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Monday, February 28
Call to Action: U.S. Senate to Pass New Bankruptcy Law that Preys on the Poor and Gives to the Rich
by
Linda Thieman
on Mon 28 Feb 2005 04:30 PM CST
 Call to Action: U.S. Senate to Pass New Bankruptcy Law that Preys on the Poor and Gives to the Rich
American Progress
This week the credit card
industry – which raked in $30 billion in
profits last year – storms the Congress in an attempt to squeeze a few more
dimes from Americans who are sick or out of work. Starting today the Senate will
consider a bill (S.
256) that would amend bankruptcy law to "make it harder for families struck
by financial misfortune to get back on track." (Nine out of 10 bankruptcies "are
triggered by the loss of a job,
high medical bills or divorce.) The bill is supported in Congress by a bipartisan
coalition on the credit industry dole. They think they can pass the bill
without the American people noticing. Prove them wrong. Write
your senators and tell them to reject the legislation in its current
form.
MORE UNNECESSARY
BUREAUCRACY: The bankruptcy bill is an attempt to prevent people from filing
Chapter 7 bankruptcy – which gives people a clean slate – and make them file
under Chapter 13, which requires continued payments to the credit card
companies. In order to qualify for Chapter 7, Americans would be forced to
complete a costly and
bureaucratic means test. This additional red tape is almost completely
unnecessary. According to a study commissioned by the nonpartisan American
Bankruptcy Institute, 96.4 percent of people who
file Chapter 7 can't afford to pay anything more. The real intent of the
legislation is not to prevent people from abusing the system but to make it so
burdensome to become eligible for Chapter 7 that people who would qualify can't
afford it.
LIKE TAKING MONEY FROM A
BABY: There is seemingly no limit to the depths to which the credit industry
will go to seek an extra buck. The bill they are trying to push through Congress
threatens the
welfare of children by endangering child support. If a custodial parent is
owed child support from someone declaring bankruptcy, the parent will be forced
to fight with other creditors (like auto lenders) for the debtor's limited
income – even after the bankruptcy is completed.
GIVING MILLIONAIRES A
PASS: The bill
on the Senate floor right now doesn't
stop some of the worst abuses of our bankruptcy system. In several states –
including the president's home in Texas – a multimillionaire can declare
bankruptcy, avoid his debts, and still keep his palatial estate. We've seen
it happen time and again: for example, "Marvin Warner, a former ambassador to
Switzerland and the owner of a failed Ohio Savings & Loan, who paid off only
a fraction of $300 million in bankruptcy claims while keeping his
multi-million-dollar horse ranch near Ocala, Florida." Another example: "Dallas
developer, Talmadge Wayne Tinsley, who filed under chapter 7 after incurring $60
million in debts. Tinsley objected to the Texas law that permitted him to keep
only one acre of his $3.5 million, 3.1-acre magnolia-lined estate. But that acre
included a five-bedroom, six-and-a-half-bath mansion with two studies, a pool
and a guest house." The 2001 bankruptcy bill at least stopped these abuses by
capping the so-called "homestead exemption" at $125,000. This bill has a
complicated exemption that will allow "wealthy debtors who are sophisticated
enough to plan ahead – and those are, after all, the people we are talking about
– can purchase a homestead to shelter their non-exempt assets and simply wait
[49 months] before filing their petition." (Share your thoughts about the
bankruptcy bill on ThinkProgress.org)
THE WRONG BILL AT THE
WRONG TIME: The bill, which would make it harder for people to recover from
financial problems, comes at exactly the wrong time. More Americans families are
struggling because median income is stagnant, health care
costs are skyrocketing, college
tuition has exploded and child
care costs are up. Once families are hit with big medical bills or family
members lose their jobs, bankruptcy is often their only option. (For more on
this issue, see this American
Progress report.)
Write your Senators here. The text of the letter is prepared for you.
