New Deal Democrat Cecil Bothwell vs Blue Dog Heath Shuler-- A Study In Contrasts

Cecil Bothwell, the real thing

On Labor Day Asheville City Councilman Cecil Bothwell, the progressive Democrat taking on reactionary Blue Dog Heath Shuler in western North Carolina, issued a challenge to his conservative foe: "AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka has issued a Six-Point Agenda for New Jobs. I signed a pledge to support that agenda and I challenge Rep. Heath Shuler to do the same and to publicly announce his support."

Shuler, whose sister cousin is Liz Shuler, the first woman ever elected Secretary Treasurer of the AFL-CIO, has tried to temper his right-wing instincts when it comes to labor issues-- tried but failed. When push has come to shove, he's tended to vote with Republicans against the rights of public employees and against the rights of individual employees in the workplace. It would be hard to imagine him signing on to Trumka's Six-Point Agenda any sooner than Eric Cantor or John Boehner. And that goes a long way to explaining why he's vulnerable to Bothwell's challenge next year. Bothwell:

We American workers need immediate action. Our government can and must put people to work, now. The current recession will only end when unemployment levels are cut in half, and only the U.S. government has the power and obligation to make that happen quickly.

Federal law requires the government, in particular the President and the Federal Reserve, to create jobs. This legal duty comes from three sources: (1) full employment legislation including the Humphrey Hawkins Full Employment Act of 1978, (2) the 1977 Federal Reserve Act, and (3) the global consensus based on customary international law that all people have a right to a job with favorable remuneration to provide an adequate standard of living.

This is not a matter of opinion. It is a matter of law.

It isn’t easy to stand up to the lies and corruption coming from Wall Street, from the multinational corporations, from Fox News and the right-wing noise machine. But we can be heroes and stand up for our families, our neighbors and the future of the American Dream!

There’s a fellow in Burke County who used to work at a furniture factory. He built good furniture and he made pretty good money, $15 per hour plus benefits. He had worked up to two weeks paid vacation, he felt like he was part of a team and together with his wife’s income they’d been able to save and put money down on a house. She was a teaching assistant and she loved both her job and the way her work fit in with her kids’ school schedule.

That fellow’s job has been relocated to China, to a worker who makes 90 cents per hour, while cuts in the NC state budget eliminated his wife’s position in the school. They’re in foreclosure and they aren’t sure what they’ll do or where they’ll go next. The ongoing recession has hit them hard, and even if the economy turned around tomorrow, they’ll be a very long time climbing back.

That story has been repeated across WNC and around the country. One in four jobs lost in the global recession were right here in the United States. We took the big hit.

Our work defines us, enobles us and enables us to participate in the economy. For the great majority of us, the only thing we have to invest in the business world is our muscle and talent and sweat and commitment. That is to say, our lives. We find some sort of work that suits us, or pays enough to convince us that the transaction is worthwhile, and we do it. Day after day, year after year. The bargain with those who pay us is this: Our good work and our loyalty in exchange for your profit and your loyalty. That promise has been broken.

...Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats will tell you that organized labor has hurt American workers by forcing corporations to go overseas. That’s a lie.

Unionization of major industries in America-- autos in the midwest, coal mining in the mid-south, steel manufacturing in the northeast, and some weaving and sewing operations in both south and north-- lifted millions of Americans out of grinding poverty and abusive working conditions. Union campaigns are the reason we don’t have children working in sweatshops like our competitors in China. They brought us the 40-hour work week, job safety rules, benefits including health care and workmen’s compensation, unemployment insurance, minimum wage laws and more. Today unions in telecommunications, construction, public service, airport security, public safety and other fields continue to defend all of us who labor in whatever sector we find work.

Unions created the best trained, most productive work force in the world, and non-union workers benefited as well. The floor was raised, and both workers and owners benefited from the partnership.

...Blue Dogs and Republicans also tell you that cutting federal spending and taxes is the only way to create new jobs. That’s another lie.

Cutting spending and taxes only puts people out of work, and it does nothing to help recovery. Yes, the deficit is a long-term problem we will need to address, after we are all back to work.

Treasury bonds are paying two percent interest right now. It is a great time for the Fed to borrow money-- ask any small business owner who needs capital improvements whether a two percent loan is a good deal! We can and must choose to create public sector jobs today with a reinstatement of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).

We need high speed rail nationwide-- air travel and over-the-road trucking are going to be priced out of the market as oil prices rise in the future. Trains are the answer. And we need multi-modal transit systems that connect us to the trains, to our jobs and to our extended families.

We need teachers and teaching assistants in every school system-- Federal money can make this happen fast. America is falling behind our world competitors in both achievement and college matriculation.

