Bush Likely to Prevent Aides' Testimony

Executive privilege strikes again. Impeachment is the only answer to force out the truth. This administration says it has nothing to hide but it is trying to hide everything.

President Bush is expected to claim executive privilege to prevent two more White House aides from testifying before Congress about the firings of federal prosecutors.

Thursday is the deadline for Karl Rove, Bush's top political adviser, to provide testimony and documents related to the firings, under a subpoena from the Senate Judiciary Committee. Also subpoenaed was White House political aide J. Scott Jennings. The Justice Department included both men on e-mails about the firings and the administration's response to the congressional investigation.

White House Counsel Fred Fielding has consistently said that top presidential aides _ present and past _ are immune from subpoenas and has declared the documents sought off-limits under executive privilege.

The White house has offered a compromise and that is testimony in private, not on the record and not under oath. This is the most corrupt administration in our nations history. It is time that the people force the Democrats to grow some balls and force this issue. Impeachment seems to be the only remedy available to them at this point. I believe the American people would support impeachment if they understood just part of the illegal acts of this administration.

We must show the people of the world that our democracy is strong and that the rule of law applies to everyone. Impeachment would accomplish that goal. Please add your name to this petition and lets get the impeachment ball rolling.

Iraq War Could Cost 1 Trillion Dollars

What do US taxpayers have to show for the one trillion dollar cost?

The war in Iraq could ultimately cost well over a trillion dollars -- at least double what has already been spent -- including the long-term costs of replacing damaged equipment, caring for wounded troops, and aiding the Iraqi government, according to a new government analysis.

The United States has already allocated more than $500 billion on the day-to-day combat operations of what are now 190,000 troops and a variety of reconstruction efforts.

In a report to lawmakers yesterday, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that even under the rosiest scenario -- an immediate and substantial reduction of troops -- American taxpayers will feel the financial consequences of the war for at least a decade.

Nothing has been accomplished except to fuel more worldwide terrorism and grow our budget deficit. The next time you see crumbling infrastructure within the United States you need to remember that.

This war has been a disaster on every conceivable level. This report just points out the financial ramifications. Electing morons has consequences and we will be feeling those consequences for a generation.

Is This What They Call Success in Iraq?

The main Sunni Arab political bloc quit the Iraqi government on Wednesday in a blow to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's shaky coalition as suicide bombers killed more than 70 people in three attacks across Baghdad.

The resignation move pushed the government into a new crisis undermining its efforts to reconcile Iraqis and end sectarian strife.

Fifty of Wednesday's dead were killed when a suicide bomber in a fuel truck packed with explosives targeted motorists at a petrol station.

The Sunni Accordance Front left Maliki's Shi'ite-led coalition over his failure to meet a list of about a dozen demands, including a greater say in security matters.

"The government was still ... closing the door on reforms which are needed to save Iraq," Accordance Front spokesman Rafei Issawi told a news conference, adding the government should have met its demands or "at least admit its failure".

Issawi said Deputy Prime Minister Salam al-Zobaie and five ministers would resign on Wednesday.

The Sunni Front's 44 members will remain in the 275-seat parliament. Its withdrawal will have little practical effect on the 15-month-old government, which is virtually paralysed by infighting but needs only a simple majority to keep functioning.

The surge was supposed to curb sectarian violence in Baghdad and other parts of Iraq yet the civilian death toll has surged by one third in July AFTER the full surge was in place.

Look for the blame to be placed on General Petraeus when the surge fails. Last night Vice President Cheney appeared with Larry King and called the surge "The Petraeus Plan". Look for this to continue. We must remember that General Petraeus did not develop this plan but agreed to try to make it successful. The plan goes against his own counterinsurgency manual which called for much greater troop levels to quell violence during an insurgency.

The American people finally understand that this is Bush's War and no matter what it is called or who they try to blame, that fact will never change.

July Job Cuts Rise 15% From Year Ago

Job cuts announced by U.S. employers increased 15 percent in July from a year earlier, led by a surge at transportation companies as fuel costs rose, a survey released today by a placement firm showed.

Announced job cuts rose to 42,897 last month, from a six- year low of 37,178 in July 2006, Chicago-based Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. said today. The figures aren't adjusted for seasonal effects, so economists prefer to focus on year-over-year changes instead of monthly figures.

So far this year, the pace of announced job reductions is 8 percent less than a year earlier, a sign demand for workers remains resilient, the report said. Government figures this week may show employers added enough workers in July to hold the jobless rate near a six-year low, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey.

The housing market will surely add to the jobless numbers as cuts in construction and other trades associated with home building will surely grow as the housing decline continues. The other area of concern is the financial service area if a protracted downturn in the stock market takes hold.

Any significant jump in the unemployment numbers will have a bad psychological impact on consumers who are responsible for two thirds of the economy. We could be looking at the start of the perfect storm that brings our economy into recession and insures a Democratic presidential victory in 2008.

Rudy Is Such An Asshole

I am so tired of hearing this worthless blowhard spout his nonsense. Today we got to hear his words of wisdom on healthcare, global warming and illegal immigration.

"The American way is not single-payer, government-controlled anything," Giuliani said. "That’s a European way of doing something. That’s a, frankly, a Socialist way of doing something."

"If single-payer systems are cracking all over the world, why would we do it in America. Michael Moore wants to take you to Cuba for your health care. Anyone want to sign up? I didn’t think so. Maybe the Democrats will sign up."

What is Giuliani's health plan? He wants to give tax breaks, like the tax break will somehow make the family of four earning $30,000.00 able to afford the $1,000.00 monthly premium. He had other pearls of wisdom dripping from his worthless mouth.

He said he can solve global warming in five to 15 years and would end illegal immigration in a year and a half to three years. “I give ourselves 18 month to three years to accomplish it,” he said.

I am sure that Al Gore must be burning up the phone lines to Rudy to get his secret to solving one of the great issues facing the world and in just 5 -15 years. When can we expect to see Rudy outline his plan for illegal immigration on Lou Dobbs Tonight?

Rudy is a hack who has made his fortune as a result of 9/11. It is the lowest form of blood money. Rudy will say anything to get elected President. His own children find him questionable.

Michael Moore posted this video in response to the Giuliani comments:

Dow Jones to Be Purchased By Murdoch

Rupert Murdoch who owns News Corp, the parent company of Fox News, has won his bid to purchase the Dow Jones Company.

Dow Jones & Co. Inc.'s controlling Bancroft family "has accepted" News Corp.'s $5 billion offer to buy the publisher of The Wall Street Journal, an executive of a Dow Jones unit said Tuesday.

"The Bancroft family has accepted," John Prestbo, editor and executive director of Dow Jones Indexes, told reporters on Tuesday in Chicago. "Dow Jones will be part of News Corp" he said.

This is disastrous news for our country. Will the Wall St. Journal become as much of a propaganda arm of the Republican party as Fox News? The Wall St. Journal is the most prestigious daily business publication in our nation. Will the editorial content be subject to right wing propaganda? I expect it will become as "fair and balanced" as Fox News. It is time to put legislation in place that stops one company from owning so much of our media. This is indeed very troubling news.

Shortfalls in Retirement Savings Are Significant

The Center for Retirement Research (CRR) estimates that 36 percent of high-income households - those with a median income of $117,000 - won't be able to live as well in retirement as they do today. Among middle-income households, 40 percent are at risk of having to downsize, while 53 percent of low-income households are likely to fall short.

In a report released Tuesday, CRR notes that only 20 percent of those who were between ages 51 and 61 in 1992 were at risk of falling short of money in retirement. Today, 32 percent are.

Why the increase? Munnell points to the shift from traditional pension plans to 401(k)s. Plus, she notes, people are living longer, and Medicare and taxes will take a bigger slice out of Social Security checks.

In another report released Tuesday, the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) and the Investment Company Institute showed that while 401(k) balances have increased, they are still low. For example, among long-tenured employees in their 50s who make between $60,000 and $80,000 a year, their median 401(k) balance in 2006 was just under $164,000.

But a 51-year old who makes $80,000 but only has $164,000 in savings would need to put away 23 percent of his salary - or close to $19,000 a year - if he wanted to retire at 65, according to savings guidelines from Ibbotson Associates. That would give him enough money, in combination with his Social Security benefits, to live on 80 percent of his pre-retirement income minus his annual 401(k) contribution.

This report is not a surprise. With so few people now being covered by pension plans this was to be expected. People simply do not have the available funds to put more money into 401(k) plans. I believe this situation will get even worse in the coming decades when even less people will be participants in traditional pension plans.

This is an interesting article and should be read completely.

Democrats Look To Impeach Gonzales

After repeatedly lying under outh to Congress, the Democrats are looking to impeach Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

Congressman Jay Inslee will introduce tomorrow a resolution calling for impeachment of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, according to a statement from his office. Inslee, a former prosecutor in Selah, has lined up other former prosecutors in Congress to join as co-sponsors. As of this afternoon he had five co-sponsors.

