Dems Legalize Bush's War Crimes

I was just reading this story at the AlterNet website entitled, and thought I would just pass it on as the writer suggests:
Democrats Have Legalized Bush's War Crimes
By Robert Parry Mediam Consortium. Posted June 21st, 2008.
The Democratic leadership cleared the way for the president and his collaborators to evade punishment for defying the law.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi claims that a key positive feature of the new wiretap "compromise" is that the bill reaffirms that the President must follow the law, even though the same bill virtually assures that no one will be held accountable for George W. Bush's violation of the earlier spying law. Share this article

In other words, in the guise of rejecting Bush's theories of an all-powerful presidency that is above the law, the Democratic leadership cleared the way for the President and his collaborators to evade punishment for defying the law. So, why should anyone assume that the new legislative edict demanding that the President obey the law will get any more respect than the old one, which established the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 as the "exclusive" means for authorizing electronic spying?

It wasn't that Bush and his team didn't understand the old law's language; they simply believed they could violate the law without consequence, under the radical theory that at a time of war -- even one as vaguely defined as the "war on terror" -- the President's powers trump all laws as well as the constitutional rights of citizens.

Essentially, Bush was betting that even if his warrantless wiretap program was disclosed -- as it was in December 2005 -- that he could trust his Republican congressional allies to protect him and could count on most Democrats not to have the guts to challenge him. His bet proved to be a smart one. After the New York Times revealed the warrantless wiretaps two and a half years ago, Congress took no steps to hold Bush accountable. Before the 2006 elections, Pelosi declared that Bush's impeachment was "off the table."

Then, on the eve of the August 2007 recess, the Democratic-controlled Congress was stampeded into passing the "Protect America Act," which effectively legalized what Bush had already done and expanded his spying powers even more.

link to full story

Democrats Consider Seating Plans And Why They Should Not Do IT

The big story today is the Democratic Rules Committee meeting being held today. I have come to believe over the last several months, that Hillary Clinton would be an awesomely good President, on par with at least Richard Nixon (another great President), and would be the only one capable of dealing with the issues our nation faces. So it is with some trepidation that I have to disagree with her "willingness" to let all of the votes be counted, and the delegates seated. She was completely opposed to them being counted when she was the presumed front runner, and has like "Saul" been converted on the road to Denver.

I am not a Democrat, but I think that if you have rules that say you cannot move your states caucuses, or primaries forward, and if you do you will be penalized, then you should do it, or why have rules. These contests would turn into anarchy, with states doing whatever they want, knowing that in the end, there would be an exception and they would get seated. These people who run the party need to be looking not to just this election, but to future elections. If Florida and Michigan are not made "examples", I would bet money on it, that in four years, everyone would move their contests, and say to Hell with the rules, because in the end we'll get our way. Is that anyway to run a organization, let alone a political party.

Hillary should finish out these next couple of days, and make her case to the delegates, that she is the best candidate, and if they choose to ignore her, then so be it, take it like the strong person that you are, work for Obama if he is the candidate, and plan for the future, either as a Senator, or for another Presidential run. The bottom line is to not allow Manchurian McCain get anywhere close to the Oval Office. It has been a historic year, and while it is good to be the best there is, please remember that the Titanic was the best ship ever, and look what happened on her maiden voyage. To continue full speed ahead, may scuttle you and your Party!

Anyway, here is the story at Yahoo News:

Democrats searched for a compromise Saturday to seat disputed delegations from Michigan and Florida at this summer's party convention and clear the way for a quick end to the marathon struggle between Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The challenge is to "come together at the end of the day and be united," Howard Dean, the party chairman, told members of the convention's Rules and Bylaws Committee gathered at a hotel across town from the White House.

Obama is a mere 42 delegates short of the 2,026 needed to clinch the nomination, in the Associated Press tally, and appears on track to wrap up the party prize in the coming days. He intends to signal the beginning of his general election campaign next Tuesday by holding a rally in the arena in St. Paul, Minn., where Republicans will to hold their convention this summer.

link to full story

Democrats Brawling In Nevada

The story I was just reading re-affirms my belief that all of the candidates are the same, and will get down and dirty when needed to secure the nomination of their respective parties.

