S.22 in the Senate: The Games Begin on the New G.I. Bill

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has been working the phones, according to a report in Roll Call magazine, to gather support for passage of the Iraq Supplemental Bill which includes the Webb-Hagel New G.I. Bill.

Senate Republicans are doing their very best to insure that there is no up or down vote on the New G.I. Bill, and as one GOP aide put it, “There is not going to be a vote on the GI bill. There’ll be a vote on a package that includes the GI bill.” [Roll Call, sub req] The point? No Mud on Us. “Republicans agree, saying the Senate (Appropriations) committee’s decision to increase the supplemental’s price tag will make it harder for Democrats to tar Republicans as having voted against a new GI bill in the measure.” [Roll Call sub req]

One portion of the Webb-Hagel Bill (S.22) that may be lost in the process is the transferability of education benefits to family members now that Senator Daniel Akaka (D-HI) has announced his opposition to that provision. [AFN] Meanwhile VoteVets.org is keeping the pressure on Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and John Cornyn (R-TX) to support the bill. [HuffPo] The GOP may also be attempting to utilize a temporary numerical advantage in the Senate as it’s not expected that Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) will be returning to the Senate in time for the supplemental vote. “The Senator is doing well and is anxious to get back to work. But doctors are still evaluating him and we expect the Senator to remain in the hospital for a couple of days while they finish their work.” [Roll Call sub req]

Senator John Ensign (R-NV) has still not signed on as a co-sponsor of S.22, the Post 9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2007. [GovTrack]

Something to think about

I received an email the other day with a bit of humor about the 'Economic Stimulus Payments' we should be receiving in the near future. It went like this:

Q. What is an Economic Stimulus Payment?
A. It is money that the federal government will send to taxpayers.
Q. Where will the government get this money?
A. From the taxpayers.
Q. So the government is giving me back my own money?
A. Just a smidgen.
Q. What is the purpose of this payment?
A. The plan is that you'll use the money to purchase an HD-TV set,
thus stimulating the economy.
Q. But isn't that stimulating the economy of China?
A. Shut up.

I chuckled at the final line, but then I started thinking about it. Not only is China our second-largest supplier of consumer goods (13% of what hit the shelves in 2004), but China is a one of our 'major foreign holders of US Treasury securities' to the tune of $490.6 Billion as of March 2008 (only Japan holds more), and they're still buying us up.

Follow that up with another email that I received and it really makes you think. Here's how it went:

Are we Americans as dumb as we appear, or is it that we just don't think? While the Chinese, knowingly and intentionally, export inferior products and dangerous toys and goods to be sold in American markets, the media wrings its hands and criticizes the Bush Administration for perceived errors. Yet, 70% of Americans believe that the trading privileges afforded to the Chinese should be suspended. Well, duh ... why do you need the government to suspend trading privileges?

DO IT YOURSELF!!

Simply look on the bottom of every product you buy, and if it says 'Made in China' or 'PRC' (and that now includes Hong Kong), simply choose another product or none at all. You will be amazed at how dependent you are on Chinese products, however you will be equally amazed at what you can do without. Who needs plastic eggs to celebrate Easter?

If you must have eggs, use real ones and benefit some American farmer. Easter is just an example, the point is ... don't wait for the government to act.

Just go ahead and assume control on your own.

If 200 million Americans refuse to buy just $20 each of Chinese goods, that's a billion dollar trade imbalance resolved in our favor ... fast!! The downside? Some American businesses will feel a temporary pinch from having foreign stockpiles of inventory. Downside ??

The solution?
Let's give them fair warning and send our own message. We'll not implement this UNTIL June 4, and we'll continue it only until July 4. That's only one month of trading losses, but it will hit the Chinese for 1/12th of the total, or 8%, of their American exports. Then they will at least have to ask themselves if the benefits were worth it.

The call to action in the latter email is a double-edged sword. It would be wonderful if everything in the world was so simple, but it's not. We're a nation with an unfathomable national debt and an insatiable appetite for cheap consumer goods.

So ... are you just going to chuckle at the first email, bite a hand that's feeding you by taking the action proposed in the second email, or more than likely, are you just going to pay down a bit of your own debt when you get that stimulus check? If you're like me, you're just going to pay down some of your own debt. But, you might just want to go one step further ... you just might want to consider writing your elected representatives, and ask them to stop borrowing and spend significantly less as they conduct the business of our nation. Afterall, each family's share of the national debt is now: $73,733.00. That's a sum equal to 3 years of my gross pension income. Hello ... is anybody in Congress even thinking about this?

Coffee and the Papers: Deals and More Deals

** Wonder what the “No Tax Grab” folks in Nevada are going to do now? The NSEA announced that it will drop efforts to raise the gaming tax by 3% in exchange for support from Wynn Resorts, Harrah’s Entertainment, and Station Casinos for an advisory question on the November ballot that would increase the room tax by 3%. Sheldon “Freedom’s Watch”Adelson has, no surprise here, not signed on, and continues his efforts to “divert room tax money from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.” [LV Sun]

** The fallout from real estate foreclosures in Las Vegas means that even renting can be a dicey proposition. [LV Sun] The Center for American Progress does some fact checking on the Bush Administration’s handling of the mortgage meltdown. When the President says he won’t sign a bill that “rewards speculators” or “bails out bankers” someone needs to remind him, “Speculative real estate investors who purchased homes purely for profit, not shelter, and did not live in them are not eligible for program participation in any legislation now under consideration by Congress. Arguments that this legislation rewards speculators are specious.” [CAP] (emphasis added)

