I. The 2004 Democratic National Convention
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KERRY'S ACCEPTANCE , July 29, 2004
"I will be a commander in chief who will never mislead us into war. I will have a vice president who will not conduct secret meetings with polluters to rewrite our environmental laws. I will have a secretary of defense who will listen to the advice of the military leaders. And I will appoint an attorney general who will uphold the Constitution of the United States.
My fellow Americans, this is the most important election of our lifetime. The stakes are high. We are a nation at war - a global war on terror against an enemy unlike we've ever known before. And here at home, wages are falling, health care costs are rising and our great middle class is shrinking. People are working weekends, two jobs, three jobs - and they're still not getting ahead."
Message 20363202
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Senator John Edwards's Remarks to the Democratic National Convention
I am here tonight for a very simple reason, because I love my country. And I have every reason to love my country. I have grown up in the bright light of America. I grew up in a small town in rural North Carolina, a place called Robbins. My father, he worked in a mill all his life. And I still remember vividly the men and women who worked in that mill with him. I can see them. Some of them had lint in their hair. Some of them had grease on their faces. They worked hard. And they tried to put a little money away so that their kids and their grandkids could have a better life. The truth is they are just like the auto workers, the office workers, the teachers, and the shop keepers on Main Streets all across this country.
Message 20360085
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II.**** 2004 Presidential Election Concerns:*****
Denying the Troops a Secret Ballot
Members of the military will be allowed to vote this year by faxing or e-mailing their ballots - after waiving their right to a secret ballot. Beyond this fundamentally undemocratic requirement, the Electronic Transmission Service, as it's known, has far too many problems to make it reliable, starting with the political partisanship of the contractor running it. The Defense Department is making matters worse by withholding basic information about the service, and should suspend it immediately.
Message 20483250
III.---IRAQ**************************************************************************************************
--- U.N.: Iraq had no WMD after 1994
Message 19871546
--- Early Iraq [Prison] Abuse Accounts Met With Silence
" Detailed allegations of psychological abuse, deprivation, beatings and deaths at U.S.-run prisons in Iraq were met by public silence from the U.S. Army last October - six months before shocking photographs stirred world outrage and demands for action."
Message 20108222
--- BOOKS OF THE TIMES | 'PLAN OF ATTACK'
"Plan of Attack" reveals that President George W. Bush asked Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Nov. 21, 2001, to start a war plan for Iraq, and to do so in secret because a leak could trigger "enormous international angst and domestic speculation."
Message 20040021
--- Was Bush fixated on 'getting Saddam'?
Former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said in his memoir that from the first meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) 10 days after the inauguration, the White House seemed obsessed with Saddam Hussein as "a bad person who needed to go."
The White House dismissed O'Neill as a disgruntled employee. But now we have the dramatic account of Richard Clarke, who served as antiterrorism coordinator for 10 years under four presidents. In his newly published memoir, Clarke says that ousting Hussein was"Topic A" from the first NSC meeting, just as O'Neill had said, and there was little discussion of why the Iraqi dictator was being targeted.
Message 19958510
--- The U.S. Winked at Hussein's Evil
" Sometimes democracy works. Though the wheels of accountability often grind slowly, they also can grind fine, if lubricated by the hard work of free-thinking citizens. The latest example: the release of official documents, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, that detail how the U.S. government under presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush nurtured and supported Saddam Hussein despite his repeated use of chemical weapons." Robert Scheer
Message 19644169
---Bush Pals Get Rich Off Iraq ---
Message 18733533
" Most of the US companies contracted or bidding to open up those free markets happen to
enjoy direct or indirect connections to members of the Bush
administration." Ed Vulliamy and Faisal Islam report - The Observer
Message 19070392
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IV. George W. Bush's Economic and Social WAR on AMERICANS
---The Health Care Crisis and the Weak Economy
"Working Americans have two great concerns: the growing difficulty of getting health insurance, and the continuing difficulty they have in finding jobs. These concerns may have a common cause: soaring insurance
premiums." PAUL KRGUMAN
Message 20459190
---Poverty in the U.S. climbs for third year
"The U.S. poverty rate and the number of Americans without health insurance rose last year, each for the third consecutive year, the Census Bureau reported Thursday.
---Working Your Way Dow
But this recovery is now nearly three years old, and employment and wages are not so much trailing business success as diverging from it. A new study of recent Commerce Department data by the Center on Budget
and Policy Priorities confirms that wage and salary growth has been exceptionally poor, while profits have been unusually robust.- The New York Times
Message 20490060
---A Recovery Trying to Keep Its Legs Suddenly Feels Woozy
Message 20303863
---Budget Deficit Seen Soaring Above $400 Billion
Message 19024245
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---THE WAR ON SCIENCE---
---Bush Misuses Science Data, Report Says
The Bush administration persistently manipulates scientific data to serve its ideology and protect the interests of its political supporters, a report by the minority staff of the House Committee on Government Reform says.
Message 19221913
---Stem Cell Battles
Message 20415584
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--THE WAR ON THE HOMELAND--
--Bush will not protect the homeland
Message 18785681
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--- The War on Children, Students and other people who aren't rich!----
We can thank our children for tax cut
Message 18486434
When you can't afford to eat-Molly Ivins
Message 18379606
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---The War on Veterans:
"As the war began, members of the House of Representatives
gave speech after speech praising our soldiers, and passed
a resolution declaring their support for the troops. Then
they voted to slash veterans' benefits." PAUL KRUGMAN NYTIMES
Message 18846115
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---- Bush's War on the Environment----
"The White House has removed damaging references to global warming from a major US government report on the environment"
Message 19047558
Message 18688023;
Huge new loophole erodes Clean Air Act
Message 19261932
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Environmentalists say the Republicans' leadership choices will aid business and end the party's tradition of conservation
"Rep. Richard W. Pombo (R-Tracy) and Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.) walk the corridors of the U.S. Capitol in cowboy boots. Both also rail against environmental regulations they consider scientifically dubious
and overly burdensome to business.
Message 18544828
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United States Infrastructure Decays
--- Report Blasts American Infrastructure---
America's infrastructure is full of cracks, leaks and
holes and is getting worse, according to an analysis by civil engineers that concludes the nation's transportation, water and energy systems have shown little improvement since they were given an overall grade of D-plus in 2001.
Message 19273113
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.*******. War on Afghanistan***********
Afghanistan's Future, Lost in the Shuffle
"Why are the Americans helping President Hamid Karzai
and helping his enemies, the warlords, too?"
Message 19094215
Even if It's Not Perfect, a Ballot Beats a Bullet
Message 20462504
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