--- Begin Message ---
___DEMOCRATS.COM____The Aggressive Progressives__________________
Democrats.com is the largest independent community of Democrats.
We publish the only Democratic daily news service - and it's free!
Our members make it possible through generous contributions.
Please help by clicking below!
http://democrats.com/donate
___.COMPOSITION______In This Issue_______________________________
You are Invited to Mark the 1st Anniverary of Bush v. Gore with Democrats.com in
Washington on December 10th
Gene Lyons: 'Count the Votes, Not the Lawyers'
The 'Education' Governor v. the 'Election Stealing' Governor: Bob Graham Takes On Jeb
To Bring Back University Regents
'An Enormous Blunder': For Big Oil, The BushCheney Regime Is An Abject Failure That
Just Lost Central Asia To Russia
More On Why BushCheney Have Really Blown It, Big Time!
Bush Rattling Sabers With Another Of The 'Evildoers' His Daddy Helped Create
Bin Laden Might Be Near Jalabad
Ashcroft To Face Senate Grilling Over Military Tribunals, And Other 'Outside The
Justice System Methods'
Dershowitz on Military Tribunals: 'We must begin to contemplate these dangers now, in
the face of President Bush's tyrannical order'
America's 'Disappeared'
Another Orwellian Horror Story: Bush SS Visit College Student Because Of Her
Texecutioner Poster
The Press and the USA Patriot Act: Where Were They When It Counted?
Bush v. Economy: The Bush Recession Began in March
Homeless Numbers Climbing
Bush and Republicans Want To Repeal Reagan's Alternative Minimum Tax For Corporations
Paul Krugman on Alternative Realities, Lump-Sum Transfers, Enron and Teapot Dome
New Report from CTJ: 'Buy Now, Pay Later'
Bush To Nominate Yet Another Fox To Guard The Henhouse
Bush Nominees May Spell Beginning of the End for the Environmental Protection Agency
The Senate Has Appointed Terry Wooten To The Federal Bench
__You are Invited to Mark the 1st Anniverary of Bush v. Gore with Democrats.com in
Washington on December 10th
Democrats.com is sponsoring a forum to bring together authors of books about the 2000
election and its aftermath. The event will be held on Monday December 10th at 7:00 PM
at the Kay Spiritual Life Center on the American University campus in Washington. It
will feature Newsweek's David Kaplan ("The Accidental President"), The Nation's John
Nichols ("Jews for Buchanan"), Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. ("A More Perfect Union")
and Judge Richard Posner ("Breaking the Deadlock"). This event is co-sponsored by the
Appleseed Project on Electoral Reform of the Washington College of Law, American
University's Kennedy Political Union and AU's Center for Presidential and
Congressional Studies. The Kay Spiritual Life Center is located near Ward Circle, just
inside the main entrance to the American University campus. Tickets are $5 for the
forum and $35 for a special reception afterwards. A limited number of spaces are
available so please buy your tickets online in advance.
http://www.democrats.com/display.cfm?id=250
__Gene Lyons: 'Count the Votes, Not the Lawyers'
"Next time some knucklehead complains about the left-wing press, ask him to explain
the spin placed on the Florida election recount by the media consortium that sponsored
it. The press interpreted the results to enhance President Bush's 'legitimacy' and
explain away the Supreme Court's shameful decision to prevent the votes from being
counted. 'Study of Disputed Florida Ballots Finds Justices Did Not Cast the Deciding
Vote,' headlined the New York Times. 'In Election Review, Bush Wins Without Supreme
Court Help,' said the Wall Street Journal. CNN.com wrote 'Florida Recount Study: Bush
Still Wins." The Los Angeles
Times reported that 'Bush Still Had Votes to Win in a Recount, Study Finds,' and the
Washington Post 'Florida Recounts Would Have Favored Bush.' In plain fact, the numbers
by themselves showed almost the exact opposite: had every legal Florida vote been
counted, Al Gore would be president." So writes Gene Lyons.
