The Truth Handler: January 2008

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Ron Paul Campaign Announces Minnesota Veterans for Paul Coalition

The Ron Paul 2008 Republican presidential campaign today announced the
formation of the Minnesota Veterans for Paul Coalition.Over 125 Minnesotan war veterans have endorsed ten-term Texas
Congressman and Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, and have
signed onto the Minnesota Veterans for Paul Coalition in the past day.

Ron Paul Campaign Announces Minnesota Veterans for Paul Coalition: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

Ron Paul's Responses in CA "Debate" at Ronald Reagan Library

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

National Taxpayers Union: Only Ron Paul Would Cut Spending

According to a report released Tuesday by the National Taxpayers Union, Texas Congressman Ron Paul is the only remaining presidential candidate who proposes net spending cuts. According to the report, Congressman Paul’s proposals would cut government spending by over $150 billion, a conservative estimate of the spending reductions Dr. Paul has proposed. The report concludes that the other remaining Republican candidates, Mitt Romney, John McCain and Mike Huckabee, have proposed spending increases of $19.5 billion, $6.9 billion and $54 billion respectively.

National Taxpayers Union: Only Ron Paul Would Cut Spending — Ron Paul 2008

Saturday, January 26, 2008

The great fiscal stimulus package ... of 1929

With that in mind, Herbert Hoover -- only nine months into his presidency -- assembled leaders from the public and private sectors to create an economic-stimulus package. Among the measures, Time magazine reported at the time, was a promise from Congress to offer bipartisan support for a tax-cut package. The proposal called for $160 million in tax relief -- only about $22 billion if adjusted against the gross domestic product at the time, and therefore much smaller than the plan under consideration here in 2008.

The great fiscal stimulus package ... of 1929 - MarketWatch

100% of Contributors to Ron Paul in Q3 Were Individuals

2008 Presidential Election: Ron Paul Campaign Money

"If you got rid of the income tax today you'd have about as much revenue as we had 10 years ago."

PolitiFact | It would be close to the same revenue

Going bankrupt: The US's greatest threat

Asia Times Online :: Middle East News, Iraq, Iran current affairs

The Legacy of Bush's Presidency

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Friday, January 25, 2008

Rummy Resurfaces, Calls for U.S. Propaganda Agency

This was one of the major themes in one of Rumsfeld's first post-Pentagon public comments at a conference today on network centric warfare sponsored by the Institute for Defense and Government Advancement. According to Rumsfeld, the United States is losing the war of ideas in the Muslim world, and the answer to that, in part, is through the creation of this new government agency.

Rummy Resurfaces, Calls for U.S. Propaganda Agency (Updated) | Danger Room from Wired.com

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Bush's Foreign Policy Making Us "Safer"

NeoCon's Idea of Keeping America Safe

Bush to let successor worry about paying for Iraq

Bush, before:

“I believe it is the job of a President to confront problems, not pass them on to future Presidents and future generations.”

Bush, now:

The White House confirmed Wednesday that its new budget
next month will not request a full year’s funding for the war in Iraq,
leaving the next president and Congress to confront major cost
questions soon after taking office in 2009.

Crooks and Liars » Bush to let successor worry about paying for Iraq

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Media Study Claims Bush Administration Lied Hundreds of Times About Iraq

A study by two nonprofit journalism organizations found that President Bush and top administration officials issued hundreds of false statements about the national security threat from Iraq in the two years following the 2001 terrorist attacks.
FOXNews.com - Media Study Claims Bush Administration Lied Hundreds of Times About Iraq - Politics | Republican Party | Democratic Party | Political Spectrum

“Freedom is about authority. Freedom is about the willingness of every single human being to cede to lawful authority a great deal of discretion about what you do.” - Rudy Giuliani 1994

'Freedom Is About Authority': Excerpts From Giuliani Speech on Crime - New York Times

The U.S. National Debt

Which party is the fiscal conservative one?

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Good Ron Paul Video

Thursday, January 17, 2008

US intel chief wants carte blanche to peep all 'Net traffic

In a long profile published by The New Yorker this week (not yet online, but there's an audio interview with the profile's author at The New Yorker's site),
Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell discusses a plan in
the works to dramatically expand online surveillance. As The Wall Street Journal sums it up,
"in order to accomplish his plan, the government must have the ability
to read all the information crossing the Internet in the United States
in order to protect it from abuse."

US intel chief wants carte blanche to peep all 'Net traffic

Bush Disowns U.S. Intelligence Community

In the latest Newsweek, Michael Hirsh
reports that, during a private conversation with Israeli Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert, Bush "all but disowned" the agencies' Dec. 3 National
Intelligence Estimate on Iran. A "senior administration official who
accompanied Bush" on the trip confided to Hirsh that Bush "told the
Israelis that he can't control what the intelligence community says,
but that [the NIE's] conclusions don't reflect his own views."

Bush undercuts American credibility, again. - By Fred Kaplan - Slate Magazine

Bush has revealed here what we all suspected, that in the lead up to the war on Iraq, he was following "his own views" and not the studied ones of the intelligence agencies. Bush follows his "views" in all to many of his policy decisions, not facts.

Answer 10 Questions to See Who You Should Vote for

VoteChooser.com

Ron Paul and Obama tied for first with me.

AMERICA lags behind other wealthy countries in the overall performance of its medical system

Health care | Could do better | Economist.com

Disappearing White House Emails Timeline

Emptywheel - » Disappearing White House Emails Timeline

Canada places U.S., Israel on torture watch list

Canada's foreign ministry has put the United States and Israel on a
watch list of countries where prisoners risk being tortured and also
classifies some U.S. interrogation techniques as torture, according to
a document obtained by Reuters on Thursday.

Reuters AlertNet - Canada places U.S., Israel on torture watch list

We've become what we're supposedly fighting against.

Thought Crime Here in America

AlterNet: Rights and Liberties: Punishing Thought Crime: Would New Bill Make YOU a Terrorist?

"I think people who say we can be free, but you shouldn't be, are elitist," says Bush, as he provides a monarchy with military aid

Bush, the Blessed Peacemaker - Washington Post

Army Chief of Staff George Casey Worries That "The Surge" Has Left the Army Vulnerable

“The surge has sucked all of the flexibility out of the system,” Army Chief of Staff George Casey said in an interview this week. “And we need to find a way of getting back into balance.”

Think Progress » Escalation has ‘sucked all the flexibility’ out of the system.

London Times Reports U.S. Officials Selling Nuke Secrets

For sale: West’s deadly nuclear secrets - Times Online

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Romney in Boston, "Emission Standards are Good" Romney in Michigan, "Emission Standards are Bad"

Romney stance on Michigan trail clashes with Massachusetts record - The Boston Globe

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Iraq death rate belies US claims of success

The death rate in Iraq in the past 12 months has been the second highest in any year since the invasion, according to figures that appear to contradict American claims that the troop "surge" has dramatically reduced the level of violence across the country.
Iraq death rate belies US claims of success - Independent Online Edition > Middle East