Sen Boxer delivers this week's Democratic radio address

The Associated Press has the story:

WASHINGTON -- The Democratic head of the Senate's environment committee tried Saturday to drum up support for legislation to deal with "one of the most important issues of our time," global warming.

"There are some in the Senate who insist that global warming is nothing more than science fiction," Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said in the Democrats' weekly radio address. "The fact is that the overwhelming majority of scientists say that the earth is in peril if we don't act now."

...Boxer appealed for the Bush administration "to help us, not fight us" over the legislation, which would reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by two-thirds over the next 42 years. Carbon dioxide, from burning fossil fuels, is the leading pollutant linked to climate change.

Newest vets deserve their own GI Bill

Cynthia Tucker has an excellent column today:

The nation's foresight in paying for generous benefits for [World War II] veterans had far-reaching consequences, helping not just individuals but also the country as a whole. About half of the 15 million returning vets took advantage of postsecondary training. They vastly increased the nation's share of college-educated workers and formed the foundation of a broad middle class.

Now, Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.), joined by his colleagues John Warner (R-Va.) and Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), wants to give veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan a similar package of benefits, since those young men and women, like the vets of the Greatest Generation, have made enormous sacrifices for their country. But their proposal has met stiff opposition from the White House and from Arizona Sen. John McCain, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee.

...With so few bearing the burden for the rest of us, we ought to be proud to support them by paying for their college educations.

Click here to read the entire piece.

This Week's Democratic Radio Address

Ohio State Senator John Boccieri delivered the Democratic radio address this week:

CLEVELAND -- A state senator from Ohio with military experience in Iraq as a pilot with the Air Force Reserve is calling on President Bush and Sen. John McCain to rethink opposition to expansion of the GI bill.

Democrats in Congress favor a benefit that would guarantee full college scholarships for those who serve in the military for three years.

Click here to listen to the full address.

McCain: consistently wrong on Iraq

Rosa Brooks has an excellent column in today's Los Angeles Times:

Unsolved mysteries of the universe: Where did matter come from? Why did all those ships vanish in the Bermuda Triangle? Is there really a Loch Ness Monster?

And here's a new one to add to your list. In poll after poll, about two-thirds of Americans say they oppose the war in Iraq, believe things in Iraq are going badly for the United States, disapprove of the way President Bush is handling the war, consider even the initial decision to go to war to have been wrong and want the next president to end the war quickly. Yet -- and here comes the mystery -- polls also show that more Americans trust presumptive Republican nominee John McCain than either Democratic presidential candidate when it comes to handling the war in Iraq.

...McCain's the one presidential candidate pledging to continue the very Bush administration policies that got us into the mess we're now in, and McCain's record of getting it embarrassingly wrong on Iraq is virtually unparalleled.

Click here to read the entire piece.

Bruce Lunsford wins primary election

Congratulations to Bruce Lunsford, who today won the Democratic nomination for US Senate.

Bruce will be facing the truly awful Mitch McConnell in November. Let's all do what we can to help defeat Mitch this fall!

(Bruce Lunsford's website: bruce2008.com)

The hypocrisy of George W Bush

Trudy Rubin of the Philadelphia Inquirer points out Bush's blatant hypocrisy:

I guess President Bush must think Defense Secretary Bob Gates is an appeaser of terrorists. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, too. And U.S. Ambassador to Baghdad Ryan Crocker, as well.

What else is one to conclude from the president's remarks Thursday at the Israeli Knesset in Jerusalem, where he proclaimed: "Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them." After a reference to Nazi tanks rolling into Poland, the president continued: "We have an obligation to call this what it is - the false comfort of appeasement."

No doubt Bush's jab was aimed at Sen. Barack Obama, who has called for unconditional talks with Tehran. Yet Bush's own team seems as interested in broad talks with Iran as the senator from Illinois.

Click here to read the entire piece.

Mitch McConnell supports the troops the wealthy

Congressman Xavier Becerra of California delivered the Democratic radio address this week:

WASHINGTON -- A Democratic congressman on Saturday urged Republicans to "step up to the plate" to help veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

..."President Bush and our Republican colleagues in Congress should join Democrats to make these policies the law of the land so that a grateful nation can repay its heroes," the congressman said.

..."Our men and women in uniform have stepped up to the plate for the good of our country," Becerra said. "It is time we step up to the plate for the good of our veterans."

(Click here to listen to the entire address.)

The Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act has bipartisan support. But our own Senator Mitch McConnell has been playing his obstructionist games again, putting the needs of his rich contributors before our nation's veterans.

Please contact McConnell at (859) 578-0188, and tell him to support Senator Webb's bipartisan GI Bill.

McCain ♥ special interests

USA Today uncovers yet another example of John McCain getting cozy with special interests:

WASHINGTON — Sen. John McCain secured millions in federal funds for a land acquisition program that provided a windfall for an Arizona developer whose executives were major campaign donors, public records show.

McCain, who has made fighting special-interest projects a centerpiece of his presidential campaign, inserted $14.3 million in a 2003 defense bill to buy land around Luke Air Force Base in a provision sought by SunCor Development, the largest of about 50 landowners near the base. SunCor representatives, upset with a state law that restricted development around Luke, met with McCain's staff to lobby for funding, according to John Ogden, SunCor's president at the time.

The Air Force later paid SunCor $3 million for 122 acres near the base. It was the highest single land transaction of the private lots purchased by the government — three times the county's assessed value and twice the military's estimated value. SunCor also donated another 122 acres. Alan Bunnell, a spokesman for SunCor's parent company, Pinnacle West Capital, said the donation was meant to minimize the company's tax bill and enhance the value of adjacent property it owns.

