Closing the God gap

Religion News Service reports that a recent ten nation survey found that Americans were mostly likely to apply spiritual values to political decision making. Thirty-seven percent of American respondents said religious leaders should "try to influence government decisions." Republicans overwhelmingly won the votes of those who attend worship services once weekly or more often. Democratic Senate Leader Harry Reid, a devout Mormon, is trying to build bridges to faith communities. He has a new webpage with a message for people of faith. I applaud Senator Reid for working to close the gap among religious voters.
http://democrats.senate.gov/faith.html

NY County CEO fights illegal immigration

Suffolk County (New York) County Executive Steve Levy is one Democratic elected official that is doing something about illegal immigration. Levy has worked to improve communication between local police and federal immigration enforcement agencies. As County Executive, Levy authorized the cross training of Suffolk County police officers so that they have the authority to enforce federal immigration laws. Sting operations have been set up with cooperation between federal and local authorities to crack down on employers hiring illegal aliens and landlords who provide substandard housing to undocumented workers. A sweep coordinated by federal immigration agents and Sufffolk County police last March rounded up two dozen illegal aliens who had misdemeanor and felony sex offense convictions and thus eligible for deportation from the United States. Described in the local media as a "conservative Democrat," Levy is a role model for other elected officials in the battle against illegal immigration.
http://www.co.suffolk.ny.us/webtemp3.cfm?dept=19&id=2358

Democrats must show resolve against terrorism

The U.S. House of Representatives has wisely decided to renew the Patriot Act. The most controversial provisions were the roving wiretaps and the ability to obtain library records. Civil libertarians worry that the Patriot Act will erode basic freedoms, however, that is a specious argument. The Patriot Act simply gives our intelligence and law enforcement agencies the power to combat terrorism in an era of changing technology.

In an editorial today, The Boston Herald http://www.BostonHerald.com explained the need for the Patriot Act provisions. "Now the roving wiretaps provision - long available in criminal investigations - will continue to allow the government to seek warrants to intercept phone or Internet communications without the warrant being limited to a specific phone or location. Somehow we fail to see how bringing federal wiretap law into the 21st century is threatening to civil liberities, and a majority of the House agreed. Likewise the so-called library provisions - which require a judge's approval - are hardly a grave intrusion on the freedoms of ordinary Americans. Both provisions have proven useful in allowing counter-terrorism units to successfully do their jobs and crack terror cells before they can do any damage."
Thanks to the Boston Herald for bringing some common sense to the discussion of terrorism and the Patriot Act.

If we are ever to become the majority party again, Democrats need to make it clear that we have the resolve to fight terrorism. Putting the ACLU in charge of the war on terror just won't do it. I am certainly no fan of the Bush administration and think that our intervention in Iraq is a misguided distraction to the real war on terror that needs to be waged, but it is the height of irresponsiblity for some Congressional Democrats to oppose giving our law enforcement authorities to the tools to do their job to prevent further terrorist attacks.

Christianity and politics

I am a Christian who is also a registered Democrat. In many evangelical churches today and I suspect many conservative Catholic circles as well, being a Democrat is seen about as positively as owning a strip club. Christians need to recognize that no one political party has the right answers on questions of morality. I think that Democrats take the more Christian approach in dealing with the less fortunate. There are numerous references in the Bible to helping to poor and healing the sick. Cutting funding for the medically needy is not the most Christ-like approach in my view. Trickle down economics advocated by the Republican Party is basically social Darwinism. Isn't it ironic that many who object to teaching Darwinism as fact in the science classroom will enthuasiastically buy into a party that makes "survival of the fittest" its economic credo ? At the same time, I think that many Christians have some legitimate complaints about the direction that the Democratic Party has gone. Supporting late term abortion and affirming homosexuality as a positive lifestyle (through allowing gay marriage or civil unions with tax benefits) incompatible with Christianity (and most other religious traditions) although I do oppose discrimination against gays and lesbians in the workplace and housing. Democrats need to be more receptive to those who are pro-life and believe in traditional marriage.

