I found this interesting & bet you will too. It contains at least for me some surprises. It is easy to check & compare & is pretty revealing.

I was particularly suprised by how they ranked Boxer. 

from Congress.org : Power Rankings

We rated each current Member of Congress on 15 criteria that demonstrated power and the ability to be effective in Congress in 2005. This resulted in a Power Score that ranked members for overall power in each chamber of Congress.

5,726 out of 9,368 Districts (61.12%) Reporting Statewide.
Last updated 5/17/2006 12:19:29 AM.

United States Senator
Democratic Primary

Candidate-------------------Votes
CASEY, BOB JR (DEM) 379,808
SANDALS, ALAN (DEM) 31,737
PENNACCHIO, CHUCK (DEM) 39,509

Republican Primary

Candidate-------------------Votes
SANTORUM, RICK (REP) 349,689

SAVE OHIO - Jennifer Brunner for Ohio Secretary of State

Lotsa Dems turnin' out for the primary! Buh-Bye Ricky!

Shows the lowest numbers yet for Rs. More people trust Dems in all areas. It's a throw the bums out mood this year. Some Dems could take a hit just for being an incumbent, but hopefully what will happen is lots of Rs will just stay home and not vote in November. If that's the case, the Dem incumbents would be OK. It's time for the Democratic party to pull together and tell the people they get the message and won't let us down in restoring the need for checks and balances all over America. We are the party for "the common good." That's got to be a promise.

WXXM 92.1 FM in Madison WI has a nice mix of progressive talkers. Very clean stream.
Add this to your favorites!

SCHEDULE:

^ C L I C K ! ^

SAVE OHIO - Jennifer Brunner for Ohio Secretary of State

GREAT BACKUP to get Mike Malloy LIVE! (He's next to Randi)

Draw your conclusions:

Profits, Market Share & Federal Campaign Contributions of the Top 5 Oil Refining Companies

 http://tinyurl.com/zzudn

Today, in just three divisions (precincts) available to me, Kevin and I pulled over 100 votes. With only 27-01, 27-02, and 27-23 reporting, we have reached roughly 110 votes. And that is only three divisions (precincts). We won, and we won huge. We accomplished exactly what I had hoped--win the election in our home precincts, with all outside assistance as frosting / margin for error. It is over. We won. I feel like crying. I honestly cannot believe this happened. I accepted Kevin's offer to run less than eight days ago. I will now serve on the Pennsylvania Democratic State Committee. The city, the state, and the nation will change as a result. I promise everyone that.

I need to produce a full write-up of what was an absolutely extraordinary day for me, but that will wait until tomorrow. First, I want to say something about those candidates who were less fortunate tonight.

MyDD

This is not a time for a candidate who will offend no one; it is time for a candidate who takes clear stands and kicks ass.....Molly Ivins

European nations may give Iran a reactor 
 
 
  
By GEORGE JAHN | Associated Press
May 16, 2006

VIENNA, Austria (AP) - Key European nations are considering offering Iran a light-water nuclear reactor as part of incentives meant to persuade Tehran to give up its uranium enrichment program, a senior diplomat said Tuesday.

But a U.S. official said Washington would likely oppose the plan.

A senior diplomat familiar with international attempts to dissuade Iran from enrichment said the tentative plans still were being discussed among France, Britain and Germany as part of a possible package to be presented Friday to senior representatives of the five permanent U.N. Security Council members. The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity because he was divulging confidential information.

In Britain, officials confirmed the offer was among options to be discussed at the London talks but said suggestions that it had been decided on as part of the incentives were premature.

"Clearly we are working out the details and that will be a matter for the talks in London," a British Foreign Office spokesman said on condition of anonymity, in line with government policy.

A light-water reactor is considered less likely to be misused for nuclear proliferation than the heavy water facility Iran is currently building at the central city of Arak, which _ once completed _ will produce plutonium waste.

Still, light-water reactors are also not proliferation-proof because they use enriched uranium as fuel. While uranium enriched to low levels cannot be used in a weapons programs, it can be processed relatively easily to high "weapons-grade" material, for use as the fissile core of nuclear warheads.

