Republican leader Mitch McConnell, on Rush Limbaugh's
radio show today, slams the Warner-Lieberman climate change bill and
asesses the Obama/McCain race.
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Week of June 8, 2008
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From day one, the Bush administration’s Medicare plan has favored the profits of big insurance companies over the needs of seniors. Here’s the latest example: The Bush administration is threatening to veto any legislation that protects doctors’ Medicare payments at the expense of private insurers, according to the Associated Press.
Beginning
July 1, reimbursement rates for doctors will drop 10.6 percent when they
treat older and disabled patients who use Medicare, which would discourage
doctors from treating our most vulnerable citizens—seniors who need Medicare
to afford to see a doctor—in favor of sustaining the record profits enjoyed
by big insurance companies.
Congress is working to prevent this travesty by finding at least $9 billion in savings from other Medicare programs over the next five years. At the top of the savings list are the generous subsidies that large insurance companies receive to operate the privatized Medicare Advantage program. But the Bush White House has threatened to veto any bill that cuts the payments to big insurers, which are estimated to reach $150 billion over the next 10 years.
In a May 22 letter to Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt said if Congress wants to keep the higher physician payments, it should cut payments to other providers in the traditional Medicare program, such as hospitals, nursing homes and sellers of medical equipment like wheelchairs and oxygen.
“The Bush administration is putting the interests of private insurers before those of seniors,” says Ruben Burks, secretary-treasurer of the 3.5 million-member Alliance for Retired Americans.
Medicare beneficiaries need the doctor payment issue to be resolved quickly, and veto threats that protect corporate interests don’t move the ball forward.
We’ve noted how a study by the Government Accountability Office found many people in the private Medicare plans face higher costs for home health care, nursing homes and some hospital stays than through the traditional government-run Medicare program. In fact, the report shows the government will spend an estimated $54 billion in extra costs for Medicare Advantage beneficiaries from 2009 through 2012. A little more than one in five of the 44 million Medicare beneficiaries—9.5 million people—are in the private Medicare Advantage plans.
Look Who’s Running in District 14
The 23-year-old daughter of failed Democratic Metro Council candidate Jack
Wood has filed to run for the seat in District 14 as an independent.
Jennifer Wood is a student at the University of Kentucky. Please help us
stop laughing.
Word of
the younger Wood’s candidacy (she filed an intent to file just before the
April 1 deadline with the Board of Elections) has sparked an online war of
words on Dixie Highway involving the senior Wood and two others who lost in
the primary.
In the Democratic primary, incumbent Bob Henderson won with 43 percent of the vote. The rest of the vote was split between Wood, John R. McCoy, Michael Bowman and Ed Springston.
In the Democratic primary, incumbent Bob Henderson won with 43 percent of the vote. The rest of the vote was split between Wood, John R. McCoy, Michael Bowman and Ed Springston.
On his website, Ed Springston claims that Mr. Wood called him to ask him to support his daughter’s candidacy, and that Wood claimed that Bowman was supporting Jennifer. I called Wood, who hasn’t yet responded. I called Bowman, who has his own rant up on his own website, taking potshots at Springston. Bowman claims he’s considering supporting Jennifer Wood in the race this fall against Henderson and Republican Bob Heuglin. Independent Bait Store owner Norman Pepper is also registered as an independent.
Bowman, who was recently elected vice president of the Grassroots Democratic Club, said that he will decided in the next two weeks who he will support in the race.
As for Jack Wood, he’s certainly got a checkered past as a politician, and I’m curious to hear his reasons for entering his daughter in the race. The Source: http://thevillevoice.com/
Draud OK'd extras for state car
EDUCATION CHIEF ORDERED $13,000 IN OPTIONS, ASSOCIATED PRESS
E-mail messages obtained by a newspaper show Kentucky Education Commissioner Jon Draud approved the purchase of a new state car for his own use with $13,000 in extra options.
The
Courier-Journal used the state's open-records law to obtain e-mails showing
Draud's approval of the purchase. One e-mail showed Draud instructing staff
to continue with the purchase "based on the information/price quote."
The newspaper said that correspondence followed Deputy Finance Secretary Glenn Mitchell's query about the purchase, in light of Gov. Steve Beshear's executive order that expenditures over $1,000 be justified by agency chiefs.