http://www.bartcop.com/1121lyons.htm
__The 'Education' Governor v. the 'Election Stealing' Governor: Bob Graham Takes On
Jeb To Bring Back University Regents
"Their struggle will center on a constitutional amendment [Democratic Senator Bob]
Graham wants voters to support that would bring back the university system's board of
regents...'It's like having Graham on the campaign trail without having him run for
governor,' said Bob Poe, state Democratic Party chairman. 'That's very important
because Bob Graham, who has enormous respect and credibility, will talk about what
[Jeb] Bush has done to hurt education in this state, and that can only help Democratic
candidates.' Bush, in Graham's view, was tearing apart the very legacy that Graham had
built as governor from 1979 to 1987 …[when] Graham helped shepherd massive changes to
a state school system that was held in disregard…Graham demanded more accountability
from local school districts. He overhauled the state's testing systems, changed
training for teachers and principals and increased control over curriculum
requirements."
http://www.gopbi.com/partners/pbpost/epaper/editions/sunday/news_c300489d1421415b10a1.html
__'An Enormous Blunder': For Big Oil, The BushCheney Regime Is An Abject Failure That
Just Lost Central Asia To Russia
"When Pakistan ditched its ally, the Taliban, in September, and sided with the U.S.,
Islamabad and Washington fully expected to implant a pro-American regime in Kabul and
open the way for the
Pak-American pipeline...[But] in a dazzling coup, Russian President Vladimir Putin
stole a march on the Bush administration, which was so busy trying to tear apart
Afghanistan to find bin Laden it failed to notice the Russians were taking over half
the country. To the fury of Washington and Islamabad, [Viktor] Kvashnin rushed the
Northern Alliance into Kabul, in direct contravention of Bush's dictates...So long as
the Alliance holds power, the U.S. is equally denied access to the much coveted
Caspian Basin.. Russia has regained control of the best potential pipeline routes. The
'new Silk Road' will become a Russian energy superhighway…the U.S. handed a stunning
geopolitical victory to the Russians and severely damaged its own great power
ambitions. " So writes Eric Margolis. http://www.canoe.ca/Columnists/margolis.html
__More On Why BushCheney Have Really Blown It, Big Time!
An important 1996 article. "Behind the tribal clashes that have scarred Afghanistan
lies one of the great prizes of the 21st century, the fabulous energy reserves of
Central Asia…Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan…are known to possess vast oil and
gas reserves...But there is an immense problem. [They] are all land-locked and there
is no way to get the oil and gas out. So a race has begun to find a route...This
pipeline, initially for gas, would begin in the Dauletabad field in central
Turkmenistan, traverse Afghanistan along the Herat-Kandahar corridor, territory
controlled by the Taliban, and exit into Pakistan...Unocal, the Californian oil
company, in alliance with Delta Oil, the Saudi Arabian company, has been in
negotiation with the Taliban, as well as rival warlords, for much of this year over
terms for the Turkmenistan-Pakistan pipeline...Pakistan is keen to have a source of
oil that bypasses Iran and Russia."
http://portal.telegraph.co.uk/htmlContent.jhtml?html=/archive/1996/10/11/wtal111.html
__Bush Rattling Sabers With Another Of The 'Evildoers' His Daddy Helped Create
"Iraq and the United States appeared headed for a fresh confrontation Tuesday after
Baghdad rejected a call by President [sic] Bush to allow U.N. weapons inspectors back
into the country...On Monday, Bush hinted that Iraq could be the next target of the
U.S. war on terrorism...As to the possible repercussions for long-time U.S. foe,
President Saddam Hussein, Bush said, 'He’ll find out'...Although there are no proven
direct ties between the Sept. 11 attacks and Iraq, the country has demonstrated
chemical and biological capabilities, and is reported to have used such weapons on its
own people during the Iran-Iraq war." Unfortunately, Bush Sr. covertly armed and
financed Hussein's army right up to the Kuwaiti invasion, and left US taxpayers with
$2 billion in defaulted Iraqi debt. In fact, the company of Bush crony George
Wackenhut transported ingredients for chemical weapons to Iraq (enter 'iraqgate' in
our .Compass search engine). http://www.msnbc.com/news/663215.asp
__Bin Laden Might Be Near Jalabad
>From the AP: "Hazrat Ali, security chief in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad,
>said he received reports from trusted informants that bin Laden was seen as recently
>as Wednesday at an al-Qaida and Taliban mountain base called Tora Bora. 'He is riding
>at night on horseback, during the days he stays in caves,' Ali said. 'He goes to a
>different place every night.' There was no way to confirm Ali's claims. Ali said 500
>to 600 Taliban and al-Qaida fighters have holed up in Tora Bora, 40 miles southwest
>of Jalalabad, which is near the Pakistani border. He said he used the base himself
>when he was fighting the Soviet army, and that it is virtually impossible to capture.
