The Blogosphere Bites Back

The News & Observer, Raleigh NC, 2-13-07

If you were anywhere near the political blogosphere last week, you might have noticed a firestorm over the latest campaign moves by local presidential hopeful John Edwards. The candidate's newest staffers, two progressive bloggers named Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwan, found themselves in hot water over things they'd previously posted to their personal political blogs. The controversy erupted only days after the campaign announced the two women's hires, as part of Edwards' efforts to harness the emerging power of the netroots in his quest for the Democratic nomination.

Anti-religious charges against the bloggers were first led by right-wing typing heads and media figures like syndicated columnist Michelle Malkin, and William Donohue, president of the conservative Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights. They highlighted the bloggers' incendiary past postings, like a June, 2006 excerpt from Marcotte's blog Pandagon when she described the immaculate conception in vulgar terms and asked what would have happened if Mary used birth control ("A: You’d have to justify your misogyny with another ancient mythology"), and McEwan's reference to Bush supporters as "wingnut Christofascists."

According to what Salon.com described as "sources in and close to the campaign," Team Edwards' initial response to the flap was to fire Marcotte and McEwan. But as news hit the blogosphere, liberal activists vented their rage at Edwards for not standing by his bloggers. Their offending posts, after all, had been written before they were hired by the campaign. Many a political blogger with dreams of one day also making the transition to paid staffer was undoubtedly alarmed. As the on-line fury spread, internal discussions began within the campaign about re-hiring the bloggers. By week's end, a supportive statement from the candidate appeared on Edwards' website, saying that "the tone and the sentiment of some of Amanda Marcotte's and Melissa McEwan's posts personally offended me. It's not how I talk to people, and it's not how I expect the people who work for me to talk to people...but I also believe in giving everyone a fair shake."

The netroots were quick to claim victory, and most heralded Edwards for doing "the right thing" by refusing to bow to pressure from conservatives for the bloggers' scalps. Many pointed out that the blogger's main accusers, Malkin and Donohue, are themselves no strangers to charges of bigotry and offensive rhetoric. Donohue has claimed that "Hollywood is controlled by secular Jews who hate Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular," has referred to the "gay death style," and during the 2004 campaign said that "if a Catholic votes for Kerry because they support him on abortion rights that is to cooperate in evil." Malkin has called liberal San Francisco "a hate filled city," and her book In Defense of Internment justifies the decision during World War II to force 112,000 Japanese aliens and U.S. citizens of Japanese ancestry into internment camps.

Edwards, like the rest of the '08 field, is making it up as he goes along in attempting to re-create the internet magic of Howard Dean's 2004 amazing money harvesting machine. But the Bloggergate mess raised disturbing questions on all sides. What does it say about the current state of the Edwards campaign that these job positions were not properly vetted, since bloggers' words are available on the internet for all to see? Or that the campaign let itself be taken off message for an entire week over a staffing decision? More importantly, how can the left expect to overcome the right's skill at exploiting the media echo chamber if netroots activists insist on turning a candidate's controversial hires into loyalty tests? The rule is generally when you work for candidates, don't do anything to embarrass them. As soon as you become the story, your services are no longer required.

Even members of the religious left stepped up to denounce the bloggers' comments. "We have gone so far to rebuild that coalition [between Democrats and religious Christians] and something like this sets it back," said Brian O’Dwyer, chair of the National Democratic Ethnic Leadership Council. He called Edwards' decision not to fire the bloggers "not only wrong morally — it’s stupid politically." The Edwards campaign probably hasn't seen the last of this controversy, and may continue to be distracted by negative public reaction to these staffers' writings until it finds some way to ease them off the payroll.

Lost in the shuffle was the fact that last Monday, Edwards became the first of the '08 presidential contenders to release a detailed plan for universal health care coverage, a mix of innovative policy solutions similar to those now being implemented by states like Massachusetts and California. Lesson? When the blogosphere roars, the cacophony may drown out even the most disciplined campaign's attempts to discuss things that truly matter.

ACTION ALERT - Stop Bush from letting H&R Block rip off consumers!

