F-22 Funding Defeated In Senate 58-40

Senate Beats Back Military-Industrial Complex In Historic Vote

First Posted: 07-21-09 02:40 PM   |   Updated: 07-21-09 05:32 PM

HuffPost- Ryan Grim

President Obama won a major victory in the Senate Tuesday in a dogfight that has major, long-term implications for his agenda.

The Senate, by a vote of 58-40, approved an amendment proposed by Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) to strip $1.75 billion in funding for the F-22 fighter. Levin worked hand in hand to kill the F-22 money with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

“There was an extensive effort by the White House,” said Levin. “The president really needed to win this vote, not just in terms of the merits of the F-22 issue itself, but in terms of the reform agenda.”

The vote had become a proxy fight against the power of the military-industrial complex, a term coined by President Dwight Eisenhower in his farewell address.

“It’s What Eisenhower Warned us About,” tweeted McCain before the vote. The F-22s have not been used in Iraq or Afghanistan and military experts agree they’re not suited for American campaigns, yet lobbying and regional concerns have kept the program funded year after year. The victory over the military-industrial complex is arguably its most significant setback since World War II. For McCain, it was “probably the most impactful amendment that I have seen in this body on almost any issue.”

“Up until the last couple hours, this vote was in doubt,” McCain said. “And so I’d like to give credit to the president for being very firm on this issue and to the Secretary of Defense, who gave as strong a speech as I’ve ever heard in my life.”

Obama had threatened to veto any bill that authorized the F-22 funding.

Forty-two Democrats and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, of Vermont, joined 15 Republicans to defeat the F-22.

MORE HERE

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Evening Jukebox- Bittersweet Symphony

The Verve – Bittersweet Symphony

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Healthcare Attacks By Those Crazy Wingnuts

The other day, I overheard a random “Republican analyst” on MSNBC’s The Ed Show suggest that the public option should never be implemented because of the DMV. This was her whole thing. The DMV. According to her logic, the DMV, which is run by state governments, is really slow and awful and therefore the public option would force us to wait in line for medical treatment.

My first reaction was that this lady has clearly never been to an emergency room. When I crashed while cycling last year, I waited in an ER exam room with a fractured T10 for nearly two hours before a doctor popped into the room. And I was pretty lucky to be seen so quickly. Contrastingly, I’ve never once waited in line at a DMV for any longer than 10 or 15 minutes in my entire life.

The last time I renewed my driver’s license, it took less than five minutes. If I ever have the privilege of sitting in a doctor’s office waiting room and, subsequently, the exam room, for less than five minutes I’ll voluntarily pay triple the fee and send the doctor an enormous gift basket filled with, you know, a Lexus.

All in all, we can only wish that private healthcare was as efficient and speedy as the DMV.

But this DMV crap on a stick is only one of many crazy attacks against the president’s healthcare reform agenda and the public option. Predictably, as healthcare reform grows larger in the window, the claims from the far-right are becoming increasingly bizarre and ridiculous, topping, in some cases, the psychotic claims of, say, the Obama birthers.

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Another Married Governor ‘Sex Scandal’??

Governor X: Call Girl Says She Worked With Another Married Pol

The Huffington Post |  Rachel Weiner
First Posted: 07-19-09 01:11 PM   |   Updated: 07-19-09 01:38 PM

An escort who was hired by Eliot Spitzer claims to have worked with another married governor.

Another gubernatorial sex scandal may be looming. Even as South Carolina’s Mark Sanford waits to see whether his wife, Jenny, forgives his romp in the pampas, a New York call girl could plunge one of America’s most prominent governors into a fresh hell. […]
[T]he elegant blond courtesan, whom we’ll continue to call “Annie,” is talking about three “dates” she allegedly had with another state’s chief executive, who we’ll call Gov. X.

The same call girl said Spitzer choked her during rough sex, a charge the former New York governor’s lawyer called “outrageous and defamatory.”

