The Pennsylvania Progressive

The Pennsylvania Progressive discusses progressive politics, issues, and candidates with a particular emphasis on Pennsylvania. All rights reserved. We have moved so please click on a link below.

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Swann Campaign Finance Reports Unfiled?

The Centre Daily Times reports that Gubernatorial candidate Lynn Swann dropped the ball when it comes to adhering to campaign finance disclosure laws. It isn't like Pennsylvania has meaningful campaign finance laws anyway. Anyone can contribute however much they want to a campaign. Unlimited. Want to give someone $100,000 to run for State Senate? Nothing is stopping you.

You do, however, have to report those contributions. The two weeks imediately prior to election day you must fax any contribution over $500 on a daily basis. According to the newspaper:

Earlier this month, several of his required pre-primary campaign reports were not filed with the Department of State. And those the campaign did submit during the course of the year included incomplete or unclear information in key parts.

Department of State officials said they did not receive a single 24-hour disclosure statement in the two weeks before the May 16 primary from Swann's campaign.

"We have no record of any statements," department spokeswoman Leslie Amoros said. She said fines were $10 per day for the first six days and $20 per day after that, up to $250.

Swann campaign spokesman Leonardo Alcivar said Wednesday that Swann had received donations of more than $500 shortly before the primary and insisted the campaign had faxed the state the information. "We faxed them every 24 hours," he said. "We complied with the law."


If the Swann campaign did fumble this reporting requirment how can they expect the electorate to have any confidence the former Steeler is competent enough to run state government?

Report Says Two Fumo Aides Arrested

WFMZ Channel 69 in Allentown reports
that two aides to state Senator Vince Fumo have been arrested by the FBI for obstruction of justice. The report says they tried to block an investigation into into their boss.

Calvin Trillin on John McCain

The Nation's Calvin Trillin wrote a little ditty about John McCain after watching him agree to speak at commencement ceremonies at Jerry Falwell's college:

McCain was his own man, that's what was
thought-

A man who spoke his mind, a man who'd fought

A war and suffered mightily, in fact,

But toughed it out. His honor was intact,

On certain issues, he would hold his ground,

No matter where the party line was found.

This man seemed strong and fiercely independent,

And that's what caused his star to be ascendant.

As was his way, McCain displayed no fears

Replying to those Carolina smears.

"An agent of intolerance" was what

He labeled Falwell, Karl Rove's favorite nut,

But now, discerning where his future lies,

He kowtows to this nut he must despise,

Yes, presidential fever's got him now.

To old McCain, alas we must say ciao,

That independent man is gone for good.

What torture couldn't do ambition could.

Bush Flip Flops

Scott McClellan insisted in press conference after press conference that the White House will not comment on ongoing investigations. He maintained this hard line for every press gaggle peppering him with questions about Plamegate, Abramoff-gate, and every other investigation involving the White House. It was steadfast policy until today.

Today the President himself made a statement about the investigation into alleged cold blooded murders of women and children in Haditha, Iraq by American Marines. Murders that seem to have been covered up by the Pentagon until recently. The statement:

I am troubled by the initial news stories. I am mindful that there is a thorough investigation going on. If, in fact, the laws were broken, there will be punishment. I know this: I've talked to General Pete Pace about the subject, who is a proud Marine, and nobody is more concerned about these allegations than the Marine Corps. The Marine Corps is full of men and women who are honorable people who understand rules of war. And if, in fact, these allegations are true, the Marine Corps will work hard to make sure that that culture, that proud culture will be reinforced, and that those who violated the law, if they did, will be punished.


If Bush is willing to comment on this case why does he refuse to answer questions about David Safavian, Jack abramoff, Scooter Libby and Karl Rove? Either be consistent or be accused of flip flopping.

Iran

The Bush Administration finally agreed to fully pursue diplomatic solutions to solve the mess with Iran. European powers have been trying to solve this situation for some time with little or no input from the U.S. If anything U.S. policy obstructed progress. By doing little more than sabre rattling, leaking plans for a possible nuclear first strike, and inclusion of Iran in the "axis of evil" George W. Bush made a potential crisis closer to reality than preventing such.

Perhaps we are learning that it IS wise to use diplomacy rather than force. The law of unintended consequences has hit us hard in Iraq along with all the other problems there. Maybe President Bush has learned some hard lessons. I hope this is a good sign. It's definitely progress. Talking is always preferable to shooting.

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Walking the Walk

You know the term. Talk the talk and walk the walk. This evening I traveled to Lower Bucks to witness a hero who's doing exactly that. Paul Lang, disabled Coast Guard veteran, is running for the State Senate in the 6th District. I got acquainted with Paul last year through people I know in Bucks County. He's a fine, handsome young man who impresses the heck out of everyone who meets him. Exactly the sort we desperately need in Harrisburg. A man who won't vote himself a 50% pension increase on the backs of taxpayers like his opponent Tommy Tomlinson did.

This is a strong Democratic district, one Paul can win with everyone's support. You can visit his website to learn more about him. Also please contribute in time and money if possible.

Paul was endorsed by a real American hero today. Someone who walks the walk. A man who is using everything he has to turn this country around. A former U.S. Senator labeled a traitor by Republicans because he dared stand up to their attacks on the civil service system. Because he tried to stop Bush's politicization of the federal government. He's spending every ounce of energy and all his time aiding candidates like Paul, Bryan Lentz and others win this year. He isn't just talking the talk, he's out there in the summer heat walking the walk.

I salute you Max Cleland. You're walking tall in my book.

Welcome to Bushworld

While waiting for an elevator this morning I overheard a conversation a woman was having about the war. She was commenting about the Marine unit under investigation for murdering Iraqi civilians back in November. I fully expected a statement along the lines of how terrible it was that U.S. soldiers mercilessly stormed into civilian homes and slaughtered noncombatant women and children. Then how the Pentagon sought to cover up the story so it didn't get out. No, she started blaming the media for reporting it. She said how terrible it was that our soldiers were being subjected to such awful stress and how bad the conditions were for them in Iraq.

Excuse me. We're Americans. We don't do things like that (oops, just forget My Lai for a second). Aren't we supposed to be the good guys? Weren't we the ones who were supposed to obey the Geneva Accords, even when the other side didn't? Weren't we supposed to stand for something? So much for "pro-life Republicans." It's ok to march into people's homes and slaughter them on the spot, including children. This is Bushworld after all.

Why do I think I've moved to a parallel universe? One where America invades a country that didn't attack us and had no way of attacking us? One where we lied to convince our people the war was justified? A world where we refer to the resistance in that country as "insurgents?" I hope if the U.S. were ever invaded like that these people would join the resistance and drive out the occupying army. It's called patriotism. Why shouldn't there be Iraqi patriots defending their country from our invasion forces? Let's call them what they are: the opposition.

Women and children gunned down in their homes like vermin and this woman thinks that's OK. No wonder they hate us. No wonder more and more will become terrorists and continue to attack us. So much for winning hearts and minds. Welcome to Bushworld, an alternate universe.

Monday, May 29, 2006

Remembering




Honoring the Fallen

Memorial Day. The day we specifically set aside to honor our fallen soldiers.

From Mr. Lincoln:

"Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth."


So we will gather with our families and friends today, BBQ, swim, do whatever, but please remember to take a moment to remember those who did give the last full measure of devotion. Today I am going to dedicate the blog especially to the victims of Iraq. All the victims of Iraq.

Faces of the Fallen

Estimated Iraqi Civilian Deaths

List of the fallen in Iraq

War's Human Toll

Test Your Knowledge of the Iraq War

Sunday, May 28, 2006

"Bring It On"

El Presidente Bush finally acknowledged, in a press briefing with Tony Blair last week, that mistakes and errors were made in Iraq. He mentioned his challenge to the insurgents to "bring it on" (click here to listen to the clip) and that he wanted Saddam "dead or alive" as things he regrets saying. Heck, we regretted him saying those things as soon as they left his besotted brain. Any fool could predict they were reckless words he'd live to regret uttering. Now he does. Breaking news! Bush finally admits making mistakes in Iraq!

The self proclaimed Unitary President also said the torture at Abu Ghraib prison was the biggest mistake. He doesn't think the insane lack of planning before the invasion or the disbanding of the Iraqi army were the biggest mistakes? He doesn't think the decisions not to send more troops to quell the rising rebellion to our occupation were was worse? This only confirms to me he only regrets having gotten caught.

Regardless, his attrition is only due to his precipitously falling approval ratings. Saying this now after denying having made any significant mistakes during a debate in the 2004 election shows he was either lying then or trying to pander to voters now. Republicans are in deep political trouble so Bush (actually Rove) thinks admitting to some culpability now might mitigate the damage.

I might be better able to assign some genuineness to his admission if we weren't seeing the same sabre rattling, "selling the war," and refusal to engage in diplomacy toward Iran that we saw in the prelude to the Iraq fiasco. Watching repeated protestations that Iran is developing weapons of mass destruction, refusing to respond to diplomatic overtures, and rumors he is considering using American nuclear weapons in a first strike against another country give me a sense of deja vu.

Didn't we go through a lot of this just a few years ago? Didn't that ruin our credibility throughout the world? Didn't it ostracize us from the rest of the world, cost untold numbers of lives, destroy hundreds of thousands of others, and destroy a somewhat functioning country? Didn't the law of unintended consequences kick us in the butt repeatedly?

