Harry Reid: Dems refuse to address Social Security
Mood:  spacey
Topic: Lib Loser Stories

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid says that Dems will continue to block all attempts to save social security and will not even offer any counter proposals until President Bush drops personal savings accounts.

W.House pressures Democrats on Social Security

WASHINGTON - The White House pressured Democrats on Wednesday to come up with their own solutions for overhauling Social Security rather than simply reject President Bush's proposals.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said a legislative proposal by a Senate Republican to overhaul Social Security without Bush's treasured personal retirement accounts "calls the bluff" of Democrats who say they will not negotiate as long as the accounts are on the table.

"I think what the real question here is: Are Democratic leaders going to start coming forward with ideas and solutions or are they going to simply put up a stop sign and say no to solving this important priority for the American people?" McClellan said.

But he said Bush still felt any permanent solution to overhauling Social Security needs to include personal retirement accounts.

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada said on Tuesday that until Bush gives up private accounts, Democrats will continue to refuse to enter negotiations over Social Security.

Republican Sen. Robert Bennett of Utah said after a Senate Republican lunch with Bush on Tuesday that the president welcomed his proposal, which incorporates a plan backed by Bush to slow the growth of benefits for middle- and upper-income workers by linking them to prices rather than wages.

Bennett said he hoped to introduce his Social Security bill as early as next week, and asserted that some Democrats had privately expressed an interest in supporting it.

Another Senate Republican, Jim DeMint of South Carolina, plans to introduce his own alternative Social Security legislation that would avoid politically unpopular benefit cuts and tax increases but retain a private-account provision.

Congressional aides said House Republicans may unveil a plan on Wednesday similar to DeMint's.

The White House has shown increasing flexibility on its Social Security plan in a bid to attract support in Congress. The plan for private accounts faces stiff opposition from Democrats, and some Republicans are reluctant to support it for fear of a backlash in the 2006 elections.

McClellan said Bennett's plan "calls the bluff of the Democratic leadership."

They appear to simply want to stand in the way of solutions. Republicans are offering ideas and ways to solve the serious problems facing Social Security. I think that's what the American people expect," he said.

Washington Post ~ Reuters ** W.House pressures Democrats on Social Security

Coward Deanpeace claims Dem party is for small government
Mood:  silly
Topic: Lib Loser Stories

Apparently, on the other side of the looking glass, Dems are the party of limited government while conservative attempts to keep people from starving a helpless person to death makes the GOP intrusive.

Democratic chairman blasts Bush

WASHINGTON - Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean is accusing the Bush Administration of ignoring the nuclear threat posed by North Korea and Iran while mishandling the situation in Iraq.

Dean told approximately one-thousand supporters at a Democratic Party fund-raiser last night that the Republican party stands for "all the wrong things."

Dean says the Republican Party preaches adherence to "moral values" while failing seniors and low-income people in need of educational opportunities and health care.

Dean says that while Democrats believe in a "small government just big enough to get things done," Republicans "believe in a government just small enough to sit inside Terry Schiavo's nursing-home room." It was a clear reference to Republican attempts to keep the brain-damaged woman on life support.

WHAM 13 - Rochester, NY ~ Associated Press ** Democratic chairman blasts Bush

Florida Democratic Party Faces IRS Lien; $900,000 Shortage
Mood:  chatty
Topic: Lib Loser Stories

The Florida Democratic Party is broke, unable to pay its bills and so far behind on its payroll and Social Security taxes that the IRS has slapped the organization with a lien. Party leadership is seeking an audit to account for $900,000 which went missing when a current candidate for governor was the party chief.

Florida Democratic Party Faces IRS Lien; $900,000 Shortage

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Broke and without enough money in the bank to pay its bills after the end of the month, the Florida Democratic Party has now been slapped with a lien by the Internal Revenue Service for failing to pay payroll and Social Security taxes in 2003.

The state party's budget and finance committee voted Tuesday to ask for a new audit to account for more than $900,000 it believes somehow disappeared from the books during the 2003-2004 calendar years when the party was led by Scott Maddox, who is now seeking its nomination for governor.

Maddox and successor Karen Thurman, who became the party's new chairwoman just last month, did not immediately return phone messages asking for comment on the findings.

