So I helped out future congresswoman Diane Farrell today. Just some mundane date entry, but she has good prospects to make more money, and a busy dedicated staff. I really agree with Chris Bowers from Mydd.com, this is a district we can win with work. And work we're doing. I'll be over there more, and give more updates. I must say, after meeting her, shes a very smart and instantly appealing person. The more she gets out there, the more votes she'll get. Only problem is phoning for money, which she complained about too. One more onboard for public financing of elections?

Side note: No more ads, because I was cheating the system to make extra cash. Oh well, easy money doesn't always work out.

I haven’t really covered the gubernatorial races yet, due to my complete ignorance of most of them (as you can tell I know national politics much more than states). This article gives some good info. Dems hold 22 seats, and Republicans 28. Democrats expect to gain 5 or 6 seats, making it 27 – 23 or 28 – 22. This is made possible by the open seats this year:

Republicans must defend 22 of the 36 governors' offices on the ballot in November, including eight states where the incumbent retired or is barred from running again. Democrats defend 14 governorships but only one in which the incumbent is not running.

New York is of course a district that most likely will turn over. Eliot Spitzer, current NY attorney general, will be running as the Democratic challenger. It was recently rumored that Donald Trump would run against him, until he came out and endorsed Spitzer. It seems to be a futile race for Republicans in NY, but I can’t say Pataki was a bad guy. Then again, I can’t say I follow state politics.

The best news with this is it shows the political climate in the country. Democrats in positions of power can fund raise and endorse fellow Democrats running in the future. Also, policies that are going on at the state level can set the agenda for the national level. For example, the transit workers union strike brought labor unions to the forefront of national news for a few days. If Democrats bring forward a liberal agenda embraced by the state, it can transfer to the federal level. Lets hope the wheels keep turning for the Dems. [link]

Only 18% of Americans, in a new American Bar Association poll, believe that the President should be able to suspend constitutional rights in an emergency situation. 52% say that the President could never do this, and 25% say he can only with a warrant. Interesting numbers: you can see that when you ask the question if the president can "suspend constitutional freedoms," you get much less approval than if you asked "should the president spy on terrorists." Look for Republicans to continue calling this the "terrorist surveillance projects," and Democrats to call it "domestic spying." I'll be calling it illegal spying, because I call them like they are. [Link]

Well, the claim that the world is “better off without Saddam” is being challenged in Israel. The head of Israel's domestic security agency, Shin Bet, has claimed Israel is less secure with a chaotic Iraq. Who would have thunk it? A stable regime removed without cause leads to no public or international support.

Republican Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama has just admited he is philisophically against entitlements, but approved the budget with pell grants. He has actually claimed to be against pell grants. wow.

Anyway, I find it funny that he is promoting giving school materials and curriculum advice given to teachers on a 6 week basis. Aren't conservatives for state rights, giving them the ability to control education.

Funny Story: Due to a typographical error, the $39 billion dollar spending cut may be voided. This is the one that cut Medicare, Medicaid, student loans, and other things compassionate conservatives hate (note the sarcasm). The question comes from a typographical error was pertaining to the amount of months that Medicare would pay for oxygen tanks, which were different in the House and Senate versions. The bill passed 51-50 in the Senate (Cheney broke the tie), and 216-214 in the House. As we’re now closer to the election, the chances of one voter switching is that much greater. Reuters reported though that there was a “chance” the bill would be voided, but it would appear that the House and Senate bills were different, and therefore what the president signed wasn’t a joint bill, therefore not law. Hopefully it comes up for a revote, just to put it back in the news and get the discussion going again. This highlights the moral values party – the Democrats of course. [Link]

As if the torture in Iraqi prisons weren’t enough, there is more torture occurring in Guantanamo Bay. A hunger strike was underway by prisons, protesting their situation of being held indefinitely without charges. To counter this, Americans strapped down the strikers and fed them through tubes. This is actually what happened during the women’s suffrage movement in the early 1900’s. Good to see the progress. To top it off, the prisoners were then isolated in cold cells for hours. I agree with Angela Merkel, current German Chancellor (they couldn’t change it to PM or President after Hitler?) when she calls for the US closing the prison. Its clearly only used for torture, as 90 miles away there are American facilities. Hopefully we have a brave president, Republican or Democrat, who puts forward a responsible military budget (in other words, less than $560 billion). I’d vote for anyone promising to cut the budget in half, except someone like Bush who has no credibility.

