Top Twenty Iraq Oversight Outrages Uncovered by the Democratic Policy
Committee
(Why we need a change of leadership and a Congress that will do the oversight and enforce corrective action.)

Over the last three years, Senate Democratic Policy Committee (DPC) hearings have uncovered massive waste, fraud, and abuse relating to government contractors operating in Iraq. This report presents twenty of the worst oversight outrages, as documented in testimony and evidence presented at DPC hearings:

1) Halliburton billed taxpayers $1.4 billion in questionable and undocumented charges under its contract to supply troops in Iraq, as documented by the Pentagon’s own auditors.

2) Parsons billed taxpayers over $200 million under a contract to build 142 health clinics, yet completed fewer than 20. According to Iraqi officials, the rest were ‘imaginary clinics.’

3) Custer Battles stole forklifts from Iraq’s national airline, repainted them, then leased the forklifts back to the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) through a Cayman Islands shell company – charging an extra fee along the way.

4) Halliburton allowed our troops in Iraq to shower, bathe, and sometimes brush their teeth with water that tested positive for e. coli and coliform bacteria. One expert has said that the troops would have been better off using the highly polluted Euphrates River. Halliburton has admitted that it lacked ‘an organizational structure to ensure that water was being treated in accordance with Army standards and its contractual requirements.’ (It’s hard to shoot straight when you’re bent over clutching your stomach.)

5) Halliburton served the troops food that had spoiled or passed its expiration date. Halliburton managers ordered employees to remove bullets from food in trucks that had come under attack, then saved the bullets as souvenirs while giving the food to unwitting soldiers and Marines. (It’s hard to pursue the enemy with your pants down around your ankles.)

6) Halliburton charged taxpayers for services that it never provided and tens of thousands of meals that it never served.

7) Halliburton double-charged taxpayers for $617,000 worth of soda.
Halliburton tripled the cost of hand towels, at taxpayer expense, by insisting on having its own embroidered logo on each towel.

9) Halliburton employees burned new trucks on the side of the road because they didn’t have the right wrench to change a tire – and knew that the trucks could be replaced on a profitable ‘cost-plus’ basis, at taxpayer expense.

10) Halliburton employees dumped 50,000 pounds of nails in the desert because they ordered the wrong size, all at taxpayer expense.

11) Halliburton employees threw themselves a lavish Super Bowl Party, but passed the cost on to taxpayers by claiming they had purchased supplies for the troops.

12) Halliburton chose a subcontractor to build an ice factory in the desert even though its bid was 800 percent higher than an equally qualified bidder.

13) Halliburton actively discouraged cooperation with U.S. government auditors, sent one whistleblower into a combat zone to keep him away from auditors, and put another whistleblower under armed guard before kicking her out of the country.

14) Halliburton sent unarmed truck drivers into a known combat zone without warning them of the danger, resulting in the deaths of six truck drivers and two soldiers. Halliburton then offered to nominate the surviving truck drivers for a Defense Department medal – provided they sign a medical records release that doubled as a waiver of any right to seek legal recourse against the company.

15) Halliburton’s no-bid contract to rebuild Iraq’s oil infrastructure was the worst case of contract abuse that the top civilian at the Army Corps of Engineers had ever seen. She was demoted after speaking out.

16) Under its no-bid contract to rebuild Iraq’s oil infrastructure contract, Halliburton overcharged by over 600 percent for the delivery of fuel from Kuwait.

17) Halliburton failed to complete required work under its oil infrastructure work, leaving distribution points unusable.

18) Iraq under the CPA was like the ‘Wild West,’ with few limits and controls over how inexperienced officials spent – and wasted – millions of taxpayer dollars.

19) Cronies at the CPA’s health office lacked experience, ignored the advice of international health professionals, failed to restore Iraq’s health systems, and wasted millions of taxpayer dollars. The political appointee who ran the office had never worked overseas and had no international public health experience.

20) Administration officials promoted construction of a ‘boondoggle’ children’s hospital in Basra, which ended up more than a year behind schedule and at least 100 percent over budget.

Fort Bend Republican political consultant James Pressler Putting Up Signs That Read “Want More Illegals? Vote Democrat.”
There was another one at Garcia Middle School that said Democrats are for the Terrorists. They have another one that says, “Want Higher Taxes? Vote Democrat.”

White House Lets Chevron Have Gas Without Paying Royalties
The Bush administration has dropped claims that Chevron systematically underpaid the U.S. for natural gas produced in the Gulf of Mexico, a decision that could allow energy companies to avoid paying hundreds of millions of dollars in royalties. The decision is typical of the White House, which has drastically cut back on the number of audits aimed at ensuring companies pay their full share of federal royalties.

