Repeal of discriminatory DADT strikes a blow for enhanced military readiness and equality

The U.S. House took a major step toward equality and enhanced military readiness on Wednesday when they voted to repel the discriminatory and unconstitutional “Don’t ask, don’t tell” (DADT) policy.

The House approved the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010” by a vote of 250-175 that allows gays to serve openly in the military.

This is the second time the House voted to kill the ban. The measure was contained in the 2011 defense authorization bill that the House passed earlier this year. However, the Senate version of the defense authorization bill failed twice before the decision to go with a stand alone bill was reached.

The fate of repeal now lies in the Senate, where Sens. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, introduced S.4023, a standalone bill to repeal the ban.

U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn, was one of the co-sponsors of HR 6520,as were U.S. Reps. Sander Levin, D-Southfield, and Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township. Dingell spoke in favor of the bill on the House floor.

“Just as today’s Americans shake their heads at the thought of a segregated military – and indeed society - I suspect that generations to come will do the same at the shift we made in 1994 from the outright to tacit discrimination of homosexuals in the military,” Dingell said. “Madam Speaker, our nation is engaged in conflicts in multiple theatres and we are in desperate need of troops, as well as foreign language translators, and yet because of DADT, there is a segment of the population who want to serve openly and who, for all intents and purposes, face a sign saying they “need not apply.”

Dingell makes clean sweep of newspaper endorsements

The Dean of the U.S. House of Representatives - Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn, - made it a clean sweep of endorsements from newspapers covering the 15th Congressional District when the News Herald, the voice of Downriver, gave Dingell the nod.
That makes it a perfect six for six, and the News Herald joins the Toledo Blade, the Detroit Free Press, the Detroit News, the Ann Arbor online News and the Monroe Evening News in singing Dingell’s praises.

“…We’d argue that Dingell has been Downriver’s only true voice in Congress since departing Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D-13th District) and another veteran, U.S. Rep. John Conyers (D-14th District) — whose districts moved into parts of Downriver and Dearborn as a result of redistricting — essentially are Detroiters who have few or no ties to these communities,” the paper said. “Dingell, the longest-serving member of the House, has represented this area for 55 years. And, he continues to take interest in and aid Downriver communities that no longer are in his district, but that he used to represent.”

The only support opponent Rob Steele has garnered has been that of teabaggers, and the News Herald recognized that.

“Conservatives are going to vote for Steele. Liberals and mainstream voters are going to cast ballots for Dingell. We believe our endorsement represents those in the middle.”

Steele did pick up one endorsement that will matter to no one but some teabaggers. However, precious few of his endorsements have even been from people inside Michigan, let alone the 15th District. Failed Alaska Governor and Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin announced today she is endorsing him. That might have been a big deal in the primary election, but a week away from a General Election doesn’t mean a whole lot. Maybe that will help Steele lose by 17 percentage points instead of 19.

An endorsement from someone who has never completed a term she was elected to, to some who has never ran for public office. It should carry a lot of weight, but not with voters.

Newspaper says Dingell is ‘the far better choice for 15th District voters’

The conservative editorial board of the Monroe Evening News said U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn, is “without question, the far better choice for 15th District voters.”

The endorsement by the Monroe Evening News last week makes it an almost clean sweep of newspapers that cover the 15th District, including the state’s two largest newspapers, the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News. The only major one remaining is the News Herald. The only thing keeping the teabagger Republican opponent, Rob Steele, in the race appears to be his rather large ego.

Dingell enjoys a lead of 17-19 points, and the News, like most people, wonder why Republicans are even wasting money on this race.

“One reason is that the match-up has all the characteristics of an actual race — an oddity in a district that long has been steam-rolled by Rep. Dingell, the longest serving member of the U.S. House of Representatives.”

For every job you interview for you will not even be considered for the position without some experience, yet Steele and his supporters think not knowing how the legislative process works, knowing nothing about national security or that someone with no experience will hold the purse strings of billons of dollars is a plus. It’s amazing to me that as little as two years ago and for the past 230 years the serious character flaws and extremism of some of the Republican candidates would automatically disqualify them for office, but today that is seen as positive or just ignored.

“Although Dr. Steele tries to cast his political inexperience as a plus, it sometimes reveals a threadbare understanding of some of the daunting issues facing the nation,” the MEN said.

Steele has also tried to use Dingell’s long and distinguished record against him, but only for a small fringe minority that Steele calls his base is Dingell’s stellar record a liability.

“Steele has tried valiantly to use Rep. Dingell’s record against him,” the paper said. “Problem is, the record is too long, too accomplished and too laudable to be a liability. Despite whatever political winds of change might sweep the nation, Rep. Dingell’s stands still resound with an often silent majority of District 15 voters — Democrats, Republicans and Independents alike.”

