Recession!

Did you see the news this morning? All signs point to recession.

Congress and the President are racing to pass a stimulus package. Here's the problem:

The President's plan—tax breaks for corporations and rebate checks for the well-off—isn't just morally wrong. It's based on discredited "trickle down" theories and it won't work.¹

But there's tremendous pressure on Democrats to accept the President's priorities just to get something passed. Negotiations are happening right now, and Congress needs to hear from you right away!

We need to demand a progressive stimulus package—one that puts money into the hands of people who are feeling the squeeze (who, incidentally, will spend it fastest). One that funds public infrastructure projects that will create new jobs, make our economy more competitive, and reduce our dependence on oil. One that will actually solve the problem.

Can you sign our petition to Congress? Clicking here will add your name:

http://pol.moveon.org/fairstimulus/o.pl?id=11947-7018451-i0pG7w&t=639

The petition reads: "Congress must quickly pass a stimulus package that helps those who need it the most and will spend it the fastest. And it should include public investments that will create jobs and move us toward a 21st century, clean energy economy."

A leading economist at NYU says "We're facing the risk of a systemic financial crisis."² The mortgage, credit card, and auto loan industries are all in trouble. The stock market is tanking as we speak. On top of all that, we're hemorrhaging $2 billion a week in Iraq.³

The "Iraq Recession" is here.

Yet Bush's proposal is just another kind of trickle-down economics. His plan gives little or no help to people who make less than $40,000 a year, and families of four making less than $24,950 would get nothing—even though those are the very folks who would spend a little extra cash in their pockets.

According to a top economic think tank, the Republican plan would do nothing to help about 65 million Americans. "This approach fails on two counts. It omits or partly omits those who need the help. And it omits the tens of millions of people who are living paycheck to paycheck and who would be most likely to quickly spend every dollar they can get."⁴

Bush's own Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testified before Congress that "putting money into the hands of households and firms that would spend it in the near term" would be more effective than other short-term fixes or tax rebates for the wealthy.⁵

We need to get help into the hands of those who need it. That means making sure tax rebates go to working people, not millionaires, extending unemployment benefits, sending money to the states so they don't have to cut back programs for average people, and fully funding energy assistance programs for the low-income families struggling to heat their homes as oil prices rise.⁶

And, with skyrocketing oil prices driving the recession, we need public infrastructure investments that create jobs in the short-term, and move us toward a 21st century, clean energy economy in the long-term. We should invest in energy efficiency, mass transit, and a Clean Energy Corps, putting hundreds of thousands of people to work rebuilding our economy.

And of course, we need to end the war that has already cost us $1 trillion.

This economic stimulus package will cost about $150 billion. Just think what we could do if all that money was invested in big, smart, sustainable ways. Or we could just try the same old, failed, trickle-down economics.

Congress is moving fast, and will make a decision as early as this week about what the plan will include. Clicking here will add your name to our emergency petition:

http://pol.moveon.org/fairstimulus/o.pl?id=11947-7018451-i0pG7w&t=640

Thank you for all you do.

–Noah, Eli, Wes, Justin, and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008

Sources:

1. "Administration Stimulus Plan Fails Tests for Achieving Most Effective Stimulus, Gives Less Favorable Treatment to Families Under $40,000," Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, January 18, 2008. http://www.cbpp.org/1-17-08tax-stmt.htm

2. "No Quick Fix to Downturn," New York Times, January 13, 2008. http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3335&id=11947-7018451-i0pG7w&t=641

3. "Cost of War Nearly $2 Billion a Week," Boston Globe, September 28, 2006. http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3336&id=11947-7018451-i0pG7w&t=642

4."Tax Rebate or Payment? A Policy Debate Begins," New York Times, January 20, 2008. http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3337&id=11947-7018451-i0pG7w&t=643

5. "Bush, Bernanke call for a stimulus plan," CNN, January 17, 2008. http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3334&id=11947-7018451-i0pG7w&t=644

6. "The President's Economic Stimulus Plan Is Only a Start," Center for American Progress, January 18, 2008.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3333&id=11947-7018451-i0pG7w&t=645

Time To Win The Fight Against Telecom Immunity Again, Please Speak Out Now

Before the holiday break, in defiance of the perverse decision by
Harry Reid to bring forward the version of the FISA bill with telecom
immunity, and thanks to your voices and leadership of Senator Dodd,
this was beaten back by filibuster.

We need to keep beating them back by continuing to speak out on this.

No Telecom Immunity Action Page:
http://usalone.com/laesch/pnum778.php (anyone can use this link)

Facebook Version:
http://apps.facebook.com/fb_voices/action.php?qnum=pnum778 (to use
this you must be a member of Facebook and logged in)

And we have a new incipient national leader on this, John Laesch, who
is running for the old Dennis Hastert seat (IL-14) in a special
primary election coming up in just 3 weeks on March 5th. Please
submit the action page sponsored by John above, and please also
consider making a donation to encourage him to keep standing strong
on the issues you care about.

John Laesch Donations: http://www.usalone.com/donations_laesch.php

As the Democratic nominee in 2006, John Laesch pulled 40 percent
against the powerful incumbent Hastert in the general election, and
John is in the running again. With numbers like that, and especially
given the shift in public sentiment in the last two years, this is a
very winnable race.

Here is John's message to you on the importance of defeating blanket
telecom immunity:

***********

President Bush and the National Security Agency enlisted the help of
telecommunications companies to spy on American citizens without the
FISA required warrants. Now Bush wants Congress to give the telecom
companies permanent immunity from prosecution. I ask you to fight
Telecom Immunity Telecom immunity means that corporations who worked
with the government to illegally spy on our citizens would never have
to answer for their actions.

This bill exemplifies how wealthy corporations have more rights than
U.S. citizens. Large telecommunications companies spied on Americans,
violating the 4th Amendment, the right to privacy, and now Congress
and the president wants to give them a get out of jail free card. We
need to protect the Constitution of the United States. Please join me
in calling our U.S. Representatives.

They would avoid all prosecution and never be held accountable for
their unconstitutional acts. I am appalled by this dangerous possible
precedent that threatens our rights.

In August 2007, Congress betrayed the people and voted to give the
telecom companies temporary immunity for their complicity until
February 2008.

In December 2007, a bill to make this temporary immunity permanent
came to the floor of the Senate. Due to the organized efforts of
activists like you, a group of Senators led by Senator Chris Dodd
managed to postpone a vote the FISA bill.

The Senate is back in full session on January 15th and we expect a
vote on the bill soon...

In December your voice made the difference, and gave your Senators
the most important support there is, the will of the people.

Now your support will give your Senators the courage and will to join
Senator Dodd.

In December Senator Dodd told the Senate: "But here in this chamber,
a minority-even an impassioned minority of one-has the right to stand
against all the combined weight and machinery of government and
plead: Stop!"

We can turn that minority into a majority.

Let your Senators know that the people will not support lawmakers who
give immunity to those who violate our rights.

I ask you to call, write or e-mail your Senators today and tell them
that we the people say no to Telecom Immunity.

Paid for by Friends of John Laesch

*** End John Laesch Message ***

Please take action NOW, so we can win all victories that are supposed
to be ours, and forward this alert as widely as possible. 

National Days of Lobbying for Impeachment

Impeachment organizations and their members across the United States are uniting today and tomorrow to demand Congress impeach Bush and Cheney for High Crimes and Misdemeanors. ImpeachBush.org members are urged to take action today and to circulate this action alert to friends and family members. The Winter Lobbying Campaign is in full swing thanks to your support and involvement.

The politicians are feeling the heat of the impeachment movement that has spread all over the country. Let’s keep up the pressure!

Make a donation today and help the impeachment movement get stronger by clicking this link.

Congressman Robert Wexler is organizing his colleagues to ask House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers to begin Cheney impeachment hearings. Wexler is asking his fellow Judiciary Committee Members to co-sign a letter to Conyers.

