Glutton for Punishment?

Edwards Declares Candidacy



In a serendipitous publicity photograph, Edwards makes like a real man with a shovel-full of something he may be very familiar with.














Former Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards is running for president for a second time, his campaign said Wednesday.
The former North Carolina senator plans to formally announce his candidacy Thursday from New Orleans' 9th Ward, which was hard hit by Hurricane Katrina. But his campaign got a little ahead of itself Wednesday and announced his intentions online.

"Better a day earlier than a day late," said Jennifer Palmieri, Edwards' adviser.
On the eve of the formal launch of his candidacy, Edwards visited the site of his planned announcement Wednesday for a photo opportunity. He did yard work at the home of Orelia Tyler, 54, whose house was completely gutted by Hurricane Katrina and is close to being rebuilt.
edwards

Is Talk of "Improvement" a Political Ploy?

Dems Say Senator Johnson Improving, But Is He Really?














Are Democratic Party leaders keeping the public in the dark about the condition of Sen. Tim Johnson, who remains in critical condition following a stroke two weeks ago? Keeping the ailing senator as an active member of Congress allows the Democratic Party to maintain its Senate majority status.

WASHINGTON — Sen. Tim Johnson turned 60 on Thursday, two weeks after emergency surgery to repair a brain hemorrhage that has left him in critical condition.

Julianne Fisher, a spokeswoman for the South Dakota Democrat, said Johnson won't be present in the first days of the new Congress next week but is continuing to improve. She said he is responsive to directions from his wife but has not yet spoken.

It's too early to tell how long recovery will take, Fisher said.

In a statement Thursday, Johnson's doctors said he remains in intensive care at George Washington University Hospital. They have released few new details about Johnson's condition and prognosis since the days after the Dec. 13 surgery to stop bleeding in his brain.
See Johnson

Perfect Form ... Well, a Swing At It, Anyway

Who Knew Golf Could Be So

Damned Much FUN?




A man was at the country club for his weekly round of golf. He began his round with an eagle on the first hole and a birdie on the second.

On the third hole he had just scored his first ever hole-in-one when his cell phone rang. It was a doctor notifying him that his wife had just been in a terrible accident and was in critical condition and in the ICU.

The man told the doctor to inform his wife where he was and that he'd be there as soon as possible. As he hung up he realized he was leaving what was shaping up to be his best ever round of golf. He decided to get in a couple of more holes before heading to the hospital.

He ended up playing all eighteen, finishing his round shooting a personal best 61, shattering the club record by five strokes and beating his previous best game by more than 10. He was jubilant.... then he remembered his wife.

Feeling guilty he dashed to the hospital. He saw the doctor in the corridor and asked about his wife's condition.

The doctor glared at him and shouted, "You went ahead and finished your round of golf didn't you?

"I hope you're proud of yourself! While you were out for the past four hours enjoying yourself at the country club your wife has been languishing in the ICU! It's just as well you went ahead and finished that round because it will be more than likely your last!

"For the rest of her life she will require 'round the clock care. And you'll be her care giver!"

The man was feeling so guilty he broke down and sobbed.

The doctor snickered and said, "Just screwing with you. She's dead. What'd you shoot?"

Where DO Liberals Come From?

Humans originally existed as members of small bands of nomadic hunter-gatherers. They lived on deer in the mountains during the summer and would go to the coast and live on fish and lobster in the winter.

The two most important events in all of history were the invention of beer and the invention of the wheel. The wheel was invented to get man to the beer. These were the foundation of modern civilization and together were the catalyst for the splitting of humanity into two distinct subgroups:

1. Liberals; and
2. Conservatives.

Once beer was discovered, it required grain and that was the beginning of agriculture. Neither the glass bottle nor aluminum can were invented yet, so while our early humans were sitting around waiting for them to be invented,they just stayed close to the brewery. That's how villages were formed.

Some men spent their days tracking and killing animals to B-B-Q at night while they were drinking beer. This was the beginning of what is known as the Conservative movement.

Other men who were weaker and less skilled at hunting learned to live off the conservatives by showing up for the nightly B-B-Q's and doing the sewing, fetching, and hair dressing. This was the beginning of the Liberal movement.

Some of these liberal men eventually evolved into women. The rest became known as girliemen.

