Anthony Weiner on Health Reform

This is a thing of beauty.

Two Years of Government Inaction. What an Anniversary!

It's two years after Hurricane Katrina and the thousands of New Orleanians and other Gulf Coast residents are still displaced.



I just came across this video and story on Alternet about the anniversary. So while you are listening to all of the media spin today, remember that there are still Americans that we should be working hard to help. In the mean time, sign the petition to support the Gulf Coast Recovery Bill.

UPDATE: If you are in/around NOLA today, consider joining in the national day of action. 8/29, A Day of Presence will take place today from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Ernest N. Morial Conventional Center.

More Senators to Fall in the DC Madame Scandal?

Remember during Clinton's impeachment Larry Flynt said he would make the Rethuglicans pay for their hypocrisy and he did, House Speaker Livingston was forced to resign. Now he is claiming he has shocking news.

KING: And were most of the clients in Washington?

PALFREY: They were all in Washington and some in Baltimore, the Washington, D.C./Baltimore Corridor and surrounding areas.

KING: Larry, without naming them, because we stand under legal protection here, are others coming?

FLYNT: Oh, yes. We've gotten 10 times more leads from the recent ad in "The Post" than we got during the Clinton impeachment. Unbelievable. We've got...

KING: Ten times more leads?

FLYNT: Yes.

KING: Does that mean you have phone numbers that you're following up?

FLYNT: Not just phone numbers.

KING: Names?

FLYNT: We've got good leads. We've got over 300 initially. And they're down to about 30 now which is solid.

KING: When are you going to print?

FLYNT: Well, the last thing now is we don't know if we want to let it to drip, drip, drip or we want to go with everything at once.

KING: You mean you might release 30 names at once?

FLYNT: A good possibility.

KING: Will we be -- I don't want to get into names yet. Will we be shocked?

FLYNT: Yes.

KING: Were you shocked?

FLYNT: I was shocked, especially at one senator but...

KING: One senator especially? FLYNT: Yes.

If I had a wish list who would be on it? First, would be Lieberman. But, I don't think he is actually capable of having sex. Hillary? Probably not. I know John Kerry has had his transgressions in the past. But, Flynt is claiming mostly Rethuglicans. This could be fun. Who would be on your wish list?

Senate Pulls the Iraq Withdrawal Bill

The Senate voted 52-47 (a majority of support) to end debate and vote up or down on the Iraq withdrawal plan. Yes, fifty-two Senators voted to end debate, but because one needs 60 votes to end the filibuster, the bill had to be scrapped. This is well-known, but for Rethuglicans to try and spin this as a "circus" is preposterous. Kudos to the Rethuglicans who voted with the Dems. Republican Sens. Olympia Snowe (ME), Susan Collins (ME), Chuck Hagel (NE), and Gordon Smith (OR) voted to kill the filibuster. Shame on the sycophant Lieberman. Roll call is here.

So, Reid pulled the bill and he explained:

Because Republicans continue to block votes on important amendments to the Defense Authorization bill, we can make no further progress on Iraq and this bill at this time.
For these reasons, I have temporarily laid aside the Defense Authorization bill and have entered a motion to reconsider.

But let me be clear to my Republican colleagues — I emphasize the word “temporarily”. We will do everything in our power to change course in Iraq. We will do everything in our power to complete consideration of a Defense Authorization bill. We must do both.
And just to remind my Republican colleagues — even if this bill had passed yesterday, its provisions would not take effect until October.

So we will come back to this bill as soon as it is clear we can make real progress. To that end, I have asked the Democratic Whip and Democratic Manager of the bill to sit down with their counterparts to work on a process to address all outstanding issues related to this bill so the Senate can return to it as soon as possible.

Pulling the bill leaves the possibility that the bill will be voted on in the future. Here is to Reid and the dems for making the Rethuglicans look like bafoons. Let's keep it up.

Senator Reed to Force Filibuster

This is a start. In response to Republicans obstructionism to block the Reed/Levin Iraq legislation Majority Leader Harry Reid plans to force the Republicans into an all night filibuster. Remember the filibuster? The hated horrific tactic the democrats never used, but only threatened and Republicans nearly abolished the rule. Here is to the hypocricy of it all. But, Senator Reid is responding to calls from the blogoshpere and he listened.

Senator Reid:

I would like to inform the Republican leadership and all my colleagues that we have no intention of backing down. If Republicans do not allow a vote on Levin/Reed today or tomorrow, we will work straight through the night on Tuesday. The American people deserve an open and honest debate on this war, and they deserve an up or down vote on this amendment to end it.

More on Dictatorship and the Bush Veto

Nancy Pelosi has on her site a listing of the bills President Bush has either vetoed, set to veto or has said he will veto. In his first six years with the rubber stamp Congress he vetoed a total of one bill, Stem Cell Research. Everything else Bush disagreed with, usually parts of bills, he issued his infamous "signing statements.

In May, he vetoed his second bill, the Iraq war spending bill. Now, Bush is set to veto the increase in the Child Health Insurance Bill. The program is set to expire on September 30th. The reasoning given for the veto is: “The proposal would dramatically expand the Children’s Health Insurance Program, adding nonpoor children to the program, and more than doubling the level of spending,” Mr. Fratto said. “This will have the effect of encouraging many to drop private coverage, to go on the government-subsidized program.”

This is not all, however Bush has threatened nearly all of the new Congress' work. Bills either passed or in the works that Bush is threatening a veto:

The College Cost Reduction Act - H.R. 2669
Homeland Security Appropriations - H.R. 2638
State-Foreign Operations Appropriations - H.R. 2764
Interior-Environment Appropriations - H.R. 2643
The Energy Price Gouging Act – H.R. 1252
The No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels (NOPEC) Act - H.R. 2264
FY 2008 Defense Authorization Bill - H.R. 1585
FY 2008 Homeland Security Authorization - H.R. 1684
Hate Crimes Prevention Act – H.R. 1592
D.C. Voting Rights Act – H.R. 1905
Rail and Mass Transit Security Act - H.R. 1401
Presidential Records Act Amendments of 2007 - H.R. 1255
Whistle blower Protection Enhancement Act of 2007 - H.R. 985
Reauthorizing Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund - H.R. 720
Employee Free Choice Act - H.R. 800
Requiring Medicare to Negotiate Lower Prescription Drug Prices - H.R. 4

I have been especially tough on Congress since taking office and not holding firm on the promise to end the war, but what are they to do with this kind of opposition with a stroke of the pen? I say stop being a bunch of pansies and start playing hardball. Stop whining the Bush administration doesn't play by the rules and expose them.