Take a moment today and ask your representative to urge Chairman Conyers to begin impeachment hearings against both George Bush and Dick Cheney. Click this link to send a letter to Congress now to join in the National Impeachment Lobbying Days.

Congressman Dennis Kucinich was the first member of Congress to take a step for impeachment in April 2007. H. Res. 333, Articles of Impeachment Against Dick Cheney (reintroduced on Nov. 6, 2007, as H Res 799), is sponsored by the following Members of Congress: Jan Schakowsky, Maxine Waters, Hank Johnson, Keith Ellison, Lynn Woolsey, Barbara Lee, Albert Wynn, William Lacy Clay, Dennis Kucinich, Yvette Clarke, Jim McDermott, Jim Moran, Bob Filner, Sam Farr, Robert Brady, Tammy Baldwin, Donald Payne, Steve Cohen, Sheila Jackson Lee, Carolyn Kilpatrick, Ed Towns, Diane Watson, Danny Davis, Raul Grijalva, Gwen Moore.

Robert Wexler, Tammy Baldwin, and Luis Gutierrez are urging the initiation of hearings and are joined in this by Anthony Weiner. Mike Michaud has written to Chairman Conyers calling for Cheney impeachment hearings. Tim Mahoney is said to be open to the idea of impeachment hearings.

Send an email to Congress today and tell them that you insist that they uphold the Constitution and hold high officials accountable for their criminal actions. It is easy. Just click this link to send a letter now.

Help Make Impeachment a Reality

ImpeachBush.org, the largest grassroots impeachment organization in the United States, is launching new nation-wide initiatives for impeachment. Mass rallies, lobbying days, newspaper ads and mass petitioning are making this movement grow. Nothing is more important to Save the Constitution. Please donate today so that this movement will keep growing and we can make impeachment a reality. Click this link to send to make an on-line donation or to send a check.

Emergency Paper Ballot Bill If You Will Speak Out Now

The election season is just getting started, and already the recount
in New Hamphire, where they DO have paper ballots, has exposed
missing memory cards and other machine related breakdowns. As if we
did not have enough proof already, we simply cannot trust our sacred
right to vote in this critical upcoming election to secret
proprietary machines owned by radically partisan private
corporations.

For this reason there is renewed urgency to assist any jurisdiction
that has had it with those infernal problematic machines, and wants
to switch back to tried, true and AUDITABLE paper ballots. Rush Holt
has introduced a stop gap bill, and once again, John Laesch,
candidate for the old Hastert seat in IL-14 is demonstrating his own
leadership on this issue.

Emergency Paper Ballot Action Page:
http://usalone.com/laesch/pnum779.php (anyone can use this link)

Facebook Version:
http://apps.facebook.com/fb_voices/action.php?qnum=pnum779 (to use
this you must be a member of Facebook and logged in)

John Laesch is running in a special primary election coming up in
just 2 weeks on Feb 5th, that can help set the tone for the entire
primary season to come. Please submit the action page sponsored by
John above, and please also consider making a donation to encourage
him to keep standing strong on the issues you care about.

John Laesch Donations: http://www.usalone.com/donations_laesch.php

As the Democratic nominee in 2006, John Laesch pulled 40 percent
against the powerful incumbent Hastert in the general election, and
John is in the running again. With numbers like that, and especially
given the shift in public sentiment in the last two years, this is a
very winnable race.

Here is John's message to you on the importance of acting now to
bring back paper ballots everywhere:

***********

Protect the Integrity of Our Democracy!

Representative Rush Holt (D-NJ) has introduced the "Emergency
Assistance for Secure Elections Act of 2008". This act will help
election authorities using e-voting to convert to paper ballots,
offer emergency paper ballots or convert audits by hand counts. We
want to make sure that every vote is counted, that every election
result is verifiable.

Accoring to Holt, there are six states that have no verifiable paper
trail and counties in 16 other states have the same problem. That
means 20 states cannot fully verify their votes in the primaries or
the November Presidential election.

This is no way to run a Democracy. This legislation needs to be
passed immediately to protect our elections! Our democracy can only
be as strong as the integrity of our elections. It is critical that
we support Rep. Holt’s legislation. Citizens need to know that their
vote will be counted, and that they can trust our electoral process.

Help us ensure our elections are transparent and verifiable, and
protect the integrity of our democracy!

Let your representative know that We the People want all our votes
tocount.

Paid for by Friends of John Laesch

*** End John Laesch Message ***

Please take action NOW, so we can win all victories that are supposed
to be ours, and forward this alert as widely as possible.

Something is happening

For the first time in years, voters across the country are inspired by what the future might hold. To turn this hope into a landslide victory in November, MoveOn's planning the largest, most effective voter- turnout effort that progressives have ever run. Can you chip in $15 a month between now and the election to put a progressive in the White House?


Contribute Now

Something is happening across our country right now. The Democratic caucuses in Iowa saw nearly twice as many voters as expected.¹ Voter turnout among young people was three times higher than in 2004.² In New Hampshire, so many people voted that they almost ran out of ballots.³

For the first time in years, voters of all ages and backgrounds are inspired by what the future might hold. If we can sustain this excitement—and make sure it translates into progressive votes in November—we'll be inaugurating a progressive president exactly one year from today.

But that will take work, from all of us. We have to make sure every citizen who's eager for change actually shows up to the polls. We'll have to make sure they see through Republican spin. We'll have to counter the dirty tricks Republicans use to keep people from voting.

That's why MoveOn is planning the largest, most effective voter-turnout effort that progressives have ever run. Can you chip in $15 a month between now and the election to build a massive progressive voter-turnout campaign? It's easy and you can cancel at any time. Click below to get started.

https://pol.moveon.org/donate/victory2008.html?id=11939-7018451-zeY9oW&t=252

If, a year from today, we inaugurate a new president who's accountable to progressives—coupled with a Democratic Congress and a country hungry for change—we could push for a wave of progressive policies that could literally transform our country. This could be our moment!

Ready for the best news? Our plan to win has been tested and proven—so, we're ready to turn this opportunity into a reality. It combines the most successful aspects of our big voter-turnout campaigns in 2004 and 2006.

We'll use highly effective neighbor-to-neighbor contact in swing states to persuade and get more voters to the polls. And we'll layer the massive phone-banking effort we ran in 2006 on top of it to turn out progressives in some of the tightest races in the country.

Here are a few highlights:

A high-tech voter persuasion program—to tip swing voters our way.

New sophisticated tools to connect volunteers to folks who probably won't vote without a reminder.

Fun house parties, modeled on our 2006 calling parties to increase our outreach to key voters.

Cutting-edge "microtargeting" to find every progressive voter, even those in Republican neighborhoods.

A new effort to target people who vote by mail and need to hear from us well before Election Day.

This November, we have an opportunity to push America into an era of progressive reform, but it's going to take a lot of hard work and we need to get started right away.

Click below to contribute $15 a month from now until Election Day. It's easy, and you can cancel at any time.

https://pol.moveon.org/donate/victory2008.html?id=11939-7018451-zeY9oW&t=253

Thanks for all you do.

–Nita, Daniel, Wes, Marika, and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
Sunday, January 20th, 2008

Sources:

1. "Iowa, New Hampshire are appetizers," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, January 12, 2008
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=706468

2. "Youth Involvement Soars In Iowa," N.H., CBS News, January 8, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3331&id=11939-7018451-zeY9oW&t=254

3. "Voter turnout in New Hampshire sets new primary record," Associated Press, January 9, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3332&id=11939-7018451-zeY9oW&t=255

Message from Ron

What a shot in the arm the Nevada caucuses were, where we took the silver as #2, beating McCain, Huckabee, Thompson, and -- of course -- Giuliani. We also got four more delegates. In South Carolina, we beat Rudy again. A big thank you to all our wonderful donors, volunteers, and voters. So many people worked so hard to spread our message of liberty, honest money, peace, and free-market prosperity. I owe you all my deepest gratitude.  So do our fellow citizens. So do all future Americans.  Most of the mainstream media continue to pretend that we do not exist. Yet soon the race will be down to four candidates-Romney, McCain, Huckabee, and me, and there is no stopping us, as Tim Russert grudgingly pointed out the other night. Thanks to you, we are in this all the way through a brokered convention.

