Biden says failing $862B "stimulus" was too small and would have been bigger with more Democrats. The choice is clear on Nov. 2.
Failing stimulus? Guess Roy prefers to ignore the figures from the new Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report on the impact of the stimulus on employment and economic growth:
* Raised the level of real (inflation-adjusted) gross domestic product (GDP) by between 1.7 percent and 4.2 percent,
* Lowered the unemployment rate by between 0.7 percentage points and 1.5 percentage points,
* Increased the number of people employed by between 1.2 million and 2.8 million, and
* Increased the number of full-time-equivalent (FTE) jobs by 1.8 million to 4.1 million compared with what those amounts would have been otherwise. ...
Or maybe Blunt is agreeing with VP Biden that the stimulus should have been larger? That would certainly also put him in agreement with economists like Paul Krugman and Nouriel Roubini who are pointing out that the current slowdown in the recovery can be traced to an inadequate stimulus package. Somehow, though, I doubt that our Roy is much swayed by expert opinion, so I think we are left with a nasty little exercise in how to be both dishonest and snide in 140 characters or less.
Blunt is, of course, like the proverbial broken clock that is right twice a day, unequivocally correct that the choice is clear come November. Sadly, though, he seems to be relying on the not unreasonable hope that the Republican effort to obstruct economic progress while muddying public perception will win out. As Paul Krugman observed today:
Since Mr. Obama took office, they [i.e. Republicans] have engaged in relentless obstruction, obviously unworried about how their actions would look or be reported. And it's working: by blocking Democratic efforts to alleviate the economy's woes, the G.O.P. is helping its chances of a big victory in November.
Following up on my earlier posting about AmerenUE's proposed coal ash landfill on the Missouri River floodplain (upriver from the St. Louis drinking water supply), I'm forwarding to you this e-mail I received:
DON'T MISS ACT 3 OF THE COAL ASH LANDFILL HEARING SAGA
We need to pack the house again to show our concern.
Load up the car and travel to Union on July 20th for hearing #3. Your support has taken us this far but we need you to go the distance with us. Just showing up in numbers sends a powerful message. The landfill zoning amendment is one of several issues on the P&Z; agenda which can be found at www.franklinmo.org.
PLANNING AND ZONING MEETING
DATE: Tues, JULY 20th
TIME: 7:00 pm
WHERE: Franklin County Government Center
400 E. Locust Union MO 63084
Goal: withdraw proposed zoning amendment, form Advisory Group to study options, protect our communities from toxic contamination.
What to Expect: We've been surprised by the county process twice (on June 15 and July 6) so can't make any promises but expect brief comments concerning the proposed amendment will be heard by the commissioners. We recommend reading the actual proposed zoning amendment by visiting www.leomo.info. Look for the amendment link in the sidebar.
If you absolutely, positively cannot make it but want to voice concern, please send comments and contact info to: CoalWasteLandfillLetters@gmail.com
Dan Schesch can also be discounted. Not that he doesn't have some good ideas; he just doesn't have a chance to win. Schesch got only 9 percent of the vote when he ran for St. Louis City Treasurer two years ago. Undaunted by getting squashed in that election, he's running for state rep. But he's doing so without a cadre of volunteers--it's he, himself and him doing the work. As for funds, he's pulled in $3200 as of the end of the second quarter.
Which isn't going to go very far against Susan Carlson, the front runner. She's the one who has garnered the geld in this race--more than $58,000 at the end of the quarter. Carlson's husband is a big Democratic donor, and she has a network that includes the women's groups based in the County. She also has a high powered campaign consultant that her connections and money have brought in, and she has the endorsements of Rachel Storch (the outgoing state representative of this district), Joan Bray, Mayor Francis Slay, Harriett's List, and so on.
She's already sent out one professional looking mailer. It might not be the sort of piece that grabs you and sticks in your mind, but neither was it tacky. No doubt, there will be more mailers to come.
