[courtesy of Blog for America]

Hi, all....reading choices for Wednesday from Grandma Gerry??

Wednesday~

****************round of articles about our domestic ‘issues’ ~ June 18th,  2008

N.Y.Times Editorial

Mr. Bush v. the Bill of Rights

In the waning months of his tenure, President Bush and his allies are once again trying to scare Congress into expanding the president’s powers to spy on Americans without a court order.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/18/opinion/18wed1.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

by DFA Staff [courtesy of Blog for America]

I guess President Bush's special relationship with his OPEC buddies only goes so far. From the New York Times:

OPEC on Wednesday rebuffed calls from President Bush to increase oil output, instead citing “mismanagement” of the American economy as a major factor driving prices up.

Danny
Communications Director

by Lucas O'Connor [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

I'm going to Drinking Liberally, but I hear there are some elections today.

Thoughts/Numbers/Flames. Brokaw's supers. Vote stealing in Houston. Extended hours in Ohio. What's the deal with Rhode Island? Let it fly.

President Bush will endorse McCain tomorrow, Huck is out. I hope they make out.

by Ilya Sheyman [courtesy of Blog for America]

We just won an incredible last minute victory in the Senate. Senate Democrats stood up to the Bush administration and stopped telecom immunity. Here's a message Jim just sent out:

We just had a huge victory. Grassroots action forced the Senate to stop telecom immunity from passing.

Earlier today, DFA members made over 1,000 calls an hour to our Senators. And they heard our voices loud and clear.

Tonight I'll be watching President Bush give his final State of the Union. As usual, he will be fear-mongering and pushing his radical agenda on the American people.

Thanks to your work today, we flipped the vote and forced Senate Democrats to have a backbone.

Jim

Thanks for all your hard work today. Tonight we celebrate, tomorrow we keep up the fight!

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Democratic Assemblyman Ted Lieu, chair of the Assembly Banking and Finance Committee, blasted President's anticipated announcement of a plan to freeze rates on some subprime loans. Here's his statement issued late Wednesday:

"The mortgage foreclosure crisis is a rapidly accelerating crisis that threatens to put our economy into a recession.  While I welcome President George Bush’s anticipated announcement of a narrow plan to freeze the rates on certain adjustable subprime loans, I believe it falls far short of what is necessary to address the crisis.
 
The media has reported that the Bush plan has been whittled down by industry to a select slice of borrowers: those who are current on subprime hybrid mortgages made between Jan. 1, 2005 and July 31, 2007 which are to due to reset between January 2008 and July 2010.  Furthermore, eligible borrowers would be further weeded out to those who were not more than 60 days delinquent over the past year, have less than 3% equity in their homes, and are unable to afford an upward adjustment in their interest rate. These borrowers would see their rate frozen at the introductory price for five years.  Analysts expect this plan to help 12% or less of borrowers in distress.

There's more...

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Ted Lieu
Chair
California State Assembly Banking and Finance Committee

The mortgage foreclosure crisis is a rapidly accelerating crisis that threatens to put our economy into a recession. While I welcome President George Bush’s anticipated announcement of a narrow plan to freeze the rates on certain adjustable subprime loans, I believe it falls far short of what is necessary to address the crisis.

The media has reported that the Bush plan has been whittled down by industry to a select slice of borrowers: those who are current on subprime hybrid mortgages made between Jan. 1, 2005 and July 31, 2007 which are to due to reset between January 2008 and July 2010. Furthermore, eligible borrowers would be further weeded out to those who were not more than 60 days delinquent over the past year, have less than 3% equity in their homes, and are unable to afford an upward adjustment in their interest rate. These borrowers would see their rate frozen at the introductory price for five years. Analysts expect this plan to help 12% or less of borrowers in distress.

by Julia Marden [courtesy of Blog for America]

When I think of what we've done in the past few weeks, my mind just staggers. We took back the governor's seat in Kentucky, wrapped up the biggest online presidential poll of the cycle, and endorsed Rick Noriega for Senate in Texas on the day before President Bush showed up to fundraise for his opponent. Then we held SiCKO House Parties around the country and spoke to Michael Moore to learn more about what comes next in the Health Care for America campaign. And then we made 2,399 phone calls to Senator Reid's office, changed Sen. Feinstein's heart on FISA and showed Washington the power of the grassroots. This weekend, I hope everyone in the DFA community takes a moment to relax and enjoy our successes.

But even as I'm writing this, I'm wondering what's next. We've got a big year ahead of us, and we'll be boots on the ground for candidates across the country. Do you know someone who's running for office? Are you taking the step to become a progressive leader? I hope you'll apply for an endorsement at www.democracyforamerica.com/application and start the process of building our community towards victory in 2008.