MDP Chair Mark Brewer Issues Statement on Roy Schmidt’s Decision to Switch Parties

Now file this under weaselly bastard

From Michigan Democratic Party

Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer issued the following statement on State Representative Roy Schmidt’s decision to become a Republican:

“I never had a cross word with Roy Schmidt and I enjoyed working with him as a Democrat. Unlike the GOP, the Michigan Democratic Party includes a broad spectrum of views from conservative to moderate to progressive, all of whom are welcome in the MDP. Indeed as I issue this statement, I am in Northern Michigan working with Democrats to regain a majority in the State House.

“So, it saddens me that in a desperate, cowardly, opportunistic move at the 11th hour, Roy Schmidt abandoned his constituents and the values by which he was elected for the sole purpose of clinging to office and the perks of the job. . Rather than face a tougher district, Schmidt cut a deal with the Republicans so that no one would run against him in an attempt to ensure his reelection.

“He has been deceiving voters for months as this was obviously something he had been planning for some time.  He chose this sneaky approach in an attempt to guarantee his reelection. We demand he immediately return any money raised from Democrats in the past year. We wish Schmidt well in the anti-women, anti-senior, anti-children Republican Party. He should be ashamed of this desperate, craven deed. Only someone who does not possess the conviction or confidence to face the voters would pull a stunt like this. He’ll fit in perfectly with the Republicans.”

GOP Freshman Ends First Town Hall After Tough Questions On Tax Cuts For The Wealthy: ‘We’re Done’

By Alex Seitz-Wald

Freshman Rep. Rick Crawford (R-AR) became the latest Republican to face the ire of his own constituents for voting for the Medicare-ending GOP budget when he was repeatedly challenged by attendees at a town hall meeting in Jonesboro, AR last night. At his first town hallsince being seated, Crawford had attendees write their questions on index cards and then read them out loud, “but a handful of audience members weren’t satisfied andshouted at Crawford from their seats.”

While Republicans have insisted that their budget saves Medicare, Crawford veered off message at one point, responding to the question “why are you going to end Medicare as we know it?” by saying, “the answer to that is because Medicare as we know is bankrupt.”

Later, Crawford faced a heated question about why the GOP budget cuts taxes for the wealthy and corporations while slashing social services. Crawford replied, “I don’t support tax cuts for the wealthy over help for socio-economically challenged individuals.” A number of his constituents repeatedly challenged him on this claim, accusing Crawford of “class warfare against the poor people” and explaining that tax cuts don’t create jobs. Crawford apparently did not appreciate this, and ended the session:

CONSTITUENT 1: [The GOP budget ] is a significant tax cut for the wealthy.
CRAWFORD: A 10 percent tax cut?
CONSTITUENT 2: Wouldn’t that be class warfare against the poor people?
CRAWFORD: Well, you’re asking me if I want to continue taxing at a higher rate the people that are creating jobs and no –
CONSTITUENT 2: They’re not creating jobs, though! They haven’t created any more jobs! … They’re taking them all overseas!
CONSTITUENT 3: Are you taking any more questions?
CRAWFORD: No, we’re done.
CONSTITUENT 3: We’re done?
CRAWFORD: We’re done.
CONSTITUENT 4: During the Bush administration, and the tax cuts, how many jobs were created?
CRAWFORD: I don’t have those numbers.
CONSTITUENT 4: Three million. During the Clinton administration, where he raised taxes on the highest bracket to 39.5, how many jobs were created? 22 million. You’re going to tell me that tax cuts create jobs?!

Watch a video shot by Arkansas progressive blog Blue Arkansas, and edited by ThinkProgress for length (full videos here):

Crawford walked away from the podium and left the meeting moments later.

Talk show host Nicole Sandler arrested at tea party Rep’s town hall

By Stephen C. Webster

At a town hall meeting last night in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., staged by Rep. Allen West (R-FL), liberal talk show host Nicole Sandler was taken out of the event hall and arrested on camera.

She was initially just being removed from the hall, but Sandler shouted at the officer to take his hands off of her as they were escorting her out, likely providing a trigger for the arrest. Confronted by Sandler's boyfriend, the officer did not say why he was arresting her.

Similar to other recent Republican town hall meetings, this event was loud and angry, with numerous hecklers hammering Rep. West on his vote to cut Medicare.

One man who repeatedly disrupted the event kept asking why West had nearly appointed as his chief of staff a fringe conservative who once advocated "bullets" as a political solution if votes didn't accomplish their goals.

Unfortunately for the dissenters, West refused to answer questions from the audience. He instead chose only to address pre-screened and approved queries, essentially ignoring constituents who pelted him with criticism.