Finally some real action on Mr. Gonzales. He has lied with impunity from his confirmation hearing forward. How can we have a Justice Department run by a liar?

He has thumbed his nose at the law and Congress for too long. Letting him keep his job sends the message that lying to Congress will be tolerated. Maybe this impeachment resolution will finally force Mr. Gonzales to resign.

Brazilian Immigrants Heading Home

Illegal immigration is one of the major issues facing our nation. How we solve that issue is one of the pressing problems of our times. I have always felt that any solution must include economic fairness back in the home countries of the immigrants. This article shows the growing trend of Brazilian immigrants heading home.

Why are they heading home? It is not one simple answer but a large part of it is the growing economy back in Brazil that has left the value of the dollar lower and the monies made in the United States worth less back home. They have decided that it is not worth leaving their families and risking deportation in order to work in the United States.

If we want to have the same effect on Mexican immigrants we must force the government of Mexico to institute policies that will result in greater economic fairness. As long as the money being earned in the United States will feed their families back home we have no hope of solving this problem. They will find a way into the country if it means the survival of their family.

I think this report shows that we can solve this problem and that we can solve it humanely. Border security coupled with economic fairness back in the home countries will being to reap benefits. Brazil has seen an economic rebirth and it is this rebirth that is the fueling the return of these immigrants. No one wants to leave their families for the uncertainty of life as an illegal immigrant within the United States. It is for most the last resort. Lets follow the example from Brazil and pressure Mexico to enact real reforms.

Humanitarian Crisis In Iraq Grows

The war in Iraq has prompted a humanitarian crisis for millions of Iraqis who've fled their homes or lack access to food and water, groups including the U.K.'s Oxfam charity said in a report.

Four million Iraqis are in ``dire need'' of food, said Oxfam and a panel of non-governmental organizations working in Iraq. More than 2 million have been displaced inside Iraq, some before the fall of Saddam Hussein, and another 2 million have fled to neighboring countries, creating the world's ``fastest-growing refugee crisis,'' the groups said.

``The terrible violence in Iraq has masked the ongoing humanitarian crisis,'' Jeremy Hobbs, director of Oxfam International, said today in a statement on Oxfam's Web site. Oxfam and the NGO Coordination Committee in Iraq jointly published their report today on their Web sites.

I often hear people say that the Iraqi people do not show any gratitude for freeing them from Saddam Hussein. The fact is that a vast majority of Iraqis were better off under Saddam Hussein.

Four million people are in dire need of food. That is nearly 17% of the pre-war population. In order to completely understand the severity of that number you need only think of it in terms of the population of the United States. It would be the equivalent of 51 million people in the United States being desperately hungry.

Two million people displaced within the country and two million have fled would be the same as the entire population of the state of NY having no place to live or the entire state of NY having fled to Canada or Mexico. Can you understand now why they hate us so much?

California Voting Machines Are Hackable

State-sanctioned teams of computer hackers were able to break through the security of virtually every model of California's voting machines and change results or take control of some of the systems' electronic functions, according to a University of California study released Friday.

The researchers "were able to bypass physical and software security in every machine they tested,'' said Secretary of State Debra Bowen, who authorized the "top to bottom review" of every voting system certified by the state.

I am sure the results would be the same in every other state if similar tests were conducted. It is time to outlaw the use of these machines. A paper trail would help but I do no think it solves the entire problem. A paper ballot is the best hope of an honest election.

Bhutto Warns of Islamist Revolt in Pakistan

Exiled former Pakistani premier Benazir Bhutto warned of a looming Islamist revolution mounted from the country's madrassas, in a German magazine interview to be published on Monday.

Bhutto said she was planning her return to Pakistan this year to help stabilise the country in the face of the extremist threat.

"The Red Mosque was just a warm-up for what will happen if the religious schools are not disarmed," Bhutto said.

She added that Islamist extremist leaders were plotting an overthrow of President Pervez Musharraf's government and had converted madrassas in Pakistani cities into military headquarters with well-stocked arsenals.

Ask yourself one simple question, where does the funding for these madrassas come from? You only need to look to Saudi Arabia for the answer.

Lets examine once again our foreign policy. We have decided to arm Saudi Arabia, the same Saudi Arabia that has funded the Sunni insurgents within Iraq, financed the madrassas in Pakistan and was the country of origin of 15 of the 19 hijackers on 9/11. We have decided that Osama Bin Laden is no longer worth the effort of trying to catch. We have let the northwest regions of Pakistan be fertile training group for future generations of al-Qaeda and we invaded a country that had nothing to do with 9/11 and turned it into a quagmire that has become a recruitment tool for radical Islam. Do you still feel safer?

U.S. To Sell Arms To Saudi Arabia

The Bush administration has decided to supply billions of dollars in advanced new weapons to Saudi Arabia, other Arab allies of the United States and to Israel, senior State Department officials and congressional aides said Friday.

The arms and aid package, which the officials said is to be announced on Monday, is part of a U.S. initiative to reassure worried allies in the Middle East that despite its troubles in Iraq, the United States remains committed to the region. It also is meant to send a signal of resolve to Iran's increasingly confident leaders.

The package also will include new weapons for the United Arab Emirates, another U.S. ally in the Persian Gulf, and both military and economic support to Egypt. Other details of the proposed arms sales weren't immediately available Friday.

Although it's likely to be controversial, the administration has decided to proceed with the sale and will compensate Israel — which seeks to maintain a "qualitative military edge" over its Arab neighbors — with military upgrades of its own, the officials said.

"All that has been sorted out," said a senior State Department official.

Israel has asked for access to the Air Force's most advanced fighter jet, the F-22 Raptor, and its stealth technology, which makes the aircraft more difficult to see on radar.

OK so lets examine this travesty in some detail. We are going to basically supply the whole region with weapons. Saudi Arabia is the country of origin of most of the suicide bombers within Iraq and is the known supplier of arms and money for the Sunni insurgents. Why would we even consider selling them any weapons? Money my friends, money. Now do you really feel safer?

How do we appease Israel for arming their neighbors, we arm them as well. This is foreign policy Bush style. Think of it this way, you look outside and see two neighborhood children fighting. The normal response would be to go and break up the fight. The Bush response to that same situation would be to go outside and give each of them a gun. When will this country demand their removal from power. They have destroyed our reputation and now want to arm the Muslim world. The same world they say is responsible for global terrorism. The war on terror just took on a whole new meaning.

Back Talk

A news commentary show that actually talks back to President Bush when he lies or says something stupid. This is what needs to be on the nightly news. Brilliant!!!

What Ever Happened to Privacy?

The United States and the European Union have agreed to expand a security program that shares personal data about millions of U.S.-bound airline passengers a year, potentially including information about a person's race, ethnicity, religion and health.

Under the agreement, airlines flying from Europe to the United States are required to provide data related to these matters to U.S. authorities if it exists in their reservation systems. The deal allows Washington to retain and use it only "where the life of a data subject or of others could be imperiled or seriously impaired," such as in a counterterrorism investigation.

According to the deal, the information that can be used in such exceptional circumstances includes "racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership" and data about an individual's health, traveling partners and sexual orientation.

What does my sexual orientation have to do with anything? Will you be stopped from traveling if you have liberal political beliefs, are Muslim, or belong to a Union? How will they gather such information? Will I be forced to answer a series of questions or be charged with some crime if I refuse? How will they know if the answers are true?

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff praised the pact as an "essential screening tool for detecting potentially dangerous transatlantic travelers." If available at the time of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Chertoff said, such information would have, "within a matter of moments, helped to identify many of the 19 hijackers by linking their methods of payment, phone numbers and seat assignments."

Mr. Chertoff is a complete fool. There were many warnings about the 9/11 hijackers while they were in the United States learning how to fly yet all those warnings were ignored. He would like us to believe that had they known their country of origin and religion and political views before that 9/11 could have been averted? The F.B.I. knew that men were learning to fly but not asking about how to land and they did nothing. They had F.B.I. informants living with some of the hijackers in San Diego and did nothing. Now we are supposed to believe that gathering all this personal information will somehow make us safer?

What happens to this data once it is collected? Will it be sold to insurance companies who will then deny health coverage based on a questionnaire necessary to fly? We are wading into very dangerous territory with agreements such as this. This is the way to limit your civil rights and bring us closer to a police state. The American people need to understand that giving up their liberties for security will mean you will have neither.

Rapture Ready

Last week I posted this video from Max Blumenthal. Once again he has outdone himself while filming at the Christians United For Israel tour. This video is funny but also very alarming. How can people be so easily deluded into this irrational thinking?

Max Blumenthal is quickly becoming my favorite journalist.

Foreign Workers Abused at Embassy in Baghdad

Just when you think you have heard it all, this story comes to light.

