Tuesday, July 31, 2007
The Schip Hits the Fan
The Schip Hits the Fan | Veracifier -
Thursday the Senate Finance Committee approved the renewal and expansion of SCHIP, the State Children's Health Insurance Program. Originally instated in 1997, SCHIP was the largest health care expansion since Medicaid in the 60s. The purpose of the program is to aid children in families that are caught in the gap between Medicare/aid and the costs of private insurance. Currently, the program covers 6.9 million children.
...yet the White House has voiced that the veto pen is ready. The Senate
bill would increase spending an additional $35 billion over the next
five years, while the House bill will cost an additional $50 billion. Bush has declared he only approves an increase of $5 billion, and that he would consider a higher figure but does not support the expansion of the program to new participants.
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Stealth Theft of CA's Electoral Votes?
Aside from our hero Debra Bowen's testing (finally!) as Secretary of State of all the various Cal-certified electronic voting devices and their "security systems" ... here comes yet another sneaky GOP ploy: Trying to make California the first and so far only large state to divvy up its electoral votes in presidential races, rather than award them as a winner-take-all (Nebraska and Maine do, but are much smaller, obviously). If this movement grows, shouldn't we just have ALL states work this way, not just some? And if that occurs, why have the Electoral College at all (aside from all the other reasons)?
As Hendrik Hertzberg writes in The New Yorker (thanks to Crooks and Liars for the notice:)
Two weeks ago, one of the most important Republican lawyers in Sacramento quietly filed a ballot initiative that would end the practice of granting all fifty-five of California’s electoral votes to the statewide winner. Instead, it would award two of them to the statewide winner and the rest, one by one, to the winner in each congressional district. Nineteen of the fifty-three districts are represented by Republicans, but Bush carried twenty-two districts in 2004. The bottom line is that the initiative, if passed, would spot the Republican ticket something in the neighborhood of twenty electoral votes--votes that it wouldn’t get under the rules prevailing in every other sizable state in the Union.
Read much more at the link...
Labels: 2008 election, california, electoral, sneaky GOP
Hey, wasn't that my vote?
California e-voting machines have more holes than Swiss cheese | The Register
Hackers hired to evaluate the security of e-voting machines used in California found serious flaws that could allow for vote tampering in all three systems studied.
...the teams probably could have uncovered additional vulnerabilities had
they not encountered significant delays in obtaining information and
tools from the three vendors involved. Many documents didn't arrive
until July 13, just seven days before the five-week study was
concluded. Other software was never delivered at all.
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Democrat's Keeping Promises
Democratic-led House votes tighter ethics rules | Politics | Reuters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives, which took power last year amid a spate of mostly Republican scandals, approved legislation on Tuesday to toughen congressional ethics and lobbying laws.
Key measures in the bill would require greater disclosure of pet projects slipped into massive spending measures, prohibit congressional pensions to lawmakers convicted of bribery and require disclosure of campaign donations lobbyists collect for members of Congress.
The legislation now goes for final congressional approval to the Senate where some Republicans have voiced objections, complaining it does not go far enough. A number of public advocacy groups, however, have urged its passage.
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Monday, July 30, 2007
The Trap: selling out to stay afloat in winnner-take-all America
Thought I'd share with the club a recent book review I posted on the Glendale Public Library blog, Book Talk.
The great thing about being a professional public librarian is that, while we are not overpaid like some people who work in professions, our souls are not sold out from under us either, and we have the psychic benefit of knowing we provide good public services to our community just like we intended to when we started work on our librarian Masters degrees.
In fact, most young people starting professional schooling have said that, from many years ago and still now in survey after survey, they very much want to find work that allows them to help their communities and to make the world a better place. However, in today’s economy, according to journalist Daniel Brook in his first full book, The Trap: selling out to stay afloat in winner-take-all America, almost none can hold onto those ideals anymore because they are in so much debt starting out.
Their education costs far too much, they cannot afford housing when they are young, they cannot raise a family when their age would allow them the energy to do so, or if they do have children they can’t see them more than a few moments a week because they are working far too many long hours just to support them, and they cannot get health insurance to cover themselves or their families unless they “sell out” to become a “microserf” or corporate drone and work even harder with fewer and fewer retirement options if they ever get there.
One professor Brook interviewed said “most … students don’t take jobs in the hopes of getting fabulously rich. They do it to avoid the risk of being poor.”
Brook does a great job of putting everything in perspective, by tracing the problem’s historical roots from the conservative reaction to Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal that made for a post-war middle class, that many people of my age grew up expecting to live in all our lives, to the Reagan era destruction of those ideals that, with the help of Clinton era corporatists, have led to the United States to levels of inequality and lack of social mobility so that there is no middle class anymore, and consequently, no sense of shared community purpose. In Manhattan, says Brook, the “income disparity is on par with Nambia, the most unequal country in the world, according to a recent UN Human Development report.”
“With entrenched wealth calling the shots, official Washington has become a status quo maintenance machine perpetually privileging what is over what might be.”
He also argues that contrary to the mythical belief in removing taxes from the super wealthy to free up inventiveness, such a system constrains creativity at every turn and prevents all but those who have money from having time or energy to create anything socially beneficial, and especially constrains dissent. Anyone who has seen the documentary Sicko understands that universal health care is not the only social utility that America now needs to make it possible to live a decent life. Like other developed countries, Brook says, American college education should be free, work life adaptations need to be made so that people can raise children and not have to leave a profession to do so, and so that creative Americans can provide services to others. He says “14.7 percent of the European workforce is self employed compared with only 7.3 percent of Americans. American entrepreneurs are clearly being held back from pursuing their dreams.”
Many things we take for granted should not be, he claims. Brook’s first book is fascinating and deserves to be read and discussed by many. He adds a comparison to the ancient state of Athens, one of the first to remedy the social problem of too few controlling the destinies of the rest. “One of Athens’ great unleashed talents, the philosopher Aristotle, discerned a connection between a society dominated by the middle class and political stability and justice. The rich and poor, he noted, were prone to criminality, (think Enron and the Crips), while the middle-class obeyed the laws. He concluded that a just and well-run state must be controlled by a middle-class majority.”
