Blog @ MoreWhat.com

If the previous post does not show you that Senator Harry Reid is a contradction then understand he said they would not cut and run in Iraq or raise taxes. Right at the moment the tax thing is secondary. He said they would not cut and run. Senator Reid would you kindly explain the report below if you are not planning on cut and run?

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

US Senate Democrats Draft Plan to Revise Military’s Iraq Mission
By VOA News
23 February 2007

Democratic Party leaders in the U.S. Senate are working on legislation that would effectively revoke the 2002 resolution authorizing military action against Iraq.

Senate Democratic aides say the proposal, which is not expected to be adopted, would limit the U.S. military’s mission to training Iraqi troops and police forces, securing the country’s borders and combating terrorist forces. Regular combat forces would be withdrawn by next year.

The proposal, drafted by Senator Carl Levin, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, and Joseph Biden, who chairs the Foreign Relations panel is set to be presented to other Democratic senators next week.

If accepted, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid would likely attach the proposal to an anti-terrorism bill. If passed by the Senate, which is not likely, the revised authorization would also have to be passed by the House and would be subject to a veto by President Bush.

Democrats and the independents aligned with them hold a slim 51 to 49 majority in the Senate, but hold a more comfortable majority in the House of Representatives.

The 2002 resolution gave President Bush authorization to take military action against Iraq, because of its alleged arsenal of weapons of mass destruction. In a speech last week, Biden said the original resolution is now irrelevant because the WMD program did not exist, and former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein is “no longer there.”

The bill is the latest effort by Senate Democrats to challenge President Bush on his Iraq policy. A vote on a non-binding resolution criticizing Mr. Bush’s plan to deploy an additional 21,000 troops to Iraq failed in the Senate, but was passed in the House last week.

Meanwhile, Democrats in the House of Representatives are considering a proposal by lawmaker Jack Murtha that would link funding of the U.S. military mission in Iraq to strict conditions on troop readiness and training standards.

Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.

Trackposted to Outside the Beltway, The Right Nation, Leaning Straight Up, Maggie’s Notebook, and basil’s blog, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Transcript: Democrats’ Weekly Radio Response

FOX News
Good morning, I’m John Kerry from Massachusetts and I am pleased to deliver the Democratic radio address today. Earlier this week, I had the privilege of standing with four soldiers who served in Iraq.

So someone has determined that having Senator John Kerry start a radio address like this was a good idea. Has it occured to anyone else that it might be better to take a different approach to this? After all, right or wrong the recent history of John Kerry has been somewhat controversial. They might as well have had Marcotte and McEwan do the address. This news item made it to Google’s Most Popular News search. Do you suppose the reader demographics were split along party lines? A couple of high profile court cases and Anna Nicole Smith were higher in the list.

C. Harris
MoreWhat.com

So how did the United States Congress do in the first month of the 110th session? You be the judge. First, a little review of the fact that posts here have sometimes asked why we get so focused on what Congress does. After all, they legislate. That’s it. They legislate. The can pass laws. Whatever the House passes must be passed in the Senate also. So both Houses of Congress must pass the same version of a bill before it can become law. Then it goes to the President. He can sign it into law. He can veto it and send it back to Congress. He can pocket-veto at the end of the session. Or he can pretty much ignore it and it becomes law. All you expert legal types out there, feel free to refute this if you must.

Next, Congressional action is either a bill or resolution. Most of the time, resolutions are pretty much useless to the ordinary citizen. There is one example this past month that is not useless. It should not have to come to this but usually does. A joint resolution is similar to a bill. The one last month was for appropriations. You know, to keep the government operating until Congress and the President figure out what they’re doing.

So six bills and one joint resolution have the term “on passage” next to them in the voting record in the House. Being that it is joint and includes the Senate, that’s the only thing showing up on their completed list. Then there are the six bills. You’ll remember them from the daily reminder of the 100 hour agenda. Here’s a take on that.

On January 9, 2007, House of Representatives 1 or HR1 was passed.
This is to implement 9/11 Commission items.
On January 10, 2007, HR2 was passed.
This is for increasing minimum wage over 26 months.
On January 11, 2007, HR3 was passed.
This is to “enhance” stem cell research.
On January 12, 2007, HR4 was passed.
This allows government to negotiate medicare drug prices.
On January 17, 2007, HR5 was passed.
This lowers interest rates on government backed student loans
On January 18, 2007, HR6 was passed.
This is an act for alternative energy creation. That’s quite an act.
On January 19, 2007, HR475 was passed to revise the House Page Board.