I hope that the Democratic Party will have more dialogue with evangelical Christians and conservative Catholics. Activists in the Democratic Party tend to have a very secular or liberal religious outlook so it would help for Democrats to meet with some individuals with a different perspective. Personally, I do not think that dialogue is ever a bad thing. While I am generally pro-life, I welcome attempts at open lines of communication between pro-life and pro-choice individuals. A group of women who were activists on opposing sides of the abortion issue met regularly and found that they were able to find some common areas of agreement although none changed their view on the issue. The same was true of some evangelical Christians who met with gay activists. Both recognized that while on different sides of a serious moral issue that neither were ten feet tall monsters with horns. Republicans and Democrats can debate the issues passionately, but it doesn't hurt to have some civility. To be able to effectively persuade others to your point of view, you first have to be able to listen and understand what the other person believes. The main problem with our political system today is that too many people have stopped listening and have let Rush Limbaugh (or Michael Moore) do their thinking for them.

Some interesting perspectives on religion, society and politics

Exchange of views between Democrats and Republicans on religion and politics.
http://tinyurl.com/apnua

Article by a Democratic activist who is also a Christian evangelical.
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/155/story_15582_3.html

America's leading evangelical Christian publication.
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ctmag/features/issues/

A leading voice for liberal mainline Protestant Christians.
http://www.christiancentury.org

Evangelicals for Social Action - a moderate to mainstream liberal evangelical Christian group.
http://www.esa-online.org

National Catholic Report - Catholic newspaper that is often favorable to Democrats. Excellent weekly Washington column by Joe Feuerherd.
http://www.nationalcatholicreporter.org/washington/

Terry Mattingly explains why traditional Catholics are abandoning the Democratic Party and how we can win them back.
http://tmatt.gospelcom.net/column/2004/08/25/

Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention headed by Dr. Richard Land. I don't agree with all of their views, but it is a very well done site.
http://www.erlc.com

Federal power increases under Republican rule

Many conservative Democrats embraced the Republican Party because they believed that the GOP would uphold state's rights. Wrong. Under Republican rule, the concentration of power in the federal government has only increased.
http://www.newhousenews.com/archive/reilly071305.html

Democrat Progressives see the light on gun control

Writing in the left of center The Nation magazine, Sasha Aramsky presents a convincing case that gun control is a "Democrat Killer." Focusing on the rampant pro-gun sentiment in the West and the increasing political significance of that region, Aramsky sets forth some pragmatic arguments for Democrats to abandon their support of gun regulations. The article focuses on the political situation in New Mexico where a group of rural Democrats known as the Bull Moosers has promoted a pro-gun, pro-hunting and conservation agenda. The Bull Moosers were instrumental in pushing a concealed carry weapon law through the New Mexico Legislature which was signed by Democratic Governor Bill Richardson who has become a proponent of gun rights.
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20050418&c=1&s=abramsky

A website for pro-gun rights liberals !
http://www.liberalswithguns.com/

A liberal argument for Second Amendment rights
http://www.constitution.org/2ll/2ndschol/104ali.htm

Certainly one of the chief guarantees of freedom under any government, no matter how popular and respected, is the right of the citizen to keep and bear arms. This is not to say that firearms should not be very carefully used and that definite rules of precaution should not be taught and enforced. But the right of the citizen to bear arms is just one more safeguard against a tyranny which now appears remote in America, but which historically has proved to be always possible.
—Hubert Humphrey, 1960

Bush amnesty inspires illegal aliens

Critics of President's Bush plan to grant amnesty to illegal aliens have long maintained that this proposal would only encourage more immigrant scofflaws and penalize those attempting to immigrate to the U.S. legally. Now we learn that the officials of the U.S. Immigration and Border Protecting conducted a survey of illegal aliens they had captured. The survey revealed that the vast majority of the illegals were aware of Bush's amnesty proposal and attempted to cross the U.S. border because of it.
http://tinyurl.com/cjtsa

GOP Misery Index

Take a look at the GOP misery index which shows how we are faring under the leadership of George Bush and the Republican Congress.