Her weaknesses are those of a front runner whose lead is built on money and connections: she's not knocking doors right now, and she doesn't have a strong presence in the city, which is most of the geographical area of the district. And some of her endorsements and connections carry with them a certain amount of backlash. For example, the scuttlebutt is that the women's groups in the County didn't necessarily back Shelley Welsch in her successful run for mayor of University City, and part of this district is in U. City. So Welsch backers are, to some extent, returning the snub to Carlson on what should be her home turf.
Unlike Carlson and Schesch, Dave Leipholtz is a young guy making his first foray into the political arena. He's got more money than anybody else except Carlson--but his 6,000 bucks is a fer piece off from Carlson's 58 thou. He's not a natural politician--there will be no Jeff Smith comparisons on personality and ease in front of the public. But he is a former teacher, and he does have some devoted kids running around knocking doors for him. That can be a plus and a minus. He's supposedly knocked every door in his universe of targeted voters twice and is nearly complete with the third round now. But an acquaintance of mine tells me that when a couple of the kids knocked on his door on a hot day, they had no followup when he said he knew who Dave was. They didn't ask for his vote and didn't ask him to do anything besides take a piece of literature. Leipholtz does have the backing of City Democrats chair Brian Wahby and the endorsement of the City Labor Club. Also, his campaign is being run by the same man who is running State Senator Joe Keaveny's. (Keaveny, by the way, has a primary challenger that he's taking seriously, a retired policeman named James Long that the policeman's association put up to run because Keaveny sponsored the local control of St. Louis police bill.) So Leipholtz and Keaveny are running some joint canvasses.
Amy Hilgemann's a real wild card here. She is the wife of the former state rep from the district before Storch took over after he was termed out. She and her husband, Bob, moved to St. Louis just north of the Botanical Garden in the late 1970s, just as the neighborhood really started to go downhill. She has a PhD in public policy, and she has participated in a lot of elections, both with her husband and in her own elections to the school board. She started on the school board as a reformer with some good ideas, but she rubbed a good many people the wrong way. People think of her as maybe a little bit crazy but definitely tenacious. She has personally knocked around 1,000 doors, and together with the volunteers from the ward organization, she's knocked a lot more. She has the endorsement of some of the citywide electeds, like President of the Board of Alderman Lewis Reed and Collector of Revenue Greg Daly. On the other hand, she hasn't filed a statement of her contributions and expenses with the Missouri Ethics Commission, so presumably she's taken in less than $500.
Who knows how this is all going to shake out. More than likely, Carlson will win, but if she doesn't get much face to face time with primary voters, Leipholtz or Hilgemann could sneak in.
"...we know from our history that we have to have more than words..."
Reverend William Barber, NAACP National Board Member.
On Sunday afternoon, July 11th, Reverend William Barber, NAACP National Board Member was the first speaker at the legislative workshop titled "Engaging Congress: the NAACP's Legislative Agenda to Achieve One Nation, One Dream":
Reverend William Barber: Good afternoon to all of you who have gathered here today for this legislative workshop. My name is, uh, William Barber, State Conference President, member of the National Board, and chair of the Legislative and Political Action Committee of the National Board. It is good to have you all, others are making their way as they come here today.
"...Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never has, it never will...
Representative Barbara Lee (D-California), Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.
On Sunday afternoon, July 11th, Representative Barbara Lee (D-California) was part of the panel for a legislative workshop titled "Engaging Congress: the NAACP's Legislative Agenda to Achieve One Nation, One Dream". Representative Lee spoke on health care reform and other issues:
Representative Barbara Lee (D): [applause]....Thank you so much. Good afternoon. [voices: Good afternoon."] Hilary [Shelton], first of all, thank you so much for that very warm and humbling introduction. But also, I just have to thank you for your leadership. And, uh, during those very difficult days in two thousand and one I, I want to tell you, it was very difficult to be the only one to vote against giving any president a blank check to go to war forever endless war. But, Hilary, many of you, all of you really stood right there by my side because you knew what that was about. And I really want to thank you so much for your support. [applause] And also I just have to say, yes, we're trying to end this, uh, endless war. The American people are war weary. And I was so humbled the other night when we took one step toward that and the Lee Amendment got one hundred votes with the majority of the members of the black caucus voting for us to begin to get out of Afghanistan. [applause] So that was a major, major step in the right direction...
