GRAYSON FOR CONGRESS AZ-06

Congratulations to Democrat Rebecca Schneider for Running the U.S.'s Most Cost-Effective Campaign Against Extremist Do-Nothing Congressman Jeff Flake

2008-11-09T05:22:00.005-07:00

Congratulations to Democrat Rebecca Schneider, who ran a brave do-it-herself campaign against extremist do-nothing Republican Congressman Jeff Flake in Arizona's Sixth Congressional District.

According to unofficial results, Rebecca received 103,930 votes, all the while receiving no money and no support from the Arizona Democratic Party, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee or netroots blowhards like Markos Moulitsas on Daily Kos.

Instead, these Democrats concentrated their support and money to Third Congressional District candidate Bob Lord, who received only 102,215 votes - or about 1,500 votes fewer than Rebecca Schneider.

Rebecca received over 25,000 more votes than Democrat Rep. Ed Pastor in the Fourth Congressional District and more than twice as many votes as Jeff Flake's last Democratic opponent.

But Rebecca had only $4,890 in her campaign while Bob Lord, getting fewer votes, had $1,510,470, more than 300 times as much money.

Rebecca Schneider got more votes for less money than any unsuccessful Democratic U.S. House candidate in the country.

Congratulations to her on a brave and lonely campaign!

Unfortunately, telegenic but clueless Congressman Jeff Flake will, as he wrote after the election in the Washington Post, continue to be a right-wing extremist show horse, doing nothing but grandstanding for the voters of his district for the next two years.

But, Rebecca, you did good! We're proud of you!

Worthless Arizona Democratic Party Won't Give Even Token Support to Rebecca Schneider in Her Race Against Extremist Right-Wing GOP Rep. Jeff Flake

2008-10-10T02:38:00.007-07:00

I received this email from the campaign of Rebecca Schneider, who won our Democratic party primary for Arizona's Sixth Congressional District with 74% of the vote:

Greetings Arizona Democrats,

We have a big election coming up. Besides the Presidential Election, we have a lot of great local candidates. On every level, we are working hard to turn Arizona blue. We have 8 Congressional seats in the House, currently split between 4 Democrats and 4 Republicans. I live in Jeff Flake's district, CD-6. I have called Jeff Flake's campaign office now 5 times (480-415-0232), left my name and phone number, and no one has called me back. I want to know when the debate is between Jeff Flake and Rebecca Schneider. The "buzz" is that Flake feels he doesn't have to debate Schneider because she is not supported by the Democratic party. And lo and behold, I get this email from the Arizona Democratic Party, and two names and pictures are missing.

Rebecca Schneider CD-6
John Thrasher CD-2

So, yesterday, I give Don Bivens a call, and I am told it's not a "targeted race". The man practically hung up on me since he had the Attorney General on the other line, and I'm only a mere voter. Well, I live in CD-6, so for me this is a "targeted race" ! I called and left a message for Maria Weeg. No return call there either. Great, now both Republicans and Democrats are dissing me. Even if the Democratic Party does not want to pour money into this race, they could at least put the name and picture of the candidates for CD-6 and CD-2 on their "Early Voting Has Begun" email.

If this makes you mad too, here are some names and phone numbers:

Contact ADP Staff
Statewide Headquarters

Arizona Democratic Party Headquarters
2910 North Central Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85012
(602) 298-4200
Toll Free: 1-877-298-6837

Executive Director – Maria Weeg
Communications Director – Emily DeRose
Finance Director – Devin Rankin
Field Director – Daniel Graver
Deputy Political Director – Justin Unga
Deputy Finance Director – Vanessa Barrera
New Media Communications Manager – Jeff Goodman
ADC Coordinator – Sara Ahmad
African American Outreach Director – AJ Miller
Hispanic Outreach Coordinator – Ayensa Millan
Tribal Outreach Field Organizer – Arista La Russo
Faith Outreach Organizer – Adralyn Wendel
Office Manger – Amanda Jaksich
And here's the link to the head honchos: http://www.azdem.org/contact/117
Lots of email addresses on that link.
Thanks to everyone for all the work you do.

Peace, Janet

P.S. Feel free to forward to other Arizona Democrats

When I declared my candidacy for this seat back in mid-2007, I knew how this would be way the worthless Arizona Democratic primary would treat any nominee against Jeff Flake, so I can't say that I'm surprised.

I understand that our priorities must be to keep the seats of our first-term incumbents Gabrielle Giffords (AZ-08) and Harry Mitchell (AZ-05) and to make sure we can win the open seat in AZ-01 with Ann Kirkpatrick. But even with an Arizona U.S. senator heading the Republican ticket as presidential candidate, these candidates seem likely to win in what's shaping up as another Democratic election year. AZ-01 may be the congressional seat in the U.S. most likely to switch parties.

And it's vital that we help Bob Lord defeat Rep. John Shadegg in AZ-03. This was a race that the national Democratic party didn't view as winnable, but it's becoming clear that Bob Lord has run a well-financed, flawless campaign and the Republicans are panicking - as they should be.

Now I don't think Rebecca Schneider has a chance to win against Jeff Flake in this gerrymandered district, any more than Republicans have a chance in AZ-04 or AZ-07. But not even to list the AZ-06 (or AZ-02) candidate on its "Early Voting Has Begun" email is reprehensible.

That isn't financial support; it's not sucking up any resources that could be better sent elsewhere.

It's just mere decency.

Shame on Don Bivens, Maria Weeg and the bigwigs of the Arizona Democratic party.

Meanwhile, I expect that Rebecca Schneider - unsupported by her party, running a campaign without adequate funding, with only the power of her convictions - will again shock everyone with the number of votes she will get against Jeff Flake, whose laissez-faire extremism is completely out of touch as his extremist ideology is repudiated daily with our financial meltdown.

Please support Rebecca Schneider.

Please Support Democrat Rebecca Schneider for Congress in AZ-06 This November Against Do-Nothing Extremist Republican Incumbent Rep. Jeff Flake

2008-09-03T11:49:00.003-07:00

Please support activist Democrat Rebecca Schneider for Congress in Arizona's Sixth Congressional District this November against the do-nothing extremist incumbent, Rep. Jeff Flake.

Check out earlier posts here for shocking examples of Rep. Flake's terrible record of ignoring the needs of the East Valley's middle class families and you will see that he should be replaced by someone who will fight for regular people - Rebecca Schneider.

Ladies and Gentleman, This Is My Last Blog Post. You Won't Have Dick Grayson to Kick Around Anymore.

2008-05-26T07:08:00.016-07:00

Withdrawal in disgust is not the same as apathy.
-- "Slacker"

Just about one year ago, over 170 posts and 8200 pageviews ago, I began this blog as "Grayson for Congress AZ-06" with this:

I am a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. House of Representatives from Arizona's Sixth District. Thank you.

* * *
Last October, I started posting more regularly, as in this post, "Welcome to the Sixth Congressional District of Arizona, Bitch...Uh, Candidate!":

Arizona's Sixth Congressional District was created as a safe Republican House seat in the redistricting following the 2000 census, when the Cactus State gained two Congressional seats. It encompasses parts of Maricopa and Pinal counties. It is mostly made up of eastern suburbs of Phoenix, what we in the East Valley call "the East Valley": Mesa, Chandler, Gilbert, Queen Creek and my hometown of Apache Junction (though I've also lived and worked in Mesa).