Money Trails Lead to Bush Judges
A four-month investigation of Bush-appointed judges by the Center for Investigative Reporting finds that at least two dozen federal judges appointed by President Bush since 2001 made political contributions to key Republicans or to the president himself while under consideration for their judgeships. Republicans who received money from judges en route to the bench include Sens. Arlen Specter and Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, Sens. George Voinovich and Mike DeWine of Ohio, and Gov. George Pataki of New York.

Nevada Congressman Assault Probe Reopened
Authorities announced yesterday that they have reopened their investigation into a cocktail waitress’ claim that Rep. Jim Gibbons, a Republican congressman running for governor, assaulted her in a parking garage after a night of drinking. The waitress says that she has been pressured and offered cash from people linked to the Gibbons campaign to drop the complaint.

Document Shredding Truck Spotted on Its Way to Dick Cheney’s House

Sequoia Voting Systems Sold To A Company Owned By Venezuelan Nationals
With just eight more days before our midterm elections, the United States is investigating the sale of electronic voting machine company Sequoia to a company mostly owned, as best we can determine, by Venezuelans. The company, Smartmatic, denies any connection to the anti-U.S. Chavez government. The sale took place in March of 2005. Unbelievably, it has taken the United States government a year and a half to decide to investigate this sale

MESS WITH TEXAS: State Rep Reports ES&S Touch-Screens Dropping Candidate Names, Flipping Straight Ticket Ballots from Democratic to Republican in San Antonio
So far, the reports have all involved Democratic (or Green) votes flipping to, or otherwise benefiting, Republican candidates. In South Florida, St. Louis County, Missouri, Virginia, Arkansas, Dallas, and now San Antonio, Texas.

Profanity-Laced Missive from Right Winger Sent After Popular Radio Host’s Recent Appearance on Fox ‘News’, Says ‘Would be Happy to See AK-47 Send You Into Eterntity’
A man from Centerville, Ohio, identifying himself as “Sock” Sokolowski has sent a death threat to radio host Stephanie Miller after a recent appearance on Fox “News’” Hannity & Colmes. Promising to mail copies of Miller’s H&C appearance to “some WONDERFUL people,” Sokolowski threatens that “we must identify this nation’s enemies…” He concludes that he “would love to celebrate and would for days on end as I would and will when still another America HATER meets his/her maker.”

Orange Co. California Indicts 11 GOP Operatives For Voter Registration Fraud
Republican Workers Changed Registration Forms for Democrats, Greens, and Even a Non-Citizens into Republican Registrations.

ABC Radio memo reveals Air America advertiser blacklist

Regards,

Jim

U.S. is Only Vote Against Limits on International Illegal Gun Trade
The UN General Assembly’s First Committee yesterday overwhelmingly approved a proposal to develop a treaty aimed at combating the global trade in illegal firearms with 139 countries voting in favor and the U.S. casting the lone vote against the measure. America’s gun lobby, led by the NRA’s foaming-at-the-mouth Vice President Wayne “Black Helicopters” LaPierre, has sought to portray the treaty as a global assault on the Second Amendment, despite the fact that the effort is limited to illegal weapons.

Bush Interior Appointee Said to Ignore Endangered Species Act
Documents show that Julie MacDonald, appointed by President Bush in 2004 to serve as deputy assistant secretary of the interior for fish and wildlife and parks, rejected staff scientists’ recommendations to protect imperiled animals and plants under the Endangered Species Act at least six times in the past three years. Staff complaints that their scientific findings were frequently overruled at the behest of landowners or industry have led the interior’s inspector general to look into McDonald’s role at the agency. In six years, the Bush administration has listed only 56 species under the Endangered Species Act, for a rate of about 10 a year. Under Clinton, officials listed 512 species, or 64 a year, and under George H.W. Bush, the department listed 234, or 59 a year.

Hundreds of pages of records, obtained by environmental groups through the Freedom of Information Act, chronicle the long-running battle between MacDonald and Fish and Wildlife Service employees over decisions whether to safeguard plants and animals from oil and gas drilling, power lines, and real estate development, spiced by her mocking comments on their work and their frequently expressed resentment.

