Kris Schultz

Kentucky State Treasurer Jonathan Miller is releasing a book this fall, and I can't wait to read it: THE COMPASSIONATE COMMUNITY - TEN VALUES TO UNITE AMERICA. The forward is written by his friend and former boss Al Gore.

Jonathan is one of my favorite politicians in Kentucky, along with Mayor Jerry Abramson, State Auditor Crit Luallen, and State Senator Denise Harper Angel. He's bright, articulate, and foresighted enough to understand that a book like this not only deserves to be written, but might actually make a difference to a once fully-blue-political landscape. I'm ready to see the Bluegrass state turn BLUE for good.

Here's a quick listing of the 10 Values:

1. Opportunity
2. Responsibility
3. Work
4. Family
5. Freedom
6. Faith
7. Justice
8. Peace
9. Respect
10. Security

I wouldn't be surprised to eventually see him run for and become a Senator or Governor of Kentucky, and he'd have my support. He's the kind of politician to restore pride in being a Kentuckian again. Our current governor is an embarrassment, and our Senators spend more time voting in the interests of the large donors and their big businesses, not the people. Jonathan is the kind of person who'll do the right thing for regular, everyday people.

Kentucky has a deep bench of great people, and Jonathan leads the way. He's only a few years older than me and makes me feel like a slacker, but that's my fault, not his :-)

Look for more on this book in the fall.

You'd never know it from how things go in our Republican Congress or in our Republican White House, but there is still a health care crisis in America affecting millions of people every year.

It really bothers me that because of our health care funding system, tens of thousands of people face a conundrum every day. People without health care fail to seek preventive care, treatment for undiagnosed illnesses, or get emergency care where they worry about getting healthy while they see their bank account get deathly ill.

Something must change in our system, and it is the number one problem in America. Here are a few new things I've found about this subject that I wanted to bring to your attention:

Andy Stern, the leader of the SEIU, issued a challenge to Fortune 500 CEO's to join him in calling on our government to find a solution.

The Center for American Progress released this survey about personal debt, especially regarding the fears over rapidly rising health care costs.

Michael Moore issued a call for health care horror stories back in February, and received over 20,000 letters back. His next movie is about the health care funding crisis. Maybe that will help bring about a solution.

If we take back Congress - and I am optimistic - Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky will play a major role in solving this problem. She's a high ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, which works on health care coverage, and she's a great person to do just that. I found this older post on the web about her views. I just wish our Congress made it as high of a priority as Congresswoman Schakowsky has, perhaps we could have saved regular folks a lot of suffering by now.

CHALLENGE TO BLOG READERS
Okay, I have my own health care funding crisis story to tell, but as yet, I've failed to tell it on my blog. I've been open about it with my friends and progressive political coworkers, but I've yet to really tell my story. I thought about responding to Michael Moore's calls for stories, but I did not. I did tell a portion of my story in a letter to the corporate leaders of Whole Foods Market, where I also work, calling on them to join Andy Stern's effort to bring about a better health care system in America. I feel that despite the fact that Whole Foods Market is not unionized (something I don't support), the overwhelming amount of effort at Whole Foods is spent trying to be more socially responsible and good. I appreciate Whole Foods for the hard work they do to promote environmental sustainability, giving back to the local communities through donations and collaborations, and do provide us with health care. It isn't the best health care I've had, but it is sure better than nothing. Quite a bit better than nothing. Anyway, I am rambling and not getting to my challenge...

Here's the challenge: Do you think I should "out" myself and my own health care story? I certainly don't mind, as it's not embarrassing, really, and might actually help someone. I challenge my friends who know my story to tell me what you think - is this an appropriate forum for me to tell what happened? Once it's on the web, it is as public as it gets. I'd love your honest feedback.

To tell or not to tell....

Hawaii isn’t exactly a conservative state. Sure, HI has a Republican Governor, but so does Massachusetts. Liberals comfortably serve the state well with little fear of sloganeering like those facing the “L” word in southern states used to get.

So how is it that proud conservative Congressman Ed Case has any traction at all? Why does he think he has a shot to challenge a fellow Democrat in this year’s primary for Senate?

