Away for a while...

I'm off on a much needed vacation...will be back after July 4th. Happy Independence Day!

Cheney On Civility and Respect in Washington

CLAIM:

"Governor Bush and I are also absolutely determined that [we] will restore a tone of civility and decency to the debate in Washington."
- Dick Cheney, 8/4/00

CLAIM:

"I look forward to working with you, Governor, to change the tone in Washington, to restore a spirit of civility and respect and cooperation."
- Dick Cheney, 7/25/00

FACT:

"Typically a break from partisan warfare, this year's Senate class photo turned smiles into snarls as Vice President Dick Cheney reportedly used a profanity toward one senior Democrat, sources said." Cheney "blurted out the 'F word' at Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont during a heated exchange on the Senate floor… The incident occurred on Tuesday in a terse discussion between the two that touched on politics, religion and money, with Cheney finally telling Leahy to 'f--- off' or 'go f--- yourself,' the aides said…Cheney, who is president of the Senate, ripped into Leahy for the Democratic senator's criticism this week of alleged war profiteering in Iraq by Halliburton, the oil services company that Cheney once ran...During their exchange, Leahy noted that Republicans had accused Democrats of being anti-Catholic because they are opposed to some of President Bush's anti-abortion judges, the aides said. That's when Cheney unloaded with the 'F-bomb,' aides said."
- CNN, 6/24/04; Reuters, 6/24/04

* Also...remember, White House Chief of Staff Andy Card attacked Senator Kerry for using the F-word, saying, "I'm very disappointed that [Kerry] would use that kind of language. I'm hoping that he's apologizing."

Cheney Forces Taxpayers To Foot His Fundraising Costs

“A $31,900 bill for Vice President Dick Cheney's recent visit to Lincoln is languishing in City Hall and appears likely to stay there...[The Lincoln mayor's chief of staff] He said the city would seek repayment of the $31,900 incurred by such things as paying for Lincoln Police officers who helped provide security for Cheney during his visit to Lincoln Friday...The city wants reimbursement, he said, because Cheney's visit was for a political campaign and cost to the public was extensive…
Organizations including the U.S. Secret Service and the National Republican Congressional Committee said they don't want the bill and won't pay it. The city's Washington lobbyist, Carolyn Chaney, got a similar answer Tuesday from the Department of Homeland Security.”
- Lincoln (Nebraska) Journal Star, 6/22/04

Cheney Lies About Lying

CLAIM:
BORGER: "Well, let's get to Mohamed Atta for a minute because you mentioned him, as well. You have said in the past that it was, quote, 'pretty well confirmed.'" CHENEY: “No, I never said that.”
- CNBC, 6/20/04

FACT:
“It's been pretty well confirmed that [Atta] did go to Prague and he did meet with a senior official of the Iraqi intelligence service in Czechoslovakia last April, several months before the attack.”
- Vice President Dick Cheney, 12/9/01

FACT REFUTING CHENEY'S ORIGINAL LIE ABOUT ATTA-IRAQ CONNECTION:
“There is no evidence that the alleged leader of the Sept. 11 hijackers, Mohamed Atta, met in April 2001 with an Iraqi intelligence agent in Prague, a finding that eliminates a once-suggested link between the terrorist attacks and the government of President Saddam Hussein, according to a senior administration official.”
- Washington Post, 5/1/02

Firm With Bush-Saudi Ties Buys Loews Movie Theaters

Just days before the release of Michael Moore's film "Farenheit 9/11" (which analyzes the Bush-Saudi relationship), the Washington Post reports the Bush-Saudi connected Carlyle Group purchased Loews Cineplex theaters. The $2 billion deal is part of Carlyle's larger efforts to buy up more telecommunications/media companies.

Carlyle, of course, is a firm with deep ties to both the Bush and Saudi Royal families. As the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported, President George H.W. Bush "joined the Carlyle Group, an investment firm that used its contacts in the government to secure lucrative contracts, including enormous ones in Saudi Arabia, and then sell them at a high profit." Similarly, the conservative Boston Herald pointed out Carlyle "has deep connections to the Saudi royal family as well as financial interests in U.S. defense firms hired by the kingdom to equip and train the Saudi military." Additionally, Bush Sr.'s Secretary of State James Baker is also a senior official at Carlyle.

Even the Carlyle spokesman commenting today on the media buy up is Bush-connected: "Clearly we feel this is a good time to be buying telecom," said Carlyle spokesman Chris Ullman. Ullman came to Carlyle after a stint as the top spokesman for the White House budget office in the current Bush administration.

The Carlyle buy up of Loews probably won't affect the screening of Moore's movies at Loews theaters...but it raises troubling concerns that such a wealthy and powerful company with connections to both the Bush and Saudi royal family is making aggressive efforts to control more of what we see and hear - right on the eve of a movie critical of the Bush-Saudi relationship, and just as the mainstream media begins focusing more scrutiny of that relationship. Coincidence?

Nice Try...But No.

For those Bush apologists breathlessly pointing to this weekend's allegations that one of Saddam's military officials was supposedly a top al Qaeda operative:

WASHINGTON - The CIA concluded "a long time ago" that an al-Qaida associate who met with two of the Sept. 11 hijackers in Malaysia was not an officer in Saddam Hussein's army, as alleged Sunday by a Republican member of the 9/11 commission. Commissioner John Lehman, who was Navy secretary under Ronald Reagan, said "new ... documents" indicated that "at least one officer of Saddam's Fedayeen," an elite army unit, "was a very prominent member of al-Qaida." Lehman's remarks on NBC's "Meet the Press" lent support to the Bush administration's insistence that there were strong ties between Hussein and al-Qaida.

See the article for yourself.

Republicans Admit War is About Oil

From a Progress Report this week:

IRAQ – CONSERVATIVES ADMIT WAR IS ABOUT OIL: On the House floor yesterday while debating the president's energy bill, senior Republicans openly admitted that the war in Iraq is about oil. Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-LA), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said the nation needed to pass massive tax cuts for oil companies "instead of constantly fighting over battlefields to defend other people's energy supplies that we depend upon." Similarly, Rep. Ralph Hall (R-TX) said, "When we look at this [energy] bill, we need to call upon ourselves and ask ourselves what probably is the major duty of a Member of Congress. It is probably to prevent a war. And how do you prevent wars? You prevent wars by removing the cause of wars... Lack of energy causes wars." He said, "George Bush's father sent 450,000 kids to a desert; that was a battle for energy [to] keep them from getting a bad man's, Saddam Hussein, foot, on half the known energy resources in the world."

Their Own Letter Comes Back to Haunt Them

CLAIM:

"This administration never said that the 9/11 attacks were orchestrated between Saddam and al Qaeda.”
– President Bush, 6/17/04

FACT:

"Bush and Cheney also have sought to tie Iraq specifically to the 9/11 attacks. In a letter to Congress on March 19, 2003 — the day the war in Iraq began — Bush said that the war was permitted under legislation authorizing force against those who 'planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001.'"
- USA Today, 6/16/04

Sign the Petition to Remove Ashcroft

American Progress has launched an online petition calling for the removal of Attorney General John Ashcroft...it is at www.americanprogress.org/ashcroft

In case you needed a reminder about why this guy has to go, see this item from the Progress Report:

CIVIL LIBERTIES – ASHCROFT MISLED PUBLIC ON LIBRARY SEARCHES: New memos released today show the Justice Department deceived Congress and the public about its use of controversial Patriot Act provisions that give investigators easy access to people's business and library records. As the WP reports, four weeks after Attorney General John Ashcroft said the provisions had never been used, "The FBI asked the Justice Department to seek permission from a secret federal court to use" them. Last year, when Congress considered bipartisan legislation restricting these sections of the Patriot Act, Ashcroft deployed his top spokesman, Mark Corallo, to attack librarians and lawmakers and claim their concerns were not based in reality. He said their concerns that library searches were going on were "a ruse being used by critics to scare the public." He said, "The idea of the FBI snooping around the library to see what John Q. Public is reading is absurd." He continued making such comments, even after the 11/1/03 newsletter of the American Library Association revealed that FBI agents in the summer of 2003 "formally contacted 14 libraries with requests for patron-record information." Sign the petition to remove Ashcroft.

