Speaker Pelosi, let me begin by saying that it was wonderful to hear the news in the front-page post Speaker Pelosi Coming To Netroots Nation by Adam B. Your presence and engagement of the Netroots reinforces the promise of a new day dawning in American politics, one where the voices of the tired, the hungry, and the poor huddled masses yearning to breathe free can actually interact with and impact the governing of our nation.
I imagine it will be quite an opportunity for both you and those who are able to attend, one that I hope everyone can benefit from.
You had, for a while, posted (either directly or through proxy) a few informative and motivational pieces here on DailyKos. There have been no new pieces in a while. I hope that this will change, even though I understand that you have your own blog to attend to. Meanwhile, after the jump, there are some items I'd like to call to your attention from your past visits, and request some input on them.
In the Wednesaday, Apr 05, 2006 piece entitled The Gloves Are Off, you stated that
_____
Click here to watch (wmv) This latest move to cover up the truth killed my resolution to direct the Ethics Committee to immediately investigate the misconduct by Members of Congress and their staff connected to the criminal activity of convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff. ___
An extremely pertinent aspect of any Abramoff-related investigation involves examining the word of Kossack dengre, who has not only compiled a tremendous set of resources regarding the Abramoff 65 -- a bunch of truly corrupt and recalcitrant Republicans -- but also includes some devastating information about John McCain's active covering-up of further damning evidence in the multiple Abramoff-GOP tie-ins. If you aren't aware of his work, and if a quick poll of your staffers reveals that they are not aware of it, then please assign someone to cull information from dengre's stuff and run it by whoever is in charge of the Abramoff investigation.
You may also want to drop a note to whoever needs to check on whether Senator McCain's work effectively locked up a bunch of crucial evidence and provides cover for the corrupt. Dengre created an interesting -- and accurate -- chart sharing the ratio of Abramoff-related papers collected and those which were released as "relevant" by McCain's so-called investigation. Click here to see the chart in a diary.
The work that the Democratic Congress had done, as reported by you in that 2006 piece, continues:
___
Two high-ranking Republican Leadership staffers have already pled guilty, revealing what the Washington Post described as a "far-reaching criminal enterprise operating out of" the Republican Leader's office, "an enterprise that helped sway legislation, influence public policy, and enrich its main players." (The Washington Post, April 1, 2006)Unfortunately, Congressman Tom Delay's friends and allies have dismantled the Congressional ethics process. They rewrote the bipartisan rules of the Ethics Committee, removed the Chairman and other Members on the Committee who refused to cooperate, and unilaterally fired non-partisan staff and attempted to replace them with key Republican staffers in supervisory positions. Pressure from Democrats and people like you forced the Republicans to rescind those changes. But the Ethics Committee still remains dormant and toothless, unable to do its job and severely shaking the nation's faith in the honor and competence of the U.S. House of Representatives.
By continually denying even a debate on my privileged resolutions, the Republicans in Congress are sending a loud and clear message to the American people. And that message is this: "We can do whatever we want. The rules and laws that govern you do not apply to us. You cannot stop us. You cannot punish us. And you cannot hold us accountable."
The American people know that the Republican culture of corruption goes much deeper than Congressman DeLay. A half dozen Republican Members have been implicated in the Abramoff scandal and several others have been connected to the Cunningham scandal. The Ethics Committee must fully investigate these allegations and take this crucial first step toward restoring honor to the people's House. One man's resignation will not change the direction of the Republican Rubber Stamp Congress.
___
You ended the diary with this claim:
___
Mark my words - their time has come. And House Democrats, together with the American people, will hold them accountable, and we will get Congress back on track to making laws instead of breaking them.You can read and watch my privileged resolution here.
___
Those are good, strong words -- the intention to support the nation, to restore the rule of law, to observe, serve, uphold and defend the Constitution -- they are all critical elements required for true democratic principles to survive. Indeed, under the reign of the new King George and his Loyalist Republicans, we have been hard-pressed to recognize anything even remotely close to the nation which was founded on this day so many years ago.
We need you to continue to participate -- either directly or by proxy -- on the blogs, as well. Truly, your time is better spent elsewhere, but having a surrogate provide updates would be greatly appreciated if there are outstanding items that have not been properly put to rest.
There's a bit more -- please bear with me.
From your diary Not on our watch, the following items were listed as in-process. Please have a staffer update us on the current status of each. Note: I purposely left out the Darfur stuff. I'm focusing on domestic items today.
___
House Democrats, led by Rep. John Conyers filed a lawsuit against President Bush and the Administration for their unconstitutional actions on the Republican Budget Bill.The Republican "Lobbying Accountability and Transparency Act" was exposed for the toothless sham that it is. A classic page right out of the GOP playbook, it doesn't matter what your bill does (or fails to do), as long as it has a great title. Rep. Louise Slaughter led a spirited attack on this incomplete and inadequate legislation on the House floor.
Rep. Rahm Emanuel uncovered a Republican love poem.
House Democrats offered real solutions to America's high gas prices and dependence on foreign oil and put intense pressure on the Republican Rubber Stamp Congress to stand up to Republican big oil and gas company cronies. You may have heard of my disgust of the President's "energy" speech, but you can also watch more video highlights here.