It's one of the fastest-growing parts of the United States. Of cities over 100,000, Gilbert is the fourth fastest-growing and Chandler the ninth fastest-growing. Queen Creek's population is doubling every four years. In parts of the district, nearly all the buildings date from the 21st century.

According to Wikipedia:

It is currently represented by Jeff Flake, a Republican. George W. Bush received 64% of the vote in this district in 2004. The district has a Cook Partisan Voting Index score of R +12.
Population (2000): 641,329
Male 49.3%, Female 50.7%
Median age: 34.1
Median Household Income: $47,976
Racial Composition: 84.2% White, 2.1% Black, 1.8% Asian, 1.0% Native American, 0.2% Pacific Islander, 8.2% Other, 17.2% Hispanic (of any race)

In 2002, Republican Jeff Flake won his second term with 65% of the vote. (He first won a Congressional seat in the old First District in 2000).

Deborah Thomas, the only Democratic candidate who's ever run in this district, got 42,653 votes, or 32%. Libertarian Andy Wagner got 3%.

In 2004, Rep. Flake won 79% of the vote against the Libertarian candidate, Craig Stritar, who got 21%.

In 2006, Rep. Flake got 74% of the vote to 26% for Libertarian Jason Blair.

Why did no Democrat run in the last two elections? Why am I pushing for some Democrat to run in 2008? Why have I so far been able to convince only myself to run? See future posts.

* * *
The day after Thanksgiving I posted this about AZ-06:

Call us the Speedy Gonzales District.

According to Reid Wilson's post at Real Clear Politics, the just-published edition of The Almanac of American Politics notes that Arizona's Sixth Congressional District -- hey, that's us -- is the fastest-growing in the nation:

Arizona Reps. Jeff Flake and Trent Franks come in at numbers one and two, and new residents of the state have registered overwhelmingly Democratic, according to the East Valley Tribune. Neither Flake nor Franks are in immediate danger, but a generation from now, the districts will not look the same as they do today.

Between 2000 and 2005, AZ-06 grew 36.3%. We Democrats need to at least run someone in 2008 -- are there any Latina billionaire businesswomen abuelas with civic experience in Mesa? -- but I will represent the party next November if no politician with potential agrees to run.

I am sure that Arizona's Sixth Congressional District, or whatever district replaces it in parts of the Southeast Valley after the next decennial census -- will one day shift from Republican to Democratic control. The demographics and history are on our side.

This do-it-yourself campaign by a non-politician is taking a hiatus for the holiday as we speedily run to the supermarket for tofurkey and trimmings. I'm incredibly grateful that I live in a country where, um, anyone can run for national office.

Happy Thanksgiving.

* * *
In early January, I wrote:

The New Year's Day column by conservative David Brooks mostly concerned Mitt Romney's presidential campaign but went on to make more general remarks about the political situation we are facing in 2008:

As Walter Mondale was the last gasp of the fading New Deal coalition, Romney has turned himself into the last gasp of the Reagan coalition.

That coalition had its day, but it is shrinking now. The Republican Party is more unpopular than at any point in the past 40 years. Democrats have a 50 to 36 party identification advantage, the widest in a generation. The general public prefers Democratic approaches on health care, corruption, the economy and Iraq by double-digit margins. Republicans’ losses have come across the board, but the G.O.P. has been hemorrhaging support among independent voters. Surveys from the Pew Research Center and The Washington Post, Kaiser Foundation and Harvard University show that independents are moving away from the G.O.P. on social issues, globalization and the roles of religion and government.

Since I filed to run as a candidate for the Democratic nomination in Arizona's Sixth Congressional District last May, I have not heard from anyone in the state Democratic party. For that matter, I haven't heard from a single Democratic voter in AZ-06.

I originally filed to run because I believe in contested elections and because I was frustrated that Sixth Congressional District Democrats like myself did not have a candidate to vote for in November 2006, when our party won back the U.S. House, or in November 2004, in a crucial election that got many Democrats energized.

All along, I have said I would happily step aside if a more credible Democrat would just step forward and run. That remains true.

Look, I know I am a horrible candidate for our party. I am no politician. Anyone glancing at the posts on this blog can see that. I am running only because no one else will.

I completely understand why state and national Democrats have little interest in AZ-06. It has the lowest percentage of registered Democrats of any congressional district in the Cactus State.

Our party needs to ensure that Rep. Harry Mitchell in AZ-05 and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in AZ-08 win their first re-election campaigns; their victories in 2006 brought Democrats 4-4 parity in the state's U.S. House delegation.

In 2008, we have an excellent chance of picking up the Republican seat in AZ-01 where an unpopular incumbent is retiring. We also have a very good chance to pick off another of Arizona's conservative Republican congressmen in AZ-03, where Bob Lord is a terrific candidate for our party.

Arizona's Sixth Congressional District should and must take a back seat to these eminently winnable races. But the national and state Democratic party should not abandon us.

I believe 2008 is the year, as Brooks said, the Reagan conservative coalition has come apart. The impending Republican primary fight between Rep. Jeff Flake and Russell Pearce in AZ-06 is a sign of this, as is the chaos in the GOP presidential race.

In my posts over the past few months I've tried to show that Rep. Flake is vulnerable to attack as a rigid right-wing laissez-faire ideologue at a time when this ideology is being rejected by many voters -- including those who have long voted Republican. If Russell Pearce somehow upsets the incumbent in next September's GOP primary, many more Republicans will join AZ-06 Democrats in seeking an alternative.

Please, leaders and members of the Arizona Democratic Party, let's build for the future in Arizona's Sixth Congressional District, the fastest-growing district in the entire nation.

Find a better candidate than Richard Grayson.

One who doesn't talk about himself in the third person would be a good start.

[campaigning children in the photo at top are supporting their father, Democratic candidate Alan Grayson in FL-08]

* * *
In mid-April, I posted some "GrEaT nEwS":

As Hubert H. Humphrey would say, I'm as pleased as punch to report that two new Democrats have entered the race to represent Arizona's Sixth Congressional District in Congress.

Rebecca Schneider of Mesa is a librarian at ASU who has the compassion sorely lacking in Rep. Jeff Flake.

Chris Gramazio of Queen Creek is a working man, married father of one (and one on the way), who has the common sense so foreign to Rep. Jeff Flake.

Either of them would be a vast improvement over the Sixth Congressional District's current pathetic excuse for a people's representative.

I started this campaign and blog last year because I was mad that I had no Democrat to vote for in the 2006 U.S. House race.

If either Chris or Rebecca, or both, successfully file their petitions to get on the September 2 Democratic primary ballot, I will gratefully step aside and enthusiastically vote for our party's candidate. If by some chance, neither gets on the ballot, I'll run as a write-in candidate.

Till there's clearly a Democratic candidate in November, I'm going to continue this furshlugginer blog, not trying to promote my own candidacy but explaining why Rep. Jeff Flake needs to be replaced by a progressive Democrat.

Good luck to both Rebecca and Chris. I am really, really happy you are running.

