LOUISVILLE /JEFFERSON COUNTY

DEMOCRATIC PARTY NEWSLETTER

Week of August 5, 2007

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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 901 Barret Avenue .

Notice to our Readers &  2007 General 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@louisvilledem.com

Yarmuth Named "Outstanding New Member"

Other Award Recipients Include Former Presidents Clinton and Bush

The Committee for Education Funding (CEF), a nonprofit and nonpartisan coalition of over 100 organizations reflecting the broad spectrum of the education community, announced today that they will honor Congressman John Yarmuth (KY-3) with the "Outstanding New Member" award for 2007.

"During this 110^th Congress, first year Representative John Yarmuth clearly distinguished himself as an advocate for education funding and we are proud to recognize him," said Ed Kealy, Executive Director of the Committee for Education Funding.

Yarmuth introduced several key education measures in his first seven months, including:

• The Striving Readers Act, which the First Lady endorsed as a key way to promote teenage literacy.
• An amendment to the College Cost Reduction Act that offers $1,000 a year in loan forgiveness for public servants.
• The reauthorization and expansion of Even Start.
• The Empowering Children with Autism through Education Act to guarantee a top notch education for students affected with autism. 
   

Yarmuth has a number of other education programs in the works and has been instrumental in the reform of No Child Left Behind.

"CEF and its member organizations do an excellent job leading the way on the education issues facing this country, and I am honored that they are pleased with my work so far," Yarmuth said.  "We've got a lot more ahead of us, and I look forward to continuing to do all that I can to ensure that every American child has access to a quality education."

CEF will also honor former Presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush with "Charles Wilson Lee Distinguished Citizen Awards" for their commitment to education in the years since they left office.

CEF will present the awards at its annual gala, September 20 in Washington.

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Beshear gets FOP nod

The Kentucky Fraternal Order of Police has endorsed Democrat Steve Beshear for Governor.

Fletcher had sought the endorsement and has backed collective bargaining rights for police officers and firefighters but he has favored a right-to-work law that many union members fear will harm them.

Beshear, on the other hand, favors collective bargaining for all public employees and opposes right-to-work laws, which allow people who don't pay union dues to work in union shops.

But the FOP, in endorsing Beshear, didn't mention his stance on unions.

"We are endorsing the Beshear-Mongiardo team because we feel Steve and Daniel will bring the open, honest leadership Kentucky so desperately needs as we strive to improve the economic, educational, and healthcare and child development needs for all citizens of Kentucky, especially our children," Martin D. Scott, Jr., President of the Kentucky State Lodge of the FOP, said in a press release.

Four years ago, the FOP narrowly voted to endorse then-attorney general Ben Chandler over Fletcher.  Source

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The most important people in Democratic politics don’t even know it.

It’s the kid with the anger in his eyes I saw on my way to the swimming pool…anger at the injustice of a school system that’s written him off in the fifth grade…anger at a society that tells him every day that he is less than a full citizen because of the color of his skin just like his dad and his uncles.

It’s the overweight mom I see in my neighborhood. The one with two young children who has pre-diabetes and doesn’t know it yet. She lives in a society that won’t give her preventative care or nutritional education, but which underwrites big corporations that sell her super-sized food that is silently eating away at her body.

It’s the small town single mom sitting at the kitchen table late at night smoking a cigarette…taxed to the last dollar like all the working poor…trying to figure out how to pay the electric bill and still have rent money on a cleaning woman’s wages.

It’s the hard-working, middle-class 60-year-old facing an outsourced job and a failed pension who’s shown up on time, paid his dues, but is now looking down the barrel of a retirement plan that’s gone up in rust-belt smoke.

It’s that hopeful nurse in a rural hospital who spends her day cradling low birth-weight babies in a society that stopped caring about some of its children with the rise of the political party that’s “abstinence-only.”

It’s a 34-year old father from the exurbs looking at his third tour of duty in Iraq…and his seven-year-old daughter watching him go.

It’s that bright scientist who left his job at the university and whose therapeutic breakthrough will now be the property of a major pharmaceutical. It’s the 47-year-old uninsured dad with credit card debt who won’t be able to afford that therapy…and the mid-level insurance executive who will break the news to him. It’s a mom with breast cancer thinking about her children.

It’s the immigrant worker in the lettuce fields whose daughter is a United States citizen. He breaks his back in the hot sun so she can have a better future even though some folks in this country would split up his family.

It’s the career government servant who has seen her department turn from a commitment to public service to a commitment to serving politicians.

It’s the police officer in a big city who can’t afford a house in that city. It’s the teacher in a suburb who lives with a roommate and drives forty miles to work. It’s the farmer on the edge of a growing town who knows that he’s going to have to sell his land to a developer. It’s the federal prosecutor who got fired to make way for a political appointee. It’s a gay man who can’t talk about his partner at his place of employment.

It’s that girl I saw on the subway who looked at me with that curious stare. She doesn’t even know about global warming.

