Republican Doug Bruce: Bad Citizen, Bad Neighbor

Man, for someone who hates government and hates society so much, you have to wonder what happened to Doug Bruce as a child:

Jane Thomsen and her west-side neighbors are tired of the boarded up, run-down building at 1326 W. Kiowa St. dragging down property values and serving as an occasional shelter to vagrants.

"You can't be allowed to have a property like this. It's just not right," Thomsen said as she strolled by nearby homes with manicured lawns, rose bushes, even an orchard.

Colorado Springs officials agree, and the city has declared the fourplex owned by Douglas Bruce a dilapidated building.

The city will start billing Bruce, a former El Paso County commissioner who was appointed to a state House seat last year, $500 per quarter for inspection fees. It's the latest in a string of city actions against Bruce's ill-kept properties.

That's why Doug Bruce has been called a slumlord, violently anti-social, and a cad. And he's the Colorado Springs Republicans' favorite Republican.

Honor and Integrity

is having your political director, on salary as a White House staffer, try to fire United States Attorneys around the country.

If you ask me it's time to send Karl Rove to jail:

Do you want your President to be the smartest guy in the room.....or the dumbest?

Why YOU should vote Republican.......

"If you want clean water, buy it in a bottle."

Karl's Kompassionate Konservatism

"I could not believe that the President of the United States, staged by Karl Rove himself, had come down to the city of New Orleans and basically put up a stage prop. It was like you had gone to a studio in California and filmed a movie. They put the props up and the minute we were gone they took them down. All the dump trucks were gone. All the Coast Guard people were gone. It was an empty spot with one little crane. It was the saddest thing I have ever seen in my life. At that moment I knew what was going on and I've been a changed woman ever since. It truly changed my life."

Why do Republicans always take terrorists at their word?

Good question.

Bush has done it.

Kelli Arena has done it on CNN.

Joe Lieberman does it. And no, someone who endorses Ol' Man McCain for Prez is not a Dem.

Many other Republicans take the terrorists at their word and feel we should adjust our strategies according to what the terrorists say. How can they be so stupid?

Republican Senator blocks breast cancer research

Family values Republicans strike again:

The Senate is currently considering the Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act, legislation that would authorize $40 million per year over five years to fund research into the possible links between breast cancer and the environment. The proposal has over two-thirds support in the Senate.

But the bill’s passage has been stalled, as a senator placed a “hold” on it. Yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) released a statement announcing that a single Republican senator was blocking the bill. Reid called it “unconsciable” that one person would “singlehandedly block our ability to have a reasonable debate on a bill.”

It appears that this lone senator may be Dr. Tom Coburn (R-OK) — “an obstetrician who sees patients one morning a week.” Yesterday, when Reid brought the bill to the floor for a vote, Sen. John Kyl (R-AZ) “objected” on behalf of Coburn:

REID: Upon the disposition of all amendments…the Senate proceed to vote on the passage of the bill as amended.

WEBB: Is there an objection? Senator from Arizona.

KYL (R): Mr. President, on behalf of Sen. Coburn (R), there is an objection.

Non-racist Republican calls Obama "boy"

Not all Republicans are racists:

"I'm going to tell you something: That boy's finger does not need to be on the button," Davis said. "He could not make a decision in that simulation that related to a nuclear threat to this country."

Not surprised.

Here's the response:

"It's hard to tell what is more outrageous - Representative Davis' condescending and personal attack, or his absurd and offensive claim that Barack Obama is not prepared to defend America. Geoff Davis may hide behind offensive tough talk, but he has marched in lock-step with Bush-McCain policies that have devastated our national security while Barack Obama has stood up against a misguided war in Iraq and worked with respected Republicans like Dick Lugar and Chuck Hagel to secure loose weapons and nuclear materials from terrorists," said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton.

John McCain is breaking the law - that has his name on it!

From the Democratic Party and Howard Dean:

There was a lot of talk last week about John McCain's blatant hypocrisy on ethics and integrity in Washington.

Here we go again.

McCain is now breaking the law by ignoring the campaign spending restrictions for the Republican primary that came when he asked for federal matching funds -- funds he used as collateral on a loan that helped keep his campaign going.

