« Press Conference-LIVE IRC Chat and Apres Blogging | Main | The New Bamboozlement »
Press Conference Rewind
Let's start with the awards...
BEST POLITICAL KNEECAPPING AND THE BIG STORY
President Bush left Frist, Dobson, Perkins, and the rest of the Fristian Right out on a big limb all by themselves with this exchange from NBC's David Gregory:
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has defended the claim that opponents of President Bush’s judicial nominees are “against people of faith.” Tonight President Bush was asked if he agreed, and his answer was clear:
BUSH: … I just don’t agree with it.
QUESTION: You don’t agree with it?
BUSH: No. I think people oppose my nominees because of judicial philosophy.
QUESTION: Sir, I asked you about what you think of…
BUSH: No, I know what you asked me.
QUESTION: … the way faith is being used in our political debates, not just in society generally.
BUSH: Well, I can only speak to myself. And I am mindful that people in political office should not say to somebody, You’re not equally American if you don’t happen to agree with my view of religion.
Good night, Senator Dr. Mr. Frist, James, Dobson, Tony Perkins, and the rest of the Fristians. Don't let the door hit you on the way out...
BEST DISPLAY OF BAMBOOZLING (ALSO KNOWN AS THE JOSH MARSHALL AWARD)
The award goes to...President Bush!
There was so much bamboozling going on tonight in that press conference that it was easy to miss one essential contradiction in the president's argument. You don't have to worry about private accounts, he said, because if you want you can fill your account with US Treasury bonds which have no risk at all. They're backed by the full faith and credit of the US government. But he says that the very same Treasury notes, when they're in the Trust Fund, are just worthless IOUs.
BEST IDIOTIC BUSH QUOTE TO ADD TO THE LIST OF 1,205,305,472 BUSHISMS
Bush On Terrorism
"We need to find those people who intend to do us harm and remove them from harm's way."
BEST MISSING IN ACTION-NEWSMAKERS THAT REPORTERS FORGOT TO ASK ABOUT:TOM DELAY AND OSAMA BIN LADEN
It's hard to believe that in a press conference so long that it went over its scheduled time, reporters never got around to asking about embattled House Majority leader Tom DeLay, or the status of the government's ongoing efforts to capture or kill the criminal responsible for the worst terrorist attack on American soil, Osama Bin Laden. It was particularly surprising given the fact that both partisanship and 9/11-terrorism were discussed by the President. Well, we don't call them the White House Press Corpse for nothing.
And our last award
BEST PRESS CONFERENCE BLOGGING BONUS NUGGET OF FUN
In a daring move, NBC, CBS, FOX and other television networks pulled the plug on the President's press conference to return to scheduled programming, despite the fact that the conference continued for nearly another fifteen minutes.
You have to wonder who the decision maker was over at CBS who said, "Cut the President. Go to Survivor! NOW, dammit." At NBC, they cut him off for "The Apprentice", which, is weird, because you would think that if the audience liked one apprentice, they would like them all. And on Fox, in a strangly similar twist of fate as NBC faced, the President was given the ax in favor of "The Simple Life: The Interns".
Okay, so I was wrong. Apparently,if you've seen one intern you haven't seen them all.
Now, we go below the fold to the grim reality...with a huge assist from the Think Progress Team. You have my deepest gratitude and thanks for the rapid response research.
Here's the transcript link. Careful with rushed transcripts, folks, they often have some errors. But even with the possibility of errors, I have heard some of these lies often enough to known them when I see them and hear them. For example:
On Social Security
BUSH: In 2017, the system will start paying out more in benefits than it collects in payroll taxes. Every year after that, the shortfall will get worse, and by 2041 Social Security will be bankrupt.
FACT: The Social Security system will not be "bankrupt" for another 50 years at least, according to the Social Security Trustees own reports. What will happen in 2041, is that Social Security will begin to pay out more than it takes in. But since we currently take in more than we pay out, and have for a number of years, after 2041 the Social Security system will begin to use funds from the Social Security Trust fund, and still be able to pay 74% of retirees benefits.
On Ownership
President Bush said his plan will allow Americans to pass along their retirement funds to their children and grandchildren.
FACT: Most lower-income workers will be required to purchase government lifetime annuities, financial instruments that provide a guaranteed monthly payment for life but that expire at death. Money in these annuities cannot be passed on to heirs. [NYT, 2/3/05]
On the Pozen Plan
President Bush said:
I propose a system where benefits for low income workers will grow faster than those that are better off.