Saturday, February 26
The Bush Budget: All Guns, No Butter
by
Trish Nelson
on Sat 26 Feb 2005 12:00 PM CST
 The Bush Budget: All Guns, No Butter
MinutemanMedia
by Greg Tarpinian
[George W. ] Bush’s $2.57 trillion budget for 2006 increases military
spending by 4.8 percent – not including the war in Iraq – and cuts all
other federal government programs by 0.5 percent. The deepest cuts are
aimed at services for working Americans and the poor.
The primary purpose of this budget is to fund the war machine needed to
push foreign policy objectives in the Middle East and to guarantee
military dominance in the world. It represents a 41 percent increase in
military spending since 2001. For fiscal 2006, that spending will rise
to $419.3 billion, not including the $100 billion for Iraq and
Afghanistan, and billions more for the military, hidden in other agency
budgets.
U.S. military spending is now larger than the rest of the world’s
combined. The second largest is by China, at $51 billion, followed by
Russia at $50.8 billion, Japan at $41.4 billion and the United Kingdom
at $41.3. Iran and North Korea – the two countries that Bush most often
cites as military threats – spend about $5 billion each. The Bush
budgets no longer represent simple adjustments or new priorities in
spending, but a set of fundamental changes.
These include redirecting nearly all federal resources to the military,
channeling huge amounts of spending to the private sector, shifting the
tax burden away from the corporations and the wealthy and onto the
working class, and relying on deficit spending to finance the military
buildup without raising taxes.
Greg Tarpinian is the president and executive director, Labor Research
Association, a New York City-based non-profit research and advocacy
organization that provides research and educational services for trade
unions.
(Click here to read the entire story)
Thursday, February 24
Iowa to Face Federal Budget Cuts
by
Linda Thieman
on Thu 24 Feb 2005 11:00 AM CST
Iowa to Face Federal Budget Cuts
Iowa Fiscal Partnership
Analysis: Bush Budget Whacks Iowa Services
New report projects Iowa cuts of nearly $580 million in federal spending
MOUNT VERNON, Iowa – A new report reveals sweeping cuts in services for Iowa in the budget proposed by [George W.] Bush.
A
Washington budget watchdog group, the Center on Budget and Policy
Priorities (CBPP), reports that Iowans would see cuts in federal grants
in aid of more than $577 million from 2006 through 2010, including $178
million in 2010 alone.
"The administration is hiding the effects of its budget proposals
as no administration has done in over 15 years," said David Osterberg,
executive director of the nonpartisan Iowa Policy Project. "It's pretty
hard for Iowans and other Americans to battle back on cuts the
administration won't detail. Fortunately, this new report gives Iowans
a better idea of what they're facing – and information they can use to
talk to their representatives in Congress."
While
the proposed budget details the cuts only for 2006, the CBPP analysis
uses further information provided to congressional committees to make
estimates of future cuts in several areas.
This
is the first time since 1989 that an administration's budget has not
provided information about the proposed funding levels for individual
discretionary programs in years beyond the first year.
Nationally,
[Bush's] budget would cut $214 billion in domestic "discretionary"
spending in the five years. However, only the first $18 billion of
those proposed cuts – cuts that would occur in 2006 – are identified by
the administration.
"The
pain in the budget comes mostly after 2006, with the cuts growing
deeper with each passing year," said Sharon Parrott, CBPP director of
welfare reform and income and the report’s lead author.
Among the Iowa cuts:
-- $3.7
million in 2010 in the supplemental nutrition program for women,
infants and children (WIC), $5.1 million over the 2006-2010 period and
a projected loss in number of recipients of 5,600.
-- $38.1
million in 2010 in elementary and secondary education, including
education for the disadvantaged, impact aid, school improvement
funding, and special education, $108.7 million in total projected cuts
for 2006-2010.
-- $12.5 million in 2010 for vocational and adult education, $57.6 million in total projected cuts for 2006-2010.
