Live Chat: Blue America Welcomes Billy Kennedy (NC-05)
When I first heard North Carolina farmer/carpenter Billy Kennedy-- an actual progressive, non-Blue Dog, real-life Democrat-- was going to run against lunatic fringe hatemonger Virginia Foxx, I was very excited and I realized that Americans from all over the country would be interested in this race. There are few members of Congress as bigoted and contemptible as Foxx. But as I've gotten to know Billy a bit I realize that regardless of how awful Foxx is, he'd make a truly exceptional, classic Representative of the people.
He sounds, refreshingly, like a real life, common sense American, rather than like some politician. If there's some good stuff coming out of the Tea Party movement-- once you wade through all the psychotic racism and extremist rhetoric-- you find the kind of populism many of us crave, including Billy. Believe me, this just doesn't appeal to progressives and Democrats alone-- Billy on the stump:
“The bank bailouts didn’t help keep homeowners in their homes. It only helped the banks who are still paying outrageous bonuses. The mortgage crisis is not over, and keeping families in their homes needs to be a priority.”
When the House passed HR 4626 this week-- a bill to end the anti-trust exemption for Insurance monopolies (which Foxx, predictably, voted to kill-- Billy had a clear response that anyone, even people without law degrees, could understand:
The insurance companies spend most of their waking hours trying to figure out how to avoid paying for people’s medical expenses so they can boost their profit margins. They get away with massive premium price increases and benefits cutting because they have virtually no competition. This is because they enjoy an anti-trust exemption which allows them to engage in price fixing and collusive activity.
The result? By 2008, according to the American Medical Association, a single health insurer controlled 30% or more of the health insurance market in 90% of the metropolitan markets in the country. And, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, health premiums have gone up by 131% for family coverage from 1999 to 2009.
If we are serious about promoting competition among insurance companies to hold down costs, the repeal of the anti-trust exemption is a no-brainer.
People get that and when Blue America announced a couple of days ago that we would be endorsing Billy's candidacy today, there was an immediate outpouring of grassroots contributions that stunned John, Digby and I. We're hoping to give his campaign a boost today with the chat at below in the comments section. But even announcing it has inspired Democrats who still believe in (real) Hope and (real) Change. When Billy explains healthcare reform by saying "It’s not fair for people to work all their lives and then loose everything when they are sick," people who hear him know he's going to go to Washington and work for ordinary North Carolina families, not for the kinds of wealthy and powerful vested interests Virginia Foxx is always catering to (when she isn't demagoging against gay people, public education and regular working families in her own district).
There aren't going to be any clearer choices between an advocate of people-oriented good government and an advocate of maintaining the status quo on behalf of the wealthy powerful special interests than the race in NC-5 between Billy Kennedy and Virginia Foxx. Foxx doesn't think her wealthy backers should be forced to pay taxes to educate a bunch of poor people's children. Billy has a very different perspective on the role of government in a healthy society:
“America needs a vibrant middle class and successful small businesses to survive. The middle class depends on quality public education available for all and jobs that pay a living wage... People have been benefiting from government programs for a long time in this country and still are. What would our Fifth District be like had the rural electric cooperatives not been started by the government? The government is our common wealth, our school systems, secure banking, police and fire departments, roads and water systems belong collectively to us all. And it’s our responsibility to manage our collective wealth wisely.
"No one makes it all on their own. We all benefit from successful government programs. Virginia got her BA, MA and ED from our outstanding public North Carolina Universities and she’s been on the dole ever since. She’s been living off the N.C. taxpayers, gaming the system and now she wants to deny the same opportunity she had to everyone else. Just last weekend she said that she didn’t believe that federal funds should be used for education.
"I went to college with the help of federal programs. Last year’s federal stimulus money went to our colleges and local schools supporting, and in some cases saving teaching positions, in this tough economy. Students don’t get a second chance; you can’t abandon them. If their basic educational needs are not met, they become economically disadvantaged, costing us all more in the end. Countries with higher literacy rates have more developed and thriving democracies. Investing in education is money well spent. We need an educated workforce to compete. We need good jobs. We need to be leading the world in new technologies, green technologies. We need to promote these new green technologies with tax credits at the state and federal levels. We need to renew our manufacturing base. Bring the work back home."
