Anderson@Large

GOP Fundamentals

The Republican National Committee winter meeting is underway in DC. Later today, the 168 voting members of the RNC will elect the next chairman.

On my way to the luncheon, I ran into one of the candidates for GOP chairman, Ken Blackwell. I’ve known Ken since...well for a long time. We exchanged pleasantries. I asked how things were going. Ken said, “I’m alive, well and still here.”

John Fund, author of Stealing Elections: How Voter Fraud Threatens Our Democracy, was the luncheon speaker. You know, it’s hard to take Fund seriously when he talks about integrity. This is, after all, the same person who was arrested and charged with assaulting a former girlfriend. He met his former girlfriend when he was dating her mother.

But that was then. Yesterday, Fund was introduced as a “model of investigative public interest journalism. John Fund is who Bill Moyers thinks he is.”

Fund did his bit about how voter fraud and ACORN, which he described as a “criminal enterprise.”

Fund spent most of his time trying to buck up a vanquished party. He advised Republicans to embrace John Dryden’s call to arms:

I’m a little wounded, but I am not slain;
I will lay me down for to bleed a while,

Then I’ll rise and fight with you again.

Echoing Rush Limbaugh, he predicted President Obama’s economic stimulus package will fail:

The stimulus plan can’t create real jobs in the private economy… Liberal policies will fail.

Fund continued:

Congress and his party will not let Obama govern from the center.

The failure of Obama’s recovery plan “will give voters another chance to hear from us”:

Don’t abandon your principles. You will get another chance. Memories will fade. The name brand will be restored.

In the meantime, Fund said Republicans should “smile and be brave. Stick to your principles. There will always be another election.”

Hushing Rush

In the name of bipartisanship, President Barack Obama told congressional Republicans to tune out Rush Limbaugh:

You can’t just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done.

I tuned into Rush yesterday. He was gloating that he had “hijacked Obama’s honeymoon.” He made no bones about his fervent hope that Obama’s economic recovery plan fails:

I want America to succeed. I love my country… And this ain’t the way to do it. My whole objective is to maintain America in the image of its founders and founding.

Republican Rep. Phil Gingrey, who earlier told Rush to hush, is now singing a different tune:

Regardless of what yesterday’s headline may have read, I never told Rush to back off. I regret and apologize for the fact that my comments have offended and upset my fellow conservatives—that was not my intent. I am also sorry to see that my comments in defense of our Republican Leadership read much harsher than they actually were intended, but I recognize it is my responsibility to clarify my own comments.

Gingrey called into Rush’s show and gushed:

Rush, thank you so much. I thank you for the opportunity. Of course, this is not exactly the way I wanted to come on... Mainly, I want to express to you and your listeners my sincere regret for those comments I made yesterday to Politico.

Rush, ahem, graciously accepted his apology on the air.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has rushed to judgment. The DCCC is circulating a petition condemning Rush. Yes, Rush is a blowhard. But so is Keith Olbermann.

My fear is that it’s Rush today and progressives tomorrow yesterday. I remember the howls from progressives when then-White House Press Secretary Ari Fleisher warned Americans to “watch what they do and what they say.”

Rush has the constitutional right to be disagreeable and to disagree with Obama. If you don’t like what Rush says, ignore him. But don’t give him free publicity. Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers magzine, told the San Francisco Chronicle:

The Champagne is flowing in Rush Limbaugh's house. Obama gave Limbaugh the most fabulous gift you can give a talk radio host.

Indeed, El Rushbo is relishing his elevated stature as the “new face of the GOP.”

As Rush would say, it is what it is.

Trust but E-Verify

Today, the House of Representatives will vote on President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus plan, the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.” In a blog post, Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote:

This recovery package is the first crucial step in a concerted effort to create and save 3 to 4 million jobs, jumpstart our economy, and transform it for the 21st century. This means real change: it will strengthen the middle class, not just Wall Street CEOs and special interests in Washington.

