Peter Roskam’s Ex-Campaign Manager Launches New Firm to Lie to Latino Voters

On June 5, 2009, in Congressional Elections, Friends of Peter Roskam, Gay Rights, Latino Voters, Lobbyists, Peter Roskam, by RSR
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RSR notes with interest this item from Politico yesterday. Jason Cabel Roe, Peter Roskam’s former, campaign manager, has launched a new consulting firm, Revolvis Consulting. The firm “will focus on strategies to bring Latino voters into the Republican fold”. Revolvis’ initial focus is on a number of races in California.

Jason Roe’s bio on the Revolvis web site indicates that he was Chief of Staff for Republican Congressman Tom Feeney of Florida from 2003 to 2007. It fails to mention that Roe left Feeney in 2007 to work for Mitt Romney’s Presidential campaign, then abruptly resigned in April 2007, citing family obligations, after the FBI started questioning Feeney regarding his ties to lobbyist and felon Jack Abramoff. Feeney had accompanied Abramoff on that famous golf outing to Scotland. Roe memorably defended Feeney in an email message stating “Any assertion that this office knew Abramoff paid for the Scotland trip is a g–d—– lie.”

Roe previously founded Federal Strategy Group, a Washington lobbying firm that advertised its access to to politicians like Roskam.

Roe managed Peter Roskam’s famously dirty Congressional campaign against Iraq war veteran Tammy Duckworth 2006.  That campaign attacked Duckworth as wanting to give “handouts to illegal aliens”:

You may recall that Jason Roe & Peter Roskam made Keith Olberman’s “Worst Person in the World” list for Roskam’s infamous remark that Duckworth wanted to “cut and run” from Iraq (Duckworth, of course, lost both of her legs while serving In Iraq) and Roe’s subsequent distortion of what was actually said.

So anyway, now Roe wants to help bring Latino’s into the fold. The Revolvis web site actualy has a “Latino Services” page. That’s impressive. The Latino Services page states that “an effective Latino program is a vital component to any public policy and/or candidate campaign”.  (Isn’t that warm and fuzzy – a “Latino program”). But Roe is right, the current Republican “Latino program” – smearing the first Latina Supreme Court nominee as a racist and calling the National Council of La Raza a Latino “KKK” – is not proving to be working, if you believe the polls. (We wonder though whether this handiwork from the Revolvis portfolio will be typical of a Revolvis “latino program”.)

How does Revolvis plan to sway Latino voters, then? Wedge issues!:

Latinos, like other voters groups are not single issue voters. While immigration is an important issue, Latinos have consistently ranked national security, the environment, education, healthcare, and the economy as issues of greater importance to them. The Democrats do not hold sway over the Latino community on all of these issues. In California, we saw Latinos overwhelmingly supporting both Obama and the gay marriage initiative (Proposition 8). Avenues exist for Republicans to make inroads into these communities.

California’s Proposition 8 (Gay Marriage Ban), and additional survey data, illustrates that Republicans don’t have to change their principles, we just need to communicate with all voters, year-round.

Charming. Roe plans to win over Latinos by demonizing gay people.

These pricks, Roskam and Roe, and Limbaugh and all their kind , they just don’t get it. Until they do, the Republican Party will sink further and further into oblivion. Their program of lying to middle class people about caring for their needs while demonizing outsiders and sowing fear is bankrupt. It won’t work anymore.

Latinos aren’t stupid. If Republicans truly want to win Latino voters, and midldle class working people in general, then they need to start viewing them as people and not just votes -  they have to learn to start doing the right thing by ordinary people and not just for big business and the very wealthy:

  • Ensuring that workers are paid just wages, have safe working conditions, and their right to organize is protected
  • Ensuring that everyone has access to affordable quality health care
  • Ceasing to demonize immigrant workers and gay people
  • Supporting policies that give consumers a fair shake against giant corporations
  • Providing services for our returning servicemen who are strugling with health problems and unemployment

Until Republicans catch on, the party is going to continue to dwindle into a southern regional coalition of religious extremists and hate groups.