NC-5 in northwestern North Carolina isn't exactly prime territory for an outspoken Democrat running a grassroots campaign. Not only does the district have a horrifying PVI of R +15, the DCCC is ignoring the race entirely-- which explains why there isn't a Blue Dog running, and Billy's campaign is a 100% people-powered effort. Boone, Mount Airy (the model for Andy Griffith's Mayberry), and the Piedmont suburbs of Winston-Salem only gave Obama 38% of its vote in 2008, while re-electing Foxx with 58% of the vote. But between a Tea Party candidate campaigning against Foxx from the right and Billy's plain-spoken on the ground outreach, the anti-incumbent wave building nationwide this year could unseat an entrenched Republican in a red district, which is just what Alan Grayson and Eric Massa did with our help last year. Please consider contributing directly to Billy's campaign here at the Blue America page.
Billy, welcome to Blue America. I think I speak for our whole community when I say we admire the courage and dedication it takes to run for Congress, espousing progressive approaches to governance in a district that is so weighted towards the GOP. Virginia Foxx is not a well-liked character in the blogosphere but, obviously, she has been re-elected several times since Richard Burr went to the Senate. Normally the DCCC seems to advise that candidates in districts like NC-05 run as "Republican-lite" alternatives to extremists like Foxx. I don't think anyone could accuse you of being Republican-lite. When I read your positions, like the one quoted above about the positive role government can play in society, I wonder if you can turn that kind of idealism into electoral victory in November. If you strip away the racism, bigotry and paranoia that infests much of the tea party movement, I see some of that idealism in your campaign being expressed by these folks as well. Is it worth trying to reach out to the local tea party folks?
...and thanks so much for having me here today. I am grateful and overwhelmed by the early response I have received from Howie and Blue America and honored to be endorsed. I look forward to answering your questions and hearing your ideas.
As for your first question, if the DCCC is advising candidates to run as Republican-lite in red districts, then I would respectfully argue that is a losing proposition. Democrats don’t win in these districts by becoming more like their right-wing opponents. We don’t win in these districts by reaching for “slightly less extreme.” Selling out both working people and our values at the same time isn’t a winning strategy in my opinion, not for either the long term or the short term. It isn’t a winner for our Party either.
We win in these districts by continuing (or returning to) the true principles of the Democratic Party of the People. A Democratic Party that stands up strong against corruption and against the political and financial forces that work to pad the pockets of the rich and powerful over the interests of working class Americans and the poor.
People respond to hate and fear because they are scared--because they are losing their jobs, health care, and their faith in government to do anything to make their lives better. People are losing their hopes for theirs and their children’s futures. We Democrats have to show that we can do something to help with these bread and butter issues for the people of our districts and nation. Until we can prove that, people will continue to lash out at whatever or whoever is close by. That’s the nature of fear.
I believe government can work for the people, and I believe working Americans of all political stripes want a government that works for their interests. I’ve been making a lot of calls into my district. People have fallen on really hard times. What has Foxx done for them? Nothing. What will she do if re-elected? Nothing still.
The problem is, instead of proving we Democrats can produce on this front, some of us are up there in Washington jamming up the progress. This feeds into the 30 years plus of right-wing talk (and action to prove the talk) that government is “bad.” I intend to force a hole in that logjam, and I intend to do this not strictly as a matter of ideology, but rather to help the people of my district. American interests are hurt by the self interested rather than by government itself.
Yes. I can turn idealism into victory. I’ve worked for campaigns in the past that have done just that. We Democrats got Steve Goss into the State Senate here by returning to the message of the working peoples’ Democratic Party—his district in many places overlaps mine. Steve is now serving his second term and is beloved by the people of this district because he lives by the principles of the Party of the People.