Pick it up. A great read. If you're young, use it to change the world before we, the last of the middle class knowledge philanthropists, get taken away.
The great thing about being a professional public librarian is that, while we are not overpaid like some people who work in professions, our souls are not sold out from under us either, and we have the psychic benefit of knowing we provide good public services to our community just like we intended to when we started work on our librarian Masters degrees.
In fact, most young people starting professional schooling have said that, from many years ago and still now in survey after survey, they very much want to find work that allows them to help their communities and to make the world a better place. However, in today’s economy, according to journalist Daniel Brook in his first full book, The Trap: selling out to stay afloat in winner-take-all America, almost none can hold onto those ideals anymore because they are in so much debt starting out.
Their education costs far too much, they cannot afford housing when they are young, they cannot raise a family when their age would allow them the energy to do so, or if they do have children they can’t see them more than a few moments a week because they are working far too many long hours just to support them, and they cannot get health insurance to cover themselves or their families unless they “sell out” to become a “microserf” or corporate drone and work even harder with fewer and fewer retirement options if they ever get there.
One professor Brook interviewed said “most … students don’t take jobs in the hopes of getting fabulously rich. They do it to avoid the risk of being poor.”
Brook does a great job of putting everything in perspective, by tracing the problem’s historical roots from the conservative reaction to Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal that made for a post-war middle class, that many people of my age grew up expecting to live in all our lives, to the Reagan era destruction of those ideals that, with the help of Clinton era corporatists, have led to the United States to levels of inequality and lack of social mobility so that there is no middle class anymore, and consequently, no sense of shared community purpose. In Manhattan, says Brook, the “income disparity is on par with Nambia, the most unequal country in the world, according to a recent UN Human Development report.”
“With entrenched wealth calling the shots, official Washington has become a status quo maintenance machine perpetually privileging what is over what might be.”
He also argues that contrary to the mythical belief in removing taxes from the super wealthy to free up inventiveness, such a system constrains creativity at every turn and prevents all but those who have money from having time or energy to create anything socially beneficial, and especially constrains dissent. Anyone who has seen the documentary Sicko understands that universal health care is not the only social utility that America now needs to make it possible to live a decent life. Like other developed countries, Brook says, American college education should be free, work life adaptations need to be made so that people can raise children and not have to leave a profession to do so, and so that creative Americans can provide services to others. He says “14.7 percent of the European workforce is self employed compared with only 7.3 percent of Americans. American entrepreneurs are clearly being held back from pursuing their dreams.”
Many things we take for granted should not be, he claims. Brook’s first book is fascinating and deserves to be read and discussed by many. He adds a comparison to the ancient state of Athens, one of the first to remedy the social problem of too few controlling the destinies of the rest. “One of Athens’ great unleashed talents, the philosopher Aristotle, discerned a connection between a society dominated by the middle class and political stability and justice. The rich and poor, he noted, were prone to criminality, (think Enron and the Crips), while the middle-class obeyed the laws. He concluded that a just and well-run state must be controlled by a middle-class majority.”
Pick it up. A great read. If you're young, use it to change the world before we, the last of the middle class knowledge philanthropists, get taken away.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
More of Our Money down the drain
Or into the pockets of Haliburton?
As U.S. Rebuilds, Iraq Won’t Act on Finished Work - New York Times
As U.S. Rebuilds, Iraq Won’t Act on Finished Work - New York Times
“To build something and not have these issues resolved from top to bottom is unfathomable,” said William L. Nash, a retired general who is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and an expert on Middle East reconstruction. “The management of the reconstruction program for Iraq has been a near-total disaster from the beginning.”
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Friday, July 27, 2007
Video montage of Bush and cronies lying
I came across this tasty bit the otherday, I thought that you would "enjoy" it as I did.
Truth be told? I wept.
We REALLY must take back our country.
Soon.
Truth be told? I wept.
We REALLY must take back our country.
Soon.
Healthcare and Bankruptcy
Denying the Truth about Medical Bankruptcies | TPMCafe
As Americans begin to demand serious health care reform, insurance companies and creditors that fund medical bills directly and through credit cards and home equity loans could lose a lot of money. So the Judiciary Sub-Committee hearings on medical bankruptcies last week must have been a little scary. Representatives from both parties seemed to agree that there was a problem in how America pays for health care and that many good families are suffering. For one of the witnesses, the display of sympathy from both Democrats and Republicans was too much to bear.
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Thursday, July 26, 2007
Tightening the noose
Over at Salon Digby has a sharp-tongued post:
War Room
Subpoenas and special prosecutors, oh my
So, four members of the Senate Judiciary Committee called for a special prosecutor to investigate the "inconsistencies" in Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' testimony Thursday. And Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., gave notice that he planned to subpoena Karl Rove and his underling Scott Jennings. The march to a constitutional showdown continues apace.
It is clear that Gonzales has been very carefully choosing his words on the subject for years now in order to make some sort of false distinctions about the wiretapping program. In the case of the late-night hospital meeting with John Ashcroft he has pushed it too far for some members to stomach. The evidence is overwhelming that "the program" they were all dealing with was the Terrorist Surveillance Program, and that Gonzales' explanations are transparent parsings designed to obfuscate the truth. It's hard to know if the solicitor general will appoint a special prosecutor and it's unclear if that's even a good idea. The administration will just have another stonewall to fall back on if a DOJ inquiry is initiated. Still, what's the difference? It's not as if they are forthcoming anyway.
