Nothing political right now, just want to suggest that everyone reading this go give blood.

We had a blood drive at work today, I always feel great after doing it. After 9-11 everyone went out and gave blood. It was great, the blood banks were overflowing. But guess what? A few years later, they are scraping by again.

Please tell me that Americans don't need another event like that again to get involved with the well-being of their neghbors.

Go out ASAP and give some blood, if you can. If you have recently - GREAT JOB - keep it up.

-jef-

I sent out my first campaign email today. If you didn't recieve it,and would like to, please send me an email or fill out the Contact form on my website.

Here it was:


Hello,

My name is Jef Hall, we have met previously at one or several past events; I am running to be the next Member of Congress for Wisconsin’s 6th District.

I am sending this email to ask you to support my effort. I am starting a grassroots campaign to unseat a 25-year incumbent that is extremely out of touch with our district and our state.

Whether workers rights, women’s issues, healthcare or education, he has come down on the wrong side.

I am running to return Government to the people of America. Our current leadership has forgotten the true engine of our democracy, the working and middle class. We need to turn back the tax cuts for the wealthy that have translated to tax & fee increases on us. We need to end the exploitation of workers at a minimum wage of $5.15 per hour. We need to insist on a National Healthcare System that will cover all Americans and be free to utilize its power in the market to provide real savings. We need to ensure laws limiting our American Liberties are not passed.

We need to stand up and demand never to be ‘trickled’ on again.

I want to serve in a government that works to solve society’s real problems, not one that runs on the maxim, “What can you do for me?” When were you last inspired by politics?

What happened to yearning for a government of the people by the people for the people? Who last asked what they could do for their country?

I am asking you to help me. Please go to my website at www.jef4wi.com and spend some time, fill out the contact form with suggestions or questions you have. Let me know of any events or groups I could speak with. Print out some signature forms, and gather from your family and friends. Pass on my information to anyone that may be interested. And, if you can, please contribute.

It is the actions of the politically interested that will turn the course of our nation. And it is only through the grassroots that we can remove the obstructions placed on the middle and working class by this congress and administration, and get America working, learning and living again.

Thank you for your time; please contact me at any time, and pass this email on to anyone that you feel would be interested.

-jef-


Jef Hall
Democrat for Congress
Wisconsin's 6th CD
Jef for Wisconsin
224A Scott Ave
Oshkosh, WI 54901
920-203-6883
jef4wi.com
jef@jef4wi.com

Petri misses yet another TAXPAYER FUNDED opportunity to come clean about his conflict of interest!

If you go to the most recent 'Petri Reports', you will see a large article on the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit. If you reside in the 6th, you should have gotten this in the mail this week.

Tom Petri could have, but chose not to, used this TAXPAYER FUNDED communication device to disclose his inherent conflict of interest as a large stockholder in Walgreen's.

As diclosed in the 'Issues' section of jef4wi.com, Petri's interests are perhaps the only interestes this serves in the 6th District.

Yet, this is at least the 4th time Petri has used TAXPAYER FUNDED communication tools to try to sell you the worth of this bill.

Get the word out...

-jef-

Wow, what a great weekend. I know I have been somewhat remiss in blogging, but I promise I will do it more.

The state convention was a great success. Even with the schedule changes, it seemed to go off without a hitch. I met many very interesting people, and if any of you are reading this, please send me an email at jef@jef4wi.com.

I gave a speach on Friday that seemed to be recieved well. There were several requests for it, so I am going to post it below.

I did ad-lib a little, but this is what I had prepared. Let me know what you think, please.

-jef-

Remarks from June 11, 2004 to the Wisconsin Democratic Party State Convention:


Hello, my name is Jef Hall and I am running to be the next congressman from Wisconsin’s 6th District. And I am running as a PROUD member of the Democratic Party!

Why? Because Democratic values are AMERICAN values.

I run because I believe in Equal Access to the American Dream. I believe that affordable healthcare, good schools, American liberties and social equality are the building blocks of a great society.

