Report Number: Senate Report 105-167 Part - 3
Title: INVESTIGATION OF ILLEGAL OR IMPROPER ACTIVITIES IN CONNECTION WITH 1996 FEDERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGNS
Committee: COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

CONCLUSION
Significant hurdles impeded the Committee’s ability to investigate thoroughly many of matters addressed herein. Notwithstanding these hurdles, the Committee has obtained evidence sufficient to demonstrate a problematic course of conduct, and to cite certain specific illegal or improper campaign practices involving the White House, the Clinton/Gore campaign, the DNC and the Teamsters.

H.RES.194
Title: Apologizing for the enslavement and racial segregation of
African-Americans.
Sponsor: Rep Cohen, Steve [TN-9] (introduced 2/27/2007) Cosponsors
(120)
Latest Major Action: 7/29/2008 Passed/agreed to in House. Status: On
motion to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, as amended
Agreed to by voice vote.
————————————————–
——————————
SUMMARY AS OF:
2/27/2007–Introduced.

Acknowledges the fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality, and
inhumanity of slavery and Jim Crow. Apologizes to African-Americans on
behalf of the U.S. people for the wrongs committed against them and
their ancestors. Commits to rectifying the lingering consequences of
slavery and Jim Crow and to stopping future human rights violations.
—————————————————————————­——————————————————–
71. H.RES.799 : Impeaching Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of the
United States, of high crimes and misdemeanors.
Sponsor: Rep Kucinich, Dennis J. [OH-10] (introduced 11/6/2007)
Cosponsors (None)
Committees: House Judiciary
Latest Major Action: 11/6/2007 Referred to House committee. Status:
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

66. H.RES.693 : Condemning the recent actions of the Ku Klux Klan.
Sponsor: Rep Serrano, Jose E. [NY-16] (introduced 9/27/2007)
Cosponsors (47)
Committees: House Judiciary
Latest Major Action: 2/4/2008 Referred to House subcommittee. Status:
Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and
Civil Liberties.

96. H.RES.1357 : Recognizing the significance of the 20th anniversary
of the signing of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 and the greatness of
America in her ability to admit and remedy past mistakes and to
recognize that there are other communities who may have suffered the
mistakes of our government but have not received an apology and
reparations.
Sponsor: Rep Matsui, Doris O. [CA-5] (introduced 7/17/200 Cosponsors
(31)
Committees: House Judiciary
Latest Major Action: 7/31/2008 Passed/agreed to in House. Status: On
motion to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, as amended
Agreed to by voice vote.
H.RES.194
Title: Apologizing for the enslavement and racial segregation of
African-Americans.
Sponsor: Rep Cohen, Steve [TN-9] (introduced 2/27/2007) Cosponsors
(120)
Latest Major Action: 7/29/2008 Passed/agreed to in House. Status: On
motion to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, as amended
Agreed to by voice vote.

Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden said he and
presidential hopeful Barack Obama could bring criminal charges against
the Bush administration if they are elected in November.
“Not out of vengeance, not out of retribution. Out of the need to
preserve the notion that no one, no attorney general, no president —
no one is above the law.”

TWO LAWYERS…. how long will a court case take? How much money will
it take? Do Americans have the stomach for it?

I think Americans are fed up with our spirits being crushed and
controlled …….What about the damn energy!

Here is a Barack Obama quote about Education “So when I’m president, I
will set a goal for all American middle and high school students to
perform 50 hours of community service a year, and for all college
students to perform 100 hours of service a year.”—12/5/07, Mt. Vernon,
Iowa

Is this service going to turn into something else? Are the kids going
to pick up others trash? Who will tell your child he/she MUST do this
service, or what? A monetary fine on the parents?

Twilight Zone……..you have just entered Hitlers lair…….or
daddy’s home. And how old are you…is your family of good morals?
Maybe not…..I should fix them.

Since when did it become a liberal’s job to “tell” me to inflate my
tires or what school my child can go to?
If you measured people by respect other than thinking them
ignorant……your job would be easier.

First, we find ways to cut the waste. Number One: “Earmarks”. Zip
Zap….they are gone. How much do you think that would amount to?
Oh, the crys from Washington will be heard in California.

Second, we turn Americans loose from the bonds of Washington….and
the backdoor European Democrats.

