Shame On Spineless, Greedy Telco Flippin' Dems

When looking at the numbers, it turns out that Democrats in the House that voted for the bill with retroactive immunity received thousands more in donations from the telecommunications industry than others. Honestly I expect more from our Democratic caucus, but this is exactly why we need to get more Democrats, then better Democrats. The 94 who voted with the Republicans for these companies to escape justice along with the architects at the Bush Administration (George included) must be held accountable for their actions...and in time will find plenty of primary challenges from Democrats ready to uphold the Constitution before their exorbitant bank accounts.

From Politico:

House Democrats who flipped their votes to support retroactive immunity for telecom companies in last week’s FISA bill took thousands of dollars more from phone companies than Democrats who consistently voted against legislation with an immunity provision, according to an analysis by MAPLight.org.
In March, the House passed an amendment that rejected retroactive immunity. But last week, 94 Democrats who supported the March amendment voted to support the compromise FISA legislation, which includes a provision that could let telecom companies that cooperated with the government’s warrantless electronic surveillance off the hook. The 94 Democrats who changed their positions received on average $8,359 in contributions from Verizon, AT&T and Sprint from January, 2005, to March, 2008, according to the analysis by MAPLight, a nonpartisan organization that tracks the connection between campaign contributions and legislative outcomes.

How sad is that a measly $8,400 can steer so many elected officials so far off course? It may be a sizable chunk for a Congressional race, but if you could show 840 people that you care about the Constitution, they'd throw you ten bucks faster than you can bend over for AT&T or Verizon.

Obey Gets The Message

In case you haven't been paying attention to the news over the budget in the last week or so, ya might not know that the Democrats in Congress caved to the President yet again over Iraq. Not only did they cave, their "compromise" for letting Bush have his way in Iraq was to have $10 billion in pork projects while Bush got $70 billion to have more soldiers die in that god forsaken country. Just the news that Americans want to hear after they elected a Democratic majority to get us out of Iraq.

Thankfully David Obey of Wisconsin realized that people were getting pissed off over the Democratic Congress' actions. Of course he decided to blame Republicans (who always deserve some credit for failing to compromise) for the budget snafu, but at least he was taking a positive step for the nation.

From RawStory:

House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, D-Wis., said he might abandon an effort with moderate Republicans to split the differences between increases sought by Democrats and the strict budget submitted by President Bush in February.

Instead, Obey said, he would rip up the compromise bill and devise a new one using the strict spending ceiling set by Bush — but would reach it by whacking GOP priorities and stripping the measure of billions of dollars in pet projects for lawmakers in both parties.

Obey's remarks to The Associated Press came two days after White House budget director Jim Nussle promised Bush would veto Democrats' omnibus spending bill for exceeding Bush's budget by $18 billion.

Very nice David, but what about the $70 billion that Bush wants to waste in Iraq and Afghanistan? He doesn't want any part in a deal that gives that type of money to Bush's wars but unfortunately he just chairs the committee. If his omnibus bill makes it to the floor, we have to depend on Pelosi and ultimately Reid in the Senate to pass a budget that will stand up to the American people. Reid and Pelosi however, think that the most important person to impress is George Bush. They obviously do not get it.

It isn't unfair to bash our Democratic leaders, either of them have given us no reason to have faith that they will lead us out of Iraq. Until they have the guts to stand up to a failed President, I do not expect them to fulfill their promise to the people that put them in power.

As Expected, Senate Dems Cave

Oh how the tough talk of last week quickly shrinks back to the status quo. We've come to realize that it is next to impossible for many Democrats to grow the necessary spinal cord that is essential to fight back against Republicans and their lust for unending war. While Pelosi and the House are remaining firm, Harry Reid can't hang at all.

From CQ:

The Senate on Nov. 16 rejected two war funding bills — a Democratic proposal and a Republican alternative — sending leaders back to the drawing board for a plan to get money to the troops.

Two of the most powerful voices on Defense in the Senate — Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat, and Daniel K. Inouye, a Democrat representing Hawaii who is chairman of the Defense Appropriations subcommittee — both said Democrats would offer a less restrictive version of the their party’s bill in December.

“There’s going to be a modification of the bridge fund,” Levin said.

The war spending bill is often referred to as a “bridge fund” because it is only a down payment on the $196.4 billion Bush requested in war spending for fiscal 2008. The bridge fund is intended to keep money flowing to the troops until Congress considers the balance of Bush’s request.

How pathetic, yet expected.