Blogging Blue » Gwen Moore

Gwen Moore misses debt ceiling vote

Zach W — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 00:56:05 +0000

To say the vote in the House earlier this week to approve the debt ceiling capitulation legislation was highly publicized and scrutinized would be an understatement. After Speaker John Boehner’s own debt ceiling legislation passed the House by a narrow margin and was promptly killed in the U.S. Senate, lawmakers worked hard to find some “compromise” (you say compromise, I say capitulation) to raise the federal debt ceiling. Those efforts resulted in the debt ceiling increase legislation that was voted on by both the House and Senate and signed into law by President Barack Obama.

However, what caught my eye when perusing the vote record in the House was the fact that Democratic Rep. Gwen Moore of Milwaukee didn’t vote on the bill. According to a report by Sharif Durhams of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Rep. Moore missed casting her vote by seconds after being delayed in returning to the floor of the House by extra press and security in the hallways of the Capitol.

Moore spokesman David Frey did say Rep. Moore intended to vote in favor of the “compromise” legislation worked out over the weekend by congressional leaders and President Barack Obama, giving me yet another reason to be less than enthusiastic about Rep. Moore.

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver: I’d vote for debt deal, “punch myself in stomach, then throw up.”

Zach W — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 00:18:19 +0000

“The debt ceiling will be raised… I won’t allow it not to be lifted… [I'd do what I have to do], then go home, punch myself in the stomach, then throw up.”

– Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, appearing on Hardball

For what it’s worth, Rep. Cleaver voted against the debt ceiling “compromise” legislation, so he won’t have to punch himself in the stomach and then throw up.

Among the Democrats in Wisconsin’s Congressional delegation, Rep. Tammy Baldwin voted against the debt ceiling “compromise” legislation, while Rep. Ron Kind voted in favor. Curiously, Rep. Gwen Moore did not cast a vote.

What do ramen noodles and mayonnaise sandwiches have to do with the right to choose? Ask Dan Sebring!

Zach W — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 10:18:29 +0000

I’ll given Dan Sebring credit; he’s certainly not afraid to take a chance at offending voters. You’ll remember Sebring as the Republican “Tea Party” candidate who failed miserably in his quest to unseat Democratic Rep. Gwen Moore in 2010, but you may also remember Sebring from the press release he issued announcing his candidacy in 2010, a press release in which Sebring proudly proclaimed his status as a Mayflower descendent.

Not content with the electoral drubbing he received at the hands of Rep. Moore in 2010 – a drubbing which came in a huge wave year favoring Republicans, no less – Sebring is gearing up for another loss in 2012, and this time he’s bringing ramen noodles and mayonnaise sandwiches with him.

Having been poor at one point in my life, I find Sebring’s “ad” offensive on any number of levels, but I wouldn’t expect Mayflower descendent Dan Sebring to understand why his “ad” might be viewed as grossly offensive by broad swaths of the constituency he hopes to represent.

Congressional listening session – TONIGHT!

Zach W — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 10:43:37 +0000

Tonight Reps. Gwen Moore, Tammy Baldwin, Barbara Lee, and Jan Schakowsky will hold a Congressional listening session to hear from citizens regarding the need to create good jobs in our communities.

The meeting will be held tonight from 6:30 to 8:00pm at Vincent High School, which is located at 7501 N. Granville Road.

I’ll be there, and I hope to see you there too!

Dan Sebring: if at first you don’t succeed, lose and lose again!

Zach W — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 10:00:08 +0000

Apparently extreme far-right conservative Dan Sebring, not content with the electoral drubbing he received in his race against Democratic Rep. Gwen Moore in 2010, is primed for another run against Rep. Moore in 2012. You’ll remember Sebring ran as a write-in candidate in 2008 and was absolutely crushed by Rep. Moore in 2010, having received just 29.6% of the vote to Moore’s 69.1%, but apparently he thinks the third time around will be the charm.

No word yet on whether Sebring will be courting the “Mayflower descendant” vote in 2012, but given the fact that the 4th Congressional district is heavily Democratic, (with a Cook Partisan Voting Index rating of +22 Democratic), I’m not sure that much of anything will help Sebring beat Gwen Moore. Given that Sebring couldn’t crack 30 percent of the vote in a huge wave year for Republicans, I’m finding it hard to believe he’ll be able to pull within 15 percent of Gwen Moore, much less beat her.

You scratch my back…I’ll scratch yours.

