Just Think - News Archive

GOP flier: Don't trust Florida voting machines
Republican Gov. Jeb Bush is irked by mailing telling voters to avoid touch-screen technology.

By Brent Kallestad
Associated Press
July 30, 2004


TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Republican Gov. Jeb Bush has tried for months to convince Florida voters that touch-screen voting machines are reliable. His own party apparently hasn't gotten the message.

The state GOP paid for a flier critical of the new technology and sent it to some voters in South Florida, where a primary election is scheduled next month.

"The new electronic voting machines do not have a paper ballot to verify your vote in case of a recount," the message states. "Make sure your vote counts. Order your absentee ballot today."

That's what Democrats and a coalition of civil rights groups have been saying in legal challenges, trying to force the state to provide a paper trail in case the touch-screen machines malfunction.

"It is insulting that the leadership's own party would believe that the system is broke," said Sharon Lettman Pacheco, spokeswoman for People for the American Way.

The machines are being used in 15 of the state's largest counties.

The governor, unaware of the mailing beforehand, wasn't happy.

"I think he was disappointed that there would be any message that's out there that criticizes these machines," Bush spokeswoman Jill Bratina said.

President Bush, whose picture was featured on the GOP flier, wasn't happy either. "We did not authorize the use of the president's image," said campaign spokesman Reed Dickens. "It was inappropriate. I speak for the president, and it does not represent the views of the president."

Earlier this week, state election officials reported that a computer crash erased detailed records from Miami-Dade County's first widespread use of the touch-screen machines in the 2002 gubernatorial primaries and other elections.

Florida's voting system has been under scrutiny since 2000, when it took five weeks of legal maneuvering and some recounting before Republican George W. Bush was declared president over Democrat Al Gore

Associated Press
30 July 2004
U.S. Economy Slows Dramatically in Spring
By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON - The U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of just 3 percent in the spring, a dramatic slowdown from the rapid pace of the past year, as consumer spending fell to the weakest rate since the slowdown of 2001, the government reported Friday.

The Commerce Department said that the gross domestic product, the country's total output of goods and services, slowed sharply in the April-June quarter from a 4.5 percent growth rate in the first three months of the year.

The size of the slowdown caught economists by surprise. Many had been looking for GDP growth to come in around 3.8 percent in the second quarter. Even that would have been a sharp deceleration for an economy that had been growing at a 5.4 percent annual rate through the year ending in March.

It raised the issue of whether the economy, which Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said last week had encountered a "soft patch" in June, could be in danger of seeing growth falter even more in coming quarters.

In one piece of good news, inflation pressures eased with a key GDP inflation gauge that excludes energy and food rising at an annual rate of just 1.8 percent in the second quarter, down from a 2.1 percent increase in the first quarter.

President Bush is counting on strong economic growth to generate sizable gains in employment in coming months to give voters a good feeling about the economy as they go to the polls on Nov. 2.

However, Democratic challenger John Kerry contends that Bush is pursuing a failed economic policy that has produced the worst jobs record of any president since Herbert Hoover and is subjecting Americans to a "middle class squeeze" of falling wages and rising costs for health care and education.

The 3 percent GDP growth rate in the second quarter was the slowest growth since the economy was expanding at a lackluster 1.9 percent rate in the first quarter of 2003.

Over the next four quarters, the economy tuned in a sizzling performance with GDP growth rates of 4.1 percent in the second quarter of 2003 and 7.4 percent in the third quarter, a pace that was the fastest in 20 years, and 4.2 percent in the fourth quarter and 4.5 percent in the first quarter of this year.

The slowdown in the second quarter stemmed from a sharp slowing in consumer spending which rose at an annual rate of just 1 percent, the smallest increase since a similar 1 percent rise in the second quarter of 2001, when the economy was slumping.

All of the GDP figures from 2001 through 2003 were revised with Friday's release as part of an annual revision to the numbers to reflect new sources data.

Those revisions changed the annual GDP rates only slightly but did alter significantly the quarterly GDP changes. There are no longer three consecutive declining quarters of GDP in 2001 during the period that the National Bureau of Economic Research has formally ruled that the country was in a recession. Instead, the GDP demonstrated a sawtooth pattern of a decline followed by a quarter of growth.

The weak growth in consumer spending reflected a big drop in auto sales and other durable goods which fell at an annual rate of 2.5 percent in the second quarter.

Offsetting the weakness in consumer spending, business investment and residential housing continued to race ahead during the quarter.

But consumer spending is critical, given that it accounts for two-thirds of total economic activity. Many economists believe the slowdown in consumer demand will be temporary. They point to strong job growth in recent months and rising consumer confidence. They believe that will provide support for a rebound in consumer spending in the months ahead.

The Federal Reserve began raising interest rates on June 30 and Greenspan indicated that further rate hikes will likely come at a gradual pace as long as inflation does not threaten to get out of hand.

NY Times
July 28, 2004
Lost Record '02 Florida Vote Raises '04 Concern

By ABBY GOODNOUGH

MIAMI, July 27 - Almost all the electronic records from the first widespread use of touch-screen voting in Miami-Dade County have been lost, stoking concerns that the machines are unreliable as the presidential election draws near.

The records disappeared after two computer system crashes last year, county elections officials said, leaving no audit trail for the 2002 gubernatorial primary. A citizens group uncovered the loss this month after requesting all audit data from that election.

A county official said a new backup system would prevent electronic voting data from being lost in the future. But members of the citizens group, the Miami-Dade Election Reform Coalition, said the malfunction underscored the vulnerability of electronic voting records and wiped out data that might have shed light on what problems, if any, still existed with touch-screen machines here. The group supplied the results of its request to The New York Times.

"This shows that unless we do something now - or it may very well be too late - Florida is headed toward being the next Florida," said Lida Rodriguez-Taseff, a lawyer who is the chairwoman of the coalition.

After the disputed 2000 presidential election eroded confidence in voting machines nationwide, and in South Florida in particular, the state moved quickly to adopt new technology, and in many places touch-screen machines. Voters in 15 Florida counties - covering more than half the state's electorate - will use the machines in November, but reports of mishaps and lost votes in smaller elections over the last two years have cast doubt on their reliability.

Like "black boxes" on airplanes, the electronic voting records on touch-screen machines list everything that happens from boot-up to shutdown, documenting in an "event log" when every ballot was cast. The records also include "vote image reports" that show for whom each ballot was cast. Elections officials have said that using this data for recounts is unnecessary because touch-screen machines do not allow human error. But several studies have suggested the machines themselves might err - for instance, by failing to record some votes.

After the 2002 primary, between Democratic candidates Janet Reno and Bill McBride, the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida conducted a study that found that 8 percent of votes, or 1,544, were lost on touch-screen machines in 31 precincts in Miami-Dade County. The group considered that rate of what it called "lost votes" unusually high.

Voting problems plagued Miami-Dade and Broward Counties on that day, when touch-screen machines took much longer than expected to boot up, dozens of polling places opened late and poorly trained poll workers turned on and shut down the machines incorrectly. A final vote tally - which narrowed the margin first reported between the two candidates by more than 3,000 votes - was delayed for a week.

Ms. Reno, who ultimately lost to Mr. McBride by just 4,794 votes statewide, considered requesting a recount at the time but decided against it.

Seth Kaplan, a spokesman for the Miami-Dade elections division, said on Tuesday that the office had put in place a daily backup procedure so that computer crashes would not wipe out audit records in the future.

The news of the lost data comes two months after Miami-Dade elections officials acknowledged a malfunction in the audit logs of touch-screen machines. The elections office first noticed the problem in spring 2003, but did not publicly discuss it until this past May.

The company that makes Miami-Dade's machines, Election Systems and Software of Omaha, Neb., has provided corrective software to all nine Florida counties that use its machines. One flaw occurred when the machines' batteries ran low and an error in the program that reported the problem caused corruption in the machine's event log, said Douglas W. Jones, a computer science professor at the University of Iowa whom Miami-Dade County hired to help solve the problem.

In a second flaw, the county's election system software was misreading the serial numbers of the voting machines whose batteries had run low, he said.

The flaws would not have affected vote counts, he said - only the backup data used for audits after an election. And because a new state rule prohibits manual recounts in counties that use touch-screen voting machines except in the event of a natural disaster, there would likely be no use for the data anyway.

State officials have said that they created the rule because under state law, the only reason for a manual recount is to determine "voter intent" in close races when, for example, a voter appears to choose two presidential candidates or none.

Touch-screen machines, officials say, are programmed not to record two votes, and if no vote is recorded, they say, it means the voter did not cast one.

But The Sun-Sentinel of Fort Lauderdale, in a recent analysis of the March presidential primary, reported that voters in counties using touch-screen machines were six times as likely to record no vote as were voters in counties using optical-scan machines, which read markings on paper ballots.

The A.C.L.U. of Florida and several other voting rights groups have sued to overturn the recount rule, saying it creates unequal treatment of voters. Counties that use optical-scan machines can conduct recounts, though only in extremely close races.

Mr. Kaplan says that the system crashes had erased data from other elections besides Ms. Reno's, the most recent being municipal elections in November 2003. Under Florida law, ballot records from elections for state and local office need be kept for only a year. For federal races, the records must be kept for 22 months after an election is certified. It was not immediately clear what the consequences might be of breaching that law.

Mr. Kaplan said the backup system was added last December.

An August 2002 report from Miami-Dade County auditors to David Leahy, then the county elections supervisor, recommended that all data from touch-screen machines be backed up on CD's or elsewhere. Professor Jones said it was an obvious practice long considered essential in the corporate world.

"Any naïve observer who knows about computer system management and who knows there is a requirement that all the records be stored for a period of months," Professor Jones said, "would say you should obviously do that with computerized voting systems."

Buddy Johnson, the elections supervisor in Hillsborough County, which is one of the state's largest counties and which also uses touch-screen machines, said his office still had its data from the 2002 elections on separate hard drives.

Mr. Kaplan of the Miami-Dade elections office could not immediately explain on Tuesday afternoon the system crashes in 2003.

Martha Mahoney, a University of Miami law professor and member of the election reform group, said she requested the 2002 audit data because she had never heard an explanation of the supposedly lost votes that the A.C.L.U. documented after the Reno-McBride election.

"People can never be sure their vote was recorded the way it was cast, but these are the best records we've got," she said. "And now they're not there."

Bush, CIA at Odds on Iran
The president's interest in a possible 9/11 link goes against the agency leader's assessment. They also disagree over intelligence reforms.

By Edwin Chen and Greg Miller
Times Staff Writers
July 20, 2004

WASHINGTON — President Bush said Monday that his administration was investigating possible links between Iran and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a statement that distanced the president from acting CIA Director John McLaughlin, who had downplayed a possible connection a day earlier.

"As to direct connections with Sept. 11, we're digging into the facts to determine if there was one," Bush said of Iran.

In a second sign of a potential rift between the White House and the intelligence agency, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan told reporters that McLaughlin was not speaking for the president when he said it was unnecessary to create a new, more powerful intelligence czar, despite faulty information before the Iraq war.

"The president is very much open to ideas that build upon the reforms that we're already implementing," McClellan said. "I think [McLaughlin] was expressing his view."

McClellan's comments indicated that the White House was receptive to the idea of fundamental reform in the intelligence community, rather than the "modest changes" McLaughlin had endorsed in an appearance on a Sunday talk show.

The White House-CIA differences emerged as the independent Sept. 11 commission prepared to release its final report Thursday on the 2001 terrorist attacks. The report is expected to contain recommendations that could touch off a contentious drive toward reforming the nation's intelligence-gathering bureaucracy.

The independent commission is widely expected to report that some of the Sept. 11 hijackers had traveled freely between Iran and Afghanistan during 2000 and 2001. Last month, the panel's chairman, former New Jersey Gov. Thomas H. Kean, said in a television interview that Al Qaeda had "a lot more active contacts, frankly, with Iran and with Pakistan than there were with Iraq."

Iran's emerging prominence in the Sept. 11 investigations looms as a potentially difficult issue for the White House, because it could raise new questions about why Bush led a war against Iraq but so far has taken a distinctly less bellicose stance toward Iran.

McClellan argued that the United States indeed had been "confronting" the threat from Iran, which Bush in 2002 listed, along with Iraq and North Korea, as part of an "axis of evil." He added, however, that Iraq was "a unique situation" because it had invaded its neighbors and had possessed and used weapons of mass destruction.