Forget the coded messages, the oblique attacks, the indirect putdowns. When it came to courting Nevada voters, the Democratic presidential candidates had a brawl.


The week leading to the Nevada caucuses was one of the most contentious in the Democratic contest so far. The three Democratic candidates head to South Carolina, which holds its primary Jan. 26, with no sign the race will turn genteel in the South.

The candidate of "change" Barack Hussein Obama, has shown over this last week that he wants the nomination enough to play rough, and use the "illegal immigration" card to win Nevada, and that makes him just like any other politician. I knew he was a phony right away, but now anyone can see what he is about, and the difference is minimal at best! It should be a great day for "realpoliticking" as the caucus takes place today!! Have a Great Day, and try and stay warm...i.e. it is currently minus 2, here in Coralville, Iowa!


brawl

Two Debate Recap

There was political sparks in the air last night as ABC held the first ever back to back debates of the two major parties, with the Republicans going first, followed immediately by the Democrats. This was an interesting forum, in that it allowed candidates to talk to each other, which made for a more spirited debate, than the normal canned answer type of debates we have been forced to rely on for most of this season. Hopefully, this will encourage this type of format for the rest of the political season, as we really got to see a little more depth from each person.

Democratic presidential candidates sparred, sometimes intensely, over who among them was the true change agent, while their Republican counterparts held a virtual tea party Saturday night, as both groups held back-to-back debates just days before New Hampshire's Tuesday primary.

New York Sen. Hillary Clinton went on the attack, challenging Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards on their records and insisting that her life proves she can achieve change while they just talk about it. They came back at her with equal zeal, double-teaming her at times.

This was a great evening for political junkies, and may we have many more events like this in the next few months. Thank you ABC and the candidates, though they should not have slighted Rep. Kucinich, as he has a loyal following and a message that needs to be heard. Now I do not agree with him, but I found ABC arrogant to "choose" who could and could not participate in this "democratic" debate. Positive Kudos for the format, Negative Kudos for being exclusionary, with a small net positive kudos for giving us another look at most of the candidates and what they believe!

abc

Dems Will Attempt Veto Override On SCHIP

Democratic Sen. Max Baucus of Montana asked his colleagues on Saturday to override President Bush's veto of legislation that would expand a popular children's health insurance program. House Democrats have scheduled for this week a vote to override the president's veto of legislation that would increase spending for the State Children's Health Insurance Program by $35 billion over five years. Bush has called for a $5 billion increase.

President Bush employed a rare use of his veto pen to reject a bill that would have greatly expanded health-insurance coverage for poor U.S. children, on October 3rd. Bush exercised the veto at 10 a.m. ET before leaving the White House for a trip to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to discuss the federal budget and taxes. Bush vetoed the $35-billion expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), claiming the bill represented a step toward government-run health care. The bill has enough support in the U.S. Senate to support an override of the veto, but not in the House, where Minority Whip Roy Blunt said he was "absolutely confident" that he has the votes to defeat an override attempt.

Bush has vetoed just four pieces of legislation during his presidency. "The president is willing to look at (compromise) ideas with the focus on the original intent that the neediest children are taken care of first," said White House spokesperson Dana Perino. Bush has supported a $5-billion expansion of SCHIP. However, this amount would seriously underfund the SCHIP program, thus it amounts to a cut in the program. This at the same time Bush has asked for $200 billion more for his wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Priorities a "little" skewed perhaps!
The measure also included an addiction and mental-health parity provision that would have required SCHIP programs to cover these conditions on par with other ailments.

Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah was among 18 Republicans who split from the president when the bill came up in the Senate.
"It's very difficult for me to be against a man I care so much for," he told his colleagues on the Senate floor before the vote. "It's unfortunate that the president has chosen to be on what, to me, is clearly the wrong side of this issue."

