JuiceBlender: Daily Kos Prefers O'Malley to Cuomo, Cuomo Hesitates on Dream Act, Bartlett Slams Obama on Immigration

Here's a random blend of political tidbits from recent news, starting with commentary from journalists and pundits comparing MD Governor Martin O'Malley with NY Governor Andrew Cuomo:

JUICE #1: DIFFERING RESPONSES FROM O'MALLEY & CUOMO TO OBAMA DREAM ACT ANNOUNCEMENT - Maryland Juice recently reported on President Barack Obama's major announcement that his administration would halt the deportation of young undocumented residents (aka Dreamers). This week, Politico's Maggie Haberman covered the differing responses to the new policy development from Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo -- two rivals in the 2016 Democratic White House race.

Initially, Haberman wrote about O'Malley's support for Obama's actions, compared to Cuomo's silence. But days later, Cuomo is now praising Obama's immigration position. Notably, Gov. O'Malley had backed a Maryland version of the Dream Act which provides for in-state college tuition for all high school graduates, regardless of their immigration status. Gov. Cuomo apparently did not support the New York version of this legislation. See excerpts from the pair of articles below:

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Sen. Ben Cardin Talks Dream Act, Marriage Equality, DOMA & More // PLUS: Netroots Nation Photo Album

Maryland Juice had the opportunity to shadow U.S. Senator Ben Cardin this weekend, as he talked to various groups at the Netroots Nation conference. The annual gathering of progressive, Internet-based organizers brought together a few thousand people to share strategies and talk issues.

Sen. Cardin was there to speak on a panel titled the War on Voting Rights. MarylandReporter today carried coverage of the Senator's talk (excerpt below), which compared the Republican push to scrub voter rolls and make voting more difficult to the Jim Crow laws of the past:

MARYLAND REPORTER: “These laws are the new Jim Crow laws of our times,” said Maryland U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin on a panel about “The War on Voting” at Netroots Nation, a large conference of progressive activists. “This is really an effort to control the outcome of elections” and not protect “the integrity of our electoral system.”

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO & PHOTO COVERAGE: Below see exclusive content from Maryland Juice, including various videos of Sen. Cardin's remarks. We captured video of him talking to LGBT activists, organizers from various communities of color, and more. Senator Cardin gave surprisingly candid remarks about the political and electoral dynamics regarding DOMA, the Dream Act, marriage equality, immigration reform, racial profiling, judicial nominations and much more. See seven videos below.

Within his comments, Sen. Cardin noted that senior members of the Senate were impeding reforms that could help President Obama clear judicial nominees. He also promised to raise the Maryland marriage equality ballot effort at every campaign stop, but also stated that the chances of DOMA repeal this year looked very difficult.

See the videos of Cardin's comments below, along with a photo gallery of Maryland politicos at Netroots Nation. As always, feel free to use any of my content as you see fit, with or without attribution.

NETROOTS NATION 2012 - PHOTOS OF MARYLAND POLITICOS (full album online)

VIDEO: Maryland Juice Asks Huffington Post to Apologize for Hypocritical Legal Threats // PLUS: Read The Gazette's Take

Maryland Juice spent the last few days at the annual Netroots Nation conference. The gathering of progressive organizers, Netizens, and politicos drew a surprising number of Marylanders. But not surprisingly, in attendance were a number of staff and writers for Arianna Huffington's blogging platform, The Huffington Post.

I used the opportunity to find a Huffington Post writer and see if I could extract an apology on behalf of Arianna Huffington. After all, her company (AOL-Huffington Post) recently unleashed corporate attorneys from mega-law firm DLA Piper to threaten legal action against Maryland Juice. They claimed I was infringing on their "intellectual" property rights by excerpting an article and photo from Patch.com. The national blogs TechDirt and Above the Law cried foul, noting that The Huffington Post itself engaged in exactly the same type of blogging that they were complaining about.

The Gazette's Daniel Leaderman recently picked up on the controversy and noted (excerpt below):

GAZETTE: State politics blog Maryland Juice (marylandjuice.com) found itself under legal attack last week from no less of a media giant than AOL, owner of both Patch.com and the Huffington Post....

....blogger David Moon posted a rebuttal explaining that not only did AOL rely on free writing from bloggers, but his actions were well within the scope of fair use provisions in U.S. copyright law....