One of the more laughable and ridiculous false charges Steele has leveled at Dingell is that he never shows up at events, he is out of touch with voters and can never be found in the district. Anyone who has spent any time in the district knows how accessible Dingell is, and the paper agrees. What is really illustrated here is how truly out of touch Steele is. That or he is just a complete liar, and in keeping with his past record, it may be both.

“He not only has a record of listening to “the little people,” he’s been a watchdog for years for many of the interests of the big auto and energy industries, which have been the backbone of southeast Michigan’s economy,” the paper said. “More recently, in Monroe County alone, he’s been a champion of federal incentives to business and industry, one of the architects of the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge, and a driving force behind the creation of the new River Raisin National Battlefield Park.

“Indeed, time and again, he has stood for principle over party.”

Dingell maintains double-digit lead

In the second reliable, independent poll in the race for 15th Congressional seat in the U.S. House, the dean of the House, Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn, maintains his double digit lead.

Dingell has a 17-point lead over Teabgger Rob Steele, according to a Detroit Free Press-WXYZ TV (Channel 7) poll. Dingell is leading 53-36 percent. According to the Free Press, EPIC-MRA of Lansing surveyed 400 likely voters in Michigan’s 15th Congressional District. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points, so at a minimum Dingell has a 12.1 percent lead.

Steele has touted a pair of questionable polls that had him within 4 percentage points, and one unbelievable poll amazingly had Steele actually winning by 4 points.

Steele has been on every righting national radio and TV show possible, and it has done little to cut into Dingell’s commanding lead. In a Detroit News/Local 4 WDIV poll last month, Dingell had a 19 point lead.

But Dingell is not easing up on the gas, and former President Bill Clinton is appearing at a GOTV rally in Ann Arbor on Sunday.

Fact checking Steele’s lies in the debate

Tebagger Republican candidate Rob Steele is a proven liar, and that was on display Wednesday when U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn, bested him in a debate at the La-Z-Boy Center Meyer Theater on the campus of Monroe County Community College.

Steele, basically, stuck to his standard false, teabgger talking points, and when he had to go off script, like on questions on foreign policy, he looked like someone who has no experience.

Steele has tried to back away from his stated position in the primary election; like that he wants to privatize Social Security, but unfortunately he included it on candidate questionnaires he filled out. Last night, he does often when caught in a lie, doubled down and repeats it.

“I’ve never once talked about privatizing Social Security,” Steele said last night.

When Steele speaks, fact checking is called for.

In the Ann Arbor.com voters guide he wrote this: “The most important long term issue is social security and Medicare. They must be restructured for those under 35. Let them have their own accounts.”

Steele also claimed that, “…people talk about the deficits under Bush, they exploded when Pelosi took over in 2006.”

Not true. At the height of the Bush Administration the deficit was $413 billon or 3.5 percent of GDP, a year after Democrats took control of Congress, the deficit was reduced to $248 billon or 1.9 percent of GDP. This is a result of instituting PAYGO, ensuring new spending is offset, and cutting waste and fraud in our programs through vigorous oversight. If a disaster occurred and Steele was elected, he would make permanent the Bush tax cuts for the top 2 percent, which would add $700 billion to the deficit in just a decade.

Steele is running on the pipe dream of repealing the historic health care insurance reform bill, and he wants to allow your insurance company to deny you coverage for a pre-existing condition, drop you if you get sick and not allow your children under age 26 to stay on your policy. Steele said during the debate that the historic Affordable Care Act does not address the problems of waste, fraud and abuse in the health care system. Again, not true.

The Affordable Care Act includes an unprecedented effort to fight waste, fraud and abuse in the healthcare system. The bill strengthens Medicare and Medicaid’s existing compliance and enforcement tools, reduces fraud and abuse and saves billions of tax payer dollars.

Now we know why Steele is lying about wanting to have debates, and why he wimped out of a candidate forum hosted by the Washtenaw County Medical Society last week.

Fact checking the lies of Rob Steele

The latest victim of U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn, - extremist teabagger Republican Rob Steele - continues to lie about his positions and the historic health insurance reform bill.

His latest lie, according to his Facebook page, is that “Congress being too busy to include necessary Tort Reform in the Dingell-Pelosi Health Care bill.”

Ah, the favorite Republican false talking point. As a physician, paying for malpractice insurance may cut into Steele’s already huge profits, but it has almost zero effect on health care costs.

The health economists and independent legal experts who study the issue say that malpractice liability costs are a small fraction of the spiraling costs of the U.S. health care system, and that the medical errors that malpractice liability tries to prevent are themselves the real cost; both to the injured patients and to the health care system as a whole. In fact, alleged “tort reform” ads less than one-half of 1 percent to health care costs.

Tom Baker, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and author of “The Medical Malpractice Myth” said alleged “tort reform” is really just a distraction.

“So we’re not talking about real money,” he told the Washington Independent. “It’s small relative to the out-of-control cost of health care.”

