liberalman

Not since the days of the Teapot Dome scandal has an administration and a political party worked so hard to use tax money - our money - to pay off campaign contributors and cronies from their days in private corporations. Now I know that is strong language but these are times when one must be not just aware of the crooked nature of our right wing government but also willing to do what the mainstream media is unable or to afraid to do. And that is to tell the truth. We have all heard the tales of war profiteering going on in Iraq by companies who received no bid, sweetheart deals in the smoke filled back rooms of the GOP controlled White House and Congress. We all know about Halliburton, Dick “the sneak” Cheney’s old company and how they have received preferential treatment and no-bid/no-competition contracts. I remember well watching in slack-jawed, stunned disbelief as WorldCom (a firm who in ENRON-like fashion committed outright fraud here at home) was still awarded contracts worth billions by the Bush Cartel for jobs they had neither the expertise nor the manpower to fulfill. But should I really be surprised? After all, this is the age of the corporations vs. common sense. And who better to lead the dance into oblivion than an unelected President quite content to dance to whatever piper plays the richest tune? Now Mr. Bush (like most if not all Republican politicians) promised time and time again before he was (not) elected that he would bring ethics and morals to the White House and the presidency. But as time marches on Mr. Bush’s ethics march right on past him as bribes, kickbacks and cronyism do the Texas two-step into public policy. According to the Center for Public Integrity, the Bush administration has strongly favored cronies and campaign contributors in awarding reconstruction contracts for Iraq and Afghanistan. The Center devoted six months and over 70 Freedom of Information Act Requests to get to the bottom of the crony quagmire Mr. Bush has gotten us into. The conclusion of the report, "Windfalls of War," is that a clear quid pro quo exists between government procurement and campaign contributions to George W. Bush. Charles Lewis, the group's executive director, released a statement arguing that the report reveals "a stench of political favoritism and cronyism surrounding the contracting process in both Iraq and Afghanistan." But this is old news to anyone who has paid even the smallest trace of attention to the goings on overseas. Now I know, all of you right-wingers are going to start your crybaby call that the media doesn’t show the good things that are going on over there and that is why things have looked so bad. But in all honesty save that crap for the Fox News-watching zombies you call family because there is no good news in Iraq except for those who bought their little slice of happiness by becoming a “pioneer” on the Bush/Cheney/DeLay wagon train to hell - oops I mean reelection campaign. Now you think what I just told you was as bad as it could get don't cha? Well get ready for disappointment my friend, because it’s not just Bush who has his hand in this mess. It’s the whole damn Republican party. You know who I'm talking about, the party that is so good for the economy and fiscal responsibility that they have spent us into a record deficits even as they cut taxes for the rich. That’s right folks. The party that screams moral responsibility and showers all nonbelievers with epithets of fire, brimstone and eternal damnation has decided that language that would have meant hard jail time for war profiteering needed to be stripped from the recent 87 billion dollars the Bush administration asked for the continued occupation of Iraq. Forget the fact that Halliburton is already overcharging the American PUBLIC (it is, after all, our money) millions to transport gas to Iraq. Forget that we are seeing the policies of the Reagan years rehashed to allow military contractors to overcharge for simple hammers and toilet seats. According to the GOP/Whitehouse we don't need any oversight of OUR money once it leaves the country and enters the coffers of campaign contributors. Of course, the reasoning behind cutting the language has been hidden behind the closed door government of the Republican majority but I think I can shed a little light on this subject for you. You see the language that was cut would have levied huge fines and punished those convicted of war profiteering with up to 20 years in prison. Now the last thing the Right wants to do is establish parity in the legal system for rich and poor. After all, the wealthy have a long tradition in this country of buying their way out of trouble that would otherwise see them sharing a cell for twenty years with the ex-welfare mom sentenced to hard time for shoplifting from the local Walmart where she doesn’t make enough working 40 hours a week to pay for food and/or childcare. So let’s recap here. The Bush/GOP political machine is happily ripping off the American people as they hide behind flag waving, patriotic idiots too stupid to realize that the moral man they are propping up is a scoundrel of the worst sort. Yup folks, we deserve what we get, although I still don't think we'll get what we paid for. Now, can I say I am surprised that the party of big business has sold us out lock, stock and two smoking barrels to the corporations that put them in office? Of course I can’t. Thats all here. This is Liberalman telling you to write your congressperson and raise a little hell. Peace Liberalman [email protected]