The paper reported Draud told a reporter Tuesday that he didn't recall signing off on the price, but after reviewing e-mails and talking with staff, he said he approved it.
Mitchell wrote in a March 20 e-mail that "all other officials who are provided vehicles as a part of an employment contract are currently using a Chevrolet Impala," with a base price of $15,600.
Draud ordered a 2008 Chrysler 300 with a base price of $18,101. Options
including an engine upgrade, a global po
sitioning
system and a hands-free telephone pushed the price to more than $30,000.
"I felt they were important for safety purposes and the fact that I am going to drive about 25,000 miles a year, representing the state of Kentucky," he said. "I was aware of the cost and I approved it. It is what it is."
Other actions concerning Draud's benefits had previously been reported.
The board approved his request to amend his contract to include 20 days of leave each year, instead of the 12 days he was entitled to as a new state employee. The board also approved Draud's request for a one-time bonus of 30 days' sick leave.
Joe Brothers, chairman of the state Board of Education, said the car purchase in tough economic times "makes an awfully good person look bad."
Letter from your Louisville Young Democrats President
Dear Young Democrat,
It is with great excitement that I send this e-mail, my first as the Louisville Young Democrats President, to you. As you are well aware, this is an important election year for us. Not only are we trying to reclaim the White House for the first time in eight years, we also need to unseat an obstructionist senator who has blocked many of the reforms we called for in the 2006 elections.
In order for the Louisville Young Democrats to help the party accomplish these goals, we need your help. For starters, I strongly encourage all Young Democrats to attend Saturday’s Jefferson County Convention at the Galt House, 140 N. 4th St. in Downtown Louisville. All locally registered Democrats can vote for the delegates who will represent the county at the June 7 state convention. We need to show our party’s leaders that we want to be active leaders in the party. Your involvement in the county convention will help demonstrate our commitment. The convention starts at 10 a.m. sharp and no latecomers will be let in. I encourage you to arrive at least 15 minutes early to ensure your participation.
In the months ahead, I will work with our executive committee and the membership in general in expanding the Louisville Young Dems presence within the party. Specifically, my goals for the coming year are:
Offer a political outlet for local young professionals to meet elected officials from all levels of government and have their voices heard
Establish a community-based organization providing a support network for young people who run for elected office
Expand our membership by bringing in 100 new dues-paying members (NOTE: If you’re unsure of dues status or you need to renew your membership, please contact Treasurer Nicole Candler at nicole.candler@insightbb.com. Annual dues are $20 and also includes membership in the Kentucky Young Democrats)
Lastly, I want to thank you for being apart of an organization that has helped dramatically change the political landscape. Two years ago, we played a key role in the national movement to give Democrats a Congressional majority. Last year, we helped bring in new leadership to the Governor’s office. This year, we will create historic change in the U.S. Senate and the White House. I look forward to working with you and making that change a reality.
Sincerely,
Jessica Kessinger, President
Louisville Young Democrats
jessica.kessinger@gmail.com
P.S. – Look for announcements soon about upcoming events! Thanks again for your commitment to our community and our party!
McCain: ‘A Continuation of George W. Bush’ by Tula Connell
A few years back, veteran campaign strategist and political commentator Cliff Schecter was impressed with Sen. John McCain: McCain seemed to fit the candidate’s self-description as a “straight talker” and “maverick.”
But that McCain
is long gone, says Schecter. Researching McCain’s voting record and
interviewing journalists, politicians and others who know him, Schecter
uncovered a man—and presidential candidate—whose true views are little known
by the majority of the American public. 
Schecter compiled his findings in a new book, The Real McCain: Why Conservatives Don’t Trust Him and Why Independents Shouldn’t, and shared some of what he learned Friday evening here at the AFL-CIO (audio at left). Like many people in 2000, Schecter said, he fell for McCain’s image and thought,
“Wow, he’s the maverick and the straight talker.” But after he did that sort of sickly embrace of George W. Bush where he kind of prostrated him before him…I came to be one of those people who began to doubt that what he said at all was honest and if there was anything to that image.
Schecter, who has offered key insights on his own blog for several years and has made frequent appearances on cable television as a political commentator, writes at Huffington Post, Crooks and Liars, the Agonist, DitchMitch, The Washington Monthly, In These Times, The American Prospect and more. He recently joined Firedoglake, where he has his own space, Cliff Schecter’s Campaign Silo. Just this week, he unveiled how a top McCain adviser makes a living shipping jobs.
