CAP-PAC Goal: Raise $25,000 By Next Week

I get approximately 50 phone calls a week wanting a contribution of money or time to political campaigns. Some good friends of Community Action are in need of help. Unfortunately, our Political Action Committee money is stretched incredibly thin right now.

With the stiff political wind putting more than 100 House seats up for grabs with perhaps as many as 20 Senate races expected to be closely contested, I personally have never felt the need to be more politically active than I do now. We have old friends to support and new friendships to cultivate on both sides of the aisle.

I have set a lofty goal to raise $25,000 in CAP-PAC money by next week. Click here for more information about CAP-PAC or to contribute online.

Our investment now in CAP-PAC will pay many dividends for years to come.

What’s Going on with LIHEAP?

With the House and Senate soon to recess until after the elections, there will be a lot of outstanding issues that Congress will try to address during a lame duck session when they return. High on our list of to-dos during the lame duck session is the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.

LIHEAP currently is funded at $2 billion more in the House than in the Senate. LIHEAP advocates are really in a panic over the lower spending during the Continuing Resolution, and are fearful of the lower funding levels that might lie ahead.

I’ve talked to a lot of senators, as well as House leadership, all of whom are very aware of how important LIHEAP is. With poverty increasing, LIHEAP is a lifesaver now, more than ever before. I remain somewhat confident that we can successfully navigate higher funding levels for LIHEAP.

Census: One in Seven Americans Live in Poverty

One in seven people in America are living in poverty – that’s 44 million people and the largest number of low-income individuals in our country in the last 51 years! These startling numbers give me mixed feelings.

On one hand, it is motivating as someone who works with Community Action Agencies. More than ever, there is a need for a social safety net and for agencies like ours. These new numbers provide additional ammunition to make that argument.

On the other hand, it is incredibly depressing. I look at this and can’t help but think that everything I have done in the last 20 years hasn’t been enough. There are even more people living in poverty.

As a result of the upcoming elections, we will re-enter the debate about the proper role of government. Because of these new numbers, one of the first things on the table will be government’s role in domestic poverty programs.

City and state governments have no real resources to address these economic circumstances. Only the federal government has the necessary resources. That was proven 80 years ago after the Great Depression. We are entering an era during which we will have to reargue the case that should have been settled decades ago.

Thank heavens almost 20 million people have turned to their Community Action Agencies up the street during this economic crisis. This takes federal resources and state and local partnerships to make this happen.

Community Action is relevant and necessary. I always believed it was. Now I know it more than ever.

Strange Mood in Washington

This is the most peculiar and intense off-year congressional elections I have ever witnessed or have even read about. I continue to be stunned at the anger toward Washington around the country. I see examples of it every day.

While I was at the Speaker’s Leadership Retreat in Napa in mid-August, I spoke with one House member who had won his 2008 election by more than 30 percentage points. He told me he was running against an unknown, first-time office seeker. He felt his campaign success was certain.

I saw this member again over the weekend, and he had just gotten back a poll that shows only 33 percent of his voters would re-elect him. His opponent, who was an unknown quantity in the congressional district, was running neck-and-neck with him.

I had breakfast this week with a very senior Democrat. He, too, is running against an unknown candidate who is new to his congressional district. This incumbent of over 10 terms is behind in the polls. He told health care is the most toxic issue he’s ever faced.

That makes me think back to a small dinner meeting I had with Speaker Pelosi a couple days after the health care vote in the House. At that time, she predicted that by the start of summer, health care would become a big plus for Democrats. That has not come to pass. Everywhere I go, Democrats tell me how voters are so locked in against health care.

It has been some time since I last talked to an incumbent, especially a Democratic House member, who said they were comfortable with their re-election prospects.

Republican Party Identity Crisis

I have been predicting since February that Republicans would capture the House. I have also said that the one thing that could trip up Republican candidates is the party being seen as so extremely conservative that it would not be in our country’s best interest to have them capture the majority. I think that possibility still exists.

Republican nominees in many of the Senate races are so far outside the mainstream, and the press is focusing on the Tea Party movement within the Republican Party. This may become the face of the Republican party, and could become a game-changer in the election.

The country doesn’t want to lurch to the far right. Many feel, whether we have our not, that we have lurched to the far left. The majority of the country remains in the center. I think this might thrown another curve ball in the election.

An Inspiring Visit with Al Quie

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit with former Republican Congressman Al Quie last week! The conversation was both educational and inspirational for me.

I was particularly interested in discussing his role in shaping anti-poverty programs. Although Congressman Quie voted against the programs in 1964, once they passed, he assumed a role of actively participating to make them better. While a lot of members would have turned away, he learned, participated and, I think, made a big difference in these programs.

Congressman Quie became a real champion of anti-poverty programs in the 1960s and 70s, going toe-to-toe with President Nixon and others in his party on their behalf. He was intimately involved in the debates over the Economic Opportunity Act and the War on Poverty. He was instrumental in achieving the ultimate compromise in the aftermath of President Nixon's attempt to dismantle the programs.

One of the things that motivated Congressman Quie to support Community Action programs as a member of Congress, and later as Minnesota’s Governor, was that he understood the concept of maximum feasible citizen participation.

It was also quite interesting to hear more about his relationship with LBJ and civil rights leader Adam Clayton Powell.  Al Quie was one of the few members who had a good working relationship with Congressman Powell, a controversial chairman of the Education and Labor Committee at the time.

Today, Al Quie is 86 and sharp as a tack. The time spent with him is one of the highlights of my year.

Domestic Spending Brawl is Imminent

It doesn’t look like there will be a lot done in Congress this month. Both parties agree that funding issues are likely to be punted until after November elections, perhaps even longer.

I feel in the marrow of my bones that the deficit and debt are going to cause a real donnybrook on spending and spending priorities. Everywhere I turn, I hear rumblings that send shivers down my spine. Not that it scares me; we have been here before.

I believe 2011 could easily become a repeat of 1981. At that time, newly elected President Reagan, a Republican-controlled Senate and House and conservative Democratic “boll weevils” collectively tried to scale back the role of government. While the Community Services Block Grant was created in this environment, there were many sleepless nights in the process.

I also happened to tune into Fox and Friends on Saturday night as they were attacking the inefficiencies of the Weatherization Assistance Program. This came on the heels of Vice President Joe Biden's announcement that the 200,000th home had been weatherized through the Recovery Act and the recent record-breaking milestone of weatherizing more than 31,000 homes in a single month.

Just as we think we have turned a corner in proving the benefits of this worthwhile program, another attack comes at us . . .  usually from right field.  Any issues with the program have been magnified 100 times, overwhelming all of the positive things that are going on.

Expect a very aggressive press strategy on Weatherization Assistance in the next 30 days.