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LOUISVILLE /JEFFERSON COUNTY

DEMOCRATIC PARTY NEWSLETTER

Week of March 16, 2008

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Jefferson County Democrats 

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CLICK HERE FOR CURRENT LIST OF EVENTS

Updated on a regular basis

The Louisville/Jefferson County Democratic Executive Committee meets the 4th Wednesday of every month at 5:00 pm at Democratic Headquarters,           

640 Barret Avenue .

 

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REMEMBER, CHECK TO DONATE TO THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY  

ON YOUR STATE & FEDERAL TAX RETURNS

 

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Louisville Metro Dems

Democratic Primary Senatorial Debate

March 12, 2008.

Video.

 

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Fischer, Cassaro Hold First Debate By Mark Hebert

 

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Charlie Cook's "Off To The Races"

 

Anyone who has watched American politics lately didn't particularly need to see another piece of evidence proving just how challenging the political environment is for Republicans.

 

 But Republican Jim Oberweis' loss to Democrat Bill Foster in Saturday's special election in Illinois' 14th District -- for a seat held for over two decades by former House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R) -- is just one more example.

 

The heavily Republican district that President Bush carried with 55 percent in 2004 gave Oberweis 47 percent, a big swing but not a surprising one given Bush's high disapproval ratings.

 

It would be unfair to lay the blame for this loss solely on Bush and his unpopularity, though.

 

A weak candidate who had already lost two bids for the Senate and one for governor, Oberweis had upside-down numbers -- higher unfavorable than favorable ratings -- in some polls heading into the election and that was probably a major contributing factor in his loss.

 

Had either Bush's approval ratings been higher or Republicans nominated a candidate with less baggage, this seat likely wouldn't have turned over.

 

The National Republican Congressional Committee was forced to throw $1.2 million, roughly 20 percent of its total bank account balance, to defend a seat that never should have been in play.

 

Probably the most on-target criticism of NRCC Chairman Tom Cole is that he actually wanted this job and beat two rivals for it this cycle. Reps. Phil English, R-Pa., and Pete Sessions, R-Texas, should be thanking their lucky stars they came up short in the balloting.

 

Republicans should be alarmed over poll numbers measuring party identification and enthusiasm of voters.

 

The advantage Democrats enjoy over Republicans in voter ID ranges from as low as 8 points to as high as 14 points, depending upon the poll -- a lot considering the parties were dead even five years ago.

 

A just completed Cook Political Report/RT Strategies poll of 838 registered voters conducted Wednesday through Sunday -- with a 3.5-point error margin -- showed 37 percent identified themselves as Democrats, 28 percent as Republicans and 31 percent said they were independents.

 

When figures were adjusted for independents who said which party they leaned toward, Democrats rose to 50 percent and Republicans to 39 percent. Ten percent stayed purely independent or wouldn't say.

 

Voting in the 2004 presidential election showed just how important party identification can be.

 

Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts won the vote of 89 percent of Democrats and Democrat-leaning independents, and Bush carried 93 percent of the Republicans and GOP leaners. Even among white voters, the GOP edge was just 2 points among party members, 3 points with leaners pushed.

 

Then there is enthusiasm.

 

In a presidential election year, it's a decent bet that Republicans, no matter how demoralized, will turn out in numbers in line with past election years.

 

When the GOP presidential race was still actively contested, Republican turnout was solid and in some cases reached record highs. The danger for the GOP is if there is an extraordinarily high Democratic turnout in the general.

 

It's not hard to imagine that Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., could match the national and state-by-state vote totals Bush received in 2004, or that the Democratic nominee, either Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois or Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, might pick up a substantially higher vote count than Kerry did four years ago.

 

The turnout figures in Democratic primaries and enthusiasm levels in national polls certainly suggest that could be the case, and it would obviously have a detrimental effect on GOP candidates down ballot.

 

Even if there isn't a disproportionate Democratic turnout, Republicans would need to win over virtually all of the pure independents, quite a chore considering they broke Democratic in 2006. If the turnout trends seen in the primaries continue, that wouldn't even be enough.