Outlook bleak for Republicans

Bad news for the Republican Party:

Third House loss shakes GOP, raises fears for fall

WASHINGTON (AP) — Stunned House Republicans vowed campaign changes Wednesday and debated the wisdom of attacking Democratic presidential front-runner Barack Obama in congressional races after their third straight election defeat in once-friendly territory.

"The political atmosphere... is the worst since Watergate and far more toxic than the fall of 2006 when we lost 30 seats," Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia wrote the leadership in a bluntly worded memo.

"Clearly, I think we've got to do a better job" going into the November elections, said the Republican leader, Rep. John Boehner, one day after Democrat Travis Childers won a Mississippi congressional victory. That seat had been in Republican hands since the 1994 landslide that swept the GOP into power.

This week's Democratic radio address

Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan delivers this week's Democratic radio address:

WASHINGTON (AP) — The public must pressure Republicans in the White House and Congress to change directions in the country's energy policies, which have pushed oil and gas prices to record highs, a Democratic lawmaker said Saturday.

Sen. Debbie Stabenow said the rising price of oil, fostered by President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney's close ties to the oil industry, is no longer just a burden.

..."Republicans want more drilling, more consumption and more tax giveaways for the big oil companies," she said. "Democrats say that those are exactly the policies that got us into this mess to begin with."

Click here to listen to the entire address.

What is Cindy McCain hiding?

Why do Republicans insist on being so secretive?

WASHINGTON (AP) — Cindy McCain says she will never make her tax returns public even if her husband wins the White House and she becomes the first lady.

..."What is John McCain trying to hide?" [Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard] Dean said in a statement. "Throughout this campaign, he has acted like his own calls for openness and accountability apply to everyone but himself. Now he thinks he can bring that same double standard to the White House."

...Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton filed joint tax returns with their spouses and publicly released those returns.

Here's a clip of McCain's comments:

Doing the Troops Wrong

Bob Herbert has an excellent column in today's New York Times. Here's an excerpt:

At the top of the list of no-brainers in Washington should be Senator Jim Webb’s proposed expansion of education benefits for the men and women who have served in the armed forces since Sept. 11, 2001.

...Well, you might be surprised at who is not supporting this effort. The Bush administration opposes it, and so does Senator John McCain.

...Politicians tend to talk very, very big about supporting our men and women in uniform. But time and again — whether it’s about providing armor for their safety or an education for their future — we find that talk to be very, very cheap.

Click here to read the entire piece.

This week's Democratic radio address

Congressman André Carson delivered this week's Democratic radio address and spoke about the fifth anniversary of President Bush's declaration that "major combat operations in Iraq have ended" under a "Mission Accomplished" banner.

For the full text of Congressman Carson's address, please click here.

Tell Geoff Davis to protect credit cardholders

There's a good editorial in today's New York Times:

After growing consumer complaints about hidden fees and other tricks of the credit card trade, the rules proposed by the Federal Reserve on Friday to deal with unfair or deceptive practices are a modest step forward. But the final versions of these rules will probably not go into effect until next year, and the nation’s bankers are already mounting a strong opposition to any changes in the rough ways they are allowed to do business.

Representative Carolyn Maloney, the New York Democrat who has been pushing the important Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights in Congress, raised the right fears as the Fed proposal was announced. “These rules may be watered down. They might not be put into effect at all,” she scoffed. “The Federal Reserve is not in the Constitution to correct abuses. We are, and there are abusive, abusive, abusive practices going on now.”

...Congress needs to take up the issue now rather than wait for the Federal Reserve to create rules that can be too easily changed. Representative Maloney already has 110 co-sponsors on her bill in the House, but the measure is stuck in the Financial Services Committee. So far, one Republican on the committee has been brave enough to support her bill — Representative Christopher Shays of Connecticut.

Our own Geoff Davis sits on the Financial Services Committee. Please contact him today and ask him to support Rep. Carolyn Maloney’s Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights.

(For a one-page summary of the bill’s main provisions, click here.)

New Dems outnumber new Repubs by 5 to 1 in KY

Good news in today's Herald-Leader:

Of the 16,333 new Kentucky voters, 13,259 chose to be Democrats compared to 2,577 new Republicans and 497 "others," which include independents, libertarians, green party members and more third parties.

The influx brings the party totals to:

• 1,629,845 Democrats

• 1,040,438 Republicans

• 186,948 other voters

...Jennifer Moore, the Kentucky Democratic Party chairman, said the 81 percent of new voters who chose to be Democrats signals "that people are tired of the Republicans being in charge of the White House."

More Republican obstructionism

Today's New York Times includes this op-ed piece about the Fair Pay Act:

Just six Republicans broke with their party to join Democrats in supporting the new bill, which is needed to counter a noxious 2007 Supreme Court decision that made it largely impossible to enforce the guarantee of equal pay for equal work contained in Title VII of the 1964 law.

...Mr. McCain chose to skip last week’s vote, but he said he opposed the bill. He echoed a baseless claim bandied about by business interests lobbying against the bill — that it would end up hurting business by spawning frivolous lawsuits. Yet, a report last July by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office foresaw no significant impact on filings or costs to either the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or to the federal courts.

The defeat of this bill was the latest evidence of the way the Republicans under President Bush have reflexively favored corporate interests over the interests of ordinary American workers. It suggests a crimped vision of the role of courts in protecting individual rights, and of a president’s duty to enforce the civil rights laws.