McClellan also said the White House was eager to learn what the Sept. 11 commission knew about any connections between the hijackers and Iran. "Apparently it's something that's evolved over time," he said.

The Iranian government has denied knowledge or involvement in the Sept. 11 plot.

McLaughlin had said Sunday that although "about eight" of the Sept. 11 hijackers may have passed through Iran before their mission, the CIA had "no evidence that there is some sort of official connection between Iran and 9/11."

Bush on Monday noted McLaughlin's comments, but said: "We will continue to look and see if the Iranians were involved."

The president also renewed his accusation that Iran's rulers were "harboring Al Qaeda leadership," and urged Tehran anew to dismantle its nuclear weapons program. The United States has asked Iran to turn over Al Qaeda members to their respective countries.

The president's spokesman dismissed weekend media reports that Bush may delay naming a new CIA director until after the Nov. 2 election as having "no basis in fact."

In brief remarks to reporters after meeting with Chilean President Ricardo Lagos, Bush said that he was "still taking a good, hard look" at potential successors to George J. Tenet as CIA director. Tenet left the agency July 11.

As for the reforming the intelligence-gathering apparatus, the president said he was looking forward to seeing the Sept. 11 commission's recommendations.

"They share the same desires I share, which is to make sure that the president and the Congress get the best possible intelligence," Bush said.

"Some of the reforms, I think, are necessary: more human intelligence, better ability to listen or to see things, and better coordination amongst the variety of intelligence-gathering services," he said. "And so we'll look at all their recommendations, and I will comment upon that, having studied what they say."

The commission is expected to recommend the creation of a single Cabinet-level position overseeing the 15 agencies that make up the nation's intelligence-gathering community.

McLaughlin acknowledged on "Fox News Sunday" that "a good argument" could be made for such consolidation, but added that it was unnecessary because the CIA already had taken steps toward reform since Sept. 11 and because a restructuring would impose additional bureaucracy on the system.

White House officials have described McLaughlin as a capable leader, but have also indicated that they do not see him as a permanent replacement.

That may be in part because McLaughlin was in a senior position at the agency during a stretch that included the failure to prevent the Sept. 11 attacks and the erroneous assessments that Iraq had stockpiles of biological and chemical weapons and had restarted its nuclear weapons program.

But it also appears that the professorial McLaughlin, who came up through the analytical side of the CIA, doesn't have the sort of rapport with Bush that the backslapping, gregarious Tenet did.

An anecdote in a recent book by Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward describes McLaughlin giving a key briefing to Bush and other senior White House officials on the evidence against Iraq before the war. Bush was unimpressed by the presentation and complained that the evidence was weak, prompting Tenet to call the case against Iraq a "slam dunk."

McClellan said Monday that McLaughlin was "someone who is very capable and is doing a good job at the CIA."

(CBS) USA Today has dropped plans to have conservative author Ann Coulter write a daily column from the Democratic convention. The newspaper dropped Coulter in a dispute over the first column she had written about the Democrats.

"It was just differences over editing of a fairly ordinary kind," USA Today Editorial Page Editor Brian Gallagher told Editor & Publisher. "We had some different conceptions of what the column should be, we tried to work them out and when we couldn't, we decided the best course of action was for us to go our own ways."

Jonah Goldberg, a conservative who writes for the National Review, will replace Coulter.

"USA Today doesn't like my 'tone,' humor, sarcasm, etc., which raises the intriguing question of why they hired me to write for them," Coulter said in a statement.

Coulter published the disputed column on her Web site. After writing that cops and pretty girls were her allies at the convention, she had this to say about the women in attendance:

"My pretty-girl allies stick out like a sore thumb amongst the corn-fed, no make-up, natural fiber, no-bra needing, sandal-wearing, hirsute, somewhat fragrant hippie-chick pie wagons they call 'women' at the Democratic National Convention."

Here's how Coulter opened the column: "Here at the Spawn of Satan convention in Boston, conservatives are deploying a series of covert signals to identify one another, much like gay men do. My allies are the ones wearing crosses or American flags. The people sporting shirts emblazoned with the 'F-word' are my opponents."

Bush Invited to 'Fahrenheit' Screening
Associated Press
Tue Jul 27, 7:21 AM ET

CRAWFORD, Texas - Filmmaker Michael Moore is bringing his blockbuster documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11" to President Bush (news - web sites)'s adopted hometown — and has invited the film's star to attend.

When it appeared that no movie theater in the president's home county would show the anti-Bush documentary, Moore promised a copy to the Crawford Peace House, a facility for seminars, meetings, or workshops dedicated to peace.

A theater in Waco picked up the movie last week, but Moore later offered to come to Crawford to introduce his movie and discuss it afterward.

Organizers expect about 1,000 people to attend the show Wednesday night at a football stadium parking; police said demonstrators against the film were also expected.

"I personally think we're just a little town, and it's kind of an invasion in our small town," said Fran Shelton, whose family owns the Crawford Coffee Station. "Everyone's entitled to their opinion, but I'd be happier if he didn't bring it to Crawford."

Moore, on his Web site, invited Bush to attend, saying he wanted a chance to thank him personally for starring in the film. "And let's face it, you've got some of the funniest lines in the film!" he wrote.

A White House representative did not return a call early Tuesday.

Moore's condemnation of Bush's actions regarding the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks recently became the first documentary to top the $100 million mark domestically.

Well, Thursday July 22 was an exciting day for me. I got to meet senators Kerry and Edwards when they arrived in Denver. I was one of the 16 people (all veterans) that met the planes when they landed.

Well, of course the press was there as well, but the "reception line" was 16 veterans.

It was raining and very windy so nobody was very photogenic at the time, but here are some shots of me greeting the senators.

Stocks Tumble as Investors Dump Techs
Reuters
By Elizabeth Lazarowitz

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks tumbled on Wednesday, with technology shares leading the retreat, as fears about slowing growth in corporate profits overshadowed favorable news from Motorola Inc.(NYSE:MOT - news) and Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT - news)

The technology-dominated Nasdaq Composite Index (^IXIC - news), which had rallied on Tuesday, fell more than 2 percent, recording its biggest one-day percentage loss in more than 4 months and its lowest close in nine months.

Solid results from conglomerate United Technologies Corp. (NYSE:UTX - news) and others held up the blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI - news) for much of the day, but the Dow fell into negative territory in a late-day flurry of selling.

"The problem is that so many people are expecting that technology performance can't go up from here," said Brian Pears, head of equity trading at Victory Capital Management. He said the sector's strength in the second half of 2003 will make year-over-year improvement in the months ahead difficult.

Microsoft rose a day after it said it would return more than $75 billion in cash to shareholders over the next four years but ended well below the day's high.

The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) fell 42.70 points, or 2.23 percent, to 1,874.37, its lowest close since Oct. 24, 2003. It posted its biggest percentage loss since March 15.

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) fell 102.94 points, or 1.01 percent, to 10,046.13, its lowest close since May 24. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (^SPX - news) fell 14.79 points, or 1.33 percent, to 1,093.88, its lowest close since May 21.

Trading was heavy, with about 1.7 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange (news - web sites) and 2.1 billion shares on Nasdaq.

Motorola's shares fell more than 7 percent, or $1.22, to $14.87. The company reported its second straight quarter of strong results on Tuesday, but with price competition from its rivals growing increasingly fierce, investors are questioning the sustainability of its growth.

"People are thinking of Motorola as having peaked," said Bernstein & Co. analyst Paul Sagaw, who has an "underperform" rating on the stock.

Federal Reserve (news - web sites) Chairman Alan Greenspan (news - web sites) repeated to a House committee what he told a Senate panel a day earlier that the economy was in a self-sustaining expansion and was generating price increases, but they were not enough to threaten the economy.

United Technologies gave a lift to the blue-chip Dow after posting a 32 percent rise in quarterly earnings, climbing 2 percent, or $2.10, to $92.67.

No. 2 U.S. bank J.P. Morgan, which recently purchased Bank One, also boosted the Dow. The company reported a quarterly loss after setting aside an additional $2.3 billion for legal costs, but an analyst said the company's stock got a boost on relief that the loss was not larger. It rose 1 percent, or 42 cents, to $36.82.

Cellular phone company Nextel Communications Inc. (Nasdaq:NXTL - news) helped pull the Nasdaq lower as investors worried the company's tax rate would increase this year, analysts said. The stock fell $1.54, or 6 percent, to $24.46.

Mercury Interactive Corp. (Nasdaq:MERQ - news), whose software helps companies test and improve technology, posted lower quarterly earnings and forecast that profit for the current quarter could be lower than what Wall Street expected.

It fell $4.80, or 11 percent, to $37.93, weighing on the Nasdaq.

Genetic research company Invitrogen Corp. (Nasdaq:IVGN - news) lowered its revenue outlook due to increased competition, sending its shares plummeting, as the maker of kits for genetic research posted a higher quarterly profit. It was down $14.99, or 23 percent, to $51.16.

Microsoft said after Tuesday's close it planned to buy back its own stock, double its dividend and issue a special one-time dividend.

Shares of Microsoft, the world's largest software maker, gained 54 cents, or 2 percent, to $28.86, after climbing as high as $29.89. About 188 million Microsoft shares changed hands on the Nasdaq, surpassing the 30-day average daily volume of 71.5 million shares. (Additional reporting by Ben Klayman)

It is very easy to understand, and even to predict, this administration's foreign policy.  All you have to do to know what is going on in foreign policy is to read the report by Project for a New American Century (PNAC) that was sent to President Bill Clinton in September 2000.

Here's what the report has to say on page 29:

Over the long term, Iran may well prove as large a threat to U.S. interests in the Gulf as Iraq has. And even should U.S.-Iranian relations improve, retaining forward-based forces in the region would still be an essential element in U.S. security strategy given the longstanding American interests in the region.
Project for a New American Century, Sept 2000

See how easy that is.

Iraq, Iran, and Syria are all targets in this report.  Afghanistan was not, but as we all now know they only went into Afghanistan after they realized that the world wouldn't support an attack on Iraq in retaliation for 9/11.  They don't seem to realize that the world still didn't support it much in 2003 and that the world is showing less and less support for it as time goes on.

For those of you that don't know, ten of the twenty-nine signers of the PNAC report are now serving or have served in the Bush II white house.  Its no wonder that this administration is using that document as its foreign relations bible.

Bush: U.S. Looking Into Whether Iran Involved in 9/11
By Adam Entous
Reuters
 
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites) said on Monday the United States was trying to determine whether Iran was involved in the Sept. 11 plot and accused the government of harboring al Qaeda leaders.

"We want to know all of the facts," Bush said when asked about reports that at least eight of the 19 hijackers passed through Iran before attacking the United States.
 
The commission investigating the attacks will detail links between al Qaeda and Iran in its final report this week, raising new questions about why Bush turned his focus to Iraq (news - web sites) after Sept. 11, 2001. The commission has found more al Qaeda contacts with Iran than with Iraq, officials said.

Bush, at a meeting with Chilean President Ricardo Lagos, quoted acting CIA (news - web sites) director John McLaughlin as saying "there was no direct connect between Iran and the attacks of Sept. 11."

The U.S. intelligence community has been harshly criticized for overstating the Iraqi threat before the war, leading to calls for its overhaul and for the creation of an intelligence czar. White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Bush was willing to consider this step, although McLaughlin Sunday questioned whether it was necessary.

Bush said the United States will continue to look into whether Iran was involved. "As to direct connections with Sept. 11, we're digging into the facts to determine if there was one."

Iran, branded like Iraq by Bush as part of an "axis of evil" that threatens to fuel global terrorism, was "harboring al Qaeda leadership there," the president said. He urged Tehran to have them "turned over to their respective countries" of origin.

"If the Iranians would like to have better relations with the United States there are some things they must do," including halting the country's alleged nuclear weapons program and support for terrorism, Bush said.

IRANIAN BORDER CROSSING

The New York Times reported on Sunday that the Iranian government had ordered its border guards not to stamp the passports of Saudi al Qaeda members moving through Iran after training in Afghanistan (news - web sites).

An Iranian stamp could have made the al Qaeda members subject to additional scrutiny upon entering the United States, U.S. officials said.