While the party owes roughly $200,000 in delinquent payroll and Social Security taxes, the lien was against the remaining $98,000 in their account on Friday, longtime Leon County committeeman Jon Ausman said.

Ausman said it cost about $250,000 a month to pay salaries and overhead for the party operation in Tallahassee and that it had been spending more so far this year than it has raised.

The Democratic Party in Florida has traditionally gone through financial woes, selling its headquarters building in Florida a few years ago to get out of debt.

State vice-chair Diane Glasser of Fort Lauderdale said Tuesday she was confident the party could be able to meet its commitments.

"We've had these problems before," Glasser said. "I think that everything will resolve itself. Karen has already got commitments for money that is going to be coming into the party."

Ausman, who is also a member of the party's budget and finance committee, said the party's 2003 year-end audit showed $609,032 cash on hand. He said it netted $586,986 in 2004 when it raised about $18 million.

"I don't know how you start out with $609,000 and raise a net of $586,000 and end up with $269,000," he said.

Ausman said he was concerned about the audits in 2003 and 2004 done by Carr, Riggs and Ingram of Tallahassee. He said they should be held accountable, certainly for the failure to pay the IRS, if the audit proved to be flawed.

Mark Carr did not immediately return a phone message to his office about the audit.

Last summer, a report filed in July by the party's executive committee to the Federal Election Commission showed it spent $120,000 more than it has taken the first six months of that year, including a $30,000 deficit for June. That report, however, included 2003 carry-over information that skewed the numbers and gave the appearance of far more red ink, Maddox said.

The latest report comes at the front end of fund-raising efforts by candidates readying for the 2006 election cycle when the Democrats' lone statewide elected official, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, faces re-election and there will be no incumbent in the governor's race.

"It's very important that we reassure our donor base and all the Democrats that we're on top of this situation," Ausman said.

The state Republican Party, which operates with a larger staff at its Tallahassee headquarters, has raised close to $5 million already this year and has several million in the bank, a party source said Tuesday.

WKMG - TV6 Central Florida ~ Associated Press ** Florida Democratic Party Faces IRS Lien; $900,000 Shortage

NM Gov. Bill Richardson at center of another speeding controversy
Mood:  d'oh
Topic: Funny Stuff

Speeding incident a 'misunderstanding'

Gov. Bill Richardson is at the center of another speeding controversy.

According to a report Monday by KRQE’s Larry Barker, a state police driver for the governor refused to stop June 2 for an Albuquerque police officer who noticed the governor's white Cadillac sport-utility vehicle "speeding and driving erratically" on an interstate frontage road in Albuquerque.

Barker's report showed footage of the chase and a recording of the Albuquerque police officer. The report didn't say how fast the governor's driver was going.

A spokesman for Richardson referred questions about the incident to the state Public Safety Department, which called the incident "a simple misunderstanding," noting that the Albuquerque officer was in an unmarked car and not in uniform.

In a written statement, DPS circumstances, state police are trained to take evasive action and not to stop. Likewise, there was no procedure in place for the APD officers to make contact with the Governor's vehicle."

"They had flashing lights and a siren, but that doesn't cut it," Olson told The New Mexican.

Because of the incident, there now is a direct phone line state police can use to instantly communicate with Albuquerque police dispatchers, Olson said.

The report comes at a time in which state Republicans are airing radio commercials spokesman Peter Olson said, "There was no procedure in place for the governor's driver to verify it was indeed an APD unit. Under those blasting Richardson's "high roller" lifestyle, including his highway habits. One ad says Richardson "isn’t bothered by speed limits."

The speeding first was picked up on the political radar in 2003, when a Washington Post reporter, traveli ng with Richardson on the way to a political function, noted that the governor ordered his driver to go faster when they already were in excess of 100 mph.

There have been similar reports of Richardson's speeding since then. Public Safety Secretary John Denko has defended Richardson's high speeds, calling the practice a security measure.

Olson's statement Monday says, "The state police officer driving correctly followed the procedures mandated to safely and securely transport the governor. … The state police will continue to take every precaution and follow recognized procedures to ensure the safety of the governor …"

The New Mexican ~ Steve Terrell ** Speeding incident a 'misunderstanding'

Crazed Dems see conspiracy in earthquakes
Mood:  spacey
Topic: Lib Loser Stories

While not national news, this posting from a Dem news site says something about the mental state of the Dem base. This person implies that the President as part of some cover up caused the California earthquakes. That is right; at least one Dem is on such awe of the President that he believes George W. Bush can move continental plates.

Read the delusional fruitcake insanity blog yourself at (where else?)... Democratic Underground
Democratic Underground ** If I remember the election map, the blue counties in California

Pelosi calls Iraq liberation 'Grotesque'
Mood:  spacey
Topic: Lib Loser Stories

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) is calling on California Senator Nancy Pelosi to apologize for calling Iraq a 'grotesque mistake.'

DeLay Calls on Pelosi to Apologize for Comments; Democrat Leader Calls Iraq Liberation 'Grotesque Mistake'

To: National Desk

Contact: Dan Allen or Shannon Flaherty, 202-225-4000, both of the Office of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay

SUGAR LAND, Texas - House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) today called on House Democrat Leader Nancy Pelosi to apologize for her comments late last week calling the liberation of 25 million Iraqis a "grotesque mistake" and saying America's investment in Operation Iraqi Freedom has been "without success."

"Mrs. Pelosi, just like Senator Durbin, is trying to score political points at the expense of our troops, and she owes our military and their families an apology for her reckless comments." DeLay said. "The Pelosi-Durbin Democrats may think comparing our troops to Soviet and Nazi secret police is good politics, but it has no place in the leadership of one of America's two parties."

DeLay added that Mrs. Pelosi's comments, coming on the heels of U.S. Senator Richard Durbin's (D-Ill.) remarks comparing American prison camps to Soviet Gulags and Nazi concentration camps, further undermines the credibility of her party in the war on terror.

"Mrs. Pelosi's comments once again call into question the Democrat Party's seriousness on matters of national security," DeLay said. "Saying Operation Iraqi Freedom has been 'without success' and calling the liberation of 25 million Iraqis a 'grotesque mistake' exposes once again the weak and indecisive foreign policy of the Democrats' past."

Pelosi made the following comments on the floor of the House of Representatives during debate on the Department of Defense Appropriations Act: "Each passing day confirms the Iraq War has been a grotesque mistake. We are here today considering a rule for a defense appropriation bill that will provide another 45 billion dollars for that war. In addition to the hundreds of billions already appropriated and the end is not in sight. This money has been spent in Iraq without question by Congress, without accountability from the administration and without success."

U.S. Newswire ** DeLay Calls on Pelosi to Apologize for Comments...

50 Dems form cut-and-run coalition, 'Out of Iraq Caucus'
Mood:  silly
Topic: Lib Loser Stories

Dem division on Iraq gets more acute as 50 break ranks to form cut-and-run coalition. While unlikely to result in a coherent stance on the Iraq war, it is likely to step up the already caustic rhetoric in the House.

Fifty House Democrats form 'Out of Iraq caucus'

As the party continues to try to find its voice on Iraq, roughly 50 liberal-minded House Democrats have formed a caucus dedicated to calling for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the region, the (paid-restricted) Roll Call reports Monday.

♠ Excerpts follow.

The Out of Iraq Congressional Caucus, created last week, will to try to increase pressure on the Bush administration and Congress to end the Iraq conflict and bring American forces home. The group of progressives, led by California Reps. Maxine Waters, Lynn Woolsey and Barbara Lee, has been urging a withdrawal for some time but formalized its effort last week as part of its push to become a more forceful voice on the issue within the broader party Caucus.

Waters said many House Democrats have become increasingly frustrated with the party's failure to effectively challenge the Bush administration's policies in Iraq. She said the caucus was needed to help organize a message offensive and ensure that the White House comes up with and presents a plan to conclude the war.

While not calling for a certain date to bring troops home, Waters said the caucus will turn up the volume on demands for an exit strategy through rallies, press events and in the halls of Congress. She said ultimately the group, if not satisfied with answers from the president, will come up with a timeline for withdrawal on its own.

"The administration has a responsibility to say how and when," she said. "We will not sit around and wait forever."

Woolsey offered an amendment last month calling for the administration to develop a plan for the withdrawal of forces and to provide Congress with a report outlining the plan. Waters said that Woolsey's amendment is the baseline for the group and that they will push for nothing short of that.

The Out of Iraq effort comes on the heels of bipartisan legislation by Reps. Walter Jones Jr. (R-N.C.) and Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) calling for a timeline for troop withdrawal.

The Democratic leadership in the House, an aide told Roll Call, is somewhat divided on the issue.

"This is tough for the Caucus to come to closure on," the staffer said. "There's not necessarily going to be a Democratic position, there's going to be rhetoric. A lot of this is about how we're going to talk about it and finding the balance in the base of the party who want the red meat and want 'when are we getting out' and the pragmatic centrists who say, 'let's be careful in how far we respond to the base of the party.'"

The Raw Story ** Fifty House Democrats form 'Out of Iraq caucus'

Black conservative calls Dean racist, Dem party 'plantation'
Mood:  energetic
Topic: Yahoo Chat Stuff

As more and more African-Americans leave the Democrats, it becomes an increasing problem for them. They complain that their loyalties are unrewarded or that the party’s liberal platform does not reflect the majority of black voters.

Black Conservative Says Dean Shows Many Democrats' True Colors

Despite the much-criticized rhetoric of late from Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean, which has struck many in the GOP as well as members of his own party as divisive, the outspoken DNC leader is making new appeals for support, both in Republican territory and among America's "ethnic communities." But one African-American leader believes more and more blacks are getting wise to Dean's true sentiments.

According to Associated Press reports, Howard Dean appeared at recent events in Houston, Austin, and Corpus Christi, Texas, taking his message to a Republican stronghold that had been written off by Democrats until Republican House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's ethics problems started. Reportedly, Dean stated that his party is engaged in a 50-state battle, not an 18-state battle.

After addressing the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin in Houston, Dean announced that he plans to travel to India and Israel next year to show American ethnic communities that he cares about more than just their money. AP reports Dean as saying, "I want to show the willingness of the Democratic Party to reach out and respect their traditions. We don't want them to just be donors."

But prominent black conservative Jesse Lee Peterson, founder of the Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny (BOND), believes the DNC chairman is likelier to help the Republican cause than he is to win Democratic support from among the GOP ranks. "Howard Dean is a racist," Peterson says. "Howard Dean is good for the Republican Party and, in a way, bad for the Democrats, because he exposes what they are about."

Harking back to the Democratic leader's recent characterization of the GOP as "pretty much a white, Christian party," Peterson asserts that Dean is only "speaking what's on the hearts and minds of many of the white, racist, elitist, liberal Democrats." The founder of BOND insists that white Democrats "do not respect black Americans," and that they "think that we're not capable of taking care of ourselves, not capable of raising our children."

That is why, Peterson maintains, Democrats believe that social programs such as welfare and affirmative action are the best thing for black Americans. And he feels Dean and many other Democrats expect the majority of blacks to support liberal candidates because the liberal black leadership have helped to convince them they need these programs. But the black conservative spokesman says the Democratic Party can no longer take the black vote for granted.

"I would say to Howard Dean that the Jim Crow days are over," Peterson states. "Some [blacks] are starting to think for themselves and are leaving the 'plantation' of the Democratic Party. They know the Democratic Party is anti-American, anti-God, anti-baby, anti-family, anti-military, and they're not putting up with that anymore."

Peterson says he finds Dean's comments denying the true diversity of the Republican Party somewhat amusing. Still, he contends that what Dean said is what is on the hearts and minds of many of the liberal elites in the Democratic Party.

Agape Press ~ Chad Groening ** Black Conservative Says Dean Shows Many Democrats' True Colors

COWARD DEANPEACE PROMISES 'IN-YOUR-FACE' RESPONSE TO GOP
Mood:  chatty
Topic: Lib Loser Stories

GOP, Dean trade barbs in Boston

A toned-down Howard Dean juiced up about 300 Democratic activists yesterday during his first party fund-raiser in Boston since taking over the Democratic National Committee helm, but took jabs at familiar targets, including Republican Gov. Mitt Romney.

"It's a delight to be in state with two Democratic senators, 10 Democratic representatives and a governor who's never here," Dean joked.

The GOP hit back, calling the Green Mountain doc and former Vermont governor "Dr. Mean" for criticizing the GOP, when he said earlier this year, "I hate Republicans."

Before Dean's "Paint the Nation Blue" fund-raiser at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel last night, the Massachusetts Republican party issued a news release with the headline, "Sick of losing Gov's races, Dems turn to sworn Republican hater."

