Russ Feingold re: DLC

“They are the ones that coalesced with the big corporations to pass unfair trade agreements that hurt America,” Feingold said. “It was the DLC that came up with the health care plan with the Clintons that was so complicated nobody could understand it. It’s the DLC that has cut off our ability to say things like, ‘Let’s get out of Iraq because it’s a bad idea.’”

Feingold said DLC consultants “instill fear in Democrats” by saying opposition to the war would be taken as not supporting the troops. “What I want is us to get the right answer whether it’s liberal, conservative or middle of the road,” Feingold said.

Democrats should not try to be just “a little different than the Republicans and hope that we win," Feingold said. "I think that’s what (the DLC) brought us and it hasn’t worked.”

http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Content=174

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We need more Feingolds in the Democratic Party.

:kick:

I absolutely LOVE his honesty and integrity! His courage to stand up and say what he believes and not to be cowed.

I wish that so many more of the Dems would show some of Russ's spine.

Go, Russ!! :woohoo:

:kick:

kick!

:headbang:

come on

K&R

you know how I feel.

I hope we are smart enough to nominate Russ or Wesley Clark.

We need to blast his words through Loud speakers!

He just keeps on rockin'

Maybe I can send another after the first of next month!

Go, RUSS! Goooooooo!!!

:kick: :bounce: :kick: :bounce: :kick:

:D

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

K&R

I think he let 'em off far too easy, but it's a start. I'd like to hear more Senators speaking the truth about those bastards.

Russ might just change that. *This* is what leading from the front looks like people.

GO RUSS GO!

-Hoot

Check out my blog about Sen. Feingold called Iowa for Feingold at http://iowafeingold.blogspot.com.

Then visit Russ For President at http://www.russforpresident.com.

:yourock: :patriot:

The DLC is the "go along to get along" wing of the Dem party. Same for the Gang of 14. Heh, I guess it's the Gang of 13 now. I hope my Senator Pryor is paying attention. He's a Gang member and said he was going to support Lieberman no matter what (that was prior to the primary).

I can't believe I'm the first to post this.

I like Feingold, Clark. Kerry. Boxer. I like a lot of people. I want Gore to run tho.

I expect that any of them would respect the results of the primaries.

So am I, and so is Russ!

:kick:

Great words. Now to bash them into the heads of every damn Democrat.

I wish EVERY SINGLE DEMOCRAT would call out the DLCers for what they really are: republican infiltrators into the Democratic party. They are there to move the country -- even the Democrats -- to the nazi state of mind.

They need to be tarred and feathered and run out of town on a rail....every single one of them.

:kick::kick::kick:

I've said it before, but it bears repeating

The DLC was financed by Pamela Harriman, Averell Harriman's wife, it's origin should tell you all about it's intent.

On Averell Harriman:

http://www.bartcop.com/421102.htm

An informative (if incomplete) thread on the origins and obvious intent of the DLC:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

This post is not in any way intended to offend anyone's sensibilities. Please accept my personal apologies, beforehand, if it does.

My senator!

makes me proud!

and how to say it-Amen.

http://www.ontheissues.org/International/Russell_Feingold_Free_Trade.htm


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The more I hear from, and read about, Russ Feingold (D-WI)...the more I like him.


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The first category is the ardent "free" traders, many of them personally responsible for the trade policies that are destroying America's middle class. These are people like NAFTA architect Bill Richardson and longtime and loudly outspoken "free" trader Evan Bayh.

Then there are the people who have tried to have it both ways, but whose devotion to Tom Friedman-esque "free" trade orthodoxy is pretty clear. These are people like Hillary Clinton, who supported NAFTA, WTO and China PNTR, John Kerry, who did the same, and Mark Warner, who also supported NAFTA and WTO, though did not support the China deal.

The third category is candidates with mixed voting records on trade, but who have displayed a genuine interest in rejecting the free-trade-at-all-cost dogma. The only candidate in this category is John Edwards, who voted against some of the corporate-written trade deals that came down the pike during his Senate term, and who has made a class-based "Two America's" message his signature theme.

And the final category is candidates who have loudly opposed all of the sell-out trade deals, even when that opposition has been politically unpopular. Again, this is a one-candidate category right now, and that candidate is http://www.ontheissues.org/International/Russell_Feingold_Free_Trade.htm>Russ Feingold - a guy who has not only voted against selling out America, but has made the issue central to his public image by airing campaign ads about his courageous stands on the issue.

http://www.workingforchange.com/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=F098F04F-9DCF-97FB-5023BA7F86468B22

:loveya:

The next prez...

It was not passed because Democrats in Congress were not courageuous enough. Had it passed virtually everyone would have health care right now.

I don't put much stock in anything he says.

Do you think not liking the DLC is backstabbing? Or did he do something else? I am curious.I personally think Clinton has been dissing the Party worse than Russ but I would like to know what you mean.

Among Democrats, Feingold was the most persistent and vocal critic of Clinton and the greatest Democratic proponent of continuing the GOP investigations throughout the period from 1997-1999. During the Lewinsky scandal in particular, Feingold was Clinton's strongest and earliest Democratic critic.

When the scandal first broke, Feingold said, "If there is any proof that (Clinton) lied under oath, I will have no trouble voting on his impeachment," making him the only Senate Democrat to openly consider that most extreme measure.

He later said that Clinton should seriously consider resigning. Even in the wake of the House impeachment vote, when Clinton was at his most politically vulnerable, Feingold refused to say say that Clinton shouldn't resign - even as fellow Wisconsin Senator Herb Kohl strongly insisted that Clinton should remain in office.

At the actual Senate trial, Feingold was the Democrats' Critic-in-Chief, voting to continue the trial and keep the charges on the books right up to the final vote:

Feingold was the only Democrat to vote against Robert Byrd's motion to dismiss the charges

Feingold was the only Democrat to support the motion to subpoena witnesses to testify against Clinton

Feingold was the only Democrat to vote against either of Daschle's motions to proceed to closing arguments - and he voted against both of them (on January 28 and on February 4).

Feingold did ultimately vote against removal but every other Democrat, he did not announce his opposition to impeachment until the day of the final vote. Feingold even refused to sign onto Dianne Feinstein's bipartisan resolution to "censure and move on", a resolution pushed by the founders of MoveOn.org and co-sponsored by Lieberman, because it would have undermined the proceedings of the impeachment trial. He only supported censure after impeachment had failed, when censure was the strongest measure left on the table to use against Clinton.

After Clinton's impeachment trial was finally over, Feingold summed up his feelings succintly:

"President Clinton has disgraced himself."

To use some DU revolutionary rhetoric, Feingold was an enabler of the neocon witch hunt against Clinton in the 90s.

Good luck in your presidential bid, Russ. Many of us will be reminding everyone how you betrayed your party.

And that only contributes to his hero status here. Don't forget that he voted FOR many of Bush's appointments and was the only senator with the sand to vote AGAINST the USA PATRIOT Act. It's not partisan, it's just Russ.

Is excoriated around here...but when Saint Russ does it it's just Russ being Russ!

Please...he shamelessly aided and abetted what amounted to a Right Wing coup attempt on a Democratic President for getting a blow job!

http://newdonkey.blogspot.com/

From Ed Kilgore' column:

Feingold Exposes Centrist Plot

David Sirota said he "boldly did what so few Democratic politicians are willing to do: he told the truth about the corporate-funded Democratic Leadership Council" Charles P. Pierce at TAPPED called it "the best argument yet made against the DLC by someone not named David Sirota."

I was naturally curious to read what motivated all this gushing, and discovered a rather peculiar rant by Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) to a group of Wisconsin reporters that blamed the DLC for all the sins of the Democratic Party in the last decade or so.

I was particularly interested to learn from Feingold that the DLC "came up with the health care plan with the Clintons that was so complicated nobody could understand it." Gee, I seem to remember that the DLC actually opposed the Clinton Health Plan. "They are the ones that coalesced with the big corporations to pass unfair trade agreements that hurt America." Funny: I thought maybe this guy named Bill Clinton--following the tradition of every Democratic president going back to Martin Van Buren--had a bit more to do with, say, NAFTA than anybody at the DLC. And here's my favorite "bold" attack: "Feingold said DLC consultants 'instill fear in Democrats' by saying opposition to the war would be taken as not supporting the troops.... "It’s the DLC that has cut off our ability to say things like, ‘Let’s get out of Iraq because it’s a bad idea."

Until now, I had no idea what vast powers we exercise around here. Al From or Bruce Reed or somebody gets quoted in the papers, and Democrats fall silent in terror. And the stuff about "DLC consultants" is beautifully vague. Unless I'm forgetting something, the chief political consultant for the last two Democratic presidential candidates was named Bob Shrum, whose relationship with the DLC is about as warm as Ned Lamont's with Joe Lieberman. . .

when someone is banging the drums over comments made - WITH GLARING ERRORS IN CONTENT - against the boogieman of the lefties - the DLC.

Wooo-hooooo!!! I wonder if the recommendations can register pass a gazillion.

Ok, he had an affair. Not a very good thing to do but it happens. The real mistake he made was trying to cover it up for as long as possible. If he had just admitted to it as soon as the story came out, the country would have forgiven him, and there would be no need to impeach him. Cheating on your wife is not a crime.

Bill Clinton lied under oath multiple times before finally coming forward, which was only when the evidence against him was so substantial that telling the truth was the only sensible thing to do. Feingold was right to vote to continue with the impeachment, and was also right to vote against removing him from office. Clinton needed to know that what he did was not ok, but that it also did not warrant removal from office. Perhaps he didn't need to say everything that he did, but that's just Russ. When he has an opinion, he lets his voice be heard and doesn't worry about what everyone will think.

And even if you still think he was wrong, you can't deny that he has been standing up for our values as much as, and probably more than, any other Senator in Washington. He is a man that we need in office.

