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LOUISVILLE /JEFFERSON COUNTY

DEMOCRATIC PARTY NEWSLETTER

Week of April 27, 2008

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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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Mine Workers Confront McCain in Kentucky by Seth Michaels

 

Inez, Ky., a rural town tucked deep in Appalachia, is home to a few hundred people struggling with the challenges of a brutal economy. Between fundraisers, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) paid a visit there yesterday and was met by workers seeking answers to the nation’s economic crisis that has hit them hard.

 

Once again, McCain talked about the problems facing America, but he failed to offer answers to the real questions confronting the country. Working families need help now, and it was clear yesterday as it’s been clear throughout recent weeks, McCain isn’t offering a plan.

 

More than 40 members of the Mine Workers (UMWA) traveled from around eastern Kentucky to let McCain know he can’t hide from workers.

 

William Chapman, a miner from Martin County, took McCain to task for his lack of concern for working families and his lack of concrete proposals to tackle the economic crisis.

He is not a friend of working America. Gas prices have skyrocketed. Health care keeps going up. The war in Iraq has devastated our country. We need a change.

 

Today, Chapman and other UMWA members traveled to the other end of the state for a labor breakfast in Louisville, where workers were joined by Gov. Steve Beshear, elected last year with big support from an energetic labor program that educated and mobilized workers and swept Beshear into office with an 18-point margin. Along with Beshear, Lt. Gov. Dan Mongiardo joined 120 union leaders and activists at the breakfast.

 

Union leaders at the breakfast meeting picked up more than 4,000 fliers about McCain’s record on working families, in preparation for May 17, when union members across the country will go door to door to start educating their fellow workers about the election.

 

AFL-CIO union members in Kentucky and around the nation are showing up at McCain campaign events, asking him to change course and propose real solutions to serious problems in housing, health care and the job market. They’re getting mobilized and ready to knock on doors, make phone calls and get out the vote to support working family-friendly candidates for the White House and Congress.

 

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With Yarmuth’s Support, House Pass Medicaid Legislation to Save Kentucky More than a Billion Dollars

Protecting the Medicaid Safety Net Act halts harmful Medicaid regulations

 

With bipartisan support, the House of Representatives voted to approve the Protecting the Medicaid Safety Net Act, a bill cosponsored by Congressman John Yarmuth.  The legislation will stop new Medicaid regulations that would deny services to millions of Americans and cost Kentucky more than a billion dollars over five years, according to Kentucky Medicaid officials.

 

“While it’s true that the federal government needs to make difficult choices to get our record deficit under control, withholding services from our most vulnerable citizens and passing the cost on to the states is not the answer,” Congressman Yarmuth said.  “This bill will ensure that Kentucky is not further burdened with debt and that more of our citizens get the care they need.”

 

“I am very pleased that Congressman Yarmuth has pushed this legislation through the House of Representatives,” said Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear. “It is difficult to balance the needs of Kentuckians who depend on Medicaid with the limited available resources we have at the state level. This legislation will certainly make that task easier.”

 

The legislation places a moratorium on seven Medicaid regulations through March of 2009. According to the Congressional Budget Office, together these regulations would cut federal Medicaid funding to States for vital programs and services by nearly $20 billion over the next five years.

 

H.R. 5613 would protect States, beneficiaries, and providers from the Medicaid cuts caused by the following rules:

 

• Restrictions on payment for Medicaid coverage of rehabilitation services

o       Kentucky’s loss of federal funds in 2008: $3 million

o       Kentucky’s loss Over 5 years: $15 million

 

• Elimination of payment for specialized medical transportation for children with disabilities in schools and school-based outreach and enrollment

o       Kentucky’s loss of federal funds in 2008: $13 million

o       Kentucky’s loss Over 5 years: $65 million

 

• Restrictions on payment for targeted case management services that help people with disabilities remain in or rejoin living in their community

o       Kentucky’s loss of federal funds in 2008: $37 million

o       Kentucky’s loss Over 5 years: $200 million

 

