Spencer and Latham announce 2nd Debate

From the Register...

The candidates for Congress in Iowa’s 4th Congressional District have agreed to a debate.

Rep. Tom Latham, R-Iowa, and his Democratic opponent, neurologist Selden Spencer, will appear together at a town hall-style forum on Oct. 22 in the Muse-Norris Conference Center on the campus of Northern Iowa Area Community College in Mason City.

The debate was organized by KRIB Radio and will be carried live on AM-1490 KRIB.

The event is the second of two scheduled face-to-face meetings between the candidates. Latham and Spencer also will square off in a debate on Iowa Public Radio at 10 a.m. on Oct. 11 in state capitol’s law library.

Latham, a Republican from Alexander, has served in the House since 1995. Spencer is a political newcomer from Huxley.

It is good that Latham has finally agreed to a debate. I have also heard that IPTV's Iowa Press might be having a show featuring these two candidates.

Summing Up the November Elections and Republican Failures

From Politic Wire, Howard Fineman, of Newsweek, sums up everything that is going on with this quote...

Howard Fineman: "An Iraq war that has cost us nearly half trillion dollars -- and the good will of the world -- might not have done it. Runaway federal spending that allowed the national debt to reach $8.5 trillion might not have done it. George Bush's low approval ratings, the lack of comprehensive immigration reform, the historical pattern of an anti-incumbent 'six-year itch' in presidencies, the cascade of stories about administration ineptitude and dissembling and congressional financial and lobbying corruption -- none of these issues seemed destined to end the Republicans' 12-year reign in Congress."

"Then came the Foley Scandal. If the Democrats can't take the Hill now, they deserve to go the way of the Whigs."

Who is an Unlawful Enemy Combatant?

So now that the Senate has officially agreed to sponsor torture on "unlawful enemy combatants", the Bush administration has come out with their definition of what an "unlawful enemy combatant" is. From Democratic Undergound...

According to this Act, an "unlawful enemy combatant" is to be defined as:
"an individual engaged in hostilities against the United States who is not a lawful enemy combatant."

This basically means that if a person is not a soldier in the service of a foreign government, but is nevertheless engaging in "hostilities" against the United States, then this person is an unlawful enemy combatant. Notice that this definition does not require that such a person be an "alien," which accordingly leaves open the possibility that this designation could also be applied to an American citizen.

I think I am going to rent V is for Vendetta tonight and watch it again.

Iraq Hits Home

I have frequently written about my opposition to the War in Iraq and the occcupation that has followed. Much of my disaproval comes from seeing so many young soliders, who are also in their 20's, being killed. So far 2,720 US Soliders have died in the Iraq conflict.

Over the weekend 2 soliders from Iowa died in Iraq, one of which I knew personally. His family is one of the nicest that I know. Though he was not in his 20's, he still had many more years left to live. My thoughts and prayers are with his family. May peace prevail.

Not Very Many People Like Tom Latham

From a press release from the Spencer Campaign...

Latham Re-elect Support at 35%

Ames – The Spencer for Congress campaign today released poll numbers which show Dr. Selden Spencer, who entered the race in March of this year, gaining ground fast on five-term incumbent Congressman Tom Latham.

“In March, Dr. Spencer entered this race as a relatively unknown physician from Huxley who was outraged by Tom Latham’s rubberstamping of his party’s leadership and supporting oil and gas companies instead of Iowa’s hard working families,” said Kim Pieper, Campaign Manager. “Tom Latham has lost touch with ordinary Iowans and voters recognize it. Selden Spencer is nipping at his heels.”

The poll, conducted September 15-18, 2006 by Momentum Analysis, asked voters without mentioning Latham’s opponent whether or not they would support his re-election and a shockingly low 35 percent say they will re-elect Congressman Latham, with a fifth (21%) saying they will replace him, and fewer (17%) suggesting they might simply “consider another.” Over a quarter (28%) aren’t sure what they will do, suggesting that Latham is one of the most vulnerable Republicans in the country.

