Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Tom Matzzie, You Were One of Us!

by Henry James Vasquez

A LEFTY'S EXCLUSIVE: TOM MATTZIE

My fellow Co-President was digging through some old emails that were stored on our webmail account. The oldest mail was dated April 19, 1996! Curious, we checked the name and found that the author was none other than former Notre Dame College Democrat Tom Matzzie.

Tom Matzzie, manager of Accountable America and former Washington Director of Moveon.org, was a student at our beloved University. He has been one of the strongest voices against the war in Iraq while heading up Americans Against Escalation in Iraq. To every College Democrat who aspires to join the ranks of progressive operatives, Matzzie is your man. And for your reading pleasure, I have included the text of the email below. Take note of the use of the term "Neo-conservative Whackos." That gave me a laugh. Enjoy:


----- Forwarded message from Tom Matzzie > ----- Date: Fri, 19 Apr 96 02:30:38 0600 From: Tom Matzzie Reply-To: Tom Matzzie Subject: (no subject) To: cdems@moe.debartolo.nd.edu Hey guys- My name is Tom Matzzie and I am the guy who has thus far preserved the College Dems phone tree at Student Government. Could somebody contact me, we may have to move it elsewhere. By the way, the homepage looks awesome! You may get a phonecall from Student Activities about your color manipulation of the leprechaun. Its copyrighted and the administration is run by neo-conservative whackos who won't let small things slide. In addition, I am the Notre Dame contact for Union Summer. Union Summer is the AFL-CIO's initiative to put hundreds of college students working for the labor movement this summer. Call me and I'll do a presentation if you want. I'm sorry that I've never attended a meeting but Student Government has kept me busy. I may be able to help out next year. Take care- Tom Matzzie 631-4556 matzzie.1@nd.edu

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Hey guys, quit cheating

by Bill


Obama Asks Hillary to be Secretary of State

According to a leaked source that's made its way to the blogosphere, to the Mainstream Media, and then back again to the secondary blogosphere, the kind that regurgitates information rather than finding new information, of which we are a part, President Obama has asked Hillary Clinton to serve as his Secretary of State.

Of course this is not to say that Hillary Clinton will actually be the next Secretary of State. She may rather continue her work as a U.S. Senator. Some of her advisers have hinted that she may rather serve the people of New York, not the future President, so that she can make sure that health care legislation gets passed.

The real story, however, is that I've noticed many more people on the Lefty's poll are picking Hillary Clinton to be the next Secretary of State. She was well behind John Kerry before, so I'm going to guess this shift is a response to today's turn of events.

So what I'm trying to say is, you guys are cheaters.

Posted at 6:23 PM , 1 comments
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Sunday, November 16, 2008

He Brings Home the Bacon. That's Why

by Bill



Why Alaskans love their corrupt politicians, and why there's nothing we can do about it

Last I checked, Ted Stevens (R-AK), six term senator and convicted felon, is down a measly 1000 votes in his close election with Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, and much to the protestations of pretty much all Democrats and a growing number of Republicans, there's still a chance he might be able to come back and win this thing (but probably not).

Meanwhile, Rep Don Young (R-AK at large) won his reelection handily this year, by a solid 5% despite sharing a spot with Ted Stevens on the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington's list of the 22 most corrupt members of Congress.* I suppose that's the difference between being corrupt and being corrupt and getting busted for it. Or maybe that's the difference between trading federal budget earmarks for campaign contributions and trading federal budget earmarks for free home renovations, a stained glass window, a massage chair and a $1000 sled dog (seriously?).

*Fun fact. Sen Lisa Murkowski, the other Alaskan member of Congress, is also on this list.
(BTW, props to Miami Herald for covering the Stevens debauchery better than any of the Alaskan papers do.)