-- $3.1 million in 2010 for low-income energy assistance, $4.1 million in total projected cuts for 2006-2010.
-- $9.1
million in 2010 for children and family services, including Head Start,
services for abused and neglected children, and other children's
programs, $26.2 million in total projected cuts for 2006-2010.
-- A loss of rental assistance vouchers for 3,800 families in 2010.
-- $23.2
million in 2010 in [Bush's] proposed "Strengthening America's
Communities" initiative, $100.7 million in total projected cuts for
2006-2010.
"These cuts will be a new burden on the people in Iowa who can least afford to bear them,"
said Charles Bruner, executive director of the Child & Family
Policy Center in Des Moines. "It is important for Iowans and all
Americans to understand that the proposed cuts in these services do not
provide deficit reduction. Instead, they will shift costs to state and
local governments, and will be used to help pay for tax cuts that are
primarily benefiting the wealthiest Americans."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The
new analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, "Large Cuts
to a Wide Range of Programs are Obscured in the Administration’s
Budget," is available at the Center’s website: www.cbpp.org.
The
Iowa Policy Project and the Child & Family Policy Center will make
federal budget information available in the coming months through their
joint initiative, the Iowa Fiscal Partnership, which is on the web at www.iowafiscal.org.
Monday, February 21
COUNTERPOINT EXTRA: Props to Media Matters for America
by
Trish Nelson
on Mon 21 Feb 2005 11:51 AM CST
Counterpoint Extra: Props to Media Matters for America
The rational counter to "The Point," "The Counterpoint"
critiques and corrects the daily editorial by Sinclair Broadcasting's corporate
vice president, Mark Hyman, that is broadcast on all Sinclair-owned television
stations across the country.
by
Iowa's Ted Remington
Before
resuming normal Counterpoint activity, I just want to take a moment to
publicly thank David Brock and the good folks at Media Matters for
America for having my back concerning Mark Hyman's attack on me. Not
only did Media Matters do a stellar job in pointing out the distortions
and falsehoods concerning me, but they thoroughly debunked Hyman's
smears of other college teachers he committed in the same commentary.
More
importantly, MMFA is taking a leading role in keeping the heat on
Sinclair Broadcasting, particularly in their participation in Sinclair
Action, a group of progressive organizations that are working to
educate people on the reality of Sinclair's business and "journalistic"
practices. They've just revamped their website, and it looks great. I
highly recommend that everyone take a look and take action.
Finally,
thanks to the posters to [the Counterpoint], anonymous and otherwise, for the
words of encouragement. They are truly appreciated!
Cheers,
Ted
Listen to Ted talk with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Michael Papantonios on Air America Radio's weekly program, Ring of Fire aired February 12.
 Click here to receive action alerts from Rapid Response - Iowa
Saturday, February 19
March is Social Security Month for Democracy for America as Bush Tries to Sell his "Plan"
by
Trish Nelson
on Sat 19 Feb 2005 11:39 AM CST
 March is Social Security Month for Democracy for America as Bush Tries to Sell his "Plan"
QC Times
It's
almost that time again...the March Democracy for America meet-up topic will
be Social Security, and Democracy for the Quad-Cities is all over it as Dr.
Alta Price reports they are already inviting local seniors to attend
and discuss the Bush "plan." Be sure to watch this space
for Caroline Vernon’s upcoming series honoring DFQC seniors - four of
their group’s “most loyal” attendees. Thanks Alta and DFQC for
the great idear!
By Ed Tibbetts
WASHINGTON, D.C. — [George W.] Bush tried Tuesday to assure older
Americans that any Social Security reform would not hit them in the
pocketbook, a message the White House hopes will resonate in places
such as Iowa where 1 in 6 people get benefits from the 70-year-old
government program.
Bush met
in the Oval Office with reporters from a half-dozen newspapers,
including the QUAD-CITY TIMES, based in states where there is a large
elderly population as he seeks to reform [dismantle] the Social Security program.
