Daily Glean: GOP unveils its midterm campaign agenda

• With gas prices soaring, ice caps melting, billions worldwide without safe drinking water, 200,000 killed and another 2 million driven from their homes in Darfur, and the planet's only military superpower hellbent on an aggression binge that is fostering global insecurity and instability, thank goodness Republicans in Congress are attacking the really big issues: denying consumers access to the courts, safeguarding the estates of the world's wealthiest people, protecting the flag from desecration and assuring through a Constitutional amendment that George W. Bush will keep the central promise of his re-election campaign and never, ever marry a man. Bloomberg
• Tony Snow wasn't the only Rupert Murdoch media empire personality the Bush administration considered for press secretary. But Bush had to pull away from his first choice after Karl Rove brought it to Bush's attention that American Idol's Simon Cowell was unqualified to serve in the administration; Cowell has exhibited a disturbing tendency to tell the truth. Anyway, we suspect Snow, in front of all those microphones and all those cameras, will not be able to resist the temptation to offer up his own colorful insights and pithy observations on the issues of the day. This could be a train wreck.
• Bush, Frist, Reid, Specter and some of the other kids agree to play nice on an immigration bill -- or at least they agree to say they will. "I have to pat the president on the back," said Reid, who we suspect -- and hope -- is setting the Republicans up so he can knock 'em down. Meantime, the GOP House fire-eaters continue to dig in their heels, and an immigration bill faces what may be growing opposition from conservative GOP senators, including Reid's fine and good friend John Ensign. Prompting Bush, for the second time in one week, to ask in reference to a Nevada Republican, "Who is that guy." LVRJ/LATimes, CNN
• When Bush was in Las Vegas raising money for who we call Rep. Jon Porter but who Bush thinks of fondly as House Republican puppet #189, Bush said, "we've got to make sure small businesses, many of whom are having trouble paying -- getting health care for their employees, have the capacity to pool risk across jurisdictional boundaries..." Sounds innocent enough, but what he was referring to was Senate Bill 1955, sponsored by Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyoming -- a dazzling representation of a bill number matching the year in which the bill's sponsor thinks he lives. The bill is nothing less than the federal government telling states that they have no say over the health insurance industry. Groups from the American Cancer Society to AARP are screaming that by allowing insurance companies to ignore state coverage mandates, the Enzi bill would have all sorts of pernicious effects, from eliminating coverage for cancer screening to striking down state laws that protect seniors from health insurance industry price-gouging. Also among the bill's critics are the attorneys general of 39 states, including Nevada. "State benefit mandates were carefully considered by our state legislatures," the AGs said in a letter to U.S. senators  (pdf)Tuesday. "Allowing health insurers to abandon mandated benefits, many of which are preventative/diagnostic, will result in an increasingly ill population and higher health care costs..." Voters will want to know where Jon Porter -- who would still be working in the aforementioned insurance industry if not for the mentoring of Darth Slanker -- stands on putting the health of corporate insurance financial reports ahead of that of his constituents. Same goes for the Hair-Do, and that obscure Republican congressman who's running for governor.
  • Nevada has the 12th highest number of uninsured (RGJ). Reports in prior years have ranked Nevada as high as 4th in this dismal category -- could be apples and oranges, different studies, different methodologies, etc. Or it simply could be that the deterioration of accessibility to health care has dragged other states down to Nevada's level. Yet again, Nevada shows the way.
• While Bush and his pack of warmongers get all excited about the June 2 big big boom at the Nevada Test Site in the hopes of ultimately promoting their bunker-busting nuclear fantasies, our friends (well, acquaintances, really) at the Union of Concerned Scientists have prepared a fun little animation showing how bunker busters are a) really, really dangerous and b) not very effective. (Thanks, CW)

Comments

[Diogenes]

I believe the folks inside the Beltway think they live on another planet. If the situation weren't so sick, it would be funny. When will the public wake up? This administration and the Congress is going to throw us back to the 14th century (if we're lucky). Glad you mentioned the June 2nd non-nuke test.

During the past week , four news articles caught my attention and caused me to wonder if anyone else is looking at these items and connecting the dots?

The first, was an article acknowledging the 20th anniversary of the disaster at Chernobyl and the fact that the surrounding villages and towns are still too radioactive to be permanently inhabited.

The second article, was an article on the research of the first atomic detonation on July 16th, 1945. Two investigators studied a glassy radioactive substance known as trinitite which was created when Alamogordo, New Mexico sand was vaporized and carried as an airborne vapor in the resultant mushroom cloud. That substance was carried a distance and then precipitated out of the cloud as radioactive droplets.

The third article, dealt with the respiratory problems and recent deaths of WTC “ground zero” rescuers and demolition construction workers at the 9/11site. It is interesting to note that the EPA said the air quality in the area was safe.

And finally, an article concerning the Western Shoshone tribe and some Utah down winders who have initiated a lawsuit against the Defense Department to prevent the scheduled detonation of a 700 plus ton non-nuclear explosive test at the Nevada Test Site scheduled for June 2nd. The detonation is to take place in a 30 foot deep pit, located over above one of the test site tunnels. The location of this test is approximately 100 miles from Las Vegas. This test is scheduled in the same general area as previous nuclear tests.

Now since the payload capacity of the largest operational bomber is about 35 tons, I would assume this scheduled demolition is a “bunker busting” penetration test for tactical, low yield, nuclear weapons. If this be the case, I have to wonder about all the low yield tactical weapon studies accomplished over the decades and why this one is needed. Does it have anything to do with underground nuclear processing facilities of Iran? If this test creates a situation which exposes millions of Americans to any of the uncertainties cited in the above articles, why are we doing so?

I ask the question, which, if any of our elected representatives are looking into this questionable test? Or maybe I should be asking does anyone bother to connect dots?

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