Category: Power to the People

Netroots Nation live, June 7-10

~ susie ~ 1 Comment

If you can’t attend Netroots Nation this year, you can watch most of it via livestreaming here.

The reason I put this here is because you will feel better after you watch some of these great panels. Trust me on this.

Here’s the player for the main room. I’ll leave it at the top of the page until it’s over:

Our video coverage is made possible by our friends at Five Steps Forward and Free Speech TV, which will also show coverage and behind-the-scenes interviews on DIRECTV channel 348, DISH Network channel 9415, on over 175 US cable access affiliates.

  • View our keynotes in Hall A/B, sessions from Ballroom A and special FSTV interviews live here. You can see a schedule of all our keynotes here. You can see a schedule of all panels in Ballroom A here.
  • View all sessions in Ballroom B live here. You can see a schedule of all sessions in this room here.
  • View all sessions in Ballroom D live here. You can see a schedule of all sessions in this room here.
  • View all sessions in room 552 live here. You can see a schedule of all sessions in this room here.

Wisconsin updates

~ susie

From the Guardian:

9.16pm: Let’s dive into the exit poll data from Wisconsin:


• Union households made up about a third of the electorate, and about two-thirds of them backed Tom Barrett, about the same level of support he received among the group in 2010


• Barrett improved on his 2010 performance among African Americans, those with incomes below $50,000 and independents. Barrett won 95% of the African American vote, up from 87% in 2010


• Both Walker and Barrett retained more than 9 in 10 of those who backed them in 2010. Walker marginally won independent voters by 50%-49%


• About one in 10 voters said they did not vote in 2010 – and they broke heavily for Barrett


• About 9 in 10 in early exit polling said they decided who to vote for before May. Those who did make up their minds in the final month of the campaign supported Barrett by nearly 30 points

9.08pm: More from the exit poll – and it may be tight in the recall race, but Wisconsin voters still appear to be backing Barack Obama come November.


The exit poll has Obama getting 54% to Mitt Romney’s 42% – and that’s a poll that should be more accurate than most state polls at this point, given the circumstances. That must be a disappointment forRepublicans.

9.06pm: Gary Younge sees some last minute stragglers dashing in at the last moment to vote in Milwaukee:


At 7.58pm outside the Keenan health centre, recall supporters chivvied up the stragglers: “Come on blood seriously get in there.”


“You’re the on who came to my door,” said the young man, struggling to run as his trousers sagged halfway down his legs. “I’m here like I said.”


A minute later the polls closed to applause.


Gary adds that everywhere he’s been has had long lines but no problems.

Scott Walker and Tom Barrett.

On, Wisconsin

~ susie ~ 3 Comments

You’ve all heard the story by now, how the DNC is refusing to give $500k to Wisconsin Dems to help defeat Gov. Scott Walker. Unfuckingbelieveable.

And you may have already gotten an email from Daily Kos, or MoveOn.org, asking for donations. If you can, you can also donate here. Five bucks is good; 20 bucks, even better.

Let’s do. Let’s kick this guy’s ass.

I hesitate to say this (because I might be horribly wrong), but I have a feeling this year will be like 2006, when we took back the House and the Senate. Back then, if you recall, the blogosphere put many, many Dems over the top that the DNC wrote off. We did it, with our little blogs. Maybe we can do it again. So if you can help, do it.

Also, fuck the DNC.

Throwdown

~ susie ~ 1 Comment

Now this is one of the most interesting strategies I’ve seen in a long time, and it makes perfect sense. After all, the filibuster is nothing but an informal arrangement, not something codified into law. This would make for a more representative body – and no, I don’t care that it would still apply if the Republicans take control of the Senate:

The nonpartisan nonprofit Common Cause sued the U.S. Senate on Monday, challenging the constitutionality of the filibuster rules that require routine 60-vote thresholds for bills and nominations that often have majority support.


Several House Democrats and three undocumented students who would be aided by the so-called DREAM Act also joined the suit.


The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, comes at a time of increased partisan gridlock in the Senate and amid complaints the filibuster is being abused by minority Republicans.


From 1981 to 2006, both parties used the filibuster when they were in the minority. During that period, the majority party in each Congress filed fewer than 90 cloture motions to overcome a filibuster by the minority.


But since Democrats seized power in fall 2006, Republicans have turned to the filibuster far more frequently. The majority has averaged about 140 cloture motions in both the 110th and 111th Congress. And Democrats are on
pace to repeat that feat again this Congress.


In early 2011, an effort by junior Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Tom Udall (D-N.M.) to water down the filibuster failed in the face of opposition from more senior lawmakers. Part of the reason it’s been so difficult to overhaul the filibuster is because it requires two-thirds of senators – or 67 votes – to make any changes to Senate rules.


“They are putting the Senate in a straitjacket,” said Stephen Spaulding, staff counsel for Common Cause. “They cannot adopt their own rules, and that’s an issue we think the courts should settle.”