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zippo
Supporter
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Posted: Mon Nov 28th, 2005 06:16 pm |
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marc wrote: Now this should be very interesting......This was recently a topic on 60 Minutes...Forgot who did the interview but they got much information including flight plans, tail number, plane pictures, take off and landing points off the internet....They used a public charter company to transport these guys to countries that do not exactly outlaw torture....Stupid..Stupid...Stupid....
EU May Suspend Nations With Secret Prisons
By PAUL AMES, Associated Press Writer
The United States has told the European Union it needs more time to respond to media reports that the CIA set up secret jails in some European nations and transported terror suspects by covert flights, the top EU justice official said Monday.
Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Franco Frattini also warned that that any of the 25 bloc nations found to have operated secret CIA prisons could have their EU voting rights suspended.
Seems like that would be self defeating for the EU since they are having trouble holding it together, what with not being able to get a true central government.
I have to admit if true (and I suspect it is) the CIA once again demonstrated un beliveable stupidity.
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marc
Supporter
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Posted: Mon Nov 28th, 2005 05:44 pm |
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Now this should be very interesting......This was recently a topic on 60 Minutes...Forgot who did the interview but they got much information including flight plans, tail number, plane pictures, take off and landing points off the internet....They used a public charter company to transport these guys to countries that do not exactly outlaw torture....Stupid..Stupid...Stupid....
EU May Suspend Nations With Secret Prisons
By PAUL AMES, Associated Press Writer
The United States has told the European Union it needs more time to respond to media reports that the CIA set up secret jails in some European nations and transported terror suspects by covert flights, the top EU justice official said Monday.
Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Franco Frattini also warned that that any of the 25 bloc nations found to have operated secret CIA prisons could have their EU voting rights suspended.
The Council of Europe — the continent's main human rights watchdog — is investigating the allegations, and EU justice official Jonathan Faul last week formally raised the issue with White House and U.S. State Department representatives, Frattini said.
"They told him, 'give us the appropriate time to evaluate the situation.' Right now, there is no response," he said.
The CIA has refused to comment on the European investigation.
Frattini said suspending EU voting rights would be justified under the EU treaty, which stipulates that the bloc is founded on the principles of liberty, democracy, respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law, and that a persistent breach of these principles can be punished.
Clandestine detention centers would violate the European Convention on Human Rights.
Allegations that the CIA hid and interrogated key al-Qaida suspects at Soviet-era compounds in Eastern Europe were first reported Nov. 2 in The Washington Post. A day after the report appeared, Human Rights Watch said it had evidence indicating the CIA transported suspected terrorists captured in Afghanistan to Poland and Romania.
Frattini said Romania's interior minister, Vasile Blaga, had assured him the allegations were untrue and that a base at Mihail Kogalniceanu — used by American forces from 2001-03 to transport troops and equipment to Afghanistan and Iraq — was not used as a detention center.
"It is very, very important to get the truth. It is impossible to move only on the basis of allegations," Frattini said.
Reports of secret CIA flights followed the allegations of secret prisons, as more and more countries have decided to open investigations into the issue. Frattini said if the flights took place without the knowledge of local authorities, they would be violations of international aviation agreements.
Other airports that might have been used by CIA aircraft in some capacity include Palma de Mallorca in Spain, Larnaca in Cyprus and Shannon in Ireland, as well as the U.S. air base at Ramstein, Germany, EU officials have said. Investigations into alleged CIA landings or fly overs have been launched in Austria, Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, and there have been unconfirmed reports in Macedonia and Malta.
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Dave
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Posted: Mon Nov 28th, 2005 04:58 pm |
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| No kidding... I've been lookin' forward to something like that since 1985...
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marc
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Posted: Mon Nov 28th, 2005 04:50 pm |
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| Wow!!!That would be great....
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Dave
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Posted: Mon Nov 28th, 2005 04:43 pm |
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If/when it happens, should be incredible...
Pink Floyd's Waters Open To Idea Of Reunion
LONDON -- Roger Waters would not immediately say no if Pink Floyd decided to do something more.
"I'd be very up for doing a lot more," Waters told Britain's X-FM.
Waters said reuniting with Pink Floyd for Live 8 was "such fun."
He said the moment they plugged in for their first rehearsal, "It was like putting on an old shoe."
The bassist apparently has had a change of heart since Live 8.
In July, right after Live 8, Waters called the chances of furthering the Pink Floyd reunion "very slight."
