Diane Denish - A Campaign Suggestion

For anyone who hasn't noticed, New Mexico will be electing a new governor in November.  Happily, the Republicans won't find it necessary to "unleash" a Rand Paul in order to lose the election -- this high desert state won't require that much more comedy to make a decision.  We can handle the task with what we've got.

However, MeanMesa would like to make a campaign suggestion to Diane Denish, the current Lt. Governor who will be running as the Democratic candidate in the fall.  Here is a short blurb from the Denish campaign literature:

Take a look at Diane Denish for Governor site here.

A New Way of Doing Business: Reforming Government to Save Taxpayers an Estimated $450 Million

During these challenging economic times, so many New Mexico families are forced to tighten their belts and do more with less - and Diane Denish believes state government must do the same. As Governor, Diane will immediately implement cost-saving reforms and bring about a new way of doing business in Santa Fe.

Diane has proposed a series of bold reforms to make government more efficient and accountable - saving taxpayers millions of dollars.  Diane would drastically cut the number of political appointees, implement strict accountability measures, consolidate government departments, eliminate at least 4 Cabinet level positions, reform the capital outlay process and institute a culture of customer service in state government. In total, these reforms could save New Mexico taxpayers an estimated $450 million over the next 5 years.

New Way of Doing Business: Reducing political appointees and creating incentives to reduce the state's payroll to save taxpayers millions

As Governor, Diane Denish will take quick and decisive action to end the special breaks and insider deals that continue to exist at the expense of taxpayers.  Nobody will be guaranteed a job and only qualified, dedicated public servants will have a place in a Denish Administration.  Immediately after taking office, Diane would implement the following reforms:

• Cut political appointments: Denish would cut an additional 100 political appointments (exempt positions), which would return the exempt employees to below 2002 statutorily authorized levels.
  
  Savings: $8.8 million dollars a year and $44 million over the next 5 years. (Source: State Personnel Office estimate of average employee salary and benefit package calculated at $88,000/yr)
  
  
• One-time voluntary buy-out of public employees: Offer a targeted, one-time voluntary buyout to reduce the size of the state workforce. This targeted effort would focus on employees who are not in high-demand positions or in hard-to-recruit areas in an effort to avoid compromising front-line services to citizens, especially in the area of public safety. Classified employees with more than 5 years of service would be offered a $1,000 incentive for every year of state service that will not exceed $20,000. For example, an employee with 10 years experience would be eligible for a $10,000 one-time incentive when leaving a job. As part of this package, employees would not be eligible to apply for another state job for 3 years and any employee seeking to return to work before the three-year time period would have to pay back the incentive.
  
  Savings: If just 2% of state employees accept the buy-out, the state could save from $24 to $33 million in the first year and up to $169 million over 5 years. Any employee seeking to return to work before the three year time period would have to pay back the incentive money. (If 500 employees took the bonus for $5,000 it would cost $1 million - 1st year, if 500 took the bonus at $20,000 it would cost $10 million - 1st year)
  
  

New Way of Doing Business: Performance Reviews and Accountability

Particularly during these difficult times, there is simply no room for government inefficiency or waste. Diane Denish will require department heads, programs and agencies to meet strict performance standards, and when something is inefficient, it will be eliminated. She firmly believes that government must be accountable - and with today's technology, New Mexico taxpayers should be able to see exactly how their money is being spent in real time, so they can hold their elected officials accountable.  As Governor, Denish would push for the following:

• Tax credit accountability: Companies that take advantage of tax incentives, rebates and other state benefits should be held accountable for results in the form of real public benefits, such as investment in infrastructure, number of jobs, employment hours, or wage rates in a specific amount of time. Companies who do not meet their commitments should pay back the state and taxpayers. Twenty other states already have such provisions which ensure accountability from private sector entities that utilize public monies.

Saving: The state currently issues roughly $111.2 million a year in tax credits. If after the review, 3 percent of the tax credits did not to lead directly to job creation, the state would save $3.3 million per year or $16.5 million over five years. 

• Tax credit transparency: We need increased disclosure on who is taking advantage of jobs tax credits and how many jobs are being created as a result of the credits (this information once collected can be placed on the state of New Mexico Sunshine Portal).

