Allen West for President!!!!
- Thread starter Gunner
- Start date
Nice work, now I wish they'd go after that thieven-ass governor Florida has!
seems like he left a ton of Christian violence out of his assessment also, including the vicious attacks against his own ancestors under protection of Catholicism, Christianity and Islam
He was sharp with those dates though, dude on the mic was shook lol
wasnt this the who got kicked out of the military for shooting the gun next to the iraqi dudes head?
and had to fire his newly selected chief of staff for some rather foul things she said
Florida is an odd place,
He was sharp with those dates though, dude on the mic was shook lol
wasnt this the who got kicked out of the military for shooting the gun next to the iraqi dudes head?
and had to fire his newly selected chief of staff for some rather foul things she said
Florida is an odd place,
That's him. He's trash. Florida was really tripping this last election cycle. Democrats only have themselves to blame for the nutjobs representing them now, including their criminal governor.
Don't you just love Kneegros.
ha @ selective amnesia.
That's him. He's trash. Florida was really tripping this last election cycle. Democrats only have themselves to blame for the nutjobs representing them now, including their criminal governor.
Dave are you saying West is trash?
<img src="http://i.min.us/ibXoIQ.png" width="504" height="370" />
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Allen West Over Saw The Brutal Treatment Of An Iraqi
West was charged by military authorities and forced to retire after firing a handgun near the head of an Iraqi police officer during an interrogation in 2003. The Iraqi police officer was suspected of having information about attacks on U.S. forces in the area. West admitted wrongdoing and paid a fine.
US military prosecutors said [West's] actions amounted to torture and violated articles 128 and 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
According to the investigation and by West’s own admission, he walked into an interrogation room and placed a gun in his lap. If the Iraqi detainee didn’t talk, West told him, then West would have to kill him. The detainee insisted he knew nothing about a plot against West. The lieutenant then ordered his soldiers to beat the man into a bloody pulp. The near dead detainee was then dragged outside, supposedly for his execution. West put the barrel of his pistol onto the Iraqi police officer eyeball, but West fired over the detainee’s head. At that point, the detainee gave West information that may or may not have been helpful — the detainee told the New York Times he made something up just to save his life. In that same article, West admits he may have been wrong about there being an assassination plot.
US military prosecutors unanimously recommended West discharge. He was allowed to retire.
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From THE HILL
Nov. 20, 2010
READ-http://thehill.com/black-repug
-Congressman-elect Allen West (R-Fla.), who said he plans to become the only black Republican in the Congressional Black Caucus, accused the organization of failing the black community by promoting dependence on government welfare programs.
“The Congressional Black Caucus cannot continue to be a monolithic voice that promotes these liberal social welfare policies and programs that are failing in the Black community, that are preaching victimization and dependency, that’s not the way that we should go,” West said on Fox News Friday. “And those are not the types of principles that my mother and father raised me with in the inner city of Atlanta, Georgia.”
REALITY CHECK -
According to the U.S. Census, 5% of the Black population receives Government Assistance- welfare.
READ ---US Census Gov Stats
[FLASH]http://www.youtube.com/v/9PQRuLwuyto?fs=1&hl=en_US[/FLASH]
Allen West Over Saw The Brutal Treatment Of An Iraqi
West was charged by military authorities and forced to retire after firing a handgun near the head of an Iraqi police officer during an interrogation in 2003. The Iraqi police officer was suspected of having information about attacks on U.S. forces in the area. West admitted wrongdoing and paid a fine.
US military prosecutors said [West's] actions amounted to torture and violated articles 128 and 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
According to the investigation and by West’s own admission, he walked into an interrogation room and placed a gun in his lap. If the Iraqi detainee didn’t talk, West told him, then West would have to kill him. The detainee insisted he knew nothing about a plot against West. The lieutenant then ordered his soldiers to beat the man into a bloody pulp. The near dead detainee was then dragged outside, supposedly for his execution. West put the barrel of his pistol onto the Iraqi police officer eyeball, but West fired over the detainee’s head. At that point, the detainee gave West information that may or may not have been helpful — the detainee told the New York Times he made something up just to save his life. In that same article, West admits he may have been wrong about there being an assassination plot.
US military prosecutors unanimously recommended West discharge. He was allowed to retire.
<hr noshade color="#FF0000" size="6"></hr>
From THE HILL
Nov. 20, 2010
-Congressman-elect Allen West (R-Fla.), who said he plans to become the only black Republican in the Congressional Black Caucus, accused the organization of failing the black community by promoting dependence on government welfare programs.
