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Santorum is out
My apologies for abandoning this site on Aug 1, but there were some House races
that I wanted to win in NJ and unforunately, we didn't win them. But Santorum is out, and as a progressive, pro-choice
woman, I'm hoping Casey will support us when the time comes for Supreme Court appointments.
I resented all along Barbara Hafer being pushed out of the race after she declared in March of last year (she was a pro-choice,
former treasurer, former Republican).
I thought the Democratic primary voters should have decided whether to go for the 'big tent' strategy.
I hope Bob Casey Jr will take into consideration the exceptionally high murder rate in Philadelphia when he votes on gun
issues. And I pray for my Catholic cousin with MS when he votes on stem cell research.
Women's issues have been jettisoned by this race, and I hope women will not rue the day.
To Senator Reid, Speaker of the House Pelosi, Chairman Dean, speaking from PA and NJ: women and minorities are
the backbone of the Dem party, don't abandon us. I plead for no more votes like the torture vote, for no more
funding of the war and to put corporate interests on the back burner for the benefit of average Americans.
I pulled my weight for a year and a half...
"Congressman Hoekstra and I are here today to say that we have found weapons of mass destruction
in Iraq, chemical weapons. … Since 2003, coalition forces have recovered approximately 500 weapons munitions
which contain degraded mustard or sarin nerve agent. Despite many efforts to locate and destroy Iraq’s pre-Gulf War
chemical munitions, filled and unfilled pre-Gulf War chemical munitions are assessed to still exist."
--Santorum
"Rolling out some old fairly toxic stuff sounds to me life a desperate claim by those who wish that we could
find some new way to rationalize the ongoing devastation in Iraq." -- Rep. Jane Harman, ranking Dem on the House Intelligence
Committee
Santorum votes with the environmental group only 10% of the time and has taken $463,578
from oil and gas companies over his career. He voted 6 times against raising fuel efficiency standards and now the
average price at the pump for gasoline in PA is $2.91. Every river and stream in PA is under a fish advisory for mercury.
Santorum voted to allow a 20 year delay in reduction of mercury emissions. Though he was defeated, he tried to oppose
the 'sense of the Senate' resolution acknowledging that global warming is real and mandatory limits on greenhouse gases are
necessary.
Some of the questions for Santorum, other senators supporting the marriage amendment
and staff answering the phone: ... Has the senator ever had sex before marriage? Have you? What about
adultery and prostitution? Will they swear never to have been involved, and never to be involved, in either? Will the senator
promise never to divorce? And finally, if the senator is married, do they have children, and if not, why not?
The intrusion on privacy of the Senators and staff members answering the phone is meant
to serve as a reminder of how far Santorum is willing to go in denying privacy rights to uphold state laws against sodomy,
etc.
| Arlington North, Memorial Day, 2006 |
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| Independence Mall, Philadelphia, photo - M. Frugier |
May 27, 2006
Gen. Hayden's nomination drew fire from some Democrats and civil liberties
groups because he headed the National Security Agency when it began conducting warrantless wiretaps of Americans' international
phone calls in a bid to find possible terrorists.
Before every election, the Post-Gazette routinely sends letters to the candidates seeking material for the Voters Guide.
Back in March, as part of that process for the primary, the newspaper sent a letter to Rick Santorum at his home address,
at least the one that he claims. Back from Penn Hills came the letter with a sticker from the U.S. Postal Service checked
as
"Not Deliverable As Addressed -- Unable To Forward."
The whole thing is rooted in one inconvenient fact for Sen. Santorum:
He doesn't live here anymore...
So what we have is the senator making untrue and outrageous comments while seeking to hide behind his wife and kids in
order to get around an inconvenient fact. We have a feeling that those who do live here may have something to say about
this cowardly tactic at the November polls. Pittsburgh Post Gazette
People do not have a right to know the government is collecting information on their phone calls,
U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum said during a Friday visit to Shippensburg. Santorum said the ability of
the National Security Agency to track phone calls is just another tool in the government's war against terrorism and not something
that should have been made public. "Obviously there are things the general public doesn't know .