• Redefinition of allowable provider taxes used to raise State funding for Medicaid

o       Kentucky’s loss of federal funds in 2008: $126 million

o       Kentucky’s loss Over 5 years: $630 million

 

• Restrictions on payment for Medicaid hospital outpatient department benefits

o       Kentucky’s loss of federal funds in 2008: $21 million

o       Kentucky’s loss Over 5 years: $118 million

 

• Restrictions on payments to safety net institutions (intergovernmental transfers)
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• Elimination of payment for graduate medical education in Medicaid.

o       Kentucky’s loss of federal funds in 2008: $24 million

o       Kentucky’s loss Over 5 years: $127 million

 

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Mitch McConnell is not fond of women

Bipartisan legislation is in the Senate which seeks to correct this travesty, co-sponsored by Republican Olympia Snowe- The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. But…. like all good legislation in the last year plus…. you know what happens next:

 

Senate Republicans said on Tuesday that they were confident they would be able to block legislation intended to reverse a Supreme Court ruling last year that established tight time restrictions on lawsuits over pay discrimination.

 

But Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and other Republicans said the bill, which is opposed by the business community and the Bush administration, could create a flood of lawsuits.

 

“We think that this bill is primarily designed to create a massive amount of new litigation in our country,” said Mr. McConnell, the minority leader.

 

Leadership aides and other Republicans said they expected to be able to deny backers of the bill the 60 votes needed to bring it to the floor in a showdown scheduled for Wednesday.

 

Block. Obstruct. Blame. Same old game.

 

Those whiny women will just have to take their lower wages and like it.

 

There’s no doubt about it. Mitch McConnell is not fond of women.

 

Republican Minority Denies Women Equal Pay Rights

 

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Mitch McConnell's political ad about the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion plant workers not accurate at all!   — mark donham

 

I just have to comment about the political ads that U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-KY, minority leader of the U.S. Senate, is running in the Paducah, KY market. The ad conveys the message that McConnell is the savior of the workers at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion uranium enrichment plant, who, according to the ad’s slant, were sort of “innocent (but patriotic) victims” of the justified fervor of the cold war. As the ad says, quoting former atomic workers union president David Fuller, the “star” of the ad, “"We found out along the way that it was more dangerous than we were made aware of."

 

I’m not making these comments as just a regular citizen. I sat on the DOE’s Citizen’s Advisory Board (CAB), a (supposedly) federal advisory committee chartered under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, for 8 years, and was chair or co-chair for 6 of those years. In fact, I was chair of the CAB when the Washington Post broke their expose about workers at Paducah which now McConnell is trying to make a positive rather than the negative that it really is. It’s actually incredible that McConnell has the nerve to portray the situation as he is portraying it. And, it is probably more outrageous that Fuller is now going to bat for McConnell. REST OF REPORT

 

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Chao ‘Crony’ Using Diplomatic Cover to Avoid Criminal Probe  by James Parks

Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) is demanding that Labor Secretary Elaine Chao and the Bush administration waive diplomatic immunity for Mark Knouse, the former executive director of the NAFTA Commission for Labor Cooperation (CLC). Knouse was asked to resign after charges that he improperly used CLC funds (from the taxpayers of the United States, Canada and Mexico) to promote his lobbying business while he worked for the trinational commission.

From 2004 until his resignation in 2006, Knouse headed the secretariat for the CLC, a panel created under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to examine labor issues and promote labor standards in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

A Pennsylvania business lobbyist, Knouse resigned after he was accused of using commission funds to finance his outside lobbying activities, including meals with clients and trips to meetings.

Chao appointed Knouse to the post, despite his lack of background in labor or international issues. Knouse’s wife is an assistant in Chao’s executive office. Because the CLC is an international body,  Knouse received diplomatic immunity for his actions while in office. 