Your move, AOL.

Maryland Juice is still awaiting that apology from Arianna Huffington....

JuiceBlender: Maryland Voter Roll Purge, Rep. Andy Harris Staff Raises, MoCo Accessory Apartments, Maryland Netroots & More

Here's a random blend of political tidbits from recent news, starting with a quick hello from the Netroots Nation conference in Providence, Rhode Island:

JUICE #1: MD POLITICOS AT NETROOTS NATION // SEN. CARDIN HIGHLIGHTS GOP WAR ON VOTING RIGHTS - This week, Maryland Juice is attending the annual Netroots Nation conference for work, but I've taken a few moments to try and gather some juice while I'm here. Though I was invited to speak on a panel about lessons for online organizers (watch video),  I've bumped into a surprising number of Maryland politicos. Indeed, from State Senator Jamie Raskin and MoCo Young Dems President Dave Kunes to a former aide to Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, the Free State is decently represented at this progressive gathering (see a couple photos below).

State Sen. Jamie Raskin (center) & Vermont Progressive Party legislator Chris Pearson (right)

Obama Threatens to Veto Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger's Internet Snooping Bill // Advocates Condemn CISPA During Floor Debate

UPDATE: The House Republican majority rammed through CISPA tonight on a mostly party-line vote. Here's how Maryland's House delegation voted - YES: Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, Rep. Andy Harris, Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger // NO: Rep. Elijah Cummings, Rep. Donna Edwards, Rep. Steny Hoyer, Rep. Chris Van Hollen, Rep. John Sarbanes. The technology bloggers at TechDirt wrote:

TECHDIRT: Up until this afternoon, the final vote on CISPA was supposed to be tomorrow. Then, abruptly, it was moved up today—and the House voted in favor of its passage with a vote of 248-168. But that's not even the worst part....

The CISPA that was just approved by the House is much worse than the CISPA being discussed as recently as this morning.... The government would be able to search information it collects under CISPA for the purposes of investigating American citizens with complete immunity from all privacy protections as long as they can claim someone committed a "cybersecurity crime". Basically it says the 4th Amendment does not apply online, at all.

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives is engaging in a heated floor debate on Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger's Internet snooping legislation CISPA (aka HR 3523). You can watch the proceedings online. A floor vote is expected TONIGHT.

STOP #CISPA // TWEET AT BILL SPONSORS: @CALL_ME_DUTCH and @ROSCOE_BARTLETT

OPPOSITION ON THE LEFT: CISPA has been criticized by key House Democrats, and a recent veto threat by President Obama was a gamechanger in the policy dialogue. Obama cited CISPA's weak efforts to protect our online privacy. The Hill today reported on Rep. Ruppersberger's response:

THE HILL: Democratic Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (Md.) voiced frustration Thursday with the White House's threat to veto his cybersecurity bill.

"It was like a kick in the solar plexus," Ruppersberger said, referring to an area of the abdomen....

Daily Kos Endorses Rep. Donna Edwards for Maryland's Fourth Congressional District // National Progressives Circling Wagons?

UPDATE: Here is one more piece of evidence that some national progressives may be circling the wagons around Rep. Donna Edwards. Maryland Juice just received an email from former Think Progress blogger Lee Fang with a link to an article carrying the following headline: "Oops: Corporate Lobbyist Challenging Congresswoman Donna Edwards Messes Up On Day One." Hmm.

Today the popular national netroots blog Daily Kos endorsed Rep. Donna Edwards for re-election in Maryland's 4th Congressional District. Their article noted in part:

Over the last couple of weeks, we've announced our first two House endorsements of 2012....

Today we add another incredible congresswoman, two-term Rep. Donna Edwards of Maryland, to our Orange to Blue fundraising list.

Edwards was the first African American woman from Maryland in the U.S. congress. She was vice-chair of the progressive caucus last term, while this cycle she's at the forefront of the battle to retake the House as co-chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's Red to Blue program (along with Jared Polis).

She's also someone who doesn't just vote the right way on virtually everything, but can be counted on to be a vocal leader and spokesperson for progressive values. I can't emphasize how important that is, and how rare it is within our Democratic caucus. It's so much easier to lay low and play the comity game.