Two American civilian contractors who worked on a massive U.S. Embassy construction project in Baghdad told Congress yesterday that foreign laborers were deceptively recruited and trafficked to Iraq to toil at the site, where they experienced physical abuse and substandard working conditions.

Doesn't this just make you so proud to be an American? Wait it gets better. The company that the United States hired to build the embassy, First Kuwaiti, was engaged in what amounts to slavery.

Testifying before the committee yesterday, John Owens, an American who worked for First Kuwaiti at the embassy site as a construction foreman from November 2005 to June 2006, said he found living and working conditions for the foreign laborers there "deplorable." Because of difficulty hiring Iraqis for work inside the heavily fortified Green Zone, most of the laborers were from such countries as India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Sierra Leone, the committee was told.

Foreign workers lived in tightly packed trailers and had "insufficient equipment and basic needs -- stuff like shoes and gloves," Owens said.

They worked 12 hours a day, seven days a week, and made as little as $240 a month, he said. They were "verbally and physically abused" and had their salaries docked for petty infractions, he added.

Rory J. Mayberry, an emergency medical technician who worked briefly at the embassy site under a subcontract, testified that he was asked by First Kuwaiti managers to escort 51 Filipinos through the Kuwait airport and onto a flight to Baghdad. However, "all of our tickets said we were going to Dubai," he said, adding that a First Kuwaiti manager instructed him not to tell any of the Filipinos that they were going to Baghdad.

He said the men were basically "kidnapped by First Kuwaiti to work on the U.S. Embassy." Their passports had been confiscated, and they were driven away on buses after landing in Baghdad, then were "smuggled into the Green Zone," he said.

Any wonder why our image in the world is ruined? It will take a generation to repair our image in the world. The Bush administration has done nearly irreparable harm to our place in the world.

Inside The Surge

The Guardian's award-winning photographer and filmmaker Sean Smith spent two months embedded with US troops in Baghdad and Anbar province. His harrowing documentary exposes the exhaustion and disillusionment of the soldiers.



This should be required viewing for every American that still supports this war. This video left me shaking and disturbed. This is war and there are no winners in war.

What A Way To Support The Troops

If you read this and still think that this administration cares for the troops you are either delusional or stupid. You can decide which.

Servicemen and women who made huge sacrifices fighting in the war and now paying yet another price, even after coming home.

One soldier in particular is currently battling against a new "debt of service."

Brian Rodriguez is a fighter, an honorably discharged soldier who'd been deployed in Iraq.

"I was a combat engineer," Rodriguez said. "We deal with land mines, explosives."

He fought for his nation, only to return to his homeland and wage a fresh battle.

Former Army Specialist Rodriguez started getting bills for $700 for lost or damaged government property this summer. Although he was discharged some four years ago, bills recently arrived demanding payment, but giving no details on what or why -- nor do they offer a way to dispute the charges.

"For doing my job you're going to bill me?" Rodriguez said.

And he's not alone. A 2006 government report found more than 1,000 soldiers being billed a total of $1.5 million. And while fighting overseas put their lives on the line, this battle on paper could cost them their future by ruining their credit. Rodriguez will be reported to credit agencies next month.

"It makes a terrible point about the nature of military service today," citizen soldier Tod Ensign said.

Ensign is a veteran's advocate. He says this is all part of the military’s push to be run more like a business.

"They'll just pound him and call him, call his employers, and make his life as miserable as they can until he pays up," Ensign said.

Testimony before Congress detailed in a report found that "although unit commanders and finance offices are authorized to write off debts for lost and damaged equipment ... they have not always done so."

"It happens too often and it's just disgraceful," Sen. Charles Schumer said. "Here are people who are risking their lives for us and they come home and they're being treated as if they're criminals instead of heroes."

Because it's been four years since he left the Middle East, Rodriguez's battalion was dissolved and his commanders are long gone. And despite repeated requests, the Army never could tell us what piece of equipment Rodriguez was billed for, nor would they get rid of the debt.

"I did my time, I served my country and this is the thanks I get," Rodriguez said.

Their suggestion? Call your Congressman. Schumer said he'll reach out to the Army to intervene on Brian's behalf.

I am left speechless after reading this. Disgusting, just plain disgusting.

Giuliani and Romney May Skip You Tube Debate

Republican presidential front-runner Rudy Giuliani may have better things to do than answer YouTube users' questions at the GOP debate in St. Petersburg.

The news broke late Thursday that the former New York City mayor has scheduling issues with the Sept. 17 date, jeopardizing the showdown at the Mahaffey Theater.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney also is frowning on the plan.

"I think the presidency ought to be held at a higher level than having to answer questions from a snowman," Romney told the Manchester (N.H.) Union Leader this week.

What each of these men are trying to say is that questions from regular Americans may be too difficult to answer so they will not show up. Giuliani may be forced to answer questions about his judgement since it was his decision to place the NYC emergency center into the complex that had been bombed once before. It was his decision to hire Bernard Kerik a man with suspicious ties to organized crime. It was his decision to announce his divorce from his second wife on television without his wife's knowledge. I could go on and on but I won't bore you with the facts. Time will bring this and more out in the open for the Republican front runner.

Mitt Romney may be confronted with his many flip flops on issues from abortion to gay rights. They don't call him multiple choice Mitt for nothing. He looks good but is there any real substance behind him? Is there anything that he truly believes in?

So far only Ron Paul and John McCain have agreed to the debate. Everyone should call these campaigns and demand that they answer questions from ordinary Americans. I find it funny that men who scream about taking the fight to the terrorists are so afraid of the little guy.

Turmoil In Pakistan Continues

I can never say it enough. Pakistan is the most dangerous nation on earth.

Hundreds of religious students clashed with police and occupied Islamabad's Red Mosque during its reopening Friday, demanding the return of a pro-Taliban cleric two weeks after an army raid to oust Islamic militants from the complex left more than 100 people dead.

A large explosion went off in a market area about a quarter-mile from the mosque, and local media reported several people had died. Police say four people were killed and 30 wounded.

Pakistan is the safe haven for Osama Bin Laden and the leadership of the Taliban. People need to remember that Pakistan was the only government that recognized the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan.

There are many in Pakistan who want Pervez Musharraf removed from power. Should that happen we will be confronted with a nuclear armed state run by terrorist sympathizers.

"Musharraf is a dog! He is worse than a dog! He should resign!" students shouted. Some lingered over the ruins of a neighboring girls' seminary that was demolished by authorities this week. Militants had used the seminary to resist government forces involved in the siege.

All of this is the result of a foreign policy that decided a war in Iraq was more profitable for Bush cronies than continuing the fight against al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. Where is Osama Bin Laden? Does anyone in our government even care? He is most surely in the western regions of Pakistan being protected by forces within the government of Pervez Musharraf. Why would he do this? Capturing Bin Laden could be the quickest way to his overthrow and a nuclear armed terrorist state. Now do you understand why the War in Iraq was an even more colossal blunder? Remember this column when you read about the first U.S. soldier killed in combat in Pakistan. I hope with all my heart that I am wrong but the recent events sure make that scenario all the more likely.

Old-line Republican warns 'something's in the works' to trigger a police state

This is one of the scariest scenarios I have read in a long time but it is not unimaginable with the current administration.

Thom Hartmann began his program on Thursday by reading from a new Executive Order which allows the government to seize the assets of anyone who interferes with its Iraq policies.

He then introduced old-line conservative Paul Craig Roberts -- a former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury under Reagan who has recently become known for his strong opposition to the Bush administration and the Iraq War -- by quoting the "strong words" which open Roberts' latest column: "Unless Congress immediately impeaches Bush and Cheney, a year from now the US could be a dictatorial police state at war with Iran."

"I don't actually think they're very strong," said Roberts of his words. "I get a lot of flak that they're understated and the situation is worse than I say. ... When Bush exercises this authority [under the new Executive Order] ... there's no check to it. It doesn't have to be ratified by Congress. The people who bear the brunt of these dictatorial police state actions have no recourse to the judiciary. So it really is a form of total, absolute, one-man rule. ... The American people don't really understand the danger that they face."

Roberts said that because of Bush's unpopularity, the Republicans face a total wipeout in 2008, and this may be why "the Democrats have not brought a halt to Bush's follies or the war, because they expect his unpopular policies to provide them with a landslide victory in next year's election."

However, Roberts emphasized, "the problem with this reasoning is that it assumes that Cheney and Rove and the Republicans are ignorant of these facts, or it assumes that they are content for the Republican Party to be destroyed after Bush has his fling." Roberts believes instead that Cheney and Rove intend to use a renewal of the War on Terror to rally the American people around the Republican Party. "Something's in the works," he said, adding that the Executive Orders need to create a police state are already in place.