Bush shooting Republicans in the foot

The Bush budget is of course horrible, as we've described. It is top heavy - giving money to privatize social security (thanks to the heads up by TPM), fight our useless war, spend 440 billion on the military - while denying basic human needs. For example, cutting Medicare, Medicaid, student loans, all on top of the $39 billion he's about to sign off on.

Politically though, this is a weapon for liberals. This galvanizes them, and offers a clear divide on where Republicans stand and where Democrats stand. And of course, it hurts the Republican party when moderates like Arlen Specter and Olympia Snowe come out and attack the budget. All students and their parents will find fault with the Republicans on this budget. Seniors will be against his Medicare/Medicaid and social security plans. It is set up to anger most Americans. And this all comes before the midterm elections. It is terrible that millions will have to suffer through ever worsening conditions brought on by Bush's budgets, but the worse it gets, the closer we are to the turning point.

Already, Republicans have made it very public that they will not pursue any very public radical actions this year. They want to move to the center a little to protect Republicans up for reelection. This represents a victory. We even have Republican Heather Wilson calling for a full investigation into the illegal spying scandal. I love to watch the Republicans crumble, but we also need to get a strong force pushing Democrats into office. In state elections in Missouri, this is exactly what happened. In typically very conservative counties, Democrats are gaining seats. These counties are needed for Republicans to get reelected to the Senate, to offset highly Democratic areas. The tides are turning, hopefully they'll push us to where we want to be this November. And Bush is only stirring more trouble for his party.

The other nuclear debate

There is a negotiation going on between India and the US to change India’s nuclear program. Currently, India’s civilian and military programs are combined, which Bush wants immediately separated in the next three weeks. India has offered to do this gradually, but that doesn’t appear to be supported. Also, Bush wants more international oversight of India’s nuclear programs. Specifically, the new “fast-breeder” nuclear reactors. These reactors have failed in Japan, and are dangerous because they run off of spent nuclear fuel. India says that oversight would impede on their scientific progress. I happen to agree with the president on the issue of oversight, but I write this to highlight a decline in American influence overseas. This is a glaring example of America losing its ability to negotiate with foreign nations due to our lack of progressive policy at home. America is subject to no oversight, and runs the second largest stockpile of nuclear weapons in the world (according to wikipedia). I hope that a regime change allows America greater worldwide respect, and that this won’t be a very long process to regain our diplomatic power in the world. Don’t get me wrong; America wields tremendous diplomatic authority in the world, but we surely are not viewed as a benevolent super-power that can achieve what we used to diplomatically.

In an attempt to restore our place in the world as an accepting refuge for the oppressed, Condi Rice voted today to ban two gay rights groups from the UN under consultative status. This allows groups to give documents to member nations, and occasionally speak before them. Denying these groups entry put us among other nations whom we wish to be comparable to on human rights issues. This includes Iran, China, Cuba, Sudan, and Zimbabwe. Luckily, some Democrats in the House signed a petition, calling on Rice to consider three gay/lesbian groups pending consultative status. Surely this will put us back in a position to lead the world by example, instead of force. [link]

The military budget was defended today in a press conference by Donald Rumsfeld. He argued that it would take decades to rebuild Iraq’s infrastructure, despite previous targets. Just another thing we didn’t fully consider before going to war. Decades seem like a huge amount of time. So at least we’ll be paying for the reconstruction, right? Of course not, we don’t want them to become “dependant.” If our military money should be going anywhere, it’s to reconstruction. And we haven’t heard much about troop cuts, despite a successful election. I’ll hand it to the interim government; they did achieve a seemingly fair election. We should be leaving, like everyone wants us to. April 29^th is the march against the war in NYC (and elsewhere I believe). I’ll be there, I hope everyone can be there too!