It’s the homeless mentally ill man whom I know is somebody’s brother. It’s the nanny waiting for the bus at 5AM. It’s union janitors and garbage collectors and meat packers. It’s the American citizens we left behind after Hurricane Katrina.

It’s the salesman in the elevator who straightens his tie on the way to make the sale…and jokes about the emptiness of it over a martini. It’s the white collar employee who realizes his kids won’t be able to afford the college he attended. It’s the retiree whose best friend sneaks off to work a part-time job. It’s the grandmother in a nursing home slipping off into another reality.

It’s the parent of a soldier serving in Iraq.

It’s the mother cradling her daughter to sleep in Kirkuk. It’s the father watching his children fall asleep after a long day’s work in Bangladesh. It’s the lone sibling in a family with HIV in Uganda. It’s the dad picking through industrial refuse in a dump in China.

None of these people care about Democratic politics. None of these people care about YearlyKos or Bill O’Reilly.

But if you can fully understand what they are going through, the policy implications, the political task-at-hand, what steps we need to take in our system of government, the laws we need to pass…if you can put yourself in their shoes…then you can also understand what I mean when I say tonight:

the most important person in Democratic politics is you.  Source

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Kentuckians Picket at Mitch McConnell’s Doorstep Calling for an End to the War in Iraq

Anger has Reached a Boiling Point in Kentucky as Sen. McConnell Continues to Support the President’s Reckless War Policy; Sen. McConnell’s Solution – Stay Inside 

In a preview of the anti-Iraq war fervor Senate Republicans will face over August recess, Kentuckians went door-to-door in Sen. Mitch McConnell’s Louisville neighborhood today, distributing yard signs urging Sen. McConnell to stand up to President Bush and bring an end to the reckless war in Iraq.  As part of the Iraq Summer campaign, constituents also stood outside Sen. McConnell’s home, holding up signs and greeting passersby.  The Kentuckians first arrived at McConnell’s house at 11 am Saturday morning and found Capitol Police standing guard outside the home. Nine hours later, Sen. McConnell has yet to come out from his home, apparently preferring to duck his constituents than address their concerns about his continued support for the President’s unending Iraq war policy.

 
Many of Sen. McConnell’s own neighbors came out to express their support for the Iraq Summer campaign and collect yard signs calling on the Senator to end the war in Iraq.  Cars driving by have been honking all afternoon to urge Sen. McConnell to bring our troops home.

 
“As Senate Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell has led Republicans in blocking an end to President Bush’s failed Iraq war, so we came to him to show just how much anger there is in Kentucky over his continued support for an unending war in Iraq,” said Aniello Alioto, Kentucky Field Director for the Iraq Summer campaign, who was at Sen. McConnell’s house.  “The Iraq war has cost too much – in money, in resources, in lives.   After more than four years, over $400 billion spent, and the deaths of more than 3,600 American troops, it’s time for Sen. McConnell to bring our troops home.  Kentuckians are fed up with the President’s failed Iraq policy, and they’re fed up with Sen. McConnell failed leadership.”

 
Sen. McConnell’s continued support for the President’s Iraq policy and his obstruction of an end to the war have hurt his standing with voters back home.  A Survey USA poll released this week shows that Sen. McConnell’s approval has dropped below 50 percent for the third time this year.  Only 48 percent of Kentuckians approve of the way the senator is handling his job, while 44 percent disapprove, according the poll.  The Senator’s approval rating is now at its lowest point in two years of Survey USA polls. 

“Sen. McConnell may think that if he just hides inside long enough, his constituents will just go away, but that’s not going to happen,” added Alioto.  “Opposition to Sen. McConnell’s support for this war is too high – anger has reached a boiling point in Kentucky, and across this state, people are demanding Sen. McConnell take a stand and end the President’s reckless war.  We’ll be rallying, holding events, writing letters and dogging Sen. McConnell all summer long, urging him to bring the troops home.  Sen. McConnell isn’t going to be able to duck his constituents forever.  If this is how he planned to deal with opposition to the war, he’s in for a long summer.”

 
“Senate Republicans should be quaking in their boots. The anti-Iraq war fervor is not unique to Kentucky. All across the country Senators who blocked an end to the war will be forced to face the consequences of their spineless votes during August recess. The only homecoming parade greeting these Republican Senators will be the parade of constituents demanding an end to the war in Iraq,” said Moira Mack, national spokeswoman for Americans Against Escalation in Iraq.

“Iraq Summer” is a nationwide, 10-week long campaign with nearly 100 organizers in 15 states and 40 congressional districts to turn up the heat on Republican members of Congress who have opposed setting a timeline to bring a safe and responsible end to the war in Iraq. The effort will culminate with a national “Take a Stand” day on August 28th, when members will have the opportunity to explain their stance on the war to their constituents in a town hall setting. SOURCE

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OUTSOURCING AMERICA, by Jim Hightower

Maybe you've noticed that America's call-center jobs are largely being outsourced to India. Well, you say, I'm more skilled than that, so I can't worry about it. Then you note that our accounting jobs, legal research, and architectural drafting work is being taken to India, too – but, hey, you do sophisticated stuff, so you can't sweat those losses. Lately though, you've also seen that our country's high-tech computer jobs are being shipped to India – and uh-oh, that's getting close to what you do. Still, you say, I'm a professional, by gollies, so I'm okay.

