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Chip Pickering Votes to Protect Pledge, Tax Cuts
[Verbatim statement, Sept. 23, 2004]
Pickering on votes: 'protects the values and finances of Mississippians'
Keep Committee Hearings Open!
Common Cause urges in a letter to the Clarion-Ledger that all legislative committees be kept open to the public. Duh. Those men and women report to us. Dick Johnson writes: "So Common Cause/MS recommends all of us contact our representatives and senators, as well as House Speaker Billy McCoy and Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck, and urge them to make sure the rules of the new Legislature keep all conference committees, including those dealing with appropriations and financial matters, open to the public."
Barbour Revitalizing Democratic Party?
Bobby Harrison argues in the Daily Journal that Barbour is singlehandedly revitalizing the Democratic Party in the state. I think he has a point. "Haley Barbour lives, eats and sleeps politics. He knows it inside and out. Having said that, Barbour, a Republican political strategist dynamo, has done more to revitalize the Mississippi Democratic Party than any Democrat in the state. He has given a disjointed, divided group of Democrats something to rally behind - public education and Medicaid." [...]
Democrats, NAACP Challenge Fla. Voting Policy
AP is reporting: "The state Democratic Party filed a federal lawsuit accusing Florida's secretary of state of violating federal law when she told elections supervisors to reject incomplete voter-registration forms. The party asked a judge to order Glenda Hood to reverse her instructions to the state's 67 counties. Hood's office told counties they should disqualify voters who failed to check a box confirming they are U.S. citizens, even if they signed an oath on the same form swearing they are. She and other state officials maintain that state and federal laws require the box to be checked.
Judge Blocks New Mississippi Anti-Abortion Law
Clarion-Ledger is reporting: "Mississippi's new abortion law infringes on a woman's 14th Amendment right to have an abortion early in the second trimester, a federal judge has ruled. In a ruling made public today, U.S. District Judge Tom S. Lee kept in place a preminary injunction he issued July 2 that prevented the law from going into affect. The law would have limited abortions after the 13th week of pregnancy to hospitals and ambulatory surgical clinics."
Obama: ‘Brothers Should Pull Up Their Pants'
In a substantive MTV interview (especially compared to most mainstream media), Barack Obama weighed in on the baggy-pants culture:
Fox News Poll: Bush Lead ‘Razor Thin'
A Fox News poll released yesterday finds that Bush's convention bump in the polls has smoothed out, and the two men are nearly in a dead heat in nationwide polling: "Thoughts of the Republican National Convention (search) appear to have faded as quickly as memories of Labor Day at the beach, as less than a week after the GOP gathering in New York City the latest FOX News/Opinion Dynamics poll shows the presidential race in a dead heat. Clearly President George W. Bush made gains in critical areas such as leadership and trustworthiness, but just days after his convention ended, Bush's edge over Democrat John Kerry(search) is razor thin." ...
L.A. Times: Palin's Patronage Problem
A Los Angeles Times investigation found:
State Democrats Plan ‘Turning Mississippi Blue' Rally
[Verbatim] Mississippi Democrats will celebrate the first 2008 presidential debate with a political rally Thursday night, Sept. 25, in Oxford where party candidates and leaders are expected to speak. The "Turning Mississippi Blue" rally starts at 6 p.m. at the Oxford Activity Center. Democrats who plan to speak include state party Chairman Jamie Franks, former Gov. William Winter, former Gov. Ray Mabus, Oxford Mayor Richard Howorth, U.S. Senate candidate Erik Fleming and U.S. House candidate Joel Gill.
Study Guide for Veep Debate
[Verbatim] WASHINGTON, DCThe Wonk Room has released a new study guide to educate those watching the vice-presidential debate about Gov. Sarah Palin's positions on domestic and foreign policy and the errors the McCain-Palin campaign commits in explaining their stance on the issues.
Did Cheney Go Too Far with Attack?
New York Times today: "Vice President Dick Cheney's assertion that the nation was more likely to 'get hit again' by terrorists if John Kerry was elected was one of the toughest attacks launched in a presidential election in 40 years. But Mr. Cheney's latest assault on Mr. Kerry, which startled Democrats and Republicans alike, raised a central question even in this notably ferocious presidential campaign: Is it possible for a candidate to go too far, and alienate the very voters he is trying to court?
Bush "Dead Even" with Kerry; on Defensive
AP is reporting: "Republicans have a lot to worry about; hence the reason Bush has been on the defense, says national pollster Mark Schulman."
Dust-Up on Floor of U.S. Senate Today
[Breaking] Apparently, it was just disocvered that Republicans snuck a provision into the 3,000-page budget bill that allows agents of congressional committees to have access to anybody's IRS records. They're fighting about it right now on C-SPAN II. Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, is yelling right now that they never "intend" to use the power. BIG FIGHT.
Drudge, FOX News Distorts Obama ‘Redistribution' Comment
Media Matters is warning:
On-screen text on Fox News echoed the Drudge Report in falsely claiming that Sen. Barack Obama said it is a "tragedy" that the Supreme Court has not addressed wealth redistribution. In fact, the "tragedy" Obama identified during the interview was in what he said was the civil rights movement's overreliance on the courts to pursue political and economic justice.
Two More Factchecks re: Kerry
How Liberal is John Kerry?
A new RNC ad claims Kerry is "the most liberal man in the Senate." Actually, his lifetime rating is 11th or lower, depending.
ALERT: Young Voters, African Americans Getting Phony Calls
From the Mississippi Democratic Party/pass the word and let us know if you get any of these calls. Better yet, record them and send us the file:
Rep. Erik Fleming Launches JFP Blog
Follow news about the legislative session and ask direct questions of Rep. Erik Fleming, D-Hinds, on his new JFP blog.
[Alert] Public Education: What You Can Do Now
The Coalition for Children and Public Education writes: The Governor has called a special Legislative session to begin Wednesday, May 18 at 1:00 p.m. As part of the Coalition for Children and Public Education, we are gearing up to press for full funding of the Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP).
Ron Reagan's ‘Honest Guy's Critique of George W. Bush'
Here's the text of Ron Reagan's piece in the September issue of Esquire—and he seems more willing to speak his mind than he was at the Democratic National Convention: "The far-right wing of the country—nearly one third of us by some estimates—continues to regard all who refuse to drink the Kool-Aid (liberals, rationalists, Europeans, et cetera) as agents of Satan. Bush could show up on video canoodling with Paris Hilton and still bank their vote. Right-wing talking heads continue painting anyone who fails to genuflect deeply enough as a 'hater,' and therefore a nut job, probably a crypto-Islamist car bomber. But these protestations have taken on a hysterical, almost comically desperate tone. It's one thing to get trashed by Michael Moore. But when Nobel laureates, a vast majority of the scientific community, and a host of current and former diplomats, intelligence operatives, and military officials line up against you, it becomes increasingly difficult to characterize the opposition as fringe wackos."
Gov. Winter: McCain Takes ‘Red' Mississippi for Granted
Former Gov. William Winter, an Ole Miss graduate and the founder of the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation, had this to say about McCain trying to stand up Ole Miss: