VOLUNTEER AT THE DEMOCRATIC TENT AT THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY FAIR

As we do each year, WSDC has adopted a day to staff the Democratic Party tent at the Montgomery County Fair in Gaithersburg.  With federal, state, and county elections coming up in 2014, we want to be sure that all Democratic voters are registered. The fair is also a great opportunity to recruit new Club members.

Speaking at the club's June 3^rd luncheon, he focused on his frustrations, hopes, and fears related to the "tough political environment" in Washington.

Frustration: Budget Battles

Democrats, says the Congressman, subscribe to the "reasonable notion" that we need a balanced approach with increased revenue and "smart savings." Republicans, on the other hand, are fixated on cuts and have engineered the sequestration that is in fact slowing the economy. According to Sarbanes, after the last election, Democrats thought the GOP would respect the choice of the American people and try to work with the President. Instead, they are willing to sacrifice good policy to rigid ideology.

Hope: Areas of Optimism

Sarbanes believes, first, that an immigration bill will pass because the majority of the American people want it, the growing population of Hispanics expects it, and thus the Republicans need it. As for gun safety legislation, he remains optimistic because, although "the machinery in Washington was not able to process the will of the American people," the momentum has changed. The impetus from Newtown has allowed us to begin creating the infrastructure necessary to combat the NRA network and "make this a balanced discussion."

Fear: Money in Politics

This problem, which is causing a deep cynicism in most Americans, comes from the need for candidates to raise $1.5 million every 2 years. Forced to go to deep-pocketed special interests to raise this much money, a natural tendency for even honest politicians is to follow human nature and lean towards these interests over those of ordinary citizens: "We should walk around with those corporate logos on our sleeves." The Congressman is concerned about the effect of the resulting cynicism on government and hopes that Congress can channel that frustration into legislation. To this end, Congressman Chris Van Hollen has introduced the Disclosure Act to make clear where donated money is coming from.

Some are trying to introduce a Constitutional Amendment to overcome Citizens United. Given the slow, difficult amendment process, however, this strategy, if it could succeed at all, would take years. Sarbanes himself is working on legislation to establish the public funding of campaigns to give voice to "the people alone," to quote James Madison. The legislation would entail tax credits, matches for donations, and additional funds to counteract virulent verbal attacks.

After his presentation Congressman Sarbanes turned to questioners. In reference to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), he is encouraged that, despite Republicans' dire predictions and distortions of the truth about the ACA, providers are entering the system and the Act has extended estimations of Medicare solvency. But he expressed concern that Congress was not appropriating funds for the National Health Care Workforce Advisory Committee. He fears a resulting shortage of health care workers.

Questions also addressed, among other topics, election strategy and further economic issues.

Congressman Sarbanes ended by stressing again the dangerous effects of strident ideology, incessant fundraising, and the press's penchant for focusing on extremists and controversy-all of which keep colleagues from sitting down together to govern.

RECAP OF SENATOR TIM KAINE'S REMARKS AT JUNE 22 AFTERNOON PARTY

Sen. Tim Kaine speaks to members.

Introduced by WDC president Beth Tomasello as the first sitting governor to endorse Barack Obama for president, Tim Kaine, the newly elected Virginia senator gave a lively but candid assessment of his impressions of Congress after six months on the job--a job he is thrilled to have despite the many frustrations.

 

Speaking to an audience enjoying summer weather on a shady terrace at the Marriott in Friendship Heights, he began with profuse thanks to members of WDC for their help in his election last fall.  Almost a million phone calls by Marylanders on behalf of candidate Kaine and President Obama in 2012 helped to ensure that the 2008 election was not a fluke in Virginia, as many analysts had claimed, he said.  Virginia is now trending blue, he added.

 

Senator Kaine serves on the Budget, the Armed Services and the Foreign Relations Committees.  Because Virginia is so heavily connected to the military, and as the proud father of an active duty Marine, Kaine said it is an honor to be on the Armed Services committee. One of the most urgent issues now is veterans' unemployment.  Part of the solution, he thinks, is to help military personnel gain credentials for training while on active duty--a commercial driver's license for driving trucks, for example.  To this end, he has introduced the  Troop Talent Act.

 

On Foreign Relations, Kaine noted that he now chairs the International Development subcommittee--previously headed by Senator Cardin--which handles USAID, the Peace Corps and other international organizations that are critical to U.S. diplomatic success in the wider world.  The Virginia senator described himself as passionately interested in the Americas, stemming from his days as a young missionary in Honduras, where he learned fluent Spanish, which he pointed out has been continuously spoken in North America longer than English.

 

The issue of the moment in Congress is immigration reform, so Kaine decided to give a speech in the Senate entirely in Spanish, "explaining the proposed bill to some of the immigrants to whom it matters most in their own language".  This was a first on the Senate floor.  Especially after the failure of the farm bill last week, Kaine described the fate of immigration reform, critical for the economy, as a test of the Senate's seriousness as an institution.

 

The senator responded to almost a dozen wide-ranging queries from the audience, ranging from domestic issues like health care, gun control, student loan interest rates, and campaign finance reform, to more purely political questions.  On the complex issue of changing the filibuster that Republicans have used repeatedly to derail Democratic initiatives which would easily pass by majority vote, Kaine explained that the problem lies in the history of the Senate, which considers itself in continuous session because of the staggered terms, and therefore requires a two-thirds vote to change the rules.  The Senate record is full of speeches from Democrats like Joe Biden and Ted Kennedy adamantly opposing changing the filibuster rule.   Kaine said that newer Democratic senators may nevertheless revisit this issue in the future, especially for presidential appointments which require Congressional approval.

 

Regarding Syria, Kaine described the administration's dilemma as "vexing and challenging" with no easy answers.  While Assad's "two-year war against his own people is horrifying," the opposition is extremely fragmented and prone to sectarian violence.  The fall of Assad could result in ethnic purges of some minorities like the Alawites and Christians which have been protected by the regime.  An added complication is that some of the strongest opposition elements are now allied with Al Qaeda. 

 

"A kind of middle-of-the-roader" is how Senator Kaine characterized himself on energy issues.  His mantra:  "Do it cleaner tomorrow than today."  By this standard it is the "dirty, backward" tar sands process of extracting oil that he finds more objectionable than the Keystone XL pipeline itself.  The White House, he added, is wrestling with this difficult issue and it's still unclear how the administration will decide.

by Lucy Freeman

Mark Bergel, A Wider Circle; Charlotte Corbett, Interfaith Works; Minerva Delgado, Manna Food Center; Brett Meyers, Nourish Now; Lin Orrin, MobileMed; Lucy Freeman, WDC Education Chair at Montgomery 101 Program.

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The September 18 selection is Louis D. Brandeis: A Life, the first full-scale biography in 25 years of one of the most important and distinguished justices to sit on the Supreme Court.Author Melvin Urofsky reveals Justice Brandeis the reformer, lawyer, and jurist, as well as Brandeis the man, in all of his complexity, passion, and wit.