Labor unions
• American Federation of Government Employees[534]
• American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations[535]
• American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (national[536][537], Illinois[538], Oregon[539], and Pennsylvania[540])
• American Postal Workers Union[541]
• The American Small Business League[542]
• Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers[543]
• Change to Win Federation[544]
• Culinary Workers Union Local 226[545]
• Illinois Education Association[546]
• Milwaukee Area Technical College faculty union[547]
• International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers[548]
• International Brotherhood of Teamsters[549]
• International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers[550]
• International Union of Painters and Allied Trades[551]
• New York City Corrections Officers’ Union[552]
• Service Employees International Union (national[553], California[554], Illinois[555], Indiana[555], Kansas[555], Missouri[555], Nevada[556], Washington[557], Wisconsin[558])
• Transport Workers Union[559]
• UNITE HERE[560]
• United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing, Pipefitting and Sprinkler Fitting Industry of the United States and Canada[561]
• United Auto Workers Union (national[562], Region 4[563])
• United Food and Commercial Workers (national[564], southeast, northeast and central Pennsylvania, northeast Maryland and southern New York[565])
• United Healthcare Workers West[566]
• United Mine Workers[567]
• United Steelworkers[568]

Now THIS is having Labor on your side. This is a bit old news, but the endorsements remain…
Here you go

WASHINGTON (AP) - Sen. Barack Obama is slated to pick up the endorsement of the powerful Teamsters, the second major union endorsement for the Democratic front-runner in a week, union officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Obama will meet with Teamster President James P. Hoffa in Austin, Texas, on Wednesday. The endorsement is expected to come soon thereafter, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the planned formal announcement.

The Teamsters represent 1.4 million members.

Union support will be key in the Democratic primaries in the next few weeks, particularly in Ohio on March 4 and Pennsylvania on April 22. Ohio and Pennsylvania have some of the nation’s largest number of union workers, with more than 15 percent of the workforce unionized in Pennsylvania and just over 14 percent in Ohio.

The endorsement from the Teamsters is Obama’s third from organized labor in a week. The 1.9-million member Service Employees International Union endorsed the Illinois senator last Friday, and the smaller United Food and Commercial Workers endorsed him last Thursday.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080906/NEWS15/809060365/1008/NEWS06

From McCains speech, it sounds like Obama did the same thing.

“We lost their trust when instead of freeing ourselves from a dangerous dependence on foreign oil, both parties and Senator Obama passed another corporate welfare bill for oil companies. We lost their trust, when we valued our power over our principles.”

Joe you got a good memory,I’m from Michigan, my state Rep. Sander Levin, his wife passed today, keep him in your prayers.

Some of the democrat stuff, I agree with. I think the democrats in complete control of all three houses, with an inexperianced Obama at the wheel, would just be tyranny. The left is totally wrong on several issues important to me.

Eric… I agree. It is time to deal with all those issues!! Let me see…

the interests of the people will be put before the interests of the multinational corporations and aristocrats

McCain Missed Opportunity To End Big Oil Tax Breaks to Invest in Clean Energy. In 2007, McCain was the only senator who failed to vote on a motion to invoke cloture (thus limiting debate) on the Energy Independence and Security Act. This vote was about whether to close $13 billion in tax breaks for major oil and gas companies to invest in new clean energy technologies such as wind and solar, and efficiency. Sixty votes were required for passage. The motion was rejected 59-40. [CQ.com; HR 6, Vote #425, 12/13/07]

McCain’s Tax Plan Gives Top Five Oil Companies $3.8 Billion A Year In Tax Breaks. According to a study conducted by the Center for American Progress, “The McCain plan would deliver approximately $170 billion a year in tax cuts to corporations, including some corporations that are very large and profitable. Just one of the proposals-cutting the corporate rate from 35 percent to 25 percent-would cut taxes for five largest U.S. oil companies by $3.8 billion a year.” [Center for American Progress, 3/27/08]

who cannibalize the lower class with excessive bank and credit card interest
Check out Senate bill s.256 (aka The 2005 Bankruptcy Bill). McCain voted FOR it and the GOP controlled Senate passed it.
Obama voted AGAINST it. Here is a part of his floor speech:

Mr. President, the bankruptcy crisis this bill should address is not just the one facing credit card companies who are enjoying record profits. We should be addressing middle-class families who are dealing with record hardships.
As Senator Dodd, Senator Feinstein, and others have pointed out, this bill also fails to deal with the aggressive marketing practices and hidden fees credit card companies have used to raise their profits and our debt. Charging a penalty to consumers who make a late payment on a completely unrelated credit card is just one example of these tactics. We need to end these practices so that we’re making life easier not just for the credit card companies, but for honest, hardworking middle-class families.
And if we’re going to crack down on bankruptcy abuse, we should make it clear that we intend to hold the wealthy and the powerful accountable too.
As it is now, this bill makes it easier for a company like Enron who just bilked their employees out of their life savings to declare bankruptcy than for the employees themselves.

unaffordable energy
“Drilling Now” is all McCain has come up with. That is all well and good, but Oil Companies have a goal. That goal is to make a profit. Any oil the drill for with McCain’s off-shore drilling idea goes to the world market where it will get the going price worldwide. The amount of oil produced, at best, makes such a small dent in the overall amount of oil available, that it won’t do anything to the price of oil. Now… if they say any oil drilled in the USA must stay in the USA, then the prices could come down some, but again, it would be such a small dent in the overall amount of oil. Companies setting up drilling, it will be 3-5 years before we start seeing anything come out of the ground. Nuclear? McCain’s 45 new nuclear plants, at best, won’t be done for 10 years.
McCain and renewable energy… not so much

