Support Democratic Candidates

This week, Elizabeth Warren CRUSHED Republican Senator Scott Brown in their third debate.

She vowed never to cut Social Security and Medicare benefits. She held Brown accountable for his pledge to never raise taxes on millionaires.

And Warren’s answer on women’s issues is being called “defining,” “stellar,” and “her best in any debate.”

See the video — and make calls in the next few days for Elizabeth Warren and her allies.

You can also see the video here and chip in $3 to fund our call program for Warren and others.

Can you sign up to make calls for Alan Grayson and other progressive candidates this week?

Sign up on the right to Call Out The Vote! Help win these seats for progressives!

We’re making calls all through the day, so be sure to check out which shifts work the best for you.

All times are Eastern.

Watch Rob Zerban’s petition delivery:

a message from Alan Grayson

What We Need on Nov. 6, And After That.

We spend so much time thinking about who will be elected to office, and so little time thinking about what they will do when they get there.  Campaign consultants tell candidates that promises are inconvenient; you might have to keep them.  And candidates dance around the issues as though they were lit firecrackers.

Not me.  Here are my goals, after Nov. 6:

(1) Full employment.
(2) Universal healthcare.
(3) Taking corporate money out of politics and government.
(4) Reinstituting progressive taxation, to reduce the deficit and the debt.
(5) Ending corporate welfare.
(6) Improving labor standards, including pensions, sick leave and paid vacations.
(7) Ending discrimination against minorities, women and gays.
(8) Providing higher education to every student who wants it.
(9) Ending the war, bringing the troops home, and reining in the military-industrial complex.
(10) Reducing the brutal and pervasive inequality in American life.

If that’s what you want for America, too, then you need to click here, and support our campaign.

I’m working 14 hours a day, seven days a week, to try to win our race for the House on Nov. 6.  I have to, because in 2010, I was the target of the most pitch-black, break-your-back, wolf-pack Super PAC attack that any Member of the House has ever seen.  The Koch Brothers, the insurance companies, the Chamber of Commerce and the Republican Party spent over $5 million to denigrate, deprecate, devastate and decimate me.  My friends, my neighbors and even my own children saw an average of 70 blistering negative ads against me on TV — paid for by nameless, faceless monsters.

It doesn’t matter.  That was then, and this is now.  We’re winning, and after the election, we’ve got work to do.  If I’m working 14 hours a day now, then I’ll work 16 hours a day after Nov. 6.  Because America’s problems can be solved, and they must be solved.

If you want to be part of that, then help make it happen.  Show your support for our ’30 Days to Victory’ Moneybomb.

But here’s the thing – a Congressman like me, who fights for progressive, fair taxation, can’t finance his campaign with “trickle down” checks from the super-rich.  A Congressman like me, who fights against corporate welfare, can’t finance his campaign with corporate PAC contributions.  A Congressman like me, who fights for peace, can’t finance his campaign with blood money from the military-industrial complex.

On the contrary, they’re the ones who firebombed us last time.

So I have only one choice.  I have to invite you to join – or re-join – our legion of contributors, who now number almost 100,000.  People who want nothing in return for their contributions but government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

When you contribute to our campaign, you give me the freedom not to kowtow to lobbyists and special interests.  You make it possible for me to do the job the way that you would do it  — honestly, and for the greater good.

In 2010, in House races around the country, big donors ($200+) supplied 92% of the cash, and small donors provided 8%.  In our race, we reversed those numbers.  And with your help, we’ll do it again.

With your help, we will win.  And then on November 7th, that’s when the real work starts.  If you want someone in Congress who will fight – every day – for justice, equality and peace, then click here, and show that you care.