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Peter Roskam Throws Hissy Fit on House Floor Over Taxes on Dead Rich Folks

On May 22, 2009, in Economic Justice, Estate Tax, Middle Class, Peter Roskam, Poverty, by RSR
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Received a Tweet from Peter Roskam  wanting to know what I thought about his floor speeech regarding the estate tax, which Peter and other wingnuts like to call the “death tax”.

Well. I always want to do my part to help my Congressman so here goes.

First off,  I was  pleased to hear him name publicly one by one the interest groups to which he is beholden: U.S. Chamber, National Association of Manufacturers, etc.

I was also impressed by Peter’s emotion, the passion that this issue arouses in him. Thought his hairpiece was going to fly off at the end ;) .

What troubles me deeply, however, is that it it is only taxes on rich people that can get Peter aroused this way.  Not homeless veterans on the streets of DuPage County, not children in Wood Dale without adequate health care, not torture and illegal detention authorized by the President and Vice President in Washington. Nope. Just taxes on rich white people in Wheaton, or in this case, rich dead white people in Wheaton.

The truth about the estate tax, which Peter Roskam is unwilling to share with you, is that the estate tax will affect only 0.24 percent of all people who die in 2009, individuals who die with an estate valued at $3.5 million or more or married couples (heterosexual) with an estate of $7 million or more. What’s really sad is that Peter Roskam has chosen to use his seat in Congress, OUR seat in Congress, to represent the financial interests of only that tiny fraction of the residents of his district.

Repealing the estate tax, as Roskam, would have us do, would cost billions in reduced revenue, necessitating either increased taxes on the poor and middle class or major reductions in spending. Cuts to the bloated defense budget, of course, are off limits, to Peter and his Republican colleagues, so cuts would have to be made for things like college financial aid, food stamps, Medicare, veterans services, childrens’ health care – all those programs to help poor and middle class families that Peter has fought against so vigorously during his time in office. More than likely, it would be a combination of both increased taxes and reduced services that would be required to give this expensive gift to a few very wealthy dead people.

So, thanks, Peter for letting me know about your speech.  I honestly have to say though that I didn’t care for it much.

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Worried and Confused, Peter Roskam Adopts Obama as Running Mate

On October 21, 2008, in Congressional Elections, George Bush, Peter Roskam, Presidential Race 2008, by RSR
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I haven’t found much time for blogging lately. I’m transitioning to a new role at work and when I haven’t been working I’ve been transfixed by the Presidential contest and our rapid descent into recession or worse. But when I saw this little ad on the Huffington Post today it shocked me into activity. Yes, Peter Roskam, desperate for your vote in what appears will be a Democratic landslide year, is attempting to ride Obama’s coat tails into a second term. And yes, this is the same Peter Roskam who is serves on John McCain’s Illinois leadership team. I nearly aspirated my Diet Pepsi when I saw this.

Apparently Roskam is not sure his nasty campaign of of character assaults against Jill Morgenthaler is going to fail in much the same way that John McCain’s nasty campaign against Obama is failing. Roskam would like you to believe that voting for both Barack Obama and himself would be a reasonable thing to do. It would not. Here’s my “voter guide” to explain why.

