The Guerrilla Campaign

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Thursday killed a bill backed by President George W. Bush that would have permanently repealed estate taxes. The Senate vote of 57-41, mostly along party lines, was three shy of the 60 needed for the measure to advance. The House of Representatives had previously passed a bill to wipe out what Republicans call the "death tax." Republican backers had acknowledged they were short of votes for full repeal, but they had hoped for an election-year debate and planned to offer an alternative that would have reduced the tax rate and exempted all but the wealthiest estates from the tax. Democratic opponents argued that full repeal of would cost the federal treasury about $1 trillion over the next decade. Many Democrats who voted against consideration of the bill said they were open to compromise but objected to an alternative being offered by Republicans. Sen. Jon Kyl, an Arizona Republican and leading advocate for repeal, said Republicans wer...

by Ted Rall Published on Wednesday, June 7, 2006 by TedRall.com http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0607-24.htm DENVER--The congressmen and senators who lined up to cast their yeas and nays on October 11, 2002 knew that they were casting one of the most, if not the most, important votes of their political careers. Public Law 107-243, 116 Stat. 1497-1502, the result of the vote to authorize the Bush Administration to attack Iraq, would have incalculable moral, economic and geopolitical implications for the long-term future of the United States. But not every congressman put the interests of his country ahead of his career prospects. With George W. Bush still riding high in the polls less than a year after 9/11, it took courage and foresight--the ability to see a future in which the public would sour on Bush and his wars--to defy him. As is often the case during times of crisis, when history tests the mettle of men and women, courage and foresight were in short supply. Fewer than a third...

At the top, the republicans are attempting to create a two class society; a feudal aristocracy at the top being served by the underclass and, they are sociopathically greedy, and don’t even want to pay for their share of the pie, while they’re gobbling it up, leaving only some crumbs for the rest of us. Because, you see, they’ve got a fantasy that they’ll be like the Waltons or the Rockefellers. Ain’t gonna happen, except for a very select few. All the rest will be tossed aside just as soon as they are no longer useful. The unfortunate part is that we all will have to suffer the consequences of their actions. There are over 2400 dead american military in Iraq, and these amoral bastards don’t even want to pay for the fucking bullets to keep the rest of them alive. This is really shameful. Don’t people think? Those people sent the military there, and now they don’t want to pay? I didn’t want the invasion in the first place, and they want me to help pay their share? Now that’s something t...

Wealthy Should Pay Their Fair Share by Joan Claybrook and Dave Eiffert Published on Tuesday, June 6, 2006 by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0606-28.htm As the Senate considers repealing the federal estate tax, Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray face an onslaught of attack ads about an issue that's critical to our economic health but has been twisted and warped like few others. Their choice will be to continue to stand with most Washingtonians on values and priorities or to fall prey to the spin and deception coming out of D.C. Lobbyists, unregulated conservative groups and The Seattle Times publisher hope to sway our senators with an expensive fear-mongering campaign telling voters that the estate tax will affect almost all of them. They will tell the public about hard-working families having to sell their parents' farms or small businesses being wiped out in order to pay estate tax bills, arguments seen in the "Vultures" TV ad t...

Even with his hands dripping with the blood of tens of thousands of innocents, the president bush still thinks he has the moral standing to speak to anybody about morals and marriage. I'm speaking, of course, of the bi-annual proposal to amend the US Constitution to discriminate against gay people. The sacred institution of marriage, my ass. These bed-hopping republican perverts need a wedge issue, any wedge issue, because they have nothing else. The only record they have is corruption and cronyism, massive debt, tax cuts for the rich, the Iraq war with all its carnage, and Katrina. Not much to run on. As for the morally challenged bush administration, the stakes couldn't be higher. If the republicans lose control, they know there are going to be investigations leading to criminal indictments, and possibly impeachment. I say possibly because the dems haven't shown much stomach for that option. Lord knows there's enough material to warrant it. Of course, there's stil...