GOP Misery Index:
Jobs Lost =
2,971,000 (U.S. Dep. Labor)
Uninsured Americans =
43,600,000 (U.S. Census)
National Debt =
$7,009,333,811,289.69 (Projected)
Your Share =
$23,960.78 (per family member)

Democrats and white working class voters

Ruy Teixerira writes in the Emerging Democratic Majority Weblog about his discovery concerning the percentage of working class white voters among the electorate. As more complete demographic data about the 2004 Presidential election has become available, Teixerira discovered that white voters lacking a college education made up 51.5 percent of the total voters instead of the 43.3 percent of voters previously categorized as white working class types. Among this group, Teixerira who is a Senior Fellow with the Center for American Progress, points out voters went for Bush over Kerry by 23 percentage points. Gore lost working class whites to Bush by 17 percentage points in 2000. Bill Clinton had narrowly won a majority of these voters in 1992 and 1996 even though he won only a plurality of the wide among the total electorate. Below is an a link to the article which has highlighted links to other articles that are also quite informative.
http://tinyurl.com/8xzeq

Democrats must defend private property rights

The Hill newspaper http://www.thehill.com reports that Congressional Democrats have yet to form a "cohesive position" in reposnse to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling which granted local goverments the right to seize private property for economic development purposes. To this credit, Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) has come out strongly against the court ruling which is a clear threat to homeowners. I cannot think of a better issue that puts Democrats on the side of championing the average citizen over big business than supporting legislation which would reverse this outrageous decision. Why should a working class or middle class homeowner have to leave their home so that a big box store can be built under the guise of economic development ? A house resolution expressing "grave disapproval" of the Kelo v. City of New London decision won 144 Democratic votes in the U.S. House. 42 Democrats bravely supported legislation to withhold federal funds from govermens who seize private homes in the name of economic growth. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California opposed the legislation on the basis that it amounted to interference with a federal court ruling and failed to vote on the House resolution expressing disapproval of the Supreme Court decision. We are talking about protecting private property rights and nation's highest court is simply wrong about this matter. Democrats have traditionally been the party of the people - not the federal judiciary. Let's make it clear which side we are on.

Democrats and illegal immigration

An article which appeared last month in the Christian Science Monitor tells how Democrats could gain politically and protect American workers by taking a decisive stand against illegal immigration - something that the Bush White House refuses to do. As proponents of cheap labor policies, most Republicans are naturally tolerant of illegal immigration. The article asks what went wrong with Democrats who have traditionally supported control of our borders. Both parties have failed to protect our borders and Democrats should demand that our party return to its tradition of fighting for the interests of American workers as we know that the Republicans are the party of big business will continue to tolerate illegal immigration.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0516/p09s01-coop.html

Republican Congress gives itself a pay raise

Despite a valiant effort by U.S. Congressman Jim Matheson (D-Utah), our Republican Congress. Matheson has waged a lonely battle every year to rescind the automatic pay raises that Congress has given to themselves. A member of the Blue Dog Democratic caucus and a champion of fiscal conservatism, Matheson has forced members to go on record on the Congressional pay raise which probably has endeared him to many colleagues. Matheson stubbornly refuses to accept the pay raise instead giving it away to charities in his Salt Lake City area district.

Matheson told the Salt Lake Tribune that reducing the federal debt and funding education, health care and the war on terror are among the vital priorities that should take priority over a Congressional pay increase. “We need to be willing to make sacrifices,” Matheson said in a floor speech. “We need to behave like American families who make tough choices every day. We need to budget, live within our means and make careful spending decisions based on our most pressing priorities.” The U.S. House voted 263 to 152 to block a procedural move to get a direct vote on the pay raise.

Senate backs CAFTA sellout

Ten Democrats and one Independent Senator again betrayed American workers by voting for CAFTA. If just five more Democrats had stood up to protect Americans and opposed CAFTA, the Bush administration's free trade at all costs policies would have been dealt a major setback. Opposing one sided "free trade" isn't an ideological issue - it is a matter of common sense. We cannot continue to export our industries and destroy our jobs. If Democrats are to be the champions of working families, then we must oppose destructive "free trade" policies and support fair trade. A Democrat voting for CAFTA is a good example of "Republican lite" in my view although twelve Republicans had the courage to stand up to the White House and vote no on CAFTA. Democrats voting for CAFTA went across the political spectrum. Liberals such as Diane Fienstein of California and Ron Wyden of Oregon, moderates like Florida's Bill Nelson and conservatives like Nebraska's Ben Nelson all backed CAFTA. Contact your U.S. Representative and urge them to vote no on CAFTA.

