May 16, 2008

Bless Junior John's Heart!

Poor, stupid, pathetic idiot...

Hava Goodun! Junior John sure as hell won't!

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March 20, 2008

Noriega : A Progressive Patriot

Sen. Feingold (who has an 'order' (more like a suggestion, really) saying that Sister Ruth must stay more than 100 feet away from him at all times) needs to know that Rick Noriega IS a Progressive Patriot. Go tell him here.

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March 17, 2008

THEY said it would pay for itself...

...and Tom Tomorrow has his take on the Iraq War.

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March 14, 2008

Thank you, House D's! Telecom Immunity goes down in the House like a dirty ho

The House version of the FISA bill passed without telecom immunity! THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO VOTED FOR IT!

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March 13, 2008

Things aren't all that rosy in Iraq... nor are they completely dire

The NYT released their Iraq scorecard which can best be summarized with the following...

It is far too soon to predict that Iraq is headed for stability or sectarian reconciliation. But it is also clear that those who assert that its politics are totally broken have not kept up with the news.

This is all with a lot of stuff in the backdrop, namely the election season. Which is kind of interesting since the Republicans are solidly failing to land hits or adequately defend their position to keep troops in Iraq for the next 100 years. Here's the problem, which the Times glosses over... are our troops worsening or helping the political situation in Iraq? The Iraqi's seem to be pretty clear that it's the former.

Now the Senate wants to know what happened to all the money the Iraqi's have made on oil sales.

Despite the dire need for better health care, more electricity and clean water, a functioning sewage system and other services, the accountability office has previously estimated that Iraq spent only 22 percent of the oil money set aside for reconstruction in 2006. And in January, the office, which is charged with overseeing the Iraqi government’s finances, reported that Iraq had spent a meager 4.4 percent of its 2007 reconstruction budget by August of that year, the most recent figures available at the time.

As a result, the letter from the Armed Services Committee says, “we believe that it has been overwhelmingly U.S. taxpayer money that has funded Iraq reconstruction over the last five years, despite Iraq earning billions of dollars in oil revenue over that time period that have ended up in non-Iraqi banks.”

The Pentagon is releasing a detailed and thorough analysis of Iraq's connections to terrorism prior to the invasion. The conclusion? It's the same one you've heard before... there were no ties to terrorism. Period. Bush, Condi, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz made it all up. Which makes them liars.

Unfortunately, none of them can be prosecuted. Well, at least not the ones that didn't testify before Congress.

At the end, it's time to acknowledge we've done all we can do. We're more a crutch than a real help at this point and it's time for our men and women to come home from Bush's attempt to create a friedmanite paradise. We owe it to them.

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FISA Update - Conyers is kicking ass

In stark contrast to what happened in the Senate Intelligence Committee when the FISA modernization act was brought up, the House Judiciary Committee, in a VERY nasty way, shut the door on immunity for the telecos.

As a result of our review of classified as well as unclassified materials concerning the Administration’s Terrorist Surveillance Program, we have concluded that blanket retroactive immunity for phone companies is not justified.

And this is why we would gladly go down on Rep. Conyers. Well, we would if he wanted it.

In other FISA related news, Jane has (in the last day or so) raised more than $42k to take down Blue Dogs who want to vote for telecom immunity. Go tell her where she should spend it.

On another note, as it turns out that Total Information Awareness Program we all thought Congress killed in 2003 is not so much dead.

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March 12, 2008

FISA - We were right

Well, it appears more is happening in the House on the FISA front and it's not going the White House's way. I know, I'm really sad about that, too. It's always disheartening to me when I hear about something bad happening to someone I really don't like.

As it turns out, the victory of Bill Foster in Illinois was due, in part, to his stand for the rights of Americans against the telecom companies. Foster was against granting telecom companies immunity for their illegal actions in complying with President Bush's illegal wiretap order. So much for the scare tactics of the Republicans and beating the national security drum. If you people couldn't win on this in Hastert's district, you aren't going to win with it. Anywhere. In fact, people may actually boo your candidates. That, you definitely don't want. We did warn you about all this, Republicans. You really should have known better.

One side note, as DKOS points out, is that Mark Klein (the AT&T employee who blew the whistle on NSA eavesdropping) has not been called to testify. If anyone would know about this dragnet intelligence gathering technique, and the laws the telcos broke, it's him.

Meanwhile, back to the debate at hand... Leahy and Conyers are joining forces to take down Sen. Lawn Chair (he's always folding up) and the Administration. Help them push back on Bush by clicking here. The sad part is that it's not just the Republicans pushing to protect the telecoms and the President from well deserved prosecution, it's also a group of 21 blue dogs. Jane Hamsher is thinking it's time to take them down. In case you were wondering, none of them are from Texas. Which makes me hella proud.

Long story short, you need to get involved. This is real, this is totalitarian and we have to stop it. We've got some people in Washington who are refusing to compromise and we have to get their backs.

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March 08, 2008

Bush thought it was wakeboarding

1) Congress voted, in a bipartisan bill, to ban our assets from utilizing the torture method known as waterboarding as part of an interrogation.

2) Waterboarding, even according to the military, provides often useless information from people so desperate to avoid future 'simulated drownings' that they'll say anything.

3) Bush decided to break a tenuous peace with Democrats and moderate Republicans in Congress by vetoing this bill.

Go for the override, Madam Speaker.

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February 29, 2008

UPDATE - CD10 : Endorsement Fun

Dan Grant has been rolling on with the endorsements. He picked up the Tejano Democrats in Harris County and he picked up the Austin American Statesman. This is, of course, in addition to the plethora he's already received. He also picked up, earlier this week, the Houston Chronicle endorsement.

U.S. Congress, District 10, Democrat Dan Grant - A graduate of the London School of Economics and Georgetown University, Grant has deep foreign policy experience earned as a U.S. Agency for International Development official in Afghanistan and Iraq. He favors an immediate pullout of the bulk of American troops from Iraq. Closer to home, Grant says his domestic priorities will be supporting policies geared to economic recovery and health care reform.