Priorities. Ah it is a sad, sad day when I of all people have to discuss this tempestuous word. Now I would never claim that my priorities are in line with the rest of the nations or even my own creditors but even I know that in the right-wing world of Washington as it stands today, priorities are definitely skewed. Yesterday the Republicans under the notorious Senate Majority Leader Frist began their 30-hour marathon of democrat/liberal/independent bashing. Mr. Frist has real bug up his butt that the Democrats have managed to stop a whopping 4 of the hardcore judicial activists Mr. Bush has nominated to our court systems. That’s right folks they are upset because 4 nominees have not been accepted and they are screaming bloody murder about obstruction by democrats. Of course, when you look at the record instead of the rhetoric you see that Bush has had more judges confirmed this year then President Clinton did in his first seven years in office. Yup folks that’s right seven freaking years and yet we are still forced to listen to the whiners on the right do what they do best….LIE! But this little rant is not just about judges its also about priorities. Yesterday, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) added that Democrats are treating Bush "in a ridiculous and unconstitutional" fashion. He noted that "hardly anything [on the Senate agenda] is more important" than the president's right to nominate judges. Now I don’t know what world Mr. Hatch lives in but I can think numerous things more important then a bunch of crybaby Republicans acting like children pouting because they didn’t get to eat all their Halloween on the first day. Let me remind our right-wing friends of a few more pressing issues we face here in this country. JOBS! Yes we are still watching American jobs head offshore due to free trade concessions put in place by Republican Light Democrats and their greedy, small-minded friends in the GOP. We have lost over 3 million well paying jobs in this country due to the misguided and poorly planned trade treaty that is NAFTA. Once upon a time we had a trade surplus with out neighbors to the south but now we have a 3 Billion dollar trade deficit that is growing larger year after year as Multinational corporations move manufacturing jobs overseas and South of the border where they don’t have to worry about things Republicans want to get rid of anyway things like: workers compensation, healthcare and a slew of other expensive benefits that ALL workers should have access to. Now before you supply-siders get all huffy and start throwing out stats like, “NAFTA created 30 million jobs” I will agree with you that it did. It created 30 million low paying, Wal-Mart and part-time jobs that pay minimum wage or mayhap a few dollars more that don’t offer health benefits or any other benefit for that matter. Now you may call that progress but I call it robbing Peter (workers) to pay Paul (Fat Cat Corporations and Bush Campaign Contributors). And the one thing you can always count on in that equation is that Peter will be worse off but Paul will be ecstatic at the new profits he can use to by $5000 dollar shower curtains and HumVee’s! Priorities, priorities, priorities…. THE WAR and Veterans! Now Mr. Hatch might not recall that a war is going on since no one in his (and most GOP politicians) family or circle of friends is over there being shot at but the rest of us poor working class slobs sure as Hell haven’t forgotten. Now I am sure Mr. Hatch has nice American flag (made in China) waving from the antenna of his BMW but unlike this breed of flag waving jump-on-the –band-wagon patriots the real patriots don’t forget our military when they are off fighting or when they come home to a well deserved bit of R&R. But the Right seems to forget them every time. A fiscal year 2004 budget plan approved by the House Budget Committee would slash $470 billion from domestic spending, including health care and compensation for disabled veterans provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). (Source Veterans of Foreign Wars) But it is not just veterans but also the families of current military personnel who are also screwed. The right-wing controlled congress and the Bush cartel have plans to cut educational and housing funding for military families. This my friends is travesty as these are the last people our ! Priorities, priorities, priorities…. EDUCATION! The No Child Left Behind Act has to stand out as an area where we need to focus out attention. This landmark legislation that pushes for higher standards does not push for higher spending in the Republican controlled legislature. Mr. Hatch might want to look here for things more important then judges who right law rather then interpret it. Schools across the nation are facing cuts to pay for the tax cuts that have devastated a once prosperous economy. But you have all read how I feel about this issue and so I won’t go into detail here. ! Priorities, priorities, priorities…. These are just a few of the more pressing concerns we have in this country I could list a hundred more like the environment, the homeless, drug policies, draconian sentencing guidelines etc etc etc. Yes the right needs to take a look at their priorities and realize that while the rich may butter their bread, it is the common man that bakes it and to be honest we would rather have a little butter for our own bread then one more fanatical right-wing judge who will crush the very freedoms we need as a democracy. Mr. Hatch and all his GOP lackeys should take a moment and recognize that their reality is not ours and that soon….very soon they will be cut just like the funding they so love to take away from those most in need... This is Liberalman signing off and reminding you that an informed public is the best public. Peace Liberalman Aka Casey A. Nees Questions comments? Write Liberalman and Friends at: www. [email protected]

