Perez removing Ellison supporters from DNC

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“We don’t have the luxury to walk out of this room divided.” Tom Perez as he silently removes dissent.

He's right. The democratic party must remain united behind capitalism. If they become the party of Bernie, Trump will be re-elected.

I forgot how Hillary soundly defeated Trump last year by defending her record with Wall Street, wooing "muh moderate suburban Republicans," and running the exact opposite of a populist campaign. That damn memory of mine...

Remember three words: Private Email Server. Take that away, and she wins in a landslide.

The modern US economy was build by the uber socialist FDR who not only wanted free healthcare, free education but also free guaranteed universal basic income & taxed people at 90%+. And he introduced a minimum wage, broke banks & said corporations which pay low wages have no right to exist.

He had the highest possible GDP growth rates, he was more of a socialist than Bernie ever way & he was the most electable candidate Dem ever had crushing Republicans & bringing about a progressive era which lasted almost half a century. The man is not only the greatest President ever but got the whole world to follow his economic vision. And it had the best economic period of prosperity in centuries.

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“We don’t have the luxury to walk out of this room divided.” Tom Perez as he silently removes dissent.

He's right. The democratic party must remain united behind capitalism. If they become the party of Bernie, Trump will be re-elected.

They will do exactly that - and they will continue to lose elections.

Well they can't adopt Bernie plan either. Socialism and even left wing populism can not work in American politics because Republicans will use it as a racial wedge issue. Democrats do not want debate whether football players should get free tuition or illegal immigrants get free health care in 2018 or 2020.

Because they're cowards.

No, because these are the kind of incendiary divisive topics that split the electoral just the way Trump likes, which is why he always harps on this stuff. It pits the majority of the electorate against the "other." A better way is to craft a broad appeal to the personal self-interests of the vast majority of the electorate, like Corbyn's "For the Many" slogan, which is a message well-suited for left wing populism, anyway.

No1 cares about Corbyn's slogan. It is what he stands for. This is another re-alignment period. Booms & busts, excesses of the financial world, 6 people having half the world's wealth, massive cost of college, cutting of welfare & tax-breaks for wealthy people - This is the model & it is failing.

Like in the 30's with FDR (US) & Atlee(UK), there was a new re-alignment. Like Reagan(US) & Thatcher(UK) had the re-alignment in the 80s & how Neo Liberal forces evolved with Blair's New Labour(UK) & Clinton's New Democrats(US), this is the age of socialist leaders in the mould of Clement Atlee & FDR creating a new era. Sanders & Corbyn have a long record of standing for progressive policies. They are perceived as honest, having literally foretold the total inadequacy & failure of the current fake-capitalistic model which needs some socialistic checks & balances to have a really free market. The balance has tilted in an extreme lunatic right wing direction.

Now is the time to bring balance back to the universe & world economics. Sanders & Corbyn are only bringing it back to where it should be. People don't want Wall Street & Big Donor cozy politicians who give small incremental changes anymore. Booker or Harris just don't fit the bill. If the left wing doesn't stand up for the working class, extreme lunatic right politicians will fill that void.

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Progressive party members were incensed to find that he had demoted a number of veteran delegates who’d backed either Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison in his bid for party chairman against Perez, or Sanders in 2016. (Ellison, who now serves as Perez’s deputy, was widely viewed as a proxy candidate for the more liberal, Sanders wing of the party.) Those ousted include Ray Buckley, James Zogby, Alice Germond, and Barbara Casbar Siperstein, NBC News reports. “I’m concerned about the optics, and I’m concerned about the impact,” Zogby said of the D.N.C. shake-up. “I want to heal the wound of 2016.”

To add insult to injury, Perez also tapped several individuals who have lobbying or corporate-interest backgrounds—a move that has sparked criticism in the past. The pack of new delegates includes Joanne Dowdell, a registered lobbyist for Fox News parent company News Corp; Harold Ickes, a veteran of the Clinton White House; and Manuel Ortiz, a lobbyist for CITGO Petroleum Corp and Puerto Rican interests. At least 10 additional Perez-tapped superdelegates have previously been registered as lobbyists, Bloomberg reports.

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/10/tom-perez-dnc-shake-up

Oil Lobbyists, News Corp lobbyists, Wow while purging out progressives - So much for unity!

The DNC is such a mess that only the Treasurer & the Chair gets to see the budget. Not even the Executive members get to see it.  And they have Consultants who are DNC Members making huge money of DNC as members & no1 gets to see or even question about the spending.

Part of the money which is being spend is essentially money laundering & favors being handed out. No wonder people don't want to donate to these corrupt establishment. Atleast there should be more transparency. No-wonder the Democratic brand is so damaged.

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Why are they doing this?  This is so goddamn petty and shortsighted....

Does Perez realize that by conducting this Red Wedding of all the Sanders and Ellison supporters, he is not so much stabbing the knife into their backs, but into Democratic hopes of winning the 2020 election, and ending the Trump nightmare?  You can't win without their (enthusiastic) support.  

NBC also reported that there is an over-representation of former presidential candidate and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton backers on the Rules and Bylaws Committee, which sets the rules for the Democratic presidential primaries.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/nbc-longtime-dnc-officials-ousted

The problem with DNC is not just this red wedding of Sanders supporters. The DNC is ultimately a corrupt institution in need of reform & transparency. The budget is debated, discussed & voted for every single government body, corporate or even non-profit organizations, so why should it not be the same for the DNC? People are paying their hard earned money to the DNC.

You have consultants who are DNC Members charging exorbitant money in an obvious conflict of interest. And they don't disclose the budget to anyone apart from the Chair & the Treasurer (maybe 1-2 more). So they can spend it however they want without questions.

In addition, it is time to have paid State Chairs & Executive Directors for all 50 States if the Democratic party is serious in the long term about winning. You can't take lobbyist & all this dirty money & then make all state posts un-paid volunteer spots to give money away to consultants.

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DEMOCRATIC PARTY DRAMA PUTS DEPUTY CHAIR KEITH ELLISON IN A TOUGH SPOT

A PURGE OF PARTY officials loyal to Keith Ellison is putting the deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee in a difficult position, calling into question his ability to shape DNC decision-making. Ellison’s decision to accept the number two spot at the DNC was controversial among his backers, but he argued that he would be able to influence the party from the inside, and help steer Chair Tom Perez in a progressive direction. People close to Ellison say that he is feeling the heat and acutely aware of the difficulty he is in, unsure exactly how to do right by the party faithful. Karthik Ganapathy, a spokesperson for Ellison, declined to comment on the unfolding situation.

Buckley made a bid for DNC chair earlier this year, running on a platform of reform. His familiarity with the arcane rules, bylaws, and byzantine procedures of the DNC is widely considered to be unmatched. After he dropped out, he backed Ellison’s bid for chair, opening up the perception that he was removed by Perez for supporting his opponent. The public response from Perez to complaints from Ellison backers has only exacerbated the tensions, as Perez, like Hinojosa, has insisted that the changes were made only for the sake of “diversity.”

Yet the three Ellison backers removed from the key committees are themselves a diverse bunch. Ellison, of course, is African-American, Muslim, and represents a working-class district, while Barbra Casbar Siperstein is transgender, Zogby is Lebanese-American (and Catholic), and Buckley is gay. While removing long-serving DNC members seen as favorable to Ellison and Sanders, Perez moved to maintain positions at the party for a number of corporate lobbyists. The at-large members chosen by Perez include Harold Ickes, a lobbyist for a nuclear energy company; Manny Ortiz, a lobbyist for Citigroup; Joanne Dowdell, a lobbyist for News Corporation, the parent company of Fox News; and Jaime Harrison, a former lobbyist for coal companies, big banks, and tobacco companies.

https://theintercept.com/2017/10/20/democratic-party-drama-puts-deputy-chair-keith-ellison-in-a-tough-spot/

How long before Ellison quits? The Rules committee which will decide the Unity Commission recommendations have 0 representation from the so-called Sanders wing.

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Wasn't Ray Buckley involved in some sort of sexual harassment scandal?

Yea, pretty distasteful. I think he made stupid comments, less so for sexual activity or something of that sort. The guy is pretty damn good in his work & detail oriented & his scandal is the reason he will never amount to anything more than the NH Dem Party Chair.

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The Democratic National Committee is reeling, facing a turnaround that's proving a much bigger lift than anyone expected as it struggles to raise enough money to cover its basic promises. Many donors are refusing to write checks. And on-the-ground operatives worry they won’t have the resources to build the infrastructure they need to compete effectively in next year’s midterms and in the run-up to 2020. "It's a very legitimate concern," said one DNC member who has spent years raising money for the committee. And it's not just donors who are staying away as the Perez-led group promises an expansive set of new investments and innovations. The party's old leaders, led by former President Barack Obama, have kept their involvement to a minimum, as well.

While the House and Senate Democratic campaign arms — and individual candidates — are having no problem raising funds, the comparatively anemic cash flow at the central committee and state branches could affect organizing efforts on the ground across the country. Much of the immediate anxiety centers on the State Party Innovation Fund, a planned $10.5 million competitive grant program that DNC leadership has made available to interested state parties over the next year. The money is meant to pay for organizing, ground operations and other mechanics seen as essential to countering Republican National Committee investments that helped elect Donald Trump and a slew of other other Republican candidates in 2016, leapfrogging Democrats in the process. The planned funding is on top of the $10,000 each state party receives from the DNC every month.

But entering October, the DNC had just $7 million in its main account, which also has to cover its central responsibilities and salaries. Perez, who had no previous fundraising experience, has been hitting the road nonstop for months in a bid to bring new donors and win over disillusioned contributors who are withholding checks after the 2016 election. DNC members themselves have now been asked to give or raise $1,000 each, some said — a request people who've been around the committee for decades say they can't remember being made before.

https://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/22/dnc-2018-rebuilding-finances-244019

DNC Fundraising crisis - Will they even be fund to wages, data operation, research & state parties?

So much for Perez being a fundraising juggernaut. DWS has done a lot of damage & Perez will probably run the DNC to the ground.