“Benefit
cuts is an interesting word,” Bush said. “Benefits are scheduled to
grow at a certain rate, and one of the, one of the suggestions, for
example ... was they grow at a, they grow, but not at a rate as fast as
projected. You can call it anything you want. I would call it an
adjustment to reality,” he said.
(click here to read the entire story).
To find or start a Democracy For America meet-up in your area, click here.
Friday, February 18
Sinclair Broadcasting's Mark Hyman Attacks Iowa's Ted Remington
by
Trish Nelson
on Fri 18 Feb 2005 08:44 AM CST
Sinclair Broadcasting's Mark Hyman Attacks Iowa's Ted Remington
The rational counter to "The Point," "The Counterpoint"
critiques and corrects the daily editorial by Sinclair Broadcasting's corporate
vice president, Mark Hyman, that is broadcast on all Sinclair-owned television
stations across the country.
by
Iowa's Ted Remington
Now I know how Al Franken felt when Fox sued him.
Your
humble blogger actually gets singled out by Mark Hyman in his most
recent “Point” commentary. You’d assume that with everything I’ve
written, Hyman would be complaining about something I’ve said about him
on this blog. And in a way he is, but he doesn't have the courage to do
it directly.
Rather
than contradict anything that’s been said on this blog, Hyman does what
has become all too familiar to those of us who know him well:
misappropriate and misstate information about a political rival rather
than actually talking substantively about the issues.
In what
I’m sure is simply a coincidence [editor’s note: please drizzle several
ladlefuls of sarcasm over previous comment], less than a week after
being interviewed by "Ring of Fire" on Air America, Hyman includes
yours truly in a list of “out of touch” academics. That’s right—I’m
lumped right in there with the guy who compared 9/11 victims to Nazis.
What did I do to deserve such scorn? According to Hyman, I think
plagiarism is just fine and dandy. Here’s the exerpt:
The University of Iowa's Ted Remington cautions that while plagiarizing work shortchanges the student's own learning it doesn't really hurt anybody.
"While plagiarism is often defined as 'stealing' someone else's words or ideas, it is rarely the case that published writers or public speakers are harmed by having their words or their thoughts 'stolen' by a college student."
If you need to plagiarize would you at least turn your assignments in on time. I've got a latte waiting for me at the campus coffee house.
You know what’s coming, don’t you? Altogether now: I never said that.
Here’s
what happened. Apparently deciding that my little blog and 15 minutes
(literally) of Air America fame was a fly worth swatting, Hyman &
Co. went on a search for something he might be able to embarrass me
with. What he found was the course packet for the online rhetoric
course offered through the University of Iowa. I currently teach this
course, but I had nothing to do with the writing of the course
materials. Not a single word. I’m simply listed as an instructor.
Not
fazed by that, Hyman excerpted a portion of the standard statement on
plagiarism, the point of which is that plagiarism is bad not because it
does any major damage to an established author to have her or his words
cited without credit by a college freshman, but because it is stealing.
Here’s the excerpt in its full form:
Plagiarism
is a serious academic offense that entails presenting the words and/or
ideas of others as though they were original to you. While plagiarism
is often defined as "stealing" someone else's words or ideas, it is
rarely the case that published writers or public speakers are harmed by
having their words or their thoughts "stolen" by a college student. On
the contrary, the real harm of plagiarism is the harm that students do
to themselves. Encountering new ideas and information, thinking about
them critically, and finding effective language to express independent
thinking is the central activity of a college education. When students
"steal" the words or thoughts of another and present them as their own
original words and ideas, they shortchange themselves educationally. To
simply reproduce the form of something another has said or written is
to skip the mental processing (reflection, comparison, critical
evaluation, etc.) that is the essence of learning.
Such is the “fringe” thinking here at the University of Iowa’s Department of Rhetoric.