Our own Senator Charles Grassley, no liberal, big spender has supported the SCHIP bill and cannot understand what is wrong with Bush on this issue. During a speech on the floor of the Senate, Grassley reminded his Republican colleagues that the president promised the American people comprehensive healthcare coverage for children during a speech he gave after being nominated for re-election in 2004. "During the Republican National Convention in New York City, President Bush was very firm on this point. Here is what he said, and I quote: `America's children must also have a healthy start in life. In a new term, we will lead an aggressive effort to enroll millions of poor children who are eligible but not signed up for the government's health insurance programs. We will not allow a lack of attention or information to stand between these children and the health care they need,' " Grassley said. "The President was pretty clear in his convictions then." Grassley said. "Let me repeat his words because I think they are important. He said he would 'lead an aggressive effort to enroll millions of poor children . . . [in] the government's health insurance programs.'"
SCHIP was first proposed by a Republican-led Congress in 1997 and was designed to provide affordable health coverage for low-income children of working families who make too much money to qualify for Medicaid but can't afford private insurance.


Please contact your Senators, or Representative, and tell them that children's health insurance is important enough to go against their President this one time. Then if they choose they can go lockstep over the cliff with him on the other important matters in this nation!!

Here is their contact information
Honorable Charles Grassley
United States Senator
135 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510......................... 202/224-3744
(Fax) 202/224-6020
Des Moines Office: 515/284-4890
http://grassley.senate.gov
Appointments..............................................................Leah Shimp
Leah_shimp@grassley.senate.gov
Chief of Staff ........................................................... David Young
Finance Committee Staff Director .............................Kolan Davis
Finance Committee Deputy Staff Director..................Mark Prater
Health Policy Director ...............................................Mark Hayes
Health Policy Advisor (hospital issues/Med Part A).......................Mike Park
(202/224-4515) michael_park@finance-rep.senate.gove
Health Policy Advisor (Part B) .................................... Susan Walden
Health Policy Advisor (Part C & D) ..........................Colette Desmarais
Health Policy Advisor (Welfare and SCHIP) ......................... Becky Shipp
Health Policy Advisor (Medicaid Issues) ......................Rodney Whitlock
Health Research Assistant.......................................Sean McGuire
The Honorable Tom Harkin
United States Senator
731 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510 ......................... 202/224-3254
(Fax) 202/224-9369
Des Moines Office: 515/284-4574
www.harkin.senate.gov/contact/contact.cfm
Appointments............................................................ Amy Murray
amy_murray@harkin.senate.gov
Chief of Staff ...........................................................Brian Ahlberg
Deputy.................................................................. Michael Kuhner
Health Legislative Asst ....................(202/224-5224) Mike Woody
Legislative Director ......................................................Pam Smith
REPRESENTATIVES
1ST DISTRICT
The Honorable Bruce Braley
1408 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515......................... 202/225-2911
(Fax) 202/225-9129
www.brucebraley.com
Appointments.................................................... Angela Ruslander
angela.ruslander@mail.house.gov
Chief of Staff ..........................................................Sarah Benzing
Legislative Director ..............................................Mike Goodman
Waterloo Office (P.O. Box 390, Waterloo, IA 50704) .......319/233-0861
Fax: 319/226-5380
2ND DISTRICT
The Honorable Dave Loebsack
1513 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515 .........................202/225-6576
(Fax) 202/226-1278
www.loebsack.house.gov
Appointments....................................................... Jessica Woolley
jessica.woolley@mail.house.gov
Chief of Staff ................................................................ Eric Witte
Iowa City Office (Plaza Center One, 125 South Dubuque St., Iowa City, IA 52240)
................................................................................. 319/351-0789
3RD DISTRICT
The Honorable Leonard Boswell
1427 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515......................... 202/225-3806
(Fax) 202/225-5608
http://www.house.gov/boswell
Appointments............................................................Sandy Carter
Sandy.carter@mail.house.gov
Administrative Assistant ......................................... Ned Michalek
Legislative Director .............................................. Susan McAvoy
Legislative Assistant ................................................Alexis Taylor
4TH DISTRICT
The Honorable Tom Latham
2447 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515 ......................... 202/225-5476
(Fax) 202/225-3301
tom.latham@mail.house.gov
Appointments.................................................Amanda McDonnell
Amanda.mcdonnell@mail.house.gov
Chief of Staff ........................................................Michael Gruber
Health Legislative Assistant....................................... Jacob Parker
5TH DISTRICT
The Honorable Steve King
1432 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515......................... 202/225-4426
(Fax) 202/225-3193
steve.king@mail.house.gov
Appointments/Chief of Staff ..................................Brenna Findley
Health Asst/Legislative Director...............................Paula Steiner
Healthcare Staffer ................................................. Bentley Graves
White House:
202/456-1414
Capitol Information:
202/225-3121


schip

Democratic Candidates Field Internet Questions

I was trying to keep up with the Democratic debate on CNN, with the assistance of YouTube, and the cadidates fielded internet questions. I did not catch all of it as I was at work, but shall watch the reruns which i believe will be shown overnight.

