For Dems only.

[Balta1701]

Tom Delay's former Deputy Chief of Staff Tony Rudy, (aka Staffer A in the Abramoff indictments) has turned state's evidence and is going to plead guilty.

 

Tom Delay can now officially be referred to as "Representative #2", the role he plays in this deal. (Rep Bob Ney is Representative #1.)

[Texsox]

[Balta1701]

 

Linky.

[Balta1701]

Next we have folks from NOAA complaining that the Administration has been editing their reports and removing references to things like Global Warming, keeping them from speaking, etc.

[Balta1701]

2 Republican Congressmen, who the American Taxpayers should consider to be Heroes...have signed on as cosponsors of a bill to create a "Truman committee" for the Iraq war. The original Truman Committee investigated fraud and abuse among contractors during WWII. Given that we've already had well over $10 billion in U.S. taxpayer dollars completely disappear, and almost certainly a lot more than that (that $10 billiion is just the part we already know about), the sooner that something is done about it the better.

 

I still think nothing will be done unless the Democrats get back 1 house of Congress and get subpoena power...because a lot of the money that has disappeared has wound up in the hands of people who are big republican campaign contributors.

[NorthSideSox72]

Next we have folks from NOAA complaining that the Administration has been editing their reports and removing references to things like Global Warming, keeping them from speaking, etc.

This makes me ill. This is the topic that I feel this Administration has screwed up worse than any other (although the Iraq War had more immediate dire consequences). BushCo are unquestionably the worst environmental administration in my lifetime.

[FlaSoxxJim]

This makes me ill.  This is the topic that I feel this Administration has screwed up worse than any other (although the Iraq War had more immediate dire consequences).  BushCo are unquestionably the worst environmental administration in my lifetime.

 

I'm not meaning for this to be a sarcastic post, but I'm starting to realize that we are all the delusional ones for thinking BushCo would have behaved differently.

 

It is a huge cosmic irony that THE Oil President and friend to Big Energy had to sit in office at such a ctitical juncture in the environmental health of the planet. Getting the right pro energy company adminsitration in place to roll back clean air, put the final coffin nail in any plans to require plants to be brought up to code, etc., at the precise time when the country and the planet needed a far-thinking stewardship administration to pay attention to the mountain of evidence on anthropogenic climate chage and sound the alarm . . . well, what did we think was going to be the result?

[FlaSoxxJim]

Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales suggested for the first time on Thursday that the president might have the legal authority to order wiretapping without a warrant on communications between Americans that occur exclusively within the United States, the NEW YORK TIMES reports Friday.

 

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Gonzales...ority_0406.html

 

Hooray for the US Police State!

Edited April 7, 2006 by FlaSoxxJim

[Rex Kickass]

I really wish that the administration would quit spraying down the slope with Teflon.

[Soxy]

I really wish that the administration would quit spraying down the slope with Teflon.

At some point it'll bite them in the butt, doesn't teflon cause cancer?

[Balta1701]

"DeLay said Thursday that announcing his resignation has been liberating. Quoting Martin Luther King. Jr., DeLay said, 'Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, I'm free at last.'"

(The Hill newspaper. No link yet.)

[Rex Kickass]

Why didn't he just stop running ten years ago if it was such a burden? The rest of the world would be better off as a result.

[Texsox]

Until convicted, I feel it is a sad day when voters in Districts outside his, determined who would represent Sugarland, TX.

[jackie hayes]

Until convicted, I feel it is a sad day when voters in Districts outside his, determined who would represent Sugarland, TX.

In his speech, he said that he was resigning to ensure that Democrats can not "steal" his seat "with a negative, personal campaign". If he's worried about losing the seat, I'd say that the voters in his district are making the determination, albeit indirectly.

[jasonxctf]

bring on the pretenders...

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20060413/pl_u...resident106_xml

[Balta1701]

So, after a surge in recent days, we're up to something like 5-6 retired generals who have called for Rumsfeld to resign.

[Rex Kickass]

35 Democrat sponsored amendments have made it to vote in the Senate between January and March. 89% of them have been blocked by the Republicans. (That's 31) Most of them by party line vote...

 

Including an amendment to help create a standard for communications equipment for first responders that would allow all first responders to communicate with each other during times of emergency. An amendment to increase Veteran Health Care benefits (all by closing loopholes in tax codes regarding Corporate taxes) and an amendment to offer confused seniors a deadline extension for choosing their Part D Medicare Prescription plan without penalty.

[NorthSideSox72]

Including an amendment to help create a standard for communications equipment for first responders that would allow all first responders to communicate with each other during times of emergency.

