I'd recommend only picking one paper. A lot of newspapers, such as the Baltimore Sun or Washington Post will only print letters sent exclusively to it.

Good style suggestions. Don't try to be a smartass - just make the point you want to make, and keep it short and sweet. Also, Charles Kuffner suggested that some people might want to send the email from their own email accounts, to lower the level of smartassery. For your consideration.

Also, CALL IN TO TV AND RADIO. Nobody really reads letters to the editor anyway, except big dorks like me. Contact info for radio shows is here, and people who have cable probably know when the national call-in shows are.

And amen to the 11.

Done. :-)

Also done. I live in a Boston suburb, and picked one of the smaller local papers, not the Globe or Phoenix or one of the big ones. :)

DEMONCRAPS SUCK! I HOPE THE DEMOCRAPTICUNDERGRUOND BURNS IN HELL!

Are the TEXAS 11 getting paid for not doing they're jobs? They should get to work and fight the good fight win or lose! Rather than taking a vacation on the taxpayers (republican and democrat) buck!

[Ed. - Long string of "FLOOD" deleted. We just didn't like the aesthetic. Imagine.]

[Ed. - Long string of "p" deleted. We just didn't like the aesthetic. Imagine.]

Your permalink for this entry doesn't work.

I used to be a Democrat, but then I read Mr. OFF's orginal comment on this thread. Are we really "Democraps"? If this is true, I can no longer support the party.

If everyone reading this message signed these petitions we could force the Republican congress to pass a progressive agenda.

Tell congress we demand a prescription drug benefit under Medicare Part B

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/383366962

TELL CONGRESS YOU DEMAND THEY ENACT A PROGRESSIVE AGENDA.

Read and sign the petition at

http://www.thePetitionSite.com/takeaction/365235275

An editorial from The New York Times, Aug. 22, 2003

August 22, 2003
Injustice in Guantánamo

s the prisoners in Guantánamo approach their second anniversary in captivity, the Bush administration is finally talking about bringing them to trial. The delay in holding trials, and releasing the innocent, is unacceptable. So are the rules the administration has outlined for conducting their trials. The Defense Department should heed the calls of respected voices in the legal community, including that of the American Bar Association, and develop fairer procedures.

The detainees held in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, on suspicion of involvement in terrorism have been in custody so long it may seem that they have been found guilty of something. But the detainees, most of them captured in the Afghanistan war, have not had trials, and it is not clear when they will. Relatives and human rights groups say many were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, or were picked up based on bad intelligence.

The administration has indicated that it intends to start putting the detainees before military tribunals soon. The procedures that have been adopted for these proceedings are unfair. The trials themselves may be held in secret, and lawyers can be prevented from speaking publicly about the proceedings. Secret trials make it impossible for the outside world to determine whether justice is being done.

The military tribunal rules also contain restrictions on lawyers that will make it difficult, if not impossible, for them to mount effective defenses. The government reserves the right to deny detainees and their civilian lawyers access to the evidence being used at trial. The rules authorize the Defense Department to monitor communications between civilian lawyers and clients, and require lawyers to reveal information that they learn from their clients relating to future criminal acts. The American Bar Association, at its annual meeting this month, urged Congress and the executive branch to revise these rules substantially. Finally, the appeals process laid out in the military tribunal rules falls far short of what fairness requires.

The Bush administration has already denied each of the Guantánamo detainees one basic right guaranteed in the civilian justice system: a speedy trial. Now it appears determined to deny many more. Before these prosecutions go any further, the administration should overhaul its procedures until it has a system capable of exonerating the innocent, and of showing a skeptical world that those who are convicted are in fact guilty.

Sending this out to my newsletter listserv.

Democraps? Huh, it doesn't say that on my voter registration card. Must be a typo. I'll alert the Secretary of State at once.

OT: The bat is back at Blog for America! I cannot go see it because I'm on a government computer. If anyone sees this please give me an update.

I can only find the quote "There is no practice more dangerous than that of borrowing money" attributed to George Washington, not to George Bush. Are we sure about that quote?