The above items are what the House passed. The Senate passed the one joint resolution with the House. And one item became law that was posted here earlier. It is for renaming a National Recreation Area.

One law was passed to rename a park. And the other bills have many hurdles to cross before they can become law. Even if they become law there is no guarantee they will have any positive effects. No one, with any regularity, will follow up on them. So the Congress has done nothing for one month. They have solved nothing. There is only one item as law and it is not critical. 21 Senators are worried about 2008 due to re-election. Other Senators are worried about running for President. And the rest have passed one joint resolution and participated in renaming a park.

We would be better off paying more attention to the remainder of government. At the federal level at least, nothing productive is happening in the legislative branch. Ask anyone from the House or Senate if they care to dispute this. The new Democratic majority are developing disharmony among themselves as are the GOP members. If any of you still hold out optimism for the 110th Congress, good for you. Currently, the chances of Congress contributing to the overall good of the country are slim. That is unless they change their ways. And they will not.
Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

Check the Beltway Traffic Jam 

Escalating Our Military Involvement in Iraq Sends Precisely the Wrong Message Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, and Senate Assistant Democratic Leader Richard Durbin released the following statement tonight on President Bush’s address to the nation on the war in Iraq. 01/10/2007

There seems to be more conflict among people in this country as to an Iraq strategy than there is in Iraq. How’s that for helping out the other side? One of the drawbacks to freedom of speech is that people use it even when it is not in their best interest.

President Bush’s Administration is reminiscent of Lincoln and his difficulties with General McClellan in the Civil War. I will skip some obvious comparisons for the Demoratic party’s sentiments but can ask if anyone else was reminded of 1968.

It is unlikely that war plans have ever been completed without modification. Somewhere I heard someone say that after the first round is fired the battle plans go out the window. What politicians won’t give to us they expect from everyone else based on the words in the critiques. They claim they have the answer in their proposal. Leaving Iraq will solve the problem. They also claim the President’s current plan sends the wrong message. They think we’re doomed to fail. Have they ever considered their own actions may become a self-fulfilling prophecy? I have heard them say support the troops. Have they considered the positive effect of also supporting the mission? Slowly the Democrats opposition will convince me of the Dems suspected belief that utopia can be delivered if we all just talk and give each other a big hug. Let’s see ya try that with a terrorist who has repeatedly announced the fundamentalist mantra of killing all infidels. In case you’re not aware, that applies to anyone who doesn’t believe what they believe. And the way two distinct Muslim groups are killing each other in Iraq, that probably means everyone else.

Give the Bush Administration a chance to make something turn right about this wrongly initiated war. You might stop to think that some of us hold Congress partially to blame for failing to uncover the flaws as opposed to covering your political butts. And if the holier than thou minority of those voting against the war feel above reproach, forget about it. You were among the entire Congress, both houses, who failed to unearth the hoax. There is no “fool me once” loophole in matters of this importance. You all have a responsibility to see this thing through to a positive conclusion to right the wrongs and honor the sacrafice of others, Iraqis as well as Americans.

C. Harris
MoreWhat.com

Kerry won’t run for president in ‘08

WASHINGTON — Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic nominee for president in 2004, announced yesterday he will shelve his presidential ambitions and spend his time working to force the White House to set a date for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq.

The Bush Administration wants $1.2 Billion for reconstruction in Iraq after receiving $15 Billion to date. Tell the Bush Administration to get the needed funds from VP Dick Cheney and Halliburton. They are the ones screwing Iraq and the US on that issue.

Ford lost $12.7 Billion in 2006. Does that mean Ford THOUGHT they had a better idea? It is hard to have sympathy for a company that was once a dominant force in American industry. This did not just happen overnight. Rather than a list of woes, how about a valid explanation of the cause of Ford’s decline?

Sales of existing homes plunge. Now there’s a shocker. Not that it happened but someone chose to make it a headline.

Weekly jobless claims rise. There’s another real shocker. A better shocker my be a measure of all the people who are out of work. The number would probably be so high as to cause a panic. Consumer spending would free fall. Wall Street would halt trading. The economy would tailspin and our foes would redouble their efforts. Don’t worry, you won’t see a report like that. Maybe.

From this group of collected press items for January 25, 2007, it is amazing that the best news is, of course, at the top. Senator John Kerry has announced he will not embarrass us again. Scratch that. He won’t embarrass us with another run for the Whitehouse. HE WILL embarrass us with his military strategy.

