The campaign website for Paul Reeves is now online. Mr. Reeves is a Democratic candidate for the United States House of Representatives for Nevada’s Congressional District #2.

Mr. Reeves opponent in the Democratic Party’s election to decide the nominee of the Democratic Party is Cynthia Olivas Trigg of Douglas County. The site of Mrs. Trigg is The Trigg Report.

Blue Lyon has done us a service. She has a chart on her blog which compares Single Payer healthcare vs Public Option healthcare. The chart was prepared for the League of Women Voters of Arizona.

It will be of assistance to you in deciding which version you want.

A tip of my hat to Blue Lyon.

David Shuster of MSNBC tweeted “intriguing update on Ensign.” So I went to see what he was talking about.

Shuster was referring to a post on TPM which read, “Is Ensign Walking Back Extortion Claim?”

A number of blogs and main stream media have been pondering the question of just why did Senator John Ensign disclose his affair with Cynthia Hampton?

TPM runs down excerpts from Politico, The Las Vegas Review-Journal, FOX News, NBC News, Roll Call, and The New York Times which focus on the question of whether Ensign made the disclosure because he was or was about to be the subject of extortion. Extortion is a felony. The FBI has been reported as not investigating an extortion compliant.

But today, the Las Vegas Review-Journal is reporting “According to Ensign’s aides, Doug Hampton had approached a television news network about the affair, prompting Ensign to go public. This could not immediately be confirmed.” TPM notes that is a different “spin” on Ensign’s motive. That spin is coming from Ensign’s aides, says TPM.

So what was Ensign’s motive: Extortion or TV exposure?

I’m a member of the Pahrump Chapter of Democracy for America. I have received the following e-mail from DFA seeking help in fighting off insurance company influence on Congress who oppose the public option. Insurance companies would, of course, prefer to keep their control over the healthcare industry and retain their lucrative profits. Our elected representatives, dazzled by all those campaign fund contributions that the insurance companies shower upon on them, have a tough time keeping their eye on the ball (looking out for us) and tend to want to vote for whatever the insurance companies want. Remember, members of congress aren’t going to do anything that they don’t figure is in THEIR best interests. So, our job is to sort of give them an incentive to vote in OUR interests. Here is your chance to provide that incentive—a kick in their rear ends—to remind them that if they don’t act in your interests—then you won’t vote for them during the 2010 election. [Read more →]

Sherman Frederick, (See photo to the left, taken from the RJ website)publisher of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, writes:

…it’s plain that the decision already has been made over at the Las Vegas Sun to do everything possible, journalism be damned, to elect Rory Reid next governor of Nevada.

Every morning I get the Review-Journal on my doorstep. Neatly tucked inside is the Las Vegas Sun.

Mr. Frederick is an outspoken man of the Republican view who isn’t bashful about presenting his opinion. Good for him, I like that.

Mr. Frederick accuses the Sun of touting the election of Rory Reid (photo-right) as Nevada’s next Governor.

The Sun article presents some criticism of Nevada Assembly Speaker’s, Barbara Buckley’s performance in the last legislation session. It also points out some positive accomplishments of Mr. Reid.

Mrs. Buckley’s defense of the legislative accomplishments are also covered.

Mr. Sherman’s indication is that Rory Reid, son of Senator Harry Reid, is the “insider” candidate of the Democratic Party.

The overall view of the Buckley-Reid potential contest for the Democratic Party’s candidate for Governor of Nevada appears accurate to me. Neither Reid nor Buckley have formally announced their candidacy, but it can be expected in the future, when each of them are ready to declare. So far no Republican has formally announced they are running for the office. Governor Gibbons may re-run, though he is toast. Either Reid or Buckley would be an improvement over Gibbons.

I joined working in the Obama Presidential campaign when I learned he eschewed taking campaign contributions from lobbyists. I have viewed lobbyists as corporate agents used to retain corporate ownership of the United States Congress. Bluntly, big corporations own Congress by using lobbyists to make campaign contributions to help re-elect Senators and Congressmen/women to office who help the corporations make more money.

I’ve posted blogs in the past stating that we ordinary people will have to buy back Congress so that Congress will have to represent us ordinary mortals rather than Corporate America.

In today’s Politico is an article that troubles me. I am troubled by Democrats looking for ways around Obama’s avoidance of lobbyist contributions.

Tonight there is a Democratic fundraiser scheduled to take place at some hotel. They call it an Issues Conference. It is an invitation only event—costs $5,000 a head to go. (You do have $5,000 laying around don’t you? But do you have an invitation?) I’m sure lobbyists have invitations and the $5,000 admission. The Obama rule is that no money be taken from lobbyists at tonight’s Conference.  So the Democrats won’t take lobbyists’ money tonight. But Friday morning, after Obama is gone, the lobbyists can line up with their campaign contributions in hand to pass over to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, who will willingly accept those campaign contributions. See the following quote from Politico:

Please note that the Friday Issues Conference is NOT subject to lobbyist restrictions, though the event is intended for personal contributions only,” a finance official from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee wrote in an e-mail sent to lobbyists Tuesday and obtained by POLITICO, bolding the entire sentence to underscore the clarification. “The Issues Conference is separate from the DSCC/DCCC events with President Obama.”

Democratic Senators and Congressmen/women are just as susceptible to accepting corporate contributions as are Republicans. Common sense tells you that those that accept the money will see that those that gave the money get the red-carpeted treatment.

We ordinary Democrats will take a second seat while corporate American continues on with business as usual.

There has got to be a better way to finance political campaigns. Money is the mother’s milk of politics. Obama’s presidential campaign demonstrated that us ordinary people can have our voices heard with $5, $10, $20 campaign contributions so long as we remain engaged and make such contributions by the thousands. Democratic and Republican Senators and Congressmen/women need to learn that lesson and gear their campaigns to appeal to the ordinary voter for their contributions and support rather than the wealthy corporations.

I don’t expect that to happen. But I think it should. Democratic politicians are following the same old path which leads to corruption as we saw during the Bush-Cheney regime. We never learn.