Points By Drew Pritt

Its been awhile since I kept up with this blog. However, I decided to run for U.S. Senate in Arkansas. This may seem like an irregular thing to do, but honestly, doesn’t it seem irregular in a nation as wealthy as ours, in the 21st Century, that we still are fighting over whether to provide Health Care to all of our citizens.

* 634,000+ Arkansans are without Health Care.

* Every four hours, an American goes bankrupt because of Health Care costs. 78% have some form of Health Care Coverage.

* 30 Million Americans are without Health Care but 100 Members of the U.S. Senate and 435 Members of the U.S. House have the same form of Health Care being debated now in Congress.

* Blanche Lincoln opposes allowing Arkansans to have the same Health Care coverage she and her family enjoy.

* No other Democrats have challenged her to date.

So I decided to step up to the plate and stand for what I believe. This is a race where I tend to shout from the Ozarks and preach down to the lowlands of the Delta the need to provide Health Care for ALL Americans.

Also, she opposes the Employee Free Choice Act.

Currently, if you are working at a job and wish to have a union, you have to let the managment, who would work with this union, know about your intentions. Then management has 30 days to prepare for a union election, during which many brow-beat, threaten, and even fire those who support a union.

The current minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, BEFORE TAXES. Should one be able to work 40 hours a week, which is not always possible in todays’ economy, that works out to $1160 a month or $13,920 a year….BEFORE taxes.

The current salary of a U.S. Senator is $174,000, which makes out to $14,500 a month, or $3,625 a week.

Catch my drift?

Finally, Senator Blanche Lincoln opposed the Employee Non-Discrimination Act by saying, “equal rights should not become special rights.”

REALLY???

And she is running as a Democrat.

So I am running. I hope Senator Lincoln finds her way back to be a true blue Democrat. I hope she votes for Health Care. But I am running to give other Democrats an alternate choice….a TRUE BLUE DEMOCRAT.

Check me out at http://www.PrittForArkansas.com/

A note on all the recent Senate appointments….I have called most of them wrong.

ILLINOIS was pure luck and because I know and respect Roland Burris.

DELAWARE, while I figured it would be Harriett Windsor Smith, I knew it would be a placeholder.

But COLORADO….the Bennet pick was from out of center field, really. Just never thought Governor Ritter would play that outside of the box.

In NEW YORK….I knew Caroline Kennedy would end up snuffing out, but I thought it would be smart for Governor Paterson to help out his buddy, Mayor Bloomberg, and play to Senator Schumer. Well Schumer got his pick, supposedly, but in the end Anthony Weiner would have been 100 times better pick than Gillibrand.

In NEW HAMPSHIRE….I was right that Lynch would pick a woman. He picked a placeholder and now I think Swett may go for Paul Hodes seat and give him a clear path to the U.S. Senate. But she has $1.7 million in the bank and I have called these wrong so far….so what do I know???

Before there were blogs like the Arkansas Times Blog or  Blakes Think Tank or my own, there was the Evans-Novak Political Report. This was a political sheet that started in 1967 with Rowland Evans and Robert Novak, the first year of Ronald Reagan’s 1st term as Governor of California. Mind you, Novak’s conservatism was as slanted as my progressive outlook. But it was good to read and this tip sheet got some good tips before the major media outlets.

But all that ended this week. With Robert Novak battling a strong disease he has not been able to do the job. To his credit, Novak left the blog to Tim Carney. Carney did a good, less biased job, but the absence of Evans and Novak have removed the flavor of the tip sheet.

So….Novak pulled the plug. We sure will miss this source and pray for healing mercy from God for Robert Novak….both of his current affliction and his recurrent conservatism.

As details emerge that President Barack Obama may select U.S. Senator Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) to be his new Secretary of Commerce, the gleam of a 60 seat, filibuster U.S. Senate, shines like a new penny.

The pressure is going to be on Governor John Lynch either way to name either a successor thats a Republican seatwarmer or a bona fide Democrat, who can mount a successful reelection. A reelection in the same year that Lynch himself will be seeking a fourth term….possibly against former U.S. Senator John Sununu, Jr. (R).

So who does Lynch appoint? How can he appease both sides and come out a winner? The answer is he may need to “Swett” this one out.

Specifically, Katrina Swett, wife of former U.S. Congressman and onetime U.S. Senate aspirant himself, Dick Swett (D-N.H.), and daughter of the late U.S. Congressman Tom Lantos (D-Ca.), a powerhouse himself. But Katrina Swett is no stranger to the scene herself. She ran an ill-concieved 2002 U.S. House bid that she learned a lot of lessons from. Then last year, she graciously step aside for former Governor Jeanne Shaheen (D) to have what would end up being a successful rematch for the U.S. Senate, ousting Sununu. (more…)

We all remember Sarah Palin. She announced the creation of her own PAC for a possible 2012 race for the White House. But you remember the erstwhile Republican Governor from Alaska, who hunts moose, has children with names only John Denver could have conjured up, a husband named the “FIRST DUDE”, and who as we all know….can see Alaska from her house. The woman Tina Fey owes numerous paychecks from SNL to?

You betcha!

But one has to wonder, would history have been different, and could John McCain’s campaign have been in a better position if he selected another female running mate.

But did the McCain camp have another female Governor with some added benefits who could have benefitted McCain’s campaign?

You betcha! (more…)

When a lil’ less than 9 hours from now, when Barack Hussein Obama, takes the oath of office for President of the United States of America, this will be monumental. It will be more than a historic moment for the African-American as well as our entire national community. But it will mean something more formidable….the genie is out of the bottle….and the United States will never be the same. (more…)

U.S. District Judge Jay Zainey ruled without a trial in December, in a case involving a of a boy born in Shreveport, Louisiana and adopted by a gay couple from out-of-state, that the facts were so clear that none was needed. He ordered the State of Louisiana’s Office of Vital Records to put the names of both Oren Adar and Mickey Ray Smith on the amended birth certificate that is standard for adoptions. Now the state Attorney General, Buddy Cardwell….A DEMOCRAT….has asked Judge Zainey to reconsider.

(more…)

We all remember that scene from The Wizard of Oz where the Wizard commands all to pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. Well the man behind the curtain for the Roland Burris drama is none other than political guru, Bud Jackson. This is the same Bud Jackson who gave Arkansas the persona known as Lt. Governor Bill Halter.

Jackson is one of the country’s top tier media and general political consultants. He has won a number of awards. The Arkansas Project spotted the same thing I did so props to them.

What is even more heartening is that Jackson is finally working for one of the good guys….that being Senator Roland Burris (D-Il.) 

Keep working hard, Bud!

I hope all my readers will welcome, former Governor Doug Wilder of Virginia, to the blogosphere. He has entered with his own blog called Wilder Visions. Wilder was the first African-American to be elected Governor and of Virginia, the former lead state of the Confederate States of America, in 1989. Then in 2004, Wilder was elected the first Mayor of Richmond, the former Capitol City of the C.S.A. The grandson of slaves, he was named after abolitionist-orator Frederick Douglass.

Governor Wilder has always been a visonary and a fighter for the constitutional liberties guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. But Wilder has worked within the existing power structures to bring about change. He has accomplished more than most. Most of all, he’s been a good example of what a good citizen is and should be. He has been an inspiration for many young people and is a statesman, not a politician. (more…)