Join us at the Seattle chapter of Drinking Liberally for an evening of politics under the influence. We meet at 8:00 pm at the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E—some of us show up a little early for dinner.
Tonight’s theme song is inspired by Gen. Casey, who testified before a Senate panel today that the Army is under serious strain and is headed for a train wreck if troop deployments are not shortened: Casey Jones by the Grateful Dead.
There are rumors that the podcast will return to Drinking Liberally this evening.
If you find yourself in the Tri-Cities area this evening, check out McCranium for the local Drinking Liberally . Otherwise, check out the Drinking Liberally web site for dates and times of a chapter near you.
Roger Rabbit can’t attend tonight because he’s still sick.
In addition, Roger got into the medicinal rum and isn’t in any shape to hop.
RR, hope you’re feeling some medicinal rum relief!
Did you see where I found the answers to your question re: McCain’s crashes?
http://www.horsesass.org/?p=4363#comment-747909
@3 Yes, I saw that. It was McCain’s grandfather who cracked up 5 Navy planes, but aircraft at least were cheaper back then. Add John McCain’s 3 jets (the 2 he cracked up in training accidents and the one he lost in Vietnam) and you’ve got 2 members of the McCain family wrecking 8 airplanes belonging to us taxpayers. And this guy wants us to trust him with the whole fucking military?
I DON’T THINK SO!!!
A lot of ex-military pilots get airline jobs. Now you know why McCain went into politics instead. I suppose I’d rather have him in the Senate than trust him with the lives 200 – 300 passengers — that’s what is called a Hobson’s Choice. But promote him to president? Why?
Not that Republicans give a rip about the lives of 200 – 300 innocent airline passengers. Take, for example, this comment posted on Stefan’s sucky little anti-American blog by Mark Griswold, a former GOP candidate who got very deservedly got his wingnut ass kicked by Frank Chopp to the tune of 85% – 15%:
“Congratulations Speaker Pelosi, now let the bombs fall where they may. My prediction: terror attack on domestic soil passenger aircraft within the next six months. Casualties in the 2-300 range. And, unfortunately, maybe that’s just what we need. … Posted by FullContactPolitics at November 8, 2006 10:52 AM
http://blog.usefulwork.com/cgi.....ry_id=7430
(Note: HA’s peripatetic online detective, Richard Pope, identified “FullContactPolitics” as Griswold by finding another ocmment on Sucky Politics in which Griswold posted both this screen name and his real name.)
So, here we have a Republican candidate for the Washington legislature hoping that 200 – 300 innocent Americans get killed in a terror attack because he thinks his party might get an electoral advantage from it.
Sick. Pathetic. Un-American.
Whoa. democrats have just worshipped Hillary Clinton for the last couple years. What happened to her run for prez? You guys abandoned her! (sexism rears its ugly head in this race?)
@1 and 2 Roger “Where’s the free handouts?” Rodent:
Like I’ve said before, the real reason is that your med. coupons do not qualify as cab fare. At least be honest, even with your OCD.
@8 Projecting again? You Republicans are the experts on handouts. Most of you have never done an honest day’s work in your entire, miserable, useless lives.
@9 Roger Rodent:
Nope, just exposing you for the worthless non-contributing memebr society that you are. Wish you help with your OCD though-truly.
Roger Rabbit says:
A lot of ex-military pilots get airline jobs.
That’s true: most airline guys come from the military, Navy and Air Force mostly. The vast majority of military pilots, however, do no end up flying for the airlines. A Class I medical is had to get after 20 or 30 years of having the hell beat out of you while participating in military aviation. I’m sure McCain couldn’t pass a Class I (and thereby couldn’t be an ailine pilot) after he retired from the military. Flight surgeons in the Navy might “fudge a little” to keep a guy like McCain on flying status, but an airline like Northwest has nothing invested in any military guys. If the prospective airline pilots can’t pass the Class I medical, they don’t get hired.
And there are a hell of a lot of former Air Force and Navy guys who can’t fly for the airlines because they can’t pass the physical. Knowing how to fly is just half of the equation.
WOW! the debate was frikkin amazing! probably the best in the history of televised presidential debates. substantive and engaging, and i loved the way barak and hillary shoved the moderators outta the way to lay out the details on health care. they both did well. at times it looked like the senior senator and the junior senator (heh) but barak still looked really good.
best part about it? we get em both! likely scenario also looks like the best case scenario to me — barak in the white house with hillary and a democratic senate whoopin ass! looks like we’ll be “well placed” come november as regards SIGNIFICANT CHANGES in both domestic and foreign policy. about time, eh?
oh, and to our republican friends: i hope you spend the next four years taking back your party from the corporate criminals, the sociopathic neocons, and the misanthropic pseudo-christian idiots like pudbutt (heilary cliton? such an example u are!) and robertson. of course at this point if they got rid of those, there probably wouldnt be anyone left on that side of the aisle. that’d be fine too, if they just ended up like the repubs here in this state — a perpetually whining and relatively powerless permanent minority that we all have to babysit as we would a child prone to misbehavior. poor dears — its not easy having to protect them from themselves, but we’ll manage.
with the republicans running McBush, we’re likely to do well in ALL races. yay!
@12
I’m hoping Hillary has to concede next week after the primaries. Obama would be more tolerable than “her highness.”
Watch the drinking & driving at DL.
re 8: Off the Mark: Why do they call Social Security (which we’ve been paying for all our booming lives) an ‘entitlement’? Sounds pejorative and judgemental.
The only reason American citizens are ‘entitled’ to something is because they already paid for it themselves. If we want to build a social safety net in the true spirit of Christian giving, then fuckoff, Mark.
We’ll be happy to let you starve if you run into bad times.
The only reason American citizens are ‘entitled’ to something is because they already paid for it themselves.
