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October 31, 2007

PB Rescue Open Thread

I haven't done one of these in a while, so time to get back into that habit. Here are just a few of the posts you're all writing over at PartyBuilder:

• For some good meta, take a look at Shopman's Did you ever notice...
• Dan Slater: Delegate Selection Plan Approved … County Delegate Numbers Released … And Where is the GOP on the Web?

Happy Halloween, everyone. Chat away...

White House Withholds Abramoff Documents

From ThinkProgress:

Today, House Oversight Committee chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) wrote to White House Counsel Fred Fielding and requested that the administration hand over more than 600 pages of documents relating to the White House’s activities with fallen lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

You can read the entire letter from Congressman Waxman here (PDF). This isn't a small amount of information being withheld, either -- it's said to be about 600 pages.

Republicans Don't Have Time for All Americans

The Republicans are skipping another debate, and this time it's by the Congressional Black Caucus. The GOP presidential field has come under fire recently for skipping debates and thereby alienating black and Latino voters, among others.

Here's a list of some GOP snubs this past year:

• National Urban League, July 25-28
• Univision Forum, August
• NALEO, June 30
• NCLR, July 21-24
• NEA, July
• College Republicans, July 12-15
• Young Republicans, July 4-8
• LOGO/HRC, July
• SEIU, March 24
• Tavis Smiley, September 27

And now they can add one more to the never-ending list.

Key Bush Adviser Karen Hughes Resigns

Karen Hughes, the last of Bush's old-guard advisers who has served with him since his days in Texas, has resigned her position at the State Department. From MSNBC (h/t Think Progress):

President Bush had asked Karen Hughes to go to the State Department and help sell America’s ideas about democracy and the war on terror around the world. Polls show that there has been no improvement in the way the world views the United States since Hughes took over. Now it appears she’s resigning.

Hughes told her staff "improving the world’s view of the United States is a 'long-term challenge' that will outlast her."

Wednesday Open Thread

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October 30, 2007

Tuesday Evening Open Thread

Chat away... about the debate! 9PM ET on MSNBC.

Dick Cheney's Secretive Hunting Trip

More details of Cheney's secretive hunting trip...

The Clove Valley Rod and Gun Club is an exclusive place: Its 70-odd members are said to pay as much as $100,000 a year for the privilege of hunting ducks and pheasants on 4,000 acres of land on the west side of Clove Mountain, an expanse of shrubs and trees speckled in orange and gold.

Locals are used to visits by high-ranking generals and politicians. But according to resident Dan Roth:

"Dick Cheney gets people talking, though...People wonder if he’s going to shoot something. Or someone."

Cheney left without speaking to reporters. He also did not acknowledge the three children standing by the road holding "Bush-Cheney" signs.

Their mother said, "What we’re really curious to know is if he shot anything. No one will tell us."

Governor Dean On Hardball Before Debate

You'll be pleased to know that Governor Howard Dean will appear on Hardball with Chris Matthews today at 5:00 PM Eastern, prior to the Democratic debate.

The Democratic candidates will debate at Drexel University in Philadelphia on MSNBC at 9PM - 11PM ET. It will be hosted by Brian Williams and Tim Russert.

When the time comes, you'll be able to watch the debate streaming live on MSNBC.com or liveblog it over at PartyBuilder, where anybody can voice their support for their candidate's performance directly to our website.

Rudy Giuliani Says Clinton and Obama Would Invite Osama Bin Laden 'To The Inaugural Ball'

Rudy Giuliani's rhetoric in his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination is becoming more weird and inflammatory. Criticizing Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, he launched into a sudden tirade yesterday:

"This is the world we live in. It's not this happy, romantic-like world where we'll negotiate with this one, or we'll negotiate with that one and there will be no preconditions, and we'll invite (Iranian President Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad to the White House, we'll invite Osama (bin Laden) to the White House," Giuliani said.

"Hillary and Obama are kind of debating whether to invite them to the inauguration or the inaugural ball," he added.

(Needless to say, this is not true.)

Tuesday Open Thread

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October 29, 2007

Monday Evening Open Thread

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Debunking Dana Perino

Last week, White House press secretary Dana Perino argued that global warming is a good thing, saying:

"It is true that many people die from cold-related deaths every winter. And there are studies that say that climate change in certain areas of the world would help those individuals."

So, taking her words seriously for the sake of argument--is it better for the planet to be hotter? Here's the research, thanks to Huffington Post:

The increase in extremely hot summers predicted by climate change models will lead to a higher death toll that will not be offset by fewer deaths during warmer winters, say researchers.

"The increase in mortality when you have one extra cold snap is 1.59%, but the increase in mortality for an additional heatwave is 5.74%," explains Mercedes Medina-Ramón of Harvard University's School of Public Health in Massachusetts, US.

Medina-Ramón and colleagues looked at how temperature correlated to mortality in 50 US cities between 1989 and 2000. They found that heart attacks and cardiac arrest were the causes of death that were most likely to increase with more extreme temperatures.

So, there you have it. Dana Perino, debunked.

Rudy Giuliani Misrepresents Important Health Care Facts

The Republican presidential nominees haven't had a stellar track record of being forthright about policy discussion--but in a new radio ad describing his cancer diagnosis, Rudy Giuliani misrepresents several important facts about health care. In a post titled "Rudy's fuzzy healthcare math," ABC news notes that,

But the data Giuliani cites comes from a single study published eight years ago by a not-for-profit group, and is contradicted by official data from the British government.

According to the United Kingdom’s Office for National Statistics, for men diagnosed with prostate cancer between 1999 and 2003, the "five-year survival rate" -- a common measurement in cancer statistics -- was 74.4 percent.

The statistics show that the five-year survival rate for prostate cancer victims in the UK has been steadily rising to approach the survival rate Giuliani cited for the United States.

Ezra Klein argues that not only is the data fuzzy, but that the actual rate is virtually the same between both the United Kingdom and the United States.

England and America have virtually the same mortality rates from prostate cancer. In England (as of 1997), 28 males of every 100,000 died from prostate cancer. In America, the number was 26.

Problem is, most of those cancers simply aren't deadly, or even necessarily damaging. They're slow-moving and benign. It's like saying we have a lower death rate from car crashes because we record more near-misses in the statistics.

UPDATE: The mortality rate of prostate cancer survivors is nearly the same as the mortality in the United States. In the United Kingdom the rate is 17.9 per 100,000 males where it's 15.8 per 100,000 males.

Bush Administration's Voting Rights Chief Apologizes

Earlier this month, Bush administration voting rights division chief John Tanner created a firestorm when he said that "minorities don't become elderly the way white people do: They die first." He made the remarks before the National Latino Congreso, while trying to argue that voter ID laws discriminate against white people--because white people (in his opinion) are a disproportionate percentage of the elderly population.

He has now apologized for the remark. From TPMmuckraker:

In the letter, Tanner does not recant his analysis that voter ID laws actually discriminate against whites, but does apologize that his "explanation of the data came across in a hurtful way." Others who worked in the Justice Department, of course, including Toby Moore, a former redistricting expert in the section who will be testifying alongside Tanner tomorrow, disagreed with more than his tone.

Interesting that he sees this merely as a "poor communication" problem--while his own co-workers say he's "cherry-picking the data."

More Scrutiny On Missing Emails

Back in April, CREW discovered that the "Executive Office of the President (EOP) has lost over five million emails generated between March 2003 and October 2005." In addition, CREW stated in April, they took no actions to recover the missing emails.

Now the National Security Archive and CREW (PDF) have -- in separate lawsuits -- taken action to ensure that the White House "cannot render judicial preservation decisions meaningless."

Nobody quite knows what's in these emails. The first hint that something was up occurred when Patrick Fitzgerald, who led the case against Scooter Libby, warned that while he had no evidence that emails related to the case had been destroyed, he could not be sure due to some emails not being preserved.

This, of course, wasn't the only trouble they've had with missing emails. There was also the infamous "Eighteen Week Gap" of emails by Karl Rove using an email system maintained by the Republican National Committee. This "gap" occurred after "legal inquiries" that led to a "hold" being placed to prevent this very type of destruction.

Tom Tancredo Leaving Congress

Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) says he will leave the U.S. House of Representatives in 2008--no matter what happens with his long-shot presidential campaign. From the Rocky Mountain News:

Tancredo parlayed a back-bench seat in Congress into a national megaphone to oppose illegal immigration, denounce a so-called "cult of multiculturalism" and warn about a "clash of civilizations" between radical Islam and Western civilizations.

Tancredo's departure is the latest in a mass of Republican retirements--now thirteen (and counting) from the House of Representatives.

John McCain Criticizes Giuliani For Disagreements With Conservatives

Not too long ago, his independent thinking was the hallmark of his popularity. Wonder what happened?

Republican John McCain said today that "it's hard to imagine" Rudy Giuliani as the GOP presidential nominee. "It's hard for me to accept the fact that we would nominate someone who has fundamental disagreements" with conservatives on core principles, he said on ABC's This Week.

For Fred Thompson, Success In Iraq Means 'Not Getting Blown Up'

Well, I guess this would be one way to measure success...

He said it was going to take a while to get the situation under control and described his definition of success in Iraq as people being able to worship without fear of being blown up and political leaders being able to meet without fear of being blown up.

Monday Open Thread

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October 28, 2007

Sunday Open Thread

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October 27, 2007

Governor Dean Delivers Democratic Radio Address

Governor Howard Dean, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, delivered the Democratic radio address this week. He highlighted the fact that while all of the Republican presidential candidates support borrowing $196 billion for the war in Iraq they all oppose spending $7 billion next year for the bipartisan plan to provide children health care.

Chairman Dean called on Republicans in Congress to join Democrats in overriding the President's veto of the Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), especially after Democratic leaders recrafted the bill in response to Republican concerns. Dean also drew a clear contrast between the Democratic and Republican presidential fields on the war in Iraq, the culture of corruption, and fiscal responsibility.

To listen to the address, click here.

Transcript of Radio Address:

Good morning. I'm Governor Howard Dean, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

I want to start by joining all Americans in offering my thoughts and prayers to the people of California devastated by the wildfires this week. And our thanks to the firefighters, the National Guard, local agencies, and neighbors for their extraordinary work. You serve as a reminder that when we work together, Americans can accomplish anything.

We need more of that spirit of cooperation in Washington, DC today. Despite significant bipartisan support for the country's health insurance program for our children or "S-CHIP," every single Republican running for president sided with President Bush in keeping our kids from getting the health care that they need.

Turning our backs on our children is not the way to lead our country. It's bad policy, but it's also politics at its worst.

Just weeks after vetoing S-CHIP, the Bush Republicans wanted to borrow a total of $196 billion to continue the wars in Iraq and then Afghanistan, but they wouldn't spend $7 billion for the health of our children.

The Republican leaders have made their choice. They want to stay in Iraq and deny our kids health care. It is wrong for the Bush Republicans to stand in the way of legislation needed to protect the wellbeing of our kids.

This week, Democrats in Congress re-crafted the legislation to reauthorize the Children's Health Insurance Program and provide health care for 10 million uninsured children. It is time for Republicans to join the Democrats in overriding President Bush's veto and to reauthorize this program. Eighty-one percent of the American people and governors of both parties from states all across the country support our effort to cover these 10 million uninsured children.

Again, all of the republican candidates for president support President Bush's veto on health care for our uninsured children. And every one of them supports spending a total of $196 billion to send brave Americans to fight in a civil war in Iraq. America can not afford four more years of a president who borrows for the war and denies health insurance for our kids.

It's a time for a return to American values-- and a return to the era of fiscal responsibility we saw during the last Democratic administration. It's time we restore America to its position of moral leadership throughout the world. And, it's time we fulfill our moral obligation to care for our nation's children.

I know it can be done. In my home state of Vermont, 99 percent of all children under the age of 18 were eligible for health insurance when I left office. If we can do that in a small state like Vermont, we can do it in the greatest country in the world.

The contrast in the presidential race is so clear.

Democrats want to end the war in Iraq, the Republicans would continue President Bush's failed strategy. While Democrats will ensure our kids have health care, the Republicans will deny our kids. The Democrats want to end the culture of corruption, the Republicans support the pardoning of corrupt officials.

