White House Unveils New Escort Service

Today's Charade is Simply About Iraq's Oil

by Linda McQuaig - the Toronto Star

In the weeks before the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the influential New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman wrote approvingly of "the breath-taking audacity" of the Bush administration's plans for Iraq.

Friedman noted that the invasion would lead to "a long-term U.S. occupation" and that "Iraq will be controlled by the iron fist of the U.S. Army." Apparently he didn't regard any of this as a problem — just part of the job of remaking Iraq to fit the fantasies of U.S. policymakers.

Friedman's casual acceptance of Washington's right to redesign other countries — an attitude rampant among media commentators as well as U.S. officials — sheds light on why the occupation of Iraq has been such a disaster, and why there's little reason to believe Iraq is on the path to democracy.

No matter how inspired the rhetoric, the U.S. project in Iraq has never been about democracy. It's been about getting control of Iraq's vast, virtually untouched oil reserves, and extending Washington's military reach over the region. "Think of Iraq as a military base with a very large oil reserve underneath; you can't ask for better than that," Wall Street oil analyst Fadel Gheit told me in an interview.

Bush officials never wanted to run Iraq themselves, but rather to have a loyal local do it for them. Before the invasion, their plan was simply to install the wealthy, CIA-groomed exile Ahmed Chalabi. They also drew up sweeping plans to privatize the entire Iraqi economy, including the oil sector — before the Iraqi people got to cast a single vote.

But the "iron fist of the U.S. army" has not been popular in Iraq, fuelling a resistance that has turned key parts of the country into a free-fire zone.

Among other things, this makes meaningful elections impossible. If large numbers of people are too terrified to vote, the results won't reflect the popular will — yet they'll give an aura of legitimacy to a government that may represent a tiny minority.

But while useless in advancing real democracy, the election is highly useful to George W. Bush, who will point to a "democratic" transfer of power.

Questioned last week, Bush said the U.S. would withdraw if asked by the new government. Really?

Earlier in the week, the Pentagon acknowledged plans and budgets to keep 120,000 troops there for at least two more years.

It sure looks like Washington plans to go on calling the shots in Iraq, but now there will be a plausible government to show off to the world. If Iraq's oil industry is put on the chopping block and ends up in the hands of U.S. oil companies, Washington will be off the hook; the decision will have been made by the "elected" Iraqi government.

At last — mission accomplished.

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0130-07.htm

Casey
Living proof that the best thing to do is stay as far away from them as possible ..
_________________________________________________

I just went to my friends' who has cable - to see John Kerry on "Meet the Press" (rebroadcast). It was the lst tv I've watched since the concessin speech, other than one episode of "The Simpsons."

We missed 10 minutes because El Dictator was on almost every channel. My friend is originally Iranian and she said it reminded her of in Iran when the Shah or Khomeini were always on, or Iraq with Saddam (with flag & national anthem & approved messages).

I was proud to see John Kerry do a great job with Tim Russert & glad for every second spent working to elect him, our true President. He did an especially good job with questions on Iraq, social security, abortion & the predictable garbage about Vietnam (spewed by those who are ashamed of their own war crimes & of America's participation in an immoral war which they lost, on top of that.)

They do not admit mistakes. Bush does not admit mistakes. Kerry admits mistakes and learns from them. That is called intelligence. Sometimes I think John Kerry was/is too good for most of this country. Anne Coulter would say I'm not a patriot. Fine. Most "patriotism" in this country is really "nationalism" anyway, as in Germany in the 30s & 40s.

When I got home, I found out that in addition to the 31 passengers killed 2 days ago in a helicopter (with no explanation), a British transport plane has crashed which could carry from 5 to 100 people. Am wondering if these couuld be taken down by RPGs or similar, & if so, there could be a "coverup" until the "elections" are over (or longer).

On To Victory

I'm reading Friedman's book (not a big selection at the library but wanted a window into his mind). Should be interesting! Also checked out Anne Garrels "Naked in Bagdad" as she was one of 2 reporters I trusted in the early Iraq War, the other being Adam Davidson, business reporter from "Marketplace".

Hi Casey,

It appears you have a typo: "I must have some sort or reality repellent", should it be "sort of reality"?

Funny, Ron Chusid calls the Bush Admin's press propoganda machine "prvada" too:
http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/default.asp?view=plink&id=270

Not hard to see why.

I laughed my a** when I read this last night in WP. I hope this gets more spin on the blogs!

Well, darn, I have a typo too...

""prvada" should be "Pravda"!

Hope all is well in DCP land...

I've been very busy and not too much time to visit... later!

Great thread-head, Casey!!!

I know. Every time I think I'm going to step out of this damned Dali painting back into a normal world.... it tips again to another corner, or a different side off center, and hangs askew....

On my genealogy pages I made a .gif graphic with wavy colors that says "My ancestors did WHAT?!?!?"

For a couple of months now, I've been tempted to do make another one that says "BushCo did WHAT?!?!?"

Wandering off now, going glassy-eyed..., muttering..., not particularly curious about what they they will come up with next..., just know it will make this bloody Dali painting known as "reality" hang by a different corner... askew, AGAIN.....!!!

Still... "escorting" and monitoring the media, listening to what people say to the media.... {{ shudder }} First Amendment Rights down the tube....

~off topic, but near the end of last thread, we were discussing DNC Chair~
just came across this:

A 'Stop-Dean' Effort Arises at DNC Forum
Stakes High as Party Seeks New Chairman

by Nina Easton Published on Sunday, January 30, 2005 by the Boston Globe

NEW YORK -- A replay of the 2004 Iowa caucuses unfolded in New York this weekend at a meeting to preview candidates to lead the Democratic Party; six men appealed to voters in an attempt to bend or to bypass the seemingly unstoppable juggernaut of support behind a Green Mountain doctor named Howard Dean.

Dean, the former Vermont governor and presidential primary candidate, seems to lead the pack in a fierce race to chair the Democratic National Committee. The job's top responsibility: to lead the party out of its postelection doldrums.

Some in the audience hissed when Roemer defended his (anti-choice) position on abortion.

Dean, for his part, stepped to the podium in a hotel ballroom in New York and told a crowd of several hundred people that the Democratic Party "cannot be Republican-Lite if you want to win elections." It was a revisit of a phrase from his presidential campaign, and the audience broke into cheers.
continue~
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0130-08.htm

FACTS ABOUT IRAQ'S ELECTION

44 people reported dead from insurgent attacks. At least 9 Suicide bombers struck across the country. Guerrilla attacks began within two
hours of the balloting's start. Baghdad saw eight suicide attacks, mostly against polling sites. (Fam, Mariam, "Iraqis Vote Despite Attacks; 44 Killed," Associated Press, 1/30/05)

Polls were largely deserted all day in cities across the Sunni Triangle, particularly Fallujah, Ramadi and Beiji. In Baghdad's mainly Sunni Arab area of Azamiyah, the neighborhood's four polling
centers did not open at all. (Fam, Mariam, "Iraqis Vote Despite Attacks; 44 Killed," Associated Press, 1/30/05)

The big television networks were only "allowed" to film at five polling stations: four in Shi'ite Muslim areas - where the polling was high - one in an upmarket Sunni area, where polling was moderate. (Fisk, Robert, "What a bloody charade," 1/30/05)

Voting was "heavy" where expected: Shiite and Kurdish areas. Voting was "low" or non-existent where expected: Sunni and lower income Shiite areas. (Patrick J. McDonnell, "Voting Ends in Iraq," Los Angeles Times, 1/30/05)

Bush's announcement that election a "resounding success" based on guesses, faulty numbers, and fact that less people died then expected: Just before the close, one official with the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq put turnout at 72%, but later said that did not include the largely Sunni provinces of Anbar and Nineveh, and the commission said the figure was based on "very rough, word-of-mouth estimates gathered informally from the field. It will take
some time for the IECI to issue accurate figures on turnout." (Fam, Mariam, "Iraqis Vote Despite Attacks; 44 Killed," Associated Press, 1/30/05)

Lt. Col. Randy Newman, a U.S. Marine commanding officer, said success should be measured not in the numbers of voters, but by the fact there were no major disruptions by insurgents. (Patrick J. McDonnell, "Voting Ends in Iraq," Los Angeles Times, 1/30/05)

Just days before the election, Iraqis did not know how to vote, where, or who the candidates were. More than 7,000 candidates remained anonymous prior to polling day. At least 8 political leaders thought to be candidates were killed. Abu Sabah in Baghdad said, "Who says we should have elections for people we don't even know during occupation, martial law and in a war zoneS And why vote when we're expected to vote for an entire list of candidates when we only know, if we're lucky, one or two of their names?" (Dahr Jamail,"Vote Where, How and for Whom?" Inter Press Service, 1/26/05)

Adel Abdul Mahdi, Iraq's Finance Minister who announced on December 22 that Iraq was planning to privatize it's oil and that this would be "very promising to the American investors and to American enterprise, certainly to oil companies," is also the front runner for Prime Minister for the United Iraqi Alliance - the leading Shiite
Alliance expected to win the majority of votes. Mahdi, "a religious moderate and an advocate of free market policies is regarded asacceptable to most political factions and to the U.S. government." (Antonia Juhasz, "Of Oil and Elections," AlterNet, 1/27/05 and Ashraf Khalil, "Shiites Offer Unified Slate, but Fault Lines Show," Los Angeles Times, 1/29/05)

Freedom's just another name for "nothing left to loose....."

Apparently, Frist tried over and over to get her to sit down and shut up... she blew him off... raise a million bucks.

All hail the gorgeous Sharon Stone!

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-stone29.htm...

About an hour into the panel, when a U.N. official said 150,000 African children were dying of malaria every month because they didn't have bed nets, Stone rose from her seat in the audience.

''I'd like to offer $10,000 to help you buy some bed nets today,'' Stone told Tanzanian President Benjamin William Mkapa, who was on the panel along with Microsoft founder Bill Gates and others.

