Harold Ford may support rethugs on SS reform...

[slor]

we need to send the message that it will cost him at election time!

[blm]

Do you have a cite for that? I heard Ford was NOT supporting Bush on SS.

.

[slor]

2. Just heard on Cnn...

yeah, I know, they may have it wrong, but he seems the type to do it.

[cestpaspossible]

11. Now you know why they're not really 'the most trusted name in news'

[AP]

12. CNN undermining Democrats' support of Democrats? What a shock.

Makes you wonder if some private poll showed that Ford has a good chance of winning the Senate, unless support erodes for him among Democrats who watch CNN.

(And this is presuming that they even said that about Ford and it wasn't some predisposition to not liking Ford that influenced what the viewer thought he heard.)

[SJS143]

1. There was a huge list posted here yesterday

of DLC dino dems. Someone needs to repost it, so we know who needs to go next year.

[Padraig18]

14. By all means, let's get a fillibuster-proof Republican majority!

That'll show those traitors, huh?

:eyes:

[flpoljunkie]

3. Not according to this from today's USA Today article on SS "reform"

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-03-09-social-security-six_x.htm?POE=click-refer#cogan


Harold Ford: The Democrat

Advocates of overhauling Social Security are struggling to find Democrats who are willing to talk to them. One tantalizing target: Harold Ford.

USA TODAY

Harold Ford

The young Tennessee congressman is willing to challenge the Democratic leadership. Last month, he helped form the Congressional Savings and Ownership Caucus — a cousin to Bush's pitch for an "ownership society." He has introduced a bill to open a savings account for every newborn with a government stake of $500 and incentives for savings. Bush's former Treasury secretary, Paul O'Neill, is plugging a similar plan.

"I'm excited about individual accounts, outside of Social Security, because most wealth in this nation is generated by investment income," says Ford, 34. Behind him is a photo of his father, who represented the 9th congressional district before he did. "For people who work — and 94% of the people in my state earn under $100,000 a year — it's hard to grow wealth."

That said, he hasn't signed on to Bush's plan. He says personal accounts should be in addition to, not part of, Social Security. But he's willing to discuss controversial steps such as raising the retirement age and lifting the ceiling on taxable earnings, which is now $90,000.

[itzamirakul]

5. This is from another post on DU...I keep losing the link when I paste...

Here's a letter they sent that pig Hastert:

===================================================================

The Honorable J. Dennis Hastert
Speaker
U.S. House of Representatives
H-232, The Capitol
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Mr. Speaker:

We write to encourage you to bring bankruptcy reform legislation to the House floor as soon as the Senate completes its consideration of the bill. The New Democrat Coalition has backed common sense bankruptcy reform in the past and helped in passing the bankruptcy reform bill by overwhelming margins in the House of Representatives during the 108th Congress.

Over the last several years, we have worked to advance reasonable and balanced legislation that would require individuals who have the ability to repay their debts to do so, while preserving the important safety net of bankruptcy under Chapter 7 for those who truly need it. We believe that responsible bankruptcy reform embodies the New Democrat principle of personal responsibility, while at the same time adding important new consumer protections such as requiring enhanced credit card disclosure information and encouraging participation in consumer credit counseling.

It is our hope that the House of Representatives will consider this important piece of legislation in an expedited manner. We stand ready to work with you and our colleagues on both sides of the aisle to pass bankruptcy reform into law.

Sincerely,

Rep. Ellen O. Tauscher
Rep. Adam Smith
Rep. Ron Kind
Rep. Artur Davis
Rep. Carolyn McCarthy
Rep. John Larson
Rep. Stephanie Herseth
Rep. Dennis Moore
Rep. Mike McIntyre
Rep. Joe Crowley
Rep. Jay Israel
Rep. David Wu
Rep. Diane Hooley
Rep. Melissa Bean
Rep. Jim Davis
Rep. Harold E. Ford, Jr.
Rep. Ed Case
Rep. Jay Inslee
Rep. Shelley Berkeley
Rep. Gregory W. Meeks
======================================================================

A bunch of corporate whores. All of them. They shouldn't get another dime for anything. They shouldn't get a vote for anything. Even winning is worthless if this is what they'll do.

BTW, here's where the letter is from.

http://www.tnr.com/etc.mhtml

[sandnsea]

7. Edwards proposed savings accounts

A $1 for $1 match. These are totally different than Bush's privatization with FICA taxes.

[itzamirakul]

4. Republicans "choose" new black Leadership ...

The GOP is using "faith based initiative" monies to gain black voters and a new group of "leaders' who will despicably change their congregants" political beliefs for big money.
***************************

<snip>
Faith-based initiatives and private school vouchers, they {Republicans} theorized, could provide portals directly into the realm of Black grassroots politics. If generously funded and working in tandem, the twin strategies had the potential to subvert a portion of the Black clergy and create a wedge to divide inner city residents from teachers unions and other pillars of the Democratic Party. The synergy of bribed clergy plus a phony voucher “movement” would give the appearance of an authentic conservative “groundswell” among African Americans. Corporate media could be counted on to provide a narrative lifted directly from the position papers of the same think tanks that crafted the faith/vouchers strategy. The stage would be set for the media-hyped emergence of a “New Black Leadership” – Democrats as well as Republicans and “independents” – reflecting the supposedly growing conservatism of the Black middle class and youth.

