Bush spends a lot of time fretting
about what Social Security will cost
thirty years from now – why?
His people can’t estimate what
VA health care will cost this year.
They’re twice as far off next year.
Congressional representatives who
voted against Democratic proposals
to increase spending are embarrassed.
I hope they remember their administration’s
“stupidity� when it comes time to vote on
changing Social […]

The man who couldn’t wait
for inspectors to do their job
now wants us to be patient while
he paints a pretty picture of Iraq.
Instead of making speeches
about his wishes for the war
he should replace the team
that botched the job.
He missed words that would
buy time: Rumsfeld resigns,
the date we’ll leave Iraq.
Absent those, he deserves flack.

I would hate to see reporters go to jail,
especially since it would be at our expense,
but I wonder if the right to protect sources
makes much difference to the quality of news.
It seems to me most stories from Anonymous
are about what might be done or said tomorrow.
Is it really so important that we know today?
Maybe Miller […]

The Choctaw Indians called
their relationship with a lobbyist
“a story of betrayal,â€? but they
still work with the same guy.
Seems strange ‘til you realize, that’s
what they expect from white men.

Rumsfeld, Cheney and Bush follow
the yellow brick road seeking courage,
heart and brains. When they reach the
wizard’s lair and look behind the curtain
they see Carl Rove with talking points:
Iraq is fine. Afghanistan is great. All
will be well if everyone focuses on what
we say and forgets about what we do.

The difference between the parties is easily understood.
Durbin apologized when he didn’t need to,
Rove won’t when he should.
One respects truth and realizes words might be faulty
The other has no concern for facts,
what he says is his reality.

Lobbying has become a growth industry.
Business, causes, organizations
need to stop government
from messing with their plans or profits.
They pay a monthly retainer
and the lobbyist keeps bad things from happening.
It’s called influence peddling now,
we used to call it the protection racket.

Congressman Tom DeLay used to declare
he didn’t know a lobbyist paid the fare
for trips his friends and family took.
Everything he did was by the book.
Now e-mail reveals a verbal opinion
that lobbyists could finance transportation,
so the Majority Leader sings a new song –
“proves what we have been saying all along.”

Bush has decided to do something about
Republican and public unrest over Iraq.
He will defend his policy by repeating
what he has been saying for a year.
He will not say he’s wrong. He won’t
suggest a new direction, or even a shift
in tactics. He simply reasserts that his
strategy “is going to work.”
So, our fate depends on politicians,
who fear […]

Last Saturday Bush addressed his problem with the polls.
People may not like it, but he will slog on and win this war.
He’s proud of the new Iraqi government’s progress, but
didn’t mention that they traded voting for consensus.
If he studied history he would know consensus would
have done this nation in if the group assigned to […]

The Washington Post says Bush’s
UN appointment already bears fruit.
Progress with Iran, India, Russia and
North Korea proceeds on paths
newly cleared of Bolton blocks.
A delighted senator Domenici claims
credit for raising hell with Rice.
No one defines Bolton’s departure
as cause or effect, and most don’t
care which. If he makes trouble
as UN ambassador, at least there
were extenuating circumstances.

North Korea says it’s willing to
resume six-party negotiations if the
U.S. “will treat us with respect.�
With its typical diplomatic dexterity
the administration demanded that they
return “without pre-conditions.�
We could have made a counter-offer:
“come back and we promise to treat
you with all the respect you deserve.�

According to some Republican senators,
Social Security taxes now invested in
Treasury bonds to fund the anticipated
future shortfall are a “surplus� that
could pay for Bush’s private accounts.
They seem to forget that Congress
already uses that money to hide part of
the deficit. Reminded that their proposal
would require more taxes or more
borrowing, the Senators shrug.
They will worry about that later. […]

The administration thinks evolution
disappears if they rewrite textbooks, and
global warming vanishes if technical reports
are edited. No problem, no solution needed.
Of course the U.S. representatives trying
to gut the G-8 proposal on curbing climate
change aren’t trying to give Bush “cover,�
they just want “economy of expression.�
If the Group of Eight plan says nothing then
Bush’s goal of doing nothing […]

Bush believes FBI access to reading habits
is vital so he threatens to veto a bill
requiring a regular seach warrant, instead
of a secret court order, for library records.
House leadership, angry at a rare loss,
says a coalition of “crazies” from the left
and right passed this amendment, but they
think they can eliminate it in conference.
Thank goodness! […]

Not long ago we learned
professors from esteemed
universities published in a
peer-reviewed study that
virginity pledgers were no
more chaste or safe than
ordinary young people.
Lest we be misled, the
right-wing Heritage
Foundation had their guys
examine the same data
and arrive at the opposite
conclusion. No peer agrees,
but they call it balance.

$2,500-a-Plate

Postage stamps have been outsourced
to save lots of money, of course, but
it’s not clear where the work will go.
Probably not to India yet, because first
we trade engraving for lithography and
look good until we need more savings.
Then low cost labor will come into play
making stamps much easier to counterfeit,
and philatelists better customers of Kinko.

The Downing Street memo,
that Air America dwells on,
reveals that some British
politicians believed the same
things about Bush and his
war plans that U.S. newspapers,
magazines and television
were saying at the same time.
As Michael Kinsley suggests,
the letter only proves we have
finally developed a vast
left-wing conspiracy to
match the one on the right.

The time has come to speak of Dean,
the best party chairman I’ve ever seen.
Whatever his problem with rhetoric,
he exposed the party’s weakness quick.
Liberals prefer being liked to understood.
We disapprove of Bush, but most of us would
rather be quiet than appear unreasonable.
When Republicans lie, we don’t label.
We pause to look for common ground,
instead of attacking the […]