Overall, however, the audience appeared to be mostly supportive of West -- which has certainly not been the case for his fellow House Republicans of late. The event was held on private property -- in a megachurch which was actually outside of Rep. West's district.

Sandler was a regular presence on the now-defunct liberal talk network, Air America Radio, and has since moved her show online. She's also a regular fill-in host for The Randi Rhodes Show, which was one of Air America's premiere programs.

Update: Finally free, Sandler claims she was 'maced' by police while in jail

Sandler has reportedly been released from police custody on a $25 bond, but individuals answering phones at the Broward County Sheriff's Department and the Ft. Lauderdale Police Department refused to confirm this to Raw Story.

Sandler was reportedly charged with trespassing on private property after a warning. She had not yet returned a request for comment at time of this update.

She did, however, send an update to her online followers, which read: "I'm out of jail after 17 hours of incarceration for attempting to ask my congressman a question at a town hall meeting. More details soon."

Speaking to a blogger at The Political Carnival shortly after her release, Sandler reportedly said that officers sprayed her with mace earlier this morning after she refused to return to a holding cell. This claim could not be independently verified.

Second update: Raw Story obtains probable cause document for Sandler's arrest

A Ft. Lauderdale Police Dept. document detailing the arresting officer's take on Sandler's arrest has been acquired by Raw Story.

In it, officer William Rousseau claims that Sandler was told to leave the event because "her behavior caused many of the audience members to enter into a verbal altercation that threatened to become physical."

The officer also claims that he instructed Sandler to leave the premises "at least a dozen times," but that she would not. He further claimed that Sandler became "physically aggressive with this ofc., pushing me several times."

Video footage does not seem to bear that out, and Sandler clearly agreed to leave the event. She did however shout at the officer that he should not touch her, but did not appear to resist when he decided to make an arrest.

Click here to read the full document.

Following her release, Sandler phoned-in to the Randi Rhodes show to discuss her ordeal. That audio is below.

The video below was published to YouTube by user Thesharktank1 on Tuesday, April 26, 2011.

This audio is from the The Randi Rhodes Show, recorded April 27, 2011.

Download MP3 audio file

In Wake Of Widespread Town Hall Backlash, Rep. Allen West Only Answers Pre-Screened Questions

By Scott Keyes

As voters around the country continue to voice theiranger at town halls over the Republican plan to end Medicare, Republican congressmen are using a range of tactics to try to avoid constituent wrath. In a heated Orlando town hall yesterday, Rep. Daniel Webster (R-FL) largely ignored contentious questions, leading many in the crowd to demand the congressman “answer the question!” Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), the architect of the GOP budget, even ducked out a back entrance during his town hall last night and left in a police car rather than his own vehicle.

Last night, ThinkProgress was in attendance for a Fort Lauderdale town hall where Rep. Allen West (R-FL) took a different approach: pre-screening all questions. Not only were all questions pre-approved by the congressman’s staff, but the attendees were not even permitted to ask the screened questions themselves; staff members read the questions instead, lest a constituent ask an unscripted question. The Sun Sentinel noted that West’s move to pre-screen questions was a far cry from “his usual practice at previous town hall meetings, where West took questions from people who lined up at microphones.”

Watch a short clip:

Still, a few upset voters attempted to circumvent West’s screening process and make their voices heard. These town hall attendees were thrown out by security and at least one woman, a former Air America radio host, was arrested.

It’s understandable why West would want to screen all the questions he would be asked. Voter anger over the Republican budget – West gave the plan a full-throated endorsement – has popped up in town halls across the country. Constituents have been giving an earful to many GOPers who support the Republican budget, including Reps. Paul Ryan (R-WI), Daniel Webster (R-FL), Charlie Bass (R-NH), Chris Gibson (R-NY), Sean Duffy (R-WI), Patrick Meehan (R-WI), and Robert Dold (R-IL). West’s move to pre-screen all questions was an unfortunate attempt to head off the voter backlash that’s plaguing other supporters of the Republican budget.

UPDATEIf you record video of your representative’s town hall that you think we would be interested in, please email it to us.

Bachmann Agrees to Three Debates While Her Tea Party Protégés And Allies Continue To Hide

By Alex Seitz-Wald “Breaking a logjam that persisted after the August primary,” Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) today finally agreed to participate in three debates with her two opponents, Democrat Tarryl Clark and Independence Party nominee Bob Anderson. Bachmann had been “evasive about her plans,” forcing her opponents to cancel several events because she never responded to their requests.

