VOTE
You know, only 30-40% of register voters vote? Our government is destroying us. They must be removed from office. We don't have a government where we are represented. BUT you better pay your taxes damnit! We need to awaken the people - hold their hands to the polls - make them vote this time. AND while we are getting the vote out hound your local officals to make sure they count your vote this time. If the masses come out and we all know we voted to get these creeps out and they are still in office - its the only way we can charge them with voter fraud.
May peace be inside all of us,
Cindy
In the news today: (I'm not going to post all the articles, you may click on them to read them all)
By David Espo / Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The Republican-controlled Senate smothered a proposed election-year increase in the minimum wage Wednesday, rejecting Democratic claims that it was past time to boost the $5.15 hourly pay floor that has been in effect for nearly a decade.
The 52-46 vote was eight short of the 60 needed for approval and came one day after House Republican leaders made clear they do not intend to allow a vote on the issue, fearing it might pass.
The Senate vote marked the ninth time since 1997 that Democrats there have proposed — and Republicans have blocked — a stand-alone increase in the minimum wage. The debate fell along predictable lines.
Your congressman just got a raise
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Despite record low approval ratings, House lawmakers Tuesday embraced a $3,300 pay raise that will increase their salaries to $168,500.
The 2 percent cost-of-living raise would be the seventh straight for members of the House and Senate.
Lawmakers easily squelched a bid by Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, to get a direct vote to block the COLA, which is automatically awarded unless lawmakers vote to block it.
In the early days of GOP control of Congress, lawmakers routinely denied themselves the annual COLA. Last year, the Senate voted 92-6 to deny the raise but quietly surrendered the position in House-Senate talks.
As part of an ethics reform bill in 1989, Congress gave up their ability to accept pay for speeches and made annual cost-of-living pay increases automatic unless the lawmakers voted otherwise.
The pay issue has been linked to the annual Transportation and Treasury Department spending bill because that measure stipulates that civil servants get raises of 2.7 percent, the same as military personnel will receive. Under a complicated formula, the increase translates to 2 percent for members of Congress.
Like last year, Matheson led a quixotic drive to block the raise. He was the only member to speak on the topic.
"I do not think that it is appropriate to let this bill go through without an up or down vote on whether or not Congress should have an increase in its own pay," Matheson said.
But by a 249-167 vote, the House rejected Matheson's procedural attempt to get a direct vote on the pay raise.
A mother awaits answers on GI murdersBy Scott Lindlaw / Associated Press
The Pentagon waited nine months after completing its investigation into the deaths of two California National Guardsmen before notifying the families this week that they were murdered by the Iraqi soldiers they were training.
Army Spc. Patrick R. McCaffrey Sr., 34, and 2nd Lt. Andre D. Tyson, 33, of Riverside, died in an ambush two years ago Thursday. Until now, however, the circumstances of their deaths were shrouded amid a military investigation.
The Army said Tuesday that McCaffrey and Tyson were murdered by Iraqi civil defense officers attached to their patrol. A Pentagon spokesman knew of no other incident like it.
Military officials visited Tyson's family on Tuesday and McCaffrey's on Wednesday to deliver the report, which was completed on Sept. 30, 2005, according to Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. She called the nine-month delay troubling.
"If the American people knew that the people we are directly helping train turned on our soldiers, support for this war would slip," said Boxer, a critic of the Iraq war who helped spur the military briefings for the families.
Troops echo frustration over war in Iraq
By Kimberly Hefling / Associated Press
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. - While Staff Sgt. Randy Myers was dodging roadside bombs in Iraq, his congressman was calling the war a lost cause.
Sixteen-term Rep. John Murtha, a decorated Vietnam veteran and military hawk, has become the face of the Democrats' anti-war movement since he called for the withdrawal of U.S. troops last fall. His oft-repeated criticism of the Bush administration's war policies also has earned him the wrath of Republicans.
In Murtha's southwest Pennsylvania district, however, many share the war critic's views.
At a welcome home ceremony this week for Myers and other troops from the Johnstown, Pa.-based 876th Engineer Battalion, the crowd cheered when a Murtha aide welcomed the troops on the congressman's behalf.