* * *
In this blog, I've posted a lot about what I feel are the failures of Rep. Jeff Flake. Often I used over-the-top language, meant as kind of a parody of the attack ads seen in what passes for political discourse over the airways.

I still stand by all my criticisms of Jeff Flake's record as a congressman (as well as my occasional praise for some of his forward-thinking actions), but I am sorry if the words I used offended anyone, particularly Rep. Flake or his family. I think he's a decent guy and a very intelligent man who happens to have a view of government that is out of step with our times.

After it was clear that other candidates were in the race, I changed the name of the blog from one promoting my "candidacy" to "Defeat Jeff Flake." Now, with Chris Gramazio having filed his signatures to get on the September 2 AZ-06 Democratic primary ballot and Rebecca Schneider filing her petitions next Tuesday, it's time for me to step aside and let a real candidate take over. I'm leaving to spend the summer in Brooklyn. Thanks to everyone who came to the blog.

* * *
Here is my final post:

I am no longer a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. House of Representatives from Arizona's Sixth District. Thank you.

Goodbye and good luck!

Chris Gramazio Has Filed His Signatures to Get on the AZ-06 Democratic Primary Ballot. We Will Defeat Jeff Flake!

2008-05-23T02:53:00.004-07:00

Good news comes in an email from Chris Gramazio. He has filed his petitions with enough signatures to get on the September 2 Democratic primary ballot so we will have someone to defeat Jeff Flake this November.

Sneering Elitist Rep. Jeff Flake Takes Break from Bashing Middle-Class Families to Call for Killing of Cats

2008-05-22T03:21:00.016-07:00

On Wednesday the House of Representatives voted to pass H.R. 1464, the Great Cats and Rare Canids Act of 2008, sponsored by Rep. Tom Udall (D-NM), the next Senator from New Mexico.

Rep. Jeff Flake took a break from bashing America's hardworking middle-class families to express his hatred of defenseless and endangered cats by voting no.

As the astute blogger That's My Congress notes,

The legislation provides for the financial support of conservation programs around the world that protect endangered wild cats and dogs. In the case of wildcats, every species on Earth is endangered. Half of wild dog species, ranging from the red wolf to the arctic fox, are in danger of going extinct.

The bill was passed in the House of Representatives late yesterday afternoon, but only barely. With just a few more votes against it, the Great Cats and Rare Canids Act would have been killed, and programs to conserve these magnificent animals would have been cut off from support.

119 members of Congress voted against this law.

Why? Why would anyone vote to deprive conservation programs for endangered species of support?

Could it be money? Could it be that 119 members of Congress decided that, as much as they like the idea of protecting wild cats and canids from extinction, it would be fiscally irresponsible to spend the money?

That explanation doesn’t hold up, if you do the math. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the total expense for the Great Cats and Rare Canids Act of 2008 in 2009 would be only 7 million dollars. Compare that to the supplementary war spending Congress is set to approve: 168.9 billion dollars. Remember that, as supplementarywar spending, that 168.9 billion dollars is in addition to the hundreds of billions already in the federal budget to pay for war war.

7 million dollars next to 168.9 billion dollars is like a grain of sand next to an ostrich egg.

It makes no sense for anyone in Congress to deny the seven million dollars in funding for felid and canid conservation, and then to vote in favor of throwing hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars away on war.

This was a bipartisan conservation bill, with some Republicans among the co-sponsors, and even more Republicans voting in favor. However, opposition to the Great Cats and Rare Canids Act was not at all bipartisan. Of the 119 members of the House voting against the bill, only one was a Democrat.

That's My Congress ends by nominating Jeff Flake for the Congressional Coalition Against Cats.

Obviously it's no surprise that a do-nothing congressman like Jeff Flake, who wouldn't lift a pinky to help struggling American middle class families, couldn't give a shit about helping members of the cat family.

Unless, of course, they're the Maker's Mark-swilling, cigar-chomping, arugula-eating Club for Growth fat cats who've lined elitist Jeff Flake's campaign coffers to the tune of a cool million.

This blog post is dedicated to the memory of Eisenhower, the best cat who ever lived on East 54th Street between Snyder and Tilden Avenues in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, in the 1950s.

Lazy Do-Nothing Rep. Jeff Flake's Accomplishments for the People of Arizona's Sixth Congressional District: Less Than Zero

2008-05-18T10:31:00.005-07:00

Lazy dilettante Rep. Jeff Flake has been in the United States House of Representatives for nearly eight years. Can you name one thing he's done for the families of our congressional district? Other than send out self-serving press releases and get his photogenic mug in the media?

OpenCongress details Rep. Jeff Flake's utter lack of accomplishments:

Not a single bill that Jeff Flake has sponsored has ever become law.

He ranks 419 out of 435 House members in the number of bills he's co-sponsored -- and that 435 includes members who've died in the middle of a session!

Worst of all, he ranks 424 out of 435 House members in getting the few bills he's bothered to co-sponsor to pass Congress.

Do-nothing Jeff Flake. When it comes to promoting himself, he's a dynamo. When it comes to helping hardworking families in his district, he doesn't lift a pinky.

Anti-Veteran Elitist Rep. Jeff Flake Favors Millionaires Over Vets, Votes Against New G.I. Bill

2008-05-16T05:12:00.011-07:00

More good news from Congress yesterday. As the email I got from the hardworking group, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), noted:

You did it. Just a few minutes ago, the House of Representatives passed the new GI Bill by a vote of 256-166, as an attachment to the emergency supplemental. Click here to view the full list of who voted for it and who voted against it.

Earlier this week, we told you that the new GI Bill was facing opposition from a small group of Representatives in the House, who were threatening the bill despite its deep bi-partisan support.

We asked for your help, and you stepped up to the plate. Thousands of you took action by calling your Representatives, signing the petition at www.GIBill2008.org, and spreading the word to your friends and neighbors. Today, your dedication paid off and together, we made history.

But Rep. Jeff Flake, on the wrong side of history, voted against helping vets.

As I wrote in a February blog post, "We Need a New G.I. Bill":

I'm sure anti-government extremist Rep. Jeff Flake opposes a new G.I. Bill for the same reasons he opposes any kind of government help for ordinary people.

But yesterday there was even more reason for an elitist like Jeff Flake who's constantly favored the interests of millionaires over those of struggling middle class families to vote against the G.I. Bill. As the New York Times stated,

Congressional Democrats began to put into practice their philosophy of asking the wealthy to shoulder more of the cost of government programs on Thursday as the House approved an expansive new veterans education benefit that would be paid for by a tax on affluent Americans.

In pushing the tax plan, Democrats are banking on the idea that most Americans will have no quarrel with requiring those on the highest economic rung to pay for veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan to receive the equivalent of a free four-year college education at a public university.

The proposal is the most striking example so far of a Democratic refrain being heard increasingly in Congress and on the presidential campaign trail: Americans with significant financial resources need to contribute more to efforts to help those less prosperous.

Individuals earning $500,000 or more would pay a surtax of 0.47 percent on income above $500,000 and the tax would apply to couples on incomes above $1 million.

Democratic officials said one analysis estimated that about 440,000 people would fall under the new tax and would pay an average of nearly $9,000 a year.