Iran acknowledged some of the Sept. 11 attackers may have passed through illegally, but said it had since tightened border controls. It said any attempts to tie the country to al Qaeda, the militant network which carried out the attacks, were part of U.S. election-year "news propaganda."

Bush and members of his administration have focused more attention on disputed Iraqi ties to al Qaeda, and cited those ties in making their case for invading Iraq in 2003.

The Senate Intelligence Committee earlier this month harshly criticized the U.S. intelligence community for overstating the Iraqi threat of weapons of mass destruction before the war.

And a Sept. 11 commission staff report, which is expected to be endorsed in the final report, said there was no evidence that ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) had a "collaborative relationship" with al Qaeda.

On the trail of Bush's missing past
By Jim Spencer
Denver Post columnist
Friday, July 16, 2004
 

No one messed up.

That's what the spokesman for the Defense Finance and Accounting Service in Denver told me.
I had asked him if the agency punished anyone for destroying George W. Bush's Air National Guard pay records.

Destroy is not my word. It's the description the U.S. Department of Defense used to answer an open-records request that sought the truth about allegations that America's self-proclaimed "War President" didn't show up for his own military duty in 1972.

If the president was AWOL from the Air National Guard in the 1970s, nobody in Denver covered for him in the 1990s, insisted Roger Still, the local spokesman for the accounting service.
A one-time restoration project in 1996 and 1997 meant to preserve records, not destroy them, Still said. Washington may have used the word destroyed, but self-destruction was more like it.

Over time, said Still, microfilm of Bush's pay records became "brittle, cracked, bent and chipped." The president's data was among 4,000 individual records that fell apart during a process to attach them to a duplicator and transfer them to more durable acetate.

Those records, said Still, "were no longer readable."

Still likened the microfilm restoration project to the American Film Institute's efforts to preserve old movies.

Still wasn't sure about the science of the transfer process. He did know that all of the old microfilm, including the president's records, was burned.

That is why the government should dig deep to answer questions about this mysterious archival twist.

In 1972, Bush skipped a military physical. That cost him his ability to fly. The White House says this was OK because Bush still served in a "non-flying capacity" in the months for which his pay records were destroyed.

When I asked why the accounting service failed to reveal the destruction of the president's pay records until newspapers forced the revelation under the Freedom of Information Act, Still referred me to National Guard Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke.

Lt. Col. Krenke "very respectfully" informed me that "all questions concerning President Bush's pay records are being referred to the White House."

Meanwhile, I read that there's still a way to determine how many days Bush served on active duty in 1972 by using records kept by the Air Reserve Personnel Center, also here in Denver.

When I called the personnel center about getting hold of those records, a public affairs officer told me to speak to Dan Bartlett. Bartlett is the White House communications director.
Bartlett asked Bryan Whitman, the Defense Department's deputy spokesman, to talk to me.

The buck, it appears, never stops.

Whitman confirmed everything Still said. Whitman added that the missing records - from the first quarter of 1969 to the third quarter of 1972 - were logged by Social Security numbers. No one was sure which individuals were affected, Whitman said.

"It wasn't until there was a specific query" that anyone linked names with Social Security numbers, he explained.

As for the days Bush spent on active duty in 1972, Whitman passed me on to a colonel at the Pentagon who only wanted to be identified as a "spokesman."

But he assured me George W. Bush had accumulated enough days of service to meet his Air National Guard obligations in 1972.

Gosh, I hope so.

Imagine how Americans would feel if the "War President" skipped Air National Guard meetings after he enlisted in the Guard to escape service in Vietnam.

Think how hypocritical that would look compared with the president's recent policies, which have placed many current Guard members in combat in Iraq.

Those men and women face consequences Dubya never would have faced in 1972.

Even if he did show up for duty.

Philippine Troops Start Leaving Iraq, Allies Upset
Fri Jul 16,10:59 AM ET
Reuters
By Dean Yates

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The Philippines began pulling troops out of Iraq Friday to save the life of a Filipino hostage, ignoring calls from the United States and other allies not to bow to kidnappers' demands.

Diplomats in Baghdad said a headless corpse found in the Tigris River was probably that of a Bulgarian hostage killed by militants linked to al Qaeda ally Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi. Hopes of finding a second Bulgarian alive were fading, they said.

Speaking on television, Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Delia Albert said all of Manila's small force would leave soon.

"The Philippine government has recalled the head of the Philippine humanitarian contingent in Iraq. He is leaving Iraq today with 10 members of the Philippine humanitarian contingent," Albert said. The rest would follow shortly.

All the troops had been scheduled to leave Aug. 20, but that date was brought forward to satisfy Islamic militants threatening to behead truck driver Angelo de la Cruz.

Thursday, Iraq's interim prime minister urged Manila to hold firm as he announced the formation of a domestic spy agency to "annihilate" the insurgents launching daily attacks.

Freed Swede Says Was Tortured at Guantanamo
Wed Jul 14, 2004 05:20 AM ET
Reuters

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - A Swede released from Guantanamo Bay last week said he had been tortured by exposure to freezing cold, noise and bright lights and chained during his 2-1/2-year imprisonment.
 
Mehdi Ghezali, the son of an Algerian-born immigrant, told Swedish media in interviews published or aired Wednesday that he was interrogated almost every day at the U.S. naval base on Cuban soil.
 
The 25-year-old man, who was arrested in Pakistan where he says he was studying Islam, was released on July 8 after pressure from Sweden.
 
Ghezali told Dagens Nyheter daily and Swedish public radio he had cooperated for the first six months but stopped talking when his interrogators kept asking the same questions.
In April the military changed their tactics, he said.
 
"They put me in the interrogation room and used it as a refrigerator. They set the temperature to minus degrees so it was terribly cold and one had to freeze there for many hours -- 12 to 14 hours one had to sit there, chained," he said, adding that he had partially lost the feeling in one foot since then.
 
Ghezali said he was also deprived of sleep, chained for long periods in painful positions, and exposed to bright flashes of light in a darkened room and loud music and noise.
 
"They forced me down with chained feet. Then they took away the chains from the hands, pulled the arms under the legs and chained them hard again. I could not move," he said.
 
After several hours his feet were swollen and his whole body was aching. "The worst was in the back and the legs," he said.
 
Ghezali said he went Pakistan to study Islam in August 2001, before the September 11 attacks which triggered President Bush's war on terrorism and the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan.
He said he was visiting a friend in the Afghan town of Jalalabad near the Pakistani border when the U.S. invasion started. He decided to return to Pakistan when he heard that villagers were selling foreigners to U.S. forces.
 
Pakistani villagers seized him as crossed the border from Afghanistan and sold him to Pakistani police, who turned him over to the U.S. military. He was flown from Pakistan to Afghanistan and arrived in Guantanamo in January 2002, he said.
 
He was released from Guantanamo on July 8 because he was no longer considered a threat to the United States.

In his speech Monday night (July 13, 2004) Bush said "America is safer" eight times in 27 minutes. Meanwhile Tom Ridge of the Department of Homeland Security has issued a warning that al-Queda is planning an attack on or before the election and the Federal Election Assistance Commission is asking about plans for delaying or cancelling the election.

I don't know what Mr. Bush's definition of "safer" is, but it certainly seems to differ from that of Mr. Ridge.

Associated Press
CIA Official: Iraq War Helping al-Qaida
Tue Jul 13, 2004

LONDON - A CIA (news - web sites) official who claims in a book that the West is losing the war on terror said in an interview Tuesday night that the war in Iraq (news - web sites) was actually helping al-Qaida.

The 23-year veteran of the CIA, who also has spoken with the U.S. media, is releasing the book anonymously and has not identified himself.

"Iraq was a gift of epic proportions to Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) and those who think like him," the man said, his face hidden during the interview on the British Broadcasting Corp. "Newsnight" show.

The CIA veteran's claim comes at a time when British Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites) is facing the prospect of another potentially critical report to be released on Wednesday on Britain's participation in the war in Iraq.

The book, "Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror," is to be released next month in the United States.

In the BBC interview the official dismisses two arguments that have been made by the Bush administration: that bin Laden and al-Qaeda are "on the run" and that the Iraq invasion has made America safer.

Criticizing the intelligence information used about Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction before the war, the CIA official said: "Currently, we're in a lose-lose situation in Iraq and Afghanistan (news - web sites). If we stay, we bleed. If we go, the problem festers even worse."

He urged the United States to debate its policies in the Middle East, including its support for countries such as oil giant Saudi Arabia and its unqualified support for Israel.

"I think before you draft a policy to defeat bin Laden you have to understand that our policies are what drives him and those who follow him," the official told BBC.

Asked about the recent report of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee on Iraq, he said: "If the message about the nature of the evidence was not given to the president, then it's not a question of bad analysis it's a question of bad management."

New York Times
Bush and C.I.A. Won't Release Paper on Prewar Intelligence
By DOUGLAS JEHL

Published: July 14, 2004


ASHINGTON, July 13 - The White House and the Central Intelligence Agency have refused to give the Senate Intelligence Committee a one-page summary of prewar intelligence in Iraq prepared for President Bush that contains few of the qualifiers and none of the dissents spelled out in longer intelligence reviews, according to Congressional officials.

Senate Democrats claim that the document could help clear up exactly what intelligence agencies told Mr. Bush about Iraq's illicit weapons. The administration and the C.I.A. say the White House is protected by executive privilege, and Republicans on the committee dismissed the Democrats' argument that the summary was significant.

In spite of impassioned comments at public meetings from those who have been adversely affected by the process of mountaintop removal, the Bush administration has remained steadfast in its commitment to the energy industry by changing one of the provisions of the Clean Water Act of 1977. The administration's rule change redefines the meaning of the word "fill" to exclude debris from mountain-top. The administration maintains that such material is not waste and therefore, should be excluded. The Clean Water Act prohibits the depositing of fill onto waterways.

Special Report
Almost level: Appalachia's anguished cries against mountain-top removal
By Al Vick
Online Journal Contributing Writer

March 10, 2004—During the early-morning hours of July 19, 2002, an intense thunderstorm struck the tiny community of Winding Shoals Hollow, in Logan County, West Virginia. The storm, during a three-hour period, produced a total rainfall of over three inches which fell relentlessly upon the Appalachian landscape. Suddenly, rain-saturated chunks of giant-valley fill at Bandmill Coal Corporation, a subsidiary of Massey Energy, broke away from the fill and crashed into one of the company's sediment ponds below.

The falling debris quickly filled the sediment pond causing it to overflow sending a tidal wave of contaminated, sediment-laden water running through the community. Two homes were completely destroyed, 10 others damaged, and eight to 10 vehicles were swept downstream. Some area residents reported barely escaping with their lives.

Coal companies in West Virginia are required by law to keep such sediment ponds cleaned out. The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) had recently written up Massey Energy for failing to perform such maintenance on their Bandmill pond in a timely manner. The DEP could have shut down shut down that company's operations completely, but failed to do so.

In early May of the same year, severe flooding hit parts of southwest Virginia, eastern Kentucky, and southern West Virginia for the second time in 10 months. On May 7, it was reported that some 500 people in one community were stranded and trapped because debris from the adjoining mountains had fallen down onto roads, making them impassable to even four-wheel drive vehicles. Some of these same residents were without food for several days until travel once again became possible.

In the area around Coalwood and Caretta, West Virginia, houses which had been built on the sides of mountains were destroyed or damaged. Unrestricted logging, often for the benefit of coal companies, had taken place on many of these hills. Pine trees, which had been felled in swaths so that coveted hardwoods could be reached, were washed downhill with rocks and boulders; these plummeting into the mountainside homes. Members of one family escaped the flooding and falling debris only to lose their lives when mud and muck tumbled onto the road they were traveling on, burying them in their pickup truck. In the same area, 11 of 15 schools were left unsuitable for use by the flooding and one community's entire downtown area was declared to be "destroyed;" all of this in McDowell County, the poorest of West Virginia's counties.

Ask just about any resident of these above mentioned Appalachian communities why they think flooding and its subsequent devastation is on the increase in their area, and they will most likely place the blame on a coal-mining process known as mountain-top removal. On their website, Appalachian Voices, an organization dedicated to protecting and restoring the ecological, economic and cultural heritage of the southern Appalachians, discusses mountain top removal (MTR)this way:

"One of the greatest environmental and human rights catastrophes in American history is underway just southwest of our nation's capital. In the coalfields of Appalachia, individuals, families, and entire communities are being driven off their land by flooding, landslides, and blasting resulting from mountaintop removal coal mining."