Conservative Democrat to run for Alabama Supreme Court seat

http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/ reports that Russell County Circuit Court Judge Albert Johnson will be a Democratic candidate for the Alabama Supreme Court in 2006. As a judge on the District and Circuit Court benches in Russell County since 1984, Johnson said he has considered a Court bid in past years after receiving enouragement to do so from friends and colleagues.
He'll run as a proud Democrat in a state now dominated by GOP office holders, including an all-Republican Supreme Court, he said, because he's going to define what an Alabama Democrat rather than being defined by his opposition.
"I'm going to get a bumper sticker that says: 'I'm a Christian. I own a gun. I'm a Democrat,' " Johnson said. I'm going to remind most of the voters that their granddaddy was a Democrat, and there was nothing wrong with his values," he said.

What Next for the Supreme Court

With the resignation of Justice O'Connor, Bush will probably try to pick a staunch conservative in the mold of Scalia or Thomas but without much of a paper trail. There will be extensive fund raising efforts and media advertising from ideological pressure groups on the both sides opposing and promoting confirmation of the nominee. I think that they will make a careful choice and you will not see another Bork or Ginsberg scenario.As a generally pro-life Democrat, I am hoping that Roe v. Wade will be overturned. I would like to see abortion policy returned to the State Legislatures where it belongs. If Roe v. Wade is overturned though, the hard-line pro-lifers are likely to be disappointed. Many states may pass more restrictive abortion laws, but none will pass a law with no exceptions and most will continue to permit first trimester abortion. One great positive is that abortion will be eliminated as a major issue on the federal level. Democrats will benefit as more single issue voters were pro-life and working class voters return to the Democratic fold.While I am not losing sleep over the possibility of a very likely reversal of Roe v. Wade or a law and order stance on criminal justice issues by a more right leaning Court, it is a frightening possiblility that the new Justice could be a staunch economic libertarian who believes that labor laws and other forms of governmental regulation of economic activity are un-Constitutional. Justices Thomas and Scalia already have strong economic libertarian leanings and we could eventually with the prospect of other vacancies see a court that declares government programs that benefit the less fortunate and basic regulatory actions by government declared un-Consitutional (as the Supreme Court tried to do during the New Deal era). If that happens, we could enter an era of right-wing judicial activism that could attain what was impossible to acheive at the ballot box.As a rightist by Democratic standards, I would welcome many of the socially conservative decisions from a right leaning court relating to life, the family unit and the criminal justice system. I part company with the right when they advocate laissez faire capitalism, bash labor unions and eliminate the social safety net for workers. I hope that despite the cynical selection process geared to acheiving ideological goals that we find justices who not only have great intellect but compassion and practicality as well.

Reasons to register and vote Democrat

Here are some reasons to register and vote Democrat from our friends at the Illinois Democrats website http://www.il-democrats.org

Republic or Democracy
Contrary to what the Republican Party would have you believe, the Democratic Party is not a bunch of aging hippy liberals. The Democratic Party like any democracy is composed of folks with lots of different ideas and backgrounds.
Unlike the Republican Party we are willing to let every minority speak out and express their opinions and even if we disagree we do not attack their right to speak. That is the definition of a Democracy.
Unlike the Republican Party we look for Public Servants not "Leaders" to control the political process. A republic needs leaders to tell the people what to do, in a democracy the people tell the public servants what they want them to do. Democrats like Democracy. Republicans like a Republic.
Gay Marriage
Politics and Abortion
Gun Control
Economic Differences
Other Democratic Party Pages

