Category Archives: Politics

“Dr. No” Got the Message

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Roughly a year ago, when local lobbying was at its height for the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act, the bill’s co-sponsors tried to pass it by unanimous consent.  With more co-sponsors than any Africa-related legislation in modern American history, it was a good idea.  And then Tom Coburn stepped in.  Known for blocking everything that costs more than a penny for Congress, Coburn had decided that the LRA bill would be one of his many stands.  He he blocked a bill with bipartisan support from the country at large, including his state’s senior senator , and thousands of his constituents.  Needless to say, grassroots organizing got a move on.  Quite a few of my friends, from across the country, held a vigil in front of his Oklahoma City office 24/7 until he took the hold off.  All told, the vigil lasted eleven days before a deal was reached, and the bill passed the Senate the next day.

Dr. Coburn was in the news again this past week for being one of the more vocal opponents to the 9/11 health bill.  The bill would have compensated a number of first responders who were suffering from health problems related to 9/11 and the rescue efforts that followed in the rubble.  After Jon Stewart hosted a number of first responders on his show to call out opponents, the general populace started getting up in arms about it (including Rudy Guiliani and Mike Huckabee).  After all the uproar, Coburn finally decided to give in (after bringing down some costs, obviously).

I’m all for being careful with money and watching where the government spends money, but Coburn has gone to the extreme. He also blocked aid to Haiti after the earthquake there, among other hot topic blocks.  It seems like he always needs a level of shame before he’ll back down.  I hope he gets smarter about where he chooses to put his foot down in the future. It’d make government work a little better, which – according to Coburn – has been his intention all along.

Election Reactions

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The numbers are rolling in – and things are looking remarkably like the polls predicted.  I’m still watching the news hoping some races will get narrower, but let’s be honest.  A lot of people I liked took hits today.  Some people I dislike took hits today.  Some milestones were made.  Some things failed.  Biggest news is definitely the insane gains the GOP made in the House – I’m hearing it was the biggest gain since the 1940s.  Let’s break it down in the rough view of an Arizona college student on the rest of the country.

Progressives took a hit.

Russ Feingold lost after a good 18 years in Congress.  I have been a fan of Feingold’s for a while, and I support a lot of the things he did.  With him gone there are a dwindling number of champions for the issue of the LRA in east-central Africa.  And that’s ignoring his opposition to the PATRIOT Act, the Iraq war, and pork barrel spending and his support for campaign finance reform and healthcare.  Jack Conway lost to Rand Paul in Kentucky’s Senate race.  I guess this was kind of expected, but I still would have liked to see some new progressives get into the upper chamber.  People like Grayson and Sestak, to whom I paid less attention, also ended up losing.

Blue Dogs took a bigger hit.

It’s also worth nothing that more than half of the moderate Democrat Blue Dog Coalition is gone, which leaves the Progressive Caucus with an advantage within the party. But this makes bipartisanship a little harder to imagine.

Corporate Candidates took a hit too.

Linda McMahon, Meg Whitman, and Carly Fiorina all seem to have lost.  The businesswomen from WWE, eBay, and Hewlett-Packard spent a combined $230 million of their own money in addition to donations and party contributions.  I guess money isn’t all you need to win a campaign?

The House Switched

The House, as widely expected, is red.  I’ve heard from 56 to 70 House seats switching to the GOP, but I don’t know what the final count is.  Regardless, it’s a massive sweep bigger than 1994’s rout against Clinton.  But, looking at how Clinton was able to point the finger at Gingrich’s House in 1996, I’m hopeful that the new House and Obama will find some kind of way to cooperate.  I’m also hoping the two houses, with Democrats holding onto the Senate, find a way to work together.  I’m also hoping that this lame duck session of Congress will see some steps forward like passage of the DREAM Act.  I guess we’ll see!

Problems at the Polls

In Virginia, someone broke into Tom Pariello’s office and mixed up door hangers meant for distribution – resulting in people being directed to the wrong polling location – he lost by a fairly slim margin.  There were cases in Iowa and Michigan in which students were told their residency was questionable and denied the right to vote (or were forced to submit provisional ballots).  And activists at a predominantly black college polling location in South Carolina harassed voters and tried to discourage voting.  These kinds of issues make me sad because it’s pretty clear that they were not denied for any legitimate reason – and in the cases of sabotage and harassment, well that’s always inexcusable.