He is referring to something called “progressive price indexing.” Progressive price indexing means huge benefit cuts for the middle class. Here are the numbers from CBPP:
Progressive price indexing would reduce annual benefits for an average wage-earner who is 25 today and retires in 2045 by 16 percent…For an average-earner who retires in 2075, the benefit reduction would be 28 percent or $7,629 in today’s dollars…
On High Gas Prices
“My administration is doing everything we can to make gasoline more affordable. … I applaud the House for passing a good energy bill.” – President Bush, 4/28/05
“An energy bill wouldn’t change the price at the pump today. I know that and you know that. … I wish I could simply wave a magic wand and lower gas prices tomorrow.” – President Bush, 4/20/05
On Partisanship
President Bush tonight:
Too often the temptation in Washington is to look at a major issue only in terms of whether it gives one political party an advantage over the other. Social Security is too important for politics as usual.
Saying one thing, doing another...
“Bush and his aides rarely reveal the political underpinnings of their policy agenda. But their ambitions were evident last month, when a memo by a senior White House strategist concerning the emerging Social Security plan was leaked to the media. The memo, written by Peter Wehner, director of the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives, put the stakes in grand political terms, saying there would be enduring benefits for Republicans if the president’s plans succeeded and Democrats came out of the debate as the ‘party of the past.’ ‘For the first time in six decades, the Social Security battle is one we can win – and in doing so, we can help transform the political and philosophical landscape of the country,’ Wehner wrote.” [Los Angeles Times, 2/2/05]
On Private Accounts
The President suggested that we go to some of the states where American employers are given personal accounts. Senator Barbara Boxer not only took that trip but also wrote up a report on it. Its conclusion:
“By examining the actual system in place in Texas, this study shows that Americans are worse off with privatized accounts - not in theory, but in reality.”
More on the press conference tomorrow, after the corporate-ruled media decides what the President said, or what he meant, or what he meant to say, or something like that...
This is just TOO funny! Looks like I picked the PERFECT day to send the link with Bush giving the one-finger salute to the television camera to all my self-righteous friends today.
Thank you Casey for the thorough wrap-up. This site is becoming one the best political decompression chambers on the web!
OK, it is important to laugh and we certainly can maintain a little perspective that way.
But in an early morning exchange with my friend Regina, in Brazil, she said she was excited about International Dance Day (today). She will be overseeing an all-day event celebrating dance from all over the world.
I told her that in the US it was Will Dance Survive Day. Or rather--Will Anything Survive Day.
We need effective actions NOW.
"Good night, Senator Dr. Mr. Frist, James, Dobson, Tony Perkins, and the rest of the Fristians. Don't let the door hit you on the way out..."
Casey please tell me that you are kidding when you suggested that Bush is walking away from Dobson et al. If anything he is carrying the water for these guys. Tim Russert said it best this morning when he said the President is trying to have it both ways, especially in light of his plumetting poll numbers.It is pure Rovian, almost triangulation, but certainly not honesty.
Here we call it the Texas 2 step but certainly Bush and Rove are fully behind the nuclear option and the martyrdom positioning by the righties. If anything Casey that door is wide open for Dobson to the oval office and Dobson will be the first call Bush will be making when he makes his first Supreme Ct. nomination.
But hey Casey I chose not to watch Bush's press conference, Emeril Live was much more entertaining. Unfortunately my basketball team did not fare as well.Was Gannon there to ask questions?
Thanks for the great awards. I want to say how much I appreciate you who are willing to watch and listen to bad acting so that others are spared.
Mr. Bush dismissed a question about his sagging poll numbers, saying paying attention to public opinion surveys is "kind of like a dog chasing your tail."
Current AOL Polls (unscientific, of course):
How satisfied are you with what Bush said during his press conference?
Not at all - 64%
Very - 28%
Somewhat - 8%
How would you rate Bush's overall job performance?
Poor - 59%
Excellent - 22%
Good - 11%
Fair - 9%
Total Votes: 160,352
Rut Roh...
Posted by: Ira at April 29, 2005 08:46 AM
I completely agree with your take... that's the only reason Dub get's shoved out there in front of camera's for a Q&A format he CLEARLY is abysmal at "performing", to give the "aw shucks" kind of answers. Ya know, the one's that make him look like a regular, caring guy to Mr. & Mrs. John W. Public.
He says what he wants, when he wants (or when he's told to), because there is zero accountability anywhere in the media for the blatant flim-flam game that is being played on this country at the highest levels.
He didn't distance himself at all by those comments IMHO, he just got to make himself look good for a few days to those who don't look too closely (numbering in the 10's of millions).
Filibuster Rule Change Opposed
By Richard Morin and Dan BalzWashington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, April 26, 2005; Page A01
As the Senate moves toward a major confrontation over judicial appointments, a strong majority of Americans oppose changing the rules to make it easier for Republican leaders to win confirmation of President Bush's court nominees, according to the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll.