Stone then implored others in the hall -- packed with several hundred well-heeled executives and political leaders attending the World Economic Forum -- to reach into their pockets.

Immediately, an unidentified man promised $50,000.

Around 30 others quickly followed, and within five minutes, Stone had raised $1 million, said Sen. Bill Frist, the Senate leader who moderated the panel discussion on how rich nations can best fund the war on poverty.

Companies lining up for Iraq oil..

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/0130iraqoil30.html

[snip]
Meanwhile, Iraqi officials are drafting a law that would encourage international companies to invest in the country's tattered oil industry, run by the state since 1972. The current finance minister, a candidate in the election, announced the legislation late last month, although he offered few details.

"So I think this is very promising to the American investors and to American enterprises, certainly to oil companies," Finance Minister Adil Abd al-Mahdi said at a National Press Club conference in December.

The idea of bringing international companies and money into Iraq's oil business isn't new. In the 21 months since Saddam Hussein's ouster, the interim government and its American advisers have suggested several times opening up the country's oil industry, which is saddled with ancient equipment and sabotaged by insurgents. Still, many Iraqis bridled at the notion that the country's oil reserves should be controlled by foreigners.

Republicans talk of tax code changes..

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0130republicans30.html

Battlebob
I think the whole purpose of the Iraqi elections is to legitimize the privatization of the Iraqi oil industry. Also, Saddam was going to start dealing in Euros & Bush wanted to nip that in the bud.

Now Bill Gates says the dollar will fall lower & he's investing heavily in Euros, as is Warren Buffet. Never sure who they support politically - Gates gave to Bush, his father gave to Kerry. Buffet helped Arnold with economics.

What does this election/privatization have to do with "spreading freedom?" I think maybe "spreading VD" to escorts is more their (oil capitalists') style.

We will hear about triumphant Iraqi elections up through the SOTU address.

Meanwhile - how many were on the British transport plane & how did it crash? & where did this money go?

Summary: U.S. Iraq Authority Missing $9B

THE REPORT: The U.S. occupation authority in Iraq was unable to keep track of nearly $9 billion it gave to government ministries lacking financial controls, security, communications and adequate staff, a government audit has found.

TIMEFRAME: U.S. officials relied on Iraqi audit agencies to account for the funds. The offices were not even functioning when the funds were transferred between October 2003 and June 2004, auditors found.

THE REPLY: Former U.S. administrator L. Paul Bremer said the report had ``many misconceptions and inaccuracies'' and lacked professional judgment.

Each day that passes and we learn more & more about the Bu$hInc "agenda" for America, we realize that the true Republican goal is to return to the pre-FDR days==rich get richer, poor remain poorer, and there is no middle class to get in their way.
The Bu$h mantra is truly "Get Rich or Get Out"
http://slate.msn.com/id/2112796/
The Bushies' war on Franklin Roosevelt.
By Daniel Gross

THE REPLY: Former U.S. administrator L. Paul Bremer said the report had ``many misconceptions and inaccuracies'' and lacked professional judgment.

Posted by: DiAnne at January 30, 2005 05:04 PM

Which, of course, is why Bremer was awarded our country's highest civilian honor.

Casey - thanks for drawing our attention to the whole escort issue. Reading about the setup reminded me a lot of the way BushCo managed and monitored Bush's events last summer and fall.

Although the journalist wrote with humor, he gets the message across that we're seeing the same attempt to control public access to information that occurs with totalitarian governments or dictatorships. Chilling.

Fellow Texans:

Did "ya'll" know that Kinky Friedman is running for governor in 06? I had no idea untill today. whoops! Here's a site with some info: http://www.kinkyfriedman.com/race.html

Unfortunately (or fortunately lol), I'm moving to Massachusetts in 06, and hope to be registered to vote there by november. But I guess my vote will have more of a chance of defeating Mitt Romney than Perry, anyway...

Does anybody think Rommney may be a 2008 Rupub presidential candidate?

Russ Feingold for President in '08?
But he voted to approve Rice for Sec of State

Feingold tests waters for possible 2008 presidential run
http://tinyurl.com/5rphr
or
http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/WestVolusia/03WVolWEST08POL012905.htm

~A MUST READ, because it is important for us to know what they're up to:


Talk of Taxes, Social Security and Blogs at G.O.P. Retreat

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK, NYTimes
Published: January 30, 2005

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va - Republican members of the House and Senate turned their attention to the politics of changing the tax code and the lessons of President Bush's campaign on Saturday, the second day of a party retreat here.

Party leaders and White House officials who gathered at the Greenbrier resort also discussed a new rhetorical twist in their campaign to remake Social Security. In meetings on Friday, Treasury Secretary John W. Snow and Representative Bill Thomas of California, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, discussed redirecting public attention on 2008 as an imminent danger point for the Social Security trust fund because baby boomers will begin retiring, people present said. Even the most dire analyses say the fund will remain solvent for a decade or longer after that.

House Republicans heard a report on Saturday from the National Republican Congressional Committee on the potential politics of changing the tax system, saying that there was broad support for "simplification," but not for a flat tax, a national sales tax or abolishing the Internal Revenue Service, people familiar with the report said. Members also discussed potential opposition to the alternative minimum tax, Congressional aides said.

Relatively few Americans are wealthy enough to owe the tax now, but the House Republicans emphasized that inflation would gradually extend the tax to more people, and called it a "ticking tax time bomb," aides said.

In a possible sign of what to expect in 2006, Republican senators heard presentations about the strengths and weaknesses of Mr. Bush's presidential campaign and about how to reach blacks, Hispanics, Jews and blue-collar workers, groups not traditionally drawn to the Republican Party, people present said. The sessions were closed to journalists.

The presentations underscored the effectiveness of Mr. Bush's appeals to those groups on public expressions of faith, traditional values and especially the issue of marriage, including opposition to same-sex marriage, aides said.

In another presentation, Senator John Thune of South Dakota introduced senators to the meaning of "blogging," explaining the basics of self-published online political commentary and arguing that it can affect public opinion.

The House members also discussed immigration, one person present said, reiterating that adding measures to tighten border security should precede discussion of Mr. Bush's proposed guest-worker program.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/30/politics/30repubs.html

I wonder if we'll see Heidi Fleiss coordinating the escorts?

Does anybody think Rommney may be a 2008 Rupub presidential candidate?

Posted by: battlebob at January 30, 2005 05:44 PM

Since he's pro-choice, I doubt he can get the nomination, but who knows. I plan on working to help defeat him as governor in 06, though...

I think we have to frame the abortion debate better by casting the Repubs as pro-birth because they could care less about the mother and child once the baby is born.
Bush's budgets prove this by taking money away from social services and running the deficit up, and a ton of other issues.
We need to push for more family planning and support agencies such as Planned Parenthood ( started by Barry Goldwater). If we can do this, we may be able to sway some moderate Repubs to our side.
We need to support for higher minimum wages, more accessable health care and a lot of other issues that support families.
We support RvW forever, but we try to show alternatives and help women with this difficult choice.
Their way is wrong and immoral.

battlebob,

I definately agree, and as ive said before, i like the idea of talking in terms of the most effective way to stop the CAUSE of abortions, which I think the repugs have NO plan to do. All their talk about putting a constitutional ban on abortion would do nothing to stop it from happening, or stop the problems that lead to abortion.

I saw a bumpersticker once that said:
Republicans believe that the right to life begins at conception and ends at birth.

In another presentation, Senator John Thune of South Dakota introduced senators to the meaning of "blogging," explaining the basics of self-published online political commentary and arguing that it can affect public opinion.

*****************

You bet it can!

Kerry, Biden, Levin, Bayh, make statements today, saying its too early to pull troops from Iraq:

Democrats cautiously welcome Iraqi elections

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Leading Democratic Party critics of US President George W. Bush's Iraq policy cautiously welcomed the successful staging of elections and distanced themselves from calls for the start of an immediate US troop withdrawal.

Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, who lost the November presidential election against Republican President George W. Bush, described the Iraqi elections as "significant" and "important" but said they should not be "overhyped."

"It is significant that there is a vote in Iraq," Kerry said in an interview with NBC television's Meet the Press. "But ... no one in the United States should try to overhype this election.

"This election is a sort of demarcation point, and what really counts now is the effort to have a legitimate political reconciliation," Kerry said. "And it's going to take a massive diplomatic effort and a much more significant outreach to the international community than this administration has been willing to engage in.

"Absent that, we will not be successful in Iraq," he said.
Kerry also said he did not support fellow Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy's call last week for the immediate pullout of at least 12,000 US troops from Iraq following the elections.

"I wouldn't do a specific timetable, but I certainly agree with (Kennedy) in principle, that the goal must be to withdraw American troops," Kerry said.

Another influential Democrat, Delaware Senator Joseph Biden, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also rejected Kennedy's call for an immediate withdrawal of some American forces.

"I think pulling American forces out now would be, quite frankly, a serious mistake," Biden said on CBS television's Face the Nation. "I think it's much too premature. I think there would be a collapse, quite frankly, of any sense of order in the country."

Indiana Senator Evan Bayh, whose name has been mentioned as a possible presidential candidate in 2008, described the Iraqi elections as a "great day for democracy" but cautioned that "this is only one step in what is going to be a long and difficult process."

"It's a good day, but we need to see it through to a successful conclusion," Bayh said. "And frankly, I'm concerned, given some of the past mistakes, whether this leadership team will be capable of that."

He said he disagreed with Kennedy's call for the start of a US troop withdrawal from Iraq. "We've planted our flag," Bayh said. "I think that we need to be successful now, and unfortunately that's going to require our presence for some time.
"I think to cut and run at this juncture would be a terrible mistake."

Michigan Senator Carl Levin, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said, challenges remain.

"I'm afraid there were some areas where the turnout is extremely low, and that's the Sunni Triangle areas or parts thereof," he said. "And that's the challenge that we now face.

