"The purpose of placing numerous holds was to get the White House's attention on two issues that are critical to our national security -- the Air Force's aerial refueling tanker acquisition and the FBI's Terrorist Device Analytical Center," the spokesman said.
"With that accomplished, Sen. Shelby has decided to release his holds on all but a few nominees directly related to the Air Force tanker acquisition until the new Request for Proposal is issued," he added.
...
Shelby retains a hold on the following officials, the aide said: Terry Yonkers, assistant secretary of the Air Force; Frank Kendall, principal deputy undersecretary of Defense for acquisition, technology and logistics; and Erin Conaton, undersecretary of the Air Force.
This is a damned stupid way to lobby the incoming Air Force and Defense officials who will have a significant amount of influence on what contracts do and do not come to Alabama. I mean, Shelby is poking these guys in the eye with a sharp stick. Are they supposed to view his state favorably after they're in office? Which could (and should) come as soon as Congress recesses?
Rep. John Murtha (D, PA) passed away this afternoon at the Virginia Hospital Center. Murtha was a former Marine and the first Vietnam War combat Veteran elected to Congess. He was in his 19th term in Congress and chaired the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense.
A Marine veteran of the Vietnam War, the 77-year-old Democrat won national fame for standing up against U.S. military involvement in Iraq. But in Congress itself, he also symbolized an old school generation going back to Tip O’Neill and the Democratic heyday of the '70s, when the House was less divided by partisan ideology than by often regional interests.
...
“The thing you most remember is he was a stand-up guy,” Rep. George Miller (D-Cal.), who teamed with Murtha on Pelosi’s race to be Democratic whip, told POLITICO. “They were both operational people. He thought she ‘got it,’ both the policies and policy, and was willing to stand up too.”
“He understood the misery of war,” said House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.) “Every person who serves in the military has lost an advocate and a good friend today.”
Congressman Artur Davis released the following statement on Murtha's passing:
I am deeply saddened to learn of Congressman Murtha's death. I spent a day with him in Mobile in 2009 and I remember his decency and his encyclopedic knowledge of global politics. I remember most his passion for his country and his reverence for our military. Our fighting men and women lost one of their most committed advocates today.
"Today, with the passing of Jack Murtha, America lost a great patriot. He served our country on the battlefield winning two Purple Hearts and the Bronze Star. He served his country in his community winning the hearts of his constituents and served in the Congress winning the respect of his colleagues.
...
"Dedicated to God and Country, and devoted to Joyce and their family, Jack Murtha was a giant. All who served with him were honored to call him colleague. I was privileged to call him friend.
"I hope that is a comfort to Joyce; their children, Donna Sue, John and Patrick; and their grandchildren that so many people mourn their loss and are praying for them at this very sad time."
And make no mistake, politics have always been filled with bold-faced outright lies. But never in the history of the world have lies been so easily disproven.
There is a big difference between trying to change someone's mind about something and standing up for the truth. I had this revealed to me today. I thought I would share this little story just to encourage people to be brave and speak the truth.
My cousin is conservative. I love him and he loves me but politics is the area where we differ greatly. He thinks Glenn Beck is great and Jimmy Carter is evil. We don't talk about that stuff and I don't try to change his mind. Today he joined a facebook group called Stop Barack Obama (One Million Strong and Growing). What? I thought. There are more than a million people on facebook who hate Obama? I clicked on the link and read the emotional diatribe that made absolutely no sense at all. And then I noticed an interesting fact. This group has less than 200,000 members. Their entire premise is a lie!
At this point I really pondered what to do. I knew I couldn't change his mind, but I also knew that he was spreading a lie and probably didn't even know it. Soooo, I very sweetly commented--I said I was curious about this group and that I discovered that they really don't have one million members. I also posted a link to a really cool facebook measurement site that allows you to look at the most popular groups and pages so people can never be fooled again. (And proud to say the Barack Obama group page has more than 7 million fans, 2nd only to Michael Jackson.) Interestingly enough, another person, one of his friends, responded and said thanks for the link and for pointing that out. Then his sister sent me a private email thanking me so much for standing up to the lies. She said that it encourages her to stand up for herself and the truth. And then my cousin who joined the group actually said thanks for pointing that out too because he always values the truth. Hmmm. I didn't change his mind, but at least the truth came out and it did have an affect upon others.