Amid the complaints, Interior officials have privately contacted the ranking Democrat on the House Resources Committee, Rep. Nick J. Rahall II (W.Va.), who plans to hold oversight hearings into the matter if his party retakes the majority in next month’s elections.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is said to be furious at U. S. pressure on him that appears timed to the American elections
The chief prosecutor in Saddam Hussein’s trial for crimes against humanity said Sunday that the verdict, currently scheduled for Nov. 5—two days before the midterm elections—may be delayed by a few days. News of the possible delay follows a week of public spats between U.S. officials and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who is said to be furious at pressure on him that appears timed to the American elections.

Regards,

Jim

EDWARD LAZARUS summarized the situation this way:

In legal circles, the issue of the moment is judicial “independence.”

For many years now, right-wing conservatives [authoritarians (RWA)] have been conducting an unrelenting attack on supposedly out-of-control “activist” judges, as part of their campaigns against abortion rights, affirmative action, and the judicially-imposed ban on prayer in public schools.

In the last few years, however, the assault on the judiciary has developed a new fury. In the wake of the legal maneuverings surrounding Terri Schiavo’s tragic death, conservatives have not only ratcheted up their anti-judge rhetoric, they’ve started acting on threats to seek impeachment of federal judges [another enemy of the authoritarian right] they don’t like, and to set up systems for monitoring judges who depart from their preferred legal views.

The latest, and potentially first successful, “assault on the judiciary” is Amendment E to the South Dakota constitution. This amendment is titled, “Judicial Accountability Initiative Law,” (JAIL). According to Vote No on E, this amendment has been put together by “Ron Branson of North Hollywood, California” and his internet network of supporters. Vote No on E also states that, “Even though Amendment E may be new to you, it’s just the latest chapter in his 12-year vendetta against judges and local governmental officials and employees. He’s tried and failed to get the initiative on the ballot in California, Idaho and Washington. But his hatred for our courts and government at all levels is so great that those failures couldn’t deter him. Last year he turned his sights on South Dakota and called on fellow Californians to help get the initiative on the ballot here.”

The executive and legislative branches of government are already driven by special interests and lobbyists. The judiciary, by the design of our founding fathers, is the only branch that is immune from this kind of self interest influence. If this South Dakota amendment becomes law, then that could be the beginning of the end of judiciary immunity. Combine this with the recent loss of habeas corpus and we will all become subject to the whims of those in power as the rule of law is buried.

The Rapid City Journal, put it this way.

No matter how sincere the JAIL supporters are, this amendment dismantles the judiciary’s autonomy thus leaving S.D. vulnerable to special interest groups. Special interest groups could endlessly sue public officials who didn’t see things their way until the official resigned. The special interest group could then replace them with officials that supported only their viewpoint. These hand-picked officials (judges) would have the potential to ignore or disallow the rights of ordinary citizens.

This scenario was our Founding Father’s greatest fear. They could foresee that, because of political process, the executive branch (president or governor) and the legislative branch could fall into the hands of a special interest. To prevent a takeover of all three branches, it was essential that the court system be immune from pressure to interpret the Constitution in favor of a special interest.

The proposed JAIL amendment dangerously dismantles the constitutional protection of the judiciary by subjecting it to pressure from individuals and special interest groups. As outlined in the JAIL amendment, a Special Grand Jury would be selected from citizens that volunteer specifically for the jury and also from the state’s list of registered voters. Anyone having a vendetta against the official could volunteer to serve on the jury to “get even” with that judge or elected official.

This contaminates the judicial process. Just think if you were being sued and everyone that was ever angry at you volunteered to be on the jury! You have to agree, this would not be justice. Furthermore, the JAIL amendment instructs the jury to favor the complainant. By the JAIL amendment’s instructions to favor the person who is suing you and the jury stacked with people against you, the court is unfairly set up for you to lose!

This scenario exposes every S.D. school board member, city councilman, county commissioner, and judge, literally, for the rest of their lives because there is no limit on when a suit can be filed. Good, honest citizens would be very wary to ever run for office under these circumstances because they could be sued by anyone that didn’t like their decision until they died.

South Dakotans need to start vigorously using the laws already in place to deal with officials who treat citizens unfairly. If there is a problem judge, use your legal rights to challenge them or make sure they are defeated in the next election. South Dakota should not change how democracy works to accomplish oversight of judges.

South Dakota cannot afford to unknowingly sabotage democracy by passing Amendment E. It is time to start using the legal remedies already in the Constitution to make the court system accountable without destroying the foundations of democracy.

“No” is the only vote that will protect South Dakota from killing our form of government that we proudly call democracy!

As I said in an earlier article, we have a choice this November, “Between a judiciary immersed in personal beliefs and popular opinion or one grounded in the rule of law.”

