Still Fighting

Activism

Enter the "Bush in 30 Years" Contest! MoveOn PAC is sponsoring a contest in which you submit a Flash animation encouraging people to sign this petition opposing the privatization of Social Security. This is an excellent chance for you to put your creativity to good use, and fantastic way for you to make an impact on this important issue without costing a cent!

News

Dropping Report's Iraq Chapter Was Unusual, Economists Say. A little more than a week ago, the White House released its annual Economic Report of the President. Aside from it being over a week late, what was a bit strange is that an entire chapter was excised from the report. The White House claims that it was excised because the report is about the American economy - although one might make the argument that our economy is pretty significantly impacted by what's going on in Iraq right now. But the scuttlebutt is that it was removed for a variety of different reasons, all of them political in nature. This should surprise no one - politics trumps all in this Administration. But the best observation comes at the end: "...the Bush administration does not value lengthy, reasoned analyses of its policies." Reason? Who needs reason?

Kennedy seeking clear run in '06. The Massachusetts institution that is Ted Kennedy is up for re-election in 2006. And he's starting his campaign now, amassing a war chest now to intimidate potential future opponents. While we support his re-election, let's hope that his aggressiveness will rub off on other Democratic strongholds. If Kennedy can secure his spot well ahead of time, it should leave him and the rest of the Democrats free to fight in places that really need support - in particular, we're looking at Pennsylvania and Virginia. Wouldn't it be nice to boot Rick Santorum and George Allen?

Iraqica. Two major political groups are trying to jockey for power within the new government. Both have very different agendas, and are at odds over many important issues. The minority party isn't bowing and scraping to meet the other party halfway. Both groups feel they have the country's best interests at heart. Are we talking about America? No, silly! It's the Shiite-Kurd roadshow in Iraq! And with the distribution of the parties, and the provinces they hold, ratifying a constitution could be a long time coming.

Editorials

A Call to Religious Arms. According to Rob Garver, over at the American Prospect, discusses how religions, specifically Evangelical Christians, are making themselves a larger political force to be reckoned with. Remember, in 2004, white Evangelicals voted 78% for Bush. Garver's article is a little creepy, but the manifesto he links to is much more so. Don't believe us? "Never before has God given American evangelicals such an awesome opportunity to shape public policy in ways that could contribute to the well-being of the entire world."

Paul Krugman and Scott Shields, Say what you will about Democrats, but they have been mercilessly hammering Bush's Social Security plan, to the point where it is now being pushed back to 2006. This is, in part, thanks to an educated public. Enter Krugman and Shields, with their usual must-read columns. Krugman discusses how the revamp of Social Security is only a part of how Bush wants to dismantle the New Deal and the Great Society. Shields looks at how the "Social" is slowly being removed from Social Security. No one disagrees that Social Security will need to be looked at, but identifying it as a "crisis" is just nonsense.

Whither the Insurgency? Paul Craig Roberts examines the reasons for the insurgency, why the administration blames Iran, and why other countries will no longer fear the U.S. the way they once did. Roberts, former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration, has a column here full of piss and vinegar, and shouldn't be missed.

Activism

Planned Parenthood of Maryland has brought to light an important issue. Maryland's General Assembly is considering legislation that would greatly increase access to Emergency Contraception (EC). EC is not the famous "morning after pill," but rather a higher dose birth control pill that can prevent pregnancy after unprotected sex. Passage of this bill would ensure lower numbers of unwanted pregnancies and abortions. In fact, two seperate FDA panels have recommended that EC be sold as over the counter, but the FDA has failed to act on those recommendations. Go to the above link to send an email to your delegate and State Senator, urging them to pass this legislation. Special thanks to Ginny Phillips for this link!

News

Gibbons rallies GOP. Who is Gibbons? He's Representative Jim Gibbons (R-NV). How did he rally the GOP? By saying things like "I say we tell those liberal, tree-hugging, Birkenstock-wearing, hippie, tie-dyed liberals to go make their movies and their music and whine somewhere else." You know, because one of the great principles of this country is "No disagreement with the President allowed." But the clincher, the quote that cements the fact that Representative Gibbons doesn't have an ounce of respect for the people of the country, is when he said that those against the war and for abortion were the same people that wanted to go to Iraq and become human shields for the enemy, and then remarked: "I say it's just too damn bad we didn't buy them a ticket."

