If you want more secure ports, make sure the fox is watching the chicken coop

We already knew no one was really watching the ports; now we find out that the only ones who will be watching them are employees of a foreign country that, oh, by the way, birthed two of the 9/11 highjackers. I feel soooooo much safer. How about you?

It gets better. It turns out that two of the Bush appointees (We know how well this works out don't we? Ask anyone in a FEMA-afflicted area about a Bush-appointee...) have extremely close and remunerative ties to to the very Dubai-based firm that got the rubber-stamp okay from Bush's cozy and very private little governmental agency to pay the British company $6.8 BILLION for the right to make sure we (meaning those of us in the States) don't get blown up, anthraxed or otherwise terrorized.

Yup, I feel soooo much safer. Now about that duct tape and plastic wrap...

Read more about the dirty BIG details in this article from Truthout.

MD voting machines not ready for prime time

As reported in a Boston Globe article, MD voting machines are not trustworthy. The governor of MD is concerned that their machines won't give accurate counts and he wants a paper trail. I guess its not just Ohio...

Petitions submitted to hike Mo's minimum wage

The comments coming from this post at Jo Mannies blog, STLtoday.com Blogs � Petitions submitted to hike Mo�s minimum wage, really make me feel ill. I don't know whether it is the vicious rant of anonymous commenting or the actual content of the comments. Words swirling, heads inflating, teeth bared, f*ck-those-who-are-different-than-us snarling. Here is the "innocent" post that began the standard tirade:

The Missouri secretary of state’s office confirmed Wednesday that it is reviewing four different initiative-petition proposals to increase the state’s minimum wage.
All were submitted by one man — Jim Kottmeyer, a political consultant (and former executive director of the Missouri Democratic Party.)
Reached via cell phone, Kottmeyer said that he was acting on behalf of a number of interested unions, faith-based groups and business organizations. The groups have generally decided to support the proposal that calls for increasing Missouri’s minimum wage to $6.50 an hour — the same as neighboring Illinois — with automatic adjustments for inflation.
The aim would be to get the proposal on the November ballot.
Missouri’s minimum wage is now $5.15 an hour, the same as the federal minimum wage.

Religious Right feeding at public trough

What do Campus Crusade for Christ, the Samaritan's Purse and the Christian Coalition have in common (other than the obvious religious connection)? They've all fed off the American taxpayers. That's you and me. According to an article in the Augusta Free Press, these groups and more have been financed by us. So whether or not you think Billy Graham's little boy SHOULD get tax dollars to spread his message (and grow the organization that supports him and his family) WE have no choice.

Just how much have we been ripped off by these groups? The article doesn't give a total number but here's what it does say about who got what and why even the conservative writer is appalled:

A couple months ago, it was reported that the Bush administration, through its Office of Faith-Based Initiatives, has doled out millions of dollars to conservative Christian organizations. Pat Robertson received $1.5 million. Chuck Colson’s Prison Fellowship Ministries was one of four groups selected to receive a $22.5 million grant. Catholic Relief Services, World Vision and the Salvation Army have all received pork from Uncle Sam; and Campus Crusade for Christ, Samaritan's Purse (Billy Graham's son's ministry) and other evangelical organizations have applied for access to the government trough.

Now, don't get me wrong. I love supporting crises pregnancy centers and other charities that promote abstinence and counsel women against having abortions. I donate to them regularly. But I don't see any provision in the U.S. Constitution that gives the president of the United States the right to direct billions of dollars of taxpayer money (our money) to the charities of his choice.

Perhaps the most frustrating fact about this faith-based fleecing of American taxpayers is that the gate-keepers of much of this government pork are the very organizations and individuals who sought to de-fund leftist groups during the Reagan, Bush and Clinton administrations.

So there you go folks. Its not about "values," its about "value," as in the value of that checking account.

Thanks to Robert Wilkinson and his blog on Salon.com for bringing much needed attention to this article!

New day for Republican Ethics -- Don't bet on it!

This just in from Truthdig. It seems that the new Majority Leader just can't keep his nose or any other part of him clean, ethically speaking.

Boehner Renting Apartment From Lobbyist


Posted on Feb. 8, 2006

Rep. John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), who was elected House majority leader last week, is renting his Capitol Hill apartment from a veteran lobbyist whose clients have direct stakes in legislation Boehner has co-written and that he has overseen as chairman of the Education and the Workforce Committee.