** Best line from the Nevada Democratic Convention: Dina Titus – “Jon Porter spends a lot of his time back in Washington playing in a rock 'n' roll band," Titus said. "I say we've heard enough of his same old song. It's time to change the music." [Erin Neff, LVRJ]

** Timing is everything? This week the EPA is defending agency guidelines for radiation health rules that remain incomplete, in preparation for submitting a construction application early next month. [LVRJ] The current occupant of the Governor’s mansion has filed a motion to remain ensconced during the D-I-V-O-R-C-E. [RGJ] “Waning tax revenues, withering housing markets, soaring gas prices, and shrinking employment” are combining for grim economic numbers in Nevada,” [RGJ] The Department of Administration ought to be awash in bill draft requests for the 75^th session because the deadline for submission was May 1^st. [BDR] And…The governor decides this is the best time to meet and greet members of our National Guard in Iraq? [LVRJ] Certainly, the men and women serving there deserve support from the homefront – however, the timing of the Governor’s trip certainly does bring questions to mind.

** What about the other McCain 2008 national finance co-chair? One has resigned already under the ‘new’ campaign rules about lobbyists, the other is Wayne Berman of Ogilvy Government Relations which represents Chevron-Texaco, the American Petroleum Institute, Reliant Energy, AIG, AmeriChoice, AT&T, Verizon, VISA and Motorola. [link] What better way to say “Bush III?”

** If you were thinking that a GOP administration might keep you safer, consider what could result from being swept up in Main Core during a period in which Continuity of Government operations were in place. Digby explains. Combine this bit of news with the mailer sent out by Charter Communications to 2.7 million customers announcing a new “web tracking program” that is essentially “the ultimate third party tracking network,” [SourceWatch] and Big Brother can track your every little cookie. Phom tried this in Great Britain and the consequent outrage over the privacy violations prevented ISPs from implementing the system.

** “Once more, with feeling,” a GAO study confirms that health savings accounts primarily benefit high income individuals. [CBPP]

** “Wages fall behind inflation for seventh month” [Economic Policy Institute] Home Depot reports a first quarter net income loss of 66%. [MrkWtch] Something to watch: “Pension funds and other institutional investors are driving commodity prices to the moon by allocating massive amounts of money to energy and agricultural investments and sidestepping regulatory limits on big speculative bets, according to research expected to be presented to Congress on Tuesday.” [MrkWtch]

** “The Bush administration is illegally withholding the details of its offer accepted by the European Union to bind more sectors of the U.S. economy to World Trade Organization (WTO) jurisdiction as part of a settlement relating to a WTO ruling against the U.S. ban on Internet gambling, Public Citizen contended today in a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.” [May 19, 2008, full story at Public Citizen]

** While the Republicans focus on the relatively impotent figurehead Ahmadinejad in Iran, the real power is held by the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is the subject of a new Carnegie Report.

Spy vs. Lie: S. 2324 and the DoJ Inspector General's Report

While reading through the accounts of the FBI’s objections to so-called ‘enhanced interrogations’ (a.k.a. Torture) and the reports that the agency was concerned about participating in “joint interrogations of detainees with other agencies in which techniques not allowed by the FBI were used,” [TPMM-AP] pause for a moment and go back to a vote taken in the U.S. Senate on April 23, 2008.

“The Senate on April 23 approved, by unanimous consent, S. 2324, the Inspector General Reform Act of 2008. But the bill passed only after the lawmakers agreed to an amendment by Senator Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., which, among other items, deleted a provision giving the Justice Department's Office of Inspector General (OIG) jurisdiction to investigate misconduct allegations against department attorneys, including its most senior officials.” [NatlJrnl via TPMM] (emphasis added) Therefore, while Congress attempts to sort out who authorized the Bush Administration’s warrantless domestic wiretapping program, and perhaps who might have impeded investigations into the use of torture on detainees in U.S. custody, the Department of Justice’s Inspector General held he was prevented by statute from reviewing these matters. S. 2324 passed with “unanimous consent,” meaning no record was kept of each Senator’s position on the prevention of the DoJ’s Inspector General from investigating the investigators. The Kyl Amendment (CngRcrd-pdf/S3323) was also approved by unanimous consent. [CngRcrd-pdf/3328] S. 2324 is currently “held at the chief clerk’s desk” in the House. To make a long story short, it appears the only way to convince the White House not to veto the Inspector General Reform Act of 2008, was to insert Kyl’s amendment.

Whether the amendment will be a source of contention during deliberations in the House of Representatives remains to be seen, as will whether there will be conflict over a subsequent conference report. Items that Senate Democrats wanted to maintain in the bill (a shield for inspectors general from administration political pressure, and making audits and reports more accessible to the public) may have been protected by adopting the Kyl Amendment. However, there are significant differences between the Senate and House versions. The House version sets appointments at 7 year terms with removal only for cause, and would require independent watchdog bureaus to submit their budgets directly to Congress as well as the White House. The President promptly asserted that this provision would “encroach on the president’s constitutional authority.” [FAC]

So, tomorrow the Inspector General’s report will be released, [AP] [Reuters] and after the corporate press digests the material Matt Lauer may discover that more than just those in the “Far Left” are going to be concerned about the Bush Administration’s propensity to trample on American civil rights and liberties. One thing is certain – the debate over appropriate legislation, and the role of the current Administration in the perpetuation of injustices and the violation of civil liberties, may only be beginning.

$307 billion farm bill heading to Pres Bush's desk

We should all be seriously concerned about how Congress continually goes about doing its business. If Congress isn't wastefully throwing money out the window using one earmark after another (money they didn't budget to spend), it's passing one bill after another with out-of-control spending. From my perspective, no "systems-analysis" is being performed to determine what will happen if what's being considered is passed and put into effect.

