Dog The (Blue) Dogs

President Obama’s budget proposes bold reforms that will pave the way for quality, affordable health care for all, and a clean energy economy. Republicans in Congress have already vowed to say “no” to these plans. But some Democrats—in the House, they call themselves “Blue Dogs”—are indicating that they want to nuzzle up to the conservative obstructionists to block Obama’s proposals, regardless of the mandate the voters gave Obama to move forward.

It is time for progressives to “dog the dogs” — to call conservative Democrats in the House and Senate and tell them to not be lapdogs for the “Dr. No’s” on the right who want to obstruct the administration’s common-sense agenda.

The members listed on this page are self-identified “Blue Dog” or right-leaning Democrats who will make the difference between a budget that moves us toward health care for all and a clean energy economy and a budget that mires us in an unsustainable status quo. Many of the House members have already voted against the economic recovery bill or against mortgage relief. More recently, seven Democratic senators joined with conservative obstructionists in an attempt to block the president’s clean energy strategy, which would limit carbon pollution, make private companies pay for polluting public sky, and put the proceeds into consumers’ pockets and into clean energy investments.

Pick one of more Blue Dogs and say, “Don’t let the right-wing Dr. No’s in Congress pull your leash. I support President Obama’s budget proposals and so should you.”

Take action! http://www.ourfuture.org/node/36490

A Progressive Response to MoveOn - From the Maryland Green Party

News that the Obama Administration will enlist its massive campaign "army" of grassroots activists to push the budget through Congress has raised the stakes in this already high stakes battle, and reactions to President Obama's program are hitting the extremes. Republicans raise the specter of socialism while Democrats expect a new FDR, rescuing us from all the problems that have festered for the last thirty years.

While few in the public are buying the reactionary hysteria of Republicans, though, too many progressive organizations are uncritically accepting the hype surrounding President Obama's plans - a recent MoveOn email message, b10 things you should know about Obama's plan (but probably don't)," is a typical example.

We give President Obama credit for the scope of his proposals, and acknowledge that many of his policies are dramatically better than President Bush's. At the same time, his policies are often less ambitious than the rhetoric would suggest, and fall short of what is needed. At other times, his solutions to problems are constrained by corporate interests that will render them ineffective. And while truly prodigious amounts of money are being spent in the effort - money that must be repaid by us and our children, let us not forget b what is often required is not more money, but deeper systemic changes.

Simply being better than Bush is not a sufficient standard to meet the immense challenges we face today. If we are to solve these problems, we will need to face them critically. Mere cheerleading will not be enough; an honest look at the Obama proposals is required.

Below is a progressive response to the MoveOn email message of March 1st, one which we hope will stimulate a more serious discussion...

The clear differences between Barack Obama and Cynthia McKinney!
Posted by: "Anita Stewart"
Date: Tue Aug 5, 2008 10:51 am ((PDT))

Cynthia supports IMPEACHMENT, Obama does not!

Cynthia will end the war and Obama will not!

Cynthia wants to end the War on Drugs, Obama will not.

Cynthia does not pander to the Christian right, Obama does.

Cynthia is not a supporter of faith based initiatives, Obama is.

Cynthia is not aligned with the big lobbies such as AIPAC, Obama is!

Cynthia supports the environment, Obama does not.

Cynthia does not support domestic spying on American citizens, Obama does!

Cynthia is open to foreign policy issues, Obama has employed the same old cronies.

Cynthia supports the rebuilding of New Orleans and bring the original residents back home, Obama has been silent on this issue.

Cynthia will support single payer, not for profit health care and Obama will not.....

Obama, interrupted
Posted: Friday, August 01, 2008 11:21 AM by Mark Murray

From NBC/NJ's Mike Memoli and NBC's Lauren Appelbaum
ST. PETERSBURG, FL -- About seven minutes into his remarks here, Obama was interrupted by a handful of African-American demonstrators, who stood up in the last row of a section of bleachers behind him and held up a sign that said: "What about the black community, Obama." It had a link to a Web sitewhich calls itself the "Online Voice of the International African Revolution."

U.S. Military Demands Bonus Money Back from Soldiers with Arms, Legs Blown Off
by David Gutierrez

(NaturalNews) In some cases, the U.S. military has been denying wounded soldiers the full amount of their enlistment bonuses, under the rationale that the soldiers are unable to fulfill the full term of their service contract.

The policy came to light after Jordan Fox, who was injured by a roadside bomb in Iraq and sent home three months early, received a letter asking him to repay $2,800 of his signing bonus. Fox had been hospitalized for several months, and still has an injured back and a blind right eye.

"I was just completely shocked," Fox said. "I couldn't believe I'd gotten a bill in the mail from the Army."

Upon signing up for military service, troops may receive up to $30,000 in signing bonuses. These bonuses are contingent upon fulfilling a specified term of service.

But according to CBS affiliate KDKA in Pittsburgh, the military has asked "thousands" of injured troops to return part of their bonuses.

Protesters clash with police over New Orleans demolitions
David Edwards and Muriel Kane
Published: Thursday December 20, 2007

Violence broke out in New Orleans on Thursday after police shut the gates of City Hall against protesters who were attempting to enter a City Council meeting that was expected to approve the demolition of 4500 units of public housing. When about 100 protesters broke through, police began using pepper spray and tasers and even engaging in fistfights with the demonstrators.

MSNBC spoke to Judith Brown-Dianis of the Advancement Project, an organizer of the demonstration, who explained that the City Council normally allows people to stand in the aisles and at the back but had arbitrarily set a strict limit on the seating capacity in order to exclude the protesters. She said the violence could have been avoided if the police had just let people in.