Myers said he backs Murtha, an opinion echoed by a number of other troops and their families. Several share his frustration with the conflict.
"I'm not sure we're doing a whole lot of good," Myers, 46, said of the U.S. presence in Iraq. "Everybody thinks we are. We're trying to, but we're not going to change what they want to do, and if they don't want to change, they're not gonna."
19 GOP Senators Vote Against Opposing Amnesty For Iraqis Who Attack US Troops..
The Senate's debate over the war in Iraq turned highly emotional this afternoon, as the lawmakers reacted to reports of the killing of two American soldiers by adopting two measures opposing amnesty for Iraqis who attack United States troops.
By a vote of 79 to 19, the Senate voted to declare that it objects to any such amnesty. By 64 to 34, the lawmakers voted to commend the new Iraqi government for not granting amnesty.
Read the whole article here.
Vote Summary:
Question: On the Amendment (Nelson (FL) Amdt. No. 4265 )
Vote Number: 178 Vote Date: June 20, 2006, 03:27 PM
Required For Majority: 1/2 Vote Result: Amendment Agreed to
Amendment Number:S.Amdt. 4265 to S. 2766 (National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007 )
Statement of Purpose: To express the sense of Congress that the Government of Iraq should not grant amnesty to persons known to have attacked, killed, or wounded members of the Armed Forces of the United States.
Vote Counts: YEAs 79
NAYs: 19
Not Voting: 2
Vote Summary By Senator Name By Vote Position By Home State
Grouped By Vote Position
NAYs ---19
Allard (R-CO)
Bond (R-MO)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burns (R-MT)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Cornyn (R-TX)
DeMint (R-SC)
Enzi (R-WY)
Graham (R-SC)
Hagel (R-NE)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Lott (R-MS)
McCain (R-AZ)
Sessions (R-AL)
Stevens (R-AK)
Thomas (R-WY)
Warner (R-VA)
Missing Soldiers Found Dead In Iraq
GIs Were Isolated In Insurgent Haven
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, June 21, 2006; Page A01
BAGHDAD, June 20 -- Two U.S. soldiers, missing for three days since their abduction in an insurgent stronghold south of Baghdad, were found dead, a military spokesman said Tuesday, and a top U.S. commander ordered an investigation into why the men were isolated from a larger force in such a dangerous part of Iraq.
The remains of the soldiers -- Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, 23, of Houston and Pfc. Thomas L. Tucker, 25, of Madras, Ore. -- were recovered near a power plant in the town of Yusufiya, where they had been operating a vehicle checkpoint that came under attack Friday, Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell said in a briefing for reporters. A third soldier, Spec. David J. Babineau, 25, of Springfield, Mass., died in the initial assault.
Four US soldiers killed in AfghanistanBy Zeeshan Haider
By Zeeshan HaiderFour U.S. soldiers have been killed and one wounded in clashes with Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan, the U.S. military said on Thursday.
More than 1,000 people have been killed in Afghanistan this year, the worst violence since the 2001 overthrow of the Taliban. The violence has surged as NATO prepares to takes over security duties from U.S.-led forces in the south, the rebel heartland.
The latest clash occurred in the eastern province of Nuristan on Wednesday.
"Coalition forces attacked enemy extremists in a remote area of the Kamdesh District while conducting security operations to interdict enemy movement through northern Nuristan," the U.S. military said.
"During the mission, four U.S. soldiers were killed."
Coalition aircraft joined the attack but it was not clear how many rebels were killed, the U.S. military said. The wounded soldier was in stable condition.
A Taliban spokesman, Mohammad Hanif, said by telephone from an undisclosed location that two Taliban had been killed in the fighting.
The Taliban are mostly active in eastern and southern parts of Afghanistan, bordering Pakistan, where they enjoy considerable support among the Pashtun tribes living on both sides of the long, porous border.
U.S.-led forces and government troops have stepped up attacks against the Taliban in Nuristan in recent weeks as part of an operation, codenamed Mountain Lion, launched in mid-April.
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