A liberal paying something off??? hahahahaha
I am going to love to hear you try to explain this bullshit scheme to a 20 something come 2020 when they are paying 30% in SS tax. You are full of shit.
@ 16
Well, JBD, we all know you wouldn’t say something that isn’t true! So please show the voluminous amount of evidence you have that anyone will be paying 30% in SS tax in 2020.
After all, you’re not full of shit? Right?
Look at the our state budget our wonderful senators just passed! They deleted the teachers pay raise AGAIN! How many years have they been denied raises? When will our state Senators take a year of no pay raise? HA yeah SS at 30%? Unfortunately that is so foreseable, with property taxes going up 21% in 2 years (see: http://seattletimes.nwsource.c.....ets26.html 3rd letter down) it seems so easy that SS taxes will raise up to 30% by 2020, at this rate, maybe even by 2015!
History has been repeating itself in this state for years, higher taxes, less product for our tax dollar. They are taxing the middle class right out of Washington. Well then the Gov can explain why they have “revenue loss” of 400+ million, think about it! It’s those overtaxed leaving the state. Soon with her way of taxing us out of state, this state will have a bigger deficit each year! And our education system is what? 46th in the nation? No wonder!!! When we treat our teachers like crap!
I love that 21% increase!!!! Hell I wish I could get a cost of living raise every 2 years.
M, I am curious what drugs you have to take to link property taxes to Social Security.
Um duh?! Not LINKING any taxes. Just pointing out the fact that if property taxes can increase 10+% each year, SS taxes can increase up to 30% by 2020. It very well COULD happen! ALL taxes increase year after year, so it is a matter of time, SS tax will be way up there. Obama has already said he wants to increase federal income tax up to closer to 50%, to lower the deficit, that’s closing in on a 10% raise. We all know SS is in the hole, so it is feasible to save it the tax COULD increase drastically to salvage it.
17
You need to change your name. Of course liberals have no clue where money comes from or how much things cost. Oh well.
@ 20
M, you just contradicted yourself in the space of 3 sentences.
You’re not very good at this troll business are you?
The correct answer is: There is no connection of property taxes and SS taxes, or you newly introduced bullshit about federal taxes. You are floundering, M.
JBD, you care to take at stab @ 17?
You’re not full of shit are you?
A liberal paying something off??? hahahahaha
Isn’t it amazing how Republiturds seem to forget the 9 trillion dollar national debt they ran up in just 6 years and the 3 billion dollar a day war going on over in Iraq. How are the Republiturds going to pay that off?
Oh, wait. I guess it will be up to the liberals to figur out a way to do that.
Oh and why do Republiturds think it is ok to borrow trillions of dollars from the Communist Chinese? Aren’t they evil and all that? Now they can break our economy by calling in that debt.
Well I hope all you teachers remember the 18% raise your esteemed governor saw fit and happy to recieve.
She is feeling all your pain…Yeh Right!
Amazing no one can read! Or maybe it’s our education system failing again? Our state senators stopped good education by one again denying paise raise to our teachers. Yep the teachers got the shaft again.
NO LINKING PROP WITH SS TAXES! Pointing out the obvious, since property taxes increase so much, why not SS tax increases?
Or are you saying there is no way SS taxes can increase? Or fed tax increase?
Have our gas taxes increased? Have our state taxes increased? Have our federal taxes increased? Answer to all…YES! It’s not linking them all together!
And no comment on the state senators screwing our teachers?
3 billion a day. Times 365 days and dive by 50. You get around 22 billion. That is what each state of the Union could be spending each year for local problems, instead of on the war in Iraq which is accomplishing nothing good for us.
24 – both dems and reps have approved the billions of dollars for the war. Had the dems voted no, would we be in this mess?
26 – 18% raise???? CRIPES! That explains A LOT!
m, you keep on stating complete crap like this
and then back it up with… nothing
Again, how do you connect the two?
You ask “since property taxes increase so much, why not SS tax increases?”
That is non sequitur. It is up to you to provide evidence for your ridiculous statement. Not me.
Again, what makes you think there is a connection between property taxes and SS taxes?
@ 30, I know 18% is amazing. But you need to understand that GS just pulled that out of his ass. Like all wingnut trolls do.
And just like you do, M.
Let me help you understand the concept of a non sequitur, M
* Mark Foley is a pedophile, why not all Republicans?
See, that is a non sequi… or forgive me, that actually might be true.
31-do your research. Read actual readers stories of tax increase and percentage of those increases. Talk to people that see their tax bills increase drastically year after year. Guaranteed if you went out and talked to most middle class homeowners, their stories will be the same, taxed to death for owning a home.
And yes, SS tax raises each year, minimum, yes, but every single year it is raised some. (Ask your employer about federal taxes they pay)
And I’m trying to find the pay raise info on the 18% that GS said, I thought I remember seeing around 12% (Still ridiculous) on the actual state budget last so round.
And AGAIN ….I NEVER said there was ANY connection between prop and SS taxes!
And your evidence for that? Better question, M: When was the last SS tax increase, and who raised it?
Bonus question: Are you retarded?
That would explain your posts.
Hmm once again ask your payroll manager. This past year SS taxes raise .03%
I do payroll for a large company and yes we get the state and federal increases each year. State is by far higher though for L&I and unemployment.
Can you name that company, I would surely like to avoid ever working for them.
The answer is 1983, and Ronald Reagan.
The bonus answer is: Yes.
http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/ProgData/taxRates.html
Wanna say 1983?
M @ 29
It was the shrub who drove the bus into the ditch. Now you want to assign joint blame to the dems for trying to help get us back out of the ditch?
Ooops unemployment went up this year so far not SS yet! And unemploymnet (state) was .03% to the employer.
41-Had the dems stopped funding the war 4 years ago? How much money would they have saved?
