Word Games and Social Security

~~The rest of the country will soon learn what we already know...EVERYTHING JK said before the election, regarding Bu$hco's failures & gross incompetence, is true & is becoming more obvious with every passing day...as JK said so many many times: "Everything is at stake in the election"...."Everything".
Each day, every time a new "story" breaks,about Bu$h's corrupt/incompetent domestic & international policies, I think of JK's words of wisdom, words of warning.
50% of the country and 99% of the main stream media has no clue that JK warned us all about what was happening and what would continue if Bu$h won...because they were not listening to JK. Or to us.
I recorded all 3 debates. In 4 years, I plan to watch all 3 again. I'll bet the rent that JK will turn out to be 99% correct in everything he said. But Bu$h had them bamboozled...he still does...I just wonder how bad will things get before the "other half" wakes up & realizes they've been 100% bamboozled by Bu$h.

on to.. And how soon will Dems realize and admit that John Kerry did stand for ideas and principles? This running away from truth and responsibility for this last election has got to stop. They are busy blaming the campaign, but not themselves for failing to illuminate, defend, and turn out the vote.

Kerry is being too gentlemenly about the election effort they will never acknowledge publicly to fans and volunteers who need to hear it. It's his own legacy he needs to claim.

and Marjorie, happy and proud to be confused for you any day.

Iraq: spinning off Arab terrorists?

Counterterror experts from 50 countries met in Saudi Arabia to discuss how to combat emerging threats.

By Faiza Saleh Ambah | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA – The lessons of Afghanistan are not lost on counterterrorism experts and Arab government officials here.
As the insurgency continues in Iraq, the risk is that the country becomes a regional training ground for terrorists - as Afghanistan was in the 1990s - creating newly radicalized and experienced jihadis who return home to cause trouble in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and elsewhere.
continue~
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0208/p06s01-wome.html

I just read that Arthur Miller died yesterday. He was 89.

Bush team tried to suppress pre-9/11 report into al-Qa'ida

By Andrew Buncombe in Washington
11 February 2005

Federal officials were repeatedly warned in the months before the 11 September 2001 terror attacks that Osama bin Laden and al-Qa'ida were planning aircraft hijackings and suicide attacks, according to a new report that the Bush administration has been suppressing.

Critics say the new information undermines the government's claim that intelligence about al-Qa'ida's ambitions was "historical" in nature.

continue~
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=609895

~Native~~
Playwright Arthur Miller Dies at 89
http://tinyurl.com/66yxw

& this:
Memorable Lines From Miller Plays
By The Associated Press
Some memorable lines from Arthur Miller's plays:

"Death of a Salesman"
_ "Never fight with a stranger, boy. You'll never get out of the jungle that way."

_ "A salesman has got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory."

_ "After all the highways, and the trains, and the appointments, and the years, you end up worth more dead than alive."

_ "Be liked and you will never want."

_ "I don't say he's a great man. Willy Loman never made a lot of money. His name was never in the paper. He's not the finest character that ever lived. But he's a human being, and a terrible thing is happening to him. So attention must be paid. He's not to be allowed to fall into his grave like an old dog. Attention, attention must be finally paid to such a person."

_"You don't understand: Willy was a salesman. And for a salesman, there is no rock bottom to the life. He don't put a bolt to a nut, he don't tell you the law or give you medicine. He's a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back — that's an earthquake. And then you get yourself a couple of spots on your hat, and you're finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory."

"The Crucible"
_ "I have not moved from there to there without I think to please you, and still an everlasting funeral marches round your heart."

"A View from the Bridge"
_ "I am inclined to notice the ruin in things, perhaps because I was born in Italy."

Good letter, Marjorie! Most of us have a hard time keeping it short, but you did, and managed to make your point effectively (and even sneak in a couple others). Way to go!

U.S. Social Security privatization

From SourceWatch

U.S. Social Security privatization is at the top of the conservative agenda, following the reelection of George W. Bush in the U.S. presidential election, 2004. Financial institutions which stand to be the biggest beneficiaries of this plan were the largest contributors to the re-election coffers. The President continues to do the bidding of his benefactors, overtly and unashamedly. Nothing could be more plain and simple.

