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Showing posts with label Rep Bruce Braley D IA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rep Bruce Braley D IA. Show all posts
THIS is why I am a proud member of the Elizabeth Warren Wing of the Democratic Party and am supporting and donating to the Bold Progressives endorsed by the PCCC / BoldProgressives.org Check out Sen Jeff Merkley D OR in this video clip and the donate to his and other Bold Progressive's campaigns and / or sign up to make calls for them by clicking the link in the article below. VOTE 4 NOV 14 because Democracy is not a spectator sport!!!!!
Thanks for being a bold progressive.
-- Keith Rouda, PCCC organizer Want to support our work? Ed Schultz called us "The
top progressive group in the country"! And our tiny staff ensures that
small contributions go a long way. Chip in $3 here.
THE New York Time's may be ready to write of the Democrats for the 2014 midterm elections but the Bold Progressives aren't! Congressional races that per predicted easy wins for the gop / tea-baggers across the country are closer than anyone predicted, and with 3 weeks to go the people we need to be elected have a very good chance of winning their races. Here is an update from the PCCC / Progressive Change Campaign Committee so do what you can to make the pundits eat their words on 5 NOV 14. REMEMBER TO VOTE ON 4 NOV 14!!!!!
There's a sobering line in today's New York Times about the midterm elections:
"The midterm elections have been
maddeningly unpredictable, but now, with three weeks to go, Democrats
may be preparing for an electoral apocalypse."
Luckily, bold progressives know that elections aren't just left up to fate. Progressives
put South Dakota's Senate race in play when it was written off by the
political insiders -- and now, everyone is talking about it.
We've done the due diligence and have identified 5 progressives in
hot races where money NOW will allow them to make important decisions
for the final 3 weeks. Chip in $3 to the bold progressive candidates who need our support right now.
Or sign up to call voters from home at least once before Election Day.
We'll send other recommendations later this week, but here are the 5 candidates who most need our help right now:
Rick Weiland was
just featured by MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, Ed Schultz, and Steve Kornacki.
This bold progressive Senate campaign has quickly catapulted to the top
of the national pack with the help of PCCC members. South Dakota has 3
Republicans on the general election ballot, dividing the vote and
putting Rick in a perfect place to win. The longtime Republican
front-runner is now in a major corruption scandal, while Rick's core
message is reform -- promising to take back our government from
big-money interests. Rick is former head of the South Dakota AARP, is
endorsed by Elizabeth Warren, and told the Washington Post this week: "I
think we need to get the cap off of Social Security...I want to open up
Medicare to everyone, let them have the choice. Bringing in a lot of
people will make the program stronger.” Latest polls have Rick down by only 4 points!
Senator Mark Udall says "I
will strongly oppose efforts to cut and privatize Social Security and
vote against any bill that balances the budget on the backs of our
seniors by cutting Social Security benefits." Not enough politicians
have given that promise, but Mark has, and that's why we endorse him.
Mark is one of the strongest fighters in the Senate for privacy
protections and holding the CIA accountable. He also supports Elizabeth
Warren's plan to fix the student debt crisis, and he has her
endorsement. Current polling shows Senator Udall trailing his opponent by 4 points.
Congressman Bruce Braley is
founder of the Populist Caucus in Congress. Now, he's running for
Senate. After being targeted by the Koch brothers, this race to fill
retiring Sen. Tom Harkin's seat moved from a Democratic advantage to
dead even -- or in some polls, we're losing. Tea Party Republican Joni
Ernst wants to repeal the federal minimum wage and cut Social Security. Latest Quinnipiac poll shows Joni Ernst leading by 2 points.
Third-term Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter
is in an incredibly tight race for re-election in New Hampshire's 1st
Congressional District, and is a top national Republican target. Carol
has been a true partner -- joining the PCCC's push against cuts to
Social Security, joining our push to expand benefits, and attending our
trainings in DC and New Hampshire to help us mentor up-and-coming
candidates and progressive staffers. She is one of the first candidates
to be endorsed by Larry Lessig's Mayday Super PAC because of her
longtime work on the issue of campaign finance reform. Current polling shows Carol trailing by 2 points.
