"I take a back seat to nobody...."

Who said that? Senator Hillary Clinton had a few things to say to the Republican attack squad: North Jersey Media Group:
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday accused Republicans of "playing the fear card" of terrorism to win elections and said Democrats cannot keep quiet if they want to win in November.

The New York Democrat, facing reelection this year and considered a potential White House candidate in 2008, said Republicans won the past two elections on the issue of national security and "they're doing it to us again."

She said a speech by presidential adviser Karl Rove two weeks ago showed the GOP election message is: "All we've got is fear and we're going to keep playing the fear card."

In that speech, Rove suggested Republicans can prevail in 2006 by showing Democrats had undermined terrorism-fighting efforts by questioning Bush's authority to allow wiretapping without getting court approval first.

Clinton said at a convention of United Auto Workers that Democrats should not be afraid to question Bush's handling of the war.

"I take a back seat to nobody when it comes to fighting terrorism and standing up for national homeland security," she said.

Referring to fugitive al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, Clinton said, "You cannot explain to me why we have not captured or killed the tallest man in Afghanistan."

She added, "Since when has it been part of American patriotism to keep our mouths shut?"

Read the rest of the article. To Sen. Clinton: You go, girl!

Republicans and Their Family Values Scandals

Right wing hypocrites on the march:
New addition to our collection of Republican corruption: I found this at Raw Story. They found it at Tennessean.com
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and House Speaker Dennis Hastert engineered a backroom legislative maneuver to protect pharmaceutical companies from lawsuits, say witnesses to the pre-Christmas power play.

The language was tucked into a Defense Department appropriations bill at the last minute without the approval of members of a House-Senate conference committee, say several witnesses, including a top Republican staff member....

I'm not surprised at this level of corruption. It just makes me sick.

>John Spencer, former mayor of Yonkers, New York, is a Republican candidate for Senate from NY. Spencer has some problems. Here is some info from the Daily News:

....Critics accused him of padding the city payroll with pals and made hay of the $1.1 million in retroactive raises he gave top managers on his way out the door.

The biggest controversy of his tenure was his highly paid chief of staff, Kathy Spring, a savvy political operator who became his mistress.

Spencer, a devout Catholic who was married with two children, lived with Spring for five years and had three children with her before divorcing his wife, Eileen Looney, in 2003. He married Spring a month later.

For years he wouldn't answer personal questions but now simply says, "I have nothing to be ashamed of. I went through a separation and then I remarried."

...After an arrest in the early 1970s for drunken fighting with cops, he went on the wagon and has been sober since....

>Looks like Karl Rove is feeding the Spencer campaign some lies about Sen. Clinton. With Spencer's background, he should not be throwing mud.

>The Toledo Blade has an update on the Republican County Commissioner, Steven A. Baden, who was arrested after an abduction attempt.

>However, Baden is not the first Republican county commissioner to be arrested in Ohio. From the News Journal March 4, 2004:
Former Richland County Commissioner David Swartz is under investigation after being accused of sexual involvement with a second child for five years, according to the sheriff's department.

Swartz, 66, ..., pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual battery Feb. 2 and awaits sentencing that could land him in prison for up to 10 years.

Swartz resigned his position as commissioner Jan. 19, the same day he was forced to make an initial court appearance to face those charges. He was accused of sexually abusing a now-17-year-old girl for more than a decade....

Believe it or not, there will be another probe of illegal Ohio Republican donations. The Columbus Dispatch is reporting that...
The executive director of the Ohio Elections Commission expects to recommend today that a complaint against a former governors’ aide involving illegal campaign contributions be referred to prosecutors.

H. Douglas Talbott, who previously worked for Govs. George V. Voinovich and Bob Taft, took cash from former Maumee coin dealer Thomas W. Noe in 2004 and made contributions in his own name to three Ohio Supreme Court justices, according to a complaint referred to the commission by investigators.....

These scandals within the Republican Party are just disgusting: adultery, cronyism, attempted abduction, sexual involvement with a child, and illegal contributions. How can they talk about family values with this list of scandals and arrests?

