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October 1, 2008 at 14:35:37
Promoted to Headline (H3) on 10/1/08: by Tommy News Page 1 of 1 page(s) 
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-by Tommy News
The Senate has acted against the will of the American people and caved to the Bush Administration yet again. US Senators donned their Harry Potter invisibility cloaks and under the cover of darkness late Saturday night, with the smoke and mirrors distraction
of the Wall Street bailout, quietly voted on and passed a huge, outrageous spending bill that gives an additional $488 Billion dollars to the Bush Administration and The Pentagon for funding of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
There has been a near media blackout of this vote, and we need to get the word out that this outrageous warfunding is quietly continuing while the news media is being distracted by the gigantic and horrendous Wall Street bailout bill.
While we have all been preoccupied with the staggering $700 billion bail-out of wall street, boggled with the size of the dollar amount, having to raise the National debt limit and borrow money from foreign nations to fund it, late Saturday night the Senate passed a bill of a comparably huge dollar amount which made little news, but gives $488 Billion to the Pentagon for the continued funding of the the war, There has been a near media blackout of this vote, and we need to get the word out that this outrageous warfunding is quietly continuing while the news media is being istracted by the gigantic and horrendous Wall Street bailout bill.
The Pentagon is in line for a record budget. In addition to $70 billion approved this summer for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Defense Department would receive $488 billion, a 6 percent increase. The spending bill was bundled in with a bill which also offers aid to victims of
flooding in the Midwest and recent hurricanes across the Gulf Coast. The total cost of the spending legislation exceeds $630 billion.
Such a huge bill usually would dominate the end-of-session agenda on Capitol Hill. But it went below the radar screen because attention focused on the congressional bailout of Wall Street.
The bill was quietly rushed to Bush's desk to be signed into law, and John McCain rushed quietly back out of Washington and yet again avoided having to vote on another controversial spending bill. When the roll call on final passage occurred, McCain was at his campaign
headquarters in Crystal City, Va., only five miles from the Capitol. McCain has missed a staggeringly huge number of Senate votes.
With the election fast approaching, I want to give you a breakdown of the 78-12 Senate vote as recorded in the Congressional Record. I urge you to take this outrageous spending vote into strong consideration when you cast your votes on November 4th.
*From the Congressional Record:*
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?
congress=110&session=2&vote=00208
Take action -- click here to contact your local newspaper or congress people:
Stop Funding The Occupation of Iraq!
Click here to see the most recent messages sent to congressional reps and local newspapers
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What do you think of this outrageous war spending bill?
What do you think of this outrageous war spending bill? Please comment. by Tommy News (18 articles, 0 quicklinks, 5 diaries, 34 comments [4 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Wednesday, Oct 1, 2008 at 3:55:36 PM  (0+)
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RESPONSE/OUTRAGE
I have been opposed to the glut of "defense" spending ever since I became a Gandhian in 1974, thanks to Ram Bagai, President of Films of India, whose collection of newsreel footage was borrowed both by Mike Wallace, and later I believe by Sir Richard Attenborough to make the smash hit Gandhi. How can this go on and on? As Lech Walesa said a few years go when he spoke in Santa Fe: AMERICA HAS LOST ITS MORAL POWER AND MOST OF ITS POLITICAL POWER IN THE WORLD; IT SQUANDERS THE REMAINING ECONOMIC POWER TO KEEP UP ITS MILITARY POWER. Sounds like the road to Hell to me. Whether you are Hegelian/Gandhian like me or a pure marxist, or just barely awake to read the newspaper once a week, you should be outraged at this BS in burying the on going crime of spending more billions on military in the USA. WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE? WHY IS THIS STORY BEING BURIED? WHY AM I READING IT IN ALTERNATIVE JOURNALISM SITES LIKE OPEDNEWS AND HUFFINGTON POST INSTEAD OF THE NEW YORK TIMES? by Stephen Fox (96 articles, 3 quicklinks, 11 diaries, 802 comments [33 recommended, 1 rejected]) on Wednesday, Oct 1, 2008 at 4:05:52 PM (0+)
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Starting November 11...
