X-Tra Rant

Wow. We did it. For the second quarter FEC filing deadling, the Dean campaign has raised at least $7,109,311 as of Midnight EST. That doesn’t count contributions still comign in from Central, Mountain, Pacific timezones and Alaska and Hawaii as well as phone and mail contributions and the fundraisers in NYC tonight. Stay tuned for the updates at the Dean blog.

Looks like even my crazy optimistic projection of $7.09 million that I made about an hour ago ended up being low, and the money is still coming in!

This is an amazing thing. The average donation is about $67 for today. While Bush and his super rich friends pay $2000 for a hot dog, thousands and thousands of average Americans are donating their hard earned money, above and beyond what they can afford - an investment inteh future of our country! Dean will be #1 or #2 in fundraising for Q2 among the democratic candidates. Howard Dean is now, officially, a top tier candidate and no one can deny that any longer.

What a day this has been. What a day to be a Dean supporter. What a day to be an American and be shown that the democratic process is still alive and well.

We want Dean!!

Oh and for some fun check out the two Open Threads the Dean campaign had for peopel discussing the fundraising as the day went on. I gave regular half hour stats updates from my spreadsheet as well as lots of other posts throughout.

• Open Thread 1
  
• Open Thread 2
  

Also, go check out Dave Cullen’s blog. He’s a contributor to Salon.com and we had dueling predictions going towards the end. Good times.

Absolutely amazing! I had a pretty good feeling about Dean’s chances for a surprisingly large amount of fundraising for this quarter, but I’m just plain astonished! As of 11:35am, June 30th, the Dean campaign has raised over $6.4 million.That number will likely put him at the top of Democratic fundraisers (or very very close). And his fundraisers are mostly people like myself - people who contribute in small amounts via the Internet. $500,000 was contributed on last Friday alone! I have so far contributed $114 to the Dean campaign. It may seem like small change on the individual scale, but when added up, all together, we have pushed Dean undeniably into the top tier of candidates not only when measuring support, but also dollars. That’s huge.

So if you’re still on the fence, head over to the Dean blog for the latest fundraising updates and head to Dean for America to read about his policies and where he stands onthe issues. If you like what he has to say, if you like a candidate who speaks from his heart and doesn’t waffle ont eh issues, if you like a candidate that you might not always agree on but will always know where he stands, consider contributing to the campaign today before the Q2 FEC filing deadline.

Howard Dean is an amazing man with the honesty, integrity and ideas to bring our country back from the brink of a darkness that we as a nation have not had to face in a very long time. Get to know him as a candidate and I’m sure that if you haven’t heard of him before, you’ll like what you see.

And in parting, check out the NYT article on Dean’s announcement of his contributions yesterday. Good stuff.

Allrighty kids. Gather ’round Uncle Jason for another Friday Political Links. This one’s sure to give you chills down your spine and a strange sense of dread in the pit of your tummy.

Columnist Bob Herbert writes a great piece about other casualties of the tax cuts for the rich. You should read this.

This brings up a good point that many proponents of the tax cuts, especially the low and middle class people that supported them (”I’m a Merkin! It’s mah money!”, neglect to think about. I got $7 per paycheck extra due to Bush’s tax cut. Wow. I can go to the movies once every two weeks now.

But here’s the catch… because Bush chose tax cuts instead of fiscal responsibility, instead of helping out states with their budget crises and instead of funding social programs, many states will have to raise propery, income and sales taxes. Schools will have to raise tuition. Essential social services will go un or underfunded. Who pays for that? We do. The low and middle classes get hit the hardest by things like that. So in the end, the rich get massive tax cuts and the low and middle classes are left holding the bag and paying more taxes or higher proportional taxes at the state and local level all the while losing social services. This tax cut is alllll smoke and mirrors. Funny that the “librul media” hasn’t reported on this very much…. If only the people knew, they’d be VERY angry. I’m shocked and awed that this has not become a major scandal.
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I ran across this really good article on Dr. Dale Bremmer, my Economics professor at Rose-Hulman and the prof who got me interested in economics in the first place. Enough to add it to my degree as a double major along with Computer Science. When I’m in Terre Haute during the school year I always try to stop by and say hi to him.