  1. Roskam is helping to lead John McCain’s campaign in Illinois. He wants John McCain to become President. He wants this because he and John want to do very different things than Barack Obama. They would like to see less rather than more regulation of the financial institutions that got us into such trouble during the “anything goes” Bush years. They want to privatize Social Security, turning what’s left of your retirement funds over to Wall Street, not because it’s good for you, but because its good for Wall Street. They want to abolish the minimum wage and regulations providing equal pay for equal work. They don’t like government regulation generally and would work against rules protecting workers from hazards in the workplace or protecting our environment for our children and our  children’s children. They want to continue the trend of redistribution of wealth that has taken place during the Bush years – taking more and more from the middle class and transferring it to the very wealthy. They will do this through regressive taxation – relieving large corporations and wealthy individuals of the obligation to pay their fair share, transferring that burden to the rest of us. They continue to embrace the failed “trickle down” theory of Ronald Reagan in spite of it’s obvious failure. They want to appoint extremist judges to the Supreme Court and take away every woman’s right to chose, banning abortion even when the life of the mother is at stake (you heard McCain say it in the last debate). They want to continue to undermine the religious freedom that we enjoy in this country by further eroding the wall of separation that has existed between Church and State since the foundation of our nation. They want to continue to allow big oil companies to grow richer at our expense by continuing our dependence on fossil fuels rather than implement strategies to conserve and develop alternative sources. And they would continue the Bush pattern of military aggression aimed at controlling the world’s scarce resources rather than engaging in cooperative action with other nations to solve the serious problems the world faces.
  2. Peter Roskam has not raised a single objection to all the many abuses of the Bush administration: the lies that were told to justify the ridiculous war against Iraq, the torture and illegal detention of prisoners, the illegal domestic spying, the outing of Valerie Plame, the politicization of the Justice Department, the Abramoff scandal, the looting by government contractors in Iraq, and on and on. By his silence, Roskam bears moral responsibility for all of them. Roskam is without a moral compass.
  3. Peter Roskam has done nothing in Congress except obstruct the efforts of the majority to tackle our problems. He has consistently used his vote to set up roadblocks to Democratic eforts to tackle problems such as the health insurance crisis, high energy prices, global warming, the shrinking middle class, and the plight of the poor. In order to succeed in office, President Obama will need legislator who will work cooperatively with him. Hyper-partisan Peter Roskam is not such a person.
  4. Roskam is insensitive to the needs of the poor and the middle class. He has consistently used his vote to aid the wealthiest americans and large corporations at the expense of the rest of us. On the basis of his voting record, Roskam was awarded the grade of F by themiddlelass.org and the grade of D by the Sargeant Shriver National Center on Poverty Law.
  5. Rather than use his vote to address the needs of his constituents, Roskam consitently votes for the benefit of large corporations. He has vote the U.S. Chamber of Commerce position 100% of the time. In return the the Chamber is running false adds, like the one below, claiming that Roskam is fighting for better health care. In fact, Roskam has voted multiple time against the expansion of the Children’s Healthcare Insurance Program and against parity in mental health benefits. Peter Roskam is an enemy of efforts to provide better healthcare to all Americans. He has demonstrated by his votes that he is only interested in protecting the pocketbooks of his corporate sponsors.

I urge Obama voters who might seriously consider voting to re-elect Roskam to take a close look at his voting record. There’s lots of links here that can help you do that.Even the solidly Republican Chicago Tribune has endorsed Roskam’s opponent. Roskam has used his office to serve special interests rather than to serve the majority of his constituents. He does not deserve to be returned to Washington.

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U.S. Chamber of Commerce Gives Peter Roskam Award for Voting Against Constituents Interests

On April 13, 2008, in AMT, Energy, Global Warming, Middle Class, Organized Labor, Peter Roskam, Peter Roskam's Corporate Agenda, SCHIP, by RSR
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The United States Chamber of Commerce recently honored Peter Roskam for proving in his first term to be “an effective ally to the business community”.

Sounds great until you realize what exactly “being an effective ally to the business community” means.

Put simply, it means consistently voting against the interests of the majority of citizens in your district and giving big business exactly what it demands.

It means means Roskam voting against reducing the dependence on fossil fuels that is threatening our national security and destroying our environment by requiring minimum standards for the percentage of electricity generated using renewable sources of energy.

It means Roskam voting against tax incentives for energy conservation and development of clean, renewable energy sources because they are funded by the repeal of tax breaks to big oil companies now enjoying huge profits at our expense every time we fill up our tanks.

It means Roskam voting against the Children’s Health and Medicare Protection Act of 2007 which would have insured that Illinois’ uninsured children receive the kind of health care that Roskam’s own kids get at taxpayer expense.

