Who’s running and when must they file are questions circulating the local

Election Manager Gloria Maestas this morning in the County Clerk's Office. Photo by Carol A. Clark/Monitor

community since the 2010 political campaign season kicked off Oct. 1 in New Mexico.

That was the day candidates began surfacing to collect signatures for their nominating petitions, which are due in the Secretary of State’s Office by Feb. 9.

Rep. Jeanette Wallace is serving her 19^th year in the New Mexico Legislature. When asked if she intends to seek reelection to an 11^th two-year term, Wallace responded, “Yes ma’am I certainly am!”

U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Lujan also is running for reelection. Voters from District 3 elected Lujan November 2008 to his first two-year term in the position previously held by Tom Udall. Udall was elected to replace Pete Domenici who retired from the U.S. Senate Dec. 31, 2008.

Local offices up for election this campaign season include:

• Four county council positions. The seats are currently held by Nona Bowman, Robert Gibson, Ralph Phelps and Michael Wheeler. Bowman and Wheeler term limit out after each serving eight years. Phelps intends to decide by year’s end if he’ll run for reelection. Council appointed him to fill the remainder of Jim West’s term who left for health reasons. “I’m definitely moving in the direction of running and I’m about 90 percent sure that I will,” he said. Gibson said Monday, “I’ve made no decision at this time.”
• County Assessor. JoAnn Johnson has held the position for the last three years and recently announced she will seek another four-year term. “I find the work very interesting and realize it is a process of importance to the county,” Johnson said Monday.
• Los Alamos County Probate Judge. County council appointed Y. Ellen Hong in October to serve the remaining 14 months of Janet Foster’s four-year term. Foster resigned to accept a 40-month appointment to complete county clerk Mary Pat Kraemer’s term following her resignation due to pension issues.
• Los Alamos County Magistrate Judge. Pat Casados will seek reelection to her  third four-year term. “I find this job fascinating – I just love it and I want to continue serving,” Casados said.
• Los Alamos County Municipal Judge. Alan Kirk’s position also is up for reelection. Voters have elected Kirk to the four-year term in the last three elections. “I’m definitely running for reelection,” Kirk said Monday. There are no term limits for Municipal or Magistrate Court judge.
• Los Alamos County Sheriff. Bruce Takala said this morning he is not planning to seek a second four-year term.

Read the full story in the Los Alamos Monitor.

From Joe Conason at Salon:

Sept. 11, 2009 | In the lyrical conclusion of President Obama’s speech on healthcare, he talked about the emotions and experiences that drove his late friend Sen. Edward Kennedy to work so tirelessly and passionately for universal coverage. He tried to describe what Kennedy must have felt as two of his children suffered through bouts of cancer. Ordeals such as those, said the president, had helped Kennedy to understand the “sheer terror and helplessness” of parents whose children are stricken by serious disease, and lack the means to save them.

Reaching out to his opponents, the president tried to emphasize that such empathy toward other human beings “is not a partisan feeling,” but is instead an aspect of our national character.

…snip…

To support that reassuring observation, he cited the landmark bills that Kennedy’s Republican colleagues have co-sponsored in years past to extend healthcare to children and protect hospital patients. As he said, Americans of all parties (and none) surely possess the capacity for compassion.

But why then do nearly all of the Republicans in Congress find it so difficult to empathize with the tens of millions of their uninsured and underinsured fellow citizens — and so easy to contemplate the ruin of reform yet again, even though that means condemning hundreds of thousands to sickness, bankruptcy and even death? Why would they still insist, after 40 successful years of Medicare, that government must have no further role in ensuring decent healthcare for every American?

Perhaps the problem is that a certain kind of Republican — often with a connection to the White House or Capitol Hill — will only endorse government action to remedy the adversity they have experienced for themselves.

Original DVD cover

The most recent example is Cindy McCain, the wife of the Arizona senator, who announced the other day that she suffers from migraine headaches, which she considers a “disability.” She is outraged that the United States government only spends $13 million annually for medical research on migraines, and is bent on increasing that amount drastically. She is determined that a remedy will be found someday soon — with federal money.

…snip…

Nothing wrong with that ambition, of course — except that the [John] McCain approach to healthcare, expressed during last year’s presidential campaign, rejects government action in favor of market fundamentalism. His plan would have deregulated the insurance companies and diminished the insufficient protections that government now provides to consumers, while covering a tiny percentage of the uninsured. He is leading the Senate attack on the “public option” in the Obama health plan, because he thinks government is already too big and too wasteful.

…snip…

Why shouldn’t the migraine sufferers be left to the mercy of the marketplace, where the pharmaceutical manufacturers will take tender care of them? The market alone won’t provide the necessary scientific effort, as Mrs. McCain perhaps understands — so effective empathy requires federal support.

A constricted compassion that arises solely from personal experience has somehow come to seem peculiarly Republican.

…snip…

Only after her husband began to disappear into the twilight of Alzheimer’s disease did [Nancy] Reagan perceive the value of the kind of government action they both had spent a lifetime denigrating. Government was the problem, not the solution, according to the Reaganite dogma. But then Nancy realized that federal support for stem-cell research might someday bring relief to patients like her beloved Ronnie, and anguished families like hers. Suddenly, spending hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on something other than Star Wars wasn’t such a terrible idea.