To all you wage earners who vote Republican:
With Gay Marriage the Republicans have created another wedge issue like they did with Abortion using a Republican controlled court. They didn't care that millions of babies have died after a Republican controlled court created abortion on demand and they don't care about the impact this twisted ruling will have on the youth of our nation. WAKE UP!!! This is not about Christian Values, this is about getting your vote!! This is about holding enough power to make their club members rich. This is about destroying worker protections and regulations that were put in the law books by our grandfathers to protect us from these greedy, powerful people.
Just stop and consider why the Republicans who now control all of the federal government haven't even mentioned abortion (except for a halfhearted attempt to ban partial birth abortions) or gun control. In my opinion they never will because if they did fix them most of you would stop voting for these big business flunkies. The Republicans only have one issue - Getting the money out of your pocket and into theirs. So vote for Democrats and when enough of us who want to end abortion, ban gay marriage and secure our second amendment rights get on board the Democratic party will change and abortion will end. The Republicans DO NOT believe in Democracy so they feel perfectly justified in deluding you on these issues just to get your vote.
If you don't think it will work just consider the history of the Democratic Party in the south. When the majority changed from anti to pro civil rights the party changed because the majority demanded it. Today the Democratic Party is the champion of civil rights everywhere in the nation.
The Democrats do believe in Democracy so they, by definition, MUST follow the wishes of the majority of Democratic voters. So all we need to end abortion and ban gay marriage in America and Secure Second Amendment Rights is for some of you to join with the 45% of Democrats who agree with you on these issues.

Reprinted from Illinois Democrats website
http://www.il-democrats.org/conservativedemocrats.html

Will Democrats lose working families ?

Oregon's Northwest Labor Press reports that labor activists are growing disillusioned with the focus in the Democratic Party on issues like gun control, gay marriage and abortion. Representatives of the New York Working Families Party are attempting to form similar labor parties in other states that will concentrate on matters such increasing wages, improving access to health care, honest government and fiscal responsibility. These are the issues that the Democratic Party could be focusing on and winning elections with. Instead we have radical pro-choicers, gay marriage supporters, gun control advocates and extreme environmentalists putting our party on a suicide mission for their narrow little agenda.
http://www.nwlaborpress.org/2005/5-20-05Cantor.html

Blue Dogs 12 point plan for fiscal sanity

I have mentioned it before but here is the Blue Dog Democratic Coalition's 12 point plan for restoring fiscal sanity to our now deficit ridden federal government. If you haven't noticed, we don't hear much about fiscal responsibility and the evils of deficit spending from Republicans anymore. Wonder why ? I got this from Representative John Tanner's (D-TN) website.
WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. John Tanner and other members of the Blue Dog Coalition today announced a 12-step budget reform plan to fix the federal budget, which is in its third year of record-high deficits.
“I don’t think most Americans realize how deeply their tax dollars are being mismanaged,” Congressman Tanner said. “The result is more borrowing that has to be paid off down the road. It is a generational assault on people under 40.”
Congress and the Administration have added more than $1 trillion to the debt held by the public – much of it borrowed from foreign investors – in the past four years. The current budget path will require trillions of dollars in additional borrowing over the next 10 years.
“Our budget process is broken,” Tanner said. “The Blue Dog Reform Plan is the first step toward fixing it.”
The 12-Step Reform Plan is based on the Blue Dogs’ commitment to solving growing fiscal problems facing our country. The legislation calls for the following actions:
1. Require a balanced budget.
2. Don't let Congress buy on credit. Congress should re-enact "pay-as-you-go" rules that require any new spending must be paid for by cuts in other programs or additional revenue.
3. Put a lid on spending. Government spending has soared by more than 16% since 2001.
4. Require agencies to put their fiscal houses in order. According to the non-partisan Government Accounting Office, 16 of 23 major federal agencies cannot issue a simple audit of their books, and the federal government cannot account for $24.5 billion it spent in 2003. The Blue Dogs propose a budget freeze for any agency that cannot properly balance its books.
5. Make Congress tell taxpayers how much they are spending through recorded votes.
6. Set aside a rainy-day fund for national emergencies.
7. Don’t hide votes to raise the debt limit.
8. Justify, in writing, spending for pet projects.
9. Ensure that Congress reads the bills it is voting on. Too often, bills are pushed through Congress before Members even have time to read the legislation, which can be hundreds of pages long.
10. Require honest cost estimates for every bill Congress votes on. Taxpayers and Members of Congress deserve to know how much each bill costs.
11. Make sure new bills fit the budget.
12. Make Congress do a better job of keeping tabs on government programs.
Congressman Tanner serves on the House Ways and Means Committee. He is a founding member of the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of 35 moderate and conservative Democrats known as fiscal hawks.