[snip]
But by a 2 to 1 ratio, the public rejected easing Senate rules in a way that would make it harder for Democratic senators to prevent final action on Bush's nominees. Even many Republicans were reluctant to abandon current Senate confirmation procedures: Nearly half opposed any rule changes, joining eight in 10 Democrats and seven in 10 political independents, the poll found.
MORE:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2004/10/26/AR2005032201677.html
Lots more here -- worth reading the entire story.
David Corn's analysis of the press conference (from The Nation)...
There was not much news in George W. Bush's fourth primetime press conference. He acknowledged he could do nothing much about the high price of gas except to plead with the Saudis and other oil producers to boost production. He predictably called on Congress to pass an energy bill that would lead to more drilling and an expansion of nuclear power. While paying lip service to conservation, he only referred to developing technology that would save energy; he did not mention changing consumption patterns.
On Social Security, Bush stuck with privatized accounts, but he also advocated--in the only substantial news of the evening--means-testing cost of living adjustments for Social Security benefits, raising the prospect of real cuts for a majority of future beneficiaries. He tried to sugarcoat this hard-to-swallow news two way. First, he vowed that future recipients will receive benefits equal or greater to those being handed out today. But that was spin, for this carefully constructed explanation ignored the need to boost benefits to keep pace with inflation. Equal benefits would mean reduced benefits in real terms. Second, he suggested those who opt for a private account would end up making enough to compensate for the cuts, but polls show that a majority of Americans do not buy this argument. It may make policy sense--though not political sense--to turn Social Security into an outright welfare program: benefits for those who need them, less or none for the well-off. But Bush's vague proposal won't sell on Capital Hill or beyond. How many Republicans are eager to snatch benefits from middle- or high-income Americans? Minutes after Bush finished, Senator Sam Brownback, a conservative Republican from Kansas, was asked whether he would support a sliding scale for cost of living increases in Social Security benefits, and he said, "I don't think that's the route we ought to be going."
So with the two free throws Bush had before the questioning began, he failed to score. And during the course of the hour-long press conference, he misled the public on several key facts.
--snip--
Perhaps the most interesting exchange came after NBC's David Gregory asked Bush to comment on the remark of a social conservative who said that the Democrats' filibustering of Bush's judicial nominees was an "attack against people of faith." Did Bush agree with that? Bush first replied that he believed that those who oppose his nominees do so because they "don't like the judicial philosophy of the people I'm nominating." But when Gregory pressed him about that particular remark, Bush said, "I don't agree with it." Was this a purposeful slap in the face of the James Dobson crowd? Chris Matthews breathlessly asked later. Probably not. But, no doubt, the White House was already figuring out what wet-kiss to plant on the social conservatives to make up for this moment.
With this press conference, Bush likely did little to boost his record-low approval ratings. And he did not much to help his crusade to remake Social Security. He might have even shot himself in the foot--all while reporters looked on and rarely forced him into any difficult moments. Perhaps next time--if Bush ever schedules another primetime Q&A with the press--White House reporters can just ask Bush to talk for an hour about whatever is in the newspaper that day and see what happens.
Read the details at http://www.thenation.com/capitalgames/index.mhtml?bid=3&pid=2357
Oh, and speaking of spreading democracy and freedom...
Wiretaps in U.S. jump 19 percent in 2004
No request was turned by judges, records show
http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/04/28/increased.wiretaps.ap/index.html
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The number of secret court-authorized wiretaps across the country surged by 19 percent last year, according to court records which also showed that not a single application was denied.
State and federal judges approved 1,710 applications for wiretaps of wire, oral or electronic communications last year, and four states -- New York, California, New Jersey and Florida -- accounted for three out of every four surveillance orders, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
That agency is required to collect the figures and report them to Congress.
The numbers, released Thursday, do not include court orders for terror-related investigations under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which reached a record 1,754 warrants last year, according to the Justice Department.
In non-terrorist criminal investigations, federally-approved wiretaps increased 26 percent in a year, to 730 applications, while state judges approved 930 wiretaps, an increase of 13 percent.
Most of the wiretap applications, some 1,507 wiretaps, targeted portable devices, such as cell phones and pagers.
By the end of the year, the surveillance had generated 4,506 arrests and 634 convictions based on wiretap evidence.
Federal and state judges are required to file a written report about each application within 30 days of the expiration of the court order.
Did anyone catch my post yesterday from the Sacramento Bee , where Arnald's poll numbers are now tracking Bush's. He is down 20% since January and is in the 46% range after being up in the high 60s. Hopefully Californians will wake up by next year and realize that Arnald has chosen to lie in bed with the dark side after campaigning as an independent. Now if we could just get a charasmatic candidate to run for governor.
The networks should have cut the speech & left the press conference.
The Canadians are making fun of us.
The fearful trying to protect us all...
rial | Send a letter to the editor
We are not making this up, U.S. Homeland Security dept.
Vancouver Sun
April 28, 2005
If you keep abreast of the news, you know the areas of the world where terrorism is being fomented: The Middle East, unstable countries in Africa, Seaworld.
That's right. San Diego's Seaworld is evidently the latest addition to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's watch list.
The United States is taking the Seaworld threat seriously, requiring two Seaworld penguins to pass through airport screening.
The penguins, named Pat and Penny -- we're not sure which is which -- were returning from a gig in Colorado when authorities ordered them to pass through the airport's metal detector.
Now, correct us if we're wrong, but we've never heard of a penguin smuggling an Uzi or a stilletto on to an airplane.
Still, it's refreshing to see airport authorities doing everything necessary to protect us from our not-so-feathered friends.
And its also nice to hear that Pat and Penny passed through the detector without the red light going off.
There's no word on whether the two, who were returning from an Anheuser Busch brewing plant, passed the breathalyzer test.
© The Vancouver Sun 2005
Clear Channel 1Q Profit Falls by More Than Half, Plans Spin-Off of Entertainment Division
SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- Clear Channel Communications Inc., the nation's top radio broadcaster, on Friday said its profit fell by more than half in the first quarter as its plan to shorten ads and commercial breaks during programs dragged down revenue.
Clear Channel also announced plans to spin off its live-entertainment business and launch an initial public offering for 10 percent of Clear Channel Outdoor, which sells about $2.5 billion of billboard ad space each year.
Following the offering, the company said it will also distribute a special dividend of $3 per share to investors and boost its quarterly distribution by 50 percent to 18.8 cents per share, beginning July 15.
"We're seeking to unlock the considerable value in our company, and create a strong foundation for future growth, by improving the strategic, operational and financial flexibility in each of our leading business units," President and Chief Executive Mark Mays said.
Clear Channel shares jumped on the news, rising $3.85, or 12 percent, to $35.85 during premarket activity. The stock has been trading in a 52-week range of $29.96 to $44.30.
In the latest three-month period, income sank to $47.9 million, or 9 cents per share, from $116.5 million, or 19 cents, in the year-ago period. Results were below the estimate of 13 cents per share from analysts polled by Thomson Financial.
The company said prior-year earnings included about $58.6 million in pretax gains from selling its investment in Univision Communications, offset by a $31.4 million loss from the early payoff of debt, the company said. Aside from those items, adjusted income would have been $100.3 million, or 16 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter.
Revenue totaled $1.88 billion, a decline of 4 percent from $1.97 billion a year earlier.
By segment, radio broadcasting revenue fell 7 percent to $773.6 million and live entertainment dropped 17 percent to $424.5 million, while outdoor ad revenue swelled 11 percent to $579 million, Clear Channel said.
Casey please tell me that you are kidding when you suggested that Bush is walking away from Dobson et al. If anything he is carrying the water for these guys. Tim Russert said it best this morning when he said the President is trying to have it both ways, especially in light of his plumetting poll numbers.It is pure Rovian, almost triangulation, but certainly not honesty.
---------------
Triangulation is a good word. Trying to maintain the middle republicans who are clearly against all of this Religiosity and politics. All anyone would have to do is mention GAy Marriage, and he'd be all over it all over again.
I left out a category, Ira--Real Politics that Happened While The President Was Entertaining the Media in the East Room of The White House. Or we could have called it, The President Said Nothing For An 75 Minutes And All I got Was This Lousy Budget...
The whole press conference was done to hide the fact that they were passing a piece of crap budget. To take the heat off of Congress so they could do so they could once again, operate in the middle of the night like the theives that the are.
There was NO NEWS in the news conference.
Mr. Smoke, meet Mr. Mirrors.
And I will be writing on that further today, but right now, the little ones need some fresh air! And Mommy does, too! Besides, working in my garden gives me ideas of how to reach out and debunk all of the bunk that's going on.
For my democracy today, I called up a couple of school parents and invited them over to dinner tonight and talked to them about politics. They know that I write about politics, but I don't usually talk to them about it. I am going to try to set a goal of talking to 10 people per week about what's happening in government and what they can do about it that I don't usually talk to.
In my experience, once I tell them the facts, they care. I also am thinking about doing a one pager with facts and keeping it in my car andputting the Senate and House general nuimbers on it along with my Congressman's number. I've also thought of making up business cards with these numbers on it, calling it the Five minutes of Democracy cards or something like that.
Ira, would you be interested in helping with the one pager? You know, going and rustling up facts for whatever we should be getting out to our friends and neighbors and fellow church or synagogue or mosque attendees? I think it would be good if it was something completely fact driven so people can think about the issue for themselves with out the rhetoric from either side.
