I just heard my favorite congressperson, Peter DeFazio of Oregon, on with Randi Rhodes say that:

(1) credit unions are doing just fine (they’re owned by their members, and are an atypical corporate creature); and

(2) businesses are turning to credit unions after being denied credit by their commercial banks; and

(3) those commercial banks are refusing their customers - even those with good credit - because of pressure from the FDIC. And this pressure is not due to bank solvency.

This means, once again, that BushCo is manipulating the system for political gain and propagandizing the populace with their DOOM! DOOM! DOOM! rhetoric.

BushCo wants a credit crunch in order to get Congress to go along with its fat cat handout.

There is no crisis except in top-2% land, where profits are threatened and the elite oligarchs are so used to the short-term, high-return payout that they idea of buy-and-hold seems like a life sentence.

And they’re willing to throw the stock market down the toilet and risk runs on banks - like WaMu last week - to truly destabilize the banking system with real bank failures.

Bush, Cheney, Paulson and their cohorts across the financial services sector are murderous vultures, trying to pick the country clean before Bush rides into the sunset and a Democratic president can come in and try to restore some honor and decency and fundamental fairness to the U.S. government.

Don’t give in.

Not. One. Inch.

Post from: Democracy for Vancouver

when we argued about inequities among we four siblings, “Few things in life are fair.”

But we, as individual citizens, are taking on the debt of at least four major institutions (Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and A.I.G.), because we are told these companies are too big to allow to fail.

Well, we, as individuals, have more than $790 billion in credit card debt while also struggling with re-set mortgages and home equity lines of credit, but we are being allowed to fail: to drown in debt, lose our homes, go into bankruptcy.

But ours is a largely consumer-based economy, and without consumers, the economy withers. We as a group are too large to allow to fail, too.

So while we’re bailing out financial behemoths for their fiscal stupidity (and allowing their CEOs to float lightly to the ground on golden parachutes), why not bail out the U.S. consumer, too?

The Great Depression lasted for 10 years - from 1929 through WWII. In order to cut that time in half, we should immediately cap all credit card rates in the U.S. at 10%.

In addition, credit card interest should be deductible from personal federal income taxes for five years.

This, in addition to smart energy policy that spurs investment in green technologies and high-mileage vehicles, would insure that the U.S. consumer is not crushed by the collapse of the housing bubble and usurious credit card rates, while avoiding the complete collapse of the consumer economy.

This won’t help me at all: we are lucky enough to be indebted only to our car, our home and our student loans.

But if the U.S. economy - and thus the world’s - is to be kept out of a major recession that borders on another Great Depression, U.S. consumers must be at the center of any plan. And yes, I do believe the top 2% - who will ride out the recession just fine, thank you very much - should be the ones to pay for it. After all, it is our consumption that has allowed them to amass such wealth in the first place.

A one-time tax credit or stimulus check won’t work this time.

I’ll be sending a more concise version of this to Patty Murray, Maria Cantwell and Brian Baird. Please email your representatives and tell them your ideas for keeping us all above water.

Post from: Democracy for Vancouver

2 Comments

• At September 21, 2008, me wrote:

  Stop the bailout!

  We can't let this happen before our eyes.

  "...authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.

  Why are we considering giving almost a trillion blank check to Paulson, a Bush apointee and former ceo of Goldman Sachs, the only bank not tanking now because of insider info.

  "Privatize profit, socialize loss"? Sinclair Lewis' prediction might be coming true: "Facism will come to American wrapped in the flag and carrying a bible".

  The reason they have to "act quickly" is so they can pull the wool over our eyes quickly before we can do anything about it.

  Not to mention:

  "The size of the proposed buyout is staggering and would likely hamper the ability of the next president to pursue new domestic programs without major tax increases."

  if this thing goes through, no oversight and bye bye health care. Its basically Bush's way of controlling the economy beyond his time. Permanently. Thank heavens Obama has already come out against it.

  For the non-local:

  Senators:

  http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

  Representatives:

  https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml

  ref:

  http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/52835.html

• At September 28, 2008, Tom Sharples wrote:

  Thought this latest press release from the Delavar campaign might be of interest:

  Republican Candidate Delavar Urges Baird to Vote No on Bailout

  (Washougal, WA) – Republican congressional candidate Michael Delavar calls for Brian Baird (D—WA) to vote against the proposed bailout. "We should let normal and ultimately healthy market readjustments happen without putting the taxpayer on the hook for the ill-advised policies and failed practices of Congress, the Federal Reserve, and the lending institutions themselves." said Delavar.