“We are talking about people who are making over $1 million to make a small sacrifice to pay for this war when our military families are making a huge sacrifice,” said Representative Jan Schakowsky, Democrat of Illinois.

Middle-class-hating, millionaire-loving Rep. Jeff Flake sided with the people he's constantly favored in his eight pathetic years in Congress.

And our miserable excuse for a representative once again sided against hardworking regular people -- in this case, the brave veterans who've given everything they've got for America.

A creepy hypocrite like Jeff Flake talks about supporting veterans, but then when push comes to shove, he votes against them because he's more devoted to his ideology than he is to the needs of regular people.

Seriously, how can he sleep at night?

And even more seriously, how can we re-elect this sneering enemy of middle class families?

Out-of-Touch Greed-Worshipping Extremist Rep. Jeff Flake Tells Hardworking AmeriCorps Volunteers: Get Lost, Drop Dead

2008-05-15T04:17:00.014-07:00

Rep. Jeff Flake is well-known on Capitol Hill for being a nasty foe of anything that smacks of government giving a helping hand to struggling working-class and middle-class families.

"You're on your own, folks," is the mantra of our do-nothing congressman.

His sponsors, like the anti-family Goldwater Institute and the greed-is-good elitists of the Club for Growth, have a perfect representative in the selfishness-worshipping Rep. Jeff Flake. Too bad those of us stuck with a congressman who makes Ayn Rand look like Mother Teresa can't say the same thing -- unless we've suddenly been thrust into Bizarro World.

Yesterday a routine resolution came before the House. It was simple: to honor the 542,000 American citizens who since 1994 haven taken the AmeriCorps pledge to 'get things done for America' by becoming AmeriCorps members.

These unselfish folks have served a total of more than 705,000,000 hours nationwide, helping to improve the lives of our nation's most vulnerable citizens, protect our environment, contribute to our public safety, respond to disasters, and strengthen our educational system.

Members of the House were asked to simply agree to this:

Resolved, That the House of Representatives--

(1) encourages all citizens to join in a national effort to salute AmeriCorps members and alumni, and raise awareness about the importance of national and community service;

(2) acknowledges the significant accomplishments of the AmeriCorps members, alumni, and community partners;

(3) recognizes the important contributions to the lives of our citizens by AmeriCorps members; and

(4) encourages citizens of all ages to consider serving in AmeriCorps.

All Democrats and the vast majority of Republicans voted aye.

Horse's ass Jeff Flake voted nay.

Why does Jeff Flake hate AmeriCorps? Because it proves, time and again, that a little helping hand from the government can make some people's lives easier. And that contradicts the rigid ideology that Jeff Flake has sworn allegiance to, much to the detriment of his constituents with real needs.

Jeff Flake wants to get rid of AmeriCorps. As an editorial in the Everett (WA) Herald titled "AmeriCorps should be lauded, not threatened" explains:

Let's face it: Not everyone has the desire or the opportunity to go to college and pursue a traditional career in public service. That doesn't mean young people shouldn't get the chance to focus on doing good in their community. The federal AmeriCorps program is a great way to create a valuable pool of volunteers to do just that.

Even though it's billed as a volunteer program, participants receive awards once they complete their assignments. The grants are meant to be used to further volunteers' education or to pay off student loans.

The award - less than $5,000 - is hardly an incentive by itself to commit to a yearlong project. The partial-year stipends are even less, about $2,300 for between 300 and 900 hours of work. AmeriCorps volunteers are mostly in their mid-20s and make the conscious decision to put better-paying career paths on hold in order to perform admirable tasks.

Last week in the House of Representatives, AmeriCorps faced funding cuts from two different amendment packages. One, sponsored by Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.), would have cleaved $25 million from its federal grant package, divided between a program focused on underprivileged youth and various programs for the elderly.

Stearns wrote a letter to others on the House Appropriations Committee in which he mischaracterized the nature of AmeriCorps, calling the stipend a contradiction for volunteers.

The other, sponsored by Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), would have removed all $226 million funding AmeriCorps receives at the state and federal levels, effectively ending the program.

Fortunately, neither of the amendments gained enough support to continue up the legislative chain.

Officials for Washington Campus Compact, a service learning organization housed at Western Washington University, said that $27 million in AmeriCorps grants have been spent at state schools. Locally, Everett Community College has seen $847,349 of that money and $583,570 has been used to finance education at Edmonds Community College.

For some people, public service means holding elected office. For others, it's tutoring adult literacy classes, working in a soup kitchen, doing clerical work for a health clinic or planting trees.

AmeriCorps volunteers do that kind of work because they believe in the causes and take pride in offering their time and skills. Government should commend them and the organization shouldn't have to worry about having to scrounge for donations in order to operate.

Shame on you, Jeff Flake.

And shame on us for having an enemy of hard-working American families as our congressman.

Wackadoodle AZ-06 Congressman Jeff Flake Hates Mother's Day -- But Normal People Disagree

2008-05-11T08:47:00.010-07:00

A few months ago I reported how wackadoodle Rep. Jeff Flake sent out a press release attacking his congressional colleagues for supporting some measly funds to help out the International Mother's Day Shrine in Grafton, West Virginia, on today's centennial of the start of Mother's Day there by Anna Jarvis in 1908.

Last week, Jeff Flake, crazy as ever, tried to take back a vote he'd apparently cast in error supporting this year's observance of a day honoring American mothers. His fellow House Republicans joined him.

Dana Milbank reports in the Washington Post:

It was already shaping up to be a difficult year for congressional Republicans. Now, on the cusp of Mother's Day, comes this: A majority of the House GOP has voted against motherhood.

On Wednesday afternoon, the House had just voted, 412 to 0, to pass H. Res. 1113, "Celebrating the role of mothers in the United States and supporting the goals and ideals of Mother's Day," when Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.), rose in protest.

"Mr. Speaker, I move to reconsider the vote," he announced.

Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.), who has two young daughters, moved to table Tiahrt's request, setting up a revote. This time, 178 Republicans cast their votes against mothers.

It has long been the custom to compare a popular piece of legislation to motherhood and apple pie. Evidently, that is no longer the standard. Worse, Republicans are now confronted with a John Kerry-esque predicament: They actually voted for motherhood before they voted against it.

Republicans, unhappy with the Democratic majority, have been using such procedural tactics as this all week to bring the House to a standstill, but the assault on mothers may have gone too far. House Minority Leader John Boehner, asked yesterday to explain why he and 177 of his colleagues switched their votes, answered: "Oh, we just wanted to make sure that everyone was on record in support of Mother's Day."

By voting against it?

I guess it's clear now that Rep. Jeff Flake really does hate American mothers.

Perhaps Sigmund Freud could tell us why, but he's dead -- so the source of our wacky congressman's animus against the middle class moms of Arizona's Sixth Congressional District and the rest of America, proven with hundreds of his votes against working families, will remain a mystery.

Thanks to Rep. Kathy Castor for challenging mom-hating pols like Jeff Flake. Back when I lived in Florida, I had dinner with Kathy and her husband at the Tampa home of her wonderful mom, Betty, who was then president of the University of South Florida, and whose U.S. Senate candidacy I worked for in 2004. If only our district was represented by a Democrat like either of the Castor moms.

