9th Circuit prohibits logging in National Forest's

Bush of course overturned a Clinton rule and allowed logging in our National Forest's. From Jurist:

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Wednesday affirmed a district court ruling reinstating the Roadless Rule, which prohibited the building of roads or the use of roadless lands in National Parks for timber production. The Clinton administration measure was effectively overturned in 2005 by the State Petitions Rule, enacted by the US Department of Agriculture under President George W Bush. The State Petitions Rule allowed governors to petition for Roadless Rule protections, depending on their individual state needs, in lieu of blanket protection. Affirming the ruling, Judge Robert Beezer wrote that the State Petitions Rule violated the National Environmental Policy Act because it was enacted without an environmental impact statement:

In the context of this case, we cannot condone a marked
change in roadless area management without environmental analysis because it was the USDA’s preferred response to an untested district court injunction that was subject to possible reversal in a pending appeal.

As expected, opinions on the ruling varied. The environmental group Earthjustice lauded the ruling, calling it a victory for all citizens who enjoy the outdoors, and for cities that rely on the wilderness for fresh water. The Intermountain Forest Association, a logging industry group, said that it was too early to say definitively what the ruling means .

The Roadless Area Conservation Rule was implemented by former president Bill Clinton in 2001 and replaced by the Bush administration in 2005. In March, the US House of Representatives voted to approve the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, a collection of more than 160 bills aimed at preserving federal land as wilderness areas. The Act includes a rule which allows governors to request that regulations on the management of roadless areas be developed to meet the needs of individual states. The Clinton-era rule would have prohibited mining, logging, and road construction in the forests of 38 states and Puerto Rico, totaling more than 58 million acres of land.

Lets hope this holds up when it hits the Supreme Court, which I know it will. The logging folks will not go away quietly.

Bush and todays list of pardons

From Politico:

Including these actions, he has granted a total of 171 and eight commutations. That's less than half as many as Presidents Clinton or Reagan issued during their time in office. Both were two-term presidents.

On the latest pardon list were:

-Leslie Owen Collier of Charleston, Mo. She was convicted for unauthorized use of a pesticide and violating the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.

-Milton Kirk Cordes of Rapid City, S.D. Cordes was convicted of conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act, which prohibits importation into the country of wildlife taken in violation of conservation laws.

-Richard Micheal Culpepper of Mahomet, Ill., who was convicted of making false statements to the federal government.

-Brenda Jean Dolenz-Helmer of Fort Worth, Texas, for reporting or helping cover up a crime.

-Andrew Foster Harley of Falls Church, Va. Harley was convicted of wrongful use and distribution of marijuana and cocaine.

-Obie Gene Helton of Rossville, Ga., whose offense was unauthorized acquisition of food stamps.

-Carey C. Hice Sr. of Travelers Rest, S.C., who was convicted of income tax evasion.

-Geneva Yvonne Hogg of Jacksonville, Fla., convicted of bank embezzlement.

-William Hoyle McCright Jr. of Midland, Texas, who was sentenced for making false entries, books, reports or statements to a bank.

-Paul Julian McCurdy of Sulphur, Okla., who was sentenced for misapplication of bank funds.

-Robert Earl Mohon Jr. of Grant, Ala., who was convicted of conspiracy to distribute marijuana.

-Ronald Alan Mohrhoff of Los Angeles, who was convicted for unlawful use of a telephone in a narcotics felony.

-Daniel Figh Pue III of Conroe, Texas, convicted of illegal treatment, storage and disposal of a hazardous waste without a permit.

-Orion Lynn Vick of White Hall, Ark., who was convicted of aiding and abetting the theft of government property.

Bush also commuted the prison sentences of John Edward Forte of North Brunswick, N.J., and James Russell Harris of Detroit, Mich. Both were convicted of cocaine offenses.

Under the Constitution, the president's power to issue pardons is absolute and cannot be overruled.

Some high-profile individuals, such as Michael Milken, are seeking a pardon on securities fraud charges. Two politicians convicted of public corruption - former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, R-Calif., and four-term Democratic Louisiana Gov. Edwin W. Edwards - are asking Bush to shorten their prison terms.

One hot topic of discussion related to pardons is whether Bush might decide to issue pre-emptive pardons before he leaves office to government employees who authorized or engaged in harsh interrogations of suspected terrorists in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Some constitutional scholars and human rights groups want the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama to investigate possible war crimes.