As for [Pete] Domenici, the tragedy that opened his eyes began when his daughter Clare, then in college, started to exhibit symptoms of the schizophrenia that eventually disabled her. That was when the New Mexico senator, often described by the Washington press as “a crusty conservative,” discovered how much of society, including the insurance industry, discriminated against mental patients and their families.

Domenici’s chief ally in the long struggle for mental-health parity was the late Paul Wellstone, the legendary progressive senator from Minnesota whose older brother had lived with severe mental illness from adolescence.

…snip…

All his life, Wellstone demanded a more compassionate society and a more decent government — not because he or his family was suffering but because he felt a moral imperative. And despite the president’s poetic explanation of Kennedy’s commitment, the truth is that his fight for universal healthcare began years before either of his children was stricken with cancer. Affliction may have deepened their commitment, but their perception always extended far beyond their own plight.

Even the best of today’s Republicans seem to lack that quality, to say the least. Enjoying the ample blessings of the Federal Employee Health Benefits program and access to the best military hospitals, they’re totally insulated from the troubles of those who lack adequate insurance, or any insurance at all.

If the Republican right manages to kill healthcare reform this year, then perhaps some brave Democrat should introduce a new kind of bill — cutting off every member of Congress from the “public option” that protects them and their families.

From The New York Times:

WASHINGTON — Thousands of pages of internal e-mail and once-secret Congressional testimony showed Tuesday that Karl Rove and other senior aides in the Bush White House played an earlier and more active role than was previously known in the 2006 firings of a number of United States attorneys.

Aides to former President George W. Bush have asserted that the Justice Department took the lead in the dismissals, which set off a political firestorm that lasted months. Mr. Rove played down his role in the firings in a recent interview and in closed testimony last month before Congressional investigators.

But the documents, released by the House Judiciary Committee after a protracted fight over access to White House records and testimony, offer a detailed portrait of a nearly two-year effort, from early 2005 to 2007, by senior White House officials, including Mr. Rove, to dismiss some prosecutors for what appear to be political reasons.

Original DVD cover

Internal e-mail messages in the spring of 2005 at the White House showed that there was widespread unhappiness with David Iglesias, the United States attorney in New Mexico, because of the perception among top Republicans that he was dragging his feet on voter fraud and corruption investigations involving Democrats.

In a June 2005 message, Scott Jennings, a top political aide to Mr. Rove, wrote a colleague that Mr. Iglesias should be removed because Republicans in New Mexico “are really angry over his lack of action on voter fraud stuff.”

…snip…

Mr. Iglesias was ultimately let go in December 2006, along with seven other federal prosecutors in an unusual dismissal of top presidential appointees.

…snip…

Robert Luskin, a lawyer for Mr. Rove, said the material released Tuesday demonstrated that there was “absolutely no evidence” the White House had used inappropriate political motivations to punish federal prosecutors.

…snip…

Bush administration officials have publicly suggested that Mr. Iglesias was dismissed because of a subpar performance and absences from the office — he was a Navy reservist.

Those issues do not surface in the newly released e-mail. Rather, the dissatisfaction of New Mexico Republicans over the investigations was the focus in 2005 and 2006. Nonetheless, one message shows that the White House was told that the Justice Department planned to say the New Mexico investigations played no role in the dismissal.

In that exchange, in February 2007, William K. Kelly, of the White House Counsel’s Office, wrote an e-mail message to several senior officials, including Fred Fielding, the White House counsel, and Tony Snow, the press secretary. Referring to the Justice Department, Mr. Kelly wrote, “They are planning to deny that the investigation in question played any role in DOJ’s decision, and to deny that any Member contacted main Justice to complain about the conduct (or not) of any particular investigation.”

In fact, Senator Pete V. Domenici, Republican of New Mexico, had called Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to complain about Mr. Iglesias and his failure to bring voting fraud cases. The messages also show that Mr. Domenici had contacted Joshua B. Bolten, the White House chief of staff, about removing the United States attorney.

…snip…

In closed testimony last month before Congressional investigators, Harriet Miers, a White House counsel under Mr. Bush, recalled getting a telephone call from a “very agitated” Mr. Rove in the fall of 2006, making clear to her that he wanted action taken against Mr. Iglesias.

…snip…

In a recent interview, Mr. Rove said he viewed himself as only passing the complaints about Mr. Iglesias on to Ms. Miers.

Ms. Miers said she could not explicitly recall being asked to have Mr. Iglesias fired. But she called the deputy attorney general, Paul McNulty, to ask him to follow up on the matter.

“He is getting lots of complaints,” Ms. Miers recalled telling Mr. McNulty, referring to Mr. Rove. “And it was a problem.”

…snip…

The Senate Ethics Committee last year admonished Mr. Domenici for his efforts to have Mr. Iglesias removed.

The documents also provide new evidence about Mr. Rove’s push to have an aide and protégé, Timothy Griffin, tapped as United States attorney in Arkansas to replace Bud Cummins, who was told to resign. “It was no secret I was for him,” Mr. Rove acknowledged to the Congressional investigators.

Even so, the Justice Department in February 2007 told members of Congress in a letter as the controversy was unfolding that it was “not aware of Karl Rove playing any role in the decision to appoint Mr. Griffin.”

…snip…

A federal prosecutor, Nora Dannehy, is continuing to investigate the firings, including whether officials gave false or misleading statements to Congress.

