Weekly Update (1/25/08)

Economic Stimulus Package; Who Really Gains?
This week the White House and Congress reached a deal on an economic stimulus package totaling $150 billion in relief. While the package does have admirable goals it will not go far enough in assisting those who truly need the help, and will not stimulate the economy anywhere near enough to keep out of recession.

The main thrust of the package will give most individual tax filers refunds of up to $600, married couples up to $1,200, and an additional $300 for each child. The package also allows businesses to immediately write off 50% of purchases, and permits small businesses to write off additional purchases of equipment. The other main target of the bill concerns the housing market, and raises the limits on loans and mortgages the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can purchases from $362,000 and $417,000, respectively, to $725,000.

The main problems with what the bill addresses is that the economic stimulus provided for will not come for many months, and that it targets people who are not in as desperate need and will not boost the economy. The tax refunds will take many months to actually reach the hands of consumers, especially considering that the IRS is about to start gearing up for the tax season, this additional responsibility will only slow them down. It is unlikely that the rebate checks will be mailed out before late spring or early summer, which is an extremely long time to wait considering the dire state of today's stock and housing markets.

Secondly, raising the FHA limits will only help people who are looking to buy more expensive homes, namely the upper-middle class. Those who need the economic stimulus, the lower and middle classes, will not receive much, if any, benefit from this provision.

Thirdly, while the package will be putting money into the hands of most Americans, many of us will chose to pay down old debt or put the money into savings, which does not help boost a sagging economy. Paying down debt and putting money into savings are wonderful ideas, and the smart financial decision to make, but if the economy needs help the best way to do this is by getting the money to people who will spend it immediately, such as those who will use the money to buy groceries or other necessary items. The people most likely to do this are lower income individuals and families, which brings up where the economic package falls far too short.

Democrats wanted to include provisions that would extend unemployment benefits past the 26 week limit and boost food stamp benefits. These provisions would address all of the current problems with the bill: it would get money into peoples hands immediately, it would go to the people who need it the most, and it would be put into the hands of those who would boost the economy best. Unfortunately, Republicans and conservative Democrats cut these provisions from the bill, leaving many top Democratic leaders upset.

In order for a more progressive, more common-sense, bill to make it through Congress we would have needed a greater number of progressive Democrats in Congress. If we had the numbers to override a veto than there would have been no reason to compromise these important provisions. Help elect progressive Democrats to the US House of Representatives by donating to DAPAC today!

Weekly Update (1/18/08)

Early Democratic Primaries in Illinois in Two Weeks; DAPAC Candidates Need Your Help
In just over two weeks the first Congressional Primaries take place in Illinois. DAPAC has endorsed two candidates who will be facing tough opposition in their primaries. The first is John Laesch, running for Dennis Hastert's former seat. Laesch was a 2006 DAPAC candidate, running in Illinois' 14th district. He had a tough race, as he was running against former Speaker Dennis Hastert, but still made an impressive showing, winning 40% of the vote. Hastert recently retired, and Laesch is running an aggressive campaign for this open seat. For more information about Laesch, and a quick and easy way to contribute to his campaign, please visit his website at www.john08.com. In addition, remember that for every dollar you contribute directly to us, we will help candidates raise 12 dollars more. Therefore, It is best to contribute both directly to us and to the candidate.

The second candidate is Jay Footlik, running in Illinois' 10th Congressional district. Footlik will be facing tough opposition in his Democratic primary from a more conservative candidate. It is crucial that Footlik wins his primary, so he will be the Democratic challenger in the general election. The seat is currently held by Mark Kirk, a Republican who has tried to portray himself as a moderate, while really rubber stamping Bush's policies. In the last two presidential elections, the 10th district voted Democratic, and this cycle a Democrat should take Kirk's place and bring progressive leadership to the district. For more information about Footlik, and a quick and easy way to contribute to his campaign, please visit his website at www.jayfootlik.com.