Well... good luck. The latest surge of jobs heading to India might well include yours. Such outfits as Citigroup, Boeing, and Eli Lilly are now moving out the work of white-collar elites – including investment banking, aircraft design, and the clinical testing of drugs. "High-end outsourcing" is the new wave, and it's pulling away the professional work of well-educated Americans who've been enjoying six-figure salaries, nice homes, and the good life.

Economist Alan Binder, a former top official at the Federal Reserve, says: "We have, so far, barely seen the tip of the offshoring iceberg, the eventual dimensions of which may be staggering." How staggering? Binder says that up to 42 million American workers – about one-third of us – are looking at a rude awakening.

What's the middle-class future then? Binder says America needs to increase jobs that have to be done in person so they can't be outsourced – jobs like doctors and police officers. Yeah, well, I'm thinking we'll need lots of police officers to contain everyone who can't be a doctor! And... how exactly, are the rest of us to pay for seeing the doctor?

It used to be "them" who had to worry about outsourcing. Now it's "us." Our politicians have got to quit pretending that this is not a problem – and start developing policies to revitalize American's middle-class.

"India's Edge Goes Beyond Outsourcing," New York Times, April 4, 2007.

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Does Bush Admin. See Union Membership as Sign of Terrorism?, by Mike Hall,

If a passenger flying from Europe to the United States is a member of a union, is gay or a Buddhist, will knowing that information help Homeland Security fight terrorism? The Bush administration thinks so. Starting in August, airlines flying from Europe to the United States will be required to provide sensitive personal passenger data about a person’s race, sexual orientation, health, religion and more if it’s in the airline reservation system.

The Washington Post reported last week that under a new agreement, approved by the European Union (EU) Parliament and signed by the United States, background information on travelers includes:

“racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership” and data about an individual’s health, traveling partners and sexual orientation.

The information will be retained for 15 years by the Department of Homeland Security and can be shared with other government agencies and nations. Airlines do not routinely keep such information in their systems, and the Post reports the personal details could end up in a passenger’s file because of requests for special services or routine questioning by airlines or travel agents about emergency contacts, traveling companions, next of kin and lodging. The Post adds: 

Even a request for a king-size bed at a hotel could be noted in the database.  

The agreement, which expands on a previous program, has privacy and civil libertarians  on both sides of the Atlantic alarmed. When European officials balked at the breadth of the program earlier this summer, the Post reported the Bush administration threatened to turn back flights from Europe if the deal was not approved. 

In a letter to EU officials in June, Peter Hustnix, EU data protection supervisor, wrote that the plan is

without significant legal precedent…Data on EU citizens will be readily available to a broad range of U.S. agencies, and there is no limitation to what U.S. authorities are allowed to do with the data….I have serious doubts whether the outcome of these negotiations will be fully compatible with European fundamental rights.

Jim Dempsey, policy director for the Center for Democracy and Technology, told the Post:

What Americans should be concerned about is it is now here in black and white: The government will maintain a database of all travelers–including travelers of U.S. citizenship, including people who are believed to be no risk or threat…the government will maintain that and data mine it.

News of the new program drew quite a few comments when the folks at   AMERICAblog  posted a story Saturday, including these two:

So, if aperson is a gay, Buddhist union member, what does that say about anything?

Did I miss something, or is it that if a plumber is a union member, he’ll make a better pipe bomb? The logic escapes me.    

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Health Care for Children: A ‘Revolutionary’ Idea to Some Senate Republicans, by Mike Hall 

It doesn’t sound that radical or revolutionary. But making sure the nation’s children have a healthy start and their parents aren’t twisted into anxiety-driven knots about how to pay for their kids’ health care are two “revolutionary thoughts” to some Senate Republicans, says Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.).

Yesterday, as the Senate began debate on renewing the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), Kennedy expressed dismay at opposition to the Senate’s bill, which reauthorizes the 10-year-old program that some 6.6 million low-income children rely upon for health care coverage.

While the bill has bipartisan support, many Senate Republicans oppose it because it also provides an additional $35 billion over current costs to extend coverage to some 3.3 million more of the nation’s 9 million children who have no health insurance.  

President Bush says he will veto the bill because it exceeds his funding request and because the bill would hurt the private, for-profit health insurance industry, even though these children are currently uninsured and their parents cannot afford insurance.

Yesterday, Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) acknowledged Republican support for the bill, but said he hopes to keep enough Republicans in line to sustain a Bush veto. Overriding a veto takes a two-thirds majority. Click here to send a message to your senators urging them to support the SCHIP bill. Read about the bill’s broad support here.      

