Debbie Wasserman Schultz needs to step down as DNC chair, and for the sake of party unity she needs to leave before the Democratic Convention in Philadelphia.
Bill Moyers agrees.
Democrats Can’t Unite Unless Wasserman Schultz Goes!
The Democratic National Committee chair has thrown fuel on the flames of infighting just as the party faces a critical November election.
BY BILL MOYERS AND MICHAEL WINSHIP
As we recently wrote, “… She embodies the tactics that have eroded the ability of Democrats to once again be the party of the working class. As Democratic National Committee chair she has opened the floodgates for Big Money, brought lobbyists into the inner circle and oiled all the moving parts of the revolving door that twirls between government service and cushy jobs in the world of corporate influence.”
It’s the skullduggery going on within the Democratic Party establishment that’s our current concern and as we wrote in March, Rep. Wasserman Schultz “has played games with the party’s voter database, been accused of restricting the number of Democratic candidate debates and scheduling them at odd days and times to favor Hillary Clinton, and recently told CNN’s Jake Tapper that superdelegates — strongly establishment and pro-Clinton — are necessary at the party’s convention so deserving incumbent officials and party leaders don’t have to run for delegate slots ‘against grassroots activists.’ Let that sink in, but hold your nose against the aroma of entitlement.”
Why, pray tell, shouldn’t the peaceful majority of Sanders people be angry at the slow-motion, largely invisible rigging of the political process by Wasserman Schultz and the Clinton machine — all for the benefit of Secretary Clinton?
So, too, has her abolition of the restraints that had been placed on corporate lobbyists and big money — now they can write checks bankrolling what doubtless will be swank and profligate parties during this summer’s Democratic National Convention. At The Intercept, Lee Fang and Zaid Jilani report that a number of the members of the Philadelphia host committee “are actively working to undermine progressive policies achieved by President Barack Obama, including health care reform and net neutrality. Some… are hardly even Democratic Party stalwarts, given that many have donated and raised thousands of dollars for Republican presidential and congressional candidates this cycle.”
This is a slap in the face to progressives calling for a halt to big money and allowing lobbyists to buy our elected officials. And it’s contrary to what Hillary Clinton herself has said about money and politics on the campaign trail. The Sanders movement has shown that lots of cash can be raised from everyday people making small donations. His supporters and all of us should be outraged that Debbie Wasserman Schultz and convention officials have kowtowed not only to the corporate wing of their own party but also to those high rollers who back the opposition and ideas antithetical to a democracy.
Rep. Wasserman Schultz is facing a primary challenge for the first time this year, her opponent a law professor, activist and progressive Sanders supporter named Tim Canova. But the primary’s not until late August, long after the Democratic National Convention. Unless she steps down now or Hillary Clinton has her removed, Philadelphia will be dominated by someone who represents everything that has gone wrong with the Democratic Party and Washington. At the convention’s opening session, Debbie Wasserman Schultz will be bringing the gavel down squarely on progressive hopes of returning the party to its legacy as champion of working people and the dispossessed.
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Time for her to go.
Van Jones weighs in saying Debbie Wasserman Schultz is even worse than Reince Priebus would be as a DNC chair.
Van Jones escalates war with Debbie Wasserman Schultz: ‘I wish Reince Priebus was my party chair’
By David Edwards
Jones pointed out that Clinton had done a “great job” as the United States’ top diplomat, “but the diplomacy when it comes to Sanders has just been below sub par.”
“You’ve got a situation now where I think you have a leadership failure possibly in both wings of the party,” the CNN contributor observed. “And, Debbie, who should be the umpire, who should be the marriage counselor is coming in harder for Hillary Clinton that she is for herself.”
“That’s malpractice. I wish Reince Priebus was my party chair. He did a better job of handling the Trump situation than I’ve seen my party chair handle this situation. I’m ashamed to say that.”
Shaun King excoriates Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s performance as DNC chair:
KING: Here’s why I’m leaving the Democratic Party after this presidential election and you should too
Right now, the Democratic Party, which I have called home my entire life, is deeply in love with money. Consequently, its leaders have supported and advanced all kinds of evil, big and small, in devotion to this love affair.
Did you know that Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who was a co-chair of Hillary Clinton's 2008 campaign against Obama, and is now the chair of the DNC, earlier this year did away with all of the restrictions on lobbyists that President Obama put in place?
Campaign watchdog groups were furious. This is a disgusting and unnecessary reversion, but it gives us a real clue into how the Democratic Party sincerely sees money in politics. They love it. They certainly didn't do this for Bernie Sanders. His campaign does not accept donations from SuperPACs or lobbyists and he's won 21 primaries and caucuses without it. The Clinton campaign, on the other hand, is awash in this type of money.
In essence, Hillary Clinton and the DNC each wants us to believe that lobbyists and SuperPACs don't expect anything from them in return for their money. This is the most basic, foolish, offensive lie they could ever tell. Of course they want something in return. That's the business they're in.
According to Politico, "The victory fund has transferred $3.8 million to the state parties, but almost all of that cash ($3.3 million, or 88%) was quickly transferred (back) to the DNC, usually within a day or two, by the Clinton staffer who controls the committee, POLITICO's analysis of the FEC records found."
Who really got the money? The Clinton campaign pocketed almost all of it and state parties were left with one penny on the dollar.
The thing is, though, the Democratic Party isn't really very democratic. It's sincerely just a machine for Hillary Clinton.
As the book ‘Dark Money’ shows us so starkly money is having a very corrosive effect on our politics in this country. Debbie Wasserman Schultz in her role as DNC chairwoman is actively enabling and facilitating that corrosion, as her lifting the ban on lobbyist donors demonstrates.
Debbie Wasserman Schultz needs to step down. Her departure could lead to a badly needed course correction at the DNC with regard to money in our internal party politics, as well as being the one gesture most likely to ease tensions between the partisan factions, and pave the way to a more harmonious Democratic Convention.
The departure of Debbie Wasserman Schultz would help both the Democratic Party, and Hillary’s candidacy.
PETITIONS TO REMOVE DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ AS DNC CHAIR GROWING AT HISTORIC RATE
On Moveon.org petition to remove DWS
Credo Action petition to remove DWS
Law professor Timothy Canova is challenging Debbie Wasserman Schultz in the August primary.
In primary challenge, Wasserman Schultz faces unprecedented test
Timothy Canova Democrat for Congress
.