“The Congressional Black Caucus cannot continue to be a monolithic voice that promotes these liberal social welfare policies and programs that are failing in the Black community, that are preaching victimization and dependency, that’s not the way that we should go,” West said on Fox News Friday. “And those are not the types of principles that my mother and father raised me with in the inner city of Atlanta, Georgia.”
REALITY CHECK -
According to the U.S. Census, 5% of the Black population receives Government Assistance- welfare.
READ ---US Census Gov Stats
You're entitled to your opinion. May I ask are you from Florida? He hasn't brought fourth any legislation that most libs would say hurts the black community. Is it because he thinks different from you?
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this is the problem with a two party system, this is highlighted in thank you for smoking movie, you win not because your right, you win because you make your opposition lose, it was real foolish to go to a clan rally and ask the kkk why do they hate sand-negro? of course he has an answer for you... this type of opposition politics forces everyone to the extrems the is no room for compromise or consensus, both democrats and republicans have very good ideas on how to save and help america but dumb ass politicians are to busy going on fox news give ridicules sound bites and then defending them
You're entitled to your opinion. May I ask are you from Florida? He hasn't brought fourth any legislation that most libs would say hurts the black community. Is it because he thinks different from you?
Do I present myself to be that petty? Do I? Have I called you or Lamarr or AAA or Cruise or nittie "trash"?
West is trash because he's a torturer, by his own admission, and the way he's conducted himself as a politician, particularly his willingness to lie knowing he's lying (unless you think he really thought he had security clearance the President didn't).
Allen West Comfortable With Letting America Default
source: Think Progress
Tea Party Rep. Allen West (R-FL) is unphased by the prospect that the U.S. might default on its debt for the first time in history later this summer, even though experts agree the effects would be catastrophic for the American and global economies. Speaking with reporters at the Faith and Freedom Conference in Washington, D.C. this morning, West referenced a discredited assertion by financier Stanley Druckenmiller in the Wall Street Journal to claim that a short-term default would be a reasonable policy alternative:
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source: Think Progress
Tea Party Rep. Allen West (R-FL) is unphased by the prospect that the U.S. might default on its debt for the first time in history later this summer, even though experts agree the effects would be catastrophic for the American and global economies. Speaking with reporters at the Faith and Freedom Conference in Washington, D.C. this morning, West referenced a discredited assertion by financier Stanley Druckenmiller in the Wall Street Journal to claim that a short-term default would be a reasonable policy alternative:
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Allen West: GOP Debate ‘Scared The Hell Out Of Me…'
Republicans, are you proud of your current crop of presidential candidates?
source: Think Progress
Allen West: GOP Debate ‘Scared The Hell Out Of Me…None Of Them Really Understood National Security’
Rep. Allen West (R-FL), a former Army Lt. Colonel and national Tea Party sensation, is not happy with the current crop of presidential candidates in his party. During the Q & A section following a speech he gave at an event sponsored by the neoconservative Center for Security Policy, West said none of the candidates “really understood national security”:
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West is probably not someone who should be accusing anyone of having an inadequate understanding of foreign policy, but his sentiment reflects the fractured and at at times incoherent foreign policy of today’s conservative movement. No longer dominated by George Bush neoconservatives, the GOP is now split between deficit hawk war skeptics likeRep. Walter Jones (R-NC) and hawk hawks like West. Old guard hawks Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) have taken only slightly more veiled shots at the GOP field than West’s, warning presidential hopefuls about a drift towards “isolationism,” I derisive term they use to listening to the American people on the war in Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, West’s unhappiness with the GOP field is shared by GOP voters. A New York Times/CBS News poll released today found overwhelming dissatisfaction among Republican voters with the 2012 field, with 71 percent saying they hope some new faces get in the mix.
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Republicans, are you proud of your current crop of presidential candidates?
source: Think Progress
Allen West: GOP Debate ‘Scared The Hell Out Of Me…None Of Them Really Understood National Security’
Rep. Allen West (R-FL), a former Army Lt. Colonel and national Tea Party sensation, is not happy with the current crop of presidential candidates in his party. During the Q & A section following a speech he gave at an event sponsored by the neoconservative Center for Security Policy, West said none of the candidates “really understood national security”:
WEST: You know, this is not rocket scientry [sic]. But yet, when you listen to the debate last week that they had with the potential GOP presidential candidates in South Carolina, I gotta tell you, it scared the hell out of me. Because none of them really understood national security. None of them really, you know, understand these points. And, you know, we know the left doesn’t want to stand up for the defense of this country. And what happens all of a sudden when we lose that mantel?