Central to the campaign is an effort to persuade US voters that the existing Social Security system is 'in crisis'
Meanwhile, Bush's allies at Fox News have been attacking AARP, which opposes privatization of the system.

AARP has been in the administration's sights since at least early 2004, when an organization with a misleadingly similar acronym, the Alliance for Retirement Prosperity or ARP, was launched by Republican stalwarts such as Jack Kemp and Dick Armey.

During his January 16, 2005 interview with the Washington Post, President George W. Bush corrected the reporter's use of the term "privatization plan", insisting on the phrase "personal savings accounts." Privatization is no longer the term used by Republicans to describe the plan, due to its poor performance in polls and focus groups.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=U.S._Social_Security_privatization

Posted by: on.to.victory4Dems at February 11, 2005 06:21 PM

While some news outlets have made the switch to using "personal accounts" exclusively, I was noticing a few days ago that AP was using both terms interchangeably. Dem pols also have been good at using "privatization," so the term will at least have to appear in their quotes.

On a related topic, yesterday on CNN I saw a Wolf Blitzer stand-up interview with Hillary Clinton in the Capitol Rotunda. Earlier accounts had suggested she was softening her pro-choice position, but when Blitzer asked her about that she stood firm, and followed Lakoff's advice to a T, focusing on the causes of unwanted pregnancies as the real issue. She also talked about visiting countries where abortions continued, and even rose, after it was criminalized. It was a very impressive interview.

~~2 DEM Senators getting squishy~~

Dem Says He's Open to Private Soc. Sec.

14 minutes ago Politics - U. S. Congress
By LAURA MECKLER, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - A second Senate Democrat said Friday he was open to President Bush's idea of letting people divert some of their Social Security taxes to personal retirement accounts as Republican Party leaders tried to allay re-election fears among wavering GOP lawmakers.

Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., said any plan should be bipartisan, in part to give lawmakers from both parties political cover for supporting major changes to such the popular retirement program.

"I don't believe that we should rule out the accounts," Carper said Friday in an interview. "We have a very low savings rate in this country and clearly need to find ways to stimulate savings, and I think we should be open to a wide range of ideas and not dismiss them out of hand."
Still, he warned that he would not support significant benefit cuts or significant borrowing to pay for the accounts.

Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., also has said he is open to discussing the private accounts, saying he wants to see details. Other Democrats have met with proponents and may be open to Bush's ideas as well.
continue~
http://tinyurl.com/6tygp

and this from Repub side:

Senator takes lead to find Social Security compromise
Says private accounts oversold, borrowing is big flaw of Bush plan

USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — One of the Senate's most influential advocates for overhauling Social Security said Thursday that private investment accounts “are being oversold” as a solution and said President Bush will need to compromise in order to transform the program.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Bush and Republicans who control Congress eventually will have to agree to increase Social Security revenue, such as by lifting the cap on income subject to payroll taxes. And he said the key to closing the program's future money gap is changing the way benefits are calculated to slow their growth for future retirees.
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20050211/a_graham11.art.htm

Dip in Confidence Linked to Social Security

Fri Feb 11,11:12 AM ET White House - AP
By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON - Consumers' confidence has fallen dramatically over the past month, reaching a 16-month low, and economists say the political debate over revamping Social Security probably is a major factor in the decline.

continue~
http://tinyurl.com/3vymk

Dollar Drops as Trade Worries Resurface
http://tinyurl.com/5mgbn

Trade gap hits record in 2004
Deficit jumps 24% to $618 billion as import growth outstrips exports; falling dollar not much help.
http://tinyurl.com/52ecc

Social Security not in crisis, most say
Americans not embracing big changes, surveys show

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6942871/

Most Americans are certain Social Security will go bankrupt but are not ready to embrace changes that would shore up the system's finances, according to two surveys by The Washington Post, the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard University.

Seven in 10 Americans agree with President Bush that Social Security eventually will go bankrupt if Congress fails to act, though most predict that the system will not do so for at least two decades. Yet while Bush has warned of a crisis in Social Security, barely one in four Americans believes that a crisis exists.

