As many of us are aware, Mitch McConnell led the charge in the Senate to kill Card Check Neutraility. He and his Republican colleagues in the Senate did so under the guise of "protecting the secret ballot in the workplace". Lets look at what the ultimate hypocrite in the Senate had to say about denying an even playing field for our workers over big business:

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following statement after Senate Republicans succeeded in protecting workers’ right to conduct secret ballot elections:

"The principle of a secret ballot is deeply rooted in the American tradition, and workers here have enjoyed this freedom at the workplace by law for 60 years. While it is unfortunate that Democrats would seek to reverse this right, Senate Republicans today stood firm in defending it. By preserving the secret ballot in union organizing drives, Republicans made sure America's 140 million workers are not intimidated or coerced into siding with either labor or management -- and that anyone who would consider launching a future assault on the right to a secret ballot thinks twice before doing so."

Any worker who has ever been involved in a union fight at their workplace realizes how ridiculous this statement really is.

First, lets talk about what the law McConnell was so proud of defeating would do. Currently when workers seek to unionize their workplace, they must have a majority of their co-workers sign a card saying they wish to have union representation. Some unions require as many as 70% of the workers sign the card. After a majority of the workers have signed, a union vote, the "secret ballot" McConnell talks about is scheduled.

Lets look again at one of McConnell's statements:

Republicans made sure America's 140 million workers are not intimidated or coerced into siding with either labor or management

I can attest as a veteran of two union drives that both failed by one vote that the only party that was protected by McConnell's and his little big business slaves in the Senate was management. This is because when a large majority of union cards are filled out by employees, they go to the union rep who is trying to form the union. They are not shared with the company. In my opinion, once a majority of employees have filled out these cards, the union should be allowed to represent them, and negotiate a fair contract for them to work under.

Instead, we get the status-quo that McConnell and all his disciples in the Senate have fought for. We get to wait 6-8 weeks AFTER a majority of employees have decided they want the protection and benefits that only a union negotiating for them can provide. During this time, the company is free to pull them off one by one, and threaten, and if that doesn't work, bribe them with higher wages, promotions over more qualified people, and so on if they will vote against the union.

This has happened to me before. In both cases, when the company peeled off enough support to defeat the union by one vote, they shut the place down a couple of months later. The people who got all the promises made to them for being loyal to the company? Unemployment line.

So don't let McConnell or anyone else lie to you about why they defeated this bill. They want to preserve the right of companies to come in and poison the process with promises and threats. They seek to make sure that companies who face a union vote can coerce and intimidate their employees into voting no.

The fair thing would be to allow a union to organize and represent workers in a company when more that 50% have filled out cards saying they want the union to represent them. That is a workers right, not to wait for a vote while the whole time the company poisons the process with lies, promises and threats.

Once again, Republicans led by Mitch McConnell have decided that the rights of big business far outweigh the rights and futures of American workers. With the free-reign given to business over the American worker in the last thirty years, they flat out fear what will happen if workers really choose between union, and non-union. Don't let them hide behind the "secret ballot" excuse, because that is just an excuse to let companies poison the process and further deteriorate the one thing that gives the American worker a fighting chance, our labor unions.

McConnell and the Republicans in the Senate, and anyone who voted against card check neutrality are showing just what they are- whores to big business!!

REMEMBER?  REAGAN, BROKE THE UNIONS! AND, HIS LEGACY IS CONTINUING IN THE QUISE OF "NATIONAL SECURITY"

Right now in the Senate, Dick Durbin has introduced the Fair Elections Now Act. This is legislation that would implement a system of public financing for candidates that wishes to run for a seat in the United States Senate.

http://www.publicampaign.org/fair-elections-now-summary

Of course, old big money bags himself, Mitch McConnell has immediately come out against it. Here is a link to the video of him speaking about it:

http://www.publicampaign.org/fenahearing/testimony-mcconnell

So what about McConnell's assertion that 90% of Americans don't want publicly financed elections? This seems to refute that:

http://www.publicampaign.org/node/38307

Which leads one to wonder, why does big money "Boss" McConnell so oppose public financing of Senate campaigns? Well lets look into a little of what this bill proposes:

The legislation would create a voluntary system that provides candidates for the U.S. Senate the option to forego private funding of their election campaigns without having to unilaterally disarm. It would establish guidelines for raising "seed money" to finance campaign start-up expenses in increments of up to $100 per individual. It would also specify the minimum number of "qualifying contributions" of exactly $5 per individual that a Senate candidate desiring to participate in the Fair Elections system would be required to raise in order to demonstrate viability as a candidate and be eligible to receive public funds.

http://www.publicampaign.org/fair-elections-now-summary

Lets see, this bill would allow viable candidates to not have to depend on special interest groups to run for the Senate, but have another option. It wouldn't give just any candidate a free ride to public funds, but would make them prove their viability. This sounds like an excellent plan to give more outstanding citizens in every community a chance to run for public office. I believe strongly that average everyday Americans who are qualified should have a chance to serve in Washington too. That is how our forefathers envisioned it. Mitch McConnell will have none of that!!

Mitch McConnell will work to defeat any kind of Progressive change in this country. How many times have my fellow Progressives seen change in our time defeated, and Mitch McConnell's smirking face behind the microphone? The truth is he is so against this bill because he doesn't want to have to face a qualified candidate who really cares about going to Washington and helping the people of our state of Kentucky and the nation!! He knows under the currrent system he can sit in his ivory tower, and use his millions of dollars of special interest money to bombard just about anyone who runs. His is an America bought and paid for to the highest bidder. As long as power and money drunk politicians like Mitch McConnell run our government, we will never achieve any kind of Progressive change!!

As all of you are probably aware, Mitch McConnell's seat is coming up in the election of 2008. He has already raised a large war-chest to smear an opponent with. That being said, he is vulnerable this time. Kentuckians everywhere are fed up with George W. Bush and it hasn't been lost on us that McConnell has been there all along with a rubber-stamp and a brownnose. Please watch this race, you can be sure I'll be posting here when we have a candidate, and help us when we get one. With a national effort like the one that deposed Lieberman from the Democratic Party, we can unseat McConnell!!! Ridding our country of this ancient relic of all that is backward would in some ways be sweeter than winning the White House!!

Any Democrat- Ky Senate 08!!!

Well, it looks like Mitch McConnell and his disciples in the Congress are once again attempting to shred the Constitution, and asking the American people to give up generations of Constitutional protections because he and George W. Bush are acutely incompetent. As we all know, the NIE came out the other day and showed serious problems. Instead of addressing these problems, Mitch McConnell and the Republican leadership would rather ask us to shred our Constitution. Lets look at McConnell and Bond's proposals:

On his site, McConnell starts with this:

“Yesterday the Director of National Intelligence came to Capitol Hill and implored Congress to pass vital legislation to protect Americans before we leave for recess. He was echoing the warnings of the entire intelligence Community, which has assured us that the threat is real and that the need is urgent.

“The latest National Intelligence Estimate makes clear that the greatest terrorist threat to the United States is Al-Qaeda. Their intent to attack us is undiminished since 9/11. They’ve gained recruits and strength in the Middle East. They continue to adapt and improve their capabilities. And we must continue to adapt and improve our ability to detect their movements and their plots swiftly, with every tool of intelligence we have.

Now, what Waldo's twin fails to mention is it is the complete and utter failure of this Administration's policies, rubber-stamped by him and Bond that have led to the re-building of al-Queda. They allowed Osama bin Laden to prance away from Tora-Bora and thumb his nose constantly at America. Their "War on Terror" has provided al-Queda with fertile recruiting grounds among disillusioned Arabs. Why should we trust them now, when everything they have done every step of the way has been wrong?

McConnell goes on to regurgitate this failed argument:

“One of the most effective tools we have in this important work is our electronic surveillance program. Ever since the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, was written in 1978, the principle has been clear: terrorists operating abroad and plotting attacks against us are fair targets of surveillance.