The bottom line is no one believes anything George W. Bush says. This is the worst result of his misguided foreign policy. A genuine security threat could exist and no one would believe it. We all remember the story of chicken little. You can't keep going around saying the sky is falling. The only thing falling is Bush's evaluations.

Worst. President. Ever.

I'm sorry but I don't accept his attrition. I've watched Georgie the frat boy grinning and joking about very serious matters, in response to very serious questions, in too many very serious situations to EVER take him seriously.

The voters will have their say about all this in November. Working the polls on election day I heard comments from many citizens. A lot of them expressed dismay for the future of our nation. Many Republicans said they were ashamed to be members of that Grand Old Party. They will come to the polls later this year and give Republicans their just due. I say bring it on.

Clocks (Humor)

CLOCKS
A man died and went to Heaven. As he stood in front of the Pearly Gates, he
saw a huge wall of clocks behind him. He asked, "What are all those clocks?"
St. Peter answered, "Those are Lie-Clocks. Everyone on earth has a Lie-Clock.
Every time you lie the hands on your clock move."
"Oh", said the man. "Whose clock is that?" "That's other Teresa's", replied
St. Peter. "The hands have never moved, indicating that she never told a lie."
"Incredible", said the man. "And whose clock is that one?"
St. Peter responded, "That's Abraham Lincoln's clock. The hands have moved
twice, telling us that Abraham told only two lies in his entire life."
"Where's Bush's clock?" asked the man.
"Bush's clock is in Jesus' office. He's using it as a ceiling fan."

Tribute to Animal Rescuers

I received this from a friend the other day. So many of these anonymous things are passed around the internet. Having rescued various cats and dogs over the years and knowing others who do it regularly I thought it poignant.

HEAVEN'S TRIBUTE

Unlike most days at the Rainbow Bridge, this day dawned cold and
gray. All the recent arrivals at the Bridge did not know what to
think, as they have never seen such a day. But the animals who had
been waiting longer for their beloved people to accompany them
across the Bridge knew what was happening, and they began to gather
at the pathway leading to the Bridge. Soon an elderly dog came into
view, head hung low and tail dragging. He approached slowly, and
though he showed no sign of injury or illness, he was in great
emotional pain. Unlike the animals gathered along the pathway, he
had not been restored to youth and vigor upon arriving at the
Bridge. He felt out of place and wanted only to cross over and find
happiness. But, as he approached the Bridge, his way was barred by
an angel, who apologized and explained that the tired and broken-
spirited old dog could not cross over.

Only those animals accompanied by their people were allowed to cross
the Bridge. Having nobody, and with nowhere else to turn, the dog
trudged into the field in front of the Bridge. There he found others
like himself, elderly or infirm, sad and discouraged.

Unlike the other animals waiting to cross the Bridge, these animals
were not running or playing. They simply were lying in the grass,
staring forlornly at the pathway across the Rainbow Bridge. The old
dog took his place among them, watching the pathway and waiting, yet
not knowing what he was actually waiting for.

One of the newer dogs at the Bridge asked a cat who had been there
longer to explain what was happening. The cat replied, "Those poor
animals were abandoned, turned away, or left at rescue places, but
never found a home on earth. They all passed on with only the love
of a rescuer to comfort them. Because they had no people to love
them, they have nobody to escort them across the Rainbow Bridge."
The dog asked the cat, "So what will happen to those animals?"
Before the cat could answer, the clouds began to part and the cold
turned to bright sunshine. The cat replied, "Watch and you will
see."

In the distance was a single person and as she approached the Bridge
the old, infirm and sad animals in the field were bathed in a golden
light. They were all at once made young and healthy, and stood to
see what their fate would be. The animals who had previously
gathered at the pathway bowed their heads as the person approached.
At each bowed head, the person offered a scratch or hug. One by one,
the now youthful and healthy animals from the field fell into line
behind the person. Together, they walked across the Rainbow Bridge
to a future of happiness and unquestioned love. The dog asked the
cat, "What just happened?" The cat responded, "That was a rescuer.

The animals gathered along the pathway bowing in respect, were those
who had found their forever homes because of rescuers. They will
cross over when their people arrive at the Bridge. The arrival here
of a rescuer is a great and solemn event, and as tribute, they are
permitted to perform one final act of rescue. They are allowed to
escort all those poor animals they couldn't place on earth, across
the Rainbow Bridge and into Heaven."

The dog thought a moment, then said, "I like rescuers." The cat
smiled and replied, "So does Heaven, my friend. So does Heaven."

Author Unknown...

Charity Begins at Home for Rep. Ruffing

The Pittsburgh Post Gazette reports (hat tip to GrassrootsPA.com) that state Representative Ken Ruffing did not donate his illegal pay raise to charity as he asserted previously. The pay jacking politician claimed, as many others did, that he donated his raise to charity. He has now fessed up that he gave it to his son.

To his credit, if that's possible, Ruffing claimed to have given the money to an autism charity. Since his son is autistic I suppose, in his mind, this constituted giving it to an autism charity since, as we all know, charity begins at home. I'll have to remember this when I do my taxes next year. Since I have pets maybe I'll give some of my income to my beagle and write it off as a donation to an animal rescue operation. The next time a nor'easter blows through and knocks down a few tree limbs I'll give myself some cash and write it off as giving to a storm related group.

Why are we shocked to discover a politician lied to us? Do scorpions sting? Do snakes bite? It's just their nature folks. I bet we all wondered how much of that money was actually donated to charities. This makes them all questionable. Let's make every state rep and senator prove where they donated this cash.

Vote With Your Dollars

People who know me will recognize this as one of my mantras. You can only cast your vote twice a year but you can vote with your dollars every day. The previous post about Scaife and the Coors family brought this to mind again. If you're a progressive why would you financially support businesses that fund right wing government and politics? You can vote with your dollars every day by deciding where to do business. Don't buy Coors beer for example. The Coors family uses their ownership of the brewing company to help fund The Heritage Foundation. Many of the regressive, extremist laws implemented by the Bush Administration came from there and the American Enterprise Institute.

If you don't like Richard Mellon Scaife don't do business with Mellon Bank. Sovereign Bank is headed by people who regularly contribute to Democrats. Pay attention to your local businesses and which ones post GOP signs each election cycle. Go elsewhere with your business.

Use this thread to cite other examples, both local and national.

Scaife Continues to Smear Soros

Richard Mellon Scaife, one of the chief financiers of the Right Wing Noise Machine and publisher of the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, continues to take every opportunity to smear George Soros. The Trib column Whispers contains this nugget:

A Columbus, Ohio, TV station pulled ads from the liberal political organization MoveOn.org after U.S. Rep. Deborah Pryce, R-Ohio, complained that the commercials distorted her record.

MoveOn.org, whose backers include financier George Soros, spent $89,400 on the ads, The Associated Press reported.

The commercials alleged Pryce was "caught red-handed" taking contributions from energy companies and then voting against legislation to punish them for gasoline price-gouging. Pryce, the GOP's highest-ranking woman in Congress, said the commercials implied she broke the law when she did not.

Pryce said the ads implied she took money directly from oil companies instead of their political action committees, which would have been illegal.


Anyone with the slightest degree of familiarity with MoveOn.org knows they get the bulk of their financing from small contributors. Though I'd assume George Soros is one of those he's anything but the principal money source for MoveOn. Certainly not like Scaife finances The Weekly Standard, the Heritage Foundation and many more right wing organizations (along with the Coors family).

Scaife never misses a chance to take a potshot at Soros. I think he's terrified of having a liberal counterpart to himself and will do anything possible to discredit Soros.

As far as the content of the Whispers item, it's hysterical. To discredit MoveOn's attack by saying the money came from the industry PAC's instead of the companies themselves is beyond being disingenuous. Companies are not allowed to contribute to campaigns (even by paying salaried employees to advocate on company time) so they set up PACs to do so legally. Saying someone's votes weren't affected by significant contributions from those PACs is insulting our intelligence. Of course Scaife has been doing that for years so what else is new?

Santorum Proves Penn Hills House is Empty

Senator Rick Santorum's attempts this week to secure his house in Penn Hills proves that it is vacant. Why would you send an agent of the U.S. Capitol Police to do a security check if you or someone else is living in the home? If it were me I'd walk around the house and yard to check it myself. If I were renting the house I'd simply call or otherwise contact my tenants and have them do the same. This is proof that the Penn Hills abode is empty.

To date Wacky Ricky has yet to prove that anyone trespassed on the property. He has yet to prove any connection between the Casey campaign and the Vecchio family. Yet he has yet to make a public retraction of the absurd accusations he's repeatedly made in the media.

On the positive side the Penn Hills police are patrolling the neighborhood regularly. This is welcome news to the neighbors since everyone knows a vacant house is a magnet for trouble.

Saturday, May 27, 2006

NY Times Proves Swift Boat Veterans Were Liars

Since the vicious lies spread by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth torpedoed his presidential campaign in 2004 John Kerry has been amassing evidence to disprove the claims. The New York Times, that mouthpiece for the Bush Administration which used Judith Miller as their personal propaganda agent to justify war in Iraq, has published a story exposing the Swift Boaters as liars.

Many people believed the smears against Kerry, especially when his campaign was slow responding. The supreme gall of denigrating a true war hero on behalf of someone who went AWOL in the same conflict illustrated the depths to which Republicans would sink for the sake of power. As I was reading this article I kept recalling those "purple heart band-aids" Rethugs wore at their convention in New York. Every one of those delegates should apologize to Senator Kerry.