I'm not so naive as to think that things like this always work out for the best but it was a good lesson in strategy. Don't focus on changing minds. Focus on the truth.
Sparks filed the appropriate paperwork with the Alabama Secretary of State that very day. At the time, we all wondered if he had only just raised (or spent) $25,000 or if Sparks had just forgotten about that filing requirement. Now that the financial reports have been released, we can see that Sparks indeed passed the $25,000 mark no later than June 12, 2009 when Mack Cooper contributed $25,000. By rights, he should have filed the statement establishing a principal campaign committee within 5 days of passing that milestone ... say June 17th. Instead, he filed the form on July 29th, the day of Danny's reminder.
Here's my reminder to the folks at Ron Sparks 2010: You still have another financial report to file. Alabama's Fair Campaign Practices Act requires
(b) Each principal campaign committee, political action committee, and elected state and local official covered under the provisions of this chapter, shall annually file with the Secretary of State or judge of probate, as designated in Section 17-5-9, reports of contributions and expenditures made during that year. The annual reports required under this subsection shall be made on or before January 31 of the succeeding year.
Now, Sparks has filed a 2009 annual report (it even includes 11 days of 2010) for his gubernatorial committee (SPARKS, RON (GOV)) but as of this morning, the Secretary of State's website does not list a 2009 annual report for his other committee -- (SPARKS, RON) -- that he's used for Ag. Commissioner runs. That committee also has not been terminated, per the SoS website. It doesn't seem to matter whether it was active or not, but we know there was in fact activity because Ron Sparks transferred $107,702.02 from there to his gubernatorial account.
The penalty for not filing these reports is stiff ...
A certificate of election or nomination shall not be issued to any person elected or nominated to state or local office who shall fail to file any statement or report required by this chapter. A certificate of election or nomination already issued to any person elected or nominated to state or local office who fails to file any statement or report required by this chapter shall be revoked.
... and I'd hate to see the Sparks candidacy get in trouble over this. More selfishly, I'd also really like to see the information -- so consider this a friendly reminder to please file the damned report.
BTW, Treasurer Kay Ivey and Rep. Robert Bentley, also running for governor, are in the same situation with a gubernatorial committee and one for their current offices. Both have already filed disclosures for both their committees.
This diary stems both as something I have been reflecting on as well as as a response to this comment on George Wallace in another diary.
One of the concepts presented by historians, political analysts, editorial writers, and others is the "New South Governor." This term refers to the generation of Southern governors that were elected to office primarily in the '60s and '70s who piloted their states in new directions.
Recognizing the change going around them at the time, these governors took progressive actions to change their states for the better. One area of change was in the economy, moving from an agricultural base to a more mixed economy; this required states to rethink education because what the labor force knows became very important. Economic development was also very important and they took steps to recruit industry and build infrasturcture They might have been moderate segregationists or integrationists, but they all recognized that racial relations were changing and that it was more important to comply and work with the federal government rather than fight it.
Governors who serve as examples of this include Carl Sanders and Jimmy Carter of Georgia, Terry Sanford and Jim Hunt of North Carolina, Bob Graham of Florida, Robert McNair and Richard Riley of South Carolina, and a Governor Clinton of Arkansas.
("Why I support __" posts are always welcome. - promoted by mooncat)
I started out last fall looking forward to Ron Sparks becoming the next governor of Alabama. Like many people in the state, I was in the minority that has rallied for and campaigned desperately for Obama, but I knew that there were some barriers that would never be crossed in Alabama. So, like most of my friends I rallied around the likely nominee of Ron Sparks, as he was hailed as the “most electable.” How wrong the pundits are, and how blind I was looking back at that time.
I first came to learn of Artur Davis by looking into what he has done on the Federal Level for his district, and what kind of action we can expect from him as our Governor. Needless to say I am impressed and very pleased by not only how he has shown repeatedly his passion for his district, but the best interests of the Alabama people.
Gubernatorial Forum Monday, Feb. 8, 7 pm Taylor Road Baptist Church 1685 Taylor Rd. Montgomery, AL
Could be an interesting evening.
Will Bradley Byrne out-Bible Roy Moore? Will Moore even show up? Have any of the candidates taken more gambling money than the Christian Coalition itself?
If there could be any doubt, a recent vote in the US Senate is proof positive that Republicans in DC are not negotiating in good faith and not interested in acting in a bipartisan manner -- instead, the are just the "party of no." In the vote, seven GOP co-sponsors of legislation for a fiscal responsibility panel withdrew their support after word leaked that Obama supported the proposal. How can you withdraw support of a bill when you are a co-sponsor? To put it one way, they were for it before they were against it.
As Wonkette put it, "It became a problem when Barack Obama endorsed it and Republicans had to find a way to (a) make sure it didn’t pass ever and (b) blame Obama for not passing it from his legislative chair in the executive branch."
The bill was officially described as a bill to take "responsible fiscal action, to assure the long-term fiscal stability and economic security of the federal government of the United States, and to expand future prosperity and growth for all Americans." The vote in the Senate was actually 53 in favor to 46 oppossed, but these days it takes 60 votes to pass any bill. After the vote failed, Obama has signaled in his State of the Union address that he will create the commission by Executive Order sometime this week. Unlike the Senate bill's commission, there can be no requirement that Congress vote on the recommendations of the President's commission.
What deeply bothers me about all this is that Republicans have made an issue of the escalating national debt -- it is even the chief issue of the Teabaggers, but when they finally have a chance to do something about it -- they back out. Put simply, it shows they are phonies: they are acting in bad faith. Instead of taking action that could the problem, they will likely complain of a lack of bipartisanship and complain that the President has no concern for the issue. That is Republican dishonesty, that is what Chris Matthews while on the Rachel Maddow show aptly called "treachery". It shows that Republicans are not patriots; indeed, they would rather see the Country fail than our President succeed. I am disheartened.
Republican hyberbole and distortion won't solve any problems. So, when the Repubs start along these phony complaints of partisanship by the President and Democratic leaders, I, for one, will remember this vote and I will throw it back in their face.
Look at the change in the ratio of national debt to Gross National Product (GDP). The debt ratio (think of it as debt to income ratio) dropped under the administrations of FDR/Truman, Truman, Eisenhower (both terms), Kennedy/LBJ, LBJ, Nixon, Carter, and Bill Clinton(both terms). It increased -- WRONG DIRECTION -- during the administrations of Reagan (both terms), George HW Bush and George W. Bush (both terms).
Apparently, the Illinois Democratic party leadership leaned on him after the details about his past domestic abuse, battery, nonpayment of child support, and many other unlovely items came to light.
Sensitive to widespread conservative criticism that Barack Obama uses a teleprompter during speeches (bet the Republicans are glad Obama didn't have a teleprompter when he ripped them a new one recently!) Sarah Palin used paper notes for her speech at the Tea Baggers Convention. For Q&A, Palin was even more low tech, consulting notes written on the palm of her hand.
Of course, she got caught.
Sarah Palin, every bit as clever as the average 9th grader.
Andy Borowitz has really been on a roll lately. Here are some great ones from this morning's facebook status reports:
The Tea Party Convention is like a Renaissance Pleasure Faire for assholes.
Sunday morning. Sure would like to hear some white guys talking to each other. Oh, good, Meet the Press is on.
Palin Quits Twitter; Founds Kwitter
If you like all these be sure to check out his politcal report at borowitzreport.com. You can also become a friend and a fan on facebook to get these little barbs.
("Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal." - promoted by mooncat)
It has become somewhat of a tradition for me, however cathartic, to post on LIA about my grandparents. One of the main reasons I returned from professional advocacy work in Washington, DC, was to be around them in their twilight and to aid my family if and when the grandparents decided it was time to hang it up.
