These Republicans have been caught trying to celebrate the benefits of projects they opposed in President Obama's recovery bill, the 2009 Omnibus Appropriations bill, and the Omnibus Public Land Management Act.
 

Representative Pete Sessions (TX-32) - Representative Pete Sessions showed his hypocrisy after asking the Obama Administration for three billion in funds for NASA from the economic recovery act, which he voted against. Members of the Texas delegation signed the letter, including two Republican Senators and 19 House Republicans who all voted against the recovery act in February. [Texas delegation wants stimulus money for NASA, Houston Chronicle, 10/5/09]

Representative Jack Kingston (GA-01) - Representative Jack Kingston has announced federal funding for his constituents without mentioning that the money comes from the stimulus program. [GOP won't turn down stimulus spending, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 10/18/09]

Representative Michael McCaul (TX-10) - "I didn't support final passage but at the same time I wanted to make sure if we are spending that kind of money that much of that gets directed to Texas." [KVUE News; 2/22/09]

Representative Michael McCaul showed his hypocrisy after asking the Obama Administration for three billion in funds for NASA from the economic recovery act, which he voted against. Members of the Texas delegation signed the letter, including two Republican Senators and 19 House Republicans who all voted against the recovery act in February. [Texas delegation wants stimulus money for NASA, Houston Chronicle, 10/5/09]

Representative Joe Barton (TX-06) - Representative Joe Barton showed his hypocrisy after asking the Obama Administration for three billion in funds for NASA from the economic recovery act, which he voted against. Members of the Texas delegation signed the letter, including two Republican Senators and 19 House Republicans who all voted against the recovery act in February. [Texas delegation wants stimulus money for NASA, Houston Chronicle, 10/5/09]

Representative Michael Burgess (TX-26) - Representative Michael Burgess showed his hypocrisy after asking the Obama Administration for three billion in funds for NASA from the economic recovery act, which he voted against. Members of the Texas delegation signed the letter, including two Republican Senators and 19 House Republicans who all voted against the recovery act in February. [Texas delegation wants stimulus money for NASA, Houston Chronicle, 10/5/09]

Representative John Carter (TX-31) - Representative John Carter showed his hypocrisy after asking the Obama Administration for three billion in funds for NASA from the economic recovery act, which he voted against. Members of the Texas delegation signed the letter, including two Republican Senators and 19 House Republicans who all voted against the recovery act in February. [Texas delegation wants stimulus money for NASA, Houston Chronicle, 10/5/09]

Representative Mike Conaway (TX-11) - Representative Mike Conaway showed his hypocrisy after asking the Obama Administration for three billion in funds for NASA from the economic recovery act, which he voted against. Members of the Texas delegation signed the letter, including two Republican Senators and 19 House Republicans who all voted against the recovery act in February. [Texas delegation wants stimulus money for NASA, Houston Chronicle, 10/5/09]

Representative John Culberson (TX-07) - Representative John Culberson showed his hypocrisy after asking the Obama Administration for three billion in funds for NASA from the economic recovery act, which he voted against. Members of the Texas delegation signed the letter, including two Republican Senators and 19 House Republicans who all voted against the recovery act in February. [Texas delegation wants stimulus money for NASA, Houston Chronicle, 10/5/09]

Representative Louie Gohmert (TX-01) - Representative Louie Gohmert showed his hypocrisy after asking the Obama Administration for three billion in funds for NASA from the economic recovery act, which he voted against. Members of the Texas delegation signed the letter, including two Republican Senators and 19 House Republicans who all voted against the recovery act in February. [Texas delegation wants stimulus money for NASA, Houston Chronicle, 10/5/09]

Representative Kay Granger (TX-12) - Representative Kay Granger showed his hypocrisy after asking the Obama Administration for three billion in funds for NASA from the economic recovery act, which he voted against. Members of the Texas delegation signed the letter, including two Republican Senators and 19 House Republicans who all voted against the recovery act in February. [Texas delegation wants stimulus money for NASA, Houston Chronicle, 10/5/09]

Representative Ralph Hall (TX-04) - Representative Ralph Hall showed his hypocrisy after asking the Obama Administration for three billion in funds for NASA from the economic recovery act, which he voted against. Members of the Texas delegation signed the letter, including two Republican Senators and 19 House Republicans who all voted against the recovery act in February. [Texas delegation wants stimulus money for NASA, Houston Chronicle, 10/5/09]

Representative Sam Johnson (TX-03) - Representative Sam Johnson showed his hypocrisy after asking the Obama Administration for three billion in funds for NASA from the economic recovery act, which he voted against. Members of the Texas delegation signed the letter, including two Republican Senators and 19 House Republicans who all voted against the recovery act in February. [Texas delegation wants stimulus money for NASA, Houston Chronicle, 10/5/09]

Representative Kenny Marchant (TX-24) - Representative Kenny Marchant showed his hypocrisy after asking the Obama Administration for three billion in funds for NASA from the economic recovery act, which he voted against. Members of the Texas delegation signed the letter, including two Republican Senators and 19 House Republicans who all voted against the recovery act in February. [Texas delegation wants stimulus money for NASA, Houston Chronicle, 10/5/09]

Representative Randy Neugebauer (TX-19) - Representative Randy Neugebauer showed his hypocrisy after asking the Obama Administration for three billion in funds for NASA from the economic recovery act, which he voted against. Members of the Texas delegation signed the letter, including two Republican Senators and 19 House Republicans who all voted against the recovery act in February. [Texas delegation wants stimulus money for NASA, Houston Chronicle, 10/5/09]

Representative Pete Olson (TX-22) - Representative Pete Olson showed his hypocrisy after asking the Obama Administration for three billion in funds for NASA from the economic recovery act, which he voted against. Members of the Texas delegation signed the letter, including two Republican Senators and 19 House Republicans who all voted against the recovery act in February. [Texas delegation wants stimulus money for NASA, Houston Chronicle, 10/5/09]

Representative Ron Paul (TX-14) - Representative Ron Paul showed his hypocrisy after asking the Obama Administration for three billion in funds for NASA from the economic recovery act, which he voted against. Members of the Texas delegation signed the letter, including two Republican Senators and 19 House Republicans who all voted against the recovery act in February. [Texas delegation wants stimulus money for NASA, Houston Chronicle, 10/5/09]

Representative Ted Poe (TX-02) - Representative Ted Poe showed his hypocrisy after asking the Obama Administration for three billion in funds for NASA from the economic recovery act, which he voted against. Members of the Texas delegation signed the letter, including two Republican Senators and 19 House Republicans who all voted against the recovery act in February. [Texas delegation wants stimulus money for NASA, Houston Chronicle, 10/5/09]

Representative Lamar Smith (TX-21) - Representative Lamar Smith showed his hypocrisy after asking the Obama Administration for three billion in funds for NASA from the economic recovery act, which he voted against. Members of the Texas delegation signed the letter, including two Republican Senators and 19 House Republicans who all voted against the recovery act in February. [Texas delegation wants stimulus money for NASA, Houston Chronicle, 10/5/09]