Watch it:
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West is probably not someone who should be accusing anyone of having an inadequate understanding of foreign policy, but his sentiment reflects the fractured and at at times incoherent foreign policy of today’s conservative movement. No longer dominated by George Bush neoconservatives, the GOP is now split between deficit hawk war skeptics likeRep. Walter Jones (R-NC) and hawk hawks like West. Old guard hawks Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) have taken only slightly more veiled shots at the GOP field than West’s, warning presidential hopefuls about a drift towards “isolationism,” I derisive term they use to listening to the American people on the war in Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, West’s unhappiness with the GOP field is shared by GOP voters. A New York Times/CBS News poll released today found overwhelming dissatisfaction among Republican voters with the 2012 field, with 71 percent saying they hope some new faces get in the mix.
<!-- (for webtech) Posted in General, Politics
--><!-- googleoff: all --><!-- googleon: all --><!-- Close Post -->
Re: Allen West Comfortable With Letting America Default
Allen West Is Targeted Wherever His Florida District Might Behttp://www.rollcall.com/issues/56_1...fla_district_might_be-206867-1.html?pos=opolh
By Joshua Miller
Roll Call Staff
June 29, 2011, Midnight
The general election has already arrived for outspoken tea party favorite freshman Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.), who is likely to face fiery former West Palm Beach Mayor Lois Frankel (D) wherever his district lines end up being drawn.
A West-Frankel race is likely to be one with high-octane rhetoric that will attract interest — and cash — from across the nation.
“It will be exciting. It will be interesting to watch. It will expensive,” Palm Beach County Republican Party Chairman Sid Dinerstein told Roll Call. “There will be a lot of mud that will be slung.”
West has become a national figure in his first six months in office with myriad media appearances. He was a fundraising juggernaut in his race last cycle for the 22nd district, raking in more than $6.5 million. In the first quarter of this year, the former Army officer raised nearly $500,000.
And Frankel managed to raise $255,000 in just three weeks in March. (She declared her candidacy March 21.)
Although Florida’s redistricting process is unlikely to be complete until the middle of 2012, Frankel said she will challenge West in whichever district he runs.
“It absolutely is a race to watch,” said Screven Watson, a longtime Florida Democratic strategist.
Frankel has hired Brian Smoot of 4C Partners as her general consultant and Mike Reid, who worked for the campaign of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), as her finance director. Frankel campaign aides said she can win substantial margins of the critical independent and senior voters, who swung to the GOP in 2010, in a general election.
The fact that Frankel is choosing to run against a Member and not just in a district makes the race unusual. National Democrats have their eyes on a number of races in the state, especially districts such as the 22nd that are held by a Republican but were won by President Barack Obama in 2008. Florida is gaining two seats through reapportionment. Watson, former executive director of the state Democratic Party, said some potential Democratic candidates in the Sunshine State are wary to take on an incumbent before they have any idea what the lines of the district will be.
Watson added it was especially difficult in regions of Florida with big population growth, where the new seats are likely to be placed. “If you’re a potential challenger in that area, man it’s tough to get your arms around what your district is going to look like,” he said.
Frankel, seen as forceful, no-nonsense and straightforward by her supporters and as abrasive and rude by her opponents, is well-known and favored to beat businessman Patrick Murphy in a Democratic primary.
Murphy, 28, recently left the Republican Party to become a Democrat. He also wants to run against West, regardless of redistricting, and has tailored his fundraising pitches against the freshman’s brief tenure in Congress. That’s probably one reason he raised $350,000 in the first three weeks of his campaign.
The primary’s outcome is dependent on how the lines are drawn. Murphy lives in Broward County, and Frankel would likely beat him in a district that included her home turf of West Palm Beach, where she served two terms as mayor.
While Murphy’s own fundraising haul gives state Democrats reason to view him as capable, they are waiting on the map and, naturally, would prefer to avoid a primary.
Watch for the Democratic nominee to echo the national party’s criticism of West’s vote for House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) Medicare overhaul. Democrats hope the message will influence the district’s many senior citizens.
Frankel will also use West’s high profile against him. “Mr. West is focusing on his career as a talk-show media star. And, at some point, that gets very old,” Frankel said in an interview.