We democrats embrace the words “We the People” and work to better all of American society. Our opposition seems to believe its “Me the People” – talking only of personal tax cuts, rabid nationalism, social division and class warfare.

Funny thing about class warfare, I’ve been told it’s a lot like fishing. It’s a sport, but only one team knows they’re playing.

Pullbacks on OSHA standards and overtime benefits are examples of the assault on America’s working class. We need to re-affirm the right to organize, and strengthen business’s commitment to its workforce and retirees.

You know, Henry Ford thought if he paid his employees enough, they would all spend their money on new cars. Wal-Mart seems to believe a similar axiom, they pay their employees so little, they can’t afford to shop anywhere else.

We need to end the Wal-Mart-ization of America by raising the minimum wage, immediately.

It is a moral outrage that in history’s wealthiest society someone can hold down a full time job, be a good employee, and still live in poverty. How can anyone argue the ability to support a family on $5.15/hour?

To rent an average 2-bedroom apartment here in the Fox Valley, you need to make at least twice the current minimum wage. I suppose that’s why so many people have 2 or 3 of the new jobs created by the Bush Congress.

Raising the minimum wage to at least $7.50/hour, coupled with a national healthcare plan and a TRUE Prescription Drug benefit that is free to utilize the buying power of its members will bring a forgotten segment of society back into the economy and the American Dream.

A second flank of the assault on the American Dream affects workers of all stripes, collar colors and job classifications.

The Bush tax cuts, supported by my opponent, have shifted the tax burden from wealth to work. The average person in Wisconsin received about a $750 tax cut. Do you feel like you have more money? These tax cuts evaporated to fee increases. Did you register a car – an extra $20 per car. Oshkosh added fees for grass removal, PUBLIC boat launches, to enter the PUBLIC city zoo, closed the PUBLIC pool, charges to enter the PUBLIC museum, even proposed charging youth soccer to use PUBLIC parks, and is anyone here trying to send someone through a PUBLIC school or university. Did you hear the news this morning on that?

In congress I will support REAL tax relief for those middle-class Americans who TRULY drive our economy and productivity. We need to turn back the tide of privatization in our country and our state.

“But Jef,” you say, “you are alienating the wealthy who make over $200,000/year.” They’re not my constituency. These wealthy few may be the constituency of my opponent, as illustrated by his votes not to continue unemployment benefits for workers while voting to continue tax cuts for those making over $1 million/year. He can have the vote of every person in the District making over $200,000/year. I’ll simply take the rest, count them up, and see who really represents Wisconsin’s interests.

Now, don’t think that I’m anti-business. Every business deserves a FAIR profit. It has been said that what is good for business is good for America. I disagree. I believe that what is good for Americans is good for business. The main consumers and producers of our economy are the workers and the middle class. You can sell neither product nor service without a vibrant, empowered marketplace and consumer base. If you want to support business, support the consumer.

I would like to finish today with a great quote from a Republican, Teddy Roosevelt (that’s how far back I had to dig). “This country will not be a good place for any of us to live in unless it is a good place for all of us to live in.” This, I feel captures perfectly what I hope to accomplish not only in this campaign, but in life. I urge you to help me to make this a world in which we all can live, by sending me to represent YOU in November.

Thank you.

Here is a benefit that Congress passed 415-0.

Now, it is important that we give as many benifits to our troops as possible. However, it is missing a very important point. Because of our dependence on the National Guard, many of our troops have been away from their careers for a year or more. In this time, they have been earning, in many cases, much less than their normal pay.

These troops did not buy their houses, arrange their budgets, or plan their lives around the military pay, but their normal pay.

Now, to address this wage gap, our representatives are allowing the soldiers to tap into their retirement benefits to cover this wage gap. This is an injustice. A 28 year-old soldier spending a dollar from retirement funds today is robbing that soldier of over $49 at retirement (the Dow Jones Industrial Average for the last 10 years was about 13%, if we project this out until the soldier turns 60, that would have added up to $49). If we expect the average to do less, even at 6.5%, we have stolen $7.50 from this soldier's retirement.