Another Vote for the List

In keeping with the spirit of my most recent In These Times column that tracks congressional votes people should know about for the 2004 election, check out this one:

"Republicans Wednesday blocked an effort by Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., and Judiciary ranking member Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., to create stiffer criminal penalties for war profiteering. The Leahy/Daschle amendment to the fiscal 2005 defense authorization bill would have created new penalties -- including up to 20 years in jail -- for government contractors convicted of inflating the cost of goods or services. It was defeated 52-46...A clearly uncomfortable Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner, R-Va., rallied Republicans against the amendment."
- CongressDaily, 6/17/04

See how your Senator voted here.

Remember, this vote comes just days after "new testimony by congressional auditors and former Halliburton workers revealed millions of dollars worth of wasteful practices, major over billing and virtually no oversight of the company's work."

Do Fries and Ketchup Constitute a Salad?

The Bush administration today acknowledged that it has re-designated frozen french fries as "fresh vegetables." This follows President Reagan's edict that ketchup is a vegetable.

By this logic, is a plate of ketchup and fries considered a "salad?"

If You Ever Needed Evidence of Conservative Media Bias...

Check out this AP lead from today:

ORLANDO, Florida (AP) -- Vice President Dick Cheney said Monday that Saddam Hussein had "long-established ties" with al Qaeda, an assertion that has been repeatedly challenged by some policy experts and lawmakers.

Last I checked, this hasn't been "challenged by some" - it has NEVER BEEN PROVEN WITH ANY EVIDENCE AT ALL. Cheney has not provided one shred of actual evidence to substantiate his charge and has been reprimanded by the CIA for citing inaccurate documents to "prove" his charge. Yet, Cheney's charge is allowed to fly out there, and the AP makes it seem as if only a smattering of wonks disagree. Here is Knight-Ridder's more accurate story from March:

"Nearly a year after U.S. and British troops invaded Iraq, no evidence has turned up to verify allegations of Saddam's links with al-Qaida, and several key parts of the administration's case have either proved false or seem increasingly doubtful. Senior U.S. officials now say there never was any evidence that Saddam's secular police state and Osama bin Laden's Islamic terrorism network were in league."
- Knight-Ridder, 3/02/04

For more, see the Claim vs. Fact database and look at the topic "Iraq-Al Qaeda links"

Right-Wing Calls AIDS a "Smaller Issue"

Despite AIDS having killed or infected 58 million people worldwide, and despite the CIA billing the spread of the disease a serious national security threat, the major right-wing think tanks are still downplaying its significance. Check out this quote from the conservative Media Research Center:

"Liberals like to attack [Reagan] on a range of smaller issues, like AIDS and homelessness and so-called budget cuts."
- Media Research Center, 6/14/04

None of these issues are "small," especially AIDS. The country has every right to criticize at the Reagan administration's malicious disregard for the disease. And make no mistake about it - it was not just harmless ignorance. Top Reagan officials regularly joked about the disease, even as it was killing thousands of Americans. See the transcripts of Reagan's top spokesman joking with reporters about AIDS.

Drug Card Companies Under Scrutiny

With Bush in Missouri today to tout the Medicare prescription drug discount cards, ABC News ran a piece on how 20 of the companies he approved to administer the program have been involved in fraud. See the full report that the ABC News piece was based on.

See a high-res/larger Windows Media File version of the ABC News piece, or a low-res/smaller Windows Media file.

