Ned's appearance at Yale on Monday Night

Posted by Ben Simon at 12:14AM | Comments (5) | Trackback (0)

Cross-posted at MyDD, Daily Kos, and My Left Nutmeg

Ned Lamont spoke last night (Monday, 2/27/06) to a meeting of the Yale Democrats and the Yale community at large. Here is a summary of what he said, interspersed with some of my own comments. He made a very good overall impression on the crowd of 80-100 people, mostly students. He gave what is becoming his standard stump speech, followed by a brief Q & A session. I think that he’s getting very good at telling the crowd who he is, what he’s about, and why Lieberman has to go.

Yale Dem Makes Case for Lamont in YDN

Posted by Kevin Bock at 2:07PM | Comments (0) |

Yale Dem Ben Simon (who is one of the two co-chairs of Yale Students for Lamont) has an op-ed in the YDN today making the case for Ned Lamont. Not only this -- but kos has picked up Ben's op-ed and given him a massive quote on the front page! Way to go Ben! Remember also, Ned Lamont will be visiting the college dems tonight at 8pm in Branford; hope to see everyone there!

It's no secret that I, too, am behind Lamont, but just so everything's clear:

*****The Yale College Democrats do not endorse in primaries. The opinions expressed in Ben's op-ed are his own and not necessarily those of the Yale College Democrats.*****

Here's the link. And the full text, posted with Ben's permission:

In 1988, Joe Lieberman '64 LAW '67 was elected to the Senate. He campaigned by running to the right of the incumbent Republican, Lowell Weicker, and with the support of William F. Buckley Jr. '50, one of the biggest figures in the modern conservative movement. Since that time, he has charted a legislative course worthy of his initial electoral history. Lieberman has been one of the Senate's most conservative Democrats overall, a particular shock given that his solidly blue home state is Connecticut. Although he may feel like a moderate maverick for his supposed bipartisanship, his politics make many feel that he has abandoned his constituents and his party. This is why Ned Lamont '80 is running to unseat Senator Lieberman in this August's Democratic primary.

Continued below:

College Republicans Not Great with Math

Posted by Nathan Kilbert at 12:40PM | Comments (4) |

From the YDN's coverage of the EITC lobbying trip to Hartford:

"Bert Ferrara '07, a member of the Yale College Republicans, said he is worried that an EITC would hurt taxpayers with higher incomes, who he said generally 'finance' such tax policies."

Standard hate-on-the-poor rhetoric from a privileged suburban Republican. But it gets better. He goes on to say "I'm for across the board tax cuts." Who's financing those, I wonder? The Supply-Side Fairy?

And speaking of inconsistency, Upper St. Clair is not a "Real Public High School," no matter what certain facebook profiles might lead one to believe. I imagine Bert didn't encounter a whole lot of EITC recipients in the hall there.

New Haven Board of Aldermen Passes Resolution In Support of EITC

Posted by Brendan Gants at 2:43AM | Comments (3) |

I am proud to announce that tonight, the New Haven Board of Aldermen passed, by unanimous consent, a resolution supporting a Connecticut Earned Income Tax Credit.

This represents a great step forward on the path to enacting a statewide EITC. I want to give a special thanks to all the students who worked to make it happen, including those in the Local Lobbying Committee and the Statewide Lobbying Committee, and our allies at Project Opportunity. Thanks also to our Ward One Alderman Nick Shalek, who spoke in support of the resolution tonight.

The Yale Daily News has a front-page story on the resolution online here.

Blumenthal and the Conservative Party, a big week for the Dems

Posted by Scott Caplan at 7:45PM | Comments (0) |

The New Haven Independent has an interesting article on Connecticut AG Richard Blumenthal's recent Mory's lunch with the Conservative Party of the Yale Political Union. It's an interesting read, and I'll leave it at that, seeing as I have a Modern Algebra problem set to tend to.

In truth, I only mentioned the article to catch your attention. I really wanted to tell you this: It's a big week for the Dems, including our trip to Hartford on Thursday to watch the hearing on the EITC in the Human Services Committee. I promise more updates in the near future if somebody doesn't beat me to it.

Technorati Tags: Yale College Democrats, New Haven Independent, Mory's, Conservative Party, EITC, CGA

Dean: Kinda screwing the consultants

Posted by Nathan Kilbert at 11:20AM | Comments (1) |

There's a very interesting analysis by Itsbeencalmingforsometime (yeah, great name) over at MyDD. Mr. Time takes a look at the DNC's finances in Dec. 2003 and Dec. 2005. The income levels are about the same, with more of the 2005 donations coming from small donors. Party-building outlays to states have also increased, although somewhat artificially given the huge expenditures in VA and NJ.

But one of the most interesting things was the dramatic decline in the amount of money the DNC is paying to outside consultants. It went from over 719k in 2003 to about 211k in 2005. So if you see stories in the media from "Democratic strategists" about how Dean isn't raising enough money or is generally screwing up, remember the real reason they're pissed.

UPDATE: And just to be clear, I think this is a good thing. DC consultants get paid whether they win or lose, so they're just fine with losing. And their income mostly comes from a cut of TV advertising, so they have no incentive to support actual grassroots organzing.

Great News

Posted by Scott Caplan at 8:14PM | Comments (2) |

Yale divests!

I have nothing else to add, except for the fact that this came as a pleasant surprise to me.

Technorati Tags: sudan, yale, divestment, darfur, genocide, victory

Happy Valentine's Day...

Posted by Dara Lind at 9:51AM | Comments (4) |

...and a bitter goodbye to a certain "sweetheart" candidate of mine.

Former "rising star" (and Iraq veteran) Paul Hackett announced last night that--in response to pressure from Democratic Party leaders to drop out of the Ohio Democratic primary for Senate and run again in the same congressional district in which he was defeated last year--he would drop out of politics entirely. Uh, oops.

He's even alleging that "party leaders were calling his donors and asking them to stop giving."

My take on the mess is in the extension....

Dems Swag!

Posted by Nathan Kilbert at 8:26PM | Comments (1) |

Valentine's Day is coming up, and nothing says "Let's play Oval Office" in a sexier manner than a Yale Dems hoodie or tank top! Check out the Cafepress store that Kevin put together.

Pins, magnets, hats, and mugs are also for sale -- all bearing the same sweet Yale College Democrats logo. A portion of the proceeds benefit the YCD bank account, so it's totally guilt-free.

Ned Lamont to Speak at Yale Feb. 27

Posted by Nathan Kilbert at 1:04PM | Comments (0) |

Kevin, Emily, and I reported on meeting Ned Lamont at the New Haven Public Library last month. Speaking only for myself, I saw quite a bit of potential and more than a little passion.

After the event, we spoke with his scheduler Kim Hynes and asked if Ned would be willing to come to a Dems meeting. Their response has been very positive, and so it is with great excitement that we announce that Ned Lamont will be giving a talk at our February 27 meeting.

As always, it will be at 8 PM in the Branford College Common Room.

Just Awful

Posted by Kevin Bock at 2:49AM | Comments (1) |

You know, every now and again I get myself into some kind of a moral relativist funk. One of those ooey-gooey "everyone means well -- we all just want what's best for our neighbors and ourselves" sort of things. And I think, "you know, you really can't go too wrong if that's your motivation, right!?" Then I see something like this, and it snaps me right out of it.

John Scalzi hits the nail on the head.

Posted by Scott Caplan at 4:27PM | Comments (0) |

Science fiction author John Scalzi has some great commentary on an issue I hadn't heard of. I started reading his blog when he posted this piece after Hurricane Katrina and it appeared on http://del.icio.us/popular a few days later. Being Poor is also quite relevant to the Dems' current fight for a statewide EITC, a fight that's gaining support in Connecticut. See for example, the Senate Democrats' Legislative Agenda for 2006, page 2 of which mentions the EITC!

By the way, I've been meaning to point people towards this effort to give your Senator an iPod. I couldn't agree more. I don't say this often, but Rock On! Yeah, I know, it sounds kind of fake. How about "Sweet!" ?

Technorati Tags: scalzi, American flag, genius, CT Senate Dems, ipaction, ipod

His name is not as humorous as it would first appear

Posted by Nathan Kilbert at 10:28PM | Comments (1) |

It's pronounced Bane-er. Here's an excellent rundown of why he's not the knight in reformy armor that the media is presenting him as. And this isn't a particularly sterling example of integrity either.

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
*yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, power chords, etc.*