"....Public schools are closing. Teachers are being laid off by the thousands. First class jails and second class schools. Today there is a plan, a plan for comprehensive immigration reform. A plan for Afghanistan, we commit resources, a hundred billion dollars for a hundred Al Qaeda. A plan, don't ask, don't tell, for gays. A plan for national reform. But no plan for the investment for urban policy to put America back to work. So, we bail out the predators, the bankers that drove us in this hole. The victims remain on the sideline desperately looking for a job...." - Reverend Jesse Jackson, NAACP National Convention, July 14, 2010.
"....Suddenly, Republican leaders want to change that. They say we shouldn't provide unemployment insurance because it costs money. So after years of championing policies that turned a record surplus into a massive deficit, including a tax cut for the wealthiest Americans, they've finally decided to make their stand on the backs of the unemployed. They've got no problem spending money on tax breaks for folks at the top who don't need them and didn't even ask for them; but they object to helping folks laid off in this recession who really do need help. And every day this goes on, another 50,000 Americans lose that badly needed lifeline...."President Obama, weekly address, July 17, 2010.
Oh, the republicans have a plan for November 2010.
President Obama's weekly address for July 17, 2010:
It's that time again. On July 15th the second quarter 2010 campaign finance reports were due in at the Missouri Ethics Commission. We'll start with the 121st Legislative District which includes the cities of Warrensburg, Knob Noster and Holden in Johnson County.
Courtney Cole (D) speaking at a legislative candidate forum on Thursday night for the Johnson County Democratic Club in Warrensburg.
Courtney Cole, the Democratic Party candidate, filed her second quarter 2010 campaign finance report on July 15th:
Detailed Summary of Committee Disclosure Report
Committe: COLE FOR HOUSE
ReportDate:
1. TOTAL RECEIPTS FOR THIS ELECTION PREVIOUSLY REPORTED $32,429.26
2. ALL MONETARY CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED THIS PERIOD $13,958.00
9. TOTAL ALL RECEIPTS THIS ELECTION(SUM 1B + 7A - 8A) $47,927.26
15. TOTAL EXPENDITURES THIS ELECTION (SUM 10B + 14A) $10,631.79
28. MONEY ON HAND AT THE CLOSE OF THIS REPORTING PERIOD (SUM 25 + 26 - 27) $32,362.42
ODESSA, MO - The talk of bringing a manufacturing company, along with thousands of new jobs, to Odessa may have been just that - all talk.
Officials in Odessa say that after months of infrequent contact with Manna of Utah, a company that promised to make non-fossil fuel generators and bring 3,400 new jobs to the town, the entire deal doesn't appear to be working out.
Earlier this year, the company made an announcement that they would be building a manufacturing plant in Odessa as soon as funding is complete. Odessa's economic development director says the city is prepared to finance the $100 million project with industrial bonds, but Manna of Utah dropped the ball....
A hundred million dollars? Wow, that would have been a serious investment of public money. Who was pushing it, and what were they going to do with all that money?
...."You know when you were a kid and you had a magnet, you put the two ends together and they pushed apart, and you'd turn them around and they sucked towards each other," Rep. McGhee said. "These guys have designed a wheel, lined with electromagnets in a circle, then they have taken an inner circle and put three magnets on the inner circle on a plastic disc. As the inner circle magnet comes towards that magnet, it pulls itself. They designed their own computer program and a chip that reverses that in such a millisecond, when it gets to that, it pushes it away. It runs this thing in a circle, just with magnets...."
....And here's a tip for politicians and investors - get a clue. Consult with an actual scientist before investing in the latest free-energy con. Politicians in Utah and Odessa are hoping to gain attention for being so environmentally responsible and forward-looking. But instead they will simply be the targets of a round of ridicule from those with a clue.
