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Tuesday, September 21
Wisconsin Progressives: Our Rights Are at Risk
by
Linda Thieman
on Tue 21 Sep 2004 04:08 PM CDT
 Wisconsin Progressives: Our Rights Are at Risk
The Capital Times, Madison, WI
Wisconsin's
annual gathering of progressives, Fighting Bob Fest, named for Robert
M. La Follette (pictured above), took place this weekend. Are tyranny
and oppression here to stay in the good ol' US of A?
"We have
long rested comfortably in this country upon the assumption that
because our form of government was democratic, it was therefore
automatically producing democratic results," wrote Robert M. La
Follette in 1912. But, he cautioned, "Tyranny and oppression are just
as possible under democratic forms as under any other."
Nine decades later, La Follette's warning seems prophetic.
The
current administration in Washington and its minions in Congress and
state capitols across the country in recent years confirmed the
concerns expressed by the former Wisconsin governor and senator about
the vulnerability of the nation's democratic institutions. We see the
evidence of their nefarious intent in the vile Patriot Act, which
allows federal officials to enter the homes of Americans without
presenting search warrants, to bug our phones and computers, and to
review our library records.
(Click here to read the rest of the editorial.)
Crowd Roars as Speakers Bash Bush
The Capital Times, Madison, WI
BARABOO - For the progressive political junkie it was ecstasy - 10
hours of adrenaline during a crucial but insecure political season.
About 3,500 people gathered Saturday at the Sauk County Fairgrounds on
the outskirts of Baraboo for the third annual Fighting Bob Fest, a free
celebration honoring the memory of the revered Wisconsin populist
progressive Robert M. "Fighting Bob" La Follette.
...U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, served up a keynote address that verbally annihilated President George W. Bush.
First, he needled Republicans.
"Six weeks until Election Day and there's still one question we haven't
heard from Republicans: Are you better off today than you were four
years ago?" Harkin said.
"Bush has driven this country into a ditch at home and a quagmire
abroad. He's driven the country deeper into debt and deficit. He's
driven over our Bill of Rights and the U.N. Charter like it was so much
trash in the streets," he continued.
"If Bush had been a truck driver he would have had his license pulled for being a habitual reckless driver a long time ago."
(Read the complete article here.)
Thanks to Don Jones in Madison for this article.
Family Farms, Rural Communities Threatened by Craig Amendment
by
Linda Thieman
on Tue 21 Sep 2004 11:45 AM CDT
 Family Farms, Rural Communities Threatened by Craig Amendment
Environmental Integrity Project
WASHINGTON,
D.C. (September 21, 2004) - The air and drinking water, lakes and streams in and near family
farms and rural communities across the United States would be
jeopardized by a U.S. Senate amendment that would allow the undisclosed release of hazardous chemicals and other pollution from factory farm operations, according to the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) and 32 leading farm, environmental and community groups.
The
controversial amendment in question is expected to be offered today by
Idaho Sen. Larry Craig in a Senate committee markup of the appropriations bill.
A joint letter to U.S. Senators on the topic has been sent by a
coalition of national and local organizations across the country,
including EIP.
The
groups are opposing the behind-the-scenes bid to exempt agricultural
operations from existing laws that require reporting of releases of
toxic chemicals. The amendment would change the definition of "release"
in the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation Liability Act
(CERCLA, or Superfund) and the definition of "hazardous chemical" in
the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA).
According to the letter: "Large
livestock operations, confining thousands and even hundreds of
thousands of animals, routinely emit large quantities of hazardous
chemicals such as ammonia and hydrogen sulfide into the environment and
nearby communities. Chemical releases from these operations are
anything but diffuse and low-level. Because of the concentration of
large numbers of animals and their waste, chemical releases are also
concentrated."
Data
show that the livestock sector is the largest ammonia polluter
nationwide, producing nearly three-quarters of all ammonia emissions.
The
joint letter points to mounting evidence "correlating Concentrated
Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) air emissions with detrimental public
health and environmental impacts."