Watching the debate on MSNBC, it is truly striking how talented our two last standing candidates are compared to what the GOP spit up this time. Barack has been kicking Hillary’s ass, but, still, she is so much better that McCain. Man, it must suck to be a Republican this year.
So, M. you wanna revise your “SS taxes at 30% by 2015” estimate?
JBD, you have anything to add, other than more wingnut lies?
M- four years ago the Republicans had majority control over both houses.
But don’t let those facts confuse you, at least not any more than you already are.
@43, Well, if you discount to infinity, it’s probably a lot of dough. But only dishonest Social Security privaticons use that gimmick.
Plus, the war appropriations are “off budget” (neat GOP trick that).
Remember what your hero uncle Milti Friedman said: “To spend is to tax”. Believe it or not.
Yeah, PL, it must really suck to be a republican.
You can tell how much by the desperate nonsense coming from the trolls.
@ 48 I really don’t think M has any idea who Friedman is. If it is not on his talking point fax, he don’t know anything about it.
I like how everyone has avoided the basis of my very 1st post….
TEACHERS GETTING SCREWED YET ONCE AGAIN BY OUR STATE SENATE!
No comments about that yet?
Besides, I have a life and a job so I need to get some sleep to be able to pay my taxes tomorrow. Have fun slamming anything and everything right. For some good reading check out the new health care proposal for Wa State:
From Seattle Times:
Health Care: the Billion-Dollar Dreams
Posted by Bruce Ramsey
Here is the first bill I’ve seen in Olympia with a projected cost in excess of $100 billion over the next decade. It is Senate Bill 6221, whose prime sponsor is Sen. Karen Keiser, D-Des Moines. Also sponsored by Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle. It is a “universal coverage” medical care bill, called a bill to “establish a Washington Health Partnership.”
The Office of Financial Management, following I-960, has put out the following “projection of increased cost to taxpayers and affected ratepayers.” The estimate is zero for fiscal 2008 and 2009 because the program wouldn’t start until 2010. By my back-of-the-envelope calculations, this program would more than double the state near-general-fund budget:
Year Individual and Employer Assessments for Washington Health Partnership
FY 2008 –
FY 2009 –
FY 2010 $ 7,197,000,000
FY 2011 $ 18,274,000,000
FY 2012 $ 18,731,000,000
FY 2013 $ 19,198,000,000
FY 2014 $ 19,677,950,000
FY 2015 $ 20,169,898,750
FY 2016 $ 20,674,146,219
FY 2017 $ 21,190,999,874
Total $ 145,112,994,843
Whether these numbers are right I have no idea. They are not comforting.
WOW! And how much is Gregoire gonna ask us to raise our taxes to add an additional 10+ BILLION a year? AMAZING!
02/25/2008 at 8:23 pm
@ 51
Well, M, if you ever say anything that is correct, I will be happy to acknowledge it.
M,
FICA taxes (which, I believe, includes Medicare contributions) are fixed as a % of eligible income. This is 7.65%.
From what I’ve briefly looked at, the income level to which the tax applies does increase over time, probably an inflation adjustment, but I’m not certain on that.
Social Security taxes (revenues) increase with the increase in Gross National Income. So yes, if the economy grows by 30% then FICA revenues would be expected to grow accordingly. This is not an increase in the RATE of taxes.
M @ 38: “Hmm once again ask your payroll manager. This past year SS taxes raise .03%. I do payroll for a large company and yes we get the state and federal increases each year. State is by far higher though for L&I and unemployment.”
M, hmm, if you’re doing payroll for a “large company,” then that large company is getting screwed. As a guy who actually signs paychecks, I know you don’t have a clue what you’re talking about. If I understand what your quote above means–and, comprehending your prose is not easy–I would have to say you are either a complete liar or a complete buffoon. Neither option is pretty, my sorry son.
M 2 20: “We all know SS is in the hole.”
That is simply not true.
If M actually did payroll for a large company he would know that there has been no increase on the rate of SS tax.
He came in lying, he lied in the middle, and he lied till he left.
{sigh} When will we get a better quality troll?
K. YOU FUCKIN IDIOT. WHAT WAS THAT THEME THE DEMWITS RAN ON AGAIN.SEEMS THEY ARE DOING A GOOD JOB.TO BAD THE PEOPLE DONT THINK SO.WHAT IS THERE RATING AGAIN.JUST ASKIN.OH AND WHO IS IN CHARGE OF THE CONGRESS NOW
How do you know when a wingnut troll is lying?
There are words in his post.
THE ONLY THING IN THE HOLE WAS BILL CLINTON.DID YOU SEE THE ASS ON HILLDABEAT IF SOMEONE TO HAULL ASS SHE WOULD HAVE TO MAKE 10 TRIPS.
@51: You trust Bruce Ramsey to do “back of the envelope” calculations? He is mathematically inummerate. He proved this with his lying screeds on the Social Security ‘crisis’.
I wouldn’t trust him to count change from $1.00 for a 99 cent burger at MacDonalds. He is shameless.
SOMEONE ASKED OBAMA TONIGHT IF THEY WERE TO MAKE A MOVIE ABOUT HIM WHO DID HE THINK SHOULD PLAY HIM IN THE MOVIE.ID SAY DUMBO THE ELEPHANT BOTH HAVE BIG EARS
Meth addiction is a horrible thing.
Just ask PU.
TBO: “When will we get a better quality troll?”
PU to the rescue, have you not noticed?
But then again, it must be impossible to be a “high quality” wingnut troll.
What are you going to do? Tell the truth? That would be against the whole concept of being a wingnut.
60-https://fortress.wa.gov/ofm/fnspublic/legsearch.asp?BillNumber=6221&SessionNumber=60
THIS IS WHAT I BELIEVE!
@ 65, if you follow the link M posted, you will find what he believes:
Not Found
M
You said you were going to bed. Must you always lie?