If we truly want to address the wage gap amongst our troops, we should not do it by mortgaging their future. We should arrange real financing and aid programs for these brave Americans.

How can the President ask for, Congress support $87 Billion in gifts to KBR & not ensure that our ground soldiers have proper armor on their Hum-Vee's?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4731185/

Another shame on Bush'e/Congress' tax cut for the rich/gift to Haliburton/KBR.

Maureen Dowd makes a great point about Bush's answer to if he makes any mistakes:

After the Bay of Pigs, President Kennedy spoke to newspaper publishers and said: "This administration intends to be candid about its errors. For as a wise man once said, `An error does not become a mistake until you refuse to correct it.' . . . Without debate, without criticism, no administration and no country can succeed — and no republic can survive."

I think that was the 'killer moment' of the press conference. Either he is too dumb to think on his feet, or he is too arrogant to admit mistakes. I'm not sure which scares me more.

Here's something I put into an email to a friend - I think it's worth remembering.

"America is great, because we can, every 4 years, have a revolution. 100% of the Executive, 33% of the Senate & 100% of the House is able to be replaced through the will of the people. It is our duty as activists to make sure that they have an opportunity to make that choice. Only the voters en masse can turn the course of this country, and they can only do that with the choices that we give them."

A must read - too good to just put a synopsis:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/30/opinion/30KRUG.html?th

-jef-

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/26/opinion/26DAVI.html?th

If you have an interest in the "under god" debate.

Rice Is Agreeable to Return for More of 9/11 Panel's Queries

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/26/politics/26PANE.html?th

"The White House announced late Thursday that Ms. Rice was willing to appear before the panel again, but only in private and not under oath. "

Do we really need to say any more.

I sure hope that gays really are 10% (or more) of America, because it looks like we have their votes....

This is from todays Altercation weblog on MSNBC.....

"Meanwhile, The Daily Mis-Lead catches the following development: Despite what he and his gay supporters have claimed in the past, the president now supports the firing of gay government workers simply because they are gay. Bush has insisted that homosexuals "ought to have the same rights" (1) as all other people, but according to the Federal Times, the president's appointee at the Office of Special Counsel ruled that federal employees will now "have no recourse if they are fired or demoted simply for being gay." (2) To carry out the directive, the White House has begun removing information from government websites about sexual orientation discrimination in the workplace. (3)

Sources:
1. Debates, 10/11/2000.
2. "OSC to study whether bias law covers gays", Federal Times, 03/15/2004.
3. "Gay Rights Information Taken Off Site", Washington Post, 02/18/2004.

Tis is just funny - and enlightening.....

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/24/opinion/24AYRE.html?th

"At the time of President Clinton’s biggest strikes against Al Qaeda, in August 1998, there were three words on most people’s minds: “Wag the Dog.” After Clinton ordered air strikes on the terrorist camps in Afghanistan and a pharmaceuticals factory in Sudan, many people thought of that Robert de Niro movie about a struggling president and an obscure foreign war. Reporters asked Secretary Cohen and Clinton investigator Kenneth Starr about the air strikes and the movie. "

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4588255/

I didn't think of this before - Richard Wolfe make a great point here. Remember, from now until fall, as the Republicans are blaming 9/11 on Clinton, that their partisan politics prevented him from doing anything about it.

Also, after the bombing of the Cole, Clinton/Gore could have made a grand anti-terror gesture that would surely have helped Gore in the poles, but decided it was better to show restraint. They instead passed the info they had onto the new administration.

Would Bush do the same, do you think, or would he play it for political advantage at the ballot box?

Paul Krugman speaks the truth again....

"After 9/11 the F.B.I. requested $1.5 billion for counterterrorism operations, but the White House slashed this by two-thirds. (Meanwhile, the Bush campaign has been attacking John Kerry because he once voted for a small cut in intelligence funds.) "

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/23/opinion/23KRUG.html?th

Wee need to make sure that the attacks on Dick Clarke do not stick. He served under more Republicans that Democrats, and was a registered Republican in 2000. Now the administration is trying to destroy him.

Spread the gospel!