As for the local tea party folks and whether I can reach out to them, I plan to reach out to everyone, but there is a tea party candidate (Bradley Smith) trying to get the signatures to get himself onto the ballot as an unaffiliated candidate in the Fall. I don’t know if he’ll obtain the necessary signatures, but I welcome his efforts to make the ballot. Regardless, I intend to take my message of “we the people” to every single person in the district.
That's a great answer, Billy, and I hope someone from the DCCC reads it. I know you've been traveling around the district and talking to your neighbors-- and I know you were a radio talk show host taking questions on the air. So what are people telling you they want from their representative in Washington?
They are suffering. They want jobs, those with jobs want a living wage, they're worried about health care costs, and they would like to be told the truth and be heard.
Why doesn't anyone use the term liberal anymore?
That used to be counted as one of the virtues.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
ysbaddaden, I hear you. But I want to set the tone of the debate instead of throwing myself head on into their branding.
I've been having a running conversation on a newspaper blog site with a conservative who keeps insisting that Congressional powers are limited to the enumerated powers. I countered by arguing that is a list of important functions previously held by the states, now formally in the Congress's hands, but there's nothing there limiting Congress to just those functions, due to the Taxing and Spending Clause, and the Interstate Commerce clause, and Common Law history.
Waddya think?
I even included the portion about the right of the people to petition their government for redress of grievances.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
a friend of Virginia Foxx's? I ask because she doesn't believe the government has any business in providing health care or even education because these two issues are not enumerated specifically in the Constitution. But Foxx and your friend want it both ways. They want the government to work for corporate welfare and to interfere in important and personal life decisions like in the case of Terri Schiavo. Government is supposed to be for the people. Foxx and others believe government should ONLY be involved when it helps their causes and lines the pockets of the rich and corporate. They are against more government unless they are for it.
He claims he was against the bail-outs, but I presume he blames President Obama for it and not Bush.
And anywho, I think they're more like loans that businesses are expected to pay back.
This isn't just taking the whole argument back to the Founding Fathers but to the 13th century Court of Chancery, part of our heritage too.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
And didn't the Constitution actually give the federal government power to regulate business in general by giving Congress the power of weights and measures, tonnage, and of course eminent domain in the Fifth Amendment? That was expressly used in the expansion of the railroads, where land rights were bought and either given or sold to railroad companies.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
The government can work for the people if the representatives in Washington are willing to find the way.
Will we be able to look forward to a series of televised debates between you and Virginia Foxx? It seems that the contrast between how you see the role of government in society and how she sees it, is so clear and so distinct that it could be a great teaching lesson.
Has she debated challengers in the past? I was just reading that she is one of the couple dozen least effective members of Congress. It must be very hard for her to justify herself in front of audiences of ordinary-- rather than handpicked-- constituents.
that's what her past Democratic opponents have done and she loves the game. The Democrats frequently come out looking whiny and desperate. I am going to show up on the steps of every county courthouse in my district and invite the people to come and tell me about their concerns and their needs. I am publicly inviting Foxx to show up there as well and answer to the people of her district. I'll be setting a chair there for her. I'll be glad to show up on TV with her as well to debate the issues at any time.
I've been finding an inordinate number of Democratic incumbents & challengers who just refuse to deal with Obama being wrong on any issues. I got the distinct impression from you that you'd probably be willing to do what he asked when he said he wants people to "force" him to do the right thing. Do you think he's veered off course at all and, if so, how?
I've been finding an inordinate number of Democratic incumbents & challengers who just refuse to deal with Obama being wrong on any issues.
I am not one of those candidates. I worked like a dog (pun intended) for President Obama. We gave money, I canvassed door to door, I made phone calls, I talked to my rural neighbors, and I plugged his campaign and his message on local radio.
President Obama has done some good things since his election, including signing the Lilly Ledbetter Act and appointing Justice Sotomayor (Thank God for that one), but I think we are a long way from delivering the hope and change we promised. The people deserve better than we are getting.