Finally, I just heard that Dan had received the endorsement of long time Travis County DA, Ronnie Earle.

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Hillary says "not so much" to corporate welfare

Senator Clinton (who ROCKS, by the way) is cosponsoring legislation in the Senate to ban the use of private military contractors in Iraq. Some call it the privatization/mercenarization of our armed forces. We call it corporate welfare since prior to Uncle Sam's large checks, Blackwater was a little organization providing corporate security and training to police officers. Full text in the supersize.

In other Hillary news, the campaign announced it raised $35 million. In February. Mostly from small donors. So much for the accusation that Hillary's only raising money from rich lobbyists.

Washington, DC – Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton announced today that she has cosponsored legislation to ban the use of Blackwater and other private mercenary firms in Iraq. "From this war's very beginning, this administration has permitted thousands of heavily-armed military contractors to march through Iraq without any law or court to rein them in or hold them accountable. These private security contractors have been reckless and have compromised our mission in Iraq. The time to show these contractors the door is long past due. We need to stop filling the coffers of contractors in Iraq, and make sure that armed personnel in Iraq are fully accountable to the U.S. government and follow the chain of command," said Senator Clinton. The legislation requires that all personnel at any U.S. diplomatic or consular mission in Iraq be provided security services only by Federal Government Personnel. It also includes a whistleblower clause to protect contract personnel who uncover contract violations, criminal actions, or human rights abuses.

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Cornyn fights back (with a 28 gauge)

Sorry, just couldn't resist another dig at an adult who claims to be a MAN and a TEXAN who hunts with a goddamn 28 gauge shotgun. What's the problem, princess? You afraid your shoulder will get sore? Of course, he's worried about more than that. He has to fight someone for re-election. Someone who's already making him his bitch. Which is why his dippy little campaign manager sent out an email talking about Rick going 'over the line'. See, Rick criticized his lame attempt to swiftboat him. He also thought Cornyn was pretty weak for voting against armor for our troops. Cornyn's not happy with that... he doesn't refute the fact that he voted against the armor, he just thinks Rick's mean for bringing it up. He'll of course claim this is patently untrue. Media Matters looked into it and concluded it was true. So did Vote Vets. None of that matters to Cornyn's campaign manager who thinks it's all really mean.

Hon, this is Texas. EVERYTHING is over the line. Maybe you'd be more comfortable running a race in North Dakota.

Lookit, R's. With every email you piss us and EVERY TEXAN off. You wanna play this as politics as usual, go ahead. However you're just going to come away beaten down like a baby seal. We're meaner than you and we know damn well this country and this state can't afford more of your mistakes. Our troops can't afford another WMD goose chase. Our people can't afford higher interest rates because you refuse to tax your buddies. Our economy can't handle your singular focus on high oil prices to help your friends in the energy industry.

We're going to elect Rick. Period. We're going to bloody you while we do it. We're going to be ugly, nasty and downright mean. And the brill part is that all we have to do is tell the truth. We'll call out every lie and we'll make sure the rest of this state knows just what kind of a coward you are for voting to protect telcos and the President over the rights of your constituents.

We'll never let them forget about their fancy Senator who hunts with a 28 gauge shotgun.

While you're good and pissed off at Senator John Cornyn, go take his little poll.

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February 27, 2008

Bush and his lies about FISA

Don't cave in, D's (and a few) R's in the House. We're watching you and while this issue may not be foremost on people's minds, imagine how front and center it can become. In an election year. You don't want that so why not do the right thing AND CYA! Drop Bush in the grease on this and stand with Pelosi!

El Presidente is all about telecom immunity because he knows it's the only thing that will save him from an eventual stretch in the federal pen. See, Bush ordered all this. He brow beat the companies into submission. Now he can't deliver the immunity they so desperately need. And he's sounding more and more desperate by the day...

``The House's refusal to act is undermining our ability to get cooperation from private companies, and that undermines our effort to protect us from terrorist attacks,'' Bush said in his weekly radio address, the second week in a row he has discussed the issue.

The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives has balked at passing a Bush-backed bill that would give telecommunications companies such as AT&T Inc. protection from privacy lawsuits for helping the administration conduct wiretapping without warrants.

The bill, approved by the Senate, would extend the spying authority for six years. The prior law expired Feb. 16 after Bush said he wouldn't sign a brief extension while the House debated the issue.

Democrats argued the law's expiration wouldn't hobble surveillance of foreign-based terrorists or other enemies, since orders issued to telephone companies under the law remain in effect for a year.

Bush, in his radio address, said lawmakers who oppose the legislation are favoring trial lawyers over national security. ``Terrorists are planning the next attack on America,'' Bush said. ``To protect America from such attacks, we must protect our telecommunications companies from abusive lawsuits.''

Terrorism is all about instilling fear in a target. Bush is working hard to instill fear in the American people to, yet again, expand the powers of the Presidency. Doesn't that, by definition, make Bush a terrorist? Ponder that for a second...

Interesting, huh?

As for the first quote, these companies, like all entities in the US, can be compelled to cooperate with a court order, usually in the form of a warrant. That's what the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution is all about. These companies did what Bush wanted, they did something illegal based on his assurances, which he never should have given. Now, they're in trouble. However, so is he. It's pretty obvious that this ISN'T about these companies... it's about Bush keeping himself out a scenic vacation to a lovely spot in Kansas.

Sign the petition now. Ask The House to uphold the rule of law in the United States and let's restore accountability to the executive branch.

Posted by mcblogger at 09:43 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 26, 2008

Heather Wilson (R-New Mexico) and magical wiretap (that's not illegal)

Last night, Rep. Heather Wilson was on CSPAN bleating on about how we're "less safe and less secure" because the D's in the House won't pass retroactive immunity. What she's leaving unsaid? That it was illegal. What Bush did and what the companies aided and abetted, was ILLEGAL.

So, who is Heather Wilson? A former topless dancer, Heather has fear-mongered her way into the US House despite her horrendous haircut and criminal sense of style. Mostly by making the people of Albuquerque so scared they've actually become incontinent.

