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December 29, 2005
Friday, March 18, 2005
Friday's Links
Activism
The battle over judicial nominees is heating up. With Republicans threatening to eliminate the filibuster, the democratic process as we know it is in jeopardy. Simply put, because the Republicans do not have 60 members in the Senate (and can't be assured of swaying any Democrats), they are resorting to threatening to remove the filibuster from Congress. Never mind that the filibuster has been used more by Republicans in the last 10 years than Democrats. Go here to sign the DNC's petition to keep the filibuster alive. See News article #1 below for more on this.
News
Clash of the Titans. Frist wants Bush's judicial nominations to be approved (more like "rubber-stamped"). Reid maintains that they are too conservative. If this were a Pay-Per-View battle, the price would have just jumped from $19.95 to $29.95, because as Frist contemplates the removal of the filibuster, Reid responds with the threat of shutting down the Senate (with the exception of military and national security matters). Kudos to Reid for not backing down, and keeping Democrats unified (for the most part) over this. We say "for the most part," because, as you can see by this picture on MSNBC, there were only 37 Democrats with Reid. Among the missing? Joe Lieberman, who, in the span of five years, has gone from Vice-Presidential hopeful to bane of the party. Thanks to Juan Contreras for the link.
Senate Rejects Cuts in Medicaid. Yes, you read that right. Of course, it was a close 52-48 vote, and only because 7 moderate Republicans voted with the Democrats. It's nice that Bush's "starve the beast" mentality hasn't quite permeated every corner of the GOP. Remember, of course, that the only reason that any cuts are even necessary are because of the massive federal deficits run up over the past four years. Of course, it's also interesting to note that the GOP then voted to increase some tax cuts by $64 billion. And here's a nice, but empty quote from Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR): "In good times and bad, the people you don't abandon or put at risk are the people in most need." Good point! Explain why, then, the end of the article explain that the budget cuts to poverty programs are making way for the $106 billion in tax cuts passed by the House?
Goss and Honesty? Director of the CIA Porter Goss told Congress yesterday that currently, all interrogations are 100% legal, with no presence of torture. But he couldn't and wouldn't speculate on the past. He did say that he might be able to answer that question in the classified, closed-door session after. What could Goss be hiding that needs to be said behind closed doors? There's no justification for torture, and we're angry and saddened by the cover-up Goss is using. If torture occurred in the past, the people responsible need to be held accountable, and policies need to be put in place to make sure it doesn't happen again.
Editorials
Richard Cohen examines the slyness of the Bush administration, from Karen Hughes's nomination to Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy to Armstrong Williams. Cohen nails it in this piece - the administration is great when it comes to spin, and Hughes will certainly enhance that. We suppose that if the administration is simply going to plow forward with its "F. U." approach to diplomacy, there's no one better to have as their mouthpiece than Hughes, who is basically a Bush apologist and spin-meister extraordinaire.
Harold Meyerson details the California governor's race, and State Treasurer Phil Angelides's quest to topple the Schwarzenegger machine. Maybe he'll finally be the guy to restore some fiscal sanity to the state. It's clear, though, that the Governator is maintaining a strong public image. On Hardball this week, Schwarzenegger talked about how he supports domestic partnerships, but not gay marriage. There are a slew of hot-button topics in California, and this race is going to get very, very interesting.
E.J. Dionne, Jr. tackles the budget deficit. As he says, Bush doesn't want the public to link big tax cuts with big deficits. In state, Bush and the GOP would prefer to cry about the deficit, and use it as an excuse to slash important services for the poor and sick. Furthermore, it's no longer even credible that these tax cuts are "necessary for the economy" - they're just egregious. Additionally, even with the heartless budget cuts that are being proposed, the deficit is still going to increase! What happened to the party of fiscal responsibility? (Don't even mention social responsibility.) Well, it's still around - it's just called the Democratic Party now.
|
December 29, 2005
Friday, March 18, 2005
Friday's Links
Activism
The battle over judicial nominees is heating up. With Republicans threatening to eliminate the filibuster, the democratic process as we know it is in jeopardy. Simply put, because the Republicans do not have 60 members in the Senate (and can't be assured of swaying any Democrats), they are resorting to threatening to remove the filibuster from Congress. Never mind that the filibuster has been used more by Republicans in the last 10 years than Democrats. Go here to sign the DNC's petition to keep the filibuster alive. See News article #1 below for more on this.
News
Clash of the Titans. Frist wants Bush's judicial nominations to be approved (more like "rubber-stamped"). Reid maintains that they are too conservative. If this were a Pay-Per-View battle, the price would have just jumped from $19.95 to $29.95, because as Frist contemplates the removal of the filibuster, Reid responds with the threat of shutting down the Senate (with the exception of military and national security matters). Kudos to Reid for not backing down, and keeping Democrats unified (for the most part) over this. We say "for the most part," because, as you can see by this picture on MSNBC, there were only 37 Democrats with Reid. Among the missing? Joe Lieberman, who, in the span of five years, has gone from Vice-Presidential hopeful to bane of the party. Thanks to Juan Contreras for the link.
Senate Rejects Cuts in Medicaid. Yes, you read that right. Of course, it was a close 52-48 vote, and only because 7 moderate Republicans voted with the Democrats. It's nice that Bush's "starve the beast" mentality hasn't quite permeated every corner of the GOP. Remember, of course, that the only reason that any cuts are even necessary are because of the massive federal deficits run up over the past four years. Of course, it's also interesting to note that the GOP then voted to increase some tax cuts by $64 billion. And here's a nice, but empty quote from Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR): "In good times and bad, the people you don't abandon or put at risk are the people in most need." Good point! Explain why, then, the end of the article explain that the budget cuts to poverty programs are making way for the $106 billion in tax cuts passed by the House?
