NEW: Permanent Minority vs. Toward the Majority

Check out my new bi-weekly section in The Nation magazine called "Permanent Minority" vs. "Toward the Majority." It is a chronicle of what Democrats are doing to help and hurt themselves and the progressive cause.

Because the online version requires a subscriber login, I've included this first one here:

MINORITY/MAJORITY

Barbara Boxer, profiled in this issue, knows what's needed for Democrats to become the majority party again. Unfortunately, many in the party don't. Beginning with this issue, every other week David Sirota of the Center for American Progress will single out Democrats whose actions help, and hurt, the cause.

Permanent Minority: Representative Allen Boyd has the dubious distinction of being the first Democrat to endorse privatizing Social Security. Newly elected Colorado Senator Ken Salazar defended Attorney General Alberto Gonzales's nomination, despite his involvement in the Iraq torture scandals.

Toward the Majority: Montana Senator Max Baucus, who helped the White House pass its 2001 tax cuts for the rich and its Medicare bill, came out against Social Security privatization, signaling other red-state Democrats to strongly oppose the President's plan. Most Senate Democrats voted against Gonzales.

Moving to Montana

I will be away from the blog for the next week or so as we are moving from Washington, D.C. out to Helena, Montana and will be driving cross-country. My wife has taken a job with Gov. Schweitzer. I will be writing my book for Crown Publishers from out there, and staying on as a fellow for the Center for American Progress, writing articles and posting to their new blog. I will also continue to do The Al Franken Show twice a week.

On to the next adventure...stay tuned...

ABC News Asks GOP About its Porn Money

Check out this story from ABC News last night. Apparently, the GOP's biggest moralizers like Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) refuse explain why the party of "moral values" keeps taking money from companies that disseminates pornography.

For more on this, see my earlier post from last week.

CLAIM vs. FACT: "Frivolous" Lawsuits

Great catch by Atrios:

CLAIM:
“Frivolous asbestos claims.”
- President Bush, 2/2/05

FACT:
“W.R. Grace and Co. and seven high-ranking employees knew a Montana mine was releasing cancer-causing asbestos into the air and tried to hide the danger to workers and townspeople, according to a federal indictment unsealed Monday. More than 1,200 people became ill, and some of them died, prosecutors said…The federal grand jury said that top Grace executives and managers kept secret numerous studies spelling out the risk the cancer-causing asbestos posed to its customers, employees and Libby residents. The indictment also accused Grace and Alan Stringer, former manager of the now-closed mine, of trying to obstruct efforts by the EPA to investigate the extent of asbestos contamination in the Libby area beginning in 1999. Additional charges in the indictment include wire fraud and violating the federal Clean Air Act…Lori Hanson, a special agent with the Environmental Protection Agency, called the allegations against Grace and its executives ‘one of the most significant environmental indictments in our history.’”
- Associated Press, 2/7/05

Is This "Fair, Reasonable and Responsible?"

With the White House unveiling its 2006 budget this week, Vice President Cheney on Sunday said that "I think you'll find once people sit down and have a chance to look at the [President's 2006] budget that it is fair, reasonable, responsible, serious piece of effort" and that it is not "suddenly turning our back on the most needy people in our society." But compare Exhibit A and Exhibit B below and the story appears otherwise:

EXHIBIT A: Ignoring skyrocketing deficits, the Bush administration is trying to make permanent its previous tax cuts for the wealthy, at a cost of $2 trillion.

EXHIBIT B: Citing budget constraints, the Bush administration is proposing massive cuts to education, law enforcement and health care programs. The administration is even proposing to raise fees on veterans for their health care and limit services at veterans hospitals even as the NY Times reports "thousands of veterans are on waiting lists for medical services, and some reservists returning from Iraq say they have been unable to obtain the care they were promised."

Unless you are a totally out of touch and twisted human being, that doesn't seem "fair," "reasonable," or "responsible."