If you’d like to find out more on J.A.I.L., check out a progressive on the prairie.

According to the NPR article referenced below, Ron Branson chose S. Dakota for his latest attempt because it took far fewer signatures to get it on the ballot. The web articles below discuss the current system.

IRS Ordered to Stop Collecting Katrina Back Taxes Until After Elections
Mark W. Everson, the IRS chief with close ties to the Bush White House, has ordered his agency to delay collecting back taxes from Hurricane Katrina victims until after the Nov. 7 elections, saying he did so in part to avoid negative publicity. Four former I.R.S. commissioners, who served under presidents of both parties, said that delaying collections because of an election is improper and indefensible.

Cheney Endorses Waterboarding as ‘No-Brainer’
Vice President Dick Cheney agreed with a conservative radio host that the use of waterboarding—or simulated drowning—is a “no-brainer” when questioning terror suspects Cheney’s enthusiasm for the technique is hard to square with the positions of Sens. John McCain and John Warner—two of the main sponsors of the Military Commissions Act—who say their bill outlawed the practice. The US has long considered waterboarding – which dates back at least to the Spanish Inquisition – to be torture and a war crime.

As early as 1901, a US court martial sentenced Major Edwin Glenn to 10 years hard labour for subjecting a suspected insurgent in the Philippines to the “water cure”. After the second world war, US military commissions successfully prosecuted as war criminals several Japanese soldiers who subjected US prisoners to waterboarding. In 1968, a US army officer was court martialled for helping to waterboard a prisoner in Vietnam.

Update: Cheney says he was talking about dunking, but not waterboarding.

Karl Rove Protégé Behind Racy Tennessee Ad

Army Blocking Soldiers In Iraq From Reading “Left Leaning” Websites, Conservative Websites Allowed

Republican Candidate Website Features Killer Margarita Recipe
Texas Rep. Kay Granger, who’s running for re-election, for bringing the party to the Republican Party with her “killer margarita” recipe. We’re not sure about beer as an ingredient, but applaud the question marks denoting the pitcher can be any size a voter wants. Granger’s campaign slogan is “Celebrating Our Nation’s Values,” and there’s nothing more American than getting sloshed on wacky recipes you find on the Internet.

Ex-Bush official receives 18 month prison sentence
David Safavian, 39, who resigned from his job last year on the same day that the criminal complaint was signed, once worked at the General Services Administration and the White House budget office. Safavian was sentenced on four counts and received an 18 month prison sentence for obstructing justice in connection with the convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff influence-peddling scandal.

Memory expert in CIA leak case forgot that she met prosecutor
A memory expert testifying on behalf of a former aide to Vice President Cheney who is accused of lying to prosecutors in the CIA leak case forgot that she had met the special prosecutor before and was reduced to “stuttering” and “backpedaling” on the stand. Elizabeth F. Loftus, a professor of criminology and psychology at the University of California at Irvine, was trying to bolster I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby’s defense, but prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald “sliced” her up.

Dirty Election Ads
In New York, the NRCC ran an ad accusing Democratic House candidate Michael A. Arcuri, a district attorney, of using taxpayer dollars for phone sex. “Hi, sexy,” a dancing woman purrs. “You’ve reached the live, one-on-one fantasy line.” It turns out that one of Arcuri’s aides had tried to call the state Division of Criminal Justice, which had a number that was almost identical to that of a porn line. The misdial cost taxpayers $1.25.

· In Ohio, GOP gubernatorial candidate J. Kenneth Blackwell, trailing by more than 20 points in polls, has accused front-running Democratic Rep. Ted Strickland of protecting a former aide who was convicted in 1994 on a misdemeanor indecency charge. Blackwell’s campaign is also warning voters through suggestive “push polls” that Strickland failed to support a resolution condemning sex between adults and children. Strickland, a psychiatrist, objected to a line suggesting that sexually abused children cannot have healthy relationships when they grow up.

· The Republican Party of Wisconsin distributed a mailing linking Democratic House candidate Steve Kagen to a convicted serial killer and child rapist. The supposed connection: The “bloodthirsty” attorney for the killer had also done legal work for Kagen.

· In two dozen congressional districts, a political action committee supported by a white Indianapolis businessman, J. Patrick Rooney, is running ads saying Democrats want to abort black babies. A voice says, “If you make a little mistake with one of your hos, you’ll want to dispose of that problem tout de suite, no questions asked.”

