Left In Lowell

Tristero on Digby hits on the real tragedy of the Palin speech on science and earmarks…not only is she completely ignorant of the subject of which she speaks (worthy of a Phelps rant?) but the fact is, that policy speech had to have put together by the upper echelons of the campaign, some of the “great brains” of Republican leadership:

Sarah Palin isn’t the issue here. Sure, I’ll concede that this illustrates Palin’s breathtaking ignorance AND her stupidity. After all, she agreed to repeat it. But what it really demonstrates is how unqualified the upper echelons of the Republican party are to run this country. She certainly didn’t write this speech: John McCain’s advisers did and approved every appalling word.

The subject is government funding of scientific research:

Where does a lot of that earmark money end up anyway? […] You’ve heard about some of these pet projects they really don’t make a whole lot of sense and sometimes these dollars go to projects that have little or nothing to do with the public good. Things like fruit fly research in Paris, France. I kid you not.

If you know anything at all about science in the 21st century, then you know that the study of fruit flies (aka Drosophilia melanogaster) has led to some of the most important discoveries in biology, genetics, and related topics.

And yet, their best argument for electing them these days is that we need to balance the one-party rule of Democrats (both nationally and in this state). You know, if you got balance, but it’s on the edge of a cliff, I’d prefer to back away from the cliff, to hell with their brand of “balance.”

I have to say, this is the best diary I’ve ever seen explaining the farm bill, what’s in the new version, what’s being debated, and what everything means. There are action items to take in it as well, and we should all get educated and then call our Senators.

Imagine getting somewhere on reforming the farm bill, which was created originally to help small farmsteads but now is merely a large corporate welfare system that encourages the manufacture of unhealthy foods with its subsidies. Well, this is our chance to make some changes. (Go read, then call your Senator!)

So many people are focusing on Rep. Obey’s proposal (along with our own Rep. McGovern) for a tax surcharge to pay for the war, and how this poison pill had the best chance of throwing the “support for the troops=support for the president” crowd off. But skymutt points out that this little tidbit in yesterday’s announcement, which was shot down by Pelosi and Reid within hours, is worth nothing compared to the other point of the announcement.

David Obey, chairman of the Appropriations Committee, today announced that he will not report the Iraq War Supplemental out of committee, and basically told the President that the ball is in his court, that he needs to submit a supplemental that meets several criteria, or there will be no supplemental funding bill.
[…]
How many times have you heard some variation of “We don’t have the votes”? Well, today, for the first time, a legislator with the power to back up his words has pledged to take an approach that does not require a floor vote in order to push this war toward an end. Chairman Obey has taken ownership of the issue and said that he will not report an Iraq War supplemental bill out of his committee unless it meets his criteria. Contrast this with other “plans” which have really just been bills that have required majority or supermajority votes for success. Votes that, to date, have not materialized or really even come close.

And Pelosi and Reid have not said a word about this aspect of Obey’s statement. So, there’s hope yet that the wishes of the majority of Americans - that of cutting the funding to this war - will come to pass before Bush is out the door.

I have to say, as disappointed as I might be with how much more this appropriations bill could have accomplished with stronger language or even cutting off funding for the Iraq debacle, that this is a good first step. This bill puts on a binding timeline for getting out (Aug 31, 2008), and mandates that our troops be adequately equipped and trained before shipped off to the combat zone (something we haven’t been doing, which is dangerous for them, and something which will further restrict the “surge” because we don’t have enough soldiers at readiness capacity). How anyone could possibly vote against the latter motion and still consider themselves “for the troops” is beyond me.

Of course, the Decider-in-Chief will probably veto, or at best, sign-statement this away, ignore the law, and cause a constitutional crisis (I’ve always said it will come to that), but the fact is, Mr. Bush, elections matter. The people spoke in November. Now, I don’t know if you care about your party or your legacy, but keep up this course, and both are in serious jeopardy. Your party will be lucky to gain a majority nationally in 20 years, at the rate they are going.

Given this Iraq bill, vetoed or not, and all the myriad scandals surrounding the White House right now (too many to count!), consider this duck totally lame.