Courage,

Alan Grayson

a message from Alan Grayson

We’re Back On The Air – Thanks To You

Three People and a Guitar. We told you on Sunday that we were off the air, thanks to the fact that the Koch Brothers and Karl Rove had pushed the cost of TV ads in Orlando sky-high.  And we said that we would take all of the contributions that we received through close of business yesterday, and use that money to put our uplifting, inspirational positive ad back on TV. Well, 1000+ of us answered the call, and that ad went back up on the air this morning. If you are one of those 1000+ supporters who contributed, thank you.  If you are not, then you can alleviate the desperate guilt and shame that you must feel by contributing right now. You will soon feel better.  And after Nov. 6, so will America. Here is today’s miscellany: (1)            The winner of the Green Day autographed guitar is Judith Wilson.  If you are disappointed that you didn’t win the Green Day guitar, all I can say is that my younger daughter is even more disappointed than you are, and she didn’t win it, either.  Thanks again to Howie Klein, former Warner Reprise Records exec and current Blue America PAC leader, who provided the guitar from his incredible personal collection.  We wanted to make the presentation of the guitar as special as the guitar itself, so we invited Democratic House Assistant Leader Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) to present the guitar to Judith during Clyburn’s visit to Orlando, last Friday. (2)            Dennis Kucinich wants to continue to do good after he leaves Congress in January.  He has founded an organization called Kucinich Action, which will function as a political action committee.  Kucinich Action is deciding which candidates to support.  Naturally, I hope that I’m one of them.  If you have a moment, please click here, and ask Kucinich Action to support yours truly. (3)            Good news and bad news about our campaign.  The good news is that our poll last week shows us with a nice lead.  The bad news is that a right-wing Super PAC that attacks House Democratic candidates has reserved almost $1 million in TV time in Orlando for the last two weeks in October.  So . . . we need your help. (4)            A reminder to those who find themselves with more time than money these days – please sign up for our virtual phone bank.  It helps you to make calls to voters in our district.  We need your help on this, like, now. (5)            On Sunday, we are having our last moneybomb of his election cycle – “30 Days to Victory.”  When you decide whether to participate, please remember one thing – this is virtually the only campaign in America, in either party, that is fueled by contributions from people like you.  Not the special interests, not the lobbyists, not the billionaires, not the multinational corporations.  People like you.   And because of that, when we win on Nov. 6, I will owe nothing to anyone but the voters.  Thanks to you. Courage, Alan Grayson

a message from Alan Grayson

Help Us Spread the Word. My opponent has been a Rush Limbaugh wannabe radio talk show host in Orlando since 2006.  He has literally spent years monotonously reciting every Fox News/Tea Party talking point of the day. And yet — here’s the thing – roughly two-thirds of the voters in the district haven’t heard of Todd Long.  Much less know what he wants to do to them. On Social Security and Medicare, the voters don’t know that Todd Long has promised to “privatize” it, turning the Social Security Trust Fund over to gamblers on Wall Street.  They don’t know that Todd Long wants to increase the age of eligibility for Social Security and Medicare to 70, or 72.  They don’t know that Todd Long would “freeze” Medicaid expenditures , which means that over time, more and more seniors won’t get the care that they need to stay healthy.  Or alive. And Todd Long is not going to tell the voters that these are his goals. His game plan is simple:  Just stay quiet for the next nine weeks, and let the right-wing Super PACs smash me.  Just like last time. And the local media?  They couldn’t care less.  The Orlando Sentinel has written several articles about Long, without ever mentioning his extreme positions on Social Security or Medicare.  Same with local TV and radio. We caught Todd Long red-handed on another right-wing radio host’s show last month.  He thought that he was just preaching to the choir.  But we recorded the show.  We caught him saying that he would privatize Social Security. Long:  “On Social Security, I would privatize it.” Announcer:  “You would privatize Social Security?” Long: “I would definitely privatize it.” Now we have to get the word out to the voters.  To expose Todd Long, we made a TV ad. The current cost of running this ad in Orlando is 15 cents per viewer.  If you give us $30, then 200 people will see this ad.  If you give us $45, then 300 people will see this ad.  If 1,000 of us each gave $45, then every voter in the district would see this ad once. Please help.  The truth is our sword.  Let’s inform the voters, beat Todd Long, and save Social Security and Medicare. Courage, Alan Grayson

a message from Alan Grayson … for Congress

Just Chillin’.