Republicans like to point out that doctors do extra or defensive medical tests to protect themselves from malpractice and lawsuits, but I’m at a loss as to why that’s a bad thing. Don’t we want doctors to be more careful? That’s why they get sued; because they were careless.

Baker also says that’s not a bad thing.

“Like defensive driving, some defensive medicine is good,” he said. “To change behavior. When you drill down those studies, you see that what it means is, doctors are more careful with patient records. They spend more time with the patient. They’re more careful to say hello and goodbye to the patient. That’s good.”

Steele also continues to try and fool people into believing he has the support of labor and the United Steel Workers (USW) union by calling his volunteers “SteeleWorkers” despite the USW sending him a letter earlier this month asking him to cease and desist from misrepresenting them, adding Steele "is not a friend to working families,” and is “only trying to deceive voters.”

Just on Saturday he posted photos on his FB page saying, “My SteeleWorkers were out again working hard at Homecoming, Saturday.”

When Steele was busted, and the Detroit Free Press ran a brief on Steele trying to misrepresent himself, his campaign manager blamed the volunteers; claiming it was “coined by volunteers spontaneously and isn't meant to mislead anyone,” even though Steele made up a logo and asked them to use it. This latest use of it proves he is continuing to lie.

Don’t forget the debate between Dingell and Steele at 6:30 p.m. tomorrow October 20 at the La-Z-Boy Center Meyer Theater on the campus of Monroe County Community College, 1555 S. Raisinville Rd. Steele has already chickened out of one debate, but he should be shamed into showing up this time.

Speaking of events, former Democratic U.S. Congresswoman Lynn Rivers is co-hosting a fundraiser for Dingell from 2-5 p.m. Sunday Oct. 24 in Ypsilanti. Call (202) 347-3042 for further information.

You will recall that when Michigan lost a congressional seat after the 2000 Census, Republicans gerrymandered the districts to pit the incumbents Rivers and Dingell together in the new 15th District in 2002. Republicans knew then and now that the only way to beat Dingell was with another Democrat.

Dingell won that race, and it was the closest race Dingell has had in many years. But Rivers thinks enough of him to host a fundraiser for the man who retired her.

Teabagger candidates take refusing to talk to the press to new heights

It’s pretty sad that federal Republican teabagger candidates refuse to take to the press; instead taking the advice of queen teabgger Sarah Palin and “talking through Faux News,” but fellow Alaskan teabgger Senate candidate Joe Miller took it a step further and arrested and handcuffed a member of the conservative mainstream media.

Palin, Miller, Sharon Angle and Jan Brewer in Nevada, Christine O'Donnell in Delaware and Rand Paul in Kentucky are staying away from real media in favor of the propaganda arm of the GOP, but they are even avoiding some hosts on faux in favor of more friendly interviewers like sean haity as they run away from their previous extremists positions for the General Election, such as killing Social Security and Medicare and privatizing the VA.

Even U.S. Rep. John Dingell’s opponent is running away from his primary election position on Social Security and Medicare, even though it is in print for everyone to see.

But Miller takes the cake. Alaska Dispatch staffer Tony Hopfinger dared to ask Miller about his record as attorney for the Fairbanks North Star Borough. According to published reports, Miller said last week he would no longer talk about his personal background. Miller was disciplined for violating the municipality’s ethics policy in 2008 when he was a part-time borough attorney. Miller used borough computers for political purposes in 2008 when he organized a failed effort to oust state Republican Party Chairman Randy Ruedrich.

Apparently, Miller thinks his conduct as a public official is his “personal background.”

As a former reporter for more than a decade, I can tell you reporters are treated with a little more respect because what they say or write reaches so many people. If a reporter gets treated so badly, you can just imagine how badly a constituent will get treated. Why does a Senate candidate even need private security? I have seen Michigan Senators Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow show up at events alone and at most with a staffer. Considering how hateful and violent some teabaggers are it appears they have more guts than Miller.

There is no doubt that the teabggers are dragging the Republican Party off the cliff, and every reasonable or moderate Republican that wants to clean up the mess left by Bush is drummed out of the party.

It’s telling that every single Michigan Republican statewide candidate but GOP Gubernatorial candidate Rick “The Chief Executive Outsourcer (CEO)” Snyder appeared at another teabagger rally on Saturday in Livonia; including the candidates for Attorney General, Supreme Court, Secretary of State and the candidates opposing Dingell and U.S. Reps. Mark Schauer, D-Battle Creek, and Gary Peters, D-Bloomfied Township.

Another corporate and GOP lobbying firm sponsored teabagger bus tour was launched by Palin on Monday, and it will only stop in places where Republicans have a chance to take Democratic seats, including the districts of Schauer and Peters here in Michigan.

Do you remember the days not so long ago when teabaggers claimed that the “movement” was nonpartisan and “not about Democrats or Republicans?” So long ago; almost two years.

If you need further evidence of the radical extremist direction of the GOP, we have the words of Palin at the event.