Thoughts on this?
Scariest Music Video ... Ever
Meet Dennis Madalone. He loves America. Really, *really* loves America. Oh, and sad '80s haircuts. Watch and learn
By Mark Morford
I am, after all, here to enlighten.
See, there's patriotism, and there's patriotism, and then there's patriotism that's meant be written with a capital P and a long flowing scripty font with little butterflies dotting the i's and a big fat bullet hole where the o should be, and it's all circled a thousand times with a bright red crayon that's been licked to a smooth nub by aging members of, say, REO Speedwagon.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/gate/archive/2005/04/29/notes042905.DTL&nl=fix)
----I challenge you to make it all the way through this video. I almost did & now I have the damn song running through my head.
Don't be dissing REO Speedwagon... @;-)
"Golden country your face is so red
With all of your money your poor can be fed
You strut around and you flirt with disaster
Never really carin' just what comes after
Well your blacks are dyin' but your back is still turned
And your freaks are cryin' but your back is still turned
You better stop your hidin or your country will burn
The time has come for you my friend
To all this ugliness we must put an end
Before we leave we must make a stand..."
OK, I'll weigh in here for those of us who are deeply concerned about the war in Iraq. When asked last night about Iraq, Bush refused to set a timeframe for drawing down American troops in Iraq.
Well that's not good enough for me. Why aren't we doing more to end this catastrophe???
Every day, the news that we do get -- however spotty it is -- is about more death and little progress. (Today's news: Nine car bombs went off today, 23 killed, wounding up to 93, just one day after Iraq approved a government. And another American soldier was killed and four were wounded in a roadside bomb attack late Thursday evening. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/29/international/middleeast/29cnd-iraq.html?hp)
The cost in lives and dollars keeps increasing.
American lives: 1570+, with the real number closer to 2,000 when private contractors are counted
Americans wounded: estmates of 15,000 - 20,000
Iraqi lives: estimates of 25,000+ but who really knows...
Cost of war in taxpayer $$$ per week: $1 billion
The war was a huge issue for me during the election. And it still is. Now I understand why the Republicans aren't doing much to end the war, but why aren't the Democrats seizing on this issue and doing more???
I found this letter that Tom Hayden wrote to Howard Dean about this. If you're concerned about the war, as I am, please read it; it's worth it. And share it with those you know who are as concerned as you and I are...
http://www.thenation.com/edcut/index.mhtml?bid=7&pid=2356
Casey:
Send me a short email as to what issues you want to cover in your 1 pager. I'm not sure what you have in mind.
Our District 22's 527 project is meeting in my office next week to strategize about DeLay and I really need your thoughts (off line via email) about our efforts and outreach to oncall,dbell and others here. Right now that is my political priority and haven't received much help yet. Its important and let me just leave it at that.
"I also am thinking about doing a one pager with facts and keeping it in my car andputting the Senate and House general nuimbers on it along with my Congressman's number. I've also thought of making up business cards with these numbers on it, calling it the Five minutes of Democracy cards or something like that."
Casey -
The cards are a fabulous idea. Count me in.
Congress narrowly passes $2.6 trillion budget
Agreement envisions tax cuts, Medicaid savings, Arctic drilling
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7667085/
WASHINGTON - Congress narrowly passed a $2.6 trillion budget Thursday that would cut back spending on the Medicaid health care program for the first time since 1997 in a step toward trimming federal deficits.
The Senate voted 52-47 to approve the blueprint of tax and spending priorities just hours after the House passed it by a similarly close 214-211. The budget instructs lawmakers to freeze or shrink spending in many domestic programs outside defense and homeland security and restrain farm, student loan, pension and some other government programs that grow automatically from year to year.
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, said it’s time to look closely at benefit programs that are “popular but rife with waste.”
“These entitlement programs deserve reform,” he said. “The Medicaid system is antiquated and the quality of care is not being brought to the people that need it.”
The budget sketches out plans and priorities for spending $2.6 trillion in the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, projecting a federal deficit of $383 billion. Lawmakers use the blueprint to pass specific tax and spending legislation later in the year.
After the House vote, President Bush praised the budget resolution. “This is a responsible budget that reins in spending to limits not seen in years,” he said in a written statement.
‘Missed opportunity’
Democrats renounced the proposed cuts.
“This budget is a missed opportunity because instead of being a blueprint of positive initiatives for the future, this budget is an assault on our values,” said House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California.
Republicans said the plan to shrink federal spending only nicks rapidly growing benefit programs, which will continue growing but at a slightly slower rate.
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, committed not to eliminate coverage for the needy and disabled Americans covered by Medicaid, the health care program run jointly by state and federal governments.
