Reid plans tour of 'red states' to discuss Republican scandals

Reid plans tour of 'red states' to discuss Republican scandals
Nevadan told he'll get chilly reception
By STEVE TETREAULT
STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU


"Don't lump me in with Jack Abramoff. This is a Republican scandal."
HARRY REID


WASHINGTON -- Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., plans to take on Republicans in their own backyards when he visits five "red states" next month to promote a theme that Republican-led Washington is corrupt and needs to be cleaned up, a spokeswoman confirmed Wednesday.

Reid, the Senate minority leader, has scheduled a three-day tour with stops in Phoenix; Denver; Salt Lake City; Pocatello, Idaho; and Omaha, Neb. All are in "Republican red" states that President Bush carried in the 2004 election.

"He wants to take his message to some of these red states that the Democrats want to clean up Washington," spokeswoman Tessa Hafen said. "He will be talking on the theme that America can do better and just letting these red states know who the Democrats are.

"The primary message will be the corruption in Washington and needing to change Washington," Hafen said.
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2005/Dec-29-Thu-2005/news/5114941.html

The Democrats need to go get votes not just turn there head on states that are red. We need to do more of this in every state. Go get em Harry!

Rep. Conyers beginning of Impeachment Inquiry.

http://www.giveemhellharry.com/blog


===

Please sign Congressman Conyers petition/letter for the House to begin Impeachment Inquiry:

http://www.johnconyers.com/ Action Items

Rep. Conyers has requested our support and has stuck his neck way out to sponsor this bill. Please ask your Congresspersons to co-sponsor or in the case of Senators to make a statement supporting Rep. Conyers' efforts.

Everyone has been asking for Impeachment for a long time and why Congress doesn't do anything. Rep. Conyers has sponsored a bill to start the proceedings but with the Republican majority needs and has requested our support - so sign, please - 500,000 American citizens signed Conyers' Downing Street Inquiry, we should be able to get as many signatures for a Congressman who has stood up and sponsored Impeachment bill.

===
A motion for Censure:
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060109/motion_for_censure

Katrina vanden Heuvel Compassionate conservativism n. An expensively cultivated phrase created by a decades-old and well-funded Radical Right program of Orwellian doublespeak.

:thumbsup:

Reid called the Republican-led Congress "the most corrupt in history" during a Dec. 18 appearance on Fox News Sunday.

On the show, Reid dismissed suggestions he also had benefited from contributions from Abramoff clients. The lobbyist is being investigated by the Justice Department for possibly steering payoffs to members of Congress.

"Don't lump me in with Jack Abramoff. This is a Republican scandal," Reid said, adding he never met Abramoff nor received money from him.


:kick::kick::kick::kick::kick:

We need to go negative and show the RW just how many ways their 'leaders' are ripping them off and violating their rights.

corruption and greed, but am so sick of the Washington bashing. It's really ringing hollow with me - everyone promises to "clean up Washington," blah, blah. Everyone in Washington is from somewhere else and bringing corruption and greed with them - go to the root of the problem!

Congressional corruption (massive) and connect the dot to how it is OUR MONEY they are stealing in massive hundred billion dollar amounts then Sen. Reid and other congresscritters need to take the initiative. Sen. Reid and Sen. Kennedy now have blogs like Rep. Conyers.

(Well, I guess it does serve a purpose, but not one I consider worthwhile...) But how many "red thinkers" are reading the blogs of Conyers, Reid, Kennedy, et al.? I'm all for Reid and every damn Dem seizing the issues of cronyism, corruption, and greed. Even my Bush-lovin' neighbor and I agree that it's time to clean House and Senate. She's finally starting to see her beloved Bush in a new light - it's very encouraging.

Pocatello, ID is already somewhat blue. We need him to make his point in some of the less progressive areas of the state, where it will have the greatest impact on the 'red-heads'.

That corner of Idaho is actually the reddest in the state. Not Pocatello itself maybe, but definitely the surrounding area. Probably be surprised to find out that the panhandle is much bluer than the area around Pocatello.

http://www.princeton.edu/~rvdb/JAVA/election2004/

there, farmers, all Repukes. They thought Bush was going to keep them all working in 2004.

Your Princetonian map may make a pretty webpage, but doesn't state the truth. Reid needs to make his case in Jerome County and other diehard red areas, not in Poky, Sun Valley, Boise or the panhandle.

Is to try to draw people from both Idaho Falls and Twin Falls, to try to hit the whole region.

PLEASE SEE THIS POST ON GREATEST PAGE...

and get this message out there please!!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=5702459&mesg_id=5702459

There are ZERO Democrats who took Abramoff money.
lets stop this myth in its tracks...we must send this to every media..and everyone we know..and stop this before this b.s. takes hold!!
fly

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/12/28/1655/0100


fly

We got to fight smart. we can not beat these guys at thier own game. they have been doing this for 30 years i know of and gaining more power each time. we need to meet up, organize, think smart, solicit money, unite our party and quit fighting amongst our selves and the republicans at the same time. we can defeat them just be quiet and efficient for awhile. we got to have new leadership. they have bugsy malone we need al capone.