Done - Great Idea

Fiscal Insecurity

Unfortunately, George Bush is pushing America into a new era of economic insecurity, and because it takes a lot of money to maintain our kind of military, we are dangerously weakening our national security as well.

Bush’s economic program seems to consist mostly of spending on big corporate farm programs, unworkable missile defense systems, stealth fighters to go against terrorism, as well as huge subsidies for drug prescriptions, mining and drilling. This combined with a wealth transfer to the very people who can easily move that money out of the country has lead to a two-year projected deficit of over a trillion dollars (if you include the now broken lock box of the Social Security Trust fund).

Thanks in part to his trade programs that trade American’s jobs for multinational corporation’s profits George Bush has presided over the first job-losing presidency since Herbert Hoover. As a result, we are losing our ability to pay back the nation’s increasing debt and will be stuck paying billions of dollars of interest yearly, much of which will go to foreign investors.

Bush is a fiscal train wreck

The current administration has bankrupted our country. In four short years we have gone from record surpluses to record deficits. Mr. Bush has created a “birth tax” on every American child who must eventually pay off Bush’s fiscal disaster. It is time for a change. The future of our Republic depends on it.

I have one concern: the CREEP site doesn't have a place for your phone number and that is required by the papers in my area so that they can call and confirm.
I sent it out anyway and here it is:

" President Bush is leading our economy off the cliff. Under his watch we have lost more than 3 million jobs. . Bush inherited a huge surplus, but has squandered it on tax breaks that favor the wealthy. His economic plan does little to put money in the pockets of people who will spend it and stimulate the economy. We are now facing gigantic deficits for years to come. Thanks to Bush's careless leadership, our children and grandchildren will be stuck with our bills. This is not a legacy that inspires pride."

HERE IS MY LETTER

President Bush should be excoriated for his short-sighted leadership on the economy. During his tenure, we have lost more than 3 million jobs. The projected deficit for this year is upwards of $455 billion - not countring the billion a week in Iraq. The unemployment rate has passed 6%, with 8.8 million Americans out of work. To compare, under Bush, the economy has lost an average of 69,000 jobs a month.

Bush has done nothing to help the situation. His tax cuts have so bankrupted the Government that long term interest rates went up 1% since June, a shift to be expected when record deficits are being run, but one that is unwanted in a recovery. Further, his Tax Cuts, which have been packaged as stimulative, do nothing to help the economy in the short term. They are set to kick in primarily in the future, and they target the wealthy and those with stocks, the classes of people least likely to quickly spend the money.

The States are running record deficits. In normal times, the Federal Government would aid them, but this time, only an emergency $20 billion (to be distributed among all 50) was included in the budget, and only because the Democrats insisted on it.

How can you call that responsible leadership?

I am taking the 400 bucks in chump change that I got from Bush's tax cut and I am sending it to the leadin Democratic party contender. That 400 dollars is going to cost my kid thousands of dollars in the long run, and I don't want to see things get worse. Bush has been the worst president in my lifetime - if not the past century. He should be run out of Wahington on a rail.

-----

This is a great idea! I love the irony of using their tools against them! I suggest suing a pseudonym every time, though. I think that they will probably try to tweak the messages of known lefties. In any case, a bunch of lefties using this tool would be a data mining nightmare for the poor sys admin that has to dig through all the pro Bush stuff - to seperate out the anti-Bush stuff.

Mission accomplished.

I wonder, though... Has the Bush campaign now harvested my name, snail address, and email address? Not that they'd be the only spammers to afflict me.

Come to think of it, seeing their garbage might be amusing in a morbidly nauseating sort of way. And it would also constitute a small waste of their large pot of money.

One small step (my contribution to today's festivities):

----------------------------------------------
It has come to my attention that the mainstream media has glossed over and/or ignored the fiscal irresponsibility of the current administration. You should be informing your readers about a number of facts concerning the fiscal disaster currently in progress:

The current budget deficit (which does not include the costs of the war in Iraq) is by far the largest in the history of this country, and among the top 5 in percentage of GDP as well.