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marc
Supporter
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Posted: Mon Nov 28th, 2005 04:28 pm |
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| Hope they nail the bastards....
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Mikey
Supporter
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Posted: Mon Nov 28th, 2005 04:17 pm |
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Texas Sues Sony Over Spyware
Texas suit, and another by the EFF, allege Sony BMG installed spyware through its CDs.
November 21, 2005
The state of Texas sued Sony BMG Music Entertainment on Monday for allegedly installing spyware through its copyright protection software on music CDS, making it the first state to bring legal action against the music giant in the month-old controversy.
This is the third lawsuit that Sony faces over the issue, but the first action brought by a government agency.
Separately, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit organization that works on protecting digital rights, also filed suit against the music company on Monday. A class-action suit was filed by consumers in California last week.
The Texas lawsuit alleges New York-based Sony BMG violated a recently passed Texas law, the Consumer Protection Against Computer Spyware Act of 2005, that protects consumers from hidden spyware. The state’s attorney general’s office is seeking civil penalties of $100,000 for each violation of the law, attorneys’ fees, and investigative costs.
‘Sony has engaged in a technological version of cloak-and-dagger deceit against consumers.’
-Greg Abbott,
State of Texas
“Sony has engaged in a technological version of cloak-and-dagger deceit against consumers by hiding secret files on their computers,” said Greg Abbott, attorney general for Texas. “Consumers who purchased a Sony CD thought they were buying music. Instead, they received spyware that can damage a computer, subject it to viruses, and expose the consumer to possible identity crime.”
The EFF alleged Sony has “failed entirely” to respond to concerns not just about its XCP software but also another antipiracy tool, MediaMax, that the company uses. EFF has said that MediaMax affects over 20 million CDs—10 times the number of CDs that carry the XCP software.
"Consumers have a right to listen to the music they have purchased in private, without record companies spying on their listening habits with surreptitiously installed programs," said Kurt Opsahl, staff attorney for EFF.
"Between the privacy invasions and computer security issues inherent in these technologies, companies should consider whether the damage done to consumer trust and their own public image is worth its scant protection," he said.
EFF’s suit will be filed in the Los Angeles County Superior Court. Two law firms known for their roles in class-action cases—Green Welling, and Lerach, Coughlin, Stoia, Geller, Rudman, & Robbins—have joined EFF in the case.
Sony BMG is also facing another class-action suit. On November 1, consumers in California filed suit alleging the music giant failed to disclose the digital rights management system it has on its CDs (see Sony Spyware Draws Lawsuits).
Sony BMG, which is a joint venture between Sony and Gutersloh, Germany-based Bertelsmann, didn’t return phone calls from RedHerring.com seeking comment on the suits.
Sony’s woes began when security specialists discovered that its CDs used XCP technology that automatically installs files on Windows-based personal computers to protect copyrights (see Sony CDs Install Spyware: Firm).
The files could cause users’ computers to become vulnerable to computer viruses and other forms of attack, said Texas officials.
Outcry Prompts Recall
Sony distributed the technology on 52 CDs by various artists that had been on sale for nearly eight months. After an outcry by critics, Sony recalled the CDs (see Sony BMG swears Off Spyware).
However, the attorney general’s investigators said they were able to purchase numerous titles at Austin retail stores as recently as Sunday evening.
Sony BMG has said its XCP technology merely prevents unlimited copying, and does not gather personal information about a computer user. However, the attorney general’s investigation claimed the technology remains hidden and active at all times after installation, even when Sony’s media player is inactive, prompting concerns about its true purpose.
The Texas suit alleges a phantom file is installed to conceal the XCP files from the user, thus making it difficult for the user to remove the files from a computer.
“They [Sony] didn’t think they were evil, they were just protecting their IP and they got caught up in the market,” said Ted Schadler, analyst with Forrester Research. “But now the tar brush of viruses is painting Sony BMG black.”
Mr. Schadler said the lawsuits and the hoopla over the CDs will have huge implications for the management of digital copyrights. Companies will have to look at alternate approaches for digital copy protection.
“This whole thing puts back CD copy protection a long way,” said Mr. Schadler
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marc
Supporter
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Posted: Mon Nov 28th, 2005 02:09 pm |
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American Citizen Reported Missing in Iraq
By CHRIS TOMLINSON, Associated Press Writer
An American citizen has been reported missing in Iraq, the U.S. Embassy said Monday, a day after a Canadian Parliament official said that four humanitarian workers had been kidnapped.
