(I was going to post my own Thanksgiving diary, but you know what? I'll just thank Charlie and let him do the honors. - promoted by Brian Leubitz)
(Cross Posted at Daily Kos)
As Jan and I reflect on the past year, we are humbled and profoundly grateful for the tremendous outpouring of support we've received from people across the 4th CD and the entire country. To all our friends (both new and old), volunteers, netroots activists, and contributors, we can never say thank you enough for believing in this campaign, and for fighting so hard to get our country back on track.
According to a blog post this week by Lisa Vorderbrueggen (Contra Costa Times)
The California Institute for Federal Policy Research has posted information about a study that shows the state would lose two of its 53 seats in Congress if the apportionment population excluded the state's illegal residents.
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This is just what we need. At least it is one way to get rid of some incumbents.. I would opt for Johnny DooDoo. (CA-4)
Well that didn't take long. Doolittle raised a lot of eyebrows this week when he announced that he was no longer going to support Bush on Iraq. One would have naturally expected him to vote yesterday to approve the House resolution on withdrawing troops. But no. It turns out those were empty words. The Bee sure expected he would vote aye.
Rep. John Doolittle removed any thought that he was abandoning his support of President Bush's policy in Iraq on Thursday when he voted to oppose a Democratic resolution to begin withdrawing U.S. troops within 120 days.
The measure passed 223-201 in the Democratic-controlled House. Bush, who has ruled out any change in war policy before September, has threatened to veto it.
Last week, in a meeting with his constituents and with The Bee's editorial board, the conservative Roseville Republican said the war had turned into a "quagmire" and that his position had evolved to the point where he now favored pulling back U.S. troops from the front lines.
Whoopsies, perhaps it wasn't the greatest idea to time the big announcement the week and a vote was scheduled. The editorial board sure has a bone to pick now with the Congressmen.
So, Doolittle has an explanation for all of this right? Some sort of a statement about how this wasn't the exact right vehicle for changing the Iraq policy. Right? Well...um, no, not exactly. See it's all our fault for taking Doolittle at his word. See what he said, wasn't what he said. We have it all wrong. He really does support the president.
You have got to be kidding me with this. Doolittle tried to fend off some serious media heat by having a press conference today. The ending is a real pearler.
I have been an effective representative for the region and shall continue to be one despite this situation. Finally I will just say that if there is anything we should have learned from the Duke lacrosse case, it is that the destruction of the reputations of innocent people can occur when the government, the press and the public jump to unfounded conclusions. I ask everyone to withhold judgment until the all facts are known and the truth can prevail.
You can hear him read his prepared statement on the SacBee's site. Har har har, new meaning to the phrase "Doolittle raiders". The FBI searching the house of a sitting Congressman is so hilarious.
If you listen to the whole thing he asks for questions unrelated to the FBI raid, but obviously the reporters do not stick to that. He claims that stepping down from Approps was his idea and was not forced upon him by Boehner.
[UPDATE] -by juls Salladay has the Q and A transcript up. Needless to say, Doolittle is not resigning (yet).
(Some words from one of the guests of honor at next week's blograiser. - promoted by dday)
Thank you all for your support. Last year was a great victory for Congressman McNerney and a near miss for me. I look forward to your continued support so I can join Jerry in Washington. There is much to be done, but our numbers, energy, and ability to organize will prove that the netroots can win elections.
Please vote for me in the DFA Allstars campaign and send the link to your friends and ask them to vote for me also.
I met some of you at the Yearly Kos Convention in Las Vegas, and hope to meet a large group in San Diego.
It's time to take our country and government back! Charlie
A source with pretty good knowledge of such things just tipped me off that the FBI raided Rep. John Doolittle's house in Virginia today. Doolittle, R-Roseville, has all kinds of ties to the felonious ex-lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
I will put up more as I have it. This is fricken huge!
FBI Raids Doolittle's Home: The FBI has raided the Northern Virginia home of Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.), according to Congressional sources. No details are publicly available yet about the circumstances of the raid, but Doolittle and his wife, Julie, have been under federal investigation for their ties to the scandal surrounding imprisoned former lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Lobbyist Kevin Ring, a former aide to Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA), resigned from his law firm last Friday, the same day as the raid on Dolittle's home. As Politico reported, Ring "often served as an intermediary between Abramoff's clients and Doolittle's office, according to news reports, and has remained close to Doolittle and his wife, Julie, who did consulting work for Abramoff." It's suspected that Ring may have reached a plea agreement with prosecutors.
via email here is Charlie's statement.
This is a sad day for the people of the 4th District, for our Congress, and our country. It is my sincere hope that the ongoing investigation will bring the era of corruption and scandal ridden politics to a close, so that we can move forward on addressing the real priorities of the American people: like ending the war in Iraq, winning the war against Terrorism, securing our borders, keeping faith with our veterans, expanding economic opportunity, and achieving energy independence.
x-posted from Ruck Pad
Wonders will never cease. His wife will no longer take a 15% cut of his political donations. He has hired an outside fundraiser. Of course, he is still petulant about it, refusing to admit it was wrong in the first place.
(I had the pleasure of helping out Nick and Neil on the Brown campaign. They were greatly affected by what they learned about the Marianas and hopefully can draw greater attention to the atrocities. - promoted by juls)
The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) has been a sore issue with certain politicians in Washington. Political leaders such as Tom DeLay, John Doolittle, Richard Pombo, Conrad Burns, Ralph Reed and even President George W. Bush have been linked to the scandals involving Jack Abramoff and the horrific human rights abuses on these tiny Pacific Islands under US supervision. As concerned citizens who first learned about the Marianas while working as staffers on the Charlie brown for Congress campaign, Nick Shepard and myself (Neil Pople) decided to create a non-profit group that would address the issues our elected officials and political leaders seem unwilling and unable to tackle...
Hi - My first visit ever to calitics (sorry to say), but at Brian's suggestion I'm posting this youtube video of Charlie Brown (CA-04) 'debating' w/Doolittle's proxy re: the issue of the Marianas Islands. Not sure what he found so funny about forced abortions and sex slaves.
p.s. I'm not a member of Charlie Brown's staff or campaign, just a volunteer.
Hope to see some of you at the Rally for Change tonight at 5:30 in Loomis!
Last night, on the floor of the House of Representatives, Congressman John Doolittle made a clear choice in the ongoing fight against child pornography. HR 5441, vote #215, 5/25/06 Congressman Doolittle voted against adding much needed funds to fight child pornography. Child pornography is a multi-billion dollar industry that puts at risk an alarming and growing number of children. As many as one in five children report having been sexually solicited on the internet. California children and their families are at risk, and Doolittle’s choice shows that he does not stand for protecting California kids.
Holy Crap!