You know, I wasn't going to mention the Texas fleeing Democrats again, even though it did get very interesting:

Republicans in Washington and Austin, Texas apparently used a Homeland Security Department agency to track Texas Democratic legislators who left the state to block passage of a GOP-backed Congressional redistricting bill.

This is the same Homeland Security Department that is supposed to be making America safe from foreign terrorists. It's the agency we were told would never be used for domestic political purposes.

But then I read this: Nelson sends runaway lawmakers bandanas, whiskey... and I knew i would have to post this story again.

A few of the Democrats say they've received red bandanas and whiskey from Nelson. The Texas singer also sent them a note saying: "Way to go. Stand your ground."

- rob 4:33 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Senators critical of Halliburton

A spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said on April 8 that Kellogg, Brown & Root was awarded the contract because it had already won a bid in December 2001 to pre-position firefighting assets in the region.

But earlier this week, Corps officials acknowledged that the contract, which has no set limits on time or money, allows the subsidiary to operate Iraq's oil fields and distribute its oil, rather than just putting out fires and making repairs.

What's not mentioned in the article is that the Corps official then slapped his forehead with his hand, and said "I knew I was supposed to tell you something else."

Fighting fires / operating the oil fields and distributing oil, bah, you say potato I say potato.

- rob 3:59 PM - [PermaLink] -

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First its “I’m a pilot!” Bush, and now its “I’m a regular guy” Bush.

Some Audience Members Told Not to Wear Ties for Bush Speech

President Bush came to Indianapolis to send the message that his tax cut plan will help everyone and not just the wealthy. That's why all those people sitting behind him were instructed on what to wear.
…

George W. Bush came to Indianapolis for the picture. And in that picture, the White House wanted ordinary people.

“These are V.I.P.'s right, ordinary people aren't up on stage behind the president of the United States when he's speaking but the trick is to make V.I.P.'s look like they're ordinary people,” said Bill Bloomquist, political scientist.

That's why everyone sitting behind the president wearing a necktie was instructed to take it off.

This kind of reminds me of the last republican convention, where almost every camera shot of the audience made sure to include an African America, which must have made it difficult to choose a camera shot. As Chris Rock says, “Every Black republican in the country appeared on stage.” Well now Bush wants to show that he hangs with regular folks. So what does he do, he has VIP’s take off their ties. Now that is regular folk for ya. No tie! I thought it was just a bunch of internet millionaires behind him, I mean, they never wear ties, and they’d clap for the new tax cut. A regular guy wouldn’t.

But the story doesn’t end there. The reporter probably thought it was a funny slice of live political story. But it got picked up, and appeared in newspapers here and there, much to the shock of folks who only get their news from Fox: Some e-mails have been negative and rather personal, accusing me of being out to "get" the president. Yeah, you can tell that reporter must be an agent of evil.

- rob 3:53 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Paths of Glory

Krugman is good again:

How is the war on terror going? You know about the Riyadh bombings. But something else happened this week: The International Institute for Strategic Studies, a respected British think tank with no discernible anti-Bush animus, declared that Al Qaeda is "more insidious and just as dangerous" as it was before Sept. 11. So much for claims that we had terrorists on the run.

Still, isn't the Bush administration doing its best to fight terrorism? No.

The administration's antiterror campaign makes me think of the way television studios really look. The fancy set usually sits in the middle of a shabby room, full of cardboard and duct tape. Networks take great care with what viewers see on their TV screens; they spend as little as possible on anything off camera.

And so it has been with the campaign against terrorism. Mr. Bush strikes heroic poses on TV, but his administration neglects anything that isn't photogenic.
...

Senator Bob Graham has made an even stronger charge: that Al Qaeda was "on the ropes" a year ago, but was able to recover because the administration diverted military and intelligence resources to Iraq. As former chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, he's in a position to know. And before you dismiss him as a partisan Democrat, bear in mind that when he began raising this alarm last fall his Republican colleagues supported him: "He's absolutely right to be concerned," said Senator Richard Shelby, who has seen the same information.

Senator Graham also claims that a classified Congressional report reveals that "the lessons of Sept. 11 are not being applied today," and accuses the administration of a cover-up.

- rob 3:12 PM - [PermaLink] -

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The deficit. Like a lover giving a gift of herpes to his/her partner, our generation is working on a nice big gift for our kids.