Kennedy was outraged that wealthy lawmakers who have no worries about their own children’s health coverage are trying to block the bill. As he said on the Senate floor yesterday:

Think about that number–9 million children in the wealthiest and most powerful nation on Earth. Nine million children whose only family doctor is the emergency room….

We know where the Bush administration stands. The president’s proposal for SCHIP doesn’t provide what is needed to cover children who are eligible but unenrolled. In fact, the president’s proposal is $8 billion less than what is needed simply to keep children now enrolled in SCHIP from losing their current coverage–$8 billion short. To make matters worse, the president has threatened to veto the Senate bill, which does the job that needs to be done if we are serious about guaranteeing decent health care to children of working families.

Those of us on this side of the aisle and a group on the other side–a small group on the other side–have stated the same concept, that every child in America should have a healthy start, No. 1; and No. 2, that every parent in America should be relieved of the anxiety of worrying about whether they have sufficient resources to be able to make sure their child is going to receive decent quality health care. Those are revolutionary thoughts, are they not? Those are surprising concepts, isn’t that right? Some of our friends on the other side of the aisle get all worked up about those two concepts.

Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) noted that expanding SCHIP has the support of much of the business community.

We know the business community is begging us to move forward and expand health insurance coverage in this country to help them find a way to move to universal coverage which won’t be at the expense of competitiveness. We know that working families, those in labor unions and those who are not, all understand the cost of health insurance and its value to every family….I hope that we can build on [SCHIP], cover more uninsured children.

Both the Senate and House are expected to vote on SCHIP bills before they adjourn for the summer. The House bill goes further than the Senate version by providing an addtional $50 billion over current costs. We will keep you posted on the action.

Phone bank volunteers needed this week!

On Aug. 11, the Louisville Democratic Party will hold a kickoff breakfast for the local coordinated campaign canvassing. Elected leaders from across the community will host the event and encourage Democrats to walk the precincts and get out the vote! We need a huge turnout so we can start the fall campaign as strongly as possible and build momentum towards a historic Election Day on Nov. 6. In order to achieve that turnout, the party is calling on the Louisville Young Democrats to staff phone banks in the coming days to spread the word to the party faithful. Phone banks will run from 5:30-8:30 p.m. on Wednesday (today) and Thursday and from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on Saturday. If you're not going to Fancy Farm this weekend, then please consider volunteering your time Saturday so we can spread the word about this important event. The party will supply phones on Wednesday and Thursday, but please bring your cell phone for Saturday. If you've been looking for a way to get involved and bring change to the Commonwealth, then this is the opportunity for you! Steve Beshear, Dan Mongiardo, Crit Luallen, Jack Conway, Todd Hollenbach and Bruce Hendrickson need your help! If you have any questions or want more information, please contact Lisa Tanner today. For more information or to register for the free kickoff breakfast, please go to the Louisville Young Dems' events page on the Web site. And, as always, for the latest party news and information on upcoming events, please visit the LYD Web site.

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 DAILY GRILL      

"You can measure progress in megawatts of electricity delivered." -- President Bush, 7/14/06

VERSUS

"The hard fact is, Senator, the availability of electricity...in Baghdad is still at very low levels -- an hour or two a day."
-- U.S. ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker, 7/19/07 

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It's worth pointing out that you were not an apologist for the administration. You've been really tough on them."
-- MSNBC's Tucker Carlson, 7/30/07, defending Brookings Institution analyst Kenneth Pollack

VERSUS

"I think it's very important that the president receive a very clear statement of support by the Congress, by the representatives of the American people." -- Pollack, 10/2/02, speaking to NPR about his support for the U.S. invasion of Iraq

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Quotes of the Day      

“I mean, people have access to health care in America,” President Bush said earlier this month. “After all, you just go to an emergency room.”

TOP     

Recent Senate Votes 

 

Higher Education Amendments of 2007 - Vote Passed (95-0, 5 Not Voting)

The Senate passed this bill that would increase the amount of the Pell Grant a low-income student can receive, make the federal financial aid application easier to complete and eliminate some conflicts of interest for student loan businesses.

Sen. Mitch McConnell voted YES

Sen. Jim Bunning voted YES

Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2008 - Vote Passed (89-4, 7 Not Voting)

The Senate passed this $40.6 billion appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland Security.

Sen. Mitch McConnell voted YES
Sen. Jim Bunning voted YES

 

Recent House Votes 

 

Departments of Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies Appropriations, FY 2008 - Vote Passed (268-153, 10 Not Voting)

The House passed this $104.4 billion bill that would fund the Department of Transportation and Department of Housing and Urban Development for the 2008 fiscal year.

Rep. Ron Lewis voted NO

Rep. John Yarmuth voted YES

 

Departments of Commerce and Justice, and Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations for FY 2008 - Vote Passed (281-142, 9 Not Voting)

The House passed this $53.6 billion bill that would fund the Department of Commerce, Department of Justice, NASA and other science agencies.