West told Roll Call last month that he wasn’t concerned about his re-election, promising to keep working hard for his constituents even if redistricting makes his district more Democratic.
“If they think that we’ve done a good job up here these two years, they’ll send me back,” he said.
West recently told the Miami Herald that he isn’t “vulnerable” as much as he’s a target. “I’m a target because the Democrats are not used to anyone who will stand up and confront them,” he said.
Frankel, speaking recently with Roll Call after finishing fundraising calls for the day, said her strategy was simple: raise a lot of cash and highlight what she said is West’s “indefensible” record in Congress. As for the prospect of an intense race, she compared politics to football.
“They throw you to the ground, you get up and then you throw them to the ground,” she said. “They can throw me to the ground, but I promise you, I will always be getting up and going for the touchdown.”
The local GOP’s Dinerstein isn’t worried that West is in jeopardy: “At the end of the day, it won’t be close because Lois can’t get any crossover vote and Allen is a rock star.”
Steve Peoples contributed to this report.
JoshuaMiller@rollcall.com | @jm_dc
Allen West Is Targeted Wherever His Florida District Might Behttp://www.rollcall.com/issues/56_1...fla_district_might_be-206867-1.html?pos=opolh
By Joshua Miller
Roll Call Staff
June 29, 2011, Midnight
The general election has already arrived for outspoken tea party favorite freshman Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.), who is likely to face fiery former West Palm Beach Mayor Lois Frankel (D) wherever his district lines end up being drawn.
A West-Frankel race is likely to be one with high-octane rhetoric that will attract interest — and cash — from across the nation.
“It will be exciting. It will be interesting to watch. It will expensive,” Palm Beach County Republican Party Chairman Sid Dinerstein told Roll Call. “There will be a lot of mud that will be slung.”
West has become a national figure in his first six months in office with myriad media appearances. He was a fundraising juggernaut in his race last cycle for the 22nd district, raking in more than $6.5 million. In the first quarter of this year, the former Army officer raised nearly $500,000.
And Frankel managed to raise $255,000 in just three weeks in March. (She declared her candidacy March 21.)
Although Florida’s redistricting process is unlikely to be complete until the middle of 2012, Frankel said she will challenge West in whichever district he runs.
“It absolutely is a race to watch,” said Screven Watson, a longtime Florida Democratic strategist.
Frankel has hired Brian Smoot of 4C Partners as her general consultant and Mike Reid, who worked for the campaign of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), as her finance director. Frankel campaign aides said she can win substantial margins of the critical independent and senior voters, who swung to the GOP in 2010, in a general election.
The fact that Frankel is choosing to run against a Member and not just in a district makes the race unusual. National Democrats have their eyes on a number of races in the state, especially districts such as the 22nd that are held by a Republican but were won by President Barack Obama in 2008. Florida is gaining two seats through reapportionment. Watson, former executive director of the state Democratic Party, said some potential Democratic candidates in the Sunshine State are wary to take on an incumbent before they have any idea what the lines of the district will be.
Watson added it was especially difficult in regions of Florida with big population growth, where the new seats are likely to be placed. “If you’re a potential challenger in that area, man it’s tough to get your arms around what your district is going to look like,” he said.
Frankel, seen as forceful, no-nonsense and straightforward by her supporters and as abrasive and rude by her opponents, is well-known and favored to beat businessman Patrick Murphy in a Democratic primary.
Murphy, 28, recently left the Republican Party to become a Democrat. He also wants to run against West, regardless of redistricting, and has tailored his fundraising pitches against the freshman’s brief tenure in Congress. That’s probably one reason he raised $350,000 in the first three weeks of his campaign.
The primary’s outcome is dependent on how the lines are drawn. Murphy lives in Broward County, and Frankel would likely beat him in a district that included her home turf of West Palm Beach, where she served two terms as mayor.
While Murphy’s own fundraising haul gives state Democrats reason to view him as capable, they are waiting on the map and, naturally, would prefer to avoid a primary.
Watch for the Democratic nominee to echo the national party’s criticism of West’s vote for House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) Medicare overhaul. Democrats hope the message will influence the district’s many senior citizens.
Frankel will also use West’s high profile against him. “Mr. West is focusing on his career as a talk-show media star. And, at some point, that gets very old,” Frankel said in an interview.
West told Roll Call last month that he wasn’t concerned about his re-election, promising to keep working hard for his constituents even if redistricting makes his district more Democratic.