 

While it is hard for a party to gain a lot of House seats in the election following a big win, and the wave that Democrats used to regain the House and Senate in 2006 certainly qualifies as big,one has to wonder in this environment how many more they could get.

 

Currently, the Cook Political Report lists 22 Republican seats in three competitive categories: 10 are "Tossups," another 11 are "Lean Republican" (down from 12 after the Illinois 14th District loss) and the neighboring open seat in Illinois' 11th District is in the "Lean Democratic" column. Twenty-two more are in the potentially competitive category of "Likely Republican."

 

While a single-digit seat gain for Democrats has been expected, the potential for seat gains to creep into the teens appears to be growing, with close to half of 26 open seats in danger and about two-dozen incumbents at some degree of risk.

 

Considering the GOP fielded a flawed candidate in Oberweis, it is unwise to extrapolate his loss nationally and begin predicting overblown gains for Democrats. But the special election does serve as a reminder of just how ugly the environment is for Republicans these days and provides a taste of what a second bad election in a row for the GOP might look like.

 

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McCain Revealed: The Briefing Book

 

Working families across this country are facing all kinds of hardships: a staggering economy, stagnant wages, a broken health care system, a home foreclosure and housing crisis, a disastrously flawed U.S. trade policy and a hostile climate for workers seeking to form unions.

 

But someone must have forgotten to tell Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), who just clinched the Republican presidential nomination. “I still believe our fundamental underpinnings of our economy are strong,” McCain said recently.

 

It’s no wonder—McCain has said economic issues are something he’s “never really understood.”

 

As the Democratic nomination fight continues, it’s time working families understand John McCain’s poor record on working family issues. Here’s a quick look:

 

• McCain—Wrong on Trade: McCain has cast vote after vote for every free trade agreement under the sun, including the most devastating agreement in our history, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). He has gone on to praise NAFTA and its effects and has voted to make it easier for the president to enter into agreements without strong worker protections.
• McCain—Wrong on Workers: McCain voted to block the Employee Free Choice Act and supported a national “right to work” for less law. He supported President Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans while voting against raising the minimum wage.
• McCain—Wrong on Jobs: McCain has made it a point to tell audiences that some jobs “aren’t coming back.” What he doesn’t often explain is his role in exporting those jobs in the first place. McCain voted against prohibiting the overseas outsourcing of government contracts and voted to privatize federal jobs. He also voted to contract out federal jobs. And McCain has certainly done little to aid those who have lost their jobs, voting against the extension of federal unemployment insurance benefits.
• McCain—Wrong on Social Security: McCain voted for Bush’s Social Security privatization plan and says the only solution to fixing Social Security is through private accounts.
• McCain—Wrong on Health Care: McCain wants to make health care premiums part of taxable income, creating a new tax for working families. His plan would force working families to fend for themselves in the private insurance market and undermine employer-based health care. In addition, McCain has voted to slash funding for Medicare and opposed the reauthorization and new funding for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).
• McCain—Wrong on George W. Bush: Since President Bush took office; McCain has supported Bush’s positions 89 percent of the time. McCain’s support of Bush’s policies reached as high as 95 percent in 2007.

Over the coming weeks, we’ll share more information with you about Sen. McCain’s record on the issues, including the economy, jobs, health care, trade, workers’ rights and retirement security.

 

For now, take a look at McCain Revealed: The Briefing Book, and send it to your friends and family.

 

 

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McCain Stiffs U.S. Workers, Helps Europeans Win Air Tanker Deal by James Parks

 

At a time when American jobs are disappearing and our manufacturing base is being decimated, working people are outraged that Republican presidential nominee John McCain played a key role in the Bush Defense Department’s decision to award one of our largest military contracts to a foreign company.  

Had Boeing been awarded the air tanker deal, it would have supported at least 44,000 new and existing jobs in the United States, many of them good union jobs, and more than 300 suppliers in 40 states. But now only a few thousand lower-paying nonunion jobs will be created. (Click here to send a message to your representatives in Congress, urging them to overturn this decision.)