More broadly, the polls raise serious doubts about whether Americans are willing to make the choices necessary to fix the system's financial problems. Solid majorities reject both increases in payroll taxes and decreases in retirement benefits, except for the wealthy. Experts agree that without new revenue coming in or less flowing out as benefits -- or both -- the Social Security system will not be able to pay all its promised benefits, perhaps as early as 2042.

A majority supports the president's proposal to allow Americans to invest part of their Social Security contributions in stocks or bonds, although opinions on this and other aspects of the president's plan frequently are weakly held and easily moved.

For example, Jerry Traylor, 58, a retired government worker who lives in Newell, Ala., said he supports Bush's proposal for personal accounts, asserting that "a person would have more interest in their own money and their future in retirement if they could invest in stocks."

But like nearly half of those surveyed, Traylor wrongly believed that the costs of creating personal accounts would be negligible. Told that the Bush administration estimates the government initially would have to borrow more than $700 billion to set up such a system, he was incredulous. "That seems very excessive," Traylor said. "I would be less inclined to favor it if it costs that much. That much money could serve a lot of good purposes."

That cost estimate proved to be the most effective of four arguments against Bush's proposal tested in the polls. While 56 percent said they support a plan for individual investment accounts, more than half of those said they would be less likely to do so after hearing the estimate. More than four in 10 supporters wavered when they heard that personal accounts would not, by themselves, reduce the financial problems facing Social Security.

Those opposed to Bush's plan were consistently more resistant to changing their view -- about one in four did -- when confronted with four arguments supporting his proposal.

Taken together, the polls found that the debate over Social Security reflects the sharp divisions of the presidential campaign, and that Bush enters the fight without a clear mandate on the issue. The surveys also found serious misunderstandings about Social Security that could be exploited by either side to shape opinion as the debate evolves.

Facts vs. beliefs

Americans badly underestimate the share of the federal budget spent on Social Security, and most incorrectly believe that retirees, on average, receive less in benefits than they contributed to the system. And about half of those who support the president's plan incorrectly believe it would protect people from losing retirement money they invested from their personal account.

Perhaps most significant, about seven in 10 Americans believe that the cost of living has been rising faster than wages over the past 20 years, although the reverse is true. This belief probably shapes policy preferences: The same percentage wants to peg initial Social Security benefits to the cost of living, as Bush reportedly wants, instead of the current formula, which pegs them to wage increases. That change would result in significantly lower guaranteed benefits for future generations, according to both supporters and opponents.

Danny Burke, 49, a laid-off maintenance mechanic in Granite City, Ill., who said he struggles to make ends meet, believes based on experience that prices are rising much faster than wages. "Just go to the grocery store and look at a can of corn," he said. "I used to get four for a dollar; now it's five for $2."

~Excellent article!

Labels Trump Facts in Social Security Debate

by Larry Beinhart, the Baltimore Sun

Every time I see or hear the phrase "reform Social Security," or "save Social Security," or "rescue Social Security," I say to myself, President Bush is going to win this one.

Every time a headline, or a title on the screen, or an announcer on TV or radio uses the words "reform," "save," "rescue," they make the Republicans' case. Indeed, even when the Democrats -- that media-challenged crew -- come out and say that the president's plan is not the way to reform Social Security, they are, inadvertently and ineptly, supporting the notion that "reform" is what is actually needed. And rescue or save is the intent.

In terms of who is going to win the debate, the facts may not matter. Even if people get past the headline or the promo for the story to a discussion of the facts, they plunge into a swamp of "he said," "she said," "we said," "they said," actuaries, statisticians, predictions, prognostications, configurations, calculations. And it all comes down to whom you trust, Paul Krugman or George W. Bush.

Arguing the facts won't work. The effective response is to change the label. Call it the plan to "loot" Social Security.
continue~
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0211-31.htm

Posted by: on.to.victory4Dems at February 11, 2005 06:07 PM

Nice quotes! I love Arthur Miller's plays.