Dan McTeague, parliamentary secretary for Canadians abroad, said two Canadians were taken on Saturday, and Britain said one of its citizens was among the four.
U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Elizabeth Colton said only that an American had been reported missing. The person's name was not immediately released.
McTeague refused to name the organization the two Canadians worked for or the location where they were kidnapped in order to protect the safety of the individuals involved.
Briton Norman Kember was among the four, the British government said Sunday. His wife said he was representing a number of groups in the country and was a longtime peace activist.
Most international organizations fled Iraq last year following a wave of kidnappings and beheadings of foreign and Iraqi hostages. Many of them were carried out by al-Qaida in Iraq, led by the Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Meanwhile, two Britons were killed and three injured Monday when gunmen attacked a bus carrying Muslim pilgrims south of Baghdad, police and hospital officials said.
The gunmen attacked the bus when it neared a checkpoint in the Dora neighborhood, police Capt. Talib Thamir said. The bus was carrying Shiite Muslim pilgrims to religious sites south of the capital, he said.
Four men and one woman, apparently of South Asian heritage and carrying United Kingdom passports, were taken to Baghdad's Yarmouk hospital, an official there said.
"We were just coming and all of a sudden heard shots and immediately got down," said an injured British woman, who identified herself as Z. Jafferti. "I don't know what happened and I couldn't see anything."
She said she had been ill and had come to Iraq to pray at the shrines to Imam Ali and Imam Hussein.
Also Monday morning, a mortar shell fell in central Baghdad's Green Zone and two others fell nearby, just hours before Saddam Hussein's trial was set to begin. There were no report of injuries from the shelling, police Lt. Bilal Ali Majeed said.
A roadside bomb also detonated next to a passing U.S. Army convoy in northeastern Baghdad Monday, setting fire to a Bradley fighting vehicle. Police Capt. Mohammed Abdul-Ghani said three soldiers were injured, but no other information was immediately available.
The U.S. military reported that a Marine assigned to the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing was killed Saturday when his vehicle struck a roadside bomb near Camp Taqaddum, 45 miles west of Baghdad. At least 2,106 U.S. military personnel have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
Near Kirkuk, 180 miles north of Baghdad, soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division found more than 2,700 mortar rounds buried near an abandoned Iraqi Army base, a U.S. statement said. Troops were excavating similar mounds Monday in search of more weapons.
In an interview published Sunday, Ayad Allawi, a secular Shiite Muslim, told the London newspaper The Observer that fellow Shiites are responsible for death squads and secret torture centers and said brutality by elements of Iraqi security forces rivals that of Saddam's secret police.
"People are remembering the days of Saddam. These were the precise reasons that we fought Saddam and now we are seeing the same thing," the newspaper quoted Allawi as saying.
Allawi's allegation of widespread human rights abuses follows the discovery this month of up to 173 detainees, some malnourished and showing signs of torture, in a Shiite-led Interior Ministry building in Baghdad.
"People are doing the same as Saddam's time and worse," he said. "It is an appropriate comparison."
His remarks appeared aimed at winning favor among the Sunni Arab minority as well as secular Shiites ahead of the Dec. 15 parliamentary elections. Allawi is running on a secular ticket that includes several prominent Sunnis.
During his tenure as prime minister, Allawi lost the support of many Shiites because he brought former members of Saddam's Sunni-dominated regime back into the security services to bolster the fight against insurgents.
There was no comment from Shiite politicians on Allawi's interview. However, the leader of Iraq's biggest Shiite party said allegations of torture were distortions and might be designed to draw attention away from the Saddam's trial, which resumed Monday after a five-week break.
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Mikey
Supporter
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Posted: Mon Nov 28th, 2005 02:00 pm |
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marc wrote: Got this from another board...
'Made in Mexico' Uniforms Miff Border Cops
Nov 27, 11:49 AM (ET)
WASHINGTON (AP) - The labels inside the U.S. Border Patrol uniforms have been making many federal agents feel uneasy. It's not the fit or feel of the olive-green shirts and pants, but what their labels read: "Made in Mexico."
"It's embarrassing to be protecting the U.S.-Mexico border and be wearing a uniform made in Mexico," says T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, a 6,500-member union.
