Everybody Knows with Dr. Bob and Dan-o

Asking for an INDEPENDENT Investigation into the Intelligence on Iraq.  Almost a year has passed since the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and we now know that the major justification for war (Iraq's possession of weapons of mass destruction) no longer has any legs to stand on. Unfortunately, the Bush administration refuses to face the facts. It has switched from talking about Iraq's "possession" of weapons to its "capacity" to produce them as if they were the same thing. And its creation of an "independent" commission to report AFTER the elections is just another PR stunt to distract the American public. Let's create some real accountability. 20/20 Vision has launched an on-line petition calling on Congress to create a truly independent investigation into the White House's role in the intelligence failure that would report BEFORE the elections. Please go to www.2020vision.org/peace/wmdpetition.html to add your name to the growing number of supporters. The American public is on our side.

 Columbus Mennonite Church is planning a second blanket drive to help replace the Mennonite Central Committee blanket stock after 68,000 were sent by MCC in response to the December 26th earthquake in Bam, Iran.  MCC has also suggested a donation of $20 per donor to help with shipping and ongoing relief and rehabilitation efforts. The deadline for this drive is  Sunday, March 28th.  Those wishing to donate should provide new winter-weight, twin blankets (dark colors are preferred). Please make your donation/check out to "MCC" and write "blankets for Iran" in the memo line. For more information, contact Karen Metzler at (740) 774-4622 or kmetzler@mcc.org. or Fred Suter at (614) 895-7345 or fdsuter@aol.com.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and FirstEnergy just can't seem to learn the most important lesson, safety-first.  Despite safety problems and an ongoing criminal investigation, the NRC on Monday signed-off on FirstEnergy restarting the Davis-Besse nuclear power plant.

Ohio PIRG will continue to be a watchdog of FirstEnergy and the events at Davis-Besse.   Demonstrating to our state and local officials that we expect them to stand-up to powerful special interests like FirstEnergy is an important step. Thank you to the over 400 activists who sent letters last week asking state officials to oppose restarting Davis-Besse.

Please send an e-mail to the NRC and express your disappointment in their decision.  Then, ask your friends and family to help by forwarding this e-mail to them.

To take action, click on this link or paste it into your web browser: pirg.org/alerts/route.asp?id=590&id4=OHFreep

Late Wednesday, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Don Nickles (R-OK) put forward a budget resolution that, if enacted, would cut Medicaid by at least $11 billion over five years.  

If enacted, this will result in an increase in the number of uninsured and even more severe cuts to Medicaid than we have seen over the past few years.  In addition, this comes at a time when most states are still suffering from the recession and the increased federal relief is scheduled to expire on June 30, 2004.  The inclusion of this provision in the budget resolution will make the extension of temporary fiscal relief (or FMAP) even more difficult.

We must move quickly on this issue as the full Senate is scheduled to debate and vote on the Budget Resolution this week (week of March 8.)  

As you may know, FirstEnergy's Davis-Besse nuclear power plant in Oak Harbor, Ohio has been shutdown for over two years because a football-sized hole was discovered by workers during routine maintenance.  The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is deciding any day now whether or not to allow FirstEnergy to restart Davis-Besse, perhaps the nation's most poorly managed, and therefore most dangerous, nuclear reactor.

We need Ohio's leaders to stand up for the health and safety of all Ohioans by opposing attempts to restart Davis-Besse.

Please take a moment to ask Governor Taft and his Director of Public Safety to speak out against restarting Davis-Besse. Then, ask your friends and family to help by forwarding this e-mail to them.

To take action, click on this link or paste it into your web browser: pirg.org/alerts/route.asp?id=595&id4=OHFreep

BACKGROUND

A leaked letter from the Bush Administration to state governors reveals a sneaky attempt now underway to get governors to 'voluntarily' commit their states to comply with draconian constraints on domestic procurement (purchasing) policy included in the recently completed CAFTA and proposed for FTAA. Unbelievably, the leaked documents show that the U.S. Trade Representative's Office is seeking blanket permission from governors to sign states on to the procurement provisions of ALL trade agreements under negotiation - including the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), the South African Customs Union and a raft of bilateral deals with Australia, Morocco, Columbia, Thailand and more nations.

It is very important that people write to the Vieques Political Prisoners:

Ernesto de Jesus Giushard
#21716-069

Heriberto Hernandez Carmona
#22304-069

Jose Perez Gonzalez
#21519-069

Jose Acosta Velez
#23883-069

MDC Guaynabo
P.O. Box 2147
SJ,
PR 00922-2147

 The Serving Earth group is arranging for the MoveOn.org video entitled "Uncovered: The Whole Truth About the Iraq War" to be shown at as many local libraries as possible. They need volunteers from central Ohio communities to contact their local library, post flyers provided by MoveOn in high traffic areas, and assist with a group discussion following each screening. If you'd like to help out with this project, please contact Becky at 488-7122 or at servingearth@aol.com.

Today is the public launch of our "Censure" campaign. We're taking out a full-page ad in the Washington Post. We're also holding a press conference in Washington, including two former top intelligence officers from the CIA and the State Department, as well as:

  a.. A mother from Oregon whose daughter, a member of a National Guard unit deployed to Iraq a year ago, was injured by a mortar round; and

  b.. A father from San Diego who lost his son, a US Marine, in combat in Iraq.

Thanks to you, we've already reached well beyond our goal of 300,000 people calling on Congress to censure President Bush for misleading us in his rush to war. In fact, more than 400,000 of us have now signed on.

Can you help us make today's launch even more impactful, by calling your Representative and Senators? You can reach them at:

   Senator Mike DeWine
   DC Phone: 202-224-2315
   Local Phone: 937-376-3080

   Senator George V. Voinovich
   DC Phone: 202-224-3353
   Local Phone: 614-469-6697

We just found out: The Columbus City council did NOT include funding for the educational or public access channels in their 2004 budget.

However, we think there may be time to save the channel!

The actual budget will be introduced at the Council meeting on Jan. 26 and voted upon at the Council meeting Feb. 2.

WE NEED YOUR HELP. Please take a few minutes to email or call asking the Columbus City Councilmembers to fund the educational access channel with their promised $60,000 and public access with their promised $40,000. This must be done by Friday, Jan. 23! Contact information for Council aides is provided below. Please ask them to forward your message immediately to the Councilperson.

Thanks for any help you can provide! Suzanne Patzer 253-2571, 287-5748, spatzre@cscc.edu

Mary Ellen O'Shaughnessy: Legislative Aide: Lelia Cady   (614) 645-8509, lecady@columbus.gov

Mike Mentel: Legislative Aide: Kate McSweeney   (614) 645-8558, mkmcsweeney@columbus.gov