The relationship between Boehner, John D. Milne and Milne’s wife, Debra R. Anderson, underscores how intertwined senior lawmakers have become with the lobbyists paid to influence legislation. Boehner’s primary residence is in West Chester, Ohio, but for $1,600 a month, he rents a two-bedroom basement apartment near the House office buildings on Capitol Hill owned by Milne, Boehner spokesman Don Seymour said yesterday. Boehner’s monthly rent appears to be similar to other rentals of two-bedroom English basement apartments close to the House side of the Capitol in Southeast, based on a review of apartment listings.

Truthdig says: So this is the hope of the new scandal-free House of Republicans?

We say: You say Boehner, I say Blunt. Let's call the whole thing off. Its time for some REAL changes!

Read the article.

Budget Blues

If you're wondering why the Bush budget seems to feed the military and nothing else, you're not alone. Robert Scheer at Truthdig has a lot to say about what our funds are feeding in his recent article, Take from the Poor, Give to the Military.

"Where would the Bush administration be without terrorism? Like the Cold War before it, the "war on terror" is a conveniently sweeping rationale for all manner of irrational governance, such as the outrageous $2.77-trillion budget the president proposed to Congress on Monday. "

Another great thought provoker from Truthout.

file under progressive music

While driving in the depressive area between the blue oasises (oasi?) of Iowa City and St Louis this weekend, I heard Bob Edwards interview John Prine. I was too young to enjoy his music the first time around, but glad that is being resurrected. It also got me to thinking about a Progessive playlist. Suggestions, anyone?

Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore
© John Prine

While digesting Reader's Digest
In the back of a dirty book store,
A plastic flag, with gum on the back,
Fell out on the floor.
Well, I picked it up and I ran outside
Slapped it on my window shield,
And if I could see old Betsy Ross
I'd tell her how good I feel.

Chorus:
But your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more.
They're already overcrowded
From your dirty little war.
Now Jesus don't like killin'
No matter what the reason's for,
And your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more.

Well, I went to the bank this morning
And the cashier he said to me,
"If you join the Christmas club
We'll give you ten of them flags for free."
Well, I didn't mess around a bit
I took him up on what he said.
And I stuck them stickers all over my car
And one on my wife's forehead.

Repeat Chorus:

Well, I got my window shield so filled
With flags I couldn't see.
So, I ran the car upside a curb
And right into a tree.
By the time they got a doctor down
I was already dead.
And I'll never understand why the man
Standing in the Pearly Gates said...

"But your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more.
We're already overcrowded
From your dirty little war.
Now Jesus don't like killin'
No matter what the reason's for,
And your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more."

Here's a Chicago Tribune article speaking to his current popularity.

Another icon passes...

Feminist, leader, mother, and renaissance women, Betty Friedan author of "The Feminine Mystique and founder of National Organization of Women (NOW) passed away Saturday. Click here for her story.

Old dogs have old tricks -- Documents show Rumsfeld and Cheney wanted to snoop on Americans without warrants in Ford administration

It seems like you don't have to teach these old dogs new tricks; they have the same old ones they're always trying to play. The Associated Press reports that historical documents from the Ford administration show that Rumsfeld and Cheney were trying to snoop on Americans without warrants even then.

Check out these quotes from the AP article.

"We strongly believe it is unwise for the president to concede any lack of constitutional power to authorize electronic surveillance for foreign intelligence purposes," wrote Robert Ingersoll, then deputy secretary of state, in a 1976 memorandum to Ford about the proposed bill on electronic surveillance.
Former president Bush, then director of the CIA, wanted to ensure "no unnecessary diminution of collection of important foreign intelligence" under the proposal to require judges to approve terror wiretaps, said a March 1976 memorandum he wrote to the Justice Department. Bush also complained some major communications companies were unwilling to install government wiretaps without a judge's approval. Such a refusal "seriously affects the capabilities of the intelligence community," Bush wrote.

Maybe it reflected good judgement on the phone companies' part.

Don't you just love it when history repeats itself (or someone keeps trying the same trick)? It make it so much easier to recognize what's happening.

Let's see, they didn't have 9/11 to use as their catch-all excuse for spying on Americans or otherwise eviscerating the Constitution and Bill of Rights so what WAS their rationalization then?

Check out the AP article on Truthout for more info.