Some noteworthy liberal achievements include the domestication of cats,the invention of group therapy, group hugs, and the concept of Democratic voting to decide how to divide the meat and beer that conservatives provided.

Over the years conservatives came to be symbolized by the largest, most powerful land animal on earth, the elephant. Liberals are symbolized by the jackass.

Modern liberals like imported beer (with lime added), but most prefer white wine or imported bottled water. They eat raw fish but like their beef well done. Sushi, tofu, and French food are standard liberal fare.

Another interesting evolutionary side note: most of their women have higher testosterone levels than their men. Most social workers, personal injury attorneys, journalists, dreamers in Hollywood and group therapists are liberals. Liberals invented the designated hitter rule because it wasn't fair to make the pitcher also bat.

Conservatives drink domestic beer. They eat red meat and still provide for their women. Conservatives are big-game hunters, rodeo cowboys, lumberjacks, construction workers, firemen, medical doctors, police officers, corporate executives, athletes, Marines, commercial airline pilots, and generally anyone who works productively. Conservatives who own companies hire other conservatives who want to work for a living.

Liberals produce little or nothing. They like to govern the producers and decide what to do with the production. Liberals believe Europeans are more enlightened than Americans. That is why most of the liberals remained in Europe when conservatives were coming to America. They crept in after the
Wild West was tamed and created a business of trying to get more for nothing.

Here ends today's lesson in world history: It should be noted that a Liberal may have a momentary urge to angrily respond to the above before forwarding it. A Conservative will simply laugh and be so convinced of the absolute truth of this history that it will be forwarded immediately to other true believers and to more liberals just to tick them off.

Who is Obama? Does Anyone Care?

From Right Wing Nuthouse:

OBAMA: THE EMPTY VESSEL

By Rick Moran

I have not written about my home state Senator Barak Obama previously to this. Generally speaking, I don’t write about obscure left wing politicians much anyway unless they do or say something hilariously stupid. But this recent boomlet for Senator Obama seems to have taken everyone by surprise. And still more than a year away from the first Presidential primaries and caucuses, it amazes me so little information has been disseminated about this likable, thoughtful man.

First, it must be said that a Democratic corpse plucked from a Chicago graveyard could have won the race for Illinois Senator in 2004. You might recall that the Republican nominee Jack Ryan was forced to withdraw 4 months before the election following revelations contained in child custody documents relating to Ryan’s divorce from actress Jeri Ryan (the sexiest Borg in the Star Trek Universe) that he forced the comely actress to go to sex clubs with him. The court records were retrieved by the Chicago Tribune and a local TV station in one of the most shameless examples of yellow journalism this city has seen in a while. As it turns out, Jeri Ryan released a statement saying that she still supported her ex-husbands candidacy while Jack Ryan was summarily dropped by the state party.
.... read more... OBAMA: THE EMPTY VESSEL