“But over the years, advances in technology have created an absurd and unintended consequence: intelligence analysts are now required to seek a warrant for tracking the communications of terrorists. The original intent of FISA was to give us access to terrorists, but its effect has been to slow that access down. In a significant number of cases, intelligence professionals are now forced to obtain court orders to collect foreign intelligence concerning foreign targets located on foreign soil.

The problem with this statement is that they haven't only been using the electronic surveillence to spy on so-called terrorists, they have been using it against American citizens!!! Not only that, they expect to be able to do it without obtaining a warrant!! The courts and warrants have always been something that protects American's freedoms. Does Mitch McConnell want to trash the Constitution to make his and George W. Bush's job easier? It certainly appears so.

McConnell continues:

“The facts here are not in dispute: our nation faces an alarming intelligence gap, a situation in which the Intelligence Community every day is missing a significant portion of what we should be getting in order to protect the American people. We should not adjourn until we have closed this gap. We must act quickly, in a bipartisan manner, and let the appropriate committees come back and review FISA and other matters related to the legislation in a more comprehensive manner.

Was there an intelligence gap that gave a report to George W. Bush in Aug. 01 with the headline "bin-Laden determined to strike in the United States"? It seems like to me the intelligence leading up to 9-11 was just fine, there was just an incompetent buffoon in the White House, and a bunch more in the Senate including McConnell. If the President would have done his job, the intelligence was fine. If the Senate would have been more concerned with protecting the American people instead of worshipping Bush and rubber-stamping his every incompetent move, 9-11 could have been avoided, and we wouldn't have neo-cons like Bush and McConnell begging to shred the Constitution.

McConnell finishes:

“We should not return in September knowing that we have failed in our duty, and we pray that we don’t have cause to regret our inaction. Let there be no doubt: if we had had the foresight in August of 2001 to enact a law that would have exposed the plot that was being hatched against us then, the vote to approve that law would have been cast unanimously and without hesitation. None of us would have shrunk from that duty. Six years later, that duty remains.

“There is little that we do here in the Senate that can immediately and decisively improve the security of this country. But by passing a FISA modernization bill that the President can sign before we go home for recess, we will have done just that. We need to act on this legislation now. We should not adjourn until we have closed this gap, until we have fixed this outdated law."

http://mcconnell.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=280288&start=1

Again McConnell just gets it flat wrong. Without the law in Aug. of 01 we had perfect intelligence that al-Queda was gearing up for an attack on American soil. Bush, rubber-stamped by McConnell dropped the ball!!! Their incompetence allowed the attack, and then they completely surrendered like cowards to Osama bin-Laden and let him walk away scot-free while they attacked the wrong country!! The Senate in Sept. 01 sure had no problem coming back in September after Bush had failed the American people and ask them to give up Constitutional rights for that incompetence!! We don't need to give up our rights to make McConnell and Bush's job easier, we need to elect leaders who are more concerned with the welfare of our country and Constitution than they are with the advancment of their radical facist agenda!!!

So to Mitch McConnell I say, you have been brownnosing Bush and failing the American people for a long time now. How dare you try and steal our Constitutional protections because you are lazy and incompetent!! This bill introduced by McConnell and Bond does not one thing to make us safer!! It is a desperate attempt to save face on their own failures, and to steal rights earned by generations of Americans. I hope the Senate has the sense to vote this down by a large margin!! Our intelligence didn't fail on 9-11, our leadership in the White House and Senate did!!

I'm with you!  I live in N. KY and want McConnell, Bunning and Davis out!  

I also want a polling place free from renderings of Jesus next to Fighter Jets and World Trade Centers exploding in flames.   (I didn't see the connection, but somehow the Oakridge Baptist Church has the answers).    

Contact me with any significant actions.   I'm for aggressive action against Fascists.   