Here's a good write up of a Bush Lie (tm), the cause of the deficit.

Just over the next two years, 2003 and 2004, the cost of President Bush's enacted and proposed tax cuts would be three times as great as the cost of all of the following combined:

* All military operations since Sept. 11, 2001, in Iraq and Afghanistan;

* All planned reconstruction work in Iraq and Afghanistan;

* All new homeland security spending since Sept. 11;

* The costs of rebuilding at Ground Zero and the Pentagon, compensating victims' families and subsidizing the airlines after Sept. 11.

President Bush is telling Americans we have gone from monster surpluses to monster deficits because of war and recession. It's not true.

(I added the bold)

- rob 3:09 PM - [PermaLink] -

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What has happened to New York City? It's been pulled out from under my feet, overnight. My city is gone. And what has replaced it? An intolerant moralistic culture, just what a great city needs to thrive.

"I like a couple of cigarettes or a cigar with a drink, and like many other people, I only smoke in bars or nightclubs. Now I can't go to any of my old haunts. Bartenders who were friends have turned into cops, forcing me outside to shiver in the cold and curse under my breath (the bar can also be fined if I make too much noise). I go back inside to find my drink gone, along with my place at the bar. It's no fun. Smokers are being demonized and victimized all out of proportion."


"The smoking ban is just one part of the strangulation of New York's night life — a crackdown on everything from topless bars to noise — which began under Rudolph Giuliani and has continued under Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Many of us preferred the old X-rated Times Square to the new "Disneyfied" version. Besides, shouldn't a great city be able to tolerate a red-light district?"

"We just want somewhere to enjoy a legal product in a sociable environment. This can be resolved in a spirit of tolerance, which is increasingly rare in this increasingly joyless city. Bar and club operators should unite and lobby for fairer laws. Meanwhile, London is looking pretty good. Or Paris, or Moscow. . . ."

This century sucking still, bit by bit, each day. I Miss New York.

- Michael 11:02 AM - [PermaLink] -

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This is who we are right now, at home and all over the world. Read it and weep.

- Michael 10:20 AM - [PermaLink] -

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Dollar Crumbles as Snow Encourages Bears

LONDON (Reuters) - The dollar spiralled lower on Monday, hitting its weakest level against the euro in over four years as traders jumped on comments from U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow that a cheap dollar would help U.S. exports.
...

Speaking on a U.S. television program on Sunday, Snow said: "When the dollar is at a lower level it helps exports, and I think exports are getting stronger as a result."

Acting as a true Enronesque CEO, Snow is only thinking of the short term, with potentially disasterous results long term. Yes, a weaker dollar would help us with exports, which would give us a little bump economically. But the long term is disasterous. We have a deficit in the trillions. 3 or 4 or something trillion dollars is what America owes. This is real debt. We owe people. When you hear of this year's outrageous 450 billion or more debt figure, note that that is just one year's new debt. We add it to the trillions of debt already out there. Oh, and we are paying interest on this too. And unlike a home mortgage, the government doesn't get some tax advantage from the interest on the debt. Nope, it is all real too. It goes to real people. Who? Well, like you and me, and my son with his little savings bond that comes due a decade from now (a nice gift from his aunt). But with trillions of dollars, that's a lot of savings bonds. Who else owns that debt, well believe it or not some government agencies own Tbills, and that is just goofy (but who knows, maybe there is a reason, as Bush said, "not everything is black and white when it comes to accounting") but that doesn't account for all this money. No, most of it is held by other nations, and people in other nations.

Now thier holding of this debt helps our governemnt. We get to go on our defense spending sprees, without raising taxes (heck... let's lower them!). The debt holders don't mind because, well, we're America, and the dollar is strong. What's that? You say Snow is happy about a weak dollar? Suddenly the treasury bills don't look as nice. Maybe they aren't the world's safest investment after all. So suddenly we have less buyers, so we have to up the interest rate that the Tbills offer to make them look like a better investment. But wouldn't that make the overall debt higher? Wouldn't a suddenly massively growing debt make the Tbill look even less like a good investment? Yes, it is a spiral, a sprial that if not controlled would eventually make American Tbills fancy looking junk bonds.

A strong dollar allows us to have debt, but it also hurts exports; that is the price we pay. If we don't like it we're just going to have to live within our means (but that is hard, I know). Snow knows this. But he is a Enron era CEO, a weak dollar will help the economy during his tenure. True it could mean utter collapse, or at least difficult times for people that come after him, but, hey, who cares, he'll be on the beach by then.