And while Democrats will balance the budget and restore fiscal discipline, the Republicans will borrow against our children's future.

The choice is clear in 2008. If you believe in supporting our kids, making our economy stronger, creating jobs, and ending the war in Iraq, please vote for a Democrat in 2008.

I'm Governor Howard Dean, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Thanks so much for listening.

Saturday Open Thread

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October 26, 2007

Remembering Paul Wellstone

It's been five years since we lost Senator Wellstone's voice. On the fifth anniversary of his passing Senate Democrats put together a video remembering Paul Wellstone and his words.

Thompson Has Changed His Tune On Presidential Power and National Security

Fred Thompson used to support limits on presidential power.

In 1974, the Nashville Tennessean quoted a 31-year-old lawyer named Fred Thompson -- the chief GOP counsel on the Senate Watergate Committee -- saying that since the nation was "really angered" by the Nixon administration's abuses of national security classifications, things would change.

"I think obviously that in the future the president is not going to be the sole individual to determine what is a matter of national security," Thompson said at the Austin Peay State University campus in Clarksville, Tennessee.

The newspaper reported that "Thompson suggested the possibility of an executive and legislative committee to take on the task."

We asked Thompson about this in our Nightline swing through Florida with the former senator, turned GOP presidential candidate.

"I thought I confiscated all of those," Thompson joked when I took out a copy of the article.

I suggested that if Thompson were to become president, he would likely not be in favor of this joint legislative and executive committee.

"My concern at that time of course was the abuses of the presidency at that time," Thompson said. "And clearly the president at that time had used the umbrella of national security to do some things that were not in fact in the interest of national security."

John McCain Refuses To Stop Running Ad Using Fox Logo

Well, we all knew he was low on cash...

Republican John McCain on Thursday rejected a Fox News Channel request to stop airing a television ad that includes footage of the presidential candidate at a debate sponsored by the cable network.

In the ad, McCain is shown at the debate saying: "A few days ago, Senator Clinton tried to spend $1 million on the Woodstock concert museum."

"Now my friends, I wasn't there. I'm sure it was a cultural and pharmaceutical event," he says. "I was tied up at the time." It was a reference to the 5 1/2 years McCain spent in a North Vietnamese prison.

The Fox News logo is in the corner of the ad.

But Fox News bars candidates from using debate clips in ads, and officials there sent a cease and desist letter to McCain. McCain rejected the request, arguing that he is within the law's "fair use" rights to use an 18-second clip of a 90-minute debate.

Friday Open Thread

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October 25, 2007

Fred Thompson 'Not Sure' What's Going On Among the Ranks

What "experts" is he talking about here?

The campaign recently lost Nelson Warfield, a political media strategist, and New Hampshire Republican Dan Hughes said he had switched to John McCain's team.

"You know, the campaign can address that. I can't really address who's doing — and who was doing — exactly what at every level of this campaign," Thompson said after speaking to about 300 people at a restaurant in South Carolina. "They're the ones who know what's going on on a daily basis. ... I'll let the experts speak on that."

As Presidential Campaign Falters, Maybe McCain Should Consider NOT Abandoning His Day Job

John McCain skips an important vote--on his own immigration bill.

The latest legislative attempt to give illegal immigrants a path to American citizenship is foundering, its fate symbolized by the fact that Senator McCain, whose name was once synonymous with such immigration legislation, skipped a vote on the bill.

The Arizona Republican rearranged his campaign schedule to return to Washington yesterday for a vote on a judicial nomination, but he did not stick around for a key vote just an hour later on the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act, an immigration bill he co-sponsored in an earlier version.

The DREAM Act, which fell eight votes short of the 60 it needed to advance in the Senate, would allow illegal immigrants who came to America when they were younger than 16, have been enrolled in college for two years, and have lived in America for five years to apply for legal residency.

UPDATE: Today he told a gathering of right-wing bloggers that he would have voted against the bill that he co-sponsored in 2005.

Governor Dean on the California Wildfires

Governor Dean's statement on the California wildfires:

"As the wildfires continue to rage, our thoughts and prayers go out to the people of California. In this time of crisis, you are not alone. I also want to thank the firefighters, rescue workers, volunteers, National Guard and all who have answered the call to help. Their service and sacrifice demonstrates the best of America and affirms that in times of need, we come together to help one another."

Fred Thompson Will Raise Money In Fire Ravaged Communities

Yesterday we blogged about a story that said that Fred Thompson was setting up last minute fundraisers in some of the communities ravaged by fires in Southern California. The Huffington Post is now reporting that Fred Thompson is still planning to continue with the fundraisers, including one in Rancho Santa Fe, which according to local news sources is evacuated because of fire.

The Republican field has yet to issue any statements about the fire.

Thursday Open Thread

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October 24, 2007

Report Shows Bush Administration Not Prepared For Fires

Now it turns out that the Bush administration was not prepared for the disastrous wildfires in southern California. Again.

The Government Accountability Office, Congress's nonpartisan auditor, issued stark warnings earlier this year on shortcomings in the administration's plans to fight fires.

The Bush administration had been warned that the $3 billion annual budget for fire prevention and suppression was being wasted on private contractors and government bureaucracy--such as the federal red tape that prevented the use of more DC-10 airplanes that could have dropped flame retardant on areas that were on fire.

Rudy Giuliani Meets With Neocon About 'World War IV'

Rudy Giuliani has been meeting with right-wing pundit Norman Podhoretz about the possibility of war with Iran.

"I was asked to come in and give him a briefing on the war, World War IV," said Mr. Podhoretz, a founding father of neoconservatism and leading foreign policy adviser to Mr. Giuliani. "As far as I can tell there is very little difference in how he sees the war and how I see it."

Podhoretz, whose newest book is titled World War IV: The Long Struggle Against Islamofascism, added that he told Giuliani:

"The choice before us is either bomb those nuclear facilities or let them get the bomb."

Maybe even scarier:

In late spring, he met with President Bush at the Waldorf Astoria to share his views about what to do with Iran. As Karl Rove took notes, Mr. Podhoretz stressed that anything short of military action to prevent Iran from getting nuclear capabilities would fail, and that American needs to strike to prevent another Holocaust. Mr. Bush and Mr. Rove, Mr. Podhoretz recalled, laughed when he indirectly referred to the futility of the current American policy of pressuring Iran with sanctions and diplomatic isolation.

And the drumbeat for war with Iran continues...

Fred Thompson Schedules Fundraiser In Southern California

You know, where those deadly wildfires are raging right now...

From Campaign Spot reader Nick:

Several of my family members in southern CA received invitations today in the mail for a group of high-dollar Fred Thompson fundraising events across southern California--taking place on Monday and Tuesday of next week! None can ever recall getting initially solicited for events this close to the event date.

Seems like a serious lack of advance planning.

Not the campaign's fault, but the first event will almost surely have to be canceled--it's scheduled for next Monday in Rancho Santa Fe, which is currently evacuated and the scene of part of one of the large fires.

I wonder if instead of the fundraiser, Thompson--or any other candidate, really--ought to tour one of the scorched areas (once the fires are out), write a big personal check to a relief fund on the spot, and offer words of encouragement for people who have just been through hell. Responding to disasters is one of the duties of a president; once the immediate danger has passed, the candidates might as well start demonstrating this ability as well.

How Does Mitt Romney Respond To All Those Flip-Flops?

Mitt Romney's campaign has been doing a lot of work over the last year getting ready for his run for the White House. He's changed his position so many times on so many issues that he's been tagged as a flip-flopper. A Boston television station does a report on the war room that monitors the television and web for "Mitt-flops."

Condoleezza Rice Will Testify Before Investigating Committee

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has quietly agreed to appear before Congress--although her office says she won't talk about controversial topics like the Iraq war. From the Huffington Post:

After years of ignoring congressional letters and rejecting requests for testimony, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has finally agreed to subject herself to a grilling before Henry Waxman (D-CA) and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

The hearing is scheduled for Thursday, October 25, 2007, at 10 a.m. More from Nico at HuffPo:

Rice still appears unwilling to speak candidly. According to a State Department official, she will balk at discussing "the administration's use of intelligence before the Iraq war and the outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame," though she's "more willing to discuss department policies implemented during her tenure as Secretary of State." How gracious.

South Carolina Leader Now Says That Endorsement Was Mistake

Mitt Romney's support in South Carolina is already slipping.

South Carolina pastor Don Wilton said Oct. 23 he made a "personal error" in agreeing to support the campaign of Mitt Romney for president.

The pastor of First Baptist Church in Spartanburg and a former president of the South Carolina Baptist Convention, Wilton said the Romney campaign has agreed to withdraw all references to his endorsement of Romney as a candidate.

On Oct. 19, the Romney campaign issued a press release stating Wilton had "announced his support for Governor Mitt Romney and his campaign." The release, which received attention from national media, quoted Wilton as saying, "We need someone in Washington who will stand up for traditional families and Governor Romney is that person." It also said that while they disagreed on theology, "his values are my values -- protecting the sanctity of human life, defending marriage and strengthening the family."

But Wilton now says that endorsement was a mistake.

Wednesday Open Thread

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October 23, 2007

McCain Hypocrisy on Earmarked Projects

John McCain may be making an issue out of earmarks for other members of Congress, but he's been hypocritical about earmarks that support causes in his home state.

And yet, less than two years ago, it was McCain who was on the receiving end of rebuke over a pet project deemed overly parochial and "porkish." In February 2006, McCain teamed up with fellow Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl on a bill to direct $10 million over five years to help create the William H. Rehnquist Center at the University of Arizona Law School.

The bill never passed, but Democrats and even some government watchdog groups perceived McCain's project much the same way the Woodstock memorial was greeted among the Republican presidential hopefuls.

"It was an earmark in training," Keith Ashdown, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, recalled for the Huffington Post. "This is how bad projects get started... The Senator has generally been good on these issues. But if you want to criticize, you should be ready to take it on the chin."

Mitt Romney Buys Support In South Carolina

Mitt Romney's strategy to win the Republican nomination: buy it. First, the Associated Press reports on Romney's endorsements in South Carolina.

Last week, Romney won the endorsements of Bob Jones III and Robert Taylor, the founder's grandson and a top dean respectively here at Bob Jones University.

He also gained the backing of Don Wilton, the immediate past president of the South Carolina Baptist Convention and pastor of a nearby megachurch, as well as Dr. John Willke, a founder and past president of the National Right to Life Committee.

During the same one-week period, the former Massachusetts governor eked out a win in a straw poll at the socially conservative Values Voter Summit in Washington.

Then the New York Times reports that Mitt Romney is buying most of his support with hard dollars from his PAC.

Some movement conservatives are buzzing this week about a new report that Mitt Romney, a millionaire buyout investor and prodigious fundraiser, made some strategic donations to a number of well-connected conservative groups in the pivotal early primary state of South Carolina.

Harper’s magazine reported this week that a state political action committee Mr. Romney set up in South Carolina gave an unspecified sum to the Palmetto Family Council, the state affiliate of Focus on the Family; $5,000 to an organization that sponsored a ballot initiative to ban same-sex marriage in the state constitution; $2,000 to a coalition of conservative Charleston school board candidates called the A-Team; $1,000 to the South Carolina Club for Growth; $1,000 to a school choice group called South Carolinians for Responsible Government; and $500 to the anti-abortion group South Carolina Citizens for Life.

White House Says It Is 'Premature' For Bush To Visit Southern California

As wildfires rage across southern California, destroying thousands of homes and displacing hundreds of thousands of residents, the White House says that talk about a presidential visit to the region is "very premature."

White House press secretary Dana Perino said it was "very premature" to talk about a presidential stop in the region.

"All of us across this nation are concerned for the families who have lost their homes and the many families who have been evacuated from their homes," Bush said Tuesday. "We send the help of the federal government."

But there is much less federal help to send since 46,797 National Guard and reserves are deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, according to recent Department of Defense stats.

Instead, more than 2,300 prison inmates are being used to help fight the blaze--as well as borrowed firefighters from neighboring states.

Republican Dirty Tricks Back In California

A controversial Republican effort to change the way California distributes its electoral votes is back. Previously, we reported that the effort was dead--but it's now been revived by top Giuliani donors and aides. From the Los Angeles Times:

Veteran Republican consultants said Monday that they were relaunching a drive to change the way California allocates its electoral college votes, aimed at helping the 2008 GOP presidential nominee capture the White House.