We need to provide scholarships for those who are out of work and want to continue their education-- just as we had the GI Bill after WWII. After a decade of unnecesssary wars and collapse of our economy, we need to prepare citizens for the 21st Century.

We need water conservation projects-- we are facing permanent drought both globally and here at home as we run out of fresh water supplies. (Small scale farms should get the same water conservation subsidies currently enjoyed by the corporate giants.)

We need energy conservation projects-- retrofitting homes and businesses with energy saving technologies “creates” more energy at a lower cost than any form of energy production. The cheapest energy is the energy we don’t use.

Cecil Bothwell is the first canddiate added to Blue America's page dedicacted to replacing Blue Dogs with real Democrats-- Bad Dogs. Take a look at his platform and ask yourself if you'd like to help see Cecil Bothwell in Congress instead of Heath Shuler, who has voted almost 60% of the time-- on crucial votes since he was elected-- with the Republicans against the Democratic positions in the House. This is what Cecil is asking voters in North Carolina to consider before they vote in the primary:

Jobs

• Infrastructure: Repair America’s roads and bridges.

• Transportation: Light rail to get people to work … heavy rail for factories.

• Water: Upgrade water and sewage systems.

• Conservation: Planting trees addresses climate change.

• Education: Reinvigorate our schools by hiring artists, writers, musicians, engineers, math and computer geeks, and returning veterans.

Trade

• China is charging a de facto 30% tariff on U.S. goods.

• We have a trade deficit with China that now approaches $1 billion PER DAY.

• If China won’t drop trade barriers, we need to immediately impose a 30 percent tariff on all Chinese goods.
(That’s the way to bring back manufacturing jobs in WNC and across our nation.)

• Renegotiate NAFTA and CAFTA to include worker and environmental protection.

Wall Street

• Regulate Wall St. to prevent another financial collapse.

• Protect consumers from predatory lending.

• End corporate personhood; overturn Citizens United.

• Public financing for elections: government not for sale.

• Restore the right to collective bargaining: CardChek.

Education

• Reform “No Child Left Behind.”

• More flexibility and fairness in our accountability system.

• Bigger investment in teachers and principals.

• A sharper focus on schools and students most at risk.

• Free Public Education from preschool through four years of college.

The Social Safety Net

• Social Security: Remove the cap! The wealthy are only taxed up to $106,000.

• Medicare: Remove the cap!  No cuts; instead, Medicare for all as the public option.

• Medicaid: No cuts; this program serves the truly needy, especially children.

Women’s issues

• Equal pay for equal work.

• Full funding for Planned Parenthood and domestic violence prevention programs.

• Abortion should be legal, safe and rare.

• Paid parental leave for one parent for the first five years of a woman’s first two children’s lives.

The National Debt

• Allow the Bush tax cuts to expire, implement Financial Transaction Tax.

• Require millionaires, billionaires, and corporations to pay their fair share.

• Cut the Pentagon budget. End the endless wars. Out of Afghanistan, now.

• Cut farm subsidies to agribusiness.

Shuler opposes almost every progressive reform Bothwell is proposing. Again, you can contribute to Bothwell's campaign here.

Blue Dog Caucus Crumbling As Fast As Qaddafi's Hold On Libya

Although the right-wing Blue Dog caucus was all but wiped out last year-- with as much as half the Democrats in their districts staying home and refusing to vote for them on election day-- the bad dogs haven't been house trained by the trauma. They're still voting with the GOP on even the most important issues before Congress.



In the 2010 midterms the Blue Dog caucus was decimated. You know all those losses you heard about that the Democrats had in the House? It was almost entirely Blue Dogs and other conservative Democrats who voted with them but never officially joined the caucus for one reason or another (like Ann Kirkpatrick, Suzanne Kosmas, Melissa Bean, Bill Foster, Ike Skelton, John Adler, and Michael McMahon).



Among the Blue Dogs who lost were caucus co-chairs Baron Hill (IN) and Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (SD), as well as both longtime incumbents like Gene Taylor (MS), Jim Marshall (GA), Earl Pomeroy (ND), Allen Boyd (FL) and Lincoln Davis (TN) and most of the fresh batch of new comers who swept into office under cover in the two national Democratic waves of 2006 and 2008-- Bobby Bright (AL), Walt Minnick (ID), Chris Carney (PA), Harry Mitchell (AZ), Glenn Nye (VA), Zack Space (OH), Betsy Markey (CO), Travis Childers (MS), Frank Kratovil (MD), Kathy Dahlkemper (PA) and Scott Murphy (NY).