Rep. Ed Markey offered a Net Neutrality amendment to prohibit broadband corporations from blocking, impairing, or degrading a consumer's ability to access lawful Internet content, applications, or services. Without Net Neutrality, corporate special interests will be able to charge extra fees and turn the internet into a multi-tiered network of bandwidth haves and have-nots. Though it was defeated in committee, Net Neutrality will get a second chance when the COPE Act comes to the floor next week, and you can still sign on as a citizen co-sponsor of the Markey Amendment. The Netroots have made a tremendous difference in this debate -- please keep up the good work.
___
I do hope you meant that last bit about the Netroots, and that you are directly or through designated appointees managing to keep an eye on both the potential impact of FISA's telecomm immunity as well as the repeated attempts by telecommunications industries to clamp down on net neutrality. One only needs to look to the pounding that the Republicans -- and Joe Lieberman -- are taking via the Internet and the Netroots, and their subsequents comments and efforts to impeded, thwart and diminish that avenue of public outcry and scrutiny, in order to realize exactly how important the presevation of net neutrality is.
As you are well aware, the GOP also has a tendency to work multiple angles toward the achievement of tools to add to their black bags of tricks. One such trick is to attempt to use the tax returns of ordinary citizens as methods of intimidation and intelligence-gathering. It's not unlike the abuse of the National Security Letters, the warrantless wiretapping, the hidden continuation of Total Information Awareness or the various and sundry other methodologies that they've striven to secure and misuse.
Do you remember the little issue of Ernest Istook and the provision he slipped into the end-of-session spending bill in 2004, when the Republicans still held the majority and their dreams of a "permanent Republican majority" were trampling along at a full gait? The NY Times article G.O.P. Says Motive for Tax Clause in Budget Bill Was Misread has a little information on it:
___
WASHINGTON, Nov. 21 - Democratic leaders and senators from both parties expressed outrage on Sunday about an obscure provision in the huge end-of-session spending bill that would allow the chairmen of the Appropriations Committees and their staff assistants to examine Americans' income tax returns.
Republican leaders said that their motives had been misread and that there was never any intention to invade the privacy of taxpayers. They promised that the provision would be deleted from the bill in a special session on Wednesday before the spending measure, which cleared Congress on Saturday night, was sent to President Bush for his signature.
[...snip...]
Disclosure of information from income tax returns is against the law and subject to severe penalties.
Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the Democratic leader, said Sunday that what she called "this taxpayer persecution provision" amounted to an abuse of power by the Republican majority and "should be of grave concern to all Americans that their privacy could be invaded."
___
Istook always seems to have an interest in the tax returns of others.
I didn't find evidence that the GOP followed through with their promise, albeit I was very quickly and briefly searching. I hope they did close that nasty provision. But it isn't the first -- and won't be the last -- time that they attempt to enact it or a variant thereof. From the Seattle Times, for example, there's this article: Senator seeks Bush critics' tax records
Intimidation of political enemies is a specialty of the GOP politics of fear and corruption. From the article:
___
WASHINGTON — The chairman of a Senate committee that oversees environmental issues has directed two national organizations that oppose President Bush's major clean-air initiative to turn over their financial and tax records to the Senate.
Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., who heads the Environment and Public Works Committee, asked for the documents 10 days after a representative of the two groups criticized Bush's Clear Skies proposal before a Senate subcommittee. Inhofe is the leading sponsor of the administration bill, which is deadlocked in his panel.
___
Inhofe and Istook...I guess the "I"s have it in for the tax records of the citizenry.
My point(s), after all this, are few:
- Can you please ensure that we, the Netroots, are updated on the status of the items you last detailed for us, and perhaps provide a summary piece that lets us know what other items are being pursued, what items are perhaps stalled or have been forced to be abandoned, and how we can work with the Congress to ensure that transparency increases and trickery is thwarted, rooted out and banished? (Granted, "trickery" is too generic and too entrenched, but the excesses of the past few years must be ended.)
- Since the Rpeublicans in Congress are aiding and abetting the Bush Administration in stonewalling most investigations, and thus helping this most-criminal and shameful of administrations ride out the clock without the thread of impeachment, what -- if any -- actions does Congress realistically expect to take in order to ensure that full accountability is realized on behalf of the nation, the people and our Constitution?
- Will there be accountability for the Republicans in Congress who are most responsible for the enabling of this misAdministration's malfeasance and for enabling the same to continue to thwart the "will of Congress" (such that it is)?
Speaker Pelosi, there is no doubt now that the Bush Administration has engaged in or supported multiple crimes against the nation and against humanity. The amount of information that has been uncovered by investigation and through the actions of courageous whistleblowers both at home and abroad have produced damning evidence that demands investigation and implies serious criminal activity, implicating multiple members of Congress, the Department of Justice and Department of Defense along the way.
What can you tell us about how, when, and -- most importantly -- IF any of this will be adequately addressed so as to put an end to the unconscionable levels of corruption currently rotting our central government?
The People have a right to know. On this day, of all days, these questions must be asked. Please do your best to answer them, or to help us find the answers together.
Thank you.
Constitutional Crisis Postcards available here.