By the way, Snow was CEO of a rail company. He's entire method of expanding his company was getting favors and deals from government. He is a welfare case.

Oh, and one more thing, if this dividend tax cut gets passed, Snow's tax refund is going to jump $275,000 a year. Not that that would effect his opinion of the need for that tax cut at all. Oh, no. It wouldn't.

- rob 5:03 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Sorry, not many posts today, I've got a lot going on, but for fun let's look to Texas. Remember Texas is our future. What Bush did for Texas he'll do for the nation:

'Amber Alert' issued -- for on-the-run Texas lawmakers

The political version of the Amber Alert was posted for 53 Texas legislators who fled the state Capitol to avoid a vote that could cost Democrats as many as five congressional seats.
...

News reports late Monday quoted leaders of the missing Democrats as saying they are gathered across the state line in Ardmore, Oklahoma, out of reach of Texas Rangers who have been ordered to arrest them and return them to the House chamber.

A bulletin was posted Monday on the Texas Department of Public Safety Web site -- the same one used to alert citizens to missing children and wanted criminals -- asking for help in locating the missing lawmakers.

"The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) is asking the public for assistance in locating 53 Texas legislators who have disappeared," the bulletin read. "Anyone who has information regarding the current whereabouts of the legislators listed below is asked to call 1-800-525-5555."

Yeeee Hawwww! Makes you wonder how neighboring states are dealing with this issue.

New Mexico attorney general not hot on looking for missing Texas legislators

Attorney General Patricia Madrid said if Texas issues arrest warrants for the officials, then New Mexico officials may act on them and extradition proceedings would have to be held.

Her comments came after Gov. Rick Perry's office asked New Mexico whether it would allow Texas officials to make arrests in that state. Madrid said the question is being researched. But she wasn't taking it all serious.

"Some are speculating this request from the Texas Governor's office concerns an effort to locate missing Texas House Democrats," Madrid wrote. "If so, Texas should understand that since ski season is over, the Santa Fe Opera has not begun and President Bush was just in town, I don't think they are in Santa Fe now. Nevertheless, I have put out an all-points bulletin for law enforcement to be on the look out for politicians in favor of health care for the needy and against tax cuts for the wealthy."

I added the bold, because that was a funny line.

- rob 6:41 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Finally, someone expressed some level of reasoning behind the dividends portion of Bush's proposed tax cut. Cokie Roberts, on this morning's NPR Morning Edition explained the logic behind the elimination of dividends taxation was less to benefit the super-rich (who make up the great bulk of stockholders who collect dividends) than it was to encourage more companies to offer tax-free dividends. The logic this will reinvigorate consumer demand for stocks by promising a regular income from their stock purchases. And because the dividends would be untaxed only when the company's profits (which would make up dividend offerings) were already taxed, it would discourage companies from hiding all their profits in tax shelters, thus providing more revenue to the federal government.

Of course, this logic only benefits people outside the upper classes only insofar as the non-upper classes have additional income to invest in stocks. It also supposes those people will willingly reinvest in stocks after the profound burn of the go-go 90s. With rising unemployment, a continued distrust in the financial markets (the 1.4 billion dollar settlement with Wall St, along with it's "we're not going to admit anything" clause hasn't helped), and consumer credit what's out the stratosphere, the likelihood that this tax cut will, in fact, benefit any group other than the super-rich remains suspect.

Never mind the specious logic tying the cut in dividend taxes to increased employment. The $500 the Senate plan preserves tax-free saves anyone earning such a high dividend all of an additional $170 to pump back into the economy. Way to stimulate the economy, Dubaya.

- Alex 11:59 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Reading about the goat.

I avoided posting more stuff like this for a while, this isn't even the first timeline I've seen, though it is a very detailed one. The problem with questioning what happened with Bush on 9/11 is that people think you're accusing him of knowing about it. If you read this timeline it is obvious he didn't. He didn't know anything. If anything it looks like Bush was stripped of power that day. It looks as if a coup happened, with Cheney lying to his "boss" to keep him out of the way.

9/11 Timeline - "Bush's Interesing Day"

What gets me is the rewriting of history. How the White House is now saying Bush actually reacted when told about the second plane: "Chief of Staff Andrew Card claimed that after he told Bush about the second World Trade Center crash, "it was only a matter of seconds" before Bush "excused himself very politely to the teacher and to the students, and he left" the classroom."