· In the most controversial recent ad, the Republican National Committee slammed Rep. Harold E. Ford Jr. (D-Tenn.) for attending a Playboy-sponsored Super Bowl party. In the ad, a scantily clad white actress winks as she reminisces about good times with Ford, who is black. That ad has been pulled, but the RNC has a new one saying Ford “wants to give the abortion pill to schoolchildren.”

Some Democrats are playing rough, too.

Regards,

Jim

Oh, they been really bad today! – Long list.

Rush Limbaugh Won’t Stop Challenging Michael J. Fox’s Parkinson’s Symptoms

CIA Tried to Silence European Union on Torture Flights
The CIA tried to persuade Germany to silence EU protests about the human rights record of Morocco where the U.S. was outsourcing terror suspects for questioning—by offering Berlin access to a German citizen being held there, according to classified documents obtained by the Guardian. Other U.S. detainees, currently held at Guantanamo Bay, tell of undergoing terrible torture after being transferred by the U.S. to Morocco.

U.S. Seeks to Limit Detainees’ Communication with Lawyers
The U.S. government is seeking court approval for new rules that would allow detainees’ defense lawyers only four visits with their clients rather than the unlimited number now permitted. The proposed rules would also restrict the topics that can be discussed during such meetings, as well as the types of information that lawyers and detainees can exchange through the mail. The government argues such rules were made necessary after some lawyers shared news articles and books with detainees.

Arizona Republican is Focus of Inquiry
Federal authorities in Arizona revealed yesterday that they are in the initial stages of investigating whether Republican congressman Rick Renzi introduced legislation that benefited a military contractor that employs his father. The legislation introduced by Renzi in 2003 exempted the Fort Huachuca Army Base from maintaining federally mandated water levels in the nearby San Pedro River, a move critics say threatened one of the last undammed rivers in the West to the benefit of private contractor ManTech, which has more than $450 million in military contracts at the base. Employees of ManTech were the largest contributors to Mr. Renzi’s campaign in 2002 and the second-largest in 2004.

Republicans Funded by Bob Perry Making Illegal Automated Phone Calls in Indiana
A federal judge has ruled Indiana can block a group from making automated calls that attacked Democratic congressional candidate. FreeEats.com is the Virginia company that made the calls on behalf of the Economic Freedom Fund, which is a 527 group started in 2006 by Houston homebuilder and swiftboater Bob Perry.

Tony Snow says Bush said “Stay The Course” only 8 times; Bush has actually said it at least 29 times.

Exxon Mobil’s earnings rose to $10.49 billion in the third quarter, the second-largest quarterly profit ever recorded by a publicly traded U.S. company. Its shares briefly rose to a 52-week high

Right-wing rhetoric slinger Dick Morris wrote a column Monday titled “Best GOP Hope: Scare ‘em Silly”
Morris suggests an ad that says, “If the Democrats win, the National Security Agency will never be able to listen in as the terrorists are plotting to attack us.” This type of distortion is irresponsible and reprehensible, as it once again exploits the 9/11 tragedy for the Republican’s personal political gain. Furthermore, Democrats don’t have any problem doing legal wiretappings. If the Dems win, the NSA will most certainly “be able to listen in as the terrorists are plotting to attack America.” We’ll just do it legally.

Environmental Protection Agency whistleblower alleges that the inconsistent official reports about air quality at the World Trade Center disaster site were part of an intentional cover up by government scientists and officials

Cheney confirms that detainees were subjected to water-boarding

Ohio GOP Smears Al Franken In Press Release With Doctored Photo, Fabricated Quote

The Worst Congress Ever - How our national legislature has become a stable of thieves and perverts — in five easy steps. Also, don’t miss Rolling Stone’s list of 10 Worst Congressmen (Hint: 9 out of 10 are Republicans).

Regards,

Jim

Report Finds U.S. Freedom of Press Slipping

The United States has dropped nine spots on Reporters Without Borders’ fifth annual Worldwide Press Freedom Index. When the list debuted in 2002, America was ranked 17 out of the 168 countries that are rated; this year, that rank is 53. The U. S. has a worse rating than countries like Albania, Liberia, Haiti, Armenia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, and Lebanon. We are getting closer to Iran, Cuba, and North Korea.

President Bush Says ‘We’ve Never Been Stay The Course’
During an interview today on ABC’s This Week, President Bush tried to distance himself from what has been his core strategy in Iraq for the last three years. George Stephanopoulos asked about James Baker’s plan to develop a strategy for Iraq that is “between ’stay the course’ and ‘cut and run.’” Bush responded, ‘We’ve never been stay the course, George!’