Bush campaign gear made in Burma
His campaign store sells a pullover from nation whose products he has banned from being sold in the U.S.

http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-bzsell0319,0,4764348.story

Can these people get any worse?

The Bush house of cards is falling one at a time.....

Polish president says misled about Iraq
First hint of criticism about war from Poland


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4555592/

We're gonna win!!!!!!

From the same article - great point.....

"The U.S. in Iraq plays into the terrorists’ hands. It gives them more people to kill. It proves we’re an occupying nation. What Al Qaeda wants is to cause a holy war. They wanted us to invade Iraq. By denying liberties for thousands of Americans, by moving our nation toward a police state and rattling sabers throughout the world, we proved them right. We legitimized them by claiming we were at war with them. They don’t deserve the designation of enemy combatants. They are criminals and should be treated as such"

A great interview about how safe we are from terrorism....

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4549661/

"If you think of the number of situations where people gather en masse—whether they are public transportation or stadiums or theaters or shopping malls or monuments—you come up with a list of hundreds of thousands of potential targets. And installing preventive screening at all of them fundamentally makes no sense because the attacker will be smart enough to go where you didn’t screen. So if you install all of these security measures in subways, and next time the terrorists bomb shopping malls, the money will have been wasted. This is the fallacy of defending against yesterday’s attack. Unless you go after the attackers, and the fundamental causes, all you will do is force the attackers to modify their tactics. And that is largely a waste of money."

Maureen Dowd gets in some good points on Bush today:

"The Spanish were also angry at José María Aznar because they felt he had misled them about the bombings, trying to throw guilt on ETA and away from Al Qaeda. The Republicans certainly don't want anyone here to think about throwing somebody out of office because he was misleading about Al Qaeda.

....When he challenged Mr. Kerry to put up or shut up on his claim of support from foreign leaders, Mr. Bush said, "If you're going to make an accusation in the course of a presidential campaign, you've got to back it up with facts."

If you're going to make an accusation in the course of a presidency, you've got to back it up with facts, too."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/18/opinion/18DOWD.html?th

"The Pew Research Center did a survey that showed, by the numbers, the real and substantial differences between the parties. Two obvious examples: seven out of 10 Democrats believe government should do more to help the poor, while only four out of 10 Republicans share that belief. That proportion flips when the question is whether the government is run for the benefit of all; 69 percent of Republicans agree with that contention, while only 44 percent of Democrats do."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4522514/

This is from an article about Howard Dean's contribution to the party, and I think it makes a good point if you are willing to read between the lines. If you are Republican (and deographic-wise better off) you think the government is doing a great job. Therefore, because you do not need help, you don't think the government should do more. There is an internal selfishness to the Republican ideal. More to come on this issue....

"It is possible to support the battle against terrorism wholeheartedly and still oppose a political party that embraces the same cause. The Spanish people, who have suffered under the violence of Basque terrorists for years, undoubtedly feel a redoubled commitment to fight on and avenge the innocents who died in Madrid. That did not make them obliged to keep Prime Minister Aznar's party in power. Here in the United States, as much as the White House would like the elections to be about fear and national insecurity, they are a choice between two men and two political philosophies — not a referendum on terrorism."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/16/opinion/16TUE1.html?th

Here is another editorial about Spain.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/16/opinion/16KRUG.html?th

Paul Krugman has a great article based on Spain's election and the impact on the War on terror.

I tend to disagree that the Spanish election is a sign that the terrorists are winning. When Spain went into the coalition, it was against the wishes of a majority of their population. There is a democracy in Spain, and the war was a huge factor in the election before the attacks.

I think that the right here in America want to spin it that the Spanish election is a sign that the terrorists are winning. That way they can argue that Bush needs to stay in. But, if Aznar could not put forth policies to keep his people safe, he and his party do not desreve the offices they had.

It is the same here, if Bush cannot keep us safe, as I believe he didn't before 9-11 (I will write more of my opinions on that upcoming), he does not desreve his office.

-jef-

Well, I'm back.

Keep an eye on here over the next few weeks. I have some announcements.

-jef-