Miller, whose Education and Labor Committee oversees the Labor Department, wrote to Chao asking: 

Why was Mark Knouse using taxpayer money to wine and dine his lobbying clients? Why was Mark Knouse engaging in outside lobbying at all when [h]we had a taxpayer-funded job to do? And most importantly, why hasn’t the Bush administration acted to strip Knouse of his diplomatic immunity so that he can be investigated and prosecuted? These are very serious questions, and they demand answers. 

Last week, the Labor Department’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released an audit report questioning $10,000 in travel expenses for Knouse and another commission staff member. The audit also found that during Knouse’s tenure, the CLC spent $1 million without demonstrating “it actually received the goods or services for which it paid.” 

Yet Knouse cannot be investigated for any possible criminal [actions] because he is “entitled to diplomatic immunity from prosecution, and the [commission] did not respond to the OIG’s request to waive this immunity.”  

The only group that can waive Knouse’s diplomatic immunity is the CLC’s Council of Ministers, which includes Chao and the labor secretaries from Canada and Mexico.  

Miller said the scandal shows the Bush administration is not committed to improving labor standards under free trade agreements. 

The fact that Secretary Chao appointed a crony to lead a key labor commission under NAFTA shows that the Bush administration has no regard for the effect of trade agreements on the workers in the countries that are party to them. 

The situation has been made even worse by the fact that Mark Knouse is getting away with these serious abuses of the public trust. Secretary Chao is opening herself to the perception that she is shielding an alleged criminal, to whom she has personal ties, from accountability under the law. 

To read the inspector general’s audit report, click here.

 

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Workers with Employer-Covered Health Care Declined by 6.4 Million  by Tula Connell

 

Here’s another reason why most of us in the United States are not better off now than seven years ago: 6.4 million fewer workers had employer-provided health insurance in 2006 than in 2000. These data released this week from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) show the decline in coverage has taken place across the spectrum of age, education, occupation, industry, race and ethnicity. Further, EPI notes:

While workers with more education are more likely to receive health insurance from their employers, workers from all education levels have seen similar declines in coverage. Specifically, workers with no more than a high school education saw a decline of 5.0 percentage points, workers with some college education but no bachelor’s degree saw a decline of 4.2 percentage points, and workers with a college degree or more saw a decline of 3.6 percentage points.

Recently, more than 26,000 people took our online AFL-CIO/Working America 2008 Health Care for America Survey, and nearly 7,500 respondents told us about their personal health care experiences. Those who took the survey are predominantly college-educated and have jobs and health insurance. And the results are stunning.

• Some two-thirds (61 percent) who have employer-provided coverage say their costs have gotten worse.
• One-third report skipping medical care because of cost, and a quarter had serious problems paying for the care they needed.
• Ninety-five percent say they are somewhat or very concerned about being able to afford health insurance in the coming years.
• Almost half overall (48 percent) and 60 percent of Latinos say they have or a family member has stayed in a job to keep health care benefits when they would have preferred changing jobs.
• Ninety-five percent of respondents say America’s health care system needs fundamental change or to be completely rebuilt.
• Seventy-nine percent say health care is a very important voting issue, and 97 percent say they plan to vote in the November elections.

The survey gives us the info to present to lawmakers at all levels as the unions of the AFL-CIO mobilize with a broad alliance of grassroots organizations to win progressive reform and give millions more union members the information and tools to become active players and health care voters.

Take part by signing the petition for secure, high-quality health care for all and stop back often to get the latest updates. And sign up to join the AFL-CIO’s Working Families e-Activist Network and get updates on the health care campaign and other issues that affect America’s working families. 

 

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Elizabeth Edwards On Health Care: ‘This Is Not A Cheap Shot; It Is Potentially Life And Death’

 

John McCain accused me of taking a “cheap shot” on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” yesterday for noting that people with preexisting conditions, such as he and I have, would not be able to get health care under his plan –- and that he perhaps was not as sensitive to this problem as he should be since he has been in government health care his whole life.

 

Sen. McCain noted that he was not receiving government health care for the six years he was in captivity. That is true. But it has nothing to do with my point — which is that the problem with Sen. McCain’s health care plan is not how it affects us –- but how it affects the tens of millions of Americans with preexisting conditions who, unlike Sen. McCain and myself, do not have the resources to pay for quality health care.