C.I.A. Interrogator's Defense to Cite Bush at Brutality Trial:
An interrogator under contract with the Central Intelligence Agency, charged with beating an Afghan prisoner who died the next day, is basing his defense in part on statements by President George W. Bush
http://www.iht.com/bin/print_ipub.php?file=/articles/2005/02/11/news/defense.html

Bush Wars -- Crooks Get Contracts :
The main companies that were awarded billions of dollars worth of contracts in Iraq have paid more than $300 million in fines since 2000, to resolve allegations of fraud, bid rigging, delivery of faulty military equipment, and environmental damage.
http://207.44.245.159/article8028.htm

Bush team tried to suppress pre-9/11 report into al-Qa'ida:
The report, withheld from the public for months, warned US airports that if "the intent of the hijacker is not to exchange hostages for prisoners but to commit suicide in a spectacular explosion, a domestic hijacking would probably be preferable".
http://207.44.245.159/article8040.htm

Bush Administration's First Memo on al-Qaeda Declassified:
"We urgently need . . . a Principals level review on the al Qida network."
http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB147/index.htm
http://tinyurl.com/6zalm

US N-strategy calls for outsourcing strikes:
Study says nuclear warheads will be transferred to US non-nuclear allies. Experts view it as an attempt to skirt international law
http://207.44.245.159/article8041.htm
[WHAT?!?!? Does this mean what I think it means?!?!?]

Elliot Abrams: defender of death squads to direct US “democracy” crusade:
George W. Bush named Elliot Abrams as his deputy national security advisor. Nothing could more clearly expose the real aims of the US president’s worldwide crusade for “democracy” than this appointment.
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/feb2005/abra-f10_prn.shtml

Democracy = Criminality?:
Further proof that under the Bush Administration truth is stranger than fiction.
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/outrage?bid=13&pid=2188

Laurie David | Snubbing Kyoto: Our Monumental Shame
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0211-28.htm

William Rivers Pitt | The News Is Broken
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/021105A.shtml

Pentagon Confirms Use of Guantanamo Sex Tactics
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/021105E.shtml

http://www.bushflash.com/year.html

Can we afford 4 more years

Kangaroo

rossi... it's my firm belief that we can't afford 4 more minutes, let alone 4 more years.

Time In A Bottle
by Jim Croce

If I could save time in a bottle
The first thing that I’d like to do
Is to save every day
Till eternity passes away
Just to spend them with you

If I could make days last forever
If words could make wishes come true
I’d save every day like a treasure and then,
Again, I would spend them with you

But there never seems to be enough time
To do the things you want to do
Once you find them
I’ve looked around enough to know
That you’re the one I want to go
Through time with

If I had a box just for wishes
And dreams that had never come true
The box would be empty
Except for the memory
Of how they were answered by you

But there never seems to be enough time
To do the things you want to do
Once you find them
I’ve looked around enough to know
That you’re the one I want to go
Through time with

"Attention must be paid".

Goodnight, Arthur Miller.

I can't use the internet at work for other than business so am dependent on newspapers now. Seattle P I did have an Op Ed by Robert Fisk & one by Maureen Dowd, but they were trumped by the local Everett Herald. A local reporter interviewed a man who went to visit family in Iraq & was mistreated by the Army. The original title made this clear but now they have changed it to a more innocuous one.

I called the reporter to thank him for covering the story and was able to talk to him personally.
It would be nice if he gets some emails as well. It takes courage to cover this in a gung ho Naval town. This poor guy escaped Saddam & then was treated as a potential terrorist because our forces acted unprofessionally.

http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/05/02/11/100loc_iraq001.cfm

Democrats See Nowhere to Go But Up

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4795270,00.html

John Edwards gets in some good lines..

Dean Ready to Take Charge of Democrats

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4795266,00.html

in which Dean's brother gets the good lines..

Boomers, Budget And A So-Called Bust

Robert B. Reich
February 11, 2005

Right now, there are more baby boomers putting money into the Social Security system than there are retirees taking out from it. That means there's a surplus—extra money! But you probably haven't heard what it's being used for, says former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich. Here's a hint: Bush's record-breaking deficits are actually a lot larger than you think.