Political strategist David Gilliard said he was taking over the ballot initiative campaign, along with strategist Ed Rollins and fund raiser Anne Dunsmore. Consultant Mike Arno will oversee the signature gathering effort.

"Our budget is going to be whatever it takes to make the June ballot," said Gilliard, who played a key role in placing the 2003 recall of California Gov. Gray Davis onto the ballot.

Rudy Giuliani's campaign for the Republican presidential nomination is seen as deeply involved in the effort. A major Giuliani donor, vulture fund mogul Paul Singer, donated $175,000 to the initiative. Anne Dunsmore previously oversaw fund raising for Giuliani.

Republicans believe that the change would allow them to pick up the equivalent of another Ohio in electoral votes, winning the White House in 2008.

Giuliani Comes To Aid Of Accused Child Molester

From ABC News:

Presidential candidate Rudolph Giuliani hired a Catholic priest to work in his consulting firm months after the priest was accused of sexually molesting two former students and an altar boy and told by the church to stop performing his priestly duties.

The priest, Monsignor Alan Placa, a longtime friend of Giuliani and the priest who officiated at his second wedding to Donna Hanover, continues to work at Giuliani Partners in New York, to the outrage of some of his accusers and victims' groups, which have begun to protest at Giuliani campaign events.
[...]
At a campaign appearance in Milwaukee last week, Giuliani continued to defend Placa, who he described to reporters as a close friend for 39 years.

More Money For Iraq?

Bush will request another $196.4 billion to be thrown into Iraq (mostly), according to the Associated Press. Given that the war has already cost the American people $455 billion -- and more importantly, thousands of lives -- I'm sure we can expect to see Rep. Boehner telling us what a "small price" it is.

Over at Americablog, however, they make the point that Bush is asking for this money despite the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction suspending an audit of a contract "after administration officials told investigators they had no confidence in their own accounting records."

This is a $1.2 billion contract, yet the State Department agency responsible for it doesn't even know what they received for most of it.

Yet I'm having trouble finding anything about this over at the State Department's blog, but if it isn't on their mind, at least they're having fun.

State Department Can't Account For $1.2 Billion Paid To Private Contractor

A new report reveals that the State Department can't account for $1.2 billion paid to private contractor DynCorp. From the New York Times:

...records documenting the work of DynCorp, the State Department’s largest contractor, are in such disarray that the department cannot say "specifically what it received" for most of the $1.2 billion it has paid the company since 2004 to train the police officers in Iraq.

The State Department has three private security contractors in Iraq--Blackwater, DynCorp International and Triple Canopy. The extreme lack of oversight first came to public attention last month when Blackwater guards killed 17 Iraqi civilians.

The only response from the Bush administration was from a State Department spokesman, who said that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would "closely examine" the report’s findings.

Tuesday Open Thread

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October 22, 2007

Waxman: Blackwater May Have Evaded Taxes

In a new 13-page letter, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman writes that Blackwater may be hiding "tens of millions of dollars, if not more" in federal taxes.

Waxman cites a March 2007 IRS ruling that spoke specifically about one Blackwater employee, but, according to the ruling, "may be applicable to any other individuals engaged in the firm."

Blackwater is using a loophole in the tax code that makes a distinction between employees and independent contractors. As Waxman notes, the IRS explained:

An employer must generally withhold federal income taxes, withhold and pay social security and Medicare taxes, and pay unemployment tax on wages paid to an employee. An employer does not generally have to withhold or pay any taxes on payments to independent contractors.

The letter, which is available here, goes into great depth about the details of tax law on this matter.

Giuliani Is For The Flip-Flop

Mitt Romney may be more proficient at the art of the flip-flop but there's very little doubt that Giuliani is better skilled at the art of the flip-flop, especially after this weekends attempt to pander to the religious right. This weekend Giuliani flip flopped on a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, saying that he would support such an amendment if more states allowed gay and lesbian citizens to marry.

Tony Perkins, head of the Family Research Council, told The Hill Saturday that former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) would support a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.

Perkins said Giuliani told him in a private meeting that if the Defense of Marriage Act appeared to be failing or if multiple states began to legalize same-sex marriages, then he would support the constitutional amendment.

In 2001, when Giuliani was living at the house of friends, his friends recalled a completely different view on marriage equality.

But, says Mr. Koeppel, ''He did tell us that if they ever legalized gay marriages, we would be the first one he would do.''

This adds to a crop of recent flip-flops from Rudy on social issues.

Income Inequality Described As "Greatest Since Depression"

The wealth inequality in America is described as "the most intense since the Depression era." According to the newly-published Internal Revenue Service figures on 2005 individual income tax returns:

The top 1 percent of all taxpayers earned 21.2 percent of all the money that individuals in the country earned in 2005. So one-hundredth of the taxpayers earned one-fifth of all income.

How much do the top 1 percent of taxpayers earn? At least $364,657 -- after deductions and corrections.

But the income for the median taxpayer was $30,881, a 2 percent drop from 2000 after inflation. The bottom 50 percent of taxpayers earned just 12.83 percent of all income.

Related: Forbes Magazine dropped 82 billionaires off its "400 Richest Americans" list, because being worth $1 billion isn't good enough anymore.

Giuliani Shuts Out Kerik

Refuses to allow connected witnesses:

Rudy Giuliani's law partner has been told to monitor the criminal probe of disgraced ex-NYPD boss Bernard Kerik, which threatens to muddy up the former mayor's bid to become president.

As part of his sensitive assignment, Marc Mukasey has thwarted Kerik's lawyer from interviewing witnesses who might help his defense, sources told The Post yesterday.
[...]
Marc Mukasey's task to keep an eye on Kerik's criminal investigation shows Giuliani's concern with how the legal fate of his former NYPD and correction commissioner could affect his presidential campaign, sources said.

Blackwater Softens Their Image With New Logo

Stephanie, not me, has been on the Blackwater beat with lots of background information. But I couldn't resist this story in the New York Times today (via ThinkProgress) about them attempting to soften their image with a "less threatening" logo, claiming the decision came before "the day a Blackwater team guarding a State Department convoy in Baghdad fatally shot 17 Iraqis near a bustling traffic circle."

You can see the evolution in their image below:

Scandal At the Values Voter Summit

The straw poll of Republican presidential candidates at the Values Voter Summit last weekend has resulted in controversy and a contested vote count.

Immediately after Tony Perkins announced the result of the FRC Action straw poll, in which Mitt Romney edged Mike Huckabee by 30 votes out of 5,775 cast, Huckabee boosters cried foul--and reporters peppered Perkins with questions about the legitimacy of the poll.

Turns out that Huckabee won a majority of the votes cast in person at the Values Voter Summit, 51 percent, and Romney only took 10 percent. Some unknown number of votes were cast online by people who also attended. But other votes were cast anytime online between August and Saturday. That’s how Ron Paul showed up in third place with 865 votes even though he was picked by only 25 in-person voters.

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, apparently spoke with Mitt Romney at length over the weekend. Perkins later refused to tell reporters who he voted for.

Monday Open Thread

Chat away...

October 21, 2007

GOP Country Club Debate

The Republican Candidates are debating tonight at a country club. We'll be watching them and documenting their flip-flops, exaggerations, and pandering in this thread.

Keep reading "GOP Country Club Debate"

Sunday Open Thread

Chat away...

October 20, 2007

From the Archives

Saturday Open Thread

Chat away...

October 19, 2007

PB Rescue Open Thread

From PartyBuilder:

• Shopman notes that Mel Martinez (R-FL) is quitting as chair of the Republican Party. Why? He was "increasingly uncomfortable as the face of the party."
• Speaking of Florida, draft Katherine Harris? (via Jim Callahan)
• And for those of you looking for some activism, see Letitrip's Save Darfur.

The Democratic Party gives anybody the ability to write blog posts directly on our website over at PartyBuilder (PB). You can read what everybody has to say, or you can create your own account and start writing posts yourself.

This is an open thread. Chat away...

The Friday Five: Year Out Event Edition

Every Friday we're highlighting five events happening around the country, but with the one year out events approaching (November 3rd), we want to make sure all of you take part. It's going to be our first nationwide organizing push, and we're going to unveil our confidential organizing plans for those who attend.

Here are 5 of the hundreds of events happening around the country. You can find an event to attend -- or start your own -- by clicking here!

1. Shreveport, LA Year Out Party!!!! (Shreveport, LA)
   

   We meet at Brother's Seafood Restaurant in Shreveport. We will Listen to Gov. Dean and our Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate in anticipation of the 2007 & 2008 elections!

2. Ellen Schutte House Party (Montreal, MO)
   

   1 year out event to be hosted by Ellen Schutte

3. Lincoln County Year Out Organizing Training (Ruidoso, NM)
   

   Democatic Party of Lincoln County will be hosting a training with DNC Field Organizer Miriam Diemer.
   

4. Circleville GOTV Gathering (Circleville, OH)
   

   Join Democrats from Circleville and Pickaway County as we get out the vote for our 2007 City Council candidates and kick off our 2008 volunteer effort!

5. 1-Year 'til Change Office Party (Globe, AZ)
   

   Join us for a message from Gov. Dean, a presentation on how we're going to take back the White House in 2008, and then go door to door with us right here in Globe and meet the people who are going to make this happen!

Temporary Restraining Order Recommended Against White House

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) recently sought a temporary restraining order against the White House in order to make sure that copies of millions of deleted White House email from March 2003 through October 2005 were preserved.

Today Magistrate Judge John Facciola recommended that the requested temporary restraining order should be issued against the White House.

CREW is suing the Bush administration over the deleted emails, arguing that the White House is required by law to keep all records, including electronic records. More from the CREW site:

The court refused to accept the last-minute proffer of the White House to provide a declaration in lieu of a court order, explaining that a declaration is not sufficient because a violation is not punishable by contempt. The White House has 10 days in which to file an objection to this recommendation, after which District Court Judge Henry Kennedy will issue an order.

Republicans Have Uphill Battle In Senate

More bad news for Republicans.

They have twice as many seats to defend as Democrats next year in the narrowly divided Senate. The Democratic presidential candidates are raising twice as much money as the Republicans. And now it looks like the party will even have trouble holding its ground in the House, which had been considered its best shot.

A dozen House Republicans have announced they won't stand for re-election next year, a wave of retirements that could grow and leave the party with fewer seats next year and perhaps well beyond. Even veterans in safe Republican seats are heading for the exits, including former Speaker Dennis Hastert. This summer he announced he would be leaving Congress at the end of this term, but yesterday aides said he would step down late this year or early next year.

The Republican congressional campaign committee is in debt, while the Democrats' committee said Wednesday it has raised $28 million. "Right now we're in a race with ankle weights," Oklahoma Rep. Tom Cole, the committee's chairman, said this week.

Without campaign funds to spread around, the party is having trouble recruiting candidates. Meanwhile, the Iraq war has energized the liberal Democratic base and angered independents, who deserted the Republican Party in 2006 and seem unlikely to return.

Meanwhile, Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fl) will resign today from his position as chairman of the Republican Party.

Christian Conservatives Divided On Republican Candidates

No Republican presidential candidate has captured the support of evangelical Christians yet.

Today, thousands of Christian conservatives will gather in Washington to confront the fact that none of the candidates has won them over.

[...]

"At the moment, there's nothing but confusion every place I go," said Chuck Colson, who runs the Prison Fellowship, a national Christian ministry. "They lament the fact that there's no one candidate out there around whom evangelicals and conservative Catholics can sort of coalesce around and get excited about."

He added: "Nobody has rung the bell yet."

Mitt Romney Prepares For Record-Breaking Loan

Mitt Romney, who once said that donating to his own campaign would be "akin to a nightmare," prepares to donate millions--to his own campaign.

Rivals say presidential hopeful Mitt Romney (R) is preparing for his biggest self-financing campaign loan yet--some estimate between $20 and $40 million--to be delivered in what could be the final competitive month of the primary season: January 2008.

Opponents’ campaigns are concerned that the former Massachusetts governor will tap into his substantial wealth yet again for one final push that would boost his campaign in the states holding the Feb. 5 primaries. Such a sizable loan could buy substantial advertising airtime on cable networks in several states simultaneously.