Freedom On the March in Iraq

The BBC reports that three members, including the coach, of Iraq's Olympic tennis team were murdered in Baghdad for wearing shorts. This is the reason (well, at least the latest version of it) that we're over there: because freedom is on the march. This is why we've sacrificed 2400 American lives and $300 billion dollars. So roving gangs in the civil war can assassinate whomever doesn't abide by their strict Islamic law. Whether it's women having to wear veils and burkhas, or athletes not being able to compete in shorts in the seasonal heat, this is why we're there. This is the "noble cause" for which George W. Bush says Casey Sheehan and all the others died. This is why more must die so we can perpetuate the situation in freedom loving Iraq.

Swann Dives Off the Deep End Again

Republican Gubernatorial candidate Lynn Swann may be going as bat crazy as Rick Santorum. Well, maybe not THAT crazy. Did someone put acid in the somemeal at a recent GOP dinner? First Senator Man on Dog goes nuts over a story about his empty house in Penn Hills and now Lynn Swann accuses the Rendell campaign of intimidating potential donors by threatening their state contracts and grants if they did so.

Swann made this great leap during an interview with the Associated Press. I sure hope Swann can still receive because he sure knows how to dish it out. Offering no evidence (ala Santorum) or other substantiation for his claims, the former Steeler wide receiver dropped this pass. He's beginning to look like another nutjob.

The Rendell campaign responded thusly:

"If Lynn Swann has any evidence, he should report it to the authorities right now. If not, he ought to shut up," said the Rendell spokesman, Dan Fee.


He also stated he favors legal discrimination of an entire class of people, favors restricting women's reproductive rights, says he wants to cut corporate taxes by one third (guess who he'll transfer that revenue burden to????) and proposes a California-like failed Proposition 13 type tax freeze on property.

Who else do you think ate at that acid buffet? We have no shortage of crazy people running this year. Maybe Don Sherwood can use this as a defense to his attempted strangling of his mistress. Joe Pitts can say it's why he's against every possible investment in our communities. Curt Weldon sees Able Danger in every turban. Jim Gerlach has never seen corrupt money he couldn't take.

Fake Women's Clinics Committing Harassment

Your tax dollars at work. Fake women's reproductive clinics are springing up around the country, partly funded with your tax dollars, seeking to fool women into thinking they are Planned Parenthood facilities. The nutjobs staffing these places then proceed to criminally harass the women who sought to terminate their unwanted pregnancies. There's a very disturbing article about this issue here.

I also know of a bicycle shop in Kutztown, Pennsylvania with a large signboard in the window offering help to women who are pregnant. The owner of this shop is fervently anti-choice and isn't really looking to help women. If you've noticed any other such operations around the state post the information here. I'll see it gets to Planned Parenthood.

Friday, May 26, 2006

Pittsburgh Area Soldier KIA in Iraq

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer a soldier from Pleasant Hills, outside Pittsburgh was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq.

9th CD: Tony Barr Official Candidate

I blogged a bit about 9th Congressional District candidate Tony Barr the other day. You can read his press release at PoliticsPA about officially qualifying for the race. Tony is a good progressive and all contributions would be gladly accepted. His website has a contribution link.

New State GOP Chair Elected

Interesting doings over in Republithug land. After the resignation of Chair Eileen Melvin the state GOP has elected Cambria County Chair Robert Gleason as their new Chair. According to the Pittsburgh Tribune Review the vote was held via conference call.

According to the Allentown Morning Call (hat tip to GrassrootsPA) Gubernatorial candidate Lynn Swann flexed his political muscles and blocked his primary opponent Bill Scranton Jr. from the position. Nice to see the GOP has its infighting too.

Santorum Residency Issue

The furor over Senator Santorum's residency continues to dominate news coverage of that race. Though everyone knows Rick and his family don't live in Pennsylvania any longer the issue has legs because of the the Senator's hypocrisy. It really has nothing to do with his eligibility to either vote here or represent the Commonwealth in Washington.

It is lawful for Santorum to reside in Virginia while representing Pennsylvania. This is a long standing policy which was essential in the days when Congressmen and Senators had to travel by horseback and/or coach. It was impossible in colonial days and even the 19th Century, to commute to D.C. The only solution was to allow these public servants to live in the Washington area while still representing their home states. I'm puzzled by people who challenge the Senator's eligibility based on the concept he surrendered his residency. Even today would you require Representatives from Hawaii to commute?

The issue here is hypocrisy. Santorum ran for Congress in 1990 attacking the incumbent for being out of touch with his District because he'd moved to Virginia. He attacked him relentlessly on the issue. Now Rick Santorum is accused of the same offense: living in Virginia full time and only visiting Pennsylvania during the course of his duties or for campaigning. The fact his campaign is perpetuating this issue by attacking his opponent is senseless. It makes me wonder about the competency of his advisors.

Why in the world would Santorum keep reminding the voters that he lives in Virginia now? Why would he revive all the stories about the Penn Hills taxpayer ripoff he and family executed? Why would he revive all the stories about his 1990 campaign which reveal his hypocrisy? This is really stupid strategy.

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Hit the Bat for Ned lamont

Democracy for America has posted a "bat" for contributions to Ned Lamont. Lamont is the progressive Democrat running against Joe Lieberman in August's Connecticut Senate primary. He was endorsed by DFA this week and they are raising money for his campaign. Lamont qualified for the ballot this past weekend by garnering over one third of the delegate votes at the state party convention. His campaign is on a roll and this is a chance to replace a very conservative Democrat with a progressive. Please contribute generously.

ANWAR Vote Action Alert

I just received this from our local Sierra Club:

ACTION ALERT! HOUSE TO VOTE TO DRILL IN ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE
REFUGE CALL NOW AT 1-800-841-7299 TO TELL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TO VOTE
NO! THAT'S 1-800-841-7299.

I know what you're thinking,
"haven't I heard this one before?". The answer it "yes, you have"
because the only thing that the Oil Administration and their allies in
Congress can ever think of whenever confronted with any problem is to drill
for oil in America's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. In a cynical
attempt to look as though they are doing something about high gas prices,
the House of Representatives this week (probably on Thursday, May 25,
or Friday, May 26) will vote on legislation to open America’s Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. In reality, this proposal is
nothing more than a sneak attack on the pristine Arctic Refuge and another
massive give-away to Big Oil companies already making obscene profits.
In reality, allowing drilling in America’s Arctic Refuge will do
nothing at all to lower gas prices this year, or next year, or even the next
year. In reality, the Department of Energy’s own analysts tell us
that drilling in the Arctic Refuge wouldn’t lower gas prices for twenty
years, and then by only a penny per gallon. Pennies for consumers,
billions more in profits for Big Oil. Drilling in the Arctic Refuge won't
help consumers. This drilling scheme isn't about gas prices - it's
about giving the oil industry another big gift when they're already rolling
in record profits. Congress has already wasted more than 20 years
debating this issue instead of talking about some real solutions for
America’s Energy needs. Enough is enough. Take a moment and send Congress
a message – tell them that drilling in America’s Arctic Refuge will do
nothing to solve high gas prices and will only save us a penny twenty
years from now. Tell them to vote against any legislation that gives
away the Arctic Refuge to Big Oil. CALL NOW!!! 1-800-841-7299
This toll-free number will automatically connect you to your
Representative’s Office. CALL 1-800-841-7299 and tell your Representative to
vote NO.
Erik DuMont
Alaska Wilderness League
122 C Street NW Suite 240
Washington DC 20001
202-544-5205

Santorum Goes Bonkers

No, no need to protect your pet dogs, he didn't go bonkers over THAT. Our current Senator Rick Santorum (R-VA) is going bonkers over the fact some people from Penn Hills have cauhgt him being a hypocrite. If you recall Tricky Ricky ran for Congress in 1990 by smearing his opponent for actually living in Virginia instead of Pennsylvania. As we fast forward to 2005 it was discovered that the Santorum house in Penn Hills, which they use as their legal residence for voting purposes, was being rented. Not like the Santorum's with their six children could live in a two bedroom home anyway. No, they're comfortably settled into their expensive home in Leesburg, Virginia. Leesburg, where the Senator buys his coffee every morning from the local Starbucks using money from his charity.

Last week I wrote about an email I got from the Santorum campaign accusing Casey operatives of trespassing on his Penn Hills property and threatening his family by looking in the windows of that abode. Seems a story came out mentioning that the house is now empty. Santorum also launched an commercial in Pitsburgh making these accusations. The problem is there's no evidence whatsoever to support his wild accusations.

From a story by John Baer in today's Philadelphia Daily News:

Casey's camp denies it. Local police find no evidence of trespass. Yet here we go.

The story began when a Penn Hills couple, Ed and Erin Vecchio, challenged Santorum's right to vote in the May 16 primary election, saying he doesn't live in the district. Erin Vecchio is a local Democratic official and school board member who in '04 questioned Santorum's using local resources to cyber-school some of his children.


The Penn Hills police say there is no evidence that anyone trespassed. As I mentioned in my previous post it's possible someone used a pair of binoculars to ascertain there are no curtains or furniture presently in the house. This is desperation politics by a desperate candidate. Santorum is so far behind and sees the obvious handwriting on the wall for incumbents, especially incumbent Republicans and is reacting in a way that make syou wonder if he's gone bonkers.

John Baer points out the stupidity of this strategy:

But the mystery to me is three-fold.

Santorum got to Congress by beating then-incumbent Doug Walgren in 1990 hammering the fact Walgren lived in Virginia; why draw attention to the fact that he lives in Virginia?