"The administration figures themselves and prominent Republican propagandists ... are preparing us for another 9/11 event or series of events," Roberts continued. "Chertoff has predicted them. ... The National Intelligence Estimate is saying that al Qaeda has regrouped. ... You have to count on the fact that if al Qaeda's not going to do it, it's going to be orchestrated. ... The Republicans are praying for another 9/11."

Hartmann asked what we as the people can do if impeachment isn't about to happen. "If enough people were suspicious and alert, it would be harder for the administration to get away with it," Roberts replied. However, he added, "I don't think these wake-up calls are likely to be effective," pointing out the dominance of the mainstream media.

"Americans think their danger is terrorists," said Roberts. "They don't understand the terrorists cannot take away habeas corpus, the Bill of Rights, the Constitution. ... The terrorists are not anything like the threat that we face to the Bill of Rights and the Constitution from our own government in the name of fighting terrorism. Americans just aren't able to perceive that."

Roberts pointed out that it's old-line Republicans like himself, former Reagan associate deputy attorney general Bruce Fein, and Pat Buchanan who are the diehards in warning of the danger. "It's so obvious to people like us who have long been associated in the corridors of power," he said. "There's no belief in the people or anything like that. They have agendas. The people are in the way. The Constitution is in the way. ... Americans need to comprehend and look at how ruthless Cheney is. ... A person like that would do anything."

Roberts final suggestion was that, in the absence of a massive popular outcry, "the only constraints on what's going to happen will come from the federal bureaucracy and perhaps the military. They may have had enough. They may not go along with it."

Listen to the complete audio of the interview here.

Dow Jones Gets Clobbered

A tidal wave of worry about housing and credit markets swept over Wall Street Thursday, sending the Dow industrials tumbling 311 points in its second-biggest point loss of the year.

The 30-share Dow (down 311.50 to 13,473.57, Charts) plunged nearly 450 points earlier in the session before moving off its lows and closing down about 2.3 percent. The Dow sank 416 points on Feb. 27 on worries about slowing global growth.

The broader S&P 500 (down 35.43 to 1,482.66, Charts) tumbled 2.3 percent while the tech-laden Nasdaq (down 48.83 to 2,599.34, Charts) fell 1.8 percent.

The uncertainty that unnerved investors Thursday came mainly on two fronts: tougher times for the credit markets and another barrage of bad news for housing.

Tighter credit is troubling to investors for two reasons. It's likely to slow the buyout boom that's helped prop up stock prices. And it could raise the cost of borrowing for companies, hurting corporate earnings.

Tomorrow should be a big indicator if this is just a one day drop or the start of a real stock market correction.

A correction would have a profound psychological effect on investors who often look at their whole financial picture when deciding when and what to purchase. Any correction would make people less wealthy and could contribute to a slowing economy. With economic growth at rates just above recession level, this is not a development that is needed by the economy but it is not unexpected.

Subpoena Issued to Karl Rove

Finally the man behind the U.S. Attorney firings is being forced to testify.

Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy is subpoenaing White House political adviser Karl Rove to compel him to testify about his role in the firing of 8 United States Attorneys.

Leahy says he's also subpoenaing White House political aide J-Scott Jennings.

Leahy says he's exhausted every avenue seeking the voluntary cooperation of Rove and Jennings.

Why are so many people willing to protect Karl Rove? He will never testify and when he doesn't a Contempt of Congress charge needs to be filed. These people feel they are above the law and while the Republicans had the majority they were. Times have finally changed.

This is what Congressional oversight looks like.

Special Prosecutor for Gonzales

A group of Senate Democrats on Thursday called for a special counsel to investigate whether Attorney General Alberto Gonzales perjured himself during Capitol Hill testimony.

At a news conference, Sen. Charles Schumer of New York said he and other Democrats wanted to look into "potential perjury" by Gonzales during a hearing on Tuesday.

"His inability to answer simple and straightforward questions was just stunning," Schumer said. "Instead he tells the half-truth, the partial truth and everything but the truth."

It's the latest salvo in a dispute regarding President Bush's domestic surveillance program. On Wednesday night, the Justice Department said Gonzales "stands by" Senate testimony that appeared to contradict a memo about a White House meeting with congressional leaders in 2004.

Finally someone is holding these criminals to account. Alberto Gonzales is the most corrupt Attorney General in my lifetime and needs to be removed. How can we trust the Justice Department if its leader is under such a cloud? He lies with impunity and seemingly with no remorse.
It is time for the American people to be shown that the rule of law does matter and prosecute the Attorney General for perjury.

New Home Sales Sink

Yesterday I posted about the steep decline in existing home sales. This report documents that same slide in new home sales.

The pace of new home sales was weaker than expected in June, according to the government's latest look at the battered real estate and home building market.

New homes sold at an annual pace of 834,000 in the month, down 6.6 percent from the revised 893,000 rate in May. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast sales would slow to a 900,000 annual sales rate in June.

The median price of a new home fell to $237,900, down 2.2 percent from $243,200 a year earlier. A glut of new homes on the market have pushed down prices and the government figures may not fully reflect the softness in new home prices, as roughly three-quarters of builders surveyed by their trade group say they are offering incentives such as covering closing costs or offering home features for free in order to support sales.

In the early 1990's the housing market in NY took a steep decline. It was at that time that I was able to purchase a cooperative apartment in a suburb of New York City for $40,000.00. In order for me to buy that same apartment now I would need to pay roughly $160,000.00. If I had the same job with normal yearly raises I would not be able to afford the apartment I had purchased just 15 years ago. That is the same situation most people are now in.

If you already own a home then you can take advantage of the built up equity but for first time home buyers it is becoming increasingly impossible to afford even a simple home in many major cities. What we are witnessing is the correction in the housing market. This correction will hurt in the short term but will actually lead to greater affordability for many in the long term. Those who will be most hurt are those who purchased their homes within the past two years. These people can be looking at mortgages higher than the resale value. This has been the cause of the recent spike in foreclosures. That spike is expected to continue for the next year. As Betty Davis said "It's going to be a bumpy ride".
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House Democrats Pass Contempt Citations

The House Judiciary Committee voted contempt of Congress citations Wednesday against White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and President Bush's former legal counselor, Harriet Miers.

The 22-17 party-line vote — which would sanction the pair for failure to comply with subpoenas on the firings of several federal prosecutors — advanced the citation to the full House.

It is about time that oversight and accountability are returned to Washington. Can you or I just ignore a subpoena?

These people are corrupt and need to be held to the same standard as every other American citizen. If they have nothing to hide why are they trying to hide everything? The American people need to demand answers to the many questions regarding corruption in this administration.

The Housing Slump Continues

Sales of existing US homes fell much more heavily than predicted in June to their lowest level in over four and a half years as the property market continued to display shaky foundations, an industry survey showed Wednesday.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) said existing home sales dropped 3.8 percent to an annualized pace of 5.75 million last month, worse than analyst forecasts which had anticipated only a decline to 5.90 million properties.

May sales were revised down to a rate of 5.98 million apartments and homes, and sales have now fallen for four straight months.

Last week I wrote about a friend in the mortgage industry who said her firm has slowed to a crawl. Another friend in the industry said stricter underwriting guidelines have killed every deal he had pending. This is not a good sign for the short term economic health of the nation but I think it is actually healthy for long term growth.

People need to buy homes that they can truly afford and that is becoming harder and harder to do. A real correction in home prices can only make that goal more achievable.

Diplomats Received Political Briefings

White House aides have conducted at least half a dozen political briefings for the Bush administration's top diplomats, including a PowerPoint presentation for ambassadors with senior adviser Karl Rove that named Democratic incumbents targeted for defeat in 2008 and a "general political briefing" at the Peace Corps headquarters after the 2002 midterm elections.

On Jan. 4, just after the 2006 elections tossed the Republicans out of congressional power, Rove met at the White House with six U.S. ambassadors to key European missions and the consul general to Bermuda while the diplomats were in Washington for a State Department conference.

According to a department letter to the Senate panel, Rove explained the White House views on the electoral disaster while Sara M. Taylor, then the director of White House political affairs, showed a PowerPoint presentation that pinned most of the electoral blame on "corrupt" GOP lawmakers and "complacent incumbents." One chart in Taylor's presentation highlighted the GOP's top 36 targets among House Democrats for the 2008 election.

We knew that this administration was the most political in our history but this practice seems not only unethical but also illegal.

In a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.), the Foreign Relations Committee chairman, asked whether the briefings inappropriately politicized the diplomatic agencies or violated prohibitions against political work by most federal employees.

"I do not understand why ambassadors, in Washington on official duty, would be briefed by White House officials on which Democratic House members are considered top targets by the Republican party for defeat in 2008. Nor do I understand why department employees would need to be briefed on 'key media markets' in states that are 'competitive' for the president," Biden wrote.

How can anyone still support this administration? Politics and winning elections are all that is important to these people and running the government is secondary. Nothing they have done has shown any competence from Katrina to the War in Iraq but politically they are one of the smartest administrations in history. Luckily in 2006 competence trumped politics and the country showed some intelligence and put the Democrats back in charge of both houses of Congress. This article shows us that they will do anything including illegally using foreign service officers for political gain.

