When Exxon/Mobil released its financial figures for the 2nd quarter of 2006, it added to the anger a lot of people feel towards the rich oil companies. They posted profits of
$10.36 billion in April-June 2006, the 2nd largest quarterly profit ever recorded by a publicly traded U.S. company. We consumers watch gas prices at the pump go up and up, & worry about keeping our houses heated and whether Social Security will still be there when we retire, while in April 2006 Exxon/Mobil pensioned off their former CEO with a retirement package worth more than
$400 million. This in a world where the Republican-dominated Congress won't lift the minimum wage, but votes itself fat pay raises.
How did the stockbrokers and the fossil fuel industry respond to the public's outrage? `
A rising tide lifts all boats,' said an Oppenheimer analyst.
Here's news for the rich and comfy: A rising tide doesn't lift your boat if you're tethered to the bottom by a working-class wage. And if you're making minimum wage, the water's been over your head for five or six years now, and getting deeper all the time.
All this while their industry's lobbyists and their paid lackey, Republican Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, were whining in Washington that "eco-extremists" and "tree-huggers" were blocking them from drilling in the Arctic.
I'm profiling a series of races in which good, progressive Democrats are running against GOP incumbents who are on the take from Exxon. I couldn't do them all. There are too many. I had to be selective. Feel free to make your own list. In the mean time, please visit the ActBlue page below, and donate a few bucks--if you have any left after paying your gas bill.
State Representative Angie Paccione, CO-04, is a splendid candidate, running against the most rabidly anti-gay extremist in Congress.
http://www.Angie2006.com
In the state legislature, Angie's support for issues of importance to working families has earned her the endorsement of innumerable unions and a veteran's group. She sponsored a resolution supporting Congresswoman DeGette's stem cell bill in Congress, and the resolution passed with broad bipartisan support.
Marilyn Musgrave, the incumbent, has taken $5,000 so far this cycle from Exxon/Mobil. What does that money pay for, you ask?
Well, on May 3, given the opportunity to vote for a popular bill to stop price gouging by oil companies, Musgrave was one of only 34 members of Congress who voted `no.'
An honest politician, they say, is a politician who stays bought.
Marilyn did find time, though, to vote herself a pay raise this year.
Clinging to Bush's coattails, Musgrave won narrowly over Stan Matsunaka in the 2004 general election, in which she outspent her opponent four-to-one. Musgrave will be weakened this time by facing a Reform Party candidate, Eric Eidsness, a former Republican, on the ballot, as well as Angie. Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report predicts that Eidsness will draw votes primarily from Musgrave.
Colorado is trending bluer. This is a winnable district even if 2006 doesn't turn out to be a landslide year for the Democratic Party.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has reserved $630,000 worth of TV time in Angie's district. But they haven't bought it yet; Paccione has to demonstrate sufficient support to show them that their ad buy will be money well spent.
Well, the most recent poll shows Angie Paccione only 4 points behind the incumbent. It's only mid-August, but she's already raised almost as much cash as the 2004 Democratic challenger raised in the entire cycle. She outraised Musgrave in the 2nd quarter of 2006, according to the candidates' filings with the FEC.
If you live in or near the district, please volunteer for Angie's campaign. Get involved.
If not, please visit the ActBlue page below (or her own page, or any of the other pages that feature and support this outstanding candidate), and drop a few actual dollars in the tin cup. Think how much better you'll feel.
http://www.actblue.com/...