Maybe miracles can happen this November.

Happy Mother's Day to my own wonderful mom in Apache Junction and to every mom in our district and elsewhere.

House Votes 410-11 to Expand Federal Enforcement of Copyright Law, With Rep. Jeff Flake in the Tiny Minority Voting No -- And This Time He's Right!

2008-05-09T02:44:00.011-07:00

Now that other candidates are running for the Democratic nomination in Arizona's Sixth Congressional District, I've been continuing to post, explaining why Rep. Jeff Flake should not be re-elected. There are a lot of reasons.

Nevertheless, I'd be intellectually dishonest if I did not post occasional pats on the back to Jeff Flake. There are times when his out-of-the-mainstream views get it right, as on his foresighted and lonely crusade to end our embargo of Cuba.

Yesterday, Rep. Flake was in a familiar place: in a tiny minority voting against the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property (PRO-IP) Act of 2008. The House passed it overwhelmingly, with only 11 members voting no. They include not only Jeff Flake but also his ideological soulmate Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX); another former presidential candidate, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH); and Silicon Valley's Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA).

I believe Jeff Flake was right on the mark to oppose this bill. As a staff attorney at the Center for Governmental Responsibility back in the 1990s, I worked a lot in the nascent field of digital copyright law as well as other intellectual property issues. I'm the author of a dozen books and a content provider online and for various print publications, so I have a particular interest in this area.

To explain why I agree with Rep. Flake's vote here, I go to an the blog of an organization I'm affiliated with, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which noted that

The bill would nonetheless significantly expand federal enforcement of copyright law.

The most outrageous provisions would create new and unnecessary federal bureaucracies devoted to intellectual property enforcement. None seems more ridiculous than language creating a Cabinet-level "IP enforcement czar" that would report to the President and coordinate enforcement efforts across government, a proposal that has been loudly opposed by the Department of Justice. Why is Congress spending our tax dollars on a new layer of officialdom that the cops themselves don't want or need?

Moreover, the bill also includes provisions — such as expanded forfeiture penalties and language "clarifying" that copyright registration is not required for criminal enforcement of the copyright -- that could be read to open the door to increased prosecution against individuals or innovators as well as large-scale commercial pirates.

Similarly, a Daily Kos contributor called Berkeleygrad writes:

It is backed by all the usual industry suspects (grouped together under the name of "the Copyright Alliance") and is a potential disaster insofar as it threatens to impede fair use and balanced enforcement while increasing the criminalization of non-commercial copyright infringement. H.R. 4279 would also create a new "Copyright Czar" within the federal government, a position that appears to be loosely modeled on the "Drug Czar" positions that have done so much to perpetuate the wasteful, expensive, and ineffective "war on drugs."

Those of us who value our digital rights and civil liberties should be concerned...

Rep. Jeff Flake was right this time, although for most middle-class families in Arizona, this issue won't matter much. More important was his other vote no yesterday, against helping those whose homes are being foreclosed.

Still, Rep. Flake should be commended for voting against PRO-IP.

Rep. Jeff Flake's PAC Violated Federal Law, Admits to Wasting Money in Campaign

2008-05-07T19:24:00.005-07:00

From yesterday's Boston Globe:

The Porkbuster PAC set up by US Representative Jeff Flake violated federal contribution limits and, by its own account, wasted $2,100 to rent Granite State hotel rooms that were never used.

In response to inquiries by the Globe, PAC treasurer Steve Voeller said the excess in-kind contributions were an oversight and notified the McCain campaign, which said it wrote a $1,896.52 check to reimburse the committee for the excess contribution.

Flake, an Arizona Republican, set up the PAC last year, but the campaign of fellow Arizonan McCain is the only beneficiary so far. In reports covering last November and January, the campaign reported in-kind donations of airfare and lodging costs of about $4,200. The expenses were incurred by Flake and aides who campaigned in New Hampshire for McCain, Voeller said. Under federal law, the PAC has a $2,300 limit on in-kind contributions to a candidate. . .

Porkbuster PAC apparently intended to spend even more on behalf of McCain, however. Last Jan. 10, two days after the primary, the PAC reported paying $2,161 in "lodging expenses not utilized" at a hotel in a Manchester, N.H. suburb. Voeller, in an e-mail said: "The $2,161 should not be listed as an in-kind, since nobody stayed in those rooms and the PAC had to eat the charge (lesson learned about buying over the Internet). We checked with the (Federal Election Commission) on that one."

Because of high demand for rooms before the primary, the hotel required a minimum stay of more than one day, but Flake and two staffers did not use the rooms, Voeller said.

Well, as his constituents can attest, our do-nothing, lawbreaking total waste of a congressman doesn't use his heart or his brain much, either.

House Votes 345-73 to Help Families Keep Affordable Housing as Middle-Class-Hating Rep. Jeff Flake Sneers, Protests and Votes No

2008-05-07T18:19:00.008-07:00

In 1975, right near where I grew up in Brooklyn, responsible developers and a consortium of labor unions built Starrett City, the nation's largest affordable rental housing development, by the waters of Spring Creek.

My friend Randy's Grandma Sarah and Poppy Joe moved there, and it was and still is a great place for diverse working class and middle class folks. The 20,000 people who live in the high-rises there aren't concerned with social engineering so much as they want good schools, a safe place for kids to play, and a clean spot of the city to call their own.

But in the last couple of years, one of the last affordable places for families to live in New York has been threatened by greedy developers who want to throw out the tenants and turn the property into luxury housing for the rich. Residents of Starrett City have been scared they will be thrown out on the street as the complex becomes another place that only the wealthy can afford.

This afternoon, the House of Representatives voted 345-73 to pass H.R. 5937, which will enable Starrett City to remain affordable. The majority of Republican members of Congress, led by the bill's co-sponsor, Rep. Peter King (R-NY) and Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), joined all the Democrats in support of affordable housing for middle class and working class families.

Rep. Jeff Flake sneered and voted no.

In his eight years in Congress, Jeff Flake has done everything he could to stop any helping hand for families who aren't the richest of the rich. He would have voted against this bill had the residents of Starrett City lived in his own district.

Not every family can afford to buy their home, as many Arizonans have learned in the past couple of years. As the sponsor of today's bill, Rep. Ed Towns (D-NY) said, "With the weakening economy and rising gas and food costs, it is urgent now more than ever that we fight to preserve affordable housing for tenants.”

Only if we defeat Jeff Flake in November will our representative in Congress be fighting for middle class families, not against us.

Re-elect Jeff Flake? Fuhgeddaboudit.

House Passes Bush-Backed Bill to Ensure Access to Student Loans, 388-21, With Arrogant Family-Hating Rep. Jeff Flake Voting No Again

2008-05-03T10:45:00.003-07:00

So much for moderation. Out-of-step ideologue Rep. Jeff Flake may have simply have reversed his position on genetic discrimination on a whim. He seems to get a kick out of showing voters that he's boss since he still doesn't seem to understand that a congressman's first mission should be to help the families in his district.

On Thursday the House agreed, 388-21, to the Senate amendments on the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act. All the Democrats voting supported it, as did 89% of Republicans.