One would generally think that a buisiness model that involves violating the laws of physics is probably not going to result in a very sound enterprise. However, it appears that some in Missouri feel differently about that....
....To Rep. Mike McGhee: You, sir, are an idiot. I hope voters remember this when they go to the polls.
Don't bother reading this. Democrat Doug Clemens is running for the safe Democratic seat (67 DPI) in HD 77 (mid St. Louis County) against two unimpressive primary opponents. So what else is there to know, right?
For starters, he's behaving very oddly. We could overlook the fact that he started knocking on doors in January, for pete's sake, because back then he didn't necessarily have a commanding lead. But the phone calls he and his people have made to self identified Democrats indicate that about half of them will commit themselves. Forty percent of those called support Clemens. That leaves his opponents, the current mayor of Edmundson and a former alderwoman from St. Ann, to divide the other ten percent of committed voters. So now we come to the odd part: with a lead like that, he still spends most mornings calling people for campaign donations, and he starts knocking on doors every afternoon around 2:00 or 3:00 and keeps at it until dark.
There's only about three weeks left till the primary--which is, let's face it, the whole ball of wax in this district--and it's hotter'n Hades. Ease up, Doug! This is crazy behavior.
He doesn't think it's crazy so much as old fashioned, in the best sense of the term. It's been twenty years since a representative in his district--a man named Foley--did much consistent door knocking. Clemens believes it's necessary, because he is looking at the long term. He's about more than winning the election. He wants to build a network of activists in his district. Since the St. Louis mainstream media so steadfastly ignores most of the news from Jefferson City, Clemens believes he needs people behind him, people he can educate by e-mail about the goings on in Jeff City, people who will call their senator or the Republican leadership to object to bad policy proposals or to urge a vote on good ones. Because otherwise their needs will never get met.
Clemens himself was laid off in 2009 because credit was shut off to the transportation firm where he worked. He's getting by okay by doing consulting work, but he says that "every third or fourth door I hit, there's someone unemployed. They're having trouble coming up with money for school supplies, for utility bills, for health care."
Clemens figures there are creative ways to build more jobs in this state. He points, for example, to a green technologies park in nearby Hazelwood. One company might make photovoltaic cells and another one wind turbines. The point is that with various green companies close to each other, it's easier to trade ideas. Or suppose, says Clemens, Missouri had a state-owned bank that would lend to small businesses. North Dakota, which has the only such state-owned bank, has survived the current downturn better than most places.
Clemens isn't necessarily saying that he thinks he could get something like that instituted here. He's just saying that he will be watching for innovative ideas. He keeps himself well informed about politics, the environment, and the economic picture. Because you're not going to figure out solutions if you're an ignoramus.
And you won't get anything enacted all by yourself, even if you win four House elections in a row. Just as Clemens likes talking to people at the door, he will also be good at talking to representatives on both sides of the aisle. He will strive to help people survive this awful economy.
So, if and when he wins the primary, I fully expect him to keep hitting those doors till November. Maybe he'll knock off in December.
"...When our budgets reflect the nation's commitment to jobs and justice, and peace we'll keep our eyes on that prize..."
"...I'd rather have a guy calling me a name with no power, than a guy smiling at me that has state's rights power as the government..."
Reverend Jesse Jackson.
There was a question and answer session with the media at the end of yesterday's press conference:
....Question: ...Dave Helling, Kansas City Star. Uh, Reverend Jackson, you suggested the tea party resolution was a diversion. What did you mean by that? And maybe some of the other members, uh, could, uh, address today's pushback, Sarah Palin and others that issued statements calling it divisive, inappropriate, that type of thing, sad. Could you talk just a little bit about the tea party resolution?...
(left to right) Reverend Jesse Jackson, Reverend Al Sharpton, NAACP National Board Member Clayola Brow, NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous, NAACP Vice President for Communications Leila McDowell.
NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous was the third of three speakers at yesterday afternoon's press conference at the NAACP National Convention in Kansas City.
