Still Fighting

Activism

Wes Clark's has a new website for his PAC, called "Securing America". It's just starting to gear up, and he can use your help. His latest project asks you to send a letter to the FCC urging them to ignore groups like the Parents Television Council, who want to more closely regulate programming. For example, last Veteran's Day, ABC aired Saving Private Ryan for the third time. But thanks to the complaints of "right-wing zealots," 66 local affiliates chose not to air it. Go here to send the letter to new FCC Chairman Kevin Martin.

News

Judi Woodruff and John Kerry sat down last Tuesday to discuss everything from health care to 2008. Kerry came across as composed, articulate, defiant, and very much in line with the party. He talked about what needs to be done, why Bush's tax cuts are wrong, and what's going on in the Middle East. This was a Kerry that, had America seen him like this last year at this time, might have caused us not to need to create this blog. Woodruff pushed him about 2008, but he didn't bite, saying that the party needs to focus on 2006. A strong Democratic leader presentic a strong unified message - who'd have thunk it?

Budget Burdens. Bush's budget was hacked by the Senate last week, and many of his proposed cuts were restored (as expected), including those to Medicaid and education. The budget passed 51-49, and now the Senate, House and White House need to iron out many details. What makes us mad about this story, though, is Senate Budget Committee Chairman Judd Gregg's (R-N.H.) comments to his colleagues. "The essence of this budget is . . . whether or not our generation, the baby-boom generation, is going to be willing to stand up and admit we put too much on the books for our children to bear." Our generation? Excuse us, Mr. Chairman, but we didn't ask you to approve billions of dollars for a war in Iraq that you had no plan for, and we were lied to about. We didn't ask you to reduce the surplus we had when Bush came into office. We expect you to find a way to reduce the deficit that you created without cutting spending to vital domestic programs. Start by eliminating the giveaways to the richest Americans.

From the Man Who Thinks Tears and Sweat Can Transmit AIDS...We bring you the next questionable medical call from Senator Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) A brief synopsis if you've not been following the case of Terri Schiavo, first. Terri Schiavo, a Florida resident, suffered severe brain damage in 1990 following a heart attack. The brain damage left her unable to care for herself so for the last 13 years she’s had a feeding tube in her for nutrients and fluids. She received a settlement for malpractice, but nearly all of that money has been spent on unsuccessful treatments to heal her. Her husband wants her off the feeding tube, so that she may "die naturally." In June 2003, Florida's courts ruled that her husband Michael could take out the feeding tube. But in October, the Florida State Legislature passed bill 35E, which empowered Governor Jeb Bush to issue executive order 03-201, which he did the following day. His executive order required that doctors replace the feeding tube and continue to provide medical attention as needed. Schiavo's doctors consider her in a "persistent vegitative state," or PVS, and have little hope of restoring any more of her brain functionality. Although she appears to have minimal reactions, experts say that these are more random motor reflexes than any sort of conscious thought. So, why does this involve Frist? Frist watched a videotape of Schiavo for "an hour or so," and disputes doctor's statements that Schiavo is in a PVS. For Frist to make such a diagnosis off of a videotape is ludicrous, and Democrats see him as pandering to right-wing groups. We couldn't agree more. Furthermore, our favorite (unconvicted...yet) criminal, Tom DeLay, interjected himself into the saga, quite obviously for no other reason than political gain, given that this is the first time he's even mentioned Terri Schiavo. This is not an easy moral question, which is precisely the problem. Politically, Democrats should sit back and let Republicans try to push their morals on anyone who will listen, and watch the backlash amass. In the meantime, we hope Schiavo and her family somehow manage to find some peace amid all this craziness.

Editorials

The Ugly American Bank. Paul Krugman discusses Paul Wolfowitz's promotion to head the World Bank, and shows how his economic ideology is pretty biased. Krugman argues that tapping Wolfowitz for this position has made many non-American leaders think that Bush wants to change the World Bank into the U.S. Bank. It's not only Wolfowitz that's the problem - he's really just the icing on our unilateralist, free-market proselytization cake.

Follow the Leaders. William Rubenstein reminds us that California's decision last week (that the ban on homosexual marriage is unconstitutional) is hardly the first of its kind, as other states have already done the same thing. He doesn't belittle Judge Kramer or his ruling, and reminds us that we shouldn't consider him an activist judge for doing the right thing. It's a shame that people would consider judges who uphold the constitution "activist", when they're doing their jobs properly.

