Democrats Plan To Cut Cheney Out Of Executive Funding Bill

So we now have four branches of government.

The Raw Story:Josh Catone

Following Vice President Dick Cheney’s assertion that his office is not a part of the executive branch of the US government, Democratic Caucus Chairman Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) plans to introduce an amendment to the the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill to cut funding for Cheney’s office.The amendment to the bill that sets the funding for the executive branch will be considered next week in the House of Representatives.

“The Vice President has a choice to make. If he believes his legal case, his office has no business being funded as part of the executive branch,” said Emanuel in a statement released to RAW STORY. “However, if he demands executive branch funding he cannot ignore executive branch rules. At the very least, the Vice President should be consistent. This amendment will ensure that the Vice President’s funding is consistent with his legal arguments.”

At a press briefing yesterday, White House Deputy Press Secretary Dana Perino said that Cheney’s assertion that he operates outside of the executive branch of government was “an interesting constitutional question that people can debate” and a “non-issue.”

On Thursday, Emanuel suggested that if Cheney feels his office is not part of the executive branch “he should return the salary the American taxpayers have been paying him since January 2001, and move out of the home for which they are footing the bill.”

Emanuel also released the following graphic satirizing the situation:

John Cornyn’s Continued Neglect Of Our Soldiers

John Cornyn continues to disgrace all Texans by consistently voting no and neglecting our soldiers. However, he does find time to vote yes for the wealthy and corporations. John Cornyn is the worst Texas Senator.

From EmpoweringVeterans.org has joined the rest of Texas in our push to get rid of John Cornyn. They have done a remarkable job in researching national headlines, voting trends, veteran group scorecards, tracking and reporting.

The “Support the Troops” hypocrisy continues into the new Congress. Senator Cornyn Continues his record of neglect and deceit: Votes “NO” on

• Motion to proceed to debate Iraq Resolution (S.574) Senate Roll Call #51 2/17/07

NEVER SERVED IN THE MILITARY AND IS NOT SERVING THEM NOW

• Awarded a Grade of D- by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America

• Awarded a Rating of 0%in 2004 by the Disabled American Veterans

• Awarded a Rating of 33% in 2005 by the Disabled American Veterans

• Awarded a Rating of 60% in 2006 by the Disabled American Veterans

The Lives of Military Personnel OR Tax Cuts for the Rich.Cornyn voted “NO” to:

• $25.41 Billion for increased military procurement of equipment. (S Roll Call 008, 02/02/2006)

• $16.9 Billion for increased Army maintenance funding. (S Roll Call 008, 02/02/2006)

• $4.5 Billion for increased Marine Corps maintenance funding.(S Roll Call 008, 02/02/2006)

Although Senator Cornyn was not in the Senate when the tax cuts* for the wealthy were enacted his voting record is clear that he fully supports these tax cuts and has voted consistently to sustain them at the expense of members of the Armed Forces and their families and veterans and their families.* The top 1% of wage earners (Average $1,171,000) received 25% of the tax benefit according to [need source here].

Depriving the Armed Forces of equipment and resources to stay safe and alive in War Time. Providing Tax Cuts for the wealthiest Americans in War Time.

Cornyn Votes AGAINST Working Families, FOR Corporate Welfare

• “NO” to allowing the government to negotiate fair prices for prescription drugs under the Social Security Drug benefit. (S Roll Call 302, 11/03/2005)

• “NO” to prosecuting corporations for dealing with sponsors of TERRORISM. (S Roll Call 203, 07/26/2005)

• “NO” to consumer protection from price gouging during energy emergencies. (S Roll Call 334, 11/17/2005)

• “NO” to oil company excess profits tax to fund energy relief for the poor. (S Roll Call 339, 11/17/2005)

Cornyn votes FOR the Wealthiest, AGAINST Working Families

“YES” to the Wealthy

• $39.7 Billion in Reductions to MEDICARE to sustain war time TAX CUTS for the wealthy (S Roll Call 0363, 12/21/2005)