He was a great professor and I learned alot from his classes. If only more teachers in general, at all levels, were as good as he was - not only at teaching but at caring about his students and taking an interest in them as more than just bodies in the classroom.

Rose-Hulman’s Dale Bremmer Brings Hard-Charging Style to Economics Education

For the next month posting may be sporadic. I might go through a week where I post every day then drop off the planet for a week. It all depends on my schedule, espcially at work. I’m so busy I can just about see myself coming as I’m going home. Hopefully things will calm down once August rolls around. I’ll try to keep up on the Friday political links though.

So for something funny before I get back to another late night at work:
Hen Tied To Helium Balloons Rescued From Power Lines

Some of these links I’ve been saving up since yesterday are probably getting stale so I gotta just throw them up here for my loyal readers.

yet so many people still beleive that not only was Saddam involved in 9/11, but there are even a frighteningly large number of people who think there were actually Iraqis on the planes on 9/11. Note to the rubes: Nope. They were Saudis (our “allies”)

Thanks alot spineless Democrats. We really appreciate all you’ve done to sell out our country and our party. Bravo.

ANd suprise, suprise: Bush is trying to spin the continued deaths in Iraq as just caused by leftovers of Saddam’s regime and not from actual organized resistance to the American occupation of their country.

We didn’t find any WMD, we didn’t kill Saddam, and soldiers are still dieing over there. Didn’t you say “Mission Accomplished”, Preznit Flight Suit? At least you took the guy who “tried to kill your daddy” out of office, wasn’t that worth a war?

Bush’s poll numbers continue to drop, so look for a new war, a new terror alert or a new arrest of some “suspected terrorist” who’s then thrown in jail without a llawyer or access to any counsel. Bush’s “definitely re-elect” is down to 40% (pre-Iraq Invasion level) and “vote for someone else” is already back up to 32% (almost pre-invasion level). If the Democrats had any spine (except Howard Dean. He’s got one of the few spines in the party) they’d keep attacking Bush hard on the economy and the failed WMD search.
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Something decidedly non-political. Gonna put in a plug for my dad’s latest short story sale. It’s called “Backhoe Vultures” and it’s one of my favorites of his stories. It’s also a significant story for my family, but I’ll leave it at that. Anyway, head over the Fortean Bureau and read “Backhoe Vultures”.

The Great American Restoration

Go to that link right now and read the full text of Howard Dean’s speech today in Vermont. This man will be the next President of the United States and make us proud to be Democrats again and make us a better country for ALL, not just for the special interests and conservative zealouts.

The most powerful part of Dean’s message is this: We want an America where it’s not just important to have health care for my child but for every child. It’s not just important for my backyard to be unpolluted but for our nation to be unpolluted. It’s not just about protecting my civil rights, it’s about civil rights and equality for every American. We should be a nation that works together for the good of everyone, not just the good of those who can afford to have their voices heard.

We need to restore America to We the People, not just special interests, corporations and the rich. Everyone in this great country is an American, whether you are white or black, male or female, gay or straight, rich or poor, or any religion under the sun. Howard Dean will fight for you because you are an American, not because you can afford to give $x to his campaign.

Support Howard Dean for President. We have the power to make this country better!

Go to the following link at 1pm Eastern Time (12 Noon for my fellow Hoosiers who live in a state that doesn’t understand Daylight Savings. to watch Howard Dean’s official declaration of his candidacy for the President of the United States.

We have the power! We want Dean!!

Dean for America: Governor Howard Dean Announcement for the Candidacy for President of the United States

And you still have a week to get your contributions in to the Dean campaign before the end of the Q2 FEC filing.

Hey all, finally get to do another Friday Political Links sinc eI missed last week when I was in Milwaukee. I’ll start right up. Thanks to the usual suspects for the links, including Blah3, Bartcop, Len, Monster Limo, and Atrios.
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