  "Instead of focusing the national discussion on the rights of the US government to impose restrictions on banks that use the proposed bailout funds, we should instead be focusing on the more pressing question: Do we really want to add nearly ten percent more to the national debt in one week?"

  "Moreover, the great majority of the underlying mortgages are serviceable and will continue to function for the next private institution that owns the mortgage. The main issue is whether the US government has either the authority or the wisdom to go into the mortgage business. From my reading of the rulebook of Congress (the Constitution), they most certainly do not have the authority."

  "Before Congress decides to indebt Americans to the tune of over $2000 per person, perhaps they should wait to see if Americans—who are typically very generous—would be willing to voluntarily write $2000 checks to these institutions. If the people do not wish to further burden themselves voluntarily with this debt, there is no reason that Congress should do it for them."

  Michael Delavar is the Republican candidate for Congress in Washington State's Third Congressional District. His website is www.delavarforcongress.com.

You weren’t using that 4th Amendment, were you?

Because Obama and a bunch of other cowardly Dems just sold us out for a little telecom cash and a kited check from the MSM that will bounce somewhere around October 1.

Final vote: 69-28. So, a hearty FUCK YOU to Alexander (R-TN), Allard (R-CO), Barrasso (R-WY), Baucus (D-MT), Bayh (D-IN), Bennett (R-UT), Bond (R-MO),
Brownback (R-KS), Bunning (R-KY), Burr (R-NC), Carper (D-DE), Casey (D-PA), Chambliss (R-GA), Coburn (R-OK), Cochran (R-MS), Coleman (R-MN), Collins (R-ME), Conrad (D-ND), Corker (R-TN), Cornyn (R-TX), Craig (R-ID), Crapo (R-ID), DeMint (R-SC), Dole (R-NC), Domenici (R-NM), Ensign (R-NV), Enzi (R-WY), Feinstein (D-CA), Graham (R-SC), Grassley (R-IA), Gregg (R-NH), Hagel (R-NE), Hatch (R-UT), Hutchison (R-TX), Inhofe (R-OK), Inouye (D-HI), Isakson (R-GA), Johnson (D-SD), Kohl (D-WI), Kyl (R-AZ), Landrieu (D-LA), Lieberman (ID-CT), Lincoln (D-AR), Lugar (R-IN), Martinez (R-FL), McCaskill (D-MO), McConnell (R-KY), Mikulski (D-MD), Murkowski (R-AK), Nelson (D-FL), Nelson (D-NE), Obama (D-IL), Pryor (D-AR), Roberts (R-KS), Rockefeller (D-WV), Salazar (D-CO), Shelby (R-AL), Smith (R-OR), Snowe (R-ME), Specter (R-PA), Stevens (R-AK), Sununu (R-NH), Thune (R-SD), Vitter (R-LA), Voinovich (R-OH), Warner (R-VA), Webb (D-VA), Whitehouse (D-RI), and Wicker (R-MS).

And hat’s off to Big Pussy John McCain, who didn’t even bother to show up.

And, though saying NO to this obscenity should have been as easy as saying no to a shit sandwich, thank you to all those who stood up for the Constitution: Akaka (D-HI), Biden (D-DE), Bingaman (D-NM), Boxer (D-CA), Brown (D-OH), Byrd (D-WV), Cantwell (D-WA), Cardin (D-MD), Clinton (D-NY), Dodd (D-CT), Dorgan (D-ND), Durbin (D-IL), Feingold (D-WI), Harkin (D-IA), Kerry (D-MA), Klobuchar (D-MN), Lautenberg (D-NJ), Leahy (D-VT), Levin (D-MI), Menendez (D-NJ), Murray (D-WA), Reed (D-RI), Reid (D-NV), Sanders (I-VT), Schumer (D-NY), Stabenow (D-MI), Tester (D-MT), and Wyden (D-OR).

So, only slightly more than one quarter of the U.S. Senate thinks you and I have a right to be free from unwarranted government spying. That privacy is an inherent right.