The ‘Tax Cuts’ which are the sole responsibility of the Republican House, the Republican Senate, and the Republican Administration, have not done anything to help the situation. A side effect of this piece of fiscal irresponsibility has been to rob the federal government of the ability to help ease the financial distress of individual states. Which are themselves going through unprecedented fiscal crises’ of their own.

Unemployment rates have also gone to heights not seen since the Great Depression of the 1930’s. The United States has lost almost 70,000 jobs during every month of the current administration. When you also hear that the U.S. Republican Party has outsourced their fund raising campaign to a foreign country, this drain on our nation’s economy becomes particularly galling. How can the party that claims to be concerned with it’s constituents’ woes hand over their jobs to foreigners?

You should devote more of your resources towards bringing vital information of this nature to the people. Isn’t that what responsible journalism is all about?

Regards,

------------------------------------------------

It's my first one, so I sent it to five of the smaller locals and one of the two (cough) biggies - the Detroit Free Press and the Detroit News are the same organizations, but with two different mastheads. I sent this to the Freep.

I also love the way they try and coerce the sheeple to put 'talking points' in their astroturf from this source.

And did you notice that the Repugs talking points are exactly opposite ours? Or did you plan it that way?

Has the Bush campaign now harvested my name, snail address, and email address? Not that they'd be the only spammers to afflict me.

A wise man once said, "Know your enemy."

I'm a Team Leader, and get the updates every week. I'm also getting snail mail from some nutjob group called "Concerned Woman for America." It's all good...

I hope editorial page editors are savvy enough to print out the Bush webpage and pin it up in their cubicles to compare with letter submissions; any time the phrase "President Bush should be commended for his strong leadership on the economy. He has taken bold action to create lasting economic growth," appears, the letter should be tossed. After all, most editorial pages have strict guidelines requiring that letters be original works. Remember Astroturf?

Better yet, I suggest two steps you can take to neutralize the Bushie's letter production line:

1) Send a letter to your paper's editorial page editor and ombudsman/reader representative, with a link to Bush's "action center" and a copy of the paper's own letters to the editor policy included, advising them to be on the lookout for these unoriginal works and reminding them that you'll be watching. Preemptive war is now a justifiable act, right?

2) Print out the phrases and tack them up by your PC. Every morning, take 10–15 minutes to do a Google news search for these phrases. If you find a paper printing letters with these phrases, fire off an e-mail gently informing them that they've been had.

And oh yeah, I just fired off a letter from the Action Center exoriating Bush's leadership on the economy and national security.

PLA posted a statistical analysis showing that since Herbert Hoover, every single Democratic president has outperformed every GOP president in job growth. Carter outperformed Eisenhower. He got about 80 comments, which pretty much established his accuracy and the relevance of the info (demolishing GOP commenters' objections). I consider this a massively useful piece of rhetorical information for voters.

My letter is somewhat off-topic, but I think it's important to alert the papers' editorial staff on where these letters are coming from. Nothing pisses off a true newspaper person than getting blindsided by PR...

Below are paragraphs generated from a computerized letter-writing program at www.georgewbush.com. The program allows the user to enter their zip code, get a list of local newspapers, pick paragraphs pre-written by George W. Bush's campaign staff, and then sign and send off the letter as if the writer had written it themselves.

If you get letters with any of the following content, be forewarned they are NOT legitmate letters - merely political press releases written by a campaign PR flack, and should be treated as you would any other PR release.

To see the Bush campaign's fraud in action, go to:

http://www.georgewbush.com/GetActive/WriteNewspapers.aspx?zip=94590&aid=92

Thanks for your attention to this scam.

=====================================

Computer-generated letter begins here:

President Bush should be commended for his strong leadership on the economy. He has taken bold action to create lasting economic growth.

The President’s economic growth agenda creates jobs. His economic plan is focused on job creation and helps working families with immediate tax relief. Promoting investment is another critical component in the President’s agenda. Reducing the overall tax burden on small business and eliminating the unfair double tax on dividends spurs investment by individuals and businesses, enabling much needed capital investment and spurring job creation.

