Senate

The latest Republican to get caught in a scandal is Senator Norm Coleman of Minnesota. He seems to be getting hit with a bunch of scandals all at once. Of course this will come as no suprise to those who know that Coleman is good buddies with Alaska's Ted Stevens, currently indicted for corruption and who I have dubbed the most corrupt politician in America. Seems some of Ted Stevens' greedy mentality has rubbed off on Norm Coleman.

Scandal number one is a violation of the Senate Ethics rules. Seems that Norm Coleman's Washington, DC home is rented to him at well below market value by fellow member of the Republican Culture of Corruption, Jeff Larson. And when I mean rented at well below market value, I mean when Coleman even bothers to pay his rent. Larson generally lets Coleman skip his rent, basically giving him free lodgings. Now this COULD be just kindness on Larson's part, except it directly violates the Senate ethics rules regarding gifts.

When the Republicans sent our soldiers into Iraq without the proper equipment, they made a strategic error that undoubtedly led to higher casualty rates than were necessary. But they also made a political error because our soldiers aren't dumb. They quickly realized that the Republicans bungled the war from the start and that the soldiers and veterans of that war would be the ones to suffer because of Republican incompetence.

This has led to quite a few pissed off veterans getting involved politically, like 1st Lieutenant Paul Rieckhoff of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and Jon Soltz of VoteVets.org.

VoteVets in particular has put our some devastatingly effective ads taking Republicans to task for failing to provide our soldiers with the equipment they needed...like body armor. The latest such ad targets Republican Elizabeth Dole, locked in a very tight race for the North Carolina Senate:

The Minnesota Senate race is a close one this year pitting Air America's Al Franken against shameful Bush-Republican Norm Coleman. Here are a couple of powerful videos from Al Franken's website showing how people view Norm Coleman.

First, Iraq War vet Sam Scott calls Norm Coleman's attacks "the same old shameful Washington politics" and tells Minnesotans why he's proud to stand with Al Franken.

Next, after the Star Tribune and KSTP-TV blasted ads from the Coleman campaign and the National Republican Senatorial Committee as false and misleading, the Al Franken for Senate campaign today released a new television ad featuring Minnesota women expressing their disgust and outrage at the depths to which Norm Coleman has sunk.

I have written about Ted Stevens before, and this will mostly serve to remind you of what I have already written about. But the news is that the first indictments are coming through. Ted Stevens has been served with seven indictments for false statements. I say the first because it is clear that these first seven indictments are only the tip of the iceburg. Ted Stevens is going down!

A while back I discussed the inevitable consequence of Republican no-bid contracts for companies, like Halliburton, owned by their cronies with no oversight: the electrocution of our troops due to corporate incompetance. This is another part of the crony capitalism and the "Drown America in a Bathtub" ideology of the right wing.

The background story is this: a Halliburton subsidary, KBR, was given a no-bid contract to manage some bases in Iraq. The Republican government let them do this with no real oversight. The incompetence of this company has led to the electrocution of some of our troops due to faulty wiring. This problem was known and yet the company did nothing and continued to be awarded no-bid contracts by the Republicans. And the electrocutions have continued with no action taken.

Finally a freshman Democratic Senator, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, is calling for a formal investigation from the General Accounting Office.

IdeaRaiser with Mark Udall (Idea Raiser)

Join Mark Udall and special guests State Treasurer Cary Kennedy and John McConnell (Earth Day Founder) at an IdeaRaiser.

Friday, May 9 at 6:30 PM
Host: Russ Green
Contact Phone: 303-393-1816
Location:
East High School (Denver, CO)
1545 Detroit St
Denver, CO 80206

What is an IdeaRaiser?

IdeaRaisers are conversations that bring people together to talk about their experiences and ideas for how to make Colorado and our country better. They provide an opportunity for people to have direct input to federal candidates and to drive policy. It is a great way for people to participate in the democratic process.

You have the power. This is a great way to be part of the process.

Garfield County Democratic Party Fundraiser
Date 4/28/2008
Time 6:00 pm

Details

Location: Napoli's Italian Restaurant, 221 W. Randolph, Enid

Tickets: $25 (must be purchased in advance)

Sen. Andrew Rice will be the featured speaker for the fundraiser, benefiting the Garfield County Democratic Party. For tickets, please call Sandy at 580-233-9021 or Pat at 580-233-3604.

For more information, you may also contact Eric Edstedt at eric@andrewforoklahoma.com.

Andrew Rice is running for Oklahoma Senate. And you can help him while having fun at his fundraiser/birthday bash. He has led an amazing life and brings a great dedication to everything he does. He also has been working hard to end hunger in Oklahoma, so this big fundraising concert is also a food drive.

"Rock, Roll and Rice" for Andrew's Birthday
Date 4/24/2008
Time 5:30-7:30

Location: 3214 N. Classen (formerly the Back Door Coffeehouse), Oklahoma City

Music by Matt Stansberry Band
Free food and family fun!

Join us to celebrate Andrew's 35th birthday, and come rock & roll with your next U.S. Senator from Oklahoma!

Suggested donation: $10 (and bring a can of food for the Regional Food Bank)

I have blogged about how Dems have really great candidates in Alaska and Nebraska in 2008. How about Oklahoma? In Oklahoma we have a real chance to defeat the insane bastard Inhofe. This is a Republican who can't even musted the compassion to support America's Veterans. Here is his record on Veterans' issues:

2006 Senator Inhofe supported the interests of the Disabled American Veterans 40 percent in 2006.

2006 In 2006 Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America gave Senator Inhofe a grade of D-.

2006 Senator Inhofe sponsored or co-sponsored 6 percent of the legislation favored by the The Retired Enlisted Association in 2006.

2005 Senator Inhofe supported the interests of the Disabled American Veterans 33 percent in 2005.

2004 Senator Inhofe supported the interests of the Disabled American Veterans 0 percent in 2004.

2004 Senator Inhofe supported the interests of the The Retired Enlisted Association 0 percent in 2004.

So who are Dems running against this bastard? Andrew Rice:

I first became aware of Andrew Rice through his efforts trying to fight hunger in Oklahoma. But there is more to Andrew than just compassion. Here is an excerpt from his website:

In 2006, Dems won big, even in states like Indiana and Virginia. In 2008, we may yet go even further. We have a very real shot at winning big in Alaska (both a House seat and Senate). We may well win a Virginia Senate seat. And it seems we have a great candidate for Senate in Nebraska. Scott Kleeb is not only a grassroots progressive and a solid American populist, but he's a hunk with a beautiful family:

Scott Kleeb is not only worrying the Republicans with his macho appeal, but he is also a grassroots hero worrying the more machine Dems who are out of touch with the voters. I suspect Kleeb can connect well with voters!

Let me introduce you:

Scott Kleeb, as well as being a macho, hard working hunk, has a Ph.D. in PhD in history, with a special focus on agricultural economics. Scott currently teaches American history at Hastings College in Nebraska, less than two hours from Broken Bow, where the Kleeb family homesteaded in the 1880s.