I'll give it a week to recover, then start looking for progressive candidates to run against sell-out incumbents in 2010. We need to build progressive coalitions in every voting district in America. Every one. Howard Dean showed us that it's worth it, even in Red states and districts. Build coalitions and communications networks, identify candidates and get them on the ballot to run against sellout dems and republicans. That's what we need to do. by Rob Kall (952 articles, 4177 quicklinks, 374 diaries, 2087 comments [45 recommended, 3 rejected]) on Thursday, Oct 2, 2008 at 8:09:48 AM (0+)
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How did Obama vote on this?
(Your link only gets me to the Members' page) by Bia Winter (6 articles, 2 quicklinks, 14 diaries, 756 comments [119 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Thursday, Oct 2, 2008 at 9:58:22 AM (0+)
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It was a Continuing Resolution
This vote was on a "Continuing Resolution" -- a stopgap to avert a government shutdown since the 2008 Fiscal Year ended on Tues Sep 30 and the new Fiscal 2009 year started yesterday Oct 1. Typically a Continuing Resolution appropriates money at the same level of the previous year until Congress can get around to producing a real Appropriations Bill (though there is adequate opportunity to add specific amendments for specific spending as part of the Continuing Resolution process). by Robert Knowles (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 6 diaries, 59 comments) on Thursday, Oct 2, 2008 at 11:09:40 AM (0+)
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money, money, money
At the end of the day - I find it so sad that our party can rally and raise so much unheard of money for Obama... Streisand $9million one day, Springteen here, etc. yet not one of them has raise a single dime for the victims of our lates hurricanes not only here in Gavelston & Houston, but also some Islands where everything is gone. If I see one more $%^# Obama add I think I will scream. But lets not talk about this since we like to cover it up... how about complaining about those darn republicans overspending again or slipping this here and there... by CW Blanchett (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 34 comments) on Friday, Oct 3, 2008 at 8:57:52 AM (0+)
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Nothing is under the radar
If you read it and posted it...how is it under the radar? Everything Congress does is published. Every bill is listed and must pass two houses to move to the president. While it is true that there are often unrelated amendments tagged onto other bills those are also included in the text and published on the internet for all to see. Things are only "under the radar" to the extent many people are too lazy or don't care enough to follow what is happening in Washington. The vast majority of bills are not reported in the news, so if that is "under the radar" then most legislation fits that description. You can't expect the news media to try to report every bill in Congress in full text or your paper would be so big you would need a fork lift to move it around. TV? Radio? Most people would be bored out of their skulls if they tried to listen to someone reading off legislation. Even though many of these bills are bad or stupid, they are not secret. If people want to know what is going on the facts are only a few keystrokes away from anyone with an internet connection. You can even watch most of their antics live on CSPAN. People only need to WANT to know and WORK to learn. People are their own "Radar" And yes...this is probably more defense pork. by Paul Kruger (39 articles, 1 quicklinks, 7 diaries, 304 comments [2 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Friday, Oct 3, 2008 at 11:18:16 AM (0+)
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defense spending and propoganda
'Defense' spending is a deceptive phrase. Defense means to have one's military protect one's borders. It does not mean to invade other countries. That should be properly titled 'Offense' spending or 'Imperial ambition' spending. Good propoganda is subtle, like this, and instills itself in the public mind. Where, after all, is the defensive utility of bases in the poorest countries, which could never attack us? by Kelly Mitchell (2 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 52 comments [23 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Friday, Oct 3, 2008 at 12:04:35 PM (0+)
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The masters of illusion used smoke and mirrors, and
of course, the lapdog media cartel to focus virtually everyone in America on stopping the bailout of the bank robbers. It worked, too. I didn't hear a peep out of the mainstream media cartel about this, and of course, if anyone who knew about it tried to contact their representatives, they were already swamped with tons of calls, faxes, and emails against the bailout. If you want to know more about the bailout bill, what caused the crisis, who really benefits, what the bailout bill will actually do, and the names of the 74 Senators who said, "Let them eat cake!" see Senate Bailout a.k.a. Bank Robbery Bill by Mark Adams (20 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 312 comments [39 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Saturday, Oct 4, 2008 at 4:23:40 PM (0+)
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