Bart Stupak is claiming that he has 12 Democrats who are willing to vote no on health care reform unless his more restrictive abortion funding language is included. Mr. Stupak, a resident of the notorious C Street house, is willing to scuttle the entire health care reform bill unless it "strengthens" language in the Senate bill to further restrict federal funding for abortions despite the fact that the Hyde Amendment already does so.
The Senate health care reform bill is far from perfect and one of its imperfections is the further unnecessary restrictions on abortion. However, the Senate abortion language is slightly less offensive than the House abortion language and it is important for Democrats and the counrty that we pass a health care reform bill so we can start to get the escalating costs under control, stop insurance company abuses and insure more people. The President and Democratic leaders in both the House and the Senate have also publicly stated that they will try to improve the current Senate bill through reconciliation once it has passed the House.
We need to pass this bill! If we don't, how long will it be before we get another chance?
When the first vote came around on this in the House, three of our Democratic Congresspeople voted for the Stupak amendment. They were Joe Donnelly, Brad Ellsworth and Baron Hill. Please contact all three of them now and tell them to pass the health care reform bill and refuse to join Bart Stupak in his attempt to hold the bill hostage. Contact information for each of the three Congresspeople is below the fold:
But don't take my word for it, here's the take of all-around good guy Butch Morgan.
Butch Morgan, chairman of the Democratic Party of St. Joseph County, said comparing the Massachusetts Senate race with politics in northern Indiana is "a little bit like comparing apples and oranges."
Many races county voters will decide in November will include incumbent Democrats, whereas the Massachusetts special election was an open race to fill the seat the late Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy occupied since 1962. Coakley, the state's attorney general, has been accused of letting up after she had a 15-point lead in early January and many Democrats reportedly decided not to vote in the election.
"If our congressman (Joe Donnelly, D-Granger) had a double-digit lead two months out, he would work like he was 10 points behind," Morgan said.
"Every district, every state has its own set of circumstances. There are a lot of dynamics (in Massachusetts) that are not going to happen here."
Amen.
More importantly, it's worth noting that the presumptive GOP candidate, State Representative Jackie Walorski, has never, ever shown herself capable of building the kind of broad political coalition that we saw in Massachusetts.
In short, she's a divider, not a uniter.
Congressman Joe Donnelly, on the other hand, has proven time and time again that he's beholden first and foremost to his constituents, and his voting record shows that. The health care vote may be politically charged, but in a district with double-digit unemployment rates everywhere you look, people realize that the "health care crisis" isn't just a talking point -- it's an undeniable part of everyday life for millions of Hoosiers.
I wonder if she'll ceremonially dump her filing papers in the St. Joseph River inside a giant tea bag?
Indiana State Rep. Jackie Walorski announced today her intention to run for the 2nd Congressional District on the Republican ticket.
Walorski, a resident of Jimtown, made the announcement this morning on WFRN radio station.
"I am filing for my exploratory committee today because it is increasingly difficult to stand by and watch Washington move down a path that the majority of voters don't agree with," Walorski said in a prepared statement. "The frustration in the 2nd Congressional District is palpable," she said.
Let's be clear here: Joe Donnelly has spent the last few months working tirelessly with both sides of the aisle to fight for the best interests of his constituents. Jackie Walorski has flown around the country to participate in teabagging protests, going so far as to camp out across the street from President Obama's recent appearance in Wakarusa so as to voice her displeasure with ...um... socialism. Or something.
Donnelly v. Walorski -- Reasoned, Rational Discussion v. Radical, Partisan Divisiveness
For those that missed the late-night voting, Sen. Evan Bayh and Rep. Joe Donnelly were the two Democrats in our delegation to vote against the federal budget. Donnelly, if nothing else, seemed willing to reconsider the bill once it got out of conference:
The House passed the plan 233-196 Thursday. Donnelly was among 20 Democrats and 176 Republicans who voted against the proposal. All four Indiana Republicans were among those voting no.
Donnelly says he voted against it because of "the growing national debt which our children are being asked to bear."
He says he hopes House and Senate negotiations will result in a budget he can support.
With numerous groups working in the state to pressure lawmakers to vote for a comprehensive budget proposal, expect the pressure to heat up in the next few days for these two.
I usually avoid beating up on the alma mater, but considering I've seen this point made a few times now, I figure it is worth a few thoughts. It seems that our future media overlords are no more astute than our current ones, which I suppose is to be expected. From the venerable Indiana Daily Student editorial board.
Surely the campaign for change must have done Rep. Baron Hill, D-9th, a lot of good. Locked in a perpetual contest with his Republican challenger - this was their fourth meeting - Hill finally scored the decisive victory he was looking for. Just four years after Mike Sodrel unseated Hill in 2004, Hill achieved a crushing victory with 58 percent of the vote.
The same could easily be muttered by casual political observers of the 2nd and 8th Congressional Districts, both of which were relatively closer in 2006. And they would be similarly incorrect.
The reason Baron Hill, Joe Donnelly, and Brad Ellsworth won so handily this year was not Barack Obama, but rather because they worked their asses off in Washington and back at home, running amazing campaigns from gate-to-gate. (There was a reason, after all, that the GOP couldn't find legitimate challengers willing to take a chance on these "Republican" districts.)
And while their positions on a few key issues were oft-maligned here and elsewhere, all have expressed a willingness to give a green light to the vast majority of President-elect Obama's legislative agenda.
There are benefits to a big tent, folks, and while it may not be palatable at the time, the pragmatic centrism of Indiana's Democratic delegation to the U.S. Congress may provide a blueprint for expanding our majorities in the Mountain West and elsewhere in the coming years. This isn't to say we can't provide pressure when necessary on points of contention, but there is something to be said for understanding the nature of Indiana's political landscape.
And quite frankly, I love crushing victories. The more the merrier, as far as I'm concerned.
Curious as to why the Republican party is failing miserably in every last corner of this great nation? Absurdity such as this has a lot to do with it:
When it comes to college education, Donnelly said he voted to increase Pell grants to make college more affordable and voted to decrease the interest rate on college loans. He said the Kalamazoo Promise - a college scholarship program offered to every public school student in Kalamazoo, Mich. - is something that can be done locally.
The government shouldn't step in for students, Puckett said. Although the government can offer some assistance, he said it shouldn't be the first solution students look to. Young people have incredible "work ethic," he said and if elected he will be a "sideline cheerleader" to help students accomplish their goals.
Ah, just what hardworking middle class families are looking for!
Because it is common knowledge that when we run out of gas on the highway, we always resent that AAA guy who gives us enough gas to get to the next exit. Lord knows we would feel better in the end if he simply drove slowly behind and cheered us on as we made the three mile hike there and back ourselves.
In case there was any remaining doubt as to Congressman Joe Donnelly's reelection, the recent WSBT/Tribune poll should bring an end to that nonsense.
Research 2000 400 LV - MoE +/- 5% Sept. 29-30
53% - Joe Donnelly 35% - Luke Puckett 3% - Vogel 9% - Undecided
Donnelly's campaign manager, Andrew Lattanner, said the campaign doesn't pay much attention to polls, but called the numbers a "reflection of (Donnelly's) hard work."
That said, the lead in the polls doesn't translate to any kind of break for campaign staff, Lattanner said.
"We don't take anything for granted," Lattanner said. "If there's one thing about Joe Donnelly, it's that he works extremely hard."
Juan Manigault is the Republican who was destroyed in the South Bend mayoral race last year, gaining less than 30% of the vote. You might remember him as benefiting from the mail campaign that spread the uplifting message of impending doom and gloom to mailboxes throughout the city.
Luckily, political campaigns have a funny way of dealing with troublesome failures: Promotion.
Juan Manigault, who unsuccessfully tried to unseat South Bend Mayor Stephen Luecke in 2007, will step to the helm of Luke Puckett's campaign for Congress.
Puckett, a Republican, is challenging first-term U.S. Rep. Joe Donnelly, D-Granger.
Manigault will take a paid position with Puckett's campaign as its chairman, serving in a mostly fund-raising capacity and as an adviser, he said Wednesday.
I'll let Butch Morgan take the requisite, pithy retort on this one.
But Owen "Butch" Morgan, chairman of the St. Joseph County Democratic Party, said Manigault wasn't well received in South Bend during his mayoral campaign, and that Donnelly has a lot of momentum having traveled the 2nd District extensively since taking office in 2007.
"If he does as well as he did in the mayoral (campaign), I'm feeling good," Morgan said. "Luke Puckett or anybody else is not going to outwork Joe Donnelly. It's not going to happen."
U.S. Rep. Joe Donnelly endorsed Barack Obama's presidential campaign today (Brian A. Howey, Howey Politics Indiana). "At a time when too many Americans have lost faith in their government, Senator Obama can move us beyond the politics of stalemate and gridlock that has kept us from meeting the monumental challenges of our time: our dependence on foreign oil, a health care gap that leaves tens of millions uninsured, the steady deterioration of our manufacturing base, and an economy that is not working for working people," Donnelly announced in a statement.