There is something very diseased at the heart of this country. We are a bunch of fucking pussies, scared of each other and our own shadows. Willing to give up anything so long as we don’t have to think, don’t have to learn, don’t have to worry about anything but whether the TiVO is working and how I’m going to pay for that new Scarlet LCD TV if I’m paying $70 twice a week to fill up my F-150.

I will vote for Barack Obama, but he will not get one more dime from me. I will hold no bakesales. I will do no canvassing.

All of my resources will go to Strange Bedfellows to hold accountable those responsible for today’s evisceration of the 4th Amendment - Democrats and Republicans alike.

If you would like to join me in supporting a massive pushback against this criminal coverup and extension of Dick Cheney’s wet dream of a corporate surveillance state, Glenn Greenwald points the way forward:

[T]he campaign we have been conducting is intended to be only the first step — not the last — in taking a stand against the endless erosion of core constitutional protections… We have created a new organization, Accountability Now, to conduct the ongoing battle to target and remove from power those who enable these abuses; to force these issues into our political discourse; and to prevent the Washington Establishment from continuing to trample on basic constitutional protections with impunity.
…
To initiate and fund our new campaign, we have teamed with the individual who was behind the innovative and extraordinarily successful Ron Paul “money bombs” … to plan an “Accountability Money Bomb” for August 8. That is the day in 1974 when Richard Nixon was forced to resign from office for his lawbreaking and surveillance abuses. That day illustrates how far we have fallen in this country in less than 35 years, as we now not only permit rampant presidential lawbreaking and a limitless surveillance state, but have a bipartisan political class that endorses it and even retroactively protects the lawbreakers.

To participate in the money bomb and support our new organization, you can pledge to donate here — or by clicking on the logo above. On August 8, those who pledged will make their actual donations in whatever amount they choose, and the results will then be announced.

This type of ideologically diverse coalition devoted to the preservation of basic constitutional protections and the rule of law … can be a new and powerful force. Those who are responsible for these erosions need to be undermined and the nature of the debate over these issues needs to be changed. A successful start and the support of as many people as possible is vital to launching this effort the right way — in a way that will enable its presence to be heard and felt in the Beltway precincts that need to hear and feel it.

Because this should be a day of mourning, I won’t post any more today.

Post from: Democracy for Vancouver

2 Comments

• At July 9, 2008, bushtool wrote:

  Just another example of how party politics and entrenched politicians are not responsive to the voters at all. The only way, short of a bloody revolution, for real change to occur is to vote these scum puppies out of office.

  Because of the self-centeredness and small mindedness of the electorate in our country, this legislation will not even be noticed by most voters.

  They will only stand up and do something when a big mac costs $50 and it costs $1000 to fill up their Suburbans. Then we will get real change and not before, unfortunately.

• At July 10, 2008, me wrote:

  The ACLU is going to take some action too. Support them if you can.

  http://action.firedoglake.com/page/s/fisaad

They just shot down Dodd’s amendment stripping immunity from the FISA bill, 66-32.

Fuck.

The vote on the whole bill is still to come, so if you haven’t called yet, please do so now. Phone numbers are in the post right under this one.

First Draft’s Crack Van has all the latest.

Post from: Democracy for Vancouver

Call or email your Senators on FISA. Now. The vote is tomorrow.

I live in Washington and work in Oregon. I called Senators Cantwell, Murray, Smith and Wyden, and Harry Reid, Barack Obama, and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee for good measure.

If you’re shy, here’s what I said:

I’m calling to ask Sen. ___ to vote NO on the FISA bill. There is no need for telecom immunity and the bill does not protect my 4th Amendment rights. I expect Sen. ___ to protect them by voting NO.

Even if you’re shy, calling is better than emailing. But emailing is better than nothing.

