Representative John Yarmuth, a Democrat from Kentucky, said that the Iraq war is a is a “leading cause” of the United State’s recent economic troubles. The Iraq war cost “more than half-a-trillion dollars,” money that he said could and should be used on problems within the United States and not wasted on the improgress associated with the Iraq war effort. “Across America, our roads and bridges are crumbling and are in desperate need of repair, yet taxpayer dollars are being squandered on an Iraqi government that is riddled with waste, fraud and corruption…The cost of one month in Iraq could extend the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which the president vetoed, to 10 million children of working families for a full year,” he said.

Today, the U.S. Senate cast the vote for and ultimately passed a wiretapping program initiated by President George W. Bush that gives more power to the government to spy on it’s citizens, and gives participating telephone companies legal protection. Government agencies no longer need to obtain warrants to tap into telephone calls. The vote passed 68 to 29.

The House voted today to approve a $146 Billion plan aimed at stimulating the economy to hopefully avoid a recession. 385 House members voted in favor of the plan, and 35 members voted against it. 169 of those votes came from Republicans, and 216 of those votes came from Democrats. 10 Democrats and 25 republicans voted against the package.

The plan will give away free money to taxpayers, in the from of checks and tax rebates. The amount given will range from around $300 to around $1800, based on income and other factors, such as the amount of people in a residence.

The plan has been heavily criticized, but it passed today, according to some, because of the need to act quickly to uphold the economy.

After his recently failed presidential bid, Dennis Kucinich hopes to reenter office as Congressman for Ohio’s 10th district. Only one problem: The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer newspaper has started a campaign aimed at removing him from his position in Congress, claiming that he has defied congressional policies. In other words, they dislike him for having “unique” views.

Kucinich is claiming this is more corporate censorship, akin to how he was banned from recent presidential debates on major networks, which ultimately led him to drop out of the presidential race.

Here’s an email we received:
(more…)

The U.S. Senate approved a revised version of the child health care bill, SCHIP, today. It is expected to be vetoed by President Bush once again, and his veto is not expected to be overridden. Congress is still trying, though. This is the second time the bill has been introduced, and the Senate just won’t give up: They already have plans for a third.

House Democrats failed to override President George W. Bush’s veto of the SCHIP health care bill that would have provided about 6 million children that currently do not qualify for Medicaid with health care. Opponents of the bill have said that it was too expensive. The vote was cast 273 to 156, just 13 votes short of the two-thirds majority needed for an override. According to CNN, forty-four Republicans voted for the override.