I'm disgusted with the Republican Party, their failed policies and leadership and their outright lies and dishonesty. They led us to war on the pretense of "weapons of mass destruction" and a danger to America and now are trying to reframe the war in totally different terms to justify it. This black hole is now sucking up $200 million dollars a day and has claimed thousands of American and Iraqi lives. According to them we must "stay the course" for years to come, pouring money into the pockets of war profiteers while refusing to investigate this piracy.   Read More »

With national elections barely two months away Republicans are desperately trying to justify their continued leadership. Their main talking points include the economy and national security. What I don't understand is how they can consistently lie and manipulate the facts with no accounting asked by the major media.   Read More »

The White House and the Republican party has been quick to seize upon the terror plot unearthed in Britain as proof that the Democrats are "soft on terror". This is simply another ploy in the Rove handbook on how to smear your opponent and obfuscate the real issues. They're saying that Joe Lieberman's defeat in Connecticut is a blow against "pro-defense" Democrats and Republicans.   Read More »

Congress is set on enacting the RealID requirement on all citizens. This is a national identification card that will be required for anyone to access any government service and can be enlarged to be used for retail store purchases and other mundane life experiences.

This is a monumental intrusion into the freedom of every American and it must be fought immediately. This is an attempt by your government to restrict free travel WITHIN the U.S. and it'll be imbedded with an electronic chip that can track your movements! One of the more insidious elements of the bill establishing the cards is that the Department of Homeland Security can ammend the requirements, if they want, to include a fingerprint or retinal scan for verification purposes.

As it's set up, state D.M.V.'s will issue the new cards when you want to renew you drivers license. The federal government will reqire states to pick up the increased cost of the program (big surprise) and the cost of a license will probably at least triple. You'll also have to provide all sorts of verification to obtain a new license.

I find this a very troubling intrusion into our everyday lives and because Congress has attached it to a military appropriation bill it'll probably not receive the debate it deserves. For more information go to Link or google RealID and see what you get. I'd really like to know what you think.

Vermont Congressional Representative Bernie Sanders is co-sponsoring a bill to create a bi-partisan committee to investigate the obscene price of gasoline in the U.S.

He and others in Congress contend that gas supplies are at their highest levels of the last 15 years and there's no plausible reason the price should have spiked more than $.50 over a 1 month period.

This is a good start but hardly the solution to our woes in regard to energy prices. Congress should have been helping to fund research into alternative energy sources with major incentives for the last 20 years but that hasn't happened.   Read More »

The price of gasoline is already spiking to ridiculous highs as the summer driving season approaches. "Free market" pundits postulate that the "supply and demand" rule will decide prices. What a bunch of BULL****!!

The truth is that the oil market has been contrived ever since the oil embargo in the early 1970's. O.P.E.C. has controlled the supply and price of crude oil and refiners are in control of the price of refined fuel. The major oil companies are the biggest crooks in corporate America and they're gouging us at the pump with unprecedented greed!

In 2004 "Big Oil" made the largest profits they had ever made in the history of their existence. In 2005 they racked up an additional profit of 30-40% MORE than the previous year. They tell the tale that this is simply the "free market" at work and prices aren't being manipulated. The head executives of the oil companies testified to that before the Senate Committee on Commerce last year and their statements have subsequently been proven false. Unfortunately, the Committee Chairman, Republican Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska (the oil pipeline state), refused to have them sworn in so they can't be charged with perjury and held accountable.   Read More »

The call for censure of the President from Senator Feingold has been met with by opposition from both Democrats and Republicans. Republicans have even accused him of "siding with the terrorists".

Since day one of the Bush Administration, Karl Rove has been the architect of the most cruel and vicious change in the atmosphere of Washington. The rules of engagement have been altered so that anything goes as long as you win. Republicans can lie, cheat or steal as long as they end up on top. Defamation of anyone who disagrees is the rule of the day. Breaking the law is justified as a means to an end.

Karl Rove has become the new Joe McCarthy, sicking the Republican hounds on anyone and everyone who disagrees with the Bush Administration. The media has been brought to heel and refuses to ask any tough questions or do any true reporting. If anyone dares question the Bush Administration on anything, they're labeled traitors, terrorists or terrorist sympathizers. Nobody can possibly be patriotic and question the Republican elite.

The plan has been working so far. The Bush Administration lied to get support to invade Iraq. Halliburton, the V.P.'s former company, has received 10's of billions of dollars in "no bid" contracts. Billions of dollars of our tax money is missing in Iraq. Republicans have increased the national debt by over 2.7 TRILLION DOLLARS in 5 years. They've cut taxes for the rich while increasing them for the rest of us (except big corporations of course). Republicans have been caught in the biggest scandal in years, selling votes to the highest bidder. The Patriot Act has curtailed our civil rights with very little benefit. The "Clear Skies Act" has allowed more pollution. The President has authorized illegal surveillance of Americans (the law says everyone has to have a warrant). I could go on but what's the point?