 

That is not a cheap shot, it is a potentially life and death question for tens of million of Americans. And it is a question Sen. McCain must address.

 

McCain’s health care plan is centered around the idea that we’d be better off if more Americans bought health coverage on their own, rather than receiving it through a job or government program. But maybe since he has never purchased insurance in the individual market, he does not know the challenge it presents for Americans with preexisting conditions.

 

A recent study showed that nearly nine out of every ten people seeking individual coverage on the private insurance market never got it. Insurers will disqualify you for just taking certain medicines because of the possibility of future costs, including common drugs as Lipitor, Zocor, Nexium, and Advair. People who have had cancer are denied coverage and those who get cancer run the risk of simply being dropped by their insurer for any excuse that can be found. And insurers make it a practice to deny coverage to individuals in high risk occupations, such as firefighting, lumber work, telecom installation, and pretty much anything more risky than working in an office.

 

McCain opposes universal health care because he claims it represents a “big government takeover and mandates.” But yesterday, he said he would help cover people with preexisting conditions by creating a “special Medicaid trust fund.”

 

A “special Medicaid trust fund”? Talk about a big government takeover. Tens of millions of Americans have preexisting conditions. If he is going to expand Medicaid to cover Americans with preexisting conditions, he is talking about a massive, massive increase in the Medicaid program. He says he opposes more government involvement in health care, but his idea really would be government-run health care.

 

My questions is: why is he doing this? If he is so concerned about expanding government’s role in health care, why doesn’t he just tell the insurance industry that they have to cover people with preexisting conditions? Why is he more concerned about protecting the insurance industry –- an industry which, by the way, his corporate tax cut plan gives a $1.9 billion tax cut to –- than the tens of millions Americans with preexisting conditions?

 

McCain’s advisors still can’t say how this special Medicare trust fund will work. I gather we will find that out when Senator McCain gives a speech on health care later this month. Rest assured, I will be paying attention.

 

 

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Comments:  

DAILY GRILL  

 

"[I]n each instance, when the [capital gains tax] rate dropped, revenues from the tax increased. The government took in more money."  -- ABC News's Charles Gibson, 4/16/08

VERSUS

"Even under the Treasury's most optimistic scenario about the economic effects of these tax cuts, the tax cuts would not generate anywhere close to enough added economic growth to pay for themselves -- and would thus lose money." -- Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, 4/18/08

 

 

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Quotes of the Day   

 

“I am all in favor of pay equity for women, but this kind of legislation, as is typical of what’s being proposed by my friends on the other side of the aisle, opens us up to lawsuits for all kinds of problems,” the expected GOP presidential nominee (John McCain) told reporters. ” This is government playing a much, much greater role in the business of a private enterprise system.” 

 

TOP     

 

Recent Senate Votes 

 

None this week

 

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Recent House Votes 

 

Taxpayer Assistance and Simplification Act - Vote Passed (238-179, 14 Not Voting)

The House passed this bill intended to simplify the federal tax system.

Rep. Ron Lewis voted NO

Rep. John Yarmuth voted YES

 

 

Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act - Vote Passed (383-27, 21 Not Voting)

The House passed this bill that raises the amount college students can borrow by $2,000.

Rep. Ron Lewis voted YES

Rep. John Yarmuth voted YES

 

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TOP

HUMOR       

"Even though she won yesterday, Hillary Clinton's campaign is now $10 million in debt. $10 million in debt, and, ironically, her big issue: 'I can handle the economy.'" --Jay Leno

"President Bush made a special taped appearance on the game show 'Deal or No Deal.' Afterwards, Bush said, 'I like this show, because randomly pointing at boxes is how I make decisions, too.'" --Conan O'Brien

"Bush was on 'Deal or No Deal.' Apparently he didn't feel he was ready for 'Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?'" --David Letterman