~SNIP~

http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/43726.html 

Venezuela considers selling U.S. F-16s, possibly to Iran 

  
By FABIOLA SANCHEZ | Associated Press
May 16, 2006

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Venezuela's military is considering selling its fleet of U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets to another country, possibly Iran, in response to a U.S. ban on arms sales to President Hugo Chavez's government, an official said Tuesday.

Gen. Alberto Muller, a senior adviser to Chavez, told The Associated Press he had recommended to the defense minister that Venezuela consider selling the 21 jets to another country.

Muller said he thought it was worthwhile to consider "the feasibility of a negotiation with Iran for the sale of those planes."

Even before the United States announced the ban on arms sales Monday, Washington had stopped selling Venezuela sensitive upgrades for the F-16s.

Muller said officials have been considering options for replacing the F-16s for some time. He said the military was considering Russian Su-35 jet fighters, "which is the best jet fighter there is in the world right now."

Chavez has previously warned he could share the U.S.-made F-16s with Cuba and China _ and look into buying new jets from Russia or China _ because he said Washington was not supplying parts for the planes as agreed.

U.S. officials disputed that accusation, saying they were living up to their commitments under the deal. They said Venezuela is bound under the 1982 contract to consult with Washington before transferring any F-16s to another country.

"The recommendation that I'm making to the minister, and which I will make to the president at the appropriate time, is that the (F-16s) be sold to a third party because if they aren't complying with their part of the agreement, we don't have any obligation to comply with our part," Muller told the AP.

The State Department, in announcing the ban on arms sales Monday, said the measure was taken in response to a lack of support by Chavez's government for counterterrorism efforts.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack cited Venezuela's close relations with Iran and Cuba, both of which the U.S. deems state sponsors of terrorism, and expressed concerns about alleged ties between Venezuela and leftist Colombian rebels _ a suspicion Chavez has repeatedly dismissed as baseless.

The Foreign Ministry said the U.S. move was aimed at weakening Chavez's government in preparation for an attack.

~SNIP~

http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/43746.html

At BradBlog

HUNDREDS OF VOTING MACHINES BREAK DOWN IN PHILLY!

Pennsylvania is having their primary elections today and, as expected, the train wreck is underway. As reported by Philadelphia Daily News, hundreds of machines (in this case, those made by Danaher Guardian) have failed...

Another 100+ Machines Fail in Allegheny County (Pittsburgh)!

100's of machines in Allegheny County, where Pittsburgh is located, also failed to work correctly today. If we're able to keep remember correctly (since the story doesn't name any voting machine company names), Allegheny County finally settled on voting machines made by ES&S, after they abandoned hopes of going with Diebold when their machines were found to be hackable, and then later found machines from Sequoia Voting Systems -- who they'd planned to use instead -- were discovered to be similarly hackable.

ES&S eventually won the prize, just weeks before today's primary -- we warned about going with a new system with so little time to prepare, but did they listen? -- yet appear to have lost the day for PA voters, according to this report from Pittsburgh's Post-Gazette...

Many links to news reports within these stories...

SAVE OHIO - Jennifer Brunner for Ohio Secretary of State

death tax is on the road to extinction, taxes are low and relief used to help the American Economy become the envy of the Industrialized World, the economy works for all 'Mericuns........... well, his list is forever, and he's great, and Cheney was the best man he could have chosen for the job......

'Course, they have had some problems with a falling stock market he had to deal with when he came into office in 2000, then 9/11, then natural disasters......  So ....... It's been haaaaaard!

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaach!

From Campaign Money Watch, A Project of Public Campaign Action Fund

Ralph Reed's relationship with convicted disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his casino clients made Reed a very rich man. Now he's running for Lieutenant Governor in Georgia, he doesn't want anyone to know that he took the gambling money.

That's where we come in.

On the eve of a major fundraiser, with Rudy Guiliani, for Reed in Atlanta on Thursday, Public Campaign Action Fund's Campaign Money Watch project is launching a new radio ad to expose the hypocrisy of the real Ralph Reed.

Help us run this ad in targeted counties in Georgia with a donation today.