If Bush were to pardon anyone involved, it would provide protection against criminal charges, particularly for people who were following orders or trying to protect the nation with their actions. But it would also be highly controversial.

At the same time, Obama advisers say there is little - if any - chance that his administration would bring criminal charges.

Well, we now have our answer as to whether Obama will pursue war crimes charges against the jackasses in BushCo...the answer is sadly no.

About that budget President Bush...

It is total and complete bullshit. You have the audacity to give tax breaks to some folks high up on the income ladder, yet..actually cut services to those at the bottom rung of said ladder. Lets not forget the budget DOES NOT include the costs for the Iraq War...the biggest expendature BushCo has.

What balls you have. From the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities we get a nice summation of the smoke and mirrors BushCo is trying to use on his thankfully LAST budget:

The President's budget would provide more tax cuts heavily skewed to the most well-off while cutting vital services for low- and moderate-income Americans, generating large deficits, and increasing the strain on states already confronting budget problems as a result of the economic downturn. The budget reflects misguided priorities that would leave the American people more vulnerable in a number of ways.

Those fine folks at CBPP have a knack for putting it all into layman's terms so that we can understand exactly how BushCo is trying to screw the masses. Take this for instance:

Budget Lacks Fiscal Discipline Because of Costly Tax Cuts

Despite substantial cuts in areas ranging from health care, disease control, and environmental protection to emergency responders, low-income heating assistance, and other important domestic needs, the budget would enlarge deficits by a total of $547 billion in fiscal years 2008-2013, or $397 billion not counting the economic stimulus package. This is because the budget proposes extending virtually all of the tax cuts enacted in 2001 and 2003 and adding other tax cuts on top.

Program Cuts Would Affect Millions of Ordinary Families

For 2009, the Administration's budget would cut funding for domestic discretionary programs outside of homeland security — the part of the budget that funds everything from education to environmental protection to veterans' health care and Head Start — by $2.4 billion in nominal terms (i.e., before adjusting for inflation) — and by about $15 billion or 4 percent after adjusting for inflation. These cuts would hit nearly every area of the domestic budget.

The Administration claims that its funding for these programs is up by 0.3 percent for 2009 in nominal terms. But this claim is misleading, as it is based on a 2008 funding level that omits $3.7 billion provided for veterans' medical care this year. (The $3.7 billion was designated as emergency funding but was provided to meet ongoing needs in veterans' health care; these needs will not somehow vanish in 2009 and succeeding years.) When that $3.7 billion is included in the 2008 base, the amount proposed by the President for domestic discretionary programs for 2009 is $2.4 below the amount enacted in 2008, in nominal terms, and even further below when inflation is accounted for.

Most Well-Off Americans Would Receive Large Tax Windfalls

Alongside its sizeable, widespread reductions in most parts of the domestic budget, the Administration proposes $2.4 trillion in tax cuts over the next ten years, including the extension of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts. This figure, moreover, excludes the cost of AMT relief. Continuing AMT relief would reduce revenues by an additional $1.3 trillion over the next decade, according to Congressional Budget Office estimates.

The tax cuts would provide windfalls for the most affluent Americans, even as many vulnerable Americans living on modest budgets would face the loss of needed benefits and services.

Repealing Estate Tax Would Use Up Budget Savings From Medicare Cuts

As noted, the budget's Medicare proposals would cut projected Medicare expenditures by $556 billion over ten years. Its proposal to make estate-tax repeal permanent would cost $522 billion, or almost as much.

So there you have it.. the smoke and mirrors that BushCo is using to screw the general population but enhance the earnings of the top 1 or 2 % of the population. To see the specific information of how all this bullshit pans out..check out the link at the top of the post. CBPP spells it all out for you.

The only question remaining is this..will Congress buy this bullshit?

The reign of Terrah will end..

One year from today folks..should we celebrate? Nah..we still have an entire year for this nitwit-in-chief to bring America to its knees.

The year in Corruption

Click the image for a larger version in all its glory!

A heartfelt thank you to the wonderful folks over at TPMmuckraker. They have taken the time to build a list of who's who in the world of political corruption for the past year. Their standards were strict my dear reader, which is why Karl Rove didn't make the cut. They insisted on proof positive that the individual was guilty of corruption..and sadly, no one has actually busted/indicted Krazy Karl yet. Hint: the list contains 39 infidels and 5 still under investigation. Also, a TPM reader, DavidSilver, has created a nice pictorial homage to these fuckwits here. Now, onto the list!