"But Iraqis that did turn out in large numbers, at least in some areas and in some places, took their lives in their hands in doing so, and we're very delighted with that," he said.
Levin said it was too early to talk about a troop withdrawal. "I think that is putting the cart a little bit ahead of the horse," he said.

"As important as it is that we finally obtain some kind of an exit strategy, we have to negotiate that with the sovereign government and see whether or not the Iraqis will step up to their own security as well.

"We've got to see whether or not the Iraqi people will put their lives on the line in joining the security forces," Levin said. "There are very few trained Iraqi security forces in Iraq. That is a huge challenge."
http://tinyurl.com/5g2ex

I think we need to go further..
The statement pro-life is emotionally loaded. Who isn’t for pro-life? Every gynecologist I know doesn’t wake up in the morning dieing to perform abortions. It is a difficult task for all of them. I don’t know any women who leap out of their beds each morning hoping to have an abortion. It is an extremely difficult problem. (yeah, I know, I am a guy but have dealt with young women facing this problem in church groups. I am a pretty good listener). We are on the wrong end of the dialog.
For instance, some of our wanna-be DNC heads state they are pro-life. WTF does that mean? Are they pro-birth or really concerned about the mother and child long before and after the pregnancy takes place? If they are pro-birth, then send them packing. If they are truly pro-life then they should be considered.
This issue brings up a lot of connected issues such as pre-natal health care, education and a host of other issues, some of which were mentioned earlier.
I think we can get moderate Repubs to our side if we frame the issue better. We define what pro-life is and cast the Repubs as uncaring pro-birth.

BattleBob

They are not Pro-Life as they favor death penalty, pre-emptive war, etc - typically.

Buddhists would be Pro-Life before fundamentalist Christians and conservative literalist Catholics.

Who the hell is FOR abortion? I have never in my life met someone who is pro-abortion. Like who is PRO-surgery when there is no medical need? Who is PRO dental fillings when there are no cavities?

I swear some of these people are PROwar, as in if we weren't in one, they'd wonder who we could attack so they could watch us blow shit up.

I haven't seen so many peace symbol images lately - it's now all about "liberty" - what do they mean by "liberty"? Going and invading countries for their resources & peeking in other persons' bedrooms is not my idea of "liberty"

ANTI - CHOICE is what they truly are, especially for women. This is a woman-hating government. Condi is a neocon first and gender or race second. Gonzalez is a torture advisor first and gender and race secondary. They're all like that. Usurpers.

Today after seeing John Kerry speak I felt the first feelings of peace, freedom and liberty that I've felt in months. It was like the air suddenly was cleaner and clearere when I went outdoors afterward.

I think it is very importanr we strip the pro-life label away and paint them for what they really are
pro-birth, pro-war, pro-lie, anti-choice...
I am countering their argument whenevr I can

Resolute

For people who criticized Daeschle, Thune is a poor substitute. The people of South Dakota were manipulated, especially native Americans. He is yet another usurper.

I doidn't see the interview but read the transcript. It read like he did great. Russert tried some low stuff and Kerry countered it nicely and gave honest heartfelt reasons for his choices.

BattleBob
I agree but I don't think they're even pro-birth. They don't support child development programs, for example. I work in such a program and I just had to go out and buy $45 of my own materials with my own money. Lately these types have written letters into the papers suggesting that each family should be responsible for paying for their own children's health insurance. This is truly cruel, as some people are poor, unemployed, underemployed, disabled or their children have expensive special needs. It's cruel, not pro-life, pro-birth or pro-children. We have lower infant mortality than Cuba.

In WA, Governor Gregoire wants health care for all children. Usurper Rossi, who is going to court in a week to challenge her, wants to take 50,000 kids off insurance and we already have many who don't have it.

Funny, Ron Chusid calls the Bush Admin's press propoganda machine "prvada" too:
http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/default.asp?view=plink&id=270
Not hard to see why.
Posted by: Pamela at January 30, 2005 04:17 PM
"Pravda"!
Posted by: Pamela at January 30, 2005 04:18 PM
_____________

Continuing the Soviet theme, the M.O. of the "escorts" in this appalling story is EXACTLY that of the informers who kept track of us exchange students in Leningrad (and Kiev and Novgorod and Tbilisi) in 1971.

Responding to other blog topics:

I also got the chance to hear Kerry today on Meet the Press and thought he was excellent. (Imagine! Someone who actually answers questions of the press!) For those who missed it, it will be repeated this evening on MSNBC (10pm ET; I don't know about other time zones). Our local NBC station also rebroadcasts Meet the Press in the wee hours of the morning. .

Speaking as one of his constituents, Romney is a slimeball, and I dearly hope he doesn't go national. I can barely stand him as governor.Please, spare us this-- we've had enough suffering!

ok..we call it pro-conception...Their plan is really have a good time and leave the clean-up to others..

Kerry did a beautiful job on the abortion issue today. I don't even really agree with his personal position but I agree with his legal position and I respect his personal stance.

He paused and really thought and then came out with a brilliant answer. I thought he did better today than on the campaign trail - he looked more rested and he's a real leader.

I saw that it would be aired 2x more tonight.

hey mbk...been sick and home for a few days..
I'll email you some good stuff when I go back to work tomorrow...

DiAnne,
Read your post about removing poor kids off health care.
In Arizona, Governor Janet Napalatano is haveing success framing issues as a moral value and costing more if wee don't do it. She faces a very hostile right wingnut legislature, but they haven't been able to lay a glove on here. She is good at making them look heartless and by saying how bad doing nothing hurts children. The public supports her. She is going to force the legislature to ask for a tax increase which the rwingnuts are loath do to.
Arizona state income tax is a percentage of federal. If the rich pay less in Federal taxes, they will pay less in state taxes. The shortfall needs to be made up somehow. She is forcing the legislature t ask for a tax increase for the wealthiest who are getting all the breaks on Federal taxes...she is doing great.

sorry about the spelling and grammer errors. am doing several things at once...

DiAnne-
I agree, JK handled the abortion question well. It's a shame that his recent comments about the issue received gasps from the pro-choice crowd. Just like Repubs, we have one-issue Dems too. We are so quick to ridicule our own if they don't follow strict liberal thought. The fact of the matter is, most Americans who are pro-choice feel the same way JK does. He may not be for abortion because of his faith and personal beliefs but he does not believe he has the right to legislate his beliefs. And ultimately he believes that decision is between the mother and her God. This is how most folk I know feel too. Very few people are "pro-abortion", most folk are like JK, pro-choice. And I am glad he brought up the fact that abortions have actually gone up under ShrubCo.

~well, surprise, surprise!
US lifts sanctions on Libya, then look who was just awarded Libya's oil contracts. So shall we guess who will get Iraq oil licenses???

US oil companies awarded Libyan licences

By Kevin Morrison in Vienna and Doug Cameron in Houston
Published: January 30 2005 12:17 |

US oil companies Occidental Petroleum, Amerada Hess and ChevronTexaco were awarded the majority of the 15 exploration licences issued by Libya on Saturday in a move that clears the way for US companies to return to the north African country for the first time since 1986.

European oil companies were not so fortunate. Repsol of Spain, Italy’s Eni and OMV of Austria, which have all operated in Libya during the 19 years of US sanctions, did not receive any new licences, while BP and Royal Dutch/Shell Group also missed out.

Los Angeles-based Occidental, which operated in Libya up until the imposition of economic sanctions, with its partner Liwa of the United Arab Emirates was awarded 9 of the 15 exploration Libyan oil permits. Amerada Hess and ChevronTexaco each received one licence. Other winners include Australia’s Woodside Petroleum, Petrobras of Brazil, Indian Oil Corporation of India, Verenex Energy of Canada and Sonatrach, the national oil company of neighbouring Algeria.

Sam Laidlaw, executive vice president of business development at ChevronTexaco, welcomed the announcement. “It is an important step forward in our strategy to build core businesses in the region,” said Mr Laidlaw.
snip~

Other US oil companies may soon be returning to Libya with the Tripoli government likely to approve a deal within a month that will allow the Oasis Group consortium of US oil companies to return to concessions abandoned 19 years ago when President Reagan imposed sanctions on Libya.

Fathi ben Shatwan, the Libyan energy minister, said approval by Libya was likely “in a month or less.” Amerada Hess, Marathon Oil and ConocoPhillips are part of the Oasis group.
snip~

Libya produces about 1.6m b/d and hopes to raise this to 2.1m b/d by the end of this decade. The North African country is also expecting foreign investment to rise rapidly to about $30bn by 2010 with the opening of its energy sector.

Mr Shatwan said under the conditions of the licence gives the international oil companies about a 30 per cent share of any future production in the areas covered the permits, with 70 per cent going to Libya’s national oil company.

He said if oil is proven in the licence areas, Libya, which is a member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, will fund half of the exploration and development costs.

Mr Shatwan hopes that the new wave of exploration activity may increase the proven oil reserves of Libya from the current 36 billion barrels. He said it could rise to over 100bn barrels, which equates to the proven reserves of both Kuwait and United Arab Emirates.

The award of new exploration licences is one of the most significant developments of Libya’s attempt to bridge business relationships with the outside world after the US lifted its economic sanctions last year after Libya agreed in 2003 to pay $2.7bn to the families of those killed in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing and to end programs to develop weapons of mass destruction.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/5b3e9930-72b8-11d9-86a0-00000e2511c8.html

Posted by: on.to.victory4Dems at January 30, 2005 10:04 PM

Will wonders never cease?

~excellent article, especially the last few paragraphs

Time for Talk
The Triumph of Marketing Over Dialogue Results in a President Leading Much of the Nation Where it Doesn't Want to Go

by Deborah Tannen Published on Sunday, January 30, 2005 by New York Newsday / Long Island

snip~
Our reluctance to risk conflict in conversation means that we aren't forced to articulate, and therefore examine, the logical underpinnings of our positions, and we rarely get the chance to engage in give-and-take with those who hold views different from our own. Even worse, when young people don't hear adults arguing politics, it reinforces their impression that politics has no relevance to their lives. Surely this plays a role in the astonishingly low voter turnout among young Americans.