"They are prepared for it because they think it is coming. It is a huge issue," said a consultant close to former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s (R) campaign.

"It is something people are thinking about, or aware of," said an aide to another opponent’s campaign.

Kevin Madden, Romney’s press secretary, did not deny such a loan was in the offing.

Friday Open Thread

Chat away...

October 18, 2007

PB Rescue Open Thread

Read them all.

Chat away...

Governor Dean Responds to Republicans Who Blocked Children's Health Coverage

Today Democrats in Congress tried to override Bush's veto of children's health coverage on Thursday, but Republicans stopped them from reaching the needed majority.

Governor Dean's response:

"Today, Republicans in Congress chose to side with President Bush and leave millions of children behind. Bush Republicans will spend billions of dollars on their failed strategy in Iraq, but have no problem denying millions of children the health care they need and deserve. This is shameful. Democrats remain committed to the children in our country and will continue to fight Republicans until every child has the health care they need and deserve."

A new poll from CBS shows that 8 in 10 Americans support the legislation. Meanwhile, Think Progress reports that Bush says he vetoed children's health care in order to "stay relevant." Watch it.

Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert Abruptly Ends 21-Year Career

Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) will resign before his term ends 15 months from now, according to Republican aides. He had previously announced he would not seek re-election in 2008, but now says he will leave office as soon as late 2007.

The abrupt end of his 21-year career in Congress will mean a special election, probably in early 2008, in his Chicago district. According to the Associated Press:

Republicans would like to secure the seat ahead of the November 2008 election, which some fear will draw large numbers of Democratic voters unhappy with President Bush and the Iraq war.

Sources also said that Hastert postponed his announcement so that the Democratic governor of Illinois wouldn't be able to schedule the special election on Feb. 5--the day of the state's presidential primary. Republicans believed that Illinois Sen. Barack Obama's presence on the ballot may have produced a big Democratic turnout.

Republicans Block Health Coverage For Children

Democrats in Congress just tried to override Bush's veto of children's health coverage, but didn't have the two-thirds of votes necessary. The bill would have brought health coverage to approximately ten million children in need, while continuing coverage for all 6.6 million children currently covered by the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

The final vote was 273-156, and happened almost entirely along party lines. Because of this vote, millions of low-income, uninsured American children may not have access to health care over the next five years.

Debate Happening Now On Children's Health Coverage

The effort by House Democrats to override Bush's veto of children's health coverage has begun. The debate is happening now (broadcast live on CSPAN). The vote is expected at 12:30 p.m. Eastern.

Sam Brownback Expected to Drop Out of Race

There are reports that right-wing Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) will drop out of the 2008 presidential campaign tomorrow. He is expected to announce his withdrawal in his home state of Kansas.

Supporters said he was dropping out because of a lack of money. He only raised $4 million overall, including a paltry $800,000 in the third quarter of this year. Over at TPM, Eric Kleefeld speculates about the impact of the announcement on the overall race:

So where will Brownback's support, such as it was, end up going? That's a good question. On the one hand, Romney's campaign has been trying to consolidate the Christian right into a unified anybody-but-Rudy campaign. On the other hand, Brownback's camp had been bashing Romney to no end, taking every opportunity to call him a phony.

Thursday Open Thread

Chat away...

October 17, 2007

PB Rescue Open Thread

Read them all, then chat away...

1988: Bush On National Guard

From the archives comes this footage of George W. Bush at the Republican convention dismissing allegations that Dan Quayle had received help getting into the National Guard during Vietnam.

Bush's statement that America "could have done better in Vietnam" if we had deployed the National Guard overseas is more distressing considering the stress the occupation of Iraq has put on National Guard troops across the country.

Meanwhile, Democrats in Congress are trying to ensure that the National Guard soldiers from Minnesota who were sent home one day before they became eligible for full GI benefits will receive those benefits after all.

UPDATE (by Mike): In the video, Bush is asked whether anybody ever made phone calls on his behalf to get him into the National Guard. He says no, he doesn't think so.

But as the AP reported back in 1999, "The former speaker of the Texas House of Representatives acknowledged Monday that he called the head of the Texas Air National Guard in 1968 to recommend George W. Bush for a pilot slot during the Vietnam War."

Niki Tsongas (D) Wins Special Election in MA-05

Niki Tsongas (D-MA) won a special election yesterday for an open seat in the U.S. House. She beat a tough challenge from Republican Jim Ogonowski to capture the 5th District seat and succeed Democrat Martin Meehan, who resigned to become chancellor of the University of Massachusetts-Lowell. Tsongas, widow of former Democratic senator and 1992 presidential candidate Paul Tsongas, becomes the first woman to represent Massachusetts in Congress in nearly 25 years.

Tsongas will be sworn in at the Capitol on Thursday morning, just in time for her to cast her first House vote as part of the effort to override Bush's veto of health coverage for poor children.

Bush Approval Rating Sinks To 24 Percent

After Bush vetoed health coverage for children this month, his approval rating sank to historic lows:

Bush's job approval rating fell to 24 percent from last month's record low for a Zogby poll of 29 percent.

..."There is a real question among Americans now about how relevant this government is to them," pollster John Zogby said. "They tell us they want action on health care, education, the war and immigration, but they don't believe they are going to get it."

On Children's Healthcare, The American People Support Democrats

New polling from NPR and the Kaiser Family Foundation indicate that by large margins--and even among Republicans--the American people support the Democratic expansion of SCHIP to cover more uninsured children. The poll finds that a large margin of Americans support the expansion (70%). Even after voters hear the Bush Administration's argument against children's health care, 65% of Americans support the expansion. That includes a solid majority of Democrats and Independents, and nearly 50% of Republicans.

Yesterday, Niki Tsongas beat anti-SCHIP Republican candidate Jim Ogonowski. Ogonowski underperformed both Mitt Romney and Kerry Healey (the 2006 Gubernatorial candidate), in one of the most Republican districts in Massachusetts. Niki Tsongas will be seated in time to help override Bush's veto on SCHIP. We're at over 200,000 letters to Congress urging an override of the SCHIP veto. When will Republicans listen?

The Mukasey Hearing

This morning the Senate Judiciary Committee began its hearing for Bush's replacement for Alberto Gonzales, Michael Mukasey. I'll be following TPM Muckraker for updates, and I suggest you do too.

One item they've flagged is this exchange over the enforcement of a citation of contempt by Congress of a White House official. It's a question he probably expected, but he still didn't give a very clear answer: "I hope and pray for a lot of things, and one of them is that I won't have to make that decision."

Here's the video:

Mitt Romney Ponied Up Big Bucks For Iowa Straw Poll

When in doubt, buy the election!

The third-quarter campaign filings revealed for the first time details of the lengths to which Mr. Romney went to win the Iowa straw poll in August, an event that had been a bellwether for the Republican nomination in years past but diminished in significance when Mr. Giuliani and Mr. McCain pulled out.

Nevertheless, Mr. Romney’s costs for pulling in 32 percent of the vote, compared with Mike Huckabee’s surprise second-place finish with 18 percent, included more than $213,000 on buses to transport voters to the event in Ames, Iowa; $35,000 on catering from Hickory Park, a local barbecue restaurant; $25,000 to secure a central location for his event tent, and more than $250,000 in tickets for supporters. (The event is a fund-raiser for the Republican Party of Iowa, and campaigns pay the $35 entrance fee for supporters to attend.)

Only 4,516 people voted for Mr. Romney at the straw poll, however, meaning the campaign bought tickets for more than 2,500 people who failed to show up, did not vote or voted for someone else.

From Wide Stance to Series of Tubes

The excuses just keep on coming from Senator Larry Craig. No longer content with his first tale -- that he simply uses a "wide stance" -- he's now claiming he didn't know about the bathroom's history because he doesn't use the Internet.

Essentially, he's claiming to have about the same understanding of the Internet as his "Series of Tubes" colleague, so he couldn't have known about the restroom's online reputation.

The Examiner says not to believe it:

» In an op-ed he wrote this summer on the SCHIP health care program, Craig refers to doing a Google search on the term “mission creep.”

» He’s a member of the Congressional Internet Caucus.

» He co-sponsored a bill designating June 2007 as National Internet Safety Month.

» He was presented with the 2007 Internet Keep Safe Coalition Award.

» On his Web site, he lists as a top accomplishment a Silver Mouse Award given to his site in 2003 and 2006 by the Congressional Management Foundation in 2003 and 2006.

» When he endorsed Mitt Romney for president, he did so on YouTube.

Democrats Phone Bank For SCHIP

The Democratic Party has been running a phone bank from Washington DC informing voters about the SCHIP veto override vote. Over the last two days more than thirty Democrats have filed into the Democratic Party's headquarters in Washington. If you live in the area feel free to join us:

Wednesday, October 17th. 5pm - 9pm
Friday, October 19th. 5pm - 9pm.
Saturday, October 20th. 11am - 4pm.

The Democratic party is located at 430 S. Capitol St. SE in Washington, DC. You can join the Democrats below by signing up to phone bank at our website.

Global warming and the Republicans

Today the NY Times reports that the issue of global warming is dividing the Republican presidential candidates.

True enough.

While it touches on some of their history on the issue, there are a few bits of information that were left out of the article:

• At his first major fundraiser, Rudy Giuliani's emcee, Dennis Miller, mocked global warming, saying, "Excuse me for not believing temperatures from 1906, when we were still s-ing in the woods."
• Mitt Romney criticized Republicans for "embracing the radical environmental ideas of the liberal left."
• Fred Thompson mimics Bush on global warming. He "defended Bush's stance on the Kyoto Protocol," which he refused to sign, and in a 2000 appearance on CNN noted that Bush's statement on climate change "sounds like exactly what I just said."

Wednesday Open Thread

Chat away...

October 16, 2007

PB Rescue Open Thread

To give you just a taste at what you can expect over at PartyBuilder, here's a policy post and a politics post:

• Jim Callahan writes about the High Risk Economy.
• And shopman takes note of the large number of Republicans retiring after their term ends.

The Democratic Party gives anybody the ability to write blog posts directly on our website over at PartyBuilder (PB). You can read what everybody has to say, or you can create your own account and start writing posts yourself.

This is an open thread. Chat away...

Governor Dean Joins the Fight for Children's Health Care

Here's a statement from Governor Dean on the fight for children's health care:

"What happened to compassionate conservatism? President Bush and his Republican friends are willing to spend billions of dollars on their failed Iraq strategy, but they have no problem denying our children the health care they need and deserve. That's just plain wrong.

"Just as bad, the Republican presidential candidates all support Bush's foolish veto. It is time for Republicans to do the right thing and join Democrats to override the President's veto. But if they choose instead to turn their backs on America's children, electing a Democratic president next year will be the only way to ensure that America's families are represented in the White House."

Republican Leader McConnell's Office Behind Concerted Attack On 12 Year Old SCHIP Recipient

The Journal Courier in Kentucky reports today that Senator Mitch McConnell's staff has admitted that they tried to fan the flame of the smear campaign against the Frost family last week.

In the e-mail, Stewart claimed that research by conservative bloggers proved that Democrats did a bad job “vetting this family.”

Stewart acknowledged yesterday in an interview with the Louisville Courier-Journal that he “pointed out” the smear campaign to reporters.

As ThinkProgress and BluegrassRoots point out, even in admitting culpability in pushing the smear campaign, McConnell's office misled reporters by claiming they only pointed to the story, rather than pushing it.

The only “skepticism” Stewart showed in his original email was a veiled partisan attack that came in the form of a question. He never “vetted” the research he was propagating to reporters.

As Greg Sargent notes, “when Michelle Malkin pointed her finger at the Frosts and started howling, McConnell’s staff immediately joined in the fun — that is, until they realized that they had a big dud on their hands.”

Television station WHAS-11 is unhappy that Senator McConnell mislead the new station about the story.

It appears Senator Mitch McConnell may have misled WHAS11 News when he told us nobody on his staff had anything to do with an effort to dig into the background of a 12-year-old boy.

...

WHAS11's Mark Hebert asked the senator about it on Friday.

“There was no involvement,” McConnell said. “None.”

Democrats Fight for Children's Health Care

The fight for children's health care is heating up this week, as House Democrats have one last chance to override Bush's veto.