"What's behind this is a new vision for the city," Brown-Dianis told MSNBC. "That means fewer poor people in the city. There's a lot of money going into this.".... (video below the fold)

Dear All,
We face many challenges in our push for peace. One of them should not be harassment for how we fly our flag (or if we chose NOT to fly our flag). Recently a CODEPINK coordinator has been hassled for NOT flying the flag in a peace march - so I thought I check it out.

The link below will take you the best information on flag etiquette:
http://www.lifescript.com/channels/healthy_living/Life_Tips/the_flag_cod...

Some interesting notes:

1. Even the President himself has been associated with several flag code violations. After September 11th, a carpet with the image of the flag was placed at the Ground Zero memorial. Not only did the President and the First Lady have their picture taken while standing on the flag carpet, the small carpet was also in direct violation of Section 8b of the Flag Code that states: “The flag should never touch anything beneath it, including the ground.”...

Beyond Justice: Bush Administration's Labor Department Abuses Labor Union Regulatory Authorities
By Scott Lilly
December 10, 2007

Read the full report (pdf)

The State Department Web site explains American democracy to the rest of the world as follows:

"The rule of law is a fundamental component of democratic society in the United States, the rule of law is based primarily on the U.S. Constitution and on the assurance that U.S. laws—in conjunction with the Constitution—are fair and are applied equally to all members of society."

How closely the United States actually adheres to those principles, however, has been increasingly drawn into question—particularly over the course of the past year. Revelations about the firing of U.S. attorneys because they were not sensitive enough to the Bush administration’s political priorities almost turns the State Department claims on their head...

WASHINGTON - Firefighters in major cities are being trained to take on a new role as lookouts for terrorism, raising concerns of eroding their standing as American icons and infringing on people’s privacy.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21940968/

Protest activities announced By Paul Flemming November 24, 2007
Here are some of the events of the week announced by organizers on Friday:

• 6 p.m., Sunday at Free Spirit Community Church in Springfield for a mass meeting.


• 7 p.m., Monday at Providence FGME Church in Springfield for a political forum.


• 7 p.m., Wednesday at Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church in Panama City for a prayer meeting.


• 7 p.m., Friday, at the Glenwood Community Center in Panama City for a youth rally.


• 9 a.m., Dec. 1, beginning at Redwood Cemetery for a march to the Bay County Juvenile Courthouse, with a rally set for 11 a.m. at the courthouse.

PANAMA CITY — Six weeks after the verdict in the Martin Lee Anderson case, ministers and activists announced a week of events to mark their outrage at the outcome.

Seven former drill instructors and a camp nurse were cleared of all charges in the death of Anderson, a Panama City teen who died Jan. 6, 2006, after he was struck, kneed and forced to breathe ammonia capsules at a Bay County juvenile boot camp...

Does anyone else think it's time to take away their tasers?

Taser video shows RCMP shocked immigrant within 25 seconds of their arrival
Last Updated: Thursday, November 15, 2007 | 12:52 PM ET CBC News

An eyewitness's video recording of a man dying after being stunned with a Taser by police on Oct. 14 at Vancouver International Airport has been released to the public.

The 10-minute video recording clearly shows four RCMP officers talking to Robert Dziekanski while he is standing with his back to a counter and with his arms lowered by his sides, but his hands are not visible.

About 25 seconds after police enter the secure area where he is, there is a loud crack that sounds like a Taser shot, followed by Dziekanski screaming and convulsing as he stumbles and falls to the floor.

Another loud crack can be heard as an officer appears to fire one more Taser shot into Dziekanski.

As the officers kneel on top of Dziekanski and handcuff him, he continues to scream and convulse on the floor....

In 2005, for example, in just those 45 states, there were at least 6,256 suicides among those who served in the armed forces. That’s 120 each and every week, in just one year.

Suicide Epidemic Among Veterans
NEW YORK, Nov. 13, 2007(CBS) They are the casualties of wars you don’t often hear about - soldiers who die of self-inflicted wounds. Little is known about the true scope of suicides among those who have served in the military.

Ain't this a BUNCH of TOTAL BS?

U.S. official: Privacy must be redefined - Residents need to adjust to loss of anonymity, government leader says updated 7:41 p.m. ET, Sun., Nov. 11, 2007
WASHINGTON - As Congress debates new rules for government eavesdropping, a top intelligence official says it is time that people in the United States changed their definition of privacy.

Privacy no longer can mean anonymity, says Donald Kerr, the principal deputy director of national intelligence. Instead, it should mean that government and businesses properly safeguard people’s private communications and financial information.

Kerr’s comments come as Congress is taking a second look at the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act...

Senate confirms Mukasey as attorney general
Bush nominee wins backing for post despite waterboarding flap
updated 12:56 a.m. ET, Fri., Nov. 9, 2007
WASHINGTON - The Senate confirmed retired judge Michael Mukasey as attorney general Thursday night to replace Alberto Gonzales, who was forced from office in a scandal over his handling of the Justice Department.

Mukasey was confirmed as the nation’s 81st attorney general after a sharp debate over his refusal to say whether the waterboarding interrogation technique is torture.

President Bush thanked the Senate, even though the margin had been whittled down from nearly unanimous by a sharp debate over Mukasey’s refusal to say whether the waterboarding interrogation technique is torture.....

Roll Call Vote...

I guess this means no water-boarding simulations in front of Bill Nelson's offices!

Kucinich on the Early Show - "Republicans didn't call my bluff"...