Speaking before some 100 guests, Schecter discussed three things people should know about McCain. The first: His temper. After offering several examples of McCain’s short fuse, Schecter cited a quote by Republican former Sen. Bob Smith of New Hampshire, who said:
McCain’s temper disqualifies him from the presidency.
Second, with more than 100 lobbyists on his staff—most of whom he is not asking to leave despite his denunciations of lobbyists—Schecter said, “People have to know he’s not the reformer he claims to be.”
Most important, McCain “would be an exact continuation of George W. Bush on both economics and foreign policy—if not worse.”
[T]he 82 percent of us who think the country is going in the wrong direction, might want to ask ourselves: Do we want more of this? Is the problem that people aren’t making enough money because people like John McCain vote to eliminate the minimum wage—eliminate it, mind you—vote against SCHIP [State Children’s Health Insurance Program] funding for poorer children to have health care, while John McCain, mind you, has had government health care since the day he was born because he comes from a military family.
He wants to make the tax cuts permanent—he once said they were budget busters and disproportionately for the wealthy. Now they seem to be a good idea when we’re building trillions of dollars of debt.
Schecter pointed out that McCain hired Randy Altschuler as a top economics adviser on his campaign—even though Altschuler founded a firm to outsource U.S. jobs. As Schecter puts it: Jobs that we couldn’t figure out how to legally outsource before, go to Randy Altschuler. He’ll do it for you. That’s where we are with the people working for the McCain campaign, the guy who pretends to be the Everyman.
Comments:
Dear Friends:
Long time
member and champion of women, Dr. Lilialyce Akers, has suffered a serious
fall and is in the hospital. She is in the ICU and cannot have visitors
or flowers. But she can have cards! Please take a few moments and let
her know how much the women's community cares about her.
Dr. Lilialyce
Akers
c/o Norton's
Hospital, 5B10
200 E.
Chestnut
Louisville,
KY 40202
Bobbi Jo Weber
DAILY GRILL
"On balance, we are doing pretty well. ... Near strategic defeat of
al-Qaeda in Iraq. Near strategic defeat for al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia.
Significant setbacks for al-Qaeda globally." -- CIA Director Michael Hayden,
5/30/08
VERSUS
"The positions attributed to you are not consistent with assessments that
have been provided to the Senate Intelligence Committee over the past year.
... I have seen nothing, including classified intelligence reporting, that
would lead me to this conclusion." -- Sen. John Rockefeller (D-WV),
5/30/08
*********************
"I think his editor wrote a lot of it." -- Former White House press
secretary Ari Fleischer on former White House press secretary Scott
McClellan's new tell-all book,
5/28/08
VERSUS
"These are very much the views that I hold today after looking back and
reflecting on things and learning from it."
-- McClellan, 5/29/08
***********************
"[T]he vice president noted that he had Cheneys on both sides of his
family. 'And we don't even live in West Virginia. ... You can say those
things when you're not running for re-election.'" -- AP,
6/2/08
VERSUS
"On reflection, he concluded that it was an inappropriate attempt at humor
that he should not have made. The Vice President apologizes to the people of
West Virginia for the inappropriate remark." -- Cheney spokeswoman Lea Ann
McBride,
6/2/08
Quotes of the Day
Recent Senate Votes
No votes reported
Recent House Votes
No votes reported
HUMOR
“People are
now talking about the ticket,
Barack Obama and
Hillary Clinton. Would that be a good ticket? And I think this would be
the first, if you think about it, first combination of an African American
man and a white woman since, well, Michael Jackson." --David Letterman
"Now that Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee, Americans are going to
have to choose between the 46-year-old Obama and the 71-year-old
John McCain. That's the choice. In other words, it's a choice between
the Hillary-defeater or the Wal-Mart greeter." --Conan O'Brien
"Of course, everyone is wondering now if Obama will ask Hillary to be his
running mate. Obama actually tried to call her last night, and got her
voicemail twice. I guess she only
takes calls at 3:00 a.m. It was also probably hard to hear the phone
over the sound of over her husband weeping." --Jimmy Kimmel
"Hillary Clinton is still not conceding her campaign, because she
says there's still a chance of the vice presidency. In fact, she's going to
offer it to Barack one last time." --Jay Leno
"During her speech last night, you know, Hillary kept referring to Barack as
'my friend, my friend.' You notice, every time she called Barack 'my
friend,' she said it in the same tone as when she calls Bill, 'my husband.'"