• Sunshine portal implementation and expansion. When Denish signed the Sunshine Portal into law in March 2010, she spearheaded a huge victory for government openness and accountability, but it was only a first step. Now the state's checkbook will be online so taxpayers can see how their money is spent. As Governor, Denish will oversee the implementation of the Sunshine Portal and then push for its expansion so it also includes a statewide See-Click-Fix function where citizens can report waste or issues that need immediate attention.

• Chief performance and accountability officer: Denish would consolidate all agency inspectors general and fraud and abuse staff in one Office of Government Accountability led by a Chief Performance and Accountability Officer. This person will answer to the Governor and be charged with eliminating fraud, waste and abuse in state government. By taking existing inspector general staff out of their agencies and placing them in an independent office, taxpayers will have an internal watchdog for taxpayer funds that is unbiased and not beholden to departmental personalities or loyalties.
  
  
• Workers compensation reform: Denish would reform the Workers Compensation Administration to allow for a full review of worker's compensation laws and rates, rooting out the inequities that harm New Mexico's employers. For example, worker's compensation rates for office work should not be similar to rates for more dangerous jobs such as oilfield work and construction. Too many small businesses are being taken advantage of by unfair worker's compensation rate structures. Denish would also increase the fraud and abuse investigatory power of the Workman's Compensation Administration.
  

What is MeanMesa's "campaign suggestion?"

Well, there is one area where New Mexicans would actually like to see a government expansion in Santa Fe.  Yes, as a state, we can probably do just fine with substantially fewer political appointees and poorly defined state agencies, but there is an area where most New Mexicans think that the state government can and should do more.

Hire two dozen professional auditors.

During the swan song of the Richardson government, one cheezy scandal after another has emerged.  Everyone from rural dog catchers to school district administrators seems to have been easily able to walk away with thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands or more tax payer dollars and enjoy their ill-gotten gains for months or years before finally being detected.

Granted, the fiscal vampire in New Mexico is squarely based on peccadillos injected into the main legislative budget, and these smaller infractions have not represented the mortal blow here that similar crimes have caused elsewhere.  Nonetheless, these little outrages are the fodder of  some serious electoral discontent.  They are the "flash points" which New Mexico voters struggling to put food on the table or pay rent find the most egregious and insulting.

So, solve it.

This is an excellent place to assign state resources ($) and a great plank for a state campaign platform.  Further, not too far below the ruffled feathers concerning the money is the questionable quality of candidates the state Democratic party is encouraging to run for office.  After all, most of these petty thieves had to get selected and elected at some point in the past.

That selection and election process originates in the state Democratic party.  If we want New Mexicans to be comfortable and confident of their elected officials, we must consider providing higher quality choices when it comes to ballot time.

Vote Republican! - Everything is Either Not True or It Doesn't Matter

Now, MeanMesa has never hesitated to note the BIG THINGS that were done to the country under the unelected autocracy. Of course, the W's Crime Family emptied the Treasury. Of course, we signed the loan to finance a multi-trillion dollar tax cut for the W's closest friends. Of course, the costs of the military adventures in Afghanistan and Iraq would not ever appear on the W's exploding deficit report. Of course, the wasteful Medicare Part D bill, cleverly authored by corporate Pharma lobbyists, would be paid for with even more borrowed money.

We already knew all of this. The problem is not a matter of facts, it is a matter of memory!

Saturated by a multi-billion watt broadcast of egregious media fraud, biased innuendo, endless repetition of dismally "road weary" old one liners -- all decorated by semi-literate "talking points" directed at every hill billy and bigot who would listen, we were supposed to forget the facts and exclusively believe only the latest serving of "overly ripe" neo-con pablum.

Staggering under such a load of Bull Manure, the sheer number of insults and outrages overwhelmed us. We began to focus on immense generalities rather than specific peccadilloes. However, as is usually the case when we deal with politics, the Devil is in the Details.

For example, we can watch the bold face lies of Senators who consistently voted "yes" on every new wealth extraction scheme proposed while the neo-cons were at the helm who are now the "patriotic leadership" complaining about the deficit. Here, MeanMesa will, once again, resurrect an old graphic which, so to speak, places the deficit question back into perspective.

We can also revisit an interesting tidbit from an old MeanMesa post. After looking at the list below (You can read the entire post by following the link, but please come back here to finish this one when you are finished.) did any of us really expect the so-called Health Care Debate to turn out any differently than it has?