.. and shouldn't know," he told a (Chambersburg) Public Opinion reporter during a question-and-answer session... "I don't think it is an invasion of privacy."
Senate passes supplemental spending bill on Iraq with Biden amendment preventing any of the money
from being spent on 'permanent' bases [vote #112] Amendment passed on a voice vote, so we don't know how Santorum voted. He voted for the $109 billion supplemental
spending bill, including $66 billion for war. The president has threatened to veto, since he wanted a $92 billion bill.
| OCCUPATION WILL END WHEN CONGRESS STOPS FUNDING |
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| EASTER Sunday outside Specter's house, photo - M. Frugier |
| Message to the GOP: Stop the Politics of Hate |
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| Philadelphia, Apr 10, 2006, photo - M. Frugier |
Court papers say Bush approved leaking Iraq intelligence, Apr 6, 2006
Vice President Dick Cheney's former top aide,
I. Lewis Libby, told prosecutors President Bush authorized the leak of sensitive intelligence information about Iraq, according
to court papers filed by prosecutors in the CIA leak case.
DeLay to resign from Congress Apr 4, 2006
DeLay"s Political Action Committee, Americans for a Republican Majority, gave
Santorum 2006 $5,000 on Dec 13, 2004
Will Santorum return money he received from Tony Rudy, DeLay's chief of staff who pled guilty to conspiracy last
week after being involved in bribery and fraud?
Rudy pleaded guilty Friday to one count of conspiracy,
agreeing to cooperate with the Justice Department’s investigation into a widespread bribery and fraud scheme spearheaded
by disgraced GOP lobbyist Abramoff... At press time, an aide to Santorum
was looking into the matter.
Pittsburgh's WTAE-TV 4 investigative report on Santorum's charity available on Casey website Santorum denies head of charity, Rob Bickhart, is a lobbyist, even though Bickhart's firm's
website mentions lobbying as one of the services they provide and Specter asked Senate ethics committee to look into whether Specter's aide, who is married to Bickhart, helped
Bickhart get a $50 million contract
Michelman decides against Senate run
| FDA OUT TO LUNCH |
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Action
Alert: Phone or fax Senator McCain and ask him to call on "Americans for Job
Security" to disclose their donors or call on Santorum to reject their help. Sen. McCain's office: (202) 224-2235,
fax (202) 228-2862
Americans for Job Security is a Republican-leaning, anti-tax group that says its money
comes from 500 individuals, corporations, business groups and other sources... In
spite of its political activity, the IRS has classified the group as a 501-c-6 organization, a nonprofit business association, comparable to a Chamber of Commerce. Under IRS rules, it
is not required to disclose publicly how it raises money.
If the grandfather and grandson walking together in Sen. Rick Santorum's Internet ad
look familiar, it could be because the same two actors are in a TV ad that a third-party group is running in support
of Santorum. A spokeswoman for Santorum has repeatedly denied any
connection between Santorum and the group, Americans for Job Security... Michael
Dubke, president of the Republican-leaning third-party group, and John Brabender, Santorum's media consultant, each denied
that the two sides had collaborated in any way. They each said it was a coincidence they used the same stock footage in their
respective ads. Dec 2, 2005
"The need to reform the
avalanche of soft money in our political system is evident in every competitive race in this country where parties, business
and labor, and ideological groups on all sides are spending hundreds of millions of unlimited, and in some cases, unreported
dollars to influence federal elections," said Senator John McCain, Sep, 2002
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| Volume 17.3, March 2006 |
The American Prospect Exclusive: An investigation into the private
and public finances of Rick Santorum suggests that the Senate GOP might want to reconsider making him its ethics czar.