Republican County Commissioner Arrested

Awful stuff. The Toledo Blade has the article:

Henry County Commissioner Steven A. Baden was arrested in the commission office today on a warrant from Toledo police for attempted abduction of a 14-year-old girl in Toledo on Jan. 31.
“This is a first,” Henry County Sheriff John Nye said of the arrest of a county official during his 25 years in the sheriff’s office.
Mr. Baden, 39, of Hamler in southeastern Henry County, was turned over to Toledo police and held in the Lucas County Jail, sheriff Nye said.
Mr. Baden is accused of following two teenage girls who were walking home from school in SouthToledo. He allegedly waited in his car until one of the girls was alone and then chased her on foot. She ran to a friend's home and called 911...
...Mr. Baden was president of the county commission last year and had been a commissioner since 2003 when he was appointed by the Henry County Republican Central Committee to replace Richerd Bertz, who resigned because of ill health.
Mr. Baden was previously mayor of Hamler from 2000 to 2003. His term on the county commission expires in 2008.

Will we ever get the truth about anything?

Republican Rep. Henry Hyde doesn't want to investigate if the Bush administration is torturing anyone.
Why does Kansas Republican Sen. Pat Roberts still refuse to finish the 9/11 inquiry?
Why does Wisconsin Republican Rep. Sensenbrenner refuse to allow Democrats to use hearing rooms for meetings? Why did he get up and take his gavel in a June 2005 committee meeting? Does he have an anger problem?

Don't you think it is time to vote out these Republicans who refuse to do their jobs?

This just in from the Chicago Tribune:
Claude A. Allen, the president’s domestic policy adviser, turned in his letter of resignation today at the White House, the Bush administration acknowledged tonight.
This may have been an inauspicious week for the highest-ranking African-American staffer in the White House to call it quits - the day after the president appeared at the memorial service for Coretta Scott King, and at a time when Bush is attempting to improve his administration’s relations with the black community.....

Is my representative on the take?

In the coming months, incumbent Republicans will be out there in communities doing some meeting and greeting. They'll be letting the audience ask questions. If you attend one of these sessions, go ahead and ask a question. What type of questions? Here are some samples:

Are you on the take?
Do you receive money from lobbyists?
How often do you dine and travel with lobbyists?
This week, how many lobbyists met with you?
Did you dine at Jack Abramoff's restaurant? How often? Have you met Abramoff?
Have you ever attended an event with Tom DeLay?
What special events (sporting events, concerts) have you attended as a guest of a lobbyist?
Do you have any registered lobbyists working on your staff?

It is a shame we have to ask these questions. However, as constituents, we have the responsibility to ask anything of our elected officials.

Republicans Representatives Drunk with Power

Republican Rep. Bob Beauprez of Colorado said today that all of his seniors love the new Medicare Drug Benefit. Rep. Beauprez needs to hear from you on your opinions. Beauprez also likes to appear in military uniforms even though he had 3 deferrments. Apparently, Beauprez has appeared in a military uniform in 2003 and 2004. You may want to share your opinion of him appearing in military uniforms.

The administration's new budget calls for the elimination of the $255 social security death benefit. Why does this administration hate senior citizens? Why is Beauprez supporting all these cuts to senior citizens?

Republican Rep. Phil English of Erie, PA, certainly likes to travel, as long as someone else is paying. Which lobbyists are paying for his trips? Here is some information about English's travels:

U.S. Rep. Phil English, a six-term Republican from Erie, Pa., ranks eighth among 637 current and former federal lawmakers who have traveled the globe at private expense, according to the campaign finance experts at politicalmoneyline.com, who have compiled lawmakers' travel records for the past five years.

English has accepted more than $160,000 worth of free travel and lodging for 28 different excursions since 2000, including trips to Paris, Istanbul and Casablanca.

Holy cow! Shouldn't English be spending more time with constituents than lobbyists?

Republican Rep. Nancy Johnson of Connecticut: Why is she so hostile? Doesn't she want to hear the truth about the failures of the Medicare Drug Program?

Where is the outrage?

I'm just wondering about things.