Why, after a flap over Penn Hills cyber-school costs, remind voters of that controversy?

And why, if concerned for the safety of his kids (any parent's priority, and, I believe, Santorum's), draw attention to his house and his kids?

Could it be when one trails in a year primed to punish incumbents one seeks to shift attention from issues such as Iraq and support of President Bush to, oh, I don't know, charges that thugs are out to get his kids?


Good points.

PA-9 Tony Barr

As a continued follow-up to last week's election I'd like to take a moment and talk about the Ninth Congressional District. This area in southwestern Pennsylvania is home to imcumbent Bud Shuster. It is also home to Tony Barr who ran as a write-in candidate for the Democratic nomination. Tony had a lot of assistance from the Democracy for America chapter and received the required number of votes to qualify for the ballot.

Tony is a true progressive:

Balance the budget and end irresponsible tax cuts for the wealthiest
Americans.
End the brain and labor drain and create solid American jobs that pay a
living wage.
Institute single-payer universal health care and support expanded
stem-cell research.
End the war in Iraq.
Develop a real plan for energy independence and sustainability.
Offer opportunities for affordable higher education to all Americans.
Protect choice for women and privacy rights for all citizens.
Protect the rights of hunters and homeowners.
Reform campaign financing and return our government to the people.


Though his website is a bit bare bones right now I'm sure your contributions to his campaign will change that. Please do what you can to assist this good candidate.

Raiding a Congressional Office

I wrote yesterday about how disturbing it was to see the FBI, an arm of the Executive Branch, raiding the office of a Congressman, a member of the Legislative Branch. I don't care how corrupt the official is, this is wrong. We've had corrupt Congresspersons for as long as the republic has existed. Heck, we've even has corrupt Presidents. This was an unconstitutional act violating the separation of powers we depend on for the survival of our democracy. No one corrupt Congressperson is worth jeopardizing that for. Certainly there have been other methods for investigating corruption. It's certainly worked for many, many corrupt public officilas over 220 years.

My question is what Judge approved this search warrant? Ok, ok, stop laughing. The concept of the Federal government needing a search warrant is, under George W. Bush, a quaint concept. Still, I can't believe even Alberto Gonzales would allow his FBI agents to raid a Congressional office without first getting a warrant. Who issued such a document and why? That judge should be impeached.

One Vote Does Count

Don't ever allow some nitwit to tell you their vote doesn't count. There are races every year that are determined by a single tally. Last week I came out of my contest for county committeeman down by a single vote 97-96. Yesterday I went to election services to observe them tally the absentee ballots. There were 14 for my precinct but 12 of those were cast by Republicans. With only two Democratic ballots to count I had to get both votes to win. I did. So I won 98-97. One vote can be crucial. Don't ever allow someone to tell you your vote isn't important.

Pennsylvania Republicans in Turmoil

The Pennsylvania Republican Party is coming apart at the seams. After last week's election debacles: losing leaders Bob Jubilerer, Chip Brightbill and Dennis Leh, losing the special Senate election in once deep red Chester County, then the resignation of State Chair Eileen Melvin, the newest wacky policy statements from Lynn Swann (yup, just what we need here, a failed Prop 13) the PA GOP is becoming the poster child for dysfunctional political parties.

There is a battle in Montgomery County for the Republican Chair slot in light of their repeated election defeats the past two years. The Berks County GOP Chair was named one of the five worst chairs in the state by PoliticsPA last year. Now, in light of the bath they took at the polls last week their state Chair has resigned. All this coming as we head into the fall's Senate race and Congressional contests. Things don't look good for the GOP in Pennsylvania this year. As more and more people are awakening to the failures of conservatism, especially in the White House, they are voting for Democrats. This has turned Republicans against each other. It's like watching a shark pack turn on each other. Great sport to watch from the safety of a ship's deck. Anyone have some fresh meat to throw over the side to keep them fighting?

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Separation of Powers

The raid of Congressman Jefferson's office in the Capitol was certainly disturbing. The FBI entering the inner sanctum of a Member of Congress, regardless of Party affiliation, is a serious breach of our constitutional separation of powers. Not even Duke Cunningham's or Tom DeLay's offices were searched in the course of those corruption investigations. There have been rumors for some time about a corruption probe against the Louisiana Congressman, but to raid his office is a serious encroachment of the Executive Branch against the Legislative branch of government.

With such a precedent who is to say the President cannot order the FBI to intimidate any Congressperson they please in order to "persuade" them to vote a certain way? This is a definite threat to the very basis of our democracy regardless of Mr. Jefferson's guilt or innocence. Or, should I say, another threat? President Bush has already rendered Congress as almost irrelevant with his 750 "signing statements" saying he'll only enforce the laws they've passed as he sees fit. He's already advanced the idea of a "unitary executive" who is above the law during times of war. He's already violated Federal laws against spying against American citizens and had Congress sheepishly bow down and agree to be bitch slapped again.

How long will this Do Nothing Congress acquiesce to the intrusions of this President against their constitutional powers and responsibilities before they rise up and say "We're an equal branch of government and you cannot continue marginalizing us!" Don't hold your breath folks. It's still a long way to November when we Democrats take back control of Congress and bitch slap President Bush back into reality.

Federal Budget Cuts Hurting PA Children

The federal government has refused to re-imburse the Commonwealth $138 million for children and youth services. The Administration for Families and Children is refusing to provide these funds for crucial services for our children. AFC says it is because they changed the qualification rules. It seems they neglected to forward those changes to state officials and so are now denying the funds. These are monies used for juvenile justice, counseling, and intervention. Apparently they are gone for the foreseeable future.

Pennsylvania is the only state being denied these funds. This is a lot of money and counties are now facing bad decisions. Some have already cut critical services to children and youth. With the loss of these funds local property owners face significant tax increases, probably forcing many of them from their homes.

I have a few suggestions. First we all should contact our Federal officials and demand that reimbursement be made and payments continued into the future. Secondly, since we face an immediate loss of $138 million they state legislature could release some of their $324 million slush fund to cover the sosts of these essential services. Thirdly let's make this an issue in this year's campaigns. When you attend an event for a Senate or Congressional candidate ask them what they intend to do about this situation.

Why does our state legislature need all these funds, with no accountability for how they're spent, anyway? It's pure corruption. The Auditor General isn't even allowed to audit these accounts. Let's use some of them to ease the present crisis while pressure is brought on our Senate and Congressional delegations to restore the funding.

If we can't take care of and protect our children we truly have our priorities screwed up.

Monday, May 22, 2006

Bob Casey & Iraq

As I mentioned in this morning's article about Casey's positions on issues, the state Treasurer, whose foreign policy experience is minimal, has stated he would have voted for George Bush's authorization to allow the use of force against Iraq and he supports Bush's current policy (whatever the heck it is).

W spoke in Chicago this morning and warned the American people we will have a continued rough road ahead. There will be more suffering and more deaths of our loved ones. All for those non-existent WMD's. The new Iraqi government is a sham. How you form a government without filling the three most important cabinet positions is beyond my comprehension. It isn't a government it's a puppet regime set up by George W. Bush. With no Interior Minister or Defense Minister guess who's going to be calling the shots? (Hint: want some Rice with that?)

It's time for Bob Casey to come out against this war. As the Republicans in Congress, led in part by Rick Santorum, subvert our constitution in furtherance of their failed policies it's obvious we're headed down a dangerous road. The country agrees, saying Bush and Santorum have us on the wrong track. A track that's not just headed in the wrong direction but over a cliff. We need a drastic change of direction.

Voters aren't looking for more of the same. Voters are quite upset over the course Bush has set. They are quite upset over the incompetence that has resulted in our losing this war. They want a change. Casey can offer them that change by stating unequivocally that he agrees with Congressman Murtha and now opposes the continued failed policies that are turning this country's mothers into passengers in Thelma and Louise's car. These Moms deserve better for their sons and daughters. It's time for Bob casey to "be brave" as Alan Sandals said.

Be brave Bob. Do the right thing.

Priorities

The U.S. Senate passed addressed two major issues last week. Amid several national crises they
saw fit to pass a bill mandating that English be our "national language" and a constitutional
amendment denying gays and lesbians equal rights was voted out of committee.

These crucial actions were done amid a climate of fear. GOP imposed fear of immigrants and gays.
They were done as a way of distracting their base from the fact they aren't dealing with any of
the really important issues facing this nation: lack of health care, a war run amok, a Chief
Executive who thinks he's above the law, an unconstitutional invasion of millions of Americans'
privacy rights, providing a living wage to millions of the working poor, or passing significant ethics reform.

Yes, it was far more important to do this work instead. This do nothing Congress continues
to do nothing meaningful.

Bob Casey on the Issues

As requested by Rick here is a synopsis of Bob Casey’s position on various issues. I’m basing these on either published records or his responses during the primary election debates.

War in Iraq: Agrees with President Bush we should “stay the course”

Would have voted to support the resolution to authorize the use of force

Health Care: Supports “affordable” coverage rather than HR 676

Minimum wage: supports raising the minimum wage but not a living wage

Labor: strong union credentials, he supports rights of workers to organize

Stem cell research: ardent opponent of embryonic stem cell research

Judiciary: supported nominations of Roberts and Alito to Supreme Court

Equal rights: mixed. Supports the Federal defense of marriage act, uses that as a basis to oppose a federal marriage amendment. Opposed to gay adoption. Supports domestic partnership benefits.