-- Will Bunch
Specter denies aide acted improperly, despite assistant's husband who
heads lobbying firm having clients who landed $50 million in contracts
Specter says he'll speak for Santorum early and often, continue to raise money for him and even
put Santorum's name first on joint press releases announcing goodies for the state. Nov 29, 2005
Santorum introduced legislation to protect hunters' privacy, Sportsmens' Privacy Protection Act, repeal
of federal law requiring agencies to collect Social Security numbers on recreational licenses. NRA supports the
bill
Action Alert: Specter believes spy program violates law. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' explanations so far for the Bush administration's failure to obtain warrants for
its domestic surveillance program are "strained" and "unrealistic," according to Sen. Specter. Call Senator
Specter and others on the Judiciary Committee and demand that they do their jobs by protecting us from this abuse
of power and ask that they pass along our sentiments to the Senators on the Judiciary Committee. And you can contact those
Senators directly, e.g. Specter, Leahy, Schumer, Feinstein, Kennedy, Feingold, Brownback, Kyl, Biden, Graham, by calling toll-free
at 800-614-2803. Ask for the appointment of a SPECIAL COUNSEL to independently investigate the
actions of this Administration and prosecute any crimes. CALL NOW.
Santorum says liberals, media are undermining war support, risky if he's perceived as criticizing
Murtha, more on Iraq
Ripon Society is travel agent to lobbyists, "skirting congressional
ethics rules that forbid lobbyists from paying for congressional travel," former head, Michael Dubke, is now president of Americans for Job Security, "non profit business association"
that paid $1 million in TV ads for Santorum without disclosing their donors
Under president Richard S. Kessler, himself a prominent Washington lobbyist,
people who represent corporate interests before Congress have "spent millions taking lawmakers to European capitals and U.S.
resorts" under the auspices of the Ripon Society and the affiliated Ripon Educational Fund, the group Public Citizen charged
in a new report... Members of Congress have gone on trips costing the Ripon Society and Ripon
Education Fund $742,000 since 2000. In addition, Kessler's clients have provided another $273,000 for congressional travel... The Ripon Education Fund has provided members of Congress trips to conferences held in a number of European capitals,
including London in 2003 and Budapest in 2004... On the August 2003 trip to London, the Education
Fund picked up the tab for 20 members of Congress, including Rep. Thomas M. Reynolds (N.Y.), chairman of the National Republican
Congressional Committee, and Rep. Michael G. Oxley (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. The elected
officials were accompanied by more than 100 lobbyists... These included representatives of American Express, Bristol-Myers
Squibb Co. and General Motors Corp... Ripon Society Chief Administrative Officer George McNeill said
the organization has held three domestic conferences this year and last, in Key Biscayne, Palm Beach and Dallas. He said he
could not estimate the number of lobbyists who attended, paying their own way. The society pays the costs for elected officials
and congressional staff, and for academics and other experts addressing the conferences, McNeill said.
| ACT UP protesters arrive at Justice Sunday III |
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| Greater Exodus Baptist Church, Phil, Jan 8 |
Santorum rails against Alito opposition
... at 'Justice Sunday III'... Across the street, about 150 protesters held signs and
chanted. Organizers, including AIDS activists and abortion rights supporters, maintain that sponsors of "Justice Sunday" back
a dangerous mixing of church and state and an agenda that threatens civil rights. "Real justice does not tolerate hatred. Real justice is not about inequality. Real justice is about diversity," the
Rev. Jeffery H. Jordan, senior pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church of Philadelphia, told the cheering crowd.
Jan 8, 2006
Stop Trying to Undermine the Independence of the Federal Courts! DSCC
Petition to Santorum
| Fox Guarding Hens |
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| DSCC K Street Ad |
Justice Sunday III: Proclaim Liberty throughout
the Land Jan 8, 2006
Abramoff gets almost 6 years in prison Mar 29, 2006
Santorum to donate $11K in Abramoff-connected money to charity Jan 6, 2006
Casey calls on Santorum to return Abramoff money Jan 3, 2006
$11,000 in contributions to campaign, leadership PAC, and 527
On a day when high-profile Republicans including George Bush, Tom DeLay, and Roy Blunt are returning money connected
to Jack Abramoff, Senator Santorum is noticeably silent.
"Santorum should return the Abramoff money, but this is just the tip of the iceberg. Rick Santorum's leadership
of the K Street Project is another example of a culture of corruption in Washington that needs to end, said Bob Casey spokesperson Larry Smar. "...This
is one of the many reasons why we need a change of direction in Washington."
Santorum received the following contributions connected to Abramoff.