Monday, June 15, 2009

Oooh. Health Care and the Senate

http://meanmesa.blogspot.com/2009/06/oooh-health-care-and-senate.html

Top 10 Health Insurance Industry Contributions to Senators
McCain, John (R-AZ) $251,834
Cantor, Eric (R-VA) $113,850
McConnell, Mitch (R-KY) $200,200
Baucus, Max (D-MT) $183,750
Lieberman, Joe (I-CT) $101,400
Chambliss, Saxby (R-GA) $98,600
Collins, Susan (R-ME) $96,500
Kyl, John (R-AZ) $90,450
Warner, Mark (D-VA) $89,700
Hatch, Orrin (R-UT) $85,903
Nelson, Ben (D-NE) $83,300

Top 10 Health Insurance Industry Contributions to Congress
Camp, Dave (R-MI) $112,923
Pomeroy, Earl (D-ND) $104,500
Boehner, John (R-OH) $101,200
Deal, Nathan (R-GA) $100,000
Towns, Edolphus (D-NY) $87,750
Rogers, Mike (R-AL) $74,000
Blunt, Roy (R-MO) $72,800
Ryan, Paul (R-WI) $69,000
Tanner, John (D-TN) $68,500

The Republicans in our government have served their masters well. We're "missing" around $5 trillion dollars after the last episode of their avarice and crookery. The examples cited about the deficit and the health care fraud are only the "tip of the ice burg." An entire volume could be added about the disastrous management of the Iraq Adventure where pallets of US hundred dollar bills were delivered by our military helicopters to unnamed "sympathizers" under the cover of the Viceroy Bremer and multi-billion dollar "emergency no bid contracts" were delivered to Vice President Cheney's Halliburton -- year after year.

Although all of this is painful enough, MeanMesa visitors will be facing mindless neo-cons this November. The Great White Hope of the Republicans is that all the foamy, gaseous blather they have spent so many media dollars pumping into the addled minds of these "supporters" of theirs will carry the day. For the neo-cons the Tea Bagger fiascoes really were a wet dream even though they contained nothing visible which might provide a sensible direction for our country.

To get prepared for the November Campaign, MeanMesa has done a little Google Roaming to patch together a bit of "ammo" for the water cooler wars. What follows is in two parts. This first part will provide a few details from various sources which represent appropriate answers to the "We Want Our Country Back" screamers we will unavoidably encounter.

The second part is something of a departure. It contains an email to the MeanMesa Galactic Headquarters in New Mexico from an old, white bigot named Dick Army and another short video from the President to all the members of Organizing for America. Check out each one. Even the most generous comparison of the choices we will face in November will point anyone who remains undecided to the necessary best choice.

The following information from SLATE includes only the first few lines of each entry. If you would like to know more about any of these matters, follow the link to the entire article or the embedded links in each of the entries.

Bushies Behaving Badly

A guide to GOP scandals.

By Holly Allen, Christopher Beam, and Torie Bosch
Posted Friday, May 11, 2007, at 12:11 PM ET

http://www.slate.com/id/2165980/

Paul Wolfowitz in the World Bank With Nepotism

The World Bank president and "Iraq war architect" allegedly helped his girlfriend get a generous salary package and promotion when she transferred to the State Department.

Federal Employees

in the Department of Education With Corporate Ties

Leading colleges have long received kickbacks for guiding their students to certain loan companies, but a new investigation into the practice has implicated the Department of Education. One department official was suspended for owning stock in a student-loan company called Student Loan Xpress.

Bushies in the Election Assistance Commission With Fraud

The Bush administration and Karl Rove pushed for U.S. attorneys and others to look into voter fraud more thoroughly, alleging that illegal immigrants (and dead people) are casting ballots. A couple of the recently fired U.S. attorneys said that they were pressured by Republican lawmakers to bring voter-fraud cases they didn't think warranted attention, and the president himself allegedly spoke to Alberto Gonzales about U.S. attorneys not pushing hard enough to find-voter fraud cases.

Partisan Hacks in the Press With Bought Agendas

Commentator Armstrong Williams was paid $240,000 by the Department of Education to promote No Child Left Behind, while columnists Michael McManus and Maggie Gallagher got $10,000 and $21,500 respectively from the Department of Health and Human Services to push Bush's Community Healthy Marriage Initiative. After lobbing softballs to President Bush at a press conference, conservative "journalist" (and occasional gay escort) Jeff Gannon was accused of being a plant.