2004, McCain introduced an amendment that would have eliminated the tax credit entirely. McCain’s continued opposition to the tax credit is putting the wind industry at risk again:
– March 2006 (Vote 42): Voted against extension of tax credits.
– March 2007 (Vote 98): Skipped vote to extend tax credits.
– June 2007 (Vote 223): Skipped vote to extend tax credits.
– December 2007 (Vote 416): Skipped vote to extend tax credits — extension failed by one vote.
– February 2008 (Vote 8): Skipped vote to extend tax credits — extension failed by one vote.

health care
Eric, I believe you said you were from Michigan at one point… so this is from The Michigan Messenger. This site gives the pros and cons of each candidate’s health plans.
It’s biggest beef with Obama’s plan is the cost, but it goes on to say that with spending $12 billion a month in Iraq, the possible $50-$65 billion cost of Obama’s plan is being rather petty especially if it gets everyone healthcare.
For McCain’s plan, well…..

In addition, most uninsured Americans would probably remain uninsured under the McCain plan. Given the high price of health insurance, even with the new tax credits, many lower-income people would still not be able to afford coverage. And if the credits are not indexed to the rate of growth in health care spending, that affordability gap would grow over time (as would the number of Americans who would pay higher taxes for employer-sponsored health insurance). Indeed, with the proposed credits, many Americans could afford only high-deductible insurance policies. The McCain plan could consequently trigger a move from comprehensive insurance toward thinner coverage policies that shift costs onto sicker patients. Moreover, some employers, particularly smaller businesses, might stop offering insurance if the tax benefits of employer-sponsored insurance were eliminated. As a result, some currently insured workers could lose coverage.
Perhaps the most serious problem with McCain’s plan is its reliance on the individual insurance market. Individual insurance policies are administratively expensive, typically involve medical underwriting so that sick persons and those with preexisting conditions are charged higher premiums (premiums also increase with age) or are denied coverage altogether, and generally offer less comprehensive benefits than employer-sponsored insurance.

and a government that takes a huge part of your paycheck.
I think we’ve been thru this before. If you make over $250,000, Obama’s plan will raise your taxes. For the other 97% of Americans, your taxes will go DOWN.

Obama would restore the top two income tax rates to their pre-2001 levels of 36% and 39.6%. Currently they’re 33% and 35%.
Obama’s proposal would also reinstate some limitations on how much of a given deduction or personal exemption high-income taxpayers may take.
However, not everyone in the top two brackets would necessarily be affected by the rate increase. Much depends on whether they’ve been subject to the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) in the past.
You’re supposed to calculate your tax liability under both the regular income tax code and the AMT. If your bill under the AMT is bigger, you must pay that.
The Obama rate increase would certainly narrow the spread between the two - since the amount owed under the regular code would go up. The question is would the amount you owe because of the increase exceed your AMT bill.
“Until the regular tax starts exceeding the [AMT bill], you won’t have an increase,” said John Battaglia, a director in the private client advisors practice of Deloitte. “But if people are deep into AMT, it wouldn’t matter.”
Payroll taxes
In addition to wages up to $102,000 - the current cap on salary subject to the payroll tax, which funds Social Security - Obama would also tax amounts over $250,000.
In other words, income between $102,000 and $250,000 would be protected.

These guys are the ones that talk about how great it is that productivity is up. but to us it means a 70 hr week to make what used to be made in a 40 hr week

Most critically, he’s [McCain] a strong opponent of the Employee Free Choice Act that allows workers to organize a union without getting fired and punishes companies that break the law with stiff penalties — unlike today’s current weak laws.

These guys that get bailed out with taxpayer money when they can’t run their businesses right.
Sorry… which party brokered the rescue of Bear Stearns??

So I agree with you that we need to address all those things. I just think McCain is not the one to accomplish it.

“And my administration will set a new standard for transparency and accountability.”

“And let me offer an advance warning to the old, big spending, do nothing, me first, country second Washington crowd: change is coming.”

These were my favorite part of this excellent speech, It gives hope that one day, the interests of the people will be put before the interests of the multinational corporations and aristocrats, who cannibalize the lower class with excessive bank and credit card interest, unaffordable energy, health care, insurance and a government that takes a huge part of your paycheck. These guys are the ones that talk about how great it is that productivity is up. but to us it means a 70 hr week to make what used to be made in a 40 hr week. These guys that get bailed out with taxpayer money when they can’t run their businesses right. The guys that run a company into the ground, rip off all the stockholders, and still walk away with millions.