Goss and Honesty? Director of the CIA Porter Goss told Congress yesterday that currently, all interrogations are 100% legal, with no presence of torture. But he couldn't and wouldn't speculate on the past. He did say that he might be able to answer that question in the classified, closed-door session after. What could Goss be hiding that needs to be said behind closed doors? There's no justification for torture, and we're angry and saddened by the cover-up Goss is using. If torture occurred in the past, the people responsible need to be held accountable, and policies need to be put in place to make sure it doesn't happen again.
Editorials
Richard Cohen examines the slyness of the Bush administration, from Karen Hughes's nomination to Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy to Armstrong Williams. Cohen nails it in this piece - the administration is great when it comes to spin, and Hughes will certainly enhance that. We suppose that if the administration is simply going to plow forward with its "F. U." approach to diplomacy, there's no one better to have as their mouthpiece than Hughes, who is basically a Bush apologist and spin-meister extraordinaire.
Harold Meyerson details the California governor's race, and State Treasurer Phil Angelides's quest to topple the Schwarzenegger machine. Maybe he'll finally be the guy to restore some fiscal sanity to the state. It's clear, though, that the Governator is maintaining a strong public image. On Hardball this week, Schwarzenegger talked about how he supports domestic partnerships, but not gay marriage. There are a slew of hot-button topics in California, and this race is going to get very, very interesting.
E.J. Dionne, Jr. tackles the budget deficit. As he says, Bush doesn't want the public to link big tax cuts with big deficits. In state, Bush and the GOP would prefer to cry about the deficit, and use it as an excuse to slash important services for the poor and sick. Furthermore, it's no longer even credible that these tax cuts are "necessary for the economy" - they're just egregious. Additionally, even with the heartless budget cuts that are being proposed, the deficit is still going to increase! What happened to the party of fiscal responsibility? (Don't even mention social responsibility.) Well, it's still around - it's just called the Democratic Party now.
|
December 29, 2005
The battle over judicial nominees is heating up. With Republicans threatening to eliminate the filibuster, the democratic process as we know it is in jeopardy. Simply put, because the Republicans do not have 60 members in the Senate (and can't be assured of swaying any Democrats), they are resorting to threatening to remove the filibuster from Congress. Never mind that the filibuster has been used more by Republicans in the last 10 years than Democrats. Go here to sign the DNC's petition to keep the filibuster alive. See News article #1 below for more on this.
News
Clash of the Titans. Frist wants Bush's judicial nominations to be approved (more like "rubber-stamped"). Reid maintains that they are too conservative. If this were a Pay-Per-View battle, the price would have just jumped from $19.95 to $29.95, because as Frist contemplates the removal of the filibuster, Reid responds with the threat of shutting down the Senate (with the exception of military and national security matters). Kudos to Reid for not backing down, and keeping Democrats unified (for the most part) over this. We say "for the most part," because, as you can see by this picture on MSNBC, there were only 37 Democrats with Reid. Among the missing? Joe Lieberman, who, in the span of five years, has gone from Vice-Presidential hopeful to bane of the party. Thanks to Juan Contreras for the link.
Senate Rejects Cuts in Medicaid. Yes, you read that right. Of course, it was a close 52-48 vote, and only because 7 moderate Republicans voted with the Democrats. It's nice that Bush's "starve the beast" mentality hasn't quite permeated every corner of the GOP. Remember, of course, that the only reason that any cuts are even necessary are because of the massive federal deficits run up over the past four years. Of course, it's also interesting to note that the GOP then voted to increase some tax cuts by $64 billion. And here's a nice, but empty quote from Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR): "In good times and bad, the people you don't abandon or put at risk are the people in most need." Good point! Explain why, then, the end of the article explain that the budget cuts to poverty programs are making way for the $106 billion in tax cuts passed by the House?
Goss and Honesty? Director of the CIA Porter Goss told Congress yesterday that currently, all interrogations are 100% legal, with no presence of torture. But he couldn't and wouldn't speculate on the past. He did say that he might be able to answer that question in the classified, closed-door session after. What could Goss be hiding that needs to be said behind closed doors? There's no justification for torture, and we're angry and saddened by the cover-up Goss is using. If torture occurred in the past, the people responsible need to be held accountable, and policies need to be put in place to make sure it doesn't happen again.
Editorials
Richard Cohen examines the slyness of the Bush administration, from Karen Hughes's nomination to Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy to Armstrong Williams. Cohen nails it in this piece - the administration is great when it comes to spin, and Hughes will certainly enhance that. We suppose that if the administration is simply going to plow forward with its "F. U." approach to diplomacy, there's no one better to have as their mouthpiece than Hughes, who is basically a Bush apologist and spin-meister extraordinaire.
Harold Meyerson details the California governor's race, and State Treasurer Phil Angelides's quest to topple the Schwarzenegger machine. Maybe he'll finally be the guy to restore some fiscal sanity to the state. It's clear, though, that the Governator is maintaining a strong public image. On Hardball this week, Schwarzenegger talked about how he supports domestic partnerships, but not gay marriage. There are a slew of hot-button topics in California, and this race is going to get very, very interesting.
E.J. Dionne, Jr. tackles the budget deficit. As he says, Bush doesn't want the public to link big tax cuts with big deficits. In state, Bush and the GOP would prefer to cry about the deficit, and use it as an excuse to slash important services for the poor and sick. Furthermore, it's no longer even credible that these tax cuts are "necessary for the economy" - they're just egregious. Additionally, even with the heartless budget cuts that are being proposed, the deficit is still going to increase! What happened to the party of fiscal responsibility? (Don't even mention social responsibility.) Well, it's still around - it's just called the Democratic Party now.