At least someone is making a stink over it..too bad it probably wont make a bit of difference...we are rapidly becoming a nation of consumers..not manufactures...and most of the products people buy are from foreign lands/companies..."global economy" at its best..we create free trade for other countries here..but it seems like the onlyt thing we are good at exporting is our hard earned tax dollars... JMHO
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marc
Supporter
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Posted: Sun Nov 27th, 2005 09:02 pm |
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Got this from another board...
'Made in Mexico' Uniforms Miff Border Cops
Nov 27, 11:49 AM (ET)
WASHINGTON (AP) - The labels inside the U.S. Border Patrol uniforms have been making many federal agents feel uneasy. It's not the fit or feel of the olive-green shirts and pants, but what their labels read: "Made in Mexico."
"It's embarrassing to be protecting the U.S.-Mexico border and be wearing a uniform made in Mexico," says T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, a 6,500-member union.
Agents and lawmakers are concerned about the consequences if the uniforms for agents charged with combating illegal immigration fall into the hands of criminals or terrorists.
"If we're manufacturing uniforms in Mexico, what's to stop someone from walking across the border in a Border Patrol uniform?" asked Rep. John Carter, a Republican from Round Rock. "How do you know who are our guys and who are their guys?"
For more than a year, the shirts and pants worn by agents and inspectors with U.S. Customs and Border Protection have been made in Mexico. The uniforms are supplied by VF Solutions of Nashville, Tenn., which subcontracts its work to plants in the United States, Mexico, Canada and the Dominican Republican.
"The principle of it seems almost like an oxymoron," said James Stack, the National Border Patrol Council's vice president for the region that includes Texas and New Mexico. "Most agents don't like it."
Customs officials say they haven't detected any security breaches or misuse of the uniforms. Strict security measures are in place, including on-site inspections at the Mexican plant. U.S. officials conducted a review in August, a statement from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection released Wednesday said.
"Based on this review, a report will be submitted to the CBP commissioner for determination on the made-in-Mexico issue, and no decisions have been made at this point," the statement said.
House members are expected to consider new immigration and border security measures after the Thanksgiving congressional break. Carter and Rep. Rick Renzi, R-Ariz. say they plan to press a measure that would require the uniforms be made in the United States. Renzi said he wants Republican House leaders to include the requirement as part of an immigration enforcement measure expected to be introduced in early December.
Last edited on Sun Nov 27th, 2005 09:07 pm by marc |
weasle
Supporter
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Posted: Sun Nov 27th, 2005 07:33 pm |
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| and the gov wonders why people hate politicians . LOL
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marc
Supporter
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Posted: Sun Nov 27th, 2005 02:52 pm |
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WASHINGTON — Justice Department prosecutors investigating former lobbyist Jack Abramoff are beginning to move on evidence pointing to possible corruption in Congress and executive-branch agencies, lawyers involved in the case said.
Prosecutors have told one lawmaker, Rep. Robert Ney, R-Ohio, and his former chief of staff that they are preparing a possible bribery case against them, according to two sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The 35 to 40 investigators and prosecutors on the Abramoff case are focused on at least a half-dozen members of Congress, said lawyers and others close to the probe. The investigators are looking at payments made by Abramoff and his colleagues to the wives of some lawmakers and at actions taken by senior Capitol Hill aides, some of whom went to work for Abramoff at the law firm Greenberg Traurig, lawyers and others said.
Abramoff previously worked for the Seattle-based law and lobbying firm Preston Gates Ellis & Rouvelas from 1994 to 2000. The firm has not been accused of wrongdoing.
Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a Texas Republican now facing separate campaign-finance charges in his home state, is one of the members under scrutiny, the sources said. Others include Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., Rep. John Doolittle, R-Calif., and several other members of Congress involved with Indian affairs, one of Abramoff's key areas of interest.
Prosecutions and plea deals have become more likely, the lawyers said, now that Abramoff's former partner — public-relations executive Michael Scanlon — has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy and to testify about gifts that he and his fellow lobbyists showered on lawmakers, allegedly in exchange for official favors.
An attorney for DeLay, whose wife worked for a lobbying firm that received client referrals from Abramoff, said there was no connection between her work and congressional business.
A spokesman for Doolittle, whose wife received payments from Abramoff's lobbying firm, also said there was no connection with her husband's position.
Burns' office has said his actions were consistent with his support for improving conditions for Indian tribes.