22%. That's the percentage of under-18 children in the United States that live in relative poverty, second only to Mexico (of the "wealthy" countries of the world). Although the number has declined over the last several years, it's still not enough. Unicef regional director Philip O'Brien said, "Higher government spending on family and social benefits is very clearly associated with a lower level of child poverty." Well, gosh, no wonder we have such a high rate!

No one expects stem cell research to produce a cure overnight for everything that ails us. Even if Maryland's General Assembly passes the $25 million initiative to fund embryonic stem cell research, it will still be years before results begin to show. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't start now, and those affected seem to know it. Here's the kicker, folks - back in 2001, Bush restricted funding for stem cell research to the state level. States like Wisconsin and New Jersey have already started funding research. Let's say, 20 years down the road, a cure for Alzheimer's comes out of the research done in New Jersey. Do you expect that those striken with the disease will not take the medication, simply because of how we discovered it? This isn't something we can fight and win, because if we don't do it, someone else will. And if that someone else is overseas, it's going to cost us a LOT more in the long run.

Editorials

All-volunteer Army shows signs of wear. Lawrence J. Korb identifies some scary concerns about our so-called "all-volunteer" army. You know, when you won't let people return home after their enlistment time is up, it's not really voluntary. When National Guardsmen and reservists are constantly called up and their tours extend beyond the promised amount of time, it's not really voluntary. No wonder the military is having such problems meeting its recruitment goals despite increased bonuses, and is instead lowering its standards. Fortunately, Korb also proposes some solutions to this problem, although we think maybe we wouldn't have this problem if Bush stopped attacking countries for fictitious reasons. Just a thought.

Editing Jefferson. It's tough to keep track of the constant attacks on the principle of keeping religion out of the government, but that's what we're here for. The Washington Post editorial staff issued this missive a couple weeks ago, slamming Charles W. Carrico Sr., a Republican delegate to the Virginia legislature. It seems that Mr. Carrico wants to formally codify people's rights to pray and recognize their religious beliefs on public property. That sounds fine and dandy, but it's essentially wholly unnecessary, given that the state of Virginia and the United States both do a fine job of protect individuals' rights to pray. As the Post says, Mr. Carrico's real goal is to "defile the language of Jefferson and embolden religious activists for whom the Founding Fathers' doctrine of separation of church and state is a nuisance."

Democrats Seek to Outmaneuver Republicans by Imitating Their Strategy. While it's not often we look up to the GOP, you have to admire their organization and willingness to stay on message. Too often we've seen Democrats waver in their convictions. Sometimes, they're suckered into false bipartisanship, sometimes they're just being selfish, and sometimes they're simply weak-minded. As of late, those, the Dems seem to be growing a spine. If they can keep Lieberman and other Democrats in line on Social Security, they will have scored a big victory. Of course, there are many small battles that need to be won in the coming years, and the Democrats caving on something seemingly small like the class-action bill is not very heartening. Ronald Brownstein outlines how the Democrats have gotten to this point, and how the party is still debating where to go from here. What are your thoughts? We'd like to see no capitulation on any of our principles - in order to achieve that, we all need to keep contacting our Senators and Representatives and show them the way.

Activism

Repair the Vote. We urge you to sign MoveOn's petition to repair the vote. The petition states "Congress must support electoral reforms such as guaranteeing paper receipts for electronic voting machines, providing remedies for long lines, and prohibiting partisan election officials." We can't understand why this is unreasonable. It would be like not getting a receipt for dinner, or only having one register open at Best Buy. Sign the petition, and make your voice heard!

