The Daily Change

Missoula Independent Covers Draft Brian Schweitzer   

This week, PCCC co-founders Adam Green and Stephanie Taylor were in Montana. They personally informed Brian Schweitzer that thousands of people want him to run for U.S. Senate, and kicked off an on-the-ground effort to recruit others to the draft effort.

The Missoula Independent’s Alex Sarkariassen wrote this great article covering this growing movement to Draft Brian Schweitzer for Senate:

 

 

Schweitzer 

Drafting a “game changer”

Adam Green has been following Brian Schweitzer from afar for years. Even before he co-founded the Washington, D.C.-based Progressive Change Campaign Committee with former union organizer Stephanie Taylor in 2009, he saw Schweitzer as “an authentic guy who says what’s on his mind and generally stands up for the little guy.” Now Green and Taylor are trying to draw Schweitzer out of his post-gubernatorial life on Georgetown Lake and convince him to run for the U.S. Senate in 2014. They’re already primed to hand him $24,000 in contributions the moment he declares.

“We look for game changers,” Green told the Indy during one of several stops in western Montana early this week. “People who will both represent their state well and have a systemic impact on the culture of politics in Washington. Brian Schweitzer’s authenticity and economic populism is something that the Democratic Party sorely needs right now, and could have huge ripple effects across the nation if he has a bully pulpit in Washington, D.C.”

PCCC has collected 16,000 signatures from supporters of its “Draft Brian Schweitzer” campaign, and Green and Taylor have already talked directly to Schweitzer about their initiative. “They’re taking note,” Green says of those around the former governor, adding that mounting grassroots support—and the money raised so far—could sweeten the pot as Schweitzer makes up his mind. …

PCCC has been successful before in recruiting winners. The organization convinced Sen. Elizabeth Warren to run in Massachusetts last year, and eventually raised more than $1 million for her campaign. Green calls Warren a “game changer” too. But Schweitzer’s folksy shtick—like his wielding of a veto branding iron in 2011—has Green convinced he’s an easier sell in his home state.

PCCC plans to host a string of house parties promoting a Schweitzer bid throughout the state in the coming weeks. The man himself is still undecided. “I think he’s torn,” Green says, “mostly because he loves being in Montana and D.C. is so depressing and dysfunctional.”

When pressed, Green offered his own prediction: “My guess is he’ll run.”

(Or donate $3 that Brian will receive on Day One of his campaign, so he can hit the ground running.)

Posted on May 17, 2013 at 12:21pm by . Posted in , . Leave a response.

The Real IRS Scandal: Agency Audits Found Wealthy Taxpayers Failed To Pay $4.8 Billion In Taxes   

With the resignation of the acting head of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) over a series of audits of conservative organizations, the agency is under intense public scrutiny.  But this furor ignores little-noticed numbers released last month — they show that the IRS’s audits of wealthy taxpayers revealed massive tax-dodging by the richest Americans.

In 2012, the IRS ramped up its audits of wealthy taxpayers, and shockingly found a massive rate of under-paying taxes. It audited one in eight tax filers with incomes over $1 million, concluding that about 75 percent of these millionaires failed to pay the taxes they owed. Altogether, the agency collected an additional $4.8 billion in taxes from these taxpayers after the audits were conducted.

As the press and politicians look at the IRS’s conduct with regards to auditing political nonprofits, it’s important to remember that these audits can be a powerful tool for making sure that wealthy taxpayers are paying what is legally required of them. If last year’s numbers are any indication, increasing audits of wealthy taxpayers will reveal under-payment and help us raise the money needed to fund the government.

Posted on May 16, 2013 at 3:37pm by . Posted in , . 4 comments. Leave a response.

Montanans Hold House Party To Draft Brian Schweitzer For Senate   

With the retirement of Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), Montanans have a chance to elect a real progressive — former. Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer. The Progressive Change Campaign Committee has spearheaded a “Draft Schweitzer” movement that held its first house party in Billings, Montana yesterday.

The event was held at the home of Hans and Deborah Abbey, and it is the beginning of a campaign that plans to recruit 500 volunteers, identify 5,000 supporters, and raise $50,000, which Schweitzer would get on day one of his campaign should he choose to run.

We talked to Barb Skelton, one of the organizers behind the event. Skelton has actually known the Schweitzers since she was a child, having grown up near their ranch. She’s worked in politics for 40 years, partly thanks to the influence of Kathleen Helen Schweitzer, Brian’s mother.

“I think he’d do what’s absolutely good for Montana,” she said, explaining her enthusiastic support for a run by Schweitzer. “I think he’s a real progressive thinker.”