But now that the lobbyist and special interest money has started pouring into his campaign, he's trying to back out of the promise he made just a few months ago. They're feeding so much cash into his bank account, this "reformer" wants nothing to do with federal campaign finance laws anymore.

That's why today, we're filing a formal complaint with the Federal Election Commission demanding that John McCain be held to the campaign finance laws. Trying to back out shows a total lack of integrity and honesty -- he made a deal with the American people to to abide by the law, and in return, he was guaranteed taxpayer money that he used to back a loan.

Bud, I'd like you to add your name in support of our complaint, and ask as many people as you can to sign on. American taxpayers made a deal with John McCain -- now that he's flush with lobbyist cash, he wants to pretend that it never happened.

Sign on right now:

http://www.democrats.org/McCainBusted

Here's the background on the situation.

A few months ago, John McCain applied for and was approved to receive federal matching funds. Because he couldn't find enough people to fund his campaign, he was also forced to apply for a $4 million line of credit, which he secured by using the federal matching funds as collateral.

By taking the federal funding, he agreed to spend no more than $57 million until the Republican convention. But so far, his campaign has spent at least $49 million -- leaving him with less than $10 million to campaign with through September.

Now that he's won the nomination and has the support of the Republican lobbyist and special interest machine, he's trying to ignore that the whole thing ever happened. He recently wrote a letter to the FEC telling them that he was backing out, even though the FEC is very clear that any request to withdraw from the agreement must be approved; you can't just change your mind and take it back -- legally, you have to be given permission.

McCain isn't asking because he knows he'll never be granted permission, and he doesn't want to have to accept the funding restrictions he agreed to when he used the money as collateral for a loan. He's ripping a page right from George Bush's playbook: ignoring the laws when they aren't convenient and hoping no one will notice.

White House lied about FISA intelligence "losses"

The White House lied once again on FISA and the phony-baloney telecomm stuff:

Hours after chiding Congress for not finishing a wiretapping bill and leaving the nation 'vulnerable to terrorist attack,' officials acknowledge all requested information is being received.

Need I say it again? The sky is not falling!!!!!!!!!!!

"This is serious backpedaling by the DNI," the Democratic official said of McConnell. "He's been saying for the last week that the sky is falling, and the sky is not falling."

In his Saturday radio address, Bush called on Congress to quickly pass the wiretapping legislation when it returns Monday from a recess, saying telecommunications companies need the law to help the government monitor foreign terrorists and to protect them from class-action lawsuits.

"The House's refusal to act is undermining our ability to get cooperation from private companies, and that undermines our effort to protect us from terrorist attacks," Bush said in his second radio address in two weeks on the same issue.

The comments by Mukasey, McConnell and Bush were criticized by civil rights and privacy advocates, including Caroline Fredrickson, director of the Washington legislative office of the American Civil Liberties Union.

"In an attempt to get sweeping powers to wiretap without warrants, Republicans are playing politics with domestic surveillance legislation," Fredrickson said.

Republican Doug Bruce works for the charity of......Republican Doug Bruce

So Doug Bruce filed an error-filled per diem report for his first month in Denver. Five days worth - the five days he absolutely couldn't work because he had to maintain his political viability:

In February 21 reporting about Republican state Rep. Douglas Bruce (Colorado Springs) overstating his January per diem request by $750, various newspaper accounts omitted pertinent facts regarding the group to which Bruce said he donates his legislative compensation. The Denver Post identified the organization only as "the pro-Constitution charity he founded," omitting the group's self-description as a "non-profit educational organization" set up to "allow[] concerned citizens to band together to learn how to protect our rights and to work for lower taxes, less government, more accountability, and more personal freedom!" The Rocky Mountain News identified the group and its agenda, but omitted that Bruce founded it and serves as its registered agent.

He did the same thing as an El Paso County commissioner, which looked to me like he was just trying to evade paying taxes:

Bruce told the Independent he signs his checks over to Active Citizens Together, a nonprofit he launched several years ago.