“Doing nothing is far worse for Medicaid beneficiaries,” Grassley said.
Democrats expressed skepticism about GOP promises and questioned the budget’s projections of shrinking deficits.
“This budget says the lives of poor mothers and poor children are not that important after all,” said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. “Under this budget, tax breaks for the rich are more important than life itself.”
The budget would shave automatically increasing benefit programs by $35 billion over five years while also cutting taxes by as much as $106 billion over the same period.
Medicaid gets marked for a $10 billion reduction over four years. The changes in Medicaid wouldn’t begin until 2007, giving a specially convened commission and the nation’s governors time to recommend cost-saving proposals.
Without any change, the Congressional Budget Office expects the federal government to spend $191 billion on Medicaid next year and more than $1.1 trillion over the five years covered by the budget.
Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., who held Republican leaders in protracted negotiations over the size of Medicaid reductions, ultimately backed the plan.
Oil drilling
“Those who care about Medicaid, those who are served by Medicaid, be engaged and know that my office, my heart, my mind are open to you to do this right and not just to do this fast,” Smith said.
Smith said he’s working with the White House to assemble an advisory panel to recommend one round of changes by Sept. 1 and issue a final report for comprehensive restructuring in December 2006.
The budget could also pave the way for opening Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. In past years, the drilling authorization has died in the Senate because of a filibuster threat. The budget resolution protects future bills from filibuster, giving lawmakers an opening to authorize drilling without that obstruction.
In addition to planned reductions in projected Medicaid spending, it directs lawmakers to cull about $3 billion from agriculture programs and as much as $6.6 billion from federal pension programs, including higher fees paid by employers.
Government programs with budgets set annually by lawmakers would get a total of $843 billion next year, a 2 percent increase that’s in line with a strict budget proposed by the president.
Republicans stressed that the budget would put the government on a course of cutting the deficit in half, from $521 billion in fiscal 2004 to $254 billion in fiscal 2008.
The budget directs lawmakers to prepare their legislation for tax cuts and deficit-reducing changes by Sept. 16, to be completed with an item paving the way for increasing the legal limits on the national debt.
Under congressional rules, tax and spending legislation passed under direction from the budget is immune from filibuster delays in the Senate. Republicans hold 55 seats in the Senate and would need 51 votes to pass the related tax and spending measures.
The budget directions protect about $70 billion of $106 billion in tax cuts from filibuster. Options include extensions of many expiring tax breaks, such as changes to prevent the alternative minimum tax from encroaching closer to the middle class.
From Josh Marshall:
Filibustering Frist Update!
We're told the first pol to join the students filibustering Frist was none other than Jersey Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D). Next up may be Rep. Rush Holt. And more might be on the way.
======================
What can the DCP do to support the filibuster folks?
Seriously, we should be helping. Everybody think and post.
Farm Loans and Student Loans Cut by this budget. And yet farmers and many young people continue to vote Red. Amazing. They vote against their own interest, but that is nothing new.
Pentagon releases photos of fallen U.S. troops
Open-records requests put pressure on military
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/04/28/photos.fallen/index.html
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Under pressure from advocates of open government and a former CNN journalist, the Pentagon has released nearly 300 photos of U.S. troops killed in Iraq, Afghanistan and other conflicts.
Many show U.S. troops carefully and ceremoniously putting flag-draped coffins onto and taking them off military cargo aircraft. Pentagon officials said they decided to release the photos after a review.
The release appears to pre-empt a court ruling that would have decided if the Pentagon could prevent their release to the public. The status of the lawsuit remains unclear.
Last year former CNN correspondent Ralph Begleiter filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and sued the Pentagon in federal court for failing to follow FOIA regulations on the release of photos and video images.
For years, the Pentagon has not allowed images of fallen soldiers to be released or their caskets to be photographed by media. Defense officials said their policy was implemented out of respect for the families of those killed.
Critics of the policy said the photos are public records and that by not allowing the images to be shown, the military is preventing people from seeing the human cost of war.
Begleiter, now a journalism professor at the University of Delaware, worked with the National Security Archive, a group founded in 1985 by journalists and scholars, to get the pictures released.
"This is an important victory for the American people, for the families of troops killed in the line of duty during wartime, and for the honor of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country," he wrote in a statement posted Tuesday on the group's Web site.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will approve John R. Bolton's nomination to be ambassador to the United Nations when it votes next month, the committee's chairman predicted Wednesday.
The assessment by Sen. Richard Lugar, whose committee abruptly postponed a vote on the troubled nomination last week, came as the White House took a new tack in its battle to get Bolton confirmed.
White House press secretary Scott McClellan said President Bush chose Bolton for the blunt style that is at the root of the criticism against the nominee.