"The primary race is dragging on and on and on. But the Democrats are trying to put a good face on it. They're confident, they say now, absolutely they will have a nominee for president by McCain's second year in office. So there. They're ready to go." --David Letterman

"I'm no pundit, I'm no political expert, but here is the problem with what the Democrats are doing. They're spending too much time attacking one another, and not enough time trying to rig the election. That's the problem." --David Letterman

"Hillary, very confident, says she is ready for the 3 a.m. phone call, and McCain says he is ready for the 3 p.m. nap." --David Letterman

"No one talks about John McCain anymore because he won his side of the thing, and now he's just wandering around. … So he's trying to do things to get press, this week John McCain is on a tour of what he calls 'Forgotten Places in America.' Forgotten places, yeah. Which, at his age, means just about everywhere." --Conan O'Brien
 
"Of course, all the presidential candidates seized on the pope's visit. And people are speculating which presidential candidate is most like the pope. And it's hard to say. I mean, you got John McCain, he's the old guy. He's closest to God. Barack Obama is the elitist. He's holier than thou. And, of course, Hillary who is married to Bill Clinton, and who has forgiven more sin than Hillary? How do you pick one?" --Jay Leno

"Do you like John McCain? John McCain looks like the kind of guy that doesn't pick the phone up until the 12th ring. He looks like the kind of guy who has a cupboard full of canned peaches. John McCain looks like the kind of guy who thinks the cleaning woman will love any crap he's tossing out" --David Letterman 

"This was quite a debate. They touched on all the important issues that are facing Americans today. Bitterness. Flag pins. Retired preachers. Sixties radicals. Imaginary Bosnian snipers. Cookies. It was really quite a debate. I don't want to say Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos were awful, but today the FCC fined ABC for allowing boobs on the air." --Bill Maher

"On 'Hardball' the other day, a student asked John McCain to do shots with him after the debate, and all of the candidates have their favorite drinks now. For example, John McCain, he prefers Old Granddad. He likes that. Barack Obama, he likes the elitist Manhattan with extra bitters. And, of course, Hillary likes a shot of Old Crow, straight up." --Jay Leno 

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TOP

 

       
ETHICS -- REP. YOUNG DENIES ABRAMOFF TIES, BUT RECORDS SHOW OTHERWISE: In 2006, Rep. Don Young (R-AK) said that he "never had any personal or professional relationship" with jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff and "never received one cent from him." Weeks later, Talking Points Memo reported that Young took a trip to the Mariana Islands in 2000 that was organized by Abramoff. While Young has insisted that Abramoff was never an "influential force over him in Congress," following the trip, Young "blocked a bill sponsored by House Democrats that would have made the garment industry there comply with federal labor laws," an action that was favored by the Abramoff-represented local government and garment industry. Yesterday, the Anchorage Daily News followed up on the story, reporting that Abramoff's team of lobbyists had "120 contacts with Young's personal and committee staffs over 25 months, including at least 10 with Young himself." Abramoff's influence over Young was also evident in e-mails between Abramoff and a fellow lobbyist that said, "Young should be there for six years -- that is plenty of time to develop appropriate clients, sign them up and deliver."

 

WOMEN'S RIGHTS -- SENATE REPORT FINDS WOMEN ARE DISPROPORTIONATELY AFFECTED BY SLOW ECONOMY: On Friday, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions released a report titled "Taking a Toll: The Effects of Recession on Women." The report found that women's real wages, which are 77 cents for every dollar earned by men, fell 3 percent last year, whereas men's wages fell 0.5 percent. Women have also been disproportionately affected by unemployment and the foreclosure crisis, according to the report. Unemployment for women jumped 20 percent last month, compared to only 17 percent for men, and women are 32 percent more likely than men to have subprime mortgages. The report was released ahead of today's Equal Pay Day and "symbolizes how far into the year a woman must work, on average, to earn as much as a man earned the previous year." Today, Sens. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Patty Murray (D-WA), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), will "call for passage of the Fair Pay Restoration Act (S. 1843), which ensures equal pay for women and minorities in the workforce."
 