Bernard Kerik

in the Department of Homeland Security With the Nanny

…and the Publisher…and the Mob…

In 2004, Bush tapped former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik to head the Department of Homeland Security. The nomination fell through when it emerged that Kerik's nanny was an illegal immigrant. He also had an extramarital affair with publishing dynamo Judith Regan in an apartment donated as a rest stop for 9/11 workers, and he did business with the allegedly mob-linked Interstate Industrial Corp.

Karl Rove in the White House With the Delete Key

White House officials allegedly used Republican National Committee e-mail accounts to conduct government business. As many as 5 million messages relating to official business may be lost because users were deleting them, in violation of White House rules requiring that e-mails be saved. Karl Rove says he thought the e-mails were being saved, but some allege that the deletions were a deliberate attempt to keep things off the official record.

Lester Crawford

in the Food and Drug Administration With Tainted Stocks

Former FDA Commissioner Lester Crawford recently pleaded guilty to conflict of interest and false reporting for owning stock in companies he oversaw as part of his FDA duties. He was fined $90,000 and sentenced to three years of probation. While heading the FDA, he owned stock in Pepsico Inc., Sysco Corp., and Embrex Inc., a drug company. His brief tenure was marked by debates about emergency contraception—he allegedly tried to keep Plan B from receiving over-the-counter status, contradicting the advice of an FDA expert panel.

Eavesdroppers

at the National Security Agency With the Wiretaps

After 9/11, the National Security Agency started eavesdropping without warrants on phone calls between the United States and overseas parties. Alberto Gonzales defended the wiretaps, but a federal judge ruled that the practice violated both the Constitution and the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Bureaucrats at Walter Reed With Cockroaches

After the Washington Post ran a series detailing the moldy, roach-infested conditions and incompetent bureaucracy of Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Sen. Charles Schumer called the scandal the "Katrina of 2007." Army Secretary Francis Harvey removed the hospital's commander, only to be fired himself the next day. Ten days later, the Army surgeon general was gone, too.

Jack Abramoff on K Street With the Wallet

In January 2006, Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty to conspiracy, fraud, and tax evasion. Between entertaining congressmen with golf junkets to Scotland, trading votes for dinners at his D.C. restaurant, and fleecing Indian tribes, there aren't many white-collar crimes Abramoff hasn't committed. He was sentenced to five years and 10 months in federal prison for wire fraud, but might get out sooner. (Abramoff's misdeeds spawned a massive corruption investigation that is still ongoing.)

Steven Griles

in the Department of the Interior With the "Special Relationship"The former deputy interior secretary pleaded guilty to lying about his relationship with Jack Abramoff. Griles initially told the Senate Indian affairs committee that "there was no special relationship for Mr. Abramoff in my office."

Scooter Libby in the White House With the Faulty Memory

After retired diplomat Joe Wilson disputed President Bush's State of the Union claim that Iraq had sought uranium from Niger, an administration official (later revealed to be Richard Armitage) leaked the classified CIA status of Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame. The leak led to a federal grand jury investigation examining the roles of, among others, Karl Rove and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, then-chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney. Libby was indicted and convicted, but not for the leak. Rather, his crimes were perjury, obstruction of justice, and lying to the FBI. His sentencing is set for June 5.

Alberto Gonzales in the Justice Department With the Pink Slips

In March 2007, eight fired U.S. attorneys claimed that they were let go for political rather than performance-related reasons. A subsequent congressional investigation led to the resignations of Kyle Sampson, chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, and Monica Goodling, the AG's senior counsel. Gonzales initially denied his involvement in the firings, but documents released to reporters indicated he had attended meetings on the subject.

John Doolittle in Congress With the Campaign Donations

The FBI raided the home of California Rep. John Doolittle in April 2007 as part of the Jack Abramoff probe. Doolittle reportedly accepted $14,000 in campaign donations from Abramoff—and a lot more than that from Abramoff's clients. Doolittle's wife, Julie, also runs a consulting business with ties to Abramoff.

Mark Foley in Congress With the Instant Messages

Florida Rep. Mark Foley resigned amid revelations that he exchanged sexually explicit e-mails and instant messages with former congressional pages. Foley claimed he never actually had sex with any of the minors, and it's still unclear whether he broke any laws. The flap also raised questions about why Republicans, particularly House Speaker Dennis Hastert, didn't act on earlier reports of Foley's inappropriate behavior.

