Progress Report: Think Progress

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Wed, 02 Feb 2005 09:02:52 -0800

Progress Report: Think Progress

" American Progress Action Fund "

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The Progress Report

by Christy Harvey, Judd Legum and Jonathan Baskin

with Nico Pitney and Mipe Okunseinde

 

..February 2, 2005

THINK PROGRESS Ladies and Gentlemen, Introducing ThinkProgress.org

BLOGGING 101 A Beginner's Guide

STATE OF THE UNION A Path Littered With Broken Promises

UNDER THE RADAR Go Beyond The Headlines

 

 

THINK PROGRESS

Ladies and Gentlemen, Introducing ThinkProgress.org

 

You've seen the rumors. You've heard the hype. Tonight it all finally

becomes a reality with the debut of ThinkProgress.org, the newest blog

on the block, brought to you by the people who bring you The Progress

Report. While The Progress Report will still come to you once a day

with an in-depth take on the day's news, ThinkProgress.org will update

all day long with original and continual research from the writers of

The Progress Report. There will also be insights from fresh new voices

on the staff of American Progress, as well as a diverse array of guest

posts from progressive religious activists, policy experts, and

correspondents from middle America. And with our Think Fast feature,

we'll give you a frequently updated list of the hottest news of the

day. Another great aspect of the blog is reader comments. We want to

hear from you. Talk to us about the posts – tell us we're wrong, agree

with us, add a new piece of information you've uncovered. Discuss and

debate something you've read in The Progress Report.

 

OPENING NIGHT: Debuting tonight, in tandem with the State of the Union

address, ThinkProgress.org will give the public real-time access to

our rapid response operation. And in honor of the launch, American

Progress CEO John Podesta will be a guest blogger, providing live

commentary throughout the entire State of the Union address. So log on

and tune in tonight – and every day – for the blog the right wing

doesn't even want you to think about.

 

OTHER BLOGS WE RECOMMEND: During the latest presidential election,

political blogs played an important role. Here are a few that we would

recommend, once you get your feet wet at ThinkProgress: Atrios, Josh

Marshall, and American Progress senior fellow Eric Alterman run a few

of the web's most popular blogs. DailyKos and MyDD are great

" community " weblogs, and both the American Prospect and the Washington

Monthly feature excellent blogging. Weblogs written by experts in

their respective fields include DonkeyRising (by political analyst and

American Progress fellow Ruy Teixeira), Informed Comment (by Juan

Cole, professor of contemporary Middle East history at the University

of Michigan), Brad DeLong's Semi-Daily Journal (by DeLong, a deputy

secretary in the Treasury Department under President Clinton),

TalkLeft (by Denver-based criminal defense attorney Jeralyn Merritt),

and PoliticalWire (by political consultant Taeggan Goddard). Or, if

you've never been to a blog, have no idea what we're talking about and

are not sure you're comfortable with this whole discussion, don't

worry, you're not alone. Read below for a quick course in Blogging

101. If you are a veteran, skip over the next section and go straight

to our State of the Union Preview.

 

BLOGGING 101

A Beginner's Guide

 

Some people are afraid of " blogs. " We understand – the word is

sinister – it sounds like " blob " or " flog, " connotes science fiction

villains, monsters of the deep, right-wing operatives. Actually,

though, " blogs " are just the newest form of an old idea. They're a way

to discuss things – politics and policy, in the case of our new blog –

in an open forum where ideas can be shared and traded. The word is

short for " weblog, " meaning a journal or " log " available on the web.

You can think of it as a space, like a village square, to go and hear

different ideas and contribute your own (except even better, because

you can do it in your pajamas, or from your desk at work). Weblogs can

be about anything – sports, culture, media, books, technology, or

politics. A distinguishing feature is that, instead of coming out once

a day like a newspaper or magazine, weblogs are updated throughout the

day, providing instant analysis and discussion of events in real time.

