Republican (house maj. leader) Tom Delay Indicted, will step aside

(www.Cnn.com)
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A Texas grand jury on Wednesday charged Rep. Tom DeLay and two political associates with conspiracy in a campaign finance scheme, forcing the House majority leader to temporarily relinquish his post.

DeLay, 58, was accused of a criminal conspiracy along with two associates, John Colyandro, former executive director of a Texas political action committee formed by DeLay, and Jim Ellis, who heads DeLay's national political committee.

"I have notified the speaker that I will temporarily step aside from my position as majority leader pursuant to rules of the House Republican Conference and the actions of the Travis County district attorney today," DeLay said. (Watch CNN initial reporting on indictment -- 3:38)

GOP congressional officials said Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., will recommend that Rep. David Dreier of California step into those duties. Some of the duties may go to the GOP whip, Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri. The Republican rank and file may meet as early as Wednesday night to act on Hastert's recommendation.

Criminal conspiracy is a state felony punishable by six months to two years in a state jail and a fine of up to $10,000. The potential two-year sentence forces DeLay to step down under House Republican rules. (Watch CNN's Jeffrey Toobin's explanation of charge -- 2:59)

Operation Offset?

Ahhhhh fiscal conservatives. A group of fiscal conservatives in the house recently announced the inception of Operation Offset. This is a plan to try to offset the costs of Hurricane Katrina (and who knows now, possibly Rita also) by trimming spending in other places, and not raising taxes.

First off, this sounds like a pipe dream. Last time I checked there wasn't exactly tens of billions of dollars that could just be "trimmed" out of the national budget. Seems like operation offset should be called opearation attempt at a miracle.

Second off, where was "opearation offset" when Bush was tearing through the surplus that Clinton bequeathed to him? Where was opeartion offset when Bush was putting our country into debt for generations to come so that the richest 1% of Americans could get a tax break? Now i know fiscal conservatives like to give tax breaks, but what i want to know is why is it acceptable to a fiscal conservative to not offset a trillion dollar tax cut for the wealthy and put our country into debt over said tax cut for the wealthy, but when some recovery money is needed to help people put their lives back together, suddenly we need to offset all the costs...ridiculous.

David Plouffe TONIGHT

TONIGHT: Guest Speaker David Plouffe, from AKP Message & Media political consultants

6pm Memorial 108

Be there!

About Mr. Plouffe:

David Plouffe is one of the most experienced and successful strategists in the Democratic party.

As executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in the 1999-2000, Plouffe led a focused national campaign that moved a record $95 million to House races across the country, and helped add to the party's membership in the House of Representatives.

Prior to joining the DCCC, Plouffe served as Democratic leader Richard Gephardt's Deputy Chief of Staff in 1997-1998. He joined Leader Gephardt after managing the successful campaign to fill Bill Bradley's seat in the U.S. Senate for Bob Torricelli, the most hotly contested U.S. Senate race in the 1996 cycle.

Plouffe served as the Campaign Director at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Director in 1995, joining the DSCC after managing a U.S. Senate race in Delaware in 1994 for Attorney General Charlie Oberly against Senator Bill Roth.

Plouffe also successfully managed Congressman John Olver's first reelection bid in western Massachusetts in 1992 and served as a State Field Director for Senator Tom Harkin's Presidential campaign in the 1992 cycle, after serving as the Deputy Field Director in Harkin's successful 1990 U.S. Senate race.

Plouffe joined AKP Message & Media in the winter of 2000, and became a named partner of the firm upon returning in February 2004 after serving as a top strategist to Dick Gephardt in his Presidential bid. He resides in Washington DC with his wife Olivia.

Senator Biden vs John Roberts

We can always count on our own Senator Joe Biden (D-DE) to speak his mind. In the nomination hearing of John Roberts to Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Biden did not hold his tongue.

And good thing we have someone with a backbone. Why is it that the Bush administration will not release information requested by Senators and Democrats through the Freedom of Information Act? Perhaps we might find out what John Roberts' political opinions are? Or might we find out something more?

While I don't advocate for a trial of ideology to be put onto Supreme Court nominees, is it too much to ask for public information to be released from the censors?

I think John Roberts is extremely qualified and intelligent - what I worry about is what the Republicans and Mr. Roberts seem to be so ardently hiding - What secrets are they covering?

I commend Sen. Biden for his questioning and persistence in the John Roberts hearings. Sen Biden, thank you for representin.

Here is an excerpt of interest (from MSNBC.com):

Biden dissatisfied with Roberts's answers
Of the potential 2008 contenders, Biden’s vote seems the easiest to predict.

The Delaware senator was entirely unsatisfied with the answers Roberts gave during his testimony before the Judiciary Committee.

Biden dismissed as “preposterous” Roberts’s argument that if he gave a senator an answer on a specific case that might come before him, he’d be making a commitment to vote a particular way in exchange for the senator’s vote.

After all, Biden argued, whatever answer Roberts might give now isn’t binding on him because “he’s entitled to change his mind” if he gets confirmed and joins the Court. Given how scornful Biden was of Roberts’s testimony, it is hard to imagine him voting for Roberts.

Biden also voted against Republican Supreme Court nominees Clarence Thomas in 1991, William Rehnquist in 1986, and Robert Bork in 1987.

Meet the College Democrats

Reminder:

What: FREE Italian FOOD tonight!! Join the College Democrats at UD, hear Dr. Pika from the poly-sci department speak about current political issues

When: 6:00pm

Where: MEMORIAL HALL 108 (note change in venue, NOT trabant)

again -- FREE FOOD Tonight, meet the College Democrats

Joe Biden's Iraq Plan

Republicans like to spread the myth that Democrats have no plans or original ideas, that all we are capable of doing is opposing Bush plans. In reality, both they and President Bush chose to ignore the alternatives the Democrats offer because to recognize them would be to admit weakness and admit the current administration's fallibility.