Representative Mac Thornberry  (TX-13) - Representative Lamar Smith showed his hypocrisy after asking the Obama Administration for three billion in funds for NASA from the economic recovery act, which he voted against. Members of the Texas delegation signed the letter, including two Republican Senators and 19 House Republicans who all voted against the recovery act in February. [Texas delegation wants stimulus money for NASA, Houston Chronicle, 10/5/09]

Representative Frank Wolf (VA-10) - Representative Wolf recently blamed Gov. Tim Kaine for being slow in spending economic recovery money allocated to their state.  Wolf told reporters, "We could use that money desperately," however if he had his way, the money never would have been allocated in the first place.  [GOP Blasts Kaine on Transportation Spending, Washington Post, 10/5/09]

Representative Phil Gingrey (GA-11) - Earlier this month, Gingrey presented a giant check of $625,000 in stimulus funds to the city commission of Cedartown, Georgia, to help fund the installation of new sidewalks and infrastructure - funds he voted against in the economic recovery package. [Cedartown receives federal stimulus funds for Streetscape project, Cedartown Standard, 10/13/09]

Representative Eric Cantor (VA-07) - The Culpeper Star-Exponent (Allison Brophy Champion) reports that Democrats are calling out Republican Whip Eric Cantor for what they claim is contradictory support of federal funding for high-speed rail in Virginia.  The funding would be part of President Barack Obama's stimulus package - the same stimulus package Cantor vehemently opposed earlier this year. [Dems: Cantor a hypocrite on high-speed rail, Culpeper Star-Exponent, 6/24/09]
[Dem's High Speed Hit, The Huddle, 6/24/09]
[Cantor criticizes stimulus package, suggests alterations, Richmond Times Dispatch, 7/7/09]
[Cantor blasts stimulus, defends rail request, Politico, 7/6/09]
[DCCC sets sights on Cantor for 'hypocrisy', The Hill, 7/6/09]

Representative Bill Young (FL-10) - Rep. Bill Young of Florida's congressional Web site contains a page with dozens of links to help Floridians "take advantage of federal stimulus money." [GOP opposes plan then seeks money, AP, 8/27/09]

Representative Judy Biggert (IL-13) - Last Thursday, the House passed a $123.1 billion transportation and housing appropriations bill that included an 8 percent boost for the Section 8 housing voucher program and $4 billion for President Obama's high-speed rail initiative. It also included $1.5 million in funding for two projects requested by Rep. Judy Biggert -- a Metra Station in Tinley Park and freight-related traffic relief along Ogden Avenue in Aurora. ‘These important investments will create local jobs and help keep our area's road and transit systems working for commuters,' Biggert said in a statement Friday.  ‘I'm very grateful to my House colleagues for recognizing the rapidly growing transportation needs of communities and centers of commerce in our suburban area'...one tiny detail -- along with the rest of Illinois' Republican delegation, Biggert voted against the bill.  [Progress Illinois, 7/28/09]

Representative Mary Fallin (OK-05) - Oklahoma Republican Mary Fallin asked Army Secretary Pete Geren to use $8.4 million in stimulus money for repairs to buildings at two Oklahoma National Guard sites.  Fallin had called the stimulus a "Big Brother spending program" that didn't do enough to finance needed infrastructure projects. The money she and Boren sought isn't in the Pentagon's spending plans. [GOP opposes plan then seeks money, AP, 8/27/09]

Representative Patrick Tiberi (OH-10) - "I am sorely disappointed that the Cherry Valley Road Interchange will not receive stimulus funding." [News Release; 3/26/09]

Representative Don Manzullo (IL-16) - "Don Manzullo announced today he has secured $714,000 in federal funding to help improve health care services and higher education opportunities for residents at three institutions in Rockford." [News Release; 3/2/09]

Representative Kevin McCarthy (CA-22) - "I applaud this funding for the Bakersfield Federal courthouse.  Over the years, we have faced many obstacles related to this project, but worked together as a community to ensure that this project remained a high priority and would come to fruition." [KERO 23; 4/1/09]


McCarthy uses events like the one at Cal Poly to give lip service to renewable energy. [For Congressmen thinking green at Cal Poly - San Luis Obispo Tribune, 5/29/09]

Representative Ed Whitfield (KY-01) - Representative Ed Whitfield sent out a press release calling himself "a tireless champion for community health centers both in Kentucky and throughout the country."  Yet, Representative Whitfield voted against the economic recovery package which provided more than $10 million to meet demand at Kentucky health centers and to build new ones across the state.  [News Release; 3/26/09]

Representative Mike Rogers (AL-03) - Representative Mike Rogers voted against his own legislation to protect the Little River Canyon National Preserve in the Omnibus Public Land Management Act.  [Roll Call Vote, 3/25/2009]

Representative Dan Lungren (CA -03) - Lungren's change of heart might be related to the fact that the Democratic Congressional Candidate (DCCC) has identified that Lungren as vulnerable to defeat in the 2010 congressional midterm elections. [Elk Grove News - Sensing Vulnerability, Lungren Backpedals on Stimulus Vote, 8/6/09]

o       Representative Dan Lungren sought millions in earmarks for projects in his district, then voted against the legislation to fund those projects.  "I would not apologize for any of those (earmarks), but I would give them up if the president had vetoed the bill." [Amador Ledger-Dispatch; 3/17/09]

o       As California's economic woes continue to threaten public services to the point where 47 pink slips were recently issued to Stockton police officers, Congressman Dan Lungren is coming under fire from the blue side of the aisle in Washington for his April 23 vote against "The COPS Improvement Act." [Dems, Lungren clash on COPS funding - Amador Ledger-Dispatch, 5/29/09]

Representative David Dreier (CA-26) - Representative David Dreier said, "The nation relies on Southern California's infrastructure and innovation.  Strategic federal investments in these areas will yield tremendous returns from coast to coast."  However Representative Dreier voted against the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act which will provide $13 billion in tax cuts, nearly $4.5 billion in infrastructure investments, and billions more for job training and education programs in California.  [Southern California on the Hill; 3/10/09]

Representative Jerry Moran (KS-01) - "Four Kansas Republicans had earmarked requests in the package, but voted against the overall $410 billion package... Not only did Moran and Tiahrt vote against the spending bill when the House took action in February, they also voted last week for a measure that would have removed all earmarks." [The Hutchinson News; 3/13/09]

Representative Todd Tiahrt (KS-04) - "Four Kansas Republicans had earmarked requests in the package, but voted against the overall $410 billion package... Not only did Moran and Tiahrt vote against the spending bill when the House took action in February, they also voted last week for a measure that would have removed all earmarks." [The Hutchinson News; 3/13/09]

Representative Shelley Moore Capito (WV-02) - "Capito informed the group that roughly $1.5 million in neighborhood stabilization funds have been made available to West Virginia, and she said the situation that many are facing in the current financial times is heartwrenching.  ‘It's just breaks your heart,' Capito said." [The Journal; 3/10/09] 

Representative Steve King (IA-05) - "Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, announced today that $570,000 for the U.S. Highway 20 widening project has been included in the federal stimulus bill signed by President Barack Obama earlier in the week." [Sioux City Journal; 3/13/09]