If the law forbids the importation of Cuban cigars, how is it possible that right-wing, draft dodger, former pill popper, Rush Limbaugh smokes Cuban cigars?

What has happened to Chris Matthews? Matthews, who once worked for Democrats, now criticizes Democrats every chance he gets. Why does he have to put in a dig to Senator Hillary Clinton nearly everyday? Why does Matthews support former NY mayor, Rudy Guiliani (a 3 time married, adulterer)? How is it possible that Matthews does no research on his topics?

Why haven't we heard Republicans cut all their ties with lobbyists? All this talk about reform, doesn't get it done. Doesn't anyone see a problem with Republican Rep. John Boehner's relationship with a lobbyist.

Why aren't we seeing a release of information on the number of visits Jack Abramoff made to the White House?

Who did fake reporter/male escort Jeff Gannon/Guckert visit in the White House almost 200 times?

Ohio and Georgia Politics

Swiftboaters to help Blackwell

From the Cleveland Plain Dealer: GOP gubernatorial candidate Ken Blackwell has teamed up with Jerome Corsi, author of the Swift Boat veterans' book that attacked Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, to write a new book blasting the welfare state. Though it promises to provide a blueprint for a new war on poverty, Corsi could be a liability to Blackwell.

Although he has since apologized, Corsi once referred to Muslims as "ragheads," to Islam as "a cancer that destroys the body it infects," to the late Pope John Paul II as "senile" and to Hillary Clinton as a "fat hog" who could not keep her husband satisfied. Corsi told The Washington Post that such comments "were written to be provocative, to stimulate debate," and did not reflect his true beliefs.

The new book is called "Rebuilding America: A Prescription for Creating Strong Families, Building the Wealth of Working People and Redeveloping Our Cities."

Ohio
The battle begins for the Republican governor candidates---Petro vs. Blackwell. Hopefully, after they are finished tarnishing each other's image, they'll be out of money for the general election.

Blackwell picked his lt. governor running mate. According to the Cincinnati Post, Tom Raga is from the more conservative southwestern part of the state. This in itself could be a problem. Northeastern Ohio is more Democratic, and central Ohio, particularly Franklin County, has been going more Democratic. (The Democratic Party growth in Franklin County scares the hell out of supporters for Republican Rep. Deborah Pryce OH-15).

Georgia
Republican Ralph Reed, friend of gambling, is have some difficulty in his bid for lt. governor of Georgia. It appears that Georgians do not like his association with gambling concerns. According to the Walton Tribune: Thirty-eight percent of Republicans had a favorable view of Ralph Reed, with 42 percent viewing him unfavorably.

2254

As I watch these national news programs, I've noticed that less and less is being reported about events in Iraq. It might be that there are fewer reporters on the ground there, or is it just that networks have lost interest in the war. This administration would prefer that we ask no questions about the war, the injured, and the fatalities. This is why we do not have pictures of the coffins coming back home. They think that if we don't see the coffins, we will forget about it, and they can do what they want. In case you are interested, according to the Iraq Coalition Casualties site, 2254 Americans have died in Iraq.

Hillary Clinton Smacksdown Mehlman

NO OATH
Today Attorney General Gonzales is talking before the Senate committee on NSA Surveillance and Presidential Wartime Powers. However, he is NOT TESTIFYING because he WAS NOT sworn in under oath to tell the truth. Republican Senator Arlen Specter said it wasn't necessary for him to be sworn in under oath. Do you know what I think of this? It is a waste of everyone's time. The Republicans are just letting this entire administration and their friends (like the oil executives who were not sworn in by Stevens) get away with lying. I am extremely disappointed in Specter, but I guess I am not surprised. This is absolutely disgusting.

CHENEY TOLD LIBBY
According to the UPI---A legal opinion in the Valerie Plame leak case includes new information about how I. Lewis Libby learned she was a CIA officer.

Libby, the only person charged so far, told prosecutors he heard about her from his boss, Vice President Dick Cheney, the New York Times reported.... (My comment: Told ya!)

OHIO'S SEN. DEWINE
Republican Sen. DeWine might be a nice person, but his "questions" today in the Gonzales talk/hearing were weak, at best. How the hell was this guy elected? I did not vote for him.