"It's my gross salary," he says, adding that he makes up for the taxes, Social Security and other funds taken out of the check at the end of the year.

"I'm adding all that back in and writing a check," Bruce says.

According to its Web site, actcolorado.org, ACT is an "educational organization whose mission is to educate the citizens of Colorado on the workings of government and how they can influence government at all levels within the state of Colorado."

The group, which sent out mailers last year supporting Issues 200 and 201, backs TABOR, advocates the rights of gun owners and has offered thousands of pocket U.S. Constitutions, Bruce says, to local school districts. Several schools await copies, he adds.

The charity doesn't sit well with Hisey.

"It's a political nonprofit espousing his ideas," Hisey says.

And how is Bruce's non-profit, for the charity of Doug Bruce, organization staffed?

soda719 wrote:

I checked out the website for the "charity", which Doug Bruce is donating his salary and per diem. I was curious about who was on the Board of Directors, a mission statement, if the organization was a 527 or a 501C3, etc. I found none of that. So I decided to call Active Citizens Together, Inc. I finally got the answering machine stating, "This is the home of Doug Bruce ..."

I guess charity really does begin at home.

Nice um, work, if you can get it....

Sideshow Bruce

Doug Bruce kicked off Military Affairs committee in the Colorado State House:

Republican leaders yanked Rep. Douglas Bruce off of the State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee on Friday in retaliation for his refusal to vote for a resolution honoring veterans.

....snip....

“The business of this House needs to move forward without this sideshow. This is not the House of Bruce.”

El Paso County Republicans knew exactly who and what they were doing by appointing Doug Bruce to the House.

El Paso County Republicans Hate the Troops

Case I: Doug "I will not call him Douglas" Bruce

1. Doug Bruce, Republican, voted against a resolution supporting Colorado vets: "A bipartisan resolution expressing the sincere appreciation of the members of the legislature for our military and their families should have been met with solemn gratitude and unity of spirit. It was met instead with dissent and what appeared to be callous indifference for their sacrifice by only one member who refused to cosponsor the measure."

2. Republican Doug Bruce always votes down these bland, safe resolutions that governments pass at all levels: "I think we have better things to do than vote in symbolic, ceremonial resolutions,” Bruce said.

3. El Paso County Republicans new exactly what they were getting with Bruce and knew his hostility towards this type of activity when they chose him to go to the State House.

Case II: Doug Lamborn

1. Republican Doug Lamborn, who never served, ran for Congress against Jay Fawcett, a Bronze Star/Purple Heart Air Force veteran. El Paso County Republicans overwhelmingly voted to send the NON-veteran Lamborn to congress.

2. Doug Lamborn showed his ignorance of military contractor issues (watch the first few minutes) in the campaign for the CD-5 seat.

3. Doug Lamborn is now on the Armed Services Committee.

4. There have been reports of numerous sexual assaults of and by Halliburton contractors in Iraq. These have been ignored and forced into arbitration where these hideous acts will be hidden by the rules.

5. There have been numerous equipment failures that directly affect the survivability of our troops in the field, the latest being kevlar helmets that did not meet standards while at the same time the same company continued to receive DoD contracts: Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are today calling on Congress to investigate how Sioux Manufacturing of North Dakota received a $74 million Pentagon contract to produce Kevlar helmets, when the company was being sued for not producing helmets up to military specifications, and covering it up.

6. Doug Lamborn has addressed neither the out of control contractors nor the insufficient equipment that is still killing our troops.

THEREFORE: El Paso County Republicans hate our troops.

There you have it: two concrete, documented cases of Republicans who show complete disdain for our troops.

When will El Paso County Republicans stop their vicious War of Hate against our brave and honorable troops?

* - using the simplistic, stupid, 3rd-grader logic that is used everyday against Dems - then dutifully repeated by big-time media who can't be bothered to think things through, and then acquiesced to by other Dems who are too chicken to stand up for what's right - who dare question the policies and strategies that have left us in the military situation we're in.