So
Hyman, in order to make his point, has not only misappropriated a
quoted source (plagiarism), but taken it completely out of context as
well. You know, Mark, we do a pretty good job here at Iowa of teaching
our freshman to cite sources correctly and how to use quoted material
in its proper context. There’ll always be a desk available for you in
my classroom if you’d like to stop by and learn something.
But it gets even better!
As I am
wont to do, I sent a copy of yesterday’s Counterpoint to the head
honchos at Sinclair. I received an email from Mr. Barry Faber, vice
president and chief legal representative of Sinclair. As you’ll
remember, yesterday’s Counterpoint responded to Hyman’s approval of
Maryland Governor Ehrlich’s edict banning reporters from the Baltimore
Sun from speaking with any member of the state’s executive branch or
attending press conferences. Mr. Faber wanted to know if I was aware
that one of the reasons for Mr. Ehrlich’s consternation was the fact
that an opinion columnist for the Sun had said made a remark about one
of the governor’s spokesmen “having trouble keeping a straight face”
when announcing a particular policy of the governor’s. The columnist in
question wasn’t even at the press conference, so (according to Mr.
Faber) he could not possibly know the actual facial expression on the
man’s face. Mr. Faber assured me that if anyone at Sinclair
misrepresented the facts in a similar way, he would personally
recommend that they be fired.
I
pointed out to Mr. Faber that “keeping a straight face” was obviously
used in a metaphorical sense (as it usually is) as a means of
suggesting that the stated policy was at odds with reality. It was
clearly not intended to state the physical reality of the situation.
But then
I saw the transcript of the most recent “Point,” and I can’t help but
compare the two incidents. The Sun reporter, for using a metaphor,
deserves to be fired. Hyman, on the other hand, willfully misquoted a
source and misrepresented its content to score political points against
a foe.
I’m just wondering, Mr. Faber: when will Mark Hyman be asked to clean out his desk?
And that’s The Counterpoint.
Mark Hyman
If you would like to express your views about this story, contact the following Iowa Sinclair Affiliates:
Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, Dubuque: KGAN Channel 2
e-mail address:
kgan@kgan.com
Ph. 800-642-6140 toll
free or 319-395-9060
Ames, Des Moines: KDSM Fox 17
e-mail
address: comments@kdsm17.com
Ph:
515-287-1717 or FAX: 515-287-0064
 Click here to receive action alerts from Rapid Response - Iowa
Sunday, February 13
Ohio Attorney General Seeks to Sanction Election Protection Attorneys
by
Trish Nelson
on Sun 13 Feb 2005 08:45 AM CST
 Ohio Attorney General Seeks to Sanction Election Protection Attorneys
FreePress
Ohio
Attorney-General's attack on election protection attorneys draws
mountain of documentation on state's stolen election, including new
study on exit polls
by Steve Rosenfeld and Harvey Wasserman
Legal
sanctions sought by Ohio's Republican Attorney General James Petro
against four attorneys who have questioned the results of the 2004
presidential balloting has produced an unintended consequence - a
massive counter-filing that has put on the official record a mountain
of contentions by those who argue the election was stolen.
The
attorney general's action was officially requested by Secretary of
State J. Kenneth Blackwell, who administered the Ohio presidential
balloting while serving as co-chair of the state's Bush-Cheney
campaign. Petro and Blackwell have labeled as "frivolous" the election
challenge filing. Their demand for sanctions will be reviewed by the
Republican justice of the Ohio Supreme Court.
Petro's suit is widely viewed as an attempt at revenge and intimidation
against the grassroots movement that led to the first Congressional
challenge to a state's Electoral College delegation since 1876.
Under
Ohio law, an original action to contest an election allows only deposition
testimony. It was impossible during the ten days of discovery to take
the depositions of tens of thousands of disenfranchised voters, the
majority African-American. But, as a result of Petro’s sanctions
motion, the attorneys were able to enter into evidence explosive first-hand sworn testimony from the November 13 and 15
public hearings in Columbus about voting irregularities.
