Bush / GOP

REPUBLICANOS DEL SENADO A LOS LATINOS: ¡NO SE PUEDE!

En el día de César Chávez, los republicanos del Senado deshonran al líder legendario de los derechos civiles

Washington, DC –El Líder de la Mayoría del Senado Harry Reid hizo las siguientes declaraciones hoy celebrando el natalicio del líder legendario de los derechos civiles y fundador de los Trabajadores Agrícolas Unidos (UFW, por sus siglas en inglés), César Chávez, el cual se celebra mañana. Reid también condenó a los republicanos del Senado por bloquear una resolución anoche que hubiese honrado el legado de Chávez, por su insistencia en añadir un lenguaje controversial relacionado a la  inmigración.

“Hoy me uno en el reconocimiento del legado y las contribuciones de César Chávez, un estadounidense que inspiró a un pueblo y quien luchó por la justicia social y económica para aquellos que trabajaban en los campos recogiendo la comida para nuestras mesas. Él se enfrentó a obstáculos grandes y siempre se destacó por su búsqueda incansable por los la justicia, la igualdad y la libertad.  Su ejemplo demuestra cómo un individuo con valentía y determinación puede lograr superar retos significativos y mejorar las vidas de los demás.

“Desgraciadamente, los republicanos del Senado se opusieron a honrar el legado verdadero de César Chávez. En vez de unirse a los demócratas para honrar a este gran estadounidense con una resolución que hubiese celebrado su vida, el liderazgo republicano del Senado decidió anoche que era mejor bloquear la resolución, porque fallaron al no poder incluir lenguaje controversial relacionado a la inmigración. Esto es un escándalo y es una falta de respeto al legado de este líder que inspiró a un pueblo.

“Mientras el Congreso considera una reforma de inmigración, necesitamos aprender del ejemplo de César Chávez, reparar lo que es incorrecto, restaurar el orden y la dignidad de nuestro sistema de inmigración que está roto. Necesitamos una reforma integral y bi-partidista de inmigración que fortalezca la seguridad en las fronteras, provea un camino hacia la ciudadanía para los inmigrantes indocumentados, reunifique a las familias y que tenga medidas fuertes e inteligentes para la aplicación de las leyes en los lugares de trabajo. Tenemos a 11 millones de personas que residen en las sombras de nuestra sociedad y ya es hora que sepamos quiénes son y proveerles una oportunidad para que puedan lograr el ‘Sueño Americano.’  

“Chávez una vez dijo que: ‘Si estas indignado con las condiciones entones no será posible que seas feliz hasta que hagas todo lo puedas para cambiarlas.’ Los demócratas del Senado seguiremos luchando por las causas que hicieron de César Chávez el gran héroe estadounidense que fue. Ya sea el proveerle los derechos que los trabajadores se merecen, mejorar la calidad de la educación pública de nuestros niños, o proveerle servicios de salud económicos y de calidad a todos los estadounidenses, el legado de César Chávez continua inspirándonos para hacer que esta gran nación viva de acuerdo a sus principios.”

In this time of deep partisanship in Washington, there has been one issue where the President, Senator McCain, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, the Catholic Church, the Chamber of Commerce, numerous labor unions and many other grassroots groups were able to find common cause and work together: the McCain-Kennedy approach to comprehensive immigration reform that passed the Senate with broad bipartisan support in 2006.

Unfortunately, we've now learned that once again Republican leaders have chosen politics over progress, and have walked away from this remarkable coalition and sensible approach. In news articles that have run this morning it is clear the Senate Republicans and the White House will now offer a new bill, one that abandons the smart principles of McCain-Kennedy, and that makes clear the President's support for comprehensive immigration reform has only been a spirited set of hollow promises.

Years of work went into crafting the McCain-Kennedy approach. It has made great progress through Congress. It has a deep and broad coalition behind it. Democratic Congressional leaders in both chambers have made it clear that passing this bill this year is a very high priority (see video from our recent event with leaders from both chambers reiterating their support). The new and flawed Republican approach unravels this coalition, and has dealt a severe blow to those hoping to pass comprehensive immigration reform this year.

The Republicans lost power in 2006 because their government did not produced the results they had promised and had left many important challenges left unmet. At NDN, we believe the American people sent a clear message to Washington to stop playing politics and start focusing on solving a daunting set of 21st century challenges. On this issue of immigration reform, once again the Republicans have chosen to listen more to their partisans than the American people, and have walked away from a good and sensible bipartisan solution to a difficult national challenge.

The White House's Immigration PowerPoint presentation that outlines plans hashed out by Republican Senators was floated the other day. You can find it here.

Analyzing the details, the LA Times has this article (an interesting contrast to this one) which depicts the situation as it stands. Reactions to the presentation were alarming. From the article:

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who was heavily involved in the GOP planning, called the presentation "a temperature taking." He added: "It's still very early, there will certainly be controversy."

...