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

Hi Marjorie!
You are so right. I still see posts pop up from time to time on DK that are kinda insulting to JK. Of course with Dean assuredly the chair, today they are calling for all Dems to stand united behind Dean. I agree of course, but I find it a bit ironic coming from some of them who had to be dragged kicking a screaming to fall behind the party's presidential nominee.

There was another post on DK that had a discussion about what Dean's role should be. Apparently Dean met with Reid and Reid pretty much told him that he felt party policy and messaging should come from Dem legislators,who are of course lead by him (Reid). Dean of course will have some spokesperson duties but will mostly focus on party infrastructure and fundraising. I think this is how it should be too. And so did many of the posters on DK but there were a few who seemed disappointed by it. I guess these were the ones who hoped Dean would be the frontman - the de facto president of the Dem party. Their assessment was that Dean is Reid's slave. Frankly I hardly see Dean as being anyone's slave, but I guess essentially they wanted him to be more powerful. But like I said, most udnerstood what the role of chair really is. Only a few did not.

Wish I had more time to post - I'm tres busy these days. But thank you all for great posts, and Marjorie, your letter was super.

I received an email today with a short, to the point explanation of what bush wants to do to social security and why. I don't have a link, but it might have been from MoveOn. It's so simple I thought I'd share if for those like me who need to talk to confused seniors about it all.
Sorry if it's a repeat. I agree with the journalist that commented that we should all frame it this way from here on in: "Looting Social Security."

Here it is:

Social Security is a complicated issue, but the basics are really pretty simple:

° Social Security provides monthly benefits to some 44 million Americans who are retired, disabled or the survivor of a deceased parent. It provides most of the income for older Americans--some 64 percent of their support. It has lifted generations of seniors out of poverty.

° Social Security is NOT in crisis. That is an outright lie perpetrated in order to create the urgency for radical changes. Under conservative forecasts, the long-term challenges in Social Security do not manifest themselves until 2042. Even then Social Security has 70 percent of needed funds. That shortfall is smaller than the amount needed in 1983, the last time we overhauled Social Security. George Bush's Social Security crisis-talk is an effort to create a specter of doom -- just like the weapons of mass destruction claim in Iraq.

° Phasing out Social Security and replacing it with privatized accounts means one thing: massive cuts in monthly benefits for everybody. Social Security privatization requires diverting taxes used to pay current benefits into privatized accounts invested in risky stocks. Without that money Social Security benefits will inevitably be cut -- some proposals even cut benefits of current retirees. These benefit cuts are inevitable, since diverting Social Security money into privatized accounts means less money to pay current and future benefits.

° Every serious privatization proposal raises the Social Security retirement age to 70. That might be fine if you're a Washington special interest lobbyist but it is incredibly unfair to blue-collar Americans with tough, physical jobs, or for African Americans and Latinos with lower life expectancies.

° Privatization means GAMBLING with your retirement security. There is probably an appropriate place for a little stock market risk in retirement planning -- but it isn't Social Security. Privatization exposes your entire retirement portfolio to stock market risks -- and the risk that you'll outlive any of your savings at retirement. You can't outlive your Social Security benefit.

° So who does benefit? WALL STREET. Giant financial services firms have been salivating for decades over the prospect of taking over Social Security. Wall Street would make billions of dollars in profit by managing the privatized accounts -- money that would come directly from your benefits.

° Action is urgently needed today. President Bush and Republican leaders in Congress are joining forces with the financial services industry for a major campaign to convince the public there is a major crisis and pressure members of Congress to vote for privatization. Action is needed now before it is too late. "

Regarding the Dean coronation - the winners always want everyone to fall in behind, all united, etc. No surprise there.

Dean will be fine, if only he didn't bring along with him the "our way was, is, and always will be the only way" attitude of some of his worshippers. It's like they're fundamentalist Deaniacs. I'm not a big fan of fanaticism of any kind - it always overshadows the facts, and you end up with a cult.

I hope Dean can control them - they have the potential to kill our hopes for 2008. If anyone needs to learn to be united, it's them. Let's hope they take their own advice.