Gonzales Denies Pressuring Ashcroft

In a direct rebuke to the testimony of former Deputy Attorney General James Comey, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales denied pressuring former Attorney General John Ashcroft to approve the warrant less wire tapping program.

Gonzales said that he and Card had been urged by congressional leaders of both parties to take steps necessary to ensure that the unidentified intelligence program survive a looming deadline for its expiration. To do that, Gonzales said, he needed Ashcroft's permission.

At the time, Ashcroft was in an intensive care unit recovering from gall bladder surgery and Gonzales was Bush's White House legal counsel. Ashcroft had transferred the powers of his office to Deputy Attorney General James Comey.

"We went there because we thought it was important for him to know where the congressional leadership was on this," Gonzales told the Senate Judiciary Committee in his first public explanation of the meeting.

Alberto Gonzales has a history of lying and can not be believed on this issue. Today's grilling at a Congressional hearing included statements of mistrust.

"The constitutional authority and responsibility for congressional oversight is gone," said Specter, the Judiciary Committee's senior Republican. "If that is to happen, the president can run the government as he chooses, answer no questions."

Glaring at Gonzales just a few feet away at the witness table, Specter declared, "The attorney general has the authority to appoint a special prosecutor."

"I don't trust you," Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, told Gonzales.

No one should trust Alberto Gonzales and a special prosecutor should be appointed to get to the truth of many issues. Where is the Democratic version of Ken Starr when you need him?

Minimum Wage Increase Takes Effect Today

After ten years of Republican obstruction, the minimum wage was finally raised today to 5.85 per hour.

It ends the longest span without a federal minimum wage increase since it was enacted in 1938. The previous increase came in September 1997, when a bill signed by President Bill Clinton raised the minimum 40 cents, to $5.15 an hour.

Legislation signed by President Bush in May increases the wage 70 cents each summer until 2009, when all minimum-wage jobs will pay no less than $7.25 an hour.

The only way this bill was even passed was because the Democrats put it into the war funding bill otherwise these low wage earners would still be working for $5.15 per hour.

This is an improvement but with the rising cost of housing this does nothing to truly help the lowest earners in our society. What is needed is a region based living wage. No one that works a full time job should have to live in poverty in the richest nation on earth.

Bush Approval Tumbles

I didn't realize you could actually tumble when you are already so low, but the new approval rating of the nitwit that occupies the White House has fallen to 25% with a 71% disapproval rating.

According to a new American Research Group poll, just 25% of Americans approve of the way President Bush is handling his job as president and 71% disapprove. These are record lows for the survey.

When it comes to Bush's handling of the economy, 23% approve and 73% disapprove.

My question is who makes up the 25% and what planet do they live on? It is nice to see the sleeping giant finally waking up to the realization that we are living through the most corrupt and inept administration in our history.

Democrats Press House to Expand Health Care Bill

After a rare bipartisan agreement in the Senate to expand insurance coverage for low-income children, House Democrats have drafted an even broader plan that also calls for major changes in Medicare and promises to intensify the battle with the White House over health care.

President Bush has threatened to veto what he sees as a huge expansion of the children’s health care program, which he describes as a step “down the path to government-run health care for every American.” The House measure calls for changes that the administration will probably find even more distasteful, including cuts in Medicare payments to private health plans.

One of the questions I always have regarding health care is why we talk about what it would cost to insure all citizens while we never question the cost of war. The bill would limit private plans which are costing the government more than traditional medicare. You only need to know who is earning that extra money to see who will strongly oppose any legislation to curb those costs. The answer is the insurance industry which continues to make record profits in health care.

Proponents of the private plans, offered by companies like UnitedHealth and Humana, say they provide more benefits than traditional Medicare.

But the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the government paid the private plans, on average, 12 percent more than it would have cost to care for the same people in traditional Medicare. Moreover, it said, payments to the fastest-growing type of plan, known as private fee-for-service plans, are 19 percent higher than the cost of traditional Medicare.

The House bill would gradually reduce these payments so that Medicare would pay the same amount, regardless of whether a beneficiary was in a private plan or in traditional Medicare.

AARP, which represents nearly 39 million older Americans, and the American Medical Association said they would begin running television advertisements on Monday to secure passage of the House bill.

The barrage of advertisements paid for by insurance company lobbyists will surely join the advertisements paid for by the AARP and the AMA. Will the media cover both sides of this issue or will they only show the advertisements paid for by the insurance industry lobbyists? The pharmaceutical industry is a huge advertiser and will undoubtedly pressure the media to withhold the competing advertisements. Will they fold to the pressure or will they finally act in the public interest?

"Why Do They Hate Us"

The Second article from todays Washington Post.

Recently, I found myself in Dallas, a place I'd never been before. As a Muslim writer, I felt about going there pretty much the way an American writer might have felt about heading to the tribal areas of Pakistan: nervous, with the distinct suspicion that the locals carried guns and weren't too fond of folks who look like me.

So I was surprised by the extraordinary hospitality I encountered on my trip. And I still remember the politeness with which one elderly gentleman addressed me in a bookshop. He held a copy of my latest novel, "The Reluctant Fundamentalist," and examined the face on its cover, comparing it to mine. Then he said, nodding once as if to dip the brim of an imaginary hat: "So tell me, sir. Why do they hate us?"

Once you read the rest of this article you will begin to understand the reasons for much of the hatred towards the United States. Yes part of it is jealousy but the much larger part are policies that destroy life for these people in their home countries while the American public stays in a state of denial due to the complete lack of media coverage available on these topics. We need to know as much about our foreign policies and their consequences as we do about Paris Hilton. Unfortunately we have a long way to go to meet that goal.

Understanding the Muslin Faith

I have always felt until we can understand the true Muslim faith and not just the fringe elements willing to kill that we can never truly stop the threat of terrorism. Today was this excellent article in the Washington Post that is a must read for anyone who wants to gain a better understanding of the Muslim faith and the mistakes in policy that have lead us to where we are now.

The American people need to understand the complexity that is the Muslim faith and stop with the generalities that it is a violent religion bent on world domination. You will never be able to stop terrorism until you begin to have an understanding of the root elements. This article is an excellent place to start your journey of understanding.

Gas Prices Rise on Refineries’ Record Failures

Only in the oil industry could complete failure result in greater profit.

Oil refineries across the country have been plagued by a record number of fires, power failures, leaks, spills and breakdowns this year, causing dozens of them to shut down temporarily or trim production. The disruptions are helping to drive gasoline prices to highs not seen since last summer’s records.

These mechanical breakdowns, which one analyst likened to an “invisible hurricane,” have created a bottleneck in domestic energy supplies, helping to push up gasoline prices 50 cents this year to well above $3 a gallon. A third of the country’s 150 refineries have reported disruptions to their operations since the beginning of the year, a record according to analysts.

It is evident by the lack of capital expenditures that profit is the only goal of these companies. What other industry could allow the complete breakdown of their manufacturing capacity and still maintain and GROW their profits? It is time for Congressional action to force the capital expenditures necessary to modernize production facilities. It is quite obvious that if left to their own devices that nothing will be invested to improve this situation. The Oil industry has America by the balls and the Bush administration is helping to tighten the grip.

It is time for a windfall profits tax with the proceeds being used to fund alternate sources of energy. Our national security and economic future demand this type of action.

Tammy Faye Has Died

Tammy Faye Messner has died at 65. The former wife of Televangelist Jim Baker had a long bout with cancer. Why would I post this message on this site? Tammy Faye was the first person in the religious right to openly embrace the gay community. If there were more people like her in this world prejudice would be a thing of the past.

She was outrageous and loving with a love of life that was infectious. I am very grateful to her for having been a champion of the GLBT community. She could see what we have known for a long time. It is a community of love and acceptance where difference is secondary to what holds us all together. She realized that after it was the GLBT community that rallied to her side in her time of great adversity. It was something she never forgot. Rest in peace Tammy Faye. The world was a better place for having known you.

Court Tells U.S. to Reveal Data on Detainees at Guantánamo

A federal appeals court ordered the government yesterday to turn over virtually all its information on Guantánamo detainees who are challenging their detention, rejecting an effort by the Justice Department to limit disclosures and setting the stage for new legal battles over the government’s reasons for holding the men indefinitely.

The ruling, which came in one of the main court cases dealing with the fate of the detainees, effectively set the ground rules for scores of cases by detainees challenging the actions of Pentagon tribunals that decide whether terror suspects should be held as enemy combatants.

It was the latest of a series of stinging legal challenges to the administration’s detention policies that have amplified pressure on the Bush administration to find some alternative to Guantánamo, where about 360 men are now being held.