Bachmann’s acquiescence was welcomed by her opponents and Minnesota political reporters, but she is unfortunately an outlier among uber-conservative Republican candidates this year. As Politico noted today, these candidates are “ducking public events, refusing to publicize the ones they do hold and skipping debates and national TV interviews altogether.” Indeed, across the country, tea party candidates and Bachmann protégés are refusing to debate:

– Rep. Steve King (R-IA), Bachmann’s “best friend in Congress,” with whom she shares staff, has never participated in a formal debate since arriving in 2003. When Democratic nominee Matt Campbell publicly confronted King in August about his refusal to debate, King replied, “And my answer to that is that, judging by the fashion that you’ve conducted yourself, you have not earned it. Thank you. Next question.”

– Nevada GOP Senate nominee Sharron Angle, whom Bachmann praised for “doing a fantastic job,” abruptly canceled a debate last month that she herslef had requested. In June, Angle looked into a TV camera and said, “What I would like to see is Harry Reid come into this studio and have a true debate, and on the issues.” Nonetheless, when given that opportunity, she refused, bizarrely explaining that she canceled because, “We wanted an informed electorate.”

– Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO), whose Senate bid was endorsed by Bachmann, wrote a letter to his opponent in August inviting her to participate in six debates — he subsequently backed out of all but two of those.

– Illinois GOP congressional nominee Bobby Schilling, whom Bachmann endorsed, has been resisting holding televised debates with moderators, preferring un-televised town halls instead, in which the public asks the questions.

– Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R), whom Bachmann has praised as a model governor, has long refused to debate his opponents or meet with newspaper editorial boards. Yesterday, he was slammed in an unprecedented above-the-fold, above-the-nameplate editorial with an all caps headline, “TIME FOR RESPECT – Governor Perry Should end his silence.”

– Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R), who received praise from Bachmann for signing her state’s draconian new immigration, said she will only debate if her poll numbers drop: “Maybe there would be a possibility that we would debate if my numbers starting dropping dramatically,’’ she said.

– Texas GOP congressional nominee Francisco “Quico” Canseco, whom Bachmann has endorsed, is refusing to meet with the editorial board of his hometown paper, the San Antonio Express-News, claiming an “inherent bias” in favor of his opponent, Rep. Ciro Rodriquez (D-TX).

These tea party candidates have eagerly followed Bachmann’s lead in their quest to appeal to her devoted fan base. They would do well to follow her lead in debating as well, in order to appeal to the broader public — that is, of course, unless they’ve made the calculation that revealing the true extent of their extreme beliefs will actually alienate mainstream voters, instead of attracting them.

Joining A Growing Number Of Incumbents, Rep. Issa Refuses To Debate His Opponent This Year

And it's not just Rick Snyder avoiding debates By Tanya Somanader Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) is fully embracing his role as the Ranking Member of the House Oversight Committee, eager to “subpoena the rats and cockroaches” in his crusade to impeach President Obama. While relishing his “duties” as a Oversight Committee member, there is one civic responsibility the five-term incumbent is dodging: the duty to debate.

According to the North County Times, Issa is now “refusing to debate his Democratic opponent” Howard Katz (D-CA), after personally agreeing to do so “when the two chatted at a July 3 parade” in Oceanside, CA. Katz contends that Issa said he’d “certainly” debate him “on a date that works with my schedule so I can come.” But now, Issa’s spokesman Kurt Bardella insists that “the topic of debate never came up” and, “because the economy is a free fall,” his job in “continuing the process of oversight” outweighs is responsibility to participate in a debate:

“I was asking him about a debate and he said, ‘Certainly, just make it on a date that works with my schedule so I can come,’” said Katz, a Temecula resident.

Bardella denied that Issa, R-Vista, ever agreed to debate whether he should continue to represent the district that includes much of North County and Southwest Riverside County.

“The topic of a debate never came up,” Bardella said Tuesday. “He (Issa) has never made any kind of promise or commitment to debate.”[...]

Bardella said Issa is concentrating on his role as the ranking Republican on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, a powerful panel he will lead if the GOP wins enough seats on Nov. 2 to wrest control of the House from the Democrats.

“This is a situation where the economy is in a free fall and the people are in a free fall,” Bardella said. “The congressman is focused on doing his job and continuing the process of conducting oversight.”

Katz insists that Bardella is telling a “fib” and even released a picture of the two talking at the parade “where he swears the promise was made.” Katz needed the debate because he is in a “‘David versus Goliath’ matchup” against “one of the wealthiest members of Congress.” Libertarian candidate Mike Paster (CA) shares Katz’s debate frustrations after “he was unsuccessful in repeated efforts to get someone from Issa’s office to respond to his call for a debate” last week.

While Issa may have specific reasons to be wary of public scrutiny, his debate denial reflects a growing number of House candidates “who are flat-out refusing” to debate challengers. Rep. Steve King (R-IA), who has never formally debated a Democratic challenger, told his opponent that he hadn’t “earned” the right to debate him. And while Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO) is willing to debate his opponent, he is backing out of all but two of the debates he originally proposed.