ALABAMA:
Jeff Sessions (202) 224-4124
Richard Shelby (202) 224-5744

ALASKA:
Murkowski (202) 224-6665
Stevens (202) 224-3004

ARIZONA:
Kyl (202) 224-4521
McCain (202) 224-2235

ARKANSAS:
Pryor (202) 224-2353
Lincoln (202)224-4843

CALIFORNIA:
Feinstein (202) 224-3841
Boxer (202) 224-3553

COLORADO:
Salazar (202) 224-5852
Allard (202) 224-5941

CONNECTICUT:
Dodd (202) 224-2823
Lieberman (202) 224-4041

DELAWARE:
Carper (202) 224-2441
Biden (202) 224-5042

FLORIDA:
Nelson (202) 224-5274
Martinez (202) 224-3041

GEORGIA:
Chambliss (202) 224-3521
Isakson (202) 224-3643

HAWAII:
Inouye (202) 224-3934
Akaka (202) 224-6361

IDAHO:
Craig (202) 224-2752
Crapo (202) 224-6142

ILLINOIS:
Obama (202) 224-2854

If mailbox is full for Obama, try alternate numbers:
(312) 886-3506
(217) 492-5089
(618) 997-2402
(309) 736-1217

Durbin (202) 224-2152

INDIANA:
Bayh (202) 224-5623
Lugar (202) 224-4814

IOWA:
Grassley (202) 224-3744
Harkin (202) 224-3254

KANSAS:
Brownback (202) 224-6521
Roberts (202) 224-4774

KENTUCKY:
Bunning (202) 224-4343
McConnell (202) 224-2541

LOUISIANA:
Landrieu (202)224-5824
Vitter (202) 224-2541

MAINE:
Snowe (202) 224-5344
Collins (202) 224-2523

MARYLAND:
Mikulski (202) 224-4654
Cardin (202) 224-4524

MASSACHUSETTS:
Kennedy (202) 224-4543
Kerry (202) 224-2742

MICHIGAN:
Stabenow (202) 224-4822
Levin (202) 224-6221

MINNESOTA:
Coleman (202) 224-5641
Klobuchar (202) 224-3244

MISSISSIPPI:
Cochran (202) 224-5054
Wicker (202) 224-6253

MISSOURI:
McCaskill (202) 224-6154
Bond (202) 224-5721

MONTANA:
Baucus (202) 224-2651
Tester (202) 224-2644

NEBRASKA:
Nelson (202) 224-6551
Hagel (202) 224-4224

NEVADA:
Reid (202) 224-3542
Ensign (202) 224-6244

NEW HAMPSHIRE:
Sununu (202) 224-2841
Gregg (202) 224-3324

NEW JERSEY:
Lautenberg (202) 224-3224
Menendez (202) 224-4744

NEW MEXICO:
Bingaman (202) 224-5521
Domenichi (202) 224-6621

NEW YORK:
Clinton (202) 224-4451
Schumer (202) 224-6542

NORTH CAROLINA:
Dole (202) 224-6342
Burr (202) 224-3154

NORTH DAKOTA:
Conrad (202) 224-2043
Dorgan (202) 224-2551

OHIO:
Brown (202) 224-2315
Voinovich (202) 224-3353

OKLAHOMA:
Coburn (202) 224-5754
Inhofe (202) 224-4721

OREGON:
Smith (202) 224-3753
Wyden (202) 224-5244

PENNSYLVANIA:
Specter (202) 224-4254
Casey (202) 224-6324

RHODE ISLAND:
Reed (202) 224-4642
Whitehouse (202) 224-2921

SOUTH CAROLINA:
Graham (202) 224-5972
DeMint (202) 224-6121

SOUTH DAKOTA:
Johnson (202) 224-5842
Thune (202) 224-2321

TENNESSEE:
Alexander (202) 224-4944
Corker (202) 224-3344

TEXAS:
Hutchison (202) 224-5922
Cornyn (202) 224-2934

UTAH:
Hatch (202) 224-5251
Bennett (202) 224-5444

VERMONT:
Leahy (202) 224-4242
Sanders (202) 224-5141

VIRGINIA:
Webb (202) 224-4024
Warner (202) 224-2023

WASHINGTON:
Cantwell (202) 224-3441
Murray (202) 224-2621

WEST VIRGINIA:
Byrd (202) 224-3954
Rockefeller (202) 224-6472

WISCONSIN:
Kohl (202) 224-5653
Feingold (202) 224-5323

WYOMING:
Barrasso (202) 224-6441
Enzi (202) 224-3424

Post from: Democracy for Vancouver

They may have passed cloture on the FISA bill (scumbags), but the bill is still out there, and I’m enough of a pollyanna to think we may still be able to do something (this is an election year, after all).