A three-judge panel of the federal appeals court in Washington unanimously rejected a government effort to limit the information it must turn over to the court and lawyers for the detainees.

I don't believe that any American would be against us holding these people if it could be proven that they are indeed terrorists. The problem I have is when the government refuses to provide any evidence to support the claims that they are making. The first attack on the World Trade Center in 1993 resulted in the criminal prosecution of those involved. If they have the proof why are they so hesitant to display it? With a government as distrusted as the Bush administration, we need as much information as we can get to determine if we are holding the right people.

I heard someone say "If the government has nothing to hide then why are they hiding everything". Truer words could not have been spoken about the Bush administration.

Broader Privilege Claimed In Firings

Bush administration officials unveiled a bold new assertion of executive authority yesterday in the dispute over the firing of nine U.S. attorneys, saying that the Justice Department will never be allowed to pursue contempt charges initiated by Congress against White House officials once the president has invoked executive privilege.

The position presents serious legal and political obstacles for congressional Democrats, who have begun laying the groundwork for contempt proceedings against current and former White House officials in order to pry loose information about the dismissals.

What this order is saying is that the President by just exerting executive privilege can stop any official from testifying and the Congress will have no legal recourse.

We have officially entered the reign of King George. It is time for the impeachment and removal of this very dangerous man from the Presidency. He believes he and his cronies are above the law. When will the American people finally udnerstand exactly what is happening and march in the streets for the removal of this cancer on the Presidency?

It is Not Their Fault

Watch this special comment from Keith Olbermann. He seems to be the only one in our media who is telling it like it is.

General Pleads For Time To Secure Iraq

Do you remember when they said that by September we would know if the surge was working. We needed to be patient and give the surge the summer to succeed. Now comes this.

If the U.S. troop buildup in Iraq is reversed before the summer of 2008, the military will risk giving up the security gains it has achieved at a cost of hundreds of American lives over the past six months, the commander of U.S. forces south of Baghdad said Friday.

What guarantee do we have that an extended say will accomplish the stated goal? The Iraqi government is not up to the task and the country is in a civil war. How will more time change that? Aren't we just prolonging the inevitable?

How many more of our soldiers will need to die for this endless quagmire? Unfortunately I don't believe there is anything that can be done to stop the slaughter of innocent Iraqis that will occur no matter when we leave. How does anyone in this administration sleep at night? The amount of needless death and destruction wrought upon Iraq in pursuit of their oil is criminal. Increasing the death toll with no real hope of a secure Iraq only compounds the situation.

I have to wonder how many of the Republicans who continue to stop any meaningful plan for withdrawal actually believe what they are doing is morally correct. My guess is not many but that political considerations far outweigh moral considerations. This is Bush's war and no matter how long they stall the inevitable, that fact will never change.

Bush To Undergo Colonoscopy

In a last ditch attempt to find either a heart or brain President Bush will undergo a colonoscopy on Saturday and yield power to Vice President Cheney. Press secretary Tony Snow told reporters Friday that Bush will have the procedure done at his Camp David, Md., mountaintop retreat.

Two polyps were discovered during examinations in 1998 and 1999 while Bush was governor of Texas. That made Bush a prime candidate for regular examinations.

Are they sure it was actually polyps and not his very tiny brain? That would explain what seems like a drain of any intellect since he bacame President. The funny thing is that they keep saying he will hand over power to Cheney like he ever had the power in the first place.

I would imagine it will be necessary for Cheney to take his hand out of Bush's ass or it will be quite difficult to perform the colonoscopy.

Pakistan Suicide Bombings Kill 36

I have been writing about Pakistan nearly daily as I see it to be the most dangerous nation on earth. This article does nothing to change that opinion.

Suicide bombers hit a convoy of Chinese workers in southern Pakistan and a police academy in the north, killing 36 people and wounding 54 in the latest violence in the week since the army stormed a mosque held by Islamic extremists.

Suicide attacks, bombings and shootings blamed on Islamic extremists and a bloody army siege of radicals in Islamabad's Red Mosque have killed about 270 people in Pakistan so far this month, stirring doubts about the country's stability.

The instability in Pakistan can be directly attributed to the resurgence of al-Qaeda. Why was al-Qaeda allowed to strengthen? The answer is simple. Pakistan is yet another casualty of the War in Iraq. Should Pakistan fall to the terrorists, which becomes ever more likely with each additional bombing, the world will need to act. Iraq will look like a day at Disney World if the worst case scenario comes true. Everyone needs to remember that had the Bush administration kept up its fight against al-Qaeda instead of starting the Iraq War this situation may very well not have happened. The Pakistani security forces are known to sympathize with radical Islam and Pakistan was the only governemnt that officaly ackknowleged the Taliban. When your friends tell you how we are safer now than we were before please explain to them about Pakistan.

Blogosphere Day

Today is the third anniversary of Blogosphere Day. On July 19, 2004 the blogosphere came together in support of a candidate Ginny Schrader. That day they showed the power of the progressive netroots and it is on this day yearly that we celebrate the start of something very important in the preservation of our democracy.

The blogosphere continues to be the best defense against the corporate interests which dominate our media. Without the blogosphere it is almost certain that the information you would receive would be incomplete at best and lies at worst.

Show your support for the blogosphere by donating to Act Blue.

Lessons of the Day

Today I hope most Americans finally realized that this war will never end as long as the Republicans can continue to stop the vote. Today we learned that an up or down vote on confirming conservative hacks for the Supreme Court is necessary but that doing everything humanly possible to avoid an up or down vote on ending this war is just another day at work for these freaks.

As more and more of our brave soldiers are killed in the endless quagmire called Iraq please remember that these Republicans and Joe Lieberman (just switch parties already Holy Joe and make it official)have the blood of every single additional soldier lost on their hands. Had they just followed their own stated principles of an up or down vote the end of the war could have been in sight. Instead more will die, our deficit will grow and we will be considered pariahs in the international community.

2008 can not get here soon enough.

Chickenhawks Exposed

Watch this video and you will see the next generation of the Republican party. It is amazingly easy for them to support the war but they will never fight in it. They are also homophobic and I must say a bit intellectually challenged.



Untitled from huffpost and Vimeo.

Subprime Woes Will Get Worse

The pain and suffering felt by homeowners and communities from foreclosures and delinquencies will "likely get worse before they get better," Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Wednesday, but the problems in the subprime mortgage market haven't caused a systemwide credit crunch.

Bernanke, under fire from lawmakers for the Fed's failure to step in earlier to prevent massive mortgage fraud and lending abuse that helped fuel the nation's housing bubble, said the Fed and other regulators will issue stronger rules soon to protect consumers.

In testimony on Capitol Hill, Bernanke pinned much of the blame for the recent economic slowdown on the "ongoing adjustment in the housing sector."

I have been saying for some time that this situation will almost surely have a negative impact on the economy as a whole as people will have less money to spend as a result of the subprime mortgage disaster.

Yesterday I was speaking with a friend who is a mortgage underwriter and she told me that her office has slowed to a crawl and that many branches of her firm may close as a result of the subprime mortgage disaster.

The problem is that stricter underwriting guidelines that are being imposed, to stop this from happening again, has ruled out many from the housing market. In order for the market to recover it will take a price correction that will allow people to actually qualify under the new stricter guidelines.

I predicted a recession for the end of this year or early in 2008. If that happens the Republican party will pay dearly for a complete lack of oversight that has allowed the big money interests to prosper at the expense of the American middle class.

Defense Authorization Bill Pulled

Finally the Democrats are showing some balls. It is being reported that Harry Reid has pulled the defense authirozation bill until the Republicans allow a vote on the Reed-Levin bill. I will post more details as they become available. Finally someone is following the will of the American people.

16 Pakistani Soldiers Killed in Attack

Militants attacked security forces Wednesday in northwest Pakistan, killing 16 soldiers and wounding up to 21 others in two separate strikes against military convoys, officials said.

The escalating violence follows the scrapping by militant leaders of a 10-month-old peace accord with the government in the Afghan frontier region of North Waziristan.

President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said he would not declare a state of emergency in face of the mounting bloodshed and claimed that al-Qaida in Pakistan was on the run, his spokesman told The Associated Press.

"Al-Qaida has weakened because of the actions taken by Pakistani forces," Musharraf was quoted by spokesman Rashid Quereshi as telling newspaper editors.

The president said elections scheduled for later this year would be held on time.

Adding to Musharraf's woes was a suicide bombing Tuesday night in Islamabad before a rally to support the country's chief justice in his face-off with the president. Supporters of former Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry accused the government of being behind the attack, which killed 16 people. Musharaff tried to fire the independent-minded Chaudhry, sparking a popular backlash.

The meltdown in Pakistan continues. Pervez Musharraf is hanging onto power by a thread and if he is toppled we will be faced with one of the most dangerous situations the world has ever known. Where will we get the military resources to stop a nuclear armed, terrorist controlled Pakistan? Now can you finally understand why the war in Iraq has been an even bigger disaster than previously thought? The problems in Pakistan are a direct result of our decision to invade Iraq instead of continuing the fight against al-Qaida in Afghanistan.