According to the letter: "Peer-reviewed studies show air emissions from
a 6,000-head hog operation in North Carolina caused increased
headaches, sore throats, excessive coughing, diarrhea, burning eyes,
and reduced quality of life for nearby residents. Another study shows
increased eye and upper respiratory symptoms in residents within two
miles of a large hog operation in Iowa."
The letter continues:
"Stories abound of the horrific impacts from these types of facilities;
witness the recent, nuisance judgments against CAFOs rendered by courts
in Iowa against Iowa Select and in Ohio against Buckeye Egg. These
verdicts helped bring relief to communities plagued by noxious
emissions from facilities that had operated outside the law for far too
long. Serious questions have also been raised in the San Joaquin Valley
- an area heavily polluted by agricultural operations - with respect to
CAFOs' contribution to total air pollution and the corresponding health
effects associated with smog and particulate matter pollution. Seven
people have died in Minnesota since 1992 from exposure to toxic
hydrogen sulfide fumes released during the pumping of animal waste from
pits. Two California dairy workers died this year from hydrogen sulfide
exposure."
EIP Senior Counsel Michele Merkel said: "In
addition to our concerns about public health, we find it completely
inappropriate to use appropriations bills to make substantive
amendments to longstanding environmental protection laws. The groups are asking the Senate to keep this bill (and all other appropriations bills) free of anti-environmental riders."
The full text of the joint letter is available online at http://www.environmentalintegrity.org.
Connie Wilson: White House Press Corps Member, Part 3
by
Linda Thieman
on Tue 21 Sep 2004 08:39 AM CDT
 Connie Wilson: White House Press Corps Member, Part 3
When last we left Connie, the puppet of the junta-select was just about to ascend the podium. I suppose it will come as no surprise that certain Bush mis-statements cannot stand up to the scrutiny of Connie Wilson, Intrepid Reporter!
Bush begins: “Thanks for comin’. I’m proud to be back. It’s nice to be out west where the cowboy hats outnumber the ties. And it’s nice that the man who led the drive is now out here leading my drive.” I assume this is a reference to the almost-inarticulate Elway of the Denver Broncos. It’s the “Man of the People” thing, despite the fact that the speaker is anything BUT a “man of the people.” Ah, yes, the Good Old Boy network is alive and well.
Bill Owens, the Governor of Colorado, says that we are “safer, stronger and life is better for all Americans,” and gets in a plug for Zell Miller, that wacky Democrat. What planet is this man living on?
Connie's Press Pass
“W” gets to the real core of his message as to why he should be re-selected, and here it is: “It is most important of all that I be re-elected (sic) so that Laura will continue to be the First Lady.” It’s a variation on the song theme, “Tell Laura I Love Her.” To quote the October, 2004, issue of “Mother Jones” magazine (p. 30), “Laura Bush was most famously used to put a friendly face on issues. In April 2001, Laura, the librarian, kicked off the Campaign for America’s Libraries. A week later, her husband cut funding for the Library Service and Technology Act, the Reading is Fundamental program, and the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science. Oops.”
Bush continues: (he has been thanking everyone in Colorado, individually and personally, for at least 20 minutes, without any substantive policy statements), “I’m a little mad at Ben Nighthorse Campbell (an American Indian senator) for retiring, but I feel a lot better knowing that Pete Coors is gonna be in the U.S. Senate.” Well. That makes one of us. Pete Coors is running ads all over Colorado television making fun of IOWA. Pete Coors, talking about frivolous governmental spending, says, “They allocated (fill in your own figure here) for a rainforest in Iowa. IN IOWA!” He says this last part very sneeringly, as though Iowa is a synonym for excrement. I have a lot of classmates and close friends who left Iowa to teach in Colorado; not a one of them was amused by this demeaning ad, viewing it as a colossal put-down of our state, (which it is and was.) Keep that in mind if you are a transplanted Colorado resident, out of Iowa.