I’d like to tell you how I met Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ).
There is a gorgeous hall in the Cannon House Office Building.  It has high ceilings, beautiful chandeliers, enormous windows, etc.  After the 2008 election, the House Democratic Caucus invited new members, returning members and retiring members to that hall, to choose our caucus and committee leaders.
There were dividers set across the middle of the hall.  In the front were the dais, the lectern, the chairs and the speeches, delivered by all the candidates for leadership positions.
In the back was the food.
In the front, you had to listen.  In the back, you could have a conversation.  You could do business.  You could make a deal.
Being a newbie, I was very interested to see who was in front, and who was in back.  I went to the back of the hall – not because I was hungry, but because I wanted to see what was up back there.
In the back of the back of the hall, I saw a man with a bushy Van Dyke beard, leaning up against the wall.  He was wearing blue jeans, a denim shirt, and a shoestring tie with a silver ornament.  He had his beverage of choice in hand.
He was just chillin’.
I walked up to him and introduced myself, rather woodenly:  “Hi, I’m Alan Grayson, the Congressman from Orlando.”

He looked at me, smiled warmly, and said simply:  “I’m Raul.”

That was my first experience with the preternatural calm, poise, modesty and dignity of Rep. Raul Grijalva.
There are certain thoughts that come to mind for Members of Congress over and over again.  One of them goes like this: “If only your voters could see for themselves what kind of person you are, then you would get 99.9% of the vote.”
That’s what other Members of Congress think about Raul Grijalva.  The phrase “nice guy” doesn’t even begin to describe it.
Because of the extraordinary respect that other Members of Congress have for him, Raul was elected Chairman of the Progressive Caucus at the end of only his fourth term in office.  As the Chairman of the Progressive Caucus, Raul is our spokesman on reducing unemployment, universal healthcare, cutting military expenditures, campaign finance reform, progressive taxation, improving education, and peace.
Right now, a conservative Democrat is challenging Raul Grijalva in his primary next Tuesday. She was appointed to her current position by crackpot Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, who is famous for sticking her finger in the face of the President of the United States and shouting at him.
Raul’s opponent says that the reason why she wants to go to Washington is that “she is frustrated with Washington.”  Personally, I’m frustrated with traffic jams, but that doesn’t make me want to be in one.  I think that you need a better reason than that to be elected to Congress.
Raul’s opponent, a rich businesswoman, is running crass attack ads on TV against him.  She’s up on the air, and he’s not.  Raul needs to fight back; we need to help.  Please contribute to Raul Grijalva’s campaign.  We can’t afford to lose him.
Courage,
Alan Grayson