Referring to those positions and his support for admission policies driven by the goal of family reunification, Kennedy emphasized that immigration policy involved special moral obligations to treat people well.

"This is unique," said Kennedy, chairman of the Senate immigration subcommittee. "You don't compromise on the morality of these issues, and we're not going to."

For someone seeking to solidify some semblance of a legacy, the President seems to have taken a step backwards.

That was Senator Schumer's response to former Chief of Staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez Kyle Sampson's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee today.  At the heart of his testimony was the statement: “I don’t think the attorney general’s statement that he was not involved in any discussions about U.S. attorney removals is accurate...”

Read more...

From the NY Times:  

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' allies on Capitol Hill grew scarce Tuesday as he left it largely to aides to carry out President Bush's order to straighten out the story behind the firing of eight federal prosecutors.

Senate Republicans exiting their weekly policy lunch no longer bothered to defend Gonzales' response to lawmakers' questions about the firings. At most, they mustered an appeal to withhold judgment until the attorney general testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee April 17.

That was Sen. Arlen Specter's message during the closed-door meeting, according to three senators who were present.

''Senator Specter today said to give (Gonzales) a fair chance,'' said Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., a staunch White House ally who lunched with Gonzales last week. ''I think people are trying to do that. But there are some inconsistent stories (Gonzales) is going to have to explain.''

Among them: Why Gonzales said at a March 13 news conference that he ''never saw documents'' and ''never had a discussion'' about the firings. His schedule for last Nov. 27 showed he participated in an hourlong meeting and approved a detailed plan on the dismissals 10 days before they were carried out.

Gonzales has maintained he was not closely involved in the firings, and did not help select which prosecutors would be told to resign. He added during a trip to the Midwest on Tuesday that he directed DOJ's release of 3,000 documents on Friday relating to the firings, and requested two internal investigations of the matter.

''I look forward to working with Congress. I believe in truth and accountability,'' he said. ''Everything I've done in connection with this matter supports that principle.''

Still, defending Gonzales became more difficult with Monday's refusal by his counsel, Monica Goodling, to testify before the Judiciary Committee with other Justice officials involved in the firings, as the attorney general had promised. She said statements by Democrats indicate they have already concluded wrongdoing on the part of Justice officials, including her.

Specter empathized.

''I can understand the sense of a potential witness not wanting to be ensnared in that kind of a proceeding where conclusions have already been reached,'' Specter, R-Pa., said Tuesday on the Senate floor.

Goodling's announcement, some senior Republicans felt, strengthened the Democrats' charge that the Justice Department had something to hide.

All of which added up to scandal fatigue inside the caucus, the senators said.

Specter's appeal to the caucus received ''a lot of head shaking, a lot of eye-rolling,'' said one senator who attended and spoke on condition of anonymity because the session was private.

Asked Tuesday if Gonzales had lost their confidence, many Senate Republicans demurred. Sen. John McCain's response was typical.

''He has my confidence that I think he ought to make his case,'' said the Arizona Republican, who also is running for president.....

We've written before about the burgeoning scandal coming out of the White House regarding use of private email accounts by senior White House staff, as a way to hide damning corresspondance.  Now Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), Chair of the Government Oversight and Reform is ordering the White House not to destroy the accounts or their contents because initial investigations "have uncovered evidence that White House staff have used nongovernmental e-mail accounts to conduct official business." 

If members of the Executive Branch are using private email accounts to do official work, it could amount to violation of the Presidential Records Act - 95% of Karl Rove's email traffic is reported to be conducted through non-.gov email accounts owned by the RNC.  And, if they claim that the traffic on those accounts isn't part of their official work, then they will have a hard time arguing for any kind of executive privilege.  Maybe this time Rove et al have been a little too sneaky for their own good.

My Pennsylvania bias aside, I think you'll agree that this video of Rep. Patrick Murphy's closing speech on the Iraq Accountability Act is amazing.

J. Stephen Griles was the second highest ranking official in the Interior Department for President Bush's entire first term, where he used his position to do the bidding of his former bosses (he was an oil industry lobbyist before joining the administration) in the energy industry.  He's pleading guilty to obstruction of justice charges related to the Abramoff scandal.  Learn more from CREW, TPM Muckraker and the AP. 

A new poll from the Pew Research Center for People and the Press shows that the number of Americans identifying with the Republican party has dropped steadily since 2002, when the the two parties were even in voter allegience.  Democrats now lead 50% - 35%. 

"Iraq has played a large part; the pushback on the Republican Party has to do with Bush, but there are other things going on here that Republicans will have to contend with," said Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center. "There is a difference in the landscape."

Read more about the poll...

Read the NDN memo "The End of the Conservative Ascendency"

Yesterday, Senator Bob Menendez gave a response to the President's trip to Latin America. As the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on International Development, the Senator highlighted his ideas on how the US can engage Latin America with an increase in funding development programs. Specifically, he detailed his Social Investment and Economic Development Fund for the Americas. You can read more in the press release here.