Ney is the congressman whose name has surfaced most prominently. His spokesman and attorney have said for weeks that Ney has not been told he is a target of the inquiry, even while acknowledging that his office has received a grand-jury subpoena and that his activities were mentioned in Scanlon's plea agreement.
However, the sources said that during the third week of October prosecutors told Ney and his former chief of staff, Neil Volz, that they were preparing a bribery case based in part on activities that occurred in October 2000.
Abramoff and another business partner, Adam Kidan, also were told they are targets in that case, the sources said.
The attorneys of Abramoff and Kidan did not return calls seeking comment.
The five-year statute of limitations for filing charges based on those events expired last month; prosecutors received a waiver of the deadline from Ney, Volz, Abramoff and Kidan, the sources said. Prosecutors often obtain such waivers by giving the targets a choice of being indicted right away or granting more time to see if information might surface that exonerates them.
Ney's attorney, Mark Tuohey, did not return calls seeking comment on the waiver. Ney spokesman Brian Walsh said the office had no comment, as did a lawyer for Volz.
The events in 2000 that interest investigators are connected to the purchase by Abramoff and Kidan of SunCruz Casinos, owner of a fleet of Florida gambling boats.
Ney twice placed comments in the Congressional Record about SunCruz, first criticizing its former owner when Abramoff and Kidan were in difficult purchase negotiations, then, in October, praising Kidan's new management. Abramoff and Kidan are facing trial in January on charges they defrauded lenders in their purchase of the casino boats.
The statute of limitations also may soon run out on a 2001 Super Bowl trip sponsored by SunCruz that sources said investigators have reviewed.
The Washington Post has reported that aides to Burns and DeLay were ferried to Tampa, Fla., on a SunCruz corporate jet arranged by Abramoff. Ney and his sons were invited to the 2001 Super Bowl outing, former Abramoff associates said, but did not go.
The Capitol Hill aides were treated to the game and a night of gambling on a SunCruz ship. They were offered $500 in gambling chips, sources said.
The Post has reported that Burns, who received $137,000 in contributions from Abramoff lobbyists and their tribal clients, obtained a controversial $3 million school-construction grant for one of Abramoff's wealthy tribal clients after pressuring the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Investigators also are gathering information about Abramoff's hiring of several congressional wives, sources said, as well as his referral of clients to Alexander Strategy Group, a lobbying and consulting firm run by former senior aides to DeLay. Financial-disclosure forms show that the firm employed DeLay's wife, Christine, from 1998 to 2002.
Former Abramoff lobbying associates have said Abramoff shared some of his high-paying clients with the group, including Malaysian interests, the Mississippi Choctaw Indian tribe and online gambling firms. Federal investigators have questioned some former Abramoff associates about whether those referrals were related to Christine DeLay's employment, sources said.
Alexander Strategy Group is run by former DeLay senior staffers Edwin Buckham and Tony Rudy. Rudy served as DeLay's deputy chief of staff until 2001, when he took a job with Abramoff, and later moved on to join Buckham.
Investigators are looking into whether Rudy aided Abramoff's lobbying clients while he was working on Capitol Hill, the sources said, and are reviewing payments from Abramoff clients and associates to Liberty Consulting, a political firm founded by Rudy's wife, Lisa.
The Post reported last month that Rudy, while on DeLay's staff, helped scuttle a bill opposed by eLottery, an Abramoff client, and that Abramoff had eLottery pay a foundation to hire Liberty Consulting.
Richard Cullen, an attorney for the DeLays, said Christine DeLay was hired by Buckham, an old family friend, to determine the favorite charity of every member of Congress. She was paid $3,200 to $3,400 a month for three years, or about $115,000 total, he said.
"It wasn't like she did this 9 to 5, but it was an ongoing project," Cullen said, noting her work was commensurate with the project.
Rudy and Buckham and their attorneys did not return calls seeking comment.
Abramoff's connections to Doolittle also are of interest to investigators, sources said. Doolittle's former chief of staff, Kevin Ring, went to work with Abramoff. Doolittle's wife, Julie, owned a consulting firm that was hired by Abramoff and his firm, Greenberg Traurig, to do fundraising for a charity he founded.
Two sources said Ring, while working for Abramoff, was an intermediary in the hiring of Julie Doolittle's firm, Sierra Dominion Financial Solutions, which last year received a subpoena from the grand jury investigating Abramoff.
