DoubleSpeak with Matthew and Peter Slutsky » 2006

Archive for January, 2006

Bold new ideas…FINALLY!

George W. Bush has a bold new idea which we’ll hear all about tonight in his State of the Union address. Apparently, George Bush believes:

“America is addicted to oil” and must “break its dependence on foreign suppliers in unstable parts of the world.”

If this is the bold new initiative that George Bush thinks will win back the support of the American people, then he really is on coke. I mean, this Administration insults the American people’s intelligence with every ridiculous statement that Bush makes. But this bothers me more than most. How can Bush pretend to pawn this idea off as “bold” or “new” when Democrats and really all sensible people in the U.S. have been saying this for literally decades.

An excerpt from a John Kerry speech in 2003:

“We only have 3% of the world’s oil reserves. There is no physical way for the US to drill its way out of this problem. We have to invent our way out of this problem. The sooner that we commit America to the science & discovery of renewable alternatives, the better off America will be, the better our health will be, the more effective our economy would be, the better our national security will be, and the better world citizen we will be. We need to commit ourselves to energy independence now.”

I will be interested to see what other ideas Bush tries to pass off as his own now that all the ideas he really wanted to put into place (e.g. social security reform) are dead in the water.

Bush, you have the nations attention tonight but please know that you will not be given a free pass for lying in front of our faces. This isn’t just a camera lens you’re staring into- it’s directly into the eyes of American people, your bosses, and you will continue to be judged for your corrupt and ineffective Presidency.

Jan 31, 2006 by Matthew Slutsky in
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The Next Issue: NSA Wiretaps

Despite the current sense of loss and defeat that many on the left are feeling with the elevation of another right wing ideologue to the highest court of the land, our attention, and that of our Democratic Senators, must now turn to the upcoming Judiciary Committee’s hearings on “Wartime Executive Power and the NSA’s Surveillance Authority.”

So what do we already know about President Bush’s secretive program that has been monitoring domestic communications without judicial oversight since 2002?

First, the simple fact is that Americans do not support warrantless spying. A recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll said that a majority of Americans think the Bush administration should be required to obtain a court order before wiretapping. Despite Chris Matthews’ belief that the issue is a good political one for Bush and friends, Americans believe in the 4th amendment.
The administration has lied consistently throughout the revelation of this program. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez even lied to Congress while under oath during his confirmation hearings when asked about warrantless eavesdropping as a “hypothetical situation.” If the program is constitutional, as the White House’s lawyers would wish for you to believe, why the constant lying?
Karl Rove would like to use this issue as a political cudgel to go after Democrats. Right wing pundit after right wing pundit has tried to paint disapproval of the NSA program as coming solely from the left. In reality, Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) have all expressed their doubts about the illegality of the program.
The administration claims that the Constitutional standard of “probable cause” for obtaining a FISA warrant is too much of a burden in light of modern technology and a global war. Then why did they refuse to support a bill in 2002 by Sen. Michael DeWine (R-OH) that would have lowered this standard? Perhaps because Bush was already breaking the law and preferred to operate in secret.
And the bottom line: Warrantless domestic spying has made us less safe. Because the information captured through the NSA spying was obtained in an illegal and extra-constitutional manner, it may very well be inadmissible in court and could lead to potential terrorists getting off. Legitimate cases could be in danger because the Bush administration refused to use legal means to collect intelligence.

This week will be quite interesting. Let’s see if the Democratic members of the Judiciary Cmte (Leahy, Kennedy, Biden, Kohl, Feinstein, Feingold, Schumer, Durbin) can hold Gonzalez’s feet to the fire and point out to the American people the illegal actions of King George.

Jan 31, 2006 by Joshua Skaroff in
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So You Call Yourself a Reformer, eh?

Year after year, affordable Health Care is a consistent election issue. Since President Clinton’s failed attempt to install his brand of universal coverage there has been no consensus among Democrats as how best to protect Americans from high insurance costs and under-insurance. President Bush seems to have a plan, and David Sirota uncovers its flaws.

An excerpt:

The storyline goes something like this: the President believes in “consumer-driven” health care whereby people save their own money in special accounts that they can use to pay for health care. The theory is that if citizens are actually encouraged to pay for their own health care costs directly - instead of through a third party insurance company - they will make more rational decisions about which procedures/tests/exams to have, and which not to have. We are led to believe that adding that supposedly “free market” force to the health care system will result in major cost savings for the entire system…

With the impending State of the Union Address tonight, the Democrats not only need to craft a concise message for 2006, but need to find language that will aid them in revealing Bush’s hidden agenda.

Jan 31, 2006 by Jake in
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The Final Roll Call Vote on Alito

No surprises but worth putting up on the site. From the New York Times…

Senate Roll Call: Alito Vote

The 72-25 roll call by which the Senate voted to end debate on Samuel Alito’s Supreme Court nomination. On this vote, a “yes” vote was a vote to end the debate and a “no” vote was a vote to filibuster the nomination. Voting “yes” were 19 Democrats and 53 Republicans. Voting “no” were 24 Democrats and one independent.