Action Alert, DailyKos & ePluribus Media, 3-22-06

The Office of Thrift Supervision announced H&R Block's approval for a savings bank charter on March 15, the same day New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer filed a $250 million civil lawsuit against Block for fraudulently marketing Express IRA's. 85% of Express IRA customers lost money. H&R Block repeatedly used the company's Express IRA program to justify the need for a Block bank.

The approval of a bank charter for Block is one of the first actions taken by new OTS Director John Reich. Once again, the Bush Administration has abandoned consumers in favor of big corporations.

Yet approval of the bank was conditional, and can be blocked if new information having a "material adverse bearing" on the bank's proposed operations comes to light.

Send a letter via e-mail asking the OTS to reverse its decision, by clicking here.

Let the OTS know H&R Block must not be allowed to expand consumer fraud!

In the Director's Order issued by OTS head John Reich on March 14 outlining the decision, the federal agency disclosed that H&R Block plans to transfer "a significant portion of the present Express IRA and money market account funds to the Savings Bank," and that Block's bank "will be the custodian of new Express IRA accounts."

In testimony during an OTS hearing on its bank charter application in October, 2005, H&R Block Vice President Bernard M. Wilson repeatedly used the Express IRA program to justify the need for a Block bank. He said Block had opened 500,000 Express IRA's in the past five years, which proved the company "can act really in a way that most traditional banks are not choosing to...we think we can fill that gap for low income consumers."

The reality, as revealed in New York State's lawsuit, is that Block advised customers to buy an "unsuitable, fraudulently marketed, poorly performing, fee-ridden 'retirement vehicle' called the Express IRA" that shrinks over time. 85% of Express IRA customers lost money because their only investment option was a money market account paying an interest rate too low to cover the program's unadvertised fees.

During its approval process, the OTS did not communicate with New York State about the pending fraud probe of H&R Block, although H&R Block told the agency they were under investigation. "We had communication with H&R Block, but not the attorney general," OTS spokesman Chris Smith said. "The company told us there was an investigation going on." (National Mortgage News, 3/20/06)

Send a letter via e-mail asking the OTS to reverse its decision!

For more information on this campaign, read the on-line press release from the National Consumer Law Center, the California Reinvestment Coalition, Inner City Press / Fair Finance Watch, the Woodstock Institute, and the Community Reinvestment Association of North Carolina.

ACT BY OCT 26, 2005 - Stop Right Wing Assault on Non-Profit Groups' Voter Registration Drives!

Action Alert, DailyKos, 10-25-05

The U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote this week on a Draconian attack on our right to register and vote.

HR 1461 "reforms" Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It includes a section called the Affordable Housing Fund, a very creative measure that gives 5 percent of the profits from these companies in grants to nonprofit and other organizations for the purpose of building or preserving affordable housing. This proposal has bipartisan support, and thousands of community groups have rallied to support it.

Right-wing conservatives have been trying to kill the Affordable Housing Fund since it was proposed. They attached a provision to HR 1461 prohibiting organizations that conduct nonpartisan voter registration drives from receiving any of the Fund's grants.

The bill moves to the House floor for debate on Wednesday (10/26). Amendments will be considered by the Rules Committee starting 4 pm Tuesday.

Contact your Representative TODAY and demand that they oppose this assault on our right to register and vote.

The provision in HR 1461 restricting voter registration was proposed by the Republican Study Committee, an ultra-conservative group of House members. ("Key Democrat calls GSE provision unacceptable," Washington Post, October 19, 2005)

The provision would even cover organizations that helped to register voters during the past year, plus groups that affiliate with organizations that do voter registration. Worse, the proposal extends beyond a simple ban on using Affordable Housing Fund money for voter registration. It bars organizations from using their own funds for voter registration and get-out-the-vote activities.

In other words, if a non-profit community group wants to participate in the Affordable Housing Fund, it cannot get involved in voter registration, even transport voters to the polls. Many housing organizations help residents update their voter registration when they move in. Housing management offices often have registration materials available as a service they provide to their residents.