>U.S. planes have been bombing the mountain redoubt regularly. Bin Laden used Tora
>Bora as a base before the United States began its bombing campaign in Afghanistan on
>Oct. 7." Let's hope our forces can at last get the monstrous bin Laden, and bring an
>end to this bloody mess. http://www.truthout.com/11.25C.OBL.Jalalabad.htm
__Ashcroft To Face Senate Grilling Over Military Tribunals, And Other 'Outside The
Justice System Methods'
"Attorney General John Ashcroft will face a tough grilling from lawmakers in coming
weeks over President Bush's proposal to create secret military tribunals and employ
other 'ad hoc, outside the justice system methods' to fighting terrorism, the Senate
Judiciary Committee chairman said on Sunday". Sen. Patrick "Leahy, who negotiated the
anti-terror legislation with Ashcroft last month, noted on NBC's 'Meet the Press'
that the attorney general had held out the likelihood of immediate arrests of terror
suspects once those new prosecutorial powers were granted. The wave of arrests did not
materialize, and Ashcroft has
instead announced new measures including a proposal for secret military tribunals that
would not follow the usual rules and standards of the U.S. criminal justice system,
Leahy said."
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20011125/ts/attack_court_congress_dc_1.html
__Dershowitz on Military Tribunals: 'We must begin to contemplate these dangers now,
in the face of President Bush's tyrannical order'
"A long-term resident of the United States who President Bush believes may have aided a
terrorist can now be tried in secret by a military commission and be sentenced to
death on the
basis of hearsay and rumor with no appeal to any civilian court, even the Supreme
Court. This is
the upshot of the 'military order' issued by Bush on November 13, 2001...Nor will the
suspect have any real opportunity to defend himself, since the ordinary rules of
evidence will not be followed...hearsay, coerced confessions, and fruits of illegal
searches can [be] considered, and that cross-examinations will not always be
allowed...In addition to the specter of kangaroo courts trying suspected terrorists,
the president's order raises the prospect of mass [and even indefinite] detentions of
noncitizens....I was not surprised to read The Wall Street Journal's editorial in
favor of the Bush order. The Journal editors don't much like our constitutional system
of justice." So writes Alan Dershowitz.
http://www.truthout.com/11.24C.Dershowitz.VV.htm
__America's 'Disappeared'
"'In recent weeks, student demonstrators, global justice workers, civil libertarians,
animals rights and peace activists have been characterized as terrorists
sympathizers.' What is more frightening is that more than 1,100 people, mostly
Arab-Americans -- some of whom may have left their countries because of similar police
practices -- have now been arrested and held mostly without disclosure of their
identities, their locations or the charges against them. Civil rights activists say
these practices are frighteningly close to the notorious practice of 'disappearing'
people in Latin America...To people who left countries familiar with the pain of the
'disappeared,' it seems that more evil visitors have crossed oceans and lands to haunt
them here and turn America into a Banana Republic, courtesy of Ashcroft and his team."
The ACLU "is especially concerned about technologies 'which would turn America into a
virtual police state.'" So writes Mohamed Hakki.
http://www.ahram.org.eg/weekly/2001/561/5war2.htm
__Another Orwellian Horror Story: Bush SS Visit College Student Because Of Her
Texecutioner Poster
"A.J. Brown, a 19-year-old freshman at Durham Tech, was thanking God it was
Friday...Then: Knock, knock... unexpected guests at Brown's Duke Manor apartment.
Opening the door, she found a casually dressed man, and a man and woman in what
appeared to be business attire...then the man in the suit introduced himself and the
woman as agents from the Raleigh office of the U.S. Secret Service. The other man was
an investigator from the Durham Police Department. 'Ma'am, we've gotten a report that
you have anti-American material,' the male agent said...On that wall hung The Poster.