McClellan also contended that any lawmaker who votes against Bolton is opposed to revamping the United Nations, which has drawn U.S. criticism for scandals surrounding the oil-for-food program that governed aid to prewar Iraq.
(translation= you're either with us or against us)
Any Kerry supporters on the line?
By VIVECA NOVAK, JOHN DICKERSON
Monday, April 25, 2005
http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/04/25/kerry.tm/index.html
The Inter-American Telecommunication Commission meets three times a year in various cities across the Americas to discuss such dry but important issues as telecommunications standards and spectrum regulations.
But for this week's meeting in Guatemala City, politics has barged onto the agenda.
At least four of the two dozen or so U.S. delegates selected for the meeting, sources tell TIME, have been bumped by the White House because they supported John Kerry's 2004 campaign.
The State Department has traditionally put together a list of industry representatives for these meetings, and anyone in the U.S. telecom industry who had the requisite expertise and wanted to go was generally given a slot, say past participants.
Only after the start of Bush's second term did a political litmus test emerge, industry sources say.
The White House admits as much: "We wanted people who would represent the Administration positively, and--call us nutty--it seemed like those who wanted to kick this Administration out of town last November would have some difficulty doing that," says White House spokesman Trent Duffy.
Those barred from the trip include employees of Qualcomm and Nokia, two of the largest telecom firms operating in the U.S., as well as Ibiquity, a digital-radio-technology company in Columbia, Md.
One nixed participant, who has been to many of these telecom meetings and who wants to remain anonymous, gave just $250 to the Democratic Party.
Says Nokia vice president Bill Plummer: "We do not view sending experts to international meetings on telecom issues to be a partisan matter. We would welcome clarification from the White House."
~~the BEST explanation for who Bu$h really is, knowing that Cheney runs foreign policy, Rumsf runs the military, and Corporate-Cheney, Rove & religious zealots run domestic policy::::::::: Bu$hjr is just the propped up empty suit: (courtesy of a dkos poster)::::::
"The clothes have no emperor"
~~Action Alert**
Let's keep up the calls & letters flowing for democracy: The best article I've read yet, that all the LTE's, emails, calls to Congress Dems are working:
Mystery of the Democrats' New Spine
By Robert Parry, Consortium News. Posted April 29, 2005.
Across the nation's capital, perplexed political pundits have been rubbing their chins wondering what has happened to the Democrats, who were supposed to quiver in fear of the victorious George W. Bush and his Republican congressional majority. Instead, the minority party has been picking - and even winning - some fights.
The Washington Post put the mystery on Page One with the headline, "Unexpectedly, Capitol Hill Democrats Stand Firm." [April 25, 2005]
The Post story said, "Democrats were supposed to enter the 109th Congress meek and cowed, demoralized by November's election losses and ready to cut deals with Republicans who threatened further campaigns against 'obstructionists.' But House and Senate Democrats have turned that conventional wisdom on its head."
The mystery is, how did this happen? How did the Democrats find their voice and gain the upper hand over Bush on a number of issues: Social Security, his right-wing judicial appointments, the Terri Schiavo case, Tom DeLay's ethics mess and the John Bolton nomination? What has caused the Democrats to grow a new spine?
entire article worth reading~~
http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/21878/
Posted by: Ira at April 29, 2005 10:58 AM
That's because these idiots want the CHURCHES to provide the aid they need, not the secular government.
Go to www.theocracywatch.org to see the Christian theocratic agenda the pugs are preparing for us. It's scary stuff.
Posted by: on.to.victory4Dems at April 29, 2005 11:26 AM
No congratulatory toasts please. We are still a minority and will continue to be so until we take Congress and the White House back.
Even then we will have tons of educating the masses to do - like letting them know that healthcare is a right and not some socialist idea.
Posted by: AllyMcLesbian formerly SkinnyLawyer at April 29, 2005 11:32 AM
And if you want to be really scared, pick up a copy of the May issue of Harper's and read the article "Soldiers of Christ: Inside America's Most Powerful Mega Church."
Apparently, Pastor Ted (head of the New Life Church in Colorado Springs and presider over the National Association of Evangelicals -- 45,000 churches) has a weekly conversation with GWB. The "only" disagreement they have is automotive: GWB drives a Ford, Pastor Ted a Chevy.
(The May issue isn't online yet, but you'll easily find it in your newsstands...it's got a picture of the Crusades on the front...)
While we would never stack an election here at the DCP, a friend forwarded the following:
Hi Dad and Gary,
Georgetown Students Taking Action Now: Darfur (STAND) is up for a $40,000 award from Reebok that we are planning on using to start an adopt-a-camp initiative to bring education to the refugee camps in Chad. We have made it into the final three and now the winner is determined by volume of votes that each proposal receives. It would be so great if you both could vote for us and then circulate this link to anyone you know, encouraging them to vote for Georgetown STAND's proposal. The link is:
http://www.mtvu.com/on_mtvu/activism/darfur_activism_awards/
Thanks so much!!!