Good point, PL. I will revise @ 56
“He came in lying, he lied in the middle, and he lied till he left.” And then he lied after he left.
M’s method
‘Argument To The Future’:
Arguing that evidence will someday be discovered which will (then) support your point.”
http://www.don-lindsay-archive.....tml#cliche
@10 Yes, I admit that I’m a non-contributing member of society — I do no work and produce nothing! But isn’t that everyone’s goal? The capitalist system rewards me with a higher income and the Republican tax system rewards me with a lower tax rate for flipping stocks instead of working. Work will be punished! — GOP Congress motto
@11 “I’m sure McCain couldn’t pass a Class I (and thereby couldn’t be an ailine pilot) after he retired from the military.”
I’m sure losing 3 planes didn’t help his chances, either.
@16 “A liberal paying something off??? hahahahaha
I am going to love to hear you try to explain this bullshit scheme to a 20 something come 2020 when they are paying 30% in SS tax. You are full of shit.”
It works like this, little puppy … Democrats provide all the labor in this country, so we’re the only ones paying SS taxes. Meanwhile, Repubs get 1/2 the GDP just for owning stuff. BTW it’s you Repubs (e.g., Hickabee & Paul) who want a 30% sales tax.
@18 “It’s those overtaxed leaving the state.”
Hardly. The state’s population is growing (which creates demand for more gov’t services). Revenue is shrinking because we’re in a recession and our state depends on sales tax revenues which always go down in a recession, dumbass.
Good debate tonight, although the pundits were disappointed. I think they were all hoping for something out of pro wrestling. One of them even went so far as to say that they were looking for Senator Clinton to come out from the break wielding a folding chair.
Instead, two adults came out and debated issues, even when the moderators were trying to get them to take cheap shots at each other. Niether one rose to the bait.
Yes, I’m still in favor of Senator Obama, and want him to win, but after the last two debates I can honestly say that either one of them would be a breath of fresh air in the White House. If Senator Clinton gets the nomination, I’ll happily vote for her.
And while taking cheap shots at Senator McCain may seem like fun, I can also honestly wish him the best of luck as one of the senior Senators from the minority party.
He’s actually been halfway decent in the past, before presidential aspirations and a far-right steering committee got ahold of him. Hopefully, he can find himself again.
@29 Got news for you, bub. The Iraq fiasco is strictly “made in GOP.” You fuckers own that clusterfuck all by yourself. It was your idea and you shoved it down our throats.
@38 “Hmm once again ask your payroll manager. This past year SS taxes raise .03%”
You can’t tell the difference between SS and L & I taxes, and you’re doing payroll?
“TUMWATER — The Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) today formally adopted 2008 workers’ compensation rates that were proposed in September, increasing premiums by an average of 3.2 percent next year.”
http://www.lni.wa.gov/news/2007/pr071203a.asp
Unemployment taxes are far less than SS taxes. L & I taxes depend on the industry but it would have to be a high risk business (such as commercial fishing or logging) for UT + LI to exceed the SS rate.
Employers get something very valuable in return for the L & I taxes they pay: Legal immunity from lawsuits for workplace injuries.
This deal was made 100 years ago. Workers gave up the right to sue in exchange for a no-fault insurance system with guaranteed benefits. Employers got immunity for suits and the certainty and predictability of a set benefit schedule. It was a win-win for both sides, and business and labor both supported it.
Republicans, of course, would love to have tort immunity AND make injured workers pay their medical bills themselves. In fact, the GOP is hell-bent on undoing ALL of the social deals that have been made over the last 100 years and returning America to the industrial practices and standards of the 19th century. Trouble is, there’s more workers than employers, and workers vote too. Why would workers go along with such one-sided bullshit? Answer: They won’t.
That’s why Repubs are going to be the minority party for a long time to come.
@43 How would Democrats have stopped funding the war 4 years ago? In 2004, Repubs controlled both houses of Congress.
This new troll is an especially stupid one.
@53 “From what I’ve briefly looked at, the income level to which the tax applies does increase over time, probably an inflation adjustment, but I’m not certain on that.”
That’s correct, it’s going up from $94,200 to $97,500 — this is an inflation adjustment.
http://blog.accountingcoach.co.....icare-tax/
@65 Cripes, you can’t even copy and paste a link correctly.
Oh and let’s not forget that a partisan GOP prosecutor railroaded an innocent woman to prison for political gain:
“A Woman Wrongly Convicted and a U.S. Attorney Who Kept His Job
“By ADAM COHEN
“Published: April 16, 2007
“Madison, Wis.
“Opponents of Gov. Jim Doyle of Wisconsin spent $4 million on ads last year trying to link the Democratic incumbent to a state employee who was sent to jail on corruption charges. The effort failed, and Mr. Doyle was re-elected — and now the state employee has been found to have been wrongly convicted.
“The entire affair is raising serious questions about why a United States attorney put an innocent woman in jail.
“The conviction of Georgia Thompson has become part of the furor over the firing of eight United States attorneys in what seems like a political purge. While the main focus of that scandal is on why the attorneys were fired, the Thompson case raises questions about why other prosecutors kept their jobs.
“The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, which heard Ms. Thompson’s case this month, … ordered her released immediately …. ‘Your evidence is beyond thin,’ Judge Diane Wood told the prosecutor. …
“Members of Congress should ask whether it was by coincidence or design that Steven Biskupic, the United States attorney in Milwaukee, turned a flimsy case into a campaign issue that nearly helped Republicans win a pivotal governor’s race.
“There was good reason for the appeals court to be shocked. Ms. Thompson, a 56-year-old single woman, … lost her home and spent four months in prison simply for doing her job. Ms. Thompson … was responsible for putting the state’s travel account up for competitive bid.
