EJ Dionne's new column takes a look at how the Republicans have cleverly kept tax and budget cuts from ever being seen in the same place at the same time.

How so you ask? Well, "The House Budget Resolution requires the Ways and Means committee to report legislation on tax cuts by June 24. But bills that will enforce cuts in entitlement programs aren't called for until Sept. 16. The Senate reverses the order: spending cuts by June 6, tax cuts on Sept. 7."

Of course this isn't the end of the story. The tax cuts help the wealthy, once again, with 22.8 billion alone going to capital gain and dividends cuts. Of this 22.8 billion, a full 10.4 billion will go to those earning more than $1 million a year. The budget cuts will, of course, affect the poor.

I have been reading Kos for about two months now, and posting for less, and while I can normally follow the colloquialisms thrown around here (although it did take me a while to get used to SCLM without having to flip to the dKosopedia to look it up) there has been one phrase that has eluded my grasp- the Democratic Establishment.

Who/what is the Democratic Establishment?  Who formally/informally makes up the Democratic Establishment?  Is it a set group of people wielding power from DC, or is it more decentralized in nature- but still a small group?  Or is it a term that those on this site have coined to buttonhole everyone who is a Democrat but is not nearly as progressive as they would like?

Am I, a 23 year-old campaign staffer for a moderate/conservative Democrat now considered to be part of the establishment, whereas only a few months before- as a college student/ campaign volunteer- I would not have been?  I only have one answer to all these questions and that is, the people here at dKos do not take too kindly to the Democratic Establishment.  My gut feelings after the jump...

The first fantasy football league was full, so I decided to make this one.

football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/f1

Leauge ID:  278608
Password:  beatbush2

I know this has been blogged to death, but I just wanted to give my personal 2 cents about John Edwards' speech last night.  I volunteered- and helped bring up a total of 45 college students from Texas- for JRE in Iowa and Oklahoma, helped set up phone banks for Tennessee and Georgia in my hometown, and was actually helping prepare SA for what was supposed to be his triumphant visit to SA after his Super Tuesday showing.

So seeing him last night, standing on that podium, was one of the biggest thrills of my entire life.  I invested my heart and soul, and as much of my time and energy to his campaign as I possibly could (and it very nearly kept me from graduating in May).  And while deep, deep down inside my heart I still feel he deserves to be up there tonite, I was pretty damn happy with him being up there last night.

and it is not a pretty sight.  Much has been made of Ginny Schrader's much improved chances of being elected to Congress, most of which has centered around the DCCC and the role they would play in her campaign.  But, what has not been sufficiently delved into is the reason why she has only mustered up $7,000 cash on hand after 7 months of campaigning.

As someone who has gone from a campaign intern to campaign staffer over the last 4 years, I can honestly tell you that I have seen only one 'serious' candidate raise this amount of money.

In 2002, I worked for a Democratic state representative who was facing a serious primary challenge from a former city councilman who's old city council district comprised 89% of the state house district.  Also in the primary was a insane old man who saves his money every two years so that he can pay his candidate declaration fee and run for office, and a fourth gentleman, Louis V., who no one knew anything about.

In San Antonio, it takes about $75-100k to run a quality, competitive State House race.  You probably need a little less than half that for a primary challenge.  My boss, and the ex-councilman both raised enough... the crazy old man raised nothing, and Louis V. raised $8,000.

As the title reads, this is my first diary entry.  This diary will be dedicated to something that, outside of Richard Morrison's (truthfully) quixotic race against Tom DeLay, has not garnered much attention on this site- Texas electoral politics.

With the recent release of the 2Q FEC reports, now would be a good time to start paying attention.  If we are truly trying to take back the House before the DCCC's 2012 goal, then these races are a must watch, for every race that the Dems lose down here, they must pick up an additional seat somewhere else.

The five Democratic Congressmen fighting for their political livelihood will be briefly profiled here (and yes I know other sites have done this already, but short of Cook's Political Report I, as a politically aware Texan, have felt them lacking) and any and all updates on their Congressional races will also be posted here as time/work allows.

Finally, after the '04 elections, check back on this diary for updates on the '05 municipal elections and the 79th(?)Legislative Session in Texas.  I look forward to posting here on this website which I have found to be extremely useful.  Hopefully I can/will only add to this.