Brown got it at an 'anti-inauguration' protest in Washington, D.C. Distributed to
hundreds of activists, it depicts George W. Bush holding a length of rope against a
backdrop of lynching victims, and reads: 'We hang on your every word. George Bush:
Wanted, 152 Dead'--a reference to the number of people executed by the state of Texas
while Bush was governor." So writes Jon Elliston.
http://www.indyweek.com/durham/current/triangles.html
__The Press and the USA Patriot Act: Where Were They When It Counted?
"In the run-up to Bush's signing of the USA Patriot Act on October 25, the major
papers were spiritless about the provisions in the bill that were horrifying to civil
libertarians. It would have only have taken a few fierce columns or editorials, such
as were profuse after November 15, to have given frightened politicians cover to join
the only bold soul in the US Senate, Russell Feingold of Wisconsin. Now it was
Feingold, remember, whose vote back in the spring let Ashcroft's nomination out of the
Judiciary Committee, at a time when most of his Democratic colleagues were roaring to
the news cameras about Ashcroft's racism and contempt for due process. The Times and
the Post both editorialized against Ashcroft's nomination. But then, when the rubber
met the road, and Ashcroft sent up the Patriot bill, which vindicated every dire
prediction of the spring, all fell silent except for Feingold." So write Alexander
Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair. http://www.counterpunch.org/presspatriot.html
__Bush v. Economy: The Bush Recession Began in March
It's official: the Clinton-Gore Expansion ended in March, and was replaced by the Bush
Recession. The Clinton-Gore expansion lasted 10 years, breaking the previous
Kennedy-Johnson record of nearly 9 years. George W. Bush, like Ronald Reagan and
George H.W. Bush, believes that "trickle-down" economics is the solution to recession,
while Democrats believe in "trickle-up." That's why Democratic economic policies work,
while Republican policies fail.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20011126/bs/recession.html
__Homeless Numbers Climbing
>From the AP: "A lack of affordable housing and economic woes that have worsened since
>Sept. 11 have sent the homeless
population in some of the nation's largest cities climbing, experts say. There are
now nearly 30,000 homeless adults and
children in New York City shelters -- an all-time high, the Coalition for the Homeless
said Monday. New York lost nearly
80,000 jobs following the World Trade Center attack, and many people have turned to
soup kitchens and food pantries...Last
week, the Labor Department said the number of laid-off workers drawing jobless
benefits had reached an 18-year high. The
nation's unemployment rate soared to 5.4 percent in October and companies eliminated
415,000 jobs, the biggest one-month
drop in 21 years." http://www.truthout.com/11.20C.911.Homeless.htm
__Bush and Republicans Want To Repeal Reagan's Alternative Minimum Tax For Corporations
"Under the House economic stimulus bill passed last month, not only would the minimum
tax be repealed, but major corporations also would receive billions of dollars in
immediate refunds of minimum taxes paid since 1986 [when the AMT was instated by
Reagan]. [Bush's] repeal plan would dole out the same refunds but space them out over
several years. Citizens for Tax Justice...estimated that 16 Fortune 500 companies
would receive more than $7 billion. IBM Corp., for example, would receive $1.4
billion, Ford Motor Co. would get $1 billion, and General Motors Corp. would end up
with $833 million...Peter Orszag, a former economic aide to President Bill Clinton
[said] the problem facing companies is lack of demand for their products, not a lack
of cash...[He] also predicted that repeal might cost much more revenue than estimated
because the minimum tax discourages companies from searching for [loopholes]."
http://www.truthout.com/11.24A.Biz.Tax.Repeal.htm
__Paul Krugman on Alternative Realities, Lump-Sum Transfers, Enron and Teapot Dome
"From an economist's point of view, the most revealing indicator of what's really
happening is the post- Sept. 11 fondness of politicians for 'lump-sum transfers.'
That's economese for payments that aren't contingent on the recipient's actions, and
which therefore give no incentive for changed behavior...It's bad if the alleged
purpose of the transfer is to get the recipient to do something useful, like invest or
hire more workers...Current events bear an almost eerie resemblance to the period just
after World War I. John
Ashcroft is re-enacting the Palmer raids, which swept up thousands of immigrants
suspected of radicalism; the vast majority turned out to be innocent of any
wrongdoing, and some turned out to be U.S. citizens. Executives at Enron seem to have
been channeling the spirit of Charles Ponzi. And the push to open public lands to
private exploitation sounds like Teapot Dome."
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/25/opinion/25KRUG.html
__New Report from CTJ: 'Buy Now, Pay Later'
"The [Citizens for Tax Justice/Public Campaign] report examines 41 companies that
contributed a total of $150 million to federal candidates and parties since 1991
while, between 1996 and 1998 alone, receiving $55 billion in special tax breaks.
Several of these same companies are in line to be major beneficiaries if the AMT
repeal in the recently passed House bill should become law...Industries benefiting
from a special tax credit for research and experimentation (R&E) costs poured $148
million into political campaigns and parties from 1989 through June 2001. The
pharmaceutical and computer industries are pushing hard to make the R&E tax credit
permanent. One of their major champions, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), received more than
half a million dollars from these industries between 1995 and 2000. Five days after
Hatch offered an amendment in committee in July 1999 to make the credit permanent, he
received a bundle totaling $10,000 from a who's-who list of top Pfizer executives."
http://www.ctj.org/html/camptax..h
__Bush To Nominate Yet Another Fox To Guard The Henhouse
"Bush plans to nominate the Republican Party's top attorney to serve on the Federal
Election Commission. Michael E. Toner, the Republican National Committee's chief
counsel, was the Bush campaign's general counsel and an attorney for former Sen. Bob
Dole's 1996 presidential campaign...Campaign-finance watchdogs criticized Bush's
appointment of Toner. 'This is another example of appointing people to the Federal
Election Commission who represent views of the regulated community rather than the
public,' said Fred Wertheimer, head of Democracy 21." Let's see, we now have a
perjurer and Scaife operative as Solicitor General (Ted Olson); a former Senator who
stated he wanted to abolish the Energy Dept as the head of the Energy Dept. (Spencer
Abraham); an oil and mining industry flak as Interior Secretary (Gale Norton); an
accomplice to Honduran Death Squads as our UN Ambassador (John
Negroponte)...and...and...
http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-bush-fec1122nov21.story?coll=sns%2Dap%2Dpolitics%2Dheadli
__Bush Nominees May Spell Beginning of the End for the Environmental Protection Agency
"This past week, Bush quietly nominated two people to EPA posts -- so quietly in fact
that the only place you'll probably see it is here. And with good reason. These two
nominees make it painfully obvious that Bush wants to convert the agency into a big
hollow barrel he can fill with corporate pork...Paul Gilman was one of the 'experts'
who, in 1997 testified before Congress that, despite mounting evidence to the
contrary, that there was no relationship between the presence of nearby power lines in
communities and the documented increase risk of childhood leukemia and brain tumors
in those communities...[Linda Morrison] Combs has been nominated as 'chief financial
officer' of the EPA. She brings to the job not so much as an atom -- no, make that a
quark -- of appropriate experience." So writes Cheryl Seal for Unknown News.
http://www.unknownnews.net/bushnominees.html
__The Senate Has Appointed Terry Wooten To The Federal Bench
Here's one that flew under the radar earlier this month. "After an investigation of
charges leveled by former conservative writer David Brock, the Senate Judiciary
Committee — and later the full Senate — yesterday unanimously approved the nomination
of Terry Wooten to become a U.S. district-court judge in South Carolina...On August
24…Brock sent chairman Patrick Leahy a letter claiming that in the early 1990s Wooten
illegally gave out secret FBI files relating to the Thomas confirmation battle. At
that time, Brock was writing a book that was highly critical of Anita Hill, the woman
who accused Thomas of sexual harassment. Brock, who later disavowed his own work, said
Wooten gave him secret FBI material on Angela Wright, a woman who has said she was
harassed by Thomas but did not testify at Thomas's confirmation hearings." Although
Wooten's confirmation is a disappointment, we eagerly await the publication of Brock's
'Blinded by the Right' on Feb. 5. http://www.nationalreview.com/york/york110901.shtml
Copyright (c) 2001 Democrats.com and/or its suppliers. All rights
reserved.
Democrats.com is a member-supported online community. If you appreciate the news,
commentary, activist alerts, cartoons, discussions and other features we offer, please
show your support by making contribution at http://democrats.com/donate. Help keep
our community growing, expanding and fighting back at every opportunity!
To subscribe, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
To unsubscribe, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
To switch to the weekly edition, unsubscribe from this list and send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
To switch to the occasional activist alerts, unsubscribe from this list and send an
email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
--- End Message ---