If we could reframe our attitudes toward talking politics and bring the subject back into our conversations, people might be reminded that elections can influence policies that affect their lives.

Assumptions about the display of opposition vary widely from culture to culture. Many cultures, such as the Japanese, avoid even mild forms of open disagreement, but there are many others, including Mediterranean, East European and African cultures, that value dynamic opposition as a form of sociability and a show of willingness to engage with others. Americans with roots in those cultures often enjoy a good argument; the rest of us can benefit from their example.

I don't see much hope for improvement in our public discourse, given the dominance of television which is, after all, an entertainment medium. But our private conversations could provide an alternative source of political engagement. We'd all be forced to educate ourselves about policy in order to win more arguments. The conversations could stir our passions, motivate young people, and result in citizens voting for the candidates whose policies actually are in line with their own views on the issues that will have impact on their daily lives.
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0130-01.htm

Speaking as one of his constituents, Romney is a slimeball, and I dearly hope he doesn't go national. I can barely stand him as governor.Please, spare us this-- we've had enough suffering!

Posted by: mbk at January 30, 2005 07:04 PM

...that's what I said about bush 5 years ago... ;-)

i didnt know you were in Massachusetts! ill be moving up there in 06 and will gladly help defeat Romney.

Well here's a report on the TRIUMPHANT installation of "liberty" (not the Fox version):

Irregularities mar northern Iraq poll

Iraq's crunch election has been marred by irregularities and low turnout in Mosul, despite insistence from the US military that voting in the restive northern capital passed off smoothly.

Kurdish and Christian politicians charged that thousands were unable to vote in Nineveh province because of a lack of ballot papers, sparking riots in one town north of Mosul.

As night fell when polling sites closed 10 hours after they opened, US troops transported both ballot boxes and election workers to a US military base for the laborious count.

With the exception of isolated incidents, Mosul did not suffer the violence US commanders had feared in the predominantly Sunni Muslim city of about 1.5 million.

An Iraqi soldier accidentally killed a civilian, a voter was wounded by sniper fire as he left a polling station and four mortar explosions caused
no casualties, said the military.

Dozens of US Stryker soldiers roamed the streets while others stood near, but not too close to polling centres. Fighter jets and helicopters flew overhead.

US and Iraqi officials were heartened anyone voted, given repeated threats by insurgents to attack polling stations and boycott calls from many Sunni political and religious leaders.

Dire security precluded campaigning in the province, home to about one million voters.

The local electoral commission representative only began his work in earnest a week ago after his predecessor and entire staff resigned two
months earlier.

A few hundred electoral workers were hastily flown in from Baghdad at the last minute, with most receiving only two hours of training. There was also a virtual absence of any independent election monitors.

The results were evident inside the polling stations.

At the Al-Khazrajiya school in the city's old quarter, Najat Ridha, 48, was ushered into a classroom and handed two ballots, one for the national assembly and another for the local provincial council.

An election worker suggested she vote for list 285 headed by interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi and a local list headed by governor Duraid Kashmula.

She ticked the boxes obligingly and walked out - just as Zahra Ibrahim, 60, did before her.

"I really just did what they asked me to do," she said as the Iraqi national anthem crackled on a loudspeaker in the background.

Similar scenes unfolded at the Al-Fadhila school on the west side as men and women, perplexed over what the list numbers stood for, were offered
suggestions and a helping hand by election workers.

"I want to vote for Allawi and Yawar," said a frustrated Fatima Hashim, 50.

Both Dr Allawi and interim President Ghazi al-Yawar, himself from Mosul, head competing lists for seats on the national assembly, but were popular choices in the city because of their high profile.

The lists, which only bear numbers and not candidate names for the most part, were published only two days before.

At a polling station in the New Mosul neighbourhood, Mahasin Ahmed, 37, a school teacher, wanted to vote for Yawar, a tribal leader, but did not know that his list number was 255 and neither did the election worker helping
her.

He suggested she vote for list 188 because it had "tribes" in the title.

"I found most of the election workers unqualified and I observed many irregularities," said Guevara Yokhana, 34, a Christian running in the local
elections, who visited seven of the 20 polling stations on the city's east side.

He said a lack of ballot papers sparked riots in the town of Qaraqush as thousands of furious Christians and Kurds realised they were unable to
vote.

A Patriotic Union for Kurdistan official described a similar situation in Bashiqa district.

For many it was a chance to forget the daily staple of violence and dream of a better future.

"I want my generation to be happy," said Rami Aziz, a 22-year-old student.

Thanks for posting Deborah Tannen - she is someone like Lakoff, working with framing & communication for years

t r u t h o u t | 01.30

My Nightmare of Torture and Assault, by Briton Held in Guantanamo http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/013005A.shtml

C.I.A. Said to Rebuff Congress on Nazi Files http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/013005B.shtml

Bush Aims to Forge a GOP Legacy
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/013005C.shtml

One More 'Moral Value': Fighting Poverty http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/013005D.shtml

Boxer Not Willing to Pull Punches
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/013005E.shtml

Fareed Zakaria | Elections Are Not Democracy http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/013005F.shtml

Loggers Going Into Old Growth Reserve
http://www.truthout.org/environment.shtml

44 Killed As Iraqis Vote
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/013005Y.shtml

Bombers Strike As Iraqis Vote
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/013005Z.shtml

This is from Andree - London report on Iraqi election (pretty in-depth article, makes good points)

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/articles/16268856?source=Evening%20Standard

I'm not endorsing this - je ne sais pas
(re DNC) but this got spammed to me & I'm passing it on as Dem trivia or Dean trivia, perhaps:

http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/10770635.htm
Posted on Sun, Jan. 30, 2005
Fowler gains support to lead DNC

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2005/01/30/national2252EST0676.DTL
Sunday, January 30, 2005
Dean push for party leadership takes a detour, Fowler gets a boost

http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_showa.html?article=50261
Democratic Party chairs endorse Fowler over Dean

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,145849,00.html
Fowler Gets Boost for DNC Chair

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50266-2005Jan30.html
Democratic Group Backs Fowler Over Dean to Lead DNC

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/31/politics/31dnc.html?oref=login&oref=login
Dean Rival Gains Strength in Bid for Chairman
By ADAM NAGOURNEY

Okay, I admit it. I miss seeing JK on tv. I watched a few minutes of the 10 p.m. airing of MTP(was on the phone so couldn't watch all the way) and then watched the complete show at 1 a.m. By contrast, whenever I see Shrub I immediately get disgusted and change the channel. Outside of the occasional soundbite I just can't get around to listening to that man complete a thought. Has he ever?

Anyway watching it again, I agree with a poster on DK that arguably the most distinguished of the Sunday talk shows is going down hill. Russert 95 percent of Russert's questions were hardly deep or thought provoking, they were scripted precisely for Gotcha! television. He's no better than the cable outlet hacks. The only difference is is that he has a more reserved demeanor. But make no mistakeit was teh same hackery.

As for this whole effort to undermine Dean. I'm sure there are those at the DNC who are not fond of him becoming chair, but to publicly put out there they are undermining him is wrong and all it does it make his supporters even more rabid. Like JK said, one thing Dean did during the election season was be loyal without a fault. JK is grateful for that and so am I. Yeah he still pulls that "Democratic wing of the Dem party line" but at least he only does it at Dem gatherings. He's not off leaking info to the press. I'm no huge Dean fan but he does fulfill the top qualities our chair should have - he's loyal and he knows when to keep his yap shut. If our chair doesn't have this ability all the strategery ;) in the world won't mean a darn thing.

Besides, when Dean gets the position, which he more than likely will, all of this effort to undercut him will come back and bite us in the butts because the media is going to harp on the fact that some Dems don't like Dean and aren't happy with him at the helm. And all of these people are going to have to lie and say they are happy with him as chair.

A union message from mike sweeney - pres afl-cio..

A Message from AFL-CIO President John Sweeney

Dear Working Families e-Activist:

Every day I hear from working family activists who are ready and eager to fight for what we believe is best about America. They are not discouraged by the start of President Bush's second term, even though he and his allies in Congress attack our jobs, paychecks, health care, retirement security and basic rights. In fact, they are more revved up than ever.

Everywhere around the country, working people are telling me they won't allow our country to be hijacked by an agenda based on corrupt principles. We have a vision of what this country should be, they say, and we are not giving it up.

The president was re-elected by the narrowest of margins. He has not won a mandate for his proposed assaults on basic security, basic decency and our basic values. We won't accept his effort to privatize Social Security, cut taxes for the wealthy and raise them for workers, slash investment in schools and health care, roll back environmental protections, free corporations from accountability and pack the courts with ideologues intent on turning back the rights of women and others.

I believe America will reject his agenda designed to benefit the wealthy, corporate special interests and right-wing extremists at the expense of working families.

But it's going to be a battle. Let me tell you what's coming.

Social Security: We are going to stop President Bush's plan to privatize Social Security that would cut benefits drastically, make retirement less rather than more secure and saddle our children with $2 trillion in debt in the first 10 years alone.
You've already made a difference by getting more than 500,000 copies of the Petition to Protect Social Security to lawmakers and urging investment companies like Charles Schwab to drop support for privatization. In the coming weeks we will do much more together as the fight for Social Security heats up.

Good Jobs: Together we're going to turn around the trend of rewarding companies for exporting good U.S. jobs and hold corporations accountable for the Wal-Marting of jobs and benefits. No more trade agreements that sell out America to the lowest bidder. No more sweetheart deals for rich companies that pay so little and offer such lousy benefits their workers end up on Medicaid. We need jobs that pay living wages and provide family health care coverage and secure retirement benefits.
We're through taking a backseat to corporate greed and the politicians who coddle it.