Congressman Rick Nolan is a
former three-term Minnesota Congressman who was re-districted in 1980,
had an entire life in international business since then, and won a seat
again in 2012 with the PCCC's help -- knocking off a Tea Party
incumbent. His first bill in Congress was campaign finance reform,
saying that he saw how Congress used to work and it's crazy that members
of Congress spend hours each day calling donors. He's the first
Representative of this rural Duluth district to ever support gun safety
legislation. He stood with the PCCC and progressive allies against cuts
to Social Security and in support of expanding benefits. Rick is bold!
And he is a top target for national Republicans in 2014. PCCC is proud
to be helping re-elect this progressive champion. The Cook report currently has this race listed as a toss-up.
HERE'S another gop / tea-bagger Christian, joni ernst IA who also feels her religion allows deception, manipulation and lying to get what she wants, in the case elected to the US Senate. Not only does she disgrace her faith buy her lying, she also disgraces the US Military because she touts her record in the military as one of her qualifications to be Iowa's next US Senator. If she is the best qualified, why does she have to lie? To make her Bold Progressive opponent Rep Bruce Braley D IA the better choice? This from +PolitiFact .....
"Iowa has the fourth
fastest-growing personal income in the United States, while nationally,
the real wage has decreased over the past eight years that Congressman
(Bruce) Braley has been there by 2.7 percent."
— Joni Ernst on Saturday, October 11th, 2014 in a debate
By Louis Jacobson on Wednesday, October 15th, 2014 at 1:36 p.m.
Republican Senate candidate Joni Ernst debated her Democratic rival on Oct. 11, 2014. We checked one of her claims.
During an Oct. 11, 2014, debate,
Republican Joni Ernst and Democrat Bruce Braley -- who are facing off
in one of the nation’s most pivotal Senate races -- sparred over the
economy.
At one point in the debate, Ernst compared "Washington, D.C., ways" with "Iowa values."
She pointed to "records of failure coming from this administration,
and followers like Congressman Braley, versus our Iowa values and the
way we have conducted business in the last four years. With my good
supporter, (Republican Gov.) Terry Branstad, we have implemented strong
economic policy here in Iowa -- lower taxes, reduced job-killing
regulations, and a balanced budget, and we are putting more of our
hard-working Iowans back to work with new, good-paying jobs. Iowa has
the fourth fastest-growing personal income in the United States, while
nationally, the real wage has decreased over the past eight years that
Congressman Braley has been there by 2.7 percent."
But we wondered: Is her statistical comparison between Iowa and the
United States valid? We took a closer look. (Ernst’s campaign did not
respond to an inquiry.) 'Iowa has the fourth fastest-growing personal income in the United States.'
On the first part of the claim, Ernst has a point, according to data
from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the federal government’s official
source of data about personal income.
In the most recent quarter for which data is currently available -- the second quarter of 2014 -- personal income in Iowa
increased by 2.4 percent over the previous quarter in Iowa. Only three
states had faster growth -- Nebraska (2.7 percent), North Dakota (2.7
percent) and Idaho (2.5 percent).
But some context serves to undercut the significance of this achievement.
The statistics for such short periods of time tend to be "noisy" --
that is, the numbers bounce around a lot. As an illustration, let’s look
at the statistics for the couple of quarters before the 2.4 percent
increase. Moving backward one quarter at a time, personal income growth
in Iowa clocked in at -0.6 percent, -0.5 percent, 1.0 percent, 0.0
percent, and -0.2 percent. This paints a very different picture of
personal income growth in Iowa.
To effectively detect genuine trends, you need to study a longer
period of time. Let’s take a look at how Iowa did for full-year periods
rather than quarters.
Between full-year 2012 and full-year 2013, Iowa had the 18th-highest
percentage change in personal income among the 50 states, which is quite
a bit weaker than the fourth-place finish Ernst cited.