THIS IS GETTING RIDICULOUS

By Neal Boortz
In downtown Chicago they have a festival they call the German Christkindlemarket. It's a Christmas festival. One of the private-sector sponsors of the festival is New Line Cinema. New Line has a movie coming out soon called "The Nativity Story." It seems that New Line is going to have some televisions in their booth at the festival and on those televisions they will be showing previews of "The Nativity Story."
Well .. .this doesn't sit well with some Chicago city officials. The spokesditz for the Mayor's* Office of Special Events, Cindy Gatzilois, says that the city doesn't want to appear to endorse one religion over another. Then we hear from Jim Law, the executive director of the special events office with this gem: "Our guidance was that this very prominently placed advertisement would not only be insensitive to the many people of different faiths who come to enjoy the market for its food and unique gifts ...... "
I am way, way past giving a flying fornication about whether or not "people of different faiths" are offended by a symbol of the Christian religion. It's not the city government promoting the movie, it's a private sector filmmaker. If someone of a different faith is offended then they can damn well turn their heads and not watch the movie trailer being shown in the New Line booth. Or, better yet, they can just keep their sorry asses at home and leave the festival to people who can enjoy it for what it is and not wander around looking for something that offends them.
It's Christmas. Get it? Over 85% of the people in this country celebrate this holiday as a celebration of the Birth of Christ. Of the 15% of those who don't less than one tenth of one percent care one way or the other what you celebrate and how you celebrate it. People like Gatzilois and Law suffer from an affliction known as "governmentitis." It's a mental disease that causes government employees who have no marketable private sector job skills to develop an over-inflated opinion of their own importance in the grand scheme of things.
*The Mayor of Chicago, by the way, is a jerk.
THE ATLANTA DRUG RAID STORY GETS MORE INTERESTING
By now you know the story of the drug raid in Atlanta where an elderly woman was killed by the police. Thus far the police story is that a police informant purchased drugs at the woman's home earlier in the day. The police obtained a no-knock search warrant and returned to the home at 7:00 that evening. As they were breaking the door down to enter the residence, 88-year-old Kathryn Johnson, the owner of the home, opened fire with her pistol. She hit all three police officers, one of them three times. The police returned fire and Johnson was killed. The issue isn't whether or not the police should have returned fire. Of course they should have. They didn't know who was doing the shooting. They believed they were entering a house where drugs were being sold. On the other hand, Kathryn Johnson did the right thing also. Scared to death living in that high-crime neighborhood. She had heard of a recent rape of an elderly woman nearby. She was simply defending herself when she was killed.
Now we have an interesting twist. The informant is now saying that the police told him to lie, they told him to say that he had purchased drugs from the home. It's would be easy to believe that the informant is now lying to cover his rear end. The problem is that the police have been caught in a few prevarications themselves. The first word was the police officers made the drug buy in the home. Now we learn it was a police informant. Then we were told that police found narcotics in the home. Later we're told they only found a small amount of marijuana .. not considered narcotics.
As I've been saying from the beginning, the real cause of this tragedy is our insane war on drugs in this country. Study after study has shown that he most cost-effective way to reduce drug use in the U.S. is through treatment, not through criminalization and law enforcement. Americans just have this need to punish those who get involved in drugs. Stupid? Sure they're stupid. Weak? Yeah, they're weak. Stupidity and weakness aren't crimes. We could save billions of dollars a year in law enforcement and incarceration costs if we would wise up and stop this absurd war on drugs. Identify the users and offer them treatment. Crime rate goes down. Money is saved, and we get reduced usage and dependence on drugs. (Stupid & weak? Hmmm ... wonder if there is a treatment for being a liberal democrat? HB)
IRAQ OFFICIALLY HOPELESS NOWAt least that's what outgoing U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan would like you to think. Oh, and good riddance, by the way. There has never been a more anti-American, anti-Israel head of the United Nations. At any rate, Kofi has announced that civil war is imminent in Iraq. Gee ... thanks Kofi! Nothing like stabbing the United States in the back on the way out of office. Way to go... your masters running Al-Qaeda just put the check in the mail. Don't spend it all in one place. So just what is the reason for Kofi's despondency over Iraq? When asked if Iraq is in a civil war, he says "Given the developments on the ground, unless something is done drastically and urgently to arrest the deteriorating situation, we could be there. In fact, we are almost there." Nice vote of confidence. So what would Kofi do differently? Take more kickbacks.The answer is nothing. Like the Democratic Party, Kofi Annan has no solution for Iraq. The United