Let me give you a word, ‘free speech zones’. That’s three words, you say? Actually, it’s only one: repression. From Wikipedia : Free speech zones (also known as First Amendment Zones and Free speech cages ) are areas set aside in public places for political activists to exercise their right of free speech in the United States . Although such zones existed earlier, instituted by the Clinton administration, they gained more attention after the WTO Meeting of 1999 and have been used vigorously by the George W. Bush administration. The American public has accepted the concept of “allowable speech”. Oh sure, there’s been some opposition, but, by and large, the public and the media has gone along with this. It’s been seen as a “reasonable method to ensure public safety”. It extends from the lone dissenter wearing an unauthorized T-shirt to groups expressing a message out of compliance with the guidelines. These ‘zones’ have been moved further and further from the eyes and ears for which...

Bush and Blair Concede Errors, but Defend War by David E. Sanger and Jim Rutenberg May 26, 2006 NY Times http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/26/world/middleeast/26prexy.html WASHINGTON, May 25 — President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain, two leaders badly weakened by the continuing violence in Iraq, acknowledged major misjudgments in the execution of the Iraq war on Thursday night even while insisting that the election of a constitutional government in Baghdad justified their decision to go to war three years ago. Speaking in subdued, almost chastened, tones at a joint news conference in the East Room, the two leaders steadfastly refused to talk about a schedule for pulling troops out of Iraq — a pressure both men are feeling intently. They stuck to a common formulation that they would pull troops out only as properly trained Iraqi troops progressively took control over more and more territory in the country. But in an unusual admission of a personal mistake, Mr. Bush said he ...

from chuck wilson In WW2, as we lost good honorable men in freeing counties from the yoke of a diabolical mad man, adolph hitler, who was supported behind the scenes by none other than prescott bush, our country was held in high esteem. But something you might not know was, hitler as well as prescott bush, were members of skull and bones, the brotherhood of death, a satanic group, part of what we call the illuminati. They worship the god of satan, jah-bul-on. George w. Bush, the lover of little boys, was also a member, he took the name majog, the name of the evil army led by satan to visit earth and destroy the kingdom of christ. The idiot bush, the phony john kerry, and of course bill clinton are all members of skull and bones. When we look at these evil leaders one common denominator is the amount of lies and death that follow in their path. Mostly women and children, the innocent! Nothing justifies the cold blooded killing of children! Yet in iraq and afghanistan and other countries...

Justice Department Denies ABC Report of Hastert Investigation May 24, 2006 20:25 EDT http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aiGNp04DLQoY&refer=top_world_news# May 24 (Bloomberg) -- The Justice Department said it isn't investigating U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert in connection with a lobbying scandal. ``Speaker Hastert is not under investigation,'' said Justice Department spokeswoman Tasia Scolinos. The statement was issued tonight in response to an ABC News report that Hastert had come under scrutiny by prosecutors investigating the activities of lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Hastert's spokesman, Ron Bonjean, also issued a statement denying the report. ``The ABC News report is absolutely untrue,'' Bonjean said in the statement. ``We are demanding a full retraction of the ABC News story.'' Hastert, 64, an Illinois Republican, has served as House speaker since 1999.

May 24, 2006 6:24 PM http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/05/federal_officia.html Brian Ross Reports: The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dennis Hastert, is under investigation by the FBI, which is seeking to determine his role in an ongoing public corruption probe into members of Congress, ABC News has learned from senior U.S. law enforcement officials. Federal officials say the information implicating Hastert was developed from convicted lobbyists who are now cooperating with the government…. read more How’s that for sending a message to old denny boy? I guess the fbi didn’t like hastert’s recent criticism. Just letting congress know the bushistas are not going to accept any criticism from anybody. And sure I know hastert is likely as corrupt as the rest, but leaking the investigation the day after hastert criticizes the raid on jefferson’s office? That ain’t nothing but a message. It’s going to be a nasty 5 months.