Representative Elton Gallegly (CA-24) - "Rep. Elton Gallegly, R-Simi Valley, announced Thursday that Thousand Oaks will get $182,881 in community development block grants through the stimulus package... In addition to the stimulus money, Gallegly's office said money for other local projects has been included in a separate funding bill the House passed Wednesday." [Ventura County Star; 2/27/09]

Representative Howard "Buck" McKeon (CA-25) - "Rep. Howard P. ‘Buck' McKeon (R-Santa Clarita) called the bill ‘not the example of fiscal restraint that we need right now.'  Yet it includes McKeon earmarks such as $333,000 to assist Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital in designing and building a helipad and $167,000 for the Autry National Center of the American West to help pay for a new Southwest museum facility." [Los Angeles Times; 3/5/09]

Representative Jerry Lewis (CA-41) - "Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Redlands) declared: ‘I'm embarrassed by this omnibus spending bill.'  Yet the top Republican on the House Appropriations Committee secured more than $18 million in earmarks." [Los Angeles Times; 3/5/09]

Representative George Radanovich (CA-19) - "Rep. George Radanovich (R-Mariposa) issued a statement on Feb. 4 declaring that he would forego earmarks... Three weeks later, Radanovich submitted a statement to the congressional record listing nearly $6.3 million in earmarks in the omnibus spending bill." [Los Angeles Times; 3/5/09]

Representative Tom Latham (IA-04) - After voting against the 2009 Omnibus Appropriations bill, Representative Latham issued three press releases congratulating himself for securing funds for projects at home.  [Representative Latham's Press Release; 3/2/09, 2/27/09, 2/27/09]

Representative Tom Petri (WI-06) - Representative Petri is a "strong supporter of the allocation" of $754,000 to restore and maintain navigable channels in the Two Rivers harbor, as "maintaining navigable waters in the area is essential for the local economy." [Manitowoc Herald Times; 2/27/09]  Representative Petri voted against the 2009 Omnibus Appropriations bill.  

Representative Steven LaTourette (OH-14) - According to a press release from Representative LaTourette's office, LaTourette said, "I know our local departments are facing rough financial times, and there have been some department layoffs and hiring freezes across the state."  It then continues to say that he "is pleased that some departments will benefit from this new COPS program." [Representative LaTourette's Press Release; 2/27/09]

Representative Dean Heller (NV-02) - "We can ill afford to lose any jobs in Nevada, or anywhere else for that matter." [Elko Daily Free Press; 2/27/09]

Representative Aaron Schock (IL-18) - "The biodiesel plant is ready to go.  I want to call for a meeting with the state to guarantee $20 million in loans for the building of the plant.  This could produce real jobs and a real stimulus in the next 30 days." [Peoria Journal Star; 2/17/09]


"Last week, U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock was in East Peoria to award the city's Police Department a $410,000 federal grant to update its aging in-car video camera systems and portable radios... that money was included in the FY 2009 Omnibus Spending Bill that Schock, a Peoria Republican, voted against. [Peoria Journal Star; 6/29/09]

Representative Mary Bono Mack (CA-45) - "This funding will provide much-needed assistance to local residents who are at risk of losing their homes or experiencing homelessness... I am pleased that our community will benefit from this funding." [Representative Bono Mack's Press Release; 2/25/09]

Representative Dave Reichert (WA-08) - "Reichert acknowledges that the stimulus bill will deliver tangible good news to his constituents... ‘I feel a responsibility at this point to make this still work.'" [Boston Globe; 2/24/09]

Representative Mike Coffman (CO-06) - "I see myself in two roles as a congressman.  I think the first role as a policymaker in Washington and the second as an advocate for people inside this district and there are elements we'll probably be discussing - the mortgage proposal - there are probably elements that I disagree with that but if there's somebody in my district eligible for that, I'll fight to make sure they get them." [KUSA-TV; Your Show; 2/22/09]

Representative Glenn Thompson (PA-05) - Thompson "said he hoped the residents within the county would benefit from the plan's massive spending and tax cuts." [Daily Collegian; 2/19/09]

Representative Denny Rehberg (MT-AL) - "I'll do anything I can to make this work." [KULR-8; 2/17/09]

Representative Frank Lucas (OK-03) - "We all need to work very aggressively to make sure that every community that qualifies should be a recipient of whatever we can find in that bill." [Edmond Sun; 2/18/09]

Representative Chris Lee (NY-26) - "Rep. Chris Lee was opposed to a $787 billion stimulus package signed by President Barack Obama on Tuesday but said he would now fight for funds included in the bill for his district... ‘Now that the bill is passed, I obviously want to ensure I do fight for projects in western New York,' Lee said." [Democrat and Chronicle; 2/18/09]

Representative Adam Putnam (FL-12) - "Nine GOP House members from Florida, all stimulus no's, joined nine of their Democratic colleagues, all yesses, in asking the feds to grant a waiver giving them access to, you guessed it, hundreds of millions in state stabilization stimulus cash." [Politico; 2/19/09]

Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL-18) - "Nine GOP House members from Florida, all stimulus no's, joined nine of their Democratic colleagues, all yesses, in asking the feds to grant a waiver giving them access to, you guessed it, hundreds of millions in state stabilization stimulus cash." [Politico; 2/19/09]  "'Just because you vote no, doesn't mean you don't get the money,' assured Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.).  ‘We will fight like tigers for us to get our share.'" [National League of Cities; 3/2/09]

Representative Lincoln Diaz-Balart (FL-21) - "Nine GOP House members from Florida, all stimulus no's, joined nine of their Democratic colleagues, all yesses, in asking the feds to grant a waiver giving them access to, you guessed it, hundreds of millions in state stabilization stimulus cash." [Politico; 2/19/09] "Miami Republican Reps. Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Mario Diaz-Balart also voted against the bill but secured funding - from $600,000 for Hialeah's police department to upgrade equipment to $6 million for the University of Miami's William Lehman Injury Research Center." [Miami Herald; 3/3/09]

Representative Tom Rooney (FL-16) - "Nine GOP House members from Florida, all stimulus no's, joined nine of their Democratic colleagues, all yesses, in asking the feds to grant a waiver giving them access to, you guessed it, hundreds of millions in state stabilization stimulus cash." [Politico; 2/19/09]  "'The money's coming, Rooney said. ‘So I can sit on the sidelines or I can advocate for my constituents.  I think it would be irresponsible of me not to fight for what I think is important in that money.'" [Palm Beach Post; 2/22/09]

Representative Mario Diaz-Balart (FL-25) - "Nine GOP House members from Florida, all stimulus no's, joined nine of their Democratic colleagues, all yesses, in asking the feds to grant a waiver giving them access to, you guessed it, hundreds of millions in state stabilization stimulus cash." [Politico; 2/19/09] "Miami Republican Reps. Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Mario Diaz-Balart also voted against the bill but secured funding - from $600,000 for Hialeah's police department to upgrade equipment to $6 million for the University of Miami's William Lehman Injury Research Center." [Miami Herald; 3/3/09]

Representative Ginny Brown-Waite (FL-05)  - "Nine GOP House members from Florida, all stimulus no's, joined nine of their Democratic colleagues, all yesses, in asking the feds to grant a waiver giving them access to, you guessed it, hundreds of millions in state stabilization stimulus cash." [Politico; 2/19/09]