Rep. Ron Lewis voted NO

Rep. John Yarmuth voted YES

 

Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act - Vote Passed (231-191, 10 Not Voting)

The House passed this large farm bill, which provides aid for farmers and funds for low-income nutrition programs.

Rep. Ron Lewis voted NO

Rep. John Yarmuth voted YES

 

Improving America's Security Act of 2007 - Vote Passed (371-40, 22 Not Voting)

The House passed this bill which would implement recommendations from the 9/11 Commission.

Rep. Ron Lewis voted YES

Rep. John Yarmuth voted YES

 

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HUMOR      

 "It seems the little tiff between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton has really heated up since their last argument at the last Democratic debate. They have become distant. They barely speak to each other now. When they do speak, it's really icy. As Hillary calls that, 'marriage.'" --Jay Leno

"John Edwards is on the campaign trail. He's now doing something called his 'Poverty Tour', where he's visiting people who have no money and no hope. His first stop today: John McCain's headquarters." --Jay Leno

"Rudy Giuliani is probably going to be the next president of the United States ... because it's all about image. He's got the big anti-terrorist image. On January 20, 2009, you may very well be welcoming to the White House Rudy Giuliani and his lovely wife ... whoever that may be at the time. ... Giuliani's first wife was his cousin. I'm not making that up. I think that's a very cheap way to go after the Southern vote." –Bill Maher

"Senator Hillary Clinton, down there in Washington, DC, appeared on the Senate floor wearing a pink blazer and a skimpy top. She looked so hot, Senator Ted Kennedy sent over a drink. ... She looked so hot, everyone thought she was Senator Vitter's date. ... She looked so hot, by mistake, Bill hit on her" --David Letterman

"A scary incident yesterday for the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Roberts. Luckily, he's okay. ... He collapsed to the ground outside his vacation home in Maine. Turns out he had a seizure. At first people thought he had just fallen over from leaning too far to the right. ... For the young people, do you know who John Roberts is? He is our most important judge ... right after Simon Cowell." --Jay Leno

"Happy Birthday to our governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger. 60 years old. You can tell he's getting up there. Remember when he used to say things like, 'I'll be back'? Now he says, 'Ow, my back.'" --Jay Leno

"Iraq's new Congress has adjourned for the summer and they say they will be back in September. See, that's when you know the war is going badly -- when the Iraqis pull out. ... Iran's president ... is very upset about the U.S. arms deals with the Saudis, 'cause he says it will destabilize the region. God, just when things were going so well." --Jay Leno

"A new survey says that 58% of the people who follow the news think Attorney General Alberto Gonzales should resign. Of course, President Bush is not in that group. You know ... of people who follow the news. ... This whole administration is turning into a bad version of 'Wizard of Oz.' Cheney needs a heart. Gonzales needs some courage. Bush needs a brain." --Jay Leno

"Are you talking about how sexy Hillary Clinton looks? ... Everybody's talking about it. She's dressing so much sexier. Folks down in Washington in the Capitol building say they haven't seen this much cleavage in the Senate since Ted Kennedy" --David Letterman

"Just days after having a heart procedure, Vice President Dick Cheney appeared this evening on 'Larry King Live.' Doctors say he looked old, pale and sickly. And so did Cheney." --Conan O'Brien

"Former President Bill Clinton recently said that if Hillary is elected president, he would be glad to serve as a roving ambassador. Clinton added, 'I've already got the roving part down.'" --Conan O'Brien

"Shocking news from ... Alaska. We're all familiar with our good friend in the Senate, the lovably cantankerous Ted Stevens. ... It turns out the FBI and the IRS want to even get more familiar with Ted Stevens. Yesterday, the FBI and the IRS raided the noted technology guru's home. The raid ... was part of an investigation into claims Stevens has accepted gifts from an oil company in exchange for getting it lucrative state contracts. ... Investigators seemed especially interested in Steven's wine collection, taking photos of both the cases of wine and individual bottles, including his private stock of Chateau de $1,000 in cash. Which, as you know, goes great with anything ... that costs $1,000." --Jon Stewart

"Right now, my financial adviser tells me there is no 'hotter' place to buy than the Arctic Circle. The ice up there is melting thanks to, I believe, Al Gore. And it is revealing all sorts of resources like fish, diamonds, oil and gas, and most importantly, timesaving sea lanes that could cut sailing time from Germany to Alaska by 60% ... offering a convenient escape route for Alaska Senator Ted Stevens." --Stephen Colbert

"I'd like to congratulate Larry King. You know, a lot of these younger guys on CNN get a lot of credit for going to dangerous places. They put themselves in the line of fire to get a story. Larry King, as you know, is 135 years old. You'd think that an old person, especially at that age, would be scared to sit down with Vice President Dick Cheney. I mean, this is a guy who has a record of shooting old men in the face. But Larry did not fear. He sat right down without a flap jacket, without a pane of bullet proof glass between them." --Jimmy Kimmel
 