The DOD announced Feb. 29 the awarding of a $40 billion to $100 billion contract for the construction of Air Force refueling tankers to Northrop Grumann and the European firm EADS, which makes the Airbus. Defense expenditures are supposed to comply with federal Buy American Law provisions, which require purchasing certain products from American companies when possible. But this administration has granted more waivers of the Buy American provisions than any administration in history.  

Time magazine reports that McCain has been a “key figure” in the Pentagon’s attempt to complete the tanker deal. According to the news magazine, McCain wrote letters and pushed the Pentagon to change the bidding process so that Airbus’s government subsidies could not be considered when deciding to whom to award the contract. This placed Boeing, which receives no subsidies, at a clear disadvantage and conflicted with U.S. trade policy. In fact, the U.S. currently has a complaint before the World Trade Organization (WTO) charging unfair trade practices resulting from Airbus’s illegal subsidies.  READ REST of STORY

 

 

 

CEOs Pocket Big Pay While Their Companies Tank  by Mike Hall

 

Three CEOs—Angelo Mozilo of Countrywide Financial Corp., E. Stanley O’Neal of Merrill Lynch and Charles Prince of Citigroup—presided over companies that lost a combined $20 billion in just the past two quarters of 2007 as a result of investments in subprime and other risky mortgages.

 

For that kind of performance, the CEO trio pocketed more than $320 million in compensation, stock bonuses and other rewards last year. That disconnect between performance and pay, says Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), shows that

there seems to be two different economic realties in this country. Most Americans live in a world where economic security is precarious and there are real economic consequences for failure. But our nation’s top executives seem to live by a different set of rules.…CEOs seem to hit the lottery when companies collapse.

 

Waxman made his remarks at his U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s hearing this morning on CEO pay and the mortgage crisis.

 

Today’s hearing on executive pay versus performance follows the committee’s December examination of the roles and conflicts of corporate compensation consultants in setting executive pay. (Click here to read the December 2007 AFL-CIO’s testimony; here for other testimony from the December hearing and here for more information from the AFL-CIO’s Executive PayWatch.)

 

Waxman says all three companies “bet heavily on the subprime market” and suffered enormous losses. Countrywide lost $1.6 billion in 2007 and its stock lost 80 percent of its value. Merrill Lynch lost $10 billion and its stock lost 45 percent of its value. Citigroup also lost $10 billion and its stock lost 48 percent of its value.

 

According to a report released by the committee yesterday, the companies’ nosedives paid off for the three CEOs. O’Neal and Prince pulled the rip chords on their golden parachutes and resigned. Mozilo appears ready to do the same as soon as Bank of America completes a deal to buy Countrywide.

 

The report shows that O’Neal left Merrill Lynch with a $161 million retirement package. Prince was awarded a $10 million bonus, $28 million in unvested stock options and $1.5 million in annual perquisites when he left Citigroup. Mozilo received more than $120 million in compensation and sales of Countrywide stock. Says Waxman:

 

Any reasonable relation between their compensation and the interests of their shareholders appears to have broken down. The obvious question is this: How can a few executives do so well when their companies do so poorly?

 

Nell Minnow, co-founder of the Corporate Library, an independent group that studies corporate governance and executive pay, describes herself as a “passionate capitalist.” But she told the committee that not only is the compensation the three received far out of line compared with performance, it also should be returned to shareholders.

 

The undue compensation awarded to these failed CEO’s should be returned to shareholders. In addition, they should be held liable for providing false and misleading statements to investors and held accountable for the impact of their poor strategic decision-making policies.

 

She also called for stronger shareholder rights in determining CEO pay throughout the corporate world.

 

Now, shareholders only vote on stock options and have no say over any other aspect of compensation. So directors have nothing to lose by approving pay plans that pay off like perpetual pin-ball machines, designed so that everything you hit rings a bell.