The problem is that obstructionists from both parties are so entrenched in their political futures and positions, they refuse to make the hard calls and do the right thing. I'm not afraid to make tough calls and to do the right thing, and I am not afraid to hold politicians accountable for what they promised to deliver.
Very nice of you. Thanks.
My questions.
If elected, How would you approach the right with regards to passing legislation?
2, Would you be willing to sponsor legislation to freeze defense spending to cut the budget. At least the R&D part to defense spending.
And 3, would you be willing to return here(if elected) and discuss your votes on legislation?
Thank you for you time Billy.
We need fighters now. I hope you like to scrap. Cause if you get elected, you'll have too.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
(1) See Alan Grayson
(2) If we are determined to look for ways to cut the budget, everything must be on the table. There are good parts and bad parts to military R&D--some very important medical advances have come from R&D. We have to look line by line.
(3) Yes, any time!
Thank You.:)
What is your conceptual, continuity?
When can we expect the legalization of marijuana for recreational use?
After all, it's taxable.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
What is your definition of a Vigorous Public Option?
What is your conceptual, continuity?
An optional Medicare buy-in for all.
The Republicans couldn't. It is way too popular, and Republicans would have cut their collective political throats opposing it.
Only the Democrats could submarine it by taking it off the table while all the time saying that they support it.
And why not push for it right now? Not a single Democrat gave Medicare for All even a serious mention during the recent Health Care Summit.
It's still off the table.
Corruption favors the wealthy.
Immediate Medicare for all would spook all those Medicare dependent tea-baggers.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
I know, I know. That's a gross. But it's not too far of the mark.
Corruption favors the wealthy.
I am willing to push for it right now. Just send me to Washington.
Cameras do tend to hug the groups close, like the closing days of McCain's campaign, so we don't see all the empty chairs.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Oh yeah and containing the damage from Citizens United v the FEC, and perhaps publicly funded campaigns?
And whatever happened to the drive to get electronic voting contraptions to leave a paper trail?
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
You need to work with your local Board of Elections and insist on paper ballots and a paper trail. This should be nationwide, but you can make it happen locally. Even the local Republican Party here joined us in this effort.
Thanks for coming on..
I'm enjoying it.
What is your strategy for getting your powerful message out to energize the real people of NC-05, so enough of them come out to vote and kick that vermin Foxx out?
Your right to earn billions of dollars does not trump my right to drink pure water and breathe clean air.
Ms. Foxx's people are all over the place. Stay tuned. You'll like it!
during his steroids appearance in front of the hearing?
Isn't it?
Again.
The House was overwhelmingly in favor of it, and the Senate passed it on a voice vote with no debate.
Why should we continue to work for, give money for, or even vote for a Democratic Party that disregards our opinions so readily?
Corruption favors the wealthy.
But remember, the Democratic Party is OUR, Party. It's our duty to take it back to the principles of its platform. I, for one, am not giving up my Party without a fight.
Would you vote to support the Senate bill on the healthcare legislation or are the mandates, fines etc. too much for you since there isn't even a robust public option anymore?
(Not that we would have all had the right to join a public option).
Do you support Medicare for All/Single Payer???
"The US has an army of 90,000 soldiers in Afghanistan and is spending $100bn a year, but has still been unable to defeat 20,000-25,000 Taliban who receive no pay at all." - Patrick Cockburn
As for whether or not I would vote for the Senate health reform bill, I would have a very hard time supporting a so-called reform bill that entrenches our current for-profit, failing system. I also have a problem with the mandates and with the lack of any competitor to the insurance corporations, among other things in the bill. But, honestly, I'm not sure I could vote against the bill at this point. I feel I am most in line with Howard Dean's recent statement that even though the bill is, at best, a far cry from where we need to be, we need to pass something. Our current system is unsustainable. What we need is some more will and courage by our legislators.
Immersed within the system it will be a virtual impossibility to ever extricate ourselves from them in the future with a NOT FOR PROFIT healthcare system.
I would hope you would stick to your underlying principles and vote "NO".