Mountain top removal coal mining is a relatively new type of mining which begins with the clear cutting of native hardwood forests. Then dynamite is used to blast away 800-1000 feet of mountaintop in order that the coal underneath can be reached. After the blasting has been completed the debris is bulldozed into nearby valleys, often burying pristine streams and waterways forever. One area resident, in a telephone interview, discussed a nearby stream which had been completely buried under a new mountain of debris which now stretches for 10 miles. In West Virginia alone, some 1,000 miles of valley streams have been buried under the rubble caused by mountaintop removal. Included in this rubble are concentrations of heavy metals and other toxins such as mercury; by-products of the coal-extraction process. Many of these streams run toward, and eventually feed into larger bodies of water such as the Ohio River, which serves as a drinking water supply for countless city dwellers in that region.

Residents in communities adjacent to these mining sites are forced to contend with continual blasting from these mining operations. The blasting is allowed to take place to within 300 feet of resident's homes. Further, many such operations are allowed to blast 24 hours a day. People living close to MTR operations are exposed to air pollution from dust and debris, and the continual threat of floods which have left hundreds dead and thousands homeless. Often, area homes are pelted with rock which is projected away from neighboring blasting sites and for their own safety, children often are not allowed to play outside. In these economically-depressed Appalachian communities, homes are often the only asset the people have. Yet mining operations have damaged many homes beyond repair and decreased property values up to 90 percent.

The process of removing the tops of mountains, one aspect of that which is called surface mining, has only been in existence for the past 25 years or so. In that short time however, it has quickly grown into one of the preferred methods of extraction for coal companies. By the year 2000, surface mining had grown to the point at which it was providing 65 percent of total coal production in the United States. In West Virginia surface-mined coal now exceeds one-third of the total produced by that state; up from only 10 percent 30 years ago.

Surface and MTR mining have become popular with coal-extraction and energy companies for a couple of reasons, one of these being that it is less labor intensive. But with fewer area residents being employed in the coal-mining industry, severe economic consequences have often been the result as the central and southern Appalachians have depended economically upon the coal industry for well over 100 years.

Perhaps nothing has been more instrumental in bringing about the move to surface mining than the development of new technology which is capable of dismantling mountains, carving valleys, and creating new landforms at a rate which once took Mother Nature thousands of years to bring about. One such technological innovation is a machine called the dragline. These monsters average 10 stories in height. Each is equipped with a giant scoop capable of holding some 53 cubic yards of earth at a time. The largest-known dragline in operation has been affectionately named Big John by industry proponents. This particular machine stands 20 stories tall and is capable of tearing up and holding 130 tons of material in a single scoop. With such tools of the trade, it is easy to understand just how the coal-mining industry has been able to cause such environmental devastation, with such a human cost, in so short a period of time.

Julia Bonds, the 2003 winner of the Goldman Environmental Prize succinctly describes the conditions under which many residents living in the shadow of MTR must live. In an interview with Chris Foreman, of the Astbula Star Beacon, she points out that some families sleep in full clothing because of the flooding which occurs during some heavy rains on some blocked waterways. "We have a saying in West Virginia," Bonds added, "Instead of 'almost heaven' its 'almost level.'"

In the same interview, Lenny Kohm, Conservation Director for Appalachian Voices indicated that some 400,000 acres of mountains in West Virginia alone have been flattened. Kohn went on to express his opinion that MTR is almost on a level with terrorism, given the way it places people in danger. The same process for coal extraction is now practiced in several other states as well. This includes parts of southeastern Ohio, western Virginia, eastern Kentucky, east Tennessee and western parts of North Carolina.

The price being paid in environmental desecration and human suffering caused by MTR is bad enough, but even these tragedies of themselves do not tell the entire story. According to area residents and court records, these same coal companies are constantly engaged in some very unscrupulous land grabs. This seems to be the case, not only to feed their own greed, but the American people's constant thirst for more energy as well. The method used by the coal companies to acquire more land for their ever-expanding operations is through a legal process known as "partition sales". A case currently before the West Virginia Supreme Court demonstrates just how unscrupulous land-holding companies, often subsidiaries of the coal producers, are able to force area residents off their own land for the benefit of those practicing mountain-top removal.

Leon and Lucille Miller are long-time residents of Lincoln County, West Virginia; near the community of Julian. Their homestead is situated in an especially beautiful part of that state's Appalachian landscape. Lucille's family has had ownership of this 75-acre tract of land for over 100 years. Arch Coal, Inc., with an eye toward expanding it's Hobet 21 MTR mine near Julian, has decided to move its operation farther west into Lincoln County.

Representatives from Ark Land Company, a subsidiary of Arch Coal, approached family members with an offer to buy the land. While other members of Lucille Miller's family decided to sell their shares of the 75 acre tract, Lucille and her husband Leon decided to hold on to their share, upon which the old family homestead still stands, and which they still maintain and visit on weekends. Under West Virginia law, and perhaps that in other states as well, the court is able to intervene when various shareholders of commonly held land are not able to agree upon what to do with it.

Once the Millers decided not to sell their portion of the family estate, lawyers for Ark Land Company filed suit against them in Lincoln County Circuit Court. Last summer, Circuit Judge J.M. Hoke ordered the sale of the Miller's land, and it was auctioned off to Arch Coal on the front steps of the Lincoln County Courthouse. The Millers have now appealed their case to the West Virginia Supreme Court. If they lose, Arch Coal will give them some $9,000 less than they are currently offering. Still, the Millers remain firm in their resolve to see the case through. "It's not about money," Leon Miller stated in an interview. He is adamant in his feelings that it isn't right that the coal companies can "force it to a public sale" if they can acquire even one share of commonly held land.

The Miller's family attorney, John Barrett, in an interview with the Charleston Gazette, published on September 8 of last year, expressed his opinion on partition sales this way: "Lawyers and real estate traders are stripping Americans of their ancestral land today simply by following the law . . . It is done through a court procedure that is intended to solve land disputes but is being used to pry land from people who do not want to sell." The Miller's case is expected to be heard by mid-April of this year.

In spite of impassioned comments at public meetings from those who have been adversely affected by the process of mountaintop removal, the Bush administration has remained steadfast in its commitment to the energy industry by changing one of the provisions of the Clean Water Act of 1977. The administration's rule change redefines the meaning of the word "fill" to exclude debris from mountain-top. The administration maintains that such material is not waste and therefore, should be excluded. The Clean Water Act prohibits the depositing of fill onto waterways.

To those living in the shadow of mountaintop removal operations the situation seems bleak. Still, there is some movement underway by various groups of people who intend to correct the situation. Recently, the National Campaign to End Mountain Top Removal put on a presentation of a video entitled Appalachian Treasures in Cleveland, Ohio. At the end of the showing, many attendees to that event called their congressional representative, Stephanie Tobbs-Jones to voice their concerns over the environmental and human rights travesty happening in Appalachia under the guise of energy production. Because of their concerns, Representative Jones decided to co-sponsor a piece of legislation, originally introduced by Representatives Frank Pallone of New Jersey and Christopher Shays of Connecticut, which will make its way through the House Of Representatives. The Clean Water Protection Act (H.R. 738), if passed, would make the practice of mountaintop removal illegal by clarifying the Clean Water Act of 1977 and thus nullifying the Bush administration's recent move to the contrary.

The collective voice of those in Appalachia crying out under the consequences of mountaintop removal are being heard by some in America. But if this gross injustice to our fellow Americans and the ecosystems which support them is ever to end, more caring people need to involve themselves in the struggle. A good start could be made by writing to one's congressmen and women asking them to support The Clean Water Protection Act. But in reality, we need to go even further than that. We must somehow, as a nation, come to grips with our enormous collective appetite for energy consumption. Somehow, we need to begin discerning between our energy wants and needs. It is only then that we will have the desire to develop more sustainable modes of energy use and production. If we fail in this task, the experiences of those suffering in central and southern Appalachia today, will surely become more widespread with the passage of time and will become the common experience of many more of us in the years ahead, as the drive for more energy continues to devour the very life-support systems and cultures which sustain us.

Just hours ago the Bush administration put forth a new proposal that, if approved, will destroy the last of the U.S. wilderness areas.

True to form in naming their proposals the Bush administration has named this new proposal to sound like exactly the opposite of what it is intended to do. The new proposal is called "Cooperative Conservation of Roadless Areas".

If you are not familiar with this naming tactic, let me bring you up to speed... the proposed "Clear Skies Initiative" is an initiative that will increase allowed levels of toxic mercury produced by coal burning power plants by 8 to 10 times the levels allowed by the existing Clean Air Act. The "Healthy Forests Initiative" is a proposal to clear-cut vast areas of our national forests and national parks. Well, this "Cooperative Conservation of Roadless Areas" is following suit exactly.

The new proposal would remove the ban on logging in roadless areas, which means that logging companies would be allowed to build roads in these roadless areas.

What are "roadless areas"? They are wilderness areas set aside for wildlife refuges and to preserve certain areas of pristine forests. Here is a map of all of the Class 1 wilderness areas in the United states:



As you can see there is not much wilderness left. This new proposal will mean there will be none left at all.

New Mexico, other states fight Bush rules on mercury emissions
Billings Gazette
Associated Press
June 28, 2004

The administration's plan came under criticism this spring when 45 senators, including seven Republicans, and the 10 states urged the Environmental Protection Agency to propose stronger requirements.

The EPA's plan envisions a 70 percent cut in mercury emissions from coal-burning power plants by 2018. The proposal came under attack for the time given to utilities to reduce emissions and because the EPA would let some companies buy pollution credits from utilities rather than substantially cutting contaminants.

The state officials contended the EPA's mercury proposals do not meet the requirements of the existing Clean Air Act. New Mexico's environmental and health departments also filed state-specific comments to the proposed rule.

New Mexico has the highest mercury emissions from power plants in the western United States at more than 1 ton a year, the Environment Department said. In addition, 22 bodies of water in New Mexico are under fishing advisories due to mercury levels in fish."

Mercury can cause neurological and developmental problems, especially in children. Once in the environment, it can remain an active toxin for thousands of years.

The coalition includes state Environment Secretary Ron Curry and the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Vermont and Wisconsin.

Mercury emissions proposal opposed by environmental groups
By David Robinson
Arkansas News Bureau
Friday, Jul 2, 2004

LITTLE ROCK - Environmental groups on Thursday urged U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., to join congressional opposition to proposed changes to mercury emissions standards.

Representatives of the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, ACORN, and a couple of fishing enthusiasts used the Arkansas River and a giant, inflatable fish as the backdrop for a news conference on the issue.

'People should be able to eat fish caught in Arkansas without worrying that it is contaminated with mercury,' said Sarah Rosenburg, campaign coordinator with U.S. PIRG. 'Senator Lincoln should stand up and publicly oppose the Bush administration's mercury proposal.'

A spokesman for Lincoln said the senator appreciated U.S. PIRG bringing the matter to her attention.

'She shares their concerns about mercury emissions and will be releasing a letter next week that she'll be sending to the administration on the issue,' said Gregory Willis, spokesman for Lincoln.

Thursday's news conference was part of a national tour sponsored by Clear the Air, which described its effort as a campaign to clean up the nation's aging coal-burning power plants.

The environmental group claims the proposed EPA changes would allow power plants to emit six to seven times more mercury than allowed under the federal Clean Air Act.

Ed Barham, a spokesman for the state Health Department, said the PIRG figures sound about right. He said 20 bodies of water, both lakes and streams, contain fish consumption warnings due to mercury.

A statement e-mailed by EPA press secretary Cynthia Bergman on Thursday said the agency is proposing rules to require power plants to reduce mercury emissions.

Health warnings already exist on numerous Arkansas lakes and streams because of mercury contamination. According to U.S. PIRG, 3,659 acres of Arkansas lakes and 260 miles of streams have posted advisories that urge people to avoid or limit consumption of fish due to high mercury levels.

The environmental group emphasized that those most at risk are infants and children and the poor, many of whom subsistence fish.

More than 180 members of Congress have signed a June 23 letter asking that the Environmental Protection Agency reconsider its new regulation plans for airborne mercury emissions.

"As you undertake further study, we urge you again to meet the requirements of federal law and to act decisively in addressing the urgent threat that mercury pollution poses to our nation's public health," the letter to EPA administrator Michael O. Leavitt states.

The letter also states that the EPA in February doubled its estimate of the number of newborns exposed to unsafe mercury levels from 320,000 infants a year to 630,000.

The proposed regulation changes do not require congressional approval.

U.S. Rep. Vic Snyder, D-Little Rock, is the only member of Arkansas' congressional delegation to have signed the letter, which was circulated only among House members.

U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor has publicly opposed the EPA's proposed change, according to PIRG. Roddell Molineau, spokesman for Pryor, did not return a phone call Thursday afternoon.

According to Bergman, the EPA is still seeking public comment on its proposal and Leavitt has asked for additional analysis "to make sure we reduce mercury in the most effective way possible given the state of available mercury control technology."

"The process isn't complete, the agency's work is not done," Bergman's e-mail states. "This is the first time we've ever done this and we want to make sure we do this right. The final rule will be influenced by the availability of technology that has been adequately tested and available for industry-wide deployment."

Mercury exposure is most harmful to infants and children and is commonly linked to brain disorders, although it also is cause for birth defects, miscarriage, and neonatal death, said Katherine Bridgeman of the Arkansas Reproductive Genetics Program at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

Manila to Withdraw from Iraq 'As Soon as Possible'
Yahoo! News
Mon, Jul 12, 2004

DUBAI (Reuters) - The Philippines will withdraw its forces from Iraq "as soon as possible," Philippine Deputy Foreign Minister Rafael Seguis said on Monday in a statement he read out on al Jazeera television.

"In response to your request, the Philippines ... will withdraw its humanitarian forces as soon as possible," Seguis said according to al Jazeera's Arabic translation of his remarks. His statement was addressed to the group which is holding a Filipino driver hostage.

Newsmax
Friday, July 9, 2004 3 p.m. EDT
Trump to Bush: 'You're Fired!'

If he had his way, megadeveloper Donald Trump would treat President Bush as one of the contestants on his hit TV show 'The Apprentice': He'd fire him.

The Donald says Bush's handling of the Iraq war is a 'mess.'

During an interview with Esquire magazine, The Donald asked: "What was the purpose of the whole thing? Hundreds of young people killed. And what about the people coming back with no arms and no legs?"
He added that he thinks it's folly to believe Iraq can be turned into a "wonderful democracy," the New York Daily News reported.

The president also got bad marks for not nabbing al-Qaida boss Osama bin Laden, whom Trump said "would have been caught long ago" were he in the White House running things. Trump, a Republican, once considered a run for the White House.


"Tell me, how is it possible that we can't find a guy who's 6-foot-6 and supposedly needs a dialysis machine?" Trump asked Esquire. "Can you explain that one to me? We have all our energies focused on one place - where they shouldn't be focused."

Denver Post - Front Page
July 12, 2004
9/11 panel to dismiss Iraq ties
By Philip Shenon of The New York Times

The report, which is expected to be made public several days before the panel's mandated deadline of July 26, also will probably be unwelcome at the White House because it will document management failures at senior levels of the Bush administration that kept the government from acting aggressively on intelligence warnings in the spring and summer of 2001 of an imminent, catastrophic terrorist attack, the officials said.

The GOP's Attack on the Constitution of the United States.
Chanur Silvarian
July 10, 2004

The GOP has launched an all out attack on liberties guaranteed in the Constitution of the United States. Within the last four years they have attacked five of the ten amendments that comprise the Bill of Rights as well as the 14th amendment which is our country's protection from predjudice and bigotry.

The Texas GOP 2004 State Republican Party Platform states, "The Republican Party of Texas affirms that the United States of America is a Christian nation". This is a fundamental rejection of freedom of religion guaranteed in the 1st amendment to the constitution. The National GOP Platform states, "As we strive to forge a national consensus on the crucial issues of our time, we call on all Americans to reject the forces of hatred and bigotry. Accordingly, we denounce all who practice or promote racism, anti-Semitism, ethnic prejudice, and religious intolerance." but the national convention has not condemned the religious intolerance of the Texas GOP or the bigotry of GOP members seeking a constitutional amendment to ban gay marraige.

Bush himself has claimed to be above the law in announcing that he could hold certain prisoners without charges, trial, or right to a lawyer, which runs directly counter to the 5th and 6th amendments. This claim has, of course, been overturned by the Supreme Court but to even make the claim shows the contempt that this administration and the GOP at large has for the civil rights guaranteed in the constitution. It is still to be seen, in the trials of these prisoners, whether or not the right to hear evidence against them (5th amendment) will be upheld or whether the court will allow the evidence to remain secret from the defendant and their counsel.

This administration's desire for a means to circumvent the Geneva Conventions' ban of torturing prisoners shows not only contempt for internation laws of war but also a contempt for the 8th amendment of the U.S. Constitution which bars cruel and unusual punishments.

Bush has endorsed an amendment to the constitution to ban gay marraige which is a violation of equal protection under the law guaranteed in the 14th amendment. The anti-gay marraige amendment was written by a republican representative from Colorado and is supported by many republicans throughout the house and senate.

Going all the way back to the 2000 election season we find more contempt for the constitution. At that time the driver's license of vice-president Dick Cheney was a Texas license. The Constitution states quite clearly that the president and vice-president cannot be from the same state. In June 2002 Cheney still had a Texas license. The license in June 2002 showed a business address rather than a residence address which is illegal under Texas law. The address shown in 2002 was Halliburton's address at 500 N. Akard Street Dallas, TX.

It is quite amazing that these same people say that any who oppose them are "unpatriotic" or "hate America". If patriotic love for America means loving, respecting, and protecting the Constitution of the United States then I think that the GOP needs to take a hard long look at its own actions before making such statements about others.

ADL Urges Texas GOP to Modify Party Platform Calling America 'A Christian Nation'


Texas, June 22, 2004 - The Anti-Defamation League has called on the Texas Republican Party to modify its party platform calling America 'a Christian nation.'

In a letter to Texas Republican Party officials by the Southwest Region and North Texas Regions of the Anti-Defamation League, ADL expressed concern about the party's recently adopted platform declaring the United States to be 'a Christian nation' and referring to the 'myth' of the separation of church and state.

ADL is deeply concerned by the 'Christian nation' language. Calling America a 'Christian nation' diminishes the fact that our country is a democratic nation founded on and embodying the principle of diversity, including religious diversity. Religion has flourished in America precisely because of America's respect and commitment to its diversity and pluralism, and we call on Democrats and Republicans alike, to be mindful that America is home to people of all faiths and backgrounds. The separation of church and state is no myth; rather it is a fundamental principle of our democracy."

Christian platform ripped as offensive
By Ralph Z. Hallow
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
June 13, 2004

President Bush and the Republican Party in his home state of Texas are being criticized by Democrats on the touchy issue of whether America is a Christian nation.

At its convention in Austin, the Texas Republican Party voted to reaffirm a plank in its platform that disputes 'the myth of the separation of church and state.' The plank celebrates the United States as 'a Christian nation.' "

The problem that the GOP doesn't even know it has
Chanur Silvarian
July 10, 2004

Throughout the United States the democratic caucuses recorded record turnouts, more than 50% over the previous year in most cases, yet the GOP doesn't seem to realize it has a problem on its hands.

Under the Bush administration the GOP has alienated almost every conceivable sector of the populace and caused many to view this election as the most important election in their lifetimes. I have heard that sentiment myself from people as old as 87 and as young as 16. Yet still the GOP doesn't seem to realize that it has a problem on its hands.

Why are so many people turning out to the democratic caucuses? Why are so many believing that this election is so important? Well, let me give you my theory.

The Bush administration has alienated many active duty military personnel, one of the GOP's strongholds, by forwarding a budget that would cut over $200 in education funds for military children and by objecting to extending full time benefits to reservists who are now serving full time in Iraq. The administration went even further by denying the child tax credit to many of our men and women in uniform because their pay is too low to qualify under the new guidelines. This has caused many servicemembers, current and veteran, to question this administration's commitment to them.

The Bush administration alienated many veterans, another GOP stronghold, by failing to grow VA Health Care spending in line with growing medical costs. The consumer price index for medical care grew 13 percent during fiscal year 2002 yet the budget for VA Health care was increased only 5.4 percent. VA officials have testified that it would take a 13 to 14 percent hike in the VA's health care budget just to maintain the status quo. Further alienation of this GOP stronghold is being accomplished by closing seven veterans hospitals while already at least 230,000 veterans are having to wait in excess of six months for their initial visit to a doctor. Bush also proposed doubling the cost of prescription drugs for veterans and to cut health care benefits altogether for 160,000 middle-income veterans. This has caused veterans to question this administration's commitment to them.

The GOP has pushed away every person who does not claim christianity as their religion (and many who do) by not speaking out at a national level against the Texas GOP platform. In the Texas GOP 2004 State Republican Party Platform it states, "The Republican Party of Texas affirms that the United States of America is a Christian nation". This is a fundamental rejection of freedom of religion guaranteed in the 1st amendment to the constitution. The National GOP Platform states, "As we strive to forge a national consensus on the crucial issues of our time, we call on all Americans to reject the forces of hatred and bigotry. Accordingly, we denounce all who practice or promote racism, anti-Semitism, ethnic prejudice, and religious intolerance." but the national convention has not condemned the religious intolerance of the Texas GOP or the bigotry of GOP members seeking a constitutional amendment to ban gay marraige.

Civil rights advocates are up in arms over this administration. Even before Sept. 11, 2001 this administration began enforcing "free speech zones", a term unheard of previously except on a few college campuses. This infringement on the first amendment means that nothing that may color the administration in a bad light can come within a half mile of any member of the Bush administration. The administration then pushed the Patriot Act through congress in less than 24 hours (meaning nobody had a chance to read it, especially the public). The patriot act has been denounced by almost every civil rights organization in the westernized world. Bush himself then claimed to be above the law in announcing that he could hold certain prisoners without charges, trial, or right to a lawyer, a violation of the 5th, 6th and 8th amendments. Bush's proclamation to be above the constitution has been recently overturned by the supreme court, but only after some prisoners were held for more than two years in this "law-forsaken" state. And finally Bush put forward his endorsement of an amendment to the constitution to ban gay marraige which is a violation of equal protection under the law (14th amendment). These infringements on constitutional rights have created new opponents that the GOP never had before.

Over 4 million people have lost their jobs under this administration, which would obviously cause some to question the administration, but the economy problems go even farther than that. Economy.com reported that Bush's tax cuts added less than two percentage points to the gross domestic product while the deficit is now projected at over $2.5 trillion dollars over the next 10 years. This has disuaded another GOP stronghold, fiscal conservatives. People seem to be wising up to the fact that the GDP is not a measure of the government's income and therefore the old GOP arguement of "but the deficit is only a small fraction of the GDP" is an irrelevant arguement. Taxes are the government's income, not the GDP, and therefore the only way to pay for programs or to pay off the deficit is by using tax money. Bush's tax cuts have not only raised the deficit but also cut services, such as those to the veterans and military that I talked about before. Anyone concerned about the federal government's budget is moving away from the GOP quickly.

President Bush ran for office as "the education president". The actuallity is that, even though he got his "no child left behind act" passed through congress, he has not submitted a budget to actually fund it. The funding that Bush has given to education barely keeps up with inflation, there is not nearly enough money to add the new programs needed for his "no child left behind act". Prior to this administration education funding was growing at an average rate of 12% per year. Under this administration it has slowed to an average of 8% per year. It is no wonder that so many teachers associations oppose the re-election of George W. Bush.

I fall into the category of people who think votes should be counted. I was a republican until November of 2000 when my party went to court to stop a mandatory (that means required by law) recount of votes in Florida. A lot of people like me said, "that's not the way we do things in my country" and vowed to oppose the GOP on that issue.