And although the outlook for congressional Democrats in general looks good for 2012, Blue Dogs are likely to drag the party down again. If you look at the 10 Democrats who voted most frequently against the party and with Boehner and Cantor, all of them are Blue Dogs and all have alienated Democratic and left-leaning independent voters in their districts. Several have already declared that they're leaving the House. The worst Democrat of all, ultra reactionary corporate shill Dan Boren (OK), has voted with Boehner on over 82% of the crucial roll calls this year-- more often than 14 actual Republicans! He wisely decided to retire from politics. The next most Republican-voting Democrat-- 79% of the crucial votes-- was Jason Altmire (PA) who has been gerrymandered into a primary with another conservative Democrat, Mark Critz. Corrupt Arkansas hack Mike Ross has almost the exact same putrid right-wing voting record as Altmire and, like Boren, he's decided to retire from politics. The 4th worst Democrat is Jim Matheson, who may run for another office now that his district has been gerrymandered to be less likely to reelect him, despite the fact that he was with Boehner on over 73% of the crucial votes.



The other Democrats Cantor has been able to count on when he's needed them to stab Democrats in the back on the most important issues are:

Collin Peterson (MN)- 72% with the GOP, but probably safe

John Barrow (GA)- 71% with the GOP, and likely to lose in a newly gerrymandered district

Henry Cuellar (TX)- 70% with the GOP but probably safe

Joe Donnelly (IN)- 70% with the GOP, gerrymandered and likely to make a losing run for the Senate

Jim Costa (CA)- 69% with the GOP, in a dramatic move right, facing a tough reelection in a redistricting that hasn't been friendly to him

Tim Holden (PA)- 66% with the GOP, could face a primary and, if he survives, a serious Republican challenger

Heath Shuler (Blue Dog-NC), one of the few energetic cheer leaders left for anti-progressive Blue Dogism faces a tough primary battle from bona fide populist Democrat Cecil Bothwell [you can help Cecil defeat Shuler here] and a tougher district. And he's still weighing either taking a job as a gym teacher back in Tennessee or switching to the GOP.

Blue Dog lawmakers say that talk of their group’s demise is overstated. When the balance of power shifts in Congress, they point out, it’s generally those in the center who take the hardest hits.



“Basically, when the Republicans take over, they beat the conservative Democrats. When the Democrats take over, they pretty much defeat moderate Republicans,” Ross said. “That’s because when you’re in a swing district, you’re going to be a conservative Democrat or a moderate Republican, or you don’t survive.”



Lawmakers have several theories about why the ranks of moderates are on the decline. Congressional districts are being drawn in a way that favors increasingly partisan representation from both parties. Also, much of the money flowing to campaigns these days comes from interest groups with a decidedly partisan edge, such as the Club for Growth on the right or labor unions on the left.

Although right-wing and corporate PACs still finance the Blue Dog caucus, often surreptitiously, unions have finally started backing away from contributing the rightists who tend to vote against the interests of their members. By the way, the Washington Post link is to a story that is pure Blue Dog hype and gets the story of why the Blue Dogs were defeated completely wrong. But it's what they believe Inside the Beltway.



On his new campaign website, Cecil Bothwell explains some of the most fundamental difference between himself and conservatives-- whether a Blue Dog like Heath Shuler or a garden variety Republican corporate shill:

We have been in an economic recession since 2008. Most economists agree that it was triggered by the Bush tax cuts for the rich, American involvement in foreign wars and the housing bubble that burst when it was discovered that highly rated, bundled subprime mortgages promoted by investment bankers were actually worthless. Interestingly, no one was ever brought to trial or held accountable for this widespread scam. The government bailed out the banks and provided a relatively small stimulus for economic growth.



But people who lost their life savings and/or homes received almost no help or consideration. As job loss continues, more and more people are suffering. The big banks and mega-corporations however are making as much money as before the 2008 crash. And obviously, they are not using these profits to create jobs; they are simply giving big bonuses to executives and sitting on their cash, most of which is held offshore to avoid taxation. Needless to say, if this corporate profit were repatriated, the money would generate tax revenue which could be used by the government to create jobs and/or reduce the deficit.



To date, the Republicans have insisted on debt reduction at the expense of job creation. The net result is that they call for draconian cuts in spending that can only shrink the economy. If the “super congress” committee composed of six Republican and six Democrats from the House and Senate cannot agree on severe cuts in government spending, measures to further shrink and eliminate government spending will automatically kick in. Programs at greatest risk include Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and the Pentagon budget.



It is time for the living, breathing people of this nation to reexamine our priorities and reclaim management of our country. The United States was created to grant real people an opportunity for “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” What we need now includes medical care for all, education for all, retirement with dignity for all and opportunities for workers to improve life circumstances for themselves and their families. Banks and corporations are, after all, only artificial entities created by and intended to serve real, living humans.