“Mr. Biskupic claimed that she awarded the contract to an agency … because its C.E.O. contributed to Mr. Doyle’s campaign. To charge her, Mr. Biskupic had to look past a mountain of evidence of innocence.
“Ms. Thompson was … a civil servant, hired by a Republican governor, with no identifiable interest in politics. She was only one member of a seven-person committee that evaluated the bidders. She was not even aware of the [company’s] campaign contributions. She also had a good explanation for her choice … the lowest-cost bid.
“While Ms. Thompson did her job conscientiously, that is less clear of Mr. Biskupic. The decision to award the contract — the supposed crime — occurred in Madison, in the jurisdiction of Wisconsin’s other United States attorney. But for reasons that are hard to understand, the Milwaukee-based Mr. Biskupic swept in and took the case. While he was investigating, … Mr. Biskupic informed the media … [contrary to] Justice Department guidelines ….
“The prosecution proceeded on a schedule that worked out perfectly for the Republican candidate for governor. Mr. Biskupic announced Ms. Thompson’s indictment in January 2006. She went to trial that summer, and was sentenced in late September, weeks before the election. …
“[T]he Thompson case was ‘the No. 1 issue’ in the governor’s race …. In a barrage of commercials, Mr. Doyle’s opponents created an organizational chart that linked Ms. Thompson … to the governor. Ms. Thompson appeared in an unflattering picture, stamped ‘guilty,’ and in another ad, her name was put on a graphic of jail-cell doors slamming shut. …
“According to some Wisconsin politicians, Karl Rove said … their state was his highest priority among governor’s races in 2006, because he believed a Republican governor could help the party win Wisconsin in the 2008 presidential election. …
“Those motivations … describe why Mr. Biskupic prosecuted Ms. Thompson.”
Quoted under fair use; for complete story and/or copyrigh info see http://tinyurl.com/yntzn9
Biskupic is an all-around oaf — so, naturally, Bush gave him a U.S. attorney job, because he’s exactly the kind of shoeshine boy Repubs love to employ:
“Sentencing snafu earns Biskupic a chiding
“Posted: Dec. 8, 2007
“Daniel Bice
” … In a harshly worded decision, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ripped both Biskupic’s office and U.S. District Judge J.P. Stadtmueller for their handling of an immigration case against a guy named Ramon Reyes-Sanchez.
“‘It was our mistake,’ Biskupic conceded Friday. ‘The decision reinforces that it was our mistake.’
“Boy, does it.
“Take this line from Thursday’s decision, written by the often-acerbic U.S. Appeals Court Judge Frank Easterbrook: ‘The prosecutor’s office was napping when action was required.’ How often does a judge tell a U.S. attorney in writing that his staff was asleep at the switch?
“Reyes-Sanchez pleaded guilty in 2004 to sneaking into the United States after having been deported after a felony conviction …. Stadtmueller sentenced him to … three years behind bars. Biskupic’s office complained … this was … below the guidelines …. In September 2006, three appeals judges in Chicago agreed, vacating the sentence and sending the case back to Stadtmueller. But then nothing happened.
“This is how Easterbrook puts it: ‘The prosecutor did not ask the district judge to resentence Reyes-Sanchez, and the judge did not take any step on his own to implement the mandate. Apparently, the prosecutor’s office neglected to tell the Bureau of Prisons and the Department of Homeland Security about the (appeals) court decision.’ The result: After serving… three years, Reyes-Sanchez was released …. Prosecutors found all this out only after the guy was sprung. …
“So the feds were left with a difficult situation: The appeals court had ordered a new sentence for a guy no longer in their custody.
“What to do?
“The prosecutors could try to track the guy down, but Reyes-Sanchez probably isn’t even in the country. So they … asked the appellate court in Chicago to erase its earlier ruling calling for a longer sentence. The appeals court flatly rejected the request.
“Easterbrook wrote that the district judge and Biskupic’s office created the problem through their ‘negligence.’ The sentence handed down by Stadtmueller was unlawful, he suggested. Given that, he said, the appeals court was not about to go tidying things up. ‘If judicial negligence does not justify recalling a mandate, how could the prosecutor’s negligence do so?’ Easterbrook asked. … The order will stay in place until Reyes-Sanchez is ‘available for resentencing,’ whenever that is.
“Biskupic, the only one willing to talk, was in full mea culpa mode. ‘I accept it was our fault,’ he said. …
“Biskupic is getting used to dealing with controversy. This year, it came out that Biskupic was on a list of U.S. attorneys set to be fired. His office also drew national attention for its poor record in voter fraud cases. Then there was the appeals court ruling tossing the conviction of a state worker charged with steering a state contract to a contributor of Gov. Jim Doyle.”
Quoted under fair use; for complete story and/or copyright info see http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=694638
Roger Rabbit Comment: It seems that when this dumbass isn’t sending innocent people to prison, he’s letting real criminals go free. At least we can be grateful he’s incompetent at handling “voter fraud” cases, too, or every Democrat in Wisconsin would be in jail.
As for Judge Stadtmueller, if you’re wondering whether he’s a Bush appointee too, the answer is no — he was put on the bench by Reagan.
M @ 18
I heard some radio commercials today from the Washington Education Association. They started talking about an initiative from around 2000, where the voters increased teacher pay to be competitive with other states. Then they slammed Dino Rossi for slashing teacher pay in the 2003-05 budget. Then they said that Dino Rossi’s teacher pay cuts had not been restored, and that Washington teachers earned $3,000 below the national average. The commercial ended with a plea to contact Governor Gregoire and state legislators to restore Dino Rossi’s pay cuts.
If the legislature is indeed still refusing to restore teacher pay cuts and provide teachers with a pay raise, this could very well be the undoing of Governor Gregoire and many Democratic legislators come this November. Sure enough, Republican wingnuts have been excessively critical — and unfairly so — of the WEA, and Republican legislators were only too happy to support cutting teacher pay in 2003.