SquarePants Dobson gets whatfor from Gazette readers

Little Jimmy Dobson doesn't like John McCain. He has once again injeted his non-prophet into politics and said he'll never vote for Old Man McCain. Letter writers to the Gazette differ with Dobson:

WHO CARES?
Dobson comment an attempt to influence voters

In light of the ongoing investigations into religious leaders’ attempts to influence political events while enjoying a taxexempt status, I must say I am extremely disappointed with the Gazette’s decision to run the story, “Dobson won’t vote for McCain” in Wednesday’s paper. I see it as a blatant attempt to influence the votes of those who are unable or unwilling to come to their own decision on political matters.

The article even goes so far as to share his personal opinion that the candidates are the worst ever in his lifetime; he must have forgotten about the current president who has lied to us, created the mess in Iraq, given this country’s ideals a black eye by promoting torture while doing his best to subvert the First Amendment.

I hope Gazette readers are smart enough to see through his agenda; if not, I hope they will understand that, almost without exception, there is no candidate out there who could conceivably do worse than the current president. That, and that Dobson’s attempt to peddle political influence without jeopardizing his tax-exempt status has not gone unnoticed.

Tom Wimber
Colorado Springs

McCain more conservative than Democratic candidates

So, James Dobson of Focus on the Family won’t vote for John McCain. Instead, by not supporting McCain, should he become the nomine, by default Dobson is throwing his support behind Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama.

Who does Dobson think will best forward the conservative agenda out of this group? McCain may not be the most conservative, but he will be the most conservative choice come November.

The “I’ll take my ball and go home” attitude Dobson and others like him have when they don’t get their way does nothing to help, it just shows they are an embarrassment to our party.

Jim Balcerovich
Colorado Springs

Current president no great conservative

Who died and made James Dobson God? Why does someone who represents a nonprofit religious-based organization think he needs to be so blatantly verbal regarding politics? Besides that, who cares what he thinks?
Dobson supported George W. Bush; look at his approval rating now.

I’m not a McCain supporter but believe he would do a lot better job then our current president. At least he could not do worse.

Bernice Porter
Colorado Springs

I just hope the continuing conserva-bot crackup continues, cuz I'm not so sure Dems will unite and conquer, even after the last 8 years of abject failure of Republican/Conservative ideas.

Republicans drove the car...

...into a ditch:

If the Government is a car setting out to give every one a ride to work, then for 40 years the Republicans have been puncturing the tires, pouring sand in the gas tank, stealing the distributor cap, and, whenever they can get their hands on the wheel, driving it straight into the nearest ditch and then, pointing to the wreckage as the tow truck backs up to it, saying, "See, this proves that people were meant to walk." And they do this so that they don't have to chip in on gas.

Will Condi Rice's failures be followed by further promotions?

Condi Rice was an abject failure as National Security Advisor. The attacks of 9/11 happened on her watch, and as Richard Clarke was running around with his hair on fire warning of Al Qaeda, Condi Rice sat on her hands:

Clarke, it turned out, had bombarded national-security adviser Condoleezza Rice in the summer of 2001 with impassioned e-mails and memos warning of an Al Qaeda attack--and urging a more forceful U.S. government response. One e-mail jumped out: it pleaded with officials to imagine how they would feel after a tragedy where 'hundreds of Americans lay dead in several countries, including the U.S.,' adding that 'that future day could happen at any time.' The memo was written on Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2001 -- just one week before the attacks on New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

She was promoted to Secretary of State after her failures as NSA. As Secretary of State she had no idea Hamas was about to win in Palestinian elections:

The Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, who was afraid of a Hamas rout at the polls, begged Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to exert United States pressure and postpone the scheduled elections. Rice refused, Harari said, and told Abbas to go forward. (A State Department spokesman declined to confirm the details of their conversation.)

Now, the furthest right of the right-wing Conservatives at CPAC want Condi to be the Veep nominee on the ticket with John McCain - another promotion after another failed job:

Reporting from the Conservative Political Action Conference, the Wall Street Journal notes that conservative activists Crystal Dueker and Rich Holt are attempting to build support for their 527 group Think Condi, “a grassroots movement to get the secretary of state on the presidential ticket as vice president. Dueker and Holter said “they believe Rice is the best running mate for McCain in part because she can bring Bush supporters into the fold who may be wary of his one-time electoral foe.”

