Dear members of the house and senate,
Since congress used their vacation as a strategy forcing Gonzales to resign, do you think an extended vacation would lead to the resignation of Bush and Cheney? Or, is impeachment the best way forward?
PETITION: http://www.congress.org/congressorg/issues/alert/?alertid=10233666&type=ML
August 21, 2007
I received the following e-mail “Reclaiming Our Legacy” from Evan Bayh. Not a single mention of holding the Bush regime accountable for the unprecedented powers our congress gave the office of President.
The question is: Will “We the People” be as cowardly as the 110th congress allowing these powers to be passed on to the next president for the entire world to see?
Being soft on OUR Constitution is unpatriotic. No IMPEACHMENT is an act of terrorism against all inhabitants of Earth.
Reclaiming Our Legacy
Last week’s announcement that Karl Rove is leaving the President’s side at the end of the month means the Bush administration soon will be without the services of a cunning political operative who rarely missed an opportunity to exploit our national security challenges for partisan political advantage.
Rove will be remembered for winning campaigns by convincing the American people that only President Bush and the Republicans are tough enough to lead our country in these dangerous times.
Rove’s thesis rings particularly hollow today, as the President resolutely refuses to offer a candid assessment about the reality in Iraq or to adapt his strategy to defeat our most dangerous enemies in an age of global terror.
In the 110th Congress, I have been proud to see many of my fellow Democrats step forward to reclaim our Party’s historic legacy on matters of national security.
Remember: It was Franklin Roosevelt who stood up to fascism and led America’s greatest generation to save the world from tyranny. It was Harry Truman who drew the first line in the sand against the spread of global communism and helped rebuild Europe and Asia after World War II. It was John F. Kennedy who called on us to “bear any burden and pay any price” in defense of liberty. And it was President Clinton who rallied the international community to put a stop to ethnic cleansing in Bosnia.
Under President Bush’s leadership, we’ve spent four years, $450 billion, and sent more than 165,000 troops to Iraq, yet our National Intelligence Estimate indicates al Qaeda has gotten stronger. Many experts believe that we’ve created more terrorists than we’ve killed by our presence in Iraq.
Today, as the President continues to confuse the war on terror with a civil war between Sunnis and Shiites, I am working with my fellow Democrats and a few courageous Republicans like Senator Richard Lugar to get our eye back on the ball.
As I reminded Chris Wallace recently on Fox News Sunday, Iraq today is not the central front in the war on terror - Afghanistan and Pakistan are. We were attacked from Afghanistan, and Pakistan is where the al Qaeda leadership is reconstituting itself today. Our attention and resources ought to be refocused on capturing Osama bin Laden and rooting out al Qaeda’s enclaves across the region.
We also need a tough and smart approach to dealing with Iran, which continues its defiant march to nuclear weapons. According to the State Department, Iran is the No. 1 state sponsor of terror. We cannot afford to allow the world’s most dangerous regime to acquire the world’s deadliest weapons. But the Bush administration, obsessed with Iraq, has failed to rally our allies to effectively address this menace.
Before the summer recess, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved my nuclear safeguards legislation to prevent countries like Iran from walking up to the atomic threshold under the flimsy pretense of seeking civilian nuclear power. When Congress reconvenes after Labor Day, I will work to see that this crucial bill becomes law.
We also must redouble our efforts to honor the brave Americans who are sacrificing so much to keep us safe. The Senate recently approved comprehensive legislation to make sure our wounded warriors have access to the care they deserve when they return from battle. I was proud of my contribution to that bill - a provision that helps ensure that soldiers with traumatic brain injuries have access to the cutting-edge cognitive therapies that will allow them to recuperate and live full and productive lives.
I will continue to fight for more support for our military personnel, including pressing for enactment of my plan to relieve the financial strain on soldiers with school debt by suspending the accrual of interest on their federal student loans.
My fall agenda will continue to work on refocusing our national security policy as the Senate evaluates two September reports on the political and military outlook in Iraq. I also will continue to pursue an aggressive domestic agenda in the areas of innovation, education, and fiscal responsibility to make America more competitive in the global economy. Earlier this month, I introduced legislation to double research and development funding for small business innovators, and the Senate Judiciary Committee soon will consider my bill to protect U.S. companies that are losing profits and employees as a result of intellectual property theft (Wall Street Journal article).