Daily Kos has a great piece on the budget. It includes increased expectations of revenue, from things like ANWR, which failed repeatedly. Also, he assumes it will bring in triple the revenue than expected last year. It also doesn't take into account war costs, reconstruction in New Orleans. And also, it assumes entitlement programs, a huge battle to pass recently, will take larger cuts this year. It’s a lengthy piece, with lots of Republican opposition quotes. Quite a story, really. Hopefully someone has the balls to stand up to the wasteful military spending. Hell, even the military contractors are against our wars now!

It has become clear that these hearings will accomplish nothing. Although Gonzalez is doing a horrible job defending the program, as Orwell says, if you lie enough, it starts to become like the truth. What a sham hearing - this is so clearly against the constitution. I hope that Gonzalez and others in the Department of Justice are arrested in a later administration or congress.

A complaint was made by Republican Chuck Grassley about private information about the spying program being made available to congress. He is baffled that congress was informed on a limited basis, but only after the NY Times released it did they outrage. He should know though that this is illegal for congress to release this information. The debate goes back and forth to terrorism, but only a few (Specter, Kennedy) will ask why not use the FISA court. Its really offensive to a New Yorker like myself that 9/11 is so exploited by Republican. Its really sick to use 3000 deaths for political gain.

A great comment was made by Ted Kennedy today in the hearings. “Wouldn’t national security be strengthened if we were positive of the legality of this program?” (Rough quote) This is certainly true, but Gonzalez believes that this is clearly constitutional under war powers. Apparently wiretapping is a “force,” as in “any necessary force.” Kennedy catalogued the past, when the FISA court was made. A republican president and attorney general went to congress to make sure that the law would be followed, and the government could obtain necessary information. Any information illegal obtained will not be useable in court, which gravely weakens our security.

Arlen Specter is absolutely Grilling attorney general Alberto Gonzalez. Gozolez is dancing around every question. He has failed to answer any question directly. Senator Lehey failed to get a response on many issues. None the less, Gonzolez is under the impression that use of force means unlimited powers if it helps the "war" on terror. Also, he thinks that only al queda members are on one side of the transmitions. This seems contrary to the Washington Post, and others, in calling this a dragnet. Its on C-Span right now, check it out.

A quickie for you

I found this funny ad on the site. This is for a keychain that counts down the days until Bush is out of office. Found it funny, link is here.

More on Spying

On Talking Points Memo, there was another article about the illegal spying scandal. Apparently, we got a real number on the amount of terrorists we catch each year with this resource-draining program. Good to know it was worth it though - there are ten people who "aroused enough suspicion." That’s right, 10 people who possibly could be terrorists. Saying potential terrorists I think gives the program too much credit. Meanwhile, tomorrow the attorney General will testify before congress. According to Daily Kos, Gonzalez will be lying, saying it is a small program, not a dragnet out to find patterns. Well according to the Washington Post, that’s exactly what it is.

This program seems like one ripe for picking from the "budget tree." Mydd.com highlights some of the programs cut instead.

Along with the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, a $107 million program the USDA website says is meant to "improve the health of low-income pregnant and breastfeeding women, other new mothers up to one year postpartum, infants, children up to age six, and elderly people at least 60 years of age."

This of course taken instead of the easy budget cut target - Military. As explained, we're paying out our asses for guns - $560 billion. Didn't this destroy the Soviet Union? Well, I emailed Tim Bishop, Senator Clinton, and Senator Schumer. Hopefully they'll fight the good fight. This budget goes too far.