Posted by: florida dem at February 11, 2005 11:16 PM

floridadem,

Those who think Dean should be part of defining party policies are the same ones who still think he is a lefty and dont recognize him as a centrist.

They are still in full denial. I think Dean will be perfect in the traditional role of a DNC chairman, while being better that Terry McAuliffe in TV interviews. And, as he is barely an outsider, he understands perfectly how things work.

Mass-
You are so right. Dean is hardly an outsider. And I agree. Although Terry was good at operating as a traditional chair as far as fundraising, balancing the books and getting us a real HQ, he definitely was a horrible spokesperson. Ed Gillespie ran circles around him on the Sunday shows. It wasn't until the end of the campaign that is seemed Terry actually studied his talking points. As a politician, that's a mistake Dean won't make. IMO, Dean was one of the campaign's best unofficial spokespeople. He articulated JKs platform much better than some of the campaign staff that went on camera.

On to V
Thanks for posting the Robert Reich - this is the same piece I heard him do on Marketplace, NPR.

We should have a surplus because there are more of us not-yet-retired boomers paying in than there our retiree parents.

Bush wants that money.

Re Dean

I'm sure he understands the DNC role & infrastructure & fundraising is what we badly need, starting yesterday. Party platform & message should evolve as we see what happens with events & the Republican machine, but we need to be strong with our own traditional values, which are humanistic and far more moral than what the other party can offer.

In Washington, our state leadership has sent us notification of an Election Reform Hearing, open to the public. Secondly, they have made available to citizens of Seattle the King County Elections Report. Our state Dem head, Paul Behrendt, traditionally was a Deaniac and working until recently on platform. Now it looks like he's really focussing on the infrastructure, like our Cell wanted to. This can be nothing but good.

Also, I saw Bev Harris speak at our Democratic MeetUp Tuesday night (which is not my "cell" but overlaps with it) - more on that soon. Let's say she didn't do much to restore my faith in the electoral system of the United States!

Amy-

"It's like they're fundamentalist Deaniacs."

LOL!!!!

This article about how Bush's popularity is plummeting is misleadingly titled to suggest that American are becoming more optimistic about Iraq (which means they think the situation sorta sucks instead of kinda sucks).

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4795336,00.html

DiAnne- Good to hear. I think alot of Dems who once were "every four year voters" are going to stay active. The anger is still there and I think some mod-Repub pols in blue states are going to be the most vulnerable. Blue-staters are still very angry about Shrub. I can't see any Shrub lovin' pol in a hardcore blue state winning.

"Re Dean

I'm sure he understands the DNC role & infrastructure & fundraising is what we badly need, starting yesterday. Party platform & message should evolve as we see what happens with events & the Republican machine, but we need to be strong with our own traditional values, which are humanistic and far more moral than what the other party can offer."

Well said, DiAnne. Different people have different strengths, and I think Dean has most of what we need right now.

Nightmare on Bush world keeps on going...Bush has nothing on Freddie.

Budget Surprises

February 11, 2005

The president's budget has now been public for four days. For months the American people knew that it would be bad: cuts to vital domestic investments and services for the middle class, unsustainable tax cuts for the wealthy, and expanding deficits were all expected. The budget release on Monday, however, brought even more bad news to light. Specifically, the White House sprung three budget surprises on the American people:

Proposed more tax cuts for the wealthy. Americans already knew that the president wanted to make his 2001 and 2003 tax cuts permanent, an act that would cost well over $1 trillion. What they found out this week is that the president is looking for even more tax cuts—cuts that would cost $117 billion over the next ten years. Eliminating two obscure tax provisions known as "PEP" and "PEASE" would overwhelmingly benefit the well-off: ninety-seven percent of savings would go to households making more than $200,000 a year.

Took even more money "off-budget" and rolled it into an upcoming supplemental request. For months the administration has said that it will request $80 billion in additional funding for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and that it will not account for the money in the budget. More recently it revealed that it will also seek supplemental funding for tsunami relief efforts and aid to the Palestinian Authority. Although few debate the merits of such funds, at a time of soaring deficits the president owes it to the American people to fully account for this money.