Nations had no solution for Iraq for 12 years either. They have nothing ... no ideas, no suggestions for ways they might help do things better. All he wants to do is sit on the sidelines and criticize. No solution is being offered ... nothing. But guys like Kofi Annan have their reasons for not helping out. You see, if the U.N. helps us win in Iraq, that will give legitimacy to the invasion and occupation. We can't have that. Make America look good? Why ... the United Nations could never be a part of that. NEWS ON THE SIX IMAMSWe've been treated for days now to the story of the 6 Imams in Minneapolis. No, this isn't the beginning of some sort of joke .... the six Imams tried to get on a U.S. Airways flight last week and were marched off the plane in handcuffs after passengers became suspicious. CAIR was outraged .... they said the Imams were guilty of nothing more than flying while Muslim. The Imams have held a press conference at the airport claiming religious persecution. The lawsuits are flying. But now it's coming out exactly why these peace-loving worshipers of Allah were arrested. Turns out they were praying loudly and shouting "Allah" as passengers boarded the plane. Gee ... I can't think of a more peaceful thing to do. What were the authorities thinking? Terrorists never shout Allah's name! Once on the plane, the Imams changed from their assigned seats ... to a similar seating pattern of that of the 9/11 hijackers. That is, near the exits and entrances on the plane. Hmm ... that's just a wee bit suspicious, isn't it? So it's no surprise that these people were arrested. The real question here isn't were they discriminated against ... but what were they really up to? According to their behavior, we should be investigating them for terrorism, because they sure fit the profile. BAD NEWS FOR THE POODLEJohn Kerry just can't catch a break these days. After being blown out badly in his quest to become the next president of the United States just two years ago, The Poodle has decided he might just run for the nomination in 2008. There's only one problem with that ... he's not faring too well in recent polls. Polls gauge interest and interest determines how donors spread their money around. No money, no campaign. That's just how it works. A poll was done gauging the likeability of the top 20 American political figures. Where did The Poodle rate? Dead last. Number 20. Way behind George W. Bush. Behind even Al Gore. Ouch... sKerry's political career is now dead on arrival. So what is John Kerry going to do now?The answer is nothing. He'll finish out his term in the Senate and then join the same route into political oblivion blazed by other Democrats who've lost presidential elections. For an example, see Michael Dukakis. Oh ..and you may be wondering ...who was #1 in the likeability poll?#1 was Rudy Giuliani. Followed by Barack Obama. Perhaps this is an indication of things to come. That would be some race!
By the way ... in case I didn't really convey my true feelings here ... Kerry is a pompous jackass.
Where's the love?
REDNECK SCRAP BOOK
When a redneck finds himself in trouble with the law, he probably would want a lawyer he feels comfortable with. I think he might find one here. More in the Redneck Scrap Book.
READING ASSIGNMENTSThis is most interesting...Iran says it will help Iraq with its security. Now keep in mind this is the same Iraq that was only freed from dictatorship because of the United States ... the supposed Great Satan in the eyes of Iran. This newfound cooperation from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is most likely depressing America-hater Kofi Annan.A new study finds that women talk three times as much as men. Insert your own joke here. The study also finds that the act of talking prompts a rush a brain chemicals in women that is similar to that of a heroin addict. We report, you decide. NBC News says Iraq is a civil war. So let me get this straight: what one particular news organization thinks is now news.
The American Legion is none too pleased with Charlie Rangel. They want the New York Democrat to apologize for suggesting that soldiers only fight in Iraq because there are no other options for employment. They might not want to hold their breath. It's worth pointing out when a Democrat actually says something worthwhile. Delaware Democrat Joe Biden, who favors tightening up our border with Mexico, says the biggest culprit in illegal immigration is Mexico itself. It is, after all, a third-world country. Those conservatives that stayed home on November 7th are going to soon regret it. Democrats have no intention of clamping down on pork barrel spending projects....or so-called earmarks. Why? Because they use them to buy votes, same as the Republicans before them. Surprised? You shouldn't be. Politicians will be politicians. George Will takes a look inside his crystal ball at just how Speaker Nancy Pelosi is going to be running the House. For pointers, he goes back in time to the last few Democratic speakers and how they treated the minority. It wasn't pretty. Interesting column today from Thomas Sowell. He looks at a new book that examines whether there really is much difference between a liberal and a conservative. By the way, do you know conservatives donate more to charity than do liberals?David Limbaugh says the re-energizing of the conservative Republican base is likely to come from presidential candidates who want to be more like Ronald Reagan. For example, he points to Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.