Iowa fared even more poorly between 2011 and 2012, when the state
ranked 43rd nationally. This, too, is quite a different picture than the
one she painted in the debate. 'Nationally, the real wage has decreased over the past eight years … by 2.7 percent.'
Not if you look at median weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median weekly wage nationally in 2013 -- the most recent full year available -- was $776, up from $671 in 2008. Once you adjust
the 2006 figure for inflation in 2013 dollars, it works out to be
$775.37 -- meaning there was basically no change at all between 2006 and
2013. It’s virtually the same if you inflation-adjust the data for 2005 -- there’s no significant change in median weekly earnings between 2005 and 2013.
"What I always say when writing about wage developments, at least
after the number of employed Americans started rising again in 2010, is
that real wages are basically flat," said Gary Burtless, an economist
with the Brookings Institution.
Meanwhile, the comparison Ernst offered -- of strong Iowa growth amid national stagnation -- is flawed, for two reasons.
• She’s comparing two different statistics. Personal
income and real wages aren’t the same thing. Real wages are a component
of personal income, but not the only one. They are derived from
separate data sources, and they use very different methodologies.
• She’s comparing two different periods of time. You
can’t simply compare the most recent quarter with the past eight years
and get a meaningful contrast. It’s comparing apples and oranges.
All this said, Ernst does have a point: Real wages have grown faster
in Iowa over the past eight years then they have nationally. If you
start the clock in 2005, real wages in Iowa increased by 1.6 percent by
2013, and if you start the clock in 2006, they increased by 1.8 percent
by 2013. And she also has a point that stagnant real earnings growth
over eight years is nothing to be proud of, even if she exaggerates by
blaming this situation on Braley. (Lots of factors shape the economy
beyond just one minority-party member of Congress.) Our ruling
Ernst said that "Iowa has the fourth fastest-growing personal income
in the United States, while nationally, the real wage has decreased over
the past eight years that Congressman Braley has been there by 2.7
percent."
Iowa did rank fourth nationally in personal income growth, but only
for the most recent quarter, and when compared to earlier quarters, this
high rate seems like a statistical anomaly. Meanwhile, she’s wrong that
real wages declined by 2.7 percent over the past eight years, although
she does have a point that Iowa did somewhat better on this score than
did the nation as a whole.
Equally problematic, Ernst’s comparison between Iowa’s economy and
the nation’s is questionable because it appears to compare quarterly
data for one statistic to eight years of a different statistic.
Economists say this isn’t a sound method. The claim contains an element
of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different
impression, so we rate it Mostly False.
Joni Ernst, comments in a debate with Bruce Braley, Oct. 11, 2014
Bureau of Economic Analysis, SA1-3 Personal income summary, 2011-2012 and 2012-2013
Bureau of Economic Analysis, SQ1 Quarterly personal income, accessed Oct. 13, 2014
Bureau of Labor Statistics, State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates, May 2013, May 2008, May 2006, May 2005
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Median weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers by detailed occupation and sex, 2013, 2008, 2006, 2005
Bureau of Labor Statistics, inflation calculator, accessed Oct. 13, 2014
Email interview with Gary Burtless, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, Oct. 13, 2014
Email interview with Tara Sinclair, George Washington University economist, Oct. 13, 2014
Huge news out of Iowa: Two polls this past week showed Bruce Braley,
the populist progressive who's running to replace Senator Tom Harkin,
edging out his right-wing opponent.
This is big. His Tea Party opponent -- the one who ran infamous ads
about castrating pigs -- got a lot of help from the Koch Brothers and
special interests this summer. She spent much of the summer narrowly
ahead.
Here's what one political analyst said about this race on ABC's This Week:
"If you ask me what race on
Election Night will determine who takes the Senate, whether the
Democrats keep it or the Republicans take it, Iowa is it. And if the
Republicans take Iowa, they're taking the Senate back."
"If you want to thank me for my
service, there is really only one way I want you to do that. Make sure
that this Senate seat remains in good, fighting, progressive hands with
Congressman Bruce Braley."