Casey continues to lead in Pennsylvania U.S. Senate race

Daly Thoughts www.dalythoughts.com continues to project Democrat Tim Casey as the likely winner of the Pennsylvania U.S. Senate race. Polls have consistently shown Casey leading over the incumbent Rick Santorum. That's great news as Santorum is nothing but a pawn of big business while pretending to be a champion of moral values. A good example of Santorum's corporate leanings is his rabid support for free trade at all costs while working families in Pennsylvania continue to lose jobs as a result of such policies. Even though free trade has cost Pennsylvania far more jobs than most states due to its high concentration of manufacturing, Santorum just voted for CAFTA which will only make matters worse. Casey would make a great Senator. He is the son of the late great Bob Casey and is pro-life (like his father) but also pro-gun and pro-capital punishment (unlike the elder Casey, I think). Some of the left wing blogs are pushing a nuisance challenger to Casey in the Democratic primary and will no doubt try to dry up his campaign funds by pressuring Democratic groups and contributors to withhold campaign cash. Some destructive politically correct liberals would rather let the Republicans continue to control our government than allow a Democrat with any conservative views to prevail. Let's hope that Casey wins a decisive victory in the primary and goes on to defeat Santorum in the general election. Casey is youthful and could emerge as a leader of Democrats seeking to return our party to the mainstream.

Oregon Democrats push for pro-gun plank in platform

Democratic Party leaders in Baker County,Oregon are pushing for a plank in their state Democratic platform afirming the Second Amendment guarantee of the right to keep and bear arms. The Observer reported in their June 21, 2005 edition that Baker County Democrats approved a platform resolution in support of gun ownership that they hope the state party will add to its platform. http://www.neobserver.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=8085


The adoption came after a spirited debate over the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which reads: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." Chuck Butcher of Baker City crafted the county party's resolution which states, in part, "The Democratic Party of Oregon resolves as follows: To recognize and support the right to keep and bear arms in Section 207 of the Oregon State Constitution and the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution as an individual right not granted by the government but rather guaranteed by the government. In recognition of the tremendous personal responsibility engendered by the right to keep and bear arms, the Democratic Party of Oregon further advocates severe penalties and their enforcement for criminal use or misuse of this right."

Butcher said he wanted to submit "a clear resolution without a lot of hedging, and frame it in language that could pass overwhelmingly, if the argument is presented correctly."
Adopting the resolution into the state party platform "might win us some votes, but it's more about principles," Butcher said. "Platform planks are mostly ignored by candidates, who say what they want to say. If a candidate pummels the Second Amendment out here, he wouldn't go anywhere. "This plank at least says the Democrats are paying attention" to the Second Amendment, Butcher said.

Bruce Rafferty, the Democratic party's county chair stated that the party has lost support in his area due to the perceived support of gun control by Democrats."A lot of people have told us that if the Democrats would shift on the Second Amendment, they'd rejoin the party," Rafferty said. "I think our party needs to take a look at what the grassroots people want. There's too much direction from Washington, D.C., and not enough asking what people really feel." Oregon Democratic Party executive director Neel Pender said he thought the resolution sounded "pretty reasonable." http://www.neobserver.com


RightDemocrat thinks that it is "pretty reasonable" for the Democratic Party to go on record as supporting Second Amendment rights. Let's hope that this is just the beginning of a movement among grassroots Democrats that will bring our party back to the mainstream on this issue.

What is a Blue Dog Democrat ?

An article from www.bluedogdemocrats.com explains what is a Blue Dog Democrat.