SCIENCE -- IS DR. COBURN BLOCKING LEGISLATION FUNDING BREAST CANCER?: The Senate is currently considering the Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act, legislation that would authorize $40 million per year over five years to fund research into the possible links between breast cancer and the environment. The proposal has over two-thirds support in the Senate. But the bill's passage has been stalled, as an anonymous senator placed a "hold" on it. On Monday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) released a statement announcing that a single senator was blocking the bill, calling it "unconscionable" that one person would "singlehandedly block our ability to have a reasonable debate on a bill." It appears that this lone senator may be Dr. Tom Coburn (R-OK) -- "an obstetrician who sees patients one morning a week." On Monday, when Reid brought the bill to the floor for a vote, Sen. John Kyl (R-AZ) "objected" on behalf of Coburn. In 2006, Coburn put a hold on the same bill, claiming it "would take the authority for research out of the hands of scientists and put it into the hands of politicians." In March, the Senate Health, Education, and Labor Committee passed the breast cancer bill, overriding Coburn's efforts to amend it. Scientists and Engineers For America Action Fund also assert that Coburn is the one placing the hold.
 

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Think Fast     

 

$3.47 a gallon: The average price of self-serve regular gasoline on Friday, according to the Lundberg Survey. Mid-grade was at $3.59 and premium was $3.70. "The national average price for regular gasoline rose nearly 16 cents in the past two weeks. ... Regular is up 60 cents from a year ago."  (In Louisville on 4/22, gas was $3.69.9 a gallon)

 

The economy has soared past Iraq as the top problem on the minds of voters. "With growing layoffs, tight credit and an ailing housing market, 67 percent say the economy is an extremely important issue, up from 46 percent in November. Gasoline prices follow close behind at 59 percent."

 

The state of the economy is also the top concern for voters between the ages of 18 and 29, according to a new CBS News/MTV poll. Seventy-five percent of young adults say that "the state of the economy is bad," and only one-third believe "their job prospects are excellent or good."

 

69 percent: Americans who disapprove of the job Bush is doing. "The approval rating matches the low point of his presidency, and the disapproval sets a new high for any president since Franklin Roosevelt.”

 

Just months after leaving office, former Mississippi Republican senator Trent Lott is already cashing in as a lobbyist. "The firm he founded with former Sen. John Breaux (D-LA) earned at least $945,000 during its first quarter in business, according to House filings." That number is likely to grow as the firm "continues to ink new contracts" as Lott and Breaux trade on the "valuable access" they earned as senators.

 

At the trial of Chicago fundraiser Tony Rezko, a "government witness claims Rezko discussed efforts among top Republicans, including former White House political director Karl Rove and GOP national committeeman Robert Kjellander," to have U.S. attorney Patrick Fitzgerald "fired to derail a corruption probe."

 

Due to soaring heating costs, "millions of Americans are behind on electric and gas bills," which means that over the next two months, "a record number of families could face energy shut-offs."

 

 

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TOP  

INTERESTING  

 

Tell Congress Keep Our Public Airwaves in the Public Interest by Mike Hall

 

Take a minute to help stop big media moguls like Rupert Murdoch from swallowing up local news around the country and limiting the television and radio news in your community.

 

Congress is expected to vote soon on legislation that would overturn a December ruling by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that lifted the longtime ban on newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership. The ban prohibited newspapers from owning TV and radio stations in the same market as the paper. U.S. Senate and House resolutions (S.J. Res. 28 and H.J. Res 79) would overturn the FCC ruling.

 

The ownership rule was created to ensure large corporate conglomerates couldn’t control, and become the primary source of, news and information in a community. If the ruling is not overturned, media experts warn there will be fewer diverse voices, less local news and less investigative reporting in cities and towns around the nation.

 

Click here to send a letter to your senators or representative urging support for the legislation. The action, sponsored by the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), also is supported by the Communications Workers of America (CWA), The Newspaper Guild-CWA (TNG-CWA) and the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians-CWA (NABET-CWA).