New Mexico is home to a research facility that focuses on the study of the brain using neuroimaging. The Mind Research Network (MRN) has been on the forefront of this type of technology and its researchers and scientists work to develop new insights in neuroscience, which provides a window into the human brain.

The MRN was founded in 1998 with the help of former Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., in hopes of focusing on the study of mental illness and brain disorders. Domenici has long been an advocate for this type of research and has had his own personal battle with brain disease. His daughter has also suffered from an unknown mental illness. The MRN will continue to carry the vision Domenici has always had in hopes of one day changing the lives of so many who have lost a piece of themselves.

Vince Calhoun, MRN director of image analysis and magnetic resonance, recently had a major development in his research using functional magnetic resonance imaging. This technology provides an insight into brain activity by registering blood flow to functioning areas in the brain during various experiences. Calhoun, the principal investigator, gave me an inside look into how the fMRI scan will be a critical piece in the quest for answers to mental illnesses.

As technological advances accumulate, another battle still looms.  So the question becomes—what happens after the diagnosis has been made? Many patients who are diagnosed with mental illnesses require medication, but also need tools to be able to manage their illness, such as learning useful skills to help maintain a normal life. Dr. Harry Linneman, director of counseling and therapy services at the University of New Mexico weighs the scientific developments with the clinical aspect and points out some benefits many people can look forward to.

Contact info for Nikka Peralta:  nperalta@unm.edu

More on Obama’s nuclear stance: The President has basically stopped in their tracks plans to use Yucca Mountain in Nevada as a nuclear waste disposal site.

Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Photo from U.S. Department of Energy on Wikimedia Commons.

From World Nuclear News, Feb. 2009:

“The confirmation came with the following words from the Department of Energy: “The Yucca Mountain program will be scaled back to those costs necessary to answer inquiries from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), while the administration devises a new strategy toward nuclear waste disposal.”

 An application to build the Yucca repository was lodged with the NRC in June last year, and this confirmation that NRC will continue to examine it indicates that Yucca will remain on the table for consideration at least until a firm strategy is announced. The move remains basically in line with Obama’s pre-election statements that Yucca Mountain was “not an option.”

 America must now set a new course for long-term management of high-level radioactive waste, which could include reprocessing and recycling after a change in attitude towards the practices during recent years. A major factor could be Obama’s position on the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP), which would see a community of countries share nuclear power technology with leading nations storing all the high-level waste from the entire group after dramatic volume reduction from reprocessing.”

What’s even more interesting is this letter to the editor (Las Vegas Review-Journal) from Obama himself, written in May 2007 while he was still an Illinois senator and before the Democratic primaries:

“I want every Nevadan to know that I have always opposed using Yucca Mountain as a nuclear waste repository, and I want to explain the many reasons why I’ve held that view.

In my state of Illinois, we have faced our own issues of nuclear waste management. There are some who believe that Illinois should serve as a repository for nuclear waste from other states. My view on this subject was made clear in a 2006 letter to Sen. Pete Domenici, who at the time was chairman of the Senate Energy Committee. “States should not be unfairly burdened with waste from other states,” I wrote. “Every state should be afforded the opportunity to chart a course that addresses its own interim waste storage in a manner that makes sense for that state.”

That is a position I hold to this day when it comes to both Illinois and Nevada.

After spending billions of dollars on the Yucca Mountain Project, there are still significant questions about whether nuclear waste can be safely stored there. I believe a better short-term solution is to store nuclear waste on-site at the reactors where it is produced, or at a designated facility in the state where it is produced, until we find a safe, long-term disposal solution that is based on sound science.

In the meantime, I believe all spending on Yucca Mountain should be redirected to other uses, such as improving the safety and security of spent fuel at plant sites around the country and exploring other long-term disposal options.

All Nevadans should know that as president, I will bring to this issue not just independent judgment and careful deliberation, but a personal appreciation that comes from my own experience of living in the back yard of hazardous nuclear materials. The safety and security of Nevadans and all Americans requires nothing less.

-Barack Obama”

U.S. Attorney Scandal: Feds Probe Domenici for Obstruction of Justice In Iglesias Firing

A federal grand jury probe of the firings of nine U.S. attorneys during the Bush administration is focusing on the role played by recently retired Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) and former senior Bush White House aides in the 2006 dismissal of David Iglesias as U.S. attorney for New Mexico, according to legal sources familiar with the inquiry.

The federal grand jury is investigating whether Domenici and other political figures attempted to improperly press Iglesias to bring a criminal prosecution against New Mexico Democrats just prior to the 2006 congressional midterm elections, according to legal sources close to the investigation and private attorneys representing officials who prosecutors want to question.  Investigators appear to be scrutinizing Iglesias’ firing in the context of whether he was fired in retaliation because Domenici and others believed that he would not manipulate the timing of prosecutions to help Republicans.

Previously, Domenici was severely criticized by two internal Justice Department watchdog offices, the Department’s Inspector General and Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), for refusing to cooperate with their earlier probe of the firings of the U.S. attorneys. In part because of their frustration that Domenici and his chief of staff, Steve Bell, as well as several senior White House officials, would not cooperate with them, the Inspector General and OPR sought that a criminal prosecutor take over their probe. It is unclear whether Domenici will now cooperate with the criminal probe. Domenici’s attorney, Lee Blalack, in an interview, declined to say what Domenici will do when he is contacted by investigators.

