming aboard every day.”
Blue Tiger Democrats, a national non-profit as well as a project of the MDP, has rekindled community service projects as a core purpose of Democratic Party organizations across Michigan. Branded with a blue tiger as a new symbol (or historic one according to national founder Bill Samuels), “Blue Tiger Democrats have awakened activist efforts to support their community through service across the State,” Brewer continued.
“Every day, Democrats see the struggles of veterans, seniors and working families,” said Frank Houston, CEO (Civic Engagement Organizer) of Michigan Blue Tiger Democrats. “For many activists, being able to run a charity drive for a veteran’s hospital or a food bank for those in need gives them a way to live their Democratic values every day,” Houston stated.
Brewer and Houston unveiled a new, Michigan-specific Blue Tiger Democrats website, www.michiganbluetigerdems.com where Party organizations, activists and leaders can highlight the service projects, volunteers and civic engagement activities they are undertaking or have worked on.
Highlights include:
In Oakland County, Democrats launched a charity drive this past Memorial Day for Veteran Affairs hospitals and organizations that service veterans, collecting a wide range of items that hospitals run short on;
In Berrien County, the South County Democratic Club has been collecting goods to support Resident Services of Southwest Michigan’s efforts to provide the homeless and veterans in Berrien County with basic necessities and support;
In AntrimCounty, Michael Moore teamed up with the AntrimCounty Democratic Party in releasing his latest film, “Sicko.” Together, they donated the proceeds from the national opening night to the FamilyResourceCenter and the IronmenHealthCenter, which provides free services to children and young adults between the ages of 10 to 21.
“We see the new Michigan Blue Tiger Democrats website as being a great way for Party members across the state to share stories of service,” said Houston. “By highlighting past and current projects, upcoming events and great local activists, we can share best practices for putting together successful projects and demonstrate what it really means to be a Democrat,” explained Houston.
“Often, volunteers from political campaigns struggle to discover a place to channel their passion and dedication to the issues and politics they are concerned with between elections,” said Brewer. “Blue Tiger Democrats has helped create a renewed sense of commitment for many leaders to get organized and stay active even when the next election may be several months a way,” Brewer concluded.
To learn more about the work of Michigan Blue Tiger Democrats, go to www.michiganbluetigerdems.com, or contact Frank Houston at (734) 624-3555 or fhouston@bluetigerdems.com.
POSTED 10/27/07 MOVED 11/18/07
Paid for by South County Democratic Club
1990 South 11th Street
Niles, MI 49120
Copyright ©2009 South County Democratic Club |
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Sun Jul 25, 2010 3:28 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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FROM THE DISTRICT DAILY:
District Daily is a Washington, D.C. news site. It is published by Dave Stroup, a writer who lives and works in the District of Columbia. His work can also be found at Greater Greater Washington, Brightest Young Things and Why I Hate DC.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Four years ago: A contracts scandal and a similiar cast of characters
In 2005, the District of Columbia government was rocked by a procurement scandal. The Washington Post ran a series outlining vast abuses of the District's contracting processes. The Post found the city had spent over $425 million in 2004 through unauthorized backdoor deals and improper no-bid contracts.
The specifics of the 2005 scandal were a bit different than the current Parks and Recreation spending hubbub. However, there are a few disturbing parallels. On Friday, the Fenty administration sent City Administrator Neil Albert and District CFO Natwar Gandhi to testify before the Council. The Council also heard from some of the contractors involved. The picture that was painted was not a pretty one. The Fenty administration essentially relied on arguing that the ends justified the means. The claim is that things got done more efficiently through bypassing the Council and the normal DPR procurement process and handing money to preferred groups without transparency.
Four years ago, Gandhi was District CFO and was making similar arguments. Gandhi told the Washington Post that if he did everything by the book, a lot of work would not get done. The self-described bean counter said "I will be damned if a child is without textbooks or an AIDS patient is without medicine just because some bureaucrat did not file the paperwork right."
In 2005, the District's financial situation was vastly different. Overspending was often ignored, as the city ran record surpluses. Agencies could offer no-contract payments to preferred vendors without drawing scrutiny, and the use of no-bid contracts had proliferated. Back then, as now, lack of competition and transparency resulted in waste. It also resulted in political strife.
Also just like now, the scandal in 2005 arrived as an election year approached. The big players in the 2006 mayoral election all spoke of their outrage, and demanded investigations. Council Chairperson Linda Cropp (D), Kwame Brown (D-At Large), David Catania (I-At Large) and Vincent Orange (D-Ward 5) all promised to hold hearings and get to the bottom of the allegations. Gandhi promised more transparency and better methods of tracking funding. The Williams administration assured the public, and the Council that the problems would be resolved, and were not indicative of any ongoing trouble.
In 2009, we again have a procurement mess. The Fenty administration is claiming that they had to get creative with spending in order to get things done. They claim that DPR could not get the work done efficiently enough, so they went through DCHA. We'll ignore for now the fact that DPR is under the purview of the Mayor, and thus any problems there are also Fenty's responsibility. The D.C. Council is again outraged, holding hearings and demanding investigation and oversight. And again we have Natwar Gandhi overseeing the whole mess.
So what did then-Councilmember Adrian Fenty (D-Ward 4) have to say about the contracts scandal in 2005? He called the regulatory violations "completely intolerable," and said "the people involved need to be fired."
Photo of Anthony Williams by Bebeto Matthews/Associated Press
by Dave Stroup, filed under City Hall at 7:00AM 1 |
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Sun Jul 25, 2010 3:41 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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LOTS OF ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS CAN BE LOCATED IN DC WATCH:
Mayor's Office default page
Testimony of Mayor Anthony A. Williams to the DC Council Committee on ... Linda Cropp on the ongoing investigation of fundraising by the Office of the Mayor, .... Creation of the City Museum of Washington, July 14, 1999; Mayor Williams ...
http://www.dcwatch.com/mayor/default.htm - 62k - Cached - Similar pages |
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Sun Jul 25, 2010 3:51 pm |
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