Leahy's issuing of subpoenas for Rove and Jennings gets back to the meat of the matter: the U.S. attorneys scandal and how closely Karl Rove and the White House were working the levers of the DOJ to rig the vote in swing states. And in that regard, Marcy Wheeler spotted a little detail in the Gonzales hearing that I don't think many people noticed:
One more detail about the Ashcroft and Gonzales guidelines on contacts between DOJ and the White House. While the latter explicitly gives Cheney the authority to communicate with DOJ about ongoing cases, I don't believe it gives Karl Rove -- or any of the people who work in Office of Political Affairs save its head -- that authority.[ ... ]
Much of the communication regarding the U.S. Attorney firings went through the White House Counsel's office, as did discussions about the Washington State voter fraud case that John McKay refused to take. But not all of it. In particular, Karl and Scott Jennings were known to be closely involved in the Iglesias firing, where they took complaints from New Mexico Republicans and passed them on to Alberto Gonzales.
It's true that Ashcroft and Gonzales reversed what had more or less been a Chinese wall between the White House and the DOJ in other administrations and basically allowed everyone but the cleaning staff to have access to personnel and information about criminal investigations. But oddly enough, Rove doesn't appear to have been among those granted that access.
Yet, he is clearly at the center of the U.S. attorney scandals, withrevelations just the other day that from the beginning of the Bush administration he was considered an important conduit in matters of U.S. attorneys. Bogus claims of "voter fraud" are one of his special interests and his obsession with alleged fraud in the states in which the fired U.S. attorneys worked is more than just coincidence. Now we find that he must have been doing most of the dirty work outside the very wide official channel that allowed dozens of people inside the White House to interact with the DOJ. With one exception where he violated the rules directly, he very carefully avoided any obvious hands-on involvement.
Those missing Republican National Committee e-mails would probably shed some light on all this. Rove apparently used that account 95 percent of the time. Too bad they were destroyed.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
America Blames the Republicans
When you hear about how low congresses approval rating is, remember that nearly half of congress is Republican and apparently it's really them people have a low opinion of:
Zogby International
Zogby International
On Political Affiliation: When asked which political party most Americans believe to be responsible for many of the gravest problems facing the world:
+ War: 62% blamed Republicans vs. 14% Democrats
+ Global Warming: 56% blamed Republicans vs. 10% Democrats
+ Prejudice: 52% blamed Republicans vs. 22% for Democrats
+ Poverty: 49% held Republicans accountable; 29% Democrats
+ Corruption: 47% blamed Republicans vs. 31% Democrats
+ Crime: On this issue, respondents reversed the trend, with 42% blaming Democrats vs. 23%
Republicans
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Pelosi has a choice to make...
...and she better get it right!
Panel Holds Two Bush Aides in Contempt - New York Times
Panel Holds Two Bush Aides in Contempt - New York Times
To take effect, the Judiciary Committee’s recommendation must be voted upon by the full House, where Democrats have a 231-to-201 edge, with 3 vacancies. Speaker Nancy Pelosi has not said whether she would seek House action before the lawmakers recess in early August, or allow the issue to simmer until the House reconvenes after Labor Day.
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Do not be afraid
We live in earthquake country. At any moment, the earth could shake so violently that buildings would collapse, freeways would crumble, any one of our lives could be snuffed out like a candle. But we do not, can not, live every moment of everyday in fear of that. We take some precautions and then happily forget about it.
I think the same sense of optimistic ignorance has settled on all Americans regarding the threat of a terrorist attack. It isn't that we don't think it can't happen, it isn't that we won't take precautions, it isn't that we aren't willing to spend huge sums of money through our government to track and, we hope, stop the terrorists. It's just that we can't live everyday afraid it's going to happen.
So it's no surprise the latest so called intelligence reports, administration appointee gut feelings, and revelations of the latest TSA warning just don't seem to be evoking much fear. And without that fear factor, it becomes very hard to fool the people any time at all.
I am not afraid.
I think the same sense of optimistic ignorance has settled on all Americans regarding the threat of a terrorist attack. It isn't that we don't think it can't happen, it isn't that we won't take precautions, it isn't that we aren't willing to spend huge sums of money through our government to track and, we hope, stop the terrorists. It's just that we can't live everyday afraid it's going to happen.
So it's no surprise the latest so called intelligence reports, administration appointee gut feelings, and revelations of the latest TSA warning just don't seem to be evoking much fear. And without that fear factor, it becomes very hard to fool the people any time at all.
I am not afraid.
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A whole different kind of song and dance
Red State Update
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Good news!
MyDD :: Direct Democracy for People-Powered Politics
Bush has destroyed the Republican brand, and so we are going to win a lot of elections in the next few years. As such, progressives have to start thinking a lot more about how Democrats can govern in a progressive fashion, and work to make that happen. The short-term crisis of stopping conservative Republican governance has already been partially averted, and will soon be averted entirely. Progressive focus needs to turn towards governance.
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Strike up the band!
Janet passed this on this morning: "Just heard on Stephanie Miller that Cindy Sheehan had a sit-in in John Conyer's office yesterday for impeachment. He told the group that they did not have enough votes for impeachment and he did not want to look bad and have Fox News make fun of him. The group were arrested! WOW!!!!"
I got this from Adam Schiff just the other day: "In light of the Attorney General's mismanagement of the Department of Justice, I have introduced legislation that formally expresses the House of Representatives lack of confidence in Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and requests the President ask for his resignation. H.R. 417 now has over 117 cosponsors and has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee, where it awaits further action. Please be assured that I will keep your views in mind as I continue press for him to step down.
And Russ Feingold on Sunday:
Our elected officials are doing everything they can to dance around the issue of impeachement. Why? Obviously the Senate can't start impeachment and censure will likely have as much luck today as it did back in March. And it's great that Schiff wants to let Bush know we have no confidence in Gonzalez, though if his bill just points this out and ask Bush to do the right thing, well, we know how that will turn out already. But for Conyers to have Cindy arrested? Mixed messages.
Daily Kos: Forget the Leadership. Convince the Judiciary Committee.
I got this from Adam Schiff just the other day: "In light of the Attorney General's mismanagement of the Department of Justice, I have introduced legislation that formally expresses the House of Representatives lack of confidence in Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and requests the President ask for his resignation. H.R. 417 now has over 117 cosponsors and has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee, where it awaits further action. Please be assured that I will keep your views in mind as I continue press for him to step down.