Talk about your affirmative action..........

How Republicans DON'T support the troops - Example # 1,347,899

A new Department of Veterans Affairs report finds that “recently discharged veterans are having a harder time finding civilian jobs and are more likely to earn lower wages for years due partly to employer concerns about their mental health and overall skills.” For example, “18 percent of the veterans who sought jobs within one to three years of discharge were unemployed, while one out of four who did find jobs earned less than $21,840 a year.”

Bush Admin: Vets have no right to health care

Wow, and this from the man and party who say only they care about our troops:

Veterans have no legal right to specific types of medical care, the Bush administration argues in a lawsuit accusing the government of illegally denying mental health treatment to some troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

The arguments, filed Wednesday in federal court in San Francisco, strike at the heart of a lawsuit filed on behalf of veterans that claims the health care system for returning troops provides little recourse when the government rejects their medical claims.

The Department of Veterans Affairs is making progress in increasing its staffing and screening veterans for combat-related stress, Justice Department lawyers said. But their central argument is that Congress left decisions about who should get health care, and what type of care, to the VA and not to veterans or the courts.

A federal law providing five years of care for veterans from the date of their discharge establishes "veterans' eligibility for health care, but it does not create an entitlement to any particular medical service," government lawyers said.

They said the law entitles veterans only to "medical care which the secretary (of Veterans Affairs) determines is needed, and only to the extent funds ... are available."

The argument drew a sharp retort from a lawyer for advocacy groups that sued the government in July. The suit is a proposed class action on behalf of 320,000 to 800,000 veterans or their survivors.

"Veterans need to know in this country that the government thinks all their benefits are mere gratuities," attorney Gordon Erspamer said. "They're saying it's completely discretionary, that even if Congress appropriates money for veterans' health care, we can do anything we want with it."

Another day, another Republican lie......

El Paso GOP criticized (again) for Bruce selection

Just cuz I like to pile on:

Bruce’s selection disenfranchised district

Rep. Douglas Bruce is not the only person who should be ashamed of his antics in the House. The local Republican party is just as blameworthy for advancing Bruce to the House seat vacated by Bill Cadman.

I’m not sure what they were thinking or what political capital they sought to gain but it cannot have escaped these ladies and gentlemen that Bruce is a poorly behaved, abrasive enemy of the government who has repeatedly demonstrated that he can’t play well with others. The end result is that District 15 has been effectively disenfranchised by sending Bruce to Denver.

Stay tuned........

The kick heard 'round the State: Doug Bruce censured on a 62-1 vote

Republican Doug Bruce wanted to be treated special at his first day and swearing in; well, he finally got it:

The House of Representatives voted 62-1 to censure Rep. Douglas Bruce. The House has no record of a member being censured in its history.

Bruce kicked Rocky Mountain News photographer Javier Manzano on Jan. 14 during a morning prayer.

The vote followed a statement by Bruce, R-Colorado Springs, in which he again defended his actions as being meant to preserve order. Bruce also said he did not kick Manzano but nudged him, that the House was not in order at the time of the incident and that he was a private citizen. Bruce was sworn into office later that day.

A certain Chinese proverb comes to mind......

Homeless vets respond to Bill O'Reilly

But remember, only Republicans care about active and retired service members:

Shrinking violets

Republican voter registration is on the decline in Colorado:

[T]he number of registered Republicans in the state actually shrank from 1,044,027 in December 2005, said Meyers, to 1,008,541 in December 2007, a loss of 35,486 voters.

Unaffiliated registrants, meanwhile, increased from 961,018 in December 2005 to 994,575 in December 2007, an increase of 33,557. Registered Democrats, by comparison, only increased from 871,027 in 2005 to 875,650 in 2007.

However new Democratic and unaffiliated voters arrived, the numbers spell continued bad news for Republicans. Democrats still have the fewest registered voters in the three main voter categories - Republican, Democrat and unaffiliated - yet Democratic candidates won the 2004 U.S. Senate race and the 2006 governor's race. The Dems also took over control of both houses of the General Assembly in 2004.