D.C.'s gun lessons
The Washington TIMES

Nov. 18, 2006

The incoming Democratic powers-that-be in the congressional leadership and on the Senate and House Judiciary Committees are a who's who of the gun-control movement: Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, Patrick Leahy, John Conyers, Dick Durbin, Joseph Biden, Ted Kennedy, Harry Reid and Herb Kohl, to name a few.

If and when gun control roars back to life in 2007-08 -- we expect that it will -- the data unearthed this week in these lawmakers' own backyards by reporter Matthew Cella should loom large.

The District of Columbia's gun-murder numbers show yet again that stringent gun-control laws have little or no utility in curbing the violence, even as they strip citizens of their Second Amendment rights. And, indeed, the trend nationwide since 1991 has been a drop in crime at the same time gun-control laws were loosened. Since 1977, the nation's capital has kept some of the country's strictest gun laws on the books. And yet, as Mr. Cella showed Friday in The Washington Times, over the period 2001-05, about 80 percent of murders in the District were perpetrated with guns -- a ratio slightly higher than in New York, Chicago, Baltimore and Atlanta.

Overall homicide levels in the District are troublingly high and have not been helped by gun control. Which is no wonder: Violent criminals can wield guns confident that they will not get caught, and confident that law-abiding people will not have guns themselves.

D.C.'s gun lessons

Rush Limbaugh Explains Why

Republicans Lost on Election Day

Republicans lost control of the House, and perhaps the Senate, because they abandoned their conservative principles and in the end stood for nothing, Rush Limbaugh said in his Wednesday broadcast.

America's top talker said that until Republicans begin asking themselves what's wrong with themselves they are never going to fix their problems. When things go wrong, Rush said, "you must look inward and ask first, 'What did we do wrong? What could we have done better? What mistakes did we make?'"

Commenting that although Republicans lost, "Conservatism did not lose, Republicanism lost last night. Republicanism, being a political party first, rather than an ideological movement, is what lost last night." The Democrats, he said "beat something last nightwith nothing. They advanced no agenda other than their usual anti-war position. They had no contract - they really never did get specific. Their message was one of 'vote for us; the other guys have been in power too long.'"

Rush further admonished, "There was no dominating conservative message that came from the [Republican] top and filtered down throughout in this campaign." He added that if there was conservatism in the campaign, it was on the Democratic side: "There were conservative Democrats running for office in the House of Representatives and in a couple of Senate races won by Democrats yesterday." He cited James Webb as an example.

He also said it was conservatism that won fairly big when it was tried yesterday, but it was Democrats who ran as conservatives and not their GOP rivals. He added that the Democratic leadership had gone out and recruited conservative candidates because theyknew liberals could not win running against Republicans in red states.
Rush quoted Thomas Sowell as explaining that the latest example of election fraud is actually what the Democrats did - they nominated a bunch of moderate and conservative candidates for the express purpose of electing a far-left Democratic leadership.

"The Democrats could not have won the House, being liberals," Rush said. "Liberalism didn't win anything yesterday; Republicanism lost. Conservatism was nowhere to be found except on the Democratic side."

The root of the problem, Rush said, is that "our side hungers for ideological leadership and we're not getting it from the top. Conservatism was nowhere to be found in this campaign from the top. The Democrats beat something with nothing. They didn't have to take a stand on anything other than their usual anti-war positions. They had no clear agenda and they didn't dare offer one. Liberalism will still lose every time it's offered."

Republicans, Rush said, allowed themselves to be defined. "Without elected conservative leadership from the top Republicans in the House and Senate republicans are free to freelance and say the hell with party unity." That leads, Rush said, to the emergence of RINOs - Republicans in name only.

Republicans in Congress, Rush explained, were held captive by the party's leadership in the White House. They were put into a position of having to endorse policies with which as conservatives they disagreed. "The Democratic Party," Rush went on to say, "is the party of entitlements; but the Republicans come up with this Medicare prescription drug plan that the polls said that the public didn't want and was not interested in. That is not conservatism. Conservatives do not grow the government and offer entitlements as a means of buying votes. But that's what the Republicans in Congress had to support in order to stay in line with the Party from the top.

"It is silly to blame the media; it is silly to blame the Democrats; it is silly to go out and tryto find all these excuses," Rush said. "We have proved that we can beat them ... we have proved that we can withstand whatever we get from the drive-by media. Conservatism does that - conservatism properly applied, proudly, eagerly, with vigor and honesty will triumph over that nine times out of 10 in this current political and social environment. It just wasn't utilized in this campaign."

Rush also blamed the failure to embrace conservatism on Republican's fear of being criticized from those in the so-called establishment. Republicans, he charged, go out of their way to avoid being criticized, fearing they will be characterized as extremists and kooks.

As a result conservatism gets watered down, and the GOP loses the support of the nation's conservative majority Rush stated.

"Anything can beat nothing, Rush concluded, "and it happened yesterday."

Some Good Fun -- From the Right

HISTORIC VICTORY FOR DIEBOLD!

By Ann Coulter

Nov. 8, 2006

History was made this week! For the first time in four election cycles, Democrats are not attacking the Diebold Corp. the day after the election, accusing it of rigging its voting machines. I guess Diebold has finally been vindicated.