And Russ Feingold on Sunday:
Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., said he
would introduce the resolutions in a few days. According to his office,
one will be aimed specifically at Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney
for "misconduct related to the war in Iraq," such as overstating Saddam
Hussein's possession of weapons of mass destruction, failing to plan
for the civil conflict and humanitarian problems that have ensued since
the invasion of Baghdad more than four years ago, and justifying
continued military involvement by distorting the situation on the
ground. The second censure resolution will "focus on the
administration's attack on the rule of law" with respect to the
warrantless wiretap program, policies on torture and on the detainees
at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the dismissal of several U.S. attorneys
last year. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales will be among those cited
in the second resolution, Feingold said Sunday.
Our elected officials are doing everything they can to dance around the issue of impeachement. Why? Obviously the Senate can't start impeachment and censure will likely have as much luck today as it did back in March. And it's great that Schiff wants to let Bush know we have no confidence in Gonzalez, though if his bill just points this out and ask Bush to do the right thing, well, we know how that will turn out already. But for Conyers to have Cindy arrested? Mixed messages.
Daily Kos: Forget the Leadership. Convince the Judiciary Committee.
Impeachment is the right remedy right now. But transforming it from blog-shriek into reality - if that can be done - will require a fresh approach. Those who want Richard Bruce Cheney and/or George Walker Bush (and possibly other high officials) impeached by the House of Representatives and tried by the Senate should stop pounding on Nancy Pelosi and concentrate on convincing the 23 people pictured below. If impeachment is going to happen, these are the ones who must be persuaded to take action.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Tax the Rich!
FT.com / World - Globalisation backlash in rich nations
In response to fears of globalisation and rising inequality, the public in all the rich countries surveyed – the US, Germany, UK, France, Italy and Spain – want their governments to increase taxation on those with the highest incomes.
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Tuesday, July 17, 2007
"None of the Above" Number 1 Choice of Republicans
Election Central Morning Roundup | TPMCafe
In a new AP/Ipsos Poll, 25% of Republican respondents say they are either undecided or would prefer someone other than the current field — more than the vote share of any actual candidates listed in the poll.
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Monday, July 16, 2007
My Response to Adam Schiff's Lack of Response
My wife asked our Representative, Adam Schiff, would he support Kucinich's bill to impeach?
He 'doesn't want to,' she said.
Mr. Schiff sent her this, to which I have attached my untempered response.
Dear Ms. Reynolds :
Thank you for contacting me regarding your opposition to Vice President Cheney's policies and actions. I appreciate hearing from you and welcome your input.
I share your concern about many of the actions of Vice President Cheney while in office. This June, an amendment was offered to the Fiscal Year 2008 Interior Appropriations Bill to eliminate funding for the Office of the Vice President. The amendment was introduced in response to a statement from the Vice President's Office claiming that since the Vice President was not strictly part of the executive branch. Because he presides over the Senate, which is part of the Legislative Branch, the Vice-President claimed that his office did not have to comply with federal rules on filing classified documents. The Constitution gives the Vice President both legislative and executive responsibilities, however I believe that the Vice President cannot simply choose which branch he wants to be associated with in an effort to gain special privileges or skirt federal requirements. In response to his claims, I supported the amendment on the House Floor to eliminate funding for Vice President Cheney's executive office. Unfortunately the amendment failed by a vote of 209-217.
As you know, Articles of Impeachment have been introduced by Rep. Dennis Kucinich against Vice President Cheney. I strongly believe that while Congress has an important legislative function, it has an equally vital role in providing oversight of the executive branch. Past Congresses have not done enough to question the actions of this Administration, and vigorous review of the conduct of the Administration must be a core mission of the 110 th Congress.
The Founding Fathers of our country wrote the Constitution with the intention that no one branch of government should become too powerful. That is why we have a separation of powers with a system of checks and balances. The executive branch is an extraordinarily powerful one; in order for the checks and balances to function properly, both Congress and the Courts must resist an excessive assertion of executive power that is at odds with the interests of the American people or violates the Constitution.
One of the most important areas in which the Administration has not been held accountable involves the terrible mistakes that have been made in the prosecution of the war and the reconstruction of Iraq . After more than 4 years of bloody combat; after our Nation has lost more than 3,500 of our military's finest; after thousands more of our brave men and women have been wounded; after we have spent almost $600 billion; and after finding no weapons of mass destruction, the very basis of that war, it is clear the Administration's stay-the-court policy cannot stand. Despite this, the Vice President claims that if he had to make the decision to go to war over again, he would do exactly the same thing. We clearly need a new way forward, and Congress has already begun to redirect the nation's policy in Iraq.
While I share your concerns over a number of Vice President Cheney's decisions, and I believe that a full investigation of his role in the lead-up to the war and its prosecution is warranted, I am very reluctant to have Congress focus its attention away from changing the direction in Iraq and the country's most pressing problems to the degree necessary to entertain impeachment proceedings. There is no question that the Vice President has done a great disservice to the country, and I am deeply troubled by his views and performance. But I am concerned that impeachment proceedings would not only be unsuccessful, but distract us from the more pressing matter of changing our Iraq policy and bringing our combat troops home.
Please be assured that I will do my part to ensure that Congress provides vigorous oversight and the Administration is held accountable for its actions.
An on-going job of a Representative in Congress is to help constituents solve problems with federal agencies, access services, and get their questions answered promptly. On my website, I offer a detailed guide to the services my office can provide to you as a constituent. I also encourage you to subscribe to the Washington Update, my email newsletter which contains information on local events, my work in Washington , and even lets you weigh in on important issues through online polls. Visit me online at http://schiff.house.gov to subscribe. Please know that you can always reach me at (626) 304-2727 or via my website if I can ever be of additional assistance.
Thank you again for your thoughts. I hope you will continue to share your views and ideas with me.