I might add, if Coors is so upset over waste in governmental spending, maybe he should read the article “Waste Not, Profit Not” (“Mother Jones”, page 23), in which colossal waste is reported by those actually IN Iraq, caused by the sweetheart Halliburton deal. James Warren, a former KBR Convoy Truck Driver says, “The theft was rampant. Most of the stealing was done between 9 p.m. and midnight, when the trucks were at Camp Anaconda. I reported this to my convoy commander, Don Martin, who told me, “Don’t worry about it. It’s the Army stealing from the Army.” (See Joaquin Phoenix 2003 movie “Buffalo Soldiers” for more on this topic, in general).
Warren went on to say, “In March, I called KBR President Randy Harl personally and told him about the theft going on at night at Camp Anaconda. He promised he would get to the bottom of it, and thanked me. I never saw any evidence that KBR tried to stop the theft after my call to Mr. Harl.” Or we might quote Michael West, former labor foreman for Camp Anaconda who said, “Of the 35 or so Halliburton employees at Camp Anaconda, only a handful had anything to do….The human resources supervisor said, ‘Don’t worry. Just write down 12 hours. Walk around, look around, look busy.” Henry S. Bunting, former Procurement Officer, reports that he was requested to break purchase orders down under $2,500 in value, so that “we wouldn’t be required to solicit more than one quote. Large requisitions were split into smaller requisitions below the $2,500 level. I questioned this practice early on, but was told by my supervisor to get back to my purchase orders.”
So, if Pete Coors wants to worry about “waste,” a rain forest in Iowa sounds like a pretty good idea right about now, compared to continuing to support this misguided war. But I digress.
more »
Iowa Towns Bust Budgets for Campaign Visits
by
Linda Thieman
on Tue 21 Sep 2004 04:02 AM CDT
 Iowa Towns Bust Budgets for Campaign Visits
by Linda Thieman
According
to DFIA Founding Member Darrell Lewis of Clear Lake, campaign visits to
Iowa towns are busting city and county budgets, and in many cases,
expenses are not being reimbursed.
Lewis
says that the Republicans, in particular, stick Iowa taxpayers with the
bill for political events, while the Democrats have a good track record
of reimbursing cities for costs. Lewis sites examples from the Mason City/Clear Lake area:
“Vice
President Al Gore, when appearing at a school in Mason City this past
winter, reimbursed Mason City schools. Howard Dean, when
appearing at NIACC, paid a fee to utilize the facility. John
Kerry paid a fee to utilize Music Man Square. When candidates use
the North Iowa Fairgrounds, they pay a fee.”
But,
writes Lewis, it appears that the recent Cheney visit to Clear Lake not
only goes un-reimbursed, but that the Bush/Cheney campaign has actually
refused to pay their own expenses.
Lewis notes:
“We have
not been able to get a total cost for the Clear Lake visit, in part,
because it involved not only the City of Clear Lake, but also Mason
City, Cerro Gordo County and the Clear Lake School District.
[But, we do] know that the Bush-Cheney campaign has refused to
reimburse cities, counties and schools for their expenses, as well as
the Iowa State Patrol.”
Lewis
continues, “We know that a Cheney visit has typically cost local
governments in excess of $10,000 and while that may be a drop in the
bucket for Des Moines and Dubuque to pick up, it’s a huge expense for
our community.”
On Friday, the Des Moines Register picked up on the growing controversy, detailing expenses involved in the recent Bush visit to Alleman.
“The
recent [Bush visit] to the Farm Progress Show near Alleman required
security from about 110 Des Moines police officers, 30 Polk County
sheriff's deputies, 35 state troopers, plus a Secret Service contingent
and other law officers.”
“In Des
Moines alone, city officials this year had paid more than $48,000 in
police overtime through mid-August for security for the campaigns of
Republican Bush and Democratic Sen. John Kerry. The Iowa State Patrol
has spent about $49,000 so far for regular salaries of troopers at
presidential campaign stops.”
“In
Cedar Rapids, the city provided special precautions for Bush's recent
campaign speech at Noelridge Park. They included a barricade of 31
garbage and recycling trucks, 10 road graders, plus an assortment of 22
other trucks. In addition, 20 city employees installed a security
fence. The city's overall costs for Bush's visit are expected to exceed
$10,000.”
To follow the Clear Lake story, visit the Drury for Iowa Senate website, updated daily by Lewis.
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