SENATOR CLINTON SMACKSDOWN Mehlman
NYT: ..."I would suggest that the Washington Republicans worry about these devastating budget cuts, the confusion and bureaucratic nightmare in the prescription drug benefit — that that's where they should be spending their time and energy, instead of trying to divert attention away from their many failures and shortcomings," Mrs. Clinton said...

...Mrs. Clinton said at the news conference that Mr. Bush's budget, if approved, would force layoffs of teachers and new limits on enrollment of children in Head Start programs like the one she visited today at University Settlement, where most of the 300 children are Asian and Hispanic and live in working-class homes.

"The message to children and families could not be clearer: you're on your own," Mrs. Clinton said.

She said the budget would result in $1.24 billion less money for New York under the No Child Left Behind Program and $404 million less in special education money, which, she warned, could lead school districts to try to raise property taxes to cover shortfalls. At the same time, she assailed giving more money for a small-scale program that would provide government assistance for students to attend private schools...

Right on, Hillary. We have witnessed a smackdown!!!!!

The American People are Angry at Republicans

I just don't understand the Republicans. They are always attacking women who speak out. Now Ken Mehlman, chairman of the Republican National Committee is attacking Democratic Senator Hillary Clinton. (In my opinion, this is just Mehlman's way of trying to take our focus off the overwhelming corruption growing like a fungus throughout the Republican Party, especially here in Ohio. It is another example of "don't look over there at the problems, look over here at the pretty sparkles" mentality.) Here is an excerpt from the New York Times:
The chairman of the Republican National Committee, Ken Mehlman, offered a broad attack on Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York today, describing her as a Democrat brimming with anger and a representative of the far-left wing of her party.

Mr. Mehlman disputed the suggestion that Mrs. Clinton had moved to the center of her party. And while he declined to say, in response to a question, if he thought Mrs. Clinton, a former first lady, would be the Republicans' "dream candidate or the Democrat you must dread," he left little doubt that Republicans had settled on new lines of attack on one of the party's leading contenders for the 2008 presidential nomination.

"I don't think the American people, if you look historically, elect angry candidates," he told George Stephanopoulos on "This Week" on ABC....

Mehlman and his party are hurting. They have many candidates with ties to Tom DeLay, Jack Abramoff, Scooter Libby, Duke Cunningham, Bob Ney, Tom Noe, lobbyists, and scandals. Mehlman, has to go on the attack because they don't want people to discuss the Republican Party's lack of ethics.

The American people are angry at the Republicans. Republicans are cutting aid to college students, raising interest rates for college loans; cutting aid to single moms, the elderly, the sick, foster parents; scaling back conservation programs and environmental clean up operations; cutting research in agriculture; cutting medical research. This is all being done because they want to keep those tax cuts in place for the rich. The Republicans also want to keep the war going in Iraq. Republicans think that building roads in Iraq seems to be more important than helping Americans along the gulf coast.

----------------------
Raw Story has the headline from The Guardian: Britain defies US with funding to boost safe abortion services

The British government will today publicly defy the United States by giving money for safe abortion services in developing countries to organisations that have been cut off from American funding.

Nearly 70,000 women and girls died last year because they went to back-street abortionists. Hundreds of thousands of others suffered serious injuries.

Critics of America's aid policy say some might have lived if the US had not withdrawn funding from clinics that provide safe services - or that simply tell women where to find them.

The "global gag" rule, as it has become known, was imposed by President George Bush in 2001. It requires any organisation applying for US funds to sign an undertaking not to counsel women on abortion - other than advising against it - or provide abortion services.

The UK will today become the founder donor of a fund set up specifically to attempt to replace the lost dollars and increase safe abortion services.....

Approximately 70,000 women and girls died because safe, clean, medically supervised abortion clinics were not discussed when the women needed help. These 70,000 women and girls suffered and died needlessly. This is just awful and it is this administration's fault.

Rolling Stone Magazine: Cuts Hurt Us All

Rolling Stone Magazine has an excellent article that shows how the Republican budget cuts are really going to hurt regular folks while saving those tax cuts for the rich. The article explains who will feel the impact of the cuts: College students, single moms, sick, foster parents, and the working poor. The article is worth reading.