Come this time around, I can easily see the Republicans and WEA both swallowing their past differences, and forging an alliance if teacher pay is indeed not raised. Rossi and the Republicans would like nothing more than the Governor’s mansion and more seats in the legislature. The WEA is quite serious about wanting a teacher pay raise. If they join forces, we will almost certainly have a Rossi victory and dozens of Republican gains in the state legislature come November.
Rossi at least had a plausible excuse to cut teacher pay in 2003, since the 2003-05 state budget was smaller than expected. Gregoire doesn’t have any good reason not to have restored the Rossi teacher pay cuts, since both her 2005-07 and 2007-09 budgets have had significant increases in overall spending. I can see Rossi doing a mea culpa, and actually winning this November — unless Gregoire can somehow do an about face and raise teacher pay (a very difficult task, with an off-year supplemental budget, and potential revenue shortfalls).
Roger Rabbit @ 71
John McCain was seriously injured when his plane was shot down over North Vietnam. The medical treatment he received while in captivity wasn’t very effective in any event. He received extensive treatment after he was released from being a POW in 1973. Supposedly he recuperated enough to pass a military flight physical and be reinstated to flying status. Whether that exam result was justified or not, he went through extensive rehabilitation to prepare for flight status. Realistically, an airline flight physical would have probably flunked him. McCain still doesn’t have full use of at least one arm, on which he cannot raise that hand above shoulder level. From my point of view, McCain shouldn’t become President — especially not in 2008. (His election in 2000, of course, would have made the country better off than it is now.) Sure, the fellow was a major academic underachiever and probably rather careless flying planes. But don’t knock his heroism or service to the country. Barack Obama, for his part, has done an excellent job of praising McCain’s military service, while distinguishing his politics from those of McCain.
Roger Rabbit @ 85
Shouldn’t most of the blame fall on the U.S. Attorney’s Office? Isn’t it up to an aggrieved party to bring a matter to the court’s attention? Defense counsel certainly wasn’t going to say anything, and probably snickered when the Bureau of Prisons released the defendant after the three years was completed. Granted, a federal judge does tend to exercise more oversight of their own docket, than is the case with state judges.
@86 Given the track record of both, it’s hard for me to believe that (a) Republicans would support teacher pay raises and (b) WEA would support Republicans. That’s quite a stretch on both counts.
@88 Yes.
Roger Rabbit @ 89
True, and it seems that Governor Gregoire and influential Democrats in the legislature are making the same calculation. On the other hand, put yourself in Dino Rossi’s shoes. Would you rather spend the next four to eight years putting together shady real estate deals, or having to give teachers more money?
Drug-Addled GOP Prosecutor Finally Resigns
“In his 30-plus-year legal career in Harris County, Texas, Chuck Rosenthal has been no stranger to controversy. …
“Last December, as part of a federal civil rights lawsuit into how justice is meted out in the county, he turned over … his government e-mail account. And what a batch of e-mails it was. Black ministers called for the Republican to resign because of racist material, including a cartoon depicting an African-American suffering from a ‘fatal overdose’ of watermelon and fried chicken. There were adult video clips and love notes from Rosenthal to his secretary ….
“In the wake of the e-mail revelations, local GOP leaders forced him to abort his re-election bid. Then, on Feb. 15, after Lloyd Kelley, the attorney in the civil rights case, brought a lawsuit accusing him of drinking on the job and ‘incompetence, or official misconduct,’ Rosenthal resigned.
“But his problems may not be over. … Rosenthal deleted thousands of e-mails … that investigators … wanted; his actions could lead to obstruction of justice charges ….
“And during a contempt of court hearing earlier this month, Rosenthal appeared to contradict his sworn statements … leaving him open to perjury charges. …
“On Feb. 15, … he blamed a combination of prescription drugs for causing ‘some impairment’ of his judgment. …
“There have long been complaints that the Harris County DA’s office discriminates. Former prosecutors have said that other lawyers in the office referred to Hurricane Katrina evacuees as ‘NFLs,’ or ‘N—— From Louisiana.’ In 2003 prosecutor Mike Trent sent an officewide message congratulating his colleagues on winning a case despite the presence of several ‘Canadians’ on the jury … ‘Canadian’ is sometimes used as a racial slur for a black person. Jolanda Jones, a defense attorney and Houston city council member, has complained for years that minorities are unfairly stricken from juries and that punishment is administered more harshly for blacks. ‘There is absolutely an undercurrent of racism,’ she says. ‘… If you’re poor or a minority, there is no justice.'”
Quoted under fair use; for complete story and/or copyright info see http://www.newsweek.com/id/115280
Roger Rabbit Commentary: Good fucking riddance to more GOP garbage.
Of course, with Rossi’s wingnut advisors, he will probably continue to say “Screw the WEA” and go back to shady real estate deals, after he loses again in November, and GOP donors no longer give him a make-work “non-profit think tank” salary.
Too bad that Washington teachers are going to get screwed for the fourth year in a row. Rossi cut teacher pay by the 3.6% COLA otherwise due for 2003-05. Nothing was done in the 2005 budget, the 2006 supplemental budget, or the 2007 budget. The House version of the 2008 supplemental budget restores 1.0% of the Rossi cut, while the Senate version does nothing.
So maybe there will be a “compromise” this year between the House and the Senate and the teachers will end up with 0.5% of the Rossi pay cut restored.
Newsweek Columnist Urges Hillary To Withdraw
Jonathan Alter writes:
“If Hillary Clinton wanted a graceful exit, she’d drop out now — before the March 4 Texas and Ohio primaries — and endorse Barack Obama.
” … [T]his … would be the best thing imaginable for Hillary’s political career. … Withdrawing would be stupid if Hillary had a reasonable chance to win the nomination, but she doesn’t.
