10-20-05, 9:23 am
Rep. Robert W. Ney (R-Ohio): The Washington Post reports that Ney, after having placed comments in the Congressional Record favorable to lobbyist Jack Abramoff's 2000 purchase of a casino boat company and after sponsoring legislation to reopen a casino for a Texas Indian tribe that Abramoff represented, is having second thoughts about his relationship with Abramoff, a close confidant of Rep. Tom DeLay. Ney, who approved a 2002 license for an Israeli telecommunications company to install antennas for the House that later paid Abramoff $280,000 for lobbying, is now concerned about a federal investigation of Abramoff that might taint his own career. Despite having accepted many favors from Abramoff, including campaign contributions, dinners at the lobbyist's restaurant, use of a luxury skybox for campaign fundraisers, and a golfing trip to Scotland, in some cases with explicit intention of exchanging these favors for influence in Congress, according to e-mails released to the public, Ney now has only bad things to say about his old friend 'Casino Jack' Abramoff: 'I am absolutely outraged by the dishonest and duplicitous words and actions of Jack Abramoff.' No, Mr. Ney, we’re outraged.
The Bush administration: Ordered the Veterans Affairs Department to review about one-third of the cases of veterans who get disability benefits for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The VA believes that it was too lenient in deciding which soldiers were eligible for PTSD benefits. Last year, the VA spent $4.3 billion on PTSD disability payments, and the VA hopes to save money by revoking many of these benefits. This push to save money at the expense of veterans’ health care comes despite the fact that studies of Iraq veterans have found that the VA is underserving suffering vets. A majority of veterans are not seeking treatment: only 40 percent of returning soldiers acknowledged that they need mental health care, and only 26 percent were actually receiving care. Hey, the Republicans have to pay for tax cuts for the rich somehow.
House Republican Party Leadership: In the wake of the hurricane disaster that has thrown several hundred thousand people out of their homes and jobs, Republicans are trying to cut Medicare, Medicaid, and student loans in order to pay for their war and more tax cuts for the rich. Ah yes, compassionate conservatism.
Family values ideologue Tim Wildmon: American Family Association head Tim Wildmon warned listeners of his radio program of evidence of homosexuality and lesbian people on TV programs like HGTV and Animal Planet. According to Media Matters, Wildmon also warned that 'you have to watch out for children's programs today as well because they'll slip it in there as well.'
Right-wing radio host Neal Boortz: Media Matters also quotes this demagogue promoting a disaster plan that only the ultra right could say out loud. If the country is faced with an impending national disaster, Boortz squealed, it should make it a higher priority to save rich Americans rather than poor Americans. 'We should save the rich people first,' Boortz declared. 'You know, they're the ones that are responsible for this prosperity.' Boortz described poor people as 'a drag on society' and stated that they 'don’t achieve squat. They sit around all the time waiting for somebody else to take care of them. They have children they can’t afford. They're uneducated. They can barely read.'
George W. Bush: Threatens to veto a defense spending package if it contains a Senate provision to ban torture. If he did veto this bill, it would be the first spending bill to be blocked in his five years as president. The ban on torture is regarded as a rebuke of the Bush administration’s policy that abandoned international law that led to widespread torture in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantánamo bay, Cuba.