Republicans Against Personal Rights and Privacy

OHIO

Republican candidates for Ohio governor, Jim Petro and Kenneth Blackwell, have come out firmly against a woman's right to choose. Women do not need Petro and Blackwell involved in their life changing decisions, but apparently, they both want to be there. Here are some excerpts from the Columbus Dispatch:

...Long an opponent of abortion rights, Blackwell would preclude abortion even if the life of a mother is at stake. In his 2002 re-election campaign, Blackwell took a position to permit an abortion if it were necessary to save a mother’s life.

Petro, who in 2000 switched from favoring abortion rights to opposing them except in cases of rape or incest or when the life of a mother is threatened, now would oppose it in all circumstances except to save a mother’s life. When he ran for attorney general in 2002, Petro retained the three exceptions....

....Blackwell acknowledged this week that he had changed his position, contending that medical advancements have rendered making a choice between a mother’s or a baby’s life extremely rare.

"Medical science proved that doctors don’t make that decision," Blackwell said in an interview Wednesday. Doctors "don’t make decisions, ‘Do we take the mother’s life or do we take the baby’s life?’ The fact is, they make decisions on how to save both lives......"

Blackwell is wrong and he has no medical evidence to support his opinion. There are some rare instances when a woman's pregnancy could endanger her own life. This might include a woman getting pregnant when she has been diagnosed with cancer or women who have had severe complications with previous pregnancies, and have been told not to get pregnant again.

What if your daughter was brutally raped? Your sister? An abortion in a clean, safe, medical center might save her emotional well-being, and her life. Blackwell and Petro are so removed from a typical person's life, they have no business telling us how to live. No one likes abortion, but it must remain safe, legal, and available for women who need it.

I am highly insulted that these men are telling women what they can/cannot do with their bodies. What if I asked personal questions of Petro and Blackwell: Have they taken Viagara, or Cialis? If they have, how often? Have either of them had vasectomies? Have the vasectomies been successful? I think both men would squirm a bit if I asked them those highly personal questions. However, they can't see that they are doing the same thing to women. Democrats must emphasize that Republicans are taking away our rights and our privacy.

KANSAS

Another story in today's Dispatch is about some extreme right wing Kansas Attorney General who wants to investigate the records of abortion clinics. We live in an electronic age. It is possible that this Kansas Atty. Gen'l is fishing for information that could ultimately result in the release of names of abortion patients by "accident" and those names would end up on the internet.

The Kansas Supreme Court yesterday temporarily stopped the state attorney general from looking at records from two abortion clinics, saying such a review could violate patient privacy.

The court ordered a lowercourt judge to make sure that Attorney General Phill Kline has the right to see the documents in his investigation of potential violations of state restrictions on abortion and suspected rapes of children.

If Judge Richard Anderson determines Kline does have that right, the attorney general still must ensure that the patients’ privacy is protected, the court said.

In 2004, Anderson issued subpoenas at Kline’s request for the records of a clinic in Wichita operated by Dr. George Tiller and one in Overland Park, a Kansas City suburb, operated by Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri. The records involve 90 women and girls.

The Supreme Court said the subpoenas could infringe on the patients’ rights to maintain privacy about personal and sexual matters, to receive confidential health care and to obtain a lawful abortion without an undue governmental burden....

What the hell is the matter with Kansas--they promote intelligent design in their schools and now they are trying to get personal medical records of abortion clinics?????? Is there something in the water???

Don't overheat the shredder!!!!

Spotted at the Democratic Underground: From Rock River Times ---
A source inside the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation told Insider magazine that Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has ordered the shredding of documents and public records, a clear violation of Florida law.

The department has oversight and approval of state gaming licensees, slot machines, dog and horse tracks, and jai-alai games.

The source, who asked to remain anonymous, said the governor also has brought in personnel from Texas to replace key members of his staff in Tallahassee. The Texans are overseeing the destruction of state documents, according to the source....

