ScandalGate 2006

Republican scandals are so out of control I can't remember them all, so I thought I would see if someone had maybe compiled a list, well it turns out someone did just that in January 2005. The link below is to the original list published by Peter Dizikes where he details each one, so I thought I would add the news scandals to his list using his original format.

http://www.ecolivingcenter.com/board/politics/messages/73.html

http://blogs.salon.com/0002255/2005/12/01.html

http://thinkprogress.org/senate-high-rollers-oppose-minimum-wage/

1. Memogate: The Senate Computer Theft
2. Doctor Detroit: The DOJ's Bungled Terrorism Case
3. Dark Matter: The Energy Task Force
4. The Indian Gaming Scandal
5. Halliburton's No-Bid Bonanza
6. Halliburton: Pumping Up Prices
7. Halliburton's Vanishing Iraq Money - Iraq Overcharging Scandal
8. The Halliburton Bribe-apalooza
9. Halliburton: One Fine Company
10. Halliburton's Iran End Run
11. Money Order: Afghanistan's Missing $700 Million Turns Up in Iraq
12. Iraq: More Loose Change
13. The Pentagon-Israel Spy Case
14. Gone to Taiwan
15. Wiretapping the United Nations
16. The Boeing Boondoggle
17. The Medicare Bribe Scandal
18. Tom DeLay's PAC Problems
19. Tom DeLay's FAA: Following Americans Anywhere
20. In the Rough: Tom DeLay's Golf Fundraiser
21. Busy, Busy, Busy in New Hampshire - Phone Based Voting Scandal
22. The Medicare Money Scandal
23. The Bogus Medicare "Video News Release"
24. Pundits on the Payroll: The Armstrong Williams Case
25. Ground Zero's Unsafe Air
26. John Ashcroft's Illegal Campaign Contributions
27. Intel Inside ... The White House
28. Duck! Antonin Scalia's Legal Conflicts
29. AWOL - George Bush Unfulfilled National Guard Duty
30. Iraq: The Case for War - Falsified Intelligence Data
31. Niger Forgeries: Whodunit?
32. In Plame Sight - CIA Agent Valarie Plame Outed by Administration
33. Abu Ghraib
34. Guantánamo Bay Torture?

And the Latest

35. Illegal NSA Wiretapping
36. Defeat of Minimum Wage While Okaying Congressional Raise
37. Bill Frist Accused of Multimillion Dollar HCA Insider Stock Deal
38. Mark Foley Underage Sex With Congressional Pages
38. Latino Voter Intimidation Scandal in California

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID=2006-10-21T091304Z_01_N20233177_RTRUKOC_0_US-CALIFORNIA-CONGRESS.xml&WTmodLoc=USNewsHome_C2_domesticNews-6

The House Fights to End Poverty in DC

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/06/20/dobbs.june21/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/06/27/congress.wage/index.html

I am so relieved that the House Republicans have fought to approve the automatic increase in Congressional pay possibly at a rate even higher than expected. I was becoming increasingly concerned that our lawmakers would not be able to survive on a paltry $164,000 per year. Meanwhile, they have saved us yet again by managing to not raise the minimum wage and thrusting all of those minimum wage workers into higher tax brackets.

Yes it makes me feel better to know that we won't have to worry about minimum wage workers getting all snooty with that extra $2.00 per hour those crazy lawmakers were going to give them. Why if that happened they might actually find some discretionary income laying around, and you know they would just go out and buy drugs and booze with it.

Some crazy Democrat was even talking about fighting the passage of this bill until Congress heard arguments on the minimum wage bill. That's just crazy! Do you know what a latte costs in DC? It's not like they're going to find some lobbyist somewhere to pay for their latte's and trips home, or more likely to the Alps for skiing.

Yes it's nice to see that during a time when govenment spending has reached an all time high, the deficit is soaring out of control, were spending a billion dollars per week on war, and we've given all the tax money back to the taxpayers we aren't losing sight of our real priorities.

God bless our lawmakers and God bless America... No Really!

The Argument for Impeachment

Thank you Russ Feingold!

Someone has finally stepped up! Let me see if I can bullet point the issues:

George Bush...
1) Manipulated intelligence reports to pursue a personal agenda leading to the deaths of over 2300 American soldiers and more than an estimated 100,000 civilians.
2) Possibly knowing lied about those same intelligence reports to justify the war in Iraq.
2) Lied to the American public on national TV about the NSA wiretap program.
3) Continues to try to justify and utilize a wiretap program that is obviously unconstitutional.
4) Which means he is violating United States law!

Bill Clinton...
1) Lied about having sex with an intern.

Okay... now I understand why we would impeach Clinton and not Bush!

I'm glad I could clear that all up!

http://www.votetoimpeach.org

So why do we not like socialized medicine again?