“Heaven forbid the GOP machine strays from this message," said the unsuccessful Republican vice presidential candidate. “If so, the GOP is through."

On that, I agree with Palin.

Steele runs from his previous position that he wants to privatize Social Security and Medicare

Extremist Republicans are making a dash back to the middle before Nov. 2 because they know they will never be elected by the small fringe groups that attend tea parties, and Teabagger Republican candidate Rob Steele is one of those dashing back so fast he forget what he wrote on those positions for the primary election.

Steele is running against the Dean of the U.S. House, U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn, and Steele is furiously running to the middle and disavowed his previous stated position that he wants to privatize Social Security and Medicare.

Steele wrote in a campaign questionnaire for Ann Arbor.com that he wants to privatize those two excellent programs, saying “The most important long-term issue is social security and Medicare. They must be restructured for those under 35. Let them have their own accounts.”

That almost exactly what former President George Bush tried in 2005 after he was re-elected, and the people spoke loud and clear then that they did not want a highly successful program that is the major source of income for most of the elderly turned over to Wall Street. If that rejection wasn’t enough for extremists like Steele, the financial meltdown should have done away with this issue, but its back. Nine out of 10 individuals age 65 and older receive Social Security benefits, and for many it’s their sole source of income. Still, extremists like Steele and teabggers want to gamble with it.

They have been hard at work trying to undermine a well-run, fiscally responsible program, and they have been at it for the past 75 years.

Steele has a history of lying, even when caught, and this latest lie is no exception. When called out ion his radical position, here is the latest lie he launched on his Facebook page where he allows no one to contradict him:

“John Dingell is trying to define my policy positions in repetitive ads that are simply not true,” Steele said. “Team Dingell is littering this FB page with these false statements, declaring that to be their reason for not supporting me.”

Just for those with out a scorecard, that’s two Steele lies; a doubleplay. First, Steele is busted advocating for privatizing Social Security, and then he claims “Team Dingell is littering this FB page with these false statements.” That’s impossible because he bans anyone who disagrees with him.

There is a good reason why Dingell received the endorsement of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, and there is a good reason Steele did not.

Paul N. Van de Water - a Senior Fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities where he specializes in Medicare, Social Security, and health coverage issues – sets the record straight on Social Security.

“The Social Security trustees — the official body charged with evaluating the program’s long-term finances — project that Social Security can pay 100 percent of promised benefits through 2037 and about three-quarters of scheduled benefits after that, even if Congress makes no changes in the program. Relatively modest changes would put the program on a sound financial footing for 75 years and beyond.
Nonetheless, some critics are attempting to undermine confidence in Social Security with wild and blatantly false accusations. They allege that the trust funds have been “raided” or disparage the trust funds as “funny money” or mere “IOUs.” Some even label Social Security a “Ponzi scheme” after the notorious 1920s swindler Charles Ponzi. All of these claims are nonsense.”

Steele continues to lie about debates

Teabagger Republican Rob Steele is hoping voters in the 15th Congressional District are stupid, but judging by the 19 point lead the Dean of the U. S. House holds – U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn – they are not.

Steele has been falsely accusing Dingell of ducking debates and forums, but last week Steele chickened out of a candidate forum sponsored by his peers, the Washtenaw County Medical Society. Surely you would think there may be one or two friendly faces among those of his profession. In fact, a teabagger State Representative candidate took up for Steele, giving the crowd of doctors discovered what teabagers are really like. But, Steele was a no show.

On his Facebook page, Steele responds to an opinion column by my former boss, News Herald managing editor Karl Ziomek, on a bogus poll Steele has been pushing and other things. In response, Steele not only clings to the lie that Dingell is ducking debates, but he doubles down on the lie, saying:

“Note to Karl: I've asked for three debates. It (sic) getting late in the game for more than the one Dingell has consented to participate in (sic) He has ignored requests from other organizations to sponsor debates, including the Southern Wayne Regional Chamber of Commerce,” Steele wrote.

Steele, you are a bold face liar. If you want to debate, simply show up at candidate forums like the one sponsored by your peers. There is no sin in being afraid to debate Dingell; after all, he is smarter and much more knowledge on the issues than Steele. But Steele continues to lie and say that it is the Congressman ducking debates when the only one who did duck a debate was Steele.

Steele wimps out

There was an empty seat next to U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn, last night at a candidate forum hosted by the Washtenaw County Medical Society; that of his opponent, teabagger Republican Rob Steele.

This after months of public posturing by Steele that Dingell was afraid to debate him, and he even used that lie in a fundraising letter the very day Steele finally accepted a debate offer set for October 20 at the La-Z-Boy Center Meyer Theater on the campus of Monroe County Community College.

Steele is an outrageous liar, and he has been silent as to why he chickened out, even though he said he would attend. What really makes it ironic is that Steele has been lying about the historic health care reform bill passed last March and hammering Dingell about it with false attacks, and that’s what the forum was about. But Steele could not defend his lies, so he chickened out.