Conception: Casey supports women’s rights to contraception and family planning, Santorum opposes.

Women’s reproductive rights: Casey is fervently anti-choice

Terri Schiavo and the separation of powers: supported federal intervention in state judicial affairs

Gun safety: supported by the NRA Casey is against gun safety laws

Sunday, May 21, 2006

Rendell Proposes Non-Partisan Redistricting

Governor Ed Rendell announced an independent citizen's panel to redistrict Pennsylvania Congressional and legislative districts. Speaking at the spring dinner for the Kutztown (Berks) Area Democratic Club he called for reform in the way we elect our representatives. Criticizing the current method the Governor said the net effect of creating so many "safe" seats is to send too many extremists to Washington and Harrisburg. These representatives are not amenable to compromise and working toward good government so the Governor will seek to empanel a group of citizens to do the work after the 2010 census.

I admire the attempt at reform. The Governor is correct but there will be a hue and cry from his fellow Democrats after this fall's sweep of state and federal elections. They will want to do what the GOP has done across the country: redistrict in mid-decade to solidfy their stranglehold on seats. Republicans haven't waited for the end of the decade census numbers to re-district in places like Texas.

Will the Governor be able to obtain the support he needs from fellow Dems to create true reform? The 150+ people at the Lyons Fire Company were quite receptive to the idea. Rendell also promised that if the Democrats assembled for the event gave him 5 1/2 months of support for the November election he'd give them four years of successes with a new Democratic state legislature.

The Governor was on his game even after a grueling two day, nie stop campaign kickoff tour. Obviously tired and eager to get home to Harrisburg for some rest, the Governor took time to meet the many local candidates seeking to help him over the next four years.

If Ed is smart he'll use much of his time and resources helping these and other impressive new candidates win their seats. It isn't as if Rendell will have trouble raising his own campaign cash. These new faces do however, and there's no bigger draw in Pennsylvania than having the Governor attend your event. Ed, find out how many of these people you can help, get around the state to help them raise money and I guarantee you they'll be there in January when you need them to pass your agenda in Harrisburg. That would insure a successful second term.

Saturday, May 20, 2006

The DaVinci Code Controversy

With this week's release of the movie version of Dan Brown's blockbuster best selling book controversy is raging about the story. I must admit I'm at a bit of a loss to explain the reaction. I read the book a couple years ago and enjoyed it. A good read. It's fiction though folks. Fiction. A made up, good story. Neither Dan Brown nor anyone else is going about saying it's fact or the direct word of God.

People on the extreme right wing who contend that every single word in the Bible is straight from God (I know, it's amazing how many fools exist) are outraged about this movie. They claim it's heresy. Folks, no one alive has any idea what really happened two thousand years ago. Who knows what other holy scriptures lie locked away in the Vatican. Who knows how many monks transcribed the texts currently in the Bible over the centuries? Who knows how many errors occurred in those transcriptions? Who knows what some of those ancient words meant in Biblical times? Who knows if they were correctly translated? Biblical scholars are at a loss to answer some of these questions. Every time I open my Bible I'm reminded of the words on the cover: King James Version. This means it's one man's version of the book, not God's. He may have been a King but he wasn't God.

The DaVinci Code is nothing more than a figment of Dan Brown's imagination. He uses a basic literary device: taking a couple snippets from reality and crafting a tale around them to tell a story. Writers do this regularly. Brown takes the existence of two shadowy organizations and presents a credible enough extension of them to entertain folks. That's all he did: entertain people with a made up story.

Expending all this energy over a story and a movie seems like a waste of time. However it is doing a service by shining light on the secretive cult Opus Dei. I did quite a bit of research into this group while trying to clarify what relationship Senator Rick Santorum has with them. The more I learned about Opus Dei the more concerned I became about the group and any connection between them and Santorum.

I'll have more to say about that soon.

Friday, May 19, 2006

Santorum's Penn Hills Residence Empty?

I received an email from the Santorum campaign complaining vociferously about the fact someone has Tricky Ricky with his pants down again. It seems the house in Penn Hills that he uses as his official Pennsylvania residence is now empty. The family which was renting it has presumably moved. If you recall the Santorum family of eight actually lives in Leesburg, Virginia. In spite of this they charged the Penn Hills school district taxpayers over $100,000 to pay for the charter school education of their children.

The email from Santorum's campaign manager says this:

You may have seen on the news last night an investigative report that revealed the shocking news of a Casey campaign operative peeking into the windows of the Santorum family home.

Even more shocking, the Casey campaign is embracing these tactics, and yesterday put out false information about the Santorum family, further risking the safety of the Santorum's young children and the security of their home.


I'd like to know how they know this person was a "Casey campaign operative." I know the Casey campaign is completely unethical and he's infamous for running negative campaigns but I'd like to see some proof that this person was connected to their campaign. Also, it seems to me they're assuming someone trespassed to look into their windows. A good set of binoculars might have been sufficient.

Of course this is a smokescreen by the Santorum campaign. They sure don't want the story about Rick's two bedroom primary residence all over the enws again. So they make it into an attack on the Casey campaign. Unfortunately the Casey campaign's previous tactics make this all too easy.

Rick maybe it's time you simply sold the house and admitted you actually live in Virginia. Leave all of us in Pennsylvania to elect one of our own to the Senate. You can get one of those high paying lobbyist jobs so you won't have to keep using your charity's funds to buy your Starbucks coffee every day. I have nothing but sympathy (snark, snark) for your struggle trying to make ends meet on your Senate salary.

Reconciliation, Or the Lack Thereof

After a primary election battle the smart strategy for the victor is to reach out to the voters and supporters of the candidates who lost. It's imperative to attempt to bring them into your camp. Sometimes this entails a meeting where apologies are made, concessions offered and the axe is buried. Bob Casey's supporters have only found one place to bury their axe: in my back. Not unexpected. Of course, it was the conduct of the Casey supporters that cemented my support for Chuck Pennacchio. If those were the sort of tactics Casey's people were engaging in I wanted no part of that campaign. Thus my decision to announce a write-in campaign for November.

Let's be clear about something. I haven't worked for Chuck since last summer. I rarely speak to him unless we're at the same event. We have a little chat but I haven't been nvolved in his campaign. I've also had friendly conversations with Alan Sandals at these events. It doesn't mean I was giving him advice either. I know both men and I respect both men.

What is it about Pennsylvania politics that we can't heal wounds from hard fought primaries and come together in compromise? I well remember the aftermath of the Presidential primaries in 2004. I was deeply involved in the Howard Dean campaign. After John Kerry became the presumptive nominee the Kerry campaign reached out to have a meeting with us. I won't reveal who it was or where in order to protect them, but it wasn't a good meeting.

We Dean leaders gathered beforehand to try and determine what it was they'd be asking of us. The obvious answer was help using the internet for organizing and fundraising, which Dean for President pretty much invented that election cycle. No, it turned out they wanted us to do something in direct violation of Federal election law. A very serious violation. We all left the meeting determined not to have anything more to do with that campaign. Because of this some of us were ostracized for not doing more to help the Kerry campaign. Simply amazing.

Now, instead of trying to heal some very serious wounds and move on to November a Casey supporter is again smearing me. Seems they're still pissed that I exposed one of their biggest supporters for using his company's time and resources to support Casey. Federal election law is quite clear on this matter. No cpmpany resources can be expended to raise funds for a candidate. None. Adam used hours and hours of his time on the law firm's dime to advocate for a Casey. He did this for over a year. The only reason you advocate on sites like Kos is to raise money. You can raise serious money for a candidate on those blogs. If his advocacy raised $1 for the Casey camp what he did was illegal.

Yet JimK posted a comment on Chuck's blog further castigating me for my expose. Instead of trying to mend fences he chose to burn a few more. Simply amazing! When they lose in November they'll be able to blame me instead of their own ineptitude. And we wonder why we haven't won a full term Senate seat in this state since 1962. The beat will go on with campaigns like this.

Senate Republicans in the Closet

Yesterday the Senate Judiciary Committee met in a large closet to pass a constitutional amendment legalizing discrimination. The Federal Marriage Amendment would create a system of apartheid in America, delineating two separate classes of rights: one for straight people and one for GLBT people. This system of sexual apartheid was fittingly accomplished in a closet. The committee met ina room so tiny no one other than the Senators could observe.

Isn't this against the entire concept of open government? Maybe Snarlin Arlen Specter wanted to hide the fact he voted for this Amendment even though he claims to be against it. The old "I was against it before I was for it" stand of conscience and principle.... When our U.S. Senator doesn't feel it necessary or critical to stand up for equal rights we all should be very worried.

Specter had a little dust up with Senator Russ Feingold, on record as supporting equal rights for all Americans (what a revolutionary concept!) Feingold decided to leave the hearing ad Snarlin' Arlin had these words for the 2008 Presidential hopeful:

"I don't need to be lectured by you. You are no more a protector of the Constitution than am I. If you want to leave, good riddance."


How does Senator Specter figure they're equal protectors of the constitution when he's voting to gut the Fourteenth Amendment? Once we decide it's ok to abridge the rights of gays and lesbians who will be next on the GOP hit list? Latinos? Women? African-Americans? Jews? It's a slippery slope.

For the record here's Senator Feingold's statement:

“Today’s markup of the constitutional amendment concerning marriage, in a small room off the Senate floor with only a handful of people other than Senators and their staffs present, was an affront to the Constitution. I objected to its consideration in such an inappropriate setting and refused to help make a quorum. I am deeply disappointed that the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee went forward with the markup over my objection. Unfortunately, the Majority Leader has set a politically motivated schedule for floor consideration of this measure that the Chairman felt compelled to follow, even though he says he opposes the amendment.