“Firsts” and “Lasts”

While they are not likely to hold many similar views to me because of my assumptions based on their party affiliation, there have been a few significant steps today.  Oklahoma elected its first female governor.  Alabama elected its first black, female representative to Congress.  The GOP is sending its first black Representative from the South.  New Mexico elected the first female Hispanic governor.  However – once again the U.S. Senate will have absolutely no black people.  I guess this isn’t surprising since there have been six total, two of which from the Reconstruction Era and one of which was appointed for a year.

Misc.

Oklahoma banned Sharia law…… which is weird.  And Washington voted down the millionaire tax, which kinda sucks.  And Rhode Island voted to keep the official name “the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations” – I’m pretty indifferent about that one.  Oh, and the House will not have any Nazi reenactments, nor will the Senate have witches.  That’s all for now.  As I digest my own local elections (and mull over why people elected businessmen to the Arizona Water Conservation Board), I’ll do another post – Arizona edition.  To all of you that voted, thanks for doing your civic duty!  Even if I disagree with the way you voted, I love to see a good turnout.  I hope to see you all in two years, rocking that booth!

Voting

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Tomorrow will probably be the biggest election day I have seen.  Definitely the most important in my short voting life.  Last week I mailed in my ballot – complete with 11 Democrats, 3 Republicans, and 1 Libertarian and with 6 “no” votes and 4 “yes” votes in propositions.  Now, I’m sitting back and waiting for the ridiculous attack ads to fade out for what I’d like to be 18 to 20 months but in reality is probably maybe a year.  I’m also going to be sitting down and slowly watching a lot of people I like probably not return to office and a lot of people I don’t like get in.  This afternoon Kentucky will close its polls and the projections and numbers will begin to fly.

Even two years ago I knew that 2010 would be a loss for the Democratic Party.  In modern American history the new President’s party has only gained seats in the following midterm elections twice: in 1934 and 2002.  Even though we are in a recession and still fighting in two wars (who are we kidding, Operation Iraqi Freedom?) I don’t think gaining seats was ever really on the table for the Dems this year.  Not that I’m 100% happy with how they’ve been acting either.

The Democrats, with their supermajority in both houses of Congress, didn’t pull off nearly as much as I would’ve liked to see in the past two years.  I might be guaranteed health care, the SEC might be drafting a report on conflict minerals legislation, and Pell Grants might have been expanded.  But the DREAM Act hasn’t been passed and “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” is still very much in effect. I don’t have a public option for my health insurance and Race to the Top is no better than No Child Left Behind.  Clean energy legislation never showed up and we just released the moratorium on offshore drilling.  Now, I didn’t expect to see all of these things – but a couple would have been nice.

In Arizona, Democrats seem to be on the run.  Personally, I don’t think it’ll be the near complete rout that some are predicting.  Currently, my governor doesn’t know how to debate or answer questions. And the last county attorney to get elected is off his rocker.  So I think some people, even if they’re not happy with Democrats in Washington, might still keep a few shades of blue in Phoenix.  Point is, I hope my least favorite political party doesn’t sweep my state.  If xenophobic obstructionist birthers get too much power I’ll be a bit worried.

Regardless of what you think, I’d like to make one request: go vote! Whether you want to stand beside me or try to counter my vote – get those ballots in!

Arizona Votes

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Arizona is the product of the progressive era.  As a result of the bipartisan wave of people asking for a more democratic democracy, Arizona’s constitution has all sorts of “by the people” parts to it.  The initiative, referendum, and recall are all pretty basic parts of Arizona’s law.  The initiative is the ability of people to petition for amendments and the referendum is the ability for legislators to bring up proposals that voters must approve.  As for recall, Arizona was actually denied statehood until the territory took the ability to vote to recall judges out of the constitution – but in the state’s first election it was reinstated.

Every election we have a plethora of propositions brought up by initiative or by referendum.  I know last election I talked a bit about the fun ones (like the idea of counting every missing vote as a no-vote for finance-related propositions) and the bad ones (defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman).  This year we’ve got the expected “hands off our healthcare” proposition.  But we also have an effort to make the right to hunt part of our constitution – right up there with speech and bearing arms; there’s also putting an end to affirmative action and stopping early childhood development and health programs.  I’m not usually a fan of most propositions, and this election cycle isn’t any different, it seems.