This is a guy worth trying to help get into Congress. This morning he went on to emphasize that "The Hill suggested this week that my opponent, Heath Shuler, is the 4th most threatened Democrat in the country, due to redistricting. While that opinion is based on the idea that the new district is 'more Republican,' I see it as just one more reason why the old argument that we can only elect a conservative Democrat here is yesterday's news. If we don't offer a clear alternative, someone who represents the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party (in Howard Dean's memorable quip), we don't have any chance in hell of activating the progressives to get out and vote. Turnout is everything, and I'm that Democrat." You can contribute to his campaign at our Bad Dogs page, our anti-Blue Dogs campaign site.

Time To Say Buh-Bye To Reactionary Blue Dog Heath Shuler?

In terms of crucial votes taken in their entire congressional careers, only three Democrats-- Dan Boren (Blue Dog-OK), Jason Altmire (Blue Dog-PA) and Joe Donnelly (Blue Dog-IN)-- have voted more consistently with the Republicans than North Carolina Blue Dog Heath Shuler. And Boren and Donnelly have both announced they're leaving the House. Shuler's Progressive Punch score on crucial votes is 40.73, which means he's followed the lead of Boehner and Cantor on 59.67% of the crucial votes since first being elected to Congress. This year fellow North Carolina congressman, Walter Jones (R) votes more frequently with the Democrats than Shuler does! And no one in western North Carolina was surprised this week when Shuler took a big happy bite of the Satan Sandwich. He almost never votes in the interests of his constituents, so why should anyone have expected him to do so on a bill John Boehner has been bragging achieved 98% of the Republican goals.



The Republican-controlled North Carolina legislature has gerrymandered the 11th congressional district to make it much harder for Shuler to win again in 2012. It's no secret that Shuler has been feeling out his alma mater, the University of Tennessee, for the open Athletic Director job. His time as the school's Heisman-winning quarterback were his glory days... and he's angling for the million dollars a year, seven year contract. He keeps denying that he's also negotiating with the GOP to switch parties and run for the seat as a Republican. That worked out badly for fellow reactionary Blue Dog Parker Griffith, who switched parties and then was defeated by an even more extreme right-wing Republican in the next primary.



Shuler knows he may not have to worry about how he'd fare in the general election in the newly gerrymandered 11th. After his record of supporting the GOP and after his vote last week for Boehner's unpopular deficit plan, many Democrats just want him out. Last spring we talked about Asheville's very popular and very progressive City Councilman, Cecil Bothwell, challenging Shuler either as an independent or as a Democrat. Bothwell is running as a Democrat and he's the first candidate to be added to this year's Blue America anti-Blue Dog page. I spoke to him this weekend about Shuler's vote for the Satan Sandwich and asked him how he would have voted. "With the 95 Democrats who opposed it," he answered firmly, a man who's sense of self-assurance comes from a coherent purpose of serving the interests of his friends and neighbors in western North Carolina.

The debt ceiling deal approved this week is a disaster. I would have joined the other 95 Democrats who voted against the plan, and I believe the new 12-member special commission it has created will prove to be every bit as problematic as the fracas we've witnessed in recent weeks.



President Obama shouldn't have taken the 14th Amendment solution off the table. He should have told the Republicans that if they didn't go along with a straight up or down vote on the debt ceiling he would be forced to intervene for the good of the nation. He permitted his opponents to drag the argument far to the right and agreed to a solution that is far to the right of popular opinion. A significant majority wants to see tax increases on those making more than $250,000 per year. Handing the keys to any tax increase to the GOP majority in the House is a mistake we will all come to regret.



I note that the agreement has had no good effect on the markets, with the Dow collapsing immediately following the agreement, and now Standard & Poors downgrading our national credit rating.

Bothwell feels he can put together a populist coalition that rejects the transpartisan right-wing agenda that has devastated the America economy and ruined job prospects in North Carolina. He sees the new district being entirely up for grabs and not something that should be looked at in terms of how many votes Obama got and how many votes McCain got-- which is the standard the legislature used in their gerrymander. "I believe," he told me, "there's a new paradigm emerging in American politics and it's very apparent here. Both Progressive Democrats and tea party Republicans exhibit a strong populist streak. Surprisingly, tea partiers support Medicare almost as strongly as do Democrats in national polls. Both are discontent with the corporatist policies of the major parties at the national level. I believe our campaign is getting through to people on both sides of the old political divide and I expect we will win."



If you'd like to help Cecil Bothwell do that, please consider donating what you can to his campaign. I expect we'll be hearing a lot more from him as he keeps North Carolina's worst Blue Dog on the run.