TOP

No 'Serious Disagreement' On Gonzales Lies

Last week, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales may have perjured himself by contradicting his own previous statements -- as well as the sworn testimony of former Deputy Attorney General James Comey and current FBI director Robert Mueller -- concerning the National Security Agency's (NSA) domestic spying program. Gonzales told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the extraordinary disagreement between top Justice Department officials and the White House that resulted in the controversial visit to then-Attorney General John Ashcroft's hospital bed was not about the so-called "Terrorist Surveillance Program" (TSP) confirmed by the President, but rather about "other intelligence activities." Both Mueller and Comey, however, testified that the NSA's domestic surveillance program was indeed the subject of the the Ashcroft hospital visit. Despite the obvious inconsistencies in Gonzales's sworn testimony, members of the Bush administration and their far-right allies have denied that any discrepancy exists. Others have attempted to construct elaborate explanations in an attempt to paint Gonzales's statements as "legalistic, [but] technically correct." Fortunately, members of Congress have ignored the right wing's thin defense of Gonzales and requested that Solicitor General Paul Clement "immediately appoint an independent special counsel" to investigate whether Gonzales's statements constitute perjury.

OTHER INTELLIGENCE ACTIVITIES: The Bush administration has attempted to excuse Gonzales's conflicting statements arguing that the highly classified nature of the program has prevented him and the administration from being forthright with Congress. White House Press Secretary Tony Snow said, "[P]eople are trying to...take a little sliver of [testimony], exploit it, and try to create a misperception here. This is what happens when you get into this world. ... You can insinuate all you want, and I can't fight back." A Justice Department spokesman "said in a statement that Gonzales's testimony and statements about the NSA program have been accurate, but that 'confusion is inevitable.'" The fact is that Gonzales's testimony is not "confused," but is, rather, false. Comey and Mueller both testified that their objections were, in fact, related to TSP. Furthermore, a 2006 memo from then-National Intelligence Director John Negroponte to then-Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R-IL) confirms that White House briefings concerning Justice Department objections to NSA intelligence operations were specifically related to the President's "Terrorist Surveillance Program." To date, at least four members of Congress who attended the White House briefings have publicly disputed Gonzales's testimony.

A LONG-RUNNING PROGRAM: Yesterday, the New York Times reported that "current and former officials" of the Bush administration have said "computer searches through massive electronic databases" were the cause of the objections voiced by top Justice Department officials, including Comey, Ashcroft, and Mueller in 2004. "If the dispute chiefly involved data mining, rather than eavesdropping, Mr. Gonzales's defenders may maintain that his narrowly crafted answers, while legalistic, were technically correct," the Times reported. Likewise, the National Review -- despite previously calling for Gonzales's resignation -- framed, in their own words, "a convoluted story" in defense of Gonzales's misleading and false statements to Congress. They argue that the program that officials at the Justice Department objected to was a previous version of what would become the "TSP." Because the Justice Department objected to the NSA's surveillance program before the President confirmed its existence and "narrowed" its scope, the National Review claims that Gonzales truthfully stated that the Justice Department objections were not to the "TSP," but to a different program. This is a false distinction. Gonzales himself argued in 2006 that the legality of "TSP" has been analyzed on multiple occasions -- after all, he said, "[y]ou've got a program that's existed over four years." Also, after Comey told Congress of his objections to the program, Gonzales said he could not comment on Comey's testimony because it related specifically to the "program which the president confirmed." The NSA warrantless program has existed for years and is the same program that Justice Department officials objected to in 2004.

GONZALES'S LAST CHANCE: Faced with such obviously false statements by Gonzales, four members of the Senate Judiciary Committee called for the appointment of a special counsel to investigate Gonzales on perjury charges. Sens. Charles Schumer (D-NY), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Russ Feingold (D-WI), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) explained in a letter to Solicitor General Paul Clement that "it has become apparent that the Attorney General has provided at a minimum half-truths and misleading statements" to the Congress. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) chairman of the Judiciary Committee, "sent a letter to Gonzales last Thursday giving him a week to resolve any inconsistencies in his testimony." The New York Times wrote yesterday, "Solicitor General Paul Clement has a last chance to show that the Justice Department is still minimally functional by [investigating Gonzales]. ... If that does not happen, Congress should impeach Mr. Gonzales."