Constitutional amendments deserve the most careful and deliberate consideration of any matter that comes before the Senate. In addition to hearings and a subcommittee markup, such a measure should be considered by the Judiciary Committee in the light of day, open to the press and the public, with cameras present so that the whole country can see what is done. Open and deliberate debate on such an important matter cannot take place in a setting such as the one chosen by the Chairman of the Committee today.

The Constitution of the United States is an historic guarantee of individual freedom. It has served as a beacon of hope, an example to people around the world who yearn to be free and to live their lives without government interference in their most basic human decisions. I took an oath when I joined this body to support and defend the Constitution. I will continue to fight this mean-spirited, divisive, poorly drafted, and misguided amendment when it comes to the Senate floor.”


Which one of these men would you rather have defending your constitutional rights?

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Dave Kessler Campaign Event

Fundraising Dinner for
David Kessler
For State Representative
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Cocktails and Hors d’Oeuvres – 5:30
Full Course Dinner – 6:30
(Includes one cocktail and one glass of wine)

Hors d’Oeuvres
King Crab Risotto
baked in Filo pastry cups
Smoked Salmon Mousse
with Dill and Horseradish on Rye
Caramelized Pecan Bacon
Mini Tomato Basil Bruschetta Regiano

Dinner

Oley Valley Inn House Green Salad
with herbal vinaigrette, shaved Prosciutto and toasted Pine Nuts

Entrée Choice:
Roast Sirloin Strip of Beef
with Truffle scented Mushroom and Cabernet Demi-Glace
OR:
Baked Filet of Stuffed Flounder
stuffed with Shrimp and Crabmeat, glazed with Hollandaise

Fresh Strawberry Shortcake
with our Sour Cream Pound Cake

Coffee, Tea and Iced Tea

$125.00 per plate
$150 per plate at Dave’s Honorary table

Checks should be payable to:
Kessler for PA

Call Dave @ (610) 689-4711 for reservations

Oley Valley Inn
401 Main Street
Oley, Pennsylvania 19547

Gov. Rendell Campaign Kickoff Event

What: Gov. Rendell’s Campaign Kickoff event

When: Saturday, May 20th, 1:30pm sharp

Where: 876 Myrtlewood St. Philadelphia, PA 19130
Governor Rendell is calling on Democrats across the Philadelphia metro area to join him as he launches his 2006 re-election campaign!

The Governor will make his official announcement on the steps of the same house from which he announced his candidacies for mayor of Philadelphia in 1991 and Governor in 2002.

This will be the first official Rendell for Governor campaign event in Philadelphia in 2006. Show up and be counted as a supporter! Come celebrate the first step towards four more years of visionary leadership from Ed Rendell!

Directions

From 76 East:
Follow to the US-30 W / GIRARD AVE exit- EXIT 342- toward US-13 / PHILA ZOO. Turn LEFT onto W GIRARD AVE / US-30. Continue to follow W GIRARD AVE. Turn SLIGHT RIGHT onto POPLAR DR. Look for driveway off NORTHBOUND Poplar Dr (on your LEFT heading SOUTHBOUND), near intersection of Poplar Dr. and W. Sedgeley St. Parking available in clearing beyond driveway. Park and follow signs one block to 876 Myrtlewood St.

From 95 South/North:
Take the I-676 exit- EXIT 22- on the LEFT toward US-30 / CENTRAL PHILA / INDEPENDENCE HALL / CALLOWHILL ST. Merge onto VINE ST EXPY / I-676 W / US-30 W via the exit on the LEFT toward I-676 W / US-30 W / CENTRAL PHILA. Take the exit toward BEN FRANKLIN PARKWAY. Turn RIGHT onto N 22ND ST. Turn LEFT onto BENJAMIN FRANKLIN PKWY. Turn SLIGHT RIGHT onto KELLY DR. Turn RIGHT onto SEDGELY DR and follow to driveway on RIGHT where SEDGELEY forks from Poplar. Park and follow signs one block to 876 Myrtlewood St.

Please call Ben at (215) 545-4553 for directions or with questions.

Paid for by Rendell for Governor www.rendellforgovernor.com

Support a Progressive Candidate for U.S. Senate

While everyone is still revved up from the Pennsylvania Senate primary I want to bring someone else to your attention. His name is Ned Lamont and he's running in the August Connecticut primary against Joe Lieberman. We all know what a DINO Joe Loserman is. He supports the disastrous war in Iraq, gets proudly bussed on the cheek by George Bush, and is extremely vulnerable in his re-election effort.

Ned Lamont is a real progressive running an aggressive campaign. Go to his website and watch some of the ads he's running and a short video about the issues. Tim Tagaris is now doing Lamont's blog and it's up and running here. The ads and video are available on the blog.

I urge all progressive Pennsylvanians to do what they can between now and August to help Ned Lamont. You feel betrayed by a Pennsylvania Democratic Party that shoved Bob Casey down your throat so transfer that energy and money to Connecticut where you can still make a difference. If we're going to get a Lieberman Democrat representing Pennsylvania at least let's get rid of Connecticut's Lieberman.

Write-In for Pennacchio

I've been thinking recently about what I'll do once I'm in my voting booth on November 7th. The Casey people have completely alienated me from ever voting for that man. I simply cannot vote for Santorum. I refuse to compromise everything I believe in. My core set of issues are what I am and the reason I'm involved in politics. If I prostitute myself on them by voting for Bob Casey I may as well get out of the political arena. After all, how can I ask others to vote for a candidate who supports important progressive issues when I can't stand up for them myself?

I've decided I'm going to cast my vote for Chuck Pennacchio as a write-in on November 7th.

I urge all others who were part of this movement to do the same. Let's send a message.

Election Follow-Up

The entire nation is looking at Tuesday's election and trying to divine its meaning. I heard two distinct themes while working the polls. One was from voters furious over the pay raise issue and determined to "throw the bums out." The other was massive discontent with George Bush, Congress, and the direction the country is headed. It was one thing to hear th elatter from dedicated Democrats and liberals. It was something else to hear it from Republicans. Many GOP faithful (at least they used to be) said they were ashamed to admit being Republicans. We handed out a few voter registration forms to enable them to change that affliction.

To take what happened here and try to extrapolate it on a national basis is bad though. The voters angry at the pay raise are limited to PA. This is strictly a state phenomenon. Though I do expect a nationwide voter backlash at the polls in November I don't expect it to be on the scale of what happened here.

Ed Rendell, in particular needs to take notice to Tuesday's results. After the Russell Nigro debacle in November and this bloodbath for incumbents he must convince the voters not to throw the baby out with the bath water come November.

For full election results visit the PA Department of State website. The conservative blog GrassrootsPA has links to some media articles about the "earthquake" in Pennsylvania. Interesting reading. This Patriot News article notes how Rick Santorum got 21,000 fewer Republican votes than newcomer Lynn Swann. Now that's VERY interesting. Even Republicans are fed up with our Man on Dog Senator.

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Senate Race

As widely predicted Bobby Casey Junior handily won nomination to be the Democratic opposition to Rick Santorum in November. Pennacchio and Sandals both waged good campaigns considering the entire Party establishment and money went to Casey. Santorum promptly issued a challenge for a series of ten debates. Normally it's the challenger who is trying to get the debates. Tricky Rick knows where Bob's achilles heel is though and is already aiming his arrows for it.

Take some advice Bob. Turn him down. The only way Casey can win is to remain Silent Bob. The more people hear him the less they vote for him. He all but put me to sleep at the debate in Lancaster.

Me? I already know what I'm going to do in November. More on that tomorrow.

As for the rabid Casey supporters who were so willing to sell women down the river in order to win, I hope you can sleep at night. I hope you don't live to regret this the way thousands of women will. The way is now clear for the DLC to recruit more anti-choice candidates. I'd call you "hangers"-on but that might evoke some unpleasant images.

Election Results

Yesterday's Pennsylvania primary was certainly interesting. Andy Dinniman won the special election in Chester County for the State Senate seat which opened because of Sen. Thompson's recent death. A Democrat winning county wide in Chester County is news. The Chester County Democrats under Wayne Burton have made great strides in recent years. Andy was a popular County Commissioner and ran a very good race.

Patrick Murphy won the 8th CD race against Andy Warren. I'm not sure Andy ever really got a good campaign off the ground. I thought Murphy could be beaten but the Bucks Dems seemed deeply divided over this contest. The Murphy camp lost some key potential supporters early on when they began mass emailing people who hadn't signed on to the campaign. It seems someone passed along a trove of people's emails and phone numbers without first getting their permission.

Lois Murphy garnered about 75% of the vote in the 6th CD. I'm surprised Mike Leibowitz was able to garner 25%. I like him and ran into him everywhere. I must say Mike was a tireless campaigner. His conservative stance on many issues kept me squarely in the Murphy camp however. Go get Gerlach Lois. This is your year.

There were several bombshells in Pennsylvania Dutch country. In my State House district, the 130th, 20 year veteran Dennis Leh went down to a local gadfly. Chair of the House Finance Committee Leh was a lightning rod for anger at both the pay raise and the failure to do property tax reform. He seemed completely resigned to the fact he was going to lose when I spoke with him at the polls. He didn't even bother to get volunteers to work the polls for him. Glad to see this right-wingnut lose.