Sincerely,
Adam B. Schiff
Member of Congress
This is what I wrote to Janet after reading the above:
Janet,
Does he not understand that getting out of Iraq can also be done at the same time as impeachment? This is more of the insulated powerful talking down to the rest of us. He's one of the uppers now and he must think we are children disturbing him from his important self aggrandizing work, or else, he and other congresspersons like him can't do two things at once.
They have to start to doing both. Saying they must continue to do the same ineffective things they've done and can't add something that would be effective is just a loser's excuse. It would allow them to get out of Iraq immediately if they got rid of the people blocking that. Does he honestly expect us to believe they can change Bush and Cheney's minds from their opposition to ending the war?
You can change their minds only by throwing them out of office before they bring us to more permanent war and assured destruction of our Constitutional honor. What are the specific things that this would "distract" us from? What is more important than this in the final analysis? You're being distracted from this by thinking anything else is worthy of more of your time, Mr. Schiff? Nothing is and I'm not buying your off-putting doublespeak. As Bill Moyers' recent guests said "Impeachment is the cure" to the constitutional crisis, not the crisis itself.
How dare Mr. Schiff talk down to us this way? We need to petition him and all other fuddydudders to stop being "deeply troubled" and start doing what needs to be done to save this country's government. Get your hands dirty and come out of the corporate tower, there's work to be done to keep the roof from falling in on your House, Mr. Representative.
From this moment on I consider Adam Schiff to have turned his back on his constitutents. He'd rather let the nation's heart and soul die than face his duty to the Constitution that was meant to serve us all.
A further point about the importance of putting pressure on our Member of Congress: It was the previous Member of Congress from California's 29th District who was defeated by Mr. Schiff, becuase, he, Republican James Rogan, was the opening prosecutor on the foolish impeachment of Bill Clinton. Adam Schiff may be determined not to make such a mistake, but by not wanting to impeach he may be. This time it's righteous and necessary. We all know it.
We want to get the honor of our district back. Win impeachment in the name of the 29th!
Bill
He 'doesn't want to,' she said.
Mr. Schiff sent her this, to which I have attached my untempered response.
Dear Ms. Reynolds :
Thank you for contacting me regarding your opposition to Vice President Cheney's policies and actions. I appreciate hearing from you and welcome your input.
I share your concern about many of the actions of Vice President Cheney while in office. This June, an amendment was offered to the Fiscal Year 2008 Interior Appropriations Bill to eliminate funding for the Office of the Vice President. The amendment was introduced in response to a statement from the Vice President's Office claiming that since the Vice President was not strictly part of the executive branch. Because he presides over the Senate, which is part of the Legislative Branch, the Vice-President claimed that his office did not have to comply with federal rules on filing classified documents. The Constitution gives the Vice President both legislative and executive responsibilities, however I believe that the Vice President cannot simply choose which branch he wants to be associated with in an effort to gain special privileges or skirt federal requirements. In response to his claims, I supported the amendment on the House Floor to eliminate funding for Vice President Cheney's executive office. Unfortunately the amendment failed by a vote of 209-217.
As you know, Articles of Impeachment have been introduced by Rep. Dennis Kucinich against Vice President Cheney. I strongly believe that while Congress has an important legislative function, it has an equally vital role in providing oversight of the executive branch. Past Congresses have not done enough to question the actions of this Administration, and vigorous review of the conduct of the Administration must be a core mission of the 110 th Congress.
The Founding Fathers of our country wrote the Constitution with the intention that no one branch of government should become too powerful. That is why we have a separation of powers with a system of checks and balances. The executive branch is an extraordinarily powerful one; in order for the checks and balances to function properly, both Congress and the Courts must resist an excessive assertion of executive power that is at odds with the interests of the American people or violates the Constitution.
One of the most important areas in which the Administration has not been held accountable involves the terrible mistakes that have been made in the prosecution of the war and the reconstruction of Iraq . After more than 4 years of bloody combat; after our Nation has lost more than 3,500 of our military's finest; after thousands more of our brave men and women have been wounded; after we have spent almost $600 billion; and after finding no weapons of mass destruction, the very basis of that war, it is clear the Administration's stay-the-court policy cannot stand. Despite this, the Vice President claims that if he had to make the decision to go to war over again, he would do exactly the same thing. We clearly need a new way forward, and Congress has already begun to redirect the nation's policy in Iraq.
While I share your concerns over a number of Vice President Cheney's decisions, and I believe that a full investigation of his role in the lead-up to the war and its prosecution is warranted, I am very reluctant to have Congress focus its attention away from changing the direction in Iraq and the country's most pressing problems to the degree necessary to entertain impeachment proceedings. There is no question that the Vice President has done a great disservice to the country, and I am deeply troubled by his views and performance. But I am concerned that impeachment proceedings would not only be unsuccessful, but distract us from the more pressing matter of changing our Iraq policy and bringing our combat troops home.
Please be assured that I will do my part to ensure that Congress provides vigorous oversight and the Administration is held accountable for its actions.
An on-going job of a Representative in Congress is to help constituents solve problems with federal agencies, access services, and get their questions answered promptly. On my website, I offer a detailed guide to the services my office can provide to you as a constituent. I also encourage you to subscribe to the Washington Update, my email newsletter which contains information on local events, my work in Washington , and even lets you weigh in on important issues through online polls. Visit me online at http://schiff.house.gov to subscribe. Please know that you can always reach me at (626) 304-2727 or via my website if I can ever be of additional assistance.
Thank you again for your thoughts. I hope you will continue to share your views and ideas with me.
Sincerely,
Adam B. Schiff
Member of Congress
This is what I wrote to Janet after reading the above:
Janet,
Does he not understand that getting out of Iraq can also be done at the same time as impeachment? This is more of the insulated powerful talking down to the rest of us. He's one of the uppers now and he must think we are children disturbing him from his important self aggrandizing work, or else, he and other congresspersons like him can't do two things at once.
They have to start to doing both. Saying they must continue to do the same ineffective things they've done and can't add something that would be effective is just a loser's excuse. It would allow them to get out of Iraq immediately if they got rid of the people blocking that. Does he honestly expect us to believe they can change Bush and Cheney's minds from their opposition to ending the war?