“Without a victory of 20 points or more in both states, the delegate math is forbidding. … The much-ballyhooed race for superdelegates is now nearly irrelevant … these party leaders won’t determine the result. … Obama has a commanding … lead in pledged delegates and … the popular vote ….
“Closing that gap would require Hillary to win all the remaining contests by crushing margins … if the Clintonites were assessing with a cold eye, they would know … the odds … are high. …
“The choice before her is to go down ugly … or … classy, with a real chance of redemption. Why not the latter?”
Quoted under fair use; for complete story and/or copyright info see http://www.newsweek.com/id/114725
Roger Rabbit @ 94
I am surprised that a Hillary Clinton supporter like you would have posted this. Despite my support for Barack Obama, I believe it wouldn’t be prudent for Hillary Clinton to withdraw right NOW. The best result is if Clinton actually loses in both Texas and Ohio come Tuesday. That way, she can give a gracious concession speech Tuesday night. Then she can stage an appropriate media event on Wednesday or Thursday to announce her withdrawal and/or “suspension” of her campaign.
The worst result, of course, would be for Clinton to win in Texas and/or Ohio on Tuesday, and have just enough justification not to be a “quitter” and stay in the race, only to lose eventually. Especially if it is coupled with a negative, nasty campaign on Clinton’s behalf.
@95 Richard: The opinion I posted was Jonathan Alter’s, not mine. Notice that a “Roger Rabbit Commentary” after the attribution is absent from this post.
I voted for Clinton because I thought (and still think) Obama’s idea of reaching across the aisle to Republicans is nonsense and Hillary is better positioned to fight off GOP obstructionism to get things done. Looking beyond the nomination race, I still believe she would be a more effective president, and I also like her policy positions better.
But the dynamics of the race have changed. Hillary has lost 11 states in a row, and her campaign is in disarray. An Obama victory in the nomination race is now a de facto probability.
I don’t agree with Alter that Hillary should withdraw now to preserve her chances for 2012 if Obama loses to McCain. First of all, I want our nominee to win this fall and get re-elected; that’s priority #1, to which everything else is subordinate. Second, Obama should have to compete for Ohio and Texas, as opposed to having those states handed to him without effort on his part. Third, if Obama does lose to McCain, I won’t want the Hillary – McCain matchup in 2012 that Alter envisions; I will want a fresh face taking on an incumbent President McCain, because I don’t think we could beat him otherwise. Alter is a journalist looking for drama because it sells magazines; I’m a Democratic Party hack looking for victory because that’s what feeds workers, protects our retirement, and gets us affordable health care. Alter and I want different things; he wants Hillary to drop out this week but I want her to stay in through the March 4 primaries.
If she loses in Texas and Ohio, it will be time to bow to the inevitable, and I hope she’ll then have the good sense to do so.
The Blatantly Obvious says:”* Mark Foley is a pedophile, why not all Republicans?”
Ummm. BO Breath, the FBI found no evidence. Brian Ross of ABC News said he did nothing wrong. It was the “appearance”. Now Gerry Stubbs did something wrong.
He’s a lefty – he got a pass!
With commentary like that you are the biggest loser!
Pelletizer@95:
Heilary winning the Donkey nomination will stir up the masses. Her negatives range from 45-55%. So starting off if the number is centered, half-the country has a negative opinion of her.
As soon as she opens her mouth, her negatives will increase.
When she unleashes Monica Lewinsky’s ex-boyfriend (did she muzzle him lately or is he getting laid by some groupie while she’s out on the campaign trail) her negatives will increase.
Blacks will be pizzed off the donkey elite gave her the nomination, her negatives will increase.
Young people will be pizzed off, her negatives will increase.
Intelligent and affluent people will be pizzed off, her negatives will increase.
All her corporate donors have maxed out their contributions, and without $$$ for rebuttal air time, her negatives will increase.
Where will Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson be in her campaign, her negatives will increase.
Michelle Obama will no longer be happy to be an American, her negatives will increase.
George Steponallofus is still her lackey even though he works for ABC News, her negatives will increase.
I can go on an on about Heilary Cliton.
Ms Tlaz, do I need to post URLs? Clueless Idiot, can you understand that from momma’s basement holding onto her bathrobe like Linus and his blankee?
98 – Oh hi Puddy.
How does it feel to be such a loser?
Every day – losing, losing, losing.
And you support a bigger liberal than Ted Kennedy for Prez!
Its a beautiful day in the neighborhood…
Hmm, the Republican U.S. Attorney is on the list to be fired for “poor performance in pursuing voter fraud cases…” Which, we now know, means covering up for Republican voter fraud by making some high-profile prosecutions of Democratic voters.
Then the same U.S. Attorney pushes through a fast prosecution of a woman, on shaky evidence, just in time for the 2006 election cycle?
And in our own state, the U.S. Attorney is fired because instead of pursuing political prosecutions, he pushes for a new computer program to help coordinate anti-terror information among the federal law enforcement agencies?
@97: Puddy – If you believe Mark Foley – that he has a “wide stance” and likes to tap his foot at known places for gay encounters then:
1. You will believe most anything any republican says
or
2. You need to be one of those “supportive wives” who always stands by their man – even when they are obviously guilty
or
3. Republican infidelity, corruption or lies don’t matter to you
I criticized Bill Clinton for the Lewinsky affair – but I didn’t think it was an impeachable offence as a high crime.
David Vitter is an admitted adulterer (only after being caught with a DC call girl service) – but he is keeping his republican seat in the senate while advocating “high morals”.
What a hypocrite.
66-since you can’t figure anything out on your own without someone holding your hand…
https://fortress.wa.gov/ofm/fnspublic/legsearch.asp?BillNumber=6221&SessionNumber=60
This is the Fiscal Note…but I know you can’t possibly figure out how to look anything up!