President Bush understands that we must save Social Security for seniors and for generations to come. His approach preserves the current Social Security system for those at or near retirement while providing new options for young people.

The President’s plan puts money back into the pockets of working Americans. Accelerating already enacted tax cuts will encourage consumer spending by giving 91 million taxpayers an average $1,126 in tax relief this year, immediately injecting billions into the economy. This issue is just one more example of how our President is providing the courageous leadership America needs.

I used one of the canned platitudes, and then inserted truth as appropriate. Kinda fun, actually!

I sent a letter. I wonder... does the Bush campaign read the letters before the system sends them? Are they filtering? Maybe it would be better to get the contact info off the Bush site (which you can do by going to the homepage and entering your ZIP) and send it yourself?

Done. It is a great idea!

Composing my letter now......also suggest adding local color - layoffs in the area, local business and economic facts. I've got a Freeer paper (Colorado Springs Gazette), so wish me luck.

finger check, that's FREEPer

I sent mine to the Sun-Times; interestingly, I got an 'out of office' reply shortly after, directly from a Sun-Times reporter -- which in retrospect is not surprising. The Bush email tool is obviously forging the From: header on the mail it sends. It has to, otherwise all of the mail would appear to be coming from the Bush campaign, not individuals.

But it still will appear to be coming from the Bush campaign, to anyone who takes the time to check the full email headers. They can forge 'From:' easily, but they'll have a much tougher time hiding the identity of the server that sends the mail and the path it takes over the network to the recipient.

Just a little nerd trivia...

I WONDER WHAT ALL YOU DUMBOCRAPS WILL DO WHEN BUSH BECOMES THE PRESIDENT AGAIN IN '04! HE'S GONNA REMEMBER ALL YOU LITTLE RETARDS YOU DEMONCRAP BONEHEADS!

Here is a letter just posted at Romanesko: http://www.poynter.org/forum/?id=letters

From KIM BENABIB: Newspaper editors across the country should always beware of "astro-turf" letter writing campaigns, but a new level of sophistication has been reached by the Bush-Cheney 2004 operation which has just gone live with its new web site Georgewbush.com. There supporters are encouraged to write local and national newspapers using tools provided by the campaign, including the direct email addresses of editors. In most cases these are not the generic letters@ or editor@ addresses listed publicly, but the unpublished internal email addresses. In addition, the Bush campaign web tools include pre-digested "talking point" paragraphs on various issues that supporters can drop into their letters with just a click of the mouse. While the letters are sent directly from the Bush web site, the headers will make them appear as if they are arriving from individuals. Letter page editors should be on the lookout. Of course, since anyone who lets one of these pre-written letters slip through the vetting process risks ridicule from colleagues, my advice is to go to Georgewbush.com and familiarize yourselves with the "talking point" paragraphs before you get taken in."

My local rag gets taken regularly. I have called them on it and they printed my first letter, but were too embarrassed to print the second one. It amazes me that they can't see through the canned crap of Astroturf.
Normal people...not even Repugs...talk like PR agents.

I LOVE ALL MY FELLOW DUMBOCRITTERS!

I sent mine to the Sun-Times; interestingly, I got an 'out of office' reply shortly after, directly from a Sun-Times reporter -- which in retrospect is not surprising. The Bush email tool is obviously forging the From: header on the mail it sends. It has to, otherwise all of the mail would appear to be coming from the Bush campaign, not individuals.

Well, that's a good sign since it's a bit of confirmation that these letters are actually going through.

I keep thinking, they can not POSSIBLY be dumb enough to have set up a system like this that the enemy could so easily use against them. But then I remember who we're talking about....

I THINK ITS A TRAP!

here's mine. 10 paper and 10 email copies.

"
President Bush should be run out of office for his inaction on helping the economy. He has taken no action to create any meaningful economic growth in the industries that affect our area.