You can change their minds only by throwing them out of office before they bring us to more permanent war and assured destruction of our Constitutional honor. What are the specific things that this would "distract" us from? What is more important than this in the final analysis? You're being distracted from this by thinking anything else is worthy of more of your time, Mr. Schiff? Nothing is and I'm not buying your off-putting doublespeak. As Bill Moyers' recent guests said "Impeachment is the cure" to the constitutional crisis, not the crisis itself.
How dare Mr. Schiff talk down to us this way? We need to petition him and all other fuddydudders to stop being "deeply troubled" and start doing what needs to be done to save this country's government. Get your hands dirty and come out of the corporate tower, there's work to be done to keep the roof from falling in on your House, Mr. Representative.
From this moment on I consider Adam Schiff to have turned his back on his constitutents. He'd rather let the nation's heart and soul die than face his duty to the Constitution that was meant to serve us all.
A further point about the importance of putting pressure on our Member of Congress: It was the previous Member of Congress from California's 29th District who was defeated by Mr. Schiff, becuase, he, Republican James Rogan, was the opening prosecutor on the foolish impeachment of Bill Clinton. Adam Schiff may be determined not to make such a mistake, but by not wanting to impeach he may be. This time it's righteous and necessary. We all know it.
We want to get the honor of our district back. Win impeachment in the name of the 29th!
Bill
Finally
Breaking: Reid Will Force An All-Night Filibuster On Iraq | TPMCafe
The American people deserve an open and honest debate on this war, and they deserve an up or down vote on this amendment to end it.
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The Iraq Stalling Stategy
CQPolitics.com - A Last-Ditch Plea to a Wavering Party
In public, Bush and his allies last week repeated their longstanding argument that a quick pullout would give the al Qaeda terrorist network a permanent base in Iraq, lead to mass killings, and possibly force the United States to return in the future to quell a more dangerous situation. In private, the request for Senate Republicans to wait until September was as simple as it was pragmatic, about the only kind of lobbying by the White House that has any chance of working right now.
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Sunday, July 15, 2007
"Impeachment is the Cure" - Bill Moyers Journal
Bill Moyers Journal on KCET Friday night at 8:00 PM was about whether or not Congress should impeach Bush and Cheney. Here's what I posted on our local MoyersTalk blog:
Moyers Talk said...
Wonderful discussion. Impeachment is not the problem creating a constitutional crisis, it is indeed the cure to the constitutional crisis as Nichols and Fein say. The executive branch is acting monarchial and the Congress is not responding the way people who understand that this is to remain a nation of laws are demanding they respond. A respect for the constitutional checks and balance requires that this, and all future executive branches be put in their place. It is not so much about getting rid of Cheney and Bush as it is about getting rid of the tools they and future executives are using and can later use to keep us as powerless subjects rather than empowered citizens. Nothing is more important.
DON'T MISS THIS IMPORTANT DISCUSSION. Join the discussion and accept the civic responsibility required now. Tell us, tell your neighbors, and tell your Congressperson what must be done. Don't let us become vassals to a new king. After watching this episode of Bill Moyers Journal, if there is a good reason not to impeach I want to hear it debated in our monthly meeting. I believe in the American Revolution against tyranny as much as I ever did, now more so. Congress must hold impeachment hearings or lose the country's values and freedom. JOIN THE DISCUSSION HERE AND THURSDAY - Glendale Central Library, July 19, 2007 at 7:00 PM.
And at the Burbank Democratic Club meeting this Wednesday, July 18, let's talk about sending, along with a petition from club members demanding that they begin impeachment hearings, a copy of the constititution to Adam Schiff, Dianne Feinstein, to Nancy Pelosi, the DNC, and the DLC. Barbara Boxer has already shown she fully understands the constitution and what it means to democracy. Anyone scared to step up know and act rightly clearly does not know why they are in office.
If Congress still thinks impeachment is off the table -- as my wife and I heard Harry Reid say dismissively and arrogantly just yesterday! -- if they won't represent the people who put them in office, I think we ought to get every Democratic club in the state and country to join us in saying IF YOU WON'T BE DEMOCRATS, WE WON'T BE DEMOCRATS. IMPEACH NOW OR LOSE THE COUNTRY FOREVER. We are not afraid. Why are you?
Watch the Moyers program online at www.pbs.org/moyers and read John Dean's article on http://www.findlaw.com/ about the need for Congress to not take anymore guff from Bush's White House. He says "Congress must avail itself of traditional procedures to compel testimony and/or punish contempt" (Also at Common Dreams) No one can get away with sitting still anymore. Demand action before they turn us all into serfs. It has to start at home, right now. Let's make them listen. Let's be loud and assertive to make our representatives show some spine.
Moyers Talk said...
Wonderful discussion. Impeachment is not the problem creating a constitutional crisis, it is indeed the cure to the constitutional crisis as Nichols and Fein say. The executive branch is acting monarchial and the Congress is not responding the way people who understand that this is to remain a nation of laws are demanding they respond. A respect for the constitutional checks and balance requires that this, and all future executive branches be put in their place. It is not so much about getting rid of Cheney and Bush as it is about getting rid of the tools they and future executives are using and can later use to keep us as powerless subjects rather than empowered citizens. Nothing is more important.
DON'T MISS THIS IMPORTANT DISCUSSION. Join the discussion and accept the civic responsibility required now. Tell us, tell your neighbors, and tell your Congressperson what must be done. Don't let us become vassals to a new king. After watching this episode of Bill Moyers Journal, if there is a good reason not to impeach I want to hear it debated in our monthly meeting. I believe in the American Revolution against tyranny as much as I ever did, now more so. Congress must hold impeachment hearings or lose the country's values and freedom. JOIN THE DISCUSSION HERE AND THURSDAY - Glendale Central Library, July 19, 2007 at 7:00 PM.