Later, Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Georgia) came on to lie about the telecom companies by saying that they were REQUIRED by the Patriot Act to comply with the wiretaps. Which is why they now need retroactive immunity for doing something illegal. Phil, seriously, does your brain actually control your speech or are you simply a robot controlled by the White House?

Finally, toward the end of the Republican's pantomime, was Michael McCaul, my Congressman, who's scared of them terrawrists. He called this all a 'dangerous game of politics'. He's right... the future of our country is at stake. Will we cave in to fear and allow Republicans like Michael McCaul to take our rights and make us slaves or will we turn them out and drive them from office?

The bottom line, Republicans, is that the American people will NEVER forgive immunity. NEVER. The only thing you can do is pass a liability cap. However, we're going to find out just how far up it went.

And people will be going to jail.

(Oh, and Mike... I feel shame when it says 10th Congressional District of Texas under your name. That was Jake Pickle's seat. Before that, it was Lyndon Johnson's. Those were real Texans, brave men who did what was best for their nation. You are a scared little politician. And Dan Grant is going to beat you like a drum.)

Posted by mcblogger at 08:04 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

February 25, 2008

More good news for Skelly

We wrote up Michael Skelly a while back. Tuesday came some more good news for him in terms of polling vs. Culberson and fundraising. Needless to say, it looks like a Democrat has a great chance to take over CD 7.

And the people of Houston could really use the help.

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DHS and the plan to gut civil service

Apparently, DHS has given up on that brill idea to gut civil service laws and hire non-union folks.

The Department of Homeland Security, in a court filing Friday, said it will not pursue rules to curb union rights and will abide by regular civil service labor-management procedures.

Shortly afterward, a federal court issued an order closing the case, and the union that fought the rules declared victory.

Colleen M. Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, yesterday called the result "a welcome end to a battle well worth fighting."

The battle began in the summer of 2002, when the Bush administration signaled that it wanted to create a separate personnel system for Homeland Security, changing how employees would be paid, promoted and disciplined.

Bush officials contended that the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks required changes that would give more discretion to managers and permit quicker deployment of workers without notifying their union representatives.

The plan outraged federal union leaders and a number of Democrats in Congress. When the department and the Office of Personnel Management issued rules for a new personnel system in February 2005, the NTEU and other employee groups sued. The union also began lobbying campaigns to stop the rules on Capitol Hill.

The proposed rules would have allowed the Department of Homeland Security to override any provision in a union contract by issuing a department-wide directive. The rules also would have made it difficult, if not impossible, for unions to negotiate over arrangements for staffing, deployments, technology and other workplace matters.

In August 2005, U.S. District Judge Rosemary M. Collyer blocked the department's plan, saying it did not ensure collective-bargaining rights for Homeland Security employees. A year later, a federal appeals court ruled against the department.

Just curious, but how much taxpayer money was wasted on advancing a stupid idea dreamed up by retarded Republicans on a purely ideological crusade?

Posted by mcblogger at 11:20 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 19, 2008

CD10 : NAIS on the brain

Remember this post? It prompted this, this, this and this all in a very short timeframe. So what's the dealio?

Well, for one thing, the information WAS up on Doherty's website. For another, KUT did pull it down after being asked by the Doherty campaign. The campaign itself has not, to my knowledge, distanced itself from the comment.

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February 18, 2008

FISA... where lies and exaggeration come to live

Unlike the rubber stamps in the Senate, the House Democrats handed a HUGE victory to citizens in this country when they decided to put off consideration of the Senate FISA bill until they were damn well ready. Which means the temporary law passed in August will expire this weekend.

Bush is already claiming that it leaves us open to terrorist attack. Which is bullshit because the taps already in place have a year to run and new ones can be obtained, instantly, with a 72 hour window in which the government can then seek a warrant from the FISA Court. That's the old law. It gives the government 72 hours to obtain a warrant AFTER a tap has been initiated. Needless to say, Bush's argument is pretty weak that this is about 'protecting 'merucans'. The reality is that this is all about protecting the corporations that cooperated illegally with the government on the illegal wiretaps Bush authorized between 2001 and 2005. See, without immunity, these companies are going to be sued. And during discovery, the people of the US will find out just how it goes up the executive branch. That could leave Bush himself open to prosecution AFTER leaving office.

The funny thing about this? These companies claim they were just doing their patriotic duty which is crap. They knew they were doing something illegal and, in the case of Qwest, some refused because the government wouldn't give the companies a letter from the AG saying this was all legal. THAT'S what they need to be immune from prosecution and lay this all off on the executive branch. They didn't get it because the program wasn't legal which means the boards of these companies should fire and sue the executives and legal advisers who allowed the taps to happen.

Yes, this is all about protecting the illegal actions of telecom companies and the President. Not protecting Americans. Even Cornyn got in on the action...

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) told Cybercast News Service the expiration of the law does in fact present a clear and present danger. "It is a fact that 3,000 people died on September 11. It is a fact we have been able to use this [FISA] capability to stop further terrorist attacks. Now I know it's a little hard to prove something that didn't happen, but the testimony from highly placed officials within the intelligence community, the director of national intelligence, and others say this is an essential activity that will save lives."

Oh, but Senator Cornyn, DNI McConnell directly contradicts you on this. He says this will have no effect on intelligence gathering, other than making the Administration do things legally. Which means, Junior John, that your gutless defense of an illegal program is making you look weak as hell. What kind of a Texan are you, Senator? One of the cowardly ones?

For that matter, what kind of Texans is Hans Klinger of the Texas GOP? Friday afternoon he issued a press release going after Lampson, Rodriguez and Edwards for leaving along with the rest of Congress when it was clear there was an impasse. I guess no one told Hans that the nation IS still protected by wiretapping laws and that the real issue is an immunity deal for companies and President Bush. Wait... just reread the first part.

Hans, bubie, let me clue you in on something since you're evidently smart enough to write but not to keep your mouth closed when you breathe. Lampson is the only one you've got a prayer of beating and considering that only a nutter will get through the R primary in FBC, you're probably screwed there. Rodriguez is in a strong position and Chet Edwards... well, Chet's going to beat down whoever you run against him like Ali did Frazier in Manilla.

