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Politics : The Donkey's Inn -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (1398)	12/11/2001 1:47:46 PM
From: Mephisto	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 15516

Bush and Cheney's Right-Wing Extremist Dirty Tricks! They post pictures in South Dakota of Daschle and Saddam. Bush and Cheney are as cheap and shoddy as the Right-Wing Extremist on Silicon Investor. Now we know they are all alike! They post these pictures because of the Stimulus Package and Drilling in Arctic National Reserve. See following editorial from NYTIMES

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (1398)	12/11/2001 1:50:21 PM
From: Mephisto	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 15516

Tom Daschle Isn't the Problem " It almost seems as if the G.O.P. is holding a contest to see who can most often use the word "obstructionist" to describe him. The attacks - including ads in Mr. Daschle's home state of South Dakota featuring side-by-side photographs ofhim and Saddam Hussein - are a sure sign of the Senate majority leader's effectiveness in blocking President Bush's hard-right agenda" The New York Times Editorial December 11, 2001 The closing days of this year's Congressional session have brought forth a wild Republican campaign to demonize Senator Tom Daschle. It almost seems as if the G.O.P. is holding a contest to see who can most often use the word "obstructionist" to describe him. The attacks - including ads in Mr. Daschle's home state of South Dakota featuring side-by-side photographs of him and Saddam Hussein - are a sure sign of the Senate majority leader's effectiveness in blocking President Bush's hard-right agenda. Today Mr. Bush meets with Mr. Daschle at the White House, where they can move beyond vilification to legislation. The word "obstructionist," voiced over the weekend by Vice President Dick Cheney, has an unreal ring. Perhaps Mr. Cheney was in a remote, secure location when, after Sept. 11 and with Mr. Daschle's help, Congress passed a use-of-force resolution, a $40 billion emergency spending bill, an airline bailout, a counterterrorism bill and an airport security bill. The Senate has also passed 13 appropriations bills and its own version of education reform and a patients' bill of rights. The two things that Mr. Cheney cited that the Senate had "obstructed" were legislation to drill for energy in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and a "stimulus" bill to give out huge tax breaks to corporations and rich people. Mr. Cheney and Mr. Bush have called for bipartisan cooperation in Congress. Yet when asked, the vice president declined to disavow the attack ads running in South Dakota that accused Mr. Daschle of helping the Iraqi dictator by blocking the destruction of the Alaska reserve. The suspicion is growing in some quarters in Washington that Mr. Bush may not really want economic stimulus legislation. How else to explain that the White House is sticking with a bill, passed by the House, that many Republicans say privately they would just as soon abandon? The effect of spending less than $100 billion to jolt a $10 trillion economy is likely to be small, and the unnecessary tax breaks aimed at corporations and the wealthy would make the nation's upcoming deficits even worse. But there are some good ideas in some versions of the stimulus bill that should be passed, irrespective of their large-scale economic impact. These pieces would provide unemployment and health benefits to laid off workers who desperately need help after Sept. 11. If Mr. Bush continues to be inflexible on the economic package, Mr. Daschle should switch tactics and attach the health and jobless benefits to some other bill before Congress adjourns near Christmas. It would be a travesty to ignore the real needs of the most vulnerable Americans at a time like this one. You might even say it was obstructionist. nytimes.com

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (1398)	12/11/2001 1:53:37 PM
From: Mephisto	Respond to of 15516

Dirty Tricks Dick Cheney won't stop the ads against Daschle- Mephisto " Mr. Cheney and Mr. Bush have called for bipartisan cooperation in Congress. Yet when asked, the vice president declined to disavow the attack ads running in South Dakota that accused Mr. Daschle of helping the Iraqi dictator by blocking the destruction of the Alaska reserve. " Excerpt from, Tom Daschle Isn't the Problem Editorial The New York Times December 11, 2001 nytimes.com

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (1398)	12/12/2001 1:50:19 PM
From: Mephisto	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 15516