In a head-to-head match up with Democratic challenger Selden Spencer, Tom Latham was unable to garner a majority. He leads Spencer 48 percent to 37 percent, while 16 percent remain undecided. The research poll has a margin of error of +/-4.9%.

This definitely doesn't make Spencer the favorite for the race, but it does show that Latham can be beat. Since Spencer is new to politics, he is battling name recognition. If Spencer can get his name out there, Latham can be beat. It will surely be closer than many people thought it would be.

Check out the Spencer Campaign's new website!

Habeas Whatus?

The Senate voted today to take a giant step back in time, to pre-Magna Carta days, by passing the Torture Bill that strips detainees of their right of habeas corpus and allow America to torture detainees a little bit, just as long as we don't go too far.

Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) had this to say during the Senate debate...

In the wake of the attack of 9/11, and in the fact of the continuing terrorist threat, now is not the time for the United States to abandon its principles. Admiral Hutson was right to point out that when we do there would be little to distinguish America from a “banana republic” or the repressive regimes against which we are trying to rally the world and the human spirit. Now is not the time to abandon American values, to shiver and quake, to rely on secrecy and torture. Those are ways of repression and oppression, not the American way.

The habeas provisions of this bill are wrong-headed and flagrantly unconstitutional. Tinkering with them would not make them less wrong-headed, but might make them less flagrantly unconstitutional, and I see no reason to save the Administration from itself and from the inevitable defeat when the Supreme Court strikes them down. Why should those of us who take our oath to uphold the Constitution seriously, and who understand the fundamental importance of habeas to freedom, compromise with the drafters of this irresponsible bill?

Hostile Takeover...Wages

From Chapter 2 of Hostile Takeover on wages...

The facts are very stark: trade deals that allow companies to freely search the world for the cheapest labor have driven down Americans' wages. In 2001, economists estimated that three-quarters of American workers had lost about 12 percent of their current wages because of these trade deals. For a worker earning $25,000 a year, that's more than $3,000, thanks to trade deals that corporate America and politicians of both parties promised would mean better wages. In the period from World War II to 1972, when our government was not aggressively using trade policy to sell out American workers, wages grew by 85 percent. By contrast, in the next three decades of "free" trade dominance, real wages grew only 7 percent, even as corporate profits skyrocketed.

Read more from Hostile Takeover...
Introduction
Jobs

Fund Emergency Paper Ballots

In my inbox today from Rapid Response...

Senator Dodd, Senator Boxer, and Rep. Rush Holt have introduced a bill to fund emergency paper ballots for the 2006 elections. The bill would not require a voter-verified paper record, but it would offer funding to any county that chose to offer paper ballots as a contingency option for voting machine failures, and, better still, require that counties who receive this funding to offer a paper ballot to any voter who requests one! See www.votetrustusa.org for more information. There is also a New York Times article up here.

There is no bill number for this legislation yet. But call Harkin, Grassley, and your Senators and urge them to support this bill!

Congress adjourns Friday so time is of the essence.

Contact info for Senator Grassley and Senator Harkin:

Sen. Chuck Grassley
135 Hart Senate Bldg.
Washington, DC
20510-1501
202.224.3744

Des Moines
721 Federal Building
210 Walnut Street
Des Moines, IA 50309
(515) 288-1145
Fax: (515) 288-5097

Senator Tom Harkin

WASHINGTON OFFICE
731 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-3254 Phone
(202) 224-9369 Fax

DES MOINES
210 Walnut Street
Room 733, Federal Building
Des Moines, IA 50309
(515) 284-4574 Phone
(515) 284-4937 Fax

Hostile Takeover...Taxes

Yesterday I posted that each day this week, I will be posting quotes from each chapter of David Sirota's book, Hostile Takeover. The first chapter is on taxes.