Julia
Follow your own conscience on this...
Benson on the Bush energy plan
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/benson/
39 Republicans Vote NO on Paying for Humvee Armor
Last Thursday, the Senate agreed to an amendment (mentioned on the blog) to change the Emergency Supplemental to provide an additional $213 million in funding to produce armored Humvees. Here's the list of NO votes to armor our Humvees:
NAYs ---39
Allard (R-CO)
Bennett (R-UT)
Bond (R-MO)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Craig (R-ID)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Dole (R-NC)
Domenici (R-NM)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Frist (R-TN)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hagel (R-NE)
Hatch (R-UT)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Inouye (D-HI)
Isakson (R-GA)
Kyl (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Roberts (R-KS)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Smith (R-OR)
Stevens (R-AK)
Sununu (R-NH)
Thomas (R-WY)
Vitter (R-LA)
Voinovich (R-OH)
Warner (R-VA)
No congratulatory toasts please. We are still a minority and will continue to be so until we take Congress and the White House back.
Posted by: AllyMcLesbian formerly SkinnyLawyer at April 29, 2005 11:34 AM
Perhaps you've misunderstood my post, I was not saying that we have in any way accomplished our goals and my opinion was not a "congratulatory toast". I just meant that the efforts of the DCP site and others, progressive radio, etc., have begun to show signs of bearing fruit, as the article points out. Its a beginning. Before we can take Congress & the WH back, much work is yet to be done, in the neighborhoods of America, at the grassroots level. I know that firsthand, I live in a very conservative area of a red state, working as one voice, trying to make a difference. The info shared on this DCP site (and others) helps me in my on going effort.
Posted by: Victoria Ellen at April 29, 2005 12:38 PM
How dare they!!! How DARE they!!!
I'm writing to each and every one of them and I'm sending them a copy of this article from the NYTimes April 25th edition...
Bloodied Marines Sound Off About Want of Armor and Men
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/25/international/middleeast/25marines.html
On May 29, 2004, a station wagon that Iraqi insurgents had packed with C-4 explosives blew up on a highway in Ramadi, killing four American marines who died for lack of a few inches of steel.
The four were returning to camp in an unarmored Humvee that their unit had rigged with scrap metal, but the makeshift shields rose only as high as their shoulders, photographs of the Humvee show, and the shrapnel from the bomb shot over the top.
"The steel was not high enough," said Staff Sgt. Jose S. Valerio, their motor transport chief, who along with the unit's commanding officers said the men would have lived had their vehicle been properly armored. "Most of the shrapnel wounds were to their heads."
Among those killed were Rafael Reynosa, a 28-year-old lance corporal from Santa Ana, Calif., whose wife was expecting twins, and Cody S. Calavan, a 19-year-old private first class from Lake Stevens, Wash., who had the Marine Corps motto, Semper Fidelis, tattooed across his back.
--snip--
Lt. Sean J. Schickel remembers Captain Royer asking a high-ranking Marine Corps visitor whether the company would be getting more factory-armored Humvees. The official said they had not been requested and that there were production constraints, Lieutenant Schickel said.
Recalls Captain Royer: "I'm thinking we have our most precious resource engaged in combat, and certainly the wealth of our nation can provide young, selfless men with what they need to accomplish their mission. That's an erudite way of putting it. I have a much more guttural response that I won't give you."
Captain Royer was later relieved of command.
Defarge --
I know... it's just PR to these Neocon guys... when it comes time to actually spend a buck on our troops, suddently we don't have the money...
But Billions in Halliburton giveaways for "reconstruction"?? Oh yeah, we got that money.
Lying scum.
I know... it's just PR to these Neocon guys... when it comes time to actually spend a buck on our troops, suddently we don't have the money...
But Billions in Halliburton giveaways for "reconstruction"?? Oh yeah, we got that money.
Lying scum.
Posted by: Victoria Ellen at April 29, 2005 01:53 PM
~ ~ ~ ~
Victoria Ellen,
I have been watching your posts. I find I agree with you so much, you seem to be writing for me sometimes. I appreciate your insight, candor, and spirit. Thanks.
The LEAST we can do for these young men and women is to provide adequate protection. My ire is up.
Madame,
I noticed on C-Span Thursday evening that one of the dem Senators was reading from that article in his floor statement during the debate on the budget resolution.
To REO Speedwagon is Good:
I think the brunette Peter Frampton wannabee is more apt.
here is the new version:
http://homepage.mac.com/mentholiptus/amefy.mov