“If they think that we’ve done a good job up here these two years, they’ll send me back,” he said.
West recently told the Miami Herald that he isn’t “vulnerable” as much as he’s a target. “I’m a target because the Democrats are not used to anyone who will stand up and confront them,” he said.
Frankel, speaking recently with Roll Call after finishing fundraising calls for the day, said her strategy was simple: raise a lot of cash and highlight what she said is West’s “indefensible” record in Congress. As for the prospect of an intense race, she compared politics to football.
“They throw you to the ground, you get up and then you throw them to the ground,” she said. “They can throw me to the ground, but I promise you, I will always be getting up and going for the touchdown.”
The local GOP’s Dinerstein isn’t worried that West is in jeopardy: “At the end of the day, it won’t be close because Lois can’t get any crossover vote and Allen is a rock star.”
Steve Peoples contributed to this report.
JoshuaMiller@rollcall.com | @jm_dc
Re: Allen West: GOP Debate ‘Scared The Hell Out Of Me…'
So this dude thinks because he served he is an expert.
Why did he get passed over and stay a lt col.
So this dude thinks because he served he is an expert.
Why did he get passed over and stay a lt col.
Allen West Open To Vice President Position
Allen West Open To Vice President Position
Representative Allen West said that if he were asked to be the Vice Presidential nominee it would be a matter of prayer and a discussion with his wife, but that he is always willing to serve his country.
Allen West Open To Vice President Position
Representative Allen West said that if he were asked to be the Vice Presidential nominee it would be a matter of prayer and a discussion with his wife, but that he is always willing to serve his country.
Re: Allen West Open To Vice President Position
Why not. In February 2013 he will have a lot of free time on his hands!
Why not. In February 2013 he will have a lot of free time on his hands!
Re: Allen West Open To Vice President Position
http://www.bgol.us/board/showthread.php?t=568470#9
close thread
http://www.bgol.us/board/showthread.php?t=568470#9
close thread
Repu-black-in
Zo wants to put the black back in the Republican Party, and he is sick of the liberal insults directed towards black Republicans like Herman Cain and Col. Allen West. Hear more about the documentary "Runaway Slave" on this ZoNation.
Michael Savage: Allen West Interview
Michael Savage: Allen West Interview
Interview Aired on January 30, 2012 --- http://www.michaelsavage.com
Michael Savage: Allen West Interview
Interview Aired on January 30, 2012 --- http://www.michaelsavage.com
Re: Okay, now the US is a fascist state
Rep. Keith Ellison pushes back on Citizens United
and rips attacks from Rep. Allen West
Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., with other members of the Congressional
Progressive Caucus. Check out: Black, Muslim & Elected to Congresshttp://www.bgol.us/board/showthread.php?t=139261&highlight=ellison
The Root
By: Cynthia Gordy
April 24, 2012
In the two years since the Supreme Court's Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling that corporate and union political contributions have First Amendment protection, there's also been a steadily growing, although somewhat ragtag, movement to overturn it. The controversial 2010 decision unleashed a flood of now unlimited corporate money in elections. Super PACs (political action committees) have subsequently (and unprecedentedly) raised almost $160 million, and spent close to $90 million, in this election cycle alone.
Pushing back on the decision, 20 members of Congress have since introduced constitutional amendments to reverse Citizens United; and 21 state legislatures, along with more than 147 cities, have proposed resolutions to roll it back (measures that passed in New Mexico, Hawaii and Vermont). And even though 80 percent of Americans oppose the ruling, this growing counterforce hasn't gained much notice outside of liberal political circles. A new coalition of federal, state and local lawmakers, as well as grassroots activists around the country, are now trying to change that.
Last week representatives of the coalition, under the banner of United for the People, assembled on Capitol Hill to announce and sign a "declaration for democracy," which pledges support for an amendment to the Constitution to overturn Citizens United. Merging their collective power, hundreds of legislators and organizations have signed on, calling for elected officials across the nation to add their names. The group also highlighted the Resolutions Week initiative, which seeks to pass more than 100 local resolutions against Citizens United en masse during the week of June 11.
Among the members of Congress who signed on to the declaration is Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus; all 77 other members of the group also signed it. Ellison spoke with The Root about the movement's goals, why he favors mass action over "academic discussion" on the issue and his thoughts on those "communist" accusations against his caucus from Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.).
The Root: What inspired the Progressive Caucus, and other political groups, to start this movement now?