Dean promised to escalate his attacks on the GOP despite the negative response to his controversial comments in recent weeks. His inflammatory statements have brought harsh rebukes from Republicans and generally tepid support if not outright criticism from fellow Democratic party leaders.

Among the most controversial was when he referred to the Republican Party as "pretty much a white, Christian party."

"I don't care if Dick Cheney likes my mother or not, we are going to fight back," Dean said.

He was referring to a recent comment from the vice president in which he said of Dean, "Maybe his mother loved him, but I've never met anybody who does."

The party expected to raise between $250,000 to $300,000 during last night's event, which offered donors summer fare with their dose of politics - hot dogs, popcorn and a bit of Dean's Vermont political roots - Ben & Jerry's "Peace Pops."

"They say they want small government, but their government is just big enough to fit inside Terri Schiavo's bed in the nursing home," Dean said.

Unbowed by the criticism, Dean added, "And as the head of the Democratic party, I will not be lectured about morals by (Texas Republican U.S. Rep.) Tom Delay and Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly."

Boston Herald ~ Ann E. Donlan ** GOP, Dean trade barbs in Boston

Drudge Report Exclusive ** DEAN PROMISES 'IN-YOUR-FACE' RESPONSE TO GOP

Great Picture that Dems will hate ~ Azerbaijan boy chanting ''Freedom'' and carrying portrait of President Bush
Mood:  chatty
Topic: Yahoo Chat Stuff

Azerbaijan Protesters Seek Free Elections

An Azeri boy shouts slogans while holding a portrait of the U.S. President George W. Bush during an opposition rally in Baku, June 18, 2005. Thousands of demonstrators chanting 'Freedom' and carrying portraits of Bush marched across Azerbaijan's capital demanding the resignation of the government and free parliamentary elections.

BAKU, Azerbaijan - Thousands of demonstrators chanting "Freedom" and carrying portraits of President Bush marched across Azerbaijan's capital Saturday, demanding the resignation of the government and free parliamentary elections — in the biggest protest in years.

The protest of about 20,000 marchers, the second such rally in as many weeks, was organized by three leading opposition parties that formed the Azadlig (Freedom) bloc to run for parliamentary elections set for November.

About 200 police in full riot gear stood guard around a central square where protesters gathered. Brief clashes erupted when demonstrators tried to push police away from the square and officers in riot gear fought back with truncheons. Last month, police beat back protesters who tried to hold a banned rally in Baku and detained dozens.

Tensions have been building steadily in this oil-rich Caspian Sea nation in the run-up to the elections, leading some observers to predict that Azerbaijan could see a massive uprising similar to those that toppled unpopular regimes in other ex-Soviet nations of Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan during the past 18 months.

Supporters of the Musavat party, the People's Front of Azerbaijan and the Democratic Party of Azerbaijan chanted "Freedom" and "Free Elections" and carried pictures of President Bush, seen as inspiration for the earlier democratic revolutions in the former Soviet republics of Georgia and Ukraine.

Bush visited Georgia's capital of Tbilisi last month and told a cheering crowd of tens of thousands of people that Georgia is proving to the world that determined people can rise up and claim their freedom from oppressive rulers.

Azerbaijan's opposition bloc has chosen orange as its campaign color — the color that was also used by the Ukrainian opposition during mass protests dubbed "Orange Revolution" that helped pave way for the victory of a Western-backed candidate over a Russia-backed rival.

Many participants in Saturday's rally wore orange T-shirts and baseball caps and carried orange flags.

The opposition demands election law reforms and access to state-controlled television. They also have accused authorities of rigging the October 2003 presidential election when President Ilham Aliev succeeded his late father, Geidar Aliev, and demanded changes to prevent fraud in the parliamentary vote.

That vote set off clashes between police and opposition demonstrators protesting vote-rigging, in which one person died and nearly 200 were injured.

Azerbaijan, a mostly Muslim country of 8.3 million, is the starting point of the key pipeline that Washington says will reduce dependence on oil from the Middle East. The country also is a U.S. ally in the war on terrorism, with troops in Iraq.

Yahoo News ~ Associated Press - Aida Sultanova ** Azerbaijan Protesters Seek Free Elections