Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Liberalism: Do You Agree We've Had Enough of It? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (78162)	1/26/2010 1:15:05 AM
From: Thomas M.	Respond to of 224756

From what I hear, he's not pushing for a budget freeze. He's pushing for a non-military budget freeze. In other words, keep spending on killing but cut spending on feeding and housing. Which GOP plank is he not going to push during his Presidency? Tom

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (78162)	1/26/2010 1:47:08 AM
From: Hope Praytochange	Respond to of 224756

WARREN, Ohio—Jim Traficant, the often flamboyant and outrageous former congressman, is fresh out of federal prison, hosting a radio talk show and contemplating a bid for Congress. The onetime sheriff was known, before his felony fraud conviction, for his denim suits, bushy hairdo and short tirades. He now wants to ride the current wave of political discontent back to Washington. "People are fed up," said Mr. Traficant, who took last week's surprise Republican win in Massachusetts as an encouraging sign for his campaign, despite his being a Democrat. "I think voters are very much the same. They want jobs." Mr. Traficant's populism goes way back. As sheriff of Mahoning County, Ohio, he refused to evict people whose homes were being foreclosed on. With his affinity for the underdog and a penchant for angering leaders of his party, Mr. Traficant is counting on the current populist wave to help voters forgive him for his 10-felony count conviction on bribery, fraud and tax evasion and expulsion from Congress. He served seven years in prison.

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (78162)	1/26/2010 1:47:18 AM
From: Hope Praytochange	Respond to of 224756

The 68-year-old Mr. Traficant has no campaign funding or staff. Volunteers have gathered the 50 signatures needed to get him on the Democratic ballots in the 17th Congressional District, which he used to represent, and the Sixth Congressional District, where he now lives. Mr. Traficant said he hasn't decided between the districts; both are heavily Democratic and largely blue collar. Democrat Tim Ryan, who worked for Mr. Traficant and now represents Ohio's 17th District, declined to comment. Kristi Paolina, a campaign spokeswoman for Democratic Rep. Charles Wilson of the Sixth District, said, "We feel like it's inappropriate to comment on someone who's not an opponent." Some say Mr. Traficant's attempted comeback is the last thing politicians of both parties need. Neil Oxman, a Democratic political consultant, called Mr. Traficant's political aspirations "ridiculous." "We're not talking about somebody who just got a traffic ticket," he said. "Especially now when people are really worried about something real in their lives, do they want to see this circus side show? Spare the voters your insanity." Mr. Traficant has a core of supporters, many retired or nearing retirement who remember him from before he got into trouble. "Anything he has done pales in comparison to what is being perpetrated upon the American public at this time," said T.B. Parr, a 64-year-old high school English teacher from Poland, Ohio. "I personally think he was railroaded." But among young voters, he is an unknown. For the Democratic Party, he could be a liability. "He has some support and traction in the community, but there's a difference between liking Jim Traficant and voting for him," said David Betras, chair of the Mahoning County Democratic Party. "I think people will say his time for politics has come and gone."