Bush vetoed legislation that would fund and expand the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) earlier this month. CHIP is a highly successful program that makes sure poor children can receive medical care when they are sick.

Senate Democrats passed the legislation by a veto-proof margin of 69-39, but the 265-159 vote in the House wasn't enough. House Democrats need 25 more votes than they had during the first vote in order to override the veto.

You already sent almost 200,000 letters to Congress last week using our online tool, which is a great start, but phone calls would also help. Over at firedoglake, Christy Hardin Smith has the whip count and the toll-free numbers for the House switchboard.

For an example of why this bill is so important, look no further than Graeme Frost. After a serious car accident, 12-year-old Graeme suffered from severe brain trauma and lost the ability to eat or walk. He received the medical care he needed because of CHIP. Graeme bravely spoke out about the importance of the program--you can hear it here.

Giuliani's Advisers

Josh Marshall tracks down some of Rudy Giuliani's foreign policy advisers and finds that "If you look at the people who are advising Rudy Giuliani it turns out that they seem to be all the people who were too insane or too extremist to even get on the George W. Bush team." He's fully embraced some of the most extreme elements in American foreign policy thought.

U.S. General Says 'Of Course It's About Oil'

Retired General John Abizaid, the former CENTCOM Commander, said on Saturday about the Iraq war that, "Of course it's about oil, we can't really deny that." More from Matt at Think Progress:

Abizaid has previously argued that the U.S. would need "to keep a long-term military presence in Iraq" in order to protect "the free flow of goods and resources" such as oil, but his Stanford comments go much further in pinning oil as a prime motivator for the war.

[...]

Though Abizaid says that Bush’s Iraq policy seeks to keep oil "prices low," the per-barrel cost of oil has risen dramatically since the U.S. first invaded. In March 2003, the price of oil was roughly US$35 a barrel. Today, prices reached "above $85 a barrel for the first time."

Republican Candidates Not So Fiscally Conservative When It Comes To Their Campaigns

Republican front-runners must be feeling the burn. John McCain raised a little more money this quarter--but he's still almost broke.

The presidential campaign of Arizona Senator John McCain spent 95% of the money it took in during the third quarter of 2007.

Combined with money left over from previous fundraising quarters, the campaign has $3.5 million cash on hand.

In the third quarter the campaign raised $5.7 million, spent $5.5 million, and had about $1.7 million dollars in debt--which means they only retired about $50,000 in debt during the quarter.

And Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney are spending more than they can raise.

Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, raised $9.5 million over the summer but spent more than twice that much, $21.3 million. Mr. Romney lent his campaign $8.5 million, but even with the loan, his expenses outpaced his receipts. His campaign reported that it had $9.2 million left for the primaries.

Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, raised more than any other Republican candidate this summer, $11.6 million, but he also spent more than he raised, burning through $13.3 million without running a single television commercial. His campaign reported having $11.6 million on hand for the primaries.

Tuesday Open Thread

Chat away...

October 15, 2007

Monday Evening Open Thread

Have a good night.

They're All From The Bush Wing Of The Republican Party

On Friday Mitt Romney, the candidate who's flip-flopped on every major issue of the last generation, stood on stage and stole a phrase from Governor Dean and the late Senator Paul Wellstone by saying he represented the "Republican wing of the Republican Party."

Senator John McCain reacted, trying to paint himself as more conservative, but after opposing health care for children and supporting an endless war in Iraq it's safe to say that all the Republican candidates represent the George Bush wing of the Republican party.

Giuliani Spent $13M in 4th Quarter

Rudy Giuliani's campaign spent $13 million dollars between July and September--far more than Fred Thompson, his closest competitor.

Giuliani raised $11.4 million during the quarter, with about $10 million of it available now for his contest for the GOP nomination, according to a report filed Monday with the Federal Election Commission. His campaign listed $16.6 million cash on hand, $11.6 million available for the primaries with the rest designated for the general election.

It was the first time that the Giuliani campaign spent more than it raised during a quarter.

Mitt Romney Loses Nevada Straw Poll To Ron Paul

The embarrassing part is that Mitt Romney actually showed up...and Ron Paul didn't.

Ron Paul won the GOP presidential straw poll conducted by organizers at the Conservative Leadership Conference held at the Nugget Casino this weekend "by a large margin," according to an organizer.

Paul won with 33 percent, Romney came in second with 16 percent and Duncan Hunter was just behind with 15 percent. "Undecided" was fourth with 11 percent, and Thompson and Giuliani were next and ahead of the rest of the pack--all in single digits. Raw numbers haven't been provided, but there were approximately 430 registrants at the opening of the conference.

Although many of the Republican presidential teams had surrogates representing them at the conference, Mitt Romney and Duncan Hunter were the only candidates to speak at the conference, and the victor himself was not there.

Fred Thompson Proposes Social Security Cuts

Fred Thompson's Social Security program is all or nothing.

The Thompson campaign provided an example under which a $40,000-per-year worker born in 1975 would receive $1,562 per month under the current system, compared with $1,424 a month under Thompson's proposal. An $80,000-per-year worker's benefit would go from $2,469 to $2,085.

"For future retirees, instead of having nothing, which is what they're headed for under the current situation that's unsustainable, they would have protection," Thompson said in the Oct. 9 debate in Michigan.

Thompson's economic adviser, Lawrence Lindsey, said the Tennessean is considering proposals that would soften the impact of the cuts, but details have not been finalized.

See also Fred's weekend schedule.

Rudy Giuliani Not Prepared For 9/11

Rudy Giuliani knew that New York City firefighters had faulty emergency radios--and he did nothing.

Brave New Films has documented how more lives could have been saved on 9/11 if Giuliani had acted to provide firefighters with the equipment they needed. Watch the powerful new video:

Monday Open Thread

Chat away...

October 14, 2007

Sunday Open Thread

Chat away...

October 13, 2007

From the Archives

Dick Cheney, post election interview, November 4th, 1976:

Saturday Open Thread

Chat away...

October 12, 2007

PB Rescue Open Thread

Read them all, and then chat away...

Kerik-Gate Headache Continues For Giuliani

The New York Daily News reports the Kerik business partner, and close friend Bernard Kerik may have some legal headaches soon.

Bernard Kerik's legal nightmare is about to get worse, with federal prosecutors expected to file charges against the former police commissioner that will likely include allegations of bribery, tax fraud and obstruction of justice, the Daily News has learned.

The indictment, expected next month, could prove to be an embarrassing obstacle for Kerik's former mentor Rudy Giuliani, who is cruising at the top of the polls heading into the presidential primary gauntlet.

The bribery allegations against Kerik stem from a secret meeting at a bar in Tribeca, according to two sources familiar with the federal probe.

Kerik's lawyers recently agreed to waive the statute of limitations on the tax charges until Nov. 17, which will allow them to make one last plea to try to ease the pain.

As Greg Sargent points out Kerik isn't some distant associate of Rudy Giuliani.

Lest this get forgotten, it's worth remembering that Rudy personally advocated for this fellow to be the chief of Homeland Security -- that is, to be the chief defender of our nation against what Rudy terms the Terrorists' War on Us.

Congratulations To Vice President Al Gore

Vice President Al Gore was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize this morning. He'll share the prize with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Governor Dean released the following statement this morning after news that Vice President Gore was awarded the prize.

"I want to congratulate our former Vice President Al Gore for winning the Nobel Peace Prize today. No other person has worked harder or done more to draw much needed attention to the crisis of global climate change, one of the most critical issues facing our planet. Future generations will thank him for his work to save our way of life. But the fight is far from over. His example should motivate each one of us to commit ourselves to doing everything we can in our own lives to save our precious planet."

Friday Open Thread

Sorry that it's late.

Chat away...

The Friday Five: Year Out Event Edition

Every Friday we're highlighting five events happening around the country, but with the one year out events approaching (November 3rd), we want to make sure all of you take part. It's going to be our first nationwide organizing push, and we're going to unveil our confidential organizing plans for those who attend.

Here are 5 of the hundreds of events happening around the country. You can find an event to attend -- or start your own -- by clicking here!

1. Clean Elections House Party (Anchorage, AK)
   

   Join us to learn how Alaska Democrats are doing more than just talking about possiblie solutions--we are working provide actual results...but WE NEED YOU.

2. Democrats of Kerr County Year Out Event (Kerrville, TX)
   

   Come join other Democratic activists in Kerr County, learn how to help Democrats win back the White House and Texas and then take action! Call Frank Ferrigno, President of the Democrats of Kerr County, for further details.

3. Dems Now! (West Hollywood, CA)
   

   It's the first organizing event of the next Presidential election. One year out, we are planning our strategy, block by block. Cause if each of makes sure that ten more people commit to returning our nation to the America we grew up with, we'll take the White House in '08.

4. Garden City One-Year-Out Party (Garden City, KS)
   

   Join me at my home for a message from Gov. Dean, a presentation on how we are going to take back the White House, and then do a little door to door to meet the voters who will help us take back the America!

5. Kick Off the Vote! (Barre, VT)
   

   If you want to help us win in '08, come to our Barre house party. Learn all about Vermont's "Kick Off the Vote" Victory Volunteer voter contact program.

October 11, 2007

PB Rescue Open Thread

A couple posts, from PartyBuilder.

• In Hardest Working Congress Ever, D. Tree says that while he's not completely pleased, he notes that "the House last week held its 943rd roll call vote of the year, breaking the previous record of 942 votes, a mark set in 1978."
• And to john R bennett, who is going through tough times, don't forget that you've got a lot of friends on PartyBuilder that are right there with you.

The Democratic Party gives anybody the ability to write blog posts directly on our website over at PartyBuilder (PB). You can read what everybody has to say, or you can create your own account and start writing posts yourself.

This is an open thread. Chat away...

Statement on National Coming Out Day

Governor Dean and Rick Stafford, chair of the DNC's GLBT Caucus, issued the following statement for National Coming Out Day:

"Today, in celebrating National Coming Out Day, we honor the courage and dignity of the millions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans who have made the decision to live openly in our society. Coming out is an act of personal courage that truly empowers people to stand up for their values. As Democrats, one of those values is our commitment to equal rights and protections under the law for every single American.

"After beating back last year's mean-spirited attempts by Republicans to scapegoat the LGBT community for partisan gain, Democrats in Congress passed the Matthew Shepard Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, freeing countless people from the threat of hate-based violence, and are working to end employment discrimination. Democrats have enacted family and job protections in states across the country, and at the DNC we have adopted new party rules that significantly expand LGBT participation in the 2008 Democratic National Convention and throughout our Party. Together, we are making real progress toward making our country and our Party stronger, and helping pave the way for more lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans to take the brave step out of the closet."

Read more on the legislation to stop hate crimes against LGBT Americans here.

Millionaire Mitt Out-Loans Steve Forbes

Mitt Romney is now loaning his campaign money at a pace faster than Steve Forbes.

Multimillionaire Steve Forbes was the subject of quite a bit of scorn among GOP political circles for the multimillion-dollar loans he gave his quixotic campaigns for the presidency in 1996 and 2000. Less discussed in the 2008 presidential contest is the fact that multimillionaire former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is now outpacing Forbes in self-loans.

By the end of the third quarter of this year, according to Federal Election Commission reports, Romney had loaned his own campaign $17.4 million in personal funds — not including a donation of a $61,435 Winnebago.

That exceeds the $16.5 million Forbes donated to his campaign in all of 1995, and the $12.7 million Forbes had loaned himself at this point in 1999.

The campaign of one of Forbes' opponents, Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., said, "Steve Forbes seems intent on buying the election, and according to the FEC law, there's nothing to prevent him from doing it."

Another Republican, Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, was moved to introduce legislation limiting how much a candidate could donate to his own campaign. "What we have now is the presidency up for sale," Specter said.

Republicans Attack 12-Year-Old For Saying Health Care is Important

Last week, a 12-year-old boy named Graeme Frost recorded a radio address for the Democratic Party about why the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) is so important. After a serious car accident, Graeme suffered from severe brain trauma and lost the ability to eat or walk. He received the medical care he needed because of CHIP.

Bush vetoed a bill that would have funded and expanded the program, calling the cost "excessive." The 265-159 partisan vote in the House, while decisive, fell just short of a veto-proof majority. Republicans just might stop poor children from receiving health-care.