So the left won the House and also Nicaragua. They've had a good week. At least they don't have their finger on the atom bomb yet.

Democrats support surrender in Iraq, higher taxes and the impeachment of President Bush. They just won an election by pretending to be against all three. More Coulter

The Election--from the Right

Only a Minor Earthquake

By Charles Krauthammer
Friday, Nov. 10, 2006

How serious is the "thumpin'" the Republicans took on Tuesday? Losing one house is significant but hardly historic. Losing both houses, however, is defeat of a different order of magnitude, the equivalent in a parliamentary system of a vote of no confidence.

On Tuesday Democrats took control of the House and the Senate. As of this writing, they won 29 House seats (with a handful still in the balance), slightly below the post-1930 average for the six-year itch in a two-term presidency. They took the Senate by the thinnest of margins -- a one-vote majority, delivered to them by a margin of 8,942 votes in Virginia and 2,847 in Montana.

Because both houses have gone Democratic, the election is correctly seen as an expression of no confidence in the central issue of the campaign: Iraq. It was not so much the war itself as the perceived administration policy of "stay the course," which implied endless intervention with no victory in sight. The president got the message. Hence the summary resignation of the designated fall guy, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. More

Big Election Spending for Hillary

NewsMax.com

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) has a huge war chest and she's definitely using it.

According to the Hill newspaper, Clinton spent nearly $7 million from her Senate campaign account last month running for re-election in New York.

The figure ranks among the most-ever spent by a Senate candidate in such a short period, and many New Yorkers cannot even name her opponent.

Clinton’s onslaught is drawing comparisons to George W. Bush’s 1998 gubernatorial race in Texas, when he outspent his opponent 4-to-1 and used his big victory as a springboardto the presidency.

Hillary

According to the Hill, Clinton’s campaign spent $10.1 million in the third quarter, more than any other Senate candidate. Most of the sum, which included a $1 million contribution to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, paid for direct mail, phone banks, cable advertising, and the organization of an ambitious get-out-the-vote program, according to a Clinton aide.

Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, by contrast, running for re-election in California, the nation’s largest state, spent only $1.36 million during the same period, though polls show she is in a closer race than Clinton. Clinton is leading her opponent, John Spencer, by an average of 32 points in recent polls.

"We have been throughout this campaign building a get-out-the-vote operation that we think is going to work for Democratic candidates throughout the state,” Ann Lewis, Clinton’s campaign spokeswoman, told the Hill. "We have several congressional seats that could be in play in New York. The voter turnout we can generate is good news for everyone.”

Michael Toner, chairman of the Federal Election Commission, told the Hill: "It appears that Sen. Clinton’s spending in the last quarter ranks in the top 10 for senate candidates all time. There’s been a handful of candidates that have spent more money in a single quarter.”

What Were They Thinking?

Democratic Party Agenda
Ron Strom
It's finally been found: the agenda the Democratic Party would pursue should it take control of Congress Nov. 7. For those voters who have been confused about what exactly the Democrats would do if they were to take power, things have just gotten a lot clearer.

Prior to the 1994 takeover by Republicans, GOP leaders touted their "Contract with America," a specific list of policy changes they would make if given power. This year, pundits have hammered the Democratic leadership for not providing a similar set of initiatives so voters could understand specifically what they would do if entrusted with congressional control. These merciless commentators have suggested the Party of Clinton has no concrete plans but instead hangs its collective hat on unending criticism of President Bush.

But alas such criticism is unfounded! A list of bills introduced by Democrats over the last two years was released this week by Paul S. Teller, deputy director of the House Republican Study Committee. Finally, we voters know what kind of government we might enjoy under Democratic leadership.

As I began to read the list, I was initially skeptical. After all, there are a lot of hoaxes floating around in cyberspace. How did I know this list was accurate and not the latest offering from a spoof site like the Onion?

Reading a few of the bills on Congress' official legislation website, I was assured that Teller was not telling us a whopper with his list of Democratic ideas - they are actual bills that have been introduced, seemingly with a straight face, and whose development was financed by our tax dollars.