Indicted / Convicted/ Pled Guilty

* Eric G. Andell - deputy undersecretary in charge of newly created Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools (previously senior adviser to Secretary of Education Rod Paige) - pleaded guilty to one count of conflict of interest for using government travel for personal causes and was sentenced to one year of probation, 100 hours of community service, and fined $5,000.

* Claude Allen - Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy- resigned, pled guilty to shoplifting from Target stores.

* Lester Crawford - Commissioner, FDA - resigned in late September 2005 after only two months on the job. On October 17th, he pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts, making a false writing and conflict of interest. On February 27, 2007, Crawford was sentenced to to three years of probation and was fined $90,000.

* Brian Doyle - Deputy Press Secretary, Department of Homeland Security - Resigned in wake of child sex scandal. Doyle was arrested on April 4th, 2006 and pleaded no contest on September 19, 2006 to seven counts of use of a computer to seduce a child and sixteen counts of transmitting harmful material to a minor. On November 17th, 2006 Brian Doyle was sentenced to five years in state prison and ten years of probation. He will also need to register as a sex offender.

* Steven Griles - Deputy Secretary at the Interior Department - is the highest-ranked administration official yet convicted in the Jack Abramoff scandal. In March 2007, Griles pleaded guilty to lying about his role in the Jack Abramoff scandal. Sentenced to 10 months incarceration.

* John T. Korsmo – Chairman of the Federal Housing Finance Board from 2002 to 2004 – pleaded guilty in 2005 to lying to the Senate and an inspector general. He swore he had no idea how a list of presidents for FHFB-regulated banks were invited to a fundraiser for his friend's congressional campaign. On the invites, Korsmo was listed as the "Special Guest." Got 18 months of probation and a $5,000 fine.

* Scooter Libby - Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff - resigned after being indicted for lying to a grand jury and investigators in connection with the investigation stemming from the leak of Valerie Wilson’s covert CIA operative's identity. Convicted on four of five counts, making him the highest-ranking White House official to be convicted of a felony since the Iran-contra scandal. Sentenced to thirty months imprisonment and a fine of $250,000. On July 2nd, after a judge decided that Libby would remain in prison during the appeals process, President Bush commuted Libby's sentence by removing the thirty months in prison.

* David Safavian - former head of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy at the Office of Management and Budget - convicted of lying to ethics officials and Senate investigators about his ties to lobbyist Jack Abramoff. On October 27, 2006, he was sentenced to 18 months in prison. He is currently appealing the ruling.

* Robert Stein - former comptroller and funding officer for the now disbanded Coalition Provisional Authority, Southern Central Region in Al-Hillah, Iraq - pleaded guilty to conspiracy, bribery, conspiracy to commit money laundering, possession of a machine gun, and being a felon in possession of a fire arm. On January 30, 2007 Stein was sentenced to nine years in prison and ordered to forfeit $3.6 million.

• Roger Stillwell - desk officer, Interior Department - pleaded guilty to failing to report Redskins tickets and free dinners from Jack Abramoff.

The rest of the infidels list is quite long..so you need to click here to check out the rest of these smarmy bastards.

The "Architect" finally gets his book deal.

First, thanks to The Carpetbagger Report for posting about this. I do love his take on Rover's shopping around for his 'deal'. You might wish to read his pov, and the deliciously nasty comments from his readers about Heir Rove, if so click the link above.

It seems Rove had visions of $3 mil in his head as the going price for his memoirs...'fraid not Krazy Karl. His dream never came to fruition. He received half of what he had envisioned.

Aw..too fucking bad. Seem's no one expects Rover to tell the truth..or at the very least spill his guts about what he did to foist George W. Bush on America for 8 friggin years. A quote from a publishing honcho:

Ashbel Green, a senior editor at Alfred A Knopf, said that Rove lacks the "personality" to fetch "the multimillion-dollar contracts of former Federal Reserve chair Alan Greenspan or former President Bill Clinton."

He lacks ethics too, but that's besides the point. Evidently he wasn't willing to cough up anything telling about The Shrub and publishers started falling by the wayside. It took Krazy Karl three long months to even get what he finally did.