We should go out of our way to encourage and welcome new voters, especially the poor, elderly and people with disabilities, those who benefit from affordable housing. It's an outrage that some of our leaders would punish nonpartisan nonprofits that register voters, instead of applauding this important work.

Rev. Willie Gable, Executive Vice President of the National Baptist Convention, has called this provision the "Non-Voting Rights Act of 2005." ("Housing Bill Contains A Catch," Minneapolis Star-Tribune, October 21, 2005).

Gable is among leaders of 62 faith-based, housing and other organizations who sent a letter to House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) last week urging him to remove the voter registration restrictions before this bill comes to the floor.

You can take action today against this assault on our right to register and vote. Contact your Representative, asking them to oppose this provision. Just follow the below directions.

1. To voice your concerns on this issue via phone, you can call the Capitol Operator toll free at 1-866-864-6483 and ask to be connected with your Representative.

2. Below is a sample form letter. Copy (Ctrl+C) this text into your clipboard.

3. Click here to open a form to send e-mail to your US Representative:

http://www.house.gov/writerep/

4. Paste (Crtl+V) the sample text into the "your message" field on the form.

5. Include your name and address in the requested fields on the form.

SAMPLE FORM LETTER:

Dear Representative ___,

I support the establishment of the Affordable Housing Fund in the GSE legislation, but language that will restrict an organization's right to engage in voter registration/education may be included in H.R. 1461 when it goes to the floor for a vote.

I oppose any language that restricts voter registration and freedom of affiliation by non-profit and public organizations when using their own funds. This language will prevent housing organizations who provide affordable housing for seniors, people with disabilities and low income persons with onsite non-partisan voter registration/education services and the opportunity to engage in the public process. As we are fighting for the opportunity for the citizens in Iraq to participate in a democratic society including the right to vote in their country, our government should not be preventing its own citizens from fully engaging in its own democracy.

I urge you as my Representative to tell House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) to reject these restrictions in the managers amendment and bring the bill to the floor for a vote without this language. If H.R. 1461 is brought to the floor with these restrictions on voter registration intact, please vote no on the bill. You must preserve our right to fully participate in our democracy.

Sincerely,

Name
Address
City, State, Zip

ACT BY SEPT 27, 2005 - Stop Bush's Largest Corporate Donor MBNA from Merging with Bank of America!

Action Alert, DailyKos, 9-22-05

MBNA and Bank of America (BofA) have announced plans to merge. The $35 billion deal would create a combined financial giant with 20% of the U.S. credit card market. In 2004, MBNA surpassed Enron as the single largest donor to George W. Bush. MBNA gave 70% to 80% of its contributions to GOP causes. MBNA took a leading role lobbying for bankruptcy "reform" - recent legislation that will make it much harder for consumers to file for bankruptcy.

Next Tuesday, September 27, the Delaware State Bank Commissioner will hold a public hearing in Wilmington, Delaware on the proposed merger. You can take action today to speak out against this concentration of economic power by two huge financial corporations who use profits earned on the backs of consumers to advance their predatory political agendas.

Send a letter via e-mail asking the Bank Commissioner to oppose this merger, by clicking this link:

http://www.cra-nc.org/bofa_mbna_merger.htm

Let the Bank Commissioner know this merger is bad for consumers and harmful to the democratic and economic health of our country!

The two companies and their employees have given federal candidates and parties nearly $22 million over the past 15 years - making a merged BofA-MBNA America's top corporate contributor (Charlotte Observer, July 7, 2005)

MBNA showered millions on federal candidates (more than 1.5 million in 2004 alone) as it took a leading role lobbying for bankruptcy "reform" - legislation passed by Congress and signed by President Bush on April 20, 2005 that will make it much harder for consumers to file for bankruptcy.

A merged Bank of America-MBNA's credit card division would become the largest in the nation, with 40 million active cardholders and $143.2 billion in outstanding balances - a market share over 20% according to The New York Times, July 2, 2005. If this merger is approved, the top ten credit card issuers would control over 80% of the market. Already, credit card pricing is anything but competitive. While the prime rate fell by 4.5% (from 8.75% in February 2000 to 4.25% in November 2002), the average credit card interest rates fell by only 1.52% during this period (from 14.3% to 12.78%).