Here are a few of my favorites from the list:
The Justice for the Unprotected against Sexually Transmitted Infections among the Confined and Exposed Act, or JUSTICE Act, sponsored by Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif. This bill would make sure the "guests" housed in federal prisons have government-issued condoms aplenty for their use. Subsidized homosexual activity by convicts - yep, that's the kind of America I want to live in.

The Crack-Cocaine Equitable Sentencing Act, sponsored by Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y. The bill would eliminate the mandatory minimum sentence for crack-cocaine convictions. Finally - a bill to start reversing the silly tough-on-crime mindset that has kept far too many crack-cocaine dealers behind bars.

A bill "to provide for coverage under the Medicare and Medicaid Programs of incontinence undergarments," sponsored by Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., would make adult diapers a covered item under Medicare and Medicaid. Now here's a piece of legislation our Founding Fathers would be proud of. After all, we all know their intent was for government to provide for the "common Depends." A diaper in every drawer! (or drawers).

The Gas Stamp Act, sponsored by Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., a bill that would create billions of dollars in gas stamps each year for people to get free gas. The stamps would to be distributed to those already eligible for food stamps. Now you're thinkin'. Rather than drop restrictions on domestic energy production, which would increase supply and lower prices, let's just have the taxpayer buy gas for those who can't afford it. This bill also imposes a windfall-profit tax on those evil oil companies - nice touch.

The Democrats also have big plans for U.S. foreign policy. Rep. James McGovern, D-Mass., represents his party with the End the War in Iraq Act. Otherwise known as the "Admit Defeat, Place Tail Between Legs and Scurry Home Act," the bill would completely defund the U.S. military in Iraq, forcing an immediate withdrawal of all troops. So simple yet so profound - why couldn't the Republicans think of that?

Congresswoman Lee continues her leadership by sponsoring A Living Wage, Jobs for All Act. According to the Republican Study Committee, it would create rights to "decent" jobs, income for individuals unable to work, a "decent" living for farmers, freedom from monopolies, "decent" housing, "adequate" health care, Social Security, education, work training, collective bargaining, a safe working environment and other wonderful things too numerous to mention. Wow, I can envision the utopia now - how incredibly "decent" of Ms. Lee to provide so much decency to her fellow Americans.

For those of us who are too selfish for our own good, Rep. Rangel offers the Universal National Service Act, requiring all Americans between the ages of 18 and 42, to perform a two-year period of national service. Good ol' "mandatory volunteerism" - an oxymoron if I've ever heard one. I'm just sorry I recently aged out of this program; if I wanted to volunteer, I'd have to do so on my own, without the federal government to help me -- hmm, not sure I could do that.

And from the "Government's job is to protect us from ourselves" department, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., brings us The Menu Education and Labeling Act. This vital piece of legislation regulates what certain restaurants must print on their menus. Yes! What a perfect proposal to help us dimwitted Americans who just might order a dessert loaded with trans fat and not even realize it. How in the world have we existed for over two centuries without federally regulated restaurant menus? How barbaric.

I hope this list of proposals will give American voters a clearer picture of how the Democratic Party wants to govern the nation.

The Democrat Agenda in Detail

In light of ongoing Democrat criticisms of the Republican legislative agenda, the following is an abridged list of actual bills that have been introduced by House Democrats during the last two years.

Justice for the Unprotected against Sexually Transmitted Infections among the Confined and Exposed Act (JUSTICE) Act (Lee, D-CA)-H.R. 6083. Requires community organizations to be allowed to distribute sexual barrier protection devices (e.g. condoms) in federal prisons. Also prohibits a federal prison from taking adverse action against a prisoner who possesses or uses a sexual barrier protection device.

Crack-Cocaine Equitable Sentencing Act (Rangel, D-NY)-H.R. 2456. Eliminates the mandatory minimum sentence for crack-cocaine convictions.

Tupac Shakur Records Release Act of 2006 (McKinney, D-GA)-H.R. 4968. Enshrines copies of government records concerning rapper Tupac Shakur in a specially created collection at the National Archives.

Antibullying Campaign Act (Nadler, D-NY)-H.R. 3787. Creates a new federal grant program aimed at reducing bullying in public schools "based on any distinguishing characteristic of an individual."

To provide for coverage under the Medicare and Medicaid Programs of incontinence undergarments (Frank, D-MA)-H.R. 1052. Makes adult diapers a covered item under Medicare and Medicaid.