Senate To Vote at 11:00 AM on Cloture

The Senate will vote at 11:00 AM To end debate on the Reed-Levin Bill that would require troop withdrawal within 120 days.

Sixty votes are required to end the Republican filibuster against the amendment sponsored by Senators Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.), and Democrats are expected to fall short.

At most, Democrats are likely to muster about 52 votes with the help of three Republicans, Olympia Snowe of Maine, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Gordon Smith of Oregon.

This filibuster to stop a vote on ending the war is being conducted by the same people who insisted and got an up or down vote on two Supreme Court nominees. The Republicans have one set of rules for themselves and a completely different set for everyone else.

The facts is that this war in Iraq is not winnable because no one knows what winning is. The Bush administration is responsible for the worst foreign policy disaster in our history. The effects of this war on the region will be felt for a generation long after this fool has left office to go back to doing what he is most qualified to do - nothing.

In 2008 we must all make our voices heard and hold to account those lawmakers who put party over country and special interests over the public interest. Only when lawmakers realize that we are paying attention and will hold them to account will the political situation in this country improve. There are no good options left in Iraq which is the result of a bad policy coming home to roost. The violence will increase no matter when we leave. The question is how many of our troops will die needlessly trying to prevent the inevitable.

The people of Iraq deserved better than a policy based on revenge. Saddam Hussein is dead as George W. Bush wanted but the people of his country will suffer for a generation. His people and our troops are now being used as pawns in a deadly game of chess where there can be no winner.

Senate To Pull An All Nighter

The Senate has rolled in cots and will stay in session until they get a vote on a proposal to get our troops out of Iraq.

Republican leaders are using procedural tactics to block the measure from moving forward on the Senate floor.

Senators are debating a plan, proposed as an amendment to a defense bill, that calls for a U.S. troop pullout from Iraq to begin within 120 days and completed by next April.

Senator Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, is a key sponsor.

"The Bush administration's current policy is straining our military, inhibiting our ability to fight the war on terrorism, diminishing our standing in the international community, and rapidly losing the support of the American public," he said. "In sum, it is a policy that cannot be sustained."

This will most likely not accomplish its stated goal but it will highlight for the American people the intractable Republican position. Hopefully people will finally relaize that this war can not end until there are 60 votes to get any proposal to the Senate floor and 2/3 of each house to override a sure presidential veto.

The republicans will use the argument that they need to stay to fight Al-Qaeda in Iraq. We must continually remind them that this terrorist group did not exist prior to our invasion of Iraq. The basis for the war was all lies and the execution of the war a complete disaster. How many more must die before the Republicans will do the right thing and end this disastrous war.

Al-Qaeda Re-Emerging in Pakistan

I have been writing for some time on my belief that Pakistan is the most dangerous country on earth. This report confirms what I have been saying.

The al-Qaeda terrorist network has been regenerating its ability to carry out attacks on US soil by finding refuge in a remote region of Pakistan, a US intelligence report released Tuesday said.

Al-Qaeda's top operatives and leadership have found safe-haven in Pakistan's frontier areas near the border with Afghanistan, a region referred to as the Pakistan Federally Administered Tribal Areas, where the government exercises little control, the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) said.

Am I the only one that remembers when President Bush said any country that harbors terrorists will be dealt with by the United States? Instead he attacked Iraq, a country that did not harbor terrorists. You will hear people point to Saddam Hussein's payments to the families of suicide bombers as proof of his involvement with terrorists. The goverment of Saudi Arabia does exactly the same thing and 14 of the 19 hijackers of 9/11 were Saudi yet no military action was taken on the Saudi government. This is exactly the same thing that is happening with Pakistan while we continue the drumbeat for war with Iran.

When will the American people finally realize that our citizens are being used as pawns in a very dangerous game. If premptive war is fine for Iraq then why haven't they used the military to attack the training camps now flourishing in Pakistan? Possibly no money can be made by attacking Pakistan since they are not known for their oil reserves and Saudi Arabian military purchases are already enriching American firms with ties to the Bush administration. The empty rhetoric of the Bush administration has left America more vulnerable to terrorism but has enriched his cronies. That simple fact alone should be grounds for impeachment.

Editorial That Tells It Like It Is

From the Albuquerque Journal:

It's hard to know what to think these days about U.S. security, what with attempted car bombings at Britain's airports, terrorist threat assessments rising in the United States, nonspecific warnings of a possible terrorist attack this summer and President Bush finally facing a serious policy showdown on Iraq.

Americans should be miffed when U.S. counterterrorism officials say al-Qaida is revived and reinvigorated and Iraq has made little to no progress toward its own independence and security - and when Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff says he has "a gut feeling" that the U.S. will be attacked this summer. Nothing specific, nothing factual, nothing credible, mind you, Chertoff says. Just his uneasy gut.

Attentive Americans have figured out since Sept. 11, 2001, and the Homeland Security Advisory System of colors was introduced that it always seemed the threat level was raised whenever some otherwise unfavorable administration news was occurring. What color is gut?

Is it coincidence that with Republican senators jumping off Bush's floundering Iraq ship - like bullfrogs off a hot tin roof - the specter of a bigger, meaner al-Qaida is being raised and terrorist-attack guts are being checked? Perhaps.

But maybe from the people's perspective - those 70 percent or so of Americans who now want the United States out of Iraq - the timing is the perfect storm. The convergence is amazing for those who want to spin the news right back at an administration that:

Has obsessed over Iraq, which posed no threat to the United States when it was invaded.

Has ignored al-Qaida's growth and resurgence in Pakistan and, perhaps, parts of Afghanistan.

Hasn't a clue where Osama bin Laden is.

Continues to represent the civil war in Iraq as a terrorist threat to the United States.

Insists in the face of the brutal realities on the ground, and in its own reports and assessments, that the United States and/or the Iraqis are making progress.

One of the blunt realities of this week's al-Qaida threat assessment, which found the terrorist group "considerably operationally stronger" and "regrouped to an extend not seen since 2001," should be that Bush's policies not only permitted this to happen by waging an unnecessary and all-consumptive war in Iraq, but it also created a grand opportunity for al-Qaida to do battlefield training during our four-year occupation of Iraq.

Given that U.S. forces have been largely pinned down in the bloody Iraq occupation and civil war for the past four years, should it surprise anyone in Washington, Peoria or Albuquerque that al-Qaida has regrouped and grown stronger in its historic stomping grounds of Pakistan and Afghanistan?

Is it also coincidence that almost nobody is talking about persistent homeland vulnerabilities here, including U.S. ports, power plants, refineries, depots and other vital elements of infrastructure?

Would it really shock any American if Chertoff's gut proved right? After four years in Iraq, does it appear we have terrorism on the ropes? How many Americans believe Bush when he says, for what must be the hundredth time, that we are making progress in Iraq and we can "win." And would we know it if it happened?

Do Americans feel any safer approaching the sixth anniversary of 9/11, given the dismal performance of Homeland Security during and after Hurricane Katrina? Not to mention, of course, that two years after that gruesome tragedy, the inexcusable reality remains that much of New Orleans and the Katrina-afflicted Gulf Coast look like they belong in Iraq, not the American South.

And what of the governors who say our National Guard and Reserve units are understaffed and ill-equipped and, worse, not here to respond to domestic emergencies or natural disasters?

Americans deserve honest assessments of terrorist threats, as well as our vulnerabilities to them, and Congress must evaluate them honestly and stringently.

But more importantly, Americans deserve action from a government that has failed to focus its power, resources and precious people on the real security problems at home and abroad.

This administration's policies have completely missed the mark on all fronts.

The Senate, including the Republican minority, should be leading this nation, in the gross absence of sensible leadership from a president and commander-in-chief who continues to fail us miserably.

It is not about accepting failure in Iraq anymore. It is about recognizing and changing the policies that have utterly failed our soldiers, failed the people of Iraq and continue to fail the American people.

Dow Jones, Murdoch Reach a Deal

This is not good news as more of our media is put in the hands of the owner of Fox News.

Executives from Dow Jones have agreed to the major terms of a deal to sell the company to News Corp., a move that would give Rupert Murdoch long-sought control of the Wall Street Journal, the nation's preeminent financial newspaper, according to a source familiar with the talks.

The Dow Jones board will meet as early as this afternoon to formally consider Murdoch's unsolicited $5 billion bid, made in April, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are ongoing.

The consolidation of our media into just a few hands is dangerous for our Democracy and must be resisted. The fourth estate, as the media is often called, should be neutral. Is there anyone that thinks the common good is being served by our current media?

What they will do next is try to bring the last bastion of media freedom, the internet under the control of these same firms. This must be resisted at all costs. One of the major reasons that the American public is so uninformed on the issues of the day is the sad state of our media.