Student-hating Rep. Jeff Flake, not caring about the costs of higher education to struggling East Valley families, smirked and voted no.

President Bush got it right when he said in a statement released by the White House after House passage,

In order to ensure that Americans can continue to compete in the global marketplace, the federal government has an obligation to encourage and support people pursuing higher education. By granting the Department of Education greater authority to purchase federal student loans, today's action should ease the anxiety many students may feel about their ability to finance their education this fall.

The legislation was important because the credit crisis has forced about 50 lenders to stop writing some forms of student loans. The companies cite increased borrowing costs, cuts in government subsidies for education loans and a lack of investor interest in securities backed by loans.

Without this law, demand for federally backed student loans would outstrip supply, industry officials said. According to Education Department estimates, about 7 million borrowers will need more than $68 billion in federal loans this academic year.

College students and their families will now have ensured access to educational loans thanks to an overwhelming bipartisan majority in Congress and the support of the Bush administration.

No thanks, of course, to rigid ideologue Jeff Flake, who haughtily sneers when anyone, even President Bush, says that the federal government has an obligation to encourage and support people pursuing higher education.

Really, we should be going further and expanding grants to college students instead of forcing them to borrow. I can just see Jeff Flake rolling his eyes when I say anything like this that attempts to give middle class families a helping hand.

Arrogant Jeff Flake assumes he's smarter than everyone else in Congress, the President, business leaders and you.

And every time he assumes this, he's making an ass of u and me.

Rumors that Rep. Jeff Flake is Noticing our Blog, Moderating Extremist Positions; He Votes Against Genetic Discrimination & May Vote to Help Veterans

2008-05-01T10:27:00.008-07:00

Most days someone from Capitol Hill checks this blog. In the beginning they were doing Google blog searches for "Jeff Flake," but now we're getting blog searches for "Richard Grayson" too.

I've been trying to point out, often employing deliberately ludicrous and outrageous language, just how Rep. Jeff Flake's out-of-the-mainstream ideology has proven to be of no help to regular people in Arizona's Sixth Congressional District and elsewhere in the state and nation.

Word is coming to me that Rep. Jeff Flake has taken notice and has started to moderate his positions in view of the coming election.

The estimable blogger Random Musings discusses Rep. Harry Mitchell's H.R. 5740, the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008, which "is garnering widespread support among his colleagues (250 cosponsors and counting)." And then surprises us with this news:

Jeff Flake (R-AZ6), who, like Mikey of Life Cereal fame, 'hates everything' related to government spending, may sign on in support of the bill (which, by the way, would be this year's "Phoenix freezes over" moment if that comes to pass :) ). . .

Jeff Flake, the putative anti-government crusader, who is almost physically incapable of supporting anything that has even a hint of a whiff of help for the average American, veteran or otherwise, is considering throwing his support behind Mitchell's bill?

(Random Musings kindly links here to what he calls "Richard Grayson's chronicle of Jeff Flake's extremist ideology and ineffective representation of his district.")

Now today I check and see that the House passed the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (which I blogged about a few days ago) by a vote of 414-1, with Rep. Jeff Flake not joining Ron Paul (R-Pluto), his buddy from other lopsided votes, most recently one I blogged about yesterday).

Jeff Flake voted for against genetic discrimination. Good for him.

But, really, with every member of the Senate and House but one voting the same way, it's the least we can expect of Jeff Flake.

He's got a new campaign slogan:

Rep. Jeff Flake: I do the least you can expect from a congressman.

Wacko Middle-Class-Hating Extremist Rep. Jeff Flake Votes No as House Supports National Financial Literacy Month, 402-2

2008-04-30T09:51:00.012-07:00

I know I'm running against him, but I'm really beginning to worry a little about Rep. Jeff Flake's mental health.

It's almost a given that when I check House roll call votes and there are just two or three members of Congress voting against a bill everyone else from conservative Republicans to liberal Democrats supports that I find one of the teeny-weeny minority of wackos voting no on noncontroversial legislation is out-of-control Jeff Flake.

What is he trying to prove? Is this just a desperate cry for attention?

Last week he was the only one in the entire House of Representatives to vote against a totally innocuous bill encouraging government documents be written in plain English.

Today we find he's against financial literacy too.

This morning the House passed a resolution "supporting the goals and ideals of Financial Literacy Month 2008." The vote was 402-2.

Out-of-step Jeff Flake voted no. Why?

Is he against 6,500 bankers teaching savings skills to young people during Teach Children to Save Day, started by the American Bankers Association Education Foundation in April of 1997? Is he annoyed that this program has helped more than 45,000 bankers teach savings skills to nearly 2,300,000 young people?

Is he against staff from America's credit unions making presentations to young people at local schools on financial topics such as student loans, balancing a checkbook, and auto loans during National Credit Union Youth Week?

Is he happy that the average baby boomer has only $50,000 in savings apart from equity in their homes?

Is he totally unconcerned that the April 2007 National Foundation for Credit Counseling consumer financial literacy survey found that only 39 percent of American consumers keep close track of their expenses; less than half have ordered their credit report; and one-third do not know where to go for financial advice?

Is he glad that as many as 10,000,000 households in the United States are "unbanked" or are without access to mainstream financial products and services?

What did out-of-touch Jeff Flake find so objectionable about a simple resolution supporting consumer education?

Or does he just hate regular middle-class families so much that he enjoys the equivalent of spitting in their faces every time he casts a vote?

Out-of-step, out-of-touch, out-of-control Rep. Jeff Flake seems determined to prove he is wrong for America every time he steps onto the House floor.

How much longer will you let him get away with it?

Extremist Laissez-Faire Flunky Rep. Jeff Flake Flunks Math & Science; Unlike Most Republicans, He Votes Against the 21st Century Competitiveness Act

2008-04-29T07:40:00.005-07:00

It's hard to understand why Rep. Jeff Flake's votes are so consistently out of the mainstream of his own party. He's so wedded to the dogma that government can do nothing that he's made being a do-nothing congressman his life's work.

Take for example, the issue of education, one that's critical to America's competitiveness in the world.

Just a few days ago Republican Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas expressed the views of most Republicans and certainly most Democrats and independents in an article called "Keep America Competitive" that she wrote for The Austin American-Statesman:

There is a growing consensus that America's future prosperity is threatened by an erosion in our educational capabilities. Compared with children in other countries, our nation's students are underperforming in the vitally important fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). These areas of expertise spur creativity and new technologies, which are essential for economic growth. In fact, as much as 85 percent of the measured growth in per capita income is due to technological advancement. . .

Our neglect has led to China surpassing the United States as the world's largest exporter of information-technology products. We must redouble our efforts to ensure that America is the world's technological leader in the 21st century...Many economists predict that, in 10 years, London will supplant New York as the world's financial capital. . .

[We must] build upon the highly successful America Competes Act, which Congress passed last year. This legislation expands research by 2001 by doubling funding levels for the National Science Foundation to $11.2 billion and substantially increases funding for the Energy Department's Office of Science by 144 percent to more than $5.2 billion.