--Jay Leno
"Looks like Barack Obama has won the nomination. Congratulations. And
Hillary Clinton is about to drop out. She has not dropped out officially.
That means Bill Clinton's about to hear those three words he's been
dreading: 'Honey, I'm home!'" --Jay Leno
"You know, I think
Bill Clinton's starting to lose it. Today, he responded to a Vanity Fair
article suggesting he'd become angrier, by calling the reporter a sleazy,
slimy, dishonest scumbag. He's the president, and he called the guy a
scumbag. Well, that should nip those anger accusations in the bud, huh?"
--Jay Leno
"Oh, and in his speech last night, John McCain said we must get off of
fossil fuels. See, that's why a lot of people admire McCain. That's why he's
considered such a maverick. Here you have a fossil, coming out against
fossil fuel." --Jay Leno
"And former White House press spokesman
Scott McClellan has written a book highly critical of the Bush
administration. And while in Utah,
President Bush told an audience he has not read McClellan's book. He
doesn't plan to read it. It's nothing to do with McClellan, just general
principle. It's a book. It's got big words, and not a lot of pictures."
--Jay Leno
"And
Dick Cheney has apologized to the people of West Virginia for making a
joke about inbreeding at their expense. But see, I don't think Cheney gets
it. In fact, today, while trying to apologize, he said he felt as stupid as
a guy from Kentucky" --Jay Leno
"Our vice president, our old friend, Dick Cheney got in some trouble, made a
joke. Did you hear about this? Made a joke about West Virginia, but he
apologized. He did apologize for the joke he made about West Virginia.
Nothing yet on the
Iraqi war." --David Letterman
POLLUTER ALLEGIANCE: Even after
recent lobbyist purges, Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) campaign is still run
by
corporate lobbyists who represent foreign and domestic oil interests --
such as top adviser Charlie Black. McCain's corporate tax cut would save
just the 20 largest energy and utility companies
around $3 billion a year, in addition to the
$4 billion tax break for America's five largest oil companies. His
voting record shows consistent
opposition to renewable technologies and support for
big oil. McCain has stated his opposition to the Climate Security Act --
authored by two of his closest allies, Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and John
Warner (R-VA) -- because it doesn't offer enough aid to the
nuclear industry. CAP Senior Fellow Joseph Romm explains in a new Center
for American Progress Action Fund report, "Since nuclear power is a mature
electricity generation technology with a large market share and is the
beneficiary of some $100 billion in direct and indirect subsidies since
1948,
it neither requires nor deserves significant subsidies in any future
climate law." In fact, "Many other technologies can deliver more low-carbon
power at
far less cost."
THE MANTLE OF LEADERSHIP: All three
remaining candidates for president -- Sens. McCain, Hillary Clinton (D-NY),
and Barack Obama (D-IL) -- believe that climate change is an issue of primal
urgency. But their role in the upcoming Senate debate is unclear. Despite
arguing on the stump that he "will not
shirk the mantle of leadership that the United States bears" on global
warming, McCain "will
miss the entire proceedings because he will be campaigning all week." In
2003 and 2005, climate legislation sponsored by McCain was voted down by the
Senate under terms that limited debate. "[I]t seems if he
can't be the star, he won't bother with so much as a walk-on
part," Gristmill's Kate Sheppard wrote. While McCain has criticized
Lieberman-Warner for insufficient nuclear subsidies, Clinton and Obama
unveiled plans months ago that call for stronger emissions reductions and a
broad, society-wide approach to global warming that goes far beyond capping
emissions to
reform the transportation and electricity infrastructure,
prioritize energy efficiency,
transform the housing industry, and create
millions of new high-paying jobs. However, neither Democratic candidate
has committed to participating in today's debate or votes, as the final
primaries in the contested campaign take place tomorrow.