Dingell spoke to the medical professionals from the community about his successful fight to improve the doctor-patient relationship and remove insurance companies from the decision making process.

“I guess my opponent didn’t want to talk about his backward agenda of taking away the protections patients now have with the Patients’ Bill of Rights,” Dingell said. “His right-wing agenda would increase the federal deficit, put control of health decisions back in the hands of insurance companies and increase the number of people without health care.”

Steele is an out of touch doctor who has gotten rich from a broken health care system he does not want fixed. No wonder be blew off his colleagues.

“With an out-of-touch agenda like that, I guess I’m not surprised he doesn’t want to talk about it with his colleagues in the medical field – they certainly don’t support him on that,” Dingell said.

Steele fund raising letter full of lies and discrimination

We already know teabgger Republican Rob Steele – the next victim of the Dean of the U.S. House, U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D - is an outrageous liar, but now we know he apparently hates senior citizens.

A friend of mine from Monroe, my hometown, gave me a copy of Steele’s Oct. 4 fundraising letter, and in it, Steele continues to go after Dingell because of his age, saying “the 84-year-old incumbent has been a Washington insider for 55 years…Longer than I’ve been alive,” Steele wrote.

When you combine that with the fact that Steele wants to kill Social Security, it’s clear he hates senior citizens.

Then the dishonest Steele doubles down on the lies when he falsely claims Dingell will not debate him.

“True to form, incumbent Dingell says he’s too busy to debate me (sic) but I’m thinking that someone like you, who is fed up with the Dingell-Pelosi Status Que (sic), might not be too busy to make a difference in this all important race,” Steel wrote.

That’s an outrageous lie. Perhaps Steele forgot about the debate set for 6:30 p.m. October 20 at the La-Z-Boy Center Meyer Theater on the campus of Monroe County Community College. Steele accepted the offer the very day he sent this letter out, so he knew he was lying.

In fact Dingell sent a letter to Steele right after he won the August primary election congratulating him and asking for debates, but all Steele did was lie and cry that Dingell was avoiding him. After a month of blustering from Steele, Dingell finally sent a letter on Sept. 14 asking that Steele commit to as many debates as possible, and Dingell says he looks forward to appearing at voters forums put on by various groups like the AARP and others. Dingell accepted the invitation from Monroe Community College to debate weeks before Steele finally accepted.

Steele continues to falsely claim that Dingell is out of touch and is not accessible. Steele is actually describing himself, and it simply does not apply to Dingell. I don’t think you will find a more accessible Congressman.

The fact is, and anyone living in the15th District knows this, Dingell is home every weekend as well as whenever Congress is out. In fact, it has been Steele and his teabagger supporters that have gone out their way to restrict the voter’s access to Dingell, and they have done it by staging protests, rude badgering and total disruptions at any public event they know he will be at.

I personally got a taste of Steele trying to provoke a confrontation.

Steele and his hard core teabagger supporters have make it impossible for people to have the traditional townhall meetings Dingell is famous for. The most recent examples were in Flat Rock and at Pte. Mouillee. Who can forget the townhall meeting in Romulus back in August of 2009 that teabggers disrupted, yet Dingell held a second one to accommodate all the people waiting outside who could not get in, despite the abuse he was taking.

In a letter filled with so many lies, it’s hard to single them all out, but this one caught my eye, “…a mere 37 percent of Congressman Dingell’s constituents believe he deserves re-election,” he wrote.

Like all of the other Steele lies, he pulled that one out of his ass because the best independent poll gives Dingell a double digit 19 point lead at a 49-30 percent.

Teabagger candidate Steele floats another lie

Despite the fact that supporters and the campaign of Rob Steele for the U.S. House in the 15th Congressional District have called U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn, just about every name in the book, especially attacking him because of his age, he is claiming he will not attack him personally.

That is just one more lie from Mr. Steele.

On his Facebook page where he allows no one to debunk his lies, he now claims he will not attack him.

“Despite the vicious personal attacks, I have no intention of attacking John or Debbie Dingell personally,” he claims on his Facebook page. “My campaign is about ideas and policies, specifically spending, accountably and transparency. This week we’ll focus on John Dingell’s own words, his voting record, and policy results.”

Again, nothing can be farther from the truth, and what the Michigan Democratic Party has correctly pointed out is that Steele is just out of touch and has gotten rich off of a broken health care system he does not want fixed. Only in Mr. Steele’s eyes is that a “vicious personal attack.” His alleged ideas and polices are nothing but empty talking points teabggers have been shouting at the top of their lungs since November of 2008.

In fact, the first alleged non-attack he offers up as an example of Dingell’s record is something that was debunked last March, but being called out on something has never stopped Steele from using it. This is one right-wingers have run wild with even though it is completely false.