The news media isn't questioning anything. The Democrats won't say anything. Who is going to stand up and question how these things can happen time after time. When will the American people be incensed by the corruption and greed epitomized by the Republican Party and say ENOUGH!!!

I hope change is on the horizon but I fear it's not.

Even though it's clear that Americans' civil liberties have been repeatedly violated, apparently the Republican leadership in Congress is "OK" with this. They are now proposing legislation that allows the Bush Administration to conduct warrantless surveillance on Americans for up to 45 days before having to justify it to a special Congressional committee.

My problem is that the Republicans are proposing this legislation without knowing the purpose and extent of the previous warrantless spying done by the administration and it appears this is an attempt to stall any further investigation into the affair. I and many Americans want the answers to specific questions before we let this go. Why did the administration not seek warrants; Who were they spying on; What information were they looking for: How many people were being spied upon; and How has the information been used?

We need to press our representatives in Congress to get hard answers before allowing our First Amendment rights to be violated and diluted. Our Constitutional rights can't be the price we have to pay for protection from terrorism. There are many avenues available to increase our security without abridging our civil rights.

Congress and the court system are supposed to part of the checks and balances system set up in our Constitution to protect our rights. If they fail in this task they must be held accountable and be replaced. Once our Constitutional rights begin to be eroded there will be no end. We must stand up and make our voices heard now! We must demand answers from the Bush Administration before we allow the Republican leadership in Congress to whitewash the past.

The 2006 Bush budget earmarks $419.3 billion dollars for defense, not counting the $80 billion for Afghanistan & Iraq. That's an increase of 45% since 2001.

WHY DO AMERICANS BLINDLY SUPPORT THIS TYPE OF WASTE AND FRAUD?

Russia, the next largest military power, spends about $70 billion and China about $50 billion. Why does America have to spend so much money and get so little for our tax dollars? We've spent over $250 billion dollars in Iraq and basic services are worse than when we attacked. Billions of dollars are unaccounted for and the Republican leadership in Congress refuses to insist on accountability, despite requests from Democrats for oversight.

The American nuclear arsenal, the equivalent of 150,000 Hiroshima bombs, takes over $17 billion dollars a year to maintain but for what purpose? Who are we keeping this arsenal in place to defend against? Russia is now our ally. China is slowly buying America. The sinister "Axis of Evil" has a combined defense budget of less than $10 billion dollars. Why do we maintain this arsenal?

The Department of Homeland Security has proven to be gigantic failure when disaster strikes. Communication within the giant entity is as bad or worse than when the various departments were separate. This monstrosity needs to be cut back and streamlined. This should be mandated by Congress and enforced. The whole reason for the new department was to eliminate duplication of duties and that means fewer people, not throwing more money at a problem to make it worse.

President Eisenhower warned Americans of the danger of the "military-industrial-government complex" before he left office. Obviously, his warning went unheeded and now we're paying a steep price for extremely little. The waste and abuse of this system is staggering and unless we tell Congress we've had enough it'll only get worse.

Don't get me wrong. I support a strong defense against terrorism and the enemies who wish to kill Americans. I, in particular, support the veterans who've served our country. Those who've been injured or killed deserve our admiration and support.

Unfortunately, the Bush budget cuts veteran benefits, it cuts support for VA hospitals and nursing homes. It cuts benefits for those who've been disabled for the rest of their lives while serving us, the American people. The proposed budget will force the closing of 7 VA hospitals around the country.

I'm outraged and disgusted that President Bush wants to reward defense contractors who always overrun any budget but still get paid at the expense of veterans who've served our country. How many disabled vets will suffer while the sycophant defense contractors suck more millions from the bloated budget?

Please write to your representatives in Congress and support cutting the huge defense budget while increasing veterans benefits. We'll all be better for it and the money saved can be rolled into other programs that are being cut (nutrition programs [WIC, Meals on Wheels, food stamps], OSHA, EPA, Housing, Medicaid, Education and state support.

The new Bush budget is a call for alarm in all quarters. It's a travesty to fairness and equality (no surprise) and we all need to contact our representatives in Congress and let them know what we think. The budget calls for permanent cutbacks in student aid, more cuts to medicaid, veterans benefits, social security, food stamps and other programs targeting the poor.

As if that isn't enough to make you scream, the budget includes billions of dollars in subsidies and tax cuts for oil companies (yes, the ones that have been gouging the crap out of us for the last 2 years) and other members of the "Big Business" community. He also has the nerve to propose making the previous tax cuts for the wealthiest 1% of Americans permanent to the tune of over 628 billion dollars.

The priorities of the Bush Administration and the Republican Congress are not those of the American people and we need to make an extreme amount of noise to make ourselves heard. We need to tell our elected representatives OUR priorities and if they don't support us we'll vote for someone who does.