A classic case of this type of Congressional behavior involves the $307 Billion Farm Subsidy Bill recently passed by the Congress. Do rich corporate farmers really need $5 Billion in direct payments showered upon them? What exactly do those direct payments have to do with crop productivity, or in providing some form of safety net in case prices drop? I’m just baffled. It includes $93 million in tax breaks for horse breeders, $170 million in grants for the salmon industry and some back door funding that benefits only one Montana timber company (another one of those earmarks).

As I understand it, farm income is up significantly. Since the passing of the Energy Independence and Security Act, prices for corn are soaring! Congress should have taken a serious look at this bill and shaved more than just a mere 2% off the direct payments provision. Better yet, with record high farm income combined with a world food crisis, why didn't they just scrap the farming subsidies altogether, and reallocate that $5 Billion where we really need it, like on health care for veterans or education for kids?

If I look at the Farm Subsidy Bill along side the Energy Independence and Security Act, I'm not sure which is the fuel and which is the fire ... but I'm pretty sure that it's Congress I see who's standing there with the fan in hand, ready to make sure everything goes up in flame. Because systems-thinking is involved they fail to consider each bill’s impact on other areas of the economy. That's how we end up, for example, with the prices of food going through the roof. Higher corn prices result from biofuel mandates and subsidies, which encourage farmers to plant fewer acres of wheat and soybeans—which in turn raises prices for wheat and soybeans. In addition, corn is the chief feed grain for which producers of beef, poultry, and pork must pay higher prices which will be passed along to consumers. In 2006, a bushel of corn sold for just under $2; today it's nearly $6. And that doesn't take into consideration the rising price of gasoline impacting the transportation of goods to market or the decline in worth of US Currency worldwide.

Even Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer recognized the folly of this bill. Here’s what he said, “At a time of record farm income, Congress decided to further increase farm subsidy rates, qualify more people for taxpayer support, and move programs toward more government control." Bush has promised to veto the bill, but unfortunately, it looks like this spending monstrocity just might be veto-proof.

Quick Clips: Kids say the darndest things?

** Nevada’s chief executive, quite possibly the worst governor in the nation, Jim Gibbons, left his chief of staff Mike Dayton to field questions about educational funding from students representing the Clark County School District Student Advisory Council. The results weren’t pretty. Could a person venture that they might have been worse had the Governor himself faced the kids – and their grasp of the statistics and consequent implications? Full Story at Las Vegas Sun. Perhaps we could encourage the kids to ask the governor about northern Nevada’s bleak numbers in the last economic quarterly reports? [RGJ]

** Molly Ball reminds Nevada Republicans that if they lose one more seat in the State Assembly the Democrats will have a veto proof majority, and one more seat in the Senate will give Democrats control of the Legislature. [LVRJ]

** If this comment concerning the influence of lobbyists on John McCain’s president campaign isn’t replete with elitism, it’s hard to image what would qualify: “Asked today if questions about potential conflicts-of-interest might be affecting the choices of average American voters, Black responded bluntly: "Hell, no." He was careful to say that Senator McCain is committed to maintaining the integrity of the campaign -- hence his commitment to the re-vetting process. But, Black added, "I do not believe that average voters out there care." [MSNBC] The Great Unwashed, Hoi Polloi, Little People, have noticed that the campaign staffers weren’t vetted in the first place – had this not been the case “re-vetting” would not be necessary. What the “little people sitting out there in the dark” understand perfectly well is that executives who are tied to lobbyists (Jack Abramoff anyone?) have ethical conflicts of interest, and conflicts of interest all too often result in scandals, jail sentences, and other scenarios played out during the Bush Administration. Black’s had ties to the Mobutu regime in Zaire, Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos (on whom Reagan pulled the plug), Nigerian dictator Ibrahim Babangida, and the brutal regime controlling Equatorial Guinea. [HuffPo] What was McCain saying recently about not talking to brutal dictatorial regimes?

** We could do this for another hundred years? “The Army said today that it is "increasingly a challenge" to provide troops for the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan and to reach its goal of allowing soldiers at least 12 months at home between combat tours. The experience of the 25th Infantry Division is typical. It just returned last October from a 15-month deployment in Iraq and will spend barely 12 months at home before its new deployment. The division served a 12-month deployment in Afghanistan in 2004 and 2005.” [Baltimore Sun] Or this? “The Pentagon plans to send 39,000 soldiers to Iraq to replace troops scheduled to leave the war zone and to hold the total U.S. force level steady over the next year.” [Reuters] When is a “Surge” a permanent escalation?

** Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) noted that President Bush would be the first chief executive to veto a benefits bill for veterans. [TP] Meanwhile, the Philadephia Inquirer, the Denver Post, and the Seattle News Tribune weigh in with support for the Webb Bill.

** Bomb Bomb Iran: Senator John McCain is upset that Senator Barack Obama is “downplaying” the danger from Iran [CNN] which, in turn, yields the question: Who wants the danger played UP? The list includes Michael Ledeen, James Woolsey, and Norman Podhoretz [TWN] and where have we heard those names before? Neo-conservatives one and all. Ron Paul caught them at it in 2006. Conanson picked up on the implications of a McCain presidency in a Salon article last March, “The danger of a McCain presidency is not only that he would prolong our presence in Iraq but that he would seek to fulfill neoconservative dreams of a war expanded from Iraq into Iran and Syria, leading to a regional conflagration. With his campaign already sowing the arguments for a wider conflict, we will not be able to say we weren't warned.” For what it’s worth, McCain endorser Rev. John Hagee would be delighted to see the promotion of Armageddon. “Hagee, who has a radio and television ministry with a global reach and is the author of more than 20 books, views the Israel-Hezbollah conflict as a warm-up to a confrontation with Iran.“[RtWebWtch]

Stretching credibilty and straining the incredulous

There are quite simply some storylines during this campaign season that defy plausibility.