Support Alan Grayson …

The Problem. On Thursday, there was a news report about Yovany Gonzalez, who was fired because his daughter Mackenzie needed to have expensive surgery. His employer, who provided his health coverage, didn’t want to pay for it. Mackenzie died. Cenk Uygur, host of the show “The Young Turks” on Current TV, invited Alan Grayson on the air to talk about it: CENK UYGUR: Now, [there was] a guy who pointed out this problem. His name was Alan Grayson. Do you remember when Congressman Grayson from Florida gave this speech in the last Congress? [VIDEO OF ALAN GRAYSON]: The Republicans want you to die quickly if you get sick. The Democrats have a different plan. The Democrats say, “If you have health insurance, we’re going to make it better. If you don’t have health insurance, we’re going to provide it to you. If you can’t afford health insurance, then we will help you afford health insurance.” But the Republican plan is this: “Don’t get sick, and if you do get sick, die quickly.“ CENK: Well, he took a lot of heat for that speech. But as you see stories like the Gonzalez story throughout the country, you wonder if he’d gotten it right all along. In fact, let’s bring in Alan Grayson right now — Former congressman from Florida, running again for Congress in Florida. Congressman, talk to us about the state of health care, this case, and what you make of it. ALAN GRAYSON: Well, we still have 50 million Americans who can’t see a doctor when they are sick. And we have the Right Wing in total denial about the problem. After I gave that speech, they demanded an apology. Instead, I apologized to the dead, and gave the [Right Wing] a Harvard study that shows that 45,000 Americans die every year because they have no health coverage. If you take two people who are absolutely identical, physically identical — same age, same gender, same weight, same smoking habits — the one without health insurance is 40 percent more likely to die each year than the one with health insurance. The Right Wing wants to ignore that. We set up a website that still exists, called NamesOfTheDead.com. We invited people who had lost people whom they loved, because they had no health coverage, to write in. It’s some of the most poignant stories you’ve ever heard in your entire life. The Right Wing wants to ignore it, wish it away, pretend it’s not happening. It’s just wrong. CENK: You know what’s fascinating is the media coverage of this. If you point out people who have died [because they have no health insurance], they get mad at you and they say, “Oh, that’s uncivil,” right? But if you actually take away people’s insurance and they die, that they don’t mind. It seems like the media thinks, “OK, well that’s just life, and, you know, your family member died, and it’s a sad day for you.” But we [are considered] to be the impolite ones for pointing it out. Is there something wrong with our media? ALAN GRAYSON: This has been going on now for years. The health insurance companies themselves have been doing it, for years now. For decades, they have had provisions, small print in their policies, that allowed them literally to pull the plug on you when you got too expensive for them. These lifetime caps. And that’s been a plague on us, and it’s killed many people. I introduced a specific bill, H.R. 6000, called the “Thou Shall Not Kill Thy Customers Act,” to prevent them from doing that any longer. And in fact, Obamacare does prevent them from doing that. It ends lifetime caps, but the Republicans want to perpetuate that situation. It doesn’t matter whom you blame, whether it is the Right Wing or the media, it’s just wrong. We’ve known for 3,000 years now that a just society is one that shelters the homeless, that feeds the hungry, and that heals the sick. CENK: So now Republicans are livid because one of Romney’s spokespeople pointed out that his health care plan, universal health care in Massachusetts, would have saved the life of the guy they feature in a Super PAC ad for Obama. And they say, “How dare you? How dare you save her life, and claim that your program would?” How is this Republican Party even in contention? How do they get people to say, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, I want a lifetime cap, so that if I get really sick, my insurance pulls the plug on me, or they pull the plug on my kids. Yeah, I want corporations to crush my soul.” And say, “Hey, you know what? My family member’s sick, who cares? Let ‘em die, because I want to save a buck.” How does a party this decrepit, this sick, this grotesque, even be in contention, and let alone the wins that they had in 2010? ALAN GRAYSON: You’ve got me. I don’t know. I think they should be heading for an overwhelming loss, because the only thing that Mitt Romney cares about, the only thing that the Koch Brothers care about, the only thing that the insurance companies care about, is money. They take as much as they can from the rest of us, they give back as little as possible in return, and they call the difference “profit.” CENK: Congressman Alan Grayson, running again in Florida. Thank you for joining us. We appreciate it. And I want to thank you for that speech you gave last time around, because you were absolutely right about it. ALAN GRAYSON: Thank you. If you want to support a Congressman who tells it like it is, then click here.

Support Congressman Keith Ellison

Thomas Jefferson’s Koran.

Congressman Keith Ellison started life outside the White Anglo-Saxon Protestant English-Speaking Straight mainstream.  He is African-American, and he was raised as a Catholic.

Many people who find themselves out of the mainstream swim desperately toward it.  They seek the shelter and comfort of conformity.
Not Keith.

At the age of 19, Keith Ellison converted to Islam.  He has raised his four children within Islam.  He explained it this way:  “When I looked at my spiritual life, and I looked at what might inform social change and justice in society . . . I found Islam.”

Converting to Islam is perhaps not the best way to further political aspirations in America today.  But in Keith Ellison’s case, it shows the courage of his convictions.

When Keith Ellison was sworn into Congress, he took the oath of office with his hand on the Koran – specifically, Thomas Jefferson’s personal copy of the Koran.  And remember, he’s a Muslim; what did you expect him to put under his hand, “Green Eggs and Ham“?  (That would definitely not be halal.)