Last month, Gary Leupp wrote a piece for Counterpunch, where he discusses year four of the "five-year plan," as explained by Wesley Clark. Year four: Iran. We've heard the Bush talking points of how "We won't invade Iran. Having said that, all options are on the table." Apparently they are, Mr. President. Fool us once, shame on you. But you're not fooling us any more, and we won't be a part of another needless war in your personal attempt to glorify yourself. Sure, we don't have the manpower, the equipment, or the plans to invade Iraq, so, logically, we shouldn't be worried. But when has that stopped you before?

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.

Activism

Without DeLay. Hopefully you've been following along with glee as the accusations against Tom DeLay pile up. The man has no integrity; there's no depth to which he will not stoop to maintain his hold on power. If we want to restore common decency to Congress, there's no better place to start than getting rid of DeLay. Sign the petition, and send an email to your Congressman demanding they investigate DeLay and demand his resignation.

News

You Say You Want No Evolution? 19 states are discussing proposals that question the science of evolution. These proposals aren't so in-your-face as to discuss the biblical version of Creation in the classroom, but rather skirt the edges by introducing "intelligent design," or exposing students to the idea of a "creator." Every day we're seeing the lines of Church and State blur more and more, and we don't like it. Public schools have no responsibility to teach religion to students who don't care to learn it. In fact, as government-run entities, they have a responsibility to not endorse any specific religious viewpoint. We don't have anything against voluntary religion classes, but placing intelligent design into required curricula is going to drive more students out of public school and into private or charter schools. Even worse, it's going to drive science out of our children's minds.

You Scratch My Back... This should be Bush's slogan, as he rewards every loyalist that he's surrounded himself with, whether or not they are qualified for their appointment. It's as if these jobs are prizes to be won, not responsbilities to be upheld. Exhibit A: Condi. Exhibit B: Gonzales. Exhibit C: Bolton. Now, Exhibit D: Paul Wolfowitz. The former Deputy Defense Secretary has been nominated by Bush to be the next head of the World Bank. Unofficially, the U.S. nominates the head of the World Bank, but that nominee can be vetoed by the other 24 countries. And with the European response mixed, to say the least, we're just frustrated that Bush's yes-men keep getting the nod.

Corzine On Top. The latest Quinnipiac poll shows that Senator Jon Corzine (D-NJ) holds a commanding lead in the New Jersey Governor's race. Corzine not only has a tremendous amount of money, his approval rating has been consistently strong for the last four years. While you can never say an election is over a year and a half before the votes, this is nothing but good news for Democrats. Hopefully, they will be able to retain the Senate seat they will lose with Corzine's election to Governor.

Editorials

Abortion's elusive middle ground. Ellen Goodman outlines how post-election, those in favor of abortion rights were encouraged to move towards finding "middle ground". In the meantime, though, abortion rights foes have moved further and further left. She hits on some of the scarier instances of anti-abortion zealots run amuck, such as new Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK), who believes in the death penalty for abortion doctors, or the crazy attorney general in Kansas, Phill Kline, who is going through old medical records of women who had abortions. In the meantime, the pro-choice movement has been searching for practical means to reduce the need for abortions, through family planning and education about contraception. The right-wing moves further to the right, while the left adopts a common-sense plan that embraces responsibility and individual rights, but somehow we're out of the mainstream?

Thomas Friedman of the New York Times, discusses National Security, China, and where our debt is being financed. Friedman shows why we seem to always engage China from a position of weakness, and why it matters to you. With so much going on both here at home and in the world, it's sometimes hard to see everything in the big picture, and why it's important. Did you know China owns $200 billion of our debt, in the form of T-bills? Sounds dry, sure. But if China decided to start selling off those T-bills, the dollar would take a huge hit, and THAT impacts your wallet.

Gouging, numbers belie medical malpractice 'crisis' claims. You know how Bush has been clamoring for "tort reform"? (Unlike his social security overhaul, tort reform is something that he actually discussed during the election.) Remember, he was basically proposing it as a panacea - whenever the issue of rising medical costs came up, he blamed it on the cost of malpractice insurance, due to frivolous lawsuits and activist judges. Well, in Washington, the state's largest medical malpractice insurer was ordered to refund over $1.3 million in excess premiums. Furthermore, a detailed study of 10,000 malpractice claims over 10 years showed that just 50 cases resulted in jury awards for the plaintiffs. Only about 27% of all claims resulted in any payment to the patient, and only 200 resulted in compensation of over $1 million to the patient. Basically, malpractice claims aren't exploding, and if you really want to look at the cause of rising medical costs, maybe looking at the insurance companies themselves would be a nice start.