 

In December, when the FCC issued the ruling—by a 3–2 vote with President Bush’s three Republican appointees siding with the big media companies pushing to lift the ownership ban—unions representing media workers warned it would lead to a flood of media consolidation and stifle independent voices. (Click here and here to read more about the FCC’s action and the unions’ response).

 

Learn more about how corporate media giants are eliminating independent and local voices and narrowing the news you see, hear and read from Stop Big Media, a coalition of unions, community civil rights and other groups.

 

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McCain has been confused quite a bit lately on a wide range of issues:

 

– McCain has said waterboarding “should never be condoned in the U.S.” but voted against a bill banning the CIA from using torture, specifically including waterboarding.

 

– McCain says he is “a consistent supporter of educational benefits” for the military but has indicated he will not support the bipartisan 21st Century GI Bill.

 

– On at least three occasions, McCain baselessly claimed Iran is training Al Qaeda in Iraq but argued the error was an isolated slip of the tongue.

 

– McCain falsely suggested that Al-Qaeda in Iraq is a “sect of Shi’ites.”

 

– McCain falsely claimed Moktada al-Sadr “declared the cease-fire” after recent fighting in Basra and has said he is both a “major player” in Iraq and that his influence “has been on the wane for a long time.”

 

– Economists and nonpartisan analysts have said recently that the numbers is McCain’s economic plan simply “don’t add up.”

 

– McCain has made the elimination of earmarks a cornerstone of his presidential campaign but he can’t name any he would eliminate.

 

– In a matter of one day, McCain said Americans are both “better off” and “not better off” than they were before President Bush took office.

 

McCain’s latest 30-second flip-flop represents the political dance he must engage in to try to appeal to both the conservative evangelical wing of the Republican Party and independent-minded Americans. But despite all his back and forth, the media still seem happy to promote McCain’s self-proclaimed persona as a “straight-talking maverick.”

 

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Tony Snow: 'I love the folks at Fox'

 

Despite joining CNN today, Tony Snow said he still has affection for his former colleagues at Fox News, where he worked prior to his stint as President Bush's press secretary

"Make no mistake, I love the folks at Fox," Snow told me this afternoon, by phone from Spokane, Washington.

"Everybody is going to try and create a Fox and CNN narrative out of this," said Snow, who also mentioned that he "love[s]" Fox News chief Roger Ailes and would "walk over broken glass" for Bill O'Reilly.

It's not out of the ordinary to bring up the Fox/CNN rivalry, given that Fox News, from its launch just over a decade ago, has been battling the cable news network. A caustic relationship, Ailes has even posed the question of "why does CNN hate America."

But even with the move to CNN, Snow maintains at least one Fox affiliation: He will continue hosting O'Reilly's radio show on Fridays.

Snow did not want to get into any specific conversations he may have had with Fox executives, but said that he'd received offers from several networks. However, CNN's offer to be a political analyst during the 2008 campaign was the best one.

"I’ll be part of the political unit in what’s one of the most amazing political years I can remember," Snow said, about his return to cable news.

Not to mention, since Snow's political views diverge from more of CNN's regular commentators, he'll likely stand out a bit more than on Fox--especially since the network already brought  Karl Rove aboard this campaign cycle to provide political analysis.

That said, Snow also pointed out that one his first broadcast jobs was actually at CNN back in the day.

 

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Buy American Mention of the Week            

 

It’s Not New a Lamp, It’s an Investment in America

 

Have you ever wanted to buy decorative items to accent and beautify your home but were hesitant because you figured finding anything on your list with a “Made in USA” label on it was next to impossible? With one visit to the Decorator’s Chest Home Décor Collection at www.decoratorschest.com, you’ll see just how incredibly possible it is to buy anything from lamps, mirrors, art, clocks, metal décor and other fixtures and accessories for your home that are produced here at home.

