Since President Obama took office, I've worked hard to pass two forward-thinking pieces of legislation through the House. The first was an amendment to the stimulus package, which added $3 billion for new public transportation projects. The second bill which I co-sponsored and helped to write was the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act which was the first bill that President Obama signed into law.
As Chair of the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties on the House Judiciary Committee, I will continue to hold hearings about abuses of executive privilege in the Bush administration. And, on that score, I recently introduced two important bills -- the Midnight Rule Act and the State Secret Protection Act -- in order to roll back some of the more odious elements of Bush's disastrous legacy. In the Judiciary Committee, we've again subpoenaed Karl Rove to testify and finally answer some questions on the flagrant politicization of the Justice Department under Bush. Hopefully Rove saw me on Countdown with Keith Olbermann recently making it clear that he will be held in contempt and arrested if he continues to ignore the law.
My questions to you now is: what else do YOU think I should be doing in the House for you? And what are progressive activists who gave Obama his historic victory doing to keep the administration accountable to progressives and making real change? How can our efforts intertwine to make a real impact? How do we convince the new administration to go forward with bold legislation as well as look back at the Bush years and hold those who disregarded our Constitution accountable?
We hope you can be there for this conversation on February 18th. But even if you can't, we want to hear what questions and issues you think should be covered in this dialogue about progressive activism both inside and outside government right now.
Please put your questions in the comments for me and my special guests in the comments.
Again, I hope you can join me on February 18th from 6pm-9pm at Tribeca Cinemas at 54 Varick St. in NYC. For more information/buy tickets for 2/18: http://www.jerrynadler.com/2.1...
When I offered in a blog thread to go lobby on TARP oversight and reform while I was in DC, little did I know that I was going to be asked to write about it on Open Left. It's a challenge to rise to the standards set by all the wonderful writers and activists on the front page of this blog. And did I mention that I am sure they are all much better typists than I am....(.Any misspellings really is my typing, I won spelling bees as a kid.)
In the past I have employed 2 methods. The first, more official one is call ahead, get an appointment with hopefully the legislator, but often it is the Chief of Staff, Legislative aide or the Press person. This works when they are friendly, agree with you and want very much for the legislation to pass. My other is the walk in and see what happens....and that's what I did Wednesday, not because Dorgan wouldn't welcome help on this bill because there had been no time to make an appointment.
I'm with Kos. Nadler would be an excellent choice for Senator from New York City.
REP. JERROLD NADLER: Well, I think all the candidates think they're the most qualified. I think my record in Congress is a very progressive and forward-looking record. I think I've shown very good judgment. I was one of the few downstate people who voted against the war, against the PATRIOT Act. I've taken a leadership role on civil liberties, on economic development. And I led the battle against the--I led the battle for eight years against the Bankruptcy, so-called, Reform Act of 2005, which we now recognize as probably responsible for maybe a third of the foreclosures that are going on in this country.
Nadler is a an aggressive and noisy progressive who nonetheless has good relations within the Democratic caucus, just the kind of guy who can represent a state like New York in the Senate.
Opening the day is rapidly turning more into middling the day. I promise it'll get back to its regular schedule by next week.
Congressman Jerry Nadler says that 'in a just system' Bush would be impeached. I love Nadler and I respect what he's saying, but what does this say about Congress, the body that is supposed to bring impeachment charges against a rogue executive?
JibJab is out with its latest stupid parody. Obama's gay and rides unicorns! McCain is old and tough! Ha.
Bruce Wilson has an important piece tracing the links between the authoritarian religious network known as 'the Family', the DLC, and Bush Republicans.
We just couldn't let the week pass without posting this - this past Saturday, Living Liberally celebrated its 2nd annual celebration & fundraiser in New York City. And while we were fortunate enough to be joined in person by some incredible guests such as Congressman Jerry Nadler and State Senator Eric Schneiderman, we had another very special guest via video:
Howard Dean's video congratulations is part of a very big month for our chapters and our supporters - you can expect more videos like that one in the next few weeks, and here's why:
"The ACLU sees one major flaw in the RESTORE Act. As drafted, the RESTORE Act still allows for the US government to collect phone calls and emails from Americans without an individual warrant.
Program warrants - sometimes called basket warrants, sometime called blanket warrants - included in the draft bill are a crucial sticking point. There is no specific target when you use basket warrants, which contradicts the heart of the Fourth Amendment. Essentially, a basket warrant really means no real warrant.
Let's not lose sight of the situation. There is no reason to let this go through. We have all the leverage in the expiration of the FISA temporary fix. Bush is horribly unpopular and civil liberties are a core value. And Democrats don't have to pass anything.
Raw is reporting that Rep. Jerry Nadler is calling for a Special Prosecutor to investigate if Guido lied misled Congress. I say it's about time.
"Attorney General Gonzales has shown an apparent reckless disregard for the rule of law and a fundamental lack of respect for the oversight responsibilities of Congress," said Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y. "The man entrusted with enforcing our nation's laws must also abide by them - and Mr. Gonzales has apparently failed in that duty."
This is about the recent disclosures that Guido knew about things the FBI had done wrong, but did not inform Congress when asked at a recent hearing. We all know that lying to Congress is a Felony, even if it's pardonable.