"I am looking for a president who can bring this nation together, build bipartisan majorities in Congress, and energize the American people to tackle the tough issues. Senator Clinton is a tenacious fighter for the American people, and particularly for working families, but I believe Barack Obama is the president that we need at this moment in history. He has helped engage over 3 million new voters, tapped into the American people's powerful desire for change, and pointed the way toward a more hopeful future for our country."
This leaves us with only two undecideds. Rep. Pete Visclosky should have the easier decision of the two -- much of his Democratic base turned out in full force for Sen. Obama. I wouldn't be surprised to see Rep. Brad Ellsworth stay on the sidelines until the presidential picture becomes a little more clear.
If you want to read and endorse the Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq, you can do so here: http://www.responsibleplan.com/
Thursday, May 1st is the fifth anniversary of "Mission Accomplished" - the day George Bush stood on an aircraft carrier declaring major combat operations over in Iraq. Five years later, the costs of war keep piling on and there's still no end in sight.
That's why TrueMajority.org is organizing an emergency Responsible Plan Delivery day all over the country on Thursday, May 1st to let our Representatives in on the Responsible Plan to End the War.
Indianapolis: 12:00 P.M.
Representative Dan Burton's Office
8900 Keystone at the Crossing, Suite 1050 Indianapolis, IN 46240-7646
(800) 382-6020
RSVP: http://act.truemajorityaction....
South Bend: 12:00 P.M.
Representative Joe Donnelly's Office
207 West Colfax Street
South Bend, IN 46601-1601
(574) 288-2780
RSVP: http://act.truemajorityaction....
It must be unfortunate for Republican Luke Puckett to open this morning's New York Times and find out that his last-second entrance into the 2nd District congressional race represented a choice that many before him had probably been offered, and at least one turned down due to the fact that he honestly couldn't find anything wrong with current Rep. Joe Donnelly. From the profile piece on Oklahoma Congressman Tom Cole, in which his efforts to convince Republican prosecutor Curtis Hill to run against Donnelly are described:
Hill happened to be a founding-fathers buff, and so Cole flew him to Washington to meet with the White House political team and be briefed on how he could win, to look out at the monuments from his window seat and imagine himself as part of history. "Very intoxicating," Hill told me afterward. But he was not convinced. Cole then flew out to Indiana to press Hill to run, telling him that the Democratic congressman, Joe Donnelly, could be depicted as a tool of Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House, and out of touch with the values of the district. Hill thought about it hard. But he had five kids at home, and he also didn't quite buy Cole's description of Donnelly, whom Hill considered "a relatively conservative Democrat. I don't think he's done anything in his record that's irritated anyone." Hill turned the offer down.
There was a time when I was really disappointed in you, Second District. You had offered us up Chris Minor as a Republican challenger to Rep. Joe Donnelly, and he was practically perfect in every way. He worked for Blackwater, but openly denied it. He launched a campaign website with his smiling, photo-shopped face in front of the Indiana Statehouse. He was great.
Since then, we've had only the on-again, off-again thing with Luke Puckett, and while he isn't a good candidate, he's nothin' special. (Of course, he did compare Donnelly to Fidel Castro a few months ago.)
Attorney Tony Zirkle said Wednesday he will seek the Republican nomination for the Congressional seat now occupied by Rep. Joe Donnelly.
Zirkle ran for that seat in 2006, but lost in the primary to incumbent Chris Chocola, R-Bristol.
Donnelly, D-Granger, beat Chocola in the general election later that year.
Zirkle's campaign gained attention when he proposed using the guillotine to punish sexual predators. He also shredded an original 1953 copy of Playboy Magazine featuring Marilyn Monroe, and recommended drafting deadbeat dads to patrol U.S. borders.
(Emphasis mine. Craziness his.)
Well, at least we'll have fun through the primary process, eh?
Walter Alarkon of The Hill writes today on the lackluster recruiting class that has been trotted out by the NRCC as they desperately attempt to cover up for the fact that their anemic fundraising numbers leave them in no position to compete nationally with the DCCC. And in no place is this lack of organization more clear than in Indiana's 2nd District, where freshman Rep. Joe Donnelly (D) looks set to head toward the 2008 election season effectively unopposed. This seat has been a battleground for years, but apparently no one is willing to step up to the plate in a cycle which is already looking bad for national GOP operations.