It is well past time for the United States to reassert global leadership and to address the many challenges undermining our strength at home. As we turn the page on the Karl Rove era and the White House loses its Svengali of national security politics, I pledge to continue my work in Washington to insist on smarter domestic and foreign policies to keep America safe, prosperous and strong.
Sincerely,
Evan Bayh
Paid for by the All America PAC.
www.allamericapac.com
Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.
August 8, 2007
joseph a. mungai
The majority of “We the People” already know what the neocons stand for even when they flip-flop.
So, to make another point I start out with Obama’s claim he confidently knew 16 votes were required to pass a bill with timetables for withdrawal from Iraq. In essence he told the world he already knew who was voting for the bill.
He votes against warrantless wiretapping on U.S. voters but didn’t tell us 16 democrats were going to vote for it? Something wrong with this picture?
Hillary says corporate money and support from Rupert Murdock doesn’t influence her, yet over decades OUR legislature was influenced allowing toxic industrial pollution to bring us to global warming. We understood enough about the negative effects of pollution 50 years ago.
The hazardous effects of these chemicals on the human body has been well documented and still we subsidize these corporations with tax dollars, tax loop-holes and weak pollutant restrictions and then have to view our healthcare as a corporate benefit. The fetus and children are the most negatively effected but “adducts” created in their DNA will certainly change the future. What is this SHIT!
Then there’s genetically modified food that causes allergic reactions in some people and corporate America impedes mandatory labeling in an open democracy so sales aren’t effected and lawsuits curtailed. What is this SHIT!
Edwards wants to raise the minimum wage to $9.50 per hour but this doesn’t factor in cost of living in different regions within the U.S. According to the Economic Policy Institute the range of a living wage for a family of 3 is $23,000 to $46,000 per annum depending on food prices, rent, child care, transportation, etc. If we want Moms and Dads to have time for their families then a 40 hour work week means a range of wages between $11.06 per hour and $22.11 per hour in the richest nation on Earth. So far congress will only raise minimum wage to $7.25 in 2009. What is this SHIT!
Who signed trade agreements with countries that abuse their workers? Wonder why people immigrate to this country to receive a minimum wage that is currently below the federal poverty line? What example are we setting for the world about our Constitution and Democracy as a form of government? What is this SHIT!
Is “democracy” an experiment with selfish greedy people or is that what “democracy” turned us into?
July 8, 2007
Dear Honorable Comptroller General David Walker (contact@gao.gov),
First, I appreciate your excellent work at the GAO exposing the truth to the world about our Democracy.
But I am peeved at the state of our healthcare system and the term “not-for-profit” that the industry uses as though this makes what they do honorable.
“Not-for-profit”? This hardly seems to be the case. In a 2005 San Francisco Chronicle interview with Bruce Bodaken, chief executive officer of Blue Shield of California (BLUE SHIELD OF CALIFORNIA / On the Record: Bruce Bodaken), he stated “we’re not operating at the level of profitability of our for-profit and some of our not-for-profit competitors. For that matter, not-for-profit hospital systems are operating at margins in excess of what Blue Shield is operating at.” Isn’t that a problem too?
In the 2006 Blue Shield of California Annual Report $7,944,000,000 is listed as their “operating revenue”, $156,000,000 as “investment income” and total revenue as $8,150,000,000. Isn’t there plenty of room for profit especially after tax-breaks we all pay for? What was Bruce’s paycheck?
In hindsight maybe we can see a trend. The Audit of Medicare Administrative Costs Claimed by Blue Shield of California… going back to 1995 points out “unreasonable increases in executive compensation costs” and “salaries over the Federal Limit”.
As you know, the parent company of Blue Shield of California is WellPoint, a conglomerate that has swallowed up many companies over the years.
Former CEO of WellPoint Larry Glasscock made $14.5 million in 2006 (Healthy paychecks). The new CEO is Angela Braly, will taxpayers be supporting her salary under the privatized healthcare plans the front-running 2008 presidential candidates offer?