Julie Doolittle's attorney, William Stauffer Jr., said Sierra Dominion Financial was hired by Greenberg Traurig to provide "event planning, marketing and related services, as requested by Mr. Abramoff" for his Capital Athletic Foundation and his Signatures restaurant. Sierra Dominion received a monthly retainer from Greenberg Traurig from January 2003 until February 2004, at a similar rate paid by other Sierra Dominion clients, Stauffer said.
Abramoff frequently used the athletic foundation as a pass-through organization to run lobbying efforts and to pay for expenses, records show. Julie Doolittle was hired to put on a fundraiser for the foundation at the International Spy Museum, but the event was canceled because it had been scheduled to take place as the Iraq war was commencing, Stauffer said.
"Sierra Dominion primarily performed public relations and other event-planning services for the Spy Museum event," Stauffer said in an e-mail. "This included responding to all individuals calling the Capital Athletic Foundation concerning the Spy Museum event, identifying (and contacting) possible attendees for the event, and assisting in fundraising strategy and letters."
Doolittle's office denied any connection between the firm's work and official acts.
"In no way did Sierra Dominion's business-services work for Greenberg Traurig have any relationship to Congressman Doolittle's official duties as a member of the House of Representatives," Doolittle spokeswoman Laura Blackmann said. "Congressman Doolittle has never received a subpoena regarding this matter, nor has he ever been contacted by the Justice Department to provide information or be questioned."
The Justice Department investigation also is looking into Abramoff's influence among executive-branch officials. Sources said prosecutors are continuing to seek information about Abramoff's dealings with then-Deputy Interior Secretary J. Steven Griles, including a job offer from the lobbyist at a time when he was seeking department actions on behalf of his tribal clients.
The former top procurement official in the Bush administration, David Safavian, already has been charged with lying and obstruction of justice in connection with the Abramoff investigation.
Safavian, who traveled to Scotland with Ney on a golf outing arranged by Abramoff, is accused of concealing from federal investigators that Abramoff was seeking to do business with the General Services Administration (GSA) at the time of the golf trip. Safavian was then GSA chief of staff.
Abramoff's ties to Seattle were provided by Seattle Times staff.
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marc
Supporter
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Posted: Sat Nov 26th, 2005 08:23 pm |
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| Circumsize him and all the other Washington DC dick heads......LOL...
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weasle
Supporter
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Posted: Sat Nov 26th, 2005 06:05 pm |
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| congress gillmore mentioned in this article represents the district i live in, he is a BIG asshole if you are elderly,blue collar, or poor. he represents corperate america not the people of his district. what a dick head !!!.
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marc
Supporter
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Posted: Sat Nov 26th, 2005 05:00 pm |
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Lawmakers Face Dilemma Over Katrina Relief
By DAVID HAMMER, Associated Press Writer
Lawmakers from states untouched by Hurricane Katrina face a conundrum — showing compassion toward the devastated Gulf Coast without breaking the bank and, at the same time, balancing disaster-relief needs in their own regions.
Congress has already approved two emergency budget packages totaling $62 billion for reconstruction and relief in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. But spending has slowed, and the White House wants some unspent funds to be returned and others to be moved to different projects.
Sen. Mary Landrieu (news, bio, voting record), D-La., says the Federal Emergency Management Agency is still sitting on more than half the money. She blames Republicans in Washington for not understanding the depth of Gulf Coast destruction and the federal government's responsibility to rebuild.
"This government needs to understand it can't protect the homeland on the cheap," Landrieu said.
Indiana Rep. John Hostettler (news, bio, voting record) knows about disasters, too — a tornado this month killed 23 people in his Evansville-area district. Still, the Republican was among 12 members of Congress to vote against emergency funding for Katrina in October.
Some lawmakers and economists say the expensive relief efforts have finally reminded Washington about fiscal responsibility.
It took three tries and a two-vote margin for Republicans to pass a House plan to cut the deficit by $50 billion by the end of the decade. The package still must be consolidated with the Senate's $35 billion plan, but neither is enough to offset the emergency spending on Katrina so far, and the Bush administration still wants tax cuts extended.
"Wasteful spending is wasteful spending. The Republicans need to return to their message that being compassionate is doing what it takes to implement a system that works," said Veronique de Rugy, economist for the conservative American Enterprise Institute and a Libertarian.
A lot of the conservative Republican voices on Katrina spending come from Ohio, where 11 of 12 GOP House members voted for cuts to education and health care programs.