The recent news of the NRCC's recruits partly reflects the fact that filing deadlines are fast approaching. Democratic strategists, who said last fall that the NRCC was stumbling, remain skeptical of the recruits' strength.
"This is the sort of promotion you'd expect from a used car salesman selling lemons," said Doug Thornell, spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC). "Republicans are desperately trying to spin a dire recruitment cycle by touting unknowns, a defeated congresswoman, and recycling already publicized recruits - it stretches the bounds of credulity."
Democrats have argued that Republicans have yet to find committed top-tier challengers to 13 first-term representatives, including Reps. John Hall (N.Y.), Joe Donnelly (Ind.), John Barrow (Ga.), and Ron Klein (Fla.).
I was looking forward to the laugh-a-minute funfest that Chris Minor would have represented. Oh well.
We all knew that the short-lived campaign of Chris Minor was too good to be true, and it sure seems like the 2nd District GOP can't find anyone to follow his act. As the Associated Press notes this morning, that leaves freshman Rep. Joe Donnelly in the enviable position of having a respectable war chest and no opponent in sight.
Donnelly's campaign has about $700,000 on hand for his re-election bid, about three times what it had two years ago when he was preparing to take on Republican incumbent Chris Chocola, Donnelly spokesman Bob Doyle said.
Donnelly was among three Democrats to unseat Republicans from Indiana congressional seats in 2006 as he received 54 percent of the vote over Chocola in northern Indiana's 2nd District.
In the Lafayette area, the 2nd District includes Carroll County and part of White County.
"I am humbled by the support and donations of so many Hoosiers and other friends who have pitched in to help get ready for the 2008 election cycle," Donnelly said.
As the issue of immigration heats up in Washington, three Indiana Representatives have voiced their approval to the newest legislation floating around congress.
Congressmen Baron Hill and Joe Donnelly are joining Ellsworth in backing a new bill that would put thousands more agents at the border, and require that employers use a free government service to verify that those they hire are legal.
This news comes in the face of the latest IndyStar poll showing that a staggering 69% of Indiana residents oppose any legalization of workers who enter the country illegally.
The more important part of this story though? The political reality that surrounds all three of Indiana's freshman Representatives.
"I think you'll see a number of House Democratic freshmen, especially from a lot of these conservative-leaning districts who were first elected in 2006, emphasize the immigration issue," said Greg Giroux of Congressional Quarterly.
As the election cycle wears on, expect these Reps. to continue their ongoing political maneuvering. Because, in the end, positioning themselves favorably for the portion of the electorate that callously floats down the middle, will be an important step in insuring they keep their seat come election day.
Word out of yesterday's constituent meeting in Michigan City is that freshman Rep. Joe Donnelly is prepared to pull out the big guns if BP isn't willing to reevaluate their position on dumping pollutants in Lake Michigan. Via Scot Squires of the Herald-Argus:
Donnelly said when he met with BP officials in Washington, D.C., he told them, "We want you to expand. Why can't we do this without you polluting the lake?"
"Imagine a middle ground that works," he said.
Donnelly said BP should invest in filtration systems for their plant so they can expand without adding more pollution to the lake.
"They made $28 billion (last year)," he said. "In my mind, you get the refinery working, you add the capacity, you invest in your plants.
"I told them very clearly: `You will not be permitted to put additional pollutants into Lake Michigan. We can work together or you will have a fight on your hands, and that fight will include me.'"
"We don't have the right to let that lake become polluted. That has been entrusted for our kids and our kids' kids."
Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese has written a guest post for bilerico.com to respond to Representatives Donnelly and Ellsworth. The Congressmen, both Indiana democrats, recently voted against the federal hate crimes law and were trying to explain their rationale on our site. Rep Ellsworth's staff responded in the comments. Rep Donnelly chose not to respond apparently.
I know some of you had reservations about allowing the Congressmen to post their reasonings on the blog. I honestly believe that the comments to the posts and Joe's guest entry completely set the record straight (pardon the pun). And I have to honor the Congressmen's willingness to engage the community when they knew we were unhappy with them...
My friend The Honorable Congressman Joe Donnelly and my friend the Honorable Congressman Brad Ellsworth, are not sure if they will support the Iraq war spending bill because it has a timetable attached and specific goals with it.
My friend The Honorable Baron Hill and former Congressman Lee Hamilton both support this measure as do I.
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