Nancy Pelosi and Democratic Leaders Send Bush Letter Condemning His Opposition To Military Pay Raise

      Below is a letter that the Democratic leaders jointly issued to Bush  in response to his opposing a pay raise for the U.S. troops and for opposing an increase in benefits to surviving spouses of our of our military men and women.

May 18, 2007

The Honorable George W. Bush
President
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President,

We are writing to urge you to reconsider your objections to H.R. 1585, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008.

Your office’s recent Statement of Administration Policy on H.R. 1585 raised several concerns regarding this bipartisan legislation that the House of Representatives passed yesterday by an overwhelming 397-27 margin.

In particular, the Statement of Administration Policy on H.R. 1585 objected to sections 601 and 606, which raises military pay 0.5% above your proposal, and Section 644, which provides an extra $40 per month for surviving spouses of fallen members of our armed services.

Mr. President, you have consistently called on Congress and the American people to support our troops. Considering the sacrifices that our military families make, the Democratic proposal to provide the troops with the pay raise they deserve and an increase in benefits for the spouses they may leave behind is one small way that we can support our troops.

When it comes to supporting our troops, our actions must match our words. Please join us in supporting our troops by reconsidering both your veto threat to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, and your objections to an increase in military pay and survivor benefits for the brave men and women serving our country in the armed forces.

Respectfully,

Nancy Pelosi
Speaker of the House

Steny Hoyer
Majority Leader

James E. Clyburn
Majority Whip

Rahm Emanuel
Chair, Democratic Caucus

Ike Skelton
Chair, House Armed Services Committee

Ellen Tauscher
Chair, Strategic Forces Subcommittee

Steve Israel
Member of Congress

 

Tags: Nancy Pelosi Democrats George Bush Military pay raise

Ernie Fletcher Leads In Kentucky GOP Republican Primary Polls

    The primary for governor of Kentucky is next week and according to two polling groups, Republican governor Ernie Fletcher is in the lead at this point in time.

Bluegrass Poll. 5/10-15. Likely Republican voters. MoE 5.2% (No trend lines)

Fletcher 41
Northup 26
Harper 10

SurveyUSA. 4/28-4/30. Likely Republican voters. MoE 4% (3/31-4/2 results)

Fletcher 46 (40)
Northup 34 (31)
Harper 14 (16)

  You no why they really call Kentucky the ' blue grass state ' ? It is because the Republican residents of the state are  to ignorant and to stupid to vote out one of the most corrupt governors in the nation.

   On the Democrat side of the fence.

Bluegrass Poll. 5/10-15. Likely Republican voters. MoE 5.2% (No trend lines)

Beshear 27
Lunsford 21
Henry 13

SurveyUSA. 4/28-4/30. Likely Democratic voters. MoE 4% (3/31-4/2 results)

Lunsford 29 (20)
Beshear 23 (15)
Henry 18 (20)

  Lunsford needs to be beaten in this one as he is a Democratic in name only. He endorses and backs more of the Republican crap than he does the Democratic things.

  Bluegrass Report

 

Top 10 Reasons To Vote Against Bruce Lunsford For Governor

10. During the 2006 congressional race, Lunsford personally contributed more money to Anne Northup ($4,100) than to John Yarmuth ($2,000).
9. Four years ago, during the KET Democratic gubernatorial debate, Lunsford vowed to support the Democratic nominee in the general election, but on October 20, 2003, while standing next to his “friend” Sen. Mitch McConnell (R), Lunsford endorsed Ernie Fletcher for governor.

8. Lunsford now promises “I’ll fix our broken health-care system” but as Chairman and CEO of Vencor, he paid $104.5 million to the federal government for Medicare/Medicaid fraud claims.

7. A few months before Vencor publicly admitted to investors about declining revenues and staggering debt in 1997, Lunsford had sold 50,000 shares at $47 apiece, for $2.35 million. Within three months, Vencor was trading at $30/share, and eventually the stock became worthless.

6. On the Vencor Board of Directors at the time of its crash was none other than current U.S. Secretary of Labor, Elaine Chao, also the wife of U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R).

5. Following his election as governor in 2003, Fletcher named Lunsford to lead a blue ribbon transition team to re-organize government. Immediately, Lunsford’s team eliminated the Labor Cabinet.

4. After Congress cut Medicaid reimbursements to nursing homes, Lunsford offered cash bonuses to his employees who successfully evicted seniors who relied upon Medicaid to pay their bills so they could fill those beds with higher paying, private patients. This practice was known as “patient dumping.”

3. After Congress passed legislation to outlaw Lunsford’s practice of “patient dumping,” he paid a Washington, DC lobbyist $60,000 to try amend the Social Security Act to allow patient dumping after courts told him to stop and Vencor had been fined $780,000 for trying to kick out 137 residents.

2. Between 1995 and 2000, Lunsford personally donated $52,000 to federal political candidates and parties. Of that amount, $40,250 (77%) went to Republicans, including to both of Kentucky’s Republican senators, four Republican congressmen (Rogers, Whitfield, Lewis, Northup), as well as the Republican Party of Kentucky, Republican National Committee, National Republican Senatorial Committee, and George W. Bush for President.

1. In May 2003, Lunsford dropped out the Democratic gubernatorial primary after polls showed him falling into third place (behind Ben Chandler and Jody Richards). Rather than finish third, Lunsford pulled-up lame and blamed a mean Chandler television ad for his surrender. Does Kentucky want another wimp as governor?

***On May 22, Kentucky Democrats must refuse to elect Bruce Lunsford as its nominee for Governor***

  Had enough?

 

Tags: Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher Steve Beshear Bruce Lunsford