BEHIND THE BUSHES

AN UNUSUAL APPROACH TO IMPEACHMENT

DAVID SWANSON - There is a decent chance that within the next month or
two the New Mexico State Legislature will ask the U.S. House of
Representatives to begin impeachment proceedings against President Bush
and Vice President Cheney. And there is the definite possibility that a
congress member from New Mexico will take up the matter when it gets to
Washington. The Jefferson Manual, rules used by the U.S. House, allows
for impeachment to be begun in this manner. It only takes one state
legislature. No governor is needed. One congress member, from the same
state or any other, is needed to essentially acknowledge receipt of the
state's petition. Then impeachment begins.

Last year the state legislatures of California, Minnesota, Illinois, and
Vermont introduced but did not pass resolutions to send impeachment to
the U.S. House. The state senator who introduced the bill in Minnesota
is now a member of Congress, Keith Ellison. He is one of many congress
members waiting for the right moment to impeach Bush and Cheney. The
state of New Jersey has a strong activist movement working to introduce
and pass impeachment this year. There's a race now to see which state
can do it first, which state can redeem these United States in the eyes
of the world. New Mexico is jumping into the contest in a big way, with
a terrific leading sponsor of the bill, strong Democratic majorities in
both houses, and a citizens' movement ready to hold its government to
account.

http://impeachpac.org/node/2686

OUR BUSH ARCHIVES
http://prorev.com/bush.htm

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BUSH WANTS GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS POLITICALLY APPROVED

ROBERT PEAR, NY TIMES - President Bush has signed a directive that gives
the White House much greater control over the rules and policy
statements that the government develops to protect public health,
safety, the environment, civil rights and privacy. In an executive order
published last week in the Federal Register, Mr. Bush said that each
agency must have a regulatory policy office run by a political
appointee, to supervise the development of rules and documents providing
guidance to regulated industries. The White House will thus have a
gatekeeper in each agency to analyze the costs and the benefits of new
rules and to make sure the agencies carry out the president's
priorities.

This strengthens the hand of the White House in shaping rules that have,
in the past, often been generated by civil servants and scientific
experts. It suggests that the administration still has ways to exert its
power after the takeover of Congress by the Democrats. . .

Consumer, labor and environmental groups denounced the executive order,
saying it gave too much control to the White House and would hinder
agencies' efforts to protect the public. . .

Peter L. Strauss, a professor at Columbia Law School, said the executive
order "achieves a major increase in White House control over domestic
government. . . Having lost control of Congress," Mr. Strauss said, "the
president is doing what he can to increase his control of the executive
branch."

Representative Henry A. Waxman, Democrat of California and chairman of
the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said: "The executive
order allows the political staff at the White House to dictate decisions
on health and safety issues, even if the government's own impartial
experts disagree. This is a terrible way to govern, but great news for
special interests."

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/30/washington/30rules.html?hp&ex=
1170219600&en=9f1468dd91984d81&ei=5094&partner=homepage

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BUSH REGIME AGREES NOT TO BLOW UP NEVADA DESERT

SALT LIKE TRIBUNE - Divine Strake was promised to blow a hole in the
earth and create a mushroom cloud over the Nevada desert. Instead, it
blew open old wounds for Utahns who had been promised Cold War atomic
tests would be safe, and the hurt, betrayal and rage that poured out
left the Pentagon with little choice but to announce it was scrapping
the test. Michelle Thomas spent the day in tears. "I've cried all day
long. I just can't yet grasp it," said Thomas, a St. George Downwinder
who opposed Divine Strake. She has had cancer and suffers an immune
deficiency she blames on exposure to radiation. "I just felt such an
overwhelming relief," she said. "You just think, 'Oh my gosh. We
matter.' " The memories of Utahns helped fuel an unprecedented flood of
resistance to the test, the ignition of 700 tons of explosives planned
for the Nevada Test Site from which radiation spread from atomic tests
into Utah and other states downwind. "This wasn't run-of-the-mill public
opposition. This was a heartfelt and broad-based public expression, so
much so that it would have been impossible for anyone to neglect," said
Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. "I can't remember the last time we had an
issue that had this kind of unified public response. . . . Memories are
very much alive and well."

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_5287015

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