Trial and Errors in Iraq By Richard Cohen Tuesday, May 23, 2006; Page A17 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/22/AR2006052201153.html The trial of Saddam Hussein has resumed. It has been going on for seven months -- a day here, a day there -- providing the former Iraqi dictator the chance to make the odd speech, to challenge the jurisdiction of the court and, in short, to turn the entire proceeding into a metaphor for the American occupation of Iraq: chaotic, endless and, worse, meaningless. The way things are going, the trial is more about George Bush than Saddam Hussein. How this has happened is almost beyond comprehension. The Bush administration was out to make two points, one political, the other ideological. It was important for the trial to be an all-Iraqi operation, and it was equally important to impose the death penalty. So we are stuck with a trial that has become a microcosm of the way the Bush administration planned and executed the war itself. On ...

The beasts who would destroy us By Sheila Samples http://207.44.245.159/article13148.htm "The demonic appears most terrible when it assumes dominance in some one person. They are not alwaysthe most admirable persons, either in mind or in gifts. But a tremendous force goes out from them, and theyexercise an unbelievable power over all creatures. It is in vain that the brighter part of mankind tries to throwsuspicion on them as betrayers or betrayed; the masses are attracted by them." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 05/22/06 " Information Clearing House " -- -- America has lost its way. We are a confused nation, beset on all sides by fear and paranoia. After the orchestrated 9-11 attack on New York City and Washington D.C., and its follow-up anthrax attack on Democratic legislators, Americans of all stripes rushed en masse to George Bush's Fools' Gate to trade their morality and compassion for empty promises of security. The consequences of that Faustian trade a...

by Kim Redigan Published on Monday, May 22, 2006 by CommonDreams.org http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0522-25.htm I confess to not having read The Da Vinci Code. Quite frankly, I have been too busy trying to keep up with the prolific body of fiction emanating from the White House these past few years to have time for outside reading. From the epic story about weapons of mass destruction to the little morality tale featuring Jessica Lynch, this President cranks out fiction like I, a good Catholic mother, once cranked out babies. Which beings me to The Da Vinci Code. It seems that some of my co-religionists have issued a fatwa of sorts against reading and viewing a work of fiction that they believe has the potential to lead vulnerable souls astray. If it’s not a bespectacled wizard diabolically inserting himself into the Scholastic Book Club, it’s a summer beach book with a religious theme that’s going to lead us all straight to hell. Yes, during these past days the alarms have sounde...

from Lenin’s Tomb Friday, May 19, 2006 http://leninology.blogspot.com/2006/05/uprising-at-guantanamo.html America's own Chateau D'If is experiencing a desperate, doomed revolt by prisoners armed with weapons made of fans and light fixtures. They stand no chance against soldiers and professional torturers armed to the teeth and in control of almost every inch of the base, and so you could reasonably conclude that they are at this point indifferent to death. If you like, the United States has detained large numbers of people - many of whom we now know are to be released uncharged, which is to say that they have been trapped in hell for no reason, let alone a good one - and created suicide attackers out of several of them. This follows attempted suicides by four prisoners , using hoarded medicines. Commander Robert Durand says he can't discern a motive or a message, which means he either intends to insult our intelligence or his own.The US has supplied the motive in abundanc...

by Mary Pitt 5/18/06 The old dog has outlived its usefulness. Granted, we have loved it dearly for its caring companionship and its contribution to the safety which we have found so precious. It still has the endearing tail wag when we approach and always seems glad to act in an ingratiating manner, but the teeth have grown smooth and the body is reluctant to move. When threatened, it can only growl and bare its now-useless teeth, trying to convince us that it is still "on the job" and performing its usual duties. But, however, much we love it, we must let it go; we must put it out of its misery for its own good, and ours. We are as helpless with it as we would be without it and it is time to find a new dog that can still hunt. Yes, friends, it is time to give up and end the life of the Democratic Party. For too many years, the official party line has been one of compromise and conciliation, of "playing nice" no matter how rough the game may get. When faced with cam...