Last March shortly after the historic health care insurance reform bill was passed that Dingell has spent his long and distinguished public service career advocating for, he appeared on rightwing radio station WJR on the show hosted by right-winger Paul W. Smith. In that long and partisan interview, Dingell was responding to a loaded question on why it will take so long to cover 32 million of the 50 million Americans who are uninsured, and he made the mistake of using three unfortunate words that the right took completely and deliberately out of context. Those words: “control the people.”

The fact is, and they know it too, what he meant is that it will take until 2014 for the people administering the program and insurance companies to properly control the program and pay for it.

Another ridiculous attack on Dingell on Steele's Facebook page that I will address here because he does not allow any dissent is that he is trying to convince people Dingell didn’t read a bill he has been pushing for 55 years. But the example he uses really demonstrates why Steele is not qualified for the office.

“Imagine if you went into your doctor and you’re sent to a specialist and they don’t even look at your chart or talk to you,” Steele told the rightwing tabloid the Washington Examiner.

Better yet, imagine if you went to a doctor who had never, ever even been in a hospital or practiced medicine before. I would never do that, and neither would most people. So why would anyone vote for someone as unqualified and inexperienced as Steele?

Mr. Steel and his supporters are more than welcome to try and debunk anything I have written. We welcome and are not afraid of criticism here, and unlike Mr. Steel what I write can stand up to scrutiny.

Dingell gets endorsement of conservative Detroit News

The endorsements continue to pile up for the Dean of the U.S. House, Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn, this one from the conservative Detroit News.

The endorsement of Dingell – and one other endorsement - is the only part of the editorial I agree with that is also a cheap attack on Democrats and liberals. I do agree with this one sentence, “we feel he should remain in Congress,” “because he fought for the domestic automobile industry.”

That alone is a great reason for voting for Dingell, but the good news is there are plenty more reasons to vote for him.

All of the other endorsements are for the most out of touch, right-wingers possible, with the exception of Dingell and Sen. Hansen Clarke, D-Detroit, the candidate for the 13th Congressional District. Even the rightwing editor Nolan Finley couldn’t go as far as endorsing Dingell and Clarke’s opponents, but it must have pained him to do so.

There is no doubt that Dingell is the best choice for voters in the 15th District, but it’s sad they used it to take a backhand slap at President Obama and the Democratic leadership.

The fact that the conservative editorial board endorsed the extremist opponents of U.S. Rep. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Hills; U.S. Rep. Mark Schauer, D-Battle Creek; State Rep. Gary McDowell, D-Pickford; and Democrat Pat Miles, a Grand Rapids attorney, speaks volumes for the Dingell endorsement.

He had to overcome a lot for the editorial board not to endorse his extremist opponent.

Steele campaign lies to cover up the first lie

The conservative mainstream media and the United Steel Workers (USW) union have finally caught up to the dishonesty of Rob Steele, the teabgger candidate for the 15th Congressional seat, and they are calling him out on it.

Steele - who is running against the Dean of the U.S. House, U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn, - has been calling his volunteers “Steelworkers” in a thinly disguised attempt to make people believe he has the support of labor and the USW.

Back in September the USM endorsed Dingell, but that didn’t stop Steele from trying to fool people by calling volunteers steelworkers. Just last week the USW caught on to his dishonesty, and they sent Steele a letter asking him to cease and desist from misrepresenting them, adding Steele "is not a friend to working families,” and is “only trying to deceive voters.”

In response, the Steele campaign told a bigger lie.

According to the Freep, “Steele campaign manager Mike Marzano said the term was coined by volunteers spontaneously and isn't meant to mislead anyone. They'll probably keep using it, he said.”

Marzano is a liar. Just a week after I blogged about how Steele was trying to mislead people, on his Facebook page Steele created and adopted a logo and asked his supporters to use as their profile photo on Facebook that says “Steelworkers United Local MI-15.” It was Steele not his supporters pushing that lie.

Not only is Marzano a liar, he plans on keeping up the dishonesty.

“There's not much Dr. Steele can do about changing his name at this point," Marzano told the Freep.

That was the plan all along, but there is something Steel can do: be honest for a change.

Political consultants say Steele campaign is a waste of GOP assets

Rob Steele has no change at unseat the Dean of the U.S. House - U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn – for the 15th District Congressional seat, according to political consultants Joe DiSano and Joe Munem.

The two – one Republican and one Democrat - operate the firm Main Street Strategies, and they have a long list of successful clients who win elections. They also record a weekly political podcast called “Two Guys Named Joe,” and on the Oct. 1 edition they put the race in proper perspective.

“This is just bored reporters with nothing else to do taking an internal poll and running wild with it,” they said. “It’s absurd.”

They said with the make up of the 15th District - even though it was gerrymandered by Republicans to pit former Democratic Congressman Lynn Rivers against Dingell – Steele has no chance of winning even in a great Republican year. They said you do not catch Dingell sleeping.