ADMINISTRATION -- McCLELLAN SAYS BUSH SHOULD
HAVE FIRED KARL ROVE: In former press secretary Scott McClellan's
explosive new memoir, he says he asked Karl Rove "an
unambiguous, unqualified catch-all question" about his involvement in
the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame. Yesterday on NBC's "Meet the Press,"
McClellan repeated that he had asked Rove, "were
you involved in any way" in the leaking of Plame's identity, to which
Rove "categorically said, 'No.'" Last week, however, Rove insisted McClellan
has asked him only "did
I leak Valerie Plame's name, and the answer is no." Rove had been
involved in the outing of Plame, and McClellan said yesterday that Bush
"should have stood by" his
promise to fire anyone involved. "[T]hat meant Rove should have left,"
McClellan said. McClellan also pledged yesterday to
donate a portion of the proceeds of his book to veterans of the Iraq
war, after MoveOn launched a
petition urging him to do so. While airing his complaints about the Bush
administration, McClellan has suffered attacks from the White House and its
allies, who have called him a
"traitor" and "Benedict," likened him to "left-wing
bloggers," and compared him to
Judas selling out Jesus.
MILITARY -- VA SECRETARY CALLS VETS'
CONCERNS ABOUT PTSD 'OVERBLOWN': Over the weekend, VA Secretary James
Peake visited Alaska with Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK). While there, they met
with Vietnam veteran John Guinn, who questioned the Secretary about the
growing problem of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) amongst veterans.
Peake suggested that some concerns about PTSD are "overblown,"
adding that many of the brain injuries were "akin to what anyone who played
football in their youth might have suffered." On Saturday, Peake also said
that many vets with PTSD may just need "a
little counseling" and shouldn't "need the PTSD label their whole
lives." Peake's comments are disturbing, especially in light of new numbers
released by the Pentagon this week showing that the number of new PTSD cases
"jumped
by roughly 50 percent in 2007." Additionally, as
Brandon Friedman at VetVoice points out, Peake's comments are undermined
by VA psychiatrist Jonathan Shay, who has stressed the seriousness of PSTD:
"Combat PTSD is a war injury. Veterans with combat PTSD are war wounded,
carrying the burdens of sacrifice for the rest of us as surely as the
amputees, the burned, the blind, and the paralyzed carry them."
RADICAL RIGHT -- CONSERVATIVES TRY TO QUASH INTEREST IN MCCLELLAN BOOK: The right wing is trotting out a variety of counter-attacks to deal with the explosive allegations found in former White House press secretary Scott McClellan's new book. On Wednesday morning, allies of President Bush repeated that they were "puzzled" by the book, "as if, the New York Times noted, "Mr. McClellan had undergone some kind of emotional breakdown." By afternoon, attacks were more charged, with White House officials calling McClellan a "traitor" and “Benedict." That night and into yesterday morning, Fox News pundits were insisting the book is the work of a nefarious, left-wing publisher. Finally, several prominent conservatives are dismissing the book by insisting that no one outside of "people who follow Washington issues" really even cares about McClellan's allegations. "Forgive me if I'm bored," declared Fox News's Bill O'Reilly. "I'm more concerned about American Idol than I am about Scott McClellan," said former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. "I don't care, like Newt," added former Vice President Cheney adviser Mary Matalin. But despite what these pundits suggest, Americans are paying attention. McClellan's book rose rapidly on Wednesday to become Amazon's number one bestseller and his story has dominated news coverage.
RADICAL RIGHT -- McCLELLAN SAYS CRITICS ARE TRYING TO 'TAKE THE FOCUS AWAY' FROM BOOK'S KEY THEMES': Last week, in response to Scott McClellan's explosive memoir, former senator Bob Dole sent a vitriolic personal e-mail to McClellan, calling him a "miserable creature." "[Y]our type soaks up the benefits of power, revels in the limelight for years, then quits, and spurred on by greed, cashes in with a scathing critique," Dole charged. On CBS's Early Show yesterday, McClellan shrugged off Dole's and the right wing's attacks on him. "[N]o one is really refuting the key themes and perspectives in the book. What they are doing is taking some of these personal attacks and misrepresentations and trying to shift this focus away from what this book talks about," he said. Indeed, it's difficult to find a right-wing personality directly taking issue with the substance of McClellan's book. For example, former White House deputy press secretary Trent Duffy wrote yesterday, "Please forgive me, Scott, if this sounds personal, but you've just filleted me and everyone who worked with you." "I mean my lack of interest in Scott McClellan's personal odyssey of self-discovery is a negative," said former House speaker Newt Gingrich.