Tony Snow Tries To Convince Reporter That Bush Doesn’t Use Term “Stay The Course”

Republican National Committee Mailing Accuses Democrat Of Helping To Start the War in Iraq

Rodney Alexander’s (R-La.) chief of staff sued for sexual harassment
Rep. Rodney Alexander (R-La.), already enmeshed in the ex-Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) page scandal, now faces a new controversy as a former staffer has sued his office for sexual harassment.

Republican National Committee TV ad looks just like a terrorist propaganda film

The dictionary definition of the word ‘terrorize’ is simple and not open to misinterpretation: “To fill or overpower with terror; terrify; coerce by intimidation or fear.” Note please that the words ‘violence’ and ‘death’ are missing from that definition. For the key to terrorism is not the act-but the fear of the act. That is why bin Laden and his deputies and his imitators are forever putting together videotape statements and releasing virtual infomercials with dire threats and heart-stopping warnings.

But why is the Republican Party imitating them? Bin Laden puts out what amounts to a commercial of fear; the Republicans put out what is unmistakable as a commercial of fear.

The Republicans are paying to have the messages of bin Laden and the others broadcast into your home! Only the Republicans have a bigger bankroll. …

By this definition, the people who put these videos together: first, the terrorists and then, the administration, whose shared goal is to scare you into panicking instead of thinking, they are the ones terrorizing you.

By this definition, the leading terrorist group in this world right now is al Qaeda, but the leading terrorist group in this country right now is the Republican Party.

Some Quotes From Republican Harris County Precinct Chairman Greg Aydt

“In return, we will ship the Arab Muslims in the United States — regardless of their citizenship — back to the Middle East…They and their relatives back in their homelands have shown their utter inability to live at peace with neighbors who are different from themselves….After all, if the Jews are not a good fit in the Middle East, why should the unassimilable Muslims be welcome in America?”

“Where are the peacemakers from the Religion of Peace? All I see are jihadi swine.”

“Sorry, no respect for any ethnicity or religion with this scumbag…Just following the example of Muhammad, I guess. I recall that he liked sex with little girls, too. Would somebody please remind me what is there in Islam that is good and noble?”

“In other words, fundamental human rights are anathema to Islam.”

“Under no circumstances should any alien not yet legally admitted to the United States be held to have any rights beyond the right to continue breathing.”

“Why are we sending one thin dime to a backwater, Third World hell-hole like New Orleans?”

Columnist to Pay $34,000 in Bush Propaganda Settlement
Columnist Armstrong Williams has reached a settlement with prosecutors regarding the $240,000 in unpublicized taxpayer funds he received from the Education Department to extol the virtues of President Bush’s policies. Under the settlement, Williams admits no wrongdoing, but will have to pay $34,000 that prosecutors determined he had failed to earn under the terms of his secret contract with the government.

Tom Feeney running smear campaign
Tom Feeney is the sitting U.S. Congressman; former Florida Speaker of the House; Jeb Bush’s former gubernatorial running mate; the man who promised to deliver Florida’s electoral vote to George W. during the 2000 fiasco no matter what the Supremes had to say; the only so-far unindicted Congressman to have gone with Jack Abramoff on a paid golf trip to St. Andrews, Scotland and; the man whom Curtis accused — via affidavit video-taped Congressional testimony, and lie-detector test — of commissioning a vote-rigging software prototype in 2000. Shamefully, Feeney has done little more than mount a disgraceful smear campaign against Clint Curtis, attempting to paint him as “crazy” and not fit for office. The campaign seems only to have highlighted Feeney’s own lack of seriousness as a legislator. But now the Daytona Beach News Journal has endorsed Curtis over Tom Feeney in their race for the U.S. House seat in Florida’s 24th district.

Regards,

Jim

Article II, Section 1 of the United States Constitution provides the following requirement for any newly elected President:

Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following oath or affirmation:

“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States; and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend, the Constitution of the United States.”

President Bush has spoken those same exact words on two occasions.  The last time was less than two years ago.

In Article 1, Section 9, our Constitution also states:

The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it.

On October 17, 2006, The Decider, signed the military-tribunals bill.  By doing so, he approved the following:

No court, justice or judge shall have jurisdiction to hear or consider an application for a writ of habeas corpus filed by or on behalf of an alien detained by the United States who has been determined … to have been properly detained as an enemy combatant or is awaiting such determination.

What makes this portion of the new law even more threatening are the words that are no longer there. An enemy combatant or anyone suspected of being one, are not limited to: “outside the United States.” The new law will be applied inside and outside the United States as seen fit by the executive Branch and without oversight by Congress.