Alabama
Sessions (R) Yes; Shelby (R) Yes.

Alaska
Murkowski (R) Yes; Stevens (R) Yes.

Arizona
Kyl (R) Yes; McCain (R) Yes.

Arkansas
Lincoln (D) Yes; Pryor (D) Yes.

(more…)

Jan 31, 2006 by Matthew Slutsky in
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Lt. Gov Landrieu will challenge Nagin in New Orleans

Politicalwire is reporting that Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu (D) will challenge Mayor Ray Nagin in the primary in New Orleans. Ray Nagin has come under fire for his recent remarks about rebuilding a “chocolate New Orleans.”

I do love chocolate, but that comment hardly seemed appropriate…

Jan 31, 2006 by Matthew Slutsky in
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The Brave 25

While the Senate voted yesterday in favor of cloture in the Alito nomination and will almost certainly confirm the nominee today, there is a small light at the end of the tunnel. For the first time in recent memory, the leadership of the Democratic party chose to side with the activist wing of the party and take a principled stand against the extreme right wing of this country that wishes to turn back the clock on civil rights and economic progress. If you have a moment, thank these twenty five brave Senators who voted against the extremist views of Samuel Alito:

Bayh, Evan (D-IN)
Biden, Joseph R., Jr. (D-DE)
Boxer, Barbara (D-CA)
Clinton, Hillary Rodham (D-NY)
Dayton, Mark (D-MN)
Dodd, Christopher J. (D-CT)
Durbin, Richard (D-IL)
Feingold, Russell D. (D-WI)
Feinstein, Dianne (D-CA)
Jeffords, James M. (I-VT)
Kennedy, Edward M. (D-MA)
Kerry, John F. (D-MA)
Lautenberg, Frank R. (D-NJ)
Leahy, Patrick J. (D-VT)
Levin, Carl (D-MI)
Menendez, Robert (D-NJ)
Mikulski, Barbara A. (D-MD)
Murray, Patty (D-WA)
Obama, Barack (D-IL)
Reed, Jack (D-RI)
Reid, Harry (D-NV)
Sarbanes, Paul S. (D-MD)
Schumer, Charles E. (D-NY)
Stabenow, Debbie (D-MI)
Wyden, Ron (D-OR)

Atrios points out that five of these Senators are up for re-election this year. And Digby has a wonderful post mortem up. Notice that every presidential hopeful in ‘08 voted against Alito. The tide is turning.

Jan 31, 2006 by Joshua Skaroff in
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Looks Like It’s Over…We Lost

The US Senate this afternoon voted 72 to 25 to invoke cloture on the debate over the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to become the next Associate Justice to the Supreme Court. Invoking cloture is necessary before the Chamber can have a final vote on the nomination. 60 votes are required to invoke cloture; and only a simple majority vote is required to approve a nominee. Passing this motion virtually assures that the nomination will be approved tomorrow.

The final vote on the confirmation is scheduled to be held tomorrow at 11:00 Eastern Time in advance of President Bush’s annual State of the Union Address when he will speak to a Joint Session of Congress.

Jan 30, 2006 by Peter Slutsky in
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George Bush faces the nation

Not sure if you caught Bush on Face the Nation yesterday. If not, it’s worth reading the transcript. If you don’t have time to read pages and pages of Bush lying to Mr. Schieffer, check out some of my favorite questions and answers:

SCHIEFFER: Well, do you think that it may be possible that there will be a large number of American troops there when your successor, whoever that is, takes office in 2009?

PRESIDENT BUSH: I–I can’t–I–I really don’t want to make that prediction. It would–it–it–it–I–I am going to make my decisions for the next three years based upon what our commanders recommend. I do want to assure the American people, one, I would like to get troops home, and secondly–but I don’t want to get them home without winning, and the definition of winning is a country that can govern itself, sustain itself, and defend itself, and a country which will not become a safe haven for the terrorists.
_________

SCHIEFFER: Everywhere I go, I find people who don’t know what it means. Seniors are going to the drug store. They don’t know what their plan is. They’re all mixed up. Everybody is just having a real problem of getting their drugs. Do you think that’s because of mismanagement, or is this law just so complicated that it can’t be administered?

PRESIDENT BUSH: I think–in all due respect, I think everybody having problems getting their drugs is not exactly what’s taking place. Millions have signed up to a new, reformed Medicare. Let’s take a step back for a second…

It’s a good deal for seniors. When it all settles out, seniors are going to realize that this Congress and this president have worked to modernize Medicare to make work better for them.
**Please see Bush’s description last week of the plan which works better for seniors…***
_________

SCHIEFFER: Has the presidency changed you, Mr. President?

PRESIDENT BUSH: I hope not. Well, I guess that’s not the right thing to say.