Photo courtesy of the New York Times.

President Obama can’t seem to get folks in Washington to listen to him. So he has decided to try his luck elsewhere…

For weeks he has been striving to get Congress to support  his plan to create jobs in the US… with lukewarm reception.

Now he is exploring alternatives to the American Jobs Act, tacitly admitting the bill is unlikely to pass through Congress.

The President will be touring in Las Vegas and Denver, hoping to pressure Republicans in Congress into passing the bill, rallying citizens under the mantra “We can’t wait,” for lawmakers to act.

Polls have shown that the main goals of the bill are widely supported- 63% approve according to a recent Wall Street Journal poll.

The bill, which can be read in its entirety here, focuses on cutting payroll taxes, extending unemployment benefits, funding new road construction, and providing a tax credit to returning veterans.

Opponents of the bill have cited concerns ranging from the proposed level of spending ($447 billion) to the targeted industries losing tax benefits, which include the oil industry.

Opposition has not been limited to the Republican party. Some Democrats are queasy.

“I have been very unequivocal…No more tax cuts,”

said a Democratic Representative from Oregon, Peter A. DeFazio.

Clearly the President has a long road to travel before his Jobs Bill will be passed.

Thanks to The Washington Post!

Times are tough. Folks are suffering. Time for Washington to act, Right?

Nope!

At least that was the answer in the Senate yesterday.

In a move that should surprise no one, the Senate GOP voted unanimously to block President Obama’s jobs bill.

The $447 billion proposal faced its first real test after being touted all over the country by the president himself. But the Republicans weren’t the only ones with “doubts” about the bill.

On Tuesday morning, senior White House officials said this is just the first act in a long-term play. They brushed aside the dissent among Democrats and urged Americans instead to look at the Republicans, unanimously voting against job-creation measures.”

Facing opposition from both parties, the next steps for the legislation remain unclear.

Votes on pieces of the bill could begin later this month, perhaps as early as next week, Senate Democratic aides said. Party leaders said they needed to consult their caucus before they decide on the timing or choose the provisions to be considered separately.”

Is the president running out of time? Or will be looking for a job soon?

In this political witch-hunt, no Republican is safe.

Obama for America recently started the website AttackWatch.com. The site gives the average person the opportunity to report criticisms of the president and his initiatives. This is supposed to help the American public “Get the facts. Fight the smears”, the website’s slogan.

Allegations and responses are stored in the “Attack Files”.

This article in the Wall Street Journal calls the website a “Twitter Disaster”, noting that the site’s twitter feed is is full of “zingers”. Not exactly going as planned, we suppose.

So how do you feel? Is this a good idea, or is it screaming 1984 to you?

Courtesy of Associated Press

Some signs of progress are occurring in Ole’ Miss.

Johnny DuPree has become the first black candidate to win major-party contest for Governor in Mississippi since Reconstruction.

The state is 37% black and has elected more African American officials to local posts than any state in the union… but  none of those victories came in statewide contests.

DuPree was also the first African American Mayor of Hattiesburg, Mississippi. On November 8^th he will face Republican Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant, 56, in the gubernatorial elections.

“I’m just so proud of the fact that we had people who believed in us, believed in the message, believed in what we’re trying to accomplish. I’m so proud that people took a hold of that,”

Images thanks to Politico!

You can stand under Obama’s umbrella-ella-ella-ay-ay-ay.  Because apparently he won’t.

Mark your calendar!  Michele Bachmann stops by Late Night next week.

Senator Barbara Mikulski sponsors repeal on DOMA, and the WashPost writes about the new Democratic support for same-sex marriage.

Tension in Turkey.

And just in case you haven’t heard about Schweddy Balls yet…

Thanks to MSNBC

The cost of coverage: Two award-winning journalists killed while covering rebel forces in Libya.

Something to laugh about? Democrats mock GOP of Medicare cuts.

Placing the blame: BP sues oil rig manufacturer in Gulf Oil Spill.

American Idol is here to stay. Recent increases in ratings point to a solid future for the 10-year-old reality show.

And, a 140-character love life?

Thanks to Wikicommons.

In Wisconsin, as well as other places across the nation a battle line has been drawn. The issue: public employee unions (such as those for teachers).

This is an issue which has been highly politicized. But what is behind the attempts to restrict unions ability to negotiate (and as a result, their power)?

Robert Barro, whose opinion appears in the Wall Street Journal, attacks unions noting that

For a teachers union, collective bargaining means that suppliers of teacher services to all public school systems in a state—or even across states—can collude with regard to acceptable wages, benefits and working conditions. An analogy for business would be for all providers of airline transportation to assemble to fix ticket prices, capacity and so on. From this perspective, collective bargaining on a broad scale is more similar to an antitrust violation than to a civil liberty.

On the other side of the line Hendrik Hertzburg, in an article for the New Yorker, argues that unions are

the only truly formidable counterweight to the ever-growing political power of that top one-thousandth [wage earners]

Many Americans, as Paul Krugman notes, agree with Hertzburg as

while people don’t necessarily love unions — hey, I personally don’t necessarily love unions — most people apparently see them as having a legitimate role.

However, the role of unions as a political balance may be coming to a close . Mickey Kaus notes that

The Internet has already empowered organizations like MoveOn.org to provide both dollars and volunteers to Dems through a structure that need not have anything to do with organized labor. … Why picket when you can click it?

No matter the end result in Wisconsin (and elsewhere) Nancy Folbre for Economix argues that the protesters time was not wasted as

the committed progressive activists of Wisconsin have raised the level of news organizations’ attention to state politics and broadened the public debate over the fiscal crisis.