 

The committee report also found that Countrywide retained three compensation consulting firms to develop Mozilo’s pay package. After the first two firms made recommendations that apparently didn’t suit Mozilo, a third company was retained that, the report says:

 

...appeared to serve as Mr. Mozilo’s personal advisor with the goal of achieving “maximum opportunity” for Mr. Mozilo. The final contract was significantly more generous than Exequity [the second compensation firm] originally recommended.

 

During their testimony, the CEOs claimed reports of their pay were exaggerated by the media. (Click here for more testimony from today’s hearing.)

 

But the committees’ report suggests that Mozilo is trying to deflect blame onto unions—because we have been leading the way in many shareholder actions seeking to hold corporate executives accountable.

 

The committee came across Mozilo’s twisted accusations while sorting through various financial documents. In a 2006 e-mail, responding to an executive compensation consultant who was disappointed that Countrywide’s board had made revisions in Mozilo’s compensation package, Mozilo wrote:

 

boards have been placed under enormous pressure by the left-wing, anti-business press and the envious leaders of unions and other so called “CEO Comp Watchers.”

 

He goes on to say that “a decade from now,” the public will realize how wrong it was to attack honest “entrepreneurship.”

 

We’ll let Howard Leonard of Salon.com’s How the World Works column have the last word.

 

That e-mail was written on Oct. 20, 2006, well before the astonishing decline and fall of Countrywide was apparent to anyone outside of the company. Back then, perhaps Mozilo had some reason to consider himself a titan of industry attacked by annoying communist termites intent on destroying the American way of option-ARM, no-money-down mortgage life.

 

But today, as the United States continues to experience record numbers of home foreclosures, in part because of the eagerness of companies like Countrywide to lure home buyers into mortgages that they couldn’t afford, Mozilo’s petulance doesn’t come off too well. How the World Works strongly believes that a decade from now, Angelo Mozilo will be remembered as a pathetic icon of his time— man who “earned” hundreds of millions of dollars while incompetently managing a public company that was once the largest mortgage lender in the United States, but now is just a footnote to the greatest housing bust since the Great Depression.

 

 

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Comments:  

 

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DAILY GRILL  

 

"We don't know if this is going to result in something that Congress will need to approve or not." -- White House Press Secretary Dana Perino, 3/6/08, on a long term Iraq agreement

VERSUS

DELAHUNT: It's the position of this Administration that they do not need to come before Congress to receive authorization?
SATTERFIELD: That's correct. -- Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-MA) to Amb. David Satterfield, 3/4/08

 

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"I think when people take a look back at this moment in our economic history, they'll recognize tax cuts work." -- President Bush, 3/12/08

VERSUS

"[M]aking the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts and Alternative Minimum Tax relief permanent would add $4.3 trillion to deficits and debt over just the next ten years and would substantially worsen the nation's already serious long-term fiscal problems." -- Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, 1/28/08

 

 

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Quotes of the Day   

 

Rove: ‘I Fully Expect To Be Indicted By The End Of The Year’

 

Karl Rove, former senior aide to President Bush, spoke to a hostile crowd at the University of Iowa yesterday evening. Students and local citizens protested his appearance at the university and “staged a mock trial” for Rove inside the student union before the speech.

 

During the lecture, Rove lashed out at hostile questioners, telling one man his comment showed “a simple, stupid mind” and chastised what he said were “stupid statements” from the audience. Rove also said that former Amb. Joseph Wilson “lied” about his 2002 trip to Niger and accused an audience member of “perpetuating libel” on the U.S. military for asking about the real number of deaths in the Iraq war:  READ THE REST

 

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Recent Senate Votes 

 

Consumer Product Safety Modernization Act - Vote Passed (79-13, 8 Not Voting)

The Senate passed this legislation granting more funding and authority to the Consumer Product Safety Commission and requiring mandatory testing of consumer products for children.

Sen. Mitch McConnell voted YES

Sen. Jim Bunning voted NO

 

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Recent House Votes 

 

Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act - Vote Passed (268-148, 13 Not Voting)

The House voted to require employee health plans to provide the same coverage for mental illness as they do for physical health issues.

