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*********************************** I'm Lea-ving...On a Jet Plane We're heading for the ol' stomping grounds in Sin City for the next week to punch Michael Jackson in his plastic nose, celebrate Thanksgiving with family and friends, plus conduct a Campaign Boot Camp next weekend. Barring any unforeseen dropping-of-the-laptop again, we'll still bring you News & Views from the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas. I'm also planning to hop OFF the fence on this Medicare reform bill and will outline my decision on this important public policy legislation in Sunday's DC Confidential. In addition, I'll give you a heads up on the latest rumored presidential candidate for 2004 (no, it's not Hillary...yet), a look at an old political war wound which still hasn't healed, an ungrateful mayor lashing out against a national icon to save his diminishing political fortunes, a supreme electoral contest in the Silver State and more. DC Confidential is a weekly e-publication for financial contributors to Citizen Outreach. For a minimum donation of $5 or more, you, too, can get this inside look at the political landscape delivered to your inbox every Sunday morning. Just use your credit card and go to: https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=donations%40citizenoutreach.com&item_name=Citizen+Outreach&no_shipping=1&tax=0¤cy_code=USD *********************************** A New Internet Tax Grinch Surfaces "A U.S. senator said on Thursday that he would hold up a massive year-end spending bill if it included a ban on Internet-access taxes that he and several colleagues fear would harm state and local finances. Delaware Sen. Thomas Carper, a Democrat, told reporters he would try to keep the omnibus bill from coming to the Senate floor if the ban was included in its present form, which he said infringed on the rights of state and local governments to raise revenues. - Reuters, 11/21/03 EDITOR'S NOTE: Hang on. Let's see. I think I have it right...HERE! OK, to contact Sen. Carper: Phone: (202) 224-2441 Web form: http://carper.senate.gov/email-form.html *********************************** Justifying Internet Taxation "Five years ago, Congress put a moratorium on taxing Internet access. I supported that moratorium to make sure the Internet had the opportunity to get up and running. However, now it's a grown up business - it's no baby in a crib." - Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) on his (untaxed for now) website, 11/21/03 *********************************** Setting the Record Straight "Chuck: You have misstated my position. Under the current social system and circumstances it is insane to allow blacks to procreate with whites, UNLESS it is done under government regulation. . . . Frankly I think you are stupid for suggesting Blacks and Whites should intermarry. But if you are going to disagree with me, at least state my position fairly and accurately. . . . There may be isolated examples of Black/White unions being genetically sensible. But unless and until our government sets up a screening and eugenics program to ensure the union is not grossly unwise, such unions should be banned altogether." - Bob Hurt (Editors Note: Thanks for clearing that up, Bob. I'm sure people will think you're MUCH more reasonable now. Not.) ************************************ Run Hillary, Run! "Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., may not enter the primaries, but she has not given up hope of being the Democratic presidential nominee in 2004, reports Newsweek. Asked if she plans to compete for the nomination, one of her closest friends and advisers reportedly said: 'That depends on what you mean by 'get into the race.' 'The scenario, as sketched by this hard-boiled insider, calls for Clinton to make an entrance as healer and unifier at the end of the primary season in May or June in the unlikely - but not impossible - event that none of the existing contenders has amassed a majority of the convention delegates,' reports Newsweek." - WorldNetDaily.com, 11/21/03 ************************************ End of Liberty As We Know It "Gen. Tommy Franks says that if the United States is hit with a weapon of mass destruction that inflicts large casualties, the Constitution will likely be discarded in favor of a military form of government. Franks, who successfully led the U.S. military operation to liberate Iraq, expressed his worries in an extensive interview he gave to the men's lifestyle magazine Cigar Aficionado. "In the magazine's December edition, the former commander of the military's Central Command warned that if terrorists succeeded in using a weapon of mass destruction (WMD) against the U.S. or one of our allies, it would likely have catastrophic consequences for our cherished republican form of government." - NewsMax.com, 11/21/03 *********************************** Don't