Complaining about Republicans and their coup attempt...

Because they were doing the right thing...correct?

Just because I acknowledge that Bill Clinton did something wrong doesn't mean I agree with what Republicans do. I don't think I'd be a member of DEMOCRATIC UNDERGROUND if I did.

Russ Feingolds complicity in the attempt?

I thought you meant that I was defending Republicans in general, and that I thought their trying to remove Clinton from office was the right thing to do.

I don't think it was totally necessary for Feingold to say all that he did regarding Clinton's actions, but I understand that he is a man who says what is in his heart. He probably truly felt that Clinton disgraced himself, but I do not think that was a good thing to say for the party's sake.

As far as his stance on the scandal, I think what he did was right. Bill Clinton flat out lied under oath, and for that he deserved punishment. Feingold did not, however, think that Clinton deserved to leave office, a decision I strongly agree with, and one that most Republicans do not.

If Clinton had told the truth when the story first broke, I would not support impeachment. But he didn't, and I think it would have been wrong to just let that go. I don't hate Bill Clinton, I certainly prefer him over Bush, and I think he was a decent President but on this issue I think he got about as much as he deserved.

...the primaries.

to be a GOP tool. He has had nothing but good things to say about Bush, has been openly supportive of the war since the start, fought the stem cell research bill, supported a constitutional ban on flag burning, tried to ban gay marriage, and voted for the freedom violating Patriot Act.

Oh wait, nevermind. HE DIDN'T DO ANY OF THOSE THINGS!!!! For God's sake, the man just does what he feels is right and speaks his mind. If you're going to turn your back on every dem who ever voted for or spoke out against what the majority of the party did then you're not going to be happy with any of the '08 candidates.

I completely disagree with him on the war but I have no doubt he did what he thought was right.

So why is it that when Russ Feingold screws Clinton over and don't forget he was the deciding vote on getting John Ashcroft out of committee, he's voting his conscience or however you want to put it, but if Lieberman does it, he must be GOP-lite or something?

From Ed Kilgore who is part of the dreaded DLC: http://newdonkey.blogspot.com/

"I can't imagine that these hugs and kisses are any more welcome in Liebermanland than was Bush's famous "kiss" at State of the Union Address. It's not like Joe needs Republican help in Connecticut; in the absence of a viable GOP candidate in the race, there's not a whole lot of doubt that Nutmeg State Republicans would overwhelmingly prefer Lieberman over Lamont in November without any encouragement from on high. And all the love directed at the incumbent from national Republicans could seriously erode his support among Democrats and independents."

But here's what I really want to know: are all these national Republicans embracing Joe Lieberman willing to support anything he stands for other than his position on Iraq, which they claim crazy lefties have illegitimately targeted him for? Will they suddenly develop an interest in dealing with global climate change? Will they agree that labor laws need to be revised to make it easier for workers to organize unions? Are they on board with Lieberman's ambitious proposal for a federally funded National Center for Cures to speed new medical treatments? Will they take a serious look at Joe's 2004 tax proposal, that would have made income tax rates actually more progressive than they were before the Bush tax cuts? Will they push for a systematic attack on corporate subsidies in the federal budget and tax code?"

that America is on the wrong path? I doubt that we are in the minority.

Forever and ever. Amen.

Russ has this right! :woohoo:



TC

* except the DLC opposed the Clinton health plan. oops.

:)

doesn't really matter what the truth is when you're slinging venom to further an agenda, right?
now THAT's really the point.



crossposting on other websites and orchestrating an attack here is seriously

ps: I liked Tinoire's picture depicting catatonic kitten better.

the DLC assholes.
it's certainly something that's worth doing, and worth doing properly.

:kick: Nice to hear someone say that aloud.

Has the purification officially begun?

the Repug used to sink it.

THEY said it was soooo complicated...when it really wasn't, although the GOP were too dumb to figure it out, and the Media then just told the public...yeah, too complicated (and so, we still ain't got shit, complicated or simple -- :eyes:) !

It was true spin then, and it's true spin now!

Russ should know better than buying GOP spin as fact, although the rest of what he says is fine.

Guess Feingold ain't above a little political "posturing", ya know, which I guess goes hand in hand in the world of politics. Guess that cutting down the DLC has gotten mighty popular.

Never been to the top before.

Hug:
:grouphug:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=greatest_threads

ON EDIT: It's gone but here is a screenshot I saved:

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make the best Prez.

Russ "Let's impeach Clinton" Feingold will NEVER make it through the primaries.

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By the way, if you ever bother to go to the DLC website, no way in hell would you ever say they advise Democrats to do whatever Bush or the Republicans say. That's a lie perpetrated by leftists.

eom

he makes the rest of the "Democrats" in Congress look like fools. Shame on you Russ, for pointing out what spineless cowards they truly are!

I'd vote for this MAN (as opposed to most of the children in the Democratic Party) in a heartbeat. How lucky you WI folk are!

When people are reminded of how he screwed Clinton (88% approval among Democrats), Russ will never make if past Iowa.