Gee, I wonder why: could it be the boorish behavior of the likes of Doug Bruce:

[T]he House Republican Caucus held a special session and voted 22-1 to ask the HD15 Vacancy Committee to send them another name to fill the seat if he did not take the oath today.

Or maybe the radical referendums of the right-to-life absolutists moral relativists:

The measure spearheaded by Kristi Burton would give fertilized eggs state protections of inalienable rights, justice and due process, and she needs 76,000 signatures to get it on the state ballot next November.

This also probably explains the questionable claims of El Paso County Clerk Bob Balink in pushing his phony voter fraud arguments. We welcome every new voter to Colorado, especially to the Democratic Party!

AP picks up Doug Bruce trepidation in taking his desired assignment at State

Oh boy, our very own Dougie Bruce, Republican gadfly, makes the AP wire with his newfound trepidation on taking a role he lobbied for and won - the State House seat vacated by Bill Cadman:

Anti-tax crusader Douglas Bruce hasn’t even been sworn in as a state lawmaker, but he’s already making waves by refusing to take his seat until five days after the 2008 session begins.

Bruce was chosen by a Republican Party committee last month to fill a vacancy in the House. By not taking the oath until Jan. 14, he will serve less than half the unexpired term and would be eligible for eight more years in office under Colorado term limits, instead of just six.

That irritated House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, a Democrat from Denver.

“If you are chosen by a vacancy committee [for a job he lobbied for - ed. ], you ought to take your office within a reasonable time. A reasonable time would be 10 days,” not the month and a half Bruce is taking," Romanoff said.

Romanoff said he will introducing a bill setting a deadline for midterm newcomers to take office, saying it’s a loophole that needs to be closed.

Romanoff also decided to let Bruce introduce only two bills after the Dec. 1 deadline, instead of the normal three usually allowed newcomers who come in late. That unprecedented step would allow Bruce to introduce a total of four bills instead of five.

I really think Romanoff should let Bruce introduce fifty bills. They'll most likely be like this attempt to reduce paid holidays for El Paso County employees. Radical right wingers like Doug Bruce and Jon Caldara think all government jobs should be outsourced or eliminated and that all government workers are incompetent slackers. It's for those reasons and more that Doug Bruce has the reputation he has that was perfectly described by the Indy's returning wallflower - Rich Tosches:

Which brings us back, of course, to Doug Bruce.

Note: A few years ago, the longtime slumlord demanded the news media refer to him as Douglas. I don't know why, but all of us bowed to his demand. Although I have slipped a few times and accidentally referred to him as "Attila the Hun" and "lard ass." At the other extreme, the Gazette not only calls him Douglas but, as a bonus, also refers to the rats in his slum apartments as kittens. ("Police say tenants in the Douglas Bruce-owned apartment were attacked by a pack of filthy, disease-carrying wharf kittens.")

Anyway, anti-government, anti-social Doug is leaving us next week and will begin his new job as a state representative — appointed by El Paso County Republican leaders while they were apparently experimenting with heroin. He announced his upcoming departure from the county board a few weeks ago, saying he had accomplished his goal here: ridiculing each of the county's 580,000 men, women and children at least three times.

His reign of terror started in January 2005 with a swearing-in ceremony for which he actually brought his own copy of the Bible. (It's just like any other copy, except for the part where the Corinthian children get pneumonia because the landlord turned off the heat.)

Man, I love Rich. No, not that way.........in the way that describes Republican Doug Bruce exactly as he is.

Top 10 Fallacies of "Rule of Law" Republicans

Slate has a top bottom ten list of stupid Constitutional law tricks of President Bush, the man who actually said this when he received the Republican nomination for president in 2000:

“On the first hour of the first day, he will restore decency and integrity to the Oval Office. They will offer more lectures and legalisms and carefully worded denials. We offer another way, a better way, and a stiff dose of truth.”