Democratic presidential hopefuls struggled Monday night to answer questions posed by young, Internet-savvy voters who challenged traditional political labels and the candidates' own place in a broken political system.

YouTube

Democrats Hold Miers In Contempt

For quite some time we have heard that President Bush has told former White House counsel, Harriet Miers to not talk to Congress about the United States attorney's who were fired. She has complied with the President's wishes so far, but things will get more dicey for her as the Democrats move to find her in contempt of Congress.

On Thursday, Judiciary Committee Chairman, Joh Conyers, Democrat of Michigan took the first step to find her in contempt as she had informed the House Judiciary subcommittee on Wednesday, through her lawyer, that she was ordered by the President to not appear, citing executive privilege.

The subcommittee voted 7-5 Thursday to pass a resolution that said Harriet Miers defiance of a congressional subpoena lacked a legal basis. Representative Conyers said that if they do not enforce the subpoena, no one would ever have to come before the Judiciary Committee again.

Republicans defended the White House, saying that the Democrats are merely trying to paint the White House with an obstructionist brush, because they cannot find any wrongdoing in the firings of the United States attorneys.

With the power of the committees in their hands the Democrats will try and kill the Bush administration by "death by a thousand cuts", just as the Republicans did to the Clinton administration when they were in power!

Democratic Candidates To Visit Iowa City Tuesday

It should be a good week for people who like politicians, as we will have at least 5 of the Democratic Presidential candidates visting our city this week.

On Tuesday, June 26th, the candidates, Senators Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd, former Senator John Edwards, and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, will be attending the convention of the Iowa Professional Firefighter's. Beau Biden, the son of Senator Joe Biden will also be there representing his father.

Now I do not support any of these candidates, but I think it would be fun to see them up close and personal. I have to work, so I hope their comments are reported in the Iowa Press-Citizen. Perhaps some of you readers will be able to attend. If you do please write me and let me know what you thought of them.

It is also being reported that former President Bill Clinton will be here with Hillary for the upcoming Jazz festival which begins July 2nd. now actually I would find President Clinton's visit to be better than the rest of these "pretenders" to the throne, as he was a good President. We had relative peace and prosperity. If his Presidency had not been marred by the "Monica" incident we would be remembered as one of our Better Presidents. Unfortunately, the loons on the Right tried every trick they could come up with to destroy President Clinton, up to and including wasting millions on his impeachment. I think that there is some payback heading the way of the Republicans as their President may face the Democrats, who have hinted rather loudly about possible impeachment charges against President Bush.

Anyway back to the Professional Firefighter's convention. If you can attend, the speaking schedele will be Senator Chris Dodd at 8 a.m., Senator Hillary Clinton at 9:30 a.m.,Governor Bill Richardson at 11:30 a.m., Senator Barack Obama at 2:30 p.m., Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden at 8 p.m., and then Wednesday it will be IAFF President Harold Schaitburger at 8:15 a.m., and then Senator John Edwards at 9:15 a.m.

The event will be at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Iowa City.

Have Fun!!