I’m not sure if other states are like Arizona.  I know most don’t have the ability to vote appointed judges out of office.  I’m assuming most people in other states don’t vote every four years for the office of State Mine Inspector (I have heard there are up to 120,000 abandoned mines in Arizona).  Do you all have the option to vote for school boards?  How about justices of the peace? What’s weird about your state’s political process?

Re: Rwanda

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In the past few weeks I’ve heard a couple of people applaud Rwanda for being a clean and beautiful country with no corruption.  Now, I only spent two and a half days there, but I have a bit of a rebuttal.  I mean, yes – the streets were very clean and the undulating countryside really is pretty – but I would hardly say that cleanliness leads to no corruption.

To me, a street without beggars and children just reminds me of something I read in a New York Times article about Iwawa Island.  The article details the fact that, in an effort to preserve the appearance of a developed country, Rwandan authorities routinely scoop up homeless and petty criminals and send them to rehabilitation centers without a trial.  Hardly a good thing to have on a country’s record.

And to say the country is not corrupt ignores the intense oppression the ruling party employs. The RPF win every election – because there’s virtually no opposition (all three opposition parties were ruled out of the elections this past August).  While I was there I read in the newspaper that the interim editor-in-chief of a newspaper critical of the government had been killed.  Two things worth noting: he was the interim chief editor because the former chief editor fled into exile; and the police arrived within minutes of the killing but never found a suspect.  Just after I left Rwanda, the vice president of an opposition party was found decapitated in the forest (officials arrested one suspect but released him soon after and haven’t investigated any further).

And then there’s the ethnic part.  Even though the RPF outlawed the ethnic identity cards that were a hallmark of the genocide era, there is still a stark contrast.  Hutus are marginalized in civil service.  And no Tutsis have ever faced justice for crimes committed in the civil war.  There are allegations that the RPF killed 30,000 civilians as they swept across the country – but the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda’s investigations have routinely been obstructed by the government.  This in addition to UN’s recent findings that the Rwandan government committed crimes against humanity (and maybe genocide) in the DR Congo.

I guess these are just some things to think about.  The country has a lot of potential, I just think it’s far from a great example right now.  Clean streets, sure.  But there are quite a few concerns that the government needs to look into if it wants to really be seen for its progress.

Why SAFRA is Important

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As I type this, I am watching the Health Care debate in the House.  Today, the House will be voting on budget reconciliation.  To most, this is a healthcare vote.  For quite a while, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act was considered for budget reconciliation.  Instead of leaving it in the dust for healthcare reform, it has been attached for reconciliation and may (probably will) pass today.  Now, my opinion on the health care reform bill is a little iffy. I like parts and I dislike parts.  But I’m all for SAFRA and here is why:

SAFRA would increase the number of Pell grants and amount of Pell grants to students.  Especially with the current crisis in higher education, Pell grants just don’t cut it.  They need to be greater in size and in distribution.  SAFRA does this.  It also caps interest rates on Stafford loans, something that hasn’t yet become an issue but will in coming years.

In addition to this type of assistance to students, there is also good news for our budget.  By dropping subsidies for loan companies, SAFRA could save tens of billions of dollars.  This will be done by cutting out a very costly middleman in favor of direct loans.  In my opinion, there aren’t a lot of negatives for this piece of legislation.  It will help students in a time when higher education is being hit from all sides.  SAFRA is a step in the right direction.

Coburn Say Yes

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Tomorrow is a big day for the Bill.  As you may or may not be aware from posts of the past, the Bill has 61 co-sponsors in the Senate, the most any sub-Saharan Africa-related bill has received in modern U.S. history.  Such good news that the original sponsors decided to hotline the bill, meaning it would pass with unanimous consent unless somebody actually took the time to put a hold on it to keep it from passing.

Tomorrow, is The OK Says YES Day of Action in Oklahoma City. The Invisible Children roadies, with two Ugandans, are already there. Lisa and Kenneth, director of communications and legislative fellow, respectively, of Resolve Uganda are already there. Activists, from Oklahoma and from elsewhere, are converging on the Capitol. Their mission? Get Senator Coburn to remove the hold.