Both Footlik and Laesch are truly progressive candidates, supporting all of the issues we at DAPAC champion, such as being 100% pro-choice, supporting same-sex marriage, taking immediate steps to end the war in Iraq, supporting publicly funded universal healthcare, and many others. They have pledged to vote for these issues once in Congress. Both of these candidates are facing tough opposition and need your help today!

More Early Democratic Primaries: Ohio
The Ohio primaries follow Illinois shortly after on March 4th. The first DAPAC-endorsed candidate in Ohio is Victoria Wulsin. She is facing some primary competition and needs your help. Please visit her website at www.wulsinforcongress.com. Recently she has announced multiple labor endorsements for the 2008 Democratic primary. A public health doctor board certified in occupational medicine, Vic has long worked with organized labor on workplace health and safety issues. Her background includes work at the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health and as a uniformed officer in the US Public Health Service. She announced support from some of the largest and most active labor unions in the region and the nation, including:

• the American and Ohio Federation of Teachers,
• the Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
• the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades
• the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC)
• the United Auto Workers (UAW)
• the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen

"Dr. Wulsin has demonstrated her commitment to working Americans," said Jerry Giesting, President of the NALC Branch 43. "We know that when she goes to Washington, her priorities will be in the right place."

“These unions are focused on finding solutions, from providing a safe work environment and respect on the job to ensuring a good education for every child and the basic services the public expects," said Wulsin. "When I’m elected to Congress, I’ll work with them and with everyone in my district to create good jobs and support our families.”

Weekly Update (1/11/08)

More Good News for Progressive Democrats in New Hampshire Primary
The results for New Hampshire are final, and in both Iowa and New Hampshire Democrats turned out in record numbers, eclipsing the Republican turnout in these states! This is extremely encouraging for the general election where Democratic candidates should receive more votes than Republicans, dragging in more progressive Democrats to Congress.

Democrat Hilary Clinton and Republican John McCain upset their rivals for comeback wins in the New Hampshire primary. Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee were unable to capitalize on their momentum coming out of Iowa, leading to these upset victories. The fact that both Clinton and Obama have each won is extremely significant for progressive politics.

Obama has been running his campaign as the progressive alternative to politics as usual in Washington, and Clinton's recent victory is a triumph for women. Clinton trailed Obama by as many as 10 percentage points in the polling that took place between Iowa and New Hampshire. The fact that record numbers of Democrats, women in particular, voted is testament to the power of progressive voters. This is extremely encouraging for the results of the Presidential election in November. No matter who wins the Democratic nomination, it is increasingly likely that he or she will become President. These statistics backup DAPAC's research that America is experiencing a progressive upswing.

DAPAC needs to capitalize on this opportunity by getting a greater number of progressive Democrats elected to the US House of Representatives. This is the only way to affect policy, no matter who wins the Democratic presidential nomination. The next president will need plenty of progressive legislation to sign into law once in office. The only way to make this happen is to make Congress more progressive.

We are eagerly awaiting the next primaries in Michigan and Nevada.

Results of New Hampshire Primary
Here are the results in terms of percentages for all the major candidates in the New Hampshire primary. On the Democratic side:
Clinton: 39%
Obama: 37%
Edwards: 17%
Richardson: 5%
Kucinich: 1%
On the Republican side:
McCain: 37%
Romney: 32%
Huckabee: 11%
Giuliani: 9%
Paul: 8%
Thompson: 1%
Hunter: 0%

Early Democratic Primaries in February; DAPAC Candidates Need Your Help
In just over three weeks the first Congressional Primaries take place in Illinois. DAPAC has endorsed two candidates who will be facing tough opposition in their primaries. The first is John Laesch, running for Dennis Hastert's former seat. For more information about Laesch, and a quick and easy way to contribute to his campaign, please visit his website at www.john08.com. The second candidate is Jay Footlik, running in Illinois' 10th Congressional district. For more information about Footlik, and a quick and easy way to contribute to his campaign, please visit his website at www.jayfootlik.com. Both of these candidates are facing tough opposition and need your help today!