Freedom to Choose a Union: U.S. and international law promise us the basic right to choose for ourselves whether to join together with coworkers to bargain with our employers for safe jobs, decent working conditions and the best way to get work done.
Today that's an empty promise because employers routinely harass, intimidate and even fire workers who try to form unions.
Our labor laws are too weak and our government, led by the most anti-union administration in modern times, fails to enforce even those inadequate protections. Together we're going to blow the whistle on worker abuses--we're going to take the fight for workers' freedom to form unions and bargain to the boardroom, city hall, the state house and the U.S. Capitol and say in our loudest voices: "No more!"

Again and again over the coming months we are going work together for what we believe in--we're going to rally, picket, phone and fax, e-mail and talk to everyone we know to enlist a powerful army in the fight for working families. It's going to take determination, nonstop commitment and unlimited energy.
It's going to take every one of us. And it's going to succeed.

I'm not ready to give up on what I know America can be and should be and will be. I know you are not either. I look forward to our work together.

In solidarity,

John Sweeney
AFL-CIO President
Jan. 26, 2005

this is from the current issue of Sojourners magazine. It is an excerpt from "God's Politics".

http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=magazine.article&issue=soj0502&article=050210

[snip]
Too often politics and spirituality have been separated, polarized, and even put into competition with one another. We have been buffeted by private spiritualities that have no connection to public life and a secular politics showing disdain for religion or even spiritual concerns. That leaves spirituality without social consequences and a politics with no soul. Political discourse that is disconnected from moral values quickly degenerates. How might we change our public life with the values that many of us hold most dear? How can we connect a genuinely "prophetic" spirituality to the urgent need for social justice? This is the connection the world is waiting for.

http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=magazine.article&issue=soj0502&article=050241b

[snip]
Instead of pragmatically working to get the lights, water, and jobs back on, the U.S.-led occupation immediately forced on Iraq what The Economist called "the kind of wish-list that foreign investors…dream of": a smaller government workforce and no taxes or restrictions on corporations importing anything, buying anything but oil businesses, or taking any profit out of the country without reinvesting a dime. One of Bremer’s economic advisers called Iraq "something like the California gold rush and the Wild Wild West combined."

Posted by: Florida Dem at January 31, 2005 10:25 AM

FlorDem, I agree with everything in your post. I had gotten so used to JK's calming voice of "intelligence, reason & sanity" on TV for most of last year, countering Bushspeak, so it has seemed like an eternity since Nov 3, when JK was no longer so visible to us. Its so good to learn he will continue the good fight, speaking out on behalf of the rest of us against bu$h and the Republican machine's agenda.
Ditto on your thoughts about MTP, I thought that was so "Faux-like" when Russert pulled that trash book from under the table. But JK handled that situation just right, putting that whole slimeball non-issue into context, and then moved the conversation along. I will continue to look for JK sightings, on TV & in print, I feel better knowing he's still there, this country so desperately needs his leadership in diplomacy.
I'm still looking at all of the DNC chair candidates, I wish we could get a composite of about 4 of them :) But your last paragraph in your post is the absolute truth, and until the DEMs stop beating up on one another, we continue to give ammo for the repub machine to use against us. And we know they will.

An interesting taxplan. link to pdf file and tax calculator are provided..

http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=310260

Bremer's Next Insurgency: Auditors

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1022625,00.html

[snip]
Paul Bremer received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, a scathing audit by a longtime confidante of George W. Bush is bashing Bremer's agency for failing to establish "adequate financial controls," leaving some fiscal reporting systems "either weak or non-existent." The audit charges that the CPA left large portions of the $8.8 billion Iraqi treasury "open to fraud, kickbacks, and misappropriation of funds," according to a draft obtained by TIME.

Another article about Iraq audit fraud...

always follow the money!

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-audit31jan31,1,7400150.story?coll=la-headlines-world&ctrack=3&cset=true

[snip]
The Coalition Provisional Authority may have paid salaries for thousands of nonexistent employees in Iraqi ministries, issued unauthorized multimillion-dollar contracts and provided little oversight of spending in possibly corrupt ministries, according to the report by Stuart W. Bowen Jr., the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction.

Think Bush will do this? yeah right...

http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/news/editorial/10773529.htm

[snip]
U.S. officials say American troops will stay until Iraq can protect itself. Does that mean years, decades? A top general said Monday that the Army expects to keep 120,000 troops in the country for at least two years, unless attacks by insurgents lessen or Iraqi forces become more capable.

Bush is basking in glory..but this is not the way he wanted to go..He needs to thank Sistani

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A49115-2005Jan30.html

[snip]
Analysts also noted that the Bush administration initially resisted the idea of holding elections this soon and only succumbed under pressure from Iraq's most powerful cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani. The original plan, designed by then-U.S. administrator L. Paul Bremer, was a complicated formula of regional caucuses to select a national government, which would write a constitution, and then hold the elections.
"It was Sistani who demanded one-person, one-vote elections. So to the extent it's a victory, it's a victory for Iraqis. The Americans were maneuvered into having to go along with it," said Juan Cole, an Iraq expert at the University of Michigan.

Iraq Elections: What Next?

January 31, 2005

Yesterday's vote in Iraq was an historic and hopeful advancement for democracy in the country. While it is too soon to offer a complete assessment of the elections, the higher than expected turnout bodes well for the legitimacy of the new government that will emerge in the coming days. However, the Bush administration must not simply claim victory, as tough hurdles remain. Two years after the invasion, the administration still has no strategy in place for winning the peace and bringing the troops home.

Security problems remain. Efforts to train Iraqi security forces to assume responsibility for securing the country have been slow and plagued by desertion and equipment shortages. Although the administration continues to claim that 120,000 Iraqis have been trained, the real number is more like 14,000, with only one-third of them battle-ready. Yesterday's vote was marked by dozens of attacks throughout the country – authorities report that at least 44 persons were killed.

Sunnis must be represented. As anticipated, a majority Shiite government is expected to emerge. Sunnis largely stayed away from the polls in response to calls for a boycott and insecure polling sites. Over the next twelve months, the new assembly will form a government, draft a new constitution, and prepare for a second vote in December. If not managed carefully, the country could easily slip into civil war.

"Elections don't fix economies." Significant reconstruction hurdles remain. Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies warns: "We do not see coming out of this any of the elements of economic stability… that underpin the election." Less than one-fifth of the $18 billion dollars in aid that the United States pledged two years ago has been disbursed in the country, which is plagued by high unemployment and low levels of development. Unless the new government can deliver on improving Iraqis' everyday lives, the post-election honeymoon will be short-lived.
Daily Talking Points is a product of the American Progress Action Fund.

If you want to send a million letters to the editor all at once:
bdold@tribune.com, cjletter@louisv02.gannett.com, constitution@ajc.com,
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editor.letters@herald-trib.com, editor@argusleader.com,
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editorial@boise.gannett.com, editpage@patriot-news.com,
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kns@knoxnews.com, letter.editor@edit.wsj.com, letter@globe.com,
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letters@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com, letters@cctimes.com,
letters@courant.com, letters@denverpost.com, letters@denver-rmn.com,
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I just got this letter. open request for Gonzales to renounce torture

http://www.cfba.info/analyst/Gonzales_letter.html
[snip]
How could you have written a series of legal memos that disrespected international law and invited these abuses? How could you have justified the use of torture and disavowed protections for prisoners of war? How could you have referred to the Geneva Conventions as “quaint” and “obsolete.” We fear that your legal judgments have paved the way to torture and abuse.

DiAnne,
Please put the contact list in Forum. They will be lost in the blog in two days

thanks

Florida Dem
I enjoyed your comments (Kerry, Dean, DNC etc.) - change is always difficult for people. Last election some new paradigms were tried but they weren't refined. When people argue insider vs outsider, Dem wing v mod wing etc etc I have to think they are simplifying too much into B&W. It would be nice if it were that simple.

By the way I don't appreciate people incl Dems distancing from Kennedy b/c he wants to start bringing troops home. Kerry can justify his differences w/Kennedy & I usually end up agreeing somewhat with both of them. Then in newspapers Kerry's observation that legitimacy of the Iraqi election is shaky b/c so many can't vote is made to look like he's "out of step" - but he's right.

Thanks BattleBob & others who are posting more about the Iraqi election. You know we will see it hyped to heaven now through Bush's SOTU address but there is much more than meets the eye. Another area where it would be nice if it were actually as simple & B&W as Bush portrays it. Condi will put the neocon spin on it.

I think our next battle is Social Security. American Progress Report has an excellent plan of their own today for how SS could be strengthened. I think we should be dialoguing even with Republican Representives & Senators about not privatizing Social Security. When we contact them we do not have to get huffy or even reveal our party affiliation because it isn't necessarily a partisan issue. It affects every person of every age.

Bush is going to talk about "ownership society" and make comparison even with homesteading - owning our own accounts, acc/Cokie Roberts on NPR.

I agree about Russert - he asked tough questions & Kerry did very well, but they were also in a way the type of questions Barbara Walters would ask Michael Jackson.

fighting poverty is a moral value

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/30/politics/30poverty.html?oref=login

[snip]
In postelection analyses, "values voters" were often equated with evangelical Christians, just as "values" were equated with opposition to abortion and gay marriage. But evangelical churches and seminaries have become increasingly mobilized around poverty both in the United States and abroad.