Texans know these Congressman did the right thing. It's the President and Congressional Republicans who are off the reservation. And we all know it.

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February 14, 2008

FISA (now with Telecom Immunity) passes the Senate

While everyone is focused on the primaries today, the United States Senate has, as expected, passed the FISA 'reform' bill which gives legal cover to the President's illegal warrantless wiretapping as well protecting telecom companies for their cooperation with the program.

To say I'm profoundly disappointed in both Democrats AND Republicans would be an understatement. You can see them here (the YEA's are the ones who betrayed their Oath of Office... Cornyn and Hutchison are in there, the traitorous cowards that they are). This country is going down a path to imperialism and dictatorship that many democracies have tread. We, the voters, have a chance... and it's simple. EXCHANGE ALL OF THEM. EVERYONE THAT VOTES YEA FOR THIS BILL SHOULD BE DEFEATED IN THEIR NEXT ELECTION, REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRAT ALIKE.

I do not recognize a Democrat who would sell out my rights for 'security' anymore than I would a Republican. These men and women have EARNED the animosity coming to them. Even Sen.'s Webb and McCain, two men whose military service and intelligence should have made them immune to the clamor to abandon the Constitution.

Sen.'s Dodd and Feingold once again stood solid.

“Unfortunately, those who are advocating this notion that you have to give up liberties to be more secure are apparently prevailing,” Mr. Dodd said. “They’re convincing people that we’re at risk either politically, or at risk as a nation.”

The fight now moves to the House of Representatives where it will hopefully be won or at least stalemated.

The House has already rejected the idea of immunity for the phone companies, and Democratic leaders reacted angrily to the Senate vote. But Congressional officials said it appeared that the House would ultimately be forced to accept some sort of legal protection for the phone carriers in negotiations between the two chambers this week.

If your concern was for the companies and those they employ, Congress could easily have established a liability cap. However, they instead decided to cripple the rights of those who sought restitution for the illegal wiretapping. In short, the victim has been victimized once again.

To put this simply, there is NO debate, there is no compromise, there is no bipartisanship when it comes to the Constitution. You either protect and defend it, or you are actively fighting to dismantle it as the legal basis for this country and the document that guarantees our rights.

Posted by mcblogger at 09:33 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 12, 2008

FISA ... this is just sad

Final passage of the bill is still hours away, but all the amendments to the bill to strip away telecom immunity (basically, giving the telecom companies a pass for their past illegal actions) and restore the rule of law failed overwhelmingly. With help from the Democrats.

More here at FDL, KOS and from Greenwald. You can click here to sign a petition asking the House not to give in on telecom immunity.

In case you were wondering, our own Senator's John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison voted to keep OFF the amendments protecting the Constitution from the bill. None of this is particularly surprising since Cornyn and Hutchison are well known as nothing more than rubber stamps for President Bush. They've abdicated their responsibility to Texans (and violated their Oath of Office) by voting against these amendments. It's good to see that AT&T's money buys folks that stay bought. You're a real asset to the people of Texas, Senators. Way to sell out your constituents.

Oh, but it was about protecting 'Mericans, right? Not really. The only reason this bill was needed was to strip the requirement that you actually have to obtain a warrant to tap communications so that you can eavesdrop on a US citizen. Now the President can do that at will. The other reason was to protect telecom companies (like SATX based AT&T) from being sued by people whose rights were violated by the company.

Finally, at the end of the day, Cornyn may have actually believed that this was the right thing to do protect us from terrorists. Which makes him a coward. As Franklin said more than 200 years ago, he that would give up essential liberty for temporary safety deserves neither.

Just FYI... exclusivity, the provision within the bill establishing that this bill IS the law and that the Executive must obey it, was stripped. The original FISA had exclusivity which is why Bush and the telco's were afraid of prosecution for their illegal actions. The Senate has now given them a pass on prosecution AND the ability to ignore the provisions of the new law when they feel like it.

PLEASE take a 20 seconds out of your day and sign the petition. If you want to restore the rule of law in the United States, it's one thing you can. Aside from electing BETTER DEMOCRATS and, as it turns out, BETTER REPUBLICANS.

Posted by mcblogger at 02:00 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Larry Joe Doherty supports NAIS?

According to the candidate profile over at KUT...

Doherty supports the National Animal Identification System. Opponents of the program claim it is designed to benefit major agricultural software campaign donors. His opponent, Mr. Grant, is fighting against it.

This is interesting because CD10 is composed of a lot of rural area and a large number of farmers and ranchers, none of whom support NAIS. Not to mention that one of the main reasons people in the rural areas are interested in supporting a Democrat in the general is that McCaul (R - Clear Channel Communications) loves him some NAIS. The fact that it will cause small farmers and ranchers to go out of business and drive up the cost of food at the store is irrelevant to a millionaire like McCaul. Apparently, it is to Mr. Doherty as well.

Posted by mcblogger at 09:11 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

FISA ALERT - Telecom Immunity back from the dead

The FISA bill with Telecom Immunity is coming back to the floor of the Senate tomorrow. Click here to send them a message...no immunity for the illegal actions of telecom companies. Tell Bush and the Republicans that it's time for the reckoning.

Posted by mcblogger at 12:45 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 08, 2008

May I see your papers?

Customs and Border agents are being a little intrusive in their searches. Two issues here:

1) An electronic device should be as secure as a briefcase. You may be able to look inside the briefcase, but you can't look AT the contents. A computer is the same thing, but easier. You should only be able to xray the damn thing. It's not like anyone has managed to digitize a bomb and put it in a Word document. Unless you count a conference call agenda.

"It's one thing to say it's reasonable for government agents to open your luggage," said David D. Cole, a law professor at Georgetown University. "It's another thing to say it's reasonable for them to read your mind and everything you have thought over the last year. What a laptop records is as personal as a diary but much more extensive. It records every Web site you have searched. Every e-mail you have sent. It's as if you're crossing the border with your home in your suitcase."

2) WTF? Profiling?