Some special interest groups in Washington didn’t get the memo. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Emergency Committee for American Trade are working overtime to weaken “Buy American” requirements. As Business Week reported:

The existing legislation means much of the spending in the fiscal stimulus package—including for green infrastructure—will be subject to intense lobbying to ensure that the money creates jobs in the U.S. and not overseas. Paying someone to better insulate a home will clearly create a domestic job. But how much of the insulation will come from China, a major producer? Or what levels of domestic content will solar panels have to include?

Meanwhile, the National Council of La Raza wants employers to be able to hire Mexicans working illegally in the U.S. The open-borders lobby asked supporters to call Pelosi and demand that E-Verify be stripped from the bill:

• A provision in the stimulus package for E-Verify irresponsibly undercuts the bill’s objective and will be counterproductive for American business, workers, and the economy.
• Real solutions to our economic problems and immigration reform should be approached seriously and separately.
• E-Verify’s faulty databases will wrongly deny eligible workers their jobs.

E-Verify is a free web-based program administered jointly by the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration. It allows employers to quickly verify the work status of new hires, and is “an essential tool for employers committed to maintaining a legal workforce.”

Jessica M. Vaughan, a senior policy analyst with the Center for Immigration Studies, testified:

E-Verify is accurate. 98 percent of eligible workers are confirmed to work instantaneously. Fewer than one percent of eligible workers need to update their records to be confirmed.

Vaughan noted:

E-Verify reduces discrimination against immigrant workers. According to the Westat evaluation, employers report that they are more likely to hire immigrant workers using E-Verify, because they feel confident that the new hires are authorized to work, and that they are not using false documents.

If you think American taxpayers’ money should be used to protect American workers, contact Pelosi and your representative and tell them: Trust, but verify that jobs created with taxpayer dollars go to American workers.

Congressional Watchdog Bringing Sexy Back

Sex sells. U.S. News and World Report says Change Congress, the brainchild of Stanford Law Prof. Larry Lessig and Joe Trippi, is bringing sexy back:

Don't like how our politics are paid for? Some people who agree are pushing what I can only call the Lysistrata campaign finance reform plan. In the ancient Greek comedy, women withheld sex from their soldier husbands until they agreed to end an ongoing war. Substitute sex for money and you have what the folks over at Change Congress are pushing: that donors go "on strike," refusing to give their money to pols until a campaign finance overhaul is passed (specifically, they favor a system whereby people limiting themselves to small donations would get matching government funds).

Sure, withholding sex campaign contributions will get a politician’s attention. But “sunshine is the best disinfectant.” Shining a light on the process keeps pols honest, and promotes transparency and accountability.

Next month, I will launch Tracking Change, a wiki that will track the implementation of President Obama’s $825 billion economic stimulus plan to make sure members of Congress -- and lobbyists -- don't slip in earmarks through the back-door.

Gillibrand Debuts to Mixed Reviews

Gov. David Paterson’s selection of Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand to succeed Hillary Clinton has received mixed reviews. As Gillibrand acknowledges, “you don’t know much about me.”

Here’s what President Barack Obama said about the soon-to-be junior senator from New York:

During her career, Kirsten has been a strong voice for transparency and reform in government and shares the belief that government should be open, accessible and work for all of our citizens. In Congress and as special counsel for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, she worked to strengthen public and private partnerships to invest in infrastructure and New York's economy.

At this time of great challenge, I know that Kirsten has the integrity, character, and dedication to public service to help us achieve our greatest goals.

Still, Gillibrand has already drawn a primary challenge. Indeed, a Quinnipiac poll found:

Because of Gillibrand's pro-gun position and her backing by the National Rifle Assn., 36 percent of New York State voters, including 50 percent of Democrats, are less likely to vote for her when she runs for election next year, while 17 percent are more likely to vote for her. Another 41 percent say this doesn't make a difference.

So with an eye on 2010, Gillibrand was Al Sharpton’s “special guest” at the National Action Network’s weekly rally.

In his introductory remarks, Sharpton talked about the “drama and some trauma around the governor selecting a successor to Hillary Clinton”:

Don’t get distracted on a lot of issues that have nothing to do with where we need to go. Others can deal with political trivia. We have to deal with our social reality.

Sharpton continued:

Reporter said to me this morning, “Well, do you know her well?” No. But I would rather it was someone I didn’t know that reached out than somebody that I do know that takes us for granted. Some of the folks I know too well. They’ve never done anything. They never will do anything.

