Ruth Adkins's blog

Here is an announcement from Ron Wyden's office. Check out his website for details on the plan. I am no economist and tax stuff usually confuses me, but as far as I can tell, this sounds great. It is clearly and concisely written and makes total sense. It is masterfully framed and totally beats the righties at their "tax relief" game as it zeroes in on fairness to those of us who WORK for a living (not just collect dividends). The simplicity of it is stunning, and dare I say revolutionary. Those of us in the besieged middle class, it is time to stand up and demand reform!

Let Wyden know what you think, and write to your Representative to let him/her know your views. I am no fan of Rahm "DLC/Dean disser" Emmanuel but this time he has it right.

Write to the media as well--this plan needs all the grassroots support it can get!

Three cheers for Congressman Murtha (D-PA), a former Marine colonel and former supporter of Bush's war in Iraq who has seen the light and came out today with the strongest indictment yet of this terrible tragedy of a war. (Ed note: Maybe he should be in line for the Backbone Award? --- He gets my vote! GR)

Read his devastating speech here, excerpts below. This should be a bombshell as Murtha is a low profile/non-grandstander type, conservative, extremely well-respected and has ton of credibility on this issue.

Surely, this will be the beginning of the end!

For Immediate Release: November 17, 2005

The Honorable John P. Murtha: War in Iraq

(Washington D.C.)- The war in Iraq is not going as advertised. It is a flawed policy wrapped in illusion. The American public is way ahead of us. The United States and coalition troops have done all they can in Iraq, but it is time for a change in direction. Our military is suffering. The future of our country is at risk. We can not continue on the present course. It is evident that continued military action in Iraq is not in the best interest of the United States of America, the Iraqi people or the Persian Gulf Region.
.....
Our troops have become the primary target of the insurgency. They are united against U.S. forces and we have become a catalyst for violence. U.S. troops are the common enemy of the Sunnis, Saddamists and foreign jihadists. I believe with a U.S. troop redeployment, the Iraqi security forces will be incentivized to take control. A poll recently conducted shows that over 80% of Iraqis are strongly opposed to the presence of coalition troops, and about 45% of the Iraqi population believe attacks against American troops are justified. I believe we need to turn Iraq over to the Iraqis. I believe before the Iraqi elections, scheduled for mid December, the Iraqi people and the emerging government must be put on notice that the United States will immediately redeploy. All of Iraq must know that Iraq is free. Free from United States occupation.

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As a long-suffering but loyal Democrat, I am getting more and more excited by the state of our party, both nationally and here in our beautiful blue state. In a nutshell, I think the Democrats are getting their act together! And not a moment too soon, as the righties are taking our beloved country on a fast road to perdition.

Now I am not a party rah-rah type and I know there is still plenty room for improvement, especially when we have Diebold counting the votes, and when huge corporate donations playing such a major role in Congress. Wu's vote for the credit-card company welfare act (aka the bankruptcy bill) continues to rankle, as does Wyden's great-one-day, appalling-the-next voting record.

And being a Deaniac, don't even get me started on the weaknesses and missed opportunities of the Kerry campaign.

But I believe it's time to look forward, and there is ample reason to hope. Let's focus on the positive and get started on the road to victory.

And it's not just because the Bushco regime is finally imploding under the weight of their lies, immorality and corruption.

To take just a few examples...

Give 'em hell Harry Reid is kicking butt in the Senate.

John Edwards finally has the guts to admit he was wrong.

And of course, our beloved Howard continues to speak the truth and call a spade a spade, while pushing through real and significant reform in the DNC, empowering and invigorating state parties in every single state.

Here in Oregon, we've got the House Democrats leading the way, and it bodes extremely well for 2006 and taking back the House.

To take just one example-- check this out:

Take the House Democrats Challenge They totally get it--empowering and engaging the grassroots is the road to victory.

Onward, Democrats!

From the great folks at Wal-Mart Watch, here's something mighty fun.

Takes time to download (on my creaky computer anyway), but well worth the wait! Click here to read more and watch the video. Unlike the other Jib Jabs, this doesn't poke fun at both sides but is a straightforward, devastating head-on attack. Go Jib Jab!

Cross-posted over at DFO's Take Action section on Wal-Mart.

Anyone out there involved in the various local efforts to oppose Wal-Mart, please give us an update.

I just participated in a long phone survey about the Multnomah County Commission race that I assume had to be commissioned by Ted Wheeler, who is opposing Diane Linn for the chairship.

It was interesting to see the process at work--much of the latter half of the poll was testing out various messages about Ted Wheeler and about where the county should be going.

The pollster couldn't pronounce "Multnomah" but he was generally having troubles reading the script, so it wasn't necessarily out of state.

Interestingly, there was also a question about Wal-Mart and whether I supported or opposed Wal-Marts being located in Multnomah County. (That felt great to say--OPPOSE!)

While I think Diane Linn has done some dumb things, I strongly supported the decision to issue licenses for gay marriages and I don't have huge problems with how the county is run. Well okay other than the Wapato Jail debacle. Anyway I'm open to finding out more about Ted Wheeler.

One thing I now know for sure--he has enough money to commission lengthy polls way early in the season.

This just in from Jim Dean at Democracy for America--time for the grassroots to stand up and make our Democratic leaders grow a spine. UPDATE: Okay, this is cool--you can view the (first) names of pledge signers and read their comments at:
http://tools.democracyforamerica.com/local/index.php

The war in Iraq began two years ago on a promise of security -- and a web of deception. Now the mistruths have fallen away -- and we see a presidency, and American prestige, sunk in a quagmire.

The cost: almost 2,000 American lives lost. Over $300 billion spent. A growing tab for our children and grandchildren, in the form of the largest budget deficit in our country's history. And for the Iraqi people, a stable democracy -- and peace -- remain nowhere in sight.

Here is a report from DFO folks at the Democratic Party's summit in Sunriver this weekend.

You can download the DPO's video from the event here, and let's hope they make a highlights DVD available! There is a discussion thread about the event on Blue Oregon.

It was a working weekend for us DFO'ers as we were manning an info table and talking to people about DFA meetups, our DFO Action PAC, and partying with Peter Buckley, Pete Sorenson, Rob Brading (who appears to be running against Karen Minnis, hooray!) and of course our very own, beloved "Flat Howard."