The month of February is cold, and has been brutal to us. In February 2008, I lost my paternal grandfather. One year ago today, I lost my paternal grandmother. And, so ironic that today I buried my maternal grandmother, after a long illness complicated by kidney failure, dialysis, a near stroke, and an emergency colostomy. She lasted longer than we expected after she decided to stop dialysis treatment, and when she drew her final breaths on Wednesday afternoon, that pained look we'd seen so many days and weeks returned into the beautiful smile we always knew and loved.
Because of my writings, and sharing them with you here on LIA, I stepped forward to write her obituary, as well as her eulogy. Only by sheer divine intervention, or dumb luck, I made it through it.
Mama was a delightful, loving, spirited true Roosevelt Democrat, and I miss her dearly.
Thank you LIA family for allowing me to introduce to you my family.
Scott Lee Cohen sold himself to Democratic primary voters as a shining example of integrity, transparency and business acumen. "Scott is prepared to bring his professional and life experience to the office of lieutenant governor," declared his campaign Web site.
From the earliest stages of his campaign, Cohen says, he was up front about two issues rarely seen in a successful political candidate: His business as a pawnbroker and domestic battery charges, later dismissed, involving a girlfriend.
But his vague account of the battery case fell apart a day after his Democratic primary victory when an examination of the police record portrayed a more troubling picture than what the candidate offered.
The ex-girlfriend is a convicted prostitute and there's a police report where she accuses Cohen of holding a knife to her throat -- just a minor detail Cohen neglected to tell voters before the primary. He also neglected to mention being sued for back taxes, failing to pay utilities and a host of other, shall we say, character issues.
His ex-wife accused him of being a serial cheat who shot up illegally obtained steroids, physically abused her and failed to pay child support even as he spent millions of dollars of his own money to get elected. .
Democratic leaders got a serious case of buyer's remorse and called on him to quit the November ticket.
The time to do this is before electing the guy as the nominee, folks.
Could this happen in Alabama?Damned right it could.
Candidates are not likely to police themselves (see Edwards, John) and do you really think the Alabama press corps gives a damn if the Democratic party nominates someone with skeletons in his closet?
No, they do not. Caveat emptor -- and if the Republican gets a free ride in November, that's just gravy.
(Washington D.C.) Ucs News: The nations deadly stand off Sen. Richard Shelby entered it 4th day with no end in sight. As the nation's capital cowers Richard Shelby continues to swagger through the halls of power intent on delivering budget busting earmarks to his home state. According to capital police, the Alabama Senator is now demanding 40 Billion dollars be delivered in cash and that Michelle Obama deliver the money dressed in her, in Shelby's words "Stunning", state of the union gown.
Richard Shelby is Alabama's Pork King -- heck, he might be America's Pork King -- but Sen. Claire McCaskill (D, Mo) says his tantrum over defense spending should spell the end of the road for earmarks. It's time.
There is not hotter topic in the state of Alabama right now than gambling, its legal status and its future. Here's a short roundup of the latest events in what may become known as the ballad of bingo.
Sen. Marc Keahey has proposed the Alabama Bingo Control Act. The Poarch Band of Creek Indians are backing this one.
The Greene County sheriff won't allow the Governor's task force on gambling to raid Greenetrack. Are we about to see armed conflict between law enforcement agencies in Alabama?
Bessemer bingo halls were ordered to shut down by 6 pm yesterday. DA Arthur Green said, "In my judgment, folks, the gig is up. You can't play bingo on machines in Alabama and be legal."
The Florence Times-Daily has a nice teaser piece on Taze Shepard.
"I cannot say I am a candidate until I file the paperwork. The papers are on my desk," Shepard said Thursday.
Shepard, 56, said the possibility of running for the seat that Rep. Parker Griffith, R-Huntsville, now occupies has always been in the back of his mind.
"I always thought somebody good would step up," he said. "That hasn't happened so I decided to look harder at the race."
I like that Shepard isn't all "Wow, I can't wait, this is my big chance to go to Washington and be a Congressman!" It's about the 5th district, not about personal glory for Taze.
For some time I have been silent, and I have been observing the goings on in the state, and the blogsphere to find out what has been going on. What I have been able to notice is that we as a community are at a tipping point. Let me explain what I mean by that.