POLITICS -- CNN CALL REPUBLICANS' BLUFF, RESCHEDULES YOUTUBE DEBATE: On July 23, all eight Democratic presidential candidates participated in the CNN/YouTube debate. By uploading a 30-second video to YouTube, "voters could directly question a presidential candidate during the debate." Steve Grove, YouTube's news and politics editor, called this new debate format "more democratic than ever." Yet so far, just three Republican presidential candidates -- Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), and former Wisconsin governor Tommy Thompson -- have confirmed that they will participate in the Sept. 17 debate. Both former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney have said that they have scheduling conflicts. CNN has called their bluff. The Progress Report spoke with the Paul campaign, who confirmed that CNN contacted them and said that it is rescheduling the debate. Additionally, over the weekend, the New York Times reported that CNN "said it would work with the campaigns to find a new date." It's unclear whether the other candidates will actually participate in the rescheduled debate. Romney recently mocked the debate, stating, "I think the presidency ought to be held at a higher level than having to answer questions from a snowman," referring to a citizen dressed as a snowman who submitted a question about global warming. The Center for American Progress Action Fund has supported online interactive forums with the presidential candidates. Earlier this year, CAPAF held the first-ever web-based presidential forum.

SCIENCE -- BUSH APPOINTEE MUZZLED SURGEON GENERAL'S REPORT: In yet another example of the Bush Administration's politicization of the federal government, an article in this weekend's Washington Post revealed that a 2006 report from the office of former Surgeon General Richard Carmona about global public health was "kept from the public by a Bush political appointee without any background or expertise in medicine or public health, chiefly because the report did not promote the administration's policy accomplishments." The political appointee who blocked the report, William R. Steiger, is a "specialist in education and a scholar of Latin American history whose family has long ties to President Bush and Vice President Cheney." "After a long struggle that pitted top scientific and medical experts inside and outside the government against Steiger and his political bosses, Carmona refused to make the requested changes," and the report was never published. This was not the only time that Carmona was muzzled by the Bush administration. In a recent hearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Carmona testified that the office of the Surgeon General "has been marginalized and relegated to a position with no independent budget, and with supervisors who are political appointees with partisan agendas. Anything that doesn't fit into the political appointees' ideological, theological, or political agenda is ignored, marginalized, or simply buried." 

ETHICS -- FBI RAIDS SEN. STEVENS'S HOME:Yesterday, federal agents searched the home of Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) as part of their probe into Veco Corp., "an Alaska-based oil field services and engineering company" currently under investigation for doling out  "$400,000 worth of bribes...to state lawmakers in exchange for favorable energy legislation." Stevens's home "is the subject of controversy" because it was remodeled under the supervision of former Veco director Bill J.Allen, who recently pleaded guilty to bribery and conspiracy charges. The senator's son, former State Senate President Ben Stevens, has also been implicated, as "has a former aide to the elder Stevens and Ben's business partner, Trevor McCabe." According to Roll Call, the FBI and the Department of Interior are also investigating how federal funds earmarked by Stevens for the Alaska SeaLife Center "were used and how more than $500,000 made it to McCabe." In light of these developments, the nonpartisan group Taxpayers for Common Sense plans to call on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to ask Stevens "to step down temporarily from his positions on the Commerce, Science and Transportation and Appropriations committees until a federal investigation of his activities is completed."

ADMINISTRATION -- CHENEY TO MAKE FIRST LARRY KING LIVE APPEARANCE SINCE 'LAST THROES' COMMENT: Tonight at 9 pm EST, Vice President Dick Cheney will make his first appearance on CNN's Larry King Live since May 30, 2005, when he infamously declared that the insurgency in Iraq was in its "last throes" and predicted that "the level of activity that we see today from a military standpoint, I think, will clearly decline." Only recently, in Stephen Hayes's biography of him, has Cheney finally conceded that "it was obviously wrong" to claim the insurgency was in its "last throes." The Progress Report assembled a video compilation of Bush administration officials defending the comment. (Watch it HERE.) You can send questions and comments to Larry King Live here and video questions for the show here. Separately, during an interview with CBS News yesterday, Cheney called himself a "big fan" of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. He also again refused to admit that he is a part of the executive branch, saying instead that he is "a unique creature" in constitutional government.

RADICAL RIGHT -- NOVAK CALLS YOUTUBE DEBATE 'REALLY DISGUSTING': The criticism over the people-powered YouTube Democratic presidential debate has been pouring in from the right wing. First, the White House announced President Bush wasn't really big on the debates. Then, leading conservative candidates Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani begged out of the Republican forum. Now, right-wing columnist Robert Novak is adding his gripes. Appearing on Bloomberg Television this weekend, Novak said of the YouTube debate, "I thought it was really disgusting. ... The reporters were terrible but this was ludicrous." Novak argued, "You know when we did away with the monarchy and went through democracy, there was a lot of fear that this sort of thing would happen. It took 200 years but we got there." In contrast, Carol Darr at George Washington University said that for the first time, "the filter that mainstream establishment media plays in presidential races -- 'we ask the questions, we are the exalted panel' -- that was broken down." Something about power in the hands of the masses appears to trouble Novak deeply. Recently, he suggested heaven would be a "place where there are no blogs." He previously explained that bloggers "bloviate. They give their opinions. They don't try to find things out." 

