Favorite Politician?

“Who is it and why?”

“Just the dead ones!”

“Musolini-
For comic value, that guy was one of the best.

And who was that U.S. House Rep from Ohio(?) with the bad wig who went to prison?”

“Two s's in Mussolini...”

“Yeah, I agree Tom! I liked old Mussolini's hanging-upside-down trick! What a crack-up!”

“Open microphone catches California Democrats talking about prolonging budget crisis

Tuesday, July 22, 2003

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



(07-22) 14:55 PDT SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) --

Unaware that a live microphone was broadcasting their words around the Capitol, Assembly Democrats meeting behind closed doors debated prolonging California's budget crisis for political gain.

Members of the coalition of liberal Democrats talked about slowing progress on the budget as a means of increasing pressure on Republicans.

A microphone had been left on during the closed meeting Monday, and the conversation was transmitted to about 500 "squawk boxes" that enable staff members, lobbyists and reporters to listen in on legislative meetings.

Some members of the group, including Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg, said if the budget crisis were extended, it could improve chances for a ballot initiative that would make it easier for the Democrats to raise taxes by lowering the threshold for passage from two-thirds to 55 percent.



http://www.sfgate.com//cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/07/22/national1417EDT0629.DTL”

“I thought Democrats worked for the people?

Why would they want to prolong suffering and a finanical crisis??? To promote themselves and personal advancement??? YOU DON'T SAY!!!!”

“Guy from Ohio - Jim Traficant. You can reach him in prison, if you want to chat.

I like McCain. He has what all leaders should; honor, conviction, fortitude, loyalty and intelligence.”

“Yeah, McCain is a good dude.

Traficant, yeah, I heard they wouldn't let him take his wig to prison.”

“McCain, two-faced, doesn't stick to his convictions, liberal in repulican clothing, does what makes him look good, betrays the party he claims he's a part of.”

“All that time in the POW camp screwed him up.”

“I concur he is a puke!”

“I heard Trafficant's wig is going to run while he's in the slammer.”

“McCain's first loyalty is to his country and not to the liars who've taken over his party.”

“When did Clinton and his boys take over the Republican party?”

“d'oh! He's got you there, Tom”

“That's Clinton and His Girls!”

“You mean Republicans don't lie???

Oh dear, you just shattered my world!”

“Republicans don't lie - they just don't know #&%!$.”

“Let me get this straight. McCain is two faced and a liberal because he thinks for himself and expresses that even though he may have to go beyond party lines on occasion.

Troll, you have your head so far up your ass, you undoubtedly have a goiter on your neck to show for it...”

“I like Honest Abe cause we share the same B-day and and Tommy Jefferson cause he knew how to write the right things and the dude on the $50, Grant, cause well,,,,,everyone likes $50's.

Today, I like Dole, McCain(he's a loose cannon), I miss Newt and the Whitman woman has a set of brass ones. Can't think of to many more since I don't follow politics that much.”

“Ooooooooo, baddass!!!


treebubba, if you ain't with us, you're against us!

If you're not a fascist, you are a liberal.....dummer kopf!!!

das ist uber alles!!!”

“I like McCain a lot, he ain't perfect - but he is principled, and shows a great deal of integrity. I havs a cousin who was a POW with him, and he says that McCain really is all that, but he also does have a hell of a temper.

I admire Washington, Lincoln and FDR and have a lot of respect for Ike and Truman. The more I learn the more I like Ike.

Internationally, I had a lot of respect for King Hussein of Jordan, Yitzhak Rabin of Israel, and admire Nelson Mandella.”

“They all become corrupted over time. Get rid of ALL the incumbants & bring in fresh faces. Then get rid of them & start again.

While we're at it maybe we can do something about their lifetime retirement & health benefits.”

“Gary Hart was cool!”

“Here's one for all the Tom DeLay fans in the house...


Drug Firms Gain Church Group's Aid

Claim About Import Measure Stirs Anger


By Jim VandeHei and Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, July 23, 2003; Page A01

(link to story)

A Christian lobbying group fighting the proposed importation of low-cost prescription drugs has received behind-the-scenes help from the drug industry, the latest example of pharmaceutical companies trying to influence Congress clandestinely.

The Traditional Values Coalition, which bills itself as a Christian advocacy group representing 43,000 churches, has mailed to the districts of several conservative House Republicans this sharply disputed warning: Legislation to allow the importation of U.S.-made pharmaceuticals from Canada and Europe might make RU-486, called the "abortion pill," as easy to get as aspirin.

The Traditional Values Coalition (TVC) portrays its campaign as a moral fight for the "sanctity of life." Documents provided to The Washington Post, however, show that drug lobbyists played a key role in crafting its argument and in disseminating the information to lawmakers. Pharmaceutical companies oppose the legislation -- which would legalize the reimportation of U.S.-made prescription drugs that sell for less in Canada than in the United States -- not over abortion but because it would erode their profits.

The bill, likely to be voted on this week, is popular with many lawmakers seeking to reduce the cost of medicine for older Americans without relying on government subsidies. Opponents say it would open the door to unsafe and less regulated drugs and drain profits that companies use, in part, to research and develop new medicines.

A recent TVC letter sent to Congress was signed by the coalition's executive director, Andrea Sheldon Lafferty. It was originally drafted, however, by Tony Rudy, a lobbyist for pharmaceutical companies and a former top aide to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), computer records show. Lafferty also circulated a memo -- linking the legislation to RU-486's availability -- that was drafted by Bruce Kuhlik, a senior vice president at the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), a trade group funded by the nation's biggest pharmaceutical firms.

A Republican close to TVC said Rudy also helped arrange funding for the group's direct-mail campaign, which targeted nearly two dozen Republicans even though they generally oppose abortion rights. Several Republicans said pharmaceutical companies, through their lobbyists, contacted other conservative groups, including the Christian Coalition, about waging a similar campaign against the reimportation measure. The Traditional Values Coalition was the only taker because several abortion opponents questioned the accuracy of the drug industry's argument, according to lawmakers and conservative activists.

PhRMA, one of Washington's most influential lobbying groups, has long paid other organizations -- often those with friendly-sounding names such as the United Seniors Association -- to promote legislation favored by Pfizer Inc., Eli Lilly and Co. and other leading drugmakers. The idea is to make the campaigns appear driven by seniors, who spend the most on medicines, or, in this case, Christian activists. Government watchdog groups say such campaigns, which generally do not have to disclose their financing, are deceptive and misleading. In the legislative fight over imported drugs, the United Seniors Association is warning lawmakers and voters of the "dangers of imported drugs."

In a letter to lawmakers, Lafferty said the reimportation bill would create new "avenues" for buying abortion drugs and would "effectively repeal" the law that prohibits the sale of abortion products through the mail. Proponents of the bill say it would do nothing to make RU-486 more available, because patients would still need a doctor's prescription.

With the House vote expected to be close, PhRMA is trying to peel off supporters one by one, tailoring its argument to individual lawmakers' concerns. In this case, the TVC mailings to abortion opponents included a picture of a baby and asked whether the targeted lawmakers will "miss an opportunity to protect the sanctity of human life."

House Republicans were so offended by the mailings that they recently barred the TVC and its leader, the Rev. Louis P. Sheldon, from attending future meetings of the Values Action Team, an umbrella group of socially conservative Republicans. "We stand united in opposition to the unethical and unacceptable tactics you have employed to force pro-life members of Congress to support your views," Rep. Joseph R. Pitts (R-Pa.) said in a letter to Sheldon.

Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-Mo.), an abortion opponent who was targeted by the TVC mailings, said in an interview: "It makes me so angry I could spit."

It is unclear who paid for the direct-mail campaign, although several Republicans said drug companies were behind it. Rudy, whose clients include PhRMA and Eli Lilly, declined to comment for this story.

Lafferty said she promised the House "leadership" she would not talk to reporters about the matter. She neither confirmed nor denied that the TVC received money from Alexander Strategy Group, which is headed by Rudy and former DeLay chief of staff Ed Buckham. PhRMA spokesman Jeff Truitt would not comment.

Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) and several other conservatives are blaming the drug companies for the mailing campaign, though they offered no specific evidence linking the mailing to PhRMA or individual companies.

"I do not understand . . . how a religious organization can be manipulated by the pharmaceutical industry to do this sort of thing," Burton said. "They are supposed to be moral people. And yet I am confident, in fact I am dead sure, that the Traditional Values Coalition did not have the money to mail this kind of trash out to congressional districts all across the country."

The National Review, a conservative magazine, reported last week that other socially conservative groups were offered money to spread the message that the legislation could lead to more abortions. Since then, several GOP lawmakers have called on Sheldon to disclose who paid for the campaign.

DeLay, an ally of the drug companies, vowed yesterday to defeat the legislation, which he called "horrible policy."


© 2003 The Washington Post Company”

“Ahhhhh, Mister Delay!”

“He has such interesting friends.”

“The guy is a graft artist with the manner of a televangelist.”

“Ronny Raygun! IMHO he was last great pres. McCain is a pretty straight forward guy. I also like Blair. He has an air of a true world leader.”

“Except when Blair was pals with that arch-villian, Klinton!”

“"I thought Democrats worked for the people?

Why would they want to prolong suffering and a finanical crisis??? To promote themselves and personal advancement??? YOU DON'T SAY!!!!"

I thought that was what Republicans were doing with this whole recall election business?”

“....then Blair was a "pansy-ass liberal" and dogdanged "socialist"......I remember when........”

“I never said that Tom. And you accuse ME of applying lies to others (of which you never could give the example to me)? Not everyone marches lock step with the party.”

“Not necessarily you, BIG Daddy!

In the '90s neo--conservtives were sneering at Tony Baby.

Now he is their darling.”

“"In the '90s neo--conservtives were sneering at Tony Baby."

Which neo-cons would that be?”

“Whudda ya want, a cut&paste?”

“No, just names. You threw that out there as if it was a subject you were well aquainted with and I am admittedly not so I was interested in who they were. Who were they?”

“Oh, I suppose the Radio Meanies, and other assorted blabber-mouths.

I remember Blair being ridiculed for being an ally of Clinton.

Names.....uh, gotta go.....four o'clock!!!”

“Blair is a friend of America's, not just the pres. He'd deal the same with Bush or Gore.

Now you wouldn't be using the word neo-con just because it sounds like Neo-conman would you. Naaaaaw! I wanted to know who all these former liberals turned conservatives are that you talk about. That is what a neo-con is.”

“Thomas E. Dewey”

“That guy who ran for VP with Perot. Admiral Stockdale?”

“WHAAAAAAAAAAT???? DID YOU SAY SOMETHING!!!! ,,,,,,,, SURE I WOULD LIKE A SANDWICH.”

“bacpac, did you know Dewy was the only pres to have a mustache?”

“My brother is a politician but I still like him....”