Think Fast
Worker advocates and lawmakers say the fact that "hundreds of workers have been sentenced but not one company official as yet faces any charges" following "the biggest immigration raid in U.S. history" is "typical of a federal government that is tough on employees but easy on owners." Of the 389 workers arrested in the May 14 raid at the Agriprocessors, Inc. plant in Postville, IA, 297 have pleaded guilty.
In the next several weeks, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) "intends to call up a number of union-friendly measures," including bills expanding "collective-bargaining rights for firefighters and other public safety employees" and requiring that "workers on projects to bolster renewable-energy facilities be paid the local prevailing wage."
Fox News host Bill O'Reilly has been whining that Scott
McClellan
hasn't yet come on his show. O’Reilly has claimed that McClellan's
promotion strategy has been, "Go to the Bush-hater people and that’s where
we'll sell our books." McClellan's publishers claim that they
tried to book McClellan on O'Reilly's show, but his bookers balked at
not getting the former White House press secretary first -- before NBC's
Today Show. McClellan is now
due to appear tonight.
Yesterday, a bipartisan group of 20 former U.S. attorneys -- including two who served under President Bush -- urged a federal judge Thursday to reject the administration's "assertion of blanket immunity for presidential chief of staff Joshua Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers in the congressional investigation."
CQ reports that in just the first three months of this year, "three of the nation's biggest telecommunications companies have employed 37 lobbying firms to urge lawmakers to include such immunity in any overhaul of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act." These companies and their allies spent more than $14 million lobbying during this time.
John Albaugh, chief of staff to former Republican congressman Ernest Istook, "has pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to defraud the House as part of the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal. Albaugh, who faces up to two years in prison, "told a federal judge that he was guilty of accepting gifts in return for official favors."
Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) declared yesterday that cost overruns for Pentagon weapons had "reached crisis proportions." Levin has proposed "an independent office at the Defense Department that would attempt to ensure the accuracy of cost estimates used in defense contracts."
An analysis by Taxpayers for Common Sense found that clients of a Jack Abramoff associate -- Kevin Ring -- received more than $16 million in earmarks in the fiscal 2004 transportation spending bill.
INTERESTING
President Bush’s name gets no applause at South Carolina GOP convention.
At the South Carolina state GOP convention today, Sen. Lindsey Graham
(R-SC) “used his remarks to embrace President Bush, just hours before he was
to meet Bush at Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport.” But when
Graham first mentioned
Bush’s name, the GOP crowd stayed silent,
refusing to applaud the President:
At his first mention of Bush’s visit, Graham paused, waiting for applause. When it didn’t come, it took a slight nod from Graham to prompt a round of applause.
“President Bush is my friend,” he continued, “and I’m not going to run away from the friend.”
Graham credited Bush with preventing additional attacks on the U.S. since 9/11, cutting taxes three times and successfully nominating Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“History is going to judge him a lot better than everybody thinks,” Graham predicted.
Fox News Meme: Publisher ‘Got To’ McClellan, Forced Him To ‘Spice It Up A Little Bit’
In response to Scott McClellan’s scathing new memoir criticizing the Bush administration’s deception, current and former White House officials have blanketed the media to bash the former press secretary. They have called him a “traitor” and dismissed him as “disgruntled.”
Fox News and its guests, however, have put the blame on McClellan’s publisher. According to this new Fox News meme, McClellan isn’t responsible for the revelations in the book because his publisher made him do it:
Brad Blakeman, former White House staffer: “A publisher got to him and he waved a lot of money, I’m sure, in front of him and he took the bait and that is just unfortunate.”
Trent Duffy, former White House deputy press secretary: “It’s like he just turned over the pen to a publisher and signed his name at the bottom and got a big fat book contract.”
Bill O’Reilly: “McClellan is in it for the bucks, keeping in mind his publisher also distributes books by George Soros and other far left people.”
Ari Fleischer, former White House press secretary: “And I talked to Scott yesterday and Scott did tell me, that his editor, this is Scott’s words, ‘tweaked some things closely in the last few months.’ And I think what did happen, Bill, was the book was pretty much done and set and Scott went back in, and I think his editor wrote a lot of it.”
Newt Gingrich, former House speaker: “Here is this guy who want to sell books. He’s cut his ties to the administration and his publisher says, ‘Now look, you can spice it up a little bit.’”
Steve Doocy: “Apparently the publisher did some tweaking. How much? That’s a really good question.”