“NO” to Working Families

• Increased Katrina relief for food assistance, bankruptcy relief, and tax help. Many of the Katrina families are veterans. (S Roll Call 234, 09/15/2005)

• $5 Billion to increase funding for Elementary and Secondary Education (S Roll Call 269, 10/26/2005)

• $836 Million to increase PELL Grants for poor college students (S Roll Call 268, 10/25/2005)

Cornyn consistently votes against needed improvements in Veterans’ Health Care Cornyn voted:

• “NO” to authorize $21.9 billion for the VA for compensation and pensions; medical care and hospital improvements. (S Roll Call 007, 02/02/2006)

• “NO” to increase VA funding for the increased demand for VA services due to the Iraq War. (S Roll Call 251, 10/05/2005)

Cornyn’s Voting Record Hurts Veterans & their Families 30% of returning veterans diagnosed with mental health problems and/or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD):

• 82% of New Patients need intensive PTSD treatment.

• 20% of VA PTSD treatment programs are full.

• 40% of VA PTSD treatment programs are near full capacity.

• 42% of VA primary care clinics have NO mental health staff.

VA Advisory Board (Feb. 2006) stated: “VA cannot meet the ongoing needs of veterans of past deployments while also reaching out to new combat veterans (Iraq / Afghanistan) … within current resources.” Increasing Demand for VA Services:

• Enrollment since 2002- UP 48% due to Iraq War

• VA patient load since 2002 – UP 28% due to Iraq War

• Veterans are experiencing increasing delays for earned services:

• Veterans waiting for their first appointment for VA services doubled for the second year in a row.

• 500,000 Veterans awaiting decisions granting benefits since Jan 2006.

• 368,000 of these Veterans are awaiting disability determinations.

• 151,000 appeals are backlogged.

Our Veterans and their families ask, Our Military and their families ask,
Our National Guard and their families ask, “Senator Cornyn, Where is the Shared Sacrifice?”

Here are two more votes by John Cornyn that harm national security.

• Voted against increasing funding for interoperable communications equipment for first responders by $5 billion

• Motion to Waive Budget Act Re: Stabenow Amdt. No. 1687 to H.R.2862 (Science/State/Justice/Commerce Appropriations, 2006) Vote #227 9/14/05

• Voted against prohibiting federal employees who leak classified information from holding a security clearance – Reid Amdt. No. 1222 to H.R.2360 (DHS Appropriations, 2006) Vote #188 7/14/05

King George and Lord Cheney Must Go!

IT TOOK A REVOLUTION for this country to shed itself of a corrupt monarchy totally disconnected from it’s colonial subjects.

IT WILL TAKE A REVOLUTION to save the country our Founding Fathers died for.

 

Exempt From The Constitution! Cheney The Shadow Dictator

 

With Cheney’s Refusal to Follow Executive Order on Classified Information: CREW Asks ‘Is the Vice President Creating a Fourth Branch of Government?’

White House backs Cheney’s disregard for executive order

Washington Post Saturday, June 23, 2007

(06-23) 04:00 PDT Washington — The White House defended Vice President Dick Cheney on Friday in a dispute over the refusal by his office to comply with an executive order regulating the handling of classified information as Democrats and other critics assailed him for disregarding rules that others follow.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Cheney was not obligated to submit to oversight by an office that safeguards classified information. Cheney’s office has argued it does not have to comply because the vice president’s role as president of the Senate means his office is not an “entity within the executive branch.”

“This is a little bit of a non-issue,” Perino said at a briefing dominated by the issue. Cheney is not subject to the executive order, she said, “because the president gets to decide whether or not he should be treated separately, and he’s decided that he should.”

Democratic critics said Cheney is distorting the plain meaning of the executive order. “Vice President Cheney is expanding the administration’s policy on torture to include tortured logic,” said Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin, D-Ill.

Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., said “…if Cheney is not part of the executive branch, he should not receive its funds.”