# Consider the following excerpt from the Nevada Democratic Party about the recent convention in Reno: “Nevada Democrats wrapped up a successful state convention today by voting on a party platform and electing the five Democrats who will represent Nevada in the Electoral College.” [NVDem] If the press release means that “successful” means the state party convention didn’t devolve into the chaos that marked the Republican confab, then the statement might be creditable. However, DeeH’s posts, those from Blue Lyon, and this report from an attendee from Humboldt County – “On Saturday morning, we arrived at Registration promptly at 7 AM and were, once again, turned away because we were “not on the list.” We weren’t on the Delegate list (as we expected to be) nor were we on the Alternate list. Finally, at 8:30 AM, we magically appeared on the “Alternate” list and were able to receive an “Alternate” badge. We could, at least, sit in the Alternates area and observe the convention business. […] That time came and went and we were told the revised time would be 12 Noon instead. But 12 Noon came and went, and it wasn’t until 2:05 PM that we finally received our Delegate credentials,” indicate something rather less than a well organized, effective, convention.

# The McCain campaign didn’t know it was up to its ears in lobbyists before May 15, 2008. Senator McCain’s national finance co-chair just resigned “the latest casualty of a presidential campaign eager to cauterize damage caused by its ties to lobbyists.” [NYT] Thomas Loeffler’s departure brings the total number of top firm lobbyists departing from significant roles in the campaign to five. [WashMon] As Kevin Drum pointed out, the McCain for President organization had to know these people were lobbyists when they were initially hired – no one had to “point it out to them.” Unless, of course, they were hiring people without looking at their resumés; and who would believe that?

# Members of the United States Senate believe that it might be perfectly acceptable to finance the bank bail outs from funds set aside to assist low income renters. Last Thursday GOP and Democratic leaders on the Senate Banking Committee reached a ‘tentative deal’ to assist those who are far behind on mortgage payments by using a portion of the profits from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac “that had been set aside for low income rental housing.” [WaPo] via TPMEC If this is some sort of trial balloon, then it ought to be pointed out that it’s made of pure lead.

# There are serious editors and publishers in the corporate media who are gatekeepers taking their assignments seriously when it comes to columnists making derogatory, shallow, and puerile ‘jokes’ about presidential candidates and party leaders. This statement isn’t the least bit credible in the face of recent comments by Maureen Dowd, Kathleen Parker, Chris Matthews, and Monica Crowley; all of whom have provided solid evidence that their individual senses of humor haven’t progressed much beyond that associated with junior high school locker rooms. [Digby] When my grandmother used to describe people of this ilk as “common,” she didn’t mean it as a compliment.

# Presidential candidate Senator John McCain needs former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee on the campaign trail. As the trite question goes: With friends like these who needs enemies? First Huckabee makes a joke about an assassination attempt on Senator Barack Obama, who was given Secret Service protection early in the campaign because of very plausible threats, and after that gaffe goes on Meet the Press to say he thought Senator McCain singing “Bomb, Bomb, Iran” was funny. [TP]

# Any discussion of Bush Administration corruption is old news. The perversion of the Bush Administration continues to be uncovered, and Government Executive has created a quick interactive (Six Degrees of Scott Bloch) showing the connections between the chief of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel and several scandals.

# Average Americans just aren’t capable of understanding all the nuances of the mortgage industry and the subject should be dealt with by experts. Well, perhaps when industry representatives indulge in terminology like “counter-cyclical diversification strategy,” when they actually mean “piling on” a mortgage holder in default, the subject could tend to lose focus. [CreditSlips has additional information on the mortgage servicing hearing in the Senate]

The Sunday Deck Bass

Since one shouldn’t step all over the possibility of more posts from DeeH at the Nevada Democratic Party convention, the Desert Beacon’s weekly Sunday Deck Bass will be much more concise this round. The highly uncoveted, utterly unwanted, award for flipping and flopping by politicians and public notables could be presented to any of the following in good conscience.

President George W. “I will not insert myself into the campaign” Bush for scheduling a May 27^th fundraiser in Phoenix, AZ for Republican candidate John Sidney McCain III, [TP] and for launching a thinly disguised political slam during what should have been a dignified address to the Knesset. [BFP]

President Bush garners another nomination for his performance at the poshly elite Sharm el-Sheik resort. “America is deeply concerned about the plight of political prisoners in this region, as well as democratic activists who are intimidated or repressed, newspapers and civil society organizations that are shut down and dissidents whose voices are stifled," Bush said. "I call on all nations in this region to release their prisoners of conscience, open up their political debate and trust their people to chart their future," Bush said.” [AP] How interesting that this should come from a Chief Executive who has presided over the ‘death’ of habeas corpus, wasn’t going to allow acquittals in Guantanamo Bay show trials, and who, himself, labeled those who would engage in Middle Eastern diplomacy “appeasers?” This, from the Commander in Chief whose Defense Department assembled a team of shills to manipulate press coverage of his ‘pre-emptive war’ doctrine?

Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne earns his nomination for a nicely executed spin in mid-air when he first stated that polar bears were to be placed on the Endangered Species List because “unfortunately he had to follow the law;” a statement which Kempthorne immediately recanted. [TP]

South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham receives his first Deck Bass nomination for his “support for veterans.” Senator Graham was ever so delighted to campaign alongside fellow Solon John McCain in his home state during events on January 27^th replete with Boy Scouts, and members of Veterans’ organizations. [YDN] However, when it came to answering a direct question about supporting the New G.I. Bill Graham did a tap dance worthy of Vaudeville to avoid a direct reply. [TP] Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell tried to give Graham-McCain cover by attaching their dismally meager version of the G.I. Bill to another piece of legislation under discussion – the amendment failed. [The Hill] “Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said the vote is a “message to Bush-McCain Republicans that the U.S. Senate will not stand for political games at the expense of our nation’s first responders and veterans.” [The Hill]

Although Senator Graham (R-SC) made a good run at the hook for this week’s Sunday Deck Bass, the clear winner is President George W. Bush. This is the President’s ninth Deck Bass, putting him one ahead of the nation’s worst Governor, James Gibbons.

Convention Wrap-up (at least for me)

My apologies for the abrupt end of posts yesterday, but there was just simply nothing to write. The post-lunch convention was chaos. We spent hours and hours wandering around the hotel stopping strangers and asking, "Where are we on the agenda? Where are we supposed to be?" There were probably people who knew the answers to these questions, but they were in hiding (I should have checked the bar).
At one point all the rural delegates were shuffeled into a side room and left there. I can't tell you how much time passed (maybe an hour) before someone stood up and asked, "Is someone in charge?" Someone from the back called, "Are you kidding? We're Democrats." This got a pretty laugh. So the first man said, "Okay, I'll be in charge." And for the first time that day no one argued.
Finally, at about 7:30 p.m., after 12 hours of being at the convention, I figured out where we were on the agenda. I started doing the math in my head and it occured to me we weren't going to get to the e-board elections or the national delegate elections for at least another hour or more (Clark County was still listening to speeches from candidates and voting). I looked around at the chaos and thought, "That's it". So, I got in my car and went home. You must imagine for yourself an event so awful it made Winnemucca look desirable. My apologies for not staying until the bitter end, but the NSDP had simply worn me down with chaos and confusion until I didn't care anymore.
In closing I would like to note a few things:
The first is that Democrats are not Republicans. As a member of the media, I have been assigned to cover Republican events and have observed them in their native habitat (Humboldt County). It never fails to amaze me that Republicans just do what they're told (not the Ron Paul people - they're a breed of their own). Had the Republicans been given a consent agenda and told to vote on it so they could move on to 20 boring speeches, they would have done it. Unanimously. You do that with Democrats and there will be a riot (which there was). We're a rebellious lot and someone somewhere should probably keep that in mind.
Secondly, and I speak only for myself here, I hate lots and lots of boring speeches. Actually, I also hate boring speeches in limited numbers. I enjoyed hearing from President Clinton, and I didn't mind that actor whose name slips my mind (I really don't watch tv), but everyone else I could have done without. We're the party faithful - we've heard from these people before and will have the opportunity to hear from them again (sadly and unfortunately). I don't think it's asking too much at the Democratic State Convention to let the rank-and-file Dems be heard.
Thirdly, and this goes out directly to Senator Obama, if you're going to send a surrogate (and the other side has a former president) send someone everyone knows. You wouldn't believe the number of people who said to me, "Who is that guy?" as that actor spoke whose name slipped my mind. Hello!! George Clooney is a supporter of yours -- put that man to work. He can start at my house!!
In closing I would just like to say I would like to see some party unity by November. Hell, there's a first time for everything.

Prozac

There's only one way to describe the post-lunch convention: The inmates are running the asylum.

Dividing up the delegates

After the ballots had been counted, the delegate count looks like this:

Senator Hillary Clinton: 11 delegates

Senator Barack Obama: 14 delegates

The Congressional Districts look like this:

CD 1

Clinton 44 percent 3 delegates
Obama 56 percent 3 delegates

CD 2 Clark
Clinton 36 percent 1 delegate
Obama 62 percent 1 delegates


CD 2 Rural
Clinton 40 percent 0 delegates
Obama 60 percent 1 delegate

CD 2 Washoe County
Clinton 38 percent 1 delegate
Obama 62 percent 2 delegates

CD 3
Clinton 2 delegates
Obama 49 percent 2 delegates


At-Large Delegates
Clinton 3
Obama 3

Pledged
Clinton 1
Obama 2

Additional Speakers

Oi. I'm getting behind with my speakers. I'll recap quickly before it's time for another
shouting match.

Jill Derby: Running for congress. Did you know she's from the Flyin' Flapjack Ranch in Lovelock?

Dina Titus: Running for congress. Did you know she's not from Nevada? Imagine, if you will, that south-Georgia drawl shouting, "I'm back. I'm back." Yes. It's been that kind of day.

Shelley Berkley: Encouraged unity (I assume -- I wasn't listening).

Harry Reid: Did you know Harry is the son of a hardrock miner from Searchlight? No? Then you need the senator's new book (if you're reading this blog from the convention floor - the big pyramid in the back of the room is composed of those books -- go get one).

Catherine Cortez-Masto: Spoke at length. She's against the bad economy. And crime (I assume - she didn't say).

Kate Marshall: (full disclosure: I completely adore Kate) Kate had a great line in her speech. She said,"The governor is divorced ... from reality." The crowd went wild. Sadly, she followed that up a short time later with this line, "Opportunity is knocking. Do you hear it? It knocks for you." (note to Kate: Do Hemmingway correctly or not at all. Example: Ask not for whom opportunity knocks, it knocks for you.")

The Keynote Speaker

The keynote speaker for the convention was Jon Soltz, chairman of VoteVets and a veteran of the War in Iraq. Listening to Jon speak, one gets the impression he doesn't think much of the commander-in-chief, George Bush. Jon said, "I'm just a guy who went to war for weapons that weren't there, while the president played dress-up like the draft-dodger he was."