Customs sometimes singles out passengers for extensive questioning and searches based on "information from various systems and specific techniques for selecting passengers," including the Interagency Border Inspection System, according to a statement on the CBP Web site. "CBP officers may, unfortunately, inconvenience law-abiding citizens in order to detect those involved in illicit activities," the statement said. But the factors agents use to single out passengers are not transparent, and travelers generally have little access to the data to see whether there are errors.

Although Customs said it does not profile by race or ethnicity, an officers' training guide states that "it is permissible and indeed advisable to consider an individual's connections to countries that are associated with significant terrorist activity."

"What's the difference between that and targeting people because they are Arab or Muslim?" Cole said, noting that the countries the government focuses on are generally predominantly Arab or Muslim.

What's next? Allowing the fuckers at TSA to do shit like this? Congress needs to act to restrict this kind 'security'.

(h/t to BlueBloggin')

Posted by mcblogger at 02:14 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Thank you, Senate Democrats (and FU Sen. Gregg)

By a wide margin, the stimulus package has passed both the House and Senate. It's now on it's way to Bush who has been waiting for it, crayon in hand (make your mark here, Mr. President!).

Senate Republicans blocked a measure Wednesday that would have expanded aid to the elderly and disabled vets. It would have also given subsidies for heating oil and coal to people desperately pinched by the increase in oil prices and would have extended unemployment benefits to those whose benefits had already expired. Senate Republicans didn't like helping out the poor and elderly. Especially our own Senator John Cornyn who was congratulated on the vote by the tone deaf folks over at Lone Star Times (read the comments if you want to see some true 'compassionate' conservatism). Let's hope the senior citizens of Texas don't forget that while they've been going broke on a fixed income paying for gasoline, Sen. Cornyn's more concerned with keeping oil company tax cuts in place than helping them out 'the little people'.

What IS it with you Republicans? You're OK with corporate welfare but extend a helping hand to your fellow citizens and you throw a fit? Damn. And here I thought only Cheney was heartless. You people are so full of hate you'll drive the whole damn country into a depression just to make your damn point. To wit, this from Senator Gregg

"We have to remember that every dollar being spent on the stimulus package is being borrowed from our children. And our children's children," said Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., who voted against the bill.

Gee, Senator, I don't remember you voting against any of those tax cuts that gave us massive deficits and dramatically increased federal debt. Methinks your 'conversion' to fiscal conservatism is a little late in coming.

The good news? Sen. Reid in his first decent act of the new year has decided to bring the extended benefits up over and over again. Good on you, Harry. Now drop this telecom immunity BS and let's get this country working again!

Posted by mcblogger at 12:11 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

You ROCK, Lloyd Doggett

For no other reason than trying to help more families get help to afford college. Thank you from all of us at McBlogger.

Posted by mcblogger at 08:22 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 04, 2008

Earmarks in perspective

Recently, we made reference to Bush's complaints about 'earmarks'. We stated that he was complaining about 1% of the Federal Budget.

We were wrong. It's actually less than that. It's .55% of the Federal Budget that Bush wants Congress to pass. $3.1 trillion and they are complaining about not having enough money to public education and infrastructure projects?

Posted by mcblogger at 01:48 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Granger has an opponent

Kay Granger (R - Really Bad Margaritas) has a challenger according to Vince over at Cap Annex.

Tracey Smith (D-Fort Worth), a former TV and newspaper report in the DF/W Metroplex has stepped up to challenge former Fort Worth Mayor Kay Granger (R-Fort Worth) in her bid for another term as the district’s Congresswoman.

Mr. Smith, we hope the people of Fort Worth send you Congress. It'll be a huge improvement over Kay and her hair.

Posted by mcblogger at 09:23 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

January 28, 2008

FISA Telecom Amnesty goes down in flames

Good work, Democrats. Thank you for standing up for the Constitution.

Posted by mcblogger at 09:10 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

FISA SHOWDOWN ALERT

The FISA bill is headed for a cloture vote in about 40 minutes in the Senate. Greenwald has a story up about it and FDL is going to be liveblogging it. We won't because we have day jobs. However, we will be making calls to Senators about it from our personal phones. You should as well!

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January 26, 2008

AFL-CIO endorses Grant

Matt at BOR has the post up...very good news for Dan!

In other Grant related news, it appears that Dan did have a role in the Kerry campaign in 2004. Which puts a lie to the rumors circulating around to the contrary.

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January 25, 2008

Telecom immunity again?

That's right, kids! Much like that horrible casserole your mother LOVED making as a child, telecom immunity is back. This time, the shriveled little troll Harry Reid has joined with Cracker McConnell to shove this through...Greenwald has the text of their convo on the floor yesterday...

We have to finish FISA this week. Everyone should be aware of that point. We have to finish it this week. I know there are important trips people want to take. We have the very important economic conference in Davos that Democrats and Republicans alike would like to go to.

I say, unless we finish the bill Thursday -- and we will not be able to get to it until tomorrow night-- unless we finish the bill on Thursday, then we are going to have to continue working this week until we finish this bill. We have to finish this bill. It is not fair to the House to jam them so that they have 1 day to act on this legislation.

If we finish it this week, I have spoken to the Speaker today and they will work to complete this matter next week. It would be to everyone's advantage if we had more time to do this.

I respect what the Republican leader has said, but everyone here should understand all weekend activities have to be put on hold until we finish this bill. Now, it is possible we could finish it fairly quickly. We are going to work from the Intelligence bill, and if amendments are offered that people don't like, I would suggest they move to table those amendments. Because if people think they are going to talk this to death, we are going to be in here all night. This is not something we are going to have a silent filibuster on. If someone wants to filibuster this bill, they are going to do it in the openness of the Senate.

No, no... that wasn't McConnell. That was OUR Majority Leader, Harry Reid. Makes you feel good to have a Democrat in the Senate who's working so hard to make the President's life easy. Who else but Harry Reid would take

so seriously?

We at McBlogger would like to take a moment to thank Senators Dodd, Feingold and Kennedy for standing up to the little old man from Nevada.