Nevada, by the way, is known as the Silver State for a reason-its great mining industry produced the precious metal for the beautiful silver dollars minted at the fabled Carson City mint. These constitutional coins, include .775 ounces of silver, in accord with the Coinage Act of 1792. Today these coins, worth $1 in my father's day, have about $14 in silver. That is, the dollar is worth 1/14th of what it was, thanks to the counterfeiting Federal Reserve.

The Fed has again taken our country into a terrible crisis. Who else is talking about honest money that cannot be printed up at will by DC bureaucrats? My opponents in both parties are all some variety of print-and-spend Keynesians. Only we are telling the truth, about who is to blame for this recession, and how we can build real prosperity with sound money, no IRS, no deficit, and strict obedience to the Constitution. And, of course, no hyper-expensive, hyper-dangerous empire all around the globe.

When I met with some great ladies in Charleston, all of whom wore beautiful hats, I talked about the young people flocking to our banner.  "Don't forget the young at heart," said one. Darn right! A youthful outlook, work ethic, and optimism characterizes all of us. Frederic Bastiat predicted many years ago that liberty would be saved by the young. He might have added the young at heart as well, and how right he was!

I continue to be astounded not only by all our revolutionaries, but by our fellow travelers. Democrats and even the workers for my Republican opponents come up to me to talk about our ideas. They are fascinated, and want to learn more. Reaching so many people doesn't necessarily mean a victory in the next primary, but it counts for the real changes we want in our country, now and for our children and grandchildren.

Of course, I am mainly paying attention to the next primary!  We are working hard in Florida, in Louisiana for the caucuses, and then for Super Tuesday in more than 20 states. Meanwhile, the whole world is watching how we do tomorrow in fundraising, on a day dedicated to the memory of Martin
Luther King, the great champion of non-violence at home, peace abroad, and civil disobedience against tyrannical government. 

Please make your most generous donation  https://www.ronpaul2008.com/donate/ .  We can't let this movement be stopped, nor slowed. I promise you that I will continue to pour all my heart and mind and strength into the battle. I know you will too. Let's work together for all we love, and all we hope for: freedom!  Surely, it is worth all our efforts.

Sincerely,

Ron

Time To Win The Fight Against Telecom Immunity Again, Please Speak Out Now

Before the holiday break, in defiance of the perverse decision by
Harry Reid to bring forward the version of the FISA bill with telecom
immunity, and thanks to your voices and leadership of Senator Dodd,
this was beaten back by filibuster.

We need to keep beating them back by continuing to speak out on this.

No Telecom Immunity Action Page:
http://usalone.com/laesch/pnum778.php (anyone can use this link)

Facebook Version:
http://apps.facebook.com/fb_voices/action.php?qnum=pnum778 (to use
this you must be a member of Facebook and logged in)

And we have a new incipient national leader on this, John Laesch, who
is running for the old Dennis Hastert seat (IL-14) in a special
primary election coming up in just 3 weeks on March 5th. Please
submit the action page sponsored by John above, and please also
consider making a donation to encourage him to keep standing strong
on the issues you care about.

John Laesch Donations: http://www.usalone.com/donations_laesch.php

As the Democratic nominee in 2006, John Laesch pulled 40 percent
against the powerful incumbent Hastert in the general election, and
John is in the running again. With numbers like that, and especially
given the shift in public sentiment in the last two years, this is a
very winnable race.

Here is John's message to you on the importance of defeating blanket
telecom immunity:

***********

President Bush and the National Security Agency enlisted the help of
telecommunications companies to spy on American citizens without the
FISA required warrants. Now Bush wants Congress to give the telecom
companies permanent immunity from prosecution. I ask you to fight
Telecom Immunity Telecom immunity means that corporations who worked
with the government to illegally spy on our citizens would never have
to answer for their actions.

This bill exemplifies how wealthy corporations have more rights than
U.S. citizens. Large telecommunications companies spied on Americans,
violating the 4th Amendment, the right to privacy, and now Congress
and the president wants to give them a get out of jail free card. We
need to protect the Constitution of the United States. Please join me
in calling our U.S. Representatives.

They would avoid all prosecution and never be held accountable for
their unconstitutional acts. I am appalled by this dangerous possible
precedent that threatens our rights.

In August 2007, Congress betrayed the people and voted to give the
telecom companies temporary immunity for their complicity until
February 2008.

In December 2007, a bill to make this temporary immunity permanent
came to the floor of the Senate. Due to the organized efforts of
activists like you, a group of Senators led by Senator Chris Dodd
managed to postpone a vote the FISA bill.

The Senate is back in full session on January 15th and we expect a
vote on the bill soon...

In December your voice made the difference, and gave your Senators
the most important support there is, the will of the people.

Now your support will give your Senators the courage and will to join
Senator Dodd.

In December Senator Dodd told the Senate: "But here in this chamber,
a minority-even an impassioned minority of one-has the right to stand
against all the combined weight and machinery of government and
plead: Stop!"

We can turn that minority into a majority.

Let your Senators know that the people will not support lawmakers who
give immunity to those who violate our rights.

I ask you to call, write or e-mail your Senators today and tell them
that we the people say no to Telecom Immunity.

Paid for by Friends of John Laesch

*** End John Laesch Message ***

Please take action NOW, so we can win all victories that are supposed
to be ours, and forward this alert as widely as possible.

National Call In Day For Impeachment, Get Your Toll Free and Local Phone Numbers Here

Anyone who thought the leaked National Intelligence Estimate took
President Cheney's planned Iran attack off the table got a wake up
call with the incident in the Strait of Hormuz last week. World War 3
could have started right then and there, even though it was a
completely phony, trumped up provocation. And we have heard nothing
but more bellicose threats from the Cheney White House since.

All this just underlines the ongoing urgency of confronting President
Cheney through impeachment, and Wednesday, Jan 16, has been
designated National Impeachment Call In Day, to vocalize support for
the movement to start impeachment hearings immediately.

Impeachment Call In Action Page:
http://www.usalone.com/join_wexler.php

Here are three tested toll free numbers you can use to make your
phone 800 828-0498, 800 614 2803 and 866 340 9281. We know some
member of Congress have this little game they play where they let
their answering machines fill up, so AFTER you make your call to your
House member, please also call them at their local district office.
On the page above you can instantly lookup all their local district
offices numbers.

This action page also will send an email message to all your members
of Congress in real time, AND add you to the tally at the Wexler
Wants Hearings site if you are not on that already. Many people have
asked us if they can speak out on this issue more than once. Of
course you can. We are encouraging our participants to speak out
recurrently on the impeachment issue, stay on them, keep sending
messages periodically to keep the heat on. So also submit the action
page above, but if you know you are already on the Wexler petition,
just uncheck the checkbox for that option and submit the rest of the
form.

At the same time, the beautiful 11x17 full color posters we have been
putting on college campuses all over the country are as relevant and
timely as ever. They carry the bold message, "If They Bomb Iran You
Get Drafted". With the events last week, this threat is as grave as
ever. And they give the college age demographic two easy ways to
speak out to raise more voices calling for the Constitution to
actually be enforced.

If you make the two phone calls we have asked for, one to Washington
and another backup call at your reps local district office, and
submitted the action page itself to reiterate your call for
impeachment hearings that is the most important contribution of all
to the movement. But if you also make a contribution to help put up
another 25,000 Impeach Cheney posters (on top of the 50,000 out there
already) please use this form to do so. These contributions are what
allow us to distribute posters, caps and everything else to all who
want them, ever if they cannot donate.