Anyone concerned with the environment, even remotely concerned, is opposing the GOP due to its environmental impact in this presidential term. The newly GOP controlled congress, in April 2002, passed an amendment to the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 to keep fuel efficiency standards for pickup trucks from ever being raised above the current 20.7 miles per gallon. The administration has made no secret of its desire to open the Artic National Wildlife Refuge for drilling and logging which would destroy 90% of the wildlife refuge area in the United States (yes, that one refuge encompasses that much of the refuge area). The Healthy Forests Initiative put forth by Bush reinstitutes wildfire prevention by logging. This practice was abandoned years ago when it was realized that natural burn cycles are necessary for healthy ecology (such as giant sequoias will not seed without burns). Beyond just destroying the ecology by removal of natural burn cycles this initiative destroys millions of acres of designated wilderness because by putting even one road through a wilderness area it can never again be given that status. The administration cut funding for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) by 35% immediately upon taking office. The Clear Skies Initiative increases allowable toxic mercury emissions by 33%, sulpher emissions by 50%, and allows for thousands of tons more nitrogen oxides. It even delays cleanup of polluted areas by more than a decade beyond the existing Clean Air Act. So, by not only allowing but encouraging the decimation of the environment this administration has turned even the mild environmentalist against the GOP.

On Sept 12, 2001 the United States enjoyed, briefly, the best foreign goodwill that it has ever known. By Feb 14, 2003 this administration had turned that goodwill into such anger that the largest protest in the history of the world was held. That protest was in opposition to U.S. Foreign Policy and lasted throughout the weekend until Feb 16, 2003. Even after that protest, on Sep 18, 2003, the Council on Foreign Relations said that "world opinion of the United States and U.S. policy has plummeted" even further below what it was when a good portion of the world was protesting against us. By Nov 18, 2003 even our closest allies, Great Britain, were calling George W. Bush, "the greatest threat to life on this planet that we've most probably ever seen." Anyone concerned with U.S. Foreign relations is calling into question the actions of this administration.

In the area of health care, under this administration health care costs have more than quadrupled. Out-of-pocket expenses for the average individual has risen 52% and 49% for the average family according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. 3.8 million U.S. citizens have lost their health care coverage since this adminstration took office. Seniors have seen their personal health expenses rise 20% even after the changes to Medicare (which was another thing Bush failed to fund). So, many who are no longer able to afford health care are opposing the GOP.

Then, of course, there is taking us into a pre-emptive war under false pretenses. The administration has scapegoated the CIA for "bad intelligence" but I have archived nine news articles on this website alone that show the CIA and others saying that Saddam Hussein is no threat, he does not have WMDs, and that he has no links to al-queda. Anyone who was paying attention between August 2002 and March 2003 saw hundreds of such articles. The general concesus is that the administration lied to get us into war with Iraq. That breach of faith with the American People has cost the GOP hundreds of thousands of votes alone.

Yet, through all of this, the GOP still is not out campaigning.

I've helped my candidates to campaign at an air show, an Independance Day Parade, a concert in a city park, a street corner, and a local community celebration all within the last two weeks. The only event at which I saw even a single republican candidate represented was the Independance Day Parade and even there the republicans were dwarfed by our contingent. The air show was in Colorado Springs, home to the United States Air Force Acadamy and a huge republican base area, yet there were no republican candidates represented... only 21 Colorado Veterans for Kerry. The concert and parade were both intentionally in heavy republican areas, yet no republican candidates.

The Democratic Party's ranks have swelled due to the alienation of all of those I mentioned and the GOP still does not act like it even needs to campaign to win. Hmm... perhaps it is because of my last group of disenfranchisement of this one last group:

Computer professionals, or anyone who has a good understanding of computers and has heard of the problems with electronic voting machines, are beginning to suspect that the GOP doesn't want to fix voting irregularities. Why? Because even though the irregularities with these machines are well known the bill that would fix them is not even being brought forward into committee for discussion. The bill has over 100 co-sponsors, but no discussion in committee, a republican chaired committee. The bill was held in this state for almost a year before a single republican decided that safe voting was a worthy enough cause to add their name to it, and that only happened after the New York Times ran an article specifically about how there were no republican sponsors. There are now two token republican sponsors but still no discussion in committee. The integrity of our electoral process is just not important enough to the GOP for them to even discuss it, much less vote on it.

Perhaps the GOP does realize the problem with the will of the people and is simply fixing the problem by "fixing" the voting machines. If not then they'd better wake up soon or it will be far too late to win in November.

Ex-chief of Park Police denounces firing
Chambers: Administration 'silencing' dissenting views
Saturday, July 10, 2004 Posted: 6:48 PM EDT (2248 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- One day after she was fired, former U.S. Park Police Chief Teresa Chambers accused the Bush administration Saturday of silencing dissenting views in the rank and file.

Chambers' departure may not garner the same spotlight as those of former counterterrorism expert Richard Clarke and former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, but it appears to fall into a similar category: officials who leave or are forced out after questioning Bush administration policies.

Chambers said that she didn't expect to be fired seven months after the Interior Department put her on administrative leave with pay for talking with reporters and congressional staffers about budget woes on the 620-officer force.

She was fired Friday, just two and half hours after her attorneys filed a demand for immediate reinstatement through the Merit Systems Protection Board, an independent agency that ensures federal employees are protected from management abuses.

"It wasn't the reaction we expected," she said. "But we weren't surprised.

"But it's not about me," she added. "I'm a player in it. It's got far-reaching implications.

"The American people should be afraid of this kind of silencing of professionals in any field," she said. "We should be very concerned as American citizens that people who are experts in their field either can't speak up, or, as we're seeing now in the parks service, won't speak up."

National Park Service officials said Chambers broke rules barring public comment about budget discussions and prohibiting lobbying by someone in her position.

Chambers said she did nothing wrong except argue for adequate funding for the Park Police, which falls under NPS authority -- and perhaps fail to understand that she was required to "toe the party line."

"I came from outside and was naive about federal agencies," she said. "I had no idea that's what they wanted me to do. I really believed that's what they wanted, for me to be frank with them."

The Bush administration says the Park Police budget has increased during its tenure, but critics argue that the increase has not offset inflation and additional duties.

According to a study conducted by the nonprofit National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), the entire park service operates on about two-thirds of the budget it needs -- about $600 million short -- and that about $50 million of that shortfall stems from duties related to homeland security at the so-called "icons."

"Icon" duty refers to protecting locations such as the Statue of Liberty, the Washington Monument and the Golden Gate Bridge from terrorist attack -- duties that fall to the Park Police.

In an affidavit filed in her effort to be reinstated, Chambers said her troubles with the bureaucrats in the park service and the Interior Department began with budget processing in 2003.

"Each time I would sound [the alarm] just a little louder," she said, "but always internally. It culminated with the notice I put on the director of the park service ... that we have problems."

In that November 28 memo, Chambers wrote that the budget crisis put new hires in doubt, potentially bringing the Park Police staff to its lowest level since 1987, and seriously undermined her officers' ability to protect the "icons."

"My professional judgment, based upon 27 years of police service, six years as chief of police, and countless interactions with police professionals across the country, is that we are at a staffing and resource crisis in the United States Park Police -- a crisis that, if allowed to continue, will almost surely result in the loss of life or the destruction of one of our nation's most valued symbols of freedom and democracy," she wrote.

A week earlier, Chambers had spoken with a Washington Post reporter about the budget shortfalls, and the article appeared December 2. Three days later, the chief was on administrative leave.

Chambers said her story effectively put a chill on National Park superintendents who were facing their own shortfalls. She said she has spoken with current officials who know the situation but fear for their jobs.

According to the Coalition of Concerned National Park Service Retirees, a group of more than 250 former NPS officials, the Interior Department sent out memos to park superintendents to make further reductions -- and "to mislead the news media and public about the service cuts in order to avoid ... 'public controversy.'"

One of the memos suggested "service level adjustments" including closing the parks' visitors centers on federal holidays, eliminating guided tours, closing the visitors centers two days a week and closing them for an entire season.

The memo argues against discussing the situation with the media, then adds that "if you feel you must inform the public through a press release," refer to "service level adjustments" rather than "cuts."

The cuts rip into services. Everglades National Park, for example, cut ranger-led education programs from 115 per week to fewer than 40; Death Valley National Park cut staff, leaving ancient rock art unprotected; and Great Smoky Mountains -- the nation's most-visited park -- has cut all seasonal hires for this year.

ABCNEWS
Florida Scraps Controversial Voting List of Potential Felons, Admits Flawed Hispanic Count
The Associated Press


MIAMI July 10, 2004 - Florida elections officials said Saturday they would not use a disputed list of people believed to be convicted felons to purge voter rolls, acknowledging a flaw that kept some Hispanic felons off the list and could have allowed them to vote.

The glitch in a state that President Bush won by a margin of just 537 votes could have been significant Hispanics in Florida have tended to vote Republican more than Hispanics nationally. The list had about 28,000 Democrats and around 9,500 Republicans, with most of the rest unaffiliated.

The problem in compiling the list was unintentional and unforeseen, said Nicole de Lara, a spokeswoman for Secretary of State Glenda Hood.

'Nevertheless, Supervisors of Elections are required to uphold their constitutional obligation' and will find other ways to ensure felons are removed from the rolls, Hood said in a statement.

Florida is one of only a handful of states that does not automatically restore voting rights to convicted felons once they've completed their sentence.

The decision to scrap the list was made after it was reported that the list contained few people identified as Hispanic; of the nearly 48,000 people on the list created by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, only 61 were classified as Hispanics.

That was because when voters register in Florida, they can identify themselves as Hispanic. But the potential felons database has no Hispanic category, which excludes many people from the list if they put that as their race.

The law enforcement list was compared to the voter rolls to determine who should be barred from voting.

The glitch affected only those who identified themselves as Hispanic. A review of the voter list by The Associated Press found others with Hispanic surnames who did not identify themselves as Hispanic.

The purge of felons from voter rolls has been a thorny issue since the 2000 presidential election. A private company hired to identify ineligible voters before the election produced a list with scores of errors, and elections supervisors used it to remove voters without verifying its accuracy. A federal lawsuit led to an agreement to restore rights to thousands of voters. (Chanur's Note: The right to vote in future elections was restored, not their votes in the 2000 election. Had the over 40,000 non-felons who were wrongly purged from the rolls in 2000 been allowed to vote then our president would be Al Gore.)

The new list was released July 1, with officials saying Gov. Jeb Bush's administration was simply complying with federal election law. Problems with the list were quickly detected.

State officials have said there are people on the list who are not felons, and elections workers have flagged more than 300 people listed who might have received clemency.

Another problem was that about 2,700 people who had received clemency were still on the list. That was because they had registered to vote before they received clemency. The state initially required them to register again, but later backed off.

The governor, the president's brother, spoke with Hood early Saturday and agreed with the decision that her office made, said Jill Bratina, a spokeswoman for the governor.

"He's fully supportive of any steps that the department takes to ensure the integrity of the process," Bratina said. "There's nothing more important than full confidence in the election process."

Since the 2000 election, the secretary of state's office has been moved from Cabinet status in Florida to an agency under the Republican governor.

Many Democrats were convinced state officials purposely culled too many voters from the rolls in order to ensure President Bush's re-election. Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe called it a "potential careless and needless disfranchisement of thousands of voters."

State Sen. Les Miller, a Tampa Democrat who opposed the list, said he was pleased with Saturday's decision, but remained cautious.

"I still have a question mark in the back of my head, wondering what happens now," Miller said. "Are they saying 'that's it, we're not going to utilize it henceforth and forever more?' I need to know that."

Election officials emphasized that the list is intended to be a starting point for county election supervisors.

On Election Day, anyone who feels they have been inadvertently removed from the voter rolls will be allowed to use a provisional ballot that will be examined later to determine eligibility.

Had the GOP not bullied five states (okay, four states and D.C.) into compliance then their unprecedented late convention this year (in September rather than July) would disqualify George W. Bush from appearing on the ballot in Alabama, California, Maryland, Illinois, and the District of Columbia. Rather than comply with existing election law in five states, the GOP has bullied the states into changing their laws.


1. Alabama: required qualified parties to certify by August 31.
2. California: required qualified parties to certify by August 26.
3 D.C.: required qualified parties to certify by August 31.
4. Illinois: required qualified parties to certify by August 27.
5. Maryland: required qualified parties to certify by August 31.

All five of these states changed their laws this year in order to allow the GOP's late convention. Two of them actually made a special dispensation law to allow an extension in this election only (California and Illinois).

Why did the GOP want to hold their convention so late? Because a new set of finance laws apply after a candidate is nominated at the convention. Any funds collected prior to the convention can no longer be used. The GOP wanted to ensure that it could spend all of the money that it has collected before the convention. So, from July through September the GOP is running on unlimited funds (whatever they can collect for the "un-nominated" George W. Bush) while the DNC is limited to post-convention campaign funds.