Halliburton in Iraq With the Defense Contracts

Halliburton Co., the multinational energy company helmed by Dick Cheney between 1995 and 2000, scored lucrative contracts to provide logistical support for U.S. troops in Iraq and elsewhere, netting the firm $20 billion over the past five years. Spokespersons for the company have said that Cheney played no role in helping secure the contracts. In 2004, the Justice Department began investigating whether a subsidiary of Halliburton offered a $180 million bribe to secure a contract to build a natural-gas plant in Nigeria back when Cheney was CEO.

Tom DeLay in Congress With the Corporate Funds

Rep. Tom DeLay, the former House majority leader known as "the Hammer," resigned in June 2006 after a Texas grand jury indicted him for financing Republican candidates in state elections with corporate money—a violation of Texas campaign-finance law. DeLay has not been charged in connection with the Jack Abramoff case, but two of his aides pleaded guilty to crimes uncovered by the Abramoff probe. DeLay also took multiple foreign trips on lobbyists' dimes. (Use this handy scorecard to keep track of the DeLay scandals.)

Bushies in NASA With the Weird Science

NASA scientist James E. Hansen accused Bush appointees of censoring global-warming info and limiting press access to top climate experts. George C. Deutsch, a 24-year-old writer and editor for NASA who had worked for Bush's 2004 campaign, resigned for lying on his résumé. Deutsch also made NASA Web masters add the word theory to every mention of the big bang.

The GOP Leadership in Congress With Dirty Money

In 2003, Rep. Nick Smith said another congressman offered to donate $100,000 to his son's campaign fund if he voted in favor of a Medicare bill. Smith later recanted, saying there was no bribe—he was just pressured into the vote so his son would get an endorsement. In 2004, the House ethics committee admonished Tom DeLay for violating House rules by offering a quid pro quo and Rep. Candice Miller for appearing to make "threats of retaliation" by saying that Smith's son would never get elected if Smith didn't vote for the Medicare bill.

Bored Soldiers in Iraq With the Cameras

Soldiers at Abu Ghraib took pictures of prisoners being mistreated. Several of those involved were court-martialed, and some were sent to prison, but they claimed they were acting on orders to soften up the prisoners for interrogation. The highest-ranking person to be held accountable was Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, who headed the Army Reserve unit running the prison. She was demoted to the rank of colonel but claims she was merely a "scapegoat." Some critics wondered whether then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld knew about the scandal; Rumsfeld offered his resignation to Bush twice, but the president didn't accept it.

Randall Tobias in the Massage Parlor With Scented Oils

Tobias, head of the Bush administration's foreign-aid programs, resigned from his post after his name appeared on an escort service's client list. The service's proprietor, the so-called "D.C. Madam," is under investigation for running a prostitution ring. Tobias has denied receiving any illicit services—he just phoned "to have gals come over to the condo to give me a massage."

Rick Renzi in Congress With the Land Deal

Federal prosecutors are investigating a land deal that may have benefited a former business partner of Arizona Rep. Rick Renzi. When his chief of staff phoned the Arizona prosecutor to discuss the investigation, Renzi got swept up in the U.S. attorneys scandal, too. Most recently, the FBI raided his wife's insurance business, prompting Renzi to step down from two House committees.

Duke Cunningham in Congress With the Candlestick

California Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham resigned his congressional seat in late 2005 after pleading guilty to accepting $2.4 million in bribes from defense contractors. Among the gifts he received were Persian rugs, a secondhand Rolls-Royce, access to a contractor's boat, and silver candlesticks worth $5,600. He is currently serving an eight-and-a-half-year prison sentence.

Dusty Foggo in the CIA With the Bribes

The same probe that sent Duke Cunningham to jail led to the indictment of Kyle "Dusty" Foggo. The former CIA executive director allegedly accepted bribes from Brent Wilkes, a high-school friend who also happened to be a defense contractor and a major Republican donor. Foggo, who was appointed in 2004 by then-CIA Director Porter Goss, stands accused of granting Wilkes contracts in return for lavish gifts, including a one-week stay at a Scottish castle. Revelations of Foggo's sexual proclivities have done little to burnish his reputation, either.

The following information from Badmouth has also had the videos for each entry deleted for this blog posting. You can follow the link to the entire article if you would like to watch these little urine soaked hypocrits vomit out the lies connected with each of their stories. They expect the hill billies to overlook all of this, returning to the "family values" idea in time to vote them in -- again.

Top Five Republican Gay Sex Scandals

August 31st, 2007 by John Marcotte

Pink elephants on parade

Q: How many Republican politicians can you fit in the closet?
A: Evidently, all of them.

It’s gone past ridiculous and straight to the absurd. At this point, it appears your average public restroom has more gay Republicans in it than clean handtowels. The “holier-than-thou” party has spent an awful lot of time on their knees this past year, but they haven’t been doing a lot of praying.

I have no theories why this is the case, other than I think that being gay is the way God made some people and being conservative is a choice, and almost every Republican I’ve met thinks the opposite.

But why question it? The larger point is that if you enjoy seeing politicians destroyed by their own hypocrisy, it’s been a very, very good year. So I give you the top five republican gay sex scandals of the past 12 months.

---

Mark Foley

U.S. Representative

(September 28, 2006)

The Crime: Sending sexually laced, gramatically challenged instant messages and e-mails to teenaged boys in the Congressional page program for more than 10 years.

The Hypocrisy: Chairman of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children. One of the foremost opponents of child pornography in the Senate.

The Quote: “get a ruler and measure it for me”

---

Ted Haggard

Leader of the National Association of Evangelicals

(November 2006)

The Crime: Paying male prostitutes for sex and snorting crystal meth.

The Hypocrisy: A powerful force in the evangelical movement, Haggard participated in weekly meetings with President George Bush and top advisors where he gave spiritual advice. He taught that homosexuality was an abomination and actively lobbied against gay rights.

The Quote: “I did not have a homosexual relationship with a man in Denver.”

---

Larry Craig

U.S. Senator
Senate Liason for Mitt Romney’s Presidential Campaign

(June 11, 2007)

The Crime: Soliciting sex from an undercover cop in an airport bathroom

The Hypocrisy: Craig twice voted against adding the words “sexual orientation” to the federal hate crimes law. Craig also voted to give states the right to refuse to recognize gay marriage–a right they already had, but the Senator wanted to really, really prove he didn’t like gay people.

The Quote: “I am not gay, I don’t do these kinds of things.”

---

Bob Allen

Member of the Florida House of Representatives
Florida Chairman of John McCain’s Presidential Campaign

(July 11, 2007)

The Crime: Offering an undercover cop $20 to allow Allen to blow him in a men’s room in a public park. After being arrested, Allen tried to explain that he only offered to blow the cop because the cop was a “burly black man” and he “didn’t want to become a statistic.”

The Hypocrisy: Allen was one of 21 Florida legislators to sign Gov. Jeb Bush’s friend-of-the-court brief supporting the state’s ban on gays adopting children, and he co-sponsored an unsuccessful bill that would have enhanced penalties for “offenses involving unnatural and lascivious acts” such as indecent exposure.

The Quote: “I certainly wasn’t there to have sex with anybody and certainly wasn’t there to exchange money for it.”

Glenn Murphy Jr.

National Chairman of the Young Republicans
Chairman of the Clark County Republican Party

(July 28, 2007)

The Crime: Murphy got a fellow Young Republican drunk and then spent the night at his house. The other young man woke up in the middle of the night to find Murphy giving him mouth-to-penis resuscitation. After this incident, a 1998 sexual battery report came to light in which Murphy was alleged to have done the exact same thing.

The Hypocrisy: Murphy was a well-paid political consultant for Republican candidates and often advised them to use gay marriage as a wedge issue to paint their opponents as out of touch with traditional values.

The Quote: “I was in the Sound of Music in High School…don’t ask” (from his now-defunct Myspace page.)

Finally, we can take a look at an excerpt from the Huffington Post which might help explain just how incredibly obstructionist the Republicans have been while they relentlessly pursued their "We Hate Having A Black Man in the White House" program.

The GOP's Stealth Scandal: A Government Shutdown (Part Deux)

Rob Diamond

Navy Veteran and Security Fellow with the Truman National Security Project

Posted: February 17, 2010 06:20 PM

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rob-diamond/the-gops-stealth-scandal_b_466449.html

Now to be fair, it is not the entire Congress, just the Senate. The House has actually passed a bill on almost every one of these important topics. But the Senate has come to a complete and total stop, and it is due to one thing and one thing only--the Republican Party has made the scandalous decision to shut down the legislative branch in a time of national crisis.

And it is not the first time they have brought things to a halt.

Remember 1995? That was the year when Newt Gingrich and Dick Armey made a calculated political decision to shut down the federal government. Remember why? Because Bill Clinton made Newt sit in the back of Air Force One.