* $5,000 from the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians to America's Foundation Non-Federal (Santorum’s
527) in the 2002 Cycle
* $2,000 from the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe $2,000 to the Santorum campaign in the 2004 Cycle
* $1,000 from the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians to the Santorum campaign in the 2000 Cycle
* $1,000 from the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians to America's Foundation (Santorum’s
leadership PAC) in the 2004 Cycle
* $2,000 from the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians to America's Foundation (Santorum’s leadership
PAC) in the 2004 Cycle
Santorum and other GOP lawmakers misrepresent reason for stripping low income heating assistance from
budget, try to blame it on removal of controversial ANWR drilling from Defense bill
A spokesman for U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., said Democrats stripped out the $2 billion
in LIHEAP money because it would have been funded by revenues from oil drilling in ANWR. Robert Greenstein of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said in a teleconference with reporters yesterday that there was no legal linkage between ANWR and LIHEAP. Patriot News Dec 23, 2005
Read Santorum's links to Walmart, download the flyer:
The Santorum/Walmart Connection
Of the six
companies we are asking not to support Santorum's re-election, only Pfizer gave to Santorum since our campaign started,
and in contrast to its Mar 22, 2005 contribution of $2,500 before our campaign, Pfizer's June 23, 2005 contribution was $500.
NONE HAVE GIVEN SINCE THEN, as of March 31, 2006 FEC reporting. Keep up the pressure and ask your friends and family
to email the letter, too!
Action Alert:
Write your representative
and ask them to Scrap the Pentagon Database. If you're 16-25 years old, opt out of the three year old illegal database containing 30 million names, SSNs, GPAs, ethnicities and interests.
(Check back for update on Jun 23- Jul 21 during the August recess. Sorry for the break -SW editor)
"Rolling out some old fairly toxic stuff sounds to me life a desperate claim by those
who wish that we could find some new way to rationalize the ongoing devastation in Iraq," Harman said. [Harman is the
ranking Dem on the House Intelligence Committee]
"Congressman Hoekstra and I are here today to say that we have found weapons of mass
destruction in Iraq, chemical weapons. … Since 2003, coalition forces have recovered approximately 500 weapons
munitions which contain degraded mustard or sarin nerve agent. Despite many efforts to locate and destroy Iraq’s pre-Gulf
War chemical munitions, filled and unfilled pre-Gulf War chemical munitions are assessed to still exist." Santorum
The English section filled with concern about
the "amnesty-ridden proposal," but the Spanish section made no mention of amnesty
in its discourse on immigration. Nor did it refer to "rewarding criminal behavior" of illegal immigrants, as the English version
did.
| Arlington North, Memorial Day, 2006 |
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| Independence Mall, Philadelphia, photo - M. Frugier |
Gen. Hayden's nomination drew fire from some Democrats and civil liberties groups because he headed
the National Security Agency when it began conducting warrantless wiretaps of Americans' international phone calls in a bid
to find possible terrorists... Specter said he did so to protest "the administration's policy of not informing the Congress ... in a way which enables the Congress and the
Judiciary Committee to do our constitutional job on oversight."
Before every election, the Post-Gazette routinely sends letters to the candidates seeking material for the
Voters Guide. Back in March, as part of that process for the primary, the newspaper sent a letter to Rick Santorum at his
home address, at least the one that he claims. Back from Penn Hills came the letter with a sticker from the U.S. Postal Service
checked as "Not Deliverable As Addressed -- Unable To Forward." ...The whole thing is rooted in one
inconvenient fact for Sen. Santorum: He doesn't live here anymore... So what we have is the senator making untrue and
outrageous comments while seeking to hide behind his wife and kids in order to get around an inconvenient fact. We have
a feeling that those who do live here may have something to say about this cowardly tactic at the November polls. Pittsburgh Post Gazette
The Santorums pay property taxes and register their cars in Penn Hills, Pa. They get their teeth cleaned
and eyes checked by area doctors. The family burial site is located there, too. U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum (R., Pa.) cited
those reasons and more in a letter yesterday to the Allegheny County solicitor as proof that a local Democrat's challenge to his residency has no merit. Philadelphia Inquirer
Santorum did not respond to questions, and it is unclear whether he will vote for the
legislation, which President Bush supports. In an article published on his Web site, Santorum noted that he cosponsored the
fencing amendment and emphasized the need for border security. He voted for the English-language provision and against a larger
guest-worker program. He supported two failed amendments: one that would have required border security measures to be complete
and operational before legal status is granted to any immigrant, and another to ensure that the temporary-worker program was
not a "shortcut" to legalization of citizenship. He wants illegal workers to return to their countries and reenter the United
States legally.
