The Political Chase

Murtha Unleashed on Bush

In a letter yesterday, Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) absolutely hammered President Bush. HuffPo has the letter along with Murtha’s preface. In his preface, Murtha asks the question I have asked countless times. “What proof to [sic] we have that the President’s policies are working?”

Bush cannot ignore Murtha’s letter as he has done before and keep what little reputation he has left.

Following are a couple of excerpts, but these do not come remotely close to exemplifying Murtha’s sting, which he supports with facts and metrics.

This March will mark the beginning of the 4th year of the war in Iraq. In contrast, U.S. involvement in WWI came to an end after 19 months. Victory in Europe was declared in WWII after 3 years 5 months. In the Korean War, a cease-fire was signed after 3 years and 1 month. But after more than three and a half years into the war in Iraq, your administration finally produced what is called a “Plan for Victory” in Iraq.

Iraq is not the center for the global war on terrorism.

If this paragraph doesn’t send a wake up call, I don’t know what will.

Since 9/11, Congress has appropriated about $334 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, while the insurgents have spent hundreds of thousands. We have seen reports estimating that the total cost of the wars may reach as high as $1 trillion. These estimates are said to include such costs as providing long-term disability benefits and care for injured service members. It is estimated today that over 16,000 U.S. troops have been wounded in Iraq, 10,481 of whom have been wounded by “weaponry explosive devices.”

Read the entire piece.

Technorati Tags : John+Murtha, George+Bush, Iraq, war, politics

Feinstein and Lott Team Up

Remember the Representative in Fahrenheit 911 telling Michael Moore “no one reads the bills” after Moore asked if he had read the Patriot Act before voting on it? Maybe this is a start.

Roll Call (sub. req.) reports that Sens. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) and Trent Lott (R-MS) have combined efforts for an earmark reform proposal. The proposal would provide for individual items to be challenged by Senators on the Senate floor.

Once a Senate lawmaker has challenged an earmark by raising a point of order, the measure’s sponsor would need at least 60 votes for the measure to survive. If the sponsoring Member fails to gather support and waive the point of order, however, the earmark would be stripped from the conference report. The amended report would then be returned to the House for a vote.

In addition, the Lott-Feinstein legislation would also implement several “sunshine” provisions, requiring conference reports to list the sponsors of all earmarks, along with a justification for each project. All earmarks requests to be included in Appropriations bills would also be printed in the Congressional Record.

In addition, the Lott-Feinstein legislation would also implement several “sunshine” provisions, requiring conference reports to list the sponsors of all earmarks, along with a justification for each project. All earmarks requests to be included in Appropriations bills would also be printed in the Congressional Record.

The proposal would also impose a 24-hour waiting period before the Senate could consider conference reports by requiring that those documents be available on the Internet for at least one full day.

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White House Email

Digby has some interesting history to go along with the missing emails at the White House.

Technorati Tags : Plamegate, White+House, missing+email

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Headsup

Notable information from Markos:

Just a headsup to progressive bloggers — the Washington Times is working on a hitpiece on bloggers. Just got an email from one of their writers, Eric Pfeiffer asking "Would the Democrats have been more successful in the past if they had listened to the grassroots? And how do you define your role/influence on the Democratic Party?". We can all guess easily where this is going. Remember, with stuff like this, it’s best to ignore. Don’t validate their efforts.

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Feingold on the State of the Union

Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) has a good post at Kos on Dubya’s SOTU.

I’ve seen some strange things in my life, but I cannot describe the feeling I had, sitting on the House floor during Tuesday’s State of the Union speech, listening to the President assert that his executive power is, basically, absolute, and watching several members of Congress stand up and cheer him on. It was surreal and disrespectful to our system of government and to the oath that as elected officials we have all sworn to uphold. Cheering? Clapping? Applause? All for violating the law?

In the same post, he addresses the Alberto Gonzalez testimony issue I noted the other day.

Many of you saw this week’s story in the Washington Post on the exchange Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and I had during his confirmation hearing in January of last year. Mr. Gonzales misled me and the Senate Judiciary Committee under oath about whether the President could spy on Americans without a warrant. (Many of you blogged about it when the story first broke and I thank you for getting the word out.) That exchange is extremely telling about the depths to which this administration will go to grab power. I look forward to a little more honesty from the Attorney General when he testifies about the spying program before the Judiciary Committee on Monday.

Read it all…

Technorati Tags : Russ+Feingold, State+of+the+Union, George+Bush, Alberto+Gonzalez, Politics

Voting Details

The Hill has details of what happened in the elections today for House Majority Leader. The big headline is that Boehner gave Blunt a surprise swift kick.

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Voting Discrepancies

Roll Call (sub. req.) reported earlier there were more votes cast in the House GOP election today, than there were people eligible to vote.

Make your own jokes.

I can’t back this up with a link because Roll Call is experiencing technical problems. I was able to read only the first paragraph of the piece before their system died. When/if the piece becomes available again, I’ll provide a link.

Late Update: I still can’t access the Roll Call link. So that you don’t think I am as corrupt as the Republicans are, Josh at TPM provides a similar post.

Roll Call has it too: "House Republicans are taking a mulligan on the first ballot for Majority Leader. The first count showed more votes cast than Republicans present at the Conference meeting."

I tried Josh’s link but could not connect. I’m sure the link will work when Roll Call’s systems are working properly.

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Boehner Is New Majority Leader

Republicans selected Rep John A. Boehner (R-OH) to replace Rep. Tom "The Hammer" DeLay (R-TX) as Majority Leader. Boehner (pronounced BAY-ner), 56, was the chairman of the Education and Workforce Committee. 