Keith Ellison: There is a whole grassroots movement of nonprofit organizations that has been focusing on this move to amend. What's happening now is a consolidation of the movement. There were about 13 different constitutional amendments offered by various members -- myself, Ted Deutch, Donna Edwards, John Conyers, Bernie Sanders, a whole bunch of people. Everybody liked their little approach, which is fine -- that's democracy. But what we decided to do, rather than have all these disparate things, was get together on the essential issue and work with the community to come up with a declaration.
TR: If the declaration doesn't hinge on a specific amendment or tactic for overturning Citizens United, what does it do exactly?
KE: The declaration would not be the language offered as the constitutional amendment. What the declaration says is, "We declare our support for amending the Constitution of the United States to restore the rights of the American people, undermined by Citizens United and related cases, to protect the integrity of elections and limit the corrosive influence of money in our democratic process."
This is language that all of us agree to, that all of us can galvanize behind -- members of Congress, members of city councils, community activists from groups like Move to Amend, Public Citizen, People for the American Way and others. We said, "Why waste time arguing about the fine points of what the language of a constitutional amendment should be, when we don't even have a public movement to drive it?" We need to get the wind behind our back first, and then, once we have a Congress who can move it, and states that would be willing to do it, then we can fight over exactly where the periods and the commas go. But right now we need a mass action.
TR: Are there individual reforms that you would like to see made to campaign financing, besides reversing Citizens United? After all, before that ruling, there was already plenty of money in politics.
KE: There are tons of things I'd like to see. I wish we could publicly finance every campaign. I wish we had ranked-choice voting. I wish we had a limit on how long election season can go so that we don't have to inundate voters with this stuff for three years in advance of a presidential election. So there's no shortage [of ideas] -- we got that.
What we lack is a mass movement that the average citizen can connect to and therefore make demands on their public leaders. The missing piece of the puzzle is that you've got a middle-class family that wants access to a doctor; you've got somebody with credit companies hounding them for student debt they acquired 20 years ago; you've got somebody who can't find a consumer advocate to help them understand their mortgage. The source of all these problems is money in politics.
People with money can populate Congress with people who are favorable to them through campaign donations, through independent expenditures. Once they get the people they want there, they can pay to lobby Congress to make sure that the people they put there do what they want them to do. And where are the American people's voices in all of that? They're lost.
TR: There's an argument that unions have profited from Citizens United, too.
KE: A lot of people make this big debate about "What about the unions?" You know, unions have to have votes on the political positions that they take, and if their members don't like it, they can even get a refund. That's not the case with a corporation.
If I work for Target Corporation, and they want to fund a candidate who hates gays or something like that, I don't get any money back on that. I don't even have any part of the decision, even if I'm a shareholder. There's something wrong with that.
TR: Although President Obama has expressed support for a repeal of Citizens United, in February he also signed off on his campaign's decision to get more donors for pro-Obama super PACs. What are your thoughts on that?
KE: People can take legitimate points in favor of, and opposed to, the president's decision to set up a super PAC. When I mention the corrosive role that Citizens United plays, I mean that it corrupts everybody, but the president has a legitimate point of view when he says that he cannot "unilaterally disarm." If I'm trying to make reform, I cannot put myself in a position where I cannot be a competitor in this race. Otherwise, by not participating in this new system, I end up ceding the election to Mitt Romney, and there is no hope. We've got to fight back.
If the president takes that position, you won't hear me criticize him for that. Again, I am pragmatic about this thing. I'm not taking an academic approach to this. We've got to get rid of Citizens United now. Immediately.
ON THE ALLEN WEST ATTACKS:
TR: In other news, last week Rep. Allen West doubled down on his view that progressive members in Congress are, in fact, communists. As a co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, have you spoken to Rep. West about his allegations?
KE: Here's all I got to say about that. The more effective the Progressive Caucus is, the more we should expect unprincipled, untrue attacks on our character and everything else. If we were not doing anything, we wouldn't be the subject of anybody's attacks.
But because we are out there -- aggressively arguing for a greener America, a more equal and inclusive America, economic justice for working and middle-class people, peace -- then people who want to support polluters; who want to support racial, economic and religious division; and who want to funnel more money to the rich, they're going to be mad at us.
Cynthia Gordy is The Root's senior political correspondent.
