This week's Democratic radio address

Congressman Nick Rahall, chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, delivers this week's Democratic Radio Address. Chairman Rahall discusses Democratic efforts to provide relief for Americans at the pump, and those of George Bush and John McCain to rally behind the oil industry's agenda.

Click here to read the transcript of Chairman Rahall's address.

Republican ’values’ harming America

You might recall John McCain's shameless flip-flopping on the issue of torture last February. (In a nutshell: John McCain was for banning torture before he was against it.) Luckily, there are still folks in Washington willing to say what should be obvious to everyone:

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The use by the United States of harsh interrogation methods against suspected terrorists has stained the country's image and is putting US soldiers' lives at risk, experts said here Wednesday.

"If we use torture when we question prisoners, we forfeit the right to demand that anyone treat our soldiers decently if they are taken prisoner," former army intelligence officer Stuart Herrington told AFP at a forum on the use of torture in interrogations.

"If we engage in that kind of activity, we put our soldiers at increased risk," he said.

Click here to read the full article.

SurveyUSA poll: Lunsford within striking distance

SurveyUSA just released a poll on Kentucky's Senate race. They find that Bruce Lunsford is doing astonishingly well:

KY Senate Race: McConnell and Lunsford Start Off Neck and Neck

Incumbent Republican US Senator Mitch McConnell leads Democrat Bruce Lunsford by 4 points in a poll with a 4.0 percentage point margin of sampling error, according to this SurveyUSA poll conducted exclusively for WHAS-TV Louisville, WLEX-TV Lexington, and WCPO-TV Cincinnati.

McConnell can't be very happy to learn that Lunsford is within the margin of error in this poll. Ol' Mitch shouldn't be too surprised though; his partisan obstructionism in the Senate is surely one reason why Kentuckians are opting for Lunsford.

More Republican obstructionism

Today's New York Times addresses the Republicans' obstructionism over energy policy:

Given a chance to do something important about global warming, the Senate fell flat on its face earlier this month when it could not even produce enough votes to have a good debate. It can begin to redeem itself, by approving a bill to extend vital tax credits for renewable fuel sources like wind and solar power.

...The Republicans say they believe in fiscal responsibility; this bill responsibly exchanges one set of tax breaks for another. They say they believe in technological innovation, which this bill encourages. They say they believe in creating new jobs, which a robust wind and solar industry would do.

If they believe all that, they should stop being stubborn and approve the House bill.

You can read the entire piece by clicking here.

This week's Democratic radio address

Jeff Alberici, an eight-grade teacher in New York, husband and father of three, delivered this week's Democratic Radio Address:

"Democrats are trying to change things, but Republicans only want more of the same old ideas that got us into this mess in the first place," Jeff Alberici, of Auburn, New York, said in the Democratic Party's weekly radio address today. "More of the same isn't working for my family, and I bet it's not working for yours."

...With the costs of gas, food and health care "skyrocketing, even with a second paycheck, things are no easier," Alberici said.

"My wife and I don't talk that much in public about politics, but we are both proud Democrats," Alberici said. "Democrats understand what families like ours are going through, and they're trying to make things better."

Click here to read the entire transcript of Alberici's address.

Democrats working to balance the budget

Here's the story via the Associated Press:

WASHINGTON --The chairman of the House Budget Committee said Saturday that a 2009 spending blueprint passed by the Democratic-controlled Congress will restore funding for health care, energy and education while leading to a balanced budget by 2012.

Rep. John Spratt, D-S.C., said the budget plan rejected proposed cuts to Medicare and Medicaid and would broaden the Children's Health Insurance Program. The plan would also add nearly $5 billion to the Veterans Affairs health care system in 2009, he said.

In his party's weekly radio address, Spratt promised the bill would address skyrocketing fuel prices by spending more on home energy assistance for low-income families. "As for funding for alternative fuels, renewable energies and other energy initiatives, our budget provides $7.7 billion," he said.

Click here to read the entire article.

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.