And that’s when the hating started.  The poorly-named Congressman Virgil Goode from Virginia bleated: “If American citizens don’t wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office, and demanding the use of the Koran.”  It’s interesting to think about what kind of immigration policy would have kept Keith Ellison’s ancestors out, since they arrived in America in chains.

Glenn Beck, then on CNN, invited Keith Ellison on his show, and asked this not-so-perspicacious “question”:  “Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies.”  Keith responded with a quiet dignity utterly foreign to that show:  “I have a deep love and affection for my country.”

Think about how much easier it would have been for Keith Ellison to change his religion not to Islam, but to Protestantism, and to go along, and to get along, and to try to fit in.  But that just wouldn’t be Keith Ellison. He draws his strength, and his courage, from not being just like everyone else.

Keith Ellison understands that the things that make us special are not the things that make us the same – they’re the things that make us different.  That our differences are not something to overcome, or even to tolerate, but something to cherish.

Keith Ellison is facing a primary next Tuesday.  I hope that you will support his campaign.  Because the mere existence of Congressman Keith Ellison represents a very important principle:

E Pluribus Unum.

Courage,

Alan Grayson

Support Alan Grayson ..

Do Whatever She Says.

When you read the subject line here, “we want more votes,” you may have thought, “well, what candidate doesn’t?”
Not votes for us, silly.  Votes for Green Day, Eric Clapton and B.B. King, Frank Sinatra, etc.
For those of you who are adamant about not reading your e-mails, please let me explain.  Howie Klein of the Blue America PAC is going to give one of the following five items to one of our supporters:

1 – A Green Day guitar autographed by all 3 members of the band – a blue Squier Stratocaster.

2 – The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) Platinum Award to Eric Clapton and B.B. King for “Riding With the King.”

3 – The RIAA’s Platinum Award to Frank Sinatra for “The Very Good Years.”  This plaque hung in the office of Reprise Records, the company that Sinatra started.

4 – The RIAA’s Multi-Platinum Award to the B-52′s for “Cosmic Thing.”

5 – A rare, framed, numbered art print by famed rock artist Rick Griffin for the Cult’s “Wildflower” song, released in 1987.  Griffin and all of the band members signed the print.

And we get to choose.  More specifically, you get to choose, by going to this webpage, and casting your vote.

As it happens, close to 1000 of our supporters already have voted.  But we want more votes.  And it’s not too late.  Just cast your vote no later than Friday, and we will count it.  As they used to say when I was growing up in the Bronx, “Vote Early and Often.”

And then, voting aside, anyone who makes a contribution soon on a special webpage that we have set up, called “I Wanna Rock and Roll” will be eligible to receive the item that we all choose.  (As will anyone who sends an e-mail to rockandroll@graysonforcongress.com.)

Please don’t keep Green Day, Eric Clapton, B.B. King and Frank Sinatra in suspense.   Please vote, then contribute, and then . . .

Just be happy.

Courage,

Alan Grayson

 

Paid for and Authorized by the Committee to Elect Alan Grayson

Support Alan Grayson for Congress

 

The Most Anti-Christian Sign in History?

Dear carmen:

Republican Todd Long’s disgraceful bigoted attack against Alan Grayson as “The most anti-Christian Congressman that we’ve ever had in our history” continues to reverberate around the Web. Here are some more comments that have been posted online:

“I live and vote in Alan’s district. He is just the person to stand up to those Congressmen who would destroy America just to benefit the special interests who donate unlimited sums of campaign cash to Republicans. He is well-educated, has a background in the law, and willing to stand up for the average taxpayer! Last election, he was targeted by the special interest groups eager to silence him, and replaced by a puppet who marched to the Tea Party drum.” – Jim51fla

“Grayson is more a follower of Jesus Christ than any one of his critics on the right. During Grayson’s speech at the Florida Democratic Party, Alan Grayson . . . told the biblical story of Cain, who killed his brother with the jawbone of a donkey (which probably meant he wanted to blame it on the Democrats). [Alan] quoted: ‘And then when God said, “Where’s your brother?” Cain said, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” As if he had no idea. And that, [Alan said,] is actually the fundamental question that separates us from them, right? Am I my brother’s keeper? Our answer is, “Yes, we are.” We are.’” – janmb