The focus of the grand jury probe was described by a federal law enforcement official, two witnesses who have been recently been asked to answer questions from investigators, and an attorney representing a former Justice Department official who has been told that investigators want to question his client.  People who had been contacted by investigators spoke on the condition that they not be named because they did not want to upset federal law enforcement officials who would question and investigate them and also because they believe that simply being questioned might unfairly tarnish their reputations.

MORE HERE

A federal grand jury probe of the firings of nine U.S. attorneys during the Bush administration is focusing on the role played by recently retired Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) and former senior Bush White House aides in the 2006 dismissal of David Iglesias as U.S. attorney for New Mexico, according to legal sources familiar with the inquiry.   http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/02/grand_jury_investigation_of_us_attorney_firings_fo.php

Here are some names we are hearing for various positions in President-elect Obama’s cabinet (and other key positions):

Secretary of State: Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), Sen. Dick Lugar (R-IN), former Marine Corps General & NATO Supreme Allied Commander James Jones, former UN Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, Gov. Bill Richardson (D-NM) and former Assistant Secretary of State Susan Rice

Secretary of Defense: Secretary of Defense Robert Gates (who would remain for a definite period of time as Obama changed battle plans in Iraq and Afghanistan), former Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig, Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE), former Secretary of State Colin Powell and Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI)

Secretary of the Treasury: President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Timothy Geithner, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, former chairman of the Federal Reserve Paul Volcker and investor Warren Buffet

Attorney General: Gov. Janet Napolitano (D-AZ), Rep. Artur Davis (D-AL), former Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder, US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald and former Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick

Secretary of Energy: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA) and Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM)

National Security Advisor: Greg Craig & Susan Rice

Secretary of Agriculture: former Gov. Tom Vilsack (D-IA)

Secretary of Labor: former House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt (D-MO)

UN Ambassador: Caroline Kennedy and former National Security Advisor Tony Lake

Homeland Security Secretary: 9/11 Commission member and former Rep. Tim Roemer (D-IN)

Secretary of Veterans Affairs: Director of Illinois Veterans’ Affairs Tammy Duckworth and former Senator Max Cleland (D-GA)

Secretary of Education: Rep. George Miller (D-CA), former Secretary of State Colin Powell, New York City School’s Chancellor Joel Klein and Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D-KS)

EPA Administrator: Robert Kennedy Jr.

White House Counsel: Greg Craig

Michigan, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and New York all go to Obama

Wyoming and North Dakota go to Mac.

Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, New Mexico, and Texas are all Too Early To Call.

Bob Schneider, just did the same analysis of race as Ann Curry and was so much smarter about it. Nationally, of the 20% of voters who said race was important, 55% voted for Obama, noting that people of multiple races voted for and against Barack Obama because of his race.

Tom Udall of New Mexico will succeed Pete Domenici.

October 28, 2008

Mr. Roger Goodell

Commissioner

National Football League

280 Park Avenue

New York, NY 10017

Dear Commissioner Goodell:

Your decision last December to permit the final National Football League (NFL) game of the regular season between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants to be broadcast nationwide on free, over-the-air television, rather than exclusively on the NFL Network, was a victory for the NFL and for its fans. More than 34 million people reportedly watched the game – the largest audience for a regular season game in more than a decade, and more than three times the largest audience an NFL Network game has ever received.

We write today because we are disappointed that, rather than building on this success, the NFL will return to restricting games to the NFL Network beginning November 6. That the NFL would choose to have fewer viewers for select games again this year is an indication of its interest in moving toward a pay television model.

Congress facilitated the nationwide broadcast success of the NFL by creating an antitrust exemption for NFL teams to negotiate jointly telecast agreements with over-the-air broadcasters; it provides the NFL with protection for the content in those broadcasts through copyright law. We are concerned that the NFL is now leveraging the success of its over-the-air broadcasts to move games to pay television, to the detriment of NFL fans across the country that have made watching NFL games a ritual every Fall.

In 2006, the NFL provided testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee that even games televised on pay television are televised on free over-the-air television in the home cities of the competing teams. We appreciate that commitment to broadcast television, but we are troubled by how narrowly the NFL is interpreting this policy. The NFLs application of its policy does nothing for NFL fans in Burlington, Vermont, Hartford, Connecticut, or Providence, Rhode Island, which the NFL does not consider to be part of the home market of the New England Patriots; or residents of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, which the NFL does not consider part of the home market of the Pittsburgh Steelers; or residents of York, Pennsylvania, which the NFL does not consider part of the home market of the Philadelphia Eagles; or residents of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Casper, Wyoming, or Rapid City, South Dakota, which the NFL does not consider part of the home market of the Denver Broncos; or residents of Illinois outside Chicago, which the NFL does not consider part of the Chicago Bears market; or residents of New Mexico who are fans of the Broncos and the Dallas Cowboys, but which the NFL does not consider to be in any home market.

In short, the policy leaves behind NFL fans across the country simply because they live outside cities to which the NFL has granted franchises. Ultimately, it may be for the courts to determine whether the NFL member teams are using the NFL Network to restrict the output of game programming in a manner that violates the antitrust laws. In the meantime, we strongly encourage you to take prompt action that will ensure fans in every market receive the benefit of this over-the-air policy when their closest NFL teams, or the teams with which their areas have been historically aligned, are playing in games telecast nationally on the NFL Network.

Sincerely,Senator Arlen Specter (R- Pa.) Senator Patrick Leahy (D- Vt.)Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D – R.I.)Senator Jack Reed (D – R.I)Senator Pete Domenici (R – N.M.)Senator Ken Salazar (D – Colo.)Senator Michael Enzi (R – Wyo.)Senator Bernie Sanders (I – Vt.)Senator Joe Lieberman (I – Conn.)Senator Wayne Allard (R – Colo.)Senator Dick Durbin (D – Ill.)Senator John Thune (R- S.D.)Senator John Barrasso (R- Wyo.)

Every couple of years, the Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) releases rankings for all members of Congress on how well they actually support the needs of America’s veterans.  The last list was notable in that John McCain got a grade of ‘D’ in supporting his fellow veterans.  Barack Obama, on the other hand, got a ‘B+’.  It was also notable in that the 109th Congress was under Republican control, and indeed, without the need to feign bipartisanship, and without the reality check of losing that Republican control, fully FIFTY Republican senators scored ‘D’s or ‘F’s in supporting veterans.

Well, the rankings for the Democratic-controlled 110th Congress are out, and there is good news and bad news.

First, the failures (let’s not bury the lede, you know).  There is good news in that this time around — only FOUR Senators scored ‘D’ or ‘F.’  The utter failures are, with ‘D’ scores:

Tom Coburn (R-OK)
Michael Enzi (R-WY)
John McCain (R-AZ)

The ‘F’ goes to Jim DeMint (R-SC).

What an utter disgrace that John McCain, the man who self-servingly whores out his military experience as if to pretend he cares about even one of his fellow veterans, remains among the very worst of the Senate when it comes to caring for our veterans. I would go as far as to say that McCain’s heart must be black, indeed, to so callously send these men and women off to war, and then to fuck them with a knife if they’re lucky enough to come back. All four men should be ashamed of themselves, but especially John McCain, he whose only real claim to fame is that he’s a shitty pilot and it finally caught up with him one fateful day in Hanoi. But then again, John McCain was a self-serving bastard before he became a POW, while he was a POW, and has been ever since. What a fucking asshole.

In the entire House of Representatives, only five representatives scored a ‘D’ or ‘F.’  That should really put in perspective how bad John McCain is for troops and veterans, how much he actually loathes and disdains them.  Out of over five-hundred members of Congress, John McCain is one of the NINE worst.  Wow!  Just…wow!  The representatives who scored ‘D’s are:

John Campbell (R-CA)
Chris Cannon (R-UT)
John Duncan (R-TN)
Tom Tancredo (R-CO)

And the ‘F’ goes to, you guessed it, Ron Paul (R-TX).

The IAVA notes that “[t]hese legislators must improve their voting records if they are to legitimately claim that they support our troops and veterans.“  That goes especially for you, John McCain, you asshole.

(Are you surprised all the failures are Republicans? Me neither.)

Now, time for some accolades!  Far too many members of the House of Representatives received ‘A’s and ‘A+’s to list here, so click here to see how your Congress-critter did.  I’m thrilled to note that my Congressman, Steve Cohen (D-TN) received an A+.

Let’s look at the Senate now.  Barack Obama received a solid ‘B’ this year, which means he could do more, but he’s on the right track, which is far more than can be said for John McCain.  I’m thrilled to see the number of Senators who received ‘A’s, and to see that there are actually a few Republicans on the list.  They are capable of being halfway decent people, some of them.  The ‘A’s in the Senate are as follows, with the ‘A+’s in bold print:

Daniel Akaka (D-HI), Max Baucus (D-MT), Evan Bayh (D-IN), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Kit Bond (R-MO), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Robert Byrd (D-WV), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Thomas Carper (D-DE), Bob Casey (D-PA), Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Norm Coleman (R-MN), Susan Collins (R-ME), Chris Dodd (D-CT), Pete Domenici (R-NM), Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Chuck Hagel (R-NE), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Daniel Inouye (D-HI), Tim Johnson (D-SD), John Kerry (D-MA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Herb Kohl (D-WI), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Carl Levin (D-MI), Joe Lieberman (I-CT), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Dick Lugar (R-IN), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Patty Murray (D-WA), Ben Nelson (D-NE), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Mark Pryor (D-AR), Jack Reed (D-RI), Harry Reid (D-NV), John Rockefeller (D-WV), Ken Salazar (D-CO), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Gordon Smith (R-OR), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Arlen Specter (R-PA), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Jon Tester (D-MT), John Warner (R-VA), Jim Webb (D-VA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Ron Wyden (D-OR).

Everyone on that bi-partisan (but still mostly Democratic) list cares for, respects, supports, and loves our troops and veterans far more than John McCain’s black soul does.  Supporting our troops and veterans should not be a “liberal” position to take, although that’s indeed how it’s played out over the last few years.  As I said, I’m thrilled to see that a few Republicans have started to come to Jesus on these issues, though I’m not completely surprised which Republicans have and which have not.  Many of the Republicans who did better this year, I notice, are up for re-election.  I would suggest that their constituents study their entire careers, their previous ratings, before assuming that they’re actually good for veterans.  Funny, though, isn’t it, that John McCain, who has shown himself to be willing to roll over on his principles whenever it serves him, isn’t even willing to pretend that he cares about veterans and troops as he seeks the highest office in the land.

Asshole.

Spread this around.  This year, more than any other in recent memory, people need to be armed with the real facts, not the facts that come through talking points and catch phrases.