"The US has an army of 90,000 soldiers in Afghanistan and is spending $100bn a year, but has still been unable to defeat 20,000-25,000 Taliban who receive no pay at all." - Patrick Cockburn
Why the rush to pass "something"?
Take Medicare for All into the fall elections.
Corruption favors the wealthy.
Precedent sake.
In the zero-sum game of politics, it will be seen as a defeat not just to Obama, but to health care reform as well, thus precluding any future attempts, like a third rail.
Medicare for all can still be introduced in the Fall Elections.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Except for precluding any more attempts at "reform" including Medicare for all.
Pass the bill and Medicare for All is dead in the fall with every politician having the ready excuse that "we need to wait and see how this is going to work."
And that excuse can last a very long time the way the bill is structured.
Corruption favors the wealthy.
I thank you for bringing it up.
So it looks like we're boxed in, unless we can get the current program in development to kick in certain benefits sooner.
If only there was some way to remove medical insurance companies and pharmaceuticals from trading on Wall Street.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Once they pass this monstrosity of a piece of despotic legislation which is nothing more than a taxpayer bailout for insurance corporations there will be ZERO hope of ever changing it.
Ever try to remove a scorpions stinger from your flesh?
Once it gets deeply embedded....it's a real bitch to remove.
We are being had with this just as badly as we were had with the Wall Street bailout in the fall of 2008.
Any House member who votes for this will face a major loss at the polls in November.
I feel like I'm watching a purposeful implosion of the Democratic Party....
"The US has an army of 90,000 soldiers in Afghanistan and is spending $100bn a year, but has still been unable to defeat 20,000-25,000 Taliban who receive no pay at all." - Patrick Cockburn
Thanks to Sean and Earl and Jason for the contributions in the last 5 minutes. Billy is building a campaign chest with lots of small donations. If you can, please give here at the Blue America page
Hello, Billy! Thank you for coming to talk with us, sir. I just want to say how much we need progressive voices such as yours in Congress. There is just too much inside the Beltway nonsense going on. As the healthcare debate has clearly highlighted, the Democratic Party is in need of some serious house cleaning (no pun intended). If you give us your word that you will fight for the things that really matter to working class Americans - healthcare, a strong economy based on green technology, and an end to senseless wars intended only to enrich defense "contractors", then it's safe to say that we here at C&L will be behind you 100%. Good luck to you, sir.
If you have selfish, ignorant citizens, you're gonna get selfish, ignorant leaders.
George Carlin
I'm all about the working class.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wos-dDxpJlQ
Here in Texas the Texas Utilities electric company used this in commercials, after they were caught cheating people of my state.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
There seems to be a lively Senate race in North Carolina this year too and Burr looks very vulnerable. I know he used to represent NC-05. Will the Senate race have an effect on your House race?
My House race is going to have an effect on their Senate race! They'd better come a courtin' me right away! LOL!
What I would like to know is how you can compete for funds with the corporatists now that the corporations can pour unlimited funds into any political race that they fancy.
If they decided that they need Virginia Foxx in Congress, they can bury you, or any other progressive, under their money with unlimited attack ads.
Las Vegas gambling interests, right now? I'm betting the constituents of the 5th wouldn't like that if they knew it, don't you?
As for the Supreme Court decision, we have to do everything we can to "fix" that judicial activist reach through legislative action. I believe corporations should be able to participate in our elections when they can produce their birth certificates. In the meantime, I'm gonna prove pretty hard to bury.
I was amused to see you're running for the North Carolina seat.
Last night I was waxing nostalgic on another site, about my grandparents in Arkansas, I'm from Texas, on a thread already dead. I included a link to the Andy Griffith show to argue that these are the people we should be fighting for, the coal miners, those in factory towns, or like my grandparents in a town practically run by a chicken processing plant.
I'm talking basically decent folk that you almost have to convince that they're doing us a favor if they allow us to help them.