Rep. Ron Lewis voted NO

Rep. John Yarmuth voted YES

 

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HUMOR     

 

 

 
 

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BORDERING ON A VIRTUAL DISASTER: One of the right wing's favorite "solutions" to undocumented immigration is the border fence between the United States and Mexico. On March 14, 2007, McCain lamented that undocumented immigrants were able to cross into Arizona because his state did not "have the fences and the barriers that they have in California and Texas." But both the actual and "virtual" border fences are a mess. In October 2006, Bush authorized the construction of a 700-mile fence at the U.S.-Mexico border. Now, however, the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) construction plans are facing opposition from Texans who object to the fence cutting through their property. U.S. attorneys acting on behalf of the Bush administration have resorted to filing lawsuits against resisting landowners. Conveniently, the border fence in one small town would "abruptly end" at the property owned by Dallas billionaire Ray L. Hunt, who was a Bush-Cheney campaign "Pioneer" in 2000 and "donated $35 million to Southern Methodist University to help build Bush's presidential library." Meanwhile, the virtual fence -- a "sophisticated mix of radar, satellites, sensors and computers" -- is plagued by cost overruns and delays. According to the Arizona Republic, "The $20 million project was such a shambles that the government gave Boeing another $65 million in December to fix the glitches." The first phase was supposed be completed by the end of 2008, but will now take another three years. Last month, DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff declared this project a success.

 

IRAQ -- PERINO: 'DON'T KNOW' IF WHITE HOUSE WILL SEEK CONGRESS' APPROVAL FOR PERMANENT OCCUPATION: Earlier this week, State Dept. Coordinator for Iraq David Satterfield refused to say whether it was "a constitutional requirement" for the administration to "consult with Congress" on a long-term agreement with Iraq. Yesterday morning on Fox News, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino echoed Satterfield, saying that "we don't know" whether Congress has any constitutional role in authorizing such treating. In reality, the administration does know it will bypass Congress. In a follow-up letter to Satterfield's testimony obtained by The Progress Report, Assistant Secretary of State Jeffrey Bergner said the President does have "constitutional authority" to "continue combat operations" in Iraq without Congress's authorization. As justification, Bergner cited the 2002 authorization of force against Saddam Hussein and the resolution passed after 9/11. In defending the executive agreement, Perino cited "the long-term relationship we have with countries Japan and Germany and South Korea." Of course, these "strategic framework agreements" were approved by Congress first, as Oona Hathway of Yale Law School noted.

 

DODGING SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE TAXES: Despite the massive profits KBR has been earning, it has worked hard to shelter those revenues from the U.S. government and its own employees. According a detailed investigation by the Boston Globe, KBR has "avoided paying hundreds of millions of dollars in federal Medicare and Social Security taxes by hiring workers through shell companies" based in the Cayman Islands -- a scheme established by Halliburton under Cheney's tenure. In doing so, the firm deprived KBR employees of guaranteed future retirement benefits and unemployment insurance should they lose their jobs. Since at least 2004, the Pentagon has known about KBR's practices, but has chosen to ignore the issue. The use of the shell companies to divert millions from Social Security and Medicare gives KBR an unfair advantage over its rivals, almost all of whom pay the federal taxes. "It is both shocking and disappointing that some American companies continue to exploit our system in wartime by setting up shell corporations via a tax haven mailbox," said Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA). "You have to wonder why the Pentagon continues to do business with these contractors who skirt the rules."