This meme is nothing but an attempt to dismiss reality. The right wing is acting as if McClellan was manipulated by a nefarious ghostwriter. He wasn’t; the words are his own. Peter Osnos, founder and editor-in-chief of Public Affairs Books, which is publishing McClellan’s book, told the Politico, “This was a book that he wanted to write.” “No one has ever done a book for us just for the money,” said Osnos. “I can say that with absolute certainty.”
MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell yesterday reported that she spoke with “publishing sources” who said that “there was probably not a very large advance paid for this book,” debunking the claim that McClellan sold out his former boss for a big pile of money.
 |
Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, went to New Orleans last night to launch his general election campaign. He used the national spotlight to try and distance himself from George W. Bush, the most unpopular president on record, whose policies McCain consistently has supported. In 2007, McCain voted 95 percent of the time with Bush and 100 percent of the time in 2008, according to the AFL-CIO Congressional Voting Record.
AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker says that while McCain’s words might separate him from Bush, his record doesn’t show any independence.
John McCain has some nerve going to New Orleans, site of the Bush administration’s do-nothing approach to Hurricane Katrina, to announce that he’s a “different kind of Republican.”
Buy American Mention of the Week
Buy American online, and say bye-bye big box, By Roger Simmermaker
If you're like most Americans, you've found it difficult at best to buy American in most of the big-box stores like Wal-Mart, K-mart, and Target. But just because it may seem harder to buy American these days doesn't mean that it really is harder. Whether you've rightly realized that small businesses in many areas are the real backbone of our economy or accepted the brutal reality that gas prices seem unlikely to stop rising anytime soon, you can find encouragement in ordering American-made goods over the Internet from smaller, online-only companies in the comfort of your own home.
Just because big retailers and big government haven't done their part to help secure the big American market for the American producer, we can still reward the right companies by simply redirecting our dollars to the right places. More Americans are already shopping online than ever before. "Business Week" reported back in December 2003 that 54 percent of Americans planned to use the Internet to find Christmas gifts, up from only 46 percent the year before, and subsequent years have seen the rate of online purchases go even higher. In 2006, an annual study from Forrester Research and the National Retail Federation's Shop.org revealed online sales of apparel (including accessories and footwear) jumped 61 percent. At $18.3 billion, apparel catapulted past computer hardware and software web purchases, second only to the travel industry in online sales.
To help consumers buy American-made products from American-owned companies, I've listed some of my favorite websites that sell nothing but American-made goods. I've known about most of these websites for years (and have come to know their owners as well) and I also know that these companies are the most deserving of our consumer dollars since their owners have established these websites because they feel it's the patriotic thing to do. So I have no problem in highlighting these companies even if I've mentioned them before in past articles. The more Americans who discover and patronize truly patriotic companies, the better off America's economy will be.
ZebulonUSA carries a large variety of men's, women's and children’s apparel and accessories. Zebulon also carries duffle bags, rolling luggage, briefcases, backpacks, toys, games, as well as products for the home and outdoors. This is one of the original "American Hero" companies that have been swimming against the tide of ever-increasing imports for years.
Shop For America carries literally thousands of American-made products including a wide variety of clothing for the entire family, furniture, home décor, home improvement, bath & body, patio & garden, small appliances and gourmet food. As the name implies, when you shop here, you really are shopping for America.
All American Clothing has grown from reselling products made by other companies to carrying their own line of American-made jeans, shorts and other apparel. This company carries both union-made and USA-made to support both union and non-union American labor. Formerly known as Union Jean Company, it's been great to see this company expand and grow over the years, and with our help they'll continue to do so.
At Union House Apparel you'll find a lot of unique apparel and styles you may not have been thinking of or considering, as well as a rather large inventory of closeout and sale items at lower-than-normal prices. If you've been looking for an American flag made in the USA, this is the place to get one.
At The Union Shop you can find even more of both standard and unique American-made and union-made goods. Check out their selection of carved glass in the form of candle holders, lighthouses and sailboats just to name a few.
Supporting smaller American companies like these that employ American workers will go a long way to ensure that not only are jobs plentiful, but also to avoid losing entire American industries like the ailing textile industry. Because of our failed U.S. trade policies throughout the last few decades, we've imported enough apparel and American flags to put Betsy Ross and all her seamstresses in unemployment lines had we utilized similar trade policies during our country's infancy.
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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