From American Progress

Statement on Advance GDP Figures
According to the data released on Friday, growth in the fourth quarter was weaker than expected. Senior Economist Christian Weller analyzes the statistics and projects what these numbers mean for the future of the economy. Consumer spending fueled much of the growth in the fourth quarter; however, this trend cannot continue with a weak labor market and declining wages. In addition, the trade deficit increased and business investment remained narrow.
Wall Street Moves Toward American Progress's View on Consumer Buying Power
It appears that the longer-term questions raised by the Center for American Progress in the summer of 2004 have now become the short-term view of many on Wall Street. Senior Fellow Scott Lilly discusses why this paints a grim picture for those wondering how to manage their Social Security funds once the government gets out of the business of securing retirement.
Does Rearranging Appropriations Panels Make Any Sense?
The details of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's proposal to realign subcommittee jurisdictions have not been made fully public, but press accounts suggest that DeLay feels the current structure is antiquated and unreflective of Republican priorities. Senior Fellow Scott Lilly explains that the current subcommittee alignment dates back to the era when conservative Democrats and conservative Republicans ran the committee with seamless bipartisanship and that realigning subcommittee jurisdiction would be time-consuming and painful.
A Fair and Simple Tax System for Our Future
Few issues will gain more public and political attention in coming years than tax reform – both fundamental reforms and incremental changes to our tax code. Through successive tax cuts that primarily benefited the very wealthiest, President Bush has already made the federal tax system more complicated and unfair, while starving the nation of revenues needed to meet our current and future challenges. Now, the president has indicated he will seek to move our tax system even further in this dangerous direction by making tax reform a central priority of his second term policy agenda. The Center for American Progress has developed a progressive alternative vision for tax reform based on restoring fairness, simplicity and opportunity to our tax system while generating the resources necessary to meet our nation's priorities. American Progress is holding a forum to release its comprehensive plan for progressive tax reform, which will include a panel discussion on the specifics of the plan and the broader issues and challenges of reforming our tax code.

Here are the links to the above sections..

Statement on Advance GDP Figures
http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=308869

Wall Street Moves Toward American Progress's View on Consumer Buying Power
http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=307202

Does Rearranging Appropriations Panels Make Any Sense?
http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=307965

A Fair and Simple Tax System for Our Future
http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=310260&kntaw727=CB0DB7D8E8074B538B5ACEF8BF50232B

Here is an easy one-click forms you can use make your voice heard. It automatically looks up your senators and house representative and send them your personal message all at the same time:

http://www.usalone.com/gonzales.htm

BattleBob

US paid 300 billion for a Shiite fundamentalist government. The irony is that the US backed Saddam to prevent such an occurence.

(Mn Vets for Peace)

From Tom Paine..

When President Bush unveils his budget next week, it's likely to be the opening salvo in a battle over priorities. Should President Bush be allowed to keep his tax cuts at the expense of programs that help low-income families—who notably don't benefit from the tax cuts?

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/the_incredible_shrinking_government.php

Iraq elections are a joke..
http://www.juancole.com/2005/01/mixed-story-im-just-appalled-by.html

Combined with several other personnel shifts, as well as a concerted effort to reassure the public and U.S. allies abroad that the recent messianic inaugural address did not portend any dramatic new foreign-policy departures, the resignation of Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith suggests that the administration is deliberately shedding its sharper and more-radical edges.

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/losing_feith.php

Just read that Hillary collapsed while giving a speech this afternoon. Hoping its nothing more than a stomach virus.

Di What is the media on the elist? Any way to categorize? All print dailies? Any websites?

You'd think Russert might have mentioned Kerry attending the Abbas election, meeting with Chirac, Shroeder (sp?), Sharon, etc! A little swifties, maybe. But, no, waving that redundant, stupid form as if it marred his presidential bid.

Get ready for the State of the Union address.

"They want the federal government controlling Social Security like it's some kind of federal program"-George W. Bush, St. Charles, Missouri; November 2, 2000

BattleBob

Thanks for posting Juan Cole, excellent as always - an actual Iraq expert.

Marjorie G

Those are mostly dailies. Kerry did mention talking with leaders in the Mideast. Russert didn't mention it because he lacks class & sophistication re foreign policy & he shouldn't, given his job. He looks like he's put on alot of weight too. JK looked better than ever - rested, Presidential.

Carlin is still archivist; secrecy fight goes on
http://www.kansas.com/mld/eagle/news/editorial/10732349.htm

The Wichita Eagle
Posted on Wed, Jan. 26, 2005

Carlin is still archivist; secrecy fight goes on

BY JON WIENER
History News Service

On Inauguration Day, the classified papers of former President George H.W. Bush became eligible for release -- as the law specifies, 12 years after he left office. Overseeing the release of those papers is the responsibility of the archivist of the United States, John Carlin, the former Democratic governor of Kansas appointed in 1995 by President Clinton. But President George W. Bush nominated a new archivist last May, historian Allen Weinstein. Weinstein is author of two books on Soviet espionage in the United States and former head of the Center for Democracy in Washington, D.C.

But the Weinstein nomination ran into trouble in the Senate after almost two dozen organizations of historians and archivists expressed concern. So Carlin remains archivist, in charge of release of the first wave of the first Bush's presidential papers. The new Senate will take up the Weinstein nomination again, probably in a month or two.

Congress tried to make the office nonpolitical by specifying in a 1984 law that the term of the archivist was indefinite. Under the law, archivists can serve as long as they want; if the president wants to replace one, the president must show cause. Bush did not do that when he moved to replace Carlin with Weinstein.

Weinstein personifies many of the problems of secrecy in Washington today: His record on access to documents is bad. He has refused to release to other scholars his interviews and his copies of Soviet espionage documents.

Secrecy is an issue now because, in 2001, President Bush issued a new executive order governing presidential records. Now the president has the right to veto the release of presidential papers ordered by the National Archives under the 12-year rule, even if they have passed the declassification review. Former presidents have also been given the right to veto release of documents, as do the family and heirs of former presidents. Weinstein told the Senate committee that, if confirmed, he would go to court to defend the Bush order on withholding presidential papers.

In the fight at the National Archives between democracy and secrecy, right now secrecy is winning.
------
Jon Wiener is a professor of history at the University of California at Irvine.

DiAnne,

Meant a lot to many of us, JK speaking, looking and presenting our case that well.

Also, validating the campaign strengths and even the results. The GOP suppressed, defrauded, and that will come out in less hysterical and maybe less Bush-friendly times, especially with voting legislation. But his confidence and demeanor said we are going forward for the country, and definitely no sour grapes, which would backfire.

Russert is so overrated, as are many self-important talking heads.

Bush's Hard Sell
He should be playing offense at the State of the Union. Instead, Bush faces fire from his troops on Social Security
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6885059/site/newsweek/

Diane:

That was the first and last time I will watch any of the nightly news or talking heads. I've been clean and sober since 11-3-04. Russert should know better, but it seems like he too has become so intimidated by the right wing that he now spends an inaordinate amount of time on the trash talk issues like the swift boat jerks to the exclusion of JK's impt meetings with Middle East leaders. Personally I hope there are enough of us blue people to drive the Matthews, Matt Lauer, and Russerts permanently off the air. They serve no public interest whatsoever anymore other than to push the Bush agenda. Perhaps if their ratings plummet the newtorks will have the good sense to take them off the air.

Ira

I agree - those pundits aren't even worth tracking or analyzing. Can't get "facts" on those shows, the rest is "commentary" and not even the informed type. I would go so far as to say much of it is "propaganda" - I caught a QuickTime version of the woman from Vanity Fair talking to some Fox news reporter. Thing like that & Jon Stewart on Hardball sneak through, just like Pee Wee Herman got a little adult esp. gay humor onto "Pee Wee's Playhouse." Censors aren't smart, they just follow directions.

You'll find you don't miss it & have lots of time for other things. Even NPR can irritate me but I do listen to it when in the car, if can't get BBC or CBC. My Iranian friend just got cable & agrees much is "propaganda" and looks for channels in English but not American (there is some Canadian, at least).

It's hard for us grassroots democracy advocates when the opposition controls the media, much of the military, & the 3 branches of government oh & the big corporations for the most part.

NonnyO

That Executive Order making Presidential documents secret was about the lst thing Bush did when he had coup #1. What are they hiding?

When the article said "Carlin is still an activist" at first I was thinking of George Carlin, who still has a book out!!!

~some of what's coming up this week ( I lifted this from ABC/ the Note)
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/TheNote/story?id=156238

[my note: JK is a member of both the Foreign Relations Committee and the Finance Committee]

Tomorrow, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee holds hearings to look at U.S. policy toward Iraq and the Middle East.

On Wednesday at 9:01 pm ET (February sweeps, anyone?), the President delivers the State of the Union address.

Reid / Pelosi deliver the Democratic response.

Also on Wednesday, confirmation hearings begin on the nomination of Michael Chertoff to be secretary of Homeland Security.

The Senate Finance Committee holds a hearing on the long term outlook for Social Security.

And Sens. John Kerry (D-MA) and Chuck Hagel (R-NE) talk about climate change at the Brookings Institution.

On Thursday, Sens. Corzine and Sununu join the New York Times' Paul Krugman and Stephen Moore of the Cato Institute at the National Press Club to talk about Social Security.

On Saturday, John Edwards is in New Hampshire for the state party's annual dinner.

Plug:

http://www.georgecarlin.com/home/home.html

Posted by: on.to.victory4Dems at January 31, 2005 02:39 PM

Interesting about the Soc Sec debate.
The CATO Institute are one the folks beating the drums for privatization accounts.

Krugman thinks it is a Bush snow job.
Should be a great discussion.

Looks like Dean is on a roll. Apparently he won the nod from our(Texas) State Party heads as their choice over favorite son Martin Frost. Personally I have mixed feelings about it. Anyone here from Va? Looks like I will be moving there and want to get hooked up with Va state party organization.

State Democrats Back Dean for DNC Post
January 31, 2005 1:44 PM EST
Howard Dean won the backing of state Democratic Party leaders Monday, putting him in a strong position to win the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee.

"If all of our members vote for him, that will be half of what he needs to win the chairman's job," said Mark Brewer, chairman of the Association of State Democratic Chairs.

The party's presidential front-runner in 2003 won 56 votes from the state chairs and Democratic activist Donnie Fowler won 21 during a national conference call. The state chairs ignored a recommendation made Sunday by the executive committee to back Fowler. Other candidates' support Monday was in single digits.