 

ADMINISTRATION  --  KARL ROVE RATTLED BY STUDENTS AND PROTESTERS AT UNIVERSITY OF IOWA SPEECH: Students and citizens protested former White House adviser Karl Rove before and during a speech he gave last night at the University of Iowa. Before the speech, "groups from around eastern Iowa had been protesting his presence for two hours" and "protesters staged a mock trial" for Rove inside the student union, draping the "side of a nearby parking ramp with a 60-foot anti-Rove banner." Rove also received tough questions from the audience. One attendee asked Rove about the "true" body count in Iraq, prompting Rove to accuse the individual of "perpetuating libel on the military of the United States by accusing them of killing innocent Iraqis." Rove chastised what he said were "stupid statements" from the audience and said a comment from one man showed "a simple, stupid mind." Responding to a question about CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson's outing, Rove said, "I haven't been indicted yet, but I fully expect to be by the end of the year." According to an agreement with the university, "Rove only allowed journalists to videotape the first few minutes of his remarks. After that, the media had to turn off all cameras and tape recorders."

 

ADMINISTRATION -- BUSH UNPOPULARITY PROVIDES FUNDRAISING CHALLENGES FOR PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY: Southern Methodist University in Dallas recently announced that the university will be home to the George W. Bush presidential library. Bush's "censored" library -- which will also house a partisan institute to "celebrate" Bush's presidency -- is reportedly set to cost over $200 million. But U.S. News reports that "Bush's friends are concerned that he will face serious problems raising" the money needed for the library because his "unpopularity will put a damper on donations" and "the sour economy will limit contributions even more." Moreover, U.S. News notes that "there is the matter of an endowment to keep the library going, which could cost an additional $50 million." Bush recently said that he has not been "focused" on fundraising for his library, but that he would "probably take some foreign money" to cover the library's costs. Indeed, in November 2006, the New York Daily News reported that Bush hoped to get roughly $250 million in "megadonations" from key allies in the Persian Gulf. 

 

JUSTICE -- ASHCROFT DEFENDS NO-BID CONTRACT FROM JUSTICE DEPARTMENT: Last fall, former Justice Department employee and current U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Christ Christie awarded his former boss, former Attorney General John Ashcroft, a multimillion-dollar no-bid contract to monitor a corporate law settlement. Yesterday, Ashcroft defended the $50 million contract before the House Judiciary subcommittee. "There is not a conflict; there is not an appearance of a conflict," Ashcroft insisted. Subcommittee Chairman Linda Sanchez (D-CA) "said the arrangement 'appeared to be a backroom, sweetheart deal,' because Christie chose the firm without competition." Ashcroft "repeatedly tried to talk over" chairwoman Linda Sanchez (D-CA), "who offered the severest questioning." On Monday, the Justice Department announced new internal guidelines relating to settlement monitoring "to prevent the sort of conflict-of-interest accusations that followed" the Ashcroft contract.

 

INTELLIGENCE -- PENTAGON BLOCKS REPORT SHOWING HUSSEIN HAD NO TIES TO AL QAEDA: On Monday, McClatchy reported that a Pentagon-sponsored "review of more than 600,000 Iraqi documents," scheduled for release this week, confirmed that Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda had no "operational links," even though President Bush said as late as 2004, "The reason I keep insisting that there was a relationship between Iraq and Saddam and al Qaeda: because there was a relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda." ABC reports that the Pentagon apparently doesn't want the study "to get any attention" as it has canceled "plans to send out a press release announcing the report's release and will no longer make the report available online." One Pentagon official said initial press reports on the study made it "too politically sensitive." Navy Capt. Dennis Moynihan, a spokesman for the Joint Forces Command, said, "We're making the report available to anyone who wishes to have it, and we'll send it out via CD in the mail."

 

 

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Think Fast    

 

"A House committee will question three Wall Street executives later today over compensation awards reaching hundreds of millions of dollars while shareholders bear the brunt of billions in writedowns from subprime mortgages."

 

Alleging that the White House "made apparently false and misleading statements in court about the White House e-mail controversy," CREW asked a federal judge yesterday "to demand an explanation" about "testimony at a congressional hearing last week" that is inconsistent with "what the White House told a federal court in January."

 

In a new book, former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias says that a former protege of President Bush told him that he was fired for political reasons. "Iglesias recalls Texas U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton telling him shortly after he was ousted. 'If I were you, I'd just go quietly.'"