 

White House says it’s also exempt from security rules

By Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON — The White House said Friday that, like Vice President Dick Cheney’s office, President Bush’s office is exempt from a presidential order requiring government agencies that handle classified national-security information to submit to oversight by an independent federal watchdog.

Bush claims oversight exemption too

The White House says the president’s own order on classified data does not apply to his office or the vice president’s.

By Josh Meyer, Times Staff Writer June 23, 2007

WASHINGTON — The White House said Friday that, like Vice President Dick Cheney’s office, President Bush’s office is not allowing an independent federal watchdog to oversee its handling of classified national security information.

An executive order that Bush issued in March 2003 — amending an existing order — requires all government agencies that are part of the executive branch to submit to oversight. Although it doesn’t specifically say so, Bush’s order was not meant to apply to the vice president’s office or the president’s office, a White House spokesman said.

 

Cheney: Office not part of executive branch

Assertion made as part of data battle

By JULIA MALONE COX NEWS SERVICE

WASHINGTON — Dick Cheney, who has wielded extraordinary executive power as he transformed the image of the vice presidency, is asserting that his office is not actually part of the executive branch.

So, while we sleep and bicker about nonsense, we have elected dictators who are successfully dismantling the document that created The United States of America. Our Founding Fathers tried to protect us from what is happening RIGHT NOW! We are loosing this country at an alarming rate – the Democrats are ‘tapping the breaks’ on a disentigrating country because they don’t have the Majority available to ’slam on the breaks’! This is a race against free-falling into a Fascist Dictatorship. The identity of ‘AMERICA’ is the sum total of its’ clueless, religion bickering, gay rights bickering, Paris Hilton bickering, racial bickering population. If we can save this country in time, we can return safely to the internal bickering we love.

Petition To Amend the Constitution To allow Bush to be President for as many terms as the American people elect him.

 

PLEASE PROTECT US FROM OURSELVES!!!!!

H. Res. 333: Impeaching Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors

 

Halliburton Still Grabs Taxpayer Dollars – Investors Smile

Halliburton’s Accounting Might Make You Wonder
By Jonathan Weil Bloomberg Thursday 21 June 2007

Investors have shrugged off almost all the bad news at Halliburton Co. the past few years – accusations of overbilling the Army and bribing foreign officials, along with scrutiny over business dealings in Iran and non-compete bids on government work.

Instead of tanking, the company’s stock has soared.

The same investors might take notice, though, if Halliburton’s financial statements were in doubt, and a former company accounting executive says they are.

Anthony Menendez, who was Halliburton’s director of technical accounting research and training, has accused the world’s second- largest oilfield-services company of using so-called bill-and-hold accounting and other undisclosed practices to “distort the timing of billions of dollars in revenue.” In short, Menendez says this allowed Halliburton to book product sales improperly, before they occurred.

The allegations are part of a 54-page complaint Menendez filed against Halliburton with a Labor Department administrative law judge in Covington, La., who released the records in response to a Freedom of Information Act request. Menendez, who resigned last year and is seeking unspecified damages, says Halliburton retaliated against him in violation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act’s whistle-blower provisions after he reported his concerns to the Securities and Exchange Commission and the company’s audit committee.

 Quote:  While senator during WWII, Harry Truman said: “I have never yet found a contractor who, if not watched, would not leave the government holding the bag. We are doing him a favor if we do not watch him.”

Reason for concern in Halliburton’s books
Seattle Post Intelligencer - 14 hours ago
Investors have shrugged off almost all the bad news at Halliburton Co. the past few years — accusations of overbilling the Army and bribing foreign …

Halliburton Accused of Accounting Irregularities
TPMmuckraker, NY - Jun 21, 2007
By Spencer Ackerman – June 21, 2007, 4:35 PM Last year, Halliburton lost billions of dollars of revenue with the US Army discontinued a worldwide supply …

Cheney still rules the UNDERWORLD!