Surely Slate could have listed 100 legal lies, but here you go:

10. The NSA's eavesdropping was limited in scope.

9. Scooter Libby's sentence was commuted because it was excessive.

8. The vice president's office is not a part of the executive branch.

7. The Guantanamo Bay detainees enjoy more legal rights than any prisoners of war in history.

6. Water-boarding may not be torture.

5. Everyone who has ever spoken to the president about anything is barred from congressional testimony by executive privilege.

4. Nine U.S. attorneys were fired by nobody, but for good reason.

3. Alberto Gonzales.

2. State secrets.

1. The United States does not torture.

And there you have a bill of writ to impeach the President of the United States.

The Market has spoken

Who would even take her bilious lies for free?

Bush will veto Defense authorization, pay raise and improved health care for troops and investigations into fraud

Will the liars who have supported President Bush at every step of the war - and the lying president himself - ever be called into account for not supporting the troops?

“Despite the Administration’s earlier support for the Department of Defense authorization bill, it appears that President Bush plans to veto this legislation, which is crucial to our armed forces and their families.

“The Defense bill passed both houses of Congress by overwhelming bipartisan margins and addresses urgent national security priorities, including a 3.5 percent pay raise for our troops and Wounded Warriors legislation to remedy our veterans’ health care system. It is unfortunate that the President will not sign this critical legislation.

“Instead, we understand that the President is bowing to the demands of the Iraqi government, which is threatening to withdraw billions of dollars invested in U.S. banks if this bill is signed.

Here's a list of what Bush, who always gives troops "everything they need", and who accuses Democrats of failing the troops every chance they give him, has vetoed:

• Extension of the window for VA care from 2 to 5 years. This would have protected new veterans from losing access to VA care. Without this fix, there's nothing to keep Iraq and Afghanistan veterans from joining the 1.8 million veterans without health insurance.
• Wartime Contracting Commission. A new "Truman Commission" to fight fraud and waste by military contractors.
• Pre- and Post- Deployment Assessment for Traumatic Brain Injury. Studies suggest 150-300,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans havereceived this kind of injury. These kinds of injuries don't necessarily leave a visible wound, but they can seriously affect brain function, including memory and emotional response. Right now, many of these injuries are going undiagnosed and untreated.
• Expanded job protections for family members of severely wounded troops. Right now, if a husband or wife of a wounded troop at Walter Reed needs to take more than three months to care for their spouse, they can lose their job. This would have given them six months of jobprotection.
• A new Center of Excellence for PTSD & TBI. Experts believe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder will affect about 30% of returning troops.
• Better Education benefits for National Guardsmen and Reservists.
• Visa/refugee assistance for Iraqi Interpreters.
• As the press release says, this bill also has a pay raise of 3.5 percent for all members of the Armed Forces.

The mistreatment never stops, the lying never stops. Someday one of our Democratic leaders will stand up and point out the truth of what President Bush has done. The president is going down swinging and it looks like the failures and petty partisanship will continue until the bitter end of his historic term.

As you can probably tell by now

We just love Doug Bruce around here.

Doug Bruce is a Republican.

Republican Doug Bruce loves to be the center of attention. I saw that immediately after moving here more than 10 years ago.

But not all Republicans love Doug Bruce the Republican. They think he does stupid things.

And not all voters like Republican Doug Bruce. He weaseled his way into this latest job at a Republican assembly meeting.

Does Republican Doug Bruce care what others think about him? No.

Do business leaders like the effects of TABOR on Colorado? No. I imagine anyone with the last name "Tabor" isn't too happy either.

So, you'll be reading a lot about Republican Doug Bruce this next year as he joins the State House. You can read all PeakDems stories about our favorite Republican, Doug Bruce, here.

And let's see how long Republican voters in El Paso county keep returning Doug Bruce (R) to office....

Huckabee's history

Or, things that make you go hmmmmm:

In the wake of revelations that Mike Huckabee pushed for the parole of a convicted rapist who went on to rape and murder two other women, the former Arkansas governor has sought to distance himself from the story and questioned the legitimacy of the relevant documents.

Murray Waas reported last week for the Huffington Post that Huckabee received (and subsequently tried to keep secret) letters from victims of rapist Wayne Dumond and their family members, imploring the state not to grant his parole.

