Bad Deeds for 12-08-06

Bill O’Reilly says “we are going to level that country (Iran), because you … need gasoline to live”

Republican “Do-Nothing” Congress Tries To Give Itself a Raise On Final Day – Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi of California and Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada had notified Republicans they will try to add an anti-pay-raise provision to a bill that provides funds for most government agencies through Feb. 15.

John McCain Taps Man Behind Racist Campaign Ad For Campaign Manager – Terry Nelson served as national political director for President Bush’s 2004 reelection campaign and the infamous advertisement depicting a white woman beckoning a black Democratic candidate to call her. He was supervisor over the convicted New Hampshire Republican operative who schemed to jam Democratic phone lines in the 2002 election season. He also was involved in disgraced Republican Rep. Tom DeLay’s political action committee campaign finance fiasco in Texas.

Bush spokesman says, “Jim Baker can go back to his day job.” – For more than 30 years, James Baker has been both a behind-the-scenes political operator and a very public statesman. Baker now co-chairs the panel that suggests a change of strategy in Iraq. But this president may not be in much of a hurry to accept Baker’s ideas about that — or much else. Asked if Baker would help implement the report, a spokesman for Mr. Bush said, “Jim Baker can go back to his day job.”

Bush Administration’s reliance on “emergency” war budgets circumvent congressional oversight and allow billions of taxpayer dollars to be spent on pet projects unrelated to the war. – It’s in a little-noticed section of the Iraq Study Group report.

Bush administration is considering doing away Air Pollution Limits for Lead – Battery makers, lead smelters, refiners all have lobbied the administration to do away with the Clean Air Act limits.

Republican leaders push for approval of bill to open up 8.3 million acres of the Gulf of Mexico to gas and oil drilling – Republican leaders on Thursday pushed for approval of what is likely to be the last major pro-drilling bill during the Bush presidency — a measure that would open up 8.3 million acres of the Gulf of Mexico to gas and oil drilling. The drilling provision is part of a massive tax and trade package, containing many breaks and measures sought by business groups, giving the Republicans a last opportunity to please their number one constituency before the lights go down on the Republican-controlled Congress.

18,000 Votes Missing in Florida Congressional Race – Republican wins by a few hundred votes, but electronic voting machines did not capture a vote for either candidate from 18,000 voters in ONE county.

Waller County abolishes elections office following complaints of irregularities – A complaint was filed alleging that Waller County (northwest of Houston) election workers have systematically discriminated against and disenfranchised black voters. On one web site, Waller County is ninth on a list of the 11 worst places to vote in the United States

Reduced Funding May Shut Down Radio Telescope Looking for Asteroids on a Collision Course with Earth – The telescope searches for asteroids on a collision course with Earth. “The whole world loses if funding is lost for Arecibo,” said Lance Benner, a research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. “We’re a very inexpensive form of insurance for the whole planet.”

Young Conservatives of Texas craft parody of the nativity scene featuring a gay couple (Gary and Joseph) as the parents of Jesus, a Pelosi angel, a ‘suicide bomber’ shepherd and Lenin, Marx and Stalin as the Three Wise Men. It’s their attempt to make fun of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Unlike the right wing, who have no sense of humor about their anti-gay, anti-immigrant, anti-choice, pro-Christian message, representatives of the ACLU have responded with tolerance. One of the ACLU members in Texas said, ‘Keep in mind nothing in the First Amendment requires that it be accurate with the information. The First Amendment protects parody as well.‘ Bill O’Reilly likes it, too. In O’Reilly Land, exceptions can always be made for the right.

Fox News considers the proposals made by the Iraq Study Group as “just dead” or “a waste of time.” Fox News’ Neil Cavuto promoted an upcoming segments by advertising that the audience would hear from a “military colonel who says take a look at the members on this study group panel and take this report for what it is, a joke,” and “why some fear listening to these guys” might hit you at the gasoline pump.
(Cavuto always knows his priorities: money and gasoline are way ahead of human lives, suffering, peace, and all that liberal junk. – JLV)

Regards,

Jim