Activism

New Action Alert Concerning the Latest DeLay Bombshell Scandal. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay symbolizes everything that is wrong with the government these days. He's as corrupt as they come, and an ideologue to boot. As his indictment has come closer and closer, the House Republicans have moved to protect him from any reprisal or investigation. Unfortunately for DeLay, he's so corrupt that his transgressions keep bubbling to the surface. But it won't make a lick of difference if the public keeps allowing Congress to let him slide on by. That's why it's so important to you use the link above to get the contact info for the members of the Ethics Committee and urge a full investigation into the DeLay allegations. It's up to you to make DeLay accountable!

News

We Can't Believe This is Legal! While this headline could apply to any number of stories, we're talking about the government-produced "news spots" that are given to stations to include in their news broadcasts. While the spots don't lie, per se, they often only tell part of the truth. Blame should certainly be placed at the feet of the networks for not admitting that they are government-created spots, but the GAO has also said that these may constitute "covert propaganda." May? The article details several of the spots and their locations. We encourage you to contact your networks, if these spots have been played in your area, to demand full disclosure.

Democrats in Atlanta? The Georgia Senate passed a bill last Friday that would eliminate 12 of the 17 allowable forms of identification for voters. Immediately after the vote, Democrats stormed out of the Legislature, shouting "This is wrong!" Democrats said the bill was targeted towards suppressing back votes, as many poor and minority voters are less likely to have a photo ID. Here we see yet one more shining example of why we need national election reform.

Mfume in 2006! Longtime Democrat, 5-time Congressman, and former president of the NAACP Kweisi Mfume has declared that he will run in 2006 for the Maryland Senate seat that will be vacated by Paul Sarbanes's decision not to run again. Mfume is a perfect fit for Maryland, and woe unto the Republican candidate that opposes him.

Editorials

Lloyd Axworthy Speaks! Does that name sound familiar? It probably doesn't - Axworthy is a former Canadian foreign minister and the President of the University of Winnepeg. In a letter to Condi Rice, reacting to the U.S.'s recent disgust with Canada for not supporting America's Ballistic Missile Defense program, Axworthy lashes out at the U.S. administration. But it's not a ranting, "you all suck" lashing out; rather, Axworthy has crafted an intelligent response as to why Canada refuses to spend billions upon billions of dollars on a failed program. The letter is more than that, though - Axworthy could easily be mistaken for an American Democrat, as he rips the administration for their views on everything from Kyoto to the International Criminal Court. This letter is a must read, and we ask that you use the comments to tell us what you think - is Axworthy out of line? Or is his writing exactly what the administration needs to hear?

Liberalism vs Conservatism. Jonathan Chait, over at The New Republic, gives us a hypothetical: If God appeared today, and he supported every conservative idea, here's what would happen. But if God appeared today, and he supported every liberal idea, here's what would happen. His reflections on the parties' agendas are staggering, and are especially clear when discussing economics. Whether you believe in God or not, this is a great article that will certainly help you when you're trying to convince your Republican friend to vote Democrat in 2008.

The Progress Report. The American Progress Action Fund does something every weekday called "The Progress Report," an editorial with two major topics and one "under the radar" topic, that looks at news that hasn't made the news. In today's report, we want you to focus on "Corruption," (but, by all means, please read the whole thing). The writers give a good summary of everything facing Tom DeLay. If this doesn't encourage you to contact the Ethics Committee (see today's Activism, above), we don't know what will.

Activism

Chances are you don't know who Lynne Stewart is, but we're going to change that. Lynne Stewart is a Manhattan lawyer who represented, among other clients, Blind Egyptian Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman. Abdel-Rahman was convicted of plotting to blow up several American landmarks in 1995, and was incarcerated. Harsh limitations, in the form of a gag order, were imposed on him, although Stewart continued to meet with him. When Stewart released a press release on his behalf, she was arrested and charged with, among other things, "providing material support for terrorism." John Ashcroft made the announcement of her capture on The Late Show with David Letterman, of all places. To read the whole story, click here. The arrest and subsequent legal battle are an absurd use of power by the government, and Lynne Stewart is being used as an example by this administration to deter others from nebulous crimes and unwritten laws. We encourage you to go to Lynne's website to see how you can help her. Our thanks to Ginny Phillips for this link.