And at the Burbank Democratic Club meeting this Wednesday, July 18, let's talk about sending, along with a petition from club members demanding that they begin impeachment hearings, a copy of the constititution to Adam Schiff, Dianne Feinstein, to Nancy Pelosi, the DNC, and the DLC. Barbara Boxer has already shown she fully understands the constitution and what it means to democracy. Anyone scared to step up know and act rightly clearly does not know why they are in office.
If Congress still thinks impeachment is off the table -- as my wife and I heard Harry Reid say dismissively and arrogantly just yesterday! -- if they won't represent the people who put them in office, I think we ought to get every Democratic club in the state and country to join us in saying IF YOU WON'T BE DEMOCRATS, WE WON'T BE DEMOCRATS. IMPEACH NOW OR LOSE THE COUNTRY FOREVER. We are not afraid. Why are you?
Watch the Moyers program online at www.pbs.org/moyers and read John Dean's article on http://www.findlaw.com/ about the need for Congress to not take anymore guff from Bush's White House. He says "Congress must avail itself of traditional procedures to compel testimony and/or punish contempt" (Also at Common Dreams) No one can get away with sitting still anymore. Demand action before they turn us all into serfs. It has to start at home, right now. Let's make them listen. Let's be loud and assertive to make our representatives show some spine.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Soldier shoots himself to avoid Iraq
Soldier shoots himself to avoid Iraq
A soldier who recently returned from Iraq has admitted he paid someone $500 to shoot him in the leg so he could avoid returning for another tour.
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Republicans Eating Themselves
Daily Kos: Bizarre Wingnut Meltdown in WA leads to the White House
So why would President Bush, who already has more troubles than he has time to put on a list, suddenly add to his troubles the attempted firing of an independent international commissioner over which he has no authority?
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Friday, July 13, 2007
Our Democratic Majority at work
...too bad that's as far as it will go with Senate Republicans filibustering everything that comes before them - too afraid to actually vote on something and take a stand their constituents can hold them accountable.
As Bush stays firm, House votes pullout - The Boston Globe
As Bush stays firm, House votes pullout - The Boston Globe
The House last night voted [223-to-201] to withdraw most US troops from Iraq by April 1, acting hours after President Bush urged Congress not to interfere in war strategy and to maintain funding for the military.
The vote was mostly along party lines, with 219 Democrats and four
Republicans in favor, and 191 Republicans and 10 Democrats opposed.
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Thursday, July 12, 2007
SHAMELESS
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
The boy who was told to cry wolf
"Gut Check": Dump Chertoff - Yahoo! News
Anti-Terror-Tsar Michael Chertoff has announced that America needs to be worried about al-Qaeda. His assessment is based on a combination of weather forecast and abdominal discomfort.US security chief warns of higher risk of attack over summer - Forbes.com
Chertoff said: 'We could easily be attacked. The intent to attack us remains as strong as it was on September 10, 2001.
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Monday, July 09, 2007
Survey Update: Monday @ 9:17pm
Impeach Bush? Yes 38, No 12
Impeach Cheney? Yes 43, No 7
Impeach Cheney? Yes 43, No 7
Bush DOJ worst ever!
The Denver Post - Bush justice is a national disgrace
In more than a quarter of a century at the DOJ, I have never before seen such consistent and marked disrespect on the part of the highest ranking government policymakers for both law and ethics.
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Sunday, July 08, 2007
Dear NYTimes Editorial Board: DUH!
The Road Home - New York Times
Continuing to sacrifice the lives and limbs of American soldiers is wrong. The war is sapping the strength of the nation’s alliances and its military forces. It is a dangerous diversion from the life-and-death struggle against terrorists. It is an increasing burden on American taxpayers, and it is a betrayal of a world that needs the wise application of American power and principles.
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Friday, July 06, 2007
46% of voters favor impeachment of Bush (44% do not)
Poll: Americans Evenly Divided On Impeachment Of Bush, Majority For Targeting Cheney | TPMCafe
A new poll from American Research Group shows a startling result: The people are evenly divided on impeachment proceedings against the president, and a majority favor the House beginning impeachment proceedings against Vice President Cheney.
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Ouch!
Political Radar: Ron Paul Tops McCain in Cash on Hand
Though often regarded as a longshot candidate for president, Republican Ron Paul tells ABC News that he has an impressive $2.4 million in cash on hand after raising an equal amount during the second quarter, putting him ahead of one-time Republican frontrunner John McCain, who reported this week he has only $2 million in the bank.
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Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Not your typical Fourth of July
I've been pretty bummed about the cancellation of Burbank's fireworks show this year because of the drought. (Worst-ever drought? Global warming, anyone?) Then I thought of a few other bummers.
Martial-law emergency plans. Defying subpoenas over political games corrupting the justice system. Executive privilege claims by guys who have "left" the executive branch. Revealing "our" covert spies for political revenge. "Caging" unwanted voters right off the rolls; ignoring troops and forgetting veterans until it's photo op time. Firing generals who speak truth to an occupation set up to pillage a country and its oil. And a cover-up for it all by commuting the one guy going to jail who could have blown the lid off.
And we used to only worry about fair voting and lobbyists run amok?
Well, at least it's all taken my mind off the fireworks.
I can’t remember a Fourth of July in recent memory—excuse me, Independence Day—where the recent headlines have been so timely to the holiday, crying out for some real reflection. With no evening front-lawn fireworks show, my mind keeps wandering to "current events" — that ever-mounting pile of tragedies for our American democracy and insults to our public.
At least it all reminds me of the sacrifices and struggles the Fourth was originally about—all centered on King George the Third, not King George the W. Who would have thought that we’d ever watch increduously while someone made Nixon’s crimes, arrogance and pathetic isolation look simple and naïve — and outdo both Vietnam and Watergate just 30 years later? Who’d have thought we’d ever have a shadow regime run by a loose cannon? Who’d have ever thought we’d have a clumsier bunch of cover-up liars that Jon Lovitz’ old “Yeah, yeah—THAT’S the ticket” fibber from Saturday Night Live … or more clueless to the invention of videotape for recording public statements for playback later? Who’d have thought we’d be seriously concerned about even hearing the truth, much less the various scary layers of it, because of too few media owners, and their conflicts of interest over everything from arms makers to simply being mega-rich? Or dysfunction so bizarre we seriously ought to ponder a Constitutional amendment adding mental health screening to the qualifications for our chief executive?