Impeach Cheney Poster Contributions:
http://www.usalone.com/impeach_cheney_flyer2.php

You can request as many of these posters as you like if you are near
a college campus and would like to help put some up. If you can't
wait there is a printable pdf on the same page and you can start
putting some up right away. We also have neat countertop display
trays to hold posters to give away and we want to place these in
every bookstore, poster shop, or anything like that, anywhere in the
country. So if you can help find places to put out these display
trays you can request some of those too.

If you haven't got one of the 20,000 Impeach Cheney? caps we have
already shipped leave the checkbox for that checked on the form above
and we'll just send you one. And even if you can't make a
contribution of any kind, all you have to do is email us with a
mailing address . Tell us you want a cap. Tell us how many posters
you can put out, and we'll just send them.

Let's make the call in day a huge success. Remember when the
Democrats weren't even allowed to hold oversight hearings and were
forced into basement rooms? It's time to have impeachment hearings
already. It is not an option. It is their duty. And if the facts
support impeachment, impeachment it must be, whether there are 12
months left in the remaining term or 12 minutes.

"The President, Vice President, and all civil Officers of the United
States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and
Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and
Misdemeanors." [The Constitution, Article II, Section 4]

That's what the Constitution says. Not "can be impeached" . . .
SHALL.

And how do know how we know that? We looked it up in our Dennis
Kucinich special edition Pocket Constitution. And if you would like
to also help support his own call for impeachment, you can get one
too from Dennis for a contribution of just $100. And if you love the
Constitution and protecting and defending is so much that you can
afford to donate $1000, Dennis with personally autograph your copy
for you, together with a personal thank you letter.

Kucinich Pocket Constitutions:
http://www.usalone.com/kucinich_constitution.php

Paid for by Kucinich for President 2008, Inc.

Please take action NOW, so we can win all victories that are supposed
to be ours, and refer this alert to all you know. 

RE: Fox News Gets Dropped by the GOP - Fox Stock Plummets AH

Thanks to:
Sensible Citizens Association for Reefer Education
§ Lori §
Webcorruptor
Crowley

FOX Stock numbers feeling the wrath of RON's America

listen at 3:06....'how do we know he won't be president' and Susan replies....'Oh we'll fix that'.

NewsWire / New York / 1-5-08 // Fox News parent company NewsCorp (NWS/NYSE) has lost over $3 billion in market capitalization in less than a week as the stock plummeted to a 52 week low amid electioneering charges against Fox for excluding a major presidential candidate from a nationally televised forum. Many feel Fox is trying to rig the election.

Please Digg:
http://www.digg.com/politics/FOX_Stock_at_52_Week_Low_Due_to_Electioneering_Charges



How do we know it isn't just a general slump? Look at the volumes in this chart, they jumped massively at the start of boycott.

---

NH GOP drops sponsorship of FOX debate
http://www.boston.com/news/local/politics/primarysource/2008/01/nh_gop_drops_sp.html

The New Hampshire Republican Party dropped their affiliation with a Republican debate sponsored by Fox News tomorrow night because they have limited the number of candidates that can participate.

The first-in-the-nation New Hampshire primary serves a national purpose by giving all candidates an equal opportunity on a level playing field," said Republican chair Fergus Cullen. "Only in New Hampshire do lesser known, lesser funded underdogs have a fighting chance to establish themselves as national figures."

The Fox debate is excluding Texas Congressman Ron Paul even though he polls higher in New Hampshire and has raised significantly more money, and is campaigning more in New Hampshire than Fred Thompson who is invited.

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Dear Ron Paul Supporters,

Ron Paul will appear on the ABC GOP debate this evening. Please check local listings for exact times.

Warmest Regards,
Greg Chamberlain
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Must See Ron Paul Video







Lesson Learned in Iowa - what the 1 county RP won did





I would like to draw your attention to an important lesson that should be learned from the Iowa caucus: Ron Paul won 1 county in the entire state. How did his supporters in that county do that? They bought cheap ads in local newspapers and ran them week after week, changing the ads regularly. If there is one lesson we should learn from Iowa and what is most effective, it is that. Every Meetup group in the country should emulate that strategy

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The Only Peace Candidate - Ron Paul





Fox starting to backtrack



listen at 3:06....'how do we know he won't be president' and Susan replies....'Oh we'll fix that'...



The New Hampshire Republican Party dropped their affiliation with a Republican debate sponsored by Fox News tomorrow night because they have limited the number of candidates that can participate.

“The first-in-the-nation New Hampshire primary serves a national purpose by giving all candidates an equal opportunity on a level playing field," said Republican chair Fergus Cullen. "Only in New Hampshire do lesser known, lesser funded underdogs have a fighting chance to establish themselves as national figures."

The Fox debate is excluding Texas Congressman Ron Paul even though he polls higher in New Hampshire and has raised significantly more money, and is campaigning more in New Hampshire than Fred Thompson who is invited.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/politics/primarysource/2008/01/nh_gop_drops_sp.html



On Becoming A GOP Delegate To Support Ron Paul

Ron Paul NEEDS 1,191 (a majority) of 2,380 DELEGATES to WIN

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On this Date in Bush History 12/21: Jack’s Enablers

“There is neither honour nor gain, got in dealing with a vil-lain.” Ben Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanac, 1733

2005: The Washington Post reports today that disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff is close to reaching a plea deal. In early 2006 Abramoff did indeed plead guilty to fraud, tax evasion, and conspiracy to bribe government officials. The Abramoff scandal reached into the Bush White House when former aide David Safavian was found guilty of lying and obstructing justice concerning his dealings with Abramoff. Other events hint at broader White House Abramoff links.

The LA Times reported that in the U.S. territory of Guam a grand jury had opened an investigation of Mr. Abramoff, issuing a subpoena in 2002. Just one day later the investigation’s chief prosecutor found himself demoted by President Bush. He had held that job for over ten years but was replaced by Leonardo Rapadas, a man Guam Republicans had reportedly recommended to Karl Rove. The Abramoff probe ended a short time later.

Other documents found in Abramoff’s files indicated that Abramoff requested and received $9 million dollars from President Omar Bongo of the African country of Gabon to arrange for a meeting with President Bush. In May 2004 President Bush did, in fact, meet Gabon’s president. A White House spokesperson said that the meeting was “routine” and went “through normal staffing channels”.

“We spent a lot of time talking about Africa, as we should. Africa is a nation that suffers from incredible disease.” President Bush, June 18th 2001, seemingly unaware that Africa is a continent, not a nation.

2006: Condoleezza Rice coldly states today that the lives and money lost in Iraq were “worth the investment”.

On this Date in Bush History 12/20: “amateurish & unreliable”

2000: President-elect Bush says today: “Natural gas is hemispheric. I like to call it hemispheric in nature, because it is a product that we can find in our own neighborhoods.”

2004: A memo by three-star general James ‘Ron’ Helmly, dated today, revealed a “deepening concern” about troop readiness in the Army Reserve. Helmly said that the Reserve is rapidly degenerating into a “broken” force. The general’s letter is more evidence of the harm done to the U.S. military’s capabilities by the tremendous strain caused by the Iraq war.

2006: An AP-AOL News telephone poll is being conducted today. From December 19th through the 21st, just over 1000 adults from every state in the continental U.S. were queried: “If you were asked to name a famous person to be the biggest villain of the year, whom would you choose?” The most frequent answer, given by one out of four respondents, was George W. Bush.

2006: A report prepared for the government’s Intelligence Science Board is released this month. The report reviews techniques used by the government to obtain information from captives. The report concluded: “the harsh techniques used since the 2001 terrorist attacks are outmoded, amateurish, and unreliable”. Specialists say that there is no proof that harsh interrogation techniques are the best way to get information. Billions are spent on new technologies such as spy satellites but the government invests little in the study and development of interrogation techniques, an essential tool in the age of terror. The study suggests that methodologies developed by experienced police detectives could be helpful additions to the government’s interrogation tool set. Given that this is the administration that gave us the botched response to Katrina and the botched occupation of Iraq, “amateurish, and unreliable” interrogation techniques seem par for the course.