Today I want to discuss the coming crisis in Medicare. Now I know most of you have heard that the medicare/medicade system is in danger of failing or you would have had coverage not been canceled to regale us with the latest from the Scott Peterson, Kobe Bryant or lately the Michael Jackson scandal. The GOP and the Bush Cartel have to love the bait and switch that passes for journalism now. But that is another story and this one is about health care. The need for a prescription drug benefit was a hot button topic in the last election cycle as both parties called for an end to seniors being forced to choose between food, rent or the drugs that keep them alive. The need still exists but lets be honest the current quick fix that the GOP and some Republican-Lite Democrats are pushing will not fulfill that need. As the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities points out, the bill will force millions of beneficiaries to pay more for drugs, thanks to a provision that cuts off supplemental aid from Medicaid. Poorer recipients may find previously affordable drugs moving out of reach. It will also allow private insurers to cherry-pick healthy clients in selected cities, and it will heavily subsidize private plans competing with traditional Medicare. Meanwhile, the bill prohibits Medicare from using its bargaining power to cut drug prices; drug company stocks have soared since the bill's details became public You see folks, the idea behind this bill is not to help seniors or the poor but rather to help the legal drug cartels, private health insurers and politicians line their pockets. Now I know that those on the supply side like to scream government waste whenever social spending comes up but in truth Medicare is much more efficient then private plans and costs the taxpayer much less then what is lost yearly to the uninsured use of emergency rooms for primary care. What is needed is not more money, tax breaks and incentives to managed care groups but rather government regulation of the health industry. Now I know that ever since the 80’s we have lambasted anyone who even thought of regulating business in this country but it is de-regulation that has led us to the sorry state we are now in. We have de-regulated the power industry and now we pay higher power bills. We have de-regulated Wall Street and now we see corporations stealing from the people who invest in them. We have seen de-regulation of the airlines and we saw a rise in the number of accidents. The list goes on and on. But it is the de-regulation of the healthcare industry that has really put seniors and the poor into such dire straights. Simply put we need to install price controls on the drug and insurance companies. Now I can already hear you nay-sayers screaming about how drug companies will lose the ability for research and development if we bring price controls in. The problem with this argument though is that we give these same companies billions, yes I said BILLIONS in tax incentives for research and development. According to Representative Pete Stark: "Nonsense. Drug industry profits are already threefold higher than all other major industries. And my bill doesn't change the current system of research tax credits at all unless companies refuse to fairly price their U.S. products. This bill simply tells PhRMA that U.S. taxpayers will no longer subsidize lower prices overseas with our tax code. Research and development is important and that is why we give these huge tax breaks, but they do consumers little good if they can't afford the product." There you have it folks. This bill is nothing more than a give-away to special interests by the Bush/GOP party machine. It is you and your children who will pay for it. But what of the aged, you ask? Well they are the ones who are really screwed as they have to choose between no coverage and scant coverage. Will this fix the much ballyhooed problem of seniors skimping on their medicines to find rent/food money? No. But it does work well for making sure that the rich keep their wealth at the expense of your grandparent’s health… This is Liberalman signing off and begging you to call your congressperson and let them know you are watching their actions as they sell out the old and the infirm while quietly planting their lips on the collective backsides of the insurance and medical campaign contributors who have supplanted the American people as the real power behind the throne. Peace Liberalman Aka Casey Nees Addendum from Faer Lee Balanced: AARP has come out in favor of this bill, arguing that what it proposes is better than what we have now. While this may be true on the surface, Congressional insiders admit that passing this bill will effectively put an end to the prospects for universal coverage for prescriptions. That, coupled with the bill’s illegalization of Canadian drug imports, means that all the research and development in the world won’t make most of us any healthier. This bill is a perfect example of a safety net made of gauze. Those that can afford a harness will make, and the rest of us won’t. Questions/ Comments? [email protected]