Every new thing I learn about Ed Case proves to me that he is the classic American DINO - a Democrat in Name Only. He’s essentially created the reverse of the Lamont/Lieberman primary in CT by challenging Senator Akaka. Here’s the Case against Ed Case:

Ed Case endorsed Joe Lieberman for President in the Hawaii primary of 2004. Lieberman dropped out before the Hawaii primary even took place, so then Case did switch his endorsement to Kerry. Members of Congress, should they choose to, automatically get a vote at the Convention towards their party’s nomination for President. It’s not uncalled for that a member will endorse one candidate for president over the other, despite the fact that they are not a super-early primary state. But campaigning for Joe Lieberman in Hawaii? Doesn’t jive to me.

Ed Case is a proud DLC’er, just like Joe Lieberman. Despite the DLC distancing themselves from him in this Chris Bowers post, Case is a member of the New Democrat Caucus on the Hill, the official caucus for DLC-supporting Democrats in Congress.

Ed Case is trying to appeal to Republicans in his primary for Senate, just as Joe Lieberman did in New Hampshire in his primary for President. Ed Case called Senator Dan Akaka an extremist for simply being a liberal, despite the fact that he is a voice of reason and represents the voters of Hawaii well. He is trying to appeal to Republican voters, who can choose whichever ballot they want on Primary day. He is hoping many republicans will pick up a Democratic ballot and vote for him. The active primary to replace him in the House might complicate that, as might the fact that there is a more viable Republican candidate for Senate now in Jerry Coffee. However, Ed Case cannot win a primary if only Democrats vote in it. He can only win if Republicans pull that D ballot and vote for his DINO self. Joe Lieberman was hoping for the same trend on Election Day in New Hampshire, where the independent-minded voters could choose either the D or the R ballot for the Presidential Primary. Did not work out so well for him, though.

Ed Case has significantly differing views on Iraq, rubberstamping Bush’s war in Iraq every chance he has had, just like Joe Lieberman. and

Ed Case, like Joe Lieberman, has quite conservative National Journal ratings for a Democrat representing a more liberal state. (See here and here.)

Contrast all I say about Ed Case with this, the text of Senator Akaka’s new TV Advertisement, which you can watch on his website:

This is no time for the faint-hearted, no time for the inexperienced, because this Republican White House has thrown down the gauntlet. It is highly appropriate that we remind Hawaii's voters what this war has cost our families. It is highly appropriate to ask, even in hindsight, whether this war was just and warranted. It is highly appropriate to demand of this administration a strategy and timetable for peace and how we intend to ensure a stable and Democratic government in Iraq. That’s why I need your support. That's why I need your vote.

I believe the progressive blog world would be doing a great thing if they took a strong stand for Akaka, and stand strong against this challenge from a DINO like Ed Case. We cannot let him beat a good incumbent like Akaka, especially if Lamont wins. If Lamont wins, yet Case does as well, then they will cancel each other’s votes out just as Lieberman and Akaka have, meaning no net gains for progressives. I think it helps the karma for taking on an incumbent (even a bad one) by supporting a good one who has his own primary challenge. The law of universal averages.

You can support Dan Akaka here, and here.

Make sure you read this article in the Honolulu Advertiser about the fundraising numbers for the Akaka/Case Democratic Primary in Hawai'i. In it are the differentiations between Senator Dan Akaka and Congressman Ed Case on the Iraq war:

The theme of Akaka's early advertising has been the war in Iraq, which shows the senator believes Democratic primary voters, who tend to be more liberal, will respond to his anti-war record. Akaka opposed giving President Bush the authority to invade Iraq, was openly critical of post-war planning, and has called for the withdrawal of U.S. troops by July 2007.

Case has said he likely would have voted for giving Bush the authority to invade, has raised concerns about being misled on whether Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, but does not believe in setting a withdrawal date until the country is stable.

Project Vote Smart posted the Disabled American Veterans' ratings based on votes by our members of the House and Senate. Senator Akaka, the ranking Democratic member of the Veterans Affairs Committee, has voted time and again to support our veterans, and it shows in his numbers. His DAV rating is the highest any Senator got this Congress with a 92%. That means that he supported the DAV point of view on key votes in the Senate supporting disabled vets.