Representative Cliff Stearns (FL-06) - "Nine GOP House members from Florida, all stimulus no's, joined nine of their Democratic colleagues, all yesses, in asking the feds to grant a waiver giving them access to, you guessed it, hundreds of millions in state stabilization stimulus cash." [Politico; 2/19/09]

Representative Bill Posey (FL-15) - "Nine GOP House members from Florida, all stimulus no's, joined nine of their Democratic colleagues, all yesses, in asking the feds to grant a waiver giving them access to, you guessed it, hundreds of millions in state stabilization stimulus cash." [Politico; 2/19/09]

Representative Pete Hoekstra (MI-02) - "If you know of someone thinking of buying first home, now may be the time.  Stimulus incentive is very generous!  Up to 8k! Check it out." [Representative Pete Hoekstra's Twitter page; 2/18/09]

Representative Leonard Lance (NJ-07) - "Officials are hoping more federal money will soon be flowing to the Green Brook Flood Control Project.  Under the terms of the stimulus plan signed into law Tuesday by President Barack Obama, infrastructure projects that are "shovel-ready" could be the first to be funded with economic recovery money.  That's the hope of Rep. Leonard Lance, R-Clinton Township...'This is a classic example of a ‘shovel-ready' project,' Lance said after the tour." [mycentraljersey.com; 2/17/09]

Representative Greg Walden (OR-02) - "I figure my job is to try and do whatever I can to clear the hurdles and get the projects going and the people back to work using these funds." [Mail Tribune; 2/19/09]

Representative Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-09) - "Luetkemeyer said the project is considered ‘shovel ready' and that's what the economy needs.  President Darrell Krueger and Luetkemeyer discussed the educational benefits of the economic stimulus package." [KTVO-TV, 2/16/09]

Representative Don Young (AK-AL) - "Alaskan Congressman Don Young won a victory for the Alaska Native contracting program and other Alaska small business owners last night in H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. [Congressman Don Young's Press Release; 2/13/09]

Representative Ken Calvert (CA-44) - "All of us in the Inland Empire will do what we can to direct as much money as we can." [The Press Enterprise; 2/13/09]

Representative John Mica (FL-07) - "I applaud President Obama's recognition that high-speed rail should be part of America's future." [Congressman John Mica Press Release; 2/13/09]  Mica was also one of "Nine GOP House members from Florida, all stimulus no's, joined nine of their Democratic colleagues, all yesses, in asking the feds to grant a waiver giving them access to, you guessed it, hundreds of millions in state stabilization stimulus cash." [Politico; 2/19/09]

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I just have a hard time imagining someone from a position of authority, especially of the religious type, to abuse that authority.

Religion is divise by nature, spirituality is inclusive by nature.

The following people are about as close to evil and evil can get. This all was revealed in a weeks time. No wonder so many of us have such a problem with religion and it's followers and it's leaders.

Alabama: Pastor Simon Bussie arrested for sodomizing 11 year-old girl. Bussie was in the charge of the church's day care center.
North Carolina: Pastor Robert Lee Adams Reaves convicted of murdering a 21 year-old woman. According to testimony, Reaves stabbed the woman dozens of times because she was dating a man that Reaves was interested in.
New Jersey: Pastor Lonny Aleshire demands new trial after pleading guilty to raping underage girls.
Canada: Brothers Allen and Phillip Latimer reveal they were sexually molested by the late Father Allen McDonald while serving as his altar boys. The men came forward after last week's arrest of Bishop Raymond Lahey, who briefly hid from authorities after being charged with the possession of child pornography. Lahey had been in charge of Father McDonald's case.
Mexico: Father Jose Carlos Contreras Rodriguez charged with raping and murdering a 16 year-old girl.
South Africa: Unnamed pastor convicted of raping his two pre-teen daughters. His name is shielded to protect the victims.
New York: Pastor Eddy Mijares sentenced to 14 years in prison for molesting 13 year-old girl.
Michigan: Pastor Timothy Allen Ortiz charged with forcible sexual conduct on underage girl.
Virginia: Pastor Steven Joplin charged with seven counts of sexual assault on pre-teen girls.
Ohio: Father Gerald Robinson loses his appeal to overturn his conviction for murdering Sister Margaret Ann Pahl, whom he stabbed 31 times in the face and neck.

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.


Crafty. I can say that my president is crafty. The first truly elected president in over 8 years has a plan to show the world what the conservatives and republicans truly are.

HATERS! Now, being a liberal and all I love putting people to work. I love my haters. If I have 15 haters I need 30 by the end of June. I can't think of anything more vicious than a rightwing hater. I also have proof.

The radical right wing has launched a vicious campaign of racist and sexist attacks against Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama's selection to replace the retiring Justice David Souter on the Supreme Court. Sotomayor's "compelling life story" involves a brilliant legal career after being raised in a South Bronx public housing project by parents who moved from Puerto Rico. That's right folks. She is LATINA! So here is where the problem truly lies. Sotomayor graduated from Princeton University summa cum laude, edited the Yale Law Journal, then served as a "fearless and effective" New York City prosecutor and corporate lawyer before being appointed to the bench by President George H. W. Bush in 1992. You read that right. She was appointed by Chimpy's daddy. The Villiage voice goes on to read, "Since joining the Second Circuit in 1998, Sotomayor has authored over 150 opinions," only three of which have been overturned by the Supreme Court's conservative majority. During her time as an appeals judge, "her influence has grown significantly."

Public reaction to the nomination of the first Latina and third woman to the nation's highest court is "decidedly more positive than negative." Former Bush adviser Mark McKinnon remarked, "If Republicans make a big deal of opposing Sotomayor, we will be hurling ourselves off a cliff." Hurl away! However, "the same right-wing extremists who drove the country into the ground," Salon's Glenn Greenwald writes, "continue to attack Sonia Sotomayor with blatant and ugly stereotypes." Right-wing pundit Pat Buchanan called Sotomayor an "affirmative action candidate," and Weekly Standard editor Fred Barnes claimed she "has benefited from affirmative action over the years tremendously." As hate-radio extremist Glenn Beck described the nomination: "Hey, Hispanic chick lady! You're empathetic ... you're in!"

Glen Beck is truly unhinged.

"[L]ess than 24 hours after President Obama's nomination of Sotomayor," right-wing hate merchants seized on a 2001 speech about her Latina heritage and the courts, calling her "a racist" and a "bigot." In a 2001 speech before the Berkeley La Raza Law Journal's annual symposium, Sotomayor argued that judges' gender and race can influence their decisions on gender and race discrimination cases, saying she "would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life." However, she cautioned she owes the parties who appear before her "constant and complete vigilance in checking [her] assumptions, presumptions and perspectives."  In other words this sister is DOING HER JOB.