On this Date in Bush History 12/19: “"So long as I’m the dictator”

“Let me put it to you bluntly. In a changing world, we want more people to have control over your own life.” President Bush, August 9th 2004

2000: Today’s newspapers report president-elect Bush’s comment of yesterday: “If this were a dictatorship, it’d be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I’m the dictator”.

2005: Bush Attorney General Gonzales tries to defend the president’s decision to allow spying on Americans without obtaining the warrants required by U.S. law. Gonzales claims today that Congress authorized this when it granted Bush the power to fight terrorism in a resolution, the ‘Authorization to use Military Force’, passed days after 9/11. Senator Russ Feingold responded: “This is just an outrageous power grab. Nobody, nobody, thought when we passed a resolution to invade Afghanistan and to fight the war on terror, including myself who voted for it, thought that this was an authorization to allow a wiretapping against the law of the United States. There’s two ways you can do this kind of wiretapping under our law. One is through the criminal code, Title III; the other is through the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. That’s it. That’s the only way you can do it. You can’t make up a law and deriving it from the Afghanistan resolution. The president has, I think, made up a law that we never passed”.

“How strangely will the Tools of a Tyrant pervert the plain Meaning of Words” Colonist and Patriot Sam Adam

On this Date in Bush History 12/18: “facts are stubborn things”

“It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one.” George Washington

2005: President Bush, speaking of Iraq and WMDs, says, “much of the intelligence turned out to be wrong”. There is no mention that the intelligence that turned out to be correct, intelligence indicating that such weapons had been destroyed and that work on the development of such weapons had been discontinued, was ignored by the White House. As VP Cheney said in the administration’s early days “facts are stubborn things”. It is a tragedy that the Bush administration spent so much time ignoring the facts that were true, so that they could pursue the “facts” that they wished to be true.

2005: President Bush speaks about Iraq today: “Despite the violence, Iraqis are optimistic - and that optimism is justified. In all three aspects of our strategy - security, democracy, and reconstruction - we have learned from our experiences, and fixed what has not worked”.
Iraqis might be surprised to learn that what hadn’t been working has now been fixed, as the misery of life in George Bush’s Iraq showed few signs of improvement long after today’s announcement.

2005: The ever-delusional Dick Cheney visits Iraq and concludes that the country has “turned the corner”. Marine Cpl. Bradley Warren asks the Vice President, “From our perspective, we don’t see much as far as gains. I was wondering what it looks like from the big side of the mountain; how Iraq’s looking”. “Well, Iraq’s looking good” Cheney responded. Insurgents would kill more than 30 people today, and the worst was yet to come.

“The law I sign today directs new funds and new focus to the task of collecting vital intelligence on terrorist threats and on weapons of mass production” President Bush, November 27th 2002

On this Date in Bush History 12/17: “it just ain’t right”

“If all that Americans want is security, they can go to prison.” Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States, 1949

2002: Today David Brant, one-time head of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), reports allegations of prisoner abuse at Gitmo to Navy general counsel, Albert Mora. Discussing what he found with the New Yorker magazine in 2006, Brant said that if an NCIS agent had taken part in similar abuses “we would have relieved, removed, and taken internal disciplinary action against the individual - let alone whether outside charges would have been brought”. Brant believes that abusive treatment can harm the government’s case when it attempts to prosecute detainees in the future. Brant thinks forced confessions may not be very reliable, and besides, “it just ain’t right”.

2006: President Bush admits that a NY Times story, a story claiming that his administration authorized spying on Americans without obtaining the warrants to do so that are required under U.S. law, is true. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) makes it a crime, punishable by up to five years in prison, to conduct electronic surveillance, except as “authorized by and conducted pursuant to a search warrant or court order”. The President said, “Yesterday, the existence of this secret program was revealed in media reports after being improperly provided to news organizations. As a result, our enemies have learned information they should not have, and the unauthorized disclosure of this effort damages our national security and puts our citizens at risk. Revealing classified information is illegal, alerts our enemies, and endangers our country”. A strange reaction from the president given that he didn’t seem too upset when it had turned out that members of his own administration had (unbelievably) leaked the identity of a CIA operative to the media. In fact, leaker Karl Rove, was (incredibly) allowed to continue working at the White House.

On this Date in Bush History 12/16: Ignoring US Law

“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” Benjamin Franklin, 1755

2005: The NY Times reports that President Bush has authorized the “surveillance of Americans’ international phone calls and e-mails without obtaining warrants, as required by law”. U.S. law provides a system to get such warrants, using the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA). This court, in fact, rarely turns down such requests. In addition, approval of a warrant can happen within hours in an emergency. Further, Congress, then with a Republican majority in both houses, has stated that if the current system is still not flexible enough, changes to the law can be considered to provide Mr. Bush with the additional surveillance powers he feels he needs. By doing so, seeking legal approval by Congress and using judicial oversight, President Bush would help maintain the balance of powers between the various branches of government. This balance is a fundamental principle that the founding fathers built into the Constitution.

Now here comes King George who believes that he is above all of this. He feels no need to respect the carefully designed system of government checks and balances. He feels no need to honor the Constitutional principles that the nation’s founding fathers fought to establish so many years ago. He believes that the decision to perform this spying on citizens can be made solely within the executive branch of the government, without agreement that there is a reasonable basis to do so from the judicial branch. The president, in giving himself this power, in this manner, just on his own say so, is also providing a basis for giving these powers to future presidents on their own say so. Such presidents, perhaps Hillary Clinton or Mitt Romney, or an individual with desires leaning towards the dictatorial, would have far greater latitude to spy on citizens, should President Bush’s fiat stand. This expansion of presidential power puts the nation at risk by giving future presidents these same unsupervised surveillance rights more suited to a dictatorship than a democracy.

“Information is moving—you know, nightly news is one way, of course, but it’s also moving through the blogosphere and through the Internets.” President Bush, May 2nd 2007

On this Date in Bush History 12/15: The 10 Second Torture Ban

“Kings have long Arms, but Misfortune longer: Let none think themselves out of her Reach.” Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanac, 1752

2005: President Bush said today that he would support GOP Senator John McCain on a bill banning torture. Bush said the ban would “make it clear to the world that this government does not torture and that we adhere to the international convention [against] torture, whether it be here at home or abroad”. Perhaps thinking that he was King George and not a president, Mr. Bush subsequently signed a statement saying he could ignore the torture ban when he feels it necessary for security.

A letter signed by 21 retired military officers urged President Bush to uphold the provisions of the law that he had signed, stating “Clear and unambiguous implementation will help ensure that our brave men and women in uniform will never again feel that to prevail against the enemy they must risk their honor or the values they fight to protect”.

“You took an oath to defend our flag and our freedom, and you kept that oath under seas and under fire.” President Bush, January 10th 2006. One assumes that they kept that oath when under siege as well.

Read more in the 2008 Bush Calendar/Day Planner/Stocking Stuffer: http://www.PoorGeorgesAlmanac.com/onThisDate.htm

On this Date in Bush History 12/14: Poor Performance-Great Reward

“Poverty, Poetry, and new Titles of Honour, make Men ridiculous.” Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanac, 1736

2004: President Bush awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom today to 3 individuals deeply involved in the early messy days of Iraq: Paul Bremer, George Tenet, and Gen. Tommy Franks. Bremer’s disbanding of the Iraqi army and isolation of Baath party members helped fuel the insurgency, encouraging powerful men with guns to become US enemies. Tenet played a role in putting the nation into the Iraq black hole, encouraging Bush with his infamous ‘slam dunk’ statement. Former Army lieutenant Paul Rieckhoff, an Iraq vet, called the Bush’s awards “a slap in the face to the troops”, saying the administration “loves the big PR move ... It validates how out of touch Washington is with the reality of what is on the ground in Iraq”. Former Bush insider Ken Adelman has said the three “who got the highest civilian medals the President can give were responsible for a lot of the debacle that was Iraq”.

2006: The Army’s top general, Peter Schoomaker, testified to Congress today. Schoomaker said that the active-duty Army “will break” unless changes are made. Banging his hands on the table, Schoomaker said current Pentagon policies are “not right”.

Bush History 12/13: NASA Pressured

“The planet has a fever. If your baby has a fever, you go to the doctor ... If the crib’s on fire, you don’t speculate that the baby is flame-retardant. You take action.” Nobel Peace Prize Recipient, Former Vice President Al Gore

2005: Astronomer Larry Travis tells the NY Times that around this date (mid-December 2005) he had walked in on a call between someone in the Bush administration and a NASA PR person. The White House was demanding that NASA chief climate scientist, James Hansen, be “better controlled”. Feeling an obligation to live up to NASA’s mission statement, which included the words “to understand and protect our home planet”, Dr. Hansen’s discussions on global warming have not been welcomed by the oil-friendly Bush administration. Dr. Hansen told the Times that he would ignore White House restrictions. Dr. Travis said of Hansen: “He’s not trying to create a war over this but really feels very strongly that this is an obligation we have as federal scientists, to inform the public”.

2006: President Bush says on this date “Today I heard from some opinions that matter a lot to me”. The president did not specify by what mechanism the opinions were able to speak.

Bush History 12/12: “Buying Puppies”

“Sudden Power is apt to be insolent, Sudden Liberty saucy; that behaves best which has grown gradually.” Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanac, 1753

2005: Franklin’s wisdom seems quite timely. In a speech today President Bush says of Iraq “It’s a remarkable transformation for a country that has virtually no experience with democracy”, adding that Iraq today is “buzzing with signs and sounds of democracy in action”. President Bush did not say if the “sounds of democracy in action” include suicide bombers, roadside explosive devices, rocket propelled grenades, and car bombs.

Staff Sgt. Kevin Shangraw, filmed by fellow soldier Mike Moriarty for the documentary ‘The War Tapes’, may not be as convinced as President Bush seems to be about democracy’s chances in Iraq. Shangraw said of the president’s Iraq effort: “Well, I think it’s a fantastic opportunity for the Iraqis to establish a new history in the country and be able to be a free and democratic society, which in turn should stabilize the whole Middle East and create a freer and more stable earth as we know it”. Sgt. Shangraw added, “after that happens, maybe we can buy everybody in the world a puppy”.

“Wait for us to succeed peace. Wait for us to have two states, side by side—is for everybody coming together to deny the killers the opportunity to destroy. And that’s what they want to do.” President Bush, June 15th 2003

On This Date in Bush History 12/11: Big Threats, Small Actions

“Well done is better than well said.” Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanac, 1737

2001: President George W. Bush says today: “One former al Qaeda member has testified in court that he was involved in an effort 10 years ago to obtain nuclear materials. And the leader of al Qaeda calls that effort ‘a religious duty’ ... Together, we must keep the world’s most dangerous technologies out of the hands of the world’s most dangerous people. A crucial partner in this effort is Russia - a nation we are helping to dismantle strategic weapons, reduce nuclear material, and increase security at nuclear sites”.

Decisive talk from the president. Yet, in 2004, the Washington Post publishes the results of a Harvard study. That study states: “Less fissile material was secured in the two years after [9/11] than in the two years just before” and “Half the equipment dispatched to Russia nearly four years ago as a fast, interim solution [to secure nuclear materials] remains in warehouses”. This, despite Bush’s stated belief that the danger of weapons of mass destruction, especially nuclear weapons, falling into terrorists’ hands is the greatest threat we face. It seems odd, therefore, that in the wake of 9/11 the Bush administration would actually be securing less foreign nuclear material than had been done prior to 9/11.

It would also seem puzzling that President Bush, as his major initiative against terrorism, mobilizes the U.S. military at great expense to invade a country that inspectors had said, prior to the war, showed no evidence of possessing nuclear materials. Meanwhile North Korea and Iran were known to be developing their nuclear capabilities. While force is not the solution to every problem, it does seem odd that the country where the most U.S. military resources are being expended is non-nuclear Iraq.

“you disarm, or we will.” President Bush, October 5th 2002

On This Date in Bush History 12/10: Competence Punished

2001: President Bush says today, “I couldn’t imagine somebody like Osama bin Laden understanding the joy of Hanukkah.” Nor the 4th of July, one supposes.

2002: Today President Bush nominates William Donaldson to head the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), replacing the widely criticized Harvey Pitt. In the wake of the Enron and Worldcom scandals Mr. Donaldson would implement tough reforms, including a requirement that CEOs certify their financial reporting. Inaccurate reporting cost employees and investors huge amounts of money, as witnessed by the losses of Enron retirees, employees, and shareholders. Mr. Donaldson seemed the rarest of high-level Bush appointees; someone who was competent, qualified, and actually doing a good job. President Bush’s friends in the business world were not enthusiastic about Donaldson’s reforms; reforms designed to protect people who might otherwise be harmed by future Worldcom or Enron type corporate deceptions. As is usually the case when being given the choice of protecting the little guys (those who might be victimized by future Enron-like collapses), or the big guys (powerful, wealthy corporations) President Bush went with the big guys. It was good-bye to Mr. Donaldson and hello to new SEC head Christopher Cox (a man who, incredibly enough, was once a defendant in a lawsuit that alleged he misled investors; that suit was settled out of court).

2004: President Bush says today, “And so during these holiday seasons, we thank our blessings”.

On This Date in Bush History 12/9: Silenced Science

2001: The ever-delusional Dick Cheney says today, “It’s been pretty well confirmed that [9/11 highjacker Mohamed Atta] did go to Prague and he did meet with a senior official of the Iraqi intelligence service ... before the attack”. Most who looked into this came to believe it not to be true, but Cheney kept repeating this. After extensive investigation, the 9/11 commission said, “We do not believe that such a meeting occurred”. By June 20th 2004 even Mr. Cheney was admitting, sort of, that maybe what he had been saying for quite awhile now was false. Strangely, he chose to do this in his own unique, ever delusional way. In a CNBC interview Mr. Cheney is asked about Atta: “You have said in the past that it was, quote, ‘pretty well confirmed’ “. Mr. Cheney interrupts to say, “No, I never said that”. If that’s what you want to believe, Mr. VP.

2002: President Bush announces the nomination of John Snow for Treasury Secretary today, replacing Paul O’Neill. To help Snow push more tax cuts for the wealthy an analysis of unfunded future government obligations that had been ordered by O’Neill was removed from budget documents issued under new Treasurer Snow. Scott Burns of The Dallas Morning News said the removed data “shows the United States is broke”. Burns believes the analysis was deleted because the tax cut “sales job would be awkward if an official government document announced we were already $43 trillion in the hole”. Rather than be honest with the American people, giving them the hard facts of the nation’s obligations, the Bush administration removed those facts from the budget, thus advancing a more important goal: more tax cuts for the rich.

2006: The Union of Concerned Scientists announced today that 10,000 scientists have signed a petition calling on the Bush administration to cease muzzling of scientific findings that “are in conflict with the administration’s policies or with the views of its political supporters”.

On This Date in Bush History 12/8: A Soldier’s Plea

“Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.” Benjamin Franklin’s Thirteen Virtues

2004: To the cheers of his fellow troops, a soldier complained to President Bush’s Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, saying “Our vehicles are not armored. We’re digging pieces of rusted scrap metal and compromised ballistic glass ... to put on our vehicles to take into combat”. Spc. Thomas Wilson of the Tennessee National Guard added, “We do not have proper armored vehicles”.