We all heard the ridiculous speech that President Bush gave at the VFW or at least heard of it. In this speech the Worst President Ever not only showed that he doesn't understand present events, but he has a very misinformed view of the history of the Vietnam War. It seems he thinks reopening old wounds will close a new one, and that he could spin history to whip up support for his miserably failed policies in Iraq.

While I am betting that the majority of Americans will see this as what it is, a propoganda ploy to justify his own incompetence and continue to sink hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer money into his failed vision of a new middle east while denying American CHILDREN healthcare, it seems his normal chorus of cheerleaders are stepping up once again, led by Mitch McConnell the ugliest wingnut to ever slip on a mini-skirt.

Despite falling approval ratings for McConnell and Bush in Kentucky, it seems that McConnell is tripping all over himself once again to be the first to rubber-stamp another Bush failure.

Lets look at some of his press release on Bush's false re-writing of history and the present:

“Today the President unequivocally pledged to continue to support our troops’ efforts to protect our nation’s strategic interests in Iraq. We are seeing the progress our soldiers and Marines are making on a daily basis and must continue to support them.

“Critics of the war on terror have begun to acknowledge the success of our forces in quelling violence and increasing stability in Iraq. And they are recognizing the inherent danger a precipitous withdrawal of U.S. troops will have on the safety and security of our nation.

The first paragraph should read, "Today President Bush desperately tried to re-write history to whip up support among the American people for his failed policies that have been completely rubber-stamped by me. Myself and President Bush view "supporting our troops" as leaving them to die in the desert sun while the Iraqis who should be building their government go on vacation, along with myself."

The second paragraph is just absurd. What success? Where is the political solution? On vacation? Hmm, lets look at some of this "success". From today:

WASHINGTON - The Iraqi government will become more precarious over the next six to 12 months and its security forces have not improved enough to operate without outside help, intelligence analysts conclude in a new National Intelligence Estimate released Friday.

Despite uneven improvements, the analysts concluded that the level of overall violence is high, Iraq's sectarian groups remain unreconciled, and al-Qaida in Iraq is still able to conduct its highly visible attacks.

"Iraqi political leaders remain unable to govern effectively," the 10-page document concludes. A copy was obtained by The Associated Press in advance of its release Thursday.

http://www.comcast.net/news/index.jsp?cat=GENERAL&fn=/2007/08/23/746406....

From yesterday:

Fourteen U.S. soldiers were killed Wednesday when a Black Hawk helicopter crashed during a nighttime mission in northern Iraq, but the military said it appeared the aircraft was lost by mechanical problems and not from hostile fire.

It was the Pentagon's worst single-day death toll in Iraq since January and indicated how forces are relying heavily on air power in offensives across northern regions after rooting out many militant strongholds in Baghdad and central regions.

It continues:

But extremists are striking back.

A suicide truck bombing against a police station in the northern oil hub of Beiji claimed at least 45 lives _ 25 policemen and 20 civilians _ amid a series of deadly attacks north of the capital.

The growing bloodshed in the north carries a mixed message. It suggests some success for the U.S.-led security sweeps seeking to reclaim control of areas in and around Baghdad. But it also highlights the apparent resilience of groups such as al-Qaida in Iraq as they retaliate and seek new footholds.

And this:

A U.S. soldier also was killed and three others were wounded Wednesday during fighting west of Baghdad, the military said separately.

The total of 15 was the largest single-day death count since 25 U.S. soldiers were killed around the country on Jan. 20, including 12 who died in a helicopter crash. The deadliest crash occurred Jan. 26, 2005 when a CH-53 Sea Stallion transport helicopter went down in a sandstorm in western Iraq, killing 31 U.S. troops.

Wednesday's deaths raised to at least 3,722 members of the U.S. military who have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

http://www.comcast.net/news/index.jsp?cat=GENERAL&fn=/2007/08/22/745873....

Not to forget this:

A string of attacks hit across northern Iraq.