Pulling out the "wise Latina woman" phrase, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich attacked Sotomayor on his Twitter feed as a "Latina woman racist." "Obama is the greatest living example of a reverse racist," hate-radio host Rush Limbaugh complained, "and now he's appointed one...to the U.S. Supreme Court." Former Republican House member and anti-immigration extremist Tom Tancredo agreed that Sotomayor "appears to be a racist" and called La Raza the "Latino KKK without the hoods or the nooses." Curt Levey, executive director of Committee for Justice, "a conservative legal group active in judicial nominations," said that "I wonder whether she knows the difference" between being a Puerto Rican advocate -- Sotomayor served on the board of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund in the 1980s -- and being a judge. Some of the racist attacks on Sotomayor are simply absurd. Mark Krikorian of the right-wing Center for Immigration Studies blogged on the National Review's Corner about his outrage over people "[d]eferring" to Sotomayor over the "unnatural pronunciation" of her own name. In other words, her name isn't easy for english speaking racists.

So, how do you attack a FEMALE who is also Hispanic? Go after her temperment and demenaor. Bring in Karl Rove to show you how it is done.  Karl Rove has led the sexist slurs, claiming that Sotomayor is "not necessarily" smart and has acted "like sort of a schoolmarm" on the Second Circuit. "I'm not really certain how intellectually strong she would be," he opined on Fox News. OK, take a break here for a sec. THIS asshole wants to talk intelligence? He masterminded the dummest asshole we have ever had for a president! Seriously, Chimpy was more stpid than Ronnie! You know I'm telling the truth. In the Wall Street Journal, Rove argued she is one of those judges selected "for their readiness to discard the rule of law whenever emotion moves them." Citing anonymous attacks promoted by the New Republic, Weekly Standard executive editor Fred Barnes said that Sotomayor was "not the smartest." The New York Times writes that "to detractors, Judge Sotomayor's sharp-tongued and occasionally combative manner -- some lawyers have described her as 'difficult' and 'nasty' -- raises questions about her judicial temperament and willingness to listen." However a fellow Second Circuit judge, Guido Calabresi, "kept track of the questions posed by Judge Sotomayor and other members of the 12-member court" and found that her "behavior was identical." "Some lawyers just don't like to be questioned by a woman," Judge Calabresi added. "It was sexist, plain and simple."
TADAA!

Although Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) said that Sotomayor may be subject to the "undue influence" of her race and gender, Republican senators have attempted to distance themselves from the hatred. Even Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS), who announced he would vote against Sotomayor's nomination, said, "I think that we should be judging people not on race and gender, or background or ethnicity or a very compelling story." Some members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will conduct hearings on Sotomayor's nomination this summer, have directly denounced the worst invective. Responding to the attacks on Sotomayor calling her "racist," Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) told NPR's "All Things Considered," "I think it's terrible. This is not the kind of tone that any of us want to set when it comes to performing our constitutional responsibilities of advice and consent." "I don't agree with" the "racist" smear, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) said recently. "If there are no otherwise disqualifying matters here it appears to me she will probably be confirmed," Hatch told CNN Radio last week.

Far from over. The right can't stand the face of America changing. We have a black president and now we will have the first latina sitting on the supreme court. I LOVE IT!

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I can write a fact that will make Texans want to leave the union, calls from teh right for failure of the future of Americas, drive people who are already mentally deranged into further derangement and delusion.
 President Barack Obama took the oath of office on Jan. 21, 2009.
The first truly elected President in 8 years came in with two broad mandates bestowed upon him by the American people: 1.) Repair the mess that President Bush and his administration left behind after eight disastrous years in office, and 2.) Enact a bold, progressive agenda that includes fixing our nation's health care system and seriously addressing global climate change.


Obama went to work right away, pushing the "biggest, boldest countercyclical fiscal stimulus in American history" through Congress -- a $787 billion dollar measure that not only creates jobs but also provides investments in energy, transportation, education and health care. Obama also announced his intention to shift focus and resources away from Bush's misbegotten adventure in Iraq and refocus on Afghanistan, where the security situation is worse than it has been since the start of the U.S.-led war there in October 2001. Now, a series of recent public opinion polls shows that the American public not only overwhelmingly approves of the job Obama is doing as president, but they also believe the nation is heading in the right direction -- "the first time in years the nation has held such an optimistic view of its future." For example, a new ABC News/Washington Post poll found that 50 percent of Americans now say the country is on the right track (48 percent say the wrong track), compared with just 13 percent who had the same feeling last October (85 percent said the U.S. was heading in the wrong direction at that time). Indeed, in his first 100 days in office, Obama has received the support of the American public to implement the progressive agenda he campaigned on.   


 Shortly after taking office, Obama worked quickly to repair the damage done under The Bush Crime Family and has, in total, issued 29 executive decisions reversing Bush administration policy. On his first day as president, Obama signed an executive order mandating the closure of the Guantanamo Bay terror detainee prison camp within one year. The next day, he ordered military leaders to establish a plan for a responsible withdrawal from Iraq,and he signed executive orders ending CIA secret prisons and ending torture by requiring that all interrogations abide by the Army Field Manual. Obama put these first actions as president in simple terms. "We intend to win this fight" against terrorists, he said. But "we are going to win it on our own terms." On the domestic front, Obama reversed Bush's restrictions on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research in March, asserting that his administration would "make scientific decisions based on facts, not ideology." In London at the G20 Summit and in other European capitals earlier this month, Obama reassured America's friends and allies that the United States would reengage the world as an equal partner. "We're starting to see some restoration of America's standing in the world," Obama said in London. " It is "very important for us to be able to forge partnerships as opposed to dictating solutions." As far as "dictating solutions," Obama also ditched Bush's "with us or against us" foreign policy mindset in dealing with America's allies and adversaries. Indicating his sincerity in reaching out to the Muslim world, Obama granted his first television interview as president to Dubai-based Al-Arabiya. "My job to the Muslim world is to communicate that the Americans are not your enemy," Obama said, adding, "We are offering a hand of friendship." Most significantly, Obama also opened the door to direct dialogue with Iran last month, sending the government and its people a "groundbreaking" "special message" on Nowruz, the start of the Persian New Year, in which he said the U.S. is seeking "engagement" with Iran "that is honest and grounded in mutual respect."

On Jan. 29, Obama signed his first major piece of legislation, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, an equal pay law making it easier for workers -- most of whom are women -- to initiate pay discrimination lawsuits. "We are upholding one of this nation's first principles: that we are all created equal and each deserve a chance to pursue our own version of happiness," Obama said at the bill's signing ceremony. Six days later, Obama signed a bill expanding publicly funded health insurance for children, known as SCHIP, legislation Bush had vetoed twice despite strong bipartisan support in Congress. The bill reduces the number of uninsured children by about half over the next four years and will "boost the number covered by the program to 11 million." "In a decent society, there are certain obligations that are not subject to trade offs or negotiation -- health care for our children is one of those obligations," Obama said. And just last week, the President signed a $5.7 billion national service bill championed by Sens. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) that "triples the size of the AmeriCorps service program over the next eight years and expands ways for students to earn money for college."