So PLEASE, call and call and call again, throughout the next week and until the Senate comes back into session after the July 4th recess.

All you Democrats who were elected in 2006 - do you really think this kind of bullshit is what we elected you for???

Oh, yeah, and Senators McCain, Clinton and Obama: WHAT THE FUCK? A vote on the sanctity of the Constitution comes second to your fucking campaigns? Your fucking debt service, Senator Clinton? You are not worthy of the Oval Office.

Now all of you preening bootlickers : get off your asses and shove this thing back down the shithole it crawled out of.

YEAs—80:
Akaka (D-HI), Alexander (R-TN), Allard (R-CO), Barrasso (R-WY), Baucus (D-MT), Bayh (D-IN), Bennett (R-UT), Bingaman (D-NM), Bond (R-MO), Brownback (R-KS), Bunning (R-KY), Burr (R-NC), Cardin (D-MD), Carper (D-DE), Casey (D-PA), Chambliss (R-GA), Coburn (R-OK), Cochran (R-MS), Coleman (R-MN), Collins (R-ME), Conrad (D-ND), Corker (R-TN), Cornyn (R-TX), Craig (R-ID), Crapo (R-ID), DeMint (R-SC). Dole (R-NC), Domenici (R-NM), Dorgan (D-ND), Ensign (R-NV), Enzi (R-WY), Feinstein (D-CA), Graham (R-SC), Grassley (R-IA), Gregg (R-NH), Hagel (R-NE), Hatch (R-UT), Hutchison (R-TX), Inhofe (R-OK), Inouye (D-HI), Isakson (R-GA), Johnson (D-SD), Klobuchar (D-MN), Kohl (D-WI), Kyl (R-AZ), Landrieu (D-LA), Levin (D-MI), Lieberman (ID-CT), Lincoln (D-AR), Lugar (R-IN), Martinez (R-FL), McCaskill (D-MO), McConnell (R-KY), Mikulski (D-MD), Murkowski (R-AK), Murray (D-WA), Nelson (D-FL), Nelson (D-NE), Pryor (D-AR), Reed (D-RI), Reid (D-NV), Roberts (R-KS), Rockefeller (D-WV), Salazar (D-CO), Sessions (R-AL), Shelby (R-AL), Smith (R-OR), Snowe (R-ME), Specter (R-PA), Stabenow (D-MI), Stevens (R-AK), Sununu (R-NH), Tester (D-MT), Thune (R-SD), Vitter (R-LA), Voinovich (R-OH), Warner (R-VA), Webb (D-VA), Whitehouse (D-RI), Wicker (R-MS).

NAYs —15:
Biden (D-DE), Boxer (D-CA), Brown (D-OH), Cantwell (D-WA), Dodd (D-CT), Durbin (D-IL), Feingold (D-WI), Harkin (D-IA), Kerry (D-MA), Lautenberg (D-NJ), Leahy (D-VT), Menendez (D-NJ), Sanders (I-VT), Schumer (D-NY), Wyden (D-OR).

Not Voting —5:
Byrd (D-WV) (excused - illness)
Clinton (D-NY)
Kennedy (D-MA) (excused - illness)
McCain (R-AZ)
Obama (D-IL)

Post from: Democracy for Vancouver

D4V readers should know that Senator Murray has taken another step to help improve our education system and give high school students greater opportunities to learn about good local careers and win scholarships to pay for post-secondary training. The federal budget includes the following appropriation, thanks to Senator Murray’s work.

In-Demand Scholars –$ 383,186

This funding will help build a higher skilled workforce in Washington state. The funding will be used to help expand the Washington Workforce Association’s (WWA) In Demand Scholars program. The program prepares students to enter local, high demand occupations through outreach to local employers, job shadowing, internships, and scholarships for post-secondary training.

We (the Washington Workforce Association) designed this program in cooperation with the Washington State Labor Council and the Association of Washington Business. The first phase of the program was expected to serve 86 students, and in fact served 144. Based on this success, the second phase is now funded through Senator Murray’s work. There is a long-shot chance that the state legislature might also put funding toward the program, and we have written an application to the Ford Foundation, as well.

Giving students a chance to intern in a high-demand occupation while they’re still in high school just makes sense, and following through by giving them the means to pay for post-secondary education if they want to pursue that career makes it a very real and tangible option for the students involved.