So, my wife has been a little sick lately... nothing too serious but it just won't seem to go away. You know, nagging little cough, and sinus problems; so back to the doctor she went today.

I'm an older guy but I can still remember when I got my first "real" job. My health insurance and life insurance (equal to 1 years pay) was free! Pretty cool huh! Why on earth would we ever want socialized medicine???? I paid $5.00 for generic drugs, and doctor visits were a $15.00 copay... this is great!

Fast forward to today... so my wife goes to the doctor and pays her $20.00 copay (not that bad really), goes and drops off her three prescriptions, and comes back and only pays... one hundred seventy FREAKIN AMERICAN DOLLARS. WHAT THE HELL???? And that's after paying $300.00 per month for health insurance! WHAT THE HELL???? And this is the second time for her! Thank God it wasn't anything serious! You do that twice in one month and you have an unplanned for $400.00 per month expense plus the $300.00 you already paid for the insurance to not have to pay that other $400.00 per month.

There is no good reason I can come up with anyone could NOT support a national health plan. Costs for insurance have risen at an obscene rate, and care quality has dropped. A national health plan would create one huge group thereby leveling the risk/cost for everyone, and we could institute some cost controls that are currently not in place. When an aspirin costs $10.00 there's a problem.

So those of you who think that were getting a great deal for our healthcare in this country are nuts! We need a national healthcare plan to set some standards for costs and provide for affordable basic healthcare for everyone. If you want to elect to carry additional health insurance, feel free to do so.

I think that we are spiraling into a hole that we may never crawl out of unless something is done very soon! No... really!

America Files Chapter 11

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/03/06/politics/main1374280.shtml

So we've spent it all? It's only freakin March!!

Let's make those tax cuts permanent!

I grew up avowing myself a staunch Republican in a Democratic and Union household; because I believed in small government, personal responsibility, fiscal discipline, abortion was murder, and almost everything else the Republican Party CLAIMED to stand for. It turned out that abortion was the only belief we really had in common. Problem is I figured out that the government had little or no right telling women that once they conceived they were forced to deliver. Well that still left a whole bunch of stuff we agreed on right?

The real problem is... the Republican politicians don't believe in their own platform!

Look at it... the federal government has grown more under George Bush than during any presidency in the last 40 years, the Republicans all over Washington are being indicted so fast they hand out the indictments when they hand out the invitations to the next Republican fundraiser, the promise to bring integrity back to the White House would be laughable if not for the cost in lives, and they still cling to the old Republican mantras like it was some aged religion they really only play lip service to.

Now we're broke! What next?

TRICKLE DOWN ECONOMICS DOESN'T WORK! It looks great on paper... you give the wealthy a tax break and they'll spend it on investment thereby creating economic opportunity for many more people. Except they DON'T! They spend it on new yachts, cars for the kids, and vacations in Europe.

Please impeach this idiot before he does more damage to the country! Yeah.... really!!!!!

http://www.impeachbush.org

UAE community blog

UAE community blog

You really don't get it! It's not about the UAE or any other Arab country... it's about the sovereignty of America. I didn't like that the British were the previous owners and they're our staunchest allies. I remember something in history class about Boston some Earl Gray and the mother of all Tea Parties.

"Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it."

Maybe we should bid out the custodial services at the White House to foreign bidders as well. Never mind I'm sure that's a Halliburton no-bid contract.

America for sale (aka... no foreign port ownership)

It seems I've been gone for a while. I just hadn't been able to get too worked up recently. Why should I really... Americans still aren't getting it... Bush is still in the White House, he still has supporters, and Americans are still asleep.

It's time for another wake up call!!!!

Americans continue to look at current events from a mistaken and strangely skewed perspective. NO FOREIGN COMPANY SHOULD BE RUNNING AMERICA'S PORTS!!!!

I don't care if it's British, Canadian, Mexican, Australian, Indian, or the UAE... it's still wrong! Is there anything we can actually manage to do for ourselves in this country???? I guess we need to be sure that our ports are run smoothly so jobs (our chief export) can continue to be exported at the blazing rate they currently are.

I find it hard to believe that we can't competitively bid for the job of managing our own ports... what no US company does that?

And here's the kicker... our President who so ardently defends the deal had to hear about it first on CNN... no... really...

Why Term Limits?? Jack Abramoff!

Washington is run amok with corruption and people seem to be surprised. Money corrupts and there are PAC's throwing around so much money in Washington, that even the idealists are susceptible. The problem is it costs too much money to become a national politician, and once you're there you're a target for PAC's who pay for influence. For those who think there is no quid pro quo between PAC's and Washington politicians.... you're being naieve.

You want to fix it? Term limits for all elected positions at all levels of government period! Why you ask... moving target. When the PAC's don't know who to pay, and their influence is transient they become ineffective. Once they become ineffective they become obsolete. Also if there are term limits you get at least one good term out of each elected official, because you always have one term where they're not running for reelection.