You can view the tape yourself in that article. When I have time I'll post it to here as well. It wasn't a matter of seconds. He kept reading about the count for many a minute (7, 9, 20?). He joked with the kids. He was doing fine. I don't really expect much from Bush, so this doesn't surprise me. But why wasn't he forcibly yanked out of that public place? Why didn't his staff demand his attention as he was the only person who could order passengers jets shot down?

I'll come back to this some time in the future when I have more time. Though I have quicktime copies of the classroom scene saved, I'd recommend you download the videos linked from that article as well. It is important that that scene not be forgotten. After all, the story about that goat is fasinating. It sure had the Presiden'ts attention that morning.

- rob 7:07 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Bush Visit Could Cost Some Omaha Workers a Day's Pay

Ha. The President causes soldiers to go home a day later for his photo op. The President causes workers to lose a day's pay. Man if Clinton was still President we'd never hear the end of this. "man of the people" my ass. Oh well. It's kind of funny. Proves Rove isn't an all powerful evil genius, just an evil genius.

About 340 workers at an Omaha plastics factory will lose pay or have to work next Saturday to make up for time lost during a visit by President Bush on Monday to promote his "jobs and growth plan," their boss said today.

Heh, I added the bolding, the irony required, nay DEMANDED it.

- rob 6:54 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Here's an article to enrage Michael:

Secret Service Questions Students

For years the classroom has been the setting for the free expression of ideas, but two weeks ago certain ideas led to two students being taken out of class and grilled by the United States Secret Service.

It happened at Oakland High. The discussion was about the war in Iraq. That's when two students made comments about the President of the United States. While the exact wording is up for debate, the teacher didn't consider it mere criticism, but a direct threat and she called the Secret Service.

Teacher Cassie Lopez says, "They were so shaken up and afraid."
...

"When one of the students asked, 'do we have to talk now? Can we be silent? Can we get legal council?' they were told, 'we own you, you don't have any legal rights,'" Felson says.
...

"I tell you the looks on those childrens faces. I don't know if they'll say anything about anything ever again. Is that what we want? I don't think we want that," says Lopez.

- rob 6:49 PM - [PermaLink] -

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Blah blah blah: Diplomats on the Defensive
Normally these articles would enrage me, but these aren't normal times, and the defense department running foreign policy under Bush seems to be expected. Why post this then? Because of this fun quote:

"I just wake up in the morning and tell myself, 'There's been a military coup,' and then it all makes sense," said one veteran foreign service officer.

Thanks to either MHO or Buzzflash or This Modern World, or someone for this, sorry I don't remember where I found this or the others posted above.

- rob 6:45 PM - [PermaLink] -

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One way to make sure this century doesn't suck:

More people like Oral Lee Brown

In 1987, Brown told Hunter and two dozen other first-graders at Brookfield Elementary School that she would put them through college if they graduated from high school. Four years ago, most of them did, with 19 enrolling in college.
...

But the journey has hardly been a fairy tale for all of them. One student was shot and killed on an Oakland street last year. Two are single mothers forced to juggle parenting with work and school. Some have dropped out altogether -- although most hope to finish college.

"I have tried to do all that I can do," said Brown, who had been making $45, 000 a year when she started setting aside $10,000 a year into a trust fund nearly two decades ago.

I added the bolding. This wasn't a rich woman, not be any measure, but her generousity of time and money were huge. I am truly humbled by this woman, and others who have done similar things. This is what makes the world a wonderful place despity all of the negativity, people can do and do do the most wonderful things. There is always hope.

- rob 6:41 PM - [PermaLink] -

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After my post about the N.I.H. scientists I was so enraged that I sent this letter to the New York Times (second letter). Notice how carefully I avoid naming Bush and the religious right. How can these people talk about censoring scientists and the sanctity of life in the same breath? Why don't we do away with science and medicine altogether, and just let people die? After all, it's God's will, and praying is so much cheaper. Problem is, viruses don't discriminate. That's the trouble with viruses.

- Michael 10:33 AM - [PermaLink] -

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I tried to delete my last post and it didn't work. Sorry if this annoyed anyone. I have no control over this media.

- Michael 8:25 PM - [PermaLink] -

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