The ad is already running on several radio stations in Georgia with a large percentage of Republican listeners. With your support of $25, $50, $100 or more, we'll extend this radio ad buy in order to reach more voters.

Here's part of the script:

"Say, what would you think about someone who said 'gambling is a cancer. It is stealing food from the mouths of children,' and then turned around and took a $4 million job from casinos?

"That's what Ralph Reed did. And that's not all. Working with convicted Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff, Ralph Reed used Christian groups as a front for his paying casino clients. That's right, Ralph Reed hit the jackpot doing dirty work for casinos.

"Whatever happened to practicing what you preach?"

Listen to the full ad here.

Recent polling shows the Reed is viewed unfavorably by 45% of Georgia's Republican voters, but he is still leading his GOP primary opponent by six points. It is critical that voters hear the truth about Ralph Reed before he spends his millions glossing over his image and sweeping his corruption and hypocrisy under the rug.

Please contribute what you can to making sure Georgia's voters know about the real Ralph Reed. After that, please spread the word by forwarding this email to others.

Thanks so much for all you do,

David Donnelly
Director, PCAF's Campaign Money Watch

P.S. Some people prefer to send contributions through the mail. Please send checks to Campaign Money Watch, 1320 19th Street, NW, Suite M-1, Washington, DC 20036. Contributions are not tax deductible. For contributions of $200 or more, please include employer and occupation information. We do not receive contributions from corporations or unions. Thanks!

P.P.S. Mac users may have trouble accessing the links in this email.  Please cut and paste these links directly into your browser window.  To listen to the radio ad, visit: http://www.campaignmoney.org/campaigns/main/reed. To keep this ad on the air, visit: https://secure.ga3.org/03/ralphreed

"This is a revolution of the mind." - Rebecca Dearborn

http://colbertbush.cf.huffingtonpost.com/

http://www.upi.com/
SecurityTerrorism/view.php
?StoryID=20060517-115450-6889r

WASHINGTON, May 17 (UPI) -- U.S. state-level National Guard leaders will fight any effort to place their forces under direct presidential control.

The National Guard commanders are poised to carry out the Bush administration's border-security plan to deploy thousands of troops to patrol the Mexican border, but they likely will fight any attempts to place the state-run units under the president's control, CongressDaily reported Tuesday.

Maintaining state control over Guard units allows governors to manage the strain on the force and determine which troops and equipment to send -- and for how long, Maj. Gen. Roger Lempke, president of the Adjutant Generals Association of the United States, told CongressDaily in comments published Tuesday.

"It gives us more flexibility in how we rotate them ... the length of time, the training," said Lempke, who also serves as Nebraska's Guard chief. "We can tailor packages, if you will, to better meet the needs of the states where they'll be."

Historically, governors have maintained control of the National Guard during domestic deployments. Although there were indications the border security plan would not require the Guard to be brought under federal control, the administration tried -- and failed -- to federalize Guard units deployed to Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina last year.

Moves to deploy the National Guard to the border "just underscores again how operational our Guard and reserves are," said Arnold Punaro, chairman of the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves, which is studying the Guard's future missions and requirements. Noting that these troops are no longer regarded merely as reinforcements, Punaro said, "They're an operational force, not a strategic force."

U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner, R-Va., who praised Bush's plan to deploy Guard troops, said he would hold a committee hearing "at the earliest possible opportunity" to review details of the Bush proposal.

"This is a revolution of the mind." - Rebecca Dearborn

http://colbertbush.cf.huffingtonpost.com/

Public financing of elections with clean money is the only way to restore public trust in the legislative process.  'Big money is politics' assisted by an accomodating media controlled by a small array of corporations, that shape the American political debate with false narratives.  'Clean elections - clean money' seeks solutions for politics designed to marginalize and circumvent ordinary citizen's interests.  A coalition of state organizations have established themselves for election reform.  AZ,ME,VT,MA,NM and NC have begun, at various levels, to put into force a public financing system for political elections.  A vanguard of 'clean candidates' has already been elected to office. Modeled after 'clean money' reforms in Arizona and Maine, CA is developing proposals to cover all statewide constitutional and state legislative offices.  early - bird