Slipped unpopular policies in through the backdoor. The president—never one to shy away from trying to sneak unpopular policies through the legislative system—is up to his old tricks again in this budget. He proposes further exploration of "bunker buster" nuclear bombs and counts on funding from drilling in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge—two policies that Congress has explicitly rejected in the past.
Daily Talking Points is a product of the American Progress Action Fund.

Has anyone read Barbara Kingsolver's "The Bean Trees"? In it one of the characters tells the story of what heaven and hell are about.

A. In hell, there is lots of stew in a huge pot, but everyone is starving all the time, and thus miserable. Why? Because the spoons they have to use have such long handles - 12 ft I think it was - that they can't get the food into their mouths - it's just too far away. They can get some stew out of the pot, but by the time they shuffle their hands down to the tiny bowl of the spoon, most of stew has spilled out.

B. In heaven, everthing is the same - stew, spoons, etc. But the people are well fed and happy. Why? Because they learned how to feed eachother from across the room.

When I read it, I got a shiver and immediately thought:

A. The Republican Way. Every man for himself.
B. The Democratic Way. Everyone for everyone.

I think that the most potential benefit from Dean isn't fund raising, but grass root organization. For every campaign volunteer Kerry brought into the swing states from out of state, Bush had a local guy. That had a bit more impact where it counted.

Hopefully Dean can also be effective at taking on the Republican noise machine in arguing for Democratic values.

A conference to debate what to do about ANWR
This is in Phoenix..

http://home.earthlink.net/~caringforcreation/

I reviewed the differences between Democrats and Republicans (both good and bad) on Light Up the Darkness earlier today:

http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/?view=plink&id=360

Includes comments from The Note, which weren't complimentary, but include some lessons we must pay attention to.

BB -

I wonder if anyone has analysed which states will be the worst hit by the budget cuts? I wonder how many mining and agrocorp subsidies were cut? Military industrial complex? Sometimes I think Bush's War was just an excuse to grow all his buddies' profits, not just those of his oil cronies.

We need to take a good look at what the revenues collected mostly in the blue states are being used for in the red states. And what they're not being used for in the blue states.

I know this sounds divisive, but division is what Bush created in order to win; perhaps it's time we beat him at his own game.

Dean has been spending a lot of energy growing the Dem base at local levels. What used to really bug me was Terry M going against Enron Ed. Terry got clocked everytime as Enron made him look foolish. I don't think - assuming Dean is the party spokesperson - this will happen again. The Repub Lite Dems may want to muzzle him but it isn't going to happen.

I follow Wallis's lead on the effect the budget will have on kids and especially poor kids. We must beast the drum about how they will be hurt. If Bush wants his moral merit badge, he must start helping the needy more. We should be shrill about this.

Off to bed for me.
I wish I could be like Rip Van Winkle and sleep until a Dem is pres.

But there never seems to be enough time
To do the things you want to do
Once you find them
I’ve looked around enough to know
That you’re the one I want to go
Through time with

Posted by: Marc Trager at February 11, 2005 09:33 PM

Darn Marc my favorite song should not be hanging out around the moron.

Kangaroo

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4848.htm

scumbags

Kangaroo

Some of you may have already listened to these,if you have I am sorry I am ling them for those who have not, to make sure we remember why we are so angry

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4848.htm

The moron his administration and then some should be impeached by now.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article3995.htm

This is why we went to war, for the corporations this is why today we are losing our sons and daughters. HOPE YOUR HAPPY MORON

TAKE BACK THE MEDIA

http://www.takebackthemedia.com/true911.html

No one can terrorize a whole nation, unless we are all his accomplices.
Edward R Morrow

http://www.ericblumrich.com/thanks.html

Ladies and Gentlemen we always had him

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6423.htm

The whole truth about the Iraq war

http://www.kerryoniraqwar.com/

Why the hell didnt they have the brains enough to listen

Kangaroo

rossi... that song should remind everyone that the moron must be fought at every turn, because time is precious, and every moment that he is left to his own devices, is a moment closer to disaster.

Beauty from ashes.