Thank You Tim Walz

From the Winona Daily News
By: Chris Tubbs

I am a recent graduate of Winona State University. Unfortunately, I began looking for a post-graduation job just as the Great Recession hit hard. Suddenly jobs disappeared, I was laid off, and my life suffered because of it. I have been prevented from beginning my career in earnest, my credit rating took a huge hit, I was almost kicked out onto the street, and my five-year relationship with a woman that meant the world to me crumbled under the pressure of my chronic unemployment.

Two groups of people bear primary responsibility for the ruination of everything I had worked for. Wall Street bankers and financiers caused the Great Recession by trying to make as much money as possible without caring about the consequences of their actions. President Bush and Republicans in Congress repeatedly blocked attempts to hold Wall Street accountable for its actions before it was too late. The result of the actions of these two groups of people was the destruction of the lives of millions of Americans.

Fortunately for us all there is one group of people that are making sure that Wall Street will never again ruin the lives of hard-working Americans like me: Democrats in Congress. The U.S. House of Representatives has recently passed the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act which will increase consumer protections against predatory lending, protect future homeowners, rein in irresponsible Wall Street pay packages, and end taxpayer bailouts and the “too big to fail” mentality.

I would like to thank our excellent Representative Tim Walz for voting to protect average people like me and hold Wall Street accountable for its actions. Rep. Walz has brought great credit to the State of Minnesota in Congress. It is stunning that Minnesota’s Republican representatives, along with ALL Republicans in the House, voted against protecting the American people from Wall Street greed. Shame on them – and thank you Tim Walz.

Politico: Double-digit Dem losses in the House?

An article in the Politico assesses the Democrat’s chances in the 2010 mid-term elections. The Dems are definitely going to lose seats, the important question is, how many?

The 40 seats required for a Republican takeover of the House is out of the question barring a major scandal involving squeaky-clean Obama himself. Health care is getting people shook up, but its not swing-voters holding up the portraits of Obama with a Charlie Chaplin (that’s who they’re comparing him to right?) mustache.

With more to worry the Democrats, Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com tells the Politico:

“A lot of Democratic freshmen and sophomores will be running in a much tougher environment than in 2006 and 2008 and some will adapt to it, but a lot of others will inevitably freak out and end up losing,”

Why does Silver believe a member of the House with two to four years of experience will not be able to handle a race against a newcomer? Many of these representatives (such as Tim Walz of MN-1) fought tough races to beat incumbents for their seats.

Can the Republicans pick up 20 seats? Maybe, depending on how many districts went by a margin slim enough to attribute a Dem victory to the youth vote. The turnout among 18-29 year olds will undoubtedly be down in the mid-term, but I don’t know if it was ever high enough to matter anyway. Besides, turnout for every age group goes down in mid-terms.

Ten seats? Sounds about right. Provided the economy turns around by the election, ten seats is an acceptable and expected loss for the president’s party in a mid-term. Incumbency is a hell of an advantage, unless the Democrats fumble health care reform something fierce the 112th Congress should be something Obama can work with.