Op-Ed Columnist - A Sin and a Shame - NYTimes.com

Op-Ed Columnist - A Sin and a Shame - NYTimes.com: "The treatment of workers by American corporations has been worse — far more treacherous — than most of the population realizes. There was no need for so many men and women to be forced out of their jobs in the downturn known as the great recession.

Bob Herbert

Voting Behind Bars - Opinionator Blog - NYTimes.com

Voting Behind Bars - Opinionator Blog - NYTimes.com: "In every state, the impact on the black community is disproportionate, hardly surprising given that one in nine black men aged 20 to 34 is in prison. Even so, the numbers are startling, with disturbing implications for civic life in a democracy. According to an analysis by the Sentencing Project, a research and advocacy organization in Washington, felony convictions have deprived 20 percent of African-Americans in Virginia of the right to vote, compared with a 6.8 percent disenfranchisement rate for Virginia residents as a whole. In Texas, a similar ratio applies: 9.3 percent for blacks compared with 3.3 percent for Texans as a whole. In New York, 80 percent of those who have lost the right to vote are black or Hispanic. Nationally, an estimated one in seven black men has lost the right to vote."

Bush's Tax Cuts -- Great Source

Remember to click on links to registering to vote.

The Affordable Care Act: Overview

The Affordable Care Act: Overview: "Portions of the law have already taken effect. Other changes will be implemented through 2014 and beyond. To track our progress, return to this site regularly for the latest updates."

David Pepper Video

Remember to click on links to registering to vote.

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DvD1dFp6IPiQ%26feature%3Dplayer_embedded&h=59b94

For the Telephone Bankers and Canvassers

Remember to click on links to voter registration.



Today more than ever before in my life experience the difference between what Democrats represent and what Republicans represent has never been clearer.


Republicans represent self interests.

Democrats represent social interests

Republicans represent special interests.

Democrats represent societal interests.

Richard O. Schwab

First Phone Bank by Our GOFACT Group

Today, July 21, 2010, 5:30 to 7:00 pm

Our 7/21 GOFACT Phone Bank with Bruce Abel and Eva Clarke welcoming and providing directions to Monique Screws, Paula Taylor, Beth Sullenbarger, Paul Breidenbach, Leo Rosenthal, and Barbara Rosenthal. Nate Gilman (of the Driehaus campaign) is looking on.

Dog Catching Car Analogy

Here is recently-defeated Republican Rep. Bob Inglis's discussion with NPR's Neal Conan host of "Talk Of The Nation." Inglis's "Dog catching the car" remarks appear well into the transcript.


Subject: NPR.org » Rep. Bob Inglis On Republican 'Demagoguery'

Sent: Jul 18, 2010 11:35 AM

http://m.npr.org/news/front/128516243?singlePage=true

CONAN: And you've said you think Republican leaders are falling prey to, quote, demagoguery. What do you mean by that?


Rep. INGLIS: Well, I think we need to make sure to focus on real solutions, you know, and not focus so much on scapegoats. And whatever we do, make sure to present credible information because I think there's a real chance of Republicans taking control in November.

And if that's the case, we don't want to be the dog that catches the car, you know, and then what do you do with it. We want to be the folks who have solutions and are ready to go.

CONAN: And by being the dog that caught the car, you mean by electing well, tell us exactly, what do you mean?


(Soundbite of laughter)

Rep. INGLIS: In other words, people that get elected and take control but have no real plans about what to do once taking control. Because what we're in is a very difficult situation in our country, where we have to deal with Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid in order to balance the budget.

And that's going to be a very difficult, difficult task. And it's going to require people of goodwill coming together to find a solution, Republicans and Democrats working together to find a way to get that done.

Discussing Health Care Bill -- From Michelle Obama

http://www.healthcare.gov/


Thank you,
Michelle Obama

Dog Catching Car Analogy : The New Yorker

Richard Schwab heard a good analogy on NPR Friday morning:  the Republicans are like a dog chasing a car.  When they catch up and catch the car they don't know how to do anything with it. 

Photo Booth: Frames From Fiction: Dogs : The New Yorker: "“Contemplating a dog chasing a car invites any number of metaphors and juxtapositions: culture and nature, the domestic and the wild, love and hate, joy and fear, the heroic and the idiotic,” he wrote. “Here we have two vectors and velocities, that of a dog and that of a car and, seeing that a camera will never capture reality and that a dog will never catch a car, evidence of devotion to a hopeless enterprise.”"

It's Sunday, So...

http://www.littlethingsmatter.com/blog/2010/06/17/25-unexpected-ways-to-make-someones-day/


Here are 25 unexpected things you can do to show people they are special in your eyes.