from President Bush's Address to Nation Monday, May 15, 2006 "...Tonight I am calling on Congress to provide funding for dramatic improvements in manpower and technology at the border. By the end of 2008, we will increase the number of Border Patrol officers by an additional 6,000. When these new agents are deployed, we will have more than doubled the size of the Border Patrol during my presidency...." from The San Francisco Chronicle Wednesday, February 9, 2005 Bush budget scraps 9,790 border patrol agents - Michael Hedges, Houston Chronicle http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/02/09/MNGOKB837T1.DTL "Washington -- The law signed by President Bush less than two months ago to add thousands of border patrol agents along the U.S.-Mexico border has crashed into the reality of Bush's austere federal budget proposal, officials said Tuesday. Officially approved by Bush on Dec. 17 after extensive bickering in Congress, the National Intellige...

By Doris Colmes, MSW 5/14/06 Way back in Viet Nam times, not only didn’t we have the internet, we didn’t even need it. Hey, we were out there marching and hollering because we were all pretty much aware of the lies our government was attempting to foist on us. How so? Well, for one thing, the Viet Nam war was the first war ever to be reported via live TV. This meant that TV reporters, TV cameras were out there, shooting the truth. This meant photographing for eternity, that little girl fleeing naked from napalm. It meant photographing for eternity an “allied” officer shooting a dissenter in the head as the dissenter knelt in the dirt at the officer’s feet. And it meant photographing for eternity that famous, infamous wagon-load of injured U.S. soldiers being transported out of a battle zone. Hordes of helicopters flying over villages “destroyed to keep them safe from the Viet Cong,” replete with the murdered lying in the mud. It was all there for us to see. If our government wa...

The Impeachment Campaign, Part 3 by the Rude Pundit “…For Democratic Congressional candidates, it's simple enough. (And if they're not doing the following already, they are missing out on a golden opportunity.) Choose any random Democrat running against a Republican. Let's say Lois Murphy , running against incumbent Republican Jim Gerlach in Pennsylvania's Sixth Districh. Gerlach has got his Bush- cangue already, so in every ad that Murphy runs, every appearance that Murphy makes, she should make sure to mention how much Gerlach is beholden to Bush and Cheney. Hell, she should makes sure that she always says, "Jim Gerlach and George Bush believe..." And fill in the blank. That's the weight, man. Hell, with Gerlach and other House members, there's the added weight of Tom DeLay: "What Jim Gerlach, George Bush, and Tom DeLay did..." And who the fuck's gonna vote for him? Someone who actually still supports Bush and DeLay? That's gettin...

by Dean Baker May 10, 2006 Dean Baker is the co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. At a time when tens of millions of workers are struggling to pay for gas for their car, electricity for their home, and medical care for their families, the Republicans have stepped forward with a plan to help. They want to give another $20 to $30 billion in tax cuts to the rich. This temporary assistance to the needy rich (TANR) takes the form of a 2-year extension of a tax cut that made the maximum tax rate on stock dividends and capital gain income 15 percent. While tens of millions of ordinary workers pay income tax rates of 25 percent on their wages, the Republicans argue that Bill Gates and his billionaire friends shouldn’t have to pay taxes at more than a 15 percent rate. Most of this tax break goes to the richest 1 percent of the population. This is because they hold most of the country’s stock—and even when middle income people hold stock, it is usually in retirement accoun...

Found at Tennessee Guerrilla Women http://guerillawomentn.blogspot.com/2006/05/mark-twain-on-stephen-colbert.html "In the beginning of a change the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot." --Mark Twain, Notebook, 1904 What a great quote. and how sadly true. It’s fascinating to watch how many people are beginning to criticize the Enlightened One, now that the bush has tanked. Even people who, not so long ago, equated said criticism with treason. Just amazing.