Day: April 7, 2006

How important is this year’s election? According to the Boston Globe, it’s the whole ball of wax.

A Democratic-led Congress could bury the last vestiges of Bush’s legislative agenda and subject the administration to high-profile investigations of the Iraq war, the CIA leak case, warrantless eavesdropping and other matters.

Tom DeLay felt the same way, and it’s one reason he decided not to run again. The point of the Globe story is how bad Bush’s numbers are now that people are getting sworn court documents that show he’s a vindictive (alert: sexist slang ahead) prick. But it also underscores how much our side has to lose if we don’t get our act together.

The AP-Ipsos survey is loaded with grim election-year news for a party struggling to stay in power. Nearly 70 percent of Americans believe the nation is headed in the wrong direction — the largest percentage during the Bush presidency and up 13 points from a year ago.

“These numbers are scary. We’ve lost every advantage we’ve ever had,” GOP pollster Tony Fabrizio said. “The good news is Democrats don’t have much of a plan.”

The thought of Howard Dean leading the charge for our team isn’t that reassuring to me. And the saying, “the election is his to lose” doesn’t help. If anyone can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, it’s Dr. Dean.

So what are we going to do? Let’s start with getting ourselves an education. There are some great books out there on what we need to do differently. “Start Making Sense” by the editors of Alternet; “Crashing the Gate: Netroots, Grassroots and the Rise of People-Powered Politics” by Jerome Armstrong, strategist for Howard Dean’s presidential campaign, and Daily Kos’ Markos Moulitas Zuniga; “Gods Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It,” by Jim Wallis; “Take It Back: Our Party, Our Country, Our Future” by James Carville and Paul Begala are just a few, and most of them are available at Buzzflash and other sites.

Next, if you’ve volunteered in a political campaign before, do it again. If not, make this the year you start. Look around and pick the non-Republican candidate you think has the best shot and throw your support (money, time, influence) to that person.

Yes, it’s an off-year. No, we’re not voting for a president this time. But something tells me the presidency is still at stake in this election, in a personal way for the current occupant of the position, and in a larger sense for our country. Don’t sit on the sidelines.

Spending spree: You’d think they had just won the lottery, the way both houses of Congress are spending money they don’t have. And the profligate payouts are conspicuously bipartisan.

According to Congress Daily, Tuesday the Senate Appropriations Committee approved a fiscal 2006 emergency supplemental spending bill that is $15 billion more than the White House had requested. The measure next heads to the floor, where senators likely will try to attach billions more to the bloated bill.

The supplemental package, meant to cover wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, hurricane relief and other purposes, has hit $106.5 billion. After Tuesday’s committee action, it was about $10 billion heftier, with additional dollars earmarked for everything from Midwest drought relief to aid for New England lobstermen. The money was ladeled out in such a spirit of bipartisan largesse that none of the bill’s appropriations required a recorded vote.

During the final two hours in committee, money was pumped into the bill at an astounding rate of more than $80 million per minute.

The Spend-ators are not done yet, so when the bill goes to the floor after the Easter recess look for such amendments as $1.2 billion for veterans’ medical care. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., is saying she’ll hold up all of President Bush’s nominees and appointments until he asks Congress for $6 billion more to rebuild levees in New Orleans.

The committee approved the bill 27-1, with the lone protest vote cast by Senate Budget Chairman Judd Gregg, R-N.H.

Even the White House — no slouch when when it comes to running up tabs — is alarmed by the sight of senators spending money like drunken sailors:

“The continued progress toward passage is good news, but the Senate committee’s funding level is significantly higher than the president’s request and that’s a cause for serious concern,” said Office of Management and Budget spokesman Scott Milburn.

The House of Repre-spendatives passed a more conservative $92 billion spending measure, so whatever final supplemental bill emerges in conference will be somewhere between that figure and the Senate’s $106.5 billion-plus.

But of course much of this frenzied spending is related to the fact that mid-term elections are looming on the horizon. House Republicans are seeking to add $7.2 billion for domestic — read “pork barrel” — programs.

Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., who faces a tough re-election fight, co-sponsored a $4 billion amendment providing crop and livestock assistance for farmers and ranchers hurt by drought, frost and floods across the country.

Other amendments include $2.3 billion to combat avian flu; $1.1 billion in aid for the commercial seafood and recreational fishing industries, including $20 million for New England lobstermen affected by last year’s toxic red tide; $648 million for port security; $600 million for Katrina evacuee housing; $594 million for emergency highway repairs, and a measly $350 million for education.