A 2004 GAO report found that more than 27,000 Pentagon contractors owe federal government $3 billion in undpaid taxes. A follow-up study the next year found an additional 33,000 contractors for civilian agencies owe $3 billion more. The government could cut off these cheats by terminating their federal contracts. Or at the very least, officials could follow a 1997 law that requires federal agencies to withhold15 percent from payments to individuals or businesses with unpaid tax bills. Yet that hasn't happened, likely because many of those tax evaders are big donors to politicians of both parties. Meanwhile, companies that abuse offshore tax havens continue to recieve almost $1billion in US government contracts each year, despite the fact they are brazenly stealing money from American taxpayers. In all, corporate delinquency, refusal to pay, and tax evasion rob America up to $40 billion a year - more than the annual budget of the Department of the Homeland Security.

When it comes to wasting taxpayer's money, CIETC can't hold a candle to the amount of money that corporations fail to pay in taxes.

Reading Hostile Takeover by David Sirota

I have been reading the book by David Sirota called Hostile Takeover: How Big Money and Corruption Conquered Our Government - and How We Take It Back. Each chapter is about a different industry or issue and is full of statistics that shows how Big Money has expanded their influence in the Government.

Like many Americans, I had felt that corporations and big money somehow kept coming out on top on many political issues. However, it wasn't until I heard Ed Fallon talking about Big Money that I learned how much influence Big Money actually has.

For the next two weeks, I will be posting some quotes from each chapter of Hostile Takeover to highlight how our Government has been sold off to Big Money and we, the Common Iowans, are being left out.

I will leave you with this quote from the Introduction of Hostile Takeover...

On almost every major issue affecting your wallet, you are told a different version of the same basic story. There is deified "free market" that we all must bow down to and never question, under punishment of getting tarred and feathered as a pink commie bastard by whatever Attila the Hun radio host happens to be on the air. This free market, we are told, means we must have fewer regulations that protect citizens' rights, less taxation of the rich, and no mandates on business to fulfill any social responsibilities other than increasing corporations' bottom line. At the same time, this "free market" is to be ignored when it might actually benefit ordinary citizens.

Thus, in one breath, politicians tell us price controls for medicine are bad, but restrictive patent laws that keep drug prices high are good; regulations against energy price gouging are bad, but government handouts to energy companies are good; protecting American jobs is bad, but government help in outsourcing our jobs is good. In short, they tell us government is Big Business's personal sidearm, instead of the middle-class's flak jacket against corporate abuse.

Follow up on Negative Campaigning in Iowa House District 44

The Marshalltown Times Republican ran a follow up story to the negative mailings the Republican Party sent out the same day the Times Republican ran a story about the Republican running a "clean" campaign. I wrote about it here.

Here is part of the follow up article...

Granzow responded to the piece by saying she had no idea it was coming out. The circular was marked as being clearly paid for by the Republican Party of Iowa.

“Any perceived negative ad run against my opponent by others was neither known of in advance nor approved by me,” Granzow said.

Hoy, himself, actually received the campaign piece in the mail and expressed his disappointment with what was being done.

“Unfortunately, our electorate system has digressed to the point where apparently negative advertising is effective,” he said. “Obviously, a contrast and comparison is fine. One’s voting record is certainly appropriate. But complete negative advertising — I think the voters are tiring of it and I hope eventually they say enough is enough.”

Buffett and Turner to Donate Money for Nuclear Fuel

I heard about this last week and have meant to post about it.

WASHINGTON - Billionaire investor Warren Buffett, CNN creator Ted Turner and former Sen. Sam Nunn pledged $50 million to the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog agency Tuesday to create a uranium stockpile.

The aim is to discourage countries from developing their own nuclear programs. The reserve would ensure supplies of low-grade fuel for nuclear power plants around the world. One example of a program they hope to discourage is in Iran, which critics fear is ultimately aimed at developing weapons.

This is one of those things that makes so much sense that it probably won't happen.