Weekly Update (1/4/08)

Iowa Caucus is a Referendum on Progressive Politics
The results are in! Democrat Barack Obama and Republican Mike Huckabee won the Iowa caucus, both upsetting the favored candidates. For months polls have leaned towards a Clinton victory on the Democratic side and a Romney victory on the Republican.

The fact that the top two candidates on the Democratic side were Obama and Edwards is extremely significant for progressive politics. Obama has been running his campaign as the progressive alternative to politics as usual in Washington, and Edwards has been running on a strong economically progressive platform. Clinton trailed Edwards by just one percentage point to come in third. Some significant statistics to consider are that Obama took an overwhelming 57% of the under 30 vote, a larger percentage of women's votes than any other Democratic candidate, and received far more votes than any other candidate, Democrat or Republican. These statistics backup DAPAC's research that the country is experiencing an increasingly progressive trend, especially with young voters.

DAPAC needs to capitalize on this opportunity by getting a greater number of progressive Democrats elected to the House. This is the only way to affect policy. No matter who wins the Democratic presidential nomination, it is increasingly likely that that person will become president. He or she will need plenty of progressive legislation to sign into law once in office. The only way to make this happen is to make Congress more progressive.

With the New Hampshire primary only a few days away it is important to build off this progressive momentum. This success should translate to the Congressional primaries where DAPAC has endorsed progressive candidates, some of which are only a month away. These candidates need your support now more than ever, so donate today.

Results of Iowa Caucus
Here are the results in terms of percentages for all the major candidates in the Iowa caucus. On the Democratic side:
Obama: 38%
Edwards: 30%
Clinton: 29%
Richardson: 2%
Biden: 1%
Uncommitted: 0%
Dodd: 0%
Gravel: 0%
Kucinich: 0%

On the Republican side:
Huckabee: 34%
Romney: 25%
Thompson: 13%
McCain: 13%
Paul: 10%
Giuliani: 4%
Hunter: 1%

Congress Ends Year By Approving Disappointing Budget
As the year comes to a close, Congress has been working to approve a budget for the 2008 fiscal year, and the final result was a disappointment for Democrats. On Wednesday, the House made its final vote to approve the budget as many Democrats voted against the bill, with a vote of 272-142. Earlier in the week, the House approved a budget that did not include funding for the war in Iraq, but these funds were added when the bill went to the Senate. The end result is a budget that provides an unrestricted $70 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan through next spring.

This bill concludes a difficult year for Democrats in Congress. Consistently falling short of a two-thirds majority needed to override a presidential veto, Congress has failed to reach many of the goals set after Democrats' electoral victory in 2006. In addition, some Democrats have sided with Republicans on difficult issues, like the war in Iraq. Russ Feingold, the Democratic Senator from Wisconsin, put it well when he said, “Until Democrats stand together, it's going to be difficult to draw Republicans to our side.”

Democratic leaders continue to offer a hopeful perspective for next year, but it is clear that we need to demand change with the 2008 election. With the current trends in presidential preference (see the newest polling data below), we are hopeful that a Democrat will be in the White House. Even so, it remains essential that progressive Democrats be elected to the House and Senate, so that the legislation that reaches the next president's desk reflects real Democratic values. The only way to do this is to support candidates like those that DAPAC endorses.

Latest Presidential and Congressional Polls Show Continuing Democratic Strength
In polling data released by Gallup on Wednesday, Democrats remain in the lead in head-to-head presidential match-ups. This national poll pitted frontrunners against each other, and the results were:

Clinton 49%
Giuliani 48%

Obama 51%
Giuliani 45%

Clinton 53%
Huckabee 44%

Obama 53%
Huckabee 42%

Clinton 52%
Romney 46%

Obama 57%
Romney 39%

The poll also explored respondents' Congressional preferences. It asked: If the elections for Congress were being held today, which party's candidate would you vote for in your congressional district? Nationally, 53% of registered voters chose the Democratic candidate, and 40% chose the Republican.