If you ever have a chance to thank Senator Murray for her vision and support for the In-Demand Scholars program, please do. She deserves it!

Tim

Post from: Democracy for Vancouver

2 Comments

• At January 6, 2008, Mike Ellison wrote:

  Sounds like a GREAT program. As an educator I know very well the value of such experiences. I'm glad for your role in making this happen.

  HOWEVER, what this points out to me is how pathetic Murray's role is and how we have all failed our children. There 1000s of times as many students in this state that need such a program including those that are non-college bound and those that are college-bound. The funds are readily available to stop failing our students. They are being spent in Iraq and Murray, as member of the Senate leadership owns that war.

  Forgive me, but your comment enrages me at how my generation has failed its children. Murray is certainly complicit.

• At January 7, 2008, Pat Campbell wrote:

  Great for Senator Murray. Lets see if we can get some of our local kids into this program rather that gangs.

  One caution for Senator Murray. She shouldn't be giving non-competitive benefits to businesses as earmarks. (State Ferry system WiFi fiasco.) She shouldn't be telling us she is proud to do so when confronted either.

Thanks to Marion Ward for pointing out this video:

Post from: Democracy for Vancouver

Dear Compatriots,

Congress is on break for the 4th of July holiday. I'd like to suggest that you make yourself aware of any public engagements your congressman has scheduled while at home and attend these meetings. When the Q&A comes up, be ready with a video camera running and ask them point blank: what's your excuse for not co-sponsoring H.Res. 333 ?

Democrats.com is paying $100 for each "no excuse" video asking a Democrat in the House why he has not co-sponsored H.Res. 333 and recording their response on video: http://www.democrats.com/youtube-your-rep

Here's what you need to know to ask tough follow-up questions: http://www.impeachcheney.org

Have fun, and keep up the pressure!

Impeachment is nearly at the tipping point. And, pass this message on.

In Solidarity,

Judith Shattuck

Great Idea!

From Evergreen Politics:

"So, where do you stand, representatives (Baird)? Senators (Murray, Cantwell)??? With the Constitution? Or with the criminal presidency? You cannot have it both ways."

Post from: Democracy for Vancouver

Sirotablog informs us that:

How many self-described “free” trade lawmakers in Congress can the drug industry make head to the floor of the Senate and bare their corporate protectionist corruption for all to see? Based on a key vote yesterday, the answer appears to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 49 (including 14 Democrats) - well over what’s necessary to control the federal government.

That’s right, as the Associated Press reports, “In a triumph for the pharmaceutical industry, the Senate killed a drive to allow consumers to buy prescription drugs from abroad at a significant savings from domestic prices.” The legislation to allow imports of FDA-approved medicines from other industrialized nations (a practice used by other industrialized nations themselves) was sponsored by North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan (D) and has long been supported by the vast majority of the American public in opinion polls. Yet right there on the floor of the U.S. Senate yesterday afternoon, 49 senators voted through a poison pill amendment, invalidating Dorgan’s legislation and protecting drug industry profiteering. The sheer disregard for the truth and for consistency when it came to both the policy and politics of this vote was, in a word, stunning.

Checking the roll call, both Cantwell and Murray voted along with 12 other Democrats in favor of the pharmaceutical industry’s amendment.

If you’re as outraged as I am that that both our senators have gone along with the Money Party on this one, give them a call.

Cantwell: 202-224-3441
Murray: 202-224-2621

Post from: Democracy for Vancouver

Conservative writer Andrew Sullivan builds a case for Cheney’s impeachment in the wake of the Libby verdict:

Something is rotten in the heart of Washington; and it lies in the vice-president’s office. The salience of this case is obvious. What it is really about - what it has always been about - is whether this administration deliberately misled the American people about WMD intelligence before the war. The risks Cheney took to attack Wilson, the insane over-reaction that otherwise very smart men in this administration engaged in to rebut a relatively trivial issue: all this strongly implies the fact they were terrified that the full details of their pre-war WMD knowledge would come out. Fitzgerald could smell this. He was right to pursue it, and to prove that a brilliant, intelligent, sane man like Libby would risk jail to protect his bosses. What was he really trying to hide? We now need a Congressional investigation to find out more, to subpoena Cheney and, if he won’t cooperate, consider impeaching him.

