SOS -- Save Our Senate!
By Mike Hersh, Oct 21, 2002

The Republicans are planning a legislative blitz if they retake the Senate. Bush would be unchallenged, and excercise absolute power. Republicans plan to turn back the clock on civil rights, workers' rights, the environment and everything else.

Republican policies would let big corporations pollute at will, relocate offshore, and evade taxes. This would run up the deficit and cost American jobs. Republicans still plan to privatize and defund Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, education and environmental protection.

Republicans do not deserve absolute power in America. No one does. Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. The Bush Occupation is already corrupt and inept enough.

We cannot trust Republicans with unlimited, absolute power. For six years, they tried to slash taxes for the rich and defund needed programs. They passed budgets which slashed Medicare by $270 Billion and refused to fund low-cost high-return investments in our future like Headstart and school lunches. They even wanted to eliminate the entire Departments of Education and Energy!

For six years, only President Clinton's vetoes and his willingness to stand up to the Newt Gingrich government shutdown stopped the right-wingers. After the Supreme Court overturned the election and appointed Bush, the onslaught began. Since then, only Senator Jeffords' brave party switch and damage control efforts by Senate Democrats protected us. If the Republicans retake the Senate, all our defenses will be gone. There will be nothing to moderate the extreme GOP agenda.

As the Washington Post reports: "White House officials and Republicans on Capitol Hill are so optimistic about winning control of both chambers of Congress in next month's elections that they have begun mapping how they would use their new power.... With the elections 16 days away and polls showing many crucial races too close to call, Republicans are drawing up plans that would aid a broad array of industries...."

In case there's any question about GOP priorities, according to the Post, "Business lobbyists said their wish lists include substantial nationwide limits on the amount of damages that can be awarded in medical malpractice cases, plus a major overhaul of the tax code to reduce the burden on corporations...."

Plans are already in place, as "Michael G. Franc, the Heritage Foundation's vice president of government relations, said the mood among business lobbyists and economic conservatives is 'guarded optimism, bordering on giddiness.' He said they are laying plans to take swift advantage if Republicans complete the triple crown of the White House, the House and the Senate."

See Republicans Planning for Full Control Of Congress, Mike Allen, Washington Post Staff Writer, Sunday, October 20, 2002; Page A01: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53394-2002Oct19.html

That's not the half of it. We cannot count on Democrats to filibuster extreme legislation and judges. People for the American Way "Warns of Right Wing Control of All Branches of Government" in their "One Vote Away" Ad: "So far in this election season, there has been almost no attention to the fact that for the first time since 1929, the right wing of the Republican Party might have effective control of all three branches of government. Given the consequences of that dominance, it is urgent that the silence on this issue be broken. People For the American Way is ready to end that silence with a hard-hitting television ad."

Three Supreme Court vacancies could open in the next two years, and right wingers like Ted Olson, might join strange Justices Scalia and Thomas charting a far rightward course for the next generation. As PFAW reports, an independent judiciary hangs in the balance:

"In testimony before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, [PFAW President Ralph G.] Neas stresses, 'the federal judiciary is the most important domestic issue facing the nation. Judges confirmed today will interpret the Constitution and the laws of the land for decades to come, and their decisions will impact the daily lives of all Americans, their children and their grandchildren.'" Neas explains this threat to the American way of life further in his article, Ideology and the Federal Judiciary, prepared for Insight Magazine, January 2002: http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=608.

Help us now! SOS -- Save Our Senate!

We have to take the lead and save at least the Senate for our own sake. If Democrats lose the Senate, as many predict they might, Bush will be unchallenged. Republican power -- unchecked and unbalanced -- will turn back the clock on civil rights, workers' rights, the environment and everything else. Republicans do not deserve absolute power in America -- no one does. Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

The Bush Occupation is already corrupt and inept enough. They don't need any more authority to abuse. We must inform the voters. They must know what's at stake. The commentary we've published over the past several weeks should be required reporting for the mass media, but we know they won't cover it. Here's what I suggest:

Please list the 10 most important facts voters should know before 11/05. Send them to me at: 10most@mikehersh.com. I will craft your observations into an article in the series I'm writing. Also, you should support our efforts at: Support Free Media -- http://www.mikehersh.com/supportus.shtml.

I've already sketched out an article charging that Republicans are no longer worthy of the name, because they are decidedly anti-republican. They no longer support our constitutional republican system. I have another in the works showing the Republicans' actions show they are not morally or ethically qualified to lead, much less exercise absolute power. I will publish those ASAP.

I will continue writing and speaking out on the radio through the November elections, and then probably check into the hospital. I'm not sleeping much, and I'm not doing very much else to keep myself alive. We can't keep going without your support. If you appreciate our hard work on your behalf, show it now. If you want us to do more, please help us.

We need your help now, more than ever.
Send whatever you can to keep us going.