Roger..re:76 see 42 DUMBASS! Not L&I and NOT SS but unemployment tax
RE: 73:”Revenue is shrinking because we’re in a recession and our state depends on sales tax revenues which always go down in a recession, dumbass”
Revenue has been shrinking in this state for years…yes this year we are in a “recession”. What’s your excuse for the past 5 years?
101-difference there is Clinton denied and denied.
“David Vitter is an admitted adulterer (only after being caught with a DC call girl service)” BUT he admitted it rather than continue to lie.
What’s that famous Clinton lie err quote? “I never had sexual relations with that woman”
McCain wins!!!
There was one big winner last night and that was John McCain.
Hilleray, may have lost HER eolectin but she
gave us enough bird shot to last till November:
Lets see:
Barack Obama, embarrased by being seen in his native costume?
Healthcare by MANDATE .. you pay or we send out the feds to get you. Both plans have mandates.
Iraq as a game .. election = get out of Jail card.
Woman’s rights, does HBO realize he is insulting women by the things he says about HRC?
etc.
The recipe is clear. JmcM will choose a woman as running mate, likely CT Whitman. THEY will run on the two for one thme with an impied transtion to Whitman early.
She will focus on environment issues and women’s rights .. on areas that lefties can not touch. For example, … promotion of white woemen and asians ratherr than AA has caused imabalnced in our schools and higher level positions, The McC Whitman campaign will celebrate this.
McC will aslo support the woman’s pathway job place efforts that make room for kids in a woman’s life and the creration of a new NIH institute devoted sepcifically to woman’s health issues.
Healthcare will devolve into the issue of mandates. McC will call McC’s plan Hillary light and warn people that there taxes are going to go up so that poor, young people can subsidize health care for the rich!
Media fairness .. the prescious moment when HRC could not pronounce or remember Medvedev’s name and then Russert prompted her will eb shown as an exampe of affirmative action for both.
Barack Obana will be forced to RENOUNCE Farakkhan over and over again,
The Tube will run wild with oicture of cure Iraqui kids getting Hershey bars from our toops and going to school we built.
Tx Hillary.
Pope: Yes, Rossi striking a deal with the WEA would be a smart thing to do. But it’s not going to happen. His supporters HATE the WEA, and would like nothing better than to destroy it, and the public school system in general. They want private/religious schools for all children, for which they will get a tax credit for tuition payments under one guise or another. They won’t get in bed with the WEA, and the WEA won’t get in bed with them (although they may try to bluff that they will do so if it gives them some pull with the Governor’s office).
And Rossi isn’t a strong, independent, “Moderate Republican” who could expend some political capital to strike some astute and pragmatic political deals. He is an empty suit put forward by the very wingnuts who hate the WEA and public schools in general. Without them, he has no real base of support. They can’t win the election merely by being “anti-Gregoire”, they need a credible candidate which is strongly supported by the Republican base. If that base is disenchanted with their candidate, they won’t go the extra mile to raise the funds, get out the vote, and go to the polls themselves. That will be the end of Rossi’s campaign.
I suspect that Rossi is going to have to try to say one thing to the Republican base to reinforce his “wingnut conservative” credentials, and try to present quite another face to the Washington voters in general. I don’t think it will work: as the 2006 elections proved, it is an entirely different electoral environment out there, with lots of video cameras, YouTube, and bloggers tracking everything you say. You can’t get away with that double-speak the way candidates used to be able to do.
And one of the things which helped Rossi in 2004 was the somewhat apathetic performance of the Democrats in supporting their candidates (both locally and nationally). That’s not going to happen this year. In 2004, Democrats might have thought “Gee, how bad could it be, if we have a Republican in the White House and/or the Governor’s mansion”. Now they know the answer to that question. Western Washington voters will turn out in droves to make sure a Republican can’t win either office in 2008, swamping the presumably Republican votes from Eastern Washington.
Dear gipper Moron:
McCain can hardly beat the only other pathetic republican left in the race – Huckabee.
Meantime, McCain is self-destructing (as we knew he would). Mr. reform is advised by a load of major lobbyists (who are lobbying while working for him),just got caught lying about his letter to the FCC in support of the woman he had “no sexual relationship” with (in his own deposition he stated that he was asked to write the letter by the head of the lobbying firm – so who do we believe – the McCain who denies any lobbyist asked him to write the letter or the McCain under oath who says they did – oh and Paxson (the head of the lobbying firm) confirms the meeting and says SHE was there too).
Now McCain is trying to opt out of public financing and skirt the rules on a certain law (McCain-Feingold) HE wrote.
The hypocrisy is just tooooo rich.
That and Rick Renzi, the recently indicted Republican from Arizona, is his Arizona campaign chair – and McCain wants to keep him there.
I guess reform is all in the eye of the beholder. So much for McCain’s one strength – straight talk and reform. Guess he’ll have to run on Iraq and how he said 20 times that it would be easy and we would be outa there in no time.
rhp6033 @ 106
You are probably right. Most Republicans are far too wingnut to even think about such a brilliant political strategy. Too bad the teachers come out on the short end, at least at the present time.
“Roger Rabbit can’t attend tonight because he’s still sick.”
Verily, at long last, he speaks truth.
105 Big g:
Don’t drink so much if you’re going to type.
It makes your posts too hilarious to ignore, but too illegible to comprehend.
Or, maybe it’s the content.
107 CNR
Uhm….this is the party that worships a dead, second-rate actor who occupied the WH whilst actively Alzheimerific, and you were expecting, maybe, rationality???? Oy!
Roger Rabbit (whoever you are) has an ego the size of the Sears Tower. What a fruitcake. Get over yourself already. I read through these posts and this guy is ultra-high on himself. The kind of guy who should have his nutsack removed. We all know the type. GO BACK TO CALIFORNIA!!!!