 

Not sure of the exact verbage of this amendment, but there is already a standard in place of that nature. Sort of, at least. There is a Unicom air freq (121.5) for air ops, and there is a universal law enforcement cooperative frequency (somewhere in the 140 band I think) which virtually all departments can get to (but not necessarily all handheld radios). EMS and Fire usually have access to that 140 band general freq as well, I believe.

 

In my experience, the problem is often not a matter of standards, but a matter of planning and cooperation. Communications equipment is a key piece of that, but you need local and regional response plans and contact trees that are known and viable across regions.

[Balta1701]

Not sure of the exact verbage of this amendment, but there is already a standard in place of that nature.  Sort of, at least.  There is a Unicom air freq (121.5) for air ops, and there is a universal law enforcement cooperative frequency (somewhere in the 140 band I think) which virtually all departments can get to (but not necessarily all handheld radios).  EMS and Fire usually have access to that 140 band general freq as well, I believe.

 

In my experience, the problem is often not a matter of standards, but a matter of planning and cooperation.  Communications equipment is a key piece of that, but you need local and regional response plans and contact trees that are known and viable across regions.

At least it sounds like it wouldn't be dealing with which part of the EM spectrum they can transmit on, it'd be dealing with the equipment they use to access those transmissions. I.e. so that hopefully firefighters wouldn't be rushing up a building that's about to collaps and discovering that their radios don't work.

[Rex Kickass]

I believe it was providing first responders with compatible equipment.

[Texsox]

Dear Bob and Mike,

 

One general after another demanding Rumsfeld's resignation. More citizens every day joining in support of our May 15 deadline for Iraqi leaders to stop their squabbling and form a government.

 

In these and many other ways, because of citizens like you, the wheel is slowly, but surely, turning on the question of Iraq. Over the next ten days, we're going to give it another huge push. But, before I tell you more, please take a moment right now to sign in support of the Kerry Iraq plan:

 

Sign our Out of Iraq in 2006 petition now.

 

It's time for Iraq's leaders to seize the opportunity for democracy in Iraq that our troops are sacrificing every day to create. If Iraq's leaders can't move past their infighting and endless delays to form a new government by May 15, we should immediately withdraw all of our troops. If they meet the May 15 deadline, we'll bring America's combat troops home by the end of the year and put the future of democracy in Iraq where it belongs -- in the hands of the Iraqi people.

 

The clarity and precision of our plan stand in sharp contrast to the aimless approach of the architects of this war -- Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld. All across America, people are strongly dissenting from the Bush administration's "stay for as long as it takes" policy -- and, just as important, standing up to the administration's attempts to vilify and question the patriotism of those who dare to speak out.

 

Decades ago I stood up to the Nixon administration and spoke out for a change of course in Vietnam. Four days from now, I will be delivering a speech at Boston's Faneuil Hall on the critically important topic of war and dissent. It's time to remind America that, when a stubborn president has America headed profoundly in the wrong direction, only citizen action can change our country's course.

 

The fight is just beginning. I recognize the importance of the United States Senate as an institution that can help change America's course. And I know that we can't force George W. Bush to confront reality in Iraq until we force the Senate to do the same.

 

Sign our Out of Iraq in 2006 petition now.

 

I will be acting in the Senate to bring change beginning when the current congressional recess ends on Monday. And I will be needing your help to move the Senate to action.

 

Working together, we can make the next 10 days an important turning point on Iraq -- and we can build momentum as our May 15 deadline approaches. You can help right now in three important ways. First, sign the Out of Iraq in 2006 petition. Second, forward this email to as many people as possible. And third, pay special attention to your email over the next 10 days.

 

Events could move quickly -- and you may need to act in a matter of hours.

 

Sincerely,

 

John Kerry

 

P.S. Some of America's most respected retired generals have called on Donald Rumsfeld to resign. We've long ago demanded the Secretary of Defense's resignation. Clearly, if President Bush acted with the decisiveness this moment demands, America could have a new Secretary of Defense in place by our May 15 deadline. And that would add much-needed impetus to the drive to successfully end America's military engagement in Iraq.

[YASNY]

I believe Bush has acted with decisiveness. He's decided to keep Rummy on board.

[Texsox]

I believe Bush has acted with decisiveness. He's decided to keep Rummy on board.

 

Which is not the decisiveness the situation demands, at least in Kerry's eyes. I think the Dems are trying, after blaming the entire admnistration, to find a poster child and are attempting to make that Rummy. I can't see that getting much traction. I actually find him pleasant, even though I don't agree with him all the time. If they can't convince me he's evil personified, I don't think they will get the rest of America to.

[kapkomet]

Dear Bob and Mike,

 

One general after another demanding Rumsfeld's resignation. More citizens every day joining in support of our May 15 deadline for Iraqi leaders to stop their squabbling and form a government.........

 

 

You bastard.

[Texsox]

 

You bastard.

 

glad you caught that . . .