You want to be quiet, then go right on ahead.

Fuck quiet. I've been quiet for five years. I'm sick of my party's leaders being quiet. It's time they followed Howard Dean's lead and exposed the Pubes for what they truly are.

especially about the organizing part and fighting smart - local - local - local - spread the word - locally

Be the media

al capone? No, lets do things the RIGHT way

Get rid of many Democrats in Washington that act like Republicans......that's for sure!

Bama

Working to keep a message out.

Quite excellent, I agree!

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

with Sen Reid as minority (soon to be majority) leader. This is EXACTLY the kind of thing he needs to do. :thumbsup:

They're great leaders. Too bad Pelosi wasn't going too. I'd love to see Reid.

Patriots tend to die young in America. But it takes a brave man to tell the truth. Reid you are a hero. Please find a way to tell the truth without endangering your life.

are from another planet.

perhaps it's not as freaky as you think?

http://www.slcgov.com/mayor/

http://saltlakecity.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php%3Fid=1%26display=rednews/2004/02/06/build/nation/94%2Dmarriageweek.inc

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_Lake_City

I vaguely remember pics posted to DU of SLC anti-war protests - with quite an impressive turnout.

i have a sister who lives in SLC. She has a friend with a bumpersticker that reads:
More Trees, Less Bush.
Once, when that friend was visiting, she got a call from a neighbor warning her that the car should be put in the garage because people were worried that someone would vandalize it.

This is the oddest thing. Neighbors worried that someone will damage a car calling my sister to warn her. The real effect is that the bumpersticker should be hidden, not read. My sister's friend refused...

there are dems in SLC, and the mayor is a dem...as noted above...but it is a strange place.

Northern Virginia I experienced "aggression" on the roads with my anti-W bumper sticker. Always overweight white guys in massive pick-up trucks and SUVs adorned with ribbons, flags, and "freedom ain't free" stickers. I guess the moral of the story is that strange and weird are everywhere. Well, almost everywhere - I can think of a few big, bad librul enclaves where no one would have to worry about vandalism or getting run off the roads...

It is extremely important Harry Reid comes to utah. He is a mormon democrat.
He needs to come here to show that good mormons can be democrats.
Republicans do not support mormon values.

Don't give up on Utah, I haven't

The Pocatello area of Idaho is heavily Mormon too. He's really going right into it, good for him.

A grass roots groundswell for the dems. This is why they hate/fear Dean. They are mostly afraid of him. Reid and Dean don't buy the battleground state horse puckey, and neither should we.

I hope he teams up with some local folks who've been pushing the same message. I hope it's followed up by more visits from other dems.

Impeach bush. Please sign their petitions and sign up for newsletters. Rep. Waxman has a lot of interesting information including the Halliburton scandals.
==
We need to know whether George Bush went beyond the limits of the law -- and whether he and his administration believe that there are any limits at all. Please join this important request:

www.democrats.org/foia

Even after the press found out about these actions, the administration tried to cover up its existence. According to Newsweek, George Bush summoned the publisher and executive editor of the New York Times to the Oval Office to try to stop them from running the story of these illegal activities.

We have seen this kind of arrogance of power before.

Richard Nixon once said in an interview that, "if the president does it, it can't be illegal."

He found out that wasn't true. This administration may need a reminder.

Thank you.

Governor Howard Dean, M.D.
==

Sen. Boxer:
http://ga4.org/campaign/wiretaphearings/6nin6e2o5xm63w?

~It's now been 5 days since President Bush admitted to authorizing the National Security Agency to spy on Americans without court order -- a system he reauthorized as many as 3 dozen times since 2001. Yet despite the outcry from millions of Americans -- both Democrats and Republicans alike -- President Bush has stubbornly promised to continue this illegal and unconstitutional activity.

How can the President of the United States -- the highest elected official in our land, a leader who swore an oath to "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution" -- so egregiously and repeatedly violate our most basic civil liberties?

It's time for Congress to act -- to thoroughly investigate the President's actions now.

Urge Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter to hold hearings into the President's conduct, before beginning Supreme Court nomination hearings for Judge Alito -- sign my petition today!

~I am writing you -- with a copy to my representative and senators in Congress -- to formally request the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate recent disclosures that the National Security Agency has been spying on Americans without a court order.

This appears to be a clear violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. I am outraged and disgusted at this clear violation of the civil liberties of all Americans.

Since high-level administration officials -- up to and including the President himself -- may be criminally involved in this matter, it will not be possible for the Justice Department to conduct a thorough and independent investigation. Therefore, I call upon you to appoint a special prosecutor to get to the bottom of this matter and hold accountable anyone found to have violated the law.