The Blue Dog Coalition has built a reputation as a serious player in the policy arena, promoting positions which bridge the gap between ideological extremes. Many of the group's policy proposals have been praised as fair, responsible, and positive additions to a Congressional environment too often marked as partisan and antagonistic. The 38 conservative and moderate Democrats in the group hail from every region of the country, although the group acknowledges some southern ancestry which accounts for the group's nickname. Taken from the South's longtime description of a party loyalist as one who would vote for a yellow dog if it were on the ballot as a Democrat, the "Blue Dog" moniker was taken by members of The Coalition because their moderate-to-conservative-views had been "choked blue" by their party in the years leading up to the 1994 election. The Coalition was formed in the 104th Congress as a policy-oriented group to give moderate and conservative Democrats in the House of Representatives a common sense, bridge-building voice within the institution. Most agree that, since then, the Blue Dogs have successfully injected a moderate viewpoint into the Democratic Caucus, where group members now find greater receptiveness to their opinions. The Coalition has been particularly active on fiscal issues, relentlessly pursuing a balanced budget and then protecting that achievement from politically popular "raids" on the budget. Past Coalition budgets have won the endorsement of the nonpartisan Concord Coalition and multiple newspaper and magazine editorials. As one column pointed out, the Blue Dogs have proven that "common sense, conservative economics and compassion aren't necessarily mutually exclusive." The Coalition also played a significant role in welfare reforms signed into law in recent years. Their proposals served as middle-ground markers which laid the foundation for the bipartisanship necessary to bring about fundamental reforms, and helped set into law policies reflecting the "common sense, conservative compassion" so often attached to the group's efforts. The Coalition has also worked on common sense solutions to our energy, health care, and homeland security problems. In the 108th Congress, the Coalition intends to continue to make a difference in Congress by forging middle-ground, bipartisan answers to the current challenges facing the Country. A top priority will be to refocus Congress on truly balancing the budget and ridding taxpayers of the burden the national debt places on them. The group also expects to be involved in education, regulatory reform, taxes, defense and veterans affairs.
The above article is from www.bluedogdemocrats.com

The Blue Dog Democrats 12 point plan for fiscal sanity is gaining applause from the deficit hawks at the Concord Coalition and conservative columnists like Paul Weyrich. See the links below to read more.

http://tinyurl.com/cturw

http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/weyrich/050406

Pro-Life Democrats honor Tim Roemer

Pro-life Democrats honored former Congressman and 911 Commission memberTim Roemer (D-Indiana) at their 4th Annual Hall of Fame dinner in Washington,DC earlier this week. Word has it that Roemer is considering a run for the U.S. Senate against incumbent Republican Richard Lugar.

WASHINGTON, June 30 /Christian Wire Service/ -- Democrats For Life of America (DFLA) held their 4th Annual Hall of Fame Dinner yesterday They were joined by Democratic Party members from 25 states who gathered to honor former Indiana Congressman and 9-11 Commissioner, Tim Roemer, as he received DFLA's "Hall of Fame Award" for his leadership on behalf of pro-life Democrats.
"We have made more progress on abortion in the last six months than the last 30 years. The Republican Party's policy on abortion over the past five years is like having a bunch of tin cans tied to your back bumper -- It sure makes a lot of noise but is not very pretty and certainly doesn't accomplish much. Democrats have a plan that does, The 95-10 Initiative." said former Indiana Congressman Tim Roemer
Earlier in the day, Democrats For Life of America held their annual conference where speakers addressed pro-life Democrats who traveled to the conference from as far away as Olympia, Washington. Syndicated columnist Mark Shields addressed the convention analyzing the current status of pro-life Democrats within the Party.
Despite the star-power attending the event, the most popular topic covered at the conference was DFLA's 95-10 Initiative.
The 95-10 Initiative is a comprehensive proposal of 17 different policy programs that, when fully funded and implemented in coordination with each other, will reduce the number of abortions in America by 95 percent over the next 10 years.
Among the speakers was Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan, who will be introducing the 95-10 Initiative in Congress in the coming weeks. "Young women who find themselves with crisis pregnancies have few resources to turn to. The 95-10 Initiative says to women, we are with you," said Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan.
"Momentum is clearly on our side. In 2004, we endorsed and campaigned for pro-life Democrat Charlie Melancon in Louisiana; he won and he's now in Congress. We were a leading voice in this year's March For Life here, where thousands of pro-life advocates converged on the streets of Washington to bring attention to the need to create a culture of life in America. And in Pennsylvania, pro-life Democrat Bob Casey is the frontrunner in one of the most coveted US Senate races next year. Pro-life Democrats are speaking out, and America is listening," said Kristen Day, Executive Director of Democrats For Life of America.
http://www.democratsforlife.org