She cited his work after leaving office as evidence that he’s committed to progressive, populist causes, saying she’s “glad he got involved in Stillwater Mines, saving 1,700 jobs there” — referring to an effort by Schweitzer to oust the leadership of a local mining company that was wasting money on foreign projects rather than domestic development.

Here’s are some pictures from the event last night:

Click here to join our Draft Brian Schweitzer for Senate campaign.

(Or donate $3 that Brian will receive on Day One of his campaign, so he can hit the ground running.)

Posted on May 16, 2013 at 1:13pm by . Posted in . Leave a response.

House Republicans Have Spent 15 Percent Of Their Time Trying To Repeal Obamacare   

As the provisions of the Affordable Care Act — referred to as Obamacare for short — begin to come online, congressional Republicans have continued to obsess over repealing the law altogether.

The New York Times looked into the numbers this morning and concluded that House Republicans have spent a whopping 15 percent of their time trying to repeal all or parts of the new health care law.

Republicans don’t seem to have any regret over the fact that repealing Obamacare has taken precedence over other issues, like jobs.

“It’s something that we wanted to move up on the list of priorities,” said Representative Steve Scalise (R-LA) to the New York Times. “And I’m glad they listened to us.”

Posted on May 15, 2013 at 11:41am by . Posted in , . Leave a response.

Senator Merkley Co-Sponsors Elizabeth Warren’s Bill To Lower Student Loan Interest Rates   

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR)

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) thinks its wrong that Big Banks get interest rates on their loans that are seven times lower than America’s students. That’s why she introduced a bill to make the rates exactly the same for one year.

Today, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) announced that he will be co-sponsoring Warren’s legislation, called the Bank On Student Loan Fairness Act:

 

 

Help us keep up the momentum. We’ve started a petition to support Warren’s bill. Click here to sign on and help us get started on ending the student debt crisis.

 

Posted on May 14, 2013 at 1:50pm by . Posted in , , , , , . 9 comments. Leave a response.

Teacher Protest Forces Seattle School District To Drop Onerous Standardized Test   

This past January, we reported on two Seattle high schools that were boycotting a particular standardized test — the Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) — saying that the focus on testing was crowding out time for teaching. “We’re not opposing any of the high-stakes testing that are kids are required to take. We’re only opposing this test, the MAP,” the testing coordinator for one of the schools told us.

The Seattle school district has just announced that it will not be administering the MAP next year thanks to the protests by teachers.

“Finally, educators’ voices have been acknowledged,” said teacher Jesse Hagopian, who teaches at Garfield High, the site of the beginning of the test boycott. “This is a great moment in the movement for quality assessment.”

Posted on May 14, 2013 at 11:13am by . Posted in , . Leave a response.

Kentucky Students Petitioned School To Drop Mitch McConnell As Commencement Speaker   

On Saturday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) gave the commencement speech at Kentucky’s Murray State University. A group of students is opposed to McConnell’s address, pointing to his record voting against support for higher education. Recall that McConnell, for example, opposed a student loan overhaul that removed big banks as a middleman in federal student lending.

They started a petition that has 913 signatures and held demonstrations on campus against the pick. I talked to Murray State senior and political science major Devin Griggs, one of the organizers against McConnell who is starting a new progressive student group called CORE — Campus Organization for Racer Empowerment (the Racer is the mascot of the school).

“McConnell’s voting record is completely anti higher education, anti education in general,” explained Griggs in his opposition to McConnell’s commencement address. CORE not only campaigned against McConnell’s address, but will also work to change the Board of Regents policy in the future regarding speakers.

CORE will be asking every Board of Regents member to in the future make sure that no public official Democrat or Republican can be featured as a commencement speaker to ensure that the event is not politicized.

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Posted on May 13, 2013 at 3:19pm by . Posted in , . 3 comments. Leave a response.

Five Facts About The Student Debt Crisis   

Last week, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) introduced a bill that would guarantee that, for one year, the federal government would charge the same near-zero interest rates for student loans that it does now for Big Banks.