Jon isn't too impressed with John McCain either. He noted that while the senator did serve in the military, he has let the veterans down; including leading a vote against a bill that would have given Iraq War veterans an equal amount of time stateside that they served in Iraq.

Jon pointed out the guys in the Army and Marine Corps don't always get along very well, but they fight side byside. Jon asked the Clinton supporters to stand up (they did so with a cheer). After that, he asked the Obama supporters to stand up (they dd so with a cheer). Then he asked, "How many of ya'll want to beat McCain in November?" The crowd went wild. Jon ended by asking Nevada Democrats to unite for the sake of the military

***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Listening to Jon was like listening to my dad, who was partially disabled in Vietnam. Jon said of his return home, "I had to find my soul again." My dad used to say, "War is soul-stealing work." Listening to Jon talk about his struggles in getting help from the VA reminded me of my dad's complaints about the VA. He stopped looking for help because no one cared. My father came home from Vietnam in 1973; Jon was in Iraq in 2003. Thirty years has gone by - but not much has changed. We have to do better by our veterans before another three decades goes by.

President Clinton takes the stage

The rock star of the Democratic Party takes the stage: President Bill Clinton. The crowd went crazy (both for and against). Despite some boorish behavior by some in the audience, Clinton gave a wonderful speech -- about the Democratic Party. I thought he might talk about, you know, Senator Clinton (though he did note he has a favorite in the race). He spoke about the shape the country is in (bad), and the necessity for the Democrats to win (good).

In one of my favorite parts of the speech, Clinton said of the Republicans, "Their old arguments aren't working anymore." He went on to note the Republicans are supposed to be the party of family values, but they don't address such family-value issues as: employment, health care, and the environment. I wanted to jump up and down and cheer. Hello! The economy is a family-value issue.

Because "unity" is this year's theme, Clinton addressed the issue and assured everyone that once all the votes are counted, the Democrats will unite and elect a Dem in November. It's interesting to note there were people who tried to shout down the president. By the end of the speech, almost everyone was listening and cheering. See -- we're uniting already.

Getting down to business

After a speech by the Temporary Convention Chair, Richard Bryan, we quickly got down to business; that is, fighting about the rules. It's difficult to relay the issues on hand over the shouting and the cow bells. Also some swearing. And booing.

Finally the permanet chairs are elected. But the arguing goes on. There are folks in the audience who want us to discuss and vote on each item on the consent agenda (because they want to be here until midnight). It's no longer clear who's arguing for what because of the noise. Oh, and the swearing continues. Such a lively bunch.

This is going to go on and on. I'll post more if this is ever resolved (ha-ha-ha).

Nevada State Convention

Good morning from the Nevada State Democratic Convention! After several bad starts, I think I've figured out this Internet thingy (English majors are notoriously bad at this -- and spelling). I'm looking forward to keeping you posted.

For those folks who are making their first appearance at an NSDP event, the convention may seem like a disorganized mess. For my part, this is the best I've ever seen them do -- though I'm willing to ackowledge that's a pretty low bar.

Here's a funny for you. When I first walked in, I thought I saw Dawn Gibbons. Wow, I thought to myself, she really IS ticked. But it turned out to be someone who just looked like Dawn. The future ex-Mrs. Gibbons used to be a Democrat, and I'm wondering if she's going to come back to the fold now that she's no longer burdened with living in the governor's mansion.

Well, it appears as though the e-board might actually get this thing started. There will be further posts as events warrant.

Nevada groups urge Administration to drop Yucca Mtn licensing efforts

The Nevada Conservation League, PLAN, the Sierra Club, Citizen Alert, and the Western Shoshone Defense Project are urging the Bush Administration to drop the Yucca Mountain licensing effort. The task force statement below:

“Elected leaders from both major parties, ranchers, conservationists and Native Americans are calling on the Department of Energy to drop its effort to license the high-level radioactive waste repository at Yucca Mountain and instead focus on protecting the public’s health and safety.

The Department of Energy is expected to submit its application for licensing the dump to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission within a few weeks, despite the fact that no standards have been set for safety and scientists still don’t know all the real dangers.

One of many concerns of Nevadans has been amply demonstrated in the last several weeks as a series of earthquakes has struck the state – more than 600 so far – and geologists warn that a major seismic event could happen any time. The ability of Yucca Mountain, about 90 miles north of Las Vegas, to withstand such as event is questionable.

Additionally:

• Yucca Mountain is sacred to and within the treaty lands of the Western Shoshone Nation. Shoshones strongly oppose the project.
• Yucca Mountain is in a geologically young volcano field
• The Air Force uses air space over and around the site for training exercises.
• The dump threatens the pristine aquifer under Yucca Mountain, used by Amargosa Valley residents, farmers and the state’s largest dairy.
• The dump design is still incomplete.
• There is no procedure for retrieving the waste if something goes wrong. It would require robots, which have not been invented.
• Waste would be transported across the country on trucks, trains, and barges for 30 years. Whole railroads would have to be built over hundreds of miles to ship the waste to Yucca Mountain. And all shipping is potentially vulnerable to terrorist attack.
• The Department of Energy is counting on other unproven technologies, some still in development and not to be deployed for a century or more, to protect the public.

“Yucca Mountain is a sacred site for the Shoshone,” said Larsen Bill, community planner Western Shoshone Defense Project. “In our language it is called Sleeping Snake Mountain, a site that is prophesized could cause enormous loss of life if not treated carefully. We want to make sure that never happens.” Bill is in Elko, Nev., but there is huge concern statewide, including Las Vegas.