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January 24, 2008

New sense of bipartisanship in DC dies

The WaPo has an article up about the rush to get a stimulus package through and the partisan 'cease-fire' that is even now beginning to break. The money quote on the economy comes from some minor R douche...

Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) fired back, blaming the nation's economic ills on the Democratic-controlled Congress. "One year into a liberal Democrat majority in Congress, surprise, surprise, the economy is struggling," he said. "You don't need to apply liberal principles and policies on an economic slowdown that is being driven by liberal policies on Capitol Hill."

Uhm, Mike... the D's haven't been able to pass large parts of the economic plan that might have saved the citizens of this country because Bush keeps vetoing the legislation they've worked so hard on and you keep voting to sustain those vetoes. The economy HAS been struggling for years because the foolish ideologically driven policies of you and your party. If I were you, Mike, I would remember a piece of sage advice we've all heard from time to time : Better to be silent and thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt.

According to several sources, the 'stimulus' package has the support it needs to go to the President. However, it's all smoke and mirrors. It'll be June before a taxpayer sees a check and those business tax cuts will be used for dividends, not job creation. The only difference between now and what the Republicans did in 2001 and 2003 is that the Democrats were intimately involved this time. Nice work, boys and girls. You all fail Econ101.

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January 22, 2008

Oh Really, TinaFish? You're this dumb?

The TXGOP sent out an email yesterday asserting that Rick Noriega 'accused Teachers of being in the cheap seats'. Seriously. What TinaFish didn't pick up on is that Lt. Col. Noriega was talking specifically about Ray McMurrey who has spent an inordinate amount of time in his campaign, and in his speech to the AFL-CIO convo on Saturday, basically trying (unsuccessfully) to tear down Noriega. Here's the quote which TinaFish included in VERY small print:

"It's easy to talk from the cheap seats when you haven't been in the trenches for a long time fighting for Texas families," Noriega said. (Kelly Shannon, “Noriega, McMurrey make cases to labor activists,” AP, January 19, 2008)

Go read the article and Vince's summary on Noriega's speech (which received a standing ovation, natch). The reality is that while Ray's been doing an admirable job teaching kids in his school, he hasn't been fighting some of the battles that Noriega's fought in the Texas House against Republicans like TinaFish. Battles to increase Teacher pay, for example.

All this brings to mind, though, just how bad Republicans like Noriega's eventual opponent Senator John Cornyn have been for Texas teachers. Here's one and here's another. Then there was this about Republicans trying to destroy the pensions that Teachers have been promised. Here's something about keeping Teachers from Social Security income they deserve. If memory serves, Senator John Cornyn actually voted for this along with the other Republicans in Congress from Texas.

I'd link more (there are eight pages of them over the last two years) but I think you understand as well as I do that the real people who want to keep Texas Teacher's in the 'cheap seats' are the Republicans. They've certainly been doing a good job of it so far.

Sorry to break this to you, TinaFish, but Cornyn's going to be running against Lt. Col. Noriega. And he's going to kick Senator John Cornyn's ass.

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January 18, 2008

Transportation funding in the spotlight...

Raising the gax tax is the answer to the transportation funding crisis? Color me surprised...From the DMN

A federal commission created by Congress called for big increases to the federal gas tax on Tuesday as part of a sweeping overhaul of how America builds and pays for its highways, bridges and transit systems.

The proposal for a 40-cent increase over five years touched off a stormy debate in Washington that is expected to last until at least 2009, when legislation governing scores of transportation programs expires and must be rewritten.

Gee whiz! Who would have thought that increasing the gas tax was a better idea than tolling? Oh, that's right. We've been through this, haven't we?

39% is VERY upset about all this, as is Empower Texas, which is little more than a poor man's Cato Institute. Here's 39%'s take...

“Raising taxes is seldom the right answer and sending more of Texans’ money to Washington, D.C. only to have it earmarked, redistributed to other states or locked into outmoded bureaucratic programs will do very little if anything to relieve congestion on Texas roads,” said Gov. Perry.

Uhm... Governor... for YEARS the Republicans from Texas in Congress let Texas get shortchanged on federal funding for roads. This is what is particularly sad about 39%. He's so stuck on his ideological bent and his need to funnel taxpayer money to his campaign contributors that even when a MOSTLY REPUBLICAN body thinks raising the gas tax is a good idea, he just can't accept it. Yeah, the group that issued the report was appointed by the Republican Congress in 2005 and was heavy with them...

Congress in 2005 created the — deep breath — National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Commission to help it understand what to do about the increasing financial starvation of the nation’s transportation system.

Congress in 2005, you’ll remember, was still controlled by Republicans, so the commission was hardly a nest of fuzzy-headed Demotaxers, right? Well, the commission put out its long-awaited study Tuesday. Its solution for the money shortage: raise more money. The board recommended basically a tripling of the 18.4 cents-a-gallon federal gas tax over the next five years, and suggested that states consider raising their gas taxes as well

One of the members of the commission, one of the ones who agreed that raising the gas tax was the best idea, was Paul Weyrich. He's one of the founders of the Heritage Foundation and has much better conservative credentials than 39%. At least Weyrich doesn't believe in crony capitalism.

Let's not forget that Perry's brill idea was to build massive tollways in the middle of nowhere, spending hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars, rather that using our existing right of way. Nice work, 39%. Just a like a good Republican, you've managed to find the most expensive, least effective solution and you've done it in such a way that your cronies can benefit. Marvelous.

We've been a little behind on this for the last couple of days, but we're catching up. Eye on Williamson, Sal Costello, TTC and Dig Deeper Texas all have great articles up about this.

So now we have a Federal commission, chock full of conservative Republicans AND a bunch of Aggies at the TTI telling us raising the gas tax is the best way to fund transportation? What more do you want, 39%? For Jesus himself to come tell you that raising the damn tax is the right thing to do?

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January 15, 2008

LJD and The Case Of The Very Nasty Push Poll

You know, I'm a HUGE fan of push polls, especially when Democrats employ them against Republicans. Though I'm not much of a fan when used in a primary, I also realize they are sometimes a necessity. Only problem is, you better not get caught because the damn things backfire painfully. Let's hope they do for Larry Joe Doherty.