“I love Alan Grayson. He’s observant, intelligent, outspoken, has great values and a keen moral sense, and to top it all off, he has a sense of humor. No Christian to whom Christianity is related to a code of ethics, [or related] to empathy for his or her fellow human being, to whom being a Christian is an injunction to err on the side of kindness, need ever fear Alan Grayson.” – Godipo

“Love Alan Grayson. Love his assurance, enthusiasm, courage. I seem to remember an old saying about knowing the quality of a man by the depravity of his enemies. That makes Mr Grayson the greatest man in the nation! Go Grayson! Landslide these clowns!” – hitnmyths

Widely respected blogger Howie Klein had this to say:

“The part of Long’s bizarre anti-Semitic diatribe that fascinated me was his assertion that Grayson “doesn’t believe in any of the biblical values, doesn’t believe in treating people well, doesn’t believe in uniting the country, doesn’t believe in solving problems.” I honestly cannot name another Congressman who was more in synch with Jesus’ most essential teachings than Alan Grayson. I mean, what did the Prince of Peace say about wars? Was anyone in Congress more devoted to peace than Grayson? What did Jesus say about healing the sick, feeding the hungry, clothing the impoverished? Basically, Grayson did little else but work on these very issues! Unless Long is talking about some bizarre religious rites, like snake handling or whatever his crazy supporters are into, anyone examining Alan Grayson’s record would come up with the opposite conclusion– he’s the most Christian– or Judeo-Christian (or just plain ethical) Member of Congress in recent memory.”

And then there was this telephone message:

“I just spoke to Jesus on the phone and he told me that Grayson will be going back to Congress this election, and that Todd Long is going to hell.” – ProudElitist

How can we possibly let some hateful crackpot like Todd Long defeat us? How can we give someone like that any measure of control over our lives? If you haven’t done it already, it’s time to step up, be counted, and show your support at our “Beat the Bigot” contribution page. And do it now.

 

Support Alan Grayson …

 

The Green Day Guitar. One of you lucky people is going to receive something wonderful. But first we have to decide what that is. Due to the kindness and generosity of Howie Klein, an avid Grayson supporter will get ONE of the following items: 1 – A Green Day guitar autographed by all 3 members of the band – a blue Squier Stratocaster. 2 – The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) Platinum Award to Eric Clapton and B.B. King for “Riding With the King.” 3 – The RIAA’s Platinum Award to Frank Sinatra for “The Very Good Years.” This plaque hung in the office of Reprise Records, the company that Sinatra started. 4 – The RIAA’s Multi-Platinum Award to the B-52′s for “Cosmic Thing.” 5 – A rare, framed, numbered art print by famed rock artist Rick Griffin for the Cult’s “Wildflower” song, released in 1987. Griffin and all of the band members signed the print. Howie Klein was the President of Reprise Records for twelve years. Howie Klein is a well-known free speech advocate, a renowned progressive blogger (Down With Tyranny!), and a leader of the Blue America PAC, which has raised more than three million dollars for progressive candidates. Also, a friend. So here is how this works. First, we have set up a page where you can vote on the item: Green Day, Clapton/King, Sinatra, B-52s or Griffin. Second, anyone who makes a contribution this week on a special webpage that we have set up, called “I Wanna Rock and Roll” (tip of the hat to the band Kiss) will be eligible to receive the item we all choose. (As will anyone who sends an e-mail to rockandroll@graysonforcongress.com.) Void where prohibited, blah, blah, blah. OK, so: (1) Vote: Green Day, Clapton/King, Sinatra, B-52s or Griffin. (2) If you want, make a contribution at the “I Wanna Rock and Roll” webpage. One person will win the item — once we know what that is. Which we will find out after you all vote. Got it? Good. Because I’m really curious to know what kind of music you like, and this is one way to find out. So get to it. Courage, Alan Grayson