News

Improvements Needed. A few weeks ago the State Department made public the details of an array of human rights violations by the Iraqi government in 2004. The details include torture and illegal detentions. Hey, Iraq's becoming more like America every day! Seriously, though, it speaks volumes that the interim government that we created and gave power would still resort to such acts. The report discussed other countries, but the focus was on Iraq. We hope that these violations are curtailed, but that would mean that there'd have to be some sort of plan to stop them. And we all know how this administration feels about plans.

The Road to Cyberspace. If you're reading this, then chances are you're not one of the 74% of Americans who "not too" or "not at all" familiar with blogs. The term "blog" has been in existence for just about a year now, although the idea has been on the internet for many years. Now, we may be seeing the next step - Democrats have created an online talk show, at DemsTV.com. Don't misunderstand, though - this isn't sponsored by the DNC. It does appear to be a response, however, to the RNC's online "Off the Record." While we're pleased that some Democrats have taken initiative on this, we worry that the only people who will watch are those who already surf the web, which, according to those poll numbers above, aren't very many.

Hey, Kofi, Shut Up and Listen to Us! Let's say that you're the most well-read person in a book club. You show up one week to discuss Pride and Prejudice. Everyone gives their opinion of what the book means, what message it sends, and what they got out of it. Then it's your turn, and you tell everyone that this is what the book means, and this is the message it sends, and that's the only acceptable interpretation. Furthermore, you demand that the rest of the people in your book club agree with you, and tell anyone else who asks your interpretation. Now, substitute the Bush administration for "you," the U.N. for "a book club," and abortion rights for "Pride and Prejudice," and you've got this story. What makes this even more audacious is the status of abortion rights in this country! We tell the U.N. to renounce abortion rights when, here at home, we can walk down the street and have it done! (Well, that's a good thing, but it's still quite hypocritical.) Utterly ridiculous, and we really wish this story was picked up by more of the MSM.
Editorials

Southern Strategies. Chris Kromm, over at The Nation, discusses if and how the Democrats can "break into" the South. Within the South, there are four Democratic Governors, hundreds of Democratic state legislators, and in six of thirteen Southern states, more registered voters identify as Democrats than Republicans. So why do Democrats have such trouble? Why was Kerry 0-13 in those states? What does the party need to do for 2008? Kromm covers the "New Strategies for Southern Progress" conference to explain. As Howard Dean told several hundred people in DC last month, there are many Democrats in those states, and we need to show them that the party hasn't given up on them yet. That would be a good start.

May we call them fascists NOW? You're really not going to believe this story, less because it seems unlikely, and more because we live in America, not 1940's Germany. We all know how precisely orchestrated Bush's "Town Hall Meetings" for social security are. You can't get in if you're not a Republican, and you can't ask a question unless it's been screened beforehand. This is all done on taxpayer money, by the way. But now they're really gone beyond the pale: It seems that federal agents, or people claiming to be federal agents (either way, they have the same agenda), told a few small business owners in Memphis, the site of the latest "Town Hall", that they weren't allowed to display signs critical of Bush or his plans to destroy social security. Why this isn't all over the news, we're not sure. How have we gotten to this point?

What rise in freedom? We're a bit torn. See, it certainly does seem that around the globe, many countries are taking some small steps towards freedom and democracy. This is a fantastic occurrence. Of course, Bush would like to take all the credit for this, because he believes that his wild-eyed freedom-spreading Inauguration Speech, and his destruction of Iraq somehow spurred the rest of the world into fighting for democracy. Seems a bit ludicrous to us, kind of like his whole "Mission Accomplished" demonstration, or him taking credit for the success of "No Child Left Behind". Both of those are examples of his endeavors that showed the slightest glimmer of hope for success, so he proclaimed them complete...and now look what's happened to them. Robert Kuttner explains why jumping to similar conclusions about the spread of democracy would be similarly premature, and how we can't assume that minor changes implicitly mean that freedom is on the rise. Furthermore, we may not like the changes that take place, and Bush's involvement may only serve to worsen things.