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"I’m a big fan of Al's," Vice President Cheney said yesterday, referring to Alberto Gonzales. He dismissed Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy's lack of trust in Gonzales as irrelevant. "I've had my differences with Pat Leahy," Cheney said.

The Iraqi parliament adjourned yesterday for a month-long recess without passing key laws "concerning oil investment and revenue-sharing among regions, the re-integration of former members of Saddam Hussein's Baathist regime into government, and provincial elections."

65 percent: Number of people under the age of 30 who are "paying at least some attention to the 2008 presidential campaign," according to a New York Times/CBS News poll. That number is up considerably from July 2003, when just "36 percent of those under age 30 were paying attention to the election."

Federal prosecutors may have differed with their political bosses at the Justice Department over how aggressively to pursue fraud charges against the maker of the narcotic painkiller OxyContin. The NYT reports "higher-ups within the Justice Department appeared initially to favor a less aggressive approach to the case against OxyContin's producer."

The Federal Communications Commission will meet today to "set the rules for the government's biggest auction of wireless airwaves, with Google Inc. fighting against carriers such as AT&T Inc. to force the winning bidders to open up the spectrum to more users."

Former Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty has found a new home. He will be joining the law firm Baker & McKenzie "where he'll work in the business crimes and investigations practice." McNulty, who was embroiled in the U.S. attorney scandal, left the Justice Department, citing the "financial realities of college-age children."

"The U.S. will hit its debt limit of nearly $9 trillion in early October, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told Congress on Monday, and asked lawmakers to raise the limit 'as soon as possible.'" Markos writes. "That's your 'fiscally responsible' [conservatives] once again at work. Record deficits, record debts, record mismanagement of our nation's fiscal health."

UPI's White House correspondent Helen Thomas is miffed at Garry Trudeau's portrayal of her in one of his comic strips. One of the characters in the strip jokes that Thomas has "been here since the Truman administration! Some say she was Truman's lover." Thomas, who has been covering the White House since 1961, responded, "I wish he'd said I was Jack Kennedy's lover."

"After raising the minimum wage by 70 cents an hour this week, many members of Congress are ready to give themselves a pay increase of roughly $4,400 per year. That would take their annual salaries to nearly $170,000."

"Controversy over Gonzales's candor about Bush's conduct or policies has actually dogged him for more than a decade, since he worked for Bush in Texas." The Washington Post recalls Gonzales meeting with a Texas judge to get Bush out of jury service and avoid disclosing a prior DUI conviction. Gonzales, however, "made no mention of meeting with the judge in a written statement submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee."

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales must quickly clarify apparent contradictions in his testimony about warrantless spying or risk a possible perjury investigation. "He has a week," said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT). "But you have to follow the law. I have to follow the law. They should have to follow the law. That’s the bottom line."

U.S. and Iraqi officials have erected a "legal Green Zone" in Baghdad, "a heavily fortified compound to shelter judges and their families and secure the trials of some of the most dangerous suspects. ... For Iraqi officials, working at the compound is so fraught with risk that it often requires separating themselves and their families from life outside the complex's gates."

Stephen Colbert "was making the rounds in Washington on Friday," collecting signatures "for the cast encasing his recently broken wrist." While President Bush wasn't around to sign his cast, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) was, and "cheekily called the comedian a 'bone-coddling crybaby.'"

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SUBSIDIZING THE COPORATE FAMILY, Posted by Jim Hightower

There are family values... and then there are family values.

For example, what's the value of a private jet to make a family trip to the Caribbean? Or of special spa treatments or other perks for the whole family? All you have to do to receive these values is to be a privileged family member of a major corporate CEO.

We know that elite executives get exorbitant, multimillion-dollar paychecks and lavish benefits. Less known, however, is that the spouses and kiddos of CEOs are now getting their own perks, paid for by corporate shareholders... and subsidized by us ordinary taxpayers.

For example, Alan Mulally, the head honcho of Ford Motor Company, hauled in 28 million bucks in pay last year. But the small print in his contract also guarantees that his wife and five children – plus their guests – can hop a ride on the corporation's jets to go wherever they want, free of charge, whether he's on board or not. In just four months last year, he okayed $173,000 worth of jet-set travel for his high-flying family and friends.

When spouses fly on the corporate tab, the executives owe taxes on the value of the trips. No problem, though – many corporations even reimburse the CEOs for the taxes. Ray Irani, for example, CEO of Occidental Petroleum, got $45,000 last year to cover the tax bill for his wife's flights on Occidental's jets. By the way Irani's paycheck last year totaled $416 million. Come on – with an income that huge, couldn't he at least pony up the taxes for free spousal jet-setting?

One reason that board members are willing to bestow such extravagances on America's corporate royalty is that the companies can deduct these expenses from their federal income tax. It's one thing for the elites to freeload on shareholders, but why should the general public he subsidizing their gilded lifestyles?

"For CEO Spouses, Corporate Jets Are the Perfect Perk," The Wall Street Journal, June 30, 2007 

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