Jeff Simpson — Tue, 10 May 2011 04:28:25 +0000

I have heard about this before, now it is starting to get some play. This from Redstate.com:

During the 2010 election cycle, Wisconsinites received a revelation: The members of our state’s congressional delegation, we learned, had an “Unwritten Rule.” According to Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R, 5th CD), members of said congressional delegation, Republicans and Democrats together, turned out to be colluding by not endorsing candidates of their own party who were running in the districts of opposition incumbents.

Let that information sink in for a moment…

Wisconsin Republicans, such as Paul Ryan (1st CD) and Jim Sensenbrenner, were refusing to endorse Republican candidates running in districts held by Gwen Moore (4th CD), Tammy Baldwin (2nd CD), and other über-lefties—that is, in territory where Republican candidates needed more help, not less, to get elected. Instead, Republican incumbents said, “Sorry. You’re on your own.”

Why…?

Because if Ryan and Sensenbrenner, for example, endorsed Republican candidates in Moore’s and Baldwin’s districts, Moore and Baldwin would endorse Democratic candidates in theirs. Well, now, that would get downright un-neighborly, wouldn’t it…?

So, Wisconsin’s Republican and Democratic legislators work hand in hand to ensure that none of them has to face any stiff or unpleasant competition. Evidently, for Ryan and Sensenbrenner, protecting their own seats in Washington comes first, while standing on principle faithfully to advance a true conservative platform in an election cycle comes a very distant last.

Well I have problems with a “true conservative platform” obviously(especially when a party runs people like Sean Duffy and Paul Ryan), and would argue(and be right) that paul ryan has never stood on principle in his life, but I digress. The point here is if it works one way(Ryan not endorsing say Chad Lee), then it works the other way(Tammy Baldwin not endorsing John Heckenlively). So the progressives from WI should be just as upset about this as the republicans.

I personally understand where the republicans are coming from. I never paid attention to this before but I will in the next election cycle. I would have the same disdain for Moore/Baldwin staying out of the Zerban(or any other candidate)/Ryan race as I do for Pedro Colon endorsing David Prosser(good job on that one by the way Judge Colon).

Gwen Moore grills Scott Walker

Zach W — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 19:03:22 +0000

Watch as Democratic Rep. Gwen Moore grills Republican Gov. Scott Walker during Walker’s appearance in front of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee last week:

See also: Rep. Dennis Kucinich rips Gov. Walker a new one.

Rep. Gwen Moore speaks out on tax deal with GOP

Zach W — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 12:11:08 +0000

Watch as Rep. Gwen Moore shares her thoughts on the tax deal reached by President Obama and Congressional Republicans:

House votes to censure Rangel

Zach W — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 04:29:33 +0000

By a vote of 333-79, the House of Representatives voted yesterday to censure Democratic Rep. Charlie Rangel after Rangel was found guilty on 11 counts of violating House rules, including failing to pay taxes on a vacation home in the Dominican Republic and improperly using his office to raise money for an educational center bearing his name. The vote required Rep. Rangel to stand in the well of the House as a formal censure resolution was read aloud by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Wisconsin’s Congressional delegation was near-unanimous in its support of the censure resolution, with Rep. Gwen Moore the lone holdout against censuring Rep. Rangel.

Dan Sebring alleges vote fraud, refuses to concede

Zach W — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 10:14:27 +0000

Despite losing to Rep. Gwen Moore by 82,000 votes on Tuesday (A result I rightly predicted, by the way), Dan Sebring, the far-right Republican challenger to incumbent Rep. Moore in the Fourth Congressional District, has refused to concede the election, alleging vote fraud on Facebook before taking the post down. Here’s a screenshot of the post in question, seeing as how Sebring removed it from Facebook:

Click for full size image

We are compiling statements from poll workers who can attest to surges of “new” voter registrations without proper verification of residency (like trying to use advertising mailers addressed to “occupant”) and other anomalies at the polls yesterday. If you are a poll worker or voter who witnessed such things I need to hear from you asap!!

I understand that alleging vote fraud in the City of Milwaukee is par for the course for conservatives during an election year, allegations of widespread vote fraud have never been proven, and while I understand Dan Sebring is probably having a hard time coming to grips with the fact that he was absolutely crushed in a year that was obviously favorable to Republicans, one only needs to look at the composition of the Fourth Congressional District to understand that from the moment he declared himself a candidate, Dan Sebring was destined to lose to Rep. Moore.

Ed. Note: I’ve edited the post to include a screenshot of Sebring’s allegations, seeing as how he’s removed it from Facebook.