Obama and Congress have yet to finalize legislation that would fully accomplish health care reform and solve our climate crisis, but these two major issues remain on the front-burner and have received significant attention in the administration's first 100 days. The economic recovery bill passed earlier this year contained key health care provisions that lead the way toward reform, including $19 billion for health care information technology to implement electronic health records and an agency to "conduct and support research that would assess the benefits of competing treatments," both of which aim to reduce future overall costs. Moreover, Obama's budget creates a "reserve fund" as a down payment to reform the health care system. The stimulus bill also provided a boost to a green economy. In what The New York Times called "the biggest energy bill in history," the Recovery Act provides $91 billion for clean energy investments. In a further indication that addressing climate change is a top priority for the Obama administration, the Environmental Protection Agency confirmed this month that greenhouse gas pollution endangers the health and welfare of the American public. The move finally complies with the Supreme Court's 2007 ruling -- ignored by Bush -- that such emissions should be regulated by the federal government under the Clean Air Act. Obama's budget contains key energy provisions that also aim to limit greenhouse gases and build a clean-energy economy, such as a mandatory cap on carbon emissions which is expected to raise hundreds of billions of dollars over the next ten years that will go toward clean energy development and tax credits for working Americans.

Can you see why Republicans/Conservatives hate this? All this PROGRESS and shit?

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Just last week the first truly elected President in 8 years, of course I am talking about President Obama released four Bush-era Office of Legal Counsel memos that had authorized torture. "In dozens of pages of dispassionate legal prose, the methods approved by the Bush administration for extracting information from senior operatives of Al Qaeda are spelled out in careful detail -- like keeping detainees awake for up to 11 straight days, placing them in a dark, cramped box or putting insects into the box to exploit their fears," The New York Times writes. The earliest memo, from 2002, was signed by Jay Bybee, then an Assistant Attorney General and now a federal judge on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Bybee's memo provided "a legal authorization for a laundry list of proposed C.I.A. interrogation techniques," including waterboarding. The techniques Bybee approved are illegal by U.S. statute and an international treaty to which the U.S. is a signatory. Don't let the reichwingnuts fool you. This is all illegal. Bybee attempted to give legal cover to illegal acts, and thus broke the ethical, professional, and legal standards that govern lawyers. For this, Judge Jay Bybee should be impeached.

I urge you to check out the campaign launched by the Progress Report to persuade the House Judiciary Committee to initiate impeachment hearings against Bybee. Already, more than 10,000 people have taken action. Click THIS to convince the committee to launch hearings.


 "[I]n the finest legalese" and with "grotesque, lawyerly logic," Bybee wrote 40 pages of justification for treatment that clearly constituted "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment." He approved a method called "walling," which entailed slamming a detainee against a wall. Bybee claimed that "any pain experienced is not of the intensity associated with serious physical injury." He also gave a thumbs up to slapping a detainee's face as long as the interrogator took off any rings. "The facial slap does not produce pain that is difficult to endure," he insisted. Maybe someone should slap this dickhead and then ask if it doesn't produce adequate pain? Then again, maybe pain is not the point, humiliation is the point. Bybee also gave the thumbs up to place detainees in stress positions, Bybee said: these "simply involve forcing the subject to remain in uncomfortable positions." Most notoriously, Bybee declared that waterboarding -- a technique perfected during the Spanish Inquisition that the United States later prosecuted Japanese officers for conducting against U.S. POWs -- was both legal and safe. "The waterboard…inflicts no pain or actual harm whatsoever," Bybee claimed. He said that U.S. law bans only techniques that cause "pain and suffering," a phrase "best understood as a single concept, not distinct concepts of 'pain' as distinguished from 'suffering.'" Since waterboarding causes no "pain," Bybee declares it legal. In fact, he wrote, even one separates "pain" from "suffering," waterboarding would still be acceptable: "The waterboard is simply a controlled acute episode, lacking the connotation of a protracted period of time generally given to suffering."
Twisted punk ass republicans just can't help themselves.

The Progress Report is asking readers to sign a petition to be sent to the House Judiciary Committee, urging it to hold hearings on Bybee.

Here is how this all works, be patient because this is giovernmental horseshit and that means it will not make much sense.

After the hearings, the Committee would draw up articles of impeachment, and pass them with a simple majority vote.
From there, the articles move to the full House, which can also approve them with a simple majority.
Then the House sends two "managers" to serve as prosecutors in the impeachment trial, conducted in the Senate if a majority agrees to move forward.

It takes 67 Senators to convict -- and a conviction would remove Bybee from the bench. Calling for his impeachment in January, Yale Law professor Bruce Ackerman wrote, "[Bybee's] impeachment is not a prelude to a sweeping political vendetta. It focuses on a very particular problem: Jay Bybee may serve for decades on one of the highest courts in the land. Is his continued service consistent with his role in the systematic perpetration of war crimes?" The New York Times called for Bybee's impeachment this weekend, writing that the "memos make it clear that Mr. Bybee is unfit for a job that requires legal judgment and a respect for the Constitution." "His flagrant contempt for the rule of law is utterly inconsistent with his judicial position and speaks directly to his competency to function in that office," stated the Center for Constitutional Rights. "He ought to be impeached," House Judiciary Committee member Jerry Nadler (D-NY) told the Huffington Post yesterday. "It was not an honest legal memo. It was an instruction manual on how to break the law. "Senate Judiciary Committee member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) agreed that impeachment is "certainly possible." "The idea of the author of one of these memos sitting on the federal bench makes a farce of the whole legal system," wrote the Center for American Progress Action Fund's Matthew Yglesias.

Dude is a sick puppy!


 In 2003, Bybee was nominated by President Bush and approved by the Senate to sit on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. During his confirmation hearing, Bybee refused to answer questions, citing executive privilege at least 20 separate times. "If the Senate had known the truth, it would have rejected him," Ackerman wrote. Launching the impeachment process would force Bybee to finally answer questions. And with the Obama administration bullshitting and being hesitant to launch prosecutions of any kind, an impeachment hearing might be the closest thing Americans get to a full accounting of Chimpy's torture program. Indeed, when pressed yesterday on why Obama was refusing to hold Bush administration lawyers who authored the torture memos "accountable," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs stated simply, "The president is focused on looking forward. That's why." Which is HORSESHIT!Looking forward, however, "it is simply obvious that, if there is no accountability when wrongdoing is exposed, future violations will not be deterred," House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) said yesterday

every once in a while I aggree with Conyers..................not often but once in a while.