The deadliest strike blasted a police station in a residential area in Beiji, 155 miles north of Baghdad, according to police and hospital officials.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information, said 25 policemen and 20 civilians were killed. The officials also said 57 civilians and 23 officers were wounded.

http://www.comcast.net/news/index.jsp?cat=GENERAL&fn=/2007/08/22/745873....

And this:

Later Wednesday, a suicide bomber on a motorcycle set off a blast near four police vehicles parked near grocery stores in Muqdadiyah, about 60 miles north of Baghdad, killing six people, including two policemen, and wounding 35 people, police said.

A roadside bomb also targeted a police patrol in Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's hometown 80 miles north of Baghdad, killing one officer and wounding three people, authorities said.

Iraqi police and tribal officials also reported that a suicide truck bomber struck a joint U.S.-Iraqi outpost near Taji, a town near an air base 12 miles north of Baghdad. They said the attack occurred a day after tribal leaders who have turned against al-Qaida held a recruiting meeting, but no information about casualties was immediately available.

http://www.comcast.net/news/index.jsp?cat=GENERAL&fn=/2007/08/22/745873....

And this summary which seems to paint a different picture of the "surge" than Bush and McConnell:

Suicide vehicle bombers have killed more than 2,315 Iraqis this year, according to an AP count. The tally far outpaces the January-August period last year when 441 Iraqi deaths were blamed on suicide bombers aboard vehicles.

If this is Bush and McConnell's idea of success, I would hate to see their idea of failure. Wait, that is what we are seeing now!!

http://www.comcast.net/news/index.jsp?cat=GENERAL&fn=/2007/08/22/745873....

Not only that, yesterday we learned how much the Iraqi leadership appreciates our help:

Just hours earlier, al-Maliki lashed out at American criticism over his government's inability to bridge political divisions or stop the violence, warning he could "find friends elsewhere."

Where in the hell is he going to find friends that will sacrifice thousands of their young people and a trillion dollars of their taxpayers money. Mr. al-Maliki please, BE MY GUEST, FIND THEM!!!

And Mr. Bush's response:

President Bush, speaking to a veterans' convention in Kansas City, Mo., called al-Maliki "a good man with a difficult job." Bush added: "I support him."

http://www.comcast.net/news/index.jsp?cat=GENERAL&fn=/2007/08/22/745873....

I guess since Bush is so incompetent, he supports incompetence!!

Speaking of incompetence this story came out yesterday detailing how four and a half years later, Bush and McConnell still haven't gotten the equipment they need to our troops:

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon will fall far short of its goal of sending 3,500 lifesaving armored vehicles to Iraq by the end of the year. Instead, officials expect to send about 1,500.

Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said Wednesday that while defense officials still believe contractors will build about 3,900 of the mine-resistant, armor-protected vehicles by year's end, it will take longer for the military to fully equip them and ship them to Iraq.

http://www.comcast.net/news/index.jsp?cat=GENERAL&fn=/2007/08/22/745885....

Which brings us to the final spewing from McConnell's press release:

“In a few short weeks we will hear from General Petraeus, Ambassador Crocker and the President regarding the efforts of this generation’s warriors to protect our nation’s interests in Iraq and in the war on terror. We must make our decision on where to go from here based on the facts, not political calculations. We owe them a fair hearing, and we should not forget the brave Americans who are in a foreign field, far from their families, sacrificing for all of us today.”

http://mcconnell.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=281156&start=1

First if he was so concerned about "this generation's warriors" he would have insisted they caught bin-Laden and had the right planning and equipment to do it. Secondly, we all already know that this upcoming report will be a rosy scenario that the lunatic right will use to justify us staying in Iraq until God knows when. It, in itself will be a political calculation. I agree with McConnell that we should base our decisions on facts. The facts show this surge has failed. The facts show the Bush Administration has failed. The facts show Mitch McConnell has failed. If he truly didn't want to forget the families and troops in the field he would end this insanity and quit using them to sacrifice to try and salvage the failed legacy of the Worst President Ever, which was rubber-stamped by him.

It is time McConnell removed his head from Bush's posterior long enough to smell the truth!!!