Yesterday at NN08, I spoke with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, former Vice President Al Gore, and U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett about the bill in Congress to move Election Day to Saturday and Sunday. Check out the video.

Those of you who were unable to be here have been crying for photos, descriptions, liveblogging, video, and all sorts of other fun stuff. I aim to please. Make the jump and I'll share photos from the last couple days.

Join Netroots Nation, Senator Russ Feingold, Rep Lloyd Doggett, Rep Brad Miller and a team of celebrity bloggers this Wednesday,  evening in Washington, DC for our annual grassroots, low-dollar fundraiser.  RSVP NOW

But that's not all, below the jump we've got many more reasons to come by....

RSVP NOW

You already know that Netroots American hero, Sen Russ Feingold, is coming to share a few words with us next Wednesday.

But now, we're pleased to announce a stellar group of Progressives.....

Hi - so the vote has been moved to this morning but here's the play-by-play of last night's debate (with commentary of course) from www.eyesontrade.org:

Texas Rep. Lloyd Doggett talks about Magical September:

“When the surge was announced, the White House said, ‘wait til the summer.’ And as the summer approached, the White House said, ‘wait til September.’ Well, now that this much overrated September is here, they cry, ‘wait til next year.’ The only real mystery about President Bush’s September decision has been what new excuse he would offer to justify staying the same old deadly course. And as the American people have seen through the duplicity of each and other excuse, the President has returned to his original ploy: 9/11. Coincidentally, just as we receive this report on the anniversary of 9/11. He claims that, quote, ‘the same folks that are bombing in Iraq are the ones who attacked us in America on September the 11th.’ That is false and he knows it’s false.”

It's clear the public doesn't even care what Petraeus says.

As you may know, a report about the situation in Iraq by General David Petraeus, the Commander of U.S. forces, and others is scheduled to be released next week. If the report says that the situation in Iraq is IMPROVING, what should the U.S. do next: should the U.S. increase the number of U.S. troops in Iraq, keep the same number of U.S. troops in Iraq as there are now, decrease the number of troops in Iraq, or remove all its troops from Iraq?

Increase 6%
Keep the same 32%
Decrease 39%
Remove all troops 17%

No one trusts Petraeus or his White House-authored "report". The testimony today is irrelevant. They want out.

We all expect Petraeus to claim that we've "turned the corner" and that all we need is another "six months". It doesn't take a genius to divine what the general has up his sleeve.

The only question is whether Democrats will give Americans what they want -- a tough line in favor of withdrawal -- or whether they'll collapse as they did last Spring.

Over the years, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D) has issued a lot of press releases made a lot of headlines railing on corporate tax loopholes and the "tax gap" - the gap between what taxes are owed and what taxes are paid. In fact, just last month, the Financial Times reported that Baucus held a hearing specifically to rail on tax loopholes that let companies hide their profits in Caribbean tax havens. "If American companies are setting up shop at the beach just to avoid their tax obligations, we can't keep our heads in the sand," Baucus thundered. This posture has allowed Baucus to sugarcoat his generally lobbyist-friendly agenda with something that seems populist.

I apologize for how thin this is, but today's developments suggest the whole Farm Bill may be in immediate danger... which is about as close as I ever get to "Breaking News."

From Blog for Rural America:

   

Just today, House of Representatives Republican Minority Leader John Boehner announced that the House Republican Leadership would oppose the 2007 Farm Bill passed by the House Agriculture Committee last Thursday. From the Republican Leader's e-alert:

   

"In a sneak attack on American working families, House Democratic leaders have revealed they will pay for new spending in the 2007 farm bill by imposing a new tax increase that threatens more than 5 million American jobs..."

It turns out I made the decision to run based on inaccurate information.  Please disregard this e-mail, I plan to make an apology to Congressman Doggett at the first available opportunity.  Congressman Doggett voted against the war appropriations bill.

To say I'm utterly embarrassed would be an understatement.

Update - The Olbermann show just cancelled, citing other breaking news. Sorry about that - I committed the sin I shouldn't have committed - telling folks you are going to be on TV when you are booked but before you go on. Sorry I cried wolf, or, in this case, cried Olbermann.

In a new op-ed for the Baltimore Sun today, I walk through how the progressive movement's pressure and protest helped force a majority pro-war House and Senate to pass tough antiwar legislation (barring breaking news or a major plane delay, I was scheduled to be on MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann to discuss the topics in this op-ed, and my memo analyzing what Democrats should do if Bush vetoes the final bill, but that has since been cancelled). Though the legislation is far from perfect, our movement, including the progressive lawmakers who used brinksmanship, should be extraordinarily proud.

Since the latest redistricting of Texas, I am once again in Lloyd Doggett's district. Today he sent an email request for input on the remarks he will make during the House debate on the Iraq war next week--he will have five minutes to speak. As a Texan, I am so grateful to have this kind of representation in the House (even though I still have no representation in the Senate). I am also so grateful that the day has finally come when we have so many strong Democratic voices in both houses. Lloyd Doggett has been an outspoken critic of the war since before it started, when few politicians seemed the courage to speak out.

Below are Cong. Doggett's email and my reply. (Thanks, Maccabee, for your recent diary, which I linked to in my response to him.) Although the congressman has directed his request for input to his constituents, feel free to add your comments below. I will send him a link to this diary.

Great. The Republican response to the Supreme Court's order to redraw the congressional map is to try to disenfranchise more voters.

http://www.statesman.com/...

If the map is approved, Travis County, the blue island of rationality in the red sea of idiocy that is Texas, will be split among three districts with Republican incumbents. They're working hard to get rid of Lloyd Doggett, our long-time and most excellent representative.

Why do I have this title? Let me count the ways.

The Supreme Court said the map must be redrawn due to voting rights problems in CD 23.  But once you start moving voters around there are potentially up to 4 districts --- CD 23, 28, 21 and 25 THAT may have to be redrawn because of deficiencies in minority representation as defined in the Voting Rights Act.

The extension of the Voting Rights Act could be done in this session but it doesn't have to happen until the next session in the new Congress.

If there was no Voting Rights Act, SCOTUS would have no grounds to say that these maps must be redrawn.    

What could happen depends upon whether the lines have to be redone before or after the 2006 election.  

I've been wanting to write this diary for a while now I just havn't had the time or energy but I feel up to the task right now.

So who's your favorite Senator and member of the House? Congress has definitely sucked lately, but there are still plenty of excellent members to go around in both the House and the Senate.

I'm from Oklahoma so I know just how hard it is to be a progressive Democrat (or jst a Democrat for that matter), in a conservative state. So I'm definitely partial to Democrats in the south and midwest. I'm also a big fan of the old timers, who have maintained a passion for public service for a couple of decades or more. Anyways, my favorites below the fold: