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