But it gets worse. The radical right-wing attack machine started to smear Graeme Frost and his family. Now Think Progress has uncovered evidence that the attacks might have been coordinated from the office of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).

The good news is that the American people aren't buying it. We asked you last week to send letters to Congress in support of children's health care. So far, you've sent almost 198,000 letters--many, many more than we ever thought possible.

Please let your friends and family know that you can still support children like Graeme Frost by using our online tool, and keep those letters coming.

Bush's Upside-Down Rhetoric On The Economy

Continuing his lame duck attempt to rewrite the image of his presidency on the economy, the White House tried to claim credit for reducing the deficit today.

Since President Bush came into office the federal deficit has risen by more than 3 trillion dollars to over 9 trillion dollars, even while the Bush Administration continues to rack up more spending on Iraq and more tax cuts for the a tiny sliver of the richest Americans.

In 2001 President Clinton left President Bush a budget surplus of $284 billion dollars. To accommodate the increasing debt, last month Congress had to raise the debt ceiling for the fifth time since Bush has come into office.

White House spokesperson Dana Perino tried to pin the blame on the deficit on the Clinton Administration, a myth that has been repeatedly debunked.

Mitt Romney's Tough Talk On Taxes

The talk doesn't match up with his record:

On the presidential campaign trail, Romney brags about a $3 billion budget shortfall he said he closed as governor, without any tax increases. He doesn't mention the more than $400 million in fees he raised instead. He also raised more than $300 million by closing so-called corporate loopholes, a revenue-raising measure the business community calls a tax increase. [...] When Romney ran for governor in 2002, he refused to sign a no-tax pledge. Now, as a presidential candidate, he boasts that he is the only major candidate to sign such a pledge.

He also touts his record of "strong fiscal leadership" as governor. However, in a recent "Fiscal Policy Report Card" on governors, The Cato Institute, a libertarian think-tank, gave him a "C."

Alberto Gonzales Hires Criminal-Defense Lawyer

Former US Attorney Alberto Gonzales, who resigned in disgrace last month, has retained high-powered Washington criminal-defense lawyer George Terwilliger to represent him in the continuing investigations by Congress and the Justice Department.

Glenn Fine, the Justice Department’s inspector general, has expanded his investigation of Alberto Gonzales beyond the political purge of eight US attorneys. He is now looking into charges that Gonzales lied to Congress about the Bush administration’s domestic spying program and the circumstances surrounding his late-night visit in 2004 to the hospital room of then-attorney general John Ashcroft.

Terwilliger, by the way, helped manage an army of Republican lawyers during the epic Florida recount battle of 2000.

Standing On Stage Was Really Exhausting...

Fred Thompson, sick and tired of being... tired... canceled a New Hampshire trip scheduled for Friday with no explanation. For the moment, at least, he's remaining in Tennessee where he currently has no public events announced.

And one Iowan began asking, where in the world is Fred Thompson? From the Des Moines Register:

Chuck Davis, a 49-year-old Republican from Urbandale, was getting frustrated.

He was ready to support Fred Thompson for president. He wanted to help - grab a yard sign, make some phone calls.

He checked the candidate's official Web site, but found no information about any Iowa headquarters. He found a local phone listing for Thompson. Tommy Thompson.

Thursday Open Thread

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October 10, 2007

Wednesday Evening Open Thread

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Democrats Pass Bipartisan Bill To Stop War Profiteering

By a vote of 375-3, the House has passed the War Profiteering Prevention Act, H.R. 400. The bill makes war profiteering a felony. If this legislation becomes law, anyone found guilty of profiting excessively from military action or reconstruction may be subject to 20 years in prison and fines up to $1 million--or as much as twice the illegal profits of their crime.

Last week, the Democratic Congress also passed legislation that would bring all United States government contractors in the Iraq war zone under the jurisdiction of American criminal law. The measure would require the F.B.I. to investigate any allegations of wrongdoing.

Both bills are spurred by the ongoing investigation of Blackwater USA. A private mercenary firm that operates in Iraq, Blackwater is under investigation for a September 16 incident in which as many as 17 Iraqi civilians may have been killed. Following the incident, the Iraqi government expelled Blackwater from the country.

Mitt Romney: Two Positions In Under An Hour

During yesterday's CNBC debate, part of the discussion focused on protecting certain businesses from foreign ownership. At first, Romney stated that he'd allow foreign countries to buy into NASDAQ. Within an hour he'd changed his tune, saying that he'd protect American companies from foreign competition.

Tom Tancredo and Ron Paul Likely Won't Support Republican Nominee

The debate last night revealed a Republican party unraveling at the seams.

Reps. Ron Paul (R-Texas) and Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) made it clear Tuesday that they are not inclined to support the GOP nominee for president if that candidate is not in line with their views.

Asked about it during the debate of Republican presidential candidates in Michigan, Paul said right now he would not commit to support the party’s nominee.

"Not unless they’re willing to end the war and bring our troops home," Paul said, to which Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) answered "You don’t want me then, pal."

Paul also said he would not support a GOP candidate who is unwilling to curb spending in Washington.

Romney Wants to Consult Lawyers, Not Congress, Before Going to War

From the debate last night:

If there was a gaffe committed by any candidate it was Romney's answer on Iran when he said he'd have consult attorneys before anyone else before deciding whether to unilaterally go after Iran's nuclear facility.

One can picture the attack adds now, even hear Thompson possibly say, "I may have played a lawyer on TV, but the last group of folks I need to consult is a bunch of lawyers when I decide what I need to do to keep this country safe." This is a tricky thing for Romney's to clean up since, technically, he was speaking the truth because EVERY president consults counsel to decide certain constitutional questions.

Fact-Check: Rudy Hides His Anti-Union Record

During the Republican presidential debate last night, Rudy Giuliani claimed that he had a strong record in support of labor. He even said, "I think unions have made a positive contribution."

But in reality, he has a terrible record for workers.

Opposed to Raising the Minimum Wage. On the Fox News Network on 10/13/04, Giuliani said about the minimum wage that "it's very politically appealing to say it should be raised, but the minute you raise it, you're going to cost jobs, lose jobs, create a lot less flexibility at the lower levels in terms of entry-level jobs."

Vowed To Mount "Revolution" Against Labor. "Vowing to mount a ‘revolution’ in labor negotiations, a campaign-bound Mayor Giuliani yesterday said he would stiff municipal unions in upcoming contract talks unless they surrender their claim to across-the-board wage hikes...The surprise announcement in the mayor's preliminary budget speech angered union leaders." [Daily News (New York), 1/28/00]

Teachers Union President: Giuliani Was Provocative. "Teachers union president Randi Weingarten looks back at Giuliani's tenure and observes simply, 'Labor had a really hard time with Rudy Giuliani. His rhetoric was inflammatory. He wanted to be provocative and was. I don't think it was helpful.’" [Los Angeles Times, 9/13/07]

McCain: Building a Bridge to the 1950s

From the debate last night:

CHRIS MATTHEWS: Let me ask Senator McCain, you know, when a lot of us grew up, in the late '50s and early '60s, a young guy could come out of high school, marry his girlfriend from school, get a job at a big industrial plant making planes or making subways, and provide for a family with a middle-class income and his spouse wouldn't have to work.

Will we ever go back to that world again?

JOHN MCCAIN: I'd like to say yes, Chris, but I think we are in the midst of a revolution that we haven't seen since the industrial revolution.

Wednesday Open Thread

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October 9, 2007

Fact-Check: What's the Status of Mitt's Iranian Money?

During the Republican debate this afternoon, Mitt Romney was asked questions about trade with both Iran and China. But in his answer, he didn't mention his own investments in those countries.

Romney personally netted up to $15,000 from China Petroleum & Chemical (a company called Sinopec) in 2006, the result of up to $100,000 worth of personal assets invested in the state-owned Chinese oil giant, according to his personal financial disclosure.

But there's more.

Romney had up to $250,000 invested in the Russian state-owned GazProm, according to his personal financial disclosure for 2006.

And in 2006, the Romneys made up to $1 million in a fund invested in GazProm and the Chinese state oil firm, Cnooc Ltd. The Wall Street Journal noted that the fund, Horizon: Alpha + had more than $1 million of wife Ann Romney’s assets invested in it and yielded her up to $1 million in 2006.

In August, India's ambassador to Russia announced that Gazprom would participate in construction of a natural gas pipeline from Iran to Pakistan and India.

Fact-Check: Fred Thompson Wrong on Jobs

As the Republican presidential candidates debate in Michigan (happening now), former lobbyist Fred Thompson is looking rusty.

He's already made one gaffe about the economy. When asked about the 3/4 of manufacturing workers who lose their jobs and see their incomes decline even when they find new jobs, Thompson said: "there are jobs lost and jobs gained. And so far there are jobs gained."

But the reality is that manufacturing jobs are at their lowest numbers in 60 years. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 13,983,000 manufacturing jobs in September of 2007, down from 17,181,000 in December of 2000. That’s the lowest figure since the 13,923,000 reported in June of 1950, 57 years ago.

Would Romney Divest From Iran First?

The Republican presidential candidates debated about which candidate would be tougher on Iran. At the same time, Romney has millions of dollars invested in Iran.

Republican Candidates Debate; First Time Out For Fred

Republican presidential debate happening now, broadcast live on CNBC. The debate will be broadcast again tonight on MSNBC at 9 pm ET.

Former lobbyist Fred Thompson, with the stakes high in his first debate, isn't receiving much applause so far.

Check out our research center on the Republican presidential field here.

Giuliani Was Wrong About Security Record In New York

On his website, Rudy Giuliani makes several claims about security in New York City. But Factcheck.org reports that those claims are not true--Giuliani can't claim credit for an increase in new cops in New York, for example.

On his Web site, Rudy Giuliani claims that he grew New York City's police force by 12,000 officers between his inauguration as mayor in January 1994 and mid-2000. That's just not true. Most of the cops he's counting – 7,100 to be exact – were already housing or transit police who were simply folded into the New York Police Department. The merger of the departments didn't increase the number of police in the city at all.

The actual increase in the size of the force was about 3,660, or about 10 percent, during the period Giuliani pinpoints. And Giuliani doesn't mention that the cost of hiring about 3,500 of the officers was partially covered by the federal government under President Bill Clinton.

On another matter, we question Giuliani's claim that on Sept. 11, 2001, he had a new command center "up and running within half an hour" of being forced to evacuate his primary center near the World Trade Center. In his 2002 book, "Leadership," he says that "we arrived about noon" at the backup site, which was two-and-a-half hours after the evacuation.

In the CNBC debate Giuliani exaggerated the claim that he cut taxes 23 times as mayor of New York.

A new radio ad boasts that Rudy Giuliani "cut or eliminated 23 taxes" while mayor of New York City, a boast he and his supporters have repeated many times on the campaign trail. We find that to be an overstatement. Giuliani can properly claim credit for initiating only 14 of those cuts.

Fred Thompson Favors Slashing Social Security

According to The Corner, last night Chris Matthews -- who is moderating the Republican debate in a couple hours -- discussed Fred Thompson's Social Security scheme for massive benefit cuts for seniors down the line by radically changing the formula that calculates them.

It's really quite extraordinary how huge the cuts Thompson has proposed are (contrary to the National Review's claims). How big are they? If this had been implemented in 1940, it would have meant a 60-percent benefit cut for today's retirees.

There's already a name for this plan: the Bush plan, which he also favored back when he remembered what it was. Thompson actually thinks it makes sense, theoretically, that seniors should have the same standard of living that people had in 1940 -- with benefits only staying level with increase in prices. He wants to start "now," rather than going back 70 years, but the effect for future generations will be the same.

He came out with this plan earlier this month, but it's worth revisiting now that Chris Matthews brought it up on the eve of the debate.

Out Of Touch Romney

Two times over the weekend, Mitt Romney showed how out of touch he is with normal voters. In Florida, he avoided talking about the economic hardship of mishandled company pension, by asking the woman to volunteer for his campaign.

The flat note came in his response to an emotional caller with a litany of problems involving the hardships of trying to live on disability payments after a spouses employer mishandled company pensions.

Romney promised to look deeply at challenges faced by those living on fixed incomes. Then he told the tearful-sounding woman that since she could talk on the phone, she could also volunteer to work on his campaign, and gave instructions for all listeners to access his web site to learn more about volunteer opportunities and his political views.

It gets worse.

On Saturday, Romney walked away from a wheelchair-bound voter who asked whether Romney would arrest patients who used medical marijuana to relieve pain.

Republicans Debate

Today at 4pm ET, the Republicans will debate in Dearborn, Michigan. The CNBC/MSNBC/WSJ debate is expected to focus on economic issues, so expect a lot of dodging on their records when it comes to taxes and the deficit.

Michigan is the perfect place for this debate, because the people there know just how tough things are right now:

Michigan leads the nation in unemployment, its 7.4 percent August rate far above the nation's 4.6 percent rate. The state remains the national center for the auto industry, even though it has lost 34 percent of its auto jobs in the past five years, dropping from 275,200 in August 2002 to 181,100 in August 2007, according to the U.S Labor Department.

Here are some highlights on the Republican candidates, thanks to our resource center:

• Under Rudy Giuliani, New York City's debt increased by 52%, by $14.8 billion.
• Mitt Romney earned a "C" on a Cato Institute Fiscal Report Card because he raised $500 million in fees.
• John McCain voted against the repeal of the Estate Tax, then voted for it, then explained how he really opposed it.
• Tancredo co-sponsored legislation that would impose a national sales tax.
• In 2004, Duncan Hunter voted against a bill to redirect tax cuts for those earning over $1 million and direct the $19 billion in savings to education, health, homeland security and debt reduction.

And then there's Fred Thompson, who will have his first presidential debate. Republicans strategists are saying he must "overperform" due to a "real or perceived letdown."

Tuesday Open Thread

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UPDATE: Comment log-in problems today. We're working on it.

UPDATE 2: Fixed!

October 8, 2007

Monday Open Thread

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October 7, 2007

Sunday Open Thread

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October 6, 2007

From the Archives

Description: "National Archives footage of [Woodrow] Wilson at Labor Convention in Buffalo; footage of Samuel Gompers, head of the American Federation of Labor."

No audio on this one, but it's worth watching.

Saturday Open Thread

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October 5, 2007

PB Rescue Open Thread

Read them all, then chat away...

Congress Brings Private Contractors in Iraq Under American Jurisdiction

The Democratic Congress passed legislation yesterday that would bring all United States government contractors in the Iraq war zone under the jurisdiction of American criminal law. The measure would require the F.B.I. to investigate any allegations of wrongdoing.

The White House strongly opposes the legislation. Paul Bremer, the former U.S. administrator for Iraq, granted contractors immunity from prosecution in an order he signed the day before handing over sovereignty in June 2004.

Blackwater USA, a private mercenary firm that operates in Iraq, is under investigation for a September 16 incident in which as many as 17 Iraqi civilians may have been killed. Following the incident, the Iraqi government expelled Blackwater from the country.

The Friday Five

Every Friday we're highlighting five events happening around the country that we've found in PartyBuilder's Events system.

Here are 5 events happening around the country. If you don't see one in your neck of the woods, click here to search for one near you. Or better yet, create your own!

1. Annual Chili Supper, Silent Auction and Chili Cookoff (Pagosa Springs, CO)
   

   Everyone is invited to join us in welcoming Andrew Romanoff, Speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives as our guest and keynote speaker, at the Archuleta Democrats Annual Chili Supper, Silent Auction and first ever Chili Cook-off.

2. Advanced VAN/My Campaign Training (Reno, NV)
   

   The VAN is an online database tool to help you find fellow Democrats in Washoe County. The VAN's advanced screening options will help you pinpoint your target democratic demographics. "Report" features include robust tools such as printing neighborhood maps of registered Democrats.

3. Comedy Benefit for VoterGA (Marietta, GA)
   

   A broad coalition will hold a comedy benefit/fundraiser for VoterGA, a nonpartisan group of concerned Georgians that is sponsoring a lawsuit challenging Georgia's electronic voting system.

4. GOTV and Poll Watching/Working (York, PA)
   

   Campaign season is upon us once again. With the election just a few short weeks away the Democratic Party of York County is focusing on volunteer education and our Get Out The Vote effort.

5. Ward 11A Precinct Organizing Meeting (Albuquerque, NM)
   

   At 7 PM Ward 11A will meet at Ward Chair, Dallas Timmons' apartment to view a short video on the importance of continuing to develop a Democratic presence in our Ward.Following that we will discuss plans for our organizing efforts for the remainder of the year with a peek ahead at organizing 2008.

Millionaire Mitt Tries To Buy The Quarter

He once said that donating to his own campaign would be "akin to a nightmare," but now Mitt Romney is writing himself big checks in order to stay competitive.

Mitt Romney is relying increasingly on his own bank account to fund his presidential campaign, announcing yesterday that he chipped in almost as much money during the summer as his supporters did.

The former governor wrote himself an $8.5 million check in the third quarter and raised an additional $10 million from contributors, his campaign said. That brings to $17.4 million the amount Romney has loaned his campaign since launching his White House bid in January - 28 percent of the $62.4 million he has banked.

"I am going to contribute to my campaign, but my campaign is not entirely being financed by my own resources," he said during a campaign stop yesterday in Derry, N.H., adding that he could not expect others to give if he did not give himself. "The campaign is being financed primarily through the donations of others."

Ann Coulter: "Personal Fantasy" To Take Away Women's Right To Vote

Ann Coulter, a right-wing Republican columnist, said in an interview that she believes women should not have the right to vote. Seriously?

"If we took away women's right to vote, we'd never have to worry about another Democrat [sic] president. It's kind of a pipe dream, it's a personal fantasy of mine, but I don't think it's going to happen."

Oh, right, she has a new book out. I guess she has to say something to get attention--like last time, when she publicized a book by slandering 9/11 widows.

More Of The Same From The GOP: Candidates Back Bush’s SCHIP Veto

A New York Times article today details the extent to which the four leading Republican presidential candidates are embracing Bush's policies--this time they are supporting his decision to veto health coverage for poor children.

The four leading Republican presidential candidates have aligned themselves with President Bush’s veto on Wednesday of an expanded health insurance program for children, once again testing the political risk of appearing in lock step with a president who has low approval ratings and some critics of the veto within their party.

Considering Bush has a 31 percent approval rating, it's a strange election strategy.

New Video: What About the American Dream?

Over the last few months, the leading Republican presidential candidates have skipped most of the minority debates they've been invited to. This month they missed a chance to talk at the Tavis Smiley debate (HBCU) at historically black Morgan State University, and the Univision Hispanic debate. Over the summer they skipped debates and forums at the NAACP, NALEO (National Association of Latino Elected), National Education Association and the Urban League.

Will the Republicans ever respond to those hoping to live the American Dream?

Friday Open Thread

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October 4, 2007

Thursday Evening Open Thread

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Fred Thompson Embarrasses Conference Attendee's With Bad Answers

There may be a serious problem with lobbyist Fred Thompson's knowledge of the major issues. At the Teddy Forstmann's annual conference in Aspen, many members found him to be "embarrassing."

Thompson made the strange claim that the Islamic group Hezbollah is in Afghanistan (it's based and run out of Lebanon).

Asked whether he would carry over the people and policies of the Bush administration, the Tennessean offered a less than substantive reply: "I would keep the good things and let go of the bad things."

NRCC Stands With Rush

Yes, they actually just sent out an email saying that they stand with Rush Limbaugh's "phony soldiers" comment.

From their email:

Does the NRCC really want to endorse these comments?

Judge Denies Republican Senator's Move to Withdraw Guilty Plea

Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) will not be able to withdraw his guilty plea from a bathroom sex sting in a Minneapolis airport.

A Minnesota judge Thursday denied Sen. Larry Craig's decision to withdraw his guilty plea.

"Because the defendant's guilty plea was accurate, voluntary and intelligent, and because the conviction is supported by the evidence, the defendant's conviction for disorderly conduct occurring on June 11, 2007, in the men's public restroom at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in Bloomington, Hennepin County, Minn., is valid," Judge Charles A. Porter wrote in a 27-page opinion released at 1:40 p.m.

There has been no reaction yet from Craig. He initially said he would resign from his seat last Sunday, but decided to stay in office until the judge issued his ruling. No word yet on whether Craig will now step down, but the pressure on him from GOP leaders to leave will be intense.

UPDATE: CNN is reporting that Craig is saying he will stay in the Senate after all.

Romney Wanted A Second Term In Massachussets

In this interview from 2006, Romney says that he wanted to run for Governor for a second term, despite the fact that he had become highly unpopular in Massachusetts because of flip-flops he'd made in preparation for his run president.

As this news broadcast from Massachusetts shows, Romney is still highly unpopular even among Republican voters.

Millions of Missing Emails, Revisited

It's been a while since there were any developments in this particular scandal. Last we heard, there were over 5 million emails that went missing, even though they have to be saved under the Presidential Records Act.

I'm paraphrasing, of course, but their argument boiled down to: "We have an excuse! It was a top-secret company that lost them, not us! We just can't tell you who they are!"

So I'm sure you'll be shocked to read the following:

When Congress asked about 5 million executive branch e-mails that went missing, a White House lawyer pointed the finger at an outside IT contractor.

The only problem? No such IT contractor exists, according to sources close to the investigation of a possible violation of the Federal Records and Presidential Records acts.

Not shocked? Maybe that has something to do with all the other scandals from this administration. For more on related email scandals, I wrote up a good summary a while back.

Giuliani Wants MORE Troops Sent Overseas

Rudy Giuliani says that the military could be increased "easily" by 60 or 70 thousand troops.

ABC News' Jan Simmonds reports: While answering a question this evening about whether the draft should be reinstated, Rudy Giuliani R-N.Y., said that the United States needs possibly 100 thousand more troops.

"I believe we have to increase the size of our military. I think we have to increase it by, easily 60 or 70 thousand, maybe 100 thousand," said Giuliani at a Town Hall Meeting in Windham, New Hampshire. "And you can only do it with maybe 40 or 50 thousand at once, and then another 40 or 50 thousand. But I think we can do it through volunteers, volunteer service. I think the sense of patriotism, the sense of duty, the sense of interest in doing this is so great that we’ll be able to accomplish that. We’ll be better off that way."

Someone should ask why the military has consistently failed to meet recruiting goals for the last three years--despite offering $20,000 cash bonuses, increasing the amount of scholarship money--and, as far back as 2005, appealing to a "sense of duty."

Thursday Open Thread

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October 3, 2007

Domenici Expected to Retire

Breaking news...

"Veteran Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) is expected to announce tomorrow that he will retire from the Senate in 2008, according to several informed sources, a decision that further complicates an already difficult playing field for Republicans next November."

Republicans have a lot of Senate seats to defend this cycle. More later...

RNC Top Job Now Open; One Candidate Already Writing Off 2008 Elections

The top job at the Republican National Committee is open now that Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL) has confirmed that he plans to step down after the Republicans select a presidential nominee next year.

One possible candidate, South Carolina Republican Chair Katon Dawson, has already confirmed that he's interested in the post. But he's writing off the 2008 elections already.

SC GOP operatives started speculating on his nat'l ambitions after he flew to NH in 8/07 to announce the state's 1/19 primary. Asked in his Columbia-based auto parts store if he hopes to be RNC chair, he said, "Sure. I'm well-suited for that job."

He explained that if a Dem takes over the WH in 1/09, it will be high time for the party to "start turning things around 180 degrees." He indicated that '08 is too soon for GOPers to take back the House and Senate, but he expects a big operation to get under way thereafter for '10. "We'll have to raise massive amounts of money," he said.

On SCHIP: GOP Presidential Candidates Stand By Their Man

As Americans contact their members of Congress demanding they override President Bush's veto today that would have covered 10 million low income children with health insurance, all the Republican presidential front runners are standing with George Bush and against insuring children.

Rudy Giuliani: In July Rudy Giuliani told CNBC that "you have to veto it, " and refers to the expansion of SCHIP as socialized medicine.

John McCain: John McCain voted against expanding SCHIP to children and argued on the Senate floor that the program covered too many uninsured children. In 1995 and 1997, McCain voted repeatadly against children's healthcare for low-income children, and in 1995 voted to eliminate vaccines from children's health care.

