Obvious: GOP on the run and trying to shape the agenda (don't buy it)

[ProSense]

Brownback speech moves audience on left, but questions remain

Posted June 29, 2006, 7:01 a.m.

Sen. Sam Brownback, as expected, this week attended “Pentecost 2006,” a gathering of liberal Christians overseen by Jim Wallis, the editor of Sojourners magazine.

TomPaine.org, a liberal Web site apparently has the most complete account of Brownback’s appearance:

Snip...

Brownback followed with a speech that included a quotation from Jesus Christ: “To whom much is given, from him much will be required.” Speaking in a manner that moved the crowd, he told of his trips to Africa, including the Darfur region, to see refugee camps and people suffering from AIDS. He closed by imploring listeners to “take this moment and not harvest it for political advantage but harvest it for the poor.”

But Brownback is also among the senators who have supported President Bush’s tax cuts, which represent the antithesis of an ethic of requiring much of those who have much. Brownback supports cutting the estate tax, which would leave money in the hands of the wealthiest Americans instead of “harvesting” it, to borrow a word from Brownback, to help pay for the programs Wallis is trying to advance.

Other links today:

Sam Brownback links

(Wichita Eagle commentary) So showing contempt for Congress is respectful? Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., was among the many GOP no-shows at an important Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday -- on President Bush’s use of signing statements 750 times to flex his executive power and signal his disdain for all or parts of laws he has signed. Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., is so concerned about the practice that he’s thinking Congress might sue the president over the dismissive statements.


Pat Roberts links

Christian Broadcasting Network News) Backlash Grows over Publishing of Secret Terrorism Info: On Capitol Hill, leaders in the House and Senate are exploring ways to go on record and publicly condemn the media for reporting on classified information. The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS), wants a government investigation of whether The New York Times’ story hurt the program. Roberts said, "We cannot continue to operate in a system where the government takes steps to counter terrorism, while the media actively works to disclose those operations without any regard for protection of lives, sources, and legal methods."

http://www2.ljworld.com/blogs/kansas_congress/2006/jun/29/brownback

Obama and whoever else wants to follow him down this road can go ahead.

Path paved for Newt Gingrich to take White House

Inside the mind of Newt Gingrich:

If I can help shape the agenda for both parties in 2006, I can win the presidency in 2008.

I'm looking now at the recent record, starting with two hot issues: health care and immigration. On health care, the June 12 Washington Post ran a front-page story, "States' Changes Reshape Medicaid/New Restrictions Aim to Save Money"; the piece gave me, and my group, The Center for Health Transformation, credit for instigating the shift toward prevention and personal responsibility among Medicaid recipients. Outcomes are improved, and money is saved - it's a win-win for governors of both parties.

And as for immigration, I was one of the first to see the importance of border control. Even before Sept. 11, I argued for a Department of Homeland Security. So now, Bush's plan for guest workers will have to wait. The House Republicans, who still listen to me, will be the big winners; they will block the White House plan and reap the benefit with the voters. By contrast, the Senate Republicans sided with the White House, taking the side of open borders; now they will reap an unpleasant political whirlwind. Indeed, the Senate whirlwind-reapers include most of the '08 hopefuls: John McCain, Bill Frist, Chuck Hagel and Sam Brownback. All voted wrong this year; all will be blown away in the GOP primaries.

more...

http://www.theolympian.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060629/OPINION/606290338

Contract with America my ass!

New Jersey worried about immigration? Fuhgetaboutit

House Speaker Dennis Hastert has decided to hold field hearings around the country to see what Americans think about the immigration issue that has dominated so much of Congress's time this year.

If one of those hearings is held in New Jersey, the message he will get is "not much."

According to a survey by the Quinnipiac University poll, New Jersey's voters say that the most serious problem facing their state isn't the budget deficit, terrorism or Mexican immigrants. It is taxes -- on their homes, their purchases and at the gas pump.

more....

http://www.bucyrustelegraphforum.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060629/OPINION02/606290313

Article turns into a hit piece on Sen. Menendez and mentions nothing else about high gas prices (the GOP agenda).

[emulatorloo]

1. If you haven't, Read "God's Senator" in Rolling Stone

a really very interesting article about Brownback

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/9178374/gods_senator

[Totally Committed]

2. Yeah if you love what Gingrich's "Republican Revolution" did

for the fairness and civility of US politics, just IMAGINE a Gingrich Presidency. Ugh. If that isn't a reason to have anti-depressant with your breakfast, nothing ever will be!

If that happens, they'd better plan on putting psychotropic drugs in the water supply, because it'll be the only way to control the urge to revolt en masse.

TC

[niceypoo]

3. New GOP campaign mantra.......

"Fags and Flags"