Second, the act also strengthens the skills of teachers in science, technology, engineering and math. According to the Center for the Study of Teaching, the most consistent predictor of student achievement in STEM is the presence of teachers who are fully certified and have at least a bachelor's degree in the subject they teach. That's why we're funding Teachers for a Competitive Tomorrow, a grant program modeled after the UTeach Program at the University of Texas that encourages undergraduate students to gain degrees in their STEM fields of study with teacher certification obtained through required electives. In addition, the legislation increases the number of Advanced Placement courses in underprivileged schools and the supply of teachers who are able to teach those courses.

Altogether, the America Competes Act is a major step forward in meeting the economic challenges of the future. Congress must advance legislation that strengthens our long-term prosperity.

Last August the House passed the America Competes Act, with 143 Republicans joining all but one Democrat in favor of strengthening American competitiveness.

Out-of-step, wrong-for-America Rep. Jeff Flake voted against this bill even though most of his party joined Democrats in support of this groundbreaking legislation aimed at ensuring the United States’ strong footing as a global economic leader and retaining our “brainpower advantage.”

President Bush proudly signed the bill after passage.

What's wrong with Jeff Flake that he doesn't want to help America retain its competitiveness in a global economy where high-level math, science and technology skills are needed?

Why does Jeff Flake always put his rigid extremist ideology first and America last?

And why does this do-nothing, uncaring, wrong-for-America ideologue who does nothing to protect our kids' future keep getting re-elected?

Maybe it's because he hasn't had a serious opponent since gas was $1.29 a gallon.

US Senate Unanimous Against Genetic Discrimination; House Agrees, 420-3, with Uncaring, Elitist, Wrong-for-America Wacko Rep. Jeff Flake Voting "No"

2008-04-27T18:17:00.010-07:00

Great news! On Friday, the U.S. Senate passed S.358, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2007 (GINA), by a unanimous vote. The bill would ban the use of genetic testing for the purposes of making health insurance and employment decisions.

If it becomes law, people learning through genetic testing that they might be susceptible to devastating diseases wouldn't also have to worry about losing their jobs or their health insurance.

The bill, described by Sen. Edward Kennedy as "the first major new civil rights bill of the new century," would bar health insurance companies from using genetic information to set premiums or determine enrollment eligibility. Similarly, employers could not use genetic information in hiring, firing or promotion decisions.

A year ago a similar bill, H.R. 493, backed by the White House,already passed the House in a lopsided 420-3 vote. Guess who was one of three congressmen who voted in favor of genetic discrimination.

That's right: the extremist representative from the Sixth Congressional District of Arizona, out-of-touch, out-of-step Jeff Flake.

Now the House needs to vote again on this issue, possibly as early as this week.

Will wrong-for-America, wrong-for-Arizona uncaring elitist Rep. Jeff Flake once again prove to be the oddball who votes for genetic discrimination?

House staffers have reportedly heard Rep. Flake muttering, "If their genes don't fit, let's treat them like shit," so we can make an educated guess...

Another Bill to Help the Middle Class that Rigid Ideologue Rep. Jeff Flake Opposes: Making College Textbooks More Affordable

2008-04-25T13:28:00.006-07:00

I've been teaching undergraduate classes since 1975 in a variety of settings: state universities like ASU and SUNY and Florida International; community colleges in Mesa, north and south Florida and New York City; a Catholic university and a Jewish college; an art school; technical institutes; private universities large and small. I've also been a faculty member and administrator at two law schools.

There have been numerous changes in higher education since I started teaching a generation ago but two of the biggest have placed great financial burdens on students and their families: the incredible rise in the cost of tuition -- and the outrageous inflation in textbook prices.

As today's New York Times editorial, "That Book Costs How Much?" notes,

College students and their families are rightfully outraged about the bankrupting costs of textbooks that have nearly tripled since the 1980s, mainly because of marginally useful CD-ROMs and other supplements. A bill pending in Congress would require publishers to sell “unbundled” versions of the books — minus the pricey add-ons. Even more important, it would require publishers to reveal book prices in marketing material so that professors could choose less-expensive titles.

That bill is H.R. 3512, the College Textbook Affordability and Transparency Act, introduced last year by the late Rep. Julia Carson (D-IN).

"Students are suffering from sticker shock after going through their colleges' bookstores," Rep. Carson said last year, just a few months before her death from cancer. "This bill addresses many of the concerns we have heard related to this issue, and it assures transparency in textbook pricing. It seeks to bring the market's stakeholders together for the benefit of students."

Rep. Carson's co-sponsors -- Reps. David Wu (D-OR), Steve Kagen (D-WI), Robert Scott (D-VA) and Darlene Hooley (D-OR) -- want this bill to pass not only to help students and their families but as a tribute to a congresswoman who, even as she was dying, cared about middle-class and working-class Americans enough to devote her final days in Congress to this needed legislation.

The contrast with uncaring Rep. Jeff Flake, who opposes this bill because it offends his extremist laissez-faire ideological principles, could not be more stark.

Jeff Flake knows this bill will reduce expenses at least a little for the families of college students. But he doesn't care, because it regulates business.

And in Jeff Flake's hard-hearted view, it's more important that even money-grubbing multinational corporations be unfettered than that families of students at Chandler-Gilbert Community College and Arizona State University and Central Arizona College and Mesa Community College and all over the U.S. save a dime.

Okay, this bill will not solve all the problems of textbook inflation. The Times editorial rightly suggests that colleges make more use of cheaper digital textbooks, which I do when I can; ASU Geography Prof. Ronald Dorn did a study that suggests that students using free online textbooks do just as well in their classes as students with expensive copies from traditional publishers.

But H.R. 3512, endorsed by the American Association of University Professors, is a good start in helping cash-strapped students and their families get relief from exorbitant textbook prices.

As Paradise Valley Community College nursing student Khoi Le told the PVCC Puma Press, high textbook prices cause students to lose study time because they have to work extra hours in order to pay for their textbooks.

Unfortunately, Rep. Jeff Flake will do everything he can to prevent this bill from becoming law.

You don't need an expensive textbook to teach Jeff Flake a lesson this November.

Small-Business-Hating Fanatic Rep. Jeff Flake Votes Against Helping the Little Guy

2008-04-24T19:25:00.007-07:00

Yesterday the House voted overwhelmingly to help small businesses by amending the Small Business Act to improve the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program and the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program, and for other purposes.

The vote was 368-43, with 149 Republicans voting in favor of giving a helping hand to the little people who run our nation's small businesses.

Rep. Jeff Flake, of course, laissez-faire extremist that he is, violently opposed the bill.

Jeff Flake wants to make sure the government doesn't spend a single penny to help the little guy innovate.

Why should he care? Supposedly guaranteed re-election, Jeff Flake gets the million dollars in his bulging campaign treasury from the richest fat cats and corporations in the country.

Jeff Flake doesn't need help from little guys and he's determined to see that little guys get no help from any government that he's a part of.

Why doesn't his congressional office just put out a press release headlined "Rep. Jeff Flake to Middle Class: Drop Dead"?

Maybe I shouldn't have given the Maker's Mark-drinking, cigar-smoking, smirking right-wing fanatics on Jeff Flake's staff the idea...

Small business owners, make no mistake: Jeff Flake is your enemy. He's proved that time and again with his votes.

Now what will you do with your vote in November?