Private Corporations Target the Internet for Takeover

The nation's largest telephone and cable companies are crafting an alarming set of strategies that would transform the free, open and nondiscriminatory Internet of today to a privately run and branded service that would charge a fee for virtually everything we do online. -- Jeff Chester

We all take the Internet for granted. But some powerful corporations are moving to take over the Internet. That's right. And if they do they'll not just charge us more they will control what we can and cannot see. They don't like those pesky demonstrators in DC? Just don't let those pictures go out on the web. Want to know what each and every one of us is looking at, buying, etc. on line? All they have to do is track us and NO ONE can tell them no. What a Stalinistic dream! Joseph S. must be wringing his hands with glee!

To read more, check out this article by Jeff Chester. The article came from The Nation but is brought to all of us by Truthout.

Carnahan does good for our future and the environment, Talent and Bond flunk

I guess Bond and Talent really do think this is the last generation so they don't have to worry about the environment. Heck, who needs to keep this one in good shape for other generations if its all a done deal I guess?

Thankfully, Russ Carnahan has better sense (and probably a better education to boot since he seems to understand some scientific principles). Our own Carnahan got a rare 100% rating on voting to protect our environment. Way to go Russ!!!!!

On the other hand, Talent and Bond must have skipped those oh so essential bio and chemistry classes because they both got BIG ZEROES on their voting records. I guess Jim and Kit don't care as much about their kids (and your kids) as Russ does. If they did, they wouldn't be stealing thier planet out from under them and giving it to Delay's (and Blunt's) friends with the deep pockets and the shallow morals.

If you want to know more, check out the report card rankings from the much respected Defenders of Wildlife.

Thank you Robin Carnahan for new online service!

Once again a leading Democrat is changing the way we view government. In this case its Secretary of State Robin Carnahan and she's making it easier for all of us to know what's happening in Jeff City and Missouri.

Check out the new web site showing news from our state government. The site also has a handy list of links to Missouri newspapers with online presences. The site is located on the Secretary of State website, which, by the way, looks really good and reflects well on all of us in Missouri.

Thanks Robin!

Blow by blow evaluation of the State of the Union Address

Heard the SOTU address and still wondering what hit you? It was the spinmeisters spinning faster than ever, that's what.

Now if you're ready to get the REAL story check out this blow-by-blow evaluation of Bush's fairy tale . This enlightening review is brought to you by Foreign Policy in Focus.

Thanks Steve Belosi for passing this on to us.

What happened to Cindy Sheehan or how Cindy lost her son and all she got for it was the bum's rush out of the Capital

Gold Star mom Cindy Sheehan was invited by a Democrat to attend the fiction reading we all refer to as the State of the Union Address. While she was sitting down and taking off her jacket after a rush up stairs to her seat, she was manhandled by a guard yelling "protestor" as he dragged her out of the room. (Has the Maplewood Police trainer been moonlighting in DC?) The problem? She had a shirt on with the number of Americans who have given their lives so that Iraqis could have freedom of speech, among other things. I guess just like universal health care, that little "perk" is reserved for Iraquis and others in countries we "support"

Ms. Sheehan gives her account of what happened in this article on Truthout.

Thanks Cindy for telling the truth. Too bad our journalists can't learn a thing or two from you.

More sunshine on a black hole -- fact-based politics looks at a faith-based State of the Union

The state of this union is not good. We are poorer, frightened, faced with the swelling ranks of enemies our leaders have created, and hell-bent to do away with the most precious aspects of our system of government. We are surveilled, propagandized, intimidated. We empower the radicals and disenfranchise the common good. We are fed swill via the television and thus convinced that what they tell us is what we already believe. We are bought, and we are paid for. -- William Rivers Pitt


Want some real facts that belie Bush's myths in the State of the Union? Check out William Rivers Pitt's article on Truthout. Pitt names numbers and relates facts, not illusory vaguaries.

Thanks to Jeannette for paasing along this light-shedder of an article.

Time for a little sunshine on this State of the Union malarky

If you've stopped gagging and/or laughing at last night's performance of fiction by GWB, prepare yourself with the truth. The Repub spinmeisters are still spinning but you can get the real story at ThinkProgress.org. They've got it letter and verse with a "Bush said" followed by the real story on each issue.

Thanks to Steve Belosi with the St. Charles Dems for sending on this website!

Support Common Sense with Ads

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