Rep. Paul Gillmor (news, bio, voting record) estimates that deficit spending on hurricanes could rise to $200 billion and wants commensurate cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Fellow Ohio Reps. John Boehner, Steve Chabot and Jean Schmidt were among the original 15 House members to sign a "Katrina No Pork Pledge," a promise not to support items in emergency bills that are unrelated to Katrina.
But a presidential ban on "pork" in a Homeland Security bill didn't prevent $1 billion in peripheral spending, de Rugy said. And some members of Congress have different definitions of what's related to Katrina and what isn't.
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., recently promised that after this fall's harvest, a future supplemental spending bill will include aid for farmers affected by drought or disasters, regardless of where they are.
In North Dakota, farmers felt the pinch of high fuel costs and the Port of New Orleans shutdown and recognize the need to rebuild infrastructure along the lower Mississippi River. But in 1997, Grand Forks had the largest flood evacuation in U.S. history before Katrina, and Dakotans are telling Sen. Kent Conrad (news, bio, voting record), senior Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee, that they have a few dike projects to fund back home.
Rep. David Hobson (news, bio, voting record), R-Ohio, runs the House subcommittee that funds the Army Corps of Engineers, the agency responsible for the levee system that failed and let New Orleans fill like a soup bowl. Katrina was his rationale for adding $1 billion to the president's budget request for energy and water projects.
"Anything Congress spends beyond the president's request can be considered 'pork,'" de Rugy said.
Landrieu disagrees: "Clearly the Gulf Coast and our only energy coast is a priority, but I don't believe we have to sacrifice every other good civil works project around the country."
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Randy in Pensacola
Supporter
| Joined: | Wed Nov 3rd, 2004 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 935 |
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Posted: Sat Nov 26th, 2005 12:59 pm |
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I say let them fry.....Hes been alive about 28 years too long...
Dave wrote:
U.S. Prepares For 1,000th Execution Since 1976
WASHINGTON -- Robin Lovitt might make history next week.
If his execution goes as scheduled, he could be the 1,000th person executed in the U.S. since the ban against capital punishment was lifted in 1976.
Lovitt was convicted of stabbing a man to death with scissors during a pool hall robbery in Virginia.
Initial DNA tests of the scissors proved inconclusive. Later the scissors were thrown away, supposedly because of a lack of storage space.
One of his lawyers, Kenneth Starr, told Associated Press Television News he supports the death penalty in principle, but that it shouldn't apply in Lovitt's case, especially since there was "destruction of the DNA evidence."
Opponents of the death penalty said the number of prisoners whose convictions have been reversed should fuel skepticism.
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Dave
Supporter
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Posted: Sat Nov 26th, 2005 12:05 pm |
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U.S. Prepares For 1,000th Execution Since 1976
WASHINGTON -- Robin Lovitt might make history next week.
If his execution goes as scheduled, he could be the 1,000th person executed in the U.S. since the ban against capital punishment was lifted in 1976.
Lovitt was convicted of stabbing a man to death with scissors during a pool hall robbery in Virginia.
Initial DNA tests of the scissors proved inconclusive. Later the scissors were thrown away, supposedly because of a lack of storage space.
One of his lawyers, Kenneth Starr, told Associated Press Television News he supports the death penalty in principle, but that it shouldn't apply in Lovitt's case, especially since there was "destruction of the DNA evidence."
Opponents of the death penalty said the number of prisoners whose convictions have been reversed should fuel skepticism.
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weasle
Supporter
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Posted: Wed Nov 23rd, 2005 07:38 pm |
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weasle wrote: yea i know she wont go into heat , but when jippo said that , it reminded me of that beagle. ahh geeze,guy makes one mistake in his life, and yer all over him. sorry zippo , wasnt intentional. * farts in elevator full of bbs people* LMAO.
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marc
Supporter
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Posted: Wed Nov 23rd, 2005 06:21 pm |
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| Thats Bull Shit....If I were her father Iwould kill that bastard and plead temporary insanity...Under those circumstances I can't think of a jury that would convict him...
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zippo
Supporter
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Posted: Wed Nov 23rd, 2005 06:18 pm |
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Randy in Pensacola wrote: I just saw on Fox news that John Couy might be getting out of jail on a technacality.
He kidnaps, rapes and murders a 9 year old girl and they might have to set him free....
I think we sgould invite him to our Vtwinnbbs reunion. I personally would love 15 minutes alone with him....
Maybe we let Babe atke care of him with her gonad knife!
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