Haines for Congress Blog

Open thread: Whatcha got on your mind?

The immediate, vigorous, and downright rambunctious response we've had to the Haines for Congress blog shouldn't surprise anybody. The folks who already know Doug understand full well that it's precisely that genuine openness to real dialogue that marks Doug as a different kind of politician: he's not waiting for you to finish talking so he can give you his pre-packaged spiel on topic whatever, but instead is actually listening to what you have to say. So let's hear it. On this thread, any subject from the sublime to the serendipitous is fair game. What're ya waitin' for?

Got questions for Doug? Bring 'em on!

There's been a lot of talk lately on some blogs (especially dailykos.com) about having candidates fill out questionnaires when they seek donations from bloggers. I agree that it's very important that potential donors know something about a candidate who wants their support -- beyond the fact that he or she is running in a targeted district. With that in mind, I invite all of you out there to submit as many questions for me as you'd like, and I'll answer them as quickly as I can here, and then combine all of them and post the results as a comprehensive questionnaire on my website. If I'm going to ask for your money, you deserve to know where I stand on the issues that matter to you. Email your questions to me at [email protected], or post them on this thread of our blog. I look forward to getting you acquainted with where I stand.

Doug

Doug at fundraiser for Common Ground

Last night, Doug and I attended a fundraiser for Common Ground, a "Progressive Resource Center" for the progressive community in Athens. The event was held at Tasty World, with great music (it's good to see that Athens is coming into its own as a center for underground hip-hop), and even fire dancers. Common Ground is a great organization, uniting numerous established and growing progressive causes in the Athens Area, and I think it's important to note that Doug was the only candidate who took the time to attend. Even more impressive, he had been campaigning in Augusta all day Saturday and is going back today (Sunday). It's good to see a candidate who views "progressive" as more than a label of convenience. Common Ground needs your help, too. In addition to money, they have a wish list of items they need, from computers to magazine subscriptions. Doug Haines also needs you help, so click on our donate link and make a contribution today. Then, head over to http://www.commongroundathens.org and match your contribution. This is a great way to help out progressive causes twice in less than five minutes. -- Martin Matheny

Who's making our choices on choice?

I know that this is a few months old, but it still really gets me angry. A few months ago, President Bush signed into law one of the worst assaults on a woman’s right to choose in recent memory: the ban on late-term abortion. As is typical for one of Bush’s photo ops, he was surrounded by the usual chorus of dark-suited legislative yes-men. But in this case, I noticed something really frightening about the photo. Bush and his cronies (Hyde, Santorum, Orrin Hatch, and of course Tom Delay) are all smiles as yet another right is stripped away by an oppressive government. The scary thing is this: They were all middle-aged, white, and male. So who really is making our choices? -- Katie Stein

Help unions broaden their right to organize

Our friends at the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) are leading the fight to protect our workers’ right to organize unions, but they need your help. Right now, the laws governing the right to organize are unfairly skewed towards the big corporations. The corporations know that a strong union presence will guarantee health care and a living wage, and of course management doesn’t want that. Here’s how we can help. There is legislation in Congress right now that will improve the situation. Its called “Card Check Recognition,” and if it passes, our unions will have a fair chance to organize in the workplace. Please visit http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/seiufreedom and sign the online petition. This is our chance as citizens to stand up for the workers that keep our country moving.

Long road back on foreign relations

I wonder how long it will take a new President and friendly Congress to reverse all of the damage done by the Bush administration. I’ll bet it will take a lot longer than the three years it took Dubya and his buddies to destroy the foreign policy credibility we built up under Clinton. -- Katie Stein

What happened to the War on Terrorism?

Whatever happened to fighting a War on Terrorism? I mean why have we diverted our attention from the enemy Al-Qaeda and turned it to Iraq? Why did we stop chasing Osama Bin Laden, the man who actually attacked us, to go off on an elective war against a country that hasn't done anything in ten years? Well, because of the diversion in Iraq we have severely weakened our ability to root out terrorism. We are now essentially stuck in this country for at least a decade with a hundred thousand troops when those troops are needed elsewhere. The Iraq war has caused us to become increasingly weak in East Asia, where a true threat - North Korea - exists. This foreign policy makes no sense at all to me. -- John Murphy

Is the economy better? I sure can't tell

I'm a college senior and in May I'll be looking for a job so I
can support myself. If we're coming out of a recession
and more jobs are being created (as the Republicans
keep telling us), why are all of my friends who graduated
last year still unemployed? -- Noah Eden

Hard to respect the Republicans

I didn't vote for Bob Dole in 1996, and I wouldn't have voted for McCain in 2000, but I respected them. But Bush II is just ridiculous. He's been shameless in letting his campaign contributors take what they want from the country - it sounds like my history class on the robber barons. He doesn't work with the other side, and he's not a reasonable man. He's just plain dangerous, and until he's ousted from office, or until Republicans put an honorable man like John McCain at the head of the party, I'm going to have a hard time respecting anyone who votes Republican. -- Matt Edwards

U.S. healthcare system in a sickly state

The current state of our healthcare system in this country is terrible. 41.6 million people currently do not have health insurance in this country. 16.6 % of this state does not have health insurance and this number will continue to climb with the current republican policies that move jobs out of the country. Most Americans get their health insurance from their employer and under the current Republican leadership thousands of jobs have left this country. Also, the 2000 census reports that 7.7 % of low-income children in this country have no health insurance at all. How can we live in a country where we do not adequately provide health coverage for those who do not control their own destiny? We need to change the Congress so we can change these problems in America! -- John Murphy