Paper shredding must be a favorite of Republicans: Iran-Contra had paper shredding. G.W. Bush's national guard records allegedly shredded. "Kenny-boy" Lay, of Enron, had documents shredded to cover the company's illegal activities. Now Jeb is shredding.

Air Quality, War Money, and Boehner

Former director of the Environmental Protection Agency, Christie Todd Whitman, was criticized by a federal judge for her "misleading statements of safety" about the air quality near the World Trade Center in the days after the Sept. 11 attack and may have put the public in danger. NYT

Bush will request $120 billion for war funding: Yahoo News What if the Senate and the House refused to fund the war and only provided enough money to bring our service members home? We know that won't happen with the corrupt Republicans in power.

>>>>Fun facts about the new Republican leader, John Boehner:

(1) Rep. John Boehner (R), the Ohio Congressman who is seeking a leadership position among Republicans on Capitol Hill, leads members of Congress from both parties in the number of trips taken since 2000. The trips, paid for by private foundations, companies or organizations, are at the heart of the Jack Abramoff/Bob Ney lobbying scandal. Abramoff pleaded guilty to using free trips in an attempt to get official favors. Ney is believed to be under investigation for trip to Scotland to golf, paid for by Abramoff. Boehner has logged thousands of miles on 39 trips to resort communities like Rancho Mirage, CA, Scottsdale, AZ, Boca Raton, FL, Pebble Beach, CA, West Palm Beach, FL, and St. Petersburg, FL.
Boehner has also traveled extensively overseas to places like Rome, Venice, Paris, Barcelona, Brussels, and two trips to Edinburgh, Scotland. See Boehner's trips here: http://www.politicalmoneyline.com/cgi-win/x_PrivateMember.exe?DoFn=H0OH08029

(2) Boehner thinks "intelligent design" should be taught in Ohio's schools.

(3) Boehner has promised to move a human cloning ban, the Marriage Protection Amendment, and a fetal pain bill through the House if he gains the post...

Summary: Republicans are doing their part to totally mess up our air, our national debt, and our future.

Bush Cutting Budget for Bureau of Indian Affairs

I just saw this posted at Daily Kos. It originated at Indianz.com.
The Bush administration has made an across-the-board cut to the Bureau of Indian Affairs budget, blaming the reduction on the Cobell trust fund lawsuit.
In an unprecedented letter to tribal leaders, associate Interior deputy secretary Jim Cason announced a $3 million cut to the BIA budget. He said the administration failed to plan for attorney's fees awarded as part of the Cobell case even though the request for fees was pending for more than a year.
As a result, Cason said the BIA forked over $2 million from an account used to "reimburse tribal attorney's fees" and an additional $1 million came from an across-the-board rescission of tribal programs.
Additionally, the Office of Historical Trust Accounting and the Office of Special Trustee -- whose budgets have exploded since the start of the administration while BIA funding has remained flat -- contributed, Cason said. But their share only amounted to $2.3 million, according to the January 26 letter.
Finally, the Department of Treasury -- a named defendant in the suit whose officials were found in contempt of court and whose actions violated the trust responsibility -- contributed about $1.8 million, leaving the BIA to bear the brunt of the administration's failure to plan for the attorney's fees, which totaled $7.1 million....

These cuts just keep coming: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Medicaid, college loans, help for the elderly, etc., etc. This administration and their appointees have no heart or common sense.

Horse Lovers Don't Love Conrad Burns

Everybody LOVES horses, except Conrad Burns. Republican Sen. Conrad Burns has a reputation that puts him solidly against horse lovers. Just do a GOOGLE search with the terms conrad burns horses, and you'll find a wealth of information. Check here and here and here. Tell Burns, who is running for re-election in Montana, your opinions by visiting his contact page.

Republicans Pay Republicans for Votes

Things are so desperate in the Republican House leadership, that candidates have to pay other representatives for their votes. I find this incredible. Apparently, the Republicans have to be paid to vote for their leader. Why aren't they voting for the best qualified person? Where the heck are they getting all this money? The Hill has the story and you may wish to read the entire article. Here are some excerpts:

Acting House Majority Leader Roy Blunt (Mo.) and Education and the Workforce Chairman John Boehner (R-Ohio) gave nearly $270,000 to colleagues from their leadership political action committees less than a month before Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas) renounced his claim to the post of majority leader....

...Boehner gave $150,000 to 30 Republican colleagues on Dec. 15, according to his filing for the Freedom Project, his leadership PAC. He also gave contributions of $5,000 each to Republican candidates John Gard of Wisconsin and Jim Jordan of Ohio....

...And 14 Republicans receiving money from Boehner have declared their intention to vote for him. They are Reps. Gresham Barrett (S.C.), Charles Boustany (La.), Steve Chabot (Ohio.), Melissa Hart (Pa.), Joe Knollenberg (Mich.), Steve LaTourette (Ohio), Thaddeus McCotter (Mich.), Steve Pearce (N.M.), Porter, Pombo, Dennis Rehberg (Mont.), Jean Schmidt (Ohio) and Lee Terry (Neb.)....

Got money? Meet the Republican Leadership!

Raw Story has an article about how one Abramoff client met Republican leaders, including Bush, and gave big money. There are pictures this time! Here are some excerpts:

Abramoff firm gave $50,000 more to GOP congressional campaigns seven months after visits

Eleven million dollars can buy a lot of access in Washington. Especially if your lobbyist is Jack Abramoff.

Take Beningo Fitial, the current governor of the Northern Marianas Islands, a U.S. territory in the Pacific. He and his company, along with their trade lobby and funds doled out by the islands at his prodding, spent $11.5 million dollars lobbying Washington between 1995 and 2002. Now he says he wants his money back -- but he continues to maintain that Abramoff protected his island's interests...

In January 2001, Fitial enjoyed the inauguration of President George W. Bush.

Three months later, in April, Fitial met Bush a second time. He also met then-Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS). Then he stopped in for visit with Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R-IL).

In other words—Abramoff seems to have arranged for a non-head of state for a tiny island in the Pacific to meet with the three most powerful men in the United States of America. But that’s not all: Fitial also met with then-Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-TX) and Senate Interior Department Appropriations Chairman Conrad Burns (R-MT). Fitial appears in photographs with Burns and Delay....

...Six months after his visit to Capitol Hill, Fitial’s family’s companies donated $50,000 to the National Senatorial Campaign Committee...

Here is another little story about DeLay.

My take on all this: The Northern Marianas Islands bring in workers, mostly women, from the Philippines and South East Asia. The prospective workers pay a finders fee for the jobs, up to $7,000, and are told they are going to work in the United States. Unfortunately, the workers are brought to the Northern Marianas Islands where they work long hours seven days per week and are housed in substandard barracks. Women have been forced into prostitution and have been forced to have abortions. These conditions have been supported by Tom DeLay and every person who met with Fitial. Why haven't we heard from the far right Christian conservatives about the plight of these workers?

Senator Obama

There is an excellent article in the American Prospect about Democratic Senator Barack Obama. Here is an exceprt from the article:

...Obama wants nothing less than to redefine progressive values, make them more universal, and unite the country around them. His staggering 72 percent approval rating in Illinois -- a number that reflects strong support not only in and around Democratic Chicago, but from Republican downstate as well -- shows he may be figuring out how to do that. His first year in the Senate suggests a man on a long, ambitious, and intricate journey. It’s not too much to say that the future of the Democratic Party, and maybe even the country, could be profoundly affected by where that journey ends...

.....And other stuff-----
The following comments about the president's speech are from The Akron Beacon Journal:

"A former oil executive telling us we are addicted to oil is like a tobacco company executive complaining that their employees take too many smoke breaks. Exxon made almost $11 billion last quarter, while Americans are paying surging prices to fill their gas tanks and heat their homes." - Paul Hackett, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate

"The economy is not good, and I don't know how anyone can say it is." - 29-year-old Angela Newberry of the middle-class Dayton suburb of Huber Heights; Newberry is a Democrat and union member who works at auto parts supplier Delphi Corp. along with her husband, Shawn

(**Note: Bush was an oil executive before he was elected to office in Texas.)