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Got this in email this morning…

California Becomes Second State to Introduce Bush Impeachment

By David Swanson

Joining Illinois, California has become the second state in which a proposal to impeach President Bush has been introduced in the state legislature. And this one includes Cheney as well.

California Assemblyman Paul Koretz of Los Angeles (where the LA Times has now called for Cheney’s resignation) has submitted amendments to Assembly Joint Resolution No. 39, calling for the impeachment of President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard Cheney. The amendments reference Section 603 of Jefferson’s Manual of the Rules of the United States House of Representatives, which allows federal impeachment proceedings to be initiated by joint resolution of a state legislature.

The resolution, in the words of Koretz’s press release, “bases the call for impeachment upon the Bush Administration intentionally misleading the Congress and the American people regarding the threat from Iraq in order to justify an unnecessary war that has cost billions of dollars and thousands of lives and casualties; exceeding constitutional authority to wage war by invading Iraq; exceeding constitutional authority by Federalizing the National Guard; conspiring to torture prisoners in violation of the ‘Federal Torture Act’ and indicating intent to continue such actions; spying on American citizens in violation of the 1978 Foreign Agency Surveillance Act; leaking and covering up the leak of the identity of Valerie Plame Wilson, and holding American citizens without charge or trial.”

Koretz submitted amendments gutting AJR No. 39, a resolution unrelated to impeachment, to the Assembly Rules Committee. The Rules Committee may take up the bill this week for referral, allowing him to formally introduce the amended resolution.

AJR 39 is a bill introduced in January by Koretz calling for a moratorium on depleted uranium:

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/bill/asm/ab_0001-0050/ajr_39_bill_20060104_introduced.html

“At both the state and national levels,” Koretz said, “we will be paying for the Bush Administration’s illegal actions and terrible lack of judgment and competence for decades—not only in the billions of dollars wasted on the war and welfare for the rich, but in the worldwide loss of respect for America and Americans. Bush and Cheney must be impeached and removed from office before they undertake even deadlier misdeeds, such as the use of nuclear weapons. There are no bounds to their willingness to ignore the Constitution and world opinion—we can’t afford to wait for the next disaster and hope that we can survive it.”

For more inormation and to thank this American hero, contact Paul Michael Neuman in Koretz’s District Office: (310) 285-5490 paul.neuman@asm.ca.gov or go here:

http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/members/a42/Contact.htm

Thompson is D-CA.

Thank you for sharing your concerns about the Iraq war with me in the past and allowing me to update you about recent events.

Last week I introduced House Concurrent Resolution 348. This legislation states the following:

1) the United States should not maintain a permanent military presence or military bases in Iraq;
1) the United States should not attempt to control the flow of Iraqi oil; and
2) the United States Armed Forces should be re-deployed from Iraq as soon as practicable after the completion of Iraq’s constitution making process or September 30, 2006, whichever comes first.

This resolution is the only bill in Congress that stipulates that the Iraqi people should control their oil revenues. It is also the first to combine a redeployment plan with a clear statement that the United States will not occupy permanent military bases in the country.

The legislation also honors the members of the U.S. armed forces and reserves for their honorable service. Our brave men and women serving in Iraq have performed courageously and deserve our respect and thanks.

I began drafting this bill after my second trip to Iraq in January. I had previously traveled to Iraq in the fall of 2002 to see first hand what our American forces would face if they were sent to Iraq. Based on what I saw during that first trip, I voted against the resolution giving the president the authority to invade Iraq.

Today, the Iraqi insurgency is being fueled by the belief that we have become an occupying force in Iraq. We need to send a clear message that we have no intention of staying in Iraq indefinitely. Congress needs to demonstrate to the Iraqi people and the Arab world that we will not build permanent bases in Iraq, and that we will not attempt to control the flow of their oil.

In the coming days I will be talking with all of my colleagues to build support for this approach. I am hopeful that this legislation will help further this debate and bring an end to the U.S. military’s role in Iraq.

Again, thank you for sharing your concerns regarding the Iraq war. Please continue to contact me on all matters of importance to you and to our district.

Sincerely,

MIKE THOMPSON
Member of Congress
http://www.mikethompson.house.gov

Today, I’m proud to have this man as my congressman. :) If you like what he’s doing, please write your congresscritter to let them know you support House Concurrent Resolution 348.

Dear MoveOn member,

This morning, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified about the president’s illegal domestic spying program. His testimony came one day after Senator Arlen Specter, the Republican chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said that the president violated the law1 and the Washington Post debunked a key Bush administration claim, reporting that the program tapped thousands of innocent Americans and almost no terrorism suspects.2

The White House has already set the stage to stonewall.3 So it’s important that our senators demand real answers from the administration.

This is a critical moment. Senators will be gauging public reaction to today’s hearing for the next few days. If they don’t hear pressure from us, they may let this go. On Wednesday we want to deliver signatures and comments by email to every Senator demanding thorough hearings and a special prosecutor. Can you help us get to 400,000 signatures by Wednesday?

(Visit http://www.political.moveon.org and follow the links from there to get to the petition.)

Here is the bottom line: the president is breaking the law. He already has the authority to wiretap suspected terrorists—and we support that—but he chose to reach beyond that. We need to know why he refuses to get warrants and he needs to be held accountable.

Respecting the rule of law isn’t a partisan issue, it’s a core American principle. That’s why prominent conservatives like David Keene, Paul Weyrich and Grover Norquist are outraged by the president’s illegal program.4 Even leading Republicans like Chuck Hagel, Lindsey Graham, and Sam Brownback have seriously questioned the president’s authority.5 With public criticism mounting, the Bush administration knows they’re in big trouble.

If the president can get away with breaking the law now, there’s no limit to what he or any other president can do. Together we can stop it now.

This is an important issue and it will help remind Americans, in an election year, what Republicans are all about—accumulating power for themselves, and trampling the system of checks and balances designed to stop that. It’s the Senate’s job to act as a check on the president’s power. If they can’t do it, they shouldn’t be in Washington.

Thanks for all you do,

–Eli, Nita, Jennifer, Justin and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
Monday, February 6th, 2006

P.S. Here is a quick fact-check on some of the arguments that the Bush administration has used to justify their illegal program.

The administration has claimed that the program only spies on those with clear links to Al Qaeda 6

Fact: The program had FBI Chasing “thousands of tips a month,” with many leading to dead ends or innocent Americans.7
*

The administration has said that obtaining a warrant is too time consuming.

Fact: They can already immediately place wiretaps and obtain a warrant up to 3 days later. 8
*

They’ve argued the program was authorized by Congress in the September 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF)

Fact: A Congressional Research Service (CRS) report concludes that the AUMF doesn’t authorize the program.9
*

They’ve claimed that Congress was informed of the Program.10

Fact: the Congressional Research Office concluded that “the Bush administration’s limited briefings for Congress on the National Security Agency’s domestic eavesdropping without warrants are ‘inconsistent with the law.’” 11
*

They’ve said the NSA spying program stopped possible terrorist attacks in the United States 12

Fact: Programs Uncovered “No imminent plots..inside the United States.” 13
*

Sources:

1. “Specter Criticizes Rationale for Spying,” Associated Press, February 5, 2006
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1440

2. “Surveillance Net Yields Few Suspects,” Washington Post, February 5, 2006
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1441

3. “Senate Panel Rebuffed on Documents on Spying,” New York Times, February 2, 2006
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1442

4. “FACT: Members of Both Parties Believe Bush Broke the Law,” Thinkprogress, January 23, 2006
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/01/23/both-parties/

5. Leading Conservatives Call for Extensive Hearings on NSA Surveillance; Checks on Invasive Federal Powers Essential, January 17, 2006
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=59381

6. “Surveillance program protects country, Bush says,” USA Today, January 23, 2006
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1443

7. “Spy Agency Data After Sept. 11 Led F.B.I. to Dead Ends,” New York Times, Jan 17, 2006
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1444

8. “A Better Way to Eavesdrop?” Time, February 2, 2006
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1155835,00.html

9. “Report Rebuts Bush on Spying,” Washington Post, Jan 7, 2006
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1373

10. “Gonzales defends wiretaps amid protest,” CNN.com, January 26, 2006 http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/01/24/nsa.strategy/

11. “Report Questions Legality of Briefings on Surveillance,” New York Times, 1/19/06
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1445 (Subsciption required)

12. President Bush’s Radio Address, Dec 17, 2005
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1446

13. “Spy Agency Data After Sept. 11 Led F.B.I. to Dead Ends,” New York Times, Jan 17, 2006,
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1444

Just got a newsletter this morning outlining their push to help us accomplish this goal—I’ll be happy to repost it here if anyone is interested.

Alternately, you can go to MoveOn.org and join up, yourselves. ;)

A personal favorite of mine (I want to be like her when I grow up), Molly tells it exactly like it is—for me, anyway. I sent this link to my elected representatives earlier this week.

Why Hillary Won’t Save Us

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