Today in the Washington Post, Delaware Senator Joe Biden offered concrete steps for changing course in Iraq. Republicans are free to debate the merits of this plan, but no longer should they claim that the Democrats have no new ideas or alternate plans. To you critics: here it is. Perhaps if Bush and his cronies in the Pentagon would consider ideas other than their own misguided plans of "staying the course," we wouldn't be in the mess we're in right now over there. Certainly, too much is at stake to fail - they can only gain by considering new ideas for actually succeeding in creating a free and stable Iraq.

Bush: 'I take responsibility'

Someone just pointed this story out to me, adding that he thinks "hell has frozen over." Please read on...


From CNN.com

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- President Bush on Tuesday said he takes responsibility for the federal government's failures in responding to Hurricane Katrina.

"Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government and to the extent the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility," Bush said during a joint news conference with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.

Bush said he wants to know what went right and what went wrong so that he can determine whether the United States is prepared for another storm, or an attack. (Watch the president's statement -- 1:32)

"I'm not going to defend the process going in, but I am going to defend the people who are on the front line of saving lives," Bush said. (Full story)

Earlier in the day, the White House announced the president will address the nation Thursday night about recovery efforts in the Gulf Coast.

They Just Don’t Get It

President Bush’s approval rating has reached its all-time low, falling below 40% in both recent AP and Newsweek polls. Though the problems in Iraq have caused a downward trend, ultimately it was his lack of leadership in the crisis surrounding Hurricane Katrina that tipped the scales against him. Depending on the poll, 55-59% now openly DISapprove of the job he is doing as president, with 57% disapproving of the way he handled Katrina.

The debate will live on whether local or national officials deserve most of the blame; certainly there was no Rudy Giuliani figure to emerge in New Orleans, with the possible exception of Lt. Gen. Russel Honore. Nevertheless, as one White House reporter inquired, “where does the buck stop in this administration?” Though Scott McClellan replied “The President,” administration attempts to pin blame solely on local officials and even the residence themselves seems to indicate that they believe otherwise.

Moreover, it was the disconnectedness that most hurt President Bush’s approval ratings during this crisis, and rightfully so. After September 11^th, President Bush was on the ground in New York within two days. Today, September 12^th, almost two weeks after Katrina hit New Orleans, President Bush is making his first ground visit.

Perhaps more telling are the quotes that came out during the time of greatest crisis. For instance:

"I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees." –President Bush, on "Good Morning America," Sept. 1, 2005 (this had been anticipated in the press and studies for YEARS)

“Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott's house — he's lost his entire house — there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch.” – President Bush, Sept. 2, 2005 (hmm, I didn’t see him sleeping on the floor of any evacuation shelter)

"Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job." - President Bush, to FEMA director Michael Brown (the man who lied on his resume and is widely credited with being responsible for the overall mismanagement and saying things like…. “We just learned of the convention center – we being the federal government – today.” (the news had been reporting it for over 24 hours). As I write this, Brown has just announced his resignation.

“What didn’t go right?” –President Bush, as quoted by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), after she urged him to fire FEMA Director Michael Brown.

Quotes such as these and many more that came out from leading Republicans and administration officals, all combined with images of President Bush enjoying his time on the ranch as the hurricane moved in to destroy the Gulf Coast, have finally proven to be too much for a majority of Americans to bear, and rightfully so. Bush’s opponents have always known he was wholly out of touch with the American people – finally, albeit too late, the rest of the country is coming to this same realization: President Bush just doesn’t get it.

Welcome!

Greetings to all new members. Thanks for coming out to our first meeting. It should be a great year, so we hope you'll be active! Feel free to check out our old posts and comment on the new ones. Happy blogging!

Tonight

Hey Dems,

Tonight is our first meeting of the semester. Please join us at 6pm tonight (Wednesday) in Gore Hall room 116. Lots of great things planned!

See you there!

Katrina Relief

Though I did not see this for myself, I heard from a friend of mine that the College Republicans were set up outside of Trabant today to raise money for Katrina relief. If this was indeed the case, I would like to take the opportunity on behalf of the College Democrats to applaud their efforts. Every bit helps, and there is certainly nothing partisan about aiding our fellow Americans in their hour of dire need.

The College Democrats are also pleased to announce that we will be using our Kiosk time on September 13^th and 14^th, previously reserved to promote our group, to raise money for Katrina relief. We hope to have bracelets available for a small donation to promote the effort and to make this as big an event as possible, so everybody please stop by and show your support to this most important cause!

An American Tragedy

Words cannot do justice to the tragedy taking place in the Gulf Coast region. A million homeless, probably thousands dead, unimaginable destruction, the best and worst of human nature exposed…how can one venture to write anything profound?

I’d simply like to encourage everyone to act. Donate to the Red Cross. Drink water instead of beer for two or three days and send $10. Every bit helps. Look at it this way: the victims don’t even have water, not to mention a thousand other things we consider necessities. Like, for instance, a place to live, a place to call home. I mean no sarcasm or vindictiveness, but the country rallied following September 11^th. That was a shot through the heart, a jolt. This is a slow stranglehold, impacting 100 fold the number of people, with the victims being mostly poor and black with nowhere to turn. If ever there was a time for national sacrifice, to show our true character, to unify and rally behind a common tragic experience, this is it.