It means Roskam standing up for the interests of big drug companies rather than allowing the Medicare program to negotiate for better prices on prescription drugs.

It means Roskam voting against protection of his constituents right to equal pay for equal work. And their right to organize.

And it means Roskam voting against protecting middle class taxpayers from the Alternative Minimum Tax.

So congratulations on your big award, Peter, and thanks for nothing. Its time we had a new Representative in Congress who works for us and not for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

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McCain: The Problem is the Solution

On March 27, 2008, in Mortgage Crisis, Peter Roskam, Presidential Race 2008, by RSR
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No wonder Peter Roskam loves this guy. According to John McCain, de-regulation of markets is the answer to everything. Even to the problems caused by…er…deregulation of markets.

In a speech on March 25, to the Orange County Hispanic Small Business Roundtable, McCain had this to say about the origins of the present crisis:

“The other part of what happened was an explosion of complex financial instruments that weren’t particularly well understood by even the most sophisticated banks, lenders and hedge funds. To make matters worse, these instruments — which basically bundled together mortgages and sold them to others to spread risk throughout our capital markets — were mostly off-balance sheets, and hidden from scrutiny. In other words, the housing bubble was made worse by a series of complex, inter-connected financial bets that were not transparent or fully understood. That means they weren’t always managed wisely because people couldn’t properly quantify the risk or the value of these bets. And because these instruments were bundled and sold and resold, it became harder and harder to find and connect up a real lender with a real borrower. Capital markets work best when there is both accountability and transparency. In the case of our current crisis, both were lacking.”

I’m good with this so far. Deregulation has led to complex new instruments that are poorly understood and lacking in accountability and transparency.

And so the obvious solution is more careful regulation of the kinds of transactions that got us into trouble, right?

Wrong! McCain’s answer: increased de-regulation!

“In financial institutions, there is no substitute for adequate capital to serve as a buffer against losses. Our financial market approach should include encouraging increased capital in financial institutions by removing regulatory, accounting and tax impediments to raising capital.”

Also, get tough on homeowners, further reduce taxes on the wealthy by eliminating the AMT, and reduce the corporate tax rate leaving poor and middle class taxpayers to bear a greater share of the costs of Republican military adventures, oil company subsidies, and bailouts of failed banks. Yep, sounds like Roskam’s kind of plan.

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Peter Roskam Flunks Out

On March 16, 2008, in Congressional Elections, Jill Morgenthaler, Middle Class, Peter Roskam, by RSR
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Peter Roskam ranks among the nation’s worst Congressmen, at least when it comes to his voting record on issues affecting middle class Americans.

This according to the TheMiddleClass.org 2007 Congressional Scorecard issued this month by the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy, a non-partisan progressive think tank.

Roskam scored an F on the scorecard based upon his record of consistently voting against measures directed at improving the lot of middle class and low-income Americans including:

  • Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act of 2007
  • Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007
  • Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007
  • Clean Energy Act of 2007
  • Employee Free Choice Act of 2007
  • Children’s Health Insurance Program Re-authorization Act of 2007
  • Shareholder Vote on Executive Compensation Act of 2007
  • College Cost Reduction Act of 2007
  • Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2007
  • Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act of 2007
  • Temporary Tax Relief Act of 2007

Roskam chose to spend his first year in office pursuing the interests of the wealthiest residents of his district and of large corporations while actively working against legislation that would help the majority of his constituents whose means are more modest. All the while, Roskam railed against the Democrats in Congress for their supposed obstruction. It is clear from this impressive list of no votes that it was Roskam and his Republican colleagues who were attempting to throw up roadblocks.

Illinois Senators Barack Obama and Dick Durbin both scored highly on middle class issues, earning an A+ and an A, respectively.

Republicans are starting to get nervous about Roskam’s prospects this fall, Given Roskam’s appalling voting record and dismissive attitude toward his constituents, I don’t think a successful challenge is impossible.

There is finally a sign of impending activity at Jill Morgenthaler’s campaign website. I hope that we will soon see her taking Roskam to task for his performance.

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