Were you dropped on your head?

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Monday October 09, 2006 · 7:59 AM PDT

2006/10/09 · 07:59

Today, the Chicago Sun Times' Mark Brown writes that that Dean's 50 State Strategy of running candidates even in "longshot" districts is just plain crazy. And he wonders aloud why people like John Laesch, the Navy vet running against Dennis Hastert, would even bother:

Is it an abundance of idealism or ego? Did they get dropped on their heads as children, or as in the case of Laesch, spend too much time exposed to the West African sun, where his Christian missionary parents raised him from birth until age 12?

You must have been dropped on your head if you think we can defeat the Republicans this November!
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Sustained Outrage: Hastert's Resignation Is A Good Start

raisin

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Thursday October 05, 2006 · 5:46 AM PDT

2006/10/05 · 05:46

Today, Dennis Hastert may announce his resignation as Speaker. He may try to continue his run for office as IL-14 Rep, or he may step down.

Don't get me wrong, I have been calling for Hastert's resignation for a long time. His fiscal recklessness, refusal to do the job of Executive oversight and his disregard for our Constitution in favor of power at all costs have cost our nation dearly.

But amidst the week's events we must not forget that the reason the Foley scandal in Congress happened is because of the changes that have been made to the House of Representatives by Republicans, what Norman Ornstein and Thomas Mann characterize a neoparliamentary system in the House of Representatives; something that won't simply go away if Dennis Hastert resigns (although it's a good start). To make a real positive change, they note, will require the sustained outrage of the public in calling for real reforms in how House business is done. Read More

Hands-On-Hastert's Hands-On Politics

raisin

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Sunday October 01, 2006 · 5:21 PM PDT

2006/10/01 · 17:21

What did Dennis Hastert know? Did he ignore or coverup information about a pedophile to help the election?

Senator Reid:

[E]qually as bad is the possibility that Republican leaders in the House of Representatives knew there was a problem and ignored it to preserve a Congressional seat this election year.

raisin

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Tuesday June 20, 2006 · 12:17 PM PDT

2006/06/20 · 12:17

Indefinite detention of "enemy combattant" legislation is apparently becoming commonplace up in the House of Representatives.

Phone record privacy?

Sorry, Denny doesn't want that.

While the House passed one bill that would address this issue, a second piece of legislation was due to be debated on the House floor on the same day that US Today revealed that Bush was using AT&T and other phone companies to spy on you. That day the House legislation suddenly disappeared and never was to be seen again. No one knows how it disappeared or who pulled it (though it had to be a Republican, like Denny Hastert, since they control the House).

Rep. Markey's letter to Dennis Hastert:

"With no notice or explanation, H.R. 4943 summarily disappeared from the House floor schedule that day and it has not been seen or heard from since. I am concerned about reports that some intelligence agency or interest had a hand in the bill's disappearance. . . Is it currently in some legislative `Guantanamo Bay?'"

Who has the ability to remove bills from the legislative calendar? The Speaker of the House. Read More

Dennis Hastert's Smaller Reality

raisin

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Monday June 19, 2006 · 5:52 AM PDT

2006/06/19 · 05:52

Let him change his heart. Let him open his eyes to a reality that is larger than what just one man can do.

These are among the words spoken by the priests who held vigil and fasted outside Hastert's office last month. With their words, they delivered 100,000 postcards from parishoners across Illinois asking Hastert to oppose the punitive Senbrenner immigration bill, and suppor the bipartisan Kennedy/McCain bill.

This month, Hastert responded. Read More

Hastert Without DeLay: The right calls for Hastert's resignation

raisin

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Saturday June 03, 2006 · 10:52 AM PDT

2006/06/03 · 10:52

In the days since a "white-hot" and "crazily loud" Hastert blew a gasket over the FBI raid of a Congressman's office, and then again over the ABC report that Hastert was being investigated for his part in the Abramoff scandal, an interesting thing has happened. Hastert's behavior appears to have dislodged something long caught in the right-wing pundit classes' collective throats regarding the "low key" Speaker. And what they're saying isn't pretty.

raisin

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Sunday January 08, 2006 · 5:30 AM PST

2006/01/08 · 05:30

(from a cross post at Citizen Kane blog)

As House Repubs fall all over themselves to kick/praise DeLay (et tu, Newt?) and jump into the leadership race, it looks like the Speaker's getting a coupla boots to the head too. How will the Speaker fare?
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Giving it All Away: Why Clause 6(a) Matters in a Nation of Warrantless Surveillance

raisin

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Saturday December 24, 2005 · 7:00 AM PST

2005/12/24 · 07:00

The power grabs of the current president have sparked a debate over the inherent power of the Executive branch, and exactly what was granted the President by the Congress in the AUMF. But while the Executive has been grabbing and asserting additional power, members in the Legislative have been giving it away. It has to stop. Read More

SUPPORT Terri's Law! The Promise of Healthcare Funding

raisin

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Thursday March 24, 2005 · 4:47 PM PST

2005/03/24 · 16:47

OK progressives, here's your chance to get the GOP to put its money where its mouth is.

I'm backing the immediate introduction of federal legislation which we'll call Terri's Law. The purpose of this legislation would be to mandate the funding of healthcare coverage for those who wish to remain on life support, or whose families choose to keep them on life support in the absence of specific instructions by the patient.

This would be a federal extension of Medicaid and Medicare.

I am proposing this legislation to my senators, Dick Durbin and Barack Obama. If we do this quickly, we can pick up on the momentum of the press coverage and get the Republicans to back a bipartisan bill supporting Medicare and Medicaid (or force them to admit that Mrs. Schiavo should die as soon as the money runs out).

Schiavo and Social Security - who pays when benes are cut?

raisin

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday March 18, 2005 · 3:11 PM PST

2005/03/18 · 15:11

The flurry of media attention to Terry Schiavo's case mostly leaves out an important but little-reported fact: Schiavo is a Social Security and Medicaid recipient. Globe Gazette:

[Michael Schiavo's attorney] Felos said a trust fund that once contained up to $776,000 from a malpractice verdict awarded to Mrs. Schiavo was down at that time to $50,000, much of it saved to pay costs of the legal fight that was to come.
Terri Schiavo collects some Social Security disability benefits and Medicaid, which pay at least some of her medical costs, according to Felos.
Hospice care of up to $5,000 per month at that time was covered free of charge through a fund for indigent patients by Hospice of the Florida Suncoast.

If we want to put a real face on who is hurt by Bush's proposed Medicaid cuts and Social Security benefit reductions, we need look no further than the woman whose life is so urgently being pressed into view as an example of the need to 'protect life.'

Jeb Bush makes even the hardened Communists cry

raisin

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday January 07, 2005 · 6:38 AM PST

2005/01/07 · 06:38

Actually it was his son. But the story's still a good one.

In case anyone's forgotten, Jeb Bush and his camera crew are out there representing the US. And, apparently, doing interviews.

One interviewer wondered why Governor Bush was there. And Governor Bush was ready with his reply.
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RSS

Were you dropped on your head?

Sustained Outrage: Hastert's Resignation Is A Good Start

Hands-On-Hastert's Hands-On Politics

If Denny Hastert Doesn't Want It, No One Gets It

Dennis Hastert's Smaller Reality

Hastert Without DeLay: The right calls for Hastert's resignation

Will Hastert be Sucked Under by GOP Calls for Reform?

Giving it All Away: Why Clause 6(a) Matters in a Nation of Warrantless Surveillance

SUPPORT Terri's Law! The Promise of Healthcare Funding

Schiavo and Social Security - who pays when benes are cut?

Jeb Bush makes even the hardened Communists cry