SOURCE
Rep. Keith Ellison pushes back on Citizens United
and rips attacks from Rep. Allen West
Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., with other members of the Congressional
Progressive Caucus. Check out: Black, Muslim & Elected to Congresshttp://www.bgol.us/board/showthread.php?t=139261&highlight=ellison
The Root
By: Cynthia Gordy
April 24, 2012
In the two years since the Supreme Court's Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling that corporate and union political contributions have First Amendment protection, there's also been a steadily growing, although somewhat ragtag, movement to overturn it. The controversial 2010 decision unleashed a flood of now unlimited corporate money in elections. Super PACs (political action committees) have subsequently (and unprecedentedly) raised almost $160 million, and spent close to $90 million, in this election cycle alone.
Pushing back on the decision, 20 members of Congress have since introduced constitutional amendments to reverse Citizens United; and 21 state legislatures, along with more than 147 cities, have proposed resolutions to roll it back (measures that passed in New Mexico, Hawaii and Vermont). And even though 80 percent of Americans oppose the ruling, this growing counterforce hasn't gained much notice outside of liberal political circles. A new coalition of federal, state and local lawmakers, as well as grassroots activists around the country, are now trying to change that.
Last week representatives of the coalition, under the banner of United for the People, assembled on Capitol Hill to announce and sign a "declaration for democracy," which pledges support for an amendment to the Constitution to overturn Citizens United. Merging their collective power, hundreds of legislators and organizations have signed on, calling for elected officials across the nation to add their names. The group also highlighted the Resolutions Week initiative, which seeks to pass more than 100 local resolutions against Citizens United en masse during the week of June 11.
Among the members of Congress who signed on to the declaration is Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus; all 77 other members of the group also signed it. Ellison spoke with The Root about the movement's goals, why he favors mass action over "academic discussion" on the issue and his thoughts on those "communist" accusations against his caucus from Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.).
The Root: What inspired the Progressive Caucus, and other political groups, to start this movement now?
Keith Ellison: There is a whole grassroots movement of nonprofit organizations that has been focusing on this move to amend. What's happening now is a consolidation of the movement. There were about 13 different constitutional amendments offered by various members -- myself, Ted Deutch, Donna Edwards, John Conyers, Bernie Sanders, a whole bunch of people. Everybody liked their little approach, which is fine -- that's democracy. But what we decided to do, rather than have all these disparate things, was get together on the essential issue and work with the community to come up with a declaration.
TR: If the declaration doesn't hinge on a specific amendment or tactic for overturning Citizens United, what does it do exactly?
KE: The declaration would not be the language offered as the constitutional amendment. What the declaration says is, "We declare our support for amending the Constitution of the United States to restore the rights of the American people, undermined by Citizens United and related cases, to protect the integrity of elections and limit the corrosive influence of money in our democratic process."
This is language that all of us agree to, that all of us can galvanize behind -- members of Congress, members of city councils, community activists from groups like Move to Amend, Public Citizen, People for the American Way and others. We said, "Why waste time arguing about the fine points of what the language of a constitutional amendment should be, when we don't even have a public movement to drive it?" We need to get the wind behind our back first, and then, once we have a Congress who can move it, and states that would be willing to do it, then we can fight over exactly where the periods and the commas go. But right now we need a mass action.
TR: Are there individual reforms that you would like to see made to campaign financing, besides reversing Citizens United? After all, before that ruling, there was already plenty of money in politics.
KE: There are tons of things I'd like to see. I wish we could publicly finance every campaign. I wish we had ranked-choice voting. I wish we had a limit on how long election season can go so that we don't have to inundate voters with this stuff for three years in advance of a presidential election. So there's no shortage [of ideas] -- we got that.
What we lack is a mass movement that the average citizen can connect to and therefore make demands on their public leaders. The missing piece of the puzzle is that you've got a middle-class family that wants access to a doctor; you've got somebody with credit companies hounding them for student debt they acquired 20 years ago; you've got somebody who can't find a consumer advocate to help them understand their mortgage. The source of all these problems is money in politics.
People with money can populate Congress with people who are favorable to them through campaign donations, through independent expenditures. Once they get the people they want there, they can pay to lobby Congress to make sure that the people they put there do what they want them to do. And where are the American people's voices in all of that? They're lost.
TR: There's an argument that unions have profited from Citizens United, too.
KE: A lot of people make this big debate about "What about the unions?" You know, unions have to have votes on the political positions that they take, and if their members don't like it, they can even get a refund. That's not the case with a corporation.