It is sad when the best news of the day announces Kerry won’t run for President again.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

Potential Republican 2008 Presidential Candidates

McCain, Romney, Allen, Brownback and Cox

Gingrich, Giuliani, Hagel, Huckabee and Hunter

Pataki, Tancredo and Thompson

Potential Democratic 2008 Presidential Candidates

Clinton, Kerry, Obama, Biden and Gore

Vilsack, Bayh, Clark, Dodd and Edwards

Richardson and Daschle

The MoreWhat.com 2008 Potential Presidential Candidates List

This is our best attempt to put together a list of 2008 Potential Presidential Candidates. We will see as the months go by how many of these people are left on this list.

There are already indications that the Democratic majority in
Congress will be no better than any of the previous impotent
legislatures residing in Washington. With terrorism, border
security, immigration, health care, social security, oversight,
ethics, campaign and general political corruption the current
partial list of significant issues to address, Pelosi and the other
Democrats do not seem prepared to offer solutions.

After their 100 hour agenda, Dems will attack tax cuts for the
wealthy and the Bush fast track for trade agreements. One tired
old argument designed to appeal to the most liberal among us
and an empty gesture for damage already done. On top of this
the Dems will proclaim all new spending must be paid for. Nice
idea but impossible. All spending to date has this country so far
in the red that no other spending can be paid for.



With Steny Hoyer being characterized by lobbyists as someone
you can talk to and Pelosi meeting with labor unions, reasonable
expectations of any changes in politics as usual in Washington
appear dead. Other rumors that Republicans will give President
Bush nothing throughout the lame duck session only serves to
confirm the likelihood of pure politics and no solutions.



After a gap in legislative matters due to “district work periods”,
a record breaking lack of workdays and the midterm elections.
the House has passed six resolutions and rejected one since Sept
30th, all in November after the midterms. The rejected item was
related to trade with Viet Nam. The following is what they passed
since September between November 13th and 15th:


HR 3085 to amend the National Trail System Act
S 819 Pactola Resevoir Reallocation Authorization Act
HR6314 Survivors and Dependents Educational Assistance
HR 864 Program to Prevent Underage Drinking
HR5585 Financial Netting Improvements Act
HR 1078 Congratulate winners of the Baseball World Series


The Senate pass/fail ratio is nearly the inverse of the House. They
passed two and rejected five. The Senate passed appropriations
for the military and an act to provide nuclear technology to India.
The following is what the Senate rejected most recently in their
short work year:


Sen Amdt 5174 to limit the President’s waiver authority
Sen Amdt 5178 in support of UN Resolution 1172
Sen Amdt 5181 to ensure IAEA eqp not used for espionage
Sen Amdt 5183 to dissuade India from nuclear weapons
Sen Amdt 5187 to limit Presdent’s waiver authority on India deal
all the above related to S 3709, modifying the Atomic Energy Act
of 1954 to allow the nuke deal with India.



With all the rhetoric suggesting terrorism, national security, border
security, immigration and foreign policy as primary issues, passing
legislation to supply India with nuclear power technology confirms
the President and Congress have lost their collective minds. Of all
the issues they could take action on, this is totally absurd. Outrage
expressed by countries not friendly to the United States is difficult to
defend against when the Federal government acts irresponsibly.



The Democratic majority offers little hope thus far. If minimum wage,
prescription drug prices, Big Oil tax breaks and student loan interest
are the 100 hour agenda of the Dems, we’re all screwed. The Dems
have an opportunity and they will blow it. The Republicans had an
opportunity and they blew it. And a term-limited President without
a default nominee for 2008 (the VP won’t run) leaves the American
public with a federal government that doesn’t give a damn.


If the American public does not bring to bear the only weapon we
have in response to this, nothing will change. Most of you will opt
to ignore it or merely dismiss public outcry as ineffective. Public
displeasure expressed in sufficient quantities and directed to elected
representatives is effective. Even if you do not get involved with an
organized effort to lobby your representative, your individual contact
to express a complaint or applaud a favorable action does matter. A
contact with your elected representatives gets translated into public
opinion. Enough public opinion is translated into votes and does get
the attention of politicians. How do you think the NEA or other well
known organizations get what they want? It’s not only contributions
to campaigns, it is votes represented by expressed public opinion.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

Romney Wants Anti-Gay Marriage Initiative
Outgoing Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney wants the state’s
highest court to order an anti-gay marriage amendment onto
the ballot if lawmakers don’t vote on the issue in January.