Mitt Romney: When Romney was asked whether he'd support President Bush's veto of the popular health insurance program for poor children, he responsed, "Yeah. Yeah, I sure would."

Fred Thompson: Fred Thompson has a history of holding extreme positions on children's health care. He was one of two Senators to oppose an amendment that would ensure that $16 billion of the budget would be spent over five years to provide health insurance for up to five million low-income children. He also voted against the formation of SCHIP in 1997.

Tom Tancredo Decries Ramadan Resolution, But Won't Vote Against It

Yesterday the House of Representatives voted to issue a resolution in recognition of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting and spiritual renewal. But Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) was not happy about it.

The resolution "acknowledges the onset of Ramadan and expresses its deepest respect to Muslims in the United States and throughout the world on this significant occasion."

Tancredo did not oppose the measure, but he didn't support it either. He was one of 42 congressmen to vote "Present."

Shortly after the vote, however, Tancredo issued a press release in which he argued that the resolution shows how political correctness is ruining public discourse.

"This resolution is an example of the degree to which political correctness has captured the political and media elite in this country. I am not opposed to commending any religion for their faith. The problem is that any attempt to do so for Jews or Christians is immediately condemned as ‘breaching’ the non-existent line between Church and State by the same elite," Tancredo says in his statement.

Governor Dean: Bush Veto is "Appalling"

Here's Governor Dean's statement on Bush's veto of legislation to fund and expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to cover 10 million low-income children:

"By vetoing health care for millions of American children, President Bush is once again putting his politics ahead of what's good for America. It's appalling that President Bush and his Republicans will spend billions of dollars in Iraq, some of it on contractors like Blackwater and Haliburton, while denying millions of children needed doctors' visits or medicine here at home. Given that the Republican candidates for president all support this veto, it's clear that electing a Democratic president next year will be the only way to ensure America's families have a President who will fight for them in the White House."

Bush Vetoes Children's Health Care Bill

George Bush has vetoed legislation that would fund and expand the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), a highly successful program that makes sure poor children can receive medical care when they are sick.

Senate Democrats passed the legislation by a vote of 69-39, but the 265-159 vote in the House, while decisive, fell just short of a veto-proof majority. Democrats have vowed to fight the veto, and are expected to vote again on the legislation next week.

Bush has called the legislation "excessive" in its cost. In related news, the Iraq war has now cost taxpayers over $456 billion--and counting.

Bush Administration Officials Blew $146 Million On First-Class Travel

So much for fiscal conservatism.

Federal employees wasted at least $146 million over a one-year period on business- and first-class airline tickets, in some cases simply because they felt entitled to the perk, congressional investigators say.

The review of travel spending by more than a dozen agencies from July 1, 2005, to June 30, 2006, found 67 percent of premium-class travel by executives or their employees, worth at least $146 million, was unauthorized or otherwise unjustified.

Some of the worst examples:

An Agriculture Department executive took 25 premium-class flights costing $163,000 and said the extra expense had been authorized by a subordinate. In 10 of those trips, the traveler claimed exceptional circumstances to justify the pricier travel to western Europe, even though agency policy forbids premium-class travel unless the flight time is longer than 14 hours.

Thirty-two State Department employees flew from Washington to Liberia in premium class over a six-month period. Five of those travelers did not have authorization for premium class; three had duplicate tickets and no evidence that the duplicates were refunded; and 17 were not properly justified, as their trips did not meet the 14-hour rule. These flights cost $293,000 and comparable coach-class tickets would have cost $124,000--a difference of $169,000.

Nine Justice Department employees charged the agency $35,000 for premium-class air tickets to Frankfurt, Germany, claiming the flight time was over 14 hours. Investigators found the employees added a separate flight to their calculations to reach the 14-hour total, a practice not allowed under government travel rules. Also, two of the flights were not authorized.

The report is further evidence of the need for government sunlight laws requiring agency disclosure of business-class travel to Congress.

Wednesday Open Thread

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October 2, 2007

Tuesday Evening Open Thread

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The GOP Shuffle?

The Republican Party is in danger of losing key constituencies:

The Republican Party, known since the late 19th century as the party of business, is losing its lock on that title. [...] Some business leaders are drifting away from the party because of the war in Iraq, the growing federal debt and a conservative social agenda they don't share. In manufacturing sectors such as the auto industry, some Republicans want direct government help with soaring health-care costs, which Republicans in Washington have been reluctant to provide. And some business people want more government action on global warming, arguing that a bolder plan is not only inevitable, but could spur new industries.

So it's important to note that not only might they be losing those constituencies, but they're losing them because those constituencies agree with key progressive issues.

Romney Says He Would Veto SCHIP Legislation

From the Kansas City Star:

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Monday began gearing up his Missouri campaign.

The former Massachusetts governor visited the St. Louis area, announced a Missouri leadership team, and gave an interview to The Star in which he said he, too, would veto State Children's Health Insurance Program legislation that serves millions of children.

The reason: It's too expensive, Romney said.

Prompting the question: was Mitt for health care before he was against it?

Forgetful Fred

Don’t ask him about student loans!

On college education: ‘I don’t know’… again

Fred Thompson once again relied on his old "I don't know" defense when asked by a college-aged cook at cafe about a bill sponsored by Sen. Ted Kennedy meant to help make college more affordable. "Senator Kennedy's got so many bills," Thompson said. "I must say I don't know about the one you're probably talking about, but I know about your situation. I've been there."

Blackwater Hearings Happening Now

The Blackwater hearings are happening now, broadcast live on CSPAN 3. Marcy Wheeler will also be covering the hearings at firedoglake.

If you have something to say about Blackwater or the use of private contractors in Iraq, use this as the open thread.

Tuesday Open Thread

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October 1, 2007

Blackwater Contractors Murdered Iraqi Civilians; State Department Covered Up Crimes

Private contractors working for Blackwater USA have killed innocent Iraqi civilians--and the State Department covered up the crimes. From the New York Times:

Guards working in Iraq for Blackwater USA have shot innocent Iraqi civilians and have sought to cover up the incidents, sometimes with the help of the State Department, a report to a Congressional committee said today.

The report, based largely on internal Blackwater e-mail messages and State Department documents, depicts the security contractor as being staffed with reckless, shoot-first guards who were not always sober and did not always stop to see who or what was hit by their bullets.

The report was compiled by the Democratic majority staff of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which is scheduled to hold a hearing on Blackwater activities tomorrow.

In one case, a drunk Blackwater contractor killed a bodyguard for the Iraqi vice president, Adil Abd-al-Mahdi. State Department officials allowed the shooter to leave the country 36 hours later.

The State Department official suggested a $250,000 payment to the guard’s family, but the department’s Diplomatic Security Service said that was too much and could cause Iraqis to "try to get killed." In the end, $15,000 was agreed upon.

Blackwater charges the government $1,222 per day per guard, or $445,000 per year. The cost is six times more than the cost of a U.S. soldier doing equivalent security work.

Despite the fact that Blackwater has been banned from the country by the Iraqi government, the Department of Defense just awarded the company another contract worth up to 92 million dollars. Presidential Airways, the aviation unit of parent company Blackwater, was awarded the contract to fly Department of Defense passengers and cargo to locations around central Asia.

Fred Thompson Thinks There Were WMDs In Iraq

Earlier today in Iowa, Fred Thompson justified his support for the war in Iraq by claiming that Iraq had a nuclear weapons program and had weapons of mass destruction, despite the fact that weapons inspectors have concluded that Iraq had no WMDs.

Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson said today he was certain former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction prior to the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, a point of contention in the 4.5 years since the war began.

"We can't forget the fact that although at a particular point in time we never found any WMD down there, he clearly had had WMD. He clearly had had the beginnings of a nuclear program," the former Tennessee senator told an audience of about 60 at a Newton cafe.

Even George Bush has acknowledged that "Charles Duelfer has now issued a comprehensive report that confirms the earlier conclusion of David Kay that Iraq did not have the weapons that our intelligence believed were there."

Deulfer's Iraq Study group also concluded that Iraq did not have a nuclear weapons program, saying, "Saddam Hussein ended the nuclear program in 1991 following the Gulf War," and there was "no evidence to suggest concerted efforts to restart the program."

Giuliani's Top Fundraiser Was Sole Backer of Right-Wing Power Grab in California

A shadowy group of right-wing Republicans recently sponsored a ballot initiative that would have changed the way California distributes its electoral votes. They believed that the change would have allowed them to pick up the equivalent of another Ohio in electoral votes, winning the White House in 2008.

The initiative failed, but now we've learned that Rudy Giuliani's top fundraiser, New York hedge fund billionaire Paul E. Singer, was its sole financial backer--raising new questions about Rudy Giuliani's ties to the effort. From the Los Angeles Times:

A confidant of Republican presidential contender Rudolph W. Giuliani, and one of the candidate's biggest donors, was the source of a mystery $175,000 donation to a stalled initiative proposal seen as an attempt to help the GOP win a portion of California's 55 electoral votes.

...Singer oversees Elliott Associates, a Wall Street investment fund, and is chairman of Giuliani's Northeast fundraising operation. Singer and people who work for Singer-related entities donated at least $182,000 to Giuliani in the first six months of the year, a Times review of Giuliani's campaign finance statements shows. One of his companies leases jets used by the GOP front-runner. Singer also is one of the former New York mayor's advisors and friends.

Singer laundered the money through Giuliani donor Charles A. Hurth III, who was the registered agent for the Missouri-based "Take Initiative America" group and had no connections to California politics. Hurth was also one of the funders behind a right-wing group called "Choices for America," which tried to put Ralph Nader on the ballot in 2004 to help Bush win the presidency.

For more on Paul Singer's past financial dealings, read our research document.

Fred Thompson Dodges the Press in Iowa

After months of dodging an official declaration of his candidacy, Fred Thompson is still running from reporters.

His staff indicated Thompson would answer reporters' questions just outside the hall, so as not to interrupt the event. So, a long column led by Fred Thompson walked from the head of the chow line to, well, the head. Thompson ducked in the men's room.

When he emerged, just feet from the door, the walking train of reporters and photographers followed, but Thompson veered back into the banquet room, bound for the side farthest from the door -- back to where his wife and child were. Then, again, the conga line started for the exit as Thompson led the way. Outdoors, Thompson quickly climbed in a black SUV and someone drove him away. No questions. No answers. If you want to know what he said tonight, you'll have to ask Jeri.

Christian Conservatives Vow To Back Third Party Candidate If Giuliani Wins GOP Nomination

The first sign of a split between the right-wing and the extreme right-wing over Rudy Giuliani's candidacy for the Republican nomination:

In the first major sign of social conservative anxiety that Rudy Giuliani will be the Republican presidential nominee next year, a group of Christian right leaders unanimously backed a resolution Saturday indicating a willingness to back a third-party candidate should a pro-choice candidate win the GOP nomination. The move came in a private meeting among top members of the Council for National Policy (CNP), a secretive coalition of prominent Christian conservatives, gathered for a conference in Salt Lake City.

The resolution stated, "If the Republican Party nominates a pro-abortion candidate, we will consider running a third-party candidate," and was voted on by such leaders of the conservative movement as Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, direct mail pioneer Richard Viguerie, the Family Research Council's Tony Perkins and Leadership Institute founder Morton Blackwell. A participant at the meeting--the news of which was first reported by Salon.com--emphasized that it and the vote were separate from the broader CNP conference.

Better Things To Do?

Why didn't Rudy Giuliani show up to the Republican debate addressing issues important to black Americans? A new video by Brave New Films has the details:

McCain Confused About Christianity and Constitution

At Right's Field, Matt Ortega caught this recent interview with John McCain. Not only would McCain prefer a Christian president, but he favors a religious litmus test for the presidency--something expressly prohibited by the Constitution:

"I just have to say in all candor that since this nation was founded primarily on Christian principles...personally, I prefer someone who I know who has a solid grounding in my faith...I think the number one issue people should make [in the] selection of the President of the United States is, 'Will this person carry on in the Judeo Christian principled tradition that has made this nation the greatest experiment in the history of mankind?'"

Here's Article IV from the Constitution:

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States. [emphasis added]

Monday Open Thread

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