Tag Archives: Washington Post

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FORECAST: Right-wing money to rain on Mass – severe flooding expected

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Barney Frank for Congress 2010

Today, the Washington Post reported that “the final two weeks of the campaign will not be for the faint of heart.  A torrent of money, much of it from outside groups whose donors are not disclosed, will rain down on states and congressional districts, disproportionately for Republican candidates. The money will underwrite a barrage of ads, almost all of them wholly negative and highly personal.”

The congressional district I represent will not escape this gloomy forecast of right-wing “rain.”  Yesterday, a shadowy political organization based in Nevada announced that it will spend approximately $200,000 to defeat me and one of my Democratic colleagues in Massachusetts.  Last week, the Tea Party Express announced that I would be one of their top targets in the entire country.  Can outside right-wing organizations rain enough money on Massachusetts to alter the outcome of an election?  Sadly, they can.

You can help me fight this dark, threatening storm which threatens free elections.

The right is not only trying to defeat me personally; it wants to undermine many of the things I have spent my career fighting for.  It would like to roll back a new law to prevent abusive practices by credit card companies, eliminate safeguards against predatory lending, revoke new regulations on risky practices by large financial firms, block new rules on executive compensation, privatize Social Security, prevent reductions in excessive military spending, and restrict a woman’s right to choose.

Please help me ride out this storm so I can continue to fight for the things we care about most.  I will be grateful for your help.
Barney Frank

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Emergency: Save the Senate …video of Angle


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4A6AIOwZGg

 

Republicans are now within reach of taking over the Senate. It’s likely to come down to just three races that are tied and where MoveOn members can make the difference. This is a true emergency—please make a contribution immediately, before tonight’s fundraising deadline. 

 

 

There’s no point in sugarcoating this: If the election were held today, Republicans and their corporate benefactors would gain control of the House—and quite possibly the Senate.

That’s the nightmare scenario. It would spell an end to any hope of progress in the next two years—and quite possibly to Obama’s presidency.

But there are three key races that Republicans would have to win to take the Senate, and all are tied. Meaning, they’re close enough for us to tip the balance. We need to help these Democratic candidates raise enough money to get their message out—despite all the corporate ads targeting them—and run serious get-out-the-vote efforts.

This is a true emergency: We must stop the Republicans from taking over the Senate. There’s a critical fundraising deadline at midnight tonight. Please, make the most generous contribution you can afford, immediately:

https://pol.moveon.org/give/savethesenate.html?aa=5&id=24154-17809870-5a3ALlx&t=3

Here are the three progressive candidates in tight races who need our help right now:

We’re adding Alexi Giannoulias in Illinois to our Progressive Heroes list today because he’s locked in a tight race for President Obama’s old Senate seat, and because he’s running a populist campaign focused on taking on the corporate special interests and cleaning up Washington, D.C. This is the closest race in the country: Every poll in this race for the past two months has been tied.

Sen. Patty Murray

is the highest-ranking Democratic woman in the Senate. She supported the public option and the fight for clean energy jobs, and has worked with other pro-choice Democratic women senators to eliminate egregious gender disparities in insurance coverage. Her Republican challenger significantly out-raised her in the last three months, and Murray needs our help to win.

And Sen. Harry Reid in Nevada is facing Sharron Angle, the tea party fanatic who wants to “phase out” Social Security and Medicare, withdraw from the United Nations, and abolish the Department of Education.1 The latest polls show her tied—or even slightly ahead, and just yesterday her campaign announced that they’ve raised a record-breaking $14 million in the past three months.2

Can you chip in to these candidates’ campaigns and help stop the takeover?

https://pol.moveon.org/give/savethesenate.html?aa=5&id=24154-17809870-5a3ALlx&t=4

Thanks for all you do.

–Michael, Joan, Anna, Adam, and the rest of the team

1. “Sharron Angle says eliminate Social Security,” Progress Now Nevada, June 8, 2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4A6AIOwZGg

“Reid, in Fistfight, Could Take More Punches From Climate Bill,” Climate Wire, May 26, 2010
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=91813&id=&t=5&id=24154-17809870-5a3ALlx&t=5

“Sharron Angle wants to eliminate federal Department of Education,” MyNews4, September 8, 2010
http://www.mynews4.com/story.php?id=27445&n=122

2. “Angle raises $14.3 million,” The Washington Post, October 12, 2010
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=92142&id=24154-17809870-5a3ALlx&t=6

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Tuesday: Stop secret corporate ads in Seattle
 

 

MoveOn members in Seattle are holding a press conference on Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2010, at 12:00 PM to expose the hundreds of thousands of dollars that right-wing groups are spending on ads to deceive voters in Washington. Can you make it? 


RSVP for your local event

 

 

$10 million in one week?!

That’s the amount of money that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is spending right now to attack members of Congress who supported health care reform.1

And they have help. Across the country, we’re seeing deceptive campaign ads from harmless-sounding groups like “American Crossroads” and “Americans for Job Security.” These right-wing corporate front groups are pumping hundreds of millions of dollars into winning back Congress for Republicans.

Too many voters in Washington are seeing the ads but aren’t hearing the truth—so we need to get the word out about who is behind the avalanche of right-wing attack ads.

On Tuesday in Seattle, local MoveOn members will release a new report that details how much money these national groups are spending on swing races in Washington.

Can you come show your support at a brief press conference in Seattle on  Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2010, at 12:00 PM?


http://pol.moveon.org/event/events/event.html?event_id=108991&id=23970-17809870-55iDD8x&t=3We’ve put together this report because no one else has compiled district- and state-level data on this deluge of corporate cash. We need to get this message out to the media and to swing voters in Washington—before it’s too late. 