Why didn't the DNC have a late convention as well? Hmm... I don't know. Perhaps they like to play by the rules or perhaps they didn't think they could get the rules changed just for them.

Just another example of the GOP changing the rules rather than playing by them. Happened last election and is happening again in this one.

# posted by JustThinking @ 3:55 PM

Bush gets spot on Illinois ballot
Lawmakers agree to change deadline for prez
Chicago Business
June 28, 2004

(AP) — Illinois lawmakers agreed Monday to grant President Bush an exception from the usual deadline for placing candidates' names on the fall election ballot.
Illinois law requires the ballot to be finalized 67 days before the election. But Republicans are holding their convention unusually late this year, and Bush won't be officially nominated until 61 days before the election.

Democrats and Republicans have been wrangling for weeks over granting an exception so Bush's name can appear on ballots this fall. Democrats originally tried to link the issue to some changes they wanted in state election law.

The House voted 108-0 Monday for a bill limited just to the Bush deadline issue. There was no debate.

The measure passed the Senate earlier and now goes to Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who says he plans to sign it into law.

Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast or redistributed.

Report: Bin Laden Aims to Attack U.S. This Year
Fri Jul 9, 7:16 AM ET
Reuters

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Osama bin Laden, believed to be hiding along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, is directing an al Qaeda effort to launch an attack in the United States sometime this year, The New York Times reported on Friday, citing unnamed U.S. officials.

"What we know about this most recent information is that it is being directed from the seniormost levels of the al Qaeda organization," the newspaper quoted a senior Bush administration official as saying at a briefing for reporters.

"We know that this leadership continues to operate along the border area between Afghanistan and Pakistan," the official said, according to the Times.

It does not appear that bin Laden is trying to take an active leadership role in formulating a specific plan, as he did in preparations for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the newspaper said, citing an administration official.

There is evidence bin Laden is able to communicate with his followers, urging them to carry out operations in the name of al Qaeda, the official said, according to the newspaper.

On Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge warned Americans that al Qaeda may try to carry out a large-scale attack to disrupt the November elections, but he did not offer details. Ridge said the warning was based on intelligence received from credible sources gathered over the past months.

The Times said it was not clear until the comments of the senior officials on Thursday that bin Laden and top deputies were responsible for the concern.

In discussing the latest threat information, one of the officials said the intelligence was "cryptic," about both timing and location, the newspaper said.

There is no specific reference to the coming U.S. political conventions in New York and Boston, but that remains an immediate focus of concern, the official said, according to the Times.

Senate Report Sees No Formal Iraq-Qaeda Ties
By Caroline Drees, Security Correspondent
Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Contacts between Iraq (news - web sites) and al Qaeda in the 1990s never led to a formal relationship and there is no evidence Iraq helped conduct an al Qaeda attack, a report by a bipartisan Senate committee said on Friday.

The findings by the Senate Intelligence Committee came less than a month after the government-established commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks said there was no evidence of a "collaborative relationship" between Iraq and Osama bin Laden's Islamic militant network.

Assertions that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction and could provide chemical or biological agents to al Qaeda for attacks on the United States were a main justification for President Bush's decision to invade and occupy Iraq.

No such weapons have been found, and the Senate panel said most of the U.S. intelligence community's judgments about Iraqi WMD were overstated or unsupported by underlying intelligence.

Bush and his top aides have stood firm on assertions of links between Iraq and al Qaeda, with Vice President Dick Cheney forcefully maintaining that evidence may yet emerge depicting an Iraqi role in the Sept. 11 attacks carried out by al Qaeda.

"The Central Intelligence Agency reasonably assessed that there were likely several instances of contacts between Iraq and al Qaeda throughout the 1990s, but that these contacts did not add up to an established formal relationship," the report by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence said.

"The Central Intelligence Agency's assessment that to date there was no evidence proving Iraqi complicity or assistance in an al Qaeda attack was reasonable and objective. No additional information has emerged to suggest otherwise," said the committee's "Report on the U.S. Intelligence Community's Prewar Intelligence Assessments on Iraq."

Following the Sept. 11 commission's report last month, Cheney suggested in a television interview he might have more information than the panel. The commission issued a terse statement on Tuesday saying the vice president had no more information than commission investigators.

As part of the White House response to the Sept. 11 commission's report, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice also said she believed what the panel was actually saying was that former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein did not control al Qaeda. The commission's chairmen flatly rejected her interpretation.

The Senate report, which focused primarily on the intelligence community's reporting on suspected Iraqi WMD, said Saddam might have used al Qaeda to conduct attacks in the event of war if he were sufficiently desperate.

But it said, "No information has emerged thus far to suggest that Saddam did try to employ al Qaeda in conducting terrorist attacks."

On February 17, 2004 Mr. Howard Cramer of Sequoia Voting Systems stood in front of the Election Commission and straight out lied to you. The fact that he lied is easily verifiable by simply looking at the Sequoia Voting Systems website. The items that he lied about are fundamental to the security and accuracy of
the machines in question.

Here is a quote from the minutes of the Feb. 17 meeting:

Cramer claimed that the problems encountered in Maryland arose from the fact that the state utilizes a system created by the Diebold Company. This system is Windows-based; the Sequoia system is not. Sequoia uses a proprietary operating system, not Windows. The only area in which Sequoia uses Windows is in the voter registration system – not in anything that has to do with voting itself.


Now here is a quote from Sequoia Voting Systems website:

-----------------------------------------
AVC Edge®Features

- The Edge® in tandem with other Sequoia systems, automates some to the
most tedious aspects of election administration, smoothly delivering
your Elections Office into the 21st Century.

- WinEDS, the "Elections Database System for Windows" is Sequoia's
client-server based computer network system. WinEDS is used to
administer all phases of the election cycle, create electronic ballots
for the AVC Edge®, and tally early voting, as well as official election
and absentee votes. WinEDS provides a flexible, easy to use reporting
and information processing tool for the election administrator.

- Ballot set up is accomplished in-house. After election information is
entered, ballots are generated by the central system automatically.

- Auto Activation eliminates the need for the poll worker to manually
activate each ballot. The AVC Edge® automatically activates when a smart
card is inserted by the voter, selecting the correct ballot and any other
options that were incorporated into the card. After activation, the card
is disabled by the AVC Edge® to stop any attempt by the voter to use it
to vote twice.

- Electronic Write-Ins eliminate the problem of interpreting voter intent.
Write-ins are recorded electronically and stored redundantly in the
AVC Edge® and in the Results Cartridge. The write-in votes are
transferred automatically, with all other votes, to the central
Election Database System (WinEDS). Write-in votes for each jurisdiction
can also be printed after polls close.

- Early Voting is another option provided by the AVC Edge®, which can
support thousands of precincts and ballot styles to accommodate
jurisdiction-wide early voting on a single machine.
-----------------------------------------



At the Feb. 17 meeting Mr. Cramer went on to say:

Also, Denver’s (Sequoia) DRE Voting Machines are free standing. They are not connected to anything – not to the Internet or to any other network.


Now, I've only been a computer network administrator for 10 years so I might be wrong but I do believe that "Elections Database System for Windows" means that it runs on Windows. Mr. Cramer was very clear in stating that it does not run on Windows. The term "client-server based computer network system" means that the computers are, for lack of a better word, networked. If the computers are networked then by definition they are connected. Perhaps not by wires, but they are connected none the less. Mr. Cramer was also quite clear that the computers were not connected (networked). Mr. Cramer states that Windows is not used in anything that has to do with "voting", well, he should probably clarify what the website means by "all phases of the election cycle".

This piece from the website, "Write-in votes for each jurisdiction can also be printed after polls close." means that the machines already have the hardware to be able to print, so the cost of $1500 per machine for hardware (that they already have) is ludicrous.

This man came in front of you and lied.

He also misled you on the problems with Sequoia Voting Systems. He was correct about Maryland's problems, but he conveniently left out the problems that Sequoia machines have had in places where they WERE installed. Here are some things that Mr. Cramer overlooked in his assesment of "completely safe":

Ten days after the November 2002 election, Richard Romero, a Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Democrat, noticed that 48,000 people had voted early on unauditable Sequoia touch-screen computers, but only 36,000 votes had been tallied — a 25 percent error. Sequoia vice president Howard Cramer apologized for not mentioning that the same problem had happened before in Clark County, Nevada. A “software patch” was installed (more on that risky procedure later) and Sequoia technicians in Denver e-mailed the “correct” results.

Not only did Cramer fail to mention to Bernalillo County that the problem had happened before in Nevada — just four months later, Sequoia salespersons also failed to mention it while making a sales presentation to Santa Clara County, California. A Santa Clara official tried to jog their memory. According to the minutes of this meeting, “Supervisor McHugh asked one of the vendors about a statistic saying there was a 25 percent error rate. ... No one knew where this number came from and Sequoia said it was incorrect.”

That meeting was held Feb. 11, 2003. Just 20 days before, in Snohomish County, Washington, Sequoia optical-scan machines had failed to record 21 percent of the absentee votes.

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, a member of the Nevada Policy Research Institute’s Advisory Council reports the following: “In July 1996, a public test to certify Clark County’s Sequoia Pacific machine for early voting was conducted. During the test, a cartridge malfunctioned; also, the examiner had difficulty casting his vote. He had to vote 51 times rather than the designated 50, an option not afforded the voter should the machine malfunction in an actual election.

Sometimes they omit testing key systems: The manufacturer of Baltimore’s $6.5 million voting system took responsibility for the computer failures that delayed the November 1999 city election results and vowed to repay the city for overtime and related costs. Phil Foster, regional manager for Sequoia Pacific Voting Equipment Inc., said his company had neglected to update software in a computer that reads the election results. Although it tested some programs, the company did not test that part of the system before the election. Before Sequoia agreed to reimburse the city for the problems — a cost that election officials said could reach $10,000 — Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke had threatened a lawsuit against the company.

And now you, the Election Commission, are asking us, the voters, to trust these guys? You ask us to trust someone that you know will come and lie right to your face about facts that only take a few minutes to verify. If they take that much care with how they present themselves to you, how much care will they take with my vote?

Without a voter-verified paper ballot (not a reciept as you keep calling it in the meetings, a ballot which is a legal record of the vote) neither the integrity of the company providing the machines nor the integrity of the voting process can be assured.

Relevant links:

• Minutes of the February 17, 2004 Meeting of the Denver County Election Commission


• Product Information for the Sequoia Voting Systems AVC Edge®


• List of known failures of Sequoia Voting Systems machines

Pentagon: Bush Military Records Destroyed
Fri Jul 9,10:49 AM ET
Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Military payroll records that could more fully document President Bush's whereabouts during his service in the Texas Air National Guard were inadvertently destroyed, according to the Pentagon.

In a letter responding to a freedom of information request by The Associated Press, the Defense Department said that microfilm containing the pertinent National Guard payroll records was damaged and could not be salvaged. The damaged material included payroll records for the first quarter of 1969 and the third quarter of 1972.

"President Bush's payroll records for those two quarters were among the records destroyed," wrote C.Y. Talbott, of the Pentagon's Freedom of Information and Security Review section. "Searches for back-up paper copies of the missing records were unsuccessful."

In February, the White House released some payroll and medical records from Bush's Vietnam-era service to counter Democrats' suggestions that he shirked his duty in the Texas Air National Guard.

Bush was in the Texas Air National Guard from 1968 to 1973, much of the time as a pilot, but never went to Vietnam or flew in combat. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, the Democratic presidential candidate, is a decorated Vietnam veteran, and some Democrats have questioned whether Bush showed up for temporary Guard duty in Alabama while working on a political campaign during a one-year period from May 1972 to May 1973.

Bush had asked to be able to transfer temporarily from the Texas Guard to an Alabama base during that time so he could work on the Senate campaign of a family friend. Reports differ on how long he was actually in Alabama, but it's generally believed that he returned to his Texas unit after the November 1972 election. The White House says Bush went back to Alabama again after that.

The Pentagon letter was sent in response to an April lawsuit filed by the AP under the federal Freedom of Information Act. That law requires government agencies to make public information not specifically exempted for disclosure.

The letter said that in 1996 and 1997, the Pentagon "engaged with limited success in a project to salvage deteriorating microfilm." During the process, "the microfilm payroll records of numerous service members were damaged," the letter said.