BofA's lending record shows disparate treatment of minorities. In Delaware, during 2004 BofA denied applications of African Americans 2.99 times more frequently than whites and Hispanics 3.31 times more frequently than whites. In its home state of North Carolina, BofA in 2004 denied the applications of African Americans 2.11 times more frequently than whites and was 3.19 times more likely to confine African Americans to higher cost / rate spread loans than whites. Nationwide in 2004, for home purchase loans BofA denied applications from Hispanics 2.104 times more frequently than from whites, and non-Hispanic Blacks 2.063 times more frequently than non-Hispanic whites. In 2004, MBNA's rejection rate on refinance loan applications for white borrowers was 35%. For African American borrowers it was 54%. For Hispanic borrowers it was 82%. Over 48% of MBNA's loans to African-Americans in 2004 were high cost loans.

Bank of America is extensively involved in subprime lending. It controls a majority stake in the subprime lender OwnIt Mortgage. It securitizes high interest rate loans through Banc of America Securities, LLC, Banc of America Mortgage Capital Corporation and its 100%-owned (but generically-named) subsidiary Asset Backed Funding Corporation - a Delaware corporation. It purchases loans of subprime lender Ameriquest - which just settled predatory lending charges with multiple states. Finally, BofA arranged a syndicated credit line for Advance America - the largest U.S. payday lender, with 2,208 stores in 34 states. Bank of America has assets of $736 billion at Advance America as of end of 2003.

TAKE ACTION TODAY to help stop this OUTRAGEOUS MERGER!

http://www.cra-nc.org/bofa_mbna_merger.htm

Goodbye Bedford Falls, Hello Pottersville

Action Alert & Advocacy Campaign, on-line & streets of Durham/Raleigh/Chapel Hill NC, Dec 2004 - Jan 2005

In the Christmas classic It’s A Wonderful Life, Jimmy Stewart’s good-hearted character George Bailey learns a valuable lesson. As shown by his guardian angel, if he had never been born, his beloved small town Bedford Falls would have become a cesspool of fast-buck commercialism. In Pottersville, named for the greedy local banker Old Man Potter, Main Street is a red light district, with liquor stores and pawn shops on every corner.

The message was clear. Pottersville stands for everything communities don’t want to be – a demoralized, despairing, hopeless place, where greed has replaced investment in long-term needs. Yet Pottersville is the kind of future America’s communities could face if changes proposed by the Bush Administration are adopted that would alter how our nation’s financial institutions are regulated.

The agency proposing this Pottersville scheme is the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS), which regulates the nation’s thrifts, aka savings & loans (S&L’s). The legislation it would affect is the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), enacted in 1977 and strengthened during the Clinton years. CRA requires banks and thrifts to provide banking services to low and middle-income neighborhoods. The OTS is accepting public comment through January 24, 2005 (regs.comments@ots.treas.gov, include No. 2004-53 in subject line) on proposed changes to how CRA is enforced, and now is the time for concerned citizens to speak out against these ill-conceived proposals.

Specifically, the OTS wants to reduce the regulatory burden on thrifts to a point where CRA would become meaningless. Earlier this fall, the OTS pushed through another change that weakened CRA. The agency exempted thrifts with less than $1 billion in assets from having to meet the most rigorous CRA tests, an increase from the previous level of $250 million. Other government agencies such as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which regulates some banks, are closely watching how much public outcry greets the proposals being floated by OTS, with an eye towards advancing their own, similar proposals to gut the CRA.

Currently, banks and thrifts are periodically graded to make sure they are fulfilling their obligations under CRA to serve low and middle income communities. The CRA exam for large thrifts includes three parts - lending, investment, and service tests. Under the OTS proposal, large thrifts will be allowed to eliminate their investment or service tests or decide how heavily they want to weight each part, as long as lending does not fall below 50% of the total test. Allowing thrifts to design their own exams makes a mockery of CRA’s intent, which is to ensure financial institutions uphold their responsibilities to serve all citizens.