The accusations began Tuesday, the day of Pennsylvania’s primary, when Ed Vecchio, husband of the
chairwoman of the local Democratic Party, told KDKA, the local CBS affiliate, that Santorum did not live in Penn Hills. Democrats
have charged Santorum with bilking Penn Hills’ school district to pay for his children’s schooling in Virginia.
According to KDKA’s website. Vecchio said, “The house he’s registered to vote out of is vacant — no
curtains, furniture, nothing in there. It’s been abandoned for over a month. So I feel it’s my right to contest
his vote.”
Santorum exploded Tuesday on television at the perception that Vecchio had been snooping around his home,
and his wife, Karen, called the U.S. Capitol Police, who notified the Penn Hills Police Department, said Chief Burton.
Vecchio
later told reporters that the senator’s home appeared to be empty, a statement that Santorum said was false, according
to The Philadelphia Inquirer. But Vecchio’s wife said she and her husband did not set foot on the property and would
take a lie-detector test to prove it. She said her husband was referring to information from the local media. Burton said
that Mrs. Santorum did not see anyone snooping around the house, that nobody else did either and that police have stepped
up their routine checks on Santorum’s house while cruising the neighborhood.
The vitriol continued Thursday on WILK radio when Santorum said, “Now that he is a nominee, it
is time for him to start acting like a candidate instead of a thug.” Santorum stands by his comments, said Virginia
Davis, Santorum’s spokeswoman. In a response letter, Casey spokesman Larry Smar said, “Santorum is
trying to distract from the real issues. Bob Casey had nothing to do with this. It’s an outrageous and desperate attempt
to change the subject.”
The Senate also approved a provision that would prevent illegal immigrants from petitioning for a guest-worker
permit without the sponsorship an employer. [vote #128] And in a unanimous vote, Senate accepted an amendment that would bar granting work permits to undocumented
immigrants convicted of either a felony or at least three misdemeanors. The measure would effect even those who ignored a
court-deportation order. [vote #125] May 18, 2006
People do not have a right to know the government is collecting information on their phone calls, U.S. Sen.
Rick Santorum said during a Friday visit to Shippensburg. Santorum said the ability of the National
Security Agency to track phone calls is just another tool in the government's war against terrorism and not something that
should have been made public. "Obviously there are things the general public doesn't know . .. and
shouldn't know," he told a (Chambersburg) Public Opinion reporter during a question-and-answer session... "I
don't think it is an invasion of privacy."
Speaking from the Senate floor, U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum (R., Pa.) urged his colleagues
to curtail a popular perk: private corporate-sponsored flights at bargain rates for members of Congress. "This
is clearly a subsidy," he said March 8. Two days earlier, he had taken a BellSouth plane from a
runway near his home in Leesburg, Va., to fund-raising events in North Carolina and South Carolina. The jet ferried Santorum,
two aides and Ward White, BellSouth's top Washington lobbyist. Santorum paid $6,955 - first-class
rates, as Senate rules require, but a fraction of what it costs to operate the plane...
But even as Frist and Sen. Rick Santorum defended the rebate proposal yesterday, other
Republicans were declaring it dead.
The cost of the war is expected to top $282 billion by the end of the year, a figure
reflecting steady escalation since 2003, according to reported estimates (other estimates are higher) from the D.C.-based
think-tank, the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. That's enough money to run Pennsylvania for
a decade. The human cost so far is 2,389 Americans dead (116 from Pennsylvania, more than any state
other than the much-larger states of California and Texas) and 17,469 Americans wounded.
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