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Scott McLellan on Bush’s Oil Statements

Allan Hubbard, Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and Director, National Economic Council Scott McLellan from yesterday’s press briefing (2:10 pm):

[A]s the President pointed out last night, will lead the country into a position of being able to reduce the amount of oil consumption in this country by 75 percent of what we expect to be importing from the Middle East in 2025.

Looking into this…more later. 

Late Update: I incorrectly attributed the statement above to Scott McLellan.

Technorati Tags : State+of+the+Union, Samuel+Bodman, George+Bush, oil+imports, Middle+East, Energy, Politics

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Bush Used State of the Union to Mislead the Public Again

Notable follow up on the president’s State of the Union was done by Knight Ridder’s Kevin Hall Hall had a conference call with George Bush’s energy secretary, Samuel Bodman. :

One day after President Bush vowed to reduce America’s dependence on Middle East oil by cutting imports from there 75 percent by 2025, his energy secretary and national economic adviser said Wednesday that the president didn’t mean it literally.

I want to hear Bush try to wiggle his way out of this one.
 

Technorati Tags : State+of+the+Union, Samuel+Bodman, George+Bush, oil+imports, Middle+East, Energy, Politics

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Alito’s First Vote

Score one for Justice Alito.

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito split with the court’s conservatives in a death penalty case on his first day on the court.

Handling his first case, Alito sided with five other justices Wednesday evening in refusing to allow Missouri to execute inmate Michael Taylor.

Technorati Tags : Samuel+Alito, Supreme+Court, Michael+Taylor

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Sheehan Vindicated; Rep Bill Young Has Double Standards

Cindy Sheehan and Beverly Young, wife of Rep. C. W. Bill Young (R-FL), have been vindicated, but the charges against Sheehan have not formally been dismissed by the U.S. Attorney. Beverly Young was removed from the gallery, but unlike Sheehan, was not arrested.

[Capitol Police Chief Terrance W. Gainer] said he [would] ask that charges against Sheehan — she was arrested; Beverly Young left before it came to that — be dropped. "It was," he said, "a good-faith mistake by officers operating under poor direction."

That’s all well and good, but let’s look a little closer

When the congressman heard what had happened to his wife, he summoned Gainer to his office and called Karl Rove, the president’s deputy chief of staff.

Late yesterday, after C.W. Bill Young (R-Fla.) had taken to the floor with an impassioned speech and his wife’s T-shirt held aloft, Capitol Police Chief Terrance W. Gainer showed up at his office to apologize.

"We’ve asked the U.S. attorney’s office to drop the charge against Sheehan," Gainer said later. "Our interactions both with her and Beverly Young were inappropriate."

So it seems, the proper conduct of the arresting officer suddenly became improper when the capitol police discovered one of the “protesters” was a Congressman’s wife. Moreover, why was Sheehan arrested and the Congressman’s wife not arrested? The answer is obvious. And it gets worse. Congressman Young openly admitted to a double standard from the floor of the House yesterday afternoon.

"When your wife is insulted and embarrassed, you do tend to get a little offended," Young said yesterday, explaining his upbraiding of Gainer that night and his fervent speech on the House floor yesterday morning, when he waved the shirt and bellowed about his wife’s ejection: "Shame! Shame!"

Young said he wouldn’t be so mad if it were just Sheehan. "I totally disagree with everything she stands for," he said. But by removing his wife, Gainer’s officers clearly "acted precipitously," Young said.

Cindy Sheehan and Beverly Young did not differ in their actions, but simply had differing opinions expressed via their T-shirts. And, according to Sheehan’s account, the wearing of her T-shirt was coincidental – absent criminal intent. Conversely Young’s attire was intentional.

Shame, shame on Congressman Young for discriminating against others simply because they have a differing opinion. Congressman Young can stand shoulder to shoulder with President Bush – no one is allowed to have a different opinion. If you disagree with me, you are wrong.

It is clear the only reason Gainer has issued an apology to Sheehan and requested charges against her be dropped is that Beverly Young, a Congressman’s wife, was also a victim of the fashion police.

To spice this up a bit, Roll Call (sub. req.) reports:

[Congressman] Young is always considered a candidate for retirement. His wife Beverly recently told The St. Petersburg Times that she would consider running for his seat whenever he retires.

Do the people from the 10th District of Florida want to re-elect or elect a representative that discriminates against others?

Technorati Tags : Cindy+Sheehan, Beverly+Young, Bill+Young, Politics

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More on Wesley Clark

A brief excerpt from Greg Priddy at RealistDem, with a positive critique of Gen. Wesley Clark’s “Real State of the Union” speech.

I completely agree — and I’m impressed that someone who clearly has presidential aspirations is willing to come out and advocate a sound strategy, rather than merely saying whatever one thinks is good in terms of domestic political calculations.

Fitzgerald: White House Withheld Info

Now this is a real surprise. I’m just shocked.

I noted earlier that Scooter Libby’s lawyers were seeking information from Patrick Fitzgerald regarding Valerie Wilson’s CIA classification and other items. The New York Daily News reports that Fitzgerald may be seeking some information as well.

Fitzgerald, who is fighting Libby’s request, said in a letter to Libby’s lawyers that many e-mails from Cheney’s office at the time of the Plame leak in 2003 have been deleted contrary to White House policy.

Josh Marshall is more specific than the Daily News:

Fitzgerald’s letter says that “we have learned that not all email of the Office of Vice President and the Executive Office of President for certain time periods in 2003 was preserved through the normal archiving process on the White House computer system.”

Worthy of a little probing I think.

Technorati Tags : Plamegate, Patrick+Fitzgerald, Scooter+Libby, Plame, Wilson, Politics