All this, of course, came to pass. Once Republicans won the White House, the full resources and prestige of the federal government were made available to the preachers, hustlers and voucher operatives of the new, corporate-invented African American leadership. “Old-style” Black leaders – including those elected by the people – are dismissed as unrepresentative, out of step with the times. The political space for opportunistic forays by Black Democratic officeholders seeking rightwing favor has expanded exponentially. (Witness the machinations of Black Tennessee Congressman Harold Ford, Jr.)



George Bush felt so confident in his ability to sideline Black Democratic leadership that, except for a pro-forma get-together right after his 2001 inauguration, the president refused to meet with the Congressional Black Caucus for the remainder of his first term. (Caucus members gate-crashed the White House in late February, 2004, to demand answers about U.S. intentions in Haiti.) Why confer the prestige of the White House to a group that Republicans are working so mightily to discredit and supersede?

Great damage already done

Faith-based offices embedded in ten federal agencies and departments operate as patronage and payroll centers for Bush’s bought-and-paid for urban constituency – the people who contributed a (modest) quarter million new Black Republican voters in 2004. Through a grotesque interpretation of the No Child Left Behind law, the Department of Education finances a constellation of voucher groups birthed by the corporate Right. Bush’s current Social Security privatization blitz is peppered with forums to showcase his African American supporters, who are now routinely referred to as Black “leaders” in the corporate media.



During his first term, Bush succeeded in funding, expanding and bestowing the trappings of Black “leadership” on the motley crews originally assembled by the Bradley Foundation and other Right moneybags. But that’s only the first stage of the project. The Bush Grand Plan is methodical, cleverly crafted by professional think-tankers intent on patching the holes blasted in the public social safety net with outfits staffed by Black and brown Bush loyalists.

A bipartisan coalition of 55 Senators turned back the administration’s attempt to slash by 40 percent the Department of Housing and Urban Development's $4.7 billion community development block grant program. The cuts would have crippled local lawmakers’ ability to fund local community organizations – including many established church-run programs – effectively neutering local Black Democratic structures across the country. In the place of locally dispensed block grants, the Bush men would offer faith-based enticements tied tightly to the administration’s new Black patronage structures. In addition, the White House plan would transfer block grants to the Commerce Department, with its emphasis on entrepreneurism – tasty bait for locals eager to cut a Republican deal to make a buck.



If successful – and Bush has four years to achieve his goals – the scheme will largely negate local Black politicians’ ability to serve their constituents – unless they come to terms with the GOP’s faith-based networks. A dramatic example of how the game will be played is unfolding in Pennsylvania, where Republican Senators Arlen Specter and Rick Santorum shameless dangled the political strings attached to a $4 million faith-based job training program for Philadelphia. As reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer, Specter told a group representing 400 Black churches that he and Santorum had “gone to the wall” to get the money, and expected votes in return:

"And we're prepared to go to the wall again and again and again. But if we're going to the wall, you've got to see to it that we're in office," Specter said… .

Referring to Santorum as "President Bush's No. 1 lieutenant," Specter said: "When the sword strokes come in Washington, D.C., you have to have people who have power. You've got to have somebody like Rick Santorum.”

Community block grants empower local officials. In heavily Black cities, that translates as Black power. Bush’s faith-based funding means national Republican power, and the selective privileging of locals loyal to Republicans.

In short, Bush is using faith-based monies to finance an alternative Black political machinery in the cities – one that will eventually affect the political complexion of council chambers, city halls and congressional delegations.

The greedy-guts among the preacher class and other corrupt elements understand the formula well. Bush’s faith-based structures offer not just money, but a direct line to Washington and, therefore, outsized power in local politics.

Voucher-based politics

...more...www.blackcommentator.com

[AP]

6. Anyone reading this post should also read this thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=1650893&mesg_id=1651119

[WI_DEM]

8. well I hope someone else runs for the senate in TN

who will not be in Bush's back pocket. This is a Democratic party issue and Bush's plan is not even popular--even the media concedes that--and yet we have some of these democrats saying they may support it.

[safi0]

16. If/When Ford runs for the Senate

I don't think another Democrat has a snowball's chance in hell to beat him in the primary. Ford's young, high profile, will be able to raise money like crazy and will have the Democratic establishment behind him. It would be damn near impossible for a primary candidate to be able to overcome all of those things

[last_texas_dem]

9. Ford disappoints me

and has for years. He just seems like one of those John Breaux-type Dems- always willing to compromise even when he should be standing hs ground. (To his credit, I guess I should acknowledge that his voting record isn't nearly as bad as Breaux's was.) I know there are some Dems who compromise a lot with conservatives because they are either personally conservative, represent a district more conservative, or both. Why Ford bothers me is because he represents a district that is basically liberal and I've always been under the impression that his willingness to compromise with conservatives has more to do with thinking that's his best chance at moving up the political ladder than because he personally had strong conservative convictions. I think this is largely based on the issues he has indicated a willingness to compromise on. Certainly I could be wrong and totally misjudging him; he has just always struck me as an opportunist.

[AP]

10. He wouldnt' disappoint me if he replaced Frist or Lang in the Senate...

...and I'm not sure anyone could identify a Dem with a better chance than Ford who could do that.

[msongs]

13. we all know black people will not live very long - bush said so........

so they better get on the bush ss wagon before they die. invest early, but then they die sooner so they will on average not live long enuff to get any money back when they retire, since they are gonna die sooner anyway.

maybe mr. ford has drunk the kool aid?



Msongs
www.msongs.com/vvpb our paper ballot proposal for CA

[gasperc]

15. latest talking points memo is that he's against Bush's propsals

but anyone of the fainthearted could pull a fast one like that dick in LA that switched parties after the filing deadline.