(left to right) Benjamin Todd Jealous, Reverend Al Sharpton, Clayola Brown, Reverend Jesse Jackson.
....Benjamin Todd Jealous, NAACP President and CEO: Thank you, good afternoon. [voices: "Good afternoon."] There's no one in this country who works harder on behalf of working people than the three people standing right behind me. It's an honor to be on the stage with all of them.
Eight twenty-eight will be a springboard to ten-two-ten. It'll be a wake up call to, to the country. We will be asking faith leaders across the country the month of September to preach and teach at their houses of worship about the values of human rights and human dignity, true meaning of Dr. King's words and the words of all the others who spoke that day in nineteen sixty-three and all of those of us who believe in human rights and human dignity.
Ten-two-ten is being put together by over a hundred and fifty organizations, including many of the largest civil rights organizations, religious denominations and labor organizations in this country. It is intended to show that we are at a place in this country where the majority of people just want to focus on what's important - be able to put food on the kitchen table, be able to be treated fairly, insure that this economy works for all of us - [inaudible] working class people of all colors, struggling families of all colors. And this march on ten-two-ten really will be a reminder, will be a reflection of the country. You will see Teamsters there, you will NAACPers there, National Action Network and Rainbow and PUSH and National Council of La Raza and LULAC and Jews and Christians and Baptists, Episcopalians and Muslims and Buddhists - all together.
We are one nation and we all need a testament of hope. And that testament of hope for so many families is simply a job and a fair shake. So I want to thank Reverend Sharpton, I want to thank Reverend Jackson, I want to thank Miss Brown, President Brown of the Randolph Institute {AFL-CIO], for their support of ten-two-ten and for coming together with us to say put America back to work, pull America back together. Thank you very much....
[question and answer session followed]
Benjamin Todd Jealous was also on Keith Olbermann last night, in reference to the NAACP national convention resolution on racist elements in the tea party:
....Benjamin Todd Jealous: You know, we got death threats at our office in, uh, Los Angeles today. And, you know, if there aren't violent racists in the tea party then why are people calling threatening to kill us for speaking out about violent racists in the tea party?
Keith Olbermann: I don't mean to laugh, but it does sort of prove your point, uh, rather self evidently....
Reverend Jesse Jackson was the second of three speakers at this afternoon's press conference at the NAACP National Convention in Kansas City. Reverend Jackson spoke quietly - the ambient noise in the room appeared to drop when he first approached the microphone.
....Reverend Jesse Jackson: Thank you very much, Clayola, to Reverend Sharpton, to, uh, President Jealous.
This week, fifty years ago, July sixteenth, nineteen sixty, along with eight classmates, uh, I was jailed for trying to use a public library. A season of great uprising. January first, nineteen sixty NAACP led a march in Greenville, in the airport, because people could not sit in, uh, open spaces. February first, nineteen sixty, sit-ins took place in Greensboro, North Carolina [inaudible] took a dynamic the like of which we'd never seen before. [inaudible] in April of nineteen sixty. Greenville exploded in July of nineteen sixty. Between sixty and sixty-three there were twenty thousand arrests. In nineteen sixty-three alone there was fifteen thousand arrested. A thousand demonstrations by SCLC and CORE, NAACP marched to pull down the walls of racial segregation.
The March on Washington was a culmination of that phase, collecting those activities around the nation. On that day Jim Foreman could not make it, Floyd McKissock spoke in his place, he was in jail in Louisiana. Fannie Lou Hamer could not make it, she was in jail and beaten by prisoners in Sunflower County, Mississippi. I just left jail [inaudible] of inciting a riot. The season of our global uprising for justice.
Here we come again, forty-seven years later, demanding a national job uprising. Here'll be a march in Washington , [inaudible] Along with UAW will be marching in Detroit, urging people around, wherever you are, around the nation, have prayer vigils that date, around the nation at unemployment compensation offices. A national jobs and justice day uprising to fulfill the promise of the dream.