Gillibrand said righting the ailing economy is her number one priority. A former securities lawyer, she defended her vote against the Wall Street bailout:

I voted against the bailout because of the lack of regulation. Nobody was watching. We don’t know whether the banks are worth anything… My goal was to try to change the bill.

The decisions that we make have to be the right decisions. We can’t do it over and over. We have to do it right.

Gillibrand added:

We need the ability to go into those banks with forensic accounting and find out what they’re worth and what they’re doing with that money. We may be giving billions of dollars to banks that will go out of business in a few months.

We need regulations, the right regulation that’s going to work… If we keep throwing good money after bad, the taxpayer is going to be left holding the bag.

Gillibrand took questions from the press and NAN members. BTW, can you, um, imagine, you know, Princess Caroline, taking questions in a public forum?

Gillibrand told her new constituents:

I’m here to listen to you. I’m here to be an advocate for your priorities… This may be my first visit but it will not be my last visit.

Rev. Dr. W. Franklyn Richardson, NAN’s chairman, promised to pray for her. With opponents organizing, Gillibrand may need divine intervention.

A ‘Postracial’ America?

Change has come to America. We are making progress on that day:

When black will not be asked to get back, when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when red can get ahead, and when white will embrace what is right.

To hear some folks tell it, we’re already colorblind. We now have our first “biracial” or “mixed race” President. As one Wichita Eagle reader commented:

I’m sick and tired of people saying “a black man is in the White House.” First, he’s biracial. Second, he’s not African American; he was born in America. He’s just an American with dark skin who’s our president. No big deal.

So, does President Barack Obama mean “the end of black history”? That was the question posed by Robert L. Harris Jr. and Rosalyn Terborg-Penn, the co-editors of “The Columbia Guide to African American History Since 1939.”

In a recent blog post, Harris and Terborg-Penn observed:

Has President Obama fulfilled Dr. King’s dream of freedom, justice, and equality for all Americans? As President Obama declared in his Inaugural Address, we are on a journey toward realizing the promise of America. In his March 18, 2008 speech on race, delivered in Philadelphia, then candidate Obama explained “…I have never been so naïve as to believe that we can get beyond our racial divisions in a single election cycle, or with a single candidacy…” President Obama understands perhaps more than others that his inauguration is a beginning and not an end.

Similarly, during a WNYC celebration of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Prof. William Jelani Cobb noted:

African Americans have been attempting to be post-racial since 1619.

The Remaking of America

On President Barack Obama’s first full day in office, an Associated Press-Knowledge Networks poll found 67 percent of Americans, including 47 percent of Republicans, are hopeful and optimistic.

Obama has wasted no time tackling the boatload of problems he inherited from George W. Bush. From Wall Street to Main Street to the Middle East, Obama has to clean up Bush’s mess.

Obama has to rescue the faltering economy, prevent foreclosures, create four million jobs, save the auto industry, and keep hope alive.

But the federal coffers have been bled dry as a consequence of endless wars and “irresponsibility on the part of some but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age.”

To paraphrase the Notorious B.I.G., “More power, more problems.”

Though Obama’s plate is overflowing, he must not forget the least of these. As Women’s Media Center President Carol Jenkins writes:

Barack Obama, in one sense, remade America by taking the oath. But the most important messages of this historic inaugural were not words—they were acts. On Monday here in Washington, D.C., we celebrated the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. Then still President-elect Obama took a paintbrush to the walls of a shelter for homeless teens—part of the declaration of a day of service in memory of the slain civil rights leader. Thousands more across the city did the same.

This is our true mission as we leave the scene of great celebration: to remember the homeless we saw sleeping in doorways as we made our way to the fancy inaugural balls last night. To determine acts to accompany the words that will counter the deepening economic distress we woke up to this morning—affecting, increasingly, not only the anonymous buried in the statistics, but people we know, perhaps even ourselves. To remember the women, still the poor and vulnerable of the world. And to remember that ever more importantly, we must tell their stories—tell them straight and strong so we move people to act, as well as think and feel.

Indeed, but for the grace of God go I.