t r u t h o u t | 03.30

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Russ Feingold | The GOP's Stake in Checking the President

Thu, 30 Mar 2006 13:11:44 -0800

 

 

 

Russ Feingold warns GOP that defending Bush will work against the party

in the long run; William Fisher on Iraq; Iran rejects new UN demands;

states seek relief from new welfare rules; and more ... Browse our

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t r u t h o u t | 03.30

 

Russ Feingold | The GOP's Stake in Checking the President

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/033006A.shtml

During the Watergate hearings, then-Senator Howard Baker, a Republican,

showed tremendous courage and a deep sense of Congress's duty to hold

President Nixon accountable. Today, as the President admits, even

flaunts, his program to wiretap Americans on American soil without the

warrants required by law, we need more courageous Republicans to stand

up and

check the President's power grab, writes Russ Feingold.

 

William Fisher | Not a Country Anymore

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/033006B.shtml

William Fisher: " Exactly why did we go to war? And why did we not fight

to win it? I can only shake my head, " writes a dear friend who heads a

sizable economic development team in Iraq. And I can only join him in

the head-shaking. Because I don't know the answers to his questions. Nor

does anyone else, except perhaps George W. Bush. And he's not telling.

 

Frida Berrigan | Privatizing the Apocalypse

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/033006C.shtml

" Privatization " has been in the news ever since George W. Bush became

president. His administration has radically reduced the size of

government, turning over to private companies critical governmental

functions

involving prisons, schools, water, welfare, Medicare, and utilities as

well as war-fighting. Now, the long arm of privatization is reaching

deep into an almost unimaginable place at the heart of the national

security apparatus - the laboratory where scientists learned to

harness the

power of the atom more than 60 years ago and created weapons of

apocalyptic proportions. Construction giant Bechtel won a contract to

run the

sprawling complex. Why this urge to privatize the apocalypse, asks Frida

Berrigan.

 

States Seek Relief From New Welfare Rules

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/033006D.shtml

Facing an October compliance deadline and the possibility of losing

millions of federal dollars, governors, legislators and state welfare

officials are asking the US Department of Health and Human Services for

more time and flexibility to meet new welfare-to-work rules.

 

Surveillance, Infiltration, and Harassment

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/033006E.shtml

The president believes that when at war his branch of government

supersedes that of the other two branches and that the president

decides what

the role to be played by the other two branches is. There is a clear

example of this, which is the administration's use of warrantless

surveillance and wire tapping. The rule is no longer free speech. Now,

it's

pay-as-you-go speech, says Lauren Regan, speaking at the Public Interest

Environmental Law Conference.

 

Iran Defiantly Rejects New UN Demands

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/033006F.shtml

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned Iran on Thursday the

" international community is united " in the dispute over its nuclear

program,

but a Tehran envoy defiantly rejected a UN call to reimpose a freeze on

uranium enrichment.

 

Senate Passes Lobbying Ethics Reform

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/033006G.shtml

The Senate gave lopsided approval Wednesday to scandal-inspired

legislation restricting lobbyist gift-giving and making lobbying

activities

more open. Critics said the measure fell short of the steps needed to

restore the integrity of Congress in the eyes of the public.

 

Serge Truffaut | End of an Era

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/033006H.shtml

Serge Truffaut notes that Kadima's victory in this week's Israeli

elections signals not only major shifts in Israel's domestic policies,

but

also the end of Israel's unique " pure proportionality " political system.

 

VIDEO SPECIAL | Katrina Plus Seven Months

A Film by Chris Hume

http://www.truthout.org/multimedia.htm

The latest video in the Hurricane Katrina series by Chris Hume. It has

been seven months since New Orleans was nearly wiped out by the storm,

and Chris Hume is revisiting some of the people he met the first time,

when the city was still flooded and under martial law. Also, a

coalition of Iraq war veterans and Katrina survivors march to New

Orleans from

Mobile, Alabama, to speak out against the occupation of Iraq and to

help rebuild the Gulf Coast.

 

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