“This is a guy who is back home in the district, all over the district every weekend,” they said. “He (Dingell) doesn’t take weekends off, he doesn’t hide in Mclean,Va. away from voters in Michigan’s 15th House District; he’s out there, in Monroe, he’s in Ann Arbor, he’s in Western Wayne. The voters know who this guy is; the voters are comfortable with this guy.”

They said the race was a waste of Republican resources, and Republicans should be spending money on races where the results are not pre-determined like this one.

“Every dollar you spend on Michael (sic) Steele or Michael Steel raises is a dollar less that is not going to Rocky Raczkowski, Dr. Benishek or Tim Walberg,” they said.

They said Republicans can’t let their personal dislike for Dingell interfere with the fact Steele has no chance of winning.

“You know what John Dingell is thinking: spend it,” they said. “Bring it on; come at me, spend it; my shoulders are broad enough to take it.”

Public pressure finally forces Steele to accept debate with Dingell

Like Republican Gubernatorial nominee Rick “Chief Executive Outsourcer” Snyder, public pressure has finally gotten to Rob Steele, the teabagger Republican Congressional candidate for the 15th District, and he has reluctantly agreed to one debate with the dean of the U.S. House Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn.

Even though Dingell has asked for debates and has accepted every opportunity to speak at forums since Steele won the primary election, Steele has done nothing but posture; until now. In fact, Dingell sent Steele a congratulatory letter when he won the GOP primary that also asked for as many debate as possible, but Steele’s response was to stall and falsely accuse Dingell of not wanting to debate.

In a press release designed to spin the truth, Steele has agreed to a one hour debate beginning at 6:30 p.m. on October 20 at the La-Z-Boy Center Meyer Theater on the campus of Monroe County Community College, 1555 S. Raisinville Rd., according to the press release by the Steele campaign.

That’s the only debate Steele has agreed to, and as he continues to duck debates, he continues to lie and say Dingell is the one ducking debates.

‘Both Mark Schauer and John Dingell have earned new terms’

The Toledo Blade, one of America’s great newspapers, said it best today: “Both Mark Schauer and John Dingell have earned new terms.”

The endorsement offers a very good question on why his opponent, “Robert Steele, an Ann Arbor cardiologist, is rich enough to have poured considerable assets into his campaign,” is qualified to run for office:

“Mr. Steele offers the curious argument that he should be elected because he is a newcomer who knows nothing about politics. How would he feel about a would-be cardiologist who made a similar claim?”

Good question. The clear choice is U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn, for re-election.

The editorial also makes an excellent case for re-electing U.S. Rep. Mark Schauer, D-Battle Creek.

“That outcome was partly due to President Obama's statewide victory. But it also happened because Mr. Schauer, a devout Methodist with moderate stands on most issues, was far more representative of the district than Mr. Walberg, who pursued a hard-right social agenda.”

Dingell’s work to preserve SS and Medicare recognized

The National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare announced their endorsement of U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn, for re-election in Michigan’s 15th Congressional District.

In a letter sent to members, committee President and Chief Executive Officer, Barbara Kennelly lauded Congressman Dingell for being a “stalwart defender of Social Security and Medicare.”

Commending Congressman Dingell’s 100 percent positive voting record in support of strengthening and protecting Social Security, Kennelly expressed to seniors in the 15th Congressional District that they need John Dingell “to continue protecting Social Security and Medicare–the twin pillars necessary to a good quality of life.” Congressman Dingell knows that “privatization would undermine the most successful social insurance ever created” and recognizes that “Health Care Reform extends Medicare’s viability.”

Dingell has a strong record of fighting to protect Social Security from efforts to cut benefits and privatize the program.

That is sharp contrast to GOP nominee Rob Steele, who supports a scheme to privatize the system that Americans made clear in 2005 that they do not want a successful program they have spend their entire working life paying into turned over to Wall Street. In fact, that seems to be the position of many teabagger Republicans, even though many are now trying to hide that position now that the primary elections are over.

The mission of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, a membership organization founded in 1982, is to protect, preserve, promote, and ensure the financial security, health, and the well being of current and future generations of maturing Americans. The National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare acts in the best interests of its members through advocacy, education, services, grassroots efforts, and the leadership of the Board of Directors and professional staff. The efforts of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare are directed toward developing better-informed citizens and voters.

Check out the Great Debates for the rare opportunity to see Republicans debate

In my opinion, there is perhaps no better way for voters to get the true measure of a political candidate and see if their views and positions can stand up to scrutiny than a political debate, so that’s’ why I’m happy to see that the Center for Michigan and Detroit Public TV are again teaming up to televise debates between state House and Senate candidates.

The Great Debates are 30-minute debates scheduled between August and October. All debates will be taped in studio without a studio audience, and they will be moderated by professional journalists. Public television stations throughout Michigan will broadcast the Great Debates, and they will also be available online and at MiVote.org.