So no matter what your beliefs are, don’t be afraid to stand up for them (especially if that means posting a comment).

Thanks to Mother Jones

The standard process for being elected is to woo voters into liking you.  However, the Republican Party seems to be trying a BOLD new strategy:  win votes by being hated!

What is this nonsense we speak of?

Last Monday, Kevin Drum of Mother Jones, highlighted the interesting poll results shown above.

As you can see Americans trust and feel more connected to Democrats, yet they plan to vote Republican.  This didn’t make a lick of sense to us.

Luckily a man much smarter than us (not that is saying much) has this nugget of wisdom on why some may like Democrats and yet vote Republican:

The Democrats control the presidency and both houses of Congress, and so it’s a completely reasonable stance to prefer them to the Republicans yet still think they’ve gone too far and need a check on their power.

In a similar vein, Andrew Sullivan, notes that the reason for odd poll results

is not that voters are somehow in an fit of pique backing a party whose policies they actually reject. It is that they want to break the logjam of one-party rule where the opposition party is strong enough to sabotage but denied the responsibility of actual government.

Before all of you get the idea that the GOP is set to sweep the House remember that November is far off.  Democrats shouldn’t give up hope just yet.  Heather, over at Crooks & Liars, thinks that

these national polls that are being made so much of are all over the place and it might be a little bit early to put too much stock in them and as she also noted that generic poll that showed the Republicans up by ten points last week now shows them tied again.

…

While I agree that the enthusiasm gap is real, I think the media is doing their best to create a self-fulfilling prophecy with their constant carping on the issue.

So stay tuned to US Democrazy for more election fun.  As we approach the elections expect more oddities and excitements to be covered by our staff.  We’ll be on the news like politicians on lobbyist dollars.

My awesome fist pump is just one more thing that makes me relatable to the public. (Rand Paul after his primary victory in Kentucky.) (Courtesy of the NYT.)

“Ugh… Why is it always an election year??” Yeah, we hear your groaning. We’ve been groaning a lot too, but that might be all the caffeine talking.

Now come on, you know you’re interested: What happened in the “2010 Super Tuesday” election?… the one that involved voting in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Arkansas that other day? Kind of a lot, so you should probably keep reading.

The attention-worthy outcomes in these three primaries include:

• Rand Paul, son of Ron, a Tea Party kind of dude, won a Republican nomination for Senate in Kentucky
• Mark Critz won an important district handily in Pennsylvania against a Tea Party kind of dude, stepping into the late Rep. John Murtha’s shoes
• Blanche Lincoln, a Democratic Senator from Arkansas, was forced into a party run-off
• Joe Sestak beat out incumbent Democratic (and former Republican) Senator Arlen Specter in Pennsylvania

OK, that might just sound like a bunch of names. But it gets simpler from here on out.

The Hill (not to be confused with “The Hills“) breaks down the election results into four “anti-” categories to help decode them: “anti-politics, anti-incumbent, anti-establishment, anti-Democratic.”

So, will these sentiments affect the Republican establishment as much as the Democratic? No, says author Mark Mellman:

To be sure, Republicans are equally unpopular, but the momentum is clearly against the Democrats and, in November, Democrats will surely suffer disproportionate losses.

And there’s still some more harsh words to be said for all incumbents (regardless of party), like from the New York Post’s John Podhoretz:

Yes, voters are expressing dissatisfaction with the status quo. [...] Yes, populists are using their primary votes or special-election votes to stick it to the elites.

None of that gets at the central fact with which all American politicians will be forced to grapple going forward: The era of political stability for incumbents and veteran political players has truly reached its end.

But, it’s not like every incumbent/establishment candidate is going to lose come November, right? Marc Ambinder of The Atlantic notes that

Yes, it stinks to be an incumbent this year, but the truth is 90% of congressional incumbents will probably be reelected.

…mostly because there would probably be a bit of chaos if a bunch of newbie Congresspeople all descended upon Washington at the same time, and voters pretty much get that.

Both the Republican and the Democratic leadership are coming out to say that the election results are telling of the challenges they’ll be facing in the fall, but that they’re confident that their party will hold/take the majority.

The Democrats will be working diligently to push the messages that the economy is on the mend and that the big-spending bills they got through Congress since Obama has taken office (like health care reform and the economic stimulus package) will benefit the country after all. (Should they change their election slogan to “Just you wait and see!”?)

Presenting an interesting analysis of how the results could look good for the Dems, The Daily Beast writer Benjamin Sarlin sounds hopeful when he says,

The left’s showing [in the Kentucky primary] suggests that their organizational strength may be a bigger factor this fall than previously realized. But Tuesday’s vote was just the latest in a series of impressive performances for a movement overshadowed by all the talk of a banner Republican year.

Not everyone agrees that the results favor one party’s prospects over another. Like the New York Times points out, the GOP still has some ammunition for the fall:

As Republicans regrouped, they still had some fundamental forces working in their favor, including a stubbornly high unemployment rate, growing distrust of government and the tendency of the party that controls the White House to lose Congressional seats in midterm elections.

Which is worse? The party incumbents? The Beltway Establishment? The country’s economic woes? Hard to say, but the voters will definitely be bombarded in the upcoming months on all sides as the nation trudges towards what is sure to be a pretty sludgy mid-term election.

Come on! Who’s excited????

Fretting over getting accepted to your college or grad school of choice? Still resentful of getting rejected from your dream school? Don’t worry — these people got turned down and ended up successes!

The Daily Beast asks, “have you heard the one about health care?”

Pro-health care reform Democrats are being threatened! But Obama’s not being threatened as much!