Well, they have done it again. This time, however, the Republicans apparently learned something from their failed attempts in 1995. They learned that they do not actually have to shut down the government. Rather, they figured out that all they have to do is get every Republican to vote "no" on every single thing that comes to the Senate floor--regardless of its importance to the nation's health and recovery. Do that and guess what? Our system of government stops working.

Mission accomplished.

Congratulations to the GOP. After 221 years of success, you have officially broken the legislative branch's ability to accomplish its most basic function--produce legislation to tackle the most pressing issues facing the country. Forget about the will of the people. Who cares about that? Election results? Majority rule? That is silly stuff better left in high school civics textbooks.

And now, for part two, the Dick Army email. BTW, Freedom Works is the corporate front group which allowed all the very worst players to funnel their corporate dollars to the Tea Baggers while the Fox Fart News kept insisting that it was a "grass roots effort."

Hello MeanMesa,

This week I watched the president's speech announcing his intent to jam through his takeover of America’s health care system in the next few weeks. He doesn't want to hear any more ideas from conservatives about how to approach health care reform and he doesn’t care about the millions of grassroots Americans who have already massed in opposition to his plan. He has declared the debate to be over and now it’s his way or the highway.

And because Obama can’t get his liberal allies in Congress to pass his socialist health care takeover through traditional means, even with a record Democrat majority, he has worked with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to concoct a scheme that will allow them to jam ObamaCare into law against bipartisan opposition and the clearly demonstrated opposition of the American people with just 50 votes rather than the usual 60 in the Senate. The process is called "reconciliation" and it is the exact same procedural trickery that Obama himself has opposed using for health care in the past.

To stop the Obama-Pelosi-Reid health care takeover FreedomWorks is launching the single-largest online mobilization of pro-freedom grassroots advocates in history and I need your help TODAY to ensure its success. 

Through our online petition at NoHealthCareReconciliation.com, we are working to gather over 1,000,000 signatures in a matter of days that will put legislators on notice that grassroots America does not support ObamaCare and in particular resents the back-door parliamentary trick of reconciliation to pass it. We will deliver these signatures directly to Members of Congress. 

This will show vulnerable Democrats in both the House and Senate that while they may be in political hot water now; if they go along with Obama in this reconciliation scheme they will face certain defeat in November. This will keep Obama from locking up the support he needs, finally killing ObamaCare once and for all, but again, I need your help to make our strategy work.

First, go to NoHealthCareReconciliation.com and sign the petition.

Second, to meet our ambitious goal of over 1,000,000 signatures, we have to reach an unprecedented number of conservative activists. You can help us immediately by forwarding this email to at least 10 others you know who oppose ObamaCare and who will want to join our effort. 

Third, we need resources to reach more people and support our online marketing campaign that will highlight the petition on the top conservative websites on the internet. With just a $25 contribution, we can recruit as many as 40 new people to sign the No Health Care Reconciliation petition. With your $50 contribution, we can enlist an additional 100 signatures. And your $100 contributionwill help us generate 250 new signatures! 

CLICK HERE TO SUPPORT OUR ONLINE CAMPAIGN TO GATHER 1,000,000 SIGNATURES AGAINST OBAMACARE! 

Chad, we have come so far in this fight and through the dedication of true patriots like you, we have kept the socialist nightmare of ObamaCare at bay. But the stakes have never been higher. 

Now is the time to come together as part of this final push against Obama, Pelosi, Reid and their desperate play to takeover Americans’ health care. With the unprecedented outcry that over 1,000,000 signatures on our NoHealthCareReconciliation.com petition will generate, I am confident we can win and with your help I know we will. 

Sincerely, 

Dick Armey

Chairman, FreedomWorks

P.S. We need to get to our goal of over 1,000,000 signatures in just a matter of days to send a clear message that ObamaCare and this desperate parliamentary trick that is being used to try and pass it will not stand. Support our campaign with your generous contribution today and help us realize our goal!

After Wednesday's bold announcement on the path forward on health reform, President Obama recorded a message specifically for Organizing for America supporters.

I hope you'll watch it.

And once you watch, please add your name to the growing list of volunteers committing to working with the President during the final march for reform. Watch the video here:

http://my.barackobama.com/PresidentsMessage

Thanks,

Mitch

Mitch Stewart
Director
Organizing for America

MeanMesa visitors -- remember You Are Citizens!