Abramoff is the tip of a huge iceberg, and those scrambling to divest themselves of any vestige of ties with him are almost comical. I have much more respect for those that have stood up and said, "hey... I did nothing illegal and I'm keeping the money", than I do for those making a pretense of being philanthropic by giving money to charity that was never really theirs to give.

So Jack I know what others seem to not notice; you're not a bad guy, you're one of hundreds of bad guys. However, like Nixon, you made the mistake of getting caught.

Jack... burn them all! No... really!

BUSH Impeachment... finally!!!

Well I almost feel better now. For the first time today I read (online) that there may be serious discussion about impeachment hearings for King George. Yiipppeeee!!!!!

Of course that means that Dick his evil sidekick might have to take over. The Evil Neo-Triumverette might loose a member, but I'm sure they can get another (George Will might work).

It strikes me curious that the Democratic Party has not had any real leadership in the effort to hold George Bush more accountable. After the feeding frenzy that occured from Bill Clinton's extracurricular activities with Monica, you would think they would be chomping at the bit to take a piece of George's hide.

Let's contrast the offenses... Bill Clinton has an extra-marital relationship with an intern and lied about it resulting in impeachment proceedings. The evidence of which was collected under the auspices of an investigation into a land deal gone bad in Arkansas. This foray into the Clinton closet full of panty clad skeletons only took an estimated 80 million taxpayer dollars... of course back then we had a surplus.

George Bush doctored intelligence reports and used them to justify an illegal war, violating international law and committing American troops resulting in the deaths of over 2000 US servicemen and upwards of 100,000 non-combatants. Fortunately for George we don't really recognize the authority of the International Court, so at least he won't have to deal with that inconvenience.

Well I can certainly see why we haven't impeached him! No... really!

http://www.impeachbush.tv/

BUSH in review...

What follows is the posted definition for "conservative" as listed on websters.com.

conservative
adj 1: resistant to change [ant: liberal] 2: opposed to liberal reforms 3: avoiding excess; "a conservative estimate" [syn: cautious] 4: unimaginatively conventional; "a colorful character in the buttoned-down, dull-gray world of business"- Newsweek [syn: button-down, buttoned-down] 5: conforming to the standards and conventions of the middle class; "a bourgeois mentality" [syn: bourgeois, materialistic] n : a person who has conservative ideas or opinions [syn: conservativist] [ant: liberal]

If anything typifies the way in which George Bush views the world, I think the first definition says it all. Never let facts or changes in the world around you affect anything so precious as your own opinion. Keep lying to yourself, and the world in general, about your own motivations and sooner or later even you will start to believe it.

Definition number 4 is a pretty good one as well. There are a number of domestic issues which could benefit from an innovative approach and one of those "out of the box" thinking sessions. Fortunately, we won't have to endure any of that from the current administration.

Let's just see which ideas (lies) George is still clinging to with the white knuckled grip of a kid's first ride on the newest "Roller Coaster of Death."

We need to make the tax cuts permanent... I like this approach... I'm going to buy a Ferrari and quit my job... spend it and the revenue will magically appear to pay for it!

We went into Irag because of WMD's... yeah right... that's why a white paper written in 1998 was published on the conservative website http://www.newamericancentury.org/ prior to the 2000 presidential election (interestingly removed after I went to find it after the invasion of Iraq) stated emphatically that in order to keep America secure we needed to provide a steady source of oil and to do that required a stable Middle East. Just guess what the suggested recipe for success was as proposed by these conservative "thinkers"... that's right... overthrow of Sadaam Hussein and the establishment of a "pro-American" democratic regime in Iraq. Two big ole birds with one giant stone. By the way did you catch that date... YES 1998!!!!

The one I agree with to some extent but will never be done correctly... privatization of some part of Social Security. I think this is an admirable idea on the surface, but the folks in Washington could never agree on the right way to implement it. There is a way... ask me and I'll tell you!

And finally... we need to extend the Patriot Act... into a raging incinerator until the very last vestige of it is erased from the world (oops... sorry my own opinion may have slipped in on that one). Really though... I think before a legislator is allowed to vote on a bill he/she should have to take a test to see if they actually read it. Two things would ensue... 1) Bills would become shorter and more understandable because you should not need a law degree to understand what you're voting on (I refer any dissenters to that opinion to the Constitution), 2) legislators would actually accomplish less (a good thing if you look at what they do now).

Tasking the NSA with spying on American citizens was perfectly within his power and legal. I refer any takers on this one again to the Constitution and that pesky Bill of Rights. There's this whole amedment that talks about this... do tell...

So, while the world continues to change, never fear... George Bush won't let something as trivial as current events, public opinion, or doing the right thing for once, or the US. Constitution get in the way of the Bush plan to rule the world.