This process resulted in "the inadvertent destruction of microfilm containing certain National Guard payroll records," including Bush's, the letter said.

Trying to calm the political unrest, the White House on Feb. 13 released Bush's Vietnam-era military records to counter suggestions he shirked his duty. But there was no new evidence given at that time to show that he was in Alabama during the period when Democrats questioned whether he performed his service obligation.

The records showed that Bush, a pilot, was suspended from flying status beginning Aug. 1, 1972, because of his failure to have an annual medical examination. His last flight exam was on May 15, 1971. There were no new documents, during that February release, to shed any light on Bush's service in Alabama.

The New York Times> Search> Abstract:
NATIONAL DESK | June 9, 2004, Wednesday

Backup Steps Urged for Voting Machines
Late Edition - Final , Section A , Page 17 , Column 1

DISPLAYING FIRST 50 OF WORDS - In a major sign of concern about electronic voting machines, a senior federal voting official recommended Tuesday that several backup measures be put in place before the November elections to try to inspire voter confidence in the ... The measures include asking the makers of the machines to let election..."

Voting official seeks process for canceling Election Day over terrorism
Friday, June 25, 2004
BY ERICA WERNER
ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON - The government needs to establish guidelines for canceling or rescheduling elections if terrorists strike the United States again, says the chairman of a new federal voting commission.
Such guidelines do not currently exist, said DeForest B. Soaries, head of the voting panel.

Soaries was appointed to the federal Election Assistance Commission last year by President Bush. Soaries said he wrote to National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge in April to raise the concerns.

``I am still awaiting their response,'' he said. ``Thus far we have not begun any meaningful discussion.'' Spokesmen for Rice and Ridge did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Soaries noted that Sept. 11, 2001, fell on Election Day in New York City - and he said officials there had no rules to follow in making the decision to cancel the election and hold it later.

Events in Spain, where a terrorist attack shortly before the March election possibly influenced its outcome, show the need for a process to deal with terrorists threatening or interrupting the Nov. 2 presidential election in America, he said.

``Look at the possibilities. If the federal government were to cancel an election or suspend an election, it has tremendous political implications. If the federal government chose not to suspend an election it has political implications,'' said Soaries, a Republican and former secretary of state of New Jersey.

``Who makes the call, under what circumstances is the call made, what are the constitutional implications?'' he said. ``I think we have "

Ridge Warns of Election Threat in U.S., No Details
By Deborah Charles

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge warned Americans on Thursday that al Qaeda may try to carry out a large-scale attack to disrupt upcoming elections but offered no details and had no plans to raise the terror threat level.

Democrats used the latest warning, which provided no specific new intelligence about an attack on any particular site, to urge the Republican-led Senate to act on legislation for homeland security funding.

Ridge said the warning was based on intelligence received from credible sources gathered over the past months. "

And speaking of Judis, he and Spencer Ackerman and Massoud Ansari write in The New Republic that last month, 'even as the president's poll numbers were sliding, his administration was implementing a plan to insure the public's confidence in his hunt for Al Qaeda.

'This spring, the administration significantly increased its pressure on Pakistan to kill or capture Osama bin Laden, his deputy, Ayman Al Zawahiri, or the Taliban's Mullah Mohammed Omar, all of whom are believed to be hiding in the lawless tribal areas of Pakistan.'

They report -- third hand, at least -- that a White House aide told a Pakistani general last spring that 'it would be best if the arrest or killing of [any] HVT [High Value Target] were announced on twenty-six, twenty-seven, or twenty-eight July' -- the first three days of the Democratic National Convention in Boston."

"WASHINGTON - The Sept. 11 commission is standing by its finding that al-Qaida had only limited contact with Iraq before the terrorist attacks."

The 10-member, bipartisan panel issued a one-sentence statement Tuesday saying it had access to the same information as Vice President Dick Cheney, who suggested strong ties between ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida.

That assertion was one of the justifications the Bush administration gave for going to war with Iraq. In a preliminary report released last month, the Sept. 11 commission cited contacts between Saddam's regime and Osama bin Laden but said there was no "collaborative relationship."

Here's what the President said about Iraq:

Office of the Press Secretary
March 16, 2003 (three days before invasion)

President Bush Outlines Iraqi Threat
The dictator of Iraq and his weapons of mass destruction are a threat to the security of free nations. He is a danger to his neighbors. He's a sponsor of terrorism.

Here's what former weapons inspector Scott Ritter said six months before invasion

CNN
September 9, 2002
Former weapons inspector: Iraq not a threat

In an interview after the speech, Ritter denied allegations that the Iraqis had interfered with the inspection process.

RITTER: What I'm very certain of is that the Bush administration has not provided any evidence to substantiate its allegations that Saddam Hussein's regime is currently pursuing weapons of mass destruction programs or is in actual possession of weapons of mass destruction.

Based upon my experience as a weapons inspector from 1991 to 1998, while we had serious concerns about unaccounted aspects of Iraq's weapons program, we did ascertain a 90 [percent] to 95 percent level of disarmament that included all of the production equipment and means of production used by Iraq to produce these weapons.

So if Iraq has weapons today, like President Bush says, clearly they would have had to reconstitute these capabilities since December 1998. And this is something that the Bush administration needs to make a better case for, especially before we talk about going to war.

The inspectors were able to do their task of disarming Iraq without any obstruction by Iraq.

Let's keep in mind that from 1994 to 1998, the weapons inspectors carried out ongoing monitoring inspections of the totality of Iraq's industrial infrastructure. And at no time did Iraq obstruct this work.

If the United States shreds international law, rips up the United Nations charter and intervenes against Iraq unilaterally, we will be redefining the entire way the world chooses to deal with situations of this sort. What will then stop India and Pakistan from going to war? What will stop China from intervening in Taiwan? There will be no guarantees. There will be no mechanism. We will be unleashing chaos.

All of these were before the invasion as well:

• USA Today 15 Aug 2002 - U.S. intelligence cannot say conclusively that Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction, an information gap that is complicating White House efforts to build support for an attack on Saddam's Iraqi regime.
  


• CNN 27 Jan 2003 - Chief U.N. Weapons Inspector Hans Blix says, "Mr. President, to conclude, we have to date found no evidence that Iraq has revived its nuclear weapon program since the elimination of the program in the 1990s."
  


• Associated Press March 7, 2003 - Blix: Iraq Actively Cooperating to Disarm
  


• Secretary of State Colin Powell - 24 Feb 2001 (press conference speaking of Saddam Hussein), "He has not developed any significant capability with respect to weapons of mass destruction. He is unable to project conventional power against his neighbors. So in effect, our policies have strengthened the security of the neighbors of Iraq."
  


• CNN Late Edition With Wolf Blitzer - 29 July 2001, Condoleezza Rice states in her interview, "But in terms of Saddam Hussein being there, let's remember that his country is divided, in effect. He does not control the northern part of his country. We are able to keep arms from him. His military forces have not been rebuilt."
  

So, anyone that was paying attention knew before the war that Iraq didn't have WMDs.

Bush Administration Is Focus of Inquiry
CIA Agent's Identity Was Leaked to Media
By Mike Allen and Dana Priest
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, September 28, 2003; Page A01

At CIA Director George J. Tenet's request, the Justice Department is looking into an allegation that administration officials leaked the name of an undercover CIA officer to a journalist, government sources said yesterday.

The operative's identity was published in July after her husband, former U.S. ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, publicly challenged President Bush's claim that Iraq had tried to buy "yellowcake" uranium ore from Africa for possible use in nuclear weapons. Bush later backed away from the claim.

The intentional disclosure of a covert operative's identity is a violation of federal law.

Tue Jul 6, 2:33 PM ET
Reuters
By Charles Aldinger

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Only 90 of the more than 5,700 people in custody in Iraq (news - web sites) as security risks are foreign fighters, defense officials said on Tuesday, a figure that suggests the Bush administration may have overstated the role of outside militants in the deadly insurgency.

The officials, who asked not to be identified, said the U.S. military command handling security detention facilities in Iraq confirmed a report in USA Today that fewer than 2 percent of those in custody were foreigners.

The small percentage indicates the war in Iraq may not have attracted very many Islamic militants from other countries.

The Bush administration has insisted that foreign insurgents are playing a key role in Iraq, led in part by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Jordanian-born Zarqawi is leader of the Jama'at al-Tawhid and Jihad, which has claimed several deadly suicide bombings, assassinations of Iraqi officials and the kidnapping and beheadings of a South Korean and an American hostage.

Of the 90 foreign captives, about half are from Syria and others are from Arab countries including Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Yemen and Saudi Arabia, defense officials told Reuters.

How about this bit about weapons inspectors not being allowed into Iraq (google search: hans blix un report march) CNN has the transcript of Hans Blix report to the UN from March 7 (pre-war) where he states, "In matters relating to process, notably prompt access to sites, we have faced relatively few difficulties, and certainly much less than those that were faced by UNSCOM [U.N. Special Commission] in the period 1991 to 1998." ... "Initial difficulties raised by the Iraqi side about helicopters and aerial surveillance planes operating in the "no-fly" zones were overcome." ... "This is not to say that the operation of inspections is free from frictions, but at this juncture we are able to perform professional, no-notice inspections all over Iraq and to increase aerial surveillance."

It goes on like this.

How about these keywords in google; "aluminum tubes IAEA"?

The first result is simply titled Al Tubes here is the pertinent information boiled down to one line:

In his February 7, 2003 (pre-war) report to the UN Security Council, Mohamed ElBaradei, the IAEA's Director General, said: "Based on available evidence, the IAEA team has concluded that Iraq's efforts to import these aluminum tubes were not likely to have been related to the manufacture of centrifuges."

IAEA stands for International Atomic Energy Agency, they have a bit more experience with such things than the CIA.

Do a quick google search on these keywords; "bush knew niger uranium" and you will quickly find reports (pre-war) from all sorts of news agencies that assert that he knew this was false. The agencies include CNN, the LA Times, the BBC, and hundreds of others. Yet, no investigation.

Here are a few of them:

• CNN: A former U.S. diplomat said Sunday he told the Bush administration that Iraq had not tried to buy uranium from Niger in the late 1990s to develop nuclear weapons.
  
  Former Ambassador to Gabon Joseph Wilson told NBC's "Meet the Press" he informed the CIA and the State Department that such information was false months before U.S. and British officials used it during the debate that led to war.


• CBS: The CIA sent a former ambassador, Joseph Wilson, to check out the Niger claim in early 2002 and found no evidence to support it.


• BBC: Doubts about a claim that Iraq had tried to buy uranium from the African state of Niger were aired 10 months before Mr Bush included the allegation in his key State of the Union address this year, a CIA official has told the BBC.

The budget submitted for this year (2004) cuts $90M from education funding. [Congressional Budget Office]

The budget submitted back in 2001, right after the "education president" took office looked like this: The Administration has said that education is the President’s highest priority. The budget states that the President grants the education department "the largest percentage spending increase of any Department (11.5 percent increase in 2002)." A closer look shows that the more accurate figure for the Education Department is a 5.9 percent increase, while the figure for all federal education funding is 5.3 percent. After accounting for inflation, the increase proposed for education funding is 3.7 percent. After accounting for the increase in school-age population, the increase is 2.9 percent. [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities]



Concerning President Bush's FY '05 budget request for the Department of Education

• The budget request would amount to the smallest increase in education funding in 9 years;


• The budget request would eliminate 38 education programs, reducing the Federal investment in education by $1.4 billion;


• The budget request continues to renege on the commitment to fully fund the No Child Left Behind Act - falling $9.4 billion short for this coming fiscal year and $27 billion short overall since the law's first year;


• The budget request fails to make college more affordable;


• The budget request marks the third year in a row that the maximum Pell grant would remain at $4,050, despite the President's campaign pledge in 2000 to increase the award to $5,100;


• The budget request forces a tax on college loans that would charge students an additional $4 billion over the next 10 years by requiring lenders to collect a one percent insurance fee when students take out their college loans;


• The budget request would cut $316 million in vocational education funding, yet again. Since taking office, President Bush has proposed over $1.8 billion in cuts to vocational education and job training programs for community colleges;


• The Department of Education is improperly counting as unexpended funds billions of dollars in resources that the states have already designated for school renovation, teacher salaries and the purchase of testing system and curriculum for k-12 education; and


• The budget request continues to underfund the federal commitment to special education.