“The Department of Energy has not met the minimum legal, technical and scientific thresholds for protecting the public,” said Jenna Morton, a Las Vegas business owner, community activist and mother of three. “Until it has, it should not submit its license application. And until it has, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission must not accept the application.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CALL JUDY TREICHEL, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NUCLEAR WASTE TASK FORCE, (702) 248-1127 (o) or (702) 232-3911

Bush begging doesn't move Saudis, Paulson's prognostications don't resolve the questions

It is entirely conceivable that a person sitting in a cave 30 miles south of beautiful downtown Battle Mountain, Nevada could make this kind of prediction: “Although we are still working through housing and capital markets issues, and expect to be doing so for some time, we also expect to see a faster pace of economic growth before the end of the year,” – Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson, May 16, 2008. [Forbes] This, while J.P. Morgan reports that its projected charges from the Bear Stearns Bailout will be approximately $9 billion in the Second Quarter which it can cover on its balance sheet, but not without some trepidation concerning the state of the financial markets: “Meanwhile, Dimon said the credit crunch is probably 75% complete and will hopefully end by year's end. However, he said the recession is still starting and could be deep and worse than the capital-markets crisis.” [CNN] And this, while the Politician-in-Chief gets rebuffed one more time by his good friends in Saudi Arabia. The Saudis don’t see enough demand to cause them to increase oil production. [MrktWtch] Why should they? This is the self-same Politician-in-Chief who until mere hours ago was still advocating pumping more petroleum into the U.S. reserve supply. If there’s enough to pump into the Reserves, why increase production?

We can reasonably conclude that the Bush Administration and its Republican allies in Congress haven’t made much of any headway on two critical issues facing the U.S. economy, both of which contain the potential to make J.P. Morgan’s CEO sound like a prophet. First, as the advocates for rather than the regulators of both the oil business and the Wall Street Wizards, the Bush Administration has placed itself in a box of its own creation. By asserting supposedly ‘free market’ principles, the Administration has yoked two critical segments of the economy (energy and credit) to the herd mentality whims of investors. In both instances those investors, whether in equities or commodities, do take risks, but most college freshmen emerging from Econ 101 could remind us the motivation to minimize risk is as powerful as the incentive to take it. Therefore, why would the Saudis not seek to minimize the depletion of their natural reserves while taking advantage of the speculation on the world oil market?

Secondly, in terms of the mortgage meltdown and the credit crisis that followed, the Administration has not taken any significant steps to allay fears and mitigate losses. Fannie Mae is still struggling to devise a down-payment policy that will protect credit markets and ‘jump start’ the housing market at the same time. [WBJ] Freddie Mac is still looking at $151 million in losses. [WBJ] U.S. homebuilders watched their stock drop as investors noted that the increase in building in April was based on apartments not single family dwellings. [HouChron] According to Bloomberg News, construction of single family houses in April was at its lowest level in the last 17 years. The Bloomberg article cites one economist who explains the situation relatively simply – “Why would anyone purchase an asset with declining value?”

Another question that could be asked just as easily is how could working or middle class Americans afford to purchases such an asset in the face of increasing prices for gasoline, health care and insurance, and food? When the senior economist for Wells Fargo & Co. says the latest Labor Department report on inflation “isn’t worth the paper it’s written on,” attention should be paid. [LAT] Gasoline prices are up 20% and food prices have risen 5%, so that 0.2% increase in April is probably what independent economists are saying it is – a fluke.

Finally, the Bush Administration could something tangible to mitigate the effects of the increased speculation in petroleum which is driving prices upward, but thus far it has shown no inclination to do so. It could close the Enron Loophole. [ABC] In 2000, at the behest of the now infamous Enron, Inc., electronic commodities trading was largely exempted from government oversight. “The energy trading provision gives the Commodity Futures Trading Commission enhanced authority to detect and prevent manipulation in the electronic energy markets, create audit trails, require more transparency in transactions and increase financial penalties for cases of market manipulation.” [HouChron] The Administration rather than embracing the closure of this loophole, has threatened to veto the bill. The good news is that the 81-15 vote in the Senate, and the 318-106 vote in the House make the bill almost veto-proof. [NYT]

Nevada citizens should remember that when the Farm Bill came before the House last July 27^th both Representative Porter (R-NV3) and Representative Heller (R-NV2) voted against it. [GovTrack] During the December 14, 2007 vote in the Senate, Nevada Senator John Ensign (R-NV) also voted against the measure. [GovTrack] During the House vote on the conference report with its closure of the Enron Loophole, Representative Dean Heller (R-NV2) was the only member of the Nevada delegation to vote ‘no.’ [GovTrack] Senator John Ensign also voted “no’ on the conference report in the Senate on May 15, 2008. [GovTrack] Whatever their motivations may have been, Representative Heller and Senator Ensign both felt compelled to vote against the oversight of electronic commodities trading that some sources estimate may be adding 20% to our current fuel prices.

Meanwhile, should someone be able to afford the gasoline to reach that cave in central Nevada, the cautious pessimism of the J.P. Morgan CEO, the continuing instability in the housing market, and the inability of two members of the Nevada contingent in Washington, D.C. to support closing the Enron Loophole, should all be enough to spur much quiet reflection.