Now, when political news breaks after The Progress Report has been

sent, you won't be left twisting in the wind. You'll have a place to

go – think of it as a forum, a community, a home: ThinkProgress.org.

 

WHAT IS A " POST " ?: Blogs are updated by a process called " posts. "

" Posts " are short entries, usually no longer than 200 words, arranged

by date and time with the latest entry on top. The activity of writing

posts is called " blogging " (don't worry, it's legal) and someone who

keeps a blog is a " blogger " (or, if female, a " blogress " ). Believe it

or not, if someone says you are a good " blogger, " they are actually

giving you a compliment.

 

HOW ARE BLOGS DIFFERENT FROM OTHER WEBSITES?: In a word, you. Blogs

like ThinkProgress are online communities, hubs for political

discussion and debate, and you're eagerly invited to take part. While

blogs usually have a few main " bloggers " who write the initial

" posts, " no blog is complete without reader participation. Just click

the " Comments " link at the end of any post, then analyze, criticize,

debate, or bloviate to your heart's content. We'll be reading.

 

WHO POSTS ENTRIES ON A BLOG?: Most of the entries at ThinkProgress

will be written by the crack research team that produces The Progress

Report. We'll also regularly feature posts from American Progress

policy experts and assorted special guests; American Progress CEO John

Podesta will join us live during tonight's State of the Union address.

 

ANY OTHER BLOG TERMS I SHOULD KNOW?: Time to learn the lingo. A

permalink is the unique web address for a single blog post; it's handy

when you get excited about a " post " that a " blogger " has written and

want to forward it to friends. A blogroll is a collection of links to

other relevant " weblogs " or websites, often found along the sidebar of

a blog. If you sign up with an " RSS reader, " it means you have a

" subscription " to a blog's " RSS feed. " If you sign up for

ThinkProgress's RSS feed, you'll be notified whenever we update the

site with a new " post " (see above).

 

STATE OF THE UNION

A Path Littered With Broken Promises

 

Article II, Section 3 of the United States Constitution says: " The

President shall from time to time give to Congress information of the

State of the Union and recommend to their consideration such measures

as he shall judge necessary and expedient. " Tonight is one of those

times, and at 9 p.m. EST the nation will tune in to hear President

Bush deliver his fourth State of the Union address. Remember, you

can't always believe everything you hear. It's worth remembering that

in past years, President Bush has made bold, sweeping promises. But

when the cameras stopped rolling, many of his sweet-sounding words

turned out to be a lot of hot air. Here's a look at some of the past

State of the Union promises that fell by the wayside. (For the full

story, check out this research document we created.)

 

BROKEN PROMISE 2004 – NUCLEAR SECURITY: Last year, President Bush

charged, " America is committed to keep dangerous weapons from

dangerous regimes. " Under Bush's watch, North Korea's nuclear arsenal

is thought to have quadrupled. Charles Pritchard, formerly Colin

Powell's top official dealing with North Korea, has warned for months

that " the White House lacks an effective strategy to dissuade North

Korea from building up its nuclear arms. " And while the U.S. sat

passively on the sidelines, North Korea may have sold nuclear material

to Libya. In fact, instead of stepping up efforts to secure nuclear

materials, a recent Harvard University report titled " Securing the

Bomb: An Agenda for Action, " finds " less fissile materials were

secured in the two years after Sept. 11 than in the two years before. "

 

BROKEN PROMISE 2004 – TAX CUTS: President Bush touted his massive tax

cuts in last year's State of the Union, saying, " The tax relief you

passed is working. " Think again. President Bush drained resources from

domestic programs for middle-class families to give a tax windfall to

the nation's wealthiest. For example, the Bush tax cuts for the

richest 1 percent of Americans will cost $148 billion this year alone.