"We're asking all of our state chairs and vice chairs to follow our endorsements," Brewer said, noting that would bring 112 votes. "And we think they will."

~more dismal news for working Americans. While we are concentrating on Soc. Sec., BushInc is targeting health insurance coverage:

Healthcare Overhaul Is Quietly Underway

By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, LATimes Staff Writer

WASHINGTON — Emboldened by their success at the polls, the Bush administration and Republican leaders in Congress believe they have a new opportunity to move the nation away from the system of employer-provided health insurance that has covered most working Americans for the last half-century.

In its place, they want to erect a system in which workers — instead of looking to employers for health insurance — would take personal responsibility for protecting themselves and their families: They would buy high-deductible "catastrophic" insurance policies to cover major medical needs, then pay routine costs with money set aside in tax-sheltered health savings accounts.

Elements of that approach have been on the conservative agenda for years, but what has suddenly put it on the fast track is GOP confidence that the political balance of power has changed.

With Democratic strength reduced, President Bush, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas (R-Bakersfield) are pushing for action.

Supporters of the new approach, who see it as part of Bush's "ownership society," say workers and their families would become more careful users of healthcare if they had to pay the bills. Also, they say, the lower premiums on high-deductible plans would make coverage affordable for the uninsured and for small businesses.

"My view is that this is absolutely the next big thing," said former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, whose consulting firm focuses on healthcare. "You are going to see a continued move to trying to get people involved in the process by owning their own health accounts."

Critics say the Republican approach is really an attempt to shift the risks, massive costs and knotty problems of healthcare from employers to individuals. And they say the GOP is moving forward with far less public attention or debate than have surrounded Bush's plans to overhaul Social Security.

Indeed, Bush's health insurance agenda is far more developed than his Social Security plans and is advancing at a rapid clip through a combination of actions by government, insurers, employers and individuals.
continue~
http://tinyurl.com/4d5uy

ACTION ALERT: SUPPORT VIVA 2005
DAY ONE

Dear Friends,
Voter Verified Paper Ballots are the essential first step towards a
trustworthy
election. VIVA 2005 makes Voter Verified Paper Ballots mandatory.

Senator Ensign (R-NV) will introduce VIVA 2005 if other Republican
Senators
will cosponsor this worthy bill.

We in the National Ballot Integrity Project will be in Washington, DC,
urging
Republican Senators to cosponsor VIVA 2005, on Monday, Tuesday, and
Wednesday, January 31-Feb 2.

Please support our effort by making the phones of Republican Senators
ring
while we are in their offices. Urge them to cosponsor VIVA 2005. Voters
need
this bill, whatever their party affiliation.

You will be making history again.

Here's our request:
If you live in a state with a Republican Senator or two, just call
them, on
Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, between 9-5 EST and ask them to
cosponsor VIVA 2005.
Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121
Link here for more information:

http://www.ballotintegrity.org/action.html

If you live in a state with a Democratic Senator or two, your task is
different:
Please call your friends in any of these Republican Senator states and
ask
them to join in this effort. Here are the states:

AL, AZ, AR, CO, FL, GA, ID, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MN, MS, MO, MT, NB,
NV,
NH, NM, NC, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, UT, VA, WY

Ask them to use this link, too:
http://www.ballotintegrity.org/action.html

And please, forward this request to your lists: VIVA 2005 is the first
essential
step in election justice.

Proof that our kids -- future voters, journalists, & activists -- aren't being taught enough about civics, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights... Most definitely an opportunity for our DCP Learn curriculum!

U.S. students say press freedoms go too far
By Greg Toppo, USA TODAY

One in three U.S. high school students say the press ought to be more restricted, and even more say the government should approve newspaper stories before readers see them, according to a survey being released today.

The survey of 112,003 students finds that 36% believe newspapers should get "government approval" of stories before publishing; 51% say they should be able to publish freely; 13% have no opinion.

Asked whether the press enjoys "too much freedom," not enough or about the right amount, 32% say "too much," and 37% say it has the right amount. Ten percent say it has too little.

-- snip--
The survey "confirms what a lot of people who are interested in this area have known for a long time," he says: Kids aren't learning enough about the First Amendment in history, civics or English classes. It also tracks closely with recent findings of adults' attitudes.
Read more...

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2005-01-30-students-press_x.htm

3:01 Ballot Integrity

Could someone objectively explain the merits and politics of the competing Dodd (D) and Ensign (R)initiatives?

I know we need paper ballots that are the last word and not subject to machine manipulation as final say and different. Dodd's HAVA was awful.

I met the couple people pushing this Ballot Integrity while at a conference, and they were also involved in the recount. I don't know more. Anyone have an insider comparison?

I do know the rush of this is to prevent purchase, and I remember seeing Diebold, all of a sudden, coming up with some technology. I don't know the partisan sponsorship implications to these.

This is the trouble with some of these intitiatives requiring immediate action, and more will be coming. What do we know?

RNC Spins "MoveOn.org’s Baseless Social Security Ad"

In a statement released today, Brian Jones of the RNC, has accused “MoveOn.org and the Democrats” of “shamefully meeting President Bush’s bipartisan effort to strengthen Social Security with fear-mongering and scare tactics.”

The ad in question from MoveOn.org can be viewed on their website. It is simply laughable that this little ad is being called fear-mongering by the RNC. After all the RNC are the people who brought us, “there is a crisis”…”we’re fighting terror” and “there are WMD’s in Iraq.”

It appears from the statement by Jones, that there have been “malicious, anonymous phone calls regarding Social Security to various Congressional districts.” Now, granted there are quite a few efforts by various groups (including the DNC) for those who are concerned by the Bush administration’s insistence that constituents that “rewriting the Social Security law would be cheaper and less risky than leaving it alone.” However, it does certainly seem a bit overboard to insinuate that the phone calls from concerned citizens are “malicious.”

In an attempt to turn the Democrats own words back on them (something so very Rovian), Jones stated, “MoveOn.org and the Democrats should understand that no problem--especially one as significant as the crisis facing Social Security--has ever been solved by a scare campaign.”

Even as many Republicans have expressed doubt about Bush’s efforts to reform Social Security, the RNC seems to be blithely spinning their agenda regardless of the claims by so many that privatization could cause great harm to so many low-income families.
In 2003, Social Security was the largest source of income for seniors, accounting for nearly 42 percent of their income on average, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute in Washington. Six out of 10 seniors get more than half their yearly income from Social Security, according to AARP.

MORE - http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/default.asp?view=plink&id=303

Posted by: madame defarge at January 31, 2005 03:54 PM

Scary Madame!

Posted by: on.to.victory4Dems at January 31, 2005 02:58 PM

dang-they're good at that bait and switch. What do we do now?

Happy Monday everyone!

This kind of headline gives me goosebumps. Dean for DNC! Remember, the vote for DNC Chairman is February 12.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51686-2005Jan31.html

Dean Wins Backing of State Democratic Chairs

By Will Lester
The Associated Press
Monday, January 31, 2005; 2:26 PM

Howard Dean won the backing of state Democratic Party leaders Monday, putting him in a strong position to win the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee.

"If all of our members vote for him, that will be half of what he needs to win the chairman's job," said Mark Brewer, chairman of the Association of State Democratic Chairs.

...

Also, dear bloggers, please take a moment to vote for the DCP Podcast at Podcastalley.com. Here is the link.

http://podcastalley.com/search.php?searchterm=democracy+cell+project

By ADVOCATE STAFF

"We invite all those who care about democratic processes in this country to join us in fully investigating and explaining what really happened in the 2004 Presidential election."

Who does this sound like to you?

Cliff Arnebeck? Bob Fitrakis? Some other progressive activist?

John Kerry? Ted Kennedy? Some other person with much to gain from the overturning of the 2004 presidential election?

Open your eyes, America.

There is disorder in your house.

And it is found not in the speculation of agitators, as some have told you; or in the theories of lunatics, as some have posited; but in the analysis and wisdom of the nation's brightest and most articulate citizens, who speak to you now in the plainest terms to say that a wrong has been perpetrated upon you and must not be allowed to stand.

That wrong is a presidential election whose final result cannot be verified by any academic of competent science and sound credentials.

And while you may despise academics their comfortable living and easy authority, their wisdom does not come without price: these are Americans who have devoted their lives to science, to the pursuit of truth and to the furtherance of accuracy and integrity in the national discourse.

And they have doubts.

Josh Mitteldorf, Ph.D., Professor of Statistics at Temple University, has doubts.

So does Brian Joiner, Ph.D., Professor of Statistics at the University of Wisconsin.

The same goes for Frank Stenger, Ph.D. (University of Utah); Richard G. Sheehan, Ph.D. (University of Notre Dame); Paul F. Velleman, Ph.D. (Cornell University); Victoria Lovegren, Ph.D. (Case Western Reserve University); and Campbell B. Read, Ph.D. (Southern Methodist University).

And the same goes for countless professors of statistics and mathematics the nation over.

It seems no one who has made an effort to do so can adequately explain, in scientific, rational, or even merely logical terms, how it is that George W. Bush came to be President of the United States for a second term. His Presidency, in short, defies all of the available mathematical data.

His is the Unexplained Presidency.

And remember that Mitofsky/Edison Media report the mainstream media trumpeted a week or two ago in an effort to explain away this current Unexplained Presidency?

It was bunk.