Nutty Out-of-Step Rep. Jeff Flake Has a Tantrum as House GOP, Dems Join to Pass Coast Guard Reauthorization Act, 395-7

2008-04-24T15:03:00.004-07:00

Once again Arizona's nutty out-of-step Rep. Jeff Flake has decided to throw a tantrum and be one of only seven (7!) weirdo House members to vote against a bill overwhelmingly supported by all Democrats and 96% of Republicans.

Today the House overwhelmingly approved Coast Guard Authorization for 2008. The vote was 395-7.

My uncle Matt was in the Coast Guard and I spent a bunch of summers as a kid sleeping on his Coast Guard hammock. The Coast Guard has consistently gotten the short end of the stick in funding.

What could weirdo Jeff Flake object to in a bill funding the Coast Guard that nearly every one of his conservative Republican colleagues voted in favor of?

Jeff Flake likes to show off that he can vote no just for the sake of voting no. It's childish and part of what makes him such an ineffective Congressman.

Or maybe he just hates the Coast Guard and feels free to express his disdain because thinks he can coast to re-election anyway.

Our district needs to change course and throw Jeff Flake overboard.

House Republicans & Democrats Vote to Protect New Wilderness Areas in the Monongahela National Forest, 368-17, But Anti-Green Rep. Jeff Flake Votes No

2008-04-23T02:45:00.008-07:00

Yesterday 161 House Republicans joined all Democrats voting to pass the Wild Monongahela Act: A National Legacy for West Virginia’s Special Places.

Rep. Jeff Flake, the reddest opposite of green there is, of course voted no. Maybe he hates nature? Hikers? Trees? Creeks?

The Wild Monongahela Act will protect over 47,000 acres of forest as wilderness – existing wilderness Areas as well as protecting 4 new wilderness areas across the forest.

Allen Johnson, founder of Christians for the Mountains, emphasized the religious values of wilderness in the Monongahela National Forest, saying

My organization not only supports wilderness, but has been working for the past year to convey to other faith based organizations and congregations the spiritual value these places hold. Protecting Wilderness, however, is more than about what it can do for humans. Wilderness is space for God's untrammeled creation. Wilderness is a reminder that ‘The Earth is the Lord's, and everything in it belongs to God’ (Psalm 24: I). Wilderness is an ecological yardstick to measure our ability to use the rest of the earth well.

As noted on the Wilderness Society website, wilderness areas are also critical in protecting our native trout streams. “Wilderness is the watershed management most conducive to healing and recovery of trout streams.” stated Don Gasper, retired DNR fisheries biologist and long-time fisheries manager on the Monongahela National Forest. In a poll conducted on wilderness in West Virginia in 2006, 90% of respondents who identified themselves as hunters or anglers supported wilderness for the Seneca Creek area which has been rated as one of America’s top 100 trout streams.

Over 100 West Virginia businesses supported this legislation for more wilderness in the Monongahela National Forest. Nearly all GOP House members joined them. But not Jeff Flake.

Exactly 38 years ago I was at the first Earth Day celebration on April 22, 1970 and wrote about it here.

Like any Democrat -- like almost all Republicans -- I would have voted to protect West Virginia's wilderness in the House yesterday.

Jeff Flake is an ineffective publicity hound whose contrary-for-the-sake-of-controversy view makes him a terrible Congressman.

For the sake of Arizona's Sixth Congressional District, for the sake of our children and our planet, Jeff Flake must be replaced by a Democrat.

Huffington Post Quotes Democratic Congressional Candidate Grayson on Jeff Flake: "He gets some good media...but he never accomplishes anything."

2008-04-22T18:31:00.008-07:00

No, it's not this Democratic congressional candidate. On the Huffington Post today, Howie Klein wrote a post about whether our candidates should pledge that we're not taking the national health care plan afforded members of Congress until we pass a plan that's available for the public.

He quotes the very capable and exciting candidate in FL-08, Alan Grayson of Orlando:

It's a very interesting question. I think that the problem goes a lot deeper than that. The problem is not only that Congressmen have a good health care plan, but that they are paid over $170,000 a year, with plenty of other perks beyond that. And the problem is not only that Congressmen are treated that way, but also TV news anchors, newspaper editors, judges, generals, and bosses of all kinds. All of these people act in concert to protect their privileges.

In my experience, no group of people ever acts to reduce their own privileges. It's far more likely that you will see corporations adopt "green" environmental policies than you will see corporate executives give up their private jets. It's far more likely that you'll see baseball players submit to weekly drug testing than a salary cap. And it's far more likely that you'll see national health care than you'll see any cut back in health care for members of Congress.

Congressmen also get free haircuts. If we all take a pledge against that, you'll still see plenty of mullets in Tennessee.

Here's an analogy. Jeff Flake of Arizona constantly attacks "earmarks." The result is that his district never gets any earmarks, he never passes any bills of any kind, and his committee assignments are lousy. He gets some good media out of it, but he never accomplishes anything. People think he's a flake. Not just a Flake, but a flake.

I'm not saying that cutting health care for members of Congress is a bad idea. Actually, as you can see, I'd not only be in favor of that, but a lot beyond that.

I agree with Alan Grayson on all of this except I don't approve of making fun of anyone's name. (People with an odd name like his should know better.)

Hey, I may be one of the few uninsured people who's filed to run for Congress and if I somehow were elected, could you blame me for getting health insurance?

Of course, with a House member's salary, I could probably afford to do what I can't now and buy my own coverage.

We all need health insurance. I'm still in favor of Medicare for all Americans.

Rep. Jeff Flake Rakes in the Dough: New FEC Report Shows He's Got More Money Than He Knows What to Do With; No Wonder He Doesn't Care About You

2008-04-19T04:09:00.005-07:00

From the East Valley Tribune's estimable expert on local politics, Paul Giblin:

The latest national campaign finance reports underscore one of the benefits of incumbency – access to money.

In seven of the eight U.S. House races across the state, the incumbents, regardless of their parties, are far ahead of their challengers in collecting campaign contributions. . .

Over in the 6th District, four-term Republican incumbent Jeff Flake is running practically unopposed. He has raised $891,000 and had $975,000 cash on hand, thanks to spill-over from his previous campaign. His top three industry sectors were finance, insurance and real estate at $149,000 combined; miscellaneous businesses at $110,000; and construction interests at $54,000.

His Democratic opponent, author Richard Grayson hasn’t filed campaign finance reports.

The 6th District takes in parts of Mesa and Chandler, plus all of Gilbert, Queen Creek, and Apache Junction.

I didn't bother filing an FEC report because my arthritic fingers hurt from writing all those zeros.

You can check out where Jeff Flake got all that money from. The PAC of Orbital Sciences? New Orleans's Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold? The United Egg Association?

Whatever, as long as Jeff Flake's coffers are bulging, right?

Uh, since he is, as Paul Giblin notes, running virtually unopposed (I can't speak for the other Democrats, but I'm pretty certain I don't exist), what is Jeff Flake going to do with all that money?

Grayson for Congress AZ-06's Latest Celebrity Endorsements!

2008-04-19T03:44:00.007-07:00

Todd Park Mohr

Sandra Lilia Velásquez

Vusi Mahlasela

Beth Ditto

Grazie molto a tutto!