Norton Contempt Trial Opens Over Indian Trust By ROBERT L. JACKSON, TIMES STAFF WRITER Los Angeles Times December 11, 2001 E-mail story By ROBERT L. JACKSON, TIMES STAFF WRITER WASHINGTON -- Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton went on trial Monday on charges of contempt of court, accused by a federal judge of lying to him about her efforts to clean up the long-mismanaged Indian trust fund system. U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth ordered testimony to begin about the Interior Department's mishandling of the multibillion-dollar fund, held in trust for 300,000 Native Americans. The trust holds and distributes fees for 54 million acres of land leased for drilling, grazing and logging. The fund, the department acknowledges, has been mismanaged almost since its inception more than a century ago. The Interior secretary, whose presence is not required at the civil proceeding, did not attend the first day of the trial. She is expected to testify later this month that she has made a good-faith effort to correct decades of fund mismanagement and tried to submit accurate reports to Lamberth, who has sought for five years to straighten out the tangled system. The trial could last for several weeks. Mark Nagle, an assistant U.S. attorney representing Norton, told Lamberth: "Evidence will demonstrate that contempt of court is not warranted." Nagle said he would provide a fuller explanation of Norton's case later. Thomas M. Thompson, the congressional overseer of the fund and the trial's first witness, said he found records in disarray dating back more than 100 years. The Bureau of Indian Affairs, a division of Interior, has been trying to establish an accurate database, "but it's pretty clear there wasn't anyone managing the process on a day-to-day basis," Thompson said. He began looking into the trust fund at the request of Congress in January 1999. The government has admitted that it cannot determine how much money is involved because the records are, in Thompson's words, "jumbled and confused." About $500 million in royalties is believed to be deposited into the fund each year. Many documents were mishandled, destroyed by floods or simply lost, and Thompson said he found a lack of security for records stored electronically, leaving them open to tampering. Besides money owed to living Native Americans, there is a backlog of 15,000 probate cases in which Interior officials have not been able to determine how much is owed to the heirs of deceased Indians, he told the court. These probate accounts, which may total as much as $100 million, have been locked up for as long as six years awaiting determination of who owns the leases, Thompson said. To protect the trust-fund records, the judge last week ordered all Internet and computer connections in the Interior Department shut down after finding them particularly vulnerable to hackers. But after protests of the U.S. Geological Survey, a division of Interior, that its Web site was needed for public information in event of a major earthquake, Lamberth issued a formal order Monday that any connections not related to the trust fund could be restored. Crediting Norton's actions since she took office early this year, Thompson told the court that she had instructed her aides to undertake a historical accounting of trust-fund money and to consider how to "prioritize" this work. More recently, Norton announced she was reorganizing management of the fund under one official and would consult with representatives of Native Americans and other interested parties on reform efforts. An initial meeting is to take place Thursday in Albuquerque. latimes.com

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (1398)	12/12/2001 1:58:00 PM
From: Mephisto	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 15516

Bush aims to pull a string of fast ones " Just last week, for example, the Bush people notified the pesticide industry that the Environmental Protection Agency will once again accept studies that the pesticide companies have financed to determine application standards on fruits and vegetables. That reverses a policy enacted by the Clinton administration to stop considering those test results because they were frequently questioned as to their ethical and scientific value. " By Dave Zweifel December 10, 2001 The time has never been more ripe for the Republicans to foist their political agenda on the American people. Few are watching, after all, and those who are get accused by the likes of John Ashcroft of aiding the enemy. While the citizenry stays focused on the war on terrorism and the continuing saga over where Osama Bin Laden is hiding today, the administration is tweaking social policy, making crucial appointments and, in some cases, wholesale changes to rules and regulations that have been years in the making. Just last week, for example, the Bush people notified the pesticide industry that the Environmental Protection Agency will once again accept studies that the pesticide companies have financed to determine application standards on fruits and vegetables. That reverses a policy enacted by the Clinton administration to stop considering those test results because they were frequently questioned as to their ethical and scientific value. Several scientists pointed out that using the industry-sponsored studies was akin to accepting the conclusions of a Philip Morris study on the health effects of smoking. But, once again, we find out with this administration that the corporations count for a lot more than the people unless, of course, they happen to be people who give a lot of money; like Gaddi Vasquez, whom Bush has appointed director of the Peace Corps. Vasquez's appointment, which got a hearing before the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee, would have gone completely unnoticed had it not been for a group of former Peace Corps volunteers appalled at his complete lack of credentials for the job. Some will remember that Vasquez was the Orange County, Calif., supervisor who was forced to resign after plunging the county $1.7 billion in debt because of ill-advised investments during the mid-90s. It appears that the sole qualification of the former cop and longtime pal of former California Republican Gov. Pete Wilson is that he contributed more than $100,000 to Bush and the Republican Party during the past two years. The volunteers, who are contacting their members of Congress, point out that now, more than ever, the Peace Corps needs a visionary leader, not one who has absolutely no international program experience and, in addition to bankrupting Orange County, is best known for denying services to HIV/AIDS patients there. The AIDS issue, of course, is huge ion the African continent, where many Peace Corps members are working with the people and governments. The volunteers, who served under both Democratic and Republican administrations, told the Senate committee, "170,000 Peace Corps volunteers have lived and worked in over 135 countries over the past 40 years. In an age of terrorists, these are men and women who have worked for peace. They deserve a director worthy of their efforts." Wisconsin citizens will be interested in knowing that Sen. Russ Feingold sits on the committee. You can let him know how you feel about this yet another political payoff that's being made while the nation's attention is averted. Published: 9:46 AM 12/10/01 captimes.com