Ok, Mitt Romney for President as a single issue candidate.

Pentagon: No Easy Answers For Iraq War
A secret military review of the Iraq war commissioned by the
Joint Chiefs of Staff has devised three alternative strategies: put
more troops in Iraq, take some out but stay longer, or pull out,
according to a newspaper report.

Someone needs to write better headlines. Even with that the story
is rather absurd. Translation from the paragraph above should
read ” more troops, less troops and stay or leave.” Isn’t that what
has been the argument now for months? Maybe we should send
Michelle Kwan to Iraq to do some PR. Why is the US developing
the habit of starting things and not finishing? Maybe the remainder
of the world is right, we’re all screwed up.

GOP Fundraiser Gets 18 Years In Prison
Former Ohio GOP fundraiser Tom Noe was sentenced to 18
years in prison for embezzling from a state investment in rare
coins, part of a scandal that contributed to Republican Party
losses in the midterm elections.

And Jack Abramoff got what?

Kerry Says He’s Not Out Of The ‘08 Race
Sen. John Kerry said he is still considering another run for the
White House. The 2004 Democratic nominee said he won’t decide
until early next year whether to run for president, adding, “Right
now, my focus will be what happened on Election Day.”

Fortunately, Kerry is not the one that decides whether he’s in or not.

Welcome To Hazleton
The real battle over illegal immigration is not at the Mexican
border, it’s in small cities like Hazleton, Pa., where Steve Kroft
finds a town divided over its new Spanish-speaking residents.

Hazelton is my kinda town.

Protests Mark Bush Visit To Indonesia
President Bush’s unpopularity in the world’s most populous
Muslim nation made security jitters and angry protests the
hallmarks of his six-hour trip to Indonesia. Mr. Bush shrugged
off the demonstrations, saying it was a sign of a healthy
democracy.

Like this is a big surprise. It has been mentioned often enough
that radical islam, or whatever you want to call it, demands sll
convert to islam or face death. So why is the reaction to a visit
by the US President making headlines other than anything any
Presdient does will make headlines. SSDD

Rangel Will Push To Bring Back The Draft
“I don’t see how anyone can support the war and not support
the draft,” says Rep. Charles Rangel. The New York Democrat
believes a draft would force decision makers to think twice
before putting people from their own communities at risk.

The party power brokers should put a muzzle on this. What an
idiotic political move to discuss the draft during a time overloaded
with hot button issues. I no longer wonder about Rangel.

U.S. To Unveil New Citizenship Test
Starting this winter, the U.S. government is throwing out the
boring historical questions (like, “What color are the stars on
the flag?”) on its citizenship test and is introducing questions
about American ideals instead.

New citizenship test: if you can get in undetected, you’re in.
Period!!!!!!!!!

GOP Picks Boehner As House Leader
House Republicans elected Ohio Congressman John Boehner
as minority leader, succeeding Speaker Dennis Hastert in the
top GOP leadership post for the new, Democratic-controlled
House.

Too proud to pick a new leader after getting your ass kicked?

Gonzales Attacks Anti-Wiretap Ruling
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales contended Saturday that
some critics of the Bush administration’s warrantless surveillance
program were defining freedom in a way that poses a “grave
threat” to U.S. security.

Does your mother know what you do for a living? So Alberto,
how goes the rest of the security effort? That would include the
borders and immigration. Understand you toured the border but
only the northern one. Why’s that? Race card works both ways.

McCain Vs. Giuliani: Tale Of The Tape
They’re emerging as the two heavyweight contenders for the 2008
Republican presidential nomination. How do Sen. John McCain
and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani stack up?

Contest cancelled due to lack of interest. For both of them the best
days are gone.

Back later with some more, we know you can’t wait.

Stanford Matthews & C. Harris
MoreWhat.com

Outgoing US Congress must deal with spending bills,
tax relief to …
International Herald Tribune -
AP. WASHINGTON: Before the new Democrat-led Congress
takes over in January, current members of the House and Senate
have to finish up with the year’s legislative business, whether
they won re-election or not.

Much in the blogosphere today rehashing political events of the
past week and before. The best we’ve seen claim Limbaugh and
Hewitt are party faithful and defend the GOP to the death, right
or wrong. Is this a joke? What’s the big revelation about any of
the talking heads having an agenda? On the other side, how about
Al Franken or Air America? An agenda, ya think? The sad part
is no one seems to admit that politicians are party faithful as well.