Many of us have been subjected in recent days to a telephone push poll paid for by Doherty in which he spreads personal smears about his primary opponent, Austin's own Dan Grant. This sleazy tactic is straight out of Karl Rove's playbook for negative campaigns. It's also sloppy as hell and everyone who knows Dan realizes it's about as far from the truth as one can get. In fact, much of it is the same crap that a certain former member of the SDEC has been spreading all over Austin. We've all heard it and we all know it's not true.

As far as I'm concerned, the push poll disqualifies Larry Joe for serious consideration as our representative in Congress, mostly because a real push poll would have been about real issues. Not, for example, a bunch of patently false information. That ain't the kind of strategy that's going to be beat the Congressman from Clear Channel.

This transgression is just the latest from the Houston lawyer and former TV judge. Earlier this month, Doherty’s dalliance with rightwing Congressman Lamar Smith was uncovered in a bizarre fundraiser for Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Larry Joe’s own finance chairman, Jim ‘Mattress Mac” McIngvale, co-sponsored the fundraiser.

But it doesn’t end even there. Last fall, Austin Political Report uncovered a clip from the late Anna Nicole Smith’s reality show in which Larry Joe, the host of his own (cancelled) show on Fox, invites the troubled socialite to be a judge. Enough said about his judgment.

Serious times call for serious candidates. Larry Joe Doherty isn’t serious.

Check out Dan Grant’s plan for addressing the economic woes that McCaul and his allies in the White House are inflicting on low-income and middle-class families. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a Congressman who wants to do something other than campaign. Badly?

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January 10, 2008

Jay Coxlie is yo mama

(Word to the wise... be careful with the Cornyn links... not all of them go where you think they go)

Apparently, someone tried to social engineer a schedule out of Sen. Cornyn's office and told them they were with McBlogger. Not so much, but to be honest I would have called to get a copy of it if someone had just asked. I'm as curious as the next guy about who Cornyn is sucking off up to for political donations.

Yes, Senator Cornyn, we know fundraising has been tough. CradDICK is having the same problem. Really sorry about all that. It kills us. Really. Now, about that schedule, you can email that bad boy to mcblogger@mcblogger.com.

All this makes me wonder if Selby's out of the loop on the R side or just not interested in doing stories that aren't fed to him. On a plate with a side of pork fat. The really interesting thing is that Sen. Cornyn's fundraising has been pretty lousy. We'll see it on paper soon enough. Maybe Gardner's waiting for that. He sure isn't interested in getting a URL right.

It's WWW.MCBLOGGER.COM

Lucky for Gardner that my server autocreates subdomains on the fly. Like this...

www.senatorjohncornyn.mcblogger.com

www.wgardnerselby.mcblogger.com

www.tomcraddick.mcblogger.com

Cool, no? Personally. I thought the whole thing was kind of a joke, much like Junior John's tenure in office. The sad thing is how the Cornyn people handled it... the boring nerds called Gardner. Had it been me, I would have sent a fake schedule. That would have been funny. Instead, the not-so-clever folks at Senator Cornyn's office decided to report it to Selby. Morons.

ANYWAY, in other Cornyn related news, our Senator has agreed to debate that whacko Kilgore. Of course, they've yet to set a date and I'd be willing to bet $100 that one just won't come up prior to the primary. Because he'll have to be in Washington or something. Though, I have to admit... I'd love to see them out pander each other on their 'Christian' values. Especially since both of them are about as Christian as the Romans who crucified Jesus.

Finally, we're going to have another episode of Cornyn The Author. In this edition, our very earnest but truly unfortunate Senator is talking about pecans which we're thinking he pronounces Pea-CANS. Because he's damn near a yankee (you did catch that he uses a 28 gauge shotgun, right?) and can't pronounce the word correctly anymore.

Declared “the only tree nuts native to North America,” pecans appear early in the recorded history of Texas. Soon after landing on the Texas coast in 1528, explorer Cabeza de Vaca met the Mariame Indians—Native Americans who came to the lower Guadalupe River each fall “when the ripe nuts began to drop like manna,” according to historian Paul Schneider.

Newly arriving Texas pioneers would later discover pecans to be a steadfast friend, creating enjoyment when other food was scarce.

Early Texas publisher William A. Trenckmann remembered a childhood holiday season during the Civil War when the family Christmas tree was a “young wild peach tree.” Its ornaments included nuts and Christmas cookies created despite wartime shortages of wheat flour. “The baking was accomplished with corn meal and honey,” and “scalded peach kernels and shelled pecans were used for decorations.”

The rest of the thing rambles on for a while about pecans in Texas history. Something about Governor Hogg wanting one at the head of his grave. Texas grows a lot of pecans (along with Georgia). Pecans are good for you (master of the obvious, this guy). Pecans are an important part of our history.

See, I got that out in one paragraph. It took Senator John Cornyn paragraph after mind numbingly bad paragraph. My condensed version is way better. You'll die of boredom before you finish reading his tome.

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January 09, 2008

Dodd : Two issues, one right and one wrong

Sen. Dodd has two items coming up this year, one is a reform of the horrendous 2005 Bankruptcy Act that made it extremely easy for lenders to foreclose on the homes of ordinary people, not to mention the millions with medical collections who would be forced to give up their homes should they be forced to file bankruptcy.

Let me put it this way... when a banker tells you that a bill which makes it hard for a person to declare bankruptcy is bad, then it's pretty damn bad. This was a Republican kiss to the credit card companies and collection agencies, two groups that aren't exactly beloved in the US (from McClatchy via Somervell County Salon)

In 2005, Congress passed a new law aimed at making it harder for people to file for bankruptcy and walk away from their debts.

With the tougher requirements, the number of bankruptcies declined in 2006 but surged by nearly 40 percent in 2007, according to statistics released Thursday. And experts predict the numbers will go higher this year.

The issue is gaining plenty of attention on Capitol Hill, where leading Democrats are proposing to roll back the landmark bankruptcy law. As the number of foreclosures rise, backers of an overhaul say it's needed to prevent more Americans from losing their homes.