Normal people might be wondering why Alaskans keep voting for crooks, but to be fair, Alaskans haven't done anything the rest of us wouldn't do in their circumstances.
Ted Stevens is the most senior Republican in the Senate, and he's on the uber-powerful Commerce and Appropriations committees. As long as he's in Congress, this guy can get stuff done for your state (as long as he doesn't get indicted and the Republicans strip his committee his committee assignments in disgust. oops)

But my point is, when your member of Congress is earmarking all sorts of legislation, that money goes to you. As much as I hate people abusing the system and giving my hard earned money to a bunch of lousy Alaskans, I would love it if I was an Alaskan, and I'd make sure to keep it that way.

This year, Alaska received $346 million in pork barrell spending, amounting to $506.34 in per capita spending for the state. This makes Alaska the number one recipient of pork barrel money. With his decades of experience, Stevens sure knows how to bring home the bacon. And, rest assured, not all the money was spent on sled dogs. The Alaskans got their piece of the pie too.

(mmm, pork, bacon, and pie? Why is the budget so delicious?)

To John McCain's credit, Arizona receives the least amount of this money, a paltry sum of $119 million, for a state with a considerably larger population than Alaska's.

You gotta admire the man's integrity. This guy made his opposition to earmarks one of the primary focuses of his presidential campaign ("and you will know their names!") and his record shows that he was not kidding about it. He even voted to ban earmarks in March this year.

Of course, if I were a smart Arizonan I would send him packing. $18.70 per capita in pork barrel projects? That's it? 18 bucks? Come on, John, give me a break. I don't pay my taxes so that Alaskans can spend it all.

James Thurber, director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University, said it best, "When you have reformers and purists, you end up not getting a reasonable share of money coming out, which hurts the state. When you're holier than thou, you don't get much of the money."

If this reminds you of the old cliche that everyone "hates Congress and loves their Congressmen," it should have. This is exactly what it's referring to. Remember, there are 98 Senators and 434 Representatives who are all trying to waste your money on stuff you don't want, and you only have 3 people in Congress to rely on to give some of that money back.

Even Ron Paul, the great budget critic, does this. “I don’t want them [the government] to take it [my constituent's money], but if they do take it, I’d just as soon help my constituents get it back.”
The late, great Tim Russert tried to call him out on this seeming hypocrisy, and Ron Paul actually makes a good point in his own defense.


So yeah. No one likes earmarks, but since everyone can use them, you have to do it too or you're screwed. Classic tragedy of the commons.

The Alaskan mentality? Well, Stevens is a crook, but he's our crook, and we need him to protect us from the rest of the crooks.

Just in case Stevens does lose, or he spends next year in jail and not on Capitol Hill, I'll close my post with a solemn farewell to the Senator, and a look back on some of his more memorable moments...



Farewell and good luck, sir. The Daily Show will miss you.

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ND Alum to challenge Boehner

by Demosthenes


House Minority Leader John A. Boehner better watch out: he's in the sights of a Notre Dame Grad. That's right! ND alumnus Dan Lungren of California plans to challenge Mr. Boehner for the top Republican post in the House. Although considered a darkhorse by most, Mr. Lungren may prove to be a formidable opponent.

The talking heads are cautious about predicting a mutiny in the Republican Caucus because public criticism of Mr. Boehner has been so muted. Meanwhile, the Ohio congressman has been working strategically behind the scenes to ensure that no serious challengers come out of the woodwork. Indeed, he successfully neutralized the threat posed by Indiana Congressman Mike Pence earlier this month. You may recall that Mr. Pence unsuccessfully challenged Mr. Boehner for the leadership in 2006.

Mr. Lungren presents an interesting choice for House Republicans looking for new direction. A former attorney general of California, he appeals to the more conservative wing of the party while remaining tenable to the moderates. Conventional wisdom would say not to change horses in the middle of a race, mainly because Boehner did the best he could. Yet, in the search for a new face for the Republican Party, Mr. Lungren may be just what the doctor ordered. He is media savy and certainly appears much less of an insider than Mr. Boehner or his Senate counterpart Mitch McConnell.

Anything goes behind the closed doors of the Republican Caucus, and that's why I think that this is one darkhorse who should not be ruled out.

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