Coburn has a strict set of principles that all bills must fit before he allows them to pass. His issue with the LRA/N. Uganda Bill is that the costs ($40M over 3 years) are not offset. Problem is, this bill doesn’t add to the deficit at all. If passed, it will approve the funds, which the Appropriations Committee would later direct – that is from where an offset can and probably will come. To add such an offset before would probably lose quite a few votes from whoever doesn’t like where the money comes from. To get passed Coburn’s hold would require a full floor vote, a time-consuming process that would be drowned by the health care overhaul. So this is where we stand.

Activists and constituents are converging on OKC tomorrow. And they aren’t leaving until the hold is removed. The Resolve Uganda crew and those who have the ability and the will are going to camp out at Coburn’s district office until the hold is removed.

If you want to hear from the Senator directly how he supports the cause but not the bill, you can check out this town hall meeting:

Let’s All (go to the) Lobby

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In the passed week I have been doing some footwork for the Bill around these parts.  Hopefully it’ll amount to something.

Good news is, the Bill passed committee in the Senate a long time ago and has been hotlined to pass unanimously. Bad news is, Sen. Tom Coburn decided that he didn’t want it to pass, despite the 61 co-sponsors in the Upper House marking the most widely supported Africa-related legislation in modern US history.  In the House, I’m still trying to get a few co-sponsors in the East Valley.

Jeff Flake, strong fiscal conservative and lover of Africa, is my number one target. I met him personally in DC and have been to his district office twice.  He supports our efforts, but has yet to support the bill.  I’m trying to wrap my head around that one, but hopefully he’ll get passed the $30 million for recovery and c0-sponsor it already.

Harry Mitchell, Blue Dog Democrat, is my actual Representative in Congress.  I have been to his offices twice and his staff is super-supportive, but he has yet to help us out.  He’s not in a place of high power for this bill (He’s on the Veterans Affairs Committee, whereas Flake is on the Africa Subcommittee) but any support is good support.  All of the other Democratic Representatives in Arizona have co-sponsored, so I’m hoping he will hop on the bandwagon and get to co-sponsoring.

In the mean time, I’m gearing up for a couple weeks of awareness work at ASU.  I’m rounding up all of our shirts and Erin just sent me a fresh box of trendy hats.  I’ll be putting an order for tote bags in soon, and hopefully we can decorate those in time for the big screenings.  Regardless, we’re hoping for two big turn-outs before Spring Break.  And, for those of you not in the area, you should track down a nearby event!  One of my favorite invisible children, Jacob, the former child soldier from Rough Cut, is headed up to the Pacific Northwest. My good friend Seth is traveling with wise old Norman across the South. Boni, one of the boys living under Lacor hospital in 2003 is going across the Great Lakes region. And New England is home to Innocent, the night commuter from the white bracelet video. And that’s just a few of the great people on tour this spring!  I am so, so stoked for this national tour.  It promises to be super-exciting.

Making History

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For the past few weeks I’ve been pestering Senator Jon Kyl’s legislative aide, Peter, about the senator’s co-sponsorship of the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act.  A couple of weeks ago, he assured me that Kyl had co-sponsored (something he rarely does), but we had no proof.  I bugged him again. Yesterday, he told me it was officially reported to Senator Russ Feingold’s office (one of the two original sponsors).  I was elated! And I was even more elated to hear this. In short, Kyl was the bill’s 51st co-sponsor in the Senate, making this the first sub-Saharan Africa-related bill to be supported by a majority of the Upper House since at least 1973 (maybe even earlier, that’s as far back as electronic records go).  Four senators got together to announce this landmark, showing unprecedented bipartisan support. If you’re interested, you can find some good excerpts from their announcement on Feingold’s site here.  The support in the Senate is great, but we’ve still got a ways to go:

Bad news is, the bill already would have passed the Senate if it wasn’t for one fiscal conservative. A while back, Senators Feingold and Brownback hot-lined the bill for passage, meaning it would automatically get 100 yeas unless a senator specifically blocked it. Right before the deadline, an anonymous hold was put on the bill. We now know that Senator Coburn is standing in the way of the best chance to end the longest-running war in the most conflict-heavy continent. In addition to that, the House is stalling.  150 representatives have co-sponsored, but we’ll keep pushing.  I’m trying to set up meetings with Mitchell’s and Flake’s district offices, so we’ll see. Got to keep fighting the good fight!