Gas Stamp Act (McDermott, D-WA)-H.R. 3712. Creates billions of dollars in gas stamps each year for people to get free gas, to be distributed to those already eligible for food stamps.

States' Rights to Medical Marijuana Act (Frank, D-MA)-H.R. 2087. Allows physicians in states with medical marijuana laws to prescribe marijuana without violating federal law.

Ex-Offenders Voting Rights Act (Rangel, D-NY)-H.R. 663. Allows those convicts who are just out of prison to vote.

Department of Peace and Nonviolence Act (Kucinich, D-OH)-H.R. 3760. Establishes a U.S. Department of Peace and Nonviolence, as well as a Peace Day. The department would promote "human rights," international conflict prevention, nonviolent intervention, structured mediation, and peaceful conflict resolution.

National Health Insurance Act (Dingell, D-MI)-H.R. 15. Institutes a new 5% value-added tax on property and services and creates a board to oversee payment to any individual for medical services not covered by Medicare.

Freedom of Choice Act (Nadler, D-NY)-H.R. 5151. Creates a right to unrestricted pre-viability abortions, and late terms abortions for the life and health of the mother.
End the War in Iraq Act (McGovern, D-MA)-H.R. 4232. Defunds the War in Iraq, forcing immediate troop withdrawal.

Public Interest Lawyer Assistance Relief Act (Andrews, D-NJ)-H.R. 1753. Forgives the law school debt for attorneys working for a tax-exempt organization or the government.

A Living Wage, Jobs for All Act (Lee, D-CA)-H.R. 1050. Builds on and strengthens FDR's "Economic Bill of Rights," creating rights to "decent" jobs, income for individuals unable to work, a "decent" living for farmers, freedom from monopolies, "decent" housing, "adequate" health care, Social Security, education, work training, collective bargaining, a safe working environment, information on trends in pollution sources and products and processes that affect the well-being of workers throughout the world, voting, and personal security. The bill also requires the Attorney General to create a registry of all corporations convicted of violating state or federal law.

Social Security Forever Act (Wexler, D-FL)-H.R. 2472. Imposes a new income tax on workers, employers, and self-employed businessmen to fund Social Security.

Health Security for All Americans Act (Baldwin, D-WI)-H.R. 2133. Requires states to create programs to ensure universal health coverage, and allows states to force employers to pay for health insurance for their employees.

Universal National Service Act (Rangel, D-NY)-H.R. 4752. Makes it an obligation of every U.S. citizen, and every other person residing in the U.S., between the ages of 18 and 42, to perform a two-year period of national service, either as a member of an active or reserve component of the armed forces or in a civilian capacity that promotes national defense.

Living American Wage Act (Green, D-TX)-H.R. 5731. Mandates that the federal minimum wage be equal to or greater than 112% of the federal poverty threshold beginning in 2007, and states that the minimum wage should be revised every four years.

Media Ownership Reform Act (Hinchey, D-NY)-H.R. 3302. Restricts ownership of radio and television stations, forcing some owners to divest their holdings, and regulates broadcast content.

Universal Education Act (Kind, D-WI)-H.R. 3930. Creates a Universal Education Corporation that provides taxpayer dollars to foreign countries that enter into education reform agreements with the U.S.

Medicare for All Act (Dingell, D-MI)-H.R. 4683. Increases taxes on workers and employers to offer to all citizens, and other individuals legally present in the U.S., Medicare benefits equivalent to the health care plans federal employees receive.

Menu Education and Labeling Act (DeLauro, D-CT)-H.R. 5563. Regulates what certain restaurants must print on their menus.

Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States regarding the right of all citizens of the United States to a public education of equal high quality (Jackson, D-IL)-H.J.Res. 29. Creates a constitutional right to equal public education.

Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States regarding the right of citizens of the United States to health care of equal high quality (Jackson, D-IL)-H.J.Res. 30. Creates a constitutional right to equal health care.

Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States respecting the right to decent, safe, sanitary, and affordable housing (Jackson, D-IL)-H.J.Res. 32 and Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States respecting the right to a home (Rangel, D-NY)-H.J.Res 40. Creates a constitutional right to housing.

Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States respecting the right to full employment and balanced growth (Jackson, D-IL)-H.J.Res. 35. Creates a constitutional right to full employment.