Too bad it didn’t come sooner, before so many people died or so many lives were destroyed.

This is exactly what is needed. It doesn’t go far enough in my opinion, but the American people are not interested in having their new Democratic leadership shy away from interfering with Bush’s completely inept leadership on Iraq [Update: quote from Kennedy writing on BMG]:

I am on my way to the National Press Club in Washington in a few minutes to speak about a new bill. If passed, it will prohibit escalation in Iraq without express Congressional approval of a plan and budget.

President Bush owes the American people a clear explanation about what he’s trying to accomplish in Iraq, and that’s why I’m introducing legislation that will force him to explain himself.

In October 2002, Members of Congress authorized a war against the regime of Saddam Hussein, not to send our troops into a civil war. I voted against that resolution and feel an escalation of this war only compounds the original mistake of going in the first place.

I also write about my idea in comments of the Senator’s post: that I believe we can go one step further, and since the President can’t lead our troops worth a damn, it’s time to micro-manage the war in Iraq by earmarking appropriations to only those activities that directly support the troops. We need to cut spending for any other activity. This will choke off funding for the badly wasted and botched rebuilding projects which have all but halted due to sectarian violence anyway, and any other war profiteering by Halliburton and others. And in 2008 the Dems can say, we supported the troops with targeted funding, but cut off the trough for the pigs. I think that would be a powerful message to send about who is really for supporting our men and women in combat, because the Republicans sure as hell can’t make that claim.

It’s also great to see the Senator posting on Blue Mass Group to let us know about his bill. Thanks, Senator. It’s very rare that you and I disagree.

No really, it’s getting to that point. I can’t believe how much stupid, wasteful, hurtful, deadly, unjustified horsecrap my federal tax dollars are going to.

Where are all the goddamned conservatives who claim they are sick of seeing their tax money wasted? This is so much worse than a $200 hammer. It’s millions to big pharma for overpriced pills, billions for a deadly and unjustified war, and $500 million to anti-gay groups to “promote and strengthen opposite-sex marriage.” Here is THE quote you should read (bold mine):

Assistant Health and Human Services Secretary Wade Horn said that the financial windfall is not intended to specifically oppose same-sex marriage, although the President is a major supporter of a proposed amendment to ban gay marriage in the Constitution.

Horn said, however, that none of the money could be used to promote or support same-sex marriage in Massachusetts where gay marriage is legal.

So. Unconstitutional. I’m sputtering maledictions as I write this. This sort of cherry-picking of “causes” to fund with this faith-based initiative crap is exactly why the state should not be involved with religion.

Right now, I totally respect anyone brave enough to refuse to pay their taxes. Probably about 90% of it is going to shit with this bunch. Animals.

[Via Queer Today.]

Tomorrow, February 1st, Congress will take a final vote on a bill called Budget Reconciliation. If passed, this bill will cut $12.7 BILLION dollars from student loan programs (creating about $2000 in additional debt for every student each year).

This will be the largest cut to student aid in history!

This will make it even harder for us, our younger siblings, and all our friends to get a college education.

There is something you can do to alter this, and the best part is it’s totally free.

CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TODAY!!!

Join all of us from across the country in our National Day of Action by calling your Representative TODAY to tell her/him to “Stop the Raid on Student Aid!”

Dial: 1-800-574-4243.

Phone Script: Hello, my name is _____ and I am a student at _____. I am calling to urge Representative _____ to vote against budget reconciliation because it will force students and parents to pay thousands of dollars in additional interest on their student loans. Thank you for your time and I look forward to your support.

For more information on this issue, and to find out who represents you, please look at these two websites:

Campaign for America’s Future: http://www.ourfuture.org

United States Student Association: www.usstudents.org

STOP THE RAID ON STUDENT AID!!!!

Dan Gross debunks the crowing of Republicans that they’ve reduced the deficit (the amount we’ll be borrowing this year) significantly.

He also makes this point:

Left unsaid in this piece: the interest rate taxpayers will be paying on this debt will be markedly higher than the rates on debt issued in the past few years. Our collective interest bill will be rising at an even more rapid pace than our collective debt.