" That is twice as much as the government will spend on job training,

$6.2 billion; college Pell grants, $12 billion; public housing, $6.3

billion; low-income rental subsidies, $19 billion; child care, $4.8

billion; insurance for low-income children, $5.2 billion; low-income

energy assistance, $1.8 billion; meals for shut-ins, $180 million; and

welfare, $16.9 billion. "

 

BROKEN PROMISE 2003 – AIDS: One of the biggest promises in President

Bush's 2003 speech was his dramatic pledge to " ask Congress to commit

$15 billion over the next five years " to " turn the tide against AIDS

in the most afflicted nations of Africa and the Caribbean. " Congress

approved only $2.9 billion to fight HIV/AIDS and other diseases in

2005 and actually cut the U.S. pledge to the Global Fund (the

international AIDS-battling group) to $350 million – almost $200

million less than last year's donation. The administration is also

" blocking the Fund from receiving $88 million that Congress

appropriated in the 2004 fiscal year. "

 

BROKEN PROMISE 2003 – HOMELAND SECURITY: In 2003, President Bush said

he would merge terrorist threat information from the FBI, CIA,

Homeland Security and the Defense Department together into a single

location. The resulting national database " of potential terrorist

targets such as dams, pipelines, chemical plants and skyscrapers " was

scheduled to be completed in December 2004; however, the Department of

Homeland Security announced in December that the effort " is far behind

schedule and may take years to finish. "

 

BROKEN PROMISE 2002 – TROOP TREATMENT: President Bush used his 2002

State of the Union address to call for better treatment of U.S.

troops: " Our men and women in uniform deserve the best weapons, the

best equipment, the best training – and they deserve a pay raise. "

Instead, soldiers were sent to Iraq without the proper body armor,

armored vehicles, or even training. This culminated in a dramatic

moment in 2004, when a soldier in Iraq asked Secretary of Defense

Donald Rumsfeld why he had to " dig through local landfills " to find

scrap metal to properly arm his military combat vehicle. Rumsfeld's

response? " You have to go to war with the Army you have. "

 

BROKEN PROMISE 2002 – POLICE AND FIREFIGHTERS: In his first State of

the Union address after the 9/11 attacks, President Bush vowed to

support local first responders, saying: " We'll increase funding to

help states and communities train and equip our heroic police and

firefighters. " He didn't follow through. Last year's Homeland Security

appropriations bill signed by President Bush cut funding for first

responders by nearly $500 million and shortchanged programs vital to

local fire departments. Today, according to the National Fire

Protection Association (NFPA), budget cuts have left at least

two-thirds of the nation's fire departments understaffed, and

nationwide, firefighters " are arriving to fires later each year, with

barely over a third of fire departments meeting standards for response

time. " In his most recent budget, Bush also eviscerated the Community

Oriented Policing Services (COPS), which puts police officers on the

street, cutting it from $481.9 million to $97 million.

 

 

Under the Radar

 

HOMELAND SECURITY – SQUABBLES SABOTAGE SECURITY: When asked about the

administration's effort " to secure chemical plants and trains carrying

chemicals, " President Bush's former Deputy Homeland Security Adviser

Richard Falkenrath replied, " I'm sorry to say, since 9/11 we have

essentially done nothing. " Perhaps the officials have been instead

working on the massive governmental reorganization necessary for the

firm establishment of the Department of Homeland Security? Not that

either. According to the former Inspector General Clark Kent Ervin,

who was fired for his critical reports on the department's

mismanagement, " DHS is still a compilation of 22 agencies that aren't

integrated into a cohesive whole. I don't know where to start…I've

never seen anything like it. " The department in charge of organizing

and overseeing the security of our nation " remains hampered by

personality conflicts, bureaucratic bottlenecks and an atmosphere of

demoralization. " The situation has gotten so bad, for example, that

" the department's investigative arm, Immigration and Customs

Enforcement (ICE), has operated under severe financial crisis for more

than a year – to the point that use of agency vehicles and

photocopying were at times banned. " For these reasons, major national

security projects – the fingerprint database, a national database of

potential terrorist targets, and regulation of travelers using stolen

passports – are all woefully behind schedule more than three years

after the 9/11 attacks.