The shocker was the size of Chip Brightbill's loss. This wasn't even close. Mike Folmer, a tire salesman and darling of the evangelical GOP right wing of the GOP beat him 2-1. John Liss needs everyone's support this November to turn this seat Blue.

Other veteran lawmakers who lost regionally were Paul Semmel and Bob Allen. Both voted for the pay raise. Dante Santoni Jr. won re-nomination only because he had two primary opponents who split the vote against him. Neither of his opponents impressed me in any way.

I hear a lot of voter sentiment to throw the bums out. Voter anger was very evident. People came to vote carrying newspaper articles and lists of who to vote out.

Post Election Open Thread

I'm down with a migraine after spending all day yesterday at the polls. Use this as an open thread to talk about the results. A lot of powerful people took a fall yesterday. Jubilerer, Brightbill, Leh, etc. Absolutely amazing! I'll write more about these later. Who won and lost in your area of the Commonwealth?

Monday, May 15, 2006

Update on 15th CD

Pat over at LeftIndependent blog sent me some info on the 15th Congressional District. This is the Lehigh Valley, generally speaking. Charlie Dent won the seat in 2004 when Jim Toomey ran for Senate instead of re-election. No one filed petitions to run against him though two candidates are mounting write-in campaigns for the Democratic nomination.

Here are links to Left Independent for more info:

http://leftindependent.blogspot.com/2006/05/3-d-write-ins-pa-15th-congressional.html

http://leftindependent.blogspot.com/2006/05/greta-browne-vs-2-charlie-horse-race.html

http://leftindependent.blogspot.com/2006/05/pennsylvania-democrats-for-impeaching.html

Desperate People

I loved this short interview on CNN. Tony Harris interviewed a White House spokeperson about the President's speech this evening on immigration. It was basically a chance for her to promote the new policy. The hilarious part was when Mr. Harris stated that the new policy might make desperate people more desperate. The White House shill thought he meant Bush! He had to re-state the comment to make it clear he meant the immigrants and not the President.

Bobby Ray Inman on NSA

This afternoon I listened to former Admiral Bobby Ray Inman speak on NPR's Talk of the Nation about the newest NSA domestic spying scandal. The Admiral was NSA Director from 1977 to 1981. He claimed that NSA doesn't have the capability to do this program. He claimed that the NSA is completely separate from the Pentagon. He said that NSA has no analytical ability, that they only collect raw intelligence and provide it to other intelligence agencies for analysis.

I'm sure all this was true when the Admiral ran NSA. That was 25 years ago though. I have one huge problem with Inman's assertion that the program detailed by USA Today last week couldn't exist. President Bush refused to deny the existence of the program. I also doubt Inman's claim the Pentagon has no influence over NSA. Wasn't Air Force general Michael hayden the NSA Director? Who does a General report to? The Secretary of Defense.

I'm sure much has changed at the National Security Agency since 1981. There are reports that the massive data collection and mining program called TIA that the Pentagon wanted and Congress refused to fund was transferred to the NSA and exists. This newly revealed program seems to fit nicely into what TIA was supposed to be.

Primary Election Tuesday

The Pennsylvania primary election is tomorrow. Remember to vote. Polls are open from 7 am to 8 pm. Here are my endorsements:

U.S. Senate: Chuck Pennacchio

Governor: Ed Rendell

Lt. Governor: Valerie McDonald Roberts

4th Congressional District: Georgia Berner

6th Congressional District: Lois Murphy

8th Congressional District: Andy Warren

State Senate 19th District: Andy Dinniman

State Senate 10th District: Robin Rosenthal

State Senate 6th District: Paul Lang


State House 96th District: Mike Sturla

State House 124th District: Bill Mackey

State House 125th District: Tim Seip

State House 126th District: Dante Santoni Jr.

State House 128th District: Russ Hummel

State House 129th District: Bill Evans

State House 130th District: David Kessler

State House 134th District: Chris Casey

State House 143rd District: Larry Glick

State House 145th District: John Norvaisis

State House 156th District: Barbara McIlvaine Smith

State House 172nd District: Tim Kearney

State House 187th District: Archie Follweiler


Democratic State Committee:

District 1: Roger Lund

District 6: John Morgan
Darlington Hoopes
Allyn Swavely
Elaine Swavely
Frances Hoopes
Candace Stitzman
Vaughn Spencer

District 9: Liz Lang
Paul Lang

District 23: Roger Balson

District 36: Lois Herr
Jon Fox
Ben Donahower

District 60: Jim Buck

District 65: MaryBeth Kuznick

District 501: Jen Murphy


I only listed the Congressional races that are contested in the primary. Apologies to anyone I might have missed. Most of my knowledge is the area from Berks County to Philadelphia and the ring counties. If you have a good progressive running in your area email me about them. I'd like to begin a series of articles about each of them between now and November. Please include a website url if possible.

Who are you endorsing? Let us know in the comments.

Immigration & Border Security

President Bush will speak to the nation this evening about immigration and border security. Apparently he will propose using National Guard troops to stem the flood of illegals crossing from Mexico. Border security has gotten much more coverage in the media since September 11th. Lou Dobbs of CNN has particularly used this soapbox effectively to boost his ratings. I wonder sometimes if he'd be as shrill if the problem was Swedish immigrants crossing over from Canada.

I think it's impossible to remove the specter of racism from this entire discussion. It is an element. Look at the Minutemen and the others at the forefront of the debate. Scratch the surface and you'll find white supremicist groups underneath.

The larger debate however, goes to the legality of using troops, the overextended nature of our current military, and Bush's previous budget priorities. The Posse Comitatus Act prevents the use of the military for domestic police purposes. The idea was to prevent the United States from becoming a police state. The Bush Administration has been trying to find a way to repeal this law ever since they took office. I worry that this may be their back-door method to success. We should never allow this to happen. Let's make sure we never become a banana republic where the Army has periodic checkpoints where your National ID (yes, that law was passed recently) is examined and your whereabouts tracked (NSA anyone?) This is dangerous territory.

(Update) News was posted on CNN that the Guard won't have any law enforcement rold. No power to arrest, detain, or transport. What are they there for then? They won't be able to do anything other than wear out their equipment and troops. Folks this is nothing more than a symbolic move to shore up Bush's record low approval numbers.

A second argument against thisis th efact our military and, especially the National Guard, has been critically overused and overextended in Iraq. Deploying them across the border with Mexico will only tax them further. This isn't the task of these units. They have no training for this mission and their equipment probably isn't suitable for the project either. What happens when another Katrina hits and our National Guard units aren't available?

The best solution is for more Border Patrol agents, equipment and support. This is a law enforcement issue, not a military assignment. In his 2006 Budget Budget George W. Bush eliminated 9,790 new agents for the Border Patrol. The proposal was to hire 10,000 new agents to secure the borders. Bush only funded 210. The money went instead to tax cuts for the rich and the War in Iraq. How many new agents could that $70 billion tax cut passed last week have funded?

The other solution to the immigration issue is enforcement. Current laws are not enforced. Illegals are allowed to work and live here with no threat of being cuaght and deported. Businesses are not raided and not punished for hiring illegals. Take away the jobs and these people will return to their home countries and stop coming back. It's simple economics: supply and demand. As long as American businessmen demand cheap, unregulated foreign laborers they will come to take the jobs. As long as the Federal government allows business unfettered use of illegals they will.

Current laws are quite strict. let's enforce them, hire the 10,000 new Border Patrol agents and do this right. Bush's sudden interest in the issue bothers me. He was AWOL when we needed leadership in 2005.

Sunday, May 14, 2006

NSA Spy Scandal

This is the scandal that keeps getting worse. And worse. Remember what the President said when the first revelations came out? It's a limited program and no one is being spied upon unless they're helping the terrorists. Well we keep discovering he lied. What a shocking disclosure that is..... This is erious stuff to be lying about. Civil liberties aren't something to be violated and lied about. Without our fundamental civil liberties America isn't America.

If you're a customer of AT&T, Verizon or Bell South you've been spied upon by your government. The NSA is using your call records for data mining. I suppose this means we're all terrorists according to Bush. Remember, he said no one was being spied upon except those helping the terrorists. What a crock.

Here's the bad part. We can't trust our government. Can't trust it to tell the truth, can't trust them not to violate our rights, can't trust them to uphold the law. We can't trust them period. Now they're data mining your private, personal information. Perhaps tens of millions of Americans. Are you cheating on your spouse? Big Brother knows. Visiting porn sites on the web? Big Brother knows. Talking with that recruiter from your company's competitor? Big Brother knows. Big Brother knows all, sees all.

Not to worry though. You can trust Big Brother. Can you?

This is the Administration that ended democracy as we knew it.

Happy Mothers Day

Happy Mothers Day to all the Moms out there. I know you're here because I know a bunch of you. Have a great day.

Saturday, May 13, 2006

Scary Democrats?

I read an article in today's Philadelphia Inquirer about the Republican's new strategy to divert voters attention from the weekly scandals, rampant corruption, and total incompetence of their leadership. Their new weapon is to strike fear into the hearts of Americans by the specter of "Scary Democrats." If you elect Democrats, they say, Congress will begin investigating the President, Vice-President and other Administration figures. Rep. John Conyers will be House Judiciary Chair and will run amok with his subpoena power.