Weekly Update (12/14/07)

Destroyed CIA Interrogation Tapes Raise Questions about Agency and Bush Administration
This week, the House Intelligence Committee began what will most likely be a long-term investigation of the CIA., looking into the destruction of tapes showing the interrogation of suspected Al Queda operatives. These tapes are said to have shown the controversial waterboarding interrogation technique, which is widely regarded as torture. The interrogations took place in 2002, and the tapes were destroyed in 2005, after a court order mandated that the CIA retain and identify all materials related to the treatment of detainees in the agency's custody. These same detainees have been refused many legal rights, and now the Bush administration will also be questioned regarding what it knew about the CIA tapes and their destruction.

This issue illustrates the need for change in the government, starting with the election of progressive Democrats. The country cannot continue down this path – only more obstructions of justice will occur, as we lose the most basic and central American rights and values. DAPAC's Congress members and candidates will work to ensure that we have a lawful government and a just society.

SCHIP Vetoed Again By Bush, Killing the Expansion of Popular Children's Healthcare Program
President Bush has again vetoed a bill expanding the State Children's Health Insurance Program, and this move will make it impossible to cover all the children in need of health insurance. Democrats fought to get the bill passed, but were unable to override the first veto in October. For now, Congress will likely extend the current program, and will possibly bring the expansion up again prior to the 2008 elections, when Republicans will face extra pressure from their districts to vote for this popular bill.

Updates From Our Endorsed Candidates
John Laesch, DAPAC's endorsed candidate running in Illinois' 14th district, is officially on the ballot for the special primary to fill Dennis Hastert's seat. John's campaign has successfully collected the needed signatures, and now his name will appear on the February 5th ballot.

Jay Footlik, our endorsed candidate running in Illinois 10th, recently earned the endorsement of the Illinois Federation of Teachers Local 504, which is the largest union in the district. The union met with both Democratic candidates, and made their choice based on the quality and electability of each.

Weekly Update (12/7/07)

House Democrats Pass Impressive Energy Bill
On Thursday, Democrats in the House passed an important energy bill that raises fuel economy standards, increases development of clean-energy technology, and reduces the production of heat-trapping gases like carbon dioxide. All of DAPAC's eight elected members of Congress voted in favor of the bill, and the overall vote in the House was 235-181.

Joe Courtney, a DAPAC-endorsed Congressman from Connecticut's 2nd district, stated, “This one piece of legislation achieves three goals. The bill helps consumers, protects the environment, and reduces our dangerous dependence on foreign oil ... The President must know that we will never be able to drill our way out of the problem of high gas prices and I urge him to immediately sign this bill into law.”

The bill includes a 40% increase in the fuel economy standards for cars and light trucks sold in the US, and by 2022 it would increase the production of ethanol and other biofuels from 5 billion gallons a year today to 36 billion gallons a year. By 2020, Democrats estimate that 1.1 million barrels of oil could be saved every day.

President Bush has already said he will veto the bill if it remains in its current form. Additionally, cattlemen, coal producers, and multinational oil companies will be lobbying against the bill as it heads to the Senate. The bill will most likely undergo changes before it reaches the Senate floor, but Democrats in the Senate remain determined that a substantive energy bill will be passed and sent to Bush.

Access and Cost Top Americans' Health Concerns
A new Gallup Poll released this week asked the open ended question: What would you say is the most urgent health problem facing this country at the present time? Of those polled, 30% answered that access to health care is most urgent, and 26% named cost. After these top two responses, specific diseases were the most common answers, including cancer (14%), obesity (10%), AIDS (2%), and diabetes (2%).

Access and cost are relatively new health concerns among the American public, and as recently as two decades ago, virtually no one mentioned these issues as the most urgent problem. DAPAC's candidates understand the importance of health care reform, and all of our candidates support universal health care.

Congressional Primaries Arriving Soon
We are less than two months away from the start of the Congressional primary season. DAPAC already has two excellent progressive candidates running in the February 5th primary in Illinois, and we are actively screening other candidates for additional Illinois districts now. To help us in our efforts, please consider one last donation for the 2007 year. You can donate online by clicking here.