Then there’s the Stephen Hemsley Profile - Forbes.com, CEO/Director/President at UnitedHealth Group Incorporated, he made a total of $15,549,028 in the same year.
I think the majority of We the People already fully understand the crisis in U.S. healthcare. I think the majority of We the People already fully understand the corruption in congress and the white house. I think the majority of We the People already fully understand the lives lost due to a congress that makes excuses for refinancing the president’s war at $100 billion per year, now it belongs to all of us. I think the majority of We the People already fully understand the jobs lost due to outsourcing and CAFTA/NAFTA alliances with some countries that oppress their workers. Don’t we?
4 Letter Word Spelled C-O-N-G-R-E-S-S (RESPECTFULLY)
So why not pay CEO’s a salary equal to that of congresspersons, about $170,000 per year (not adjusted for inflation like the minimum wage)? If CEO’s do even less good for our country then pay them what Cheney makes as Vice President, but if they stomp all over us give them the President’s annual salary. Somewhere I read that a Ford CEO got paid more for losing quarterly profits and still no “green machines”. So, you can see this is in keeping with capitalism.
If CEO’s wanted some cash above and beyond congressional salaries they can ask some of those in congress what their secrets are for dividing up their time between running a country, campaigning, writing books or any money making activities unrelated to their “public office”.
Or maybe simplify it even further, classify congress as “for-profit-and-power” and everyone else as “not-for-profit-just-enough-to-pay-medical-costs” and give them the tax-cuts along with off-shore banking accounts, in case we go back to the current model of taxation.
Independence Day 2007
Any congressperson not supporting impeachment of Bush and Cheney is obstructing justice.
If our elected officials don’t sign on to impeach because they don’t believe the violations are grave enough they are simply not paying attention. Patriots will remember these incumbents during upcoming re-election campaigns.
Certainly no taxpayer wants to pay the healthcare industry for medical errors that injure and kill; the same is true for the Iraq war.
Scooter lied us into war costing hundreds of thousands of innocent lives and displaced even more Iraqi citizens, congress didn’t investigate the “dubious” evidence to invade Iraq—though it was there to be found—and now there are representatives and senators still making excuses for exercising poor judgment, lack of wisdom, ignorance of history making grave (may they finally rest in peace) mistakes.
The end result is a proclamation by these criminals in congress that they support our president commuting the sentence of I. Lewis Libby while criminals behind bars want equal justice in a “democracy”.
How should people address Constitutional obstructionists? “There’s a way to bring an end to those practices, you know: vote the bums out.”
June 30, 2007
In February 2006 Kao-Ping Chua, from the American Medical Student Association, wrote The Case for Universal Health Care. He takes data from the study “Hidden Costs, Value Lost: Uninsurance in America - Institute of Medicine …”, revealing the effect on the workforce, children, lower healthcare delivery capacity, impaired access to ER departments, weakened local economy, adverse effects on public health and a cost to public programs. Nearing the conclusion of his expose he writes:
“Education is guaranteed in America in part to further the ideal of equal opportunity, but health care is not treated in the same way. The Declaration of Independence states there are certain “inalienable rights”, including life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. If Americans believe in an inalienable right to life, how can we tolerate a system that denies people lifesaving medications and treatments? Similarly, if Americans believe in an inalienable right to the pursuit of happiness, how can we allow millions of dreams to be smashed by the financial and physical consequences of uninsurance?”
Chua compares costs between 4 different delivery systems using a study by Kenneth E. Thorpe, PhD, of Emory University. The universal publicly financed system would save $1.1 trillion over 10 years, an average of about 3 times the savings compared to the other plans. He also raises the issues of “job lock” where people stay with their job because it offers health insurance when they would rather work elsewhere, strain on businesses due to rising costs of insurance and worker wages stagnant to maintain the healthcare benefit, effect on global competition since the cost of insurance premiums is built into the prices of American products, unnecessary use of ER’s when doctor office visits are less expensive and inadequate care for chronic diseases leading to complications and advanced stage disease.
In the May 15, 2007, Emory WHSC :: Press Releases it is stated, “Chronic diseases are also the primary driver of health care costs, accounting for