(h/t Think Progress)

First the Senate does a Constitutional end-run to take up the bailout of Bush’s golfing buddies despite having no real authority to do so by tacking the bailout to the “Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2008:”

The mental health bill has passed the House before and becomes the Senate vehicle upon which everything is loaded. By constitutional mandate all tax bills must originate in the House but by attaching it to a bill that has already passed the House, that rule is circumvented and the mental health bill is so old it’s original cosponsors were Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici. Gotta love the irony that this is all on the back of keeping American workers sane.

Then, not content with looting the taxpayers’ treasury to the tune of $700 billion and completely ignoring the public outcry against that figure on Monday, the Senate plutocrats upped the price tag of this theft to $810 billion with irresponsible tax breaks:

In a historic vote, the Senate approved a massive $700 billion rescue plan for the nation’s finance system Wednesday night, but only after tacking on another $110 billion in tax breaks to lure votes from both parties.

Yes, because at a time when our infrastructure is crumbling and unemployment is at a five-year high due to the Republican Party’s criminal behavior (aided and abetted by Congressional Democrats), what we need is even more of the same tax-cut and deficit-spend idiocy that contributed so much to this overblown mess in the first place.

I’d say that there are 74 senators who should be burned in effigy, but metaphorical burning is too good for them; they should have a taste of the real thing, perhaps in the form of a “T” for “Thief” branded on their foreheads.

Yesterday, the in the New Mexico GOP primary, Rep. Steve Pearce narrowly defeated Rep. Heather Wilson for the right to challenge Democratic Rep. Tom Udall for the Senate seat being vacated by GOP Senator Pete Domenici.

Democrats have placed a heavy emphasis on Udall’s campaign as they believe that they can pick up this seat, adding to their majority in the Senate.

Senate votes to halt oil reserve shipments

The Senate, in a direct challenge to President Bush, voted Tuesday to temporarily halt the shipment of thousands of barrels of oil a day into the government’s emergency reserve.

Sounds like a great idea – more supply would help to lower prices. I love the Senate! Boo Bush!

“We are buying the most expensive crude oil in the history of the world and storing it,” said Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D. “When American consumers are burning at the stake by high energy prices, the government ought not be carrying the wood.”

That metaphor burns at the retinas of my eyes and Byron Dorgan carried the super laser. Scratch “love” and substitute “really like”.

Bush has been steadfast in continuing shipments of oil to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a system of underground salt domes on the Gulf Coast, arguing that the stockpile should be filled to its maximum capacity of 727 million barrels. It currently is 97 percent full at 701 million barrels, equal to two months of oil imports.

Oh, 97% is not good enough for Mr. Scholastic Overachiever. We have to get 100% otherwise pa-pa will not buy us a bright new shiny Flowbee. Boo Bush. Booooooo.

It’s uncertain how much effect – if any – putting 70,000 barrels a day of crude onto the U.S. market that uses more than 21 million barrels a day would have. Dorgan said it could send a signal and curb market speculation.

Blekenblerg??!?!?!? This is the challenge? Why not ask Bush to walk and chew gum at the same time?

Ok, in the last paragraph, a percentage was calculated. Let’s see if we can repeat this amazing feat of math. Along the way, we can help this article so that it can draw a conclusion on the effect of the act.

70,000 divided by 21,000,000 is 0.33%. WOW, less than 1%.

Thank you Senate for taking up our time and making that challenge. You are AWESOME. Change “really like” to “generally think about and commence to banging head against nearest table”.

“It could have a chance of reducing the price a small amount,” said Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., who joined the chorus against continuing the shipments.

And thank you H. Josef Hebert for the extra helping of mayonnaise on this crap sandwich by asking the senator with frontotemporal lobar degeneration his opinion on the matter.

Next week, the Senate plans to challenge Bush on his sentiment that kittens are not cute with quotes from Scruffy the Dog Senator of Alpoland.

From Online Journal:

David Iglesias, the former U.S. attorney for New Mexico who was one of nine federal prosecutors fired two years ago for reasons that appear to be politically motivated, said a recent House vote to hold former White House counsel Harriet Miers and President Bush’s chief of staff, Josh Bolten, in contempt for refusing to testify before Congress about the matter was encouraging. But he said questions related to his dismissal remain unanswered.

In an interview following the historic vote, the first time in 25 years a full chamber of Congress voted on contempt of Congress citation, Iglesias called upon the White House to “do the right thing.”

“Congress is exercising its legitimate oversight role in this unfinished matter,” said Iglesias, who has written a book on the ordeal, “In Justice: Inside the Scandal that Rocked the Bush Administration,” that is due to be published in June. “I implore the White House to do the right thing and produce Ms. Miers and Mr. Bolten to the Congress.”

Original DVD cover.

The White House said it has no intention of producing documents to the House Judiciary Committee or allowing Bolten and Miers to testify on grounds that the information is covered by executive privilege. Attorney General Michael Mukasey testified before Congress two weeks ago that he has no plans to enforce the contempt citations.

But Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) said even if Mukasey refuses to act on the contempt citations, Congress will pursue civil litigation to enforce the subpoenas and Bolten and Miers’ testimony.

“It’s pretty clear to me that senior White House and U.S. Department of Justice officials deliberately fired U.S. attorneys who they felt were not acting in ways that were politically advantageous to the Bush administration and the Republican Party,” Hinchey said. “Those subpoenas have been ignored for far too long, which is why . . . we finally passed resolutions of contempt against them to begin the legal process of forcing them to comply or, if they continue to refuse, imposing tough consequences.”