Warren’s bill has received praise from activists, and for good reason — student debt has become a crisis in the U.S. Here are five facts about that crisis:

  1. Student Loan Debt Is Over $1 Trillion: As of last year, student loan debt exceeded a whopping $1 trillion. “Young consumers are shouldering much of the punishment in the form of substantial student-loan bills for doing exactly what they were told would be the key to a better life,” said Rohit Chopra of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau at the time.
  2. Student Debt Has Surpassed Most Other Types Of Consumer Debt: As of 2010, student loan debt outstanding surpassed auto loans, credit cards, and revolving home-equity loans, as this graphic from the Wall Street Journal shows: 
  3. The Average Debt Burden Is Double What It Was In 2003: In 2003, the average student loan debt burden was $10,649. Now it’s $20,326.
  4. It’s Very Difficult To Discharge Student Debt Thanks To A 1976 Law: You can discharge various forms of debt by declaring bankruptcy such as credit card and auto loans. But in 1976, Congress passed a law to make it very difficult to discharge student loan debt under a similar process. Reps. Steve Cohen (D-TN) and Danny Davis (D-IL) have repeatedly introduced legislation to reverse the 1976 law.
  5. It Wasn’t Always This Way: For many in today’s generation, student debt is a fact of life — a necessary burden to getting a college degree. But the situation wasn’t always so dire. In California, universities up until 1970 did not charge tuition. Many other states also had low-cost or free college. But in the past 30 years, the cost of a college degree has increased by 1,120 percent.

We’ve started a petition to support Warren’s bill. Click here to sign on and help us end the student debt crisis.

Posted on May 13, 2013 at 1:07pm by . Posted in , . 1 comment. Leave a response.

Democratic Congressman Henry Waxman Refuses To Sign Letter Against Benefit Cuts   

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) won’t commit to voting against benefit cuts.

40 Members of the House of Representatives have signed onto the Grayson-Takano letter promising to vote against any cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security benefits.

But one congressman who has not is Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA). Local Los Angeles resident Kim Kaufman attended a recent town hall event with him and asked him to sign the letter. This was his response, where he compared the Grayson-Takano letter to Washington lobbyist Grover Norquist’s anti-tax pledge:

I would not sign onto any letter that says under no circumstances would I vote for a bill that had that in it. It’s like the Republicans pledge they’ll never vote for tax increases. I don’t want to sign onto a pledge that under no circumstances will I ever do something.  I’ll express my feelings not to do certain things but I don’t want to make that kind of a pledge. I can see possibilities that some things that we don’t like may be in a final budget and that will get us a lot of things we do want. So I’m not going to sign an unequivocal pledge — for a bill maybe, but not against it.

Kaufman uploaded this video where she read off Waxman’s statement and offered her own response. “Taking a pledge not to cut Social Security is not like taking a pledge not to raise taxes on already rich people. One is a moral response in how to govern and one is not,” she says. Watch it:

Last month, Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) held a briefing call with PCCC members where he explained his own take on how the Grayson-Takano letter is very much not like the Norquist pledge:

“I had a reporter ask me recently ‘Is this just like the Grover Norquist No Tax Increase Pledge’ and I said, ‘Yeah, sure, just like a fish is like a bicycle.’ If you promise that you won’t raise taxes on millionaires and billionaires and multinational corporations that shows who you think you really represent. And if you say you won’t cut benefits for old people, sick people, poor people, that shows who you care about too.”

Additionally, we conducted our own polling of swing states like New Hampshire and Virginia and found that two-thirds of the public support increasing taxes on the wealthy (a violation of the Norquist Pledge) while roughly the same proportion of the public in those states opposes cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security benefits.

Click here to call Congressman Waxman and ask him to sign the Grayson-Takano letter against benefit cuts, because protecting seniors, sick people, and poor people is not the same as protecting millionaires and billionaires.

Posted on May 10, 2013 at 10:16am by . Posted in , , . Leave a response.

Elizabeth Warren Introduces Bill To Require Student Loan Interest Rates To Be Same Given To Big Banks   

The U.S. government offers very low-interest — in some cases, near-zero interest rate — loans — that is, if you are a Big Bank on Wall Street. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) doesn’t think it’s right for the government to give a better deal to the banks than to the American people.

So she has introduced a bill that would require federal student loan interest rates to match the rates given to banks. She spoke about this bill today on the Senate floor:

WARREN: Right now as I speak the federal government offers far lower interest rates for loans every single day. They just don’t do it for everyone. Right now the Big Bank can get a loan through the Federal Reserve discount window at a rate of about three quarters of one percent. but this summer a student who’s trying to get a loan to go to college will pay almost seven percent. In other words, the fed gov is going to charge interest rates nine times higher than the rate they charge the biggest banks. The same banks that destroyed millions of jobs and nearly broke the economy. That isn’t right. And that’s why I’m introducing legislation today to give students the same deal that we give the banks.

Watch Warren’s speech:

Warren’s legislation, called the Bank On Student Loan Fairness Act, will mandate that the Federal Reserve work to provide funds for the Department of Education to provide the same rates that it provides to Big Banks for a period of one year while Congress works on a long-term solution.

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Posted on May 8, 2013 at 11:23am by . Posted in , , , . 37 comments. Leave a response.