The President’s economic growth agenda sends jobs overseas. His economic plan is focused on job creation for Indians, Chinese and Pakistanis and burdens working American families by running up astronomical Federal debts. Promoting crony capitalism and corporate non-accountability is another critical component in the President’s agenda. Reducing the overall tax burden on wealthy investors and ignoring corporate malfeasance by companies such as Enron discourages investment by individuals and businesses.

President Bush plans to eliminate Social Security by bankrupting the government. His approach starves the current Social Security system and the entire federal government, to satisfy his short-sighted anti-tax goals.

The President’s plan puts almost no money into the pockets of working Americans. Claiming that an average taxpayer will gain $1,126 in tax relief this year is a cynical distortion of the truth: the average working class taxpayer will receive far less than that $1,126, while the wealthy will receive many tens of times that figure. This is just one more example of how our President distorts the truth and misleads the American public to further his narrow political goals.
"

-c

Heres my go! Two local Long Island Papers

Dear ED:
I'd like to take the time to tell you how great George Bush * really is! I think he should run the whole world, he's so great! I want my sons to be named george! all the dumbocrits running for president should drop out 'cause they're all fags!

I hope this is good!

I just finished doing my part!
Barry

Boy you guys whine alot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why are you guys adding editorial inserts into the comments of your visitors (and only the ones you don't like)? That seems a bit unfair. At the least it's the first time I remember seeing a blogger do that.

Mine has been done.

When it's time to highlight Bush's dismal environmental record, don't forget to use the following phrase:

Bush's "no tree left behind" policy

Dear Leader just blew through town yesterday, and dang if Rove didn't arrange a forest fire or two for him to fly over. If we could only get rid of those trees, we wouldn't have to worry 'bout them pesky fires, now would we?

Whee! That was fun! Thanks for digging up all the facts, guys. And organizing the whole shebang.

Someone want to help Master Bates in his struggle to deactivate "caps lock"? He's a fantastic writer — cogent, pithy, informative — and the all-caps thing tends to obscure his genius.

Fine, Unlearned, we'll pull 'em down. I'd like to note that it's not really visitors. It's Freepers. They're crashing. Typically, we enjoy our conservative commenters who truly come over and start a discussion.

In the end, I think this is our space and we are allowed to moderate as we choose and I think it's weird for anyone to object. We never claimed to be a public forum.

I like the Editor's notes in the trolls' posts. If every comments section had an automatic troll rebuttal, the world would be a better place.

I'm not a troll! I'm more like a smurf in long pants, if anyone is interested!

In case Dubya's Action Center fails due to higher than anticipated traffic (*wink*), here's a site which lists links to local newspapers.

http://www.usnpl.com/

Thanks for organizing this!

I started to just use their talking points with my own editing, but I thought sending it might cheapen this whole flood the zone activity (compared to sending a real letter like the nice ones posted above). But I got this far before I chickened out:
President Bush should be commended for his strong leadership on the economy. He has taken bold action to spend our surpluss and burden future generations with the bills for today's pork barrel spending. At the same time, he has led a bold assault on employment.
The President’s economic agenda creates jobs in India. His economic plan is focused on foriegn job creation and helps working families Like Dick Cheney's and Bill Gate's with immediate tax relief.
Promoting investment in his campaign fund is another critical component in the President’s agenda. Reducing the overall tax burden on the wealthy spurs election investments by those individuals and corporations, enabling much needed campaign ads.

My letter's been sent -- already got one bounce, from the NY Sun. It's not the best thing I've ever written, but at least it got me writing letters to the editor again:

--------------
If I understand the President's economic plan, tax cuts will shrink the government and stimulate the economy, thus creating jobs. So why, if the object is to shrink government, has non-defense discretionary spending gone up by almost 28 percent since Bush took office, according to the Cato Institute? And why, if the object is to create jobs, do we need a tax cut that will cost $500,000 for every job created? Bush claims that his tax cut plan will create 1.4 million additional jobs by the end of 2004 -- but the President’s Council of Economic Advisers claims that 4.1 million jobs would have been created without any tax cut. Here in New York, we've seen the fallout as federal budget cuts get pushed onto the state, and ulimately, the city. I fail to see how Bush's "Jobs and Growth" plan is an efficient way of producing either jobs or growth. As he runs for re-election, we should keep a close watch on his jobs-creation record versus his claims.