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Did anyone read that report last week that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released? Check out the released a report. In it is a warning that the economic recession and the election of the first African-American president could mobilize right-wing extremist groups inside the United States to gain new recruits. To bolster their ranks, the groups may target veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the analysis. The report concluded that while the DHS "has no specific information that domestic rightwing terrorists are currently planning acts of violence," right-wing extremists -- or movements that it defined as "primarily hate-oriented...and those that are mainly antigovernment" -- "are focusing their efforts to recruit new members, mobilize existing supporters, and broaden their scope and appeal through propaganda." This document, along with an earlier report on radicalized left-wing groups, was requested by the Bush administration after FBI Director Robert Mueller and other Bush appointees acknowledged the threat of right-wing extremism. One DHS official described the report as "nothing unusual." "This is the job of DHS, to assess what is happening in this country, with regard to homegrown terrorism, and determine whether it's an actual threat or not, and that's what these assessments do. ... These assessments are done all the time," the official said.
So, those of us on the left understand that governemnt, regardless of who is in power, write reports and do an "analysis" of us all the time. It used to be called COINTELPRO but that is another blog all together.
Now, despite the nature of the report, conservative commentators are outraged, insisting that the document's characterization of "right-wing extremism" represents a direct attack on Republican loyalists, conservative ideology, and veterans returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan. The best part is that Christian Coalition founder Uncle Pat Robertson went so far as to suggest that the report "shows somebody down in the bowels of that organization is either a convinced left winger or somebody whose sexual orientation is somewhat in question." of course. I swear, I love that guy. When you need a tottally ridicilous inept comment this asshole is your man! EVERYTHING moves back to sexual orientation. Dude is obsessed with The GHEYS.
The report states, "the consequences of a prolonged economic downturn -- including real estate foreclosures, unemployment, and an inability to obtain credit -- could create a fertile recruiting environment for rightwing extremists and even result in confrontations between such groups and government authorities." Specifically, the report finds that "rightwing extremist groups' frustration over a perceived lack of government action on illegal immigration" and the government's "heightened interest in legislation for tighter firearms, may be invigorating rightwing extremist activity." The report also found that extremist groups may "attempt to recruit and radicalize returning veterans in order to exploit their skills and knowledge derived from military training and combat."  In February, the Southern Poverty Law Center reported that the "number of hate groups operating in the United States continued to rise in 2008 and has grown by 54 percent since 2000 -- an increase fueled last year by immigration fears, a failing economy and the successful campaign of Barack Obama." 
Of course I have said over and over that some whites can't stand having a negro president. It's actually making them crazy. Well, craziER than normal.
Most conservative commentators passionately argued that the report's description of right-wing extremists represented a politically-motivated attempt to "smear" conservatives. In a column published on FoxNews.com, Oliver North declared that his Christian faith and respect for the second amendment "makes me a 'right-wing extremist.'" Fox News host Neil Cavuto asserted that the report "more or less states the government considers you a terrorist threat if you oppose abortion, speak out against illegal immigration, or you are a returning war veteran." Sean Hannity announced that "if you disagree with that liberal path that President Obama's taken the country down, you may soon catch the attention of the Department of Homeland Security." Appearing on Hannity's Fox News show to rant about the report, RNC Chairman Michael Steele similarly declared that "to segment out Americans who dissent from this administration, to segment out conservatives in this country who have a different philosophy or view from this administration and labeling them as terrorists...to me is the height of insult." Rush Limbaugh claimed that the report portrayed "standard, ordinary, everyday conservatives as posing a bigger threat to this country than al Qaeda terrorists or genuine enemies of this country like Kim Jong Il," and Rep. Peter King (R-NY), the ranking Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, even "asked for a hearing into the matter," suggesting that the DHS should focus on the threat emanating from Muslims instead. The DHS report did not target "conservatives" or "Republican loyalists." Indeed,  it's odd that conservatives would willingly group themselves and Republicans in with "rightwing extremist activity, specifically the white supremacist and militia movements" -- the actual focus of the DHS report. Now why would they do that?
Several conservatives also misrepresented the intelligence assessment as an attack on American veterans. The Obama administration is "specifically warning that veterans returning home from war, are to be feared -- that they could be right-wing extremists that want to launch terror attacks on America," Joe "My Secretary was found dead in my office" Scarborough argued on MSNBC's Morning Joe. Then House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) claimed that "to characterize men and women returning home after defending our country as potential terrorists is offensive and unacceptable. The Department of Homeland Security owes our veterans an apology." But the report actually argued that the danger isn't from veterans themselves, but from the efforts of right-wing extremists to "recruit and radicalize returning veterans in order to exploit their skills and knowledge derived from military training and combat." "The willingness of a small percentage of military personnel to join extremist groups during the 1990s because they were disgruntled, disillusioned, or suffering from the psychological effects of war is being replicated today," the report concluded. I need to add this about John Boner. Sunday on ABC's This Week, host George Stephanopoulos asked Boehner (R-OH) to describe the GOP "plan" for dealing with global warming. Boehner downplayed the risk of carbon dioxide and global warming, claiming carbon dioxide is simply a natural compound that is present even in cow flatulence. "George, the idea that carbon dioxide is a carcinogen that is harmful to our environment is almost comical. Every time we exhale, we exhale carbon dioxide. Every cow in the world, you know, when they do what they do, you've got more carbon dioxide," he said. While humans and animals exhale carbon dioxide naturally, no one is arguing that CO2 itself is harmful. But excessive carbon dioxide in the air is harming the planet and human health. In fact, the Environmental Protection Agency recently ruled in a landmark decision that carbon dioxide emissions are "a danger to human health and welfare." Furthermore, it is methane, not carbon dioxide, that is the primary chemical in cow flatulence that contributes to global warming. Boehner also expressed skepticism about the degree that global warming is caused by man. "The question is how much does man have to do with it, and what is the proper way to deal with this?" he asked. Boehner isn't the only Republican to downplay the risk of greenhouse emissions recently. Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL) said last month that capping carbon dioxide would take away "plant food" from the atmosphere.
back to the lesson at hand, while Napolitano apologized to those who found the report offensive, she explained that "the report is not saying that veterans are extremists. Far from it. What it is saying is returning veterans are targets of right-wing extremist groups that are trying to recruit those to commit violent acts within the country. We want to do all we can to prevent that." In fact, as Media Matters pointed out, the report even "cited a 2008 FBI report -- authored during the Bush administration -- as evidence that 'some returning military veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have joined extremist groups.'"  of course none of the demon repigs mention THAT.
The 2.2 million-member Veterans of Foreign Wars also issued a statement clarifying that "the report should have been worded differently, but it made no blanket accusation that every soldier was capable of being a traitor like Benedict Arnold, or every veteran could be a lone wolf, homegrown terrorist like Timothy McVeigh. It was just an assessment about possibilities that could take place."

"McCain for the longest time said torture doesn't work, then he admitted...last summer that he was broken by the North Vietnamese."
-- Rush Limbaugh, 4/17/09, advocating the use of torture

VERSUS

"I gave the names of the Green Bay Packers' offensive line, and said they were members of my squadron. When asked to identify future targets, I simply recited the names of a number of North Vietnamese cities that had already been bombed."
-- Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), from his memoir, Faith of My Fathers

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He's gone but never forgotten. The worst president in the entire history of this nation and here is his real legacy. Fuck what the lying pig reupblicans tell you:
 
Debt When Dubya Took Office: $5.7 trillion
National Debt as of Jan. 15, 2009: $10.6 trillion
National Debt Increase: $4.9 trillion
(Source: U.S. Treasury Dept.)

Number of Political Fund-Raisers Attended: 338
Amount of Money Raised at These Fund-Raisers: $802,586,070
(Some campaigns refused to disclose the amounts)

Number of U.S. Military Deaths in Iraq: 4,228
(Source: Dept of Defense as of Jan. 16, 2009)

Number of U.S. Military Deaths in Afghanistan: 634
(Source: Dept. of Defense as of Jan. 16, 2009)

Number of Medals of Honor Bestowed: 12
(Nine were awarded posthumously. Four were for service in Iraq, 1 for Afghanistan.)

