WASHINGTON (AP) - Democrat John Edwards said the Bush administration’s plan to sell $20 billion worth of weapons to friendly Arab states amounted to a foreign policy of convenience and he will take a tougher stance with Saudi Arabia if elected president.

Edwards said the United States should require the Saudi government to shut down the movement of terrorists across its borders, help stabilize the Iraqi government and participate more seriously in regional security before they are offered weapons.

“Whether it’s Iraq or terrorism, the Saudis have fallen way short of what they need to be doing,�? the 2004 vice presidential nominee told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. “And the Bush administration’s response is to sell them $20 billion worth of arms, which is short-term and convenient and not what the United States should be doing.�?

Edwards is the first Democratic presidential candidate to speak out against the deal. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited Saudi Arabia Tuesday as part of a two-day visit with Arab allies that opened talks on the proposed U.S. arms package.

Edwards said the arms deal could backfire by giving Iran an incentive to build its nuclear strength.

Full Story Here:
Edwards Assails U.S. Arms Sales to Arabs

This is really scary, this is the 1st time I have ever been in agreement with John Edwards, ever, and I never expected it would happen, but for whatever reason he’s saying this about Saudi Arabia, he’s correct, 100% correct in this assessment, now it may just be him playing politics, but this time, he IS correct in his statement…

George W. Bush accepts the Saudis as if they were his long lost family, he embraces them, he supports them, he welcomes them into his home and now he’s going to sell them $20B in arms…

I, and many others have pointed out, and we didn’t bite our words in doing so, we have spoken our minds and stated our opinions of the Saudis and what we feel is their less than direct involvement in the attacks of 9-11-01, I and many others feel that Saudi Arabia was the under the radar power behind the attacks, we know that the attackers were trained in Saudi Arabia, that is a fact, not a supposition, but many feel the Saudis were very involved in those actions…

And I seem to remember Mr. Bush saying that we would deal harshly with ANY nation that trained or supported terrorism, in ANY way, I guess he meant any nation other than Saudi Arabia…

Mr. Edwards has hit this one square on the head, oh well, as I have heard on several occasions, even a blind hog finds truffles every now and then…

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WASHINGTON (AP) - The House voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to make lawmakers disclose more details of their efforts to fund pet projects and raise money from lobbyists, responding to a rash of recent scandals.

The Democratic-drafted legislation followed cases that sent two GOP lawmakers and a big-time lobbyist to prison and saw a House Democrat charged with bribery.

Senate leaders hope to give it final passage this week, even as the chamber’s most senior Republican faces questions about Monday’s federal raid of his home as part of a bribery probe in Alaska.

The bill, which the House passed 411-8, would require lawmakers to disclose those lobbyists who raise $15,000 or more for them within a six-month period by “bundling” donations from many people. The requirement would cover party-affiliated campaign committees as well.

What a marvelous idea, to enact legislation that would make our esteemed Senators and Congresscritters adhere to something called honesty, what a concept, why hasn’t anyone thought of this before??

I have said this on more than one occasion in the past, none of them are above the law, I don’t care what party they belong to or which state they represent, if they are suspected of wrong doing, regardless of what wrong doing it may be, investigate the allegations, get to the bottom of it and if the accused is found innocent, leave him/her alone and let them get on with their lives, but if found to be guilty of any form of malfeasance in office, if they truly have broken the public trust and let their constituents down, drum them out of D.C. or their state office, send them to prison for the maximum time prescribed, take away ALL there government benefits and pensions and make them work for a living once they do get out of jail…

Self-styled watchdog groups noted that the bill was less stringent in some respects than were earlier versions. But they hailed it as a major leap by an institution generally loathe to police itself.

“These are big-time fundamental reforms that will end the secrecy surrounding the multiple ways in which Washington lobbyists use money to curry favor and gain access and influence with members of Congress,” said Fred Wertheimer, president of the nonprofit group Democracy21.

And there lies the spoiler for the entire deal, where are you going to find a group of politicians that are going to not be inclined to ‘look the other way’ if there’s some serious money involved, especially if he’s going to be the one receiving it??

I know our lawmakers should follow the exact letter of the law but I’m not so naive that I think they’re all going to be Boy Scouts, it’s just not built in to human nature for all people to be totally honest, and some folks get elected that should already be doing time, and likely would if there had been a FULL disclosure of their past before they were elected…

I’m having problems maintaining ANY confidence in our government of late, I seriously feel we’ve been used, abused, lied to and ignored, I somehow think that our lawmakers in D.C. need a forceful wakeup call of some kind, they need to be reminded, often, that they work for US, it’s not the other way around, we pay the bills, they administer the money, but it’s OUR money, and they ALL need to be glaringly aware of that little fact…

Common Cause said the bill “should change the way business is done in Washington by shining the light on the often mutually dependent relationships between lobbyists and members of Congress.”

We can only hope…

Full Story Here:
House Votes to Embrace Ethics Overhaul

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WASHINGTON (AP) - Chief Justice John Roberts walked out of a hospital in Maine Tuesday, released a day after he suffered a seizure. The White House said he told President Bush he was doing fine.

Roberts strode briskly out of the Penobscot Bay Medical Center in Rockport, Maine, wearing a blue sport coat, open collar shirt and slacks. He waved to onlookers before getting into a waiting sports utility vehicle for a short trip to a dock, where he then took a pontoon boat to his summer home on Hupper Island, near Port Clyde, Maine.

Roberts had no response when a reporter hollered, “How are you feeling?”

The chief justice, 52, plans to continue his summer vacation, Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said. She said that doctors found no cause for concern after evaluating Roberts.

Full Story Here:
Justice Roberts Checks Out of Hospital

I certainly wish the very best to Justice Roberts in his health and life in general, I seriously don’t think he could be replaced, I know that’s a selfish reason but having men like him on the SCOTUS has been a start to heading this nation back in the right direction…

The only thing that perplexes me about this entire thing is the fact that he had had a seizure in the past…

Does anyone remember hearing about that during the nomination and approval process?? I know I don’t recall hearing it…

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