While saying that work is being done to improve the situation, Mr. Rumsfeld added that “you go to war with the army you have”. The truth, of course, is that President Bush’s people picked the schedule for this fight. It didn’t have to happen until the Pentagon could provide U.S. troops with the protection they deserve.

“I think war is a dangerous place.” President Bush, May 7th 2003

Read more at the 2008 Calendar/Day Planner/Stocking Stuffer: http://www.PoorGeorgesAlmanac.com/onThisDate.htm

On This Date in Bush History 12/7: “foreign-handed foreign policy”

“I will have a foreign-handed foreign policy.” Presidential candidate Bush, speaking September 27th 2000 in Redwood, California

2005: In a speech dubbed “Ask Me No Questions, I’ll Tell You Some Lies” by Arianna Huffington, President Bush speaks before the nonpartisan Council on Foreign Relations. While asking questions is a tradition at the Council, President Bush declined questions. In 2003 President Bush said “Today, in Iraq, there’s discussion, debate, protest, all the hallmarks of liberty”. Today, at the Council on Foreign Relations, given the opportunity to engage in discussion and debate, ‘the hallmarks of liberty’, the president declined.

2006: Republican Senator Gordon Smith (OR) said of the Iraq war today, “I, for one, am at the end of my rope when it comes to supporting a policy that has our soldiers patrolling the same streets in the same way being blown up by the same bombs day after day. That is absurd. It may even be criminal”. Fortunately, after years of mismanagement that cost many lives, the situation showed signs of improvement in 2007.

2006: Seattle’s federal prosecutor, John McKay, was ordered to resign today by the Bush / Gonzales Justice Dept. Robert Lasnik, the chief federal judge for western Washington state said, “This is unanimous among the judges: John McKay was a superb U.S. attorney; for the Justice Department to suggest otherwise is just not fair”. McKay said no reason was given to him for his dismissal, though he had been told of administration dissatisfaction in his not using his position to go after Democrats aggressively enough in an election year.

Read more at the 2008 Calendar/Day Planner/Stocking Stuffer: http://www.PoorGeorgesAlmanac.com/onThisDate.htm

On This Date in Bush History 12/6: Gifts to the Rich

2002: Bush Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill (and former Alcoa head) resigns today. A book on O’Neill by former Wall Street Journal reporter Ron Suskind, sheds light on today’s resignation. O’Neill was Suskind’s primary source.

In a ‘60 Minutes’ interview Suskind describes a White House meeting discussing yet another round of tax cuts for the wealthy. President Bush, surprisingly, expresses hesitancy. As Suskind describes it, Bush asks: “ ‘Haven’t we already given money to rich people? This second tax cut’s gonna do it again. Didn’t we already, why are we doing it again?’ After a bit Bush comes back to it again, saying ‘Well, shouldn’t we be giving money to the middle...’ “. Suskind continues: “Karl Rove is saying to the president, a kind of mantra. ‘Stick to principle. Stick to principle.’ He says it over and over again. Don’t waver”.

O’Neill’s opposition to more tax cuts for the wealthy gets him in trouble with the VP. Dick Cheney responded to O’Neill’s opposition by saying, “We won the mid-term elections, this is our due”. The tax cuts went through. When O’Neill said that he couldn’t support them in light of the soaring deficit and the expenses of a post-9/11 America, Cheney asked O’Neill to resign.

As for Mr. Cheney’s well-off friends, they got, yet again, what they consider to be their due. America’s kids will get the bill.

“Poverty wants some things; Luxury many things; Avarice all things.” Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanac, 1735

Read more at the 2008 Calendar/Day Planner/Stocking Stuffer: http://www.PoorGeorgesAlmanac.com/onThisDate.htm

On This Date in Bush History 12/5: Angering Allies

2005: Secretary of State Rice visits Europe today to “highlight ... U.S. efforts to partner with Europe”. Achieving such cooperation is not helped when Bush policies result in mistakes that put allies in difficult positions and undermine universal values. Such a stituation would crop up in this visit, resulting in German Chancellor Merkel extracting an acknowledgement of U.S. error from Rice.

The error was the CIA’s kidnapping of an innocent car salesman, a German citizen, on his way to vacation. Worse, when the U.S. realized, in March 2004, that they had an innocent man they kept him imprisoned anyway, delaying his release until late May while deciding how to handle things, according to NBC News. Former CIA counsel Jeffrey Smith told NBC: “It’s wrong morally, it’s wrong legally, and it violates the basic principles of the United States”.

Andrew Tyrie, working for the UK’s parliament said, “The U.S. cannot go around kidnapping people ... not expect there to be consequences”.

Bush actions such as this certainly don’t help promote Rice’s goal “to partner with Europe”. European police work has foiled numerous anti-U.S. terror plots and resulted in many legitimate arrests; the last thing America needs is to antagonize a very valuable partner in the war on terror.

“...transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences” The Declaration of Independence, listing how King George has abused his powers in the Colonies, 1776

Also on this date, in 2002, a White House spokesperson says “The President [and Rumsfeld] ... would not assert as plainly and bluntly as they have that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction if it was not true and if they did not have a solid basis for saying it”. Read more at the 2008 Calendar/Day Planner/Stocking Stuffer: http://www.PoorGeorgesAlmanac.com/onThisDate.htm

“Repetition does not transform a lie into a truth.” Franklin D. Roosevelt

On This Date in Bush History 12/4: In Denial

2005: The world’s nations are together in Montreal today. A conference to discuss the problem of global warming is well under way. Michael Oppenheimer of Princeton University calls this time “the critical decade” for dealing with climate change, while there still is time to make a difference. “We do have a little time, but not much ... If we don’t get a serious program in place for the long term ... we will simply not make it and we will be crossing limits which will basically produce impacts that are unacceptable”, Oppenheimer says.

Given the importance of the topic, and the gathering of so many nations to discuss it, the Bush administration decides to send no one. Eileen Claussen, president of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change is quoted in the Washington Post as saying, “Most people are ready to take the dialogue forward. The only place where that is not the case is the [Bush] administration”.

U.S. companies also send representatives to the gathering, despite President Bush’s apparent desire that everyone stick their heads in the sand and pretend that climate change is not happening. Dennis Canavan of Johnson & Johnson is quoted in the Washington Post, saying: “We feel climate change is very real”. Despite his company having grown by a factor of four since 1990, it has been able to cut its greenhouse emissions by 3.1 percent during this time. Johnson & Johnson: moving forward on dealing with climate change. The Bush administraiont: not so much.

“We want them to know how to teach the science of reading. In order to make sure there’s not this kind of federal—federal cufflink.” George W. Bush, speaking about education, March 30th 2000

Also on this date, Laura Bush makes Christmas gift book recommendations ("Poor George’s Almanac” is not among them). Read more in the 2008 Calendar/Day Planner/Stocking Stuffer: http://www.PoorGeorgesAlmanac.com/onThisDate.htm

On This Date in Bush History-"a strategic error of the first order”

“Iraq is a very important part of securing the homeland, and it’s a very important part of helping change the Middle East into a part of the world that will not serve as a threat to the civilized world, to people like—or to the developed world, to people like—in the United States.” President Bush, April 3rd 2007

2003: The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College posts a study by Jeffrey Record today. The study criticizes the Bush administration mixing the Sadam and al Qaeda threats saying this was “was a strategic error of the first order ... The result has been an unnecessary preventive war ... that has created a new front in the Middle East for Islamic terrorism and diverted attention and resources away from securing the American homeland ... The war against Iraq was not integral to the [war on terror], but rather a detour from it”.

The study’s author served as an advisor in the Mekong Delta during the Vietnam War, and as a staff member for the Senate Armed Services Committee. He teaches at the Air Force’s Air War College in Alabama.

Bush’s Defense Secretary Rumsfeld said the study “obviously is inaccurate”. Obviously! An LA Times article quotes a former National Security Council staff member saying, “The criticism does not seem out of line with many of the conversations I have had with officers in every branch of the military”.

“These people don’t like freedom. You know why? Because it clashes with their ideology. We actually misnamed the war on terror, it ought to be the struggle against ideological extremists who do not believe in free societies who happen to use terror as a weapon to try to shake the conscience of the free world.” President Bush, August 6th 2004

Read more in the 2008 Calendar: http://www.PoorGeorgesAlmanac.com/onThisDate.htm

On This Date in Bush History 12/3: Brownie’s FEMA

“He has chang’d his one ey’d horse for a blind one.” Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanac, 1733

2001: President Bush announces today that he intends to nominate Michael Brown to head FEMA. ‘Brownie’ as the president calls him, is to become infamous as the face of the incompetent federal response to Hurricane Katrina. While Brown has little to recommend him in the area of emergency management, he did lead an Arabian horse association for nine years. ‘Brownie’ replaces former FEMA director and longtime Bush associate Joe Allbraug. Allbraug also had no notable emergency management experience but he served as head of Bush’s 2000 campaign.

Thus Mr. Brown becomes the second poorly qualified individual appointed by Bush to lead FEMA, a critical asset in the age of terrorism. Bush’s choices stand in sharp contrast to Bill Clinton appointee James Lee Witt, a true expert in the emergency management. Witt’s handling of the Northridge California earthquake, as well as widespread Mississippi river flooding, earned him and FEMA wide praise.

In 2006 Congress would enact a law requiring that the head of FEMA have “a demonstrated ability in and knowledge of emergency management”. President Bush, never one to value competency on the job, would issue a signing statement saying he believed he did not have to obey this requirement.

“So please give cash money to organizations that are directly involved in helping save lives - save the life who had been affected by Hurricane Katrina.” President Bush, September 6th 2005

2006: Columbia University history professor Eric Foner’s op-ed appears in the Washington Post today. Foner compares the faults of presidents previously judged amongst the worst (Andrew Johnson, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge and Richard Nixon) and points out that one president, President Bush, “has managed to combine the lapses of leadership, misguided policies and abuse of power of [all] his failed predecessors. I think there is no alternative but to rank him as the worst president in U.S. history”.

Read more in the 2008 Calendar/Day Planner/Stocking Stuffer: http://www.PoorGeorgesAlmanac.com/onThisDate.htm

On This Date in Bush History 12/2: “the worst of the presidents”

“This is historic times.” President Bush, April 20th 2004

2002: White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer talks today of Saddam and WMDs: “If he declares he has none, then we will know that Saddam Hussein is once again misleading the world”. Or, as it turns out, he may just be telling the truth. Bush’s Iraq weapons inspector David Kay admitted Saddam had no WMDs in October 2003, adding “Iraq’s large-scale capability to develop, produce, and fill new chemical weapon munitions was reduced - if not entirely destroyed - during Operations Desert Storm and Desert Fox, 13 years of U.N. sanctions and U.N. inspections.”

2005: Columnist and presidential biographer Richard Reeves writes today: “Poor James Buchanan, the 15th president, is generally considered the worst president in history ... Buchanan set the standard, a tough record to beat. But there are serious people who believe that George W. Bush will prove to do that, be worse than Buchanan. I have talked with three significant historians in the past few months who would not say it in public, but who are saying privately that Bush will be remembered as the worst of the presidents” Poor George.

“you don’t have much time to sit around and wander, lonely, in the Oval Office, kind of asking different portraits, how do you think my standing will be?” President Bush, March 16th 2005

Read more in the 2008 Calendar/Day Planner/Stocking Stuffer: http://www.PoorGeorgesAlmanac.com

Bush Quotes

"You can fool some of the people all the time, and those are the ones you want to concentrate on.” George W. Bush, March 2001

“I want to make sure everybody who has a job wants a job.” - George Bush

“It is white.” - George W. Bush, when asked what the White house was like by a student in East London

On This Date in Bush History 01/01: Poor George

“Each year one vicious habit rooted out, in time might make the worst man good throughout.” Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanac, 1738

2003: On this date, Ron Suskind writes in Esquire Magazine that the first President Bush fired assistant Karl Rove for leaking information. Contrast this action, the firing of Karl Rove for a breach of integrity, with the inaction of the current President Bush who continued Karl Rove’s White House employment after Rove had leaked the identity of a CIA operative to the press.

“‘Tis a Shame that your Family is an Honour to you! You ought to be an Honour to your Family.” Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanac, 1750

2006: “Happy New Year to you all. Thanks. I can’t think of a better way to start 2006 then here at this fantastic hospital” says President Bush. The president is visiting wounded troops today at San Antonio’s Amputee Care Center of Brooke Army Medical Center. President Bush added, “As you can possibly see, I have an injury myself - not here at the hospital, but in combat with a cedar. I eventually won. The cedar gave me a little scratch”. Poor George.

“I do think we need for a troop to be able to house his family. That’s an important part of building morale in the military.” President Bush, March 12th 2001

As promised, with the arrival of the New Year, these Bush History posts are now history (though they will continue on Facebook via the free ‘Poor George’ application( http://www.facebook.com/p.php?api_key=38e2355ed0122961e17b14ac684b1613 ), and at the website below). To those who responded, or were faithful readers, thanks, and Happy New Year to all!

“Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man.” (or woman) Benjamin Franklin

a New Year's appeal from Ramsey Clark -- no war on Iran!

The impeachment movement starts 2008 off right

Protesters carry an enormous copy of the Constitution at the Rose Bowl parade.

We will not rest. With your help, we will continue this historic struggle. The impeachment movement was out in force the first day of 2008. At yesterday's Rose Bowl parade, impeachment activists and supporters came out in full force with banners, and signs, calling for the immediate removal of Bush and Cheney. This was a great action, and a great way to get the message of impeachment out to a broader audience. Surely, many of yesterday's television viewers and parade participants got their first exposure to this movement. They now know that the people of this country can and will make a difference, and not stand idly by as the Bush administration rips the Constitution to shreds.

Please make an urgently needed donation so that we can place newspaper ads, organize mass rallies and demonstrations, and continue a vigorous nationwide lobbying effort. We can't do it without your continued your support. Please click this link to make a donation.

"I ask you to resolve now to resolve to join us and do all you can to create a credible and hopefully irresistible demand for the impeachment of President Bush. To make an urgently needed donation to help build the important work of ImpeachBush in the coming year, click on this link." - Ramsey Clark

We must resolve now to do all within our power to remove by impeachment, as the Constitution requires us to do, George W. Bush, Vice President Cheney and other civil officers who bear responsibility for the high crimes and misdemeanors of the Bush Administration from office.

While he remains president, George W. Bush will not let anything stand in the way of his plans to attack Iran. When the National Intelligence Estimate disclosed in early December 2007 that Iran had abandoned plans to develop nuclear weapons several years earlier, President Bush conceded he knew this months earlier even when he spoke of "World War III" with Iran. Rather than offering a ray of hope that his plans for Iran might change on the day the new Intelligence Estimate was announced, he responded that Iran has been a threat, is still a threat, will remain a threat, and that sanctions against Iran must be tightened.

We now have close to one million registered votes for impeachment... Those of us who believe impeachment is imperative must assume the responsibility to arouse the American people to embrace the impeachment issue and the threat to the future the Bush Administration poses.

People in all walks of life are deeply concerned and have taken courageous action to speak out on the aspect of President Bush’s conduct that concerns them most.

I ask you to resolve now to resolve to join us and do all you can to create a credible and hopefully irresistible demand for the impeachment of President Bush, Vice President Cheney and their principal advisers. This will mean many hours of effective effort by each of us to secure votes for impeachment, persuade members of the House of Representatives to support and vote for impeachment and contributions and fund raising to wage a major nationwide campaign in the media, on the streets where we live and in the halls of Congress.

To make an urgently needed donation to help build the important work of ImpeachBush in the coming year, click on this link.

-- Ramsey Clark

To read the full article by Ramsey Clark, click on this link.