John Conyers, the Democratic chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, agreed, and said he would vigorously pursue legal action to enforce the subpoenas to “vindicate Congress’ authority.”

…snip…

Iglesias said the legal wrangling clearly indicates that the executive branch and Congress are headed for a showdown, but he added that documents in the case released thus far goes far beyond the realm of circumstantial evidence and shows culpability–and perhaps criminal behavior–on the part of several high-level former Justice Department and White House officials who were involved in his firing and sought to cover-up their involvement. Iglesias points to a transcript of an interview with career Justice Department official David Margolis conducted by congressional investigators in May 2007 in which Margolis said that he participated in a “brainstorming” session with other senior DOJ officials to come up with a reason to sell to the public and to lawmakers in the event that questions were raised about why Iglesias was ousted.

John McKay, the former US attorney for the Western District of Washington who was also fired in late 2006 for reasons that appear to have been motivated by partisan politics, wrote in a lengthy article in the January edition of the Seattle University Law Review that Iglesias’s firing stands out among the other eight federal prosecutors because it demonstrates “the very real prospect of improper interference with an ongoing criminal investigation involving public corruption and the seeking of political advantage.”

“Violations of the obstruction of justice statute may have occurred and should be investigated,” McKay wrote. “Even as the role of the White House remains shrouded in its claims of executive privilege, 23 certain White House employees appear to have been heavily involved in the dismissal of U.S. Attorney Iglesias. In several e-mails it appears that these officials were reacting directly to the complaints of Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM) and the ongoing investigation into public corruption in New Mexico. For example, Deputy White House Counsel Bill Kelley smugly e-mailed Gonzales’ Chief of Staff Kyle Sampson to report that Domenici’s office was ‘happy as a clam’ on learning of Iglesias’s ouster. Senior Counselor to the President Karl Rove bragged about Iglesias’s dismissal by proclaiming ‘he’s gone’ to the New Mexico Republican Party Chairman, who had previously complained to Rove about Iglesias.”

McKay wrote that multiple investigations at the DOJ, which are said to be in the final stages, could result in “criminal charges” against former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and other former DOJ officials involved in the dismissals “for impeding justice.”

…snip…

In testimony before Congress last year, Iglesias said that a few weeks before the 2006 midterm elections he received telephone calls from Domenici, and the state’s Republican congresswoman, Heather Wilson, inquiring about the timing of an indictment against a popular Democratic official in the state who was the target of a corruption investigation. Iglesias told Domenici and Wilson he could not discuss indictments with them. Iglesias was added to a list of US attorneys to be fired on Election Day in November 2006. The official or officials responsible for drafting the list is still unknown.

Domenici is currently the subject of a Senate Ethics Committee probe for allegedly trying to pressure Iglesias into securing indictments prior to the November 2006 midterm election.

Last April, Iglesias filed a Hatch Act complaint with the White House Office of Special Counsel, alleging former White House political adviser Karl Rove and other Bush administration officials may have broken the law by orchestrating his firing.

…snip…

Last May, House Democrats released a transcript of an interview congressional investigators had with one of Gonzales’s senior Justice Department staffers, Matthew Friedrich, in which Friedrich recounted that over breakfast in November 2006, Rogers and Barnett told him they were frustrated about Iglesias’s refusal to pursue cases of voter fraud and that they had spoken to Karl Rove and Domenici about having Iglesias fired.

…snip…

Gonzales admitted “he took multiple phone calls from Domenici concerning [Iglesias], urging that he be replaced, and has admitted that [President Bush] spoke with him about the ‘problems’ with Iglesias,” McKay wrote.
”Gonzales has even admitted that one of the reasons that Iglesias was fired was because Senator Domenici had “lost confidence” in Iglesias.

From The New York Times:

[John McCain] is in the midst of an at-times awkward transition — from being one of the most disruptive figures in his party to someone playing it safer, not to mention trying to make nice with Republicans he clearly despises and who feel similarly about him.

…snip…

One of the trademarks of Mr. McCain’s rebel image has been his inability to cloak his emotions, especially anger. He has been prone to volcanic blowups over the years.

Original DVD cover.

Yay! Another film from JSM Studios!

Original studio logo.

Former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, who backed Mr. Romney in this year’s race, said Mr. McCain, of Arizona, deserved credit for having gone through the entire campaign “under stressful conditions” without any memorable outbursts.

“Does he have a capacity to control it?” asked Mr. Santorum, referring to Mr. McCain’s detonations. “Over the course of the campaign, I think he has managed to. But I think it is a legitimate cause for concern.”

The more famous McCain outbursts have been widely recalled in recent months, in part courtesy of the Romney campaign, which circulated a “Top 10 List” of Mr. McCain’s explosions.

The perception that he struggles to control his anger makes Mr. McCain angry.

“I know I sound a little bit defensive,” he said. “But for the last 10 years, I’ve had very little significant disagreement with my colleagues, certainly not personal ones.”

That’s not exactly true: fellow senators and staff members cite more recent dust-ups involving profanities, red-faced exchanges and quick-trigger reactions. Still, only one entry on Mr. McCain’s Greatest Fits list occurred in the last year. He complains that people keep invoking “a problem I had with Chuck Grassley,” referring to the debate in which he shouted unprintable profanities at his Republican colleague from Iowa. “It was 12, 14 years ago,” Mr. McCain said. (It was, in fact, 16.)