It’s a busy season for many folks—but coming out to this event is a great way to help fight corporate influence. This is the first big electoral season in the wake of Citizens’ United—and it’s crucial that we speak out together against out-of-control special interests throwing their weight around. Hope you can make it on Tuesday.

Thanks for all you do.

–Ilyse, Amy, Duncan, Eli, and the rest of the team

Source:1. “US Chamber spends more than $10 million on ads.” The Washington Post, Oct. 7, 2010

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=91877&id=23970-17809870-55iDD8x&t=4

 

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Never underestimate the big money


Barney Frank for Congress 2010


Earlier this year, I realized that a powerful coalition of right-wing organizations would target me in the upcoming election.  Now this has become a reality.

My opponent, a virtual unknown in Massachusetts, has suddenly been heavily promoted by a national coalition of right-wing forces.  He raised four hundred thousand dollars last month alone and he says that he is expecting a wave of independent expenditures from outside organizations — despite election rules against collaborating with them.

I need your help to oppose these powerful forces.

Last summer at a town hall meeting, I stood up to right-wing activists who outrageously compared President Obama to Adolf Hitler.  The Right has never forgiven me for this, and they are now mounting a coordinated attack against me in order to put fear in the heart of anyone show dares stand up to them.  I have been named me one of the top “Tea Party Targets” in the country.

The Right desperately wants to defeat me not only because I am outspoken, but because I am effective.  Recently, I led successful efforts to pass what the Washington Post called “the most sweeping reform of Wall Street since the Great Depression.”   The bill creates strong consumer protections and establishes a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau which will be headed by Elizabeth Warren.  We passed this law over the opposition of almost every Republican in Congress and of some of the most powerful institutions in the country.

Now these forces want me to pay for that success.  You can help stop them.

We should not underestimate the power of a movement that is fueled by and is the servant of big money. It will use the immense power of negative advertising  to convince good and decent Americans that I and other Democrats are actually the cause of many problems that are the product of right-wing engineering.  If we do nothing, their lies will take hold.

This election will mark a turning point in our lives. Let us not regret that we did not go to the mat and give all we can for the things we believe.

I will be grateful for your generous support.

Barney Frank

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Russ Feingold down by 6


The latest polls show that Sen. Russ Feingold is in serious danger of losing in November—and we simply can’t afford to let that happen. We’re making his race our top national priority, and we need to invest additional resources in Wisconsin immediately. We need at least 102 donations from Seattle today. Can you chip in $5?

Red alert: The latest polls show that Senator Russ Feingold could lose in November. They all him have him down by at least 6 points against a tea party Republican who actually thinks climate change is caused by sunspots.1

There’s no better, more principled Democrat in Washington than Sen. Feingold: The only senator to vote against the PATRIOT Act. A steadfast opponent of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And a passionate crusader against corporate influence in politics.

But since those very corporate interests have already spent $650,000 trying to defeat him, he’s now facing the fight of his political life.2 Because keeping Sen. Feingold’s voice in the Senate is so important, this race has become our top national priority.

We need to invest additional resources in Wisconsin immediately, which means raising at least $375,000 today. That’ll take at least 102 donations from folks in Seattle. Can you chip in $5? Just click here:

https://pol.moveon.org/donate/feingold.html?bg_id=hpc5&id=23613-17809870-XHvkOGx&t=3

With enough resources, we can recruit more volunteers to help Feingold’s campaign get out the vote, run an additional wave of ads in Wisconsin, and double our efforts to expose the corporate money behind the right-wing attacks on him.

We’re ready to expand on the key pieces of our campaign:

  • We’re firing up the recruitment engine we used to turn out hundreds of thousands of volunteers for the Obama campaign in 2008. In the next six weeks, we’re planning to make 500,000 calls nationwide to build a grassroots army and get out the vote.
  • Our team of expert field organizers and specially trained volunteer leaders are working around the clock to expose the corporate money backing Feingold’s opponent, as well as Republicans in other states.
  • And every time the right wing tries to smear Feingold and other Democrats who voted for the health care bill, we’re pushing back with hard-hitting ads and grassroots media campaigns.

Sen. Feingold can absolutely come back and win. Even the pollster who found Feingold down by 11 points predicts it’ll be a dead heat if voter turnout matches 2008 levels—and adds, “Right now these races look very difficult but if Democrats wake up between now and November they have the potential to become toss ups.”3

In a moment like this, with polls so close and just weeks to go before the election, the “ground game” is what’ll tip the balance—and that’s something MoveOn members excel at.

We’ll be able to expand our grassroots organizing and ad campaigns if at least 102 people from Seattle donate today. Can you chip in $5?

https://pol.moveon.org/donate/feingold.html?bg_id=hpc5&id=23613-17809870-XHvkOGx&t=4

Thanks for all you do.

–Michael, Joan, Anna, Jeff, and the rest of the team

Sources:

1. “2010 Wisconsin Senate General Election: Ron Johnson (R) vs Sen. Russ Feingold (D),” Pollster.com, Accessed September 23, 2010
http://www.pollster.com/polls/wi/10-wi-gov-ge-jvf.php

“Sunspots are behind climate change, Johnson says,” Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, August 16, 2010
http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/100814454.html

2. “Campaign Cash: Who’s spending where in 2010, Wisconsin Senate race,” The Washington Post, Accessed September 23, 2010
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=90359&id=23613-17809870-XHvkOGx&t=5

3. “PPP Poll: Feingold, Barrett Trailing in Wisconsin,” Talking Points Memo, September 21, 2010
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=90675&id=23613-17809870-XHvkOGx&t=6