For Whom the Roads Toll

** The privatization fad has come to the Nevada Transportation Board. [LVRJ] Additionally, it offers the Governor cover for his “No New Taxes” incantations: “The governor feels this does conform with his pledge not to raise taxes," Gibbons' spokesman Ben Kieckhefer said. He added the fee would be optional, and that's different than a "blanket" tax or fee that everyone has to pay.” Put another way, road tolls are another method by which to tax Nevada citizens. If a person wishes to use a public thoroughfare that individual has to pay for the privilege. Since when did travel, and the means of travel, get to be a privilege? Unencumbered travel is something that citizens of a state should share in common, and not seen as a “privilege” for those who can afford it. However, this isn’t the worst that can come from the privatization of public roads, and Unbossed has a thorough and well documented series of articles on the toll road scam. A list of the topics covered in their articles is located here. Unbossed also analyzed the “Hidden Costs of Toll Roads,” and evaluated the situation in “Part 1: Toll Roads, Privatization, and Taxes – Connect the DOTs,” and “Part 2: Toll Roads, Privatization and Taxes…” These articles should be enough to get a serious student of the privatization fad in road building started. “There is No Free Toll Road,” explains why so many so-called well intentioned toll road projects got into trouble.

** We might all wonder just why Senator John Sidney McCain III (R-AZ) was so anxious to receive the endorsement of the Reverend John Hagee? Could it be that no one in the McCain campaign had ever read “The Battle for Jerusalem” or his “Prophecy Bible Study”?” Now that all things Israeli have become topical in the corporate media, this could be as good a time as any to quote the pastor directly: “And the Bible says - Jeremiah righty? - "they shall hunt them from every mountain and from every hill and out of the holes of the rocks", meaning: there's no place to hide. And that will be offensive to some people. Well, dear heart, be offended: I didn't write it. Jeremiah wrote it. It was the truth and it is the truth. How did it happen? Because God allowed it to happen. Why did it happen? Because God said, "my top priority for the Jewish people is to get them to come BACK to the land of Israel".Today Israel is back in the land and they are at Ezekiel 37 and 8. They are physically alive but they're not spiritually alive.” [TF@DailyKos]

This doesn’t quite square with his explanation for why he retracted virulently anti-Catholic comments, “In my zeal to oppose anti-Semitism and bigotry in all its ugly forms, I have often emphasized the darkest chapters in the history of Catholics and Protestant relations with the Jews," Hagee wrote. "In the process, I may have contributed to the mistaken impression that the anti-Jewish violence of the Crusades and the Inquisition defines the Catholic Church. It most certainly does not." [AP] Describing Jews as “Dead Souls” isn’t anti-Semitic? Some commenters have also found it interesting that Hagee’s apology was not addressed to any official Church leaders, but to members of activist Catholic organizations like the Catholic League for Civil and Religious Rights.

** If the McCain campaign keeps shedding lobbyists will there be anyone available to answer the phone? Craig Shirley, of Shirley & Bannister Associates, is the latest to get kicked off the Weasel Wagon. [Politico] McCain seems to have done a major flip-flop on holding discussions with Hamas, although a carefully phrased denial says not; and appears to have rotated another 180 on whether the NRA should have a major role in the Republican Party.

** Lisa Mascaro’s article for the Las Vegas Sun explains the GOP’s rationale for their “protest vote” on the Iraq War Supplemental bill: “By refusing to vote for war funding and instead voting “present,” Republican denied Democrats the majority needed to pass the war funding provision. Republicans then blamed Democrats for denying troops funds needed in wartime.” And thus the game is played.

** The headline doesn’t do the Reno Gazette Journal article about the Nevada Democratic Convention justice, “Dems likely to send split convention delegation.” Of course the Nevada delegation will be split – Democratic Party convention rules call for proportional allocation based on vote totals from caucuses and primaries. [Time]

House votes down Iraq funding; Heller votes against New G.I. Bill

All three members of the Nevada Congressional delegation voted in favor of funding the Bush Administration’s occupation of Iraq on the first of three votes on H.R. 2642, the “Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.” The House rejected the funding by a 141-149 vote with 132 Republicans voting “present.”[rc 328] [WaPo]

The second vote was taken on that portion of the bill that would require troop redeployments from Iraq to begin immediately, would block the establishment of permanent bases, and forbid the use of torture on those in U.S. custody. It would also require that the President submit his “security agreement” with Iraq to be submitted to the Senate for ratification like any other treaty with a foreign state. [The Hill] This section passed the House 227-196; Representative Berkley (D-NV1) voting in favor, Representatives Heller (R-NV2) and Porter (NV3) voting against. [rc 329]

The New G.I. Bill was included in the third vote, which included the educational benefits for veterans, funding for levee construction in Louisiana, and an $11 billion extension of unemployment insurance over the next ten years. [The Hill] Both Representatives Berkley and Porter supported the New G.I. Bill which passed 256-166; leaving Representative Heller as the sole member of the Nevada delegation to vote against it. [rc 330]

A person could conclude that because Representative Heller’s name never appeared on the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans list of supporters of the New G.I. Bill he’d never intended to support it. Congressman Heller may attempt to explain his vote by saying he “would have done” except for the extension of unemployment benefit eligibility – which might also be interpreted to mean that he is not all that concerned that many unemployed citizens in this country are finding it harder to find replacement jobs and taking longer than the current 26 week limit to do so. It’s inconceivable that anyone would be opposed to rebuilding and repairing the levees in Louisiana, but that might serve as yet another rationalization for Heller’s vote. As to the ‘fiscal responsibility’ argument, the funding for the New G.I. Bill was to come from a 0.05% tax on those with individuals with taxable incomes of $1,000,000 or more. (Correction: individuals earning more than $500,000 or joint filings of $1 million) Here too, Representative Heller might have some difficulty explaining why sparing millionaires a small tax increase was of greater importance than funding adequate educational benefits for returning veterans.

The New G.I. Bill has the support of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, AMVETS, the Paralyzed Veterans of America, and the Student Veterans of America. [Webb]

From the Department of Unsolicited Advice: Representative Heller, if you have a yellow ribbon bumper magnet on your vehicle -- remove it.