 

JUDICIARY – DEFYING CHECKS AND BALANCES: In his parting words,

outgoing Attorney General John Ashcroft questioned the recent Supreme

Court ruling on sentencing guidelines, but it turns out his department

had apparently been disregarding the ruling anyway. A little over two

weeks after the Supreme Court handed down the decision that judges

were not bound to follow sentencing guidelines, Deputy Attorney

General James Comey sent a memorandum that " urged federal prosecutors

to report to the attorney general and to Congress any judges whose

sentences fall outside the guidelines range. " Though the Justice

Department does not have the authority to force compliance with the

guidelines, the move is an affront to the ruling of the highest court

in the land as well as an undermining of the authority of judges who

should have the discretion to rule individual cases as they see fit.

The public should be understandably wary considering what happened the

last time a Justice Department memorandum included a directive like

" take all steps necessary. "

 

MEDIA – YOU CAN'T SPELL ADELPHIA WITHOUT XXX: Adelphia Communications

" has quietly become the nation's only leading cable operator to offer

the most explicit category of hard-core porn, " the Los Angeles Times

reports. Adelphia founder John Rigas has long espoused right-wing

" values, " and the company has given the bulk of its political

contributions to the conservative side of the aisle. These days,

however, Rigas spends his time in court: he and his son were convicted

last summer " for looting the company and engaging in fraudulent

accounting. " What explains Adelphia's new-found taste for hardcore

smut? That's easy: cold hard cash.

 

NORTH KOREA – ON THE NUKE MARKET: One serious question surrounding

North Korea's nuclear threat has been whether Kim Jung-Il's regime had

secretly passed nuclear materials onto the global black market. Today,

the New York Times provides an answer. U.S. scientists say North Korea

almost certainly sold processed uranium to Libya, " bolstering earlier

indications that the reclusive state exported sensitive fuel for

atomic weapons, " the Times reports. Some outside experts " have accused

the administration of overstating intelligence on North Korea, " and

officials " cautioned that the analysis of the uranium had been

hampered by the fact that the United States has no sample of known

North Korean uranium, " and so had to rely on a process of elimination

to determine the link to North Korea. Still, the suspicion brings into

focus the Bush administration's failure to develop a coherent North

Korea policy, a problem that has " divided the Bush administration

since its first days. "

 

ENVIRONMENT – ADMINISTRATION ON THE PROWL: The Bush administration's

wolf population tri-division and subsequent downgrade of Eastern and

Western wolf populations from endangered to threatened " violated the

Endangered Species Act, " according to a recent decision by a U.S.

district judge. Environmental groups had described the April 2003

actions of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as an attempt " to

gerrymander the entire contiguous 48 states so that wolves in a few

areas would make up for the absence of wolves in much larger regions. "

In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Robert Jones criticized the

administration's policy by saying it " was not based on science or law

and was merely an attempt to remove the wolf from the Endangered

Species List as quickly as possible. "

 

DAILY GRILL

 

" If we failed to act in Iraq, the dictator's weapons of mass

destruction programs would continue to this day. "

 

– President Bush, 2004 State of the Union

 

VERSUS

 

A revised CIA report titled " Iraq: No Large-Scale Chemical Warfare

Efforts Since Early 1990s, " will state that " former Iraqi President

Saddam Hussein gave up his chemical weapons program after the 1991

Gulf War. "

 

 

 

 

 

 

– AP, 2/1/05

DAILY OUTRAGE

 

Before you shell out hard-earned cash on a trendy rubber bracelet to

show you back our men and women in uniform, keep in mind that your

money is doing more to subsidize Slurpees than support soldiers. It

turns out only one-third of the proceeds for the camouflage-green

" Support Our Troops " wristbands sold at 7-Eleven actually go to the

USO. The rest are pocketed by the convenience store.