If you believe that there is no agenda in the photo ops with Pelosi
and Bush, then you were born yesterday or more likely early this
morning. Reid, Durban, Biden, etc., etc., all making nice. Notice
by many Democrats that the public has spoken and Dems intend to
do what the American people want is certainly subject to careful
interpretation. Our interpretation is Dems will seize the next two
years doing what they want in as much as their majority will allow.
The party versus party blame game will continue as well as lobby
dollars and corruption. If you think everything will get better just
because the other major party won political advantage this week,
your birthdate may not even exist yet or the turnip truck you will
fall off of is still on the drawing board.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

Bush, Mexico’s Calderon to work on immigration
Reuters -
… W. Bush and Mexican President-elect Felipe Calderon
pledged on Thursday to work together for a comprehensive
solution to curb illegal immigration from Mexico …

If it was not a plot by both Houses of Congress to introduce
HR4437 knowing it would never get through the Senate, then
the fine new Senate of the 110th Congress should be able to
finish strong reform starting in January 2007. Similar to the
fact that Immigration Reform of 1986 was never enforced, in
their grand wisdom, politicians have improved on their deceit
by creating a better strategy. Work together just long enough
to satisfy mutual goals and fool the public in believing you really
give a damn. Like Democrats conceding Presidential 2004
elections by nominating John Kerry when John Edwards wsa a
much more viable candidate. Kerry was a sacrificial lamb and
the only one who did not know it was Kerry. He still doesn’t.

We hope all you smiling Democrats are enjoying your victories.
We hope all you Republicans are understanding your arrogance
that led to this. And we hope you both as well as all of America
is prepared for a continuation of porous borders, unrestricted
immigration and a complete breakdown of national security.

If you haven’t noticed, the resignation of Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld and previously mentioned items absolutely elated the
Muslim world. Al-Jazeera and the rest have been celebrating
since November 7th, 2006. Thank you one and all. NOT!

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

A Near-Perfect Idiot

Senator John Kerry has made a convincing argument that he is nearly the perfect idiot. Are you so deranged Mr. Kerry that your remorse over a failed candidacy for President causes you to degrade, insult and launch a personal attack on members of the Armed Forces of the United States? Maybe now YOU SHOULD explain your short tour in Viet Nam and the medals you claim to have earned. You are an absolute disgrace!

Senator John Kerry, you should be ashamed of yourself.

You also likely tarnished some memories, Mr. Kerry

C. Harris
MoreWhat.com

Update: A post on the Daily Kos is doing what it usually does when it does not like the truth.  Change the subject.  John Kerry insulted all members of the United States military.  No amount of spin from him or redirect from the Daily Kos will change that.  What was a dead issue regarding Kerry’s service record, is again on the table.  Please explain the very short duration of Kerry’s tour in Viet Nam.  Please describe the details of Kerry’s medal collection.  There is much mystery in the details of John Kerry’s service record.

Daily Kos attempts to defend Kerry 

C.Harris
MoreWhat.com
Nov 1, 2006

Senator Obama for President, along with Hillary, Sen. Kerry and
whoever else the Dems can enlist. Saying the Dems don’t have a
clue or have no direction or strategy or plan makes some kind of
sense now. These announcements appear to be their way of testing
the water on who they should have for their next sacraficial lamb.
C. Harris
MoreWhat.com staff

Sen. Obama mulls bid for White House in 2008

Reuters
Sunday, October 22, 2006; 1:27 PM
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Sen. Barack Obama on
Sunday said he has thought about running for president in
2008 and will give it more serious consideration after the
mid-term congressional elections on November 7.

And it would seem the Republicans only have one choice thus far
who has not made an announcement and does not give any indication
one is forthcoming. The traditional two choice presidential race may
be another “who cares” proposition for anyone not tied to either party.

Romney’s 2008 Bid Faces Issue of Faith

Massachusetts’ GOP governor has political promise,but voters may
not embrace a Mormon.

DES MOINES — In seeking a presidential candidate for 2008, why
would Republicans look further than the governor of Massachusetts?

Tall and urbane, Mitt Romney has a prime political pedigree, an
unblemished personal life and the cool confidence of a CEO. He
is a conservative Republican who won easy election in a fiercely
liberal state — then streamlined Massachusetts’ government and
enacted the country’s most sweeping healthcare overhaul.