Locally, we have a huge disconnect here between certain elected officials and the voters when even holding a hearing to discuss impeachment, from Congressman Jay Inslee:

“These are my friends,” he says, “so this is difficult to say. But all impeachment would do is rally support for George Bush. Among Republicans, it would make him a hero. And it would make it that much harder to end this war.”

to the Governor:

Gregoire called the Iraq protests a distraction, adding she was “not going to bring up Iraq at all” in her talks with Washington state’s congressional delegation. Instead, she said she would talk about federal budget cuts, health care and a bill to reauthorize the federal No Child Left Behind education law.

to Senator Patty Murray:

Alex Glass, a Murray spokeswoman, said that when Murray was in the Washington state capital of Olympia last week, she met with Democratic leaders and rank-and-file members in the House and Senate. Her message was simple, Glass said: “‘I have two words for anyone who wants to impeach the president: Dick Cheney.’ “

to Vancouver’s very own State Senator Craig Pridemore:

Sen. Craig Pridemore, D-Vancouver, a member of the committee, opposed hearing the impeachment resolution and left before testimony on it began.

So now that we have a guilty verdict of the Vice President’s right hand man, will these members of the opposition party sing a different tune? If a conservative columnist can call for impeachment proceedings, why are Democratic electeds so willing to forgo this option, or even discuss it?

Post from: Democracy for Vancouver

2 Comments

• At March 6, 2007, bushtool wrote:

  The Dem electeds are afraid to bite the hand that feeds them. Only a couple of them are willing to take on the media, the corporatists and the lobbyists who put and keep them in power. It is much easier and safer for their careers to just go along.

  When you have a good thing going, why rock the boat? Because it's the right thing to do? Who cares about that? Doing the right thing does not get you re-elected.

• At March 6, 2007, bushtool wrote:

  Here is another "I told you so" about the spineless Dems being part of the problem.

  March 6, 2007

  A Willful Abandonment of Progressive Ideals

  Dump the Dems, Unite Against the War

  By JOSHUA FRANK

  We should have known it was coming. Even though the Democratic Party rode the antiwar wave in to Congress last November they've done little since to end the bloody war in Iraq. Just last week House Democrats met to discuss how best to halt Bush's request to send more troops into the region but couldn't come to an agreement on whether or not to put any restrictions on the administration's plea for an additional $93 billion to continue the occupation. The only way to stop the war, as Sen. Russ Feingold understands well, is to cease all funding for the ongoing tragedy. But the majority of Democrats, already preparing for the next round of elections, aren't about to step up and represent their constituents.

  Here is the rest of the article.

Please support our efforts to end the illegal occupation of Iraq by attending a vigil in support of the Declaration of Peace action each Thursday at 4:30 PM across the street from the Fort Vancouver Library. We will be writing notes and postcards to Senators Murray, Cantwell and Representative Baird that will be delivered to them personally. We will also be sign waving to our community in support of the proposals put forth in the Declaration of Peace. Please come out and show Vancouver that the majority of us have had it with the Occupation of Iraq.

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The Declaration of Peace is a nationwide campaign to establish by September 21, 2006 a concrete and rapid plan for peace in Iraq, including:

* a prompt timetable for withdrawal of troops and closure of bases
* a peace process for security, reconstruction, and reconciliation
* and the shift of funding for war to meeting human needs.

If this plan for peace is not created and activated by Congress by September 21, the International Day of Peace, Declaration signers across the U.S. will engage in nonviolent action in Washington, D.C. and in communities throughout the nation. Click here for a color brochure (PDF). Black and white version.

This action is endorsed by the Progressive Democrats of America and Vancouver for Peace (and many others).
To sign the Declaration and for more information, click here.

Update: The following letter was hand delivered to each representatives’ Vancouver offices on August 21, 2006 (letters are basically all the same).

Cantwell Declaration of Peace letter

Post from: Democracy for Vancouver

2 Comments

• At September 15, 2006, whodat wrote:

  Gee, I didn't know Iraq, Vancouver WAS "occupied!" Get those occupiers out of Vancouver right now!

• At September 15, 2006, bushtool wrote:

  Vancouver is occupied by me and many others .

  The Iraq occupation is also occupying the thoughts of many of us in Vancouver .

  Out now :!: