"There's a lot of war talk these days, as there should be, but it's all aimed at making sure the world is peaceful."
                                                                                       ~George "Orwell" Bush
                                                                                           Rochester, MI, July 18, 2002

Look at the highlighted paragraph of this AP article--'nuff said. 

Obama veep announcement expected in coming days

By NEDRA PICKLER – 1 day ago

CHICAGO (AP) — Barack Obama will publicly disclose his vice presidential choice in the coming days, though the Democrat is keeping most aides who are preparing for the announcement in the dark and is giving away nothing to voters as he campaigns....
                                                                   ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~ 

His top contenders are said to include Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Less traditional choices mentioned include former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, an abortion-rights supporter, and Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, the Democratic vice presidential prick in 2000 who now is an independent....

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

The Truth of Obama’s Tax Proposals

Both presidential candidates have proposed tax plans cutting taxes for American families. However, the Obama plan gives the biggest tax cuts for those with the lowest income, while the McCain’s biggest cuts go to the very wealthy. Moreover, McCain misrepresents Obama’s tax proposals with false and misleading claims. GOP radio ads make the statement that Obama would raise taxes on middle income families making $42,000 or higher, which is a complete fallacy. In reality, Obama proposes tax cuts for these families and only increases taxes for those families with an income exceeding $250,000 or $200,000 for single taxpayers. The ads also claimed that Obama wants higher taxes for small businesses, seniors and on life savings. Again, these claims are absolutely false. In fact, Obama promises a $1000 tax cut for families with a yearly income of $150,000 or less and offers additional tax cuts for education, childcare, and mortgage payments and for the rising costs of gas and foods for low-income families.  For seniors with less than $50,000 yearly income, Obama would eliminate income taxes altogether.

The McCain and GOP ads on taxes, approved by John McCain, show a pattern of deceit, misrepresenting what Obama proposes. On the other hand, Obama’s proposals will make the tax system more fair and efficient.

Henry W. Tieleman

“What is widely known is the skin-deep, out-of-date McCain image.”

Last Saturday, Frank Rich, wrote another of his incisive Op Eds in the NYT. In the column, he points out the many misconceptions people have of McCain and the inaccurate rosy picture his campaign and the Republican Party are painting. Some of the people who do know McCain well such as Republican Rita Hauser don’t trust his judgment, temperament, or cooperative skills. She says, “He doesn’t listen carefully to people and make reasoned judgments [.] If John says ‘I’m going with so and so,’ you can’t count on that the next morning,” she complained, adding, “That’s not the man we want for president.”

We cannot let voters fall for the wrong candidate again. Frank Rich cannot reach enough voters by himself. We need to do our part by countering misinformation anytime and every time we hear it. This article is a must read!

When I look at John McCain, I think he looks like he is stuffed. I know, I know--that is not a very nice thing to say about a person, especially an older person, but I can't help it. He looks like he has been stuffed in expensive suits and shoes, and a ventriloquist is telegraphing his words. People are saying he did well at the Saddleback Forum, but, with all due respect to his injuries as a POW, he looked and sounded like the dummy making all the right moves and saying all the pandering statements as someone else pulls the strings and mouths the words. Here is an example: If you saw the forum, perhaps what I am about to describe struck you as insincere as it did me. Some media, especially bloggers have begun to comment and question the veracity of the following story, and I'm glad that I am not alone in my initial response to hearing it. I gave a little 'huh' when I listened to his recollection about when he was a POW, a guard wordlessly communicated with him by drawing a cross on the ground on Christmas Day, and it symbolized a form of worship between two Christians. It just seemed too much like a Hallmark moment. Then, I am reminded that it is very similar to a story Solzhenitsyn wrote in The Gulag Archipelago. Read more about it in Mark Nickolas's piece on the topic on Huffington Post. No one can say for sure that this event did not take place, but his decision to tell it in a setting with Christian evangelicals makes me wonder if he isn't just lying pandering to get a few more votes.?.?.

Watch Governor Kaine spank Karl Rove Sunday on Meet The Press

McCain tries to pretend he's an everyman. He has never been that. His grandfather and father were both Navy Admirals; he went to private schools; his family relations allowed him a spot in the Naval Academy, which he almost flunked out of; he divorced his disabled first wife, after she took care of his kids and waited for him to be released from POW camp, because she had an accident that left her not as attactive to him as Cindy McCain; he married the heiress, (who he had been romancing while still a married man,) one month later. Now, in his campaign, he talks about how to overcome being part of the working poor. But, it's easy to advise the poor when you have married into money, as McCain has. It's harder to empathize when you have never had to suffer as some of the working poor have. He has 10 mansions; many vets are homeless and suffering. He has 10 mansions when some have tried to buy a home only to lose it because they cannot keep up with increasing payments. Does he care? Look at his record on assisting the poor, and in particular, look at his record on helping veterans who arrive home with medical and/or psychological problems. He doesn't seem to emphasize so much with their problems when it comes down to putting your vote where your mouth is.
Watch this video by Robert Greenwald of Brave New Films to see what a hypocrite McCain really is.

 

Democracy Prevails

A Political Action Committee Founded in 2004

Sunday, August 17, 2008

DEEDS for VIRGINIA

Please join the Radford City Democratic Committee and

Senator Creigh Deeds, 2009 Candidate for Governor

For a Meet and Greet

When: Monday August 18, 6:00 pm

Where: Radford Recreation Hall

200 George Street, Radford

To RSVP, or for more information, please contact the Radford City Chair.

Gail Montuori at gailmontuori@hotmail.com

This event is free and open to the public.

 

Democracy Prevails

A Political Action Committee Founded in 2004

Sunday, August 10, 2008

A Guest Column by Kathy Welch

Stand Up for Democrats

Elect Barack Obama Series,

Vol. 4, No. 2, August 14, 2008

 Short Takes

• Barack Obama’s Energy Plan Got Short Shrift at Hands of Media.  Here’s Obama’s plan <http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/newenergy>.  Scroll down for links to the longer version.  Also, read here: http://www.alternet.org/environment/94001/obama_gets_high_marks_for_new_energy_plan/

• McCain’s Attack Ad on Taxes.  McCain’s recent attack ads on Obama’s taxation proposals are among the most deceptive ads ever run.  Every aspect of the ads is false. Here are the facts,  http://www.newsweek.com/id/151621.  Please write letters-to-the editor (LTEs).

• Condemn McCain’s Suggestion that Only He Puts “County First.”  You know the subtext.  McCain’s defamatory talk bodes poorly for the coming weeks.   We need LTEs.

McCain Campaign Advisor Representing Georgia, Making Foreign Policy, Fanning Flames of War?

In his warmongering, McCain’s not just tone deaf.  He’s also compromised on policy toward Georgia. Top McCain foreign policy advisor, Randy Scheuneman, a lobbyist and former Director of the Project for a New American Century, helped engineer the war in Iraq.  Last week, Scheuneman was paid $200,000 by Georgia for consulting services, about one day before McCain issued a policy statement backing and emboldening the Republic of Georgia in its grab for disputed regions. Russia has seriously over-reacted. So has John McCain.  Georgia has lobbied McCain 49 times.  Note also that McCain has a long history with the hegemonic PNAC<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joseph-a-palermo/john-mccain-and-the-proje_b_107940.html>, leaving McCain’s judgment to lead in question.  Check these links on Georgia: <http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=3596>,<http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/#26186565>,  <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/#26186592>, <http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20080812_georgia_war_a_neocon_election_ploy/>, 

<http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/94787/did_the_u.s._give_georgia_the_green-light_/>,

<http://www.truthout.org/article/us-troops-georgia-russia-not-backing-down>,

< http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/16548.html>,

< http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/16545.html>.

Respond to Letter Writers Questioning Dems Patriotism

A letter in the Roanoke Times this week was headed with “If you love America, Vote Republican.”   Wherever you live, you’ve seen this stuff.  You can counter with these or (better) your own talking points:

·         Dems don’t need to defend their patriotism.  It’s obvious that one giving years of his/her lives to public service (and years running for president) love their country.   It should never be questioned. 

·         Voting for Republican hasn’t turned out well for America, especially during the 3 family Bush terms.

·         Bush has managed to:

o    Obtain historic lows in approval ratings for taking the US in the wrong direction.

o    Be asleep at the switch when we were attacked on 9-11.

o    Establish a unitary executive, upend the Constitution, and establish a surveillance state.

o    Wage war against a country having nothing to do with 9-11, costing over 4,000 American lives, 100,000 Iraqi civilians, 2 million internal and 2 million external refugees.

o    Dismantle Homeland Security by sending our National Guard oversea, and putting know-nothings in charge where they don’t have the expertise they need.

o    Wreck the economy, which is riddled with corruption, fraud and abuse.

o    Destroy the dream of home ownership for millions.

 

o     Dump millions more into the ranks of the unemployed.

o    Force more Americans into the ranks of the uninsured.

o    Try to privatize Social Security ( Wall St. scandals show how risky that is). Denying he’d privatize it, double-talker McCain wants to give younger workers money from the system for their “ private accounts” (i.e., privatize it). By de-funding  SS,  he wouldn’t be able to pay current retirees and the system would collapse.

o    We’ll show we love America by working to take her back from the ruinous practices of Bush-McCain.

John McCain Not Supporting Veterans

For all the bravado of the McCain campaign about supporting the troops, for all its circumscribing what is “allowed” to be said to the point that any criticism of the war is an “affront” to the troops, McCain does not have much of a track record.  Rather, he supports mindless and endless shows of force abroad as a façade for supporting the troops.  McCain has (some of this material is paraphrasing Schecter, The Real McCain):

Opposed Dems 2004 bill to provide more body armor and armored vehicles.

• Opposed the Webb GI Bill for Iraq veterans, and then, when it passed, used the “we” to give the impression that he helped pass it and that he accomplished great things for vets. 

• Opposed Akaka (D-HI) S. Amdt 149 to increase medical care by 2.8 billion in 2006. 

• In 2006, opposed S. Amdt 1852, which set aside $10 million for readjustment counseling services for troops, despite the evidence that returning soldiers often seriously require such treatments.

• In 2006, again opposed monies for Veterans Medical care.  In all these cases, he offered no alternative measures of his own (see Schecter, The Real McCain, p. 35).

• He opposed Dodd’s S.Amdt 2735 to shore up failing infrastructure at veterans’ hospitals.  The bill would have required a minor rollback of the capital gains tax to pay for it. 

• He opposed S. Amdt 2737 (Reed-D-RI) which would have provided much needed equipment for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

• He opposed exempting military personnel from some facets of bankruptcy (Durbin-D-Il).

• Using 155 Senate votes affecting troops, veterans, and military families, since Spt. 11, 2001, the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America found John McCain scored a D.  No one got an A.  Thirteen Dems got A-. 22/23 Senators getting B+ were Democrats.

Newts and Toadies: History Prof. Gingrich has No Memory of Real History (Or Else Hopes We Don’t)

Former Speaker of the House, New Gingrich, who spearheaded the impeachment of Bill Clinton, caused the government shutdown of government of 1995, and whose Contract On (I mean  with) America, sought to gut government programs Americans actually want, is trying to instigate another shutdown.  This is the same Newt/Toad, who sat on the Defense Policy board along with Richard Pearl, etc. and stoked the war in Iraq for hegemonic reasons.  Now Newt thinks Congress should grandstand on energy and pass McCain’s proposals, never mind that Atlantic Ocean drilling will yield little, that any yield is ten or more years off, and that the Navy opposes such drilling for security reasons.   The McCain strategy will not solve the energy crisis, but an integrated program, emphasizing conservation, building green manufacturing jobs and directing tax subsidies away from oil and toward alternative fuels could.   Moreover, there are just 49 Dems in the Senate and two independents who caucus with Dems.  One of them, Joe Lieberman, frequently votes with the other side.  Republicans have obstructed and Bush vetoed, or threatened to veto, anything meaningful.  Democrats are not the problem, except insofar as there are not enough of them! Additionally, loafing is a Bush-McCain sideline.  Bush has taken historic (record-breaking numbers of days off, including when the PDB of August 6, 2001, said that terrorists were determined to attack our skyscrapers with airplanes).  McCain has missed much of the last two years in the Senate, including about 150 votes.  However, Obama usually gets back for important votes.  Newt also pretends that Dems, who’ve led in the House for a little over 18 months, and have no majority in the Senate, are somehow responsible for what ails America. The buck stops at the GOP; the Gingrich Radicalized Republicans, including John McCain; and the failed “oiligarchs” of the Bush administration.

___________________________________________________________________________

Stand Up for Democrats is a campaign media watch newsletter by blogger Kathy Welch, who does not speak for any candidate, campaign, or party.

This is some scary stuff--Jerome Corsi (whose anti-Obama book The Obama Nation has just been published) was on C-Span yesterday spouting his hate speech about Obama. Most people will not pay attention to it, but as Rosalynn Carter once said of Ronald Reagan, “I think he makes us comfortable with our prejudices,” those who are ready to consume hate-filled speech can never be full enough. And...they spread this gossip like it is gospel. This is why we must be aware of what is happening on the far right wingnut fringes and have the facts to counter the likes of Corsi. Media Matters has some of Corsi's responses from listeners who called in. Like I said, it is some scary, crazy stuff!