…snip…

It is with some satisfaction — and irony — that Mr. McCain cataloged the list of longtime Republican adversaries who have lined up in the last week to support him. “John Cornyn endorsed me,” Mr. McCain boasted in the interview, referring to the Republican senator from Texas at whom he directed a well-publicized string of profanities in a meeting last year.

So did Ted Stevens, Mr. McCain said, referring to the longtime senator from Alaska whose enmity for Mr. McCain — and vice versa — is well known. “It was pretty short,” Mr. McCain said of the Stevens endorsement.

“Thad Cochran endorsed me, too,” Mr. McCain marveled, referring to a very brief statement from the Republican senator from Mississippi who recently told The Boston Globe that the thought of Mr. McCain as president “sends a cold chill down my spine.”

Mr. Cochran, who declined to comment for this article, went on to call his longtime colleague “erratic,” “hotheaded” and someone who “loses his temper” and “worries me.”

From the Boston Herald blogs, the Top 10 List of McCain’s attacks on fellow Rethuglicans compiled by the Romney campaign:

1. Defending His Amnesty Bill, Sen. McCain Lost His Temper And “Screamed, ‘F*ck You!’ At Texas Sen. John Cornyn” (R-TX).

…snip…

2. In 2000, Sen. McCain Ran An Attack Ad Comparing Then-Gov. George W. Bush To Bill Clinton.

…snip…

3. Sen. McCain Repeatedly Called Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) An “A**hole”, Causing A Fellow GOP Senator To Say, “I Didn’t Want This Guy Anywhere Near A Trigger.”
…snip…

4. Sen. McCain Had A Heated Exchange With Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) And Called Him A “F*cking Jerk.”

…snip…

5. In 1995, Sen. McCain Had A “Scuffle” With 92-Year-Old Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-SC) On The Senate Floor.

…snip…

6. Sen. McCain Accused Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) Of The “Most Egregious Incident” Of Corruption He Had Seen In The Senate.

…snip…

7. Sen. McCain Attacked Christian Leaders And Republicans In A Blistering Speech During The 2000 Campaign.

…snip…

8. Sen. McCain Attacked Vice President Cheney.

…snip…

9. Celebrating His First Senate Election In 1986, Sen. McCain Screamed At And Harassed A Young Republican Volunteer.

…snip…

10. Sen. McCain “Publicly Abused” Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL).

Awwww, I think all the little fella needs is a hug…..

Hey, hey!! I said a hug, no grabbing!

We’re not there yet, but at least we’re moving closer to health insurance parity for mental illness, according to this story from Reuters.

Key quote:

A bill passed the Senate unanimously last month that would require insurance companies to have the same fees and co-pays as for other diseases, give the same access to medicine, and have the same annual and lifetime caps and limits.

The U.S. House of Representatives is working on companion legislation with more expansive mental health coverage requirements. But requirements, or insurance mandates, are more controversial and conservatives generally oppose them.

Patient advocacy groups say the odds are good of a final deal this year, although there is no guarantee that the legislation won’t derail again. Still [New Mexico Republican Sen. Pete] Domenici and a lead House sponsor Republican Rep. Jim Ramstad of Minnesota have both expressed their determination to see the bill signed into law before their retirements next year.

I never did understand why diseases that happen to be classified as “mental” illnesses are treated differently than those that are classified as “physical” illnesses.

Now if we could just stop treating drug addiction as a criminal act instead of as the illness that it is…

From the Los Angeles Times:

Just when it looked like things couldn’t get worse for the Republicans, Pete V. Domenici of New Mexico, a 35-year Senate veteran, is expected to announce today that he plans to retire at the end of his term — boosting Democrats’ hopes of expanding their control of the chamber in next year’s elections.

Original CD cover.

The Senate’s 49 Democrats, who usually are joined by its two independents, control the chamber, but often are blocked from advancing their agenda by Republican-led filibusters, which take 60 votes to overcome.

Also retiring at the end of this term are Republican Sens. John W. Warner of Virginia, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Wayne Allard of Colorado, all states where Democrats believe their party can be elected.

Republicans also are dealing with Idaho Sen. Larry E. Craig’s guilty plea to disorderly conduct in a men’s restroom.

From The New York Times:

WASHINGTON, Oct. 4 — Senator Larry E. Craig of Idaho, defying the wishes of many in his own Republican Party, said today that he would remain in the Senate through next year despite a court ruling against him in Minnesota, where he sought to rescind his guilty plea stemming from an undercover sex sting.

…snip…

“When my term has expired, I will retire and not seek re-election,” said Mr. Craig, who was accused of soliciting sex from an undercover police officer in the bathroom of the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport in early June. “I hope this provides the certainty Idaho needs and deserves.”

From The Swamp at the Baltimore Sun:

Asked about the slew of retirements among House Republicans – former Speaker Dennis J. Hastert among them – Minority Leader John A. Boehner professed to be unconcerned.

“I’m sure there will be some more,” the Ohio Republican said. “You always have some number of members retiring. But if you look at the members that are retiring, they’re not from districts that present a great big challenge to us. In most of those seats, I think we’re in very good condition.”

Then, Boohoo Boehner began to weep. That’s just what he does.