If I work for Target Corporation, and they want to fund a candidate who hates gays or something like that, I don't get any money back on that. I don't even have any part of the decision, even if I'm a shareholder. There's something wrong with that.
TR: Although President Obama has expressed support for a repeal of Citizens United, in February he also signed off on his campaign's decision to get more donors for pro-Obama super PACs. What are your thoughts on that?
KE: People can take legitimate points in favor of, and opposed to, the president's decision to set up a super PAC. When I mention the corrosive role that Citizens United plays, I mean that it corrupts everybody, but the president has a legitimate point of view when he says that he cannot "unilaterally disarm." If I'm trying to make reform, I cannot put myself in a position where I cannot be a competitor in this race. Otherwise, by not participating in this new system, I end up ceding the election to Mitt Romney, and there is no hope. We've got to fight back.
If the president takes that position, you won't hear me criticize him for that. Again, I am pragmatic about this thing. I'm not taking an academic approach to this. We've got to get rid of Citizens United now. Immediately.
ON THE ALLEN WEST ATTACKS:
TR: In other news, last week Rep. Allen West doubled down on his view that progressive members in Congress are, in fact, communists. As a co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, have you spoken to Rep. West about his allegations?
KE: Here's all I got to say about that. The more effective the Progressive Caucus is, the more we should expect unprincipled, untrue attacks on our character and everything else. If we were not doing anything, we wouldn't be the subject of anybody's attacks.
But because we are out there -- aggressively arguing for a greener America, a more equal and inclusive America, economic justice for working and middle-class people, peace -- then people who want to support polluters; who want to support racial, economic and religious division; and who want to funnel more money to the rich, they're going to be mad at us.
Cynthia Gordy is The Root's senior political correspondent.
SOURCE
Re: Allen West: GOP Debate ‘Scared The Hell Out Of Me…'
A good question; never answered . . .
A good question; never answered . . .
Re: Allen West: GOP Debate ‘Scared The Hell Out Of Me…'
NAACP to Allen West: You're Uninvited
Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) recently told constituents at a town hall meeting that some 80 House Democrats were card-carrying members of the Communist Party, and he has insistently stuck to those accusations, which even the actual National Communist Party itself has refuted. As a result, there's at least one organization that no longer deems the conservative congressman an appropriate speaker, let alone a card carrier: the NAACP.
From the Huffington Post:
Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) was supposed to be the keynote speaker at a fundraiser for his district chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) this past Saturday. But days before the event, the group canceled the gathering and asked West not to come back when they rescheduled. Why?
"There's a certain statement he made about Communists," Jerry Gore, president of the Martin County NAACP, told Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers. "That statement alone ... we do not represent that type of atmosphere."
The NAACP chapter is rescheduling its banquet for Sept. 15, with a new keynote speaker. Gore told Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers that a spokesman for West said he "understood" why the organization didn't want West to speak anymore.
http://www.theroot.com/buzz/naacp-allen-west-youre-uninvited?wpisrc=root_more_news
NAACP to Allen West: You're Uninvited
Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) recently told constituents at a town hall meeting that some 80 House Democrats were card-carrying members of the Communist Party, and he has insistently stuck to those accusations, which even the actual National Communist Party itself has refuted. As a result, there's at least one organization that no longer deems the conservative congressman an appropriate speaker, let alone a card carrier: the NAACP.
From the Huffington Post:
Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) was supposed to be the keynote speaker at a fundraiser for his district chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) this past Saturday. But days before the event, the group canceled the gathering and asked West not to come back when they rescheduled. Why?
"There's a certain statement he made about Communists," Jerry Gore, president of the Martin County NAACP, told Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers. "That statement alone ... we do not represent that type of atmosphere."
The NAACP chapter is rescheduling its banquet for Sept. 15, with a new keynote speaker. Gore told Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers that a spokesman for West said he "understood" why the organization didn't want West to speak anymore.
http://www.theroot.com/buzz/naacp-allen-west-youre-uninvited?wpisrc=root_more_news
Re: Allen West Open To Vice President Position
I'm going to phrase this in actinanassism,
Today I officially say "I won't be surprise if West gets a show on Fox".
Now, I'm not officially saying it's going to happen due to him being an asshole, but I won't be surprised.
He will be the next token negrocoon.
I'm going to phrase this in actinanassism,
Today I officially say "I won't be surprise if West gets a show on Fox".
Now, I'm not officially saying it's going to happen due to him being an asshole, but I won't be surprised.
He will be the next token negrocoon.
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