According to the escort, this mysterious other governor has a wife who “is quite prominent in her own right.” Her madam corroborates the account; his spokesman has denied it.

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Deaths of US Troops Exceed 5,000 in Iraq and Afghan Wars

Andrea Stone  | Truthout.org, Tuesday 22 July 2009

US Marines carry the coffin of Brandon T. Lara, who was killed in Iraq on July 19, 2009. (Photo: Gerry)

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan reached two solemn milestones Monday: July has become the deadliest month for U.S. troops in Afghanistan, and the combined death toll surpassed 5,000.

Four Americans were killed by a roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, U.S. military spokesman Lt. Robert Carr said. That brings the number of U.S. servicemembers killed so far this month to at least 30. The previous deadliest month was June 2008, when 28 died, the Pentagon said.

Continued >>

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Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)

• July May be Deadliest Month in Afghanistan
• Deadly month in Afghanistan

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Afternoon Jukebox- Sympathy For The Devil (Live)

The Rolling Stones- Sympathy For The Devil (Live)

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Kucinich: ‘Is the Fed paying banks not to loan money?’

Stephen C. Webster | Raw Story | Wednesday, July 22, 2009

 

Update (at bottom): White House does not know how TARP funds were used

House Domestic Policy Subcommittee plans probe of TARP funds

Ohio Democratic Congressman Dennis Kucinich wants to know: “If [the Troubled Asset Relief Program] isn’t about keeping people in their homes or providing credit to businesses, what is it for?”

Expressing his frustration before the Government and Oversight Committee, the two-time presidential candidate suggested that the Federal Reserve may be paying banks to hoard money and avoid making loans.

Before the committee — which assembled Tuesday to hear the testimony of Neil Barofsky the Special Inspector General for TARP, along with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke — Kucinich wondered aloud if “banks are parking a historic amount of taxpayers’ money in the Federal Reserve while the businesses and consumers across America are starved for credit,” and whether the Federal Reserve is paying banks to avoid making loans.

“Is the Fed paying banks NOT to loan money?” a Kucinich media advisory pondered.

Read more…

Click on link below to see videos on how TARP-Recipients are lending to foreign countries and Kucinich’s questions on TARP-spending back in March

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Defense official: Israel readying for attack on Iran

Israel’s recent deployment of warships across the Red Sea

Amos Harel | Global Research | July 21, 2009

Israel’s recent deployment of warships across the Red Sea should be seen as serious preparation for an attack on Iran, an Israeli defense official told the Times of London on Thursday.

“This is preparation that should be taken seriously. Israel is investing time in preparing itself for the complexity of an attack on Iran. These maneuvers are a message to Iran that Israel will follow up on its threats,” the official was quoted as saying.

Earlier this week, two Israel Navy gunboats openly sailed through the Suez Canal into the Red Sea.

The ships that passed through the Suez Canal on Tuesday were two Sa’ar 5 gunboats, the Hanit and the Eilat. This follows a similar incident in late June, when an Israeli Dolphin-class submarine passed through the canal, later returning the same way.

Original article

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Ron Paul: Establishment Can No Longer Ignore Calls To Audit The Fed

Congressman says Washington elite are watching grassroots efforts very closely

Steve Watson | Infowars.net | Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Texas Congressman Ron Paul has recorded a video update on the ongoing effort to audit the Federal Reserve, assuring supporters that the establishment in Washington is paying very close attention.

As Paul states in the video, 272 members of the House, 95 of them Democrats, now support HR 1207, Ron Paul’s “audit the Fed” bill.

In addition, 13 members of the Senate, 2 of which are Democrats, have pledged support for S 604 The Federal Reserve Sunshine act, the companion bill in the Senate.

“I think it is going to be impossible for them just to ignore everything we have done and just walk away, something will be done,” Paul comments. “The big question is will we be able to get something worth while?”

Original article

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