1. Do your children’s chores for the day.



2. Drop a hand-written card in the mail to give someone an encouraging word.



3. Give your spouse or significant other a gift on your next date night.



4. Shovel snow for an older couple down the street.



5. Call a friend going through a difficult period to show your support.



6. Send a client something special that made you think of him or her.



7. Send a gift basket or bouquet of flowers to the hotel room of a friend who is on a long road trip.



8. Invite a friend to dinner and plan an evening with his/her interest in mind.



9. If you are a parent, plan a special day with your kids, but don’t tell them.



10. Offer to take a co-worker (who is not close to you) to lunch and buy it.



11. Plan a company or department meeting, surprising everyone with a party to show your appreciation for their hard work.



12. Pay the toll for the person following you and tell the gate attendant to communicate your brief message.



13. Stop by the hospital to visit a friend.



14. Cut the grass for a neighbor who is overwhelmed at work.



15. Take dinner over to a family suffering from financial hardship.



16. Stay late and help a co-worker finish an important project.



17. Call and invite an old friend to have coffee or tea.



18. Buy your friend sitting at another table in the restaurant a drink or dessert.



19. Go to the funeral of your friend or co-worker who has lost a loved one.



20. Look someone in the eye and share how proud you are of him or her.



21. Express appreciation for ordinary and routine tasks done well.



22. Praise someone for evidence portrayed by inner qualities—patience, fairness, integrity, gentleness, cooperation.



23. Say an encouraging word to your boss, teacher, coach, pastor or priest. Leaders are lonely.



24. Offer to run an errand for an overworked friend.



25. Thank people who serve you—waitperson, janitor, receptionist.

David Axelrod’s Talking Points « The Baseline Scenario

David Axelrod’s Talking Points « The Baseline Scenario: "Read this for the latest–and by “latest,” I mean the most recent of countless examples–word on why facts are utterly useless in political debate, whether they are true or not.
How facts backfire
Researchers discover a surprising threat to democracy: our brains
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2010/07/11/how_facts_backfire/?p1=Well_MostPop_Emailed1
I hope you are not in charge of sales for your organization. If so, the next time you are out droning through another fifty-page PowerPoint of product features that clearly “proves” your offering is better, your fellow employees should get busy registering for unemployment."

Strengthen Talking Points

http://baselinescenario.com/2010/07/14/david-axelrods-talking-points/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BaselineScenario+%28The+Baseline+Scenario%29

Connie Pillich Link

http://www.conniepillich.com/

Steve Driehaus Link

http://www.driehausforohio.com/

Registering to Vote

This "Raise Your Vote" site walks you through the actual registering process, we think.  But the filled out form you complete must be signed and mailed in (as opposed to electronically sent), we believe.  If you have moved since the 2008 election you should re-register to vote so that you get more than a provisional ballot when you show up at your new polling location.

https://www.raiseyourvote.com/content/OH

Driehaus's Opponent -- Served and Drank the Cool-Aid When He Was in So Long

From New York Times, Saturday, July 3, 2010, front page:


“Steve Chabot has probably given out a million cups since 1994”…and he’s been serving and drinking the cool-aid of economic and Wall Street deregulation that led our economy over the edge, ever since.  Do we want the cool-aid of Steve Chabot and deregulation again to lead us off the cliff again????

State in Play - In Midterm Elections, a Rougher Road for Incumbent Democrats - NYTimes.com

From front page Saturday, July 3, 2010, New York Times:

[Read this Blog item along with the next two, all of which are snipped from the same article]

State in Play - In Midterm Elections, a Rougher Road for Incumbent Democrats - NYTimes.com: "“Our job is to make sure people don’t take a pass on the midterm,” said Ken Shewmon, a management consultant who volunteers as a Democratic neighborhood team leader. “We know who they are, we know where they are, we know their phone numbers.
“We’re a little bit early now,” he said, “but if we don’t see a lot of volunteers by August, that’s a problem.”"

This is Us! State in Play - In Midterm Elections, a Rougher Road for Incumbent Democrats - NYTimes.com

State in Play - In Midterm Elections, a Rougher Road for Incumbent Democrats - NYTimes.com: "Now, four months before Election Day, Democratic campaign workers are trying to follow the road map from 2008, right down to selecting the same office headquarters along Springfield Pike and at the Jordan Crossing Center on Reading Road, the first shopping mall in the largely black neighborhood of Bond Hill. The first task: re-creating their get-out-the-vote teams, block by block."

State in Play - In Midterm Elections, a Rougher Road for Incumbent Democrats - NYTimes.com

Front page, New York Times,

State in Play - In Midterm Elections, a Rougher Road for Incumbent Democrats - NYTimes.com: "CINCINNATI — The congressman was dripping with sweat, and his face was as red as a tomato as he moved through a crowded park here, passing out dozens of plastic cups bearing his name."

More Important Links

http://www.politifact.com/

and

http://www.factcheck.org/

Charlie Rose and Paul Krugman on July 2, 2010

http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/11102