Letting the thrift industry police itself would put the foxes in charge of the henhouse. And why tamper with legislation that’s widely heralded as a success? The New York Times reports that housing groups credit the CRA for funneling more than $1.5 trillion into low income neighborhoods since its inception. These investments have funded affordable housing, medical clinics, and other worthy community development projects. They have kept communities from becoming like Pottersville by nurturing small businesses and helping more Americans become homeowners.

Even Mel Martinez, President Bush’s first housing secretary and now a Republican senator-elect from Florida, has praised CRA for its role in building healthy communities and expanding home ownership. The CRA has changed banks and thrifts for the better by preventing them from discriminating against poor and minority loan applicants. If CRA is weakened, banks and thrifts will reduce their commitments to low and middle income communities. More consumers will be forced into predatory lending traps such as subprime mortgages, payday loans, and high-priced check cashing services. Old Man Potter would be proud.

Making paperwork requirements less burdensome to businesses is a worthy goal, but in this case, the Office of Thrift Supervision seems intent on throwing the baby out with the bath water. Allowing thrifts to design their own CRA exams will remove all incentives for them to comply with the law. Without proper enforcement, legislation will be gutted that has worked well for nearly three decades to channel investments into communities that need it the most.

You can take action to stop these proposed changes to CRA. This misguided proposal seeks to subvert the public interest, and counts on lack of public awareness and outrage to succeed. Express yourself by sending comment via letter or e-mail to the Office of Thrift Supervision.

Comments are due by Monday, January 24, 2005. You can e-mail the OTS at regs.comments@ots.treas.gov, and include the OTS docket number, No. 2004-53, in the subject line of your e-mail. Or fax a letter to (202) 906-6518. Or mail it to Regulation Comments, Chief Counsel's Office, Office of Thrift Supervision, 1700 G Street, NW, Washington, DC 20552, Attention: No. 2004-53. If you prefer to sign an on-line form letter, click here.

This isn’t just a Christmas story. The fight against Pottersville is a battle our nation’s communities can’t afford to lose.

Two Deaths, One America

Independent Weekly, Durham NC, 6-16-04

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Last week it was hard not to notice a great American had died. There were front page newspaper stories, TV coverage, and the radio waves were filled with his voice. On Friday, every post office in the nation shut down in his honor. Well, at least we can dream the person we're talking about had been Ray Charles, and not Ronald Wilson Reagan.

They say famous deaths come in threes, but in this case, two was enough to put an ironic spin on the week's events. Repeatedly, corporate media talking heads told us why Ronnie was worthy of saintly status. They called him an enduring symbol of our nation's freedom, an optimist who ended the Cold War, and lots of other fawning superlatives. Glossed over was any mention of Reagan's legacy as a divider, a politician who spent much of the 1970's traveling the country peddling thinly veiled racism, telling white audiences made-up anecdotes about welfare queens driving Cadillacs.

While being interviewed on NPR's Fresh Air in 1998, Ray Charles reminded us that music isn't about color, and that's what makes it so beautiful. He reminisced about the integrated world of the big bands and jazz musicians of the 40's and 50's, and talked of how he'd once toured with a "hillbilly" band known as the Florida Playboys. At the same time, in Hollywood, the future 40th President of the United States was helping Joe McCarthy conduct a witch hunt in the U.S. film industry as head of the Screen Actors Guild. Instead of standing up against McCarthyism and red-baiting, Reagan was one of its cheerleaders, ruining the lives of numerous blacklisted actors, writers, and other professionals.

Both men were born poor, but only one of them remembered where he came from. As President, Reagan used his political power to curtail the opportunities available to the less fortunate by cutting social programs and giving tax cuts to the wealthy. Predictably, the rich got richer while the poor got poorer. From his bully pulpit, Reagan preached that government was the problem, not any kind of solution, and staffed federal agencies with rabid true believers who shared this limited vision. That is, when they weren't far right-wing religious zealots like Attorney General Ed Meese, the ideological ancestor of John Ashcroft, who saw pornography and pot as the biggest threats facing America. James Watt, Reagan's first Secretary of the Interior, admitted to Congress in 1981 he didn't think there was a true need to protect the environment, because "I don't know how many future generations we can count on until the Lord returns."