"You ought to never lose your home in a bankruptcy proceeding," Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd said during a presidential debate in Iowa last month.

Here's a little illustration. Let's say you're married and your spouse catches something bad, but curable. They go in for very expensive treatment and are cured. Of course, you're left with massive medical bills, even if you have insurance. Normally, you'd declare bankruptcy if you're unable to work out a payment plan. Under the Republican law, the bankruptcy judge has very little leeway and can force you to liquidate your assets, including your home. See how much fun this is? Maybe you decide not to file BK but instead just ignore the bills. The collection company then decides to take you to court and they get a lien against your home, effectively giving them ownership. Needless to say, Dodd reworking this legislation is nothing but a good thing.

Unfortunately, we can't say the same for his version of the Home Ownership Protection and Preservation Act styled as S.2452. This legislation will, in effect, remove the majority of the originators from the market. Those that remain will either work for mega banks like BofA, JP Morgan Chase and Citibank OR they'll fold into mortgage banking companies. The fun part will be that what is transparent today, Yield Spread Premium, will be hidden forever since banks don't have to disclose what they make. This will, of course, make it more expensive for consumers AND remove capacity from the market at the precise time the market needs it. Click the link and see what I wrote about this mistake of a bill back in November. What I said then stands today and this thing, in it's current form, should be put in a drawer and forgotten.

Trust me, there are a few bad brokers and they are slowly but surely being removed from the marketplace. This bill won't accomplish the goal of cleaning up the origination market. All it will do is hide more from the consumer and increase their costs to buy a home. For those of you who think I'm self dealing (I'm a wholesale banker) more than half of my clients are banks. I'll just shift the rest over so this bill will have no impact on my business. It will be shitty deal for consumers.

And who's pushing this? Why none other than Wells Fargo, Bank of America and the other large banks who are tired of competing against the Third Party Originator (broker) market. Many of these banks have recently terminated their wholesale lending divisions in an effort to squeeze brokers and force consumers to their retail divisions. Further, they've been lobbying through community reinvestment groups for the elimination of brokers en masse. And the Democrats are actually falling for it.

Take a second, contact Senator Dodd today and let him know we love the Bankruptcy reform but hate the mortgage reform.

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January 07, 2008

FISA coming back...

The Republicans and the Administration (along with, unfortunately, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid) are still pushing for FISA reform to take away your rights and gut the Constitution they've all sworn to uphold.

With a lot of help, Senator Dodd beat them back late last year. Now they're coming back. Just for shits and grins, I thought we'd recap something I found while doing some research last week. What the government wants to do is wiretap at least tens of millions of Americans. What they are doing, because they have credible intelligence, is wiretapping about 100.

What, of course, has never been explained is why they want to violate the privacy of millions. At the end of the day, they are hoping all of us will be more skeered of the terrarists than our government in the hands of the same people who brought you Gitmo! The Holiday Hotspot!. Actually, we're not scared of terrorists or the government.

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December 28, 2007

Looks like hard work to me...

The Republicans have wasted a lot of time and oxygen complaining about 'how little the Democrats in Congress have done'. ELLN posted a brief list of exactly what they've been up to and what the Republicans have fought so hard against.

We're not fooled by the rhetoric. Neither is the rest of the country. You Republicans want to know why hating you has become so fashionable? It's the bullshit.

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December 27, 2007

A joke welcomes another joke to the primary

Ray McMurrey is running for the Democratic nomination to be our candidate against Junior John Cornyn. McMurrey's a teacher and we hope he's good at that because he's a lousy candidate focused more on criticizing Rep. Rick Noriega than on actually campaigning for the nom. He's also an idiot for sending out a press release welcoming GENE 'THE SA SHITHEAD' KELLY to the race.

I guess no one told Ray that Gene is a recurring spoiler and last year caused a runoff with Barbara Radnofsky that required her to spend $1mln to beat him in a runoff. The man's death will be celebrated by hundreds of thousands of Democrats around Texas. Including Charles Soechting, who's making sense again, who writes in a letter to William Pate who runs McMurrey's campaign (via Carl Whitmarsh's list)...

Let me see if I get this right. A candidate for the Senate welcomes to the Democratic Primary someone who communicates with the press via messages in a potted plant (yes, that's right, a potted plant), someone who files and then does nothing to secure the nomination but causes other candidates to spend money to counteract the name ID associated with a famous dead dancer. Mr. Pate, anybody can run but the time to get serious about what is happening in this country is long past. Welcoming someone who has caused more problems than any four legged rodent could ever hope to is not the answer. The Democratic Party is inclusive, but inclusion in my book stops when the person doesn't want to be in the race for any reason---and that's where Gene Kelly fits in. As for Rick, he is tried and tested in many ways that of us have not. He is a good, decent and honest man and someone who could step right into the job that our current Senator has failed at.

For someone who calls himself 'the heart and soul of the Democratic Party', you'd think Ray would know all that. You'd also think he'd know that it's grassroots, not institutional, support that brought Noriega into the race. Every time you criticize him, you're stabbing the very people you claim to want on your side. In the eye.

As soon as you decide to really talk about issues and run a serious campaign, come on and talk to us Ray. Until then, take us off your retarded mailing list.

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December 24, 2007

Profiles in Dumb : Cornyn The Author (part 1 in a series)

It's no secret that we at McBlogger don't have a lot of love for Junior John Cornyn. However, what may surprise you are the reasons we don't love him. Frankly, we think he's pretty lame. Sure, we could spend hours writing about how he hates the kids by voting against SCHIP, refuses to acknowledge the reality of illegal immigration and has basically spent his entire term in Congress not fighting FOR the people of Texas but instead actively working against them by being little more than a rubber stamp for President Bush.

We could do that but we're not. In point of fact, we've already gone through most of that (just google 'Cornyn' on the sidebar). What really gets us is just how embarrassingly lame he is. Like that time we took him to a drinks party being thrown by some great friends of mine. He spent the entire party drinking Natty Light (he brought his own) and asking people to pull his finger. Frankly, I'm surprised my friends even talk to me.

Let's not even get into that time I