Wow. I'm really scared. Congressional oversight. Accountability. Taking personal responsibility for the consequences of one's actions. Hey, didn't that last one used to be a hallmark of conservative beliefs? What really scary concepts. Scary Democrats with subpoena power to discover exactly what the NSA has been doing to eviscerate privacy rights and shred our constitution? Investigative powers to determine exactly how many tens of millions Halliburton has scammed from American taxpayers?

Does the idea of an investigation into how the White House manipulated intelligence and created a media propaganda campaign to convince Americans that Saddam had WMD's and attacked us on September 11th make sense? Shouldn't we find out if George W. Bush and Dick Cheney intentionally lied us into an illegal war?

Lies don't get bigger than that. Monstrous lies. Lies that have wrought death and destruction on an entire nation and brought untold grief to millions of people. But those Scary Democrats want answers. Don't vote for them because they might get to the truth and hold Republicans accountable.

If we can't hold investigations into issues like these we no longer have a democracy. The question is why the Republicans in charge of Congress haven't done this yet. Americans deserve to know the facts. Let the chips fall where they may. The issues are too monstrous and tragic to ignore. Yes, it may get very scary. I suspect so. But who is responsible for that? Those who committed the monstrous deeds or those holding them accountable?

Here's what I find scary. The Republicans in Congress issued over 100 subpoenas on the Clinton Administration. They've issued less than ten since W took office. What scares me is NO oversight. No accountability. No answers to the monumental questions Americans need answers for.

Let's begin with one simple questiona nd answer from Bush. George, please meet with Cindy Sheehan and tell her for what "noble cause" her son died for in Iraq. We can't begin the healing until we address the wounds. This country has some deep wounds.

Scary Democrats?

The MoveOn Poll Back Story

The MoveOn story seems to have interested quite a few of you. In my quest to try and make this blog interesting I thought I'd pass along the story of that day last June when the poll hit. This is a tale from the campaign trail.

While I am prevented from speaking a lot about specific things from my time as Interim Campaign Coordinator for Chuck Pennacchio last year (confidentiality agreement) I don't think this is a problem. It just shows how crazy working on a campaign can be.

We had our staff meetings every Friday morning. That Friday Chuck and I also had a meeting with our fundraising staff so I was pretty late getting to the campaign office. I unlocked the door, sat at my desk and started checking the emails that constantly rolled in through the website. Ten minutes after I got there the Move On email hit. The phones began ringing off the hook, including my cell, and emails poured in from supporters and volunteers. Thank goodness because if I hadn't been at the office yet the calls to my cell would have been crucial.

The crazy part was I was the only person in the office. Tim Tagaris, our previous Communications Director, had recently taken a great job at GrowOhio and his replacement was working from his home in D.C. Chuck was running some personal errands and since I didn't know how long the day's meetings would run no volunteers were there yet. Have you ever tried answering three phones at once? At the same time Outlook Express kept telling me about incoming emails. At the same time I was trying to write a campaign letter to send to our email list announcing the poll and asking them to get their freinds voting for Chuck.

When Chuck finally got through to me to check in and found out about the poll he rushed to the office to help. Because Tim had always handled the campaign emails to the people in our database I was new to the task. It took me about 45 minutes to get it finished and sent.

We suspected right away that something was "rotten in Denmark" as they used to say. The poll was written in a way that made Bob Casey appear to be the progressive candidate. Things were way too busy at the time though to worry too much about it.

In July I received an email telling me the Casey campaign had hired M&R Strategic Services for their internet outreach. It was rather easy at that point to confirm that and find the relationship between MoveOn and M&R. It took several hours to gather all the information, document it, source the documentation to websites and write the article. I still had the MoveOn emails in my inbox and used them.

Just another crazy day on the campaign trail. Sometimes you go to the office thinking you know what you'll be doing that day. Other days you don't have a clue what might happen. You have to prepared for anything and that's what makes it interesting.

Friday, May 12, 2006

Random Thoughts

Just a few thoughts, some of which reflect comments made this week.

The Casey-MoveOn story is one I wrote and posted at DailyKos last July. I re-posted it here because I thought it brought some context and perspective to the "Lawyers" story. That story prompted quite a bit of controversy this week. I did the work on that story a while back was asked not to post it by a nationally known blogger who is also a friend. He asked me not to post it because of pending FEC decisions regarding regulation of blogs. I thought that was an important issue and was quite aware of what posting the story at the time might cause. That issue is no longer applicable.

Both of those stories began with tips I received from others. I suspected they were true and had actually begun some Googling on the lawyer when I got some confirmation on the issue. The MoveOn article was prompted by a specific tip received from a friend. Both articles involved doing considerable research to dig up relationships, information, and confirmation. I feel they both revealed important issues.

If you know something or suspect something and don't have time/resources/contacts to put the story together I welcome tips. Please email me with your info and any supporting documentation and sources.

Other thoughts: Will Tuesday see a triple threat meltdown? Will Brightbill, Jubilerer and Veon all go down in one fell swoop? It could be a very interesting day.

Tuesday will be the first test for Philadelphia's Neighborhood Networks. I sure hope they have a positive impact. I attended the first two organizing meeting of NN when I was working for Pennacchio for Pennsylvania and was intrigued by their desire to counter the Philadelphia Democratic Party machine. There is quite a battle brewing for the future of the Party in Philly and two organizations, Neighborhood Networks and Philly for Change are in the forefront of the reform movement.

I saw my first Swann/Matthews signs this week. Folks, only the worst GOP diehards are still putting Republican signs in their yards. These are the 19% who still think "Dead Eye" Dick Cheney is a good V.P. I've also seena few old Bush/Cheney bumper stickers that car owners are obviously trying to peel off their cars. Try using a hair dryer on them folks. They should peel right off after warming them up.

Planned Parenthood Endorsements

Planned Parenthood Advocates (disclosure: I am a Board member of PPANEPA) has released its list of endorsed candidates for the primary election Tuesday.

U.S. Senate: No endorsement. Both Pennacchio and Sandals are supportive of women's rights. Bob Casey is not.

U.S. House of Representatives Districts:

1st. Bob Brady
4th. Georgia Berner
6th. Lois Murphy
13th Allyson Schwartz
16th Lois Herr
19th Phillip Avillo

Lt. Governor:
Valerie McDonald Roberts


Pennsylvania State Senate Districts:
4th Leanna Washington
19th Andrew Dinniman (special election-this is the actual election for this seat not a primary)
38th Jim Ferlo


Pennsylvania State House Districts:

14th Mike Veon
19th Jake Wheatley
20th Don Walko
21st Frank Pistella
23rd Dan Frankel
24th Joseph Preston
27th Dan Cindric
30th Shawn Flaherty
34th Steve Karas
50th Bill DeWeese
52nd John Lowery III
53rd John Hansen
61st Ron Stoloff
62nd Cynthia Spielman
70th Netta Young Hughes
92nd Carl Meiss
95th Steve Stetler
96th Mike Sturla
103 Ronald Buxton
105 Cheryl Nick
147 Roger Buchanan
148 Mike Gerber
149 Daylin Leach
150 Olivia Brady
152 Sue Cornell
153 Josh Shapiro
154 Lawrence Curry
156 Barbara McIlvaine Smith
157 Carol Rubley
158 Chris Ross
159 Thaddues Kirkland
160 Shawn Diggory
161 Bryan Lentz
162 Marilyn Woodman
166 Gregory Vitali
179 Tony Payton, Jr.
181 W. Curtis Thomas
182 Babette Josephs
186 Harold James
188 James Roebuck Jr.
190 Thomas Blackwell IV
198 Rosita Youngblood
200 Cherelle Parker
202 Mark Cohen

More Tax Cuts For the Rich

Congress passed a $70 billion give-away of your money to the rich this week. Why is this your money? Because of the deficit. Guess who gets to pay off the bill, plus interest? You. To finance this reckless policy the Bush Administration will sell Treasury Bonds (and guess who buys those and gets that interest?) to finance the deficit this law exacerbates. Your tax dollars pay the interest and principle on these bonds.

Why do the rich overly benefit from this tax cut? It extends cuts on dividends and capital gains taxes. The rich and super rich are the people most affected by these cuts. Really, how much of your 1040 return was comprised of stock dividends? Did you earn huge amounts of money from stock and/or real estate appreciation? These are how most people get their capital gains. Those taxes basically tax the rich. They are the taxes cut this week by extending previous cuts. These were scheduled to expire at th eend of 2008.

By the way Congress also extended the nation's debt ceiling. It's now approaching $10 billion. To put this in perspective our total debt prior to 1980 (when massive GOP tax cuts began being passed under Reagan) was about $2 billion. Two hundred years of government amounted to two billion. This included the cost of fighting World War II and the Cold War. Since then we've added another $8 billion to our debt under Republican leadership.

According to the Tax Policy Institute 88.4% of the people who will benefit from this tax cut earn over $1 million per year. Only 9,9% of those earning under $40,000 will receive any benefit. Which category are you in? If you're in the $40,000 section you'll also help pay the interest those in the $1 million + get when theytake this money and invest it into the T bonds Bush will sell to finance the deficit it created. Double whammy. Your tax dollars will go there instead of financing programs like emergency preparedness. Or food safety. Or planning for a bird flu pandemic.

This is class war and the middle class is losing. It's losing because these people vote against their own financial interests. They do this because Republicans tell them their marriages are at risk because two women might also want to get married. Or that their religeon is under attack. Or that we have to fight an "invisible enemy" and you can't trust the Democrats to protect your rights. All this why they strip you of all your rights in the name of anti-terrorism.

Tuesday is election day. This time vote for your rights and your interests.