Number of Vacations Spent at Camp David: 149, totaling all or part of 487 days.

Number of Vacations Spent at His Crawford, Texas Ranch: 77, totaling all or part of 490 days.

Number of Vacations Spent at the Bush Compound in Kennebunkport, Maine: 11, totaling all or part of 43 days.

Total Number of Days Spent on Vacation: 1,020




Number of Rounds of Golf Played: 24
(The last one on Oct. 13, 2003. President Bush has since explained that he stopped playing golf out of respect for the families of Americans killed in the war in Iraq.)

Number of Formal, Solo, White House News Conferences: 44

Total Number of News Conferences: 212
(Including many joint sessions with foreign leaders at home and abroad)

Number of News Conferences at Which Shoes Were Thrown at Him: 1

Number of Recess Appointments: 165
(Source: Senate Historian)

Number of Addresses to the Nation: 23
(The last was his Farewell Address on Jan. 15, 2009)

Number of Addresses to Joint Sessions of Congress: 9
(Of which 7 were State of the Union speeches)

Number of States Not Visited As President: 1 (Vermont)

Number of Vetoes: 12, including 1 pocket veto.
(Dubya did not cast his first veto until his sixth year in office, against a measure to extend federal funding of stem cell research.)

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I love watching Republicans implode. I love watching how they attempt to seem relevant during this economic crisis that they created. Ever since President Obama signed the economic recovery package into law last month, a handful of Republican governors have come out and "rejected" some of the funds, which are aimed at alleviating budget cuts plaguing state and local governments. Rejected is really just them trying to attempt to be conservative. For instance:
 Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA) turned down $98 million in extended unemployment benefits.
Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) initially planned to reject half of Alaska's funding, including $160 million for education. During the press conference announcing her decision, Palin asked, "Will we chart our own course, or will Washington engineer it for us?"
By rejecting this funding, the governors are turning away one of the most effective forms of stimulus available, despite the budget crunches that they are all facing. At the minimum 47 states are facing budget shortfalls for this year and next, and 34 states have made budget cuts that will harm vulnerable residents. As it stands now, the stimulus package is "sufficient only to fill about 40 percent of the $350 billion to $370 billion shortfall that states face in the next two-and-a-half years," and unemployment rates keep rising. 
Here are some of the Grandstanding Govenors who never gave a shit about the people who wrongly elected them:

ALASKA'S SARAH PALIN:  In rejecting the stimulus funds, Palin complained about "the strings attached" and said, "I can't attest to every fund that's being offered the state in the stimulus package will be used to create jobs and stimulate the economy, so I'm requesting only those things that I know will." The Anchorage Daily News criticized Palin for her decision, saying, "It makes you wonder if her national political ambitions are leading her one way, when what's best for Alaska leads another," and residents organized a protest last Saturday to urge the governor to accept the money. Top Alaskan legislators have said "they're likely to accept at least most of the federal economic stimulus money that Gov. Sarah Palin did not," prompting Palin to NOW claim that "she didn't say she would actively block the money, and would be willing to participate in a discussion with the Legislature about what they would accept." I told you back when the race was on that this crazy bitch is a liar.

SOUTH CAROLINA'S MARK SANFORD: Despite South Carolina having the second highest unemployment rate in the nation, Sanford rejected $700 million in stimulus, saying, "[W]hat you're doing is buying into the notion that if we just print some more money that we don't have and send it to different states, we'll create jobs. ... If that's the case, why isn't Zimbabwe a rich place?" According to calculations made by the White House, Sanford's refusal of the funds eliminates 50,000 potential jobs, and the South Carolina Department of Education estimated that, without the money, 7,500 teachers would be negatively impacted. House Speaker Bobby Harrell said that absent federal funding, South Carolina would have to close three to four prisons, release an unknown number of  prisoners, and lay off 4,000 to 5,000 teachers. "I am very frustrated," Harrell said. "We're talking about affecting lives of people in this state in a very bad way." Sanford twice requested permission to redirect the funds to paying down his state's debt, and was twice rebuffed by the Obama administration. So get this right. If they refuse funding because this republican jagoff is playing games, prisoners will run the streets and kids won't be educated...............nice.

LOUISIANA'S BOBBY JINDAL: Claiming that it could lead to a tax increase on small businesses, Jindal rejected $98 million federal unemployment assistance. "That would've actually raised taxes on Louisiana businesses. We as a state would've been responsible for paying for those benefits after the federal money disappeared," he said. Clarence Hawkins, the mayor of Bastrop, LA, replied to Jindal, saying, "[G]ive me something now. ... Help me right now. I need to survive today." The Center for American Progress Action Fund concluded that Louisiana added 430 new unemployed people every day in December. Many Louisiana companies -- including River West Medical Center, Dow Chemical Co., Louisiana Pacific and Shreveport-Bossier City casinos -- have laid off workers. Furthermore, if cuts announced by Jindal occur next year, officials from the Louisiana State University system estimate that 2,000 employees might be laid off. According to a letter sent by the U.S. Department of Labor, "Louisiana would not be required to make a permanent change in state law by accepting the federal dollars expanding unemployment benefits." State Sen. Eric LaFleur (D) said that the letter "dispels the governor's argument." Why can't you just say that Lindal is full of shit?

MISSISSIPPI'S HALEY BARBOUR: Barbour advanced the same false argument about unemployment benefits as Jindal, claiming that accepting the money would mean raising unemployment taxes on businesses by 20 percent each year. "Some people have suggested that we change our law and then change it back once the stimulus money is spent, but that isn't honest," he said. State House Majority Leader Tyrone Ellis (D) replied, "I just think it's a sad commentary that we're even discussing such a thing. ... It's puzzling to me why any governor or government would suggest that we are only going to take part of the money and not all of it." Mississippi has an 8.7 percent unemployment rate, though the rate tops 19 percent for some counties. The state House voted to accept the stimulus’ funding over Barbour's objections, certifying "the state's intent to request and use all of the money, even if Barbour rejects some of it." However, efforts to bypass Barbour have stalled in the state Senate.

TEXAS'S RICK PERRY: Perry rejected $555 million in unemployment benefits, saying, "[T]his was pretty simple for us. ... We can take care of ourselves. And we do not need any more strings from Washington attached to programs." But according to the Dallas Morning News, "Texas covers the smallest percentage of unemployed workers of any state," and "four out of five laid-off workers are not eligible for unemployment benefits." Texas's unemployment rate is at a 19-year high, and the state's unemployment fund is running low, "making a tax hike for employers almost a certainty next year." The Texas Comptroller "estimates Texas will lose 111,000 jobs in 2009, hiking unemployment to 8.2 percent." The Texas House appropriations committee has "endorsed enacting the necessary changes to state law so that Texas would be eligible for the money."
I have said it a million times before. Republicans are bad for America and bad Americans.
"So I mean, it really bothers me, this teleprompter. ... It bothers me that this man [President Obama] doesn't -- this man is always on prompter."
-- Fox News's Glenn Beck, 3/25/09

VERSUS
"I’m totally fine with him having a teleprompter. I really am." 
-- Beck, 3/25/09