If Democrats take it back, Akaka will lead the charge in the Senate for our veterans, many of whom are suffering right now from injuries from a prolonged war in Iraq. Too many of them are being left behind, thanks to Bush, without the sort of support and care that they've more than earned by risking their lives in the name of our country - an honorable cause no matter the President's policies.

And, I'll take this opportunity again to mention the fact that Akaka was one of the 13 smart Senators to back the Kerry/Feingold Amendment calling for a reasonable withdrawl of troops from Iraq.

Unfortunately, Congressman Ed Case, Akaka's opponent in the Democratic Primary, has a much lower rating from the DAV with only a 60%. He did rubberstamp Bush's war in Iraq. This rating shows that he seems to be following Bush's lead in leaving behind too many of our veterans too, especially those that need us the most: the disabled veterans.

Yet another reason to back Akaka.

This time, the post is about an exchange from mydd's Chris Bowers and Ed Kilgore of the DLC regarding Ed Case. It's interesting that Kilgore tries to distance himself from Case, while Case is actually a member of the DLC's caucus on the Hill. Just another reason to back Akaka, if you ask me. The DLC is so helpful to the Democratic Party (NOT.)

I post multiple comments to this, and some Ed Case supporter is posting the argument that Case is more like Lamont than Akaka. How wrong is that? I would say the similarities lie only in the fact that both are challenging Democratic Senate incumbents this year. Quite simply, the Akaka/Case race is a reverse Lieberman/Lamont situation, especially considering the candidates views on Bush's Iraq war.

Just another reason to back Akaka.

Check this out, from a posting to this blog, comparing the National Journal Ratings (a liberal to conservative vote comparison) of Senator Dan Akaka with his primary challenger Congressman Ed Case:

Case:
2004 LIB -- 2004 CONS
Economic 61% -- 38%
Social 64% -- 35%
Foreign 58% -- 42%

Akaka:
2004 LIB -- 2004 CONS
Economic 90% -- 7%
Social 82% -- 0%
Foreign 99% -- 0%

Yet another reason to back Akaka.

By the way, many people are saying the reason that the Lieberman/Lamont race garners so much attention is because of the Iraq war. They should start paying larger attention to the Hawai'i primary. The contrasts between Akaka and Case are just as strong. Case rubberstamped Bush's war in votes during June, and Akaka was one of the 13 good Senators who voted for the Kerry/Feingold amendment calling for a withdrawal of troops.

Chris Bowers of mydd.com makes some great points about Senate primaries this year that are worthy of a gander. He says it's fascinating how much ink is given to the Lieberman/Lamont Senate Primary in Connecticut compared to two other races - the RI and HI primaries. He says editorial boards are critical of progressives who are shepherding Lamont forward in a great primary run.

If they, or any other organ of the political and media establishment think that primary challenges against incumbent Senators are wrong, then why aren't they editorializing about Hawaii and Rhode Island? All of the complaints that have been leveled against progressives for trying to unseat Lieberman can easily be turned against the DLC for trying to unseat Akaka, or against the conservative movement for trying unseat Chafee.

I'd say the same to the blog world. Overwhelming numbers of bloggers have donated to Lamont via websites like the ActBlue site, and pushed the race forward via thousands of posts. I hope even just a portion of them will also take Senator Akaka on, and support him. Otherwise, all this help for Lamont might mean he gets elected, while Ed Case is sent in from Hawai'i and cancels all his votes. What would be the point of that? I hope they share the love.

UPDATE - 7/9/06
Make sure you check out other follow-up posts to Chris Bowers' post on the media coverage of Lamont/Lieberman compared to Akaka/Case, like this from Lizzy, this from Matt Browner-Hamlin, and this from Digby.

And, for fun, check out Craig Crawford's Sunday Concert.

With all the attention given to Lieberman's announcement to potentially run as an independent, don't forget the other big Democratic Senate primary this year in Hawai'i. Ed Case rubberstamped Bush's war in Iraq, so support Dan Akaka today.

The Honolulu Advertiser released a poll over the weekend showing Akaka has the lead in the Primary, but one major factor which isn't considered in this poll is the fact that Republicans can pull the ballots of the Democrats on primary day. Commentary on the Hawai'i-based blog Poinography shows such voter choices could easily help Ed Case, as Republicans (surprise) are much more likely to back Case than Akaka.