I look forward to your response on this very serious matter."

=Floor Statement of Congressman Jerrold Nadler Opposing the Graham-Levin Amendment to Deny Enemy Habeas Corpus Rights of Enemy Combatants

I disagree that this is "going negative." This is simply getting the Truth out there.

great. If it goes well, i'm sure he'll continue.

Give 'em hell, Harry!

I live in a red state (not by much) and hope he comes here!!

That's a great idea. Maybe I'll get to see him in Denver!

A Lone G.O.P. Senator, Unknown, Holds Up an Intelligence Bill

By THOM SHANKER
Published: December 24, 2005
WASHINGTON, Dec. 23 - An unidentified Republican senator has blocked the authorization bill that sets guidance for all intelligence spending, and the measure must now wait for Congress to return next month from recess, Congressional officials said Friday.

The bill, setting broad policies on intelligence matters, is one of the last items of significant business that was left hanging as lawmakers went home for the holiday recess.

The parliamentary "hold" was put on the intelligence authorization bill under Senate rules that allow a single senator acting anonymously to delay action on legislation. It appeared to be intended to block amendments dealing with the detention and treatment of captured terror suspects and with intelligence on Iraq.

The amendments were offered by the two Democratic senators from Massachusetts, Edward M. Kennedy and John Kerry. The amendments include a requirement for the director of national intelligence to provide regular detailed updates about secret detention sites maintained by the United States overseas, and to account for the treatment and condition of each prisoner.
(snip/...)

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/24/politics/24intel.html..
=====
http://www.tedkennedy.com/journal/ ~~~The TedKennedy.com Journal
The Presidential Daily Briefs Amendment
Tue Dec 20, 05:33 PM

An unidentified Republican Senator has put a hold on the bill over objections to Kennedy’s PDB measure and two amendments related to secret detainee facilities. As a result, the entire bill has been stalled, despite the agreement from Chairman Roberts to accept Kennedy’s amendments. All the while, President Bush continues to contend that Congress had the same intelligence as he had – a claim he made 98 times in the months leading up to the 2004 campaign.

“It’s bad enough that the Administration distorted the intelligence on the need for the war. Now they’re blatantly distorting the facts about how much access Congress had to the intelligence. America can do better.” Senator Kennedy said. “To prevent debate on this all-important issue, the Republican majority is apparently willing to let the whole intelligence bill fail. I don’t agree with that tactic. It’s a blatant cover-up.”

Kennedy believes that it is essential to get to the bottom of the rush to war in Iraq not only to get the truth, but also because there are other threats on the horizon including in Iran and North Korea. Kennedy’s amendment would require the Director of National Intelligence to provide the pre-war PDBs on Iraq to Congress so that Phase II of the Intelligence Committee’s investigation has all the necessary information to make an informed judgment about what was or wasn’t manipulated. For Phase I, the Senate wasn’t provided with the Presidential Daily Briefs despite efforts to get them.

More Than 100 Misleading Statements on the Intelligence in Two Years

Read More
–Crystal Patterson | Permalink | Comment <3>

Billions to "Contractors" with non-existent addresses. US Taxpayer money going DIRECTLY INTO GOP "RE-ELECTION" COFFERS at http://www.CannonFire.com/

http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?ItemID=20107

http://www.thousandreasons.org/get_article.php?article_id=163

http://impeachbushcoalition.blogspot.com/

.

Message From Harry Reid

I just got a note from Eli Praiser over at MoveOn and part of it included this comment from Reid...

"To the members of MoveOn: I know Congress can often seem very far away. But when you folks call, and write, and hold events that demonstrate how much you care about something we're doing, it really wakes people up. Your voices remind me and my colleagues that democracy works. I see the impact every day--you're forcing Congress to answer to the people, not the lobbyists or the White House. And I'm looking forward to fighting alongside you next year."

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/12/29/143257/48

Take it to the people, all the people.
This is what Dean has been doing, and even if we don't see instant results it is a good idea.
I'm in Missouri and people here don't even know who the dems are or the other side of the story on 911, Iraq or any of the rest of it.
This is a leader. Harry Reid is welcome in my foxhole anytime. Smart and Tough is Harry Reid.

and with impeachment talk bubbling up i think Sen. Reid is just the man for the fight.

If he hasn't signed on to all of Rep. Conyers' (another Hero!) resolutions yet, he is just waiting for the perfect moment to come out swinging, i'd bet.
I don't worry that Reid will be there.
good news, thanks.

Democrats need to take the battle to the Republicans. We can't afford ignore the corruption and incompetence any longer.