 

Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) recently introduced an earmark moratorium bill, but House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-WI) says Kingston "privately told him he was in favor of earmarks." "You know, David, I am really for earmarks," Obey said Kingston told him. Kingston confirmed the conversation.

 

In a CBS 60 Minutes interview that aired yesterday, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) promised to release his medical records "sometime in the next month or two." Yet so far, campaign officials have assured reporters at least three times since March 2007 "that they would provide the detailed information" about the senator's health, "but they have not done so."

 

Average U.S. gas prices "have reached a new high of almost $3.20 per gallon and will likely jump another 20 to 30 cents in the next month, worsening the pain of consumers struggling to make ends meet in an economic downturn." Prices increased "about 9.44 cents per gallon in the past two weeks" and "64 cents per gallon in the past 12 months."

 

Action star and right-wing activist Chuck Norris "has become a cult figure among the U.S. military in Iraq and an unlikely hero for some in Iraq's security forces." Comments "lauding the manliness and virility of the actor have been left on toilet walls across Iraq and even in neighboring Kuwait." One such comment: "Chuck Norris puts the laughter in manslaughter." Troops appreciate that Norris "visited Iraq when violence was its worst and other celebrities were skittish."

 

House Oversight Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) questioned Blackwater's classification of its workers as “independent contractors" rather than employees yesterday. The designation has given Blackwater "$144 million in contracts set aside for small businesses and to avoid paying as much as $50 million in withholding taxes under State Department contracts."

 

"Unions at the Environmental Protection Agency have pulled out of a long-standing partnership with management," saying Administrator Stephen Johnson "and other top managers have ignored the advice of unionized workers and the agency's own principles of scientific integrity."

 

CNN brought on former U.S. attorney Kendall Coffey to comment on the prostitution scandal surrounding Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D-NY). Coffey concluded that Spitzer's chances of politically surviving the fall-out are "basically slim and none." CNN, however, neglected to mention that Coffey quit his job as a federal prosecutor "after allegedly biting a stripper." CNN has now admitted that Coffey "was probably not the right one for this story."

 

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), traveling to Europe next week, said he wouldn't discuss differences with President Bush while abroad. "There are obvious differences," he said. "I certainly won't articulate them overseas."

 

When a Justice Department proposed rule requiring U.S. contractors "to report waste, fraud or abuse they encounter while doing work for the government" was published by the White House Office of Management and Budget last year, it included "language that would exempt from such reporting all U.S. contractors who do work overseas" including in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

 

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INTERESTING  

 

 

Arizona Activists: McCain Is a Bush McClone on Retirement Security  by Mike Hall

 

Sen. John McCain’s so-called “Straight Talk Express” has flip-flopped off the Social Security highway—and Arizona activists want to make sure voters know the presumptive Republican presidential candidate is looking out for Wall Street, not Main Street.

 

Several dozen members of the Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans and the Arizona Advocacy Network marched at the Social Security Administration’s Phoenix office this morning. They were there to warn voters that McCain is “Taking Aim” at Social Security by his recent endorsement of President Bush’s failed and flawed proposal to privatize the cornerstone of the workers’ retirement security.

 

McCain backed Bush’s privatization plan and voted for it in 2005. But in a 2006 meeting, he told a different story. Says Doug Hart, president of the Arizona Alliance:

 

We had a meeting with him about a year and half ago, 12 of us in his office, and he said it was a bad idea, that he didn’t favor privatization. Now he’s flip-flopped and it looks like his Straight Talk Express isn’t so straight after all.

 

In a March 3 Wall Street Journal interview, McCain says he supports a privatization plan “along the lines that President Bush proposed.” That could be disastrous for seniors, with benefit cuts between 30 percent and 50 percent or about $134,000 over a 20 year retirement, says the Alliance for Retired Americans.

 

Linda Brown, executive director of Arizona Advocacy, says campaign cash is behind McCain’s embrace of Social Security privatization.