It’s very telling that Republicans are afraid to debate, and that’s because they know their positions can’t stand up to any kind of scrutiny. It starts at the top of the ticket where Rick “Chief Executive Outsourcer” Snyder only agreed to a single debate with Democratic Gubernatorial nominee Virg Bernero after constant public pressure to do so.

Secretary of State Candidate Jocelyn Benson has challenged her opponent to debate - who has ran for just about every political office in the state and therefore an experienced debated - but her opponent continues to duck and stall. The only statewide candidates to debate were the Attorney General candidates, and Democratic Attorney General nominee David Leyton had to fend off constant personal attacks from his opponent on a debate on WKAR’s “Off the Record” show.

Leyton is the Genesee County Prosecutor, and he has tried hundreds of criminal cases with a more than 90 percent convention rate. His opponents exploited two families who had loved ones murdered in an attempt to smear Leyton. This from a man who has never stepped foot into a criminal courtroom.

People grieving are usually angry, and want to blame someone for the senseless murder of their loved ones getting a lesser sentence or an imagined possible accomplice getting away. Unfortunately, a Prosecutor has to go on the evidence the police give them.

In most cases we get bluster from a Republican challenging their opponent to a debate, and once it is accepted they do everything in their power to get out of it. We saw this when the Chief Outsourcer challenged his opponent to a series of debates, and as soon as Mayor Bernero accepted the CEO tried to weasel out. Other Republicans are taking up that tactic.

For an example, we have the case of Rob Steele, the teabagger Republican Congressional candidate for the 15th District, who is set to be the latest person to be defeated by the dean of the U.S. House, Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn.

After whining that Dingell will not debate him, it turns out its Steele who is afraid to debate and is ducking. Dingell sent a letter to Steele right after he won the August primary election congratulating him and asking for debates, but all Steele did was lie and cry that Dingell was avoiding him. After a month of blustering from Steele, Dingell finally sent a letter earlier this month asking that Steele commit to as many debates as possible, and Dingell says he looks forward to appearing at voters forums put on by various groups like the AARP and others. Dingell has already accepted an invitation from Monroe Community College to debate.

No word from the usually loud and obnoxious Steele crowd.

Rightwing media working overtime to promote dishonest teabagger

National rightwing radio and TV hosts have been working overtime in a vain attempt to pump up Congressman John Dingell’s teabagger opponent, but it is doing little good, other than to stroke his already large ego, because the Dean of the U.S. House still has a 19 point lead.

Frank Beckman, one of the most biased commentators in Michigan, had to get in on the act, and in his Detroit News column he says Dingell should apologize to the dishonest Rob Steele for a web site the Michigan Democratic Party put up about Steele. The only problem with that ridclious demand is that the web site is 100 percent true, and they have nothing to apologize about. Not only that, why isn’t he asking Steele to take down and apologize for the web site attacking Dingell?

The gist of Beckman’s column seems to be people who run for political office get criticized, so Dingell should apologize. Gee, that’s only happened in this race. The fact is George Washington endured so-called attack ads, and I wonder where he was when a Dingell townhall meeting was disrupted and he was disrespected by teabaggers?

Beckman claims “Dems stoop to new low in Dingell race” for pointing out the fact that Steele is out of torch with the struggles working people are going through, and we really know almost next to nothing about this guy.

Beckman writes:

“Dr. Steele happens to be a successful cardiologist who estimates that he has performed more than 15,000 cardiac catheterization procedures. In addition, he proudly says he runs a medical practice, which includes 36 physicians and about 300 employees with seven permanent, and two satellite offices in five different counties. At the anti-Steele website, the doctor is excoriated as a "rich doctor who made millions off the broken health care system," never mind the lives that he's saved and the large number of families that have benefited.”

That entire statement is true. Steele is rich doctor who made millions off the broken health care system. Why didn’t Beckman, Steele or Steele’s supporters talk about all the pro-bono work Steele has done, or the free clinic he has started? Because there is none of that.

His clinic’s payment policy really says it all: “Payment is expected at time of service for Entire balance when there is no insurance coverage.”

There is nothing wrong with making lots and lots of money, but the argument from Steele and his supporters is that Dingell must go because he’s out of touch because of his age and because he has been in office so long. Dingell did something about the 50,000 million Americans who don’t have health care coverage. Steele had a chance to help a few people with no coverage, and he chose not to.

Beckman goes on to say the heath care system wasn’t broken for people who were treated. “Didn't MSU football coach Mark Dantonio and his excellent physicians at Sparrow Hospital benefit from the "broken health care system"?
“And didn't Congressman Dingell benefit from the "broken health care system" with the surgeries that he has endured to repair his aging body in recent years?”

Aside from Beckman’s attack on Dingell’s age, he and Dantonio have excellent health insurance coverage, and Dingell wants people to have the same kind of quality converge he has. Now, if Dantonio and Dingell had to go out and buy coverage on the individual market they can forget about it because they have a pre-existing condition. The good news is that was before the health care insurance reform bill was passed.