One only has to look at the run up to the Iraq War to understand how our media has let us down. Instead of being a place that would examine all aspects of the proposed war they simply reported what was being sold by the Bush administration. That has led us to where we are today. This latest power grab by News Corp is very troubling. We must go back to the time when media ownership was limited. Without that you can kiss this democracy goodbye.

Hypocrisy Republican Style

With the recent revelations that pro family, anti-gay Senator Vitter from Louisiana likes to frequent prostitutes where is the outrage among the Conservatives? Am I the only one who finds it hypocritical that a man, who believes my relationships are worthless because I am Gay, has engaged in an illegal activity and violated the vows he swore to uphold?

I would like to tell Mr. Vitter a few things:

1) I have never cheated on anyone I was in a committed relationship with
2) I have never illegally paid for sex.

You said during the Clinton impeachment that he should be judged on the moral issues, I ask that you do the same for yourself. Is it moral to frequent prostitutes in violation of the law while satisfying your sexual fantasies? I have no problem with your diaper fetish as I believe what two people do behind closed doors is their business it is you who feels the government belongs in my bedroom. If you follow your own words you will resign immediately.

The Conservatives ridiculed Hillary Clinton for staying with her husband. Where is the same ridicule for your wife? The Conservative movement has nothing to do with morality and everything to do with gaining power. The Conservative motto should be "Do as I say not as I do". I believe America is finally waking up and realizing the most immoral among us are those that scream out for morality the loudest.

It is time for your resignation Senator Vitter. Pack up your diapers and head back to Louisiana.

Pakistan Tries To Salvage Militant Truce

The government sent tribal elders to meet with militant leaders in Pakistan's lawless northwest frontier Monday in an attempt to salvage a cease-fire renounced amid a series of suicide attacks and bombings, officials said.

Islamic militants at the weekend disavowed the 10-month-old agreement in North Waziristan and launched attacks that killed 73 people — most of them soldiers and police recruits.

The truce had reduced violence in the region, but critics like the United States argued it only allowed extremists to grow stronger in the Taliban and al-Qaida stronghold — and plan more attacks on U.S. and NATO forces across the border in Afghanistan.

Akram Khan Durrani, the top elected official of North West Province, said that failure of the peace deal would have "dangerous consequences."

Without a truce it becomes more likely that the current government will fall to militants. The United States, while being critical of the truce, should understand that the alternative could be a Taliban like government with nuclear capabilities.

I have written extensively about Pakistan and my feeling that it is the most dangerous nation on earth. Unfortunately it is not on every nightly newscast. The American people need to understand that while our government makes a case to attack Iran, the situation in Pakistan grows ever more bleak.

We are witnessing the total collapse of an intelligent American foreign policy under this administration. The so called neocons of this administration are not looking at Pakistan but Iran as their next great heist. Maybe we should try to convince them that Pakistan is loaded with oil. I am sure that would get their attention. Don't say I didn't warn you when you wake up and hear the news that the government of Pakistan has fallen. If you think we have trouble now just think of the possibilities of a nuclear Pakistan under a rogue Taliban supporting government. Iraq will look like a day at Disney in comparison.

Insurgent Bombers Kill 74 In Iraq

Insurgents killed at least 74 people in four separate bombing attacks Monday in Baghdad and the northern city of Kirkuk.

In the predominantly Kurdish city of Kirkuk, a bomb-laden truck blew up in a busy commercial part of the city, killing 65 people and injuring 170 others, CNN quoted police as saying.

So you completely understand what is happening in Iraq I want you to follow along in this little experiment. Close your eyes and ask yourself what you see? Nothing correct!! That is the number of car bombs that were in Iraq prior to the United States invasion.

We pushed this country into civil war and are responsible for the death and destruction that has resulted. It is exactly the same as if we threw gasoline on the floor and then lit a match. Do you still think they hate us for our freedom? We have wrought more death and destruction onto a people who we supposedly wanted to liberate than any one thought possible.

Bush On Saddam: ‘That Motherf*cker Tried To Take Out My Dad’

From Think Progress:

President Bush attempted to convince the nation that Saddam Hussein had WMD as justification for invading Iraq in 2003. In Oct. 2002, for example, he stated, “If we know Saddam Hussein has dangerous weapons today — and we do — does it make any sense for the world to wait to confront him as he grows even stronger and develops even more dangerous weapons?”

But today on the progressive radio program The Cappy McGarr Show, host Cappy McGarr reveals through a conversation with former Sen. Majority Leader Tom Daschle that in private, Bush’s real motivation was a personal vendetta:

Of all the reasons used to justify this awful war, the one that stunned me the most…and will shock you…was the one I heard from a close friend of mine former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle. Senator Daschle was Majority Leader at the time.

The Senate and The House Leadership were meeting with President Bush for a weekly breakfast back then, and as our country was leading up to the Iraq war. … Bush got to talking about why we needed this war, and here’s what he said to Senator Daschle “We need to get Saddam Hussein…that Mother _______ tried to take out my Dad.”

People have been saying that this was the reason for the war for some time. I could not believe that his advisers would allow our country to be taken into a war to satisfy a personal vendetta. Then all you need to do is remember that the Project For a New American Century wanted this war back in the 90's during the Clinton Administration. President Clinton had the good sense to reject this policy. When George W. Bush was elected they realized that they had someone of limited intellect that could be persuaded to start this war. They knew just what buttons to push. The result is a Middle East in turmoil, staggering loss of life and a generation of debt. Electing a fool has consequences.

British Very Worried About Pakistan

As a complement to what I recently posted about Pakistan comes this report from a British newspaper.

Britain's most senior generals have issued a blunt warning to Downing Street that the military campaign in Afghanistan is facing a catastrophic failure, a development that could lead to an Islamist government seizing power in neighbouring Pakistan.
Amid fears that London and Washington are taking their eye off Afghanistan as they grapple with Iraq, the generals have told Number 10 that the collapse of the government in Afghanistan, headed by Hamid Karzai, would present a grave threat to the security of Britain.

It is good to see a newspaper reporting what I have been saying since I started this site. This is due to a colossal failure of the Bush administration when they decided to participate in the biggest heist of natural resources in world history instead of actually destroying the real enemy.

When your Republican friends tell you that they feel safer now than before 9/11 please have them read this. I doubt it will do any good but you can try. They seem to live in a fantasy world of good and evil where good always triumphs. In the real world evil in the form of terrorism is evident but evil in the form of foreign policy is debated as people around the world die. I beleive that terrorism in any form is evil and that includes what we did to the people of Iraq. Is there anyone who still belives that our reason for the invasion of Iraq was actually nuclear weapons when Pakistan has always been a country that harbored terrorists and has had nuclear capabilities for some time? You can dress a pig up but its still a pig. That is our policy in Iraq and the consequences are being felt all the way to Pakistan.

Militants Kill 38 in Northwest Pakistan

Suicide attackers struck a police headquarters and a military convoy on Sunday in Pakistan's northwest, killing as many as 38 people in an intensifying anti-government campaign in an area long known as a haven for the Taliban and al-Qaida.

Militants in the Afghan border region disavowed a 10-month old truce with the government that critics said gave them a safe haven from which to launch attacks on Afghan, U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.

I have been writing extensively on Pakistan. I believe it to be the most dangerous nation on earth. When we invaded Iraq and took the troops out of Afghanistan we in effect destabilized Pakistan. Now the results of that destabilization are being felt. If Pakistan falls to the terrorists it will almost surely lead to some sort of nuclear conflict. Pakistan is a nuclear country and if their government falls we could be looking at a terrorist controlled country with a military and nuclear capabilities.

My question is why no one seems to be talking about this in these terms. Are they afraid of giving the American people the truth or are they just afraid that the American people will finally figure out that the Bush administration has been responsible for creating an ever more dangerous world.

Obama: Shift troops to fight al-Qaida

The U.S. should shift troops from Iraq to pursue al-Qaida along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Saturday.

He said President Bush's war-fighting policies have left the United States at greater risk from terrorists. The first-term Illinois senator said decisions by the Republican president had allowed Osama bin Laden and his deputies to elude capture.

"We cannot win a war against the terrorists if we're on the wrong battlefield," Obama said. "America must urgently begin deploying from Iraq and take the fight more effectively to the enemy's home by destroying al-Qaida's leadership along the Afghan-Pakistan border, eliminating their command and control networks and disrupting their funding."

This is what all the Democratic candidates need to be saying. The fact is that the war in Iraq has diverted us from the real enemy while creating hundreds of thousands more. Nothing makes me want to scream more than those who keep talking about terrorists now in Iraq. They always forget to mention that they were not there until we invaded. Our Middle East policies are the reason for their intense hatred for us. If you believe that they simply hate us for our freedom then you are simply unable to understand the world around us. Unfortunately people in that category include this dim witted President.