And Andy Griffin is from North Carolina. Just an interesting coincidence.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Mt Airy is the "model" for Mayberry and it's in NC-5, Billy's district
Snappy Lunch.
Okay, I was gonna avoid this but
Are you any relation to...?
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Different branch of Kennedy's... but if a Republican with a pickup truck can win a Kennedy seat in MA, I'm betting a Kennedy with 2 pickup trucks and a tractor can win a Republican seat in NC-5.
From your fingers to God's Ears! We need to get that FOXX out of that hole, now!
Your right to earn billions of dollars does not trump my right to drink pure water and breathe clean air.
And thanks William, Jacqueline and Marilyn for the generous donations. I guess everyone liked that "I believe corporations should be able to participate in our elections when they can produce their birth certificates" comment! Again, contribute directly to Billy's campaign here
BC in Portland and Michael in Utica-- thank you, thank you, thank you
He should be back from Canada soon.
Corruption favors the wealthy.
I would love this (and so would Colbert). And I can show him where to get a deep fried dill pickle too.
I really enjoyed the back and forth. I'm happy to hear from you anytime. www.billykennedyforcongress.com
Later. I'm off for now to North Wilkesboro.
Billy Kennedy
Nicely done.
Corruption favors the wealthy.
Good chat! We sure would like to have you back anytime you'd like. And we'll ask you back before November for sure. If you hear any funny stuff on Virginia, let us know.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACQTddaIO2s
But then I haaatee...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsBYBugvDek
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
I hope he throws a bucket of water on:
http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k206/swings...
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
When elected, they just become like the rest of the spineless cowards in Congress.
There are a few in the House and Senate who don't, like Alan Grayson, Ron Paul, Bernie Sanders, just a handful, who fight for what is right and remain true to their beliefs, which they bravely announce while campaigning. There are a few more who are half good, progressive on some issues and totally backwards on others. Who recently stood up and fought against renewal of the oppressive police state inspired PATRIOT Act? Almost none of them.
The rest are worthless. NONE will get my money, very few will get my vote from now on. I want to see a Congress in my lifetime that represents the true American foundations of the Constitutional, not whores for the war industry, wall street, etc.
I'll answer for you: either through Blue America or through someone who discovered him through Blue America in all likelihood. Go run along and play with Ron Paul
and watched his speech about the Rethugs health care plan on C-SPAN. You think this is the only source of information in the world howieclown?
Further up the reply section is this exchange:
Posted asks:
"Why should we continue to work for, give money for, or even vote for a Democratic Party that disregards our opinions so readily?"
That's a very good question. Sat, 02/27/2010 - 11:51 — Billy Kennedy
But remember, the Democratic Party is OUR, Party. It's our duty to take it back to the principles of its platform. I, for one, am not giving up my Party without a fight.
Sorry, Billy and howieclown, life is too short. The Democratic Party is apparently owned by the corporate interests that ironically enough, also own the Rethug Party.
Even with a majority in House, Senate and the Executive:
-Gitmo is still open
-USA PATRIOT ACT just got renewed with no debate or protest from those Dems you want me to waste my money on
-Bush and the rest of the War Criminals are getting off scot free, with their pensions paid by you and me.
-The dumbass Dems went along with the condemnation of ACORN, which is now revealed as a fraud
-Bailout of the Wall Street criminals, started by Bush, carried on by Dems
-Invasion of Afghanistan EXPANDED by Dem President with no protest from the spineless Dems
-Etc., etc., etc. Nothing has changed. Nobel Committee has egg on its face.
So, go play with yourself genius.
I smell a paid troll!
You obviously work for someone who is afraid of the power that candidates like Billy Kennedy and Blue America stand for.
Remember:
"Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained."
That's what your strategy will accomplish.
Politics isn't about getting everything done at once, but you have been fed a line of bull that makes you expect miracles.
Enjoy your misery, seems like you're doing a bang-up job of it already.
I prefer to stand and fight for what I believe in. So does Billy, and Blue America.
Your right to earn billions of dollars does not trump my right to drink pure water and breathe clean air.
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