Good Samaritans, Bad Laws, And More

I was just reading the story of the good samaritans who helped after a roll-over accident on Interstate 80.
Julie and Brian Davie as well as their 4 children were traveling home in Normal, Illinois, after a camping trip in Lincoln, Nebraska, when the camper they were towing began to swerve and threw there Ford Expedition into the ditch. She said that a large highway sign stopped their towed camper from rolling over their vehicle after they went into the ditch.
She was so happy to see a young man’s face after the accident and commented how everyone remained calm as they did whatever it took to get her family out of the vehicle. She said “ It was an amazing chain of events that happened just the right way.” as reported in the Iowa Press-Citizen.
Davie said she and her husband always been sticklers for their children to wear their seatbelts. Everyone was buckled up when the crash took place, she said
A short time later, Davie said paramedics arrived and took the family to University Hospitals. Davie, who is six months pregnant, and her son, Alex, 9, stayed at the hospital overnight for observation. Alex had a slight concussion and some stiffness, but other than that, Davie said everyone escaped with a few scratches and bruises.
I believe the best in people until they prove otherwise, and I think that good samaritans are the rule, not the exception. We more often than not read or see the stories about the rude and bad people, because that is how news works. I have always thought that more news should be about the good and positive things which occur daily, but do not get reported on, so I was very happy to see such a good story when I checked the local news from the Iowa Press-Citizen today. This is good for us all.
One thing I wish we could have done in our community and in particular on Interstate 80 is to have much more law enforcement. This should be at the on ramps where truly rude, obnoxious driver’s, semi-trucks in particular almost always refuse to move into the left lane so that you can merge on the interstate. They fly past here in excess of 80 miles per hour and rarely is their a law enforcement presence. If they wish to enforce some laws it would be nice if they started there instead of giving tickets to people riding bikes on sidewalks, or young people skateboarding, which I have seen often when I lived downtown. In fact, one day when I was downtown, their was an officer ticketing two skateboards, while a person went the wrong way on washington street, went around the block and did it again, all the while the officer was writing the ticket and did nothing to stop the more dangerous person.
So please give us a little help and police the more important roads once in awhile.
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I just finished reading that nearly 4,300 people signed a petition seeking to set the age limit in Iowa City bars to 21, organizers said today.
Members of the Committee for Healthy Choices submitted 4,258 signatures to the City Clerk's office at 1 p.m. That's almost 28 percent more signatures than the 3,333 they need to force the City Council to act on the measure.
The group wants to make it illegal for people younger than 21 to be in Iowa City bars after 10 p.m. The current ordinance puts the age limit at 19.
The City Clerk's Office will take until the end of the month to verify the signatures. If the petition is deemed sufficient, the council would have 60 days to either enact an ordinance or send the decision to voters.
This is a perfect example of people who have too much time on their hands. I would like to see how old these people are as I would bet the majority of them were able to drink at age 18 and have now turned into everyone’s nanny’s as they get older and more bitter. It is insane that a young man or woman can go and fight for and possibly die for their country, but they cannot consume alcohol legally. If this is the law , which it is,then they should not be able to join the military until they are 21 and the people who pass these laws should be mandated by law to be in the military for at least two years, possibly more. This would insure that our politicians were in the pool of service members and perhaps there would be less conflicts if they were potentially being sent to fight and die.
If they can get a petition to stop anyone under 21 from entering bars, can we get a petition with more signatures and allow the existing law to continue without the city councils meddling. I don’t know, if you do please let me know.
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I am a committed supporter of the troops overseas and urge all citizens who feel this way to write your elected officials, because right now the only ones getting any voice our the anti-war nuts that think if we leave Iraq all will be right with the world. A view which will cause the deaths of thousands if not millions if their view is allowed to prevail.
Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama was saying yesterday that Senator Grassley needs to support withdrawing from the war in Iraq and called on Iowans to force Senator Grassley to help in Obama’s and other democrats efforts to help the Al-Queda terrorist’s and Iraqi insurgents in defeating our american troops.
Do you really want to listen to a defeatist like Obama or to anyone with Hussein as a middle name. Trying to help our nations enemies used to be called treason and if you took actions to insure that defeat it was sedition and now its’s called getting more seats in the next election. What nonsense how can anyone in Washington think that we will let them get away with not funding the troops and allowing the terrorist’s to not only win in Iraq, but cause the neighboring nations to be destroyed as they rush toward their ultimate aim of conquering all civilized nations and succeeding in restoring the Caliphate. The Caliphate is the one ruler over all Muslims and the last one was during the Ottoman Empire which ended after World War I and the broken into the nations which exist today. We do not want a world run my Islamic fascists which is what we will get if Obama and fellow traveler’s Senator Reid and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi are allowed to help the terrorist’s defeat our troops by bringing them home now. Wake up people we do not have much time to do the right thing, please do so today, and thank you in advance for being good americans.