David Savage of the Los Angeles Times, amplifies the reach of this elimination of rights:

Now, it not only bars the men held at Guantanamo Bay from challenging their detention in court, but it also closes the courthouse door to non-citizens who are arrested in Los Angeles or Chicago and held by the military as a possible “unlawful enemy combatant.”

The new law also defines this term broadly to include not just terrorists and fighters but also people, including American citizens, who have “materially supported hostilities against the United States”. While a citizen could be arrested as an “enemy combatant,” he or she could still challenge the government’s action in court.

How can a president take the above oath to “preserve” and “protect” the Constitution and then turn around and sign a bill canceling part of it? What is it he is so scared of that he thinks what has worked in the past is no longer enough. Surely, as head of the most powerful nation in the world, he is not scared of a few terrorists? After all, that would be playing into their hands, wouldn’t it? On the other hand, maybe he is just playing us to keep his authoritarian buddies in control and destroy this nation from within? How ironic, we destroy ourselves while trying to keep others from just trying to destroy us.

We have done this before. It was wrong then – but it is far worse this time.

By Jack Ohman

Buried in complex new Military Commissions Act of 2006 is a real shocker, reaching far beyond the legal struggles about foreign terrorist suspects.  This new law authorizes the president to seize American citizens as enemy combatants, even if you have never left the United States. And once you are thrown into military prison, you cannot expect a trial by your peers or any other of the normal protections of the Bill of Rights.  You can be designated as an enemy combatant if you have just contributed money to a Middle Eastern charity, and you can be held indefinitely in a military prison.

Read literally, this means that if the President or the Pentagon says you’re an unlawful enemy combatant — using whatever criteria they wish — then as far as Congress, and U.S. law, is concerned, you are one, whether or not you have had any connection to “hostilities” at all.  This definition is not limited to Al Qaeda and the Taliban.  It’s not limited to aliens — it covers U.S. citizens as well.  It’s not limited to persons captured or detained overseas.  And it is not even limited to the armed conflict against Al Qaeda and the Taliban, authorized by Congress on September 18, 2001. Indeed, on the face of it, it’s not even limited to a time of war or armed conflict; it could apply in peacetime.

It is easy to look away and hope for the best, to dismiss critics as the fringe left who think the worse about the United States or opponents of the President looking for partisan advantage.

Thomas Jefferson, in his letter to Thomas Paine, 1789. ME 7:408, Papers 15:269, said: “I consider [trial by jury] as the only anchor ever yet imagined by man, by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution.”  And Patrick Henry warned us about Government officials who would seek to claim the right to imprison people without a trial:

• “Is the relinquishment of the trial by jury and the liberty of the press necessary for your liberty? Will the abandonment of your most sacred rights tend to the security of your liberty? Liberty, the greatest of all earthly blessings–give us that precious jewel, and you may take everything else! …Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel.”

We are not dealing with hypothetical abuses.  The President has already subjected a citizen to military confinement. 

Do you think you are safe from this because you are a good person or because you trust the judgment of President Bush and Secretary Rumsfeld?  Will you trust every president and secretary of defense forever?  We already have kept a three-year old boy off a flight because someone with the same name was on a no-fly list.  The path to hell is paved with good intentions.

Let’s suppose that in the future, some Preseident decides to take revenge someone named John Smith.  The President then designates John Smith as an unlawful enemy combatant, and if your name is John Smith, well, nice knowing you.  There’s nothing you can do about it then.

So you better do something about it between now and November 7th.

Regards,

Jim

Bush Space Plan Reserves Right to Kick Others Out of Orbit
President Bush has signed a new National Space Policy that rejects future arms-control agreements that might limit U.S. flexibility in space and asserts a right to deny access to space to anyone “hostile to U.S. interests.” Though the administration claims it has no plans to develop or deploy space-based weapons systems, analysts say that the White House’s refusal to enter even informal negotiations on the subject fuels international suspicions to the contrary.

teRepublican Senator Larry Craig has consistently relied on “value voters”, but he has not been honest with them about his own conductxt

Republican U.S. Rep. John Sweeney may have violated congressional ethics rules by failing to reveal who paid for a trip he took to a Pacific island with a lobbyist hired by convicted Washington influence peddler Jack Abramoff

In January 2001, Sweeney traveled 8,000 miles to deliver a speech to the Saipan Chamber of Commerce in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. territory infamous for its garment sweatshops and prostitution trade. He traveled with Tony Rudy, who had just left the staff of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay to work for Abramoff.