Couldn't happen to a nicer guy. I hope his book is on the mark-down table within weeks of its release. Recently, Ted Kennedy inked a book deal for $8 mil..bet Rover is feeling unloved this time of year... LOL. So, the Architect got stiffed, and I couldn't be happier..unless no one wanted to publish it. Mary the shrew Matalin's publisher Simon and Schuster got the rights..gee, thats a stellar recommendation..not!

Tags: Karl Rove, Book Deal,

White House demands correction from NYT

But the important part of this story is...the White House did NOT demand a correction to the language in the main body of the writeup. From the Editor and Publisher article:

One of the top national stories of the day is the front-pager in The New York Times which suggests that White House involvement in the controversy surrounding the destruction of the CIA "torture tapes" was much wider than previously known.

The White House has kicked back against the Times on various other front-page reports in recent years but today it has asked for something specific: a "correction" of the headline's deck.

The Hill, the Washington, D.C. newspapers, reports, "Catherine Mathis, senior vice president of corporate communications for the newspaper, stated that the sub-headline has been changed, adding that a correction would be printed. However, Mathis also pointed out that the White House did not challenge the contents of the article." (emphasis mine)

Ain't that special? ;)

Artwork by The Worried Shrimp

When the fox guards the henhouse..

Seems when Richard Stickler, King George's head Mine and Health Safety Administrator used to run mines he didn't have a real good record. Bet this is a shocker right? Not really..nope.

An article on a local ABC news website has this: "Stickler used to be a mining executive who - according to various media reports - ran mines which had several fatalities and "...an incident rate that was often twice the national average."

If that isn't enough..check out another quote from the article: "Also coming to light, is the fact that Stickler's nomination to head the mine administration was twice rejected by congress and rejected when republicans were still in charge."

Now, if the Repubes didn't want this fuckwit to run things..you KNOW he majorly sucked ass right? Seriously my dear reader..is there any question?

So what did King George do? What he always does when he can't slide one of his cronies into a postion..he gave him a recess appointment. Oh yeah..the same way Bolton got his job as UN Ambassador. Waited until Congress was on vacation and then just appointed the bag of batshit. That's how Georgie rolls isn't it...

Stickler is now being referred to as the new "Brownie"..fitting don't you think? Cat's out of the bag now Georgie..you worthless scumbag.

Tags: Richard Stickler, Utah mining safety, Administration of Mining and Health Safety, Recess Appointment

BushCo wants to give the Saudi's a huge Arms Deal...

I almost swallowed my tongue when I read the headline at the NYT at 1am: U.S. Set to Offer Huge Arms Deal to Saudis. The reason is that many folks, such as myself, are still convinced the Saudi's are part of the problem in the middle east.

Thats because most of the 9/11 terrorists were from Saudi Arabia. Also the majority of insurgents from outside Iraq are not Iranians..they are Saudi's my dear reader..

So, what does BushCo have planned for these smarmy individuals? Why they plan on giving them plenty of firepower..all told..roughly $20 Billion dollars in arms. From the NYT link above, we get a laundry list of what BushCo wants to give these batshit crazy folks:

The proposed package of advanced weaponry for Saudi Arabia, which includes advanced satellite-guided bombs, upgrades to its fighters and new naval vessels, has made Israel and some of its supporters in Congress nervous. Senior officials who described the package on Friday said they believed that the administration had resolved those concerns, in part by promising Israel $30.4 billion in military aid over the next decade, a significant increase over what Israel has received in the past 10 years.

Isn't that just wonderful? So..we just arm BOTH sides of the Middle East crisis to solve the problem..Christ, what assholes are running this looney bin?

Oh yeah..the cowboy from Crawford.

Tags: Bush, Saudi Arabia, Arm the Insurgents

Iraq has met ZERO benchmarks per AP and Govt Report

Isn't that a surprise my dear reader? NOT!

According to AP and Keith O on Countdown this evening..they haven't met squat for benchmarks. And to anyone that pays attention I say again..your not one bit surprised are you?

From the Houston Chron writeup:

A draft report to Congress on the war will conclude that the U.S.-backed government in Iraq has met none of its targets for political, economic and other reform, speeding up the Bush administration's reckoning on what to do next, a U.S. official said Monday.

One likely result of the report will be a vastly accelerated debate among President Bush's top aides on withdrawing troops and scaling back the U.S. presence in Iraq.

The "pivot point" for addressing the matter will no longer be Sept. 15, as initially envisioned, when a full report on Bush's so-called "surge" plan is due, but instead will come this week when the interim mid-July assessment is released, the official said.