When first informed of our story last Tuesday, Huckabee spokesperson Alice Stewart said, "There were no letters sent to the governor's office from any rape victims." Later on Tuesday, Huckabee's campaign acknowledged that his office had received at least one letter from another Dumond victim.

On Wednesday, Huckabee campaign research director Joe Carter claimed in a statement that "the authenticity of the letters [posted by the Huffington Post] is questionable." Yet, in an interview with ABC News aired on Wednesday evening, Huckabee personally acknowledged receiving one of these letters from a previous victim of Dumond, and said he had also "encountered" the rape victim.

Since the Huckabee campaign has questioned the validity of the original report, the Huffington Post has decided to release additional documents from Huckabee's file on Dumond.

[Read the new documents in full here.]

The file, which was provided by a staffer to then-governor Huckabee who was concerned about his handling of the case, includes 12 separate letters written by eight different women. (This includes the three documents posted for the original story). Three of the women reported being raped or sexually assaulted by Dumond. One, whose writings have not been made public up to this point, wrote about her harrowing assault at Dumond's hands.

Standing there yielding a butcher knife above his head, was the shadow of a man. I asked "Who is it?" and he immediately burst on to my side of the bed, put his hands over my mouth and stuck the knife in my throat, whispering, "Don't say a word or I'll cut your goddamned throat." I froze and adhered to his request...

Also included in the file is an officially marked and dated Arkansas State Police affidavit, given to Huckabee prior to his decision to support parole, in which Dumond confessed to having raped another woman. Dumond was never charged for the crime.

The document provides a clear indication that Huckabee had evidence from state officials concerning Dumond's long history of violent behavior. While on the presidential campaign trail, Huckabee has stated that no one could have anticipated that Dumond would strike again after being set free.

Yet the warnings were apparent. A lieutenant within the department detailed how Dumond stalked and raped a woman in 1976:

On [Date], someone entered [Name]'s bedroom and raped her. [Name] did not report the rape because she was going through a divorce at that time and was afraid that it would affect the custody proceedings of her minor child. On [Date], there was again a commotion... Subsequently on [Date]... Wayne Dumond was seen approaching the apartment of [Name] from the rear. When Wayne Dumond became aware that he was being observed, he turned and ran. He was followed home where he was arrested. He now claims that the first assault on [Name] was a sex for drugs transaction. If so, he also needs to come up with an explanation for the later two visits.

In an accompanying criminal investigation file, Dumond confessed to the rape, only to later refuse to sign any statement admitting guilt. He was never charged. Six years later Dumond was arrested following the rape of Ashley Stevens, a 17-year-old high school student and distant cousin of Bill Clinton.

Even with these documents at hand, Huckabee supported the release of Dumond from prison, backed by fervent anti-Clinton activists. According to several parole board members, he even lobbied the board on Dumond's behalf. The frighteningly prescient warnings of Dumond's victims were seemingly left ignored.

Mike Huckabee is running for the REPUBLICAN nomination to be President of the United States. Many support him because he's a Baptist minister. Will this former Arkansas governor be treated the same as our previous Arkansas governor who became president?

There's more original reporting at the Huffington Post on all the presidential candidates.

Doug Bruce vow: "to destroy Colorado Springs"

I don't know how I missed this one from my favorite anarchist:

When Doug Bruce visited KKTV last week, he signed in at the front desk and wrote "to destroy Colorado Springs" as his reason for being at the television station. (He was actually there for a debate with Mayor Lionel Rivera about ballot questions 200 and 201.)

Something has to be done.

Bruce later told the station he was just joking, but I am not laughing.

Do you go through security at the airport and jokingly say, "I have a bomb"? An elected official has a responsibility to be professional, and I can't find any professionalism in what Bruce wrote - much less any civility.

How our elected officials act is a reflection on our region. Bruce is harming our region's reputation by his antics.

How long will we put up spending time and energy defeating his initiatives? How much money has it cost? Bruce is a county commissioner, but he appears to spend most of his time coming up with plans to hurt the region.

(h/t Wendy at CoCo)