 

And we’re not talking about just a few insignificant knickknacks. The number of items in their American-made inventory is amazing. There are 1,152 lamps, 1,188 mirrors, 1,013 art selections, 678 clocks and accessories, and 275 lighting fixtures. Literally everything on the www.decoratorschest.com website is made in the USA.

 

Right now you can get free shipping on everything in their online catalog, and if you’re a new customer like me, you can save an additional 10% off your order.

 

These are not cheaply-made choices from China, so don’t expect to come away with a table lamp for your living room for $40.00. The home furnishings category is one where buying American is going to cost you more money. But when we do end up paying more to buy American, here’s how I think we ought to frame our thinking on the subject. It’s not an extra cost – it’s an investment in America.

 

Shifting gears from home to automotive, if you’re looking for seat covers for your vehicle, you might pay a visit to www.coverking.com and click on the “custom seat covers” link. All Coverking custom seat covers are made in California, and the company does not hide the fact that their employees are well paid with a more-livable wage and enjoy such benefits like medical insurance and a clean, comfortable working environment.

 

If you visit Marathon Seat Cover at www.marathonseatcovers.com you’ll discover that all their seat covers are made in USA and produced in Bozeman, Montana. Marathon makes seat covers for most automakers and caters to workmen, hunters, fishermen and families. They know that only by generating satisfaction for their customers can they generate profits for their company, which enables them to grant good pay and benefits for their employees.

 

Textbook free trade theorists would have you believe the best strategy for America is for the companies listed above to pay lower wages so consumers could buy the products they make at lower prices. But in this scenario we can only hope that prices fall faster and farther than wages to come out ahead. American companies need adequate profits to pay good wages to attract good, productive, high-skilled workers. American workers should be viewed as potential contributors to a productive U.S. economy and not labor cost problems to be dealt with.

 

Paying American workers adequate and fair wages makes for a motivated American workforce which in turn can result in higher quality and lower prices through greater productivity. In fact, history shows that higher quality and lower prices go hand in hand. In 1900, Secretary of State John Hay said, “The United States is approaching. . .a position of eminence in the world's markets, due to superior quality and greater cheapness of . . .  its manufactures.”

 

The former Secretary of State was speaking from experience. From 1870 to 1900, domestic prices for American products made behind protective tariff walls fell substantially. Prices for textiles and household furnishings fell 30 percent in that 30 year period, while metal products fell 49 percent and chemicals fell 41 percent. The increased efficiency of domestic production protected behind tariff walls was well on its way to paying off for both workers who saw their incomes rise and consumers who saw prices drop. The economic connection between high tariffs and low prices was solidified during the golden age of protectionism.

 

If we expect to achieve these same attributes in our economy today through expanding free trade which often leads to cut-throat competition from abroad, then we’re in for a rude awakening. Direct competition through free trade with third world countries that pay pennies-on-the-hour wages can only destine us to a future of lower wages and reduced consumption. That doesn’t bode well for an economy where 70 percent of economic activity is made up of consumer spending. Americans can only be as affluent as consumers as we are wage earners.

 

Roger Simmermaker is the author of How Americans Can Buy American: The Power of Consumer Patriotism. He also writes “Buy American Mention of the Week” articles for his website www.howtobuyamerican.com and is a member of the Machinists Union and National Writers Union. Roger has been a frequent guest on Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC, has been quoted in the USA Today, Wall Street Journal and US News & World Report among many other publications, and is a weekly contributor to WorldNetDaily.com.

 

 

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Yesterday the House voted "to block the Bush administration from cutting federal spending on Medicaid health care for the poor by $13 billion over the next five years." "President Bush has threatened a veto, but supporters have more than enough votes to override him in the House, and maybe in the Senate, too."

 

 

The Senate voted 95-0 to pass the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, which bars "insurance companies from using genetic information to set premiums or determine enrollment eligibility" and "in hiring, firing or promotion decisions."

 

 

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VIDEOS    

 

McCain Revealed: The Briefing Book

 

McCain Flip-Flops In 30 Seconds: Hagee Endorsement A ‘Mistake,’ But ‘I’m Glad To Have’ It

 

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