A draft version of the report, expected to be presented to Congress on Thursday or Friday, circulated among various government agencies in Washington on Monday.

"The facts are not in question," the official told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because the draft is still under discussion. "The real question is how the White House proceeds with a post-surge strategy in light of the report."

The official said it is highly unlikely that Bush will withhold or suspend some aid to the Iraqis based on the report, as he can do under the law.

Lovely..simple friggin lovely. God I am getting a migraine..gotta go.

Tags: Politics, Benchmarks, Bush, Iraq War

GIs in Iraq are no longer buying what BushCo is selling

As we all know, the war isn’t going so well to put it mildly. We keep telling ourselves that somehow this nightmare will come to a screeching halt sooner or later. The odds are this war won’t end until a new President is sworn into office, but in the mean time…

What about the soldiers that are there now? What about those in the midst of being sent back or training for their first trip into the bowels of hell?

There was an IHT article I read late Sunday evening when my spine was screaming at me to take a pill and lay down. The article was from the soldier’s perspective; soldiers that are there now and are on deployment number two or three. It broke my heart. They are now losing patience and faith in the “mission” and not because of anything our dear leaders are or are not doing. They are losing faith in the Iraqi’s that are supposed to have their backs..the ones they have been training and arming. The Iraqi army is trying to kill them. I am sure this isn’t news to some, but when you actually hear it from the mouth of one of our own…it takes your breath away.

The article started out with the story of an insurgent who was killed as he attempted to plant a roadside bomb. As they went through his clothing, looking for identification, they came across a badge…a badge that identified him as sergeant in the Iraqi Army. As one soldier put it:’

“We’re helping guys that are trying to kill us. We help them in the day. They turn around at night and try to kill us.” “If we stayed here for 5, even 10 more years, the day we leave here these guys will go crazy,” he said. “It would go straight into a civil war. That’s how it feels, like we’re putting a Band-Aid on this country until we leave here.”

This soldier is in Delta Company. I have heard many times how Delta Company is the cream of the crop, the A-team so to speak. The article goes on to state that of the soldiers they interviewed for the story, they gleaned this pov from the majority of them:

“But in interviews with more than a dozen soldiers over a one-week period, most said they were disillusioned by repeated deployments, by what they saw as the abysmal performance of Iraqi security forces and by a conflict that they considered a civil war, one they had no ability to stop.”

The Iraqi security forces are militias beholden to local leaders, not the Iraqi government. They most likely signed up to get a paycheck to feed their families and possibly to provide Intelligence to the insurgents leadership. One soldier was quoted, as saying he thinks over half the Iraq army personnel are insurgents in his estimation.

The rightwingers will tell you that the soldiers are proud of the job they are doing, they care about upholding our government’s goals, and they care about the ‘mission’. The sad truth, which we won’t hear about on the evening news, is that the soldiers are only beholden to their brethren. They just want to keep each American soldier safe until his or her tour is over and they can go back to their lives as Americans. They have “each other’s back”. They no longer believe in the mission or trust the Iraqi that is standing at their side. In the words of one soldier interviewed for the story:

“I don’t want any more of my guys to get hurt or die. If it was something I felt righteous about, maybe. But for this country and this conflict, no, it’s not worth it.”

This is the unkindest cut of all. That they know their mission is futile. It makes the horror all the more intolerable for me. I have really, in some twisted inner vision, wanted them to believe they were making a difference. I want them to believe in what they did when they were blown to hell, that it was worth it. I would rather have them be at peace with all they had done and seen when they died in the sand so friggin far away. The thought that one of these soldiers will die knowing full well he is a piñata in a civil war makes me wild with anger. Simultaneously I want to cry…. a long, low wailing cry that helps all the pent up mental anguish I feel about this shit escape into the darkness of the night.

With my niece in harms way in Afghanistan, I have the right to feel this way about George Bush’s War on Terror and what it is doing to every man and woman that is fighting it. Their only goal is to keep their friends alive. They have the noblest of intentions.

And Bush shits on them daily, every time he opens his piehole and talks about supporting the troops. What balls this man has. How can one man and his cadre of chickenhawks be so ruthless with so many lives and lie to them? Lying to me is one thing but sweet Jesus, lying to them is criminal.

Crossposted at Bring it On! and The Blue Republic

Tags: Politics, Iraq, War on Terror, Federal Fuckwits at the Helm,