One of my local papers is "India West"-
Would it be snarky/racist to send them a deadpan letter about how Bush creates jobs (in India), reducing (indian) unemployment and eliminating distressing (indian) poverty?
Because I don't want to be snarky/racist.

Blogged and emailed - done.

Boy you guys whine alot!...

You haven't heard whining until you've heard me launch into my tirade about idiots who think "a lot" is one word!

Jason,

I love that. Can I use that? I just realized that if I send a different letter I can write to more than one paper without worrying about being excluded because papers only publish exclusive letters.

I emailed this to the Austin-American Statesman, via the Bush site:

President Bush and his fellow Republicans continually call for smaller government. But they've realized that most Americans find value in many government programs and initiatives, and their calls are not widely supported once people understand that vital programs must be cut to downsize according to Republican goals.

So they're using the backdoor. Bush and his supporters in Congress are using Trojan Horse fiscal policy (tax cuts, everyone?) in order to bankrupt government, thereby ensuring that at some point in the near future government programs will have to be slashed or ended due to lack of funds.

Wave goodbye to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and even defense spending as we know it. Because thanks to Bush's fiscal irresponsibility, it won't be much longer before the only government we can afford is the smaller government Republicans want.

Indigo, please use it! I decided not to only because it makes light of something so depressing.
You could keep going with it too, there were other talking points I didn't even get to editing!

Okay Jason, don't sue me, but I did just use an excerpt from your letter. I didn't send it as a sincere message but prefaced it with the following:

"I would like to express my dismay at Bush's fiscal irresponsibility and at his "Action Center's" organized effort to spam newspapers with letters to the editor that preach lies. (reference: http://www.georgewbush.com/Economy/WriteNewspapers.aspx?AgendaID=2, lower right) I looked at the proposed "letter to the editor" he is asking his constituents to send in their own words. Well here it is in my own words:

....

And mine is actually true."

I think that presents the issues but also points out what Bush is doing with his Action Center.

I think that's a great way to use it!
I was inspired to write more... (their web site makes it so easy, the words just flow forth!):

Everyone knows America should be run like a corporation, which is why we are so lucky that our President, with his years of experiance enriching himself while driving his businesses into finacial ruin, is the perfect man for the job. The President’s unique plan puts money back into the pockets of CEOs, industrialists, and other important campaign contributors, while passing the burden of the newly created debt onto the backs of regular Americans. But with foresight and determination, he has also turned his attention to the important arenas of goverment spending and unemployment, accelerating them to record levels. This type of unprecedented fiscal plan is just one more example of our President's bold leadership.

Is George Bush getting paid for not doing his job? He should get to work and fight the good fight win or lose! Rather than taking a vacation on the taxpayers (republican and democrat) buck!

My contribution:

I may be dating myself here, but I remember a time when the Republican Party was the party of fiscal responsibility. As recently as 1997, key Republican leaders were pushing for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would require a balanced budget.

How times have changed.

Despite repeated campaign promises to streamline and reduce the size of government, President George W. Bush seems to have done quite the opposite. First, he approved massive tax cuts which predominantly benefit the wealthy, merely one day after signing an executive order allowing the U.S. to take on nearly a *trillion* dollars in additional debt. Then his administration announced a projected budget deficit of $455 *billion* dollars this year, and $475 billion in 2004 (which, conveniently, adds up to nearly a trillion dollars). Far from being the "small government" President he promised to be, Bush has earned the title of "the mother of all big spenders" from the Libertarian Cato Institute.

And all the while, unemployment has increased and we've not seen the economic rebound the tax cuts were supposed to provide. If the Democrats have been labeled the "tax and spend" party, then the Republicans are proving to be the "borrow and spend" party.

Sounds like fiscal *irresponsibility* to me.

Okay, last one I swear (until they post new cut and paste talking points...)
President Bush understands that we must pretend to save Social Security for seniors and future generations, because the majority of Americans support Social Security and would not allow any overt effort to destroy it. That's why his approach presents the facade of preserving the current Social Security system, while simultaneously reducing tax revenue and wildly increasing goverment spending. By eliminating the money to pay for Social Security and enslaving our children to a trillion dollars in new debt, our President can be sure that Social Security will be eliminated by his actions, but not until a time when he is out of elected office and won't have to worry about pleasing the American people.
This is just one more example of how our President is providing "bold" leadership.

That was a lot of fun--nothing like using W's action center's "talking points" against him.

Done and done.

OK my letter has been sent!

Jason,

I posted the combined email as a comment on Daily Kos, giving you due credit of course, and it seems to have been received in good humor. Check out the Kos thread referring to this NG post.

Here's my contribution (warning : this is the cheesiest thing I've ever written) :

Memo to George Bush : I want our economy back. Three years ago, we had a budget surplus of $236.4 billion. Today we have a record budget deficit of *at least* $455 billion. I want our economy back. Three years ago, the economy gained an average of 239,000 jobs per month. Today we're losing an average of 69,000 jobs a month and have an unemployment problem that hasn't been seen since the great depression. I want our economy back. Three years ago, when the economy was doing so well, Bush wanted to give everyone tax cuts for the rich. Today, while the economy is in ruins, the only solution Bush has is...tax cuts for the rich. I. Want. Our. Economy. Back. Over the past three years, our economy has gone from near-record prosperity to near-record adversity and Bush's only solutions are the tried and true supply-side policies that have been been obsolete ever since Ronald Reagan raised taxes in 1982 (and 1983, and 1984...). Bush's policies have had an economic effect as counterproductive as treating a wound with lemon juice instead of a band-aid. Until Bush is replaced in 2004, we won't get our economy back.

After having a lunch discussion with two Republicans who think Bush inherited this economy and has no control over it, a letter is so being sent. People need to wake up and realize that the president and his administration need to be held responsible. I want to see the facts in every paper in America tomorrrow.

How come all you dumbocraps talk bad about the president? Oh yeah, I forgot, he's white and straight!

i'm there, dudes!

plus, i posted it on my blog.

and, here's a talking point you missed, boys: the repubbblicans have cut benefits to veterans while crying "support the troops."

ain't hypocrisy grand?

ps. mary rose, what are you, grey and crooked?

Done. Heh heh.

Done

I used a lot of the language in the talking points but tried to modify so it's not out and out plagiarism. However, I don't think the editorial board at my local Gannett daily is smart enough to know when it's been Astroturfed, anyway.

Thanks for a brilliant idea. How long till the Bushies start vetting letters sent from their site?

Brilliant idea, boyos, and I hope it works. Here's my letter:

It seems like otherwise intelligent people are willing to suspend disbelief and claim that President Bush is doing a good job as president.

President Bush has engaged in enormous tax cuts without any inclination to control spending.

President Bush is prioritizing these tax cuts over such vital services as veterans' benefits, homeland security and aid to states.

The President's plan is putting nickels and dimes into the pockets of taxpayers by borrowing dollars from future generations.

President Bush's plans mean less teachers in our schools and less police on the beat.

And the economy continues to lose jobs.

How can people say, with a straight face, that the Bush agenda is working?

You guys rule! What a great idea. I inted to participate every Friday!

Here's my letter, for the record:

Herbert Hoover ended his presidency of the United States in 1933. Now we have the first job-losing presidency since that time: George W. Bush. During President Bush’s tenure, Americans have lost more than three million jobs, the most jobs lost during a presidency in 70 years.

Does anyone else remember the budget surpluses that were created under the Clinton administration—an administration that the Republicans liked to characterize as “tax-and-spend liberals”? If Republicans are so fiscally responsible, why is our countrry’s projected deficit for this year upwards of $455 BILLION? Even the Cato Institute—hardly the darlings of the liberals—calls George W. Bush “the mother of all big spenders.”

I don’t think you can even characterize this as an economic downturn. I’d call it a long economic walk off a very, very short pier. But will any voters notice before America drowns?

Done... Dallas Morning News, I think Texans need a wake up call!

That was fun!

Here's my letter: "President Bush's economic policies rank amongst the greatest disasters to ever befall the American people. I implore your editorial decison makers to censure this man, and all he stands for, in the name of both decency and common sense".

Success...the Lansing State Journal will have an economic talking point letter...they called and confirmed...it's going in this weekend!!!

hehehehehe...me likey this strategy!!!

Done. I live in freeper central, but my local paper (Lincoln Journal Star) usually is pretty fair about printing differing points of view.

Here's mine:
---------------
So far, the President's little adventure in Iraq is costing the US taxpayer $1 billion per week, and one dead American per day, not to mention the other dead non-Americans who don't get mentioned.

This is leadership of a truly historic kind. Combined with an economic "policy" that is losing a million jobs each year, you just have to wonder if the recall election is aimed at the right target.

But I forgot, Bush can't be recalled - he was never elected.

Done! And I've already heard back from a local paper, the Somerset Spectator, that they will be publishing my letter next week. Here's what I had to say:

"The lies that have been fed the American public by the Bush administration are revolting. In addition to the horrendous lies that led many in this country to believe that attacking Iraq was appropriate (unilaterally or not), now the Bush propaganda machine is trying to convince us that “[t]he President’s economic agenda creates jobs.” (See http://www.georgewbush.com) This is, like everything else that we’ve been told by this administration, an outright lie. An average of 69,000 per month are losing their jobs (over 3
million since Bush took office), and there is no recovery in sight. The budget surpluses that were built up during the Clinton years have not only
been wiped out, but they have been completely replaced by record deficits, at both the federal and state levels. Bush’s tax cuts, which he claims will revitalize the sluggish economy, have done nothing but put more money into the pockets of the people who need it the least – the wealthy. Those who carry this country on their backs, doing the real work that moves this country forward, are struggling to find work, or fearful that tomorrow they will receive the dreaded pink-slip. This is disgusting behavior, and should not be tolerated. We, the people, need to stand up and fight against this monstrous display of contempt for the average citizen. Let’s take back our country. It’s time to repair the damage done by this evil regime."

You'll notice that I said, "since Bush took office," not, "since Bush was elected." Of course. Can't wait for next week.

I prefer to click on the resource, copy the shortcut, and paste it into my own e-mail rather than use the Republican site. They may have a sniffer to block on key word like unemployment or deficit. We want this to work, yes? Rather than give them a list for worm bombardment.

Here's my letter, sent to the Oregonian and the Portland Tribune, pseudonymously:

It is a fact little publicized by the media, but looking at the numbers shows us that George Bush is on track to have the first job-losing presidency since Herbert Hoover. In the first 29 months of Bush's time in office, the country has lost 2.9 million jobs. Given that the US needs to generate over 200,000 jobs per month just to keep up with the growing work force, the president's "stimulus" programs have been disastrous on this front. With the federal reserve having already lowered interest rates as low as they possibly can, it's imperative that a sound strategy for fiscal stimulus be enacted as soon as possible. It looks like the best way to do that is to elect a new president, as this one's only response to a tax cut that fails to alleviate the suffering is to propose another tax cut. Which is a classic case of doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

I love you guys.

We love you too.

Oh, I am so all over this. Found you guys through Tom Tomorrow. I'll go buy some stamps for next Friday.

It's gonna be hard to wake up Texas. Almost no other populace takes the unmitigated arrogant pride in ignorance as do some Texans.

Recently saw a bumper sticker on a Cowboy Cadillac in Houston that read, "Don't Trust The Liberal Bias (sic) Media." Thank God for the People's Republic of Austin where there is still some value given to independent thought and the proper use of adjectives.

we need a sane rational guy in the white house form the safety of the world.. good luck

My letter is being published!

"Very well written - mahalo for your letter. It has been submitted to the editor for inclusion in the next issue of the Haleakala Times."