Forget "Fox News Channel is reporting that Osama bin Laden is in Iran...spending his time planning terrorist attacks against the United States. . . . So ... at a time when the Democratic Party is doing everything in their power to undermine President Bush's efforts in the war on terror, we have Osama bin Laden reportedly alive and well in Iran trying to make good on Al Qaeda's promise to launch yet another terrorist attack on Americans .. this time in hopes of killing about 100,000 of us. Bluntly stated ... the Democratic Party has placed its obsession over regaining power in Washington over and above the safety of the American people and the pursuit of the war on terror. "...Every single statement from a leftist Democratic presidential candidate against our efforts in Afghanistan or Iraq is a statement that emboldens those who are trying to kill us. If that horrendous terrorist attack does come to pass on American soil; if we do find ourselves sitting in front of the television one night watching officials cite an ever-increasing body count from the latest terrorist attack on American soil --- don't forget the role played by the party of appeasement. Don't forget the role played by Howard Dean, John Kerry, Dennis Kucinich and Weasely Clark. Don't forget the role played by the Democratic Party." - Talk-show host Neal Boortz ********************************** An Appropriate Punishment "Mr. President: I understand Lt. Col. West may have violated the UCMJ, I understand he may have violated some portions of the Geneva Convention. While I believe in rule of law I also know there are some times you just can't 'make nice' with people. There are circumstances where there isn't the time and it may well not be the place. . . . But it sounds to me like (LTC West) saved a lot of his people from body bags. I think the Col. needs an appropriate punishment...30 days without ice-cream followed by a promotion next year. - News & Views reader Laurence Lance ********************************** Other Ways to Support Lt. Col. West "When I called the White House (202) 456-1111, they gave me Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's number 703-692-7100, who passed me on to the DoD comment line 703-428-0711. They said I should call the public affairs line 703-692-2613. "At each stage I simply said my name, pointed out that I was an ex-Army Reservist and asked if there was anything positive that could be done on Col. West's behalf. The entire process took about 3 to 5 minutes and was worth every second I would suggest calls to each Number with simple short statements of support for the Colonel." - News & Views reader Dan Kopelman of Aurora, CO ********************************** About That Energy Bill "How any principled, small-government, free-market Republican could vote for this vast waste of public money is beyond me. But, I'm beginning to fear that the GOP has less and less to do with small government or fiscal sobriety. . . . Mr. Bush should veto this bill, until it is de-porked. He won't, of course. He has yet to veto a single big-spending bill. Which is partly why, under his watch, the government has grown so quickly and the debt has mushroomed." - Columnist Andrew Sullivan ********************************** Conservative Legislation "As a conservative, this is a piece of legislation (Medicare reform bill) that complies with my principles as a conservative." - House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) ********************************** Raw Deal "This (Medicare reform bill) is a raw deal for America's seniors and a windfall for HMOs and big drug companies." - Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) *********************************** Astonished & Saddened (Saddened) "I am astonished and saddened at how this legislation wraps a skimpy drug benefit around many radical elements that will harm Medicare and undermine programs that people need. This bill is a trojan horse for our seniors! . . . This bill is confusing and there's a catch. The catch is: The whole bill is designed to bring about the demise of Medicare." - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) *********************************** $400 Billion Out of Thin Air "Our leaders think an extra $400 billion over a decade (for a prescription drug benefit) should be bearable. What they don't tell us is that this projection has all the credibility of a WorldCom balance sheet. . . . Those estimates were produced the old-fashioned way: They were pulled out of thin air." - Columnist Steve Chapman *********************************** Spiraling Out of Control "When the initial (Medicare) program, hospital insurance, was instituted in 1965, it was expected to cost $9 billion in 1990. The actual cost in 1990 was $67 billion." - Washington Times, 11/21/03 *********************************** Expensive Gamble "Both sides are sort of gambling (on the Medicare bill). One is gambling this demonstration is going to blossom into a fundamentally changed Medicare program. And the AARP is gambling they can take this program and it'll blossom into a bigger program. Based on what I've seen with this bill, I'd put my money on AARP winning that gamble." - Robert Bixby, executive director of the Concord Coalition, Washington Times, 11/21/03 ********************************** Just Say No To Drugs "Two best reasons to oppose the prescription drug bill. (1) AARP is for it. (2) It isn't in the Constitution." - Howard Last "I don't really care about the 1st reason, but the 2nd is very important. After all at 49 I am in line to benefit from this but it isn't right. It's not what is good for me but what is right and best for the future of our country. Don't get me wrong I am self employed, not much to fall back on, that was my choice. I will work it out. Let's get government off our backs." - News & Views reader John Adair ********************************** Bad Medicine "Republicans and their friends are busy congratulating themselves that their new Medicare prescription drug benefit is going to be a huge political windfall. We hate to be spoilsports, but perhaps they need some subsidized medication. "...Republicans ought to be spooked that Democrats clearly calculate they have nothing to lose by vehemently opposing this bill. Democrats want to tarnish any GOP victory, to be sure. But they are also preparing the ground to spend the next year -- no, 20 years -- demagoguing the drug benefit as inadequate. And trust us, the GOP's rent-a-friends in the AARP will soon return to lobbying alongside their more natural big government allies on the left. "...One final GOP political pitch is that this is the only way to get Health Savings Accounts. But HSAs passed 237-191 on the House floor as a free-standing bill last June. If Republicans can't do a big Medicare bill right, it would be a lot less politically risky for them to package HSAs with a senior drug discount card, a low-income subsidy and some money for doctors -- and return to fight another day." - "Reviews & Outlook," Wall Street Journal, 11/21/03 ********************************** "Dead Wrong" Drug Bill "I have great respect for my friend and former colleague Newt Gingrich. But on the Medicare prescription drug legislation currently pending in Congress, he is dead wrong. The deal on prescription drugs struck this week is in fact bad news for senior citizens and possibly even worse political news for the Republican Party. "...In fact, this bill is going to cost millions of seniors their current prescription drug coverage. While the final bill has expensive provisions to try to prevent companies from dropping their retirees' coverage, the incentives will still be strong for employers to punt retirees off their prescription drug plans and let government pick up the tab (thereby further hiking the cost of this program, incidentally). "This bill will add at least $400 billion in deficits over the coming decade. Worse, AARP and others have made it quite clear that they see this bill as just the opening gambit. They will be back, year after year, petitioning Congress to massively expand this already oversized new entitlement. Hillary Clinton's wish for ever-increasing government control over the American health care system will come true. "...I believe that good policy is good politics. This is a case where bad politics has produced a bad policy proposal. Conservatives would be smart, and right, to reject it." - Dick Armey, former House Majority Leader and head of Citizens for a Sound Economy ********************************** Break Out the Clothes Pins "I'm going to hold my nose, close my eyes, bite my tongue and vote for it (the Medicare reform bill)." - Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) *************************************** How to Subscribe Chuck Muth's News & Views is published by Citizen Outreach, a member-supported 501(c)3 non-profit corp. If you enjoy News & Views, please make a tax-deductible contribution to support our work: http://www.citizenoutreach.com If you'd like to receive our FREE News & Views e-newsletter, you can sign up at: http://www.chuckmuth.com/newsletter/ Published by Citizen Outreach Chuck Muth Editor/Publisher 611 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, #439 Washington, DC 20003-4303 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] The opinions and views expressed in Chuck Muth's News & Views reflect those of the writers, editors and columnists therein and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Citizen Outreach, its officers, directors or employees. To be REMOVED, go to: http://www.chuckmuth.com/remove/default.cfm and complete the removal request instructions you'll find there. Or send your request to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # #
