Shameless Plug

The Washington Post is holding a contest for the best political blogs on the web. I hope some of you would consider nominating www.davidsirota.com.

Click over to the Washington Post's blog contest site and check it out.

The Kerry Record Bush Doesn't Want You To See

Here's a new piece Jon Baskin and I published in the Washington Monthly. Despite the Bush-Cheney attacks on Kerry's record in the Senate and on national security, the record shows Kerry was at the forefront of fighting terrorism - well before it was in vogue. At almost the very same time Bush was doing business with a very shady bank, Kerry was working to take that bank down.

See the article here.

THEN & NOW: Bush & the Great Lakes

THEN:
Even though experts say "diverting any water from the Great Lakes region sets a bad precedent" Bush "said he wants to talk to Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien about piping water to parched states in the west and southwest." He said, "A lot of people don't need [the water], but when you head South and West, we do need it."
- AP, 7/19/01; Bush statement, 7/18/01

NOW:
"We've got to use our resources wisely, like water. It starts with keeping the Great Lakes water in the Great Lakes Basin. You might remember what my opponent said earlier this year about Great Lakes water diversion. He said it would be a delicate balancing act. It sounds just like him. My position is clear: We're never going to allow diversion of Great Lakes water."
- President Bush, 8/16/04

Bush Is The One "Living in the Past"

CLAIM:
"I think those who oppose this ballistic missile system really don't understand the threats of the 21st century. They're living in the past. We're living in the future. We're going to do what's necessary to protect this country."
- President Bush, 8/17/04

FACT:
According to nonpartisan congressional auditors, the ballistic missile system the administration is pushing is completely unproven. Furthermore, it is set up to shoot down Cold War era Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM's) - a threat experts long agreed since the fall of the Soviet Union was significantly smaller than that of terrorism. Nonetheless, in the months before 9/11 when the White House was receiving warnings of an imminent attack, the President opted to fully fund missile defense while simultaneously vetoing an urgent request to divert $800 million from the program into counterterrorism. Today, even as terrorism remains the top threat to America, the White House continues to fully fund missile defense, while underfunding homeland security and nuclear non-proliferation. Among other shortfalls, the President has actually proposed major cuts to the Nunn-Lugar program, which is seen as the most effective tool to prevent terrorists from acquiring nuclear material.