Beacon Canvas on Sunday

The following message was posted on the MHPA Google page

This Sunday there will be a joint John Hall-Didi Barrett canvass in Beacon.

Canvassers will be meeting at 1pm at Zuzu's on Main Street.

Contact Adrian Culea, Field Organizer, NY-19, New York Democratic Party Coordinated Campaign, (845) 242-5391 if you have any questions.

Polling is showing that this race is statistically tied right now, no matter what the Hayworth campaign may claim.

Also, please everyone, note the following blog post reminder of Nan Hayworth's political extremism

Nan Hayworth is extreme indeed in her support of the "legislative roadmap" crafted by right-wing Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan. Ryan's plan calls for steep cuts in both Social Security, Medicare and other safety net programs, all in the name of reducing the federal debt.

In addition to cutting benefits, the plan calls for diverting individual Social Security contributions to private stock market accounts while, at the same time, leaving the federal government in the position of bailing out beneficiaries if the stock market declines. Ryan's plan also calls for abolishing Medicare for everyone currently below age 55 and replacing it with a voucher for purchasing private insurance. The catch of course is that the proposed voucher amount does not keep pace with increases in the cost of health care so would become increasingly inadequate over time, leaving seniors without access to needed care.

FactCheck.org: Pataki health care ads make false claims

The Website Factcheck.Org has examined former Governor George Pataki's campaign against John Hall and the federal health care reform bill and finds them to be a lie. To quote,

* The ads claim the law will create "longer waits in doctors offices" and that "your right to keep your own doctor may be taken away." The group points to an opinion piece written by a health care expert who told FactCheck it is "bogus" to cite his article as support.
* The ad calls the health care law "government-run health care." While the law expands government regulation of health care, it maintains the nation's largely private health insurance system and creates more business for private insurers, says FactCheck.
* Viewers are told "costs will go up," while FactCheck says premiums would stay the same or decrease slightly for most Americans, while rising for people who buy their own insurance, and whose plans will be required to become more expansive.

Interviews with the Tea Party

Once upon a time, these sorts of ranting, irrational characters were thought of as a political "lunatic fringe," but now, they have more or less taken over the political party that put one of their own on a national ticket (that, of course, would be a certain Alaskan governor). That they are as prominent as they are, right now, seems to reflect a leadership void in the Republican Party, a party which may possibly gain the House this Fall, but which will then be very unlikely or unwilling to govern; not when it is being dragged around by people such as these.

My thanks to Andrew for posting this link.

From the Huffington Post, article about New York's 19th Congressional District race

Insightful article by Jay Michaelson in the Huffington Post, focusing on the Tea Party takeover of the GOP in NY's 19th district.

Hayworth, in contrast, is a cookie-cutter Tea Party pseudo-libertarian. Her talking points are straight from the national strategy desk: Glenn Beck's rhetoric of patriotism and limited government, Sarah Palin's homey amateurism, and wild exaggerations of the evils of health care reform and other "nationalized" programs. Her platform is cookie-cutter as well: lowering the "oppressive, enterprise-killing taxation" (translation: lower taxes on the richest Americans -- including, in Hayworth's case, eliminating the Alternative Minimum Tax), "reform" of social security (i.e., mandatory IRA's, which everyone knows are meant to replace, not reform, the existing system), increasing domestic oil production (read: more BP spills in the gulf, more drilling in Alaska), anti-immigration measures, and so on.

Open Thread

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Donna Edwards Introduces Constitutional Amendment to Undo SCOTUS Ruling

I am hoping that the MHPA can help support passage of this amendment, so that corporations cannot outright buy and sell our democracy.

Some polling data on Obama's approval ratings

Some interesting polling data from Ezra Klein at the Washington Post. Approval or disapproval of Obama varies considerably by a variety of demographic factors.

Who likes Barack Obama -- and who doesn't -- in one table
Gallup breaks it down: