Before even leaving office, the Bush administration record and legacy is clear. It will go down in history as one of the most inept administrations in the history of the United States.

The list of failures and abuses is mind boggling: the reckless rush to an unnecessary war against Iraq, the bumbling, tragic consequences surrounding the response to Hurricane Katrina and an energy policy that has set back both the environment and our economy.

Perhaps the greatest calamity and scandal is the policy failure to deal with the energy crisis and threat of global warming.

For anyone still questioning whether this President is the beacon of compassionate conservatism he claims to be, look no further than his veto of SCHIP.  Vetoing a popular children’s health insurance program on the merits of fiscal conservatism is a new low even for our misguided President.

Tomorrow's vote marks the culmination of the most disingenuous and deliberately misleading debate I have ever witnessed. The partisan, deceptive talking points from the Bush White House have been parroted on Capitol Hill by extremist Republicans.  Their message points have been disputed not only by independent experts, but by dozens of sensible Republicans, including Senators Grassley, Roberts and Hatch, some of the most respected members of the Senate.

Many of you have been following the Farm Bill as it has slowly moved its way through Congress. Hopefully some of you have also been reading my posts laying out a vision for reforming federal food and farm policy. And today, you’ll have an opportunity to hear about the farm bill – and let us hear from you, as well.

This afternoon I am hosting a program on farm bill reform along with Congressman Ron Kind and Ken Cook, President of the Environmental Working Group. You can listen in live through Blog Talk Radio by clicking this link. You can send in your questions before hand by emailing me at BlumenauerOnAir@mail.house.gov or sending me an instant message using AIM to EarlOnAir.

Who: Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR);
Congressman Ron Kind (D-WI);
Ken Cook, President, Environmental Working Group
Where: Live on Blog Talk Radio
When: Today, Thursday, July 12, 2007 at 2:30 PM Eastern/11:30 AM Pacific

On the Fourth of July, The New York Times wrote a couple of paragraphs on the efforts to reform federal food and farm policy that I think sum up the fight really well.

Mary Kay Thatcher, a policy specialist with the American Farm Bureau Federation, the largest farm lobbying group, said current subsidies, which the federation supports, might be tweaked, but added, "I think it is highly unlikely that we will see huge changes."

That may depend on whether the new activists can counteract the power of lobbyists.

This, in essence, is a large part of what this battle is all about: the people versus the entrenched special interests. And it is exactly why your action is so needed today.

To say I’m disappointed with the President’s decision to commute Scooter Libby’s felony prison sentence is an understatement.  

As many of you know from a recent post by mcjoan or from the BlogAds that have been running on a number of sites (including this one), last week I laid out a Food and Farm Bill of Rights – a set of ten principles of reform I believe we in Congress should adhere to as we take up this year’s Farm Bill.

The cause of reform takes a large step forward this week with the introduction of FARM 21 – The Food & Agriculture Risk Management for the 21st Century Act. I am an original cosponsor of this bipartisan piece of legislation, which was introduced by U.S. Reps. Ron Kind (D-WI) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ).

FARM 21 is consistent with the spirit of the Food and Farm Bill of Rights. If enacted into law, it would move America away from the type of special interest politics that have guided the subsidy system in the current Farm Bill towards a system that helps promote sustainable agricultural policies that allow small family farmers to continue working their land. In this way it supports all farmers, not just the few in a few states who are most served by the current agriculture policy.

I flew into Greenland a few days ago with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and some of my colleagues on the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming; with me was the most recent copy of National Geographic.  I glanced at the title of the cover story on global warming, "The Big Thaw" and looked, fascinated, out the window, knowing the vast Greenland Ice Sheet below is rapidly melting. A few hours later, I was sitting in a boat in the harbor in Ilulissat, looking at a massive glacier – 54 cubic miles of ice -- that is moving to the sea at twice the rate it was just 10 years ago.  Global warming is real; I could see it happen before me.

Having made the decision to begin a war of choice in Iraq, we have a particular responsibility to Iraqis whose only crime has been working with Americans.

Four years after the fall of Baghdad, as many of my worst fears have come to pass, Iraq has become the fastest growing refugee population in the world. The United States has a responsibility to protect the innocent victims of mass violence wherever it can – particularly in areas where suffering is a result of America's actions.

For the past twelve years, the modern civil rights movement has been stifled here on Capitol Hill. Today, with new forward-looking leadership, we see the potential of breaking the theological grip on this issue and promoting important steps for the civil rights of gay and lesbian citizens.

I continue visiting the House floor to listen to the Iraq debate.  I've been reading a lot about history and, increasingly, about the institution of Congress; about men and women who served in the House and Senate during great moments in history. What a sense of motivation it gives me.  I've been the reading the Doris Kearns Goodwin story of Lincoln and his war cabinet – a delicious work of history that I'm rationing, so I only read a few dozen pages a night to make it last.  

Wednesday night I stopped by the House floor, and as luck would have it Dave Reichert, a Republican out of the Seattle area, invoked Kearns and her work on Lincoln as justification for the war and a rationalization for voting against the resolution.

I will be commenting live from 1-1:30pm EST.

After being involved in the nightmare of Iraq for longer than World War II, things are decidedly coming to a head.  It is encouraging and instructive to watch Republicans edging away from the President’s willful disregard of bipartisan advice.

After the election, a number of Republicans found their voices once the American public made clear that they feel the President’s leadership on Iraq is not worthy of their support.  

The State of the Union is a fascinating ritual.  It brings together the entire Congress, Diplomatic Corps, Cabinet, and most intense concentration of journalists of the entire year.

I have now been a part of this ritual for more than 10 years, and each one assumes its own unique characteristics.  The chamber was positively charged with expectation and static electricity as Clinton gave his first "post Monica" speech, plowing through policy and prose seemingly for hours without addressing that elephant in the room.

The last time my son Jon joined me as I took my oath of office was my first election to Congress.  There, after a special election, I was the sole focus of attention as the oath administered by then Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich.  I was the only new member sworn in that day and had a chance to speak on the floor of the US House of Representatives. We then retreated to one of the magnificent rooms adjacent to the floor where Newt graciously reenacted the swearing-in so that it could be photographed with family and friends.  I began 11 years as a member of the minority party.

Last Thursday, as I took the oath office for the 110th Congress—this time with 434 others—things could not have been more different.  

The last week I would spend as part of the congressional minority began with attending the Holiday Party at the White House with my daughter Anne. Since she will likely be overseas serving in the Peace Corps for the next two holiday seasons, we thought now was the time.

Every day of continued chaos in Iraq should be a reminder of the need to face reality and change course. Today’s release of the Iraq Study Group report should serve as another wake up call, as well as provide the maneuvering room – and the political cover – for Congress and the Bush administration to do what must be done.

One of the benefits of our vote-by-mail system in Oregon is that you can sit at your desk at 10 o'clock Election Day morning and exhale.  I wanted to take a moment to reflect as we prepare for the election returns that will become available in just a few short hours, starting at 3:00pm Pacific Time.

One thing that is so clear is the impact that bloggers have had on the 2006 election. In every district I've visited, in a dozen states in the last month, there was evidence of bloggers generating national attention for otherwise obscure local candidates and providing critical local networks to help energize and sustain campaigns.

If somebody had told me six months ago that I would be campaigning in Boise, Idaho during the final two weeks before the election, I would have suggested rest and medication.  But here I am, Monday morning, on my way to Boise, not just for our candidate for Congress, Larry Grant, but the entire Democratic ticket--Jerry Brady for Governor and former Congressman Larry LaRocco for Lt Governor.  They are all managing amazing races and have upset the National Republican Party.  Recent campaign stops from Dennis Hastert, Dick Cheney, and Ken Melman, the RNC Chair are evidence, as is the hundreds of thousands of dollar that the national party never expected to invest.  Cheney is even coming again this week.

by Rep Earl Blumenauer, Tues Oct 17, 2006

Part of the challenge of this campaign season is balancing the demands of national efforts with responsibilities here at home.  Last week was a perfect example as I juggled the day to day work in Congress with politics here in Oregon and day trips out of state.  We started last weekend with a series of events, including the kickoff of the Democratic Campaign in Multnomah County where we concentrated on the Oregon Legislature and school district campaigns.