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

I agree with Reid that the main Dem talking point should be Repuke Culture of Corruption, and Dems will work to clean up Congress. It should also include "loosening lobbyist control of Congress." It worked for the repukes against the Dems in the past. If alot of Dem Congress-critters get caught up in the Abramoff scandals, then our talking point should be, "We aren't as corrupt as they are!"

Actually, Dems would be smart to come up with something along the lines of Gingrich's Contract With America, wherein Dems promise to curb lobbying on Capitol Hill. A point-by-point plan to diminish influence of lobbyists...the American public would love it and support it. The proof that they would support it is in the poll numbers of how they perceive both Dem and Repuke Congress-critters.

Its a good way to break the GOP backbone.

Quit talking red states. Quit talking blue states. They're just -states-. Full of -Americans-.

If you want Democrats to be the party of uniting, Senator Reid, you better damn well stop with the divisive rhetoric.

Red... blue... forget them. You play right into Karl's hands when you use his twisted worldview.

we got enough battles. we keep fighting about the same old things year after year. cant wait to hear the 06 election campaing edits how about ried saying you know what we just did 20 min. ago we killed the patriot act.then they show him voting to extend it.

why is this a bad idea. if you are going to fight a person, a scandal etc. do not broadcast your intentions just show up. trust no one with your plans. hold a mews conf. thrust your dagger in your opponents heart and leave.now he will show up with confrontation on his mind and the republican press and thier plants somewhere will make him look like and obstructionist, a confrontationist and some one will hand him his head on the front page or the 6 o clock news.
LETS FIGHT OUR PLAN NOT THESE MANUVERINGS BY THE REPUBLICANS

I think Reid's announcing his plans to show he's not afraid of the Repugs, and after the lack of backbone we saw from Daschle, I think that's necessary.

But welcome to DU, where we're allowed to disagree. ;)

when reid announces his plans the republican and media schedule the ops in.they confront reid with a gotcha question and boom its on the nightly news for 2 or 3 days. nyt lat depending on which way the advertising i mean sponsorship is going. do not fight them we look bad. let them come to us on our turf our battle and our gotcha questions.you think frist accepted the dems extension on the patriot act. no way he just deferred to the house undercover of course and made them look strong and like lets stand up and fight thos eunpatriotic dems. THINK ABOUT IT LETS ROLL

And when exactly do they "come to us on our turf our battle and our gotcha questions"?

clue....

its about time,and we need more and no mealy mouth speech. Tell it like it is like Feingold and Dean and other speak out.

as a catch phrase for Republican policy AND politics.

But I'd have to wonder how effective it will be given the lack of coverage he will get.

It's worth an effort. My hope is that the ads for the congressional races in those states will be hard hitting. I hope they tie the national GOP's problems to local issues. Most of the GOP votes lockstep anyways, so nearly every member has clearly supported DeLay, Frist, and this administration.

Democrats need to get the message out that the Republicans are stealing our money, mismanaging our government and threatening our constitutionally guaranteed rights.

Vegas Harry is just the guy to do it.

...so we don't have to fight them here (Blue States) !

Go Sen. Reid !!!

I say that the very first thing out of the mouth of Each and EVERY democratic senator, congressman or woman, mayor, party advisor, talk show pundit is REPUBLICAN CORRUPTION. Every Democrat everywhere, everyday constantly all the time from now until November 2008.
The second and most important thing I want to hear Democrats talking about are the amount of legislation, bills and amendments which they have proposed but have never ever got to the senate or house floor for debate. I'm sick of hearing that Dems do not have alternatives when in fact they most certainly do but no constitutional right to voice them or vote on them because of Republican control.

For people of my political persuasion that will vote for whoever is best... ANYONE can run around saying "He's bad vote for me. They're bad vote for us."

How about democrats give a reason to vote for them and inspire people. After 5 years of non stop Bush and republican bashing, MORE OF THE SAME is not inspirational. Will Reid present ONE SINGLE SOLITARY plan the democrats have other then trying to impeach Bush? I seriously doubt it. The endless anger and attacks will add nothing new to what we've all heard from democrats and progressives alike and will lead to another democrat defeat in 2006 and ultimately 2008 Prez.

Mr. Reid, if you want my vote, tell me why I should vote for YOU and your party, not why I should vote against the other guy? I can't name ONE thing democrats stand for. You're going to look like one big spoiled rotten brat that didn't get the toys he wanted for Christmas on this tour.

you been hiding yourself that you don't know about any of them? Surely the 'librul' media has just talked about them non-stop.

Welcome to DU - hopefully you'll find it very educational.

Growing up, I experienced the nightmare of a missing father and an alcoholic mother.
I wont get into the problems I had growing up, and living down that experience.
I will say that since I've had my children, I have taken the idea that if I treat my kids exactly opposite then the way I was raised, things would work out.
I have, and they are.
Someone once said that if we ignore history, we are doomed to repeat it.

I'm sorry you don't see the lesson that we are trying to get to the sheeple.