Republican U.S. Rep. Don Sherwood admits to affair
U.S. Rep. Don Sherwood admitted Thursday to a five-year affair with Cynthia M. Ore, the Maryland woman who alleges in a $5.5 million civil action that he physically abused her, but called her lawsuit “malicious and baseless.” “For about five years I had an affair I deeply regret,” Mr. Sherwood said in a statement issued by his lawyer. “Although it was intermittent and ended last year, nothing I can say can diminish the pain and hurt I have caused my wife and family.”

GOP Sen Burns Says Bush And I Have An Iraq Plan And “We’re Not Going To Tell You”
Immediately following the debate, Tester campaign spokesman Matt McKenna likened Burns’ claim of a Bush plan to President Nixon’s secret plan in 1972 to end the war in Vietnam. The Burns campaign spokesman Jason Klindt, however, said there is no secret plan.

Bill O’Reilly falsely claimed that a pregnant woman’s life could “never” be “in danger” from pregnancy complication

On his radio show, Bill O’Reilly said, “you can always have a C-section and do those kinds of things.” In fact, several potential pregnancy complications, such as an ectopic pregnancy, which is “the leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths in the first trimester” or preeclampsia, which “affect[s] up to one in seven pregnant women” can threaten the life of a pregnant woman.

Dick Cheney says, ‘General Overall Situation’ In Iraq Is Going ‘Remarkably Well’
Rush Limbaugh interviewed Vice President Cheney on his show today. At one point, Limbaugh asked Cheney to respond to growing frustration over U.S. efforts in Iraq. Cheney acknowledged there is a “natural level of concern out there” because fighting didn’t end “instantaneously.” (Next month, the war will have lasted longer than U.S. fighting in World War II.) Cheney then pointed to various news items to paint a positive picture of conditions in Iraq and concluded, “If you look at the general overall situation, they’re doing remarkably well.”

Electricity Levels In Baghdad At Lowest Level Since U.S. Invasion
In Sept. 2003, President Bush promised that he would help Iraqis “restore basic services, such as electricity and water, and to build new schools, roads, and medical clinics. This effort is essential to the stability of those nations, and therefore, to our own security.” But three years later, electricity levels in Baghdad are at an all-time low. Residents of Baghdad are receiving just 2.4 hours of electricity this month, compared to an average of 16 to 24 hours of electricity before the U.S. invasion.

Regards,

Jim

Bob “Swift Boat” Perry is finance chairman for Sekula-Gibbs’ congressional campaign
Houston homebuilder Bob Perry funded the “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth” ad campaign questioning Democratic nominee John Kerry’s Vietnam War record. Perry’s new group for spreading lies is “Americans for Honesty on Issues”, which is led by Sue Walden, who is a close ally of Tom DeLay. She was also an adviser to Ken Lay, the former chief executive of Enron. What a nice group of human-beings that is.

Tom DeLay announced he was not a candidate on April 4th, but paid his daughter with campaign contributions through September, and then gave her three months severance pay and three months of reimbursement for health insurance
Public disclosure request from FEC
FORM 99 Then click on VIEW MISCELLANEOUS DOCUMENT
(This story originally found at Juanita’s )

Republican shows videos which portray Democrats as opposing integration in the 1950s while presenting Republicans in a favorable light with respect to African-Americans and promotes Christianity on city-owned TV station

Videos created by David Barton, Vice Chair of the Texas Republican Party and a close colleague of disgraced former House Leader Tom DeLay, have now been removed from a city-owned TV station in El Cajon, California. Barton has also been linked to groups with racist and anti-Semitic views.

Republican National Committee chair Ken Mehlman questioned about requesting two tickets to a July 2001 U2 concert from Jack Abramoff
If he accepted the tickets, the current head of the RNC failed to include them on his 2001 financial disclosure form.

Hispanics get letter saying it is a crime for immigrants to vote
The state attorney general’s office is investigating a letter received by some Southern California Hispanics that says it is a crime for immigrants to vote and tells them they could be jailed or deported if they go to the polls next month. The truth is that immigrants who become naturalized citizens can legally register to vote.

Ohio Republican Tom Noe went on trial Monday for stealing more than $2 million from a fund for injured workers and spending it on his business and renovating his home in the Florida Keys
Noe, once a member of state boards that oversee the Ohio Turnpike and Ohio’s public universities, was a top Republican fundraiser who gave more than $105,000 to Republicans during the 2004 campaign.

Regards,

Jim