Tim Russert's False Statement About Reagan's Legacy

CLAIM:

"One other political point, the Republicans achieved control of the United States Congress for the first time in 70 years, of both houses, under Ronald Reagan."
- Tim Russert, 6/10/04

FACT:

In 1994, six years after Ronald Reagan left office, "The Republicans took control of both houses of Congress for the first time since 1954." Both houses of Congress were never controlled by Republicans during Reagan's term.
- Encyclopedia Britannica

Dishonoring Reagan's Memory

Conservatives' efforts to politicize the death of Ronald Reagan have gotten so out of control that they are now stepping all over Reagan's own wishes, and the wishes of people who knew him best. See this backgrounder from the Center for American Progress on how conservatives have hijacked what should be a solemn time for the country.

At Least Someone Has the Guts to Say It

"I would suggest that if they're going to name something, it should be the Ronald Reagan Bureau of Public Debt."
- U.S. Rep. David Obey, Page 9, CQ Today, 6/9/04

Give some props to Obey (pictured left) - he's got the guts to point out what conservative lawmakers are trying to whitewash with their new efforts to rename buildings after Reagan. As Forbes magazine pointed out, "the Reagan years added $1.4 trillion to the federal debt." Similarly, the Washington Post reported that "In January 1981, when Reagan declared the federal budget to be 'out of control,' the deficit had reached almost $74 billion, the federal debt $930 billion. Within two years, the deficit was $208 billion. The debt by 1988 totaled $2.6 trillion. In those eight years, the United States moved from being the world's largest international creditor to the largest debtor nation."

5 Votes No One Knows About...But Should

My latest column for In These Times analyzes the five congressional votes every voter should know about, but probably doesn't. They go over everything from the war, to taxes, to corporate welfare. Check it out here and let me know what you think in the comments section on my blog.

More Cheney Criticism of Reagan

More from Cheney, the man who is scheduled to memorialize President Reagan and is now saying he admired "the conviction and the moral courage of Ronald Reagan."

CHENEY SLAMS REAGAN IN 1987: Cheney said Reagan was "tolerating a decision-making process in the upper reaches of the Administration that lacked integrity and accountability." [Source: National Journal, 8/8/87]

Reagan's Words & the 2004 Election

Here is a statement President Reagan delivered in 1980. If Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) read this famous speech word-for-word, he would deliver a stinging indictment of President Bush's record, as the majority of Americans would answer a resounding "no."

OCTOBER 28, 1980: "All of you will go to the polls and stand there in the polling place and make a decision. I think when you make that decision it might be well if you would ask yourself, are you better of than you were four years ago? Is it easier for you to go and buy things in the stores than it was four years ago? Is there more or less unemployment in the country than there was four years ago? If you answer all of those questions 'yes,' why, then, I think your choice is very obvious as to who you'll vote for. If you don't agree, if you don't think that this course that we've been on for the last four years is what you'd like to see us follow for the next four, then I could suggest another choice that you have."

Cheney's Harsh Criticism of Reagan

The White House says Vice President Dick Cheney will speak at memorial services for President Reagan. Question: will Cheney echo the high-profile criticism of Reagan's defense policy that he unleashed during the height of the Cold War? Despite the Bush administration's praise for Reagan's strong defense policies, it was Cheney who was a vocal critic of them at the time:

CHENEY IN 1984: According to the 12/16/84 Washington Post, Cheney said if Reagan "doesn't really cut defense, he becomes the No. 1 special pleader in town." Cheney urged Reagan to cut defense spending, saying "the president has to reach out and take a whack at everything to be credible" and said that absent a raid of Social Security or a tax increase, "you've got to hit defense."

CHENEY FOLLOWS THROUGH ON CRITICISM: Six years after his criticism, it was Cheney who bragged to Congress about shifting the direction of U.S. defense policy from the Reagan years. On 2/1/90, he told Congress "since I became Secretary, we've been through a fairly major process of reducing the defense budget." He bragged that during the first year of his tenure, he "cut almost $65 billion out of the five-year defense program" and that subsequent proposals would "take another $167 billion out." He trumpeted the fact that "we're recommending base closures," "we're talking about force structure cuts" and "we've got a military construction freeze."