News

Who Will Grab the Golden Ring? At the annual National Governor's Association conference this past weekend, as many as 15 governors have expressed interest in running for president in 2008. Notable among Democrats: Virginia's Mark Warner and Iowa's Tom Vilsack. Notable among Republicans: New York's George Pataki and Florida's Jeb Bush. Sure, we're years away from the primaries, but it's never too soon to see where candidates are coming from. However, it wasn't all wistful dreaming this weekend. The Governors also spoke out extremely loudly about Medicaid. They like Bush's plan to give each state more control over how Medicaid funds are allotted. Most are against federal Medicaid funding cuts, especially Republicans. It's clear that, whatever happens with its funding, the Medicaid program is going to need to be looked at very closely and completely overhauled.

The Maine Battle. Governor John Baldacci, of Maine, has submitted a bill to his state legislature that would provide equal legal protection for homosexuals. The bill was a centerpiece of his campaign, and is focused on civil rights for gay and lesbian residents. This isn't a bill on gay marriage, and won't need to be ratified by the voters of the state. Michael Heath, executive director of the Christian Civic League of Maine, is against the bill, and contends that it will eventually open the doors of gay marriage by changing people's overall perception of sexuality. How more obviously bigoted can one be? He's against equality, pure an simple, and anyone who opposes this bill needs to be labelled as such.

Beg, Borrow and Deal. GOP lawmakers might be feeling like they are on the ropes when it comes to Social Security. Polls show "widespread skepticism" over Bush's plan, and Republicans don't think that it will get the votes needed, so they are seeking compromise. Alternate plans are being discussed, in an effort to get Democrats to meet them halfway. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has been extremely outspoken in his disgust over Bush's plan, and we sincerely hope Democrats stay on his message. If they don't capitulate, this will be the first real victory for Democrats under Bush's administration, and we can't complain about that. It's a big "if", though, with Senators like Joe Lieberman still considering supporting privatization plans.

Editorials

A Skeptical Welcome, Mr. President. Daniel Warner, over at the Center for American Progress, shows us why Americans living abroad have reason to be skeptical of Bush. From anti-Americanism to the growing trend of purchasing non-American goods, Americans see a very different picture in Europe. Bush's trip last week might have been too little too late, as the phrase "guarded optimism" is becoming more en vogue overseas, when it comes to America. Europe may be willing to listen, but how much longer will they let us jerk them around?

Know Thine Enemy. What's scary is not so much the people on this list, but the fact that it exists at all. Sure, no one is going to argue with the assertion that Fidel Castro is a Totalitarian Radical (well, mostly no one), but to consider Michael Moore, Jane Fonda and Dennis Kucinich "Anti-American Radicals?" The website says "virtually all [pictured] share this negative view of American capitalism, or are organizationally and politically linked to those who do." Really? Michael Moore made a movie using honest-to-goodness facts to explore Bush's actions after 9/11, and Iraq, and that makes him Anti-American? Clicking on each picture will give you "reasons" for their listing. For example, Kucinich is listed, in part, because he lead 31 House members to file a lawsuit against Bush, Rumsfeld and Powell in 2002 to stop the U.S. from withdrawing from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. That un-American bastard! Websites like this seek to promote false propaganda, and strengthen the divide between liberal and conservative. We hate to give this website even more legitimacy by linking to it, but you need to know what's out there, and what our opponents are saying about us. Hopefully, it'll strengthen your resolve to fight back.

Kyoto Will Cost Too Much? Tell that to IBM. Or DuPont. Or Kodak. Or Shell. Or Lafarge. Or any of the other hundreds of companies around the world that have drastically reduced their emissions, yet still saved money. Six American companies, IBM, DuPont, BT (British Telecom), Alcan, NorskeCanada and Bayer, have all cut their emissions by at least 60% since 1990, and have saved more than $4 billion doing so. Gosh, Mr. President, that sure is costly! Bush pulled the U.S. out of the Kyoto agreements citing "the high cost and loss of jobs." Doesn't seem like that's really an issue, when you look at what companies have done around the world, now does it? Bush's arguments are made weaker by the facts. But hey, hasn't that been the case for the last five years?

Humor

Sometimes a bit of writing comes along that makes you laugh, makes you think, and makes you mad. This piece does all three. You are highly encouraged to read "Poker with Dick Cheney."