Most of all, who’d have thought we’d ever have a “president” whose talkers made you physically wince just to use everyday terms like “administration,” “plan,” “strategy” and even “government”—a visceral insult to the idea that anyone WAS really “administrating,” “presiding,” “planning,” “strategizing,” and yes even “governing”? I refuse to use those old-fashioned, mundane words anymore... for such nouns and verbs imply actually "having a clue," as we used to say in the '80s. But the only thought and action we’ve seen in six years seems all to be centered on the proposition of “How many of my cronies can I get to the public pig trough?” and “What bumper stickers can I distract with to cover it all up?” Not to mention: “How many functional people (even those of my own party) do I have to clear out of the way first?”
The only thing saving these guys is the sheer, numbing overload of what politely used to be called "scandals” and “revelations” and “politicizing”; lay people almost can’t keep up with the avalanche. No one in the media but the comedy shows seems to care about the breadth of it. I think we’ve finally seen Goebbels’s “Big Lie” theory outdone by “Buried in Lies.” Or, in folksier terms, the "frog in the pot" syndrome—the frog who didn't jump out of the ever-more-hotter water until it was boiling, and too late—is very much alive.
Well, here’s hoping that somehow that avalanche shakes people up, and Independence Day can become more than a slogan, too, once again. If we must lose our fireworks this year, at least it may be the best time ever for a little less distraction.
Labels: Bush Cheney
Monday, July 02, 2007
The Healthcare Solution: California OneCare
See Sicko! Why is our system as sick it is?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYnadAE685o
We saw Michael Moore's Sicko this weekend. You need to see it soon and get everyone you know to see it, too. And get them to insist everyone they know goes to see it.
Then we need to completely change this country's health care system from what it is, a protection racket run by gangster insurance and pharmaceutical thugs that bleed us all dry under inflated and false fears of socialism, to what it actually is in 24 of the other 25 industrialized nations, a reasonable, non-financial public service that everyone shares and benefitsfrom equally. Just like libraries, police, fire, and schools, it's a social utility.
Americans have been constantly lied to about socially beneficial programs so that obscene profits could be maintained while we suffer physically and economically. Americans who don't visit other countries have been easily swayed that things elsewhere are horrifying. So, under the wrong kind of winner-take-all capitalism, what you might also call lottery economics, instead of heartfelt, democratic, progressive capitalism, Americans have voted to keep the wealth abusers' freedom to cause pain instead of curtailing their damage to us. It's time for that to stop.
Although the issue is nonpartisan, even among our Democratic presidential candidates only Dennis Kucinich supports single payer government run universal health care. That the front runners are still beholden to insurance and pharmaceutical lobbies is disturbing, at the least. Yes, we want the war to end, and will respond to that, but we need also to get free of the robber baron feudalism that is draining all hope in America.
I, for one, demand of my party and its representatives that we stand for nothing less than full single payer health care. We need to shout about this, march about it, make it happen.
See the movie, and among its many great examples, notice the look on the face of a woman whose inhaler costs $120.00 in the US as she discovers it would cost only a nickel in another country. See especially the looks on the faces of many people from other countries in the movie as they are trying to figure out how Americans could have such an absurd profit driven system as we do. It really doesn't make sense to them.
Why does it to us?
We saw Michael Moore's Sicko this weekend. You need to see it soon and get everyone you know to see it, too. And get them to insist everyone they know goes to see it.
Then we need to completely change this country's health care system from what it is, a protection racket run by gangster insurance and pharmaceutical thugs that bleed us all dry under inflated and false fears of socialism, to what it actually is in 24 of the other 25 industrialized nations, a reasonable, non-financial public service that everyone shares and benefitsfrom equally. Just like libraries, police, fire, and schools, it's a social utility.
Americans have been constantly lied to about socially beneficial programs so that obscene profits could be maintained while we suffer physically and economically. Americans who don't visit other countries have been easily swayed that things elsewhere are horrifying. So, under the wrong kind of winner-take-all capitalism, what you might also call lottery economics, instead of heartfelt, democratic, progressive capitalism, Americans have voted to keep the wealth abusers' freedom to cause pain instead of curtailing their damage to us. It's time for that to stop.
Although the issue is nonpartisan, even among our Democratic presidential candidates only Dennis Kucinich supports single payer government run universal health care. That the front runners are still beholden to insurance and pharmaceutical lobbies is disturbing, at the least. Yes, we want the war to end, and will respond to that, but we need also to get free of the robber baron feudalism that is draining all hope in America.
I, for one, demand of my party and its representatives that we stand for nothing less than full single payer health care. We need to shout about this, march about it, make it happen.
See the movie, and among its many great examples, notice the look on the face of a woman whose inhaler costs $120.00 in the US as she discovers it would cost only a nickel in another country. See especially the looks on the faces of many people from other countries in the movie as they are trying to figure out how Americans could have such an absurd profit driven system as we do. It really doesn't make sense to them.
Why does it to us?
Obama out raises Hillary by 10 million
Obama rasied 32.5 milliom from 258,000 donations.
Hillary raised 21 million and wouldn't disclose the number of donations.
I'm shocked. Really. I expected Hilary would crush Obama in the second quarter. I expected he would get more donations, but not more money.
More from the AP here.
Edwards raised 9 million from 100,0000 donors.
Richardson rasied 7 million
Hillary raised 21 million and wouldn't disclose the number of donations.
I'm shocked. Really. I expected Hilary would crush Obama in the second quarter. I expected he would get more donations, but not more money.
More from the AP here.
Edwards raised 9 million from 100,0000 donors.
Richardson rasied 7 million
