Progressive Leaders And Bloggers Join Forces To Expose GOP Strategy Of Blocking And Blaming

WASHINGTON – With thousands of progressive activists gathered at the YearlyKos conference in Chicago and legislators on Capitol Hill preparing to return to their districts for the summer recess, progressive leaders and bloggers joined forces today to launch a major campaign to expose the right’s strategy of obstructing reform while attacking the “do-nothing Congress.” Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., and Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., joined Campaign for America’s Future co-director Robert Borosage and Americans United for Change president Brad Woodhouse on a conference call with reporters today to outline campaign details.

“This is akin to someone mugging the postman and then complaining that the mail isn’t delivered on time,” said Borosage. “If not exposed and challenged, this brazen strategy will sacrifice popular reform for partisan political purposes.”

The Campaign for America’s Future unveiled a Harry Potter-style video parody starring Jason Alexander, also known as “George Costanza” on the hit television series Seinfeld. The video “catches on tape” the conservative mastermind orchestrating the obstruction.

The obstruction campaign, led by the Campaign for America’s Future and Americans United for Change, will directly challenge 12 senators over the congressional recess. Working with state and local partners, the groups will hold media events and release detailed reports of Senate obstruction in Kentucky, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Colorado, Iowa, Maine, New Mexico, Virginia, North Carolina, Ohio, Nevada, and Kansas.

Senate Republicans have launched 43 filibusters on popular reforms in the first 7 months of this Congress. That’s on a pace that will triple the previous record. President Bush has threatened 31 vetoes between May 1 and August 1, including a threat to legislation that would extend health care to millions of children, lower interest rates on student loans, and increase monitoring of food and other imports through our nation’s ports.

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**NOTE: Click here for the full transcript [1] of the press conference. To view the campaign video and state-specific reports, please click here [2] or visit www.ourfuture.org [3]. To obtain a beta or DVD version of the video, please contact Noreen Nielsen at 202-955-5665 or nnielsen@ourfuture.org [4]. **