Bush Lied About Conversations With Chalabi

CLAIM:

"I haven't had any extensive conversations with [Chalabi]. I don't remember anybody walking into my office saying, Chalabi says this is the way it's going to be in Iraq."
- President Bush, 6/1/04

FACT:

"They're not going to develop [an Islamic extremist government]. And the reason I can say that is because I'm very aware of this basic law they're writing. They're not going to develop that because right here in the Oval Office I sat down with Mr. Pachachi and Chalabi and al-Hakim, people from different parts of the country that have made the firm commitment."
- President Bush, 2/13/04

FACT:

“I did see Chalabi…I shook a lot of hands, saw a lot of kids, took a lot of pictures, served a lot of food and we moved on to see four members of the Governing Council -- the names are here. Talibani is the head of it right now, so he was the main spokesman. But Chalabi was there…We were there for about maybe a little less than 30 minutes.”

- President Bush, 11/27/03

Who Is the President's New Lawyer?

President Bush consulted with DC lawyer James Sharp, but refuses to offer any details about the attorney. Here are some details about him from today's Progress Report:

WHO IS JAMES E. SHARP?: Attempts by the media "to reach Sharp, an Oklahoma native and former assistant U.S. attorney who has built a low-profile white-collar defense practice in Washington, were unsuccessful." The White House is being so secretive it actually refuses to confirm whether this is the same "James E. Sharp" consulting with the President.

JAMES E. SHARP ACCUSED OF SUBORNING PERJURY: The Progress Report did its own unofficial search in an effort to uncover more details about the lawyer for the president. A search of the DC Bar website lists a James E. Sharp as an active member. A search of court documents shows an attorney named James E. Sharp represented his "good friend" Joe Harry Pegg who was indicted as "one of several individuals who conspired to import marijuana into the United States in 1988 and 1989." During James E. Sharp's representation of Pegg, one of Pegg's alleged co-conspirators said Sharp "helped him concoct a false story to help exculpate Pegg." After sentencing, Pegg appealed his conviction on the ground that "his attorney had a conflict of interest that deprived him of his constitutional right to effective assistance of counsel." The 11th Circuit decision in the case reports that the government did "not deny that Sharp labored under an actual conflict of interest."

Forgetting One's Own Record

Here's one from the hypocrite file, as excerpted from today's Progress Report:

CLAIM:

"Of course it's Al Gore, who knows a lot about incompetence, I might add, that got us into this mess; 9/11 was on the way; 9/11 was on the way by the time President Bush was inaugurated."
- Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), blaming the rise of the Taliban and Osama bin Laden on the Clinton Administration, 5/28/04

FACT:

According to federal documents reviewed by the Orange County Weekly, it was Rohrabacher who "maintained a cordial, behind-the-scenes relationship with Osama bin Laden's associates in the Middle East—even while he mouthed his most severe anti-Taliban comments at public forums across the U.S." According to the report, Rohrabacher "lobbied shamelessly for the Taliban" throughout the 1990s, with a 1996 Washington newsletter pointing out his belief that the "Taliban could provide stability," that its leaders were "not terrorists or revolutionaries," and that it would develop a "disciplined, moral society" that did not harbor terrorists. Ignoring an explicit federal law banning unauthorized individual attempts to conduct American foreign policy, Rohrabacher in April of 2001 "opened negotiations with the Taliban at the Sheraton Hotel in Doha, Qatar," meeting with Taliban Foreign Minister Mullah Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil, an advisor to Mullah Omar.

Drug Cards, Campaign Cash, and Fraud Charges

With the Medicare drug discount card program starting today, the Center for American Progress (where I work) released a new report showing that 20 of the 73 companies that the White House approved to participate in the program have been involved in federal/state fraud charges. These same 20 companies have significant ties to the Bush Administration. The report, entitled "Paying to Play," also finds:

- Those 20 companies involved in fraud charges gave more than $3 million to the President and conservatives in Congress since the 2000 election cycle. That represents more than 60% of the total contributions given to the President and conservatives from all 73 approved card companies.

- Seven of the President's "Pioneers" (those who raised $100,000 or more for him) work at companies approved for the program.

- Three of the seven Pioneers are linked to companies approved for the card program, even though their companies were involved in fraud.

The full study can be found here.