UAW had a million five hundred thousand workers ten years ago now it's down to four hundred thousand. Today it's USA GM. USA GM, uh, now number one market for Buick is China. So plants are closing, jobs are leaving, drugs and guns are coming and violence is intensifying. So urban America is in a state of emergency. We march, therefore, to address the attacks diminishing life options of people who live in urban and rural America. Our cities are under siege.
Every city we visit [inaudible] transportation. Cutting public transportation, laying off workers, and raising fares. If you're on welfare you can not own a car, so without public transportation you cannot get to the hospital, or school, or work, or shop, or recreation. Cutting public transportation, in part because in nineteen ninety-eight Gingrich put in a bill that cities above twenty thousand get zero public transportation money, zero public for workers. Ten percent for capital for buses and trucks, but not for workers. So when we're in Atlanta, Georgia or Memphis, Tennessee, or New York or Chicago - one thing you'll see in all these cities is public transportation cut, workers laid off, and fares [inaudible]. Cities under siege. Public housing cut. Private housing in record foreclosure. The banks have been bailed out and they rejoice, billions of dollars in bailout, not linked to lending nor to reinvestment. So the banks rejoice. We project four million foreclosures this year. More foreclosures than there will be modifications this year because the bailout was not linked to lending.
Public schools are closing. Teachers are being laid off by the thousands. First class jails and second class schools. Today there is a plan, a plan for comprehensive immigration reform. A plan for Afghanistan, we commit resources, a hundred billion dollars for a hundred Al Qaeda. A plan, don't ask, don't tell, for gays. A plan for national reform. But no plan for the investment for urban policy to put America back to work. So, we bail out the predators, the bankers that drove us in this hole. The victims remain on the sideline desperately looking for a job.
Lastly, while there's a lot of focus today on, so I think it's a diversion, the issue really is not the tea party it's the coffee pot. In the coffee pot there's room for cream and sugar for all of us. It's about connecting our, connecting our, Alabama and connecting that with, uh, Appalachia. It's about a plan to put America back to work. Focus on jobs and job training, opening up trade unions, [inaudible] to cut down on the growth and the anxiety and the crime.
I want to thank the NAACP for being that ship across these years, across this century. It's kept us on the ultimate focus of a big tent America, where all are involved and none are locked out. A change takes place when those at the bottom rise up and have a quest for dignity. Just as we rose up in the thirties demanding workers have the right to organize and, and paid the price. And the sixties rose up and demanded public accommodations for all. Now we demand that there be a job rising. August twenty-eighth let us in the name of the dream march for jobs and justice all the way to ten-two-ten in Washington where we shall again [inaudible] the White House, the Congress, the government must see our quest. We want to work, the dignity of work. We want jobs, justice, and education for all.
Reverend Al Sharpton was the first of three speakers (after being introduced by NAACP National Board Member Clayola Brown) at this afternoon's press conference at the NAACP National Convention in Kansas City.
Clayola Brown: Good afternoon everyone. Good afternoon everyone. [voices: "Good afternoon."] We wanted to take this opportunity to address the media before the economic justice forum to talk with you a little bit about the One Nation movement. On October the second, the ten-two-ten, we will be marching on Washington with some of the leaders you see here, Reverend Sharpton, Reverend Jackson, as well as other leaders throughout labor, civil rights and the community to demand the changes that we voted for. Civil rights are under attack in this country and even Glenn Beck is holding a rally on eight twenty-eight, which is the anniversary date of Dr. Martin Luther King's historic March on Washington. And this is certainly not what this country needs right now. It is my pleasure this afternoon to introduce to the mic first, Reverend Al Sharpton, a renowned leader across this country who really needs no introduction whatsoever. Reverend Sharpton...
Reverend Al Sharpton and Clayola Brown.