In
filings that include over 1,000 pages of documentation, the attorneys’
defense motions include renewed assertions that widespread
irregularities threw the outcome of the November vote count into
serious doubt.
That assertion has now been lent important backing by a
major academic study on the exit polls that showed John Kerry winning
the November vote count. [USCountVotes].
(Click here to read the entire story.)
Steve
Rosenfeld and Harvey Wasserman are co-authors, with Bob Fitrakis, of
Ohio's Stolen Election: Voices of the Disenfranchised, 2004, a
book/film project from freepress.org. Contributions are welcome and via the Columbus Institute for Contemporary
Journalism, 1240 Bryden Road, Columbus, OH 43205.
Saturday, February 12
Howard Dean Gives Inspiring Acceptance Speech at DNC Winter Meeting
by
Trish Nelson
on Sat 12 Feb 2005 04:23 PM CST
 Howard Dean Gives Inspiring Acceptance Speech at DNC Winter Meeting
Gov.
Howard Dean was elected chairman by acclamation today at the Winter
Meeting of the Democratic National Committee. Here are some
excerpts from his speech:
“I’m humbled and I’m ready to go to work.”
“This is
the first race for DNC chair that was driven by the grassroots of the
party. It is not my chairmanship. It is our chairmanship.”
“If we want to win nationally we have to start by winning locally.”
“Together this will be the beginning of the reemergence of the Democratic Party.”
Dean thanked and acknowledged the other DNC candidates. Dean thanked and honored Terry McAuliffe.
Gov.
Dean recognized Judy Dean. She stood up briefly, then began to
sit down, and Dean could be heard from the podium, gently saying “stand
up.” It was very touching. Judy looked great! (If
Maureen Dowd was watching, I hope she noticed Judy was wearing make-up
today!)
“Workers deserve a government that protects them. Veterans deserve a government that honors them."
“Ours is the diverse party that welcomes all Americans.”
“As
Democrats we will stand up for what we believe, organize at the local
level, and recognize that strength does not come from the top down, it
comes from the grassroots up.”
“[W’s]
budget deliberately conceals the cost of their fiscal
recklessness. Cuts education, children’s health and community
policing. Bush's Budget brings Enron-style accounting to the
nation’s capital. And it demonstrates you cannot trust
Republicans with your money.”
“Something
this administration and the Republicans are very afraid of - that
we may begin fighting for what we believe: fiscal responsibility
and social responsibility.”
“Americans want a strong and smart national security policy.”
“Americans who get up and go to work every day have the right to join a union.”
“We
believe that every American ought to have the right to affordable
health care…particularly our children. The biggest difference
between Democratic governors and Republican governors is the provision
of health insurance for kids.”
“We
believe that every American has a voice and it ought to be heard in
the halls of power every day. And on election day.”
Social
Security: [Bushies] “invent false crises to create policies that
don’t work. We will not let it fall victim to a dishonest scheme
that only serves to heap debt on our children.”
“Democrats will set the agenda. We need to be united and we need to be organized…really organized.”
“Politics is at its best when we create and inspire a sense of community.”
“Strategy
for every state and territory: show up, knock on doors and tell them
what we believe and that is what organization will help us do.”
“We’re going to take our country back for ordinary Americans.”
“I have found that the path to power is to trust others with it.”
“Empower people at the local level. If we trust voters, they will trust us.”
“We are the party of reform and change.”
“We look like America. We are America.”
“Republicans stop progress. Democrats start progress.”
“It is going to take a lot of work; I will be asking for a lot from all of you.”
“Election
by election, state by state, precinct by precinct, door by door, vote
by vote, year after year, we are going to take this country back for
the people who built it.”
- Gov. Howard Dean, Chairman
Democratic National Committee
Chairman Dean wants to hear from you. Click here to send him your ideas for the Democratic Party.
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