Here's the proof, from a non-partisan Report by United States Count Votes, of which organization all of the above professors and academics are members:

"Mitofsky/Edison say in their Executive Summary (p. 3), 'Exit polls do not support allegations of fraud...' -- but they do not consider the hypothesis of election fraud";
"The report proposes to explain the Within Precinct Error [Rates of the exit-polling] with the following statement (p. 31): 'While we cannot measure the completion rate by Democratic and Republican voters, hypothetical completion rates of 56% among Kerry voters and 50% among Bush voters overall would account for the entire Within Precinct Error that we observed in 2004.'....[but] no data in the report supports the hypothesis that Kerry voters were more likely than Bush voters to cooperate with pollsters, and the data suggests that the opposite may have been true....in precincts with higher numbers of Bush voters, response rates were slightly higher than in precincts with higher number of Kerry voters";
"Seven of fifty states have 't' values less than –2.7, meaning that each of them had less than a 1% probability of having the reported difference between exit polls and election results occurring by chance. The binomial probability that 7 of 50 should be so skewed is less than one in 10,000,000";
"The [Edison/Mitofsky] analysis of the potential correlation of exit poll errors with voting machine type is incomplete and inadequate, and their report ignores the alternative hypothesis that the official election results could have been corrupted"; and
"we suggest that the [Edison/Mitofsky] investigation extend to the official vote count tallies."
So wake up, America.

And not just you "blue" Americans, but you "red" Americans, too -- those hundreds of thousands and tens of millions of you whose commitment to integrity and civic duty predates this Unexplained Presidency.

There are things which are true which you haven't seen on television.

And not all of the things you do see on television are as real as they appear: do we have an elected President in the White House, or someone whose presence there is entirely unexplainable by scientific means? Have we fallen so far from a love of science and progress that we can accept on faith an election which cannot be explained by science? Do we now elect our national leaders on faith, rather than at the polling place and in the ballot-box?

The jury, in fact, is still out.

WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSE TO DO?

4:13 Which Advocate staff, so we can read and post a comment to the paper?

Posted by: Pamela at January 31, 2005 04:01 PM

I take that to mean the public outcry is having an effect..

Redouble the email and phone call efforts and pour it on..

Margorie G;

On the ballot integrity issue - this website seems to have info on both bills.

http://www.ballotintegrity.org/action.html

I don't know how unbiased the info is on the Chris Dodd bill, but it's there.

Thanks, Carol, I thought there might be something beyond the obvious someone knew. I'm feeling panic that we need to do something quickly, and we'll get out-maneuvered again.

Hi -

At the top of the thread form last night there was a discussion on pro-choice. I know we're off that now, but I wanted to add something (sorry!).

First, I think Kerry's stance on choice is exactly the definition of "pro-choice". You don't have to like abortion (who does?) or even agreee with it to be pro-choice. Pro-choice MEANS that you believe a woman has the right to choose for herself, and that you don't think you have the right to impose your beliefs on her. that's exactly where Kerry comes down, and exactly what makes Bushco anti-choice.

Also, I get a newsletter from the DNC called Women's Week in Review (http://www.democrats.org/wvc/), and it had the following to say:

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton raised the issue this week that the cuts in family planning efforts by the Bush administration could be causing the rising abortion rates in the U.S. Speaking to family planning advocates in New York this week, Clinton spoke of Democrats' efforts to fund family planning services, contraception and abstinence promotion to help bring about a day when "abortion is truly safe, legal and rare."

President Bush used this week to participate in a anti-abortion rally in Washington, DC (and the RNC hosted a reception for the marchers) and continue his call to reduce the number of abortions by reducing access and support changes in law to limit the legality of abortion. But the facts show us the policies of the Bush administration are not matching his rhetoric. As a comparison, the Clinton administration, which supported funding for family planning, saw the nation's abortion rate fall by one-quarter between 1990 and 1995 and by another 11 percent between 1994 and 2000.

Safe, legal and rare!

Critics say the Republican approach is really an attempt to shift the risks, massive costs and knotty problems of healthcare from employers to individuals. And they say the GOP is moving forward with far less public attention or debate than have surrounded Bush's plans to overhaul Social Security.

Indeed, Bush's health insurance agenda is far more developed than his Social Security plans and is advancing at a rapid clip through a combination of actions by government, insurers, employers and individuals.
continue~
http://tinyurl.com/4d5uy

dang-they're good at that bait and switch. What do we do now?

Posted by: justtestingthisout at January 31, 2005 04:08 PM

~justtesting~
I know, we can't keep up!
I keep remembering on the campaign trail, when JK kept saying "EVERYTHING is at stake in this election".
It seems to me Bu$hInc is out to dismantle every safety net for average Americans that has been put in place for the past 100 years!
I actually have family members who have this new HSA healthcare plan, they hate it, their out-of-pocket deductible is $3000, but its all some small companies offer their employees, take it or leave it.
Under this plan, the American worker truly "OWNS" their own healthcare, as in: you own the right to decide if your disease or emergency is bad enough to go to a doctor, because the full charge will come out of your "savings", while insurance covers only "catastrophic costs" after those sky-high deductibles ($1000-3000) are satisfied.
The Dems in Congress are putting all of their energy in blocking Bu$h's raid on Soc Sec....I'm afraid the Repubs will get away with this one while most are not paying attention!
This is NOT good news.

Carol, perfect, and was Kerry's position as he explained it on the campaign. Only problem is getting our media outlets, direct mail, whatever, to counteract their baby-killer, abortion on demand rhetoric.

Our NARAL ladies should be less strident, but it is hard on a podium at a rally not to sound strident and endangered.

~this is what I've been trying to say.
Mr. Raspberry does it so much better:

Cutting Out the Poor

By William Raspberry
Monday, January 31, 2005; WashPost

I've lived long enough to understand that the differences among Americans are often greatly exaggerated -- that deep down we are a lot more alike than we are different.

This truth extends to politics no less than to matters of race and class and geography. If you think of American politics as a dial, even during our fiercest debates, the needle swings in relatively small arcs -- from a bit right of the midpoint to a bit left of it, and back again. No matter how alarmed we may get over some particular setback, it's usually true that the sky really isn't falling.

Well something is coming down.

I've been talking to Peter Edelman, a Georgetown University law professor who is thoughtful, liberal, incredibly decent -- and alarmed over the national budget President Bush will shortly propose.

"For virtually all of my adulthood," he said, "America has had a bipartisan agreement that we ought to provide some basic framework of programs and policies that provide a safety net, not just for the poor but for a large portion of the American people who need help to manage.

"There've been exceptions -- the first Reagan term with David Stockman, the brief ascendancy of Newt Gingrich -- but while we've argued about the specifics, the basic framework has been there.

"With this budget, the basic framework is being dismantled."

Before you dismiss it as partisan hyperbole, hear Edelman's specifics: The basic structure of Social Security is under attack (on the grounds that the program is in crisis, though most respected economists say it isn't). Pell Grants for college tuition are on the cutting block. So are Section 8 housing vouchers (which started under Richard Nixon) and food stamps. Programs that have offered some protection for people in the lower third of the economy are under threat of evisceration.

And the rationale for the attack is a budgetary crisis created by the gift of $1.8 trillion in tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans.

Edelman thinks the needle has jumped off the dial altogether, that the people in philosophical power are determined to abrogate the contract many of us still take for granted. Nor does he believe that it is a matter of fiscal necessity. An unnecessary tax break (abetted by an optional war) created the crisis, and now the crisis justifies a radical reordering of the American system. As Edelman and Deepak Bhargava, executive director of the Center for Community Change (CCC), put it in a recent joint statement:

"The federal budget is not just an accounting tool. It is a statement about our priorities and our values as a nation. But because of decisions this president made to benefit an elite few -- at the expense of the rest of us -- we're now facing a set of budget choices that are unsupportable, immoral and dangerous."
snip~

Resistance won't be easy, since so many middle Americans see their interests as nearer those of the rich than of the poor. Besides, the cuts will certainly be marketed -- perhaps successfully -- as simple practical necessity. I mean, if there's a fiscal crisis in these parlous times, you surely wouldn't want to cut defense -- or veterans, or highways, or police. Hmm, looks like those programs for poor folks are about the only option.

It is important, says Edelman (who quit the Clinton administration in a protest against the push to radically downsize public assistance), not to look at this budget program by program but at the thoroughgoing reordering of the government's role. He sees it as a major advance of the goal articulated by the influential conservative Grover Norquist of shrinking government "to the size where you could drown it in a bathtub."

"We're talking about tens of billions of dollars in cuts, including many programs that, like nutrition, are in-kind income for people," Edelman said. "We're talking about a severe blow for millions of Americans who are working as hard as they possibly can but still need some help."

Well, why don't we just wait and see if things turn out as badly as some of us fear? And if they do, then let the government reenact some of the old social programs.

The lovely thing -- at least from the Norquist view -- is that there won't be much the radically downsized government could do about it. That darned fiscal crisis, you know.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50122-2005Jan30.html

This is what is happing this weekend in Phoenix. All are welcome.
I requested a chance to facilitate a discussion about creating a vision as described in "God's Politics" by Jim Wallis
-----------------------------------------------

Calling ALL Faith-Based People

to Participate in Iraq/ Military Dedication to those working toward Peace at

8:30am Sat. Feb. 5

at the Phoenix Civic Plaza Jefferson St.

steps prior to the Family Walk/Race for Peace

Something incredible is about to happen in Phoenix, and YOU ARE INVITED. COME!

---------So much is happening, here are some highlights ----------

On Saturday, Feb. 5 two Peace Poles will be SIMULTANEOUSLY dedicated: one at the Civic Plaza and one at the Palace Green Area in Baghdad, Iraq.

Feb.4-6 there will be an EXPO at the Phoenix Civic Plaza focused on building personal and planetary sustainability.

Friday, Feb. 4, at 11:00 Claremont School of Theology will introduce a luncheon focused on individual and business leadership, “Navigating Our Future” featuring religious & business leaders with a Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit and lecture, as well as a community leader panel and citizen roundtables to discuss real solutions.

On Friday evening Feb. 4, at 7:00 there is a huge Humanity Rocks Benefit Gala with a fashion show from DILLARD’S, a Capoeira–Brasil performance and three LA Music Award Winners will perform, including Cassandra Denver in a tribute to John Denver and his work.

For all the info www.azexpo.com 480.946.6002 * for Peace: JUST DO IT!!!

New thread, and its a doozy.