Earlier today, the National Republican Governors group called for NY Gov. Eliot Spitzer to resign because of being implicated in a prostitution ring.  Spitzer apologized, wife at his side, to his family, the people of NY, etc...

As many of you know, the budgets for most Cabinet level departments have not been passed.  DOD and Homeland Security got theirs done but what about the rest???

Well, as of today they are operating on Continuing Resolutions, that is until after the election.  Apparently, they have all been told to expect to cut nearly 25% from their bugets.  This is being done to kepp the "fiscal" conservatives in the GOP quiet by promising that Congress will not use suplemental appropriations to pay for Iraq any more.

more below the fold...

I just heard from a friend who had a frightening story to tell.  Turns out he has a friend who works for the NSA.  Apparently, the NSA has been getting the records of gun buyers from the FBI.  I guess the program works like this...

Person enters gun shop,

Person files background check paperwork,

Gunshop sends background check info to government,

Government fun on the flip...

Much has been said in the last few days about the need to Filibuster Alito (or not) and how to deal with the wiretapping issue.  What I don't understand is why Dems have not linked the two, refusing to vote on Alito until after hearings into the (illegal in my opinion) wiretapping by the Shrub.

The Bush Whitehouse has stalled the Plame investigation and has consistently refused to give congress the documents that they request (Think Bolton hearings and Conyers has a huge list as do many other Congresscritters).  

It is said that establishment of a timetable for withdrawal of out troops from Iraq will only embolden the enemy and let them know how much longer they need to hold out.  While this may be somewhat true, if not a timetable then what is it going to take?

George often states that when the Iraqi troops are trained so they can take security into their hands, then we will leave.  What I would really like to see, if not a timetable is a "good faith estimate" and some concrete goals.

In case you missed it, NPR just had a 4 minute story on the DSM and today's Conyers hearings.  They provided a good background on the DSM and the responses/denials by Bush and Blair from last weeks press conference.

They also played clips from mothers of soldiers killed in Iraq.  One of the mothers said that she felt like the press coverage of the DSM was/should be akin to the report in 1972 that the Dem headquarters had experienced a break in.  She feels that the press should now really take up the investigation and do some reporting on the fact that the "intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy".

It seems that CIA Director Porter Goss said
"It may be only a matter of time before al Qaeda or other groups attempt to use chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear weapons. We must focus on that," in a report at CNN.

This is interesting in light of last weeks budget submission that CUT FUNDING FOR BIOTERRORISM PREPAREDNESS GRANTS as reported at SFGate

WE NEED TO BE CALLING THE SCLM TO POINT OUT THIS HYPOCRISY!!!

In the last week, a very interesting study was released on Bankruptcy.  Turns out, the majority of people who file bankruptcy, resort to this unfortunate option because of medical bills.  It landed ahead of divorce and credit card debt.

This comes at a time when 45 million Americans, including 11 million children, have no health insurance.  These people without health insurance cost the total health system more, because they do not get preventative care and only use services in times of crisis.  Often, they resort to bankruptcy to deal with high medical costs that they cannot pay.

We all know that George will have to leave office in 2008, but we now are starting to see the preparations for the coronation of JEB.  Anyone who considers JEBs qualifications will point out the lack of foreign policy experience (Cuban/American issues excepted, of course).  But that is being addressed as we sit here today.

The preparation:  Make JEB a pointman on Tsunami relief.  He is travelling with Colin Powell to the devastated areas as part of the officiealUS Government Delegation.  This will be something that he will point out in the 2008 or 2012 campain.

Jeb Bush said before leaving Miami, "I know the president has deep concerns about what has happened and the fact that I am his brother symbolically may underscore his deep concern."

What he hasn't said is that he is paying special attention to the names of the leaders in the countries he is visiting.  We all know that people gave his brother a pass on not being able to name leaders of other nations in 2000, JEB may not be that lucky so he is doing his homework now.

It is said that Bush's plan to privatize social security will cost about $2 trillion.  

I am not an economist, but I have heard that to borrow the existing $400+ for the current year deficits, it is taking some 80% of the worlds savings total (my back of the envelope calculation says that this amount is $500 T per year.

So my question is this, Can Bush really borrow $2 Trillion?  To his current $400 Billion each year to pay for wars, with only $100 Billion left it will take 20 years to borrow enough to pay for privatization.

IS W. USING FUZZY MATH?

Here is a letter I recently sent to Sandy Weill with a copy of my Citibank credit card bill.  I think it is a good approach to point out the hypocrisy of the Bush supporters...

Dear Mr. Weill:

I recently read that you openly supported George W. Bush in the 2004 election and contributed the maximum allowable to his campaign.  I take that to be an endorsement of his policies.  

The full letter is below the jump.  

So much has been said of the Gay Marriage bans and the effects on the presidential race.  Many of the people who support a constitutional ammendment to ban gay marriage say it is because of their religious beliefs as Christians.

If we are going to rely on the Bible, lets force the constitutional ammendment to go all the way to establishing the biblical norm and that, my friends, is polygamy!!!  How many wives did Abraham have?  

As the opposition party, lets make sure that it gets pointed out to Falwell, Robertson, et al. when they are on talk shows that they seem to only support one part of reestablishment of biblical principles as it relates to marriage.   Lets force them to accept Polygamy too if they want their ammendment.

I remember vividly the "Don't blame me, I voted for Bush" bumper stickers that were prevalent from 92-96.

I want to have a new sticker for my car to replace the KE04 sticker.  My first thought was:

When your son is drafted, Don't blame me, I voted for Kerry!!!

I'm not sure this is the most creative thing out there, so I thought I would put it out to the Kossacks to give me better suggestions.

Any thoughts???  Come on be creative.

With all the talk about who we should have run in 2008 and how they can compete, everyone seems to forget one fact, John Kerry's 55 million votes were the second most for any candidate in history.  Unfortunately, W. got 58 mill.  Kerry has name recognition, more media attention, and an a bully pulpit to talk from in the Senate

When President Cheney nominates a judge that passes his unspoken litmus test of overturning Roe v Wade, Kerry calls him to the carpet for his lie during the campaign.

When President Cheney institutes a draft to keep his warS going, Kerry stands firm against it and reminds everyone that during the campaign he was ridiculed for saying that the President would reinstitute the draft.

This is my first attempt at a diary.  I have been waiting to get to the point where I can post so it is fairly long and contains a lot of thoughts.  I look forward to thoughts and comments.

Given the result of this election, the victory of Wedge Politics over Policy Politics, Democrats need to rethink how campaigns are run.  Policy politics gave us a Stronger America, Elimination of Two Americas, increasing the taxes on the rich, and so on.  It is clear that this did not work.  

What did work?  In the eyes of 80% of those who voted for Bush, Democrats were going to take away some rich guys tax cut, Kerry was going to force you to let Gay people have the same rights as homophobics, Kerry was going to take away your gun, and al Qaeda is going to get you if you vote for Kerry.  In this 15 second sound bite world, the collective intelligence of middle america will not listen to or vote for policy, just fear and wedge issues.  

Continued below...