It should be obvious that Ray Charles' music reached across lines to touch all Americans. He pioneered the mixing of musical genres, creating a gumbo of gospel and rhythm & blues that nearly singlehandedly spawned the sound eventually known as soul music. In the early 60's, he began recording country songs, making it clear that for Ray Charles, music knew no boundaries. And at a time when controversy could have been career ending for him, Ray Charles showed the true meaning of courage by actively supporting the civil rights movement - playing benefits, contributing his money and time.

The only time Reagan ever made an attempt to reach out to black Americans was when he invited the New York City Breakers to showcase their breakdancing moves for him and Nancy at the Lincoln Center. During Reagan's first term, this country suffered through the harshest recession in two generations. Factories closed, jobs were lost, and the safety net was slashed. But as hard as times were for whites, for black Americans, it was more like another Depression. Black voters remembered how his policies had brought pain to their communities, and rewarded Reagan with just 9% of their votes in 1984.

It is likely they also remembered the numerous symbolic steps Reagan took to exploit racism among white voters, like kicking off his 1980 Presidential campaign in Philadelphia, Mississippi, a town infamous for the murder of three civil rights workers on June 21, 1964. While Reagan's casket was flying coast to coast last week, another memorial ceremony was coincidentally underway as a caravan of volunteers remembered the legacy of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner by embarking on a bus tour voter registration drive from New York to Mississippi, including a planned stop in Greensboro. A young congressman from Mississippi named Trent Lott was among those who urged Reagan to begin his presidential campaign in Philadelphia, and the speech Reagan gave that day called for renewed respect of "states rights," time honored code words for a return to segregation.

Above and beyond his overt support for the civil rights movement, his authorship of songs like "Hit The Road Jack" that were later adapted as freedom songs, and his personal friendship with Martin Luther King Jr., Ray Charles played a largely unrecognized role in helping end segregation forever. In the post-WWII era, black and white musicians started making music together, appearing together on stage, and borrowing from each other's musical traditions. Artists like Benny Goodman, Johnny Ray, Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley paid homage to black music, while Chuck Berry, Nat Cole and Sammy Davis Jr. crossed over to whites. As musicians integrated, their audiences followed, and mixed crowds enjoying performances by mixed bands became more common. The cultural foundations of segregation were undermined, and leading the charge of this new movement in colorblind musical styles was Ray Charles.

Reagan's critics never got much mileage out of pointing out he was an actor, playing the role of the President. But today we can look back and realize Reagan's presidency was all smoke and mirrors. If, as Reagan claimed, he didn't know what Oliver North, John Poindexter and the other criminals on his National Security Council were doing while they were selling weapons to Iran and using the profits to fund an undeclared war in Nicaragua, then we see how he was truly just a figurehead. The alternative, that he was aware of Iran-Contra, and lied to the country to cover it up, would merely be more evidence of his acting skills. It's fitting that his funeral itself was meticulously staged, working from a 130-page "script" drawn up by Ronnie and Nancy in the mid-1990's, before his Alzheimer's reached the final stages.

So reflecting on the passing of these two Americans, what will be their true place in history? In the final analysis it's how they will be remembered in people's hearts and minds. Last week the national Republican Party tried hard to canonize Reagan and create a national week of mourning to rival what greeted JFK's assassination in 1963. They undoubtedly hoped a fringe benefit might be to provoke a burst of pro-Republican sentiment in the country at large and help boost George W. Bush's recently sagging poll ratings.

But the sad truth is that the crowds who turned out to honor Reagan were nearly all white, and mostly self-described Republicans to begin with. Thinking back on the two men, and what they did with their lives, it's not hard to see why in contrast, all of America mourns Ray Charles.

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