 

He’s got to raise his money somewhere and the easiest place is on Wall Street and on the right wing where ideologues want to privatize everything.

 

Hart says counting on Wall Street—even as we watch a financial meltdown caused in large part by corporate greed—just doesn’t make sense.

 

Under the Bush-McCain scheme, our Social Security benefits would be thrown to the whims of the stock market. We get all the risks but Wall Street gets all the reward.

 

On the Democratic side, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and Barack Obama (Ill.) oppose privatizing Social Security. Go to Working Families Vote 2008 to find out more about the candidates and the issues.

  

 

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Buy American Mention of the Week                      

 

American-Made Eyewear, No Sweat Apparel, and American Tuna

 

The U.S. Armed Forces’ best kept secret is now available in the consumer market. The Original Pilot Sunglass has been a favorite of U.S. military pilots for over 40 years. These sunglasses are American made, performance tested and have been issued to millions of U.S. soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen since 1958 and are available from American Optical (www.aoeyewear.com).

 

When you go to the American Optical website, be sure to click on the “Flight-Gear” banner to see the American-made sunglasses. Other sunglasses offered on the site are not U.S. made. Even so, the “Buy American Mention of the Week” is dedicated to helping American consumers buy American where they can and when they can. And the reality of today’s economy is that we can’t always find websites that have 100 percent of their products made in the USA. This of course is not an endorsement of globalization. Far from it! It’s an acceptance of the world we live in, and I’m proud to live in and be an American, and we need to take every opportunity to support other fellow Americans that live here, work here and pay their taxes here.

 

Buying sweatshop-free, child-labor free union-made clothing is no sweat at No Sweat Apparel (www.nosweatapparel.com). Choose from footwear (low-top and high-top shoes and socks), outerwear and accessories (belts, beanies and hats), printed tees and tanks, no logo tees and tanks, work & casual, sweats and athletic wear as well as apparel for kids and petites.

 

You can either browse No Sweat Apparel and order online or check out their retail locations in your area state by state. Keep in mind these product choices are sweatshop free and not foreign labor free. Click on each individual product to see if your choice is made in the USA.

 

At American Tuna (www.AmericanTuna.com) their albacore is caught, canned and distributed by American fishermen, which is hard to find on the shelves in the markets today, and is attractive to many consumers. But you can find this American tuna at Whole Foods Markets or you can mail-order at www.heritagefoodsusa.com.

 

The fishing families at American Tuna have been selling their albacore through buyers and processors for years. The majority of their fish is exported to Spain, since the Spanish enjoy the smaller, fatty (high fish oil) albacore tuna. Unfortunately, the American consumer rarely had the opportunity to enjoy our albacore until now. You can also check www.AmericanTuna.com for other retail locations that might be in your area in addition to a Whole Foods Market as they are always looking to cater to smaller natural and organic stores as well.

 

 

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The Senate voted overwhelmingly Thursday (3/8) to beef up the Consumer Products Safety Commission, which "oversees the safety of consumer products after a spate of recalls involving imported products."

 

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VIDEOS    

 

Perino Attacks Congress On Wiretapping Using A Factually Inaccurate Slide

 

The Bush Debt: $7.7 Trillion

 

Dr. Laura blames New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer's (D) wife for her husband's prostitution scandal.

 

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NEED COMPUTER ASSISTANCE?? 

Democrat Activist Mike Bailey is now providing “Professional Computer Support.”  He can be contacted at 502-558-4026, or mikebailey2000@usa.net. 

 

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Notice to our Readers &  2008 Primary Election Candidates:

This newsletter will carry, in this space, any Democratic candidates' notice of events or communications (250 words or less) to our readers that the candidate provides to the editor at rcrider@insightbb.com

 

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Publication of Louisville/Jefferson County Democratic Party Tim Longmeyer, Chairman Ray Crider, Editor 640 Barret Ave Louisville, Ky  40202 502-582-1999   Paid for by the Louisville/Jefferson Co Democratic Party Charlie Horton, Treasurer Produced & Printed In-House

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