....Reverend Al Sharpton: Thank you Miss Brown. I come as President of the National Action Network to join others in pledging our support for the march of labor and others joining us on the second of October in Washington. And also there'll be a big gathering on the twenty-eighth of August, the date that Miss Brown just referred to. Uh, forty-seven years ago there was a march in Washington for jobs and justice, and which Martin Luther King made one of the addresses that became known as the famous "I Have a Dream" speech. It is an absolute outrage that Glenn Beck and the tea parties are coming to Washington on that day, claiming to restore dignity. It is not about race. It is about their belief in government that is so [inaudible]. The idea of the civil rights movement is to get a strong federal government to protect the people against state's rights that has been those that kept people down based on going by state to state laws. The tea partiers are a state's rights philosophical group. The cannot march in the name of Dr. King's dream, which was totally antithetical to their idea of government. So Martin Luther King the third and Marc Morial of the National Urban League and [inaudible] and others will be joining us on the twenty-eighth in Washington. We will not be marching were Beck is. We will be at Dunbar High School and go to the site where Dr. Martin Luther King monument will be unveiled next year, the last monument on the Potomac. We're not going to react to Beck. We're going to raise what the real dream was on the anniversary of the dream. The dream was about jobs, the dream was about economic justice, the dream was about making sure that states could not interfere with the rights of labor, the rights of women and the rights of people. You cannot have people who are now trying to have tea party for state's rights coming and celebrating the day that asked the federal government to overrule where states were segregating and allowing segregation to go forward. There clearly is some racial leaves in their tea bag, but this is not just about race. This is about how you see government. And those of us that see government the way that Dr. King and Roy Wilkins and Dorothy Height saw it will be in Washington to raise the right banner on the twenty-eighth of August and be there in mass with everyone, One Nation, on the second of October. I close by reminding you, if you read the whole speech of Dr. King, Dr. King said that America had given the negro a check that had bounced in the bank and it was returned insufficient funds. Uh, I submit that that check has been written again with an African-American president, this time the bank bounced, 'cause there's no money. So we really need to press for jobs, we need to press for jobs, economic equity and we cannot return back to states deciding on immigration, states deciding on labor. That's why we're going to Washington on twenty-eight, that's why we'll be there in mass on the second. We see from Arizona, we see from the tea parties, they're trying to bring us back to pre King days. While they talk about restoring dignity they're really talking about restoring a time before the federal government intervened and protected the rights of people. Again, this is not about race, this is about how you see the role of government and how Beck and that crowd sees it is the opposite of why they marched in nineteen sixty-three....
Waiting for the start of the press conference.
(left to right) Reverend Jesse Jackson, NAACP President and CE0 Benjamin Todd Jealous, Reverend Al Sharpton.
Reverend Al Sharpton.
Reverend Jesse Jackson.
Benjamin Todd Jealous.
(left to right) Benjamin Todd Jealous, Reverend Al Sharpton, NAACP National Board Member Clayola Brown, Reverend Jesse Jackson.
Dan Schesch can also be discounted. Not that he doesn't have some 
Which isn't going to go very far against Susan Carlson, the front runner. She's the one who has garnered the geld in this race--more than 
Unlike Carlson and Schesch, Dave Leipholtz is a young guy making his first foray into the political arena. He's got more money than anybody else except Carlson--but his 
Amy Hilgemann's a real wild card here. She is the wife of the former state rep from the district before Storch took over after he was termed out. She and her husband, Bob, moved to St. Louis just north of the Botanical Garden in the late 1970s, just as the neighborhood really started to go downhill. She has a PhD in public policy, and she has participated in a lot of elections, both with her husband and in her own elections to the school board. She started on the school board as a reformer with some good ideas, but she rubbed a good many people the wrong way. People think of her as maybe a little bit crazy but definitely tenacious. She has personally knocked around 1,000 doors, and together with the volunteers from the ward organization, she's knocked a lot more. She has the endorsement of some of the citywide electeds, like President of the Board of Alderman Lewis Reed and Collector of Revenue Greg Daly. On the other hand, she 
Don't bother reading this. Democrat Doug Clemens is running for the safe Democratic seat (67 DPI) in HD 77 (mid St. Louis County) against two unimpressive primary opponents. So what else is there to know, right?
