ERIC MASSA, JON POWERS, DAN MAFFEI TO EXPLAIN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SUPPORTING OUR VETS AND SUPPORTING GOP DEFENSE CONTRACTORS

Two military veterans: Eric Massa and Wes Clark

Eric Massa is one of the architects of the Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq, which has been worked on and endorsed by many of the other Blue America candidates-- Darcy Burner, Donna Edwards, Sam Bennett, Alan Grayson, Dennis Shulman, and Leslie Byrne. The Plan, which points out the flaws (and dire consequences) of the Bush Regime's Iraq agenda, has a carefully laid out roadmap-- sorry Condi; we know you're not using the term anyway these days-- to actually solve the situation we find ourselves in and not just drift along the way Dick Cheney, John McCain, Joe Lieberman, and the rest of the rubber stamps-- too frequently on both sides of the aisle-- advocate. "Stay the course" is not the answer and the Democratic congressional leadership is paralyzed by a caucus made rotten and ineffectual by too many Blue Dogs, too many Bush Dogs and way too much influence by the insidious and toxic DLC.

The Plan Darcy and Eric worked out with high ranking military generals and national security experts is, not unexpectedly, already being attacked by the far right. "This so-called plan is nothing more than the same liberal talking points we have been hearing for the last year," said National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Ken Spain. "Clearly, their plan is to be nothing more than a rubber stamp for Nancy Pelosi and the Democrat-led Congress."

Sounds like the bankrupt NRCC is not just out of money, but even out of ideas and... vocabulary. But, only if it were true that Pelosi and the Democratic leadership would sign on to these ideas and get behind them with the same energy that our candidates are infusing into the initiative! But don't look for closet war supporters like Rahm Emanuel and Steny Hoyer to get behind this before 20 more shills like Al Wynn are removed from the Democratic caucus and replaced with progressives like Donna Edwards.

Now, back to Eric Massa. Tomorrow morning Eric and two more Blue America candidates, Dan Maffei and Jon Powers are getting together at the Rochester Veterans Outreach Center (at 459 South Ave.). The 3 progressive anti-occupation candidates have contiguous districts which, more or less, meet in metro-Rochester. Massa:

Since the war in Iraq began on March 19th, 2003, 3,990 American troops have been killed, tens of thousands have been injured and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have died. While President Bush and Randy Kuhl continue to block health care for working Americans, deny us the truth of our economic situation, and create more hurdles for Veterans requiring services, they have no problem spending $3 trillion on a war of choice against a country that had no involvement in the 9/11 attacks.

"Those of us that wore the uniform honor our men and women who stood with us," said retired Navy Commander Eric Massa. "Today I call on Randy Kuhl to finally stand up to George W. Bush's failed foreign policy. Since he came into office, Mr. Kuhl has gone out of his way to rubber stamp President Bush's each and every demand for Iraq. We are currently spending almost $6,000 per second in Baghdad while thousands of children right here in Western New York cannot receive access to health care. Additionally, our returning Veterans continue to encounter more and more red tape while trying to receive the long-term care they have earned. This is the hypocrisy of incumbency and we must hold our failed leaders accountable."

Yesterday we pointed out how pro-war Republicans-- in yesterday's case, James Inhofe (R-OK)-- may love war and love "generous" defense contractors, but have zero regard for the welfare of our military personnel in the field and zero regard for our veterans who have returned home, and, in too many cases, zero regard for our country's national security. In Oklahoma Andrew Rice is taking Inhofe to task head on over his disgraceful record of letting our veterans and fighting men and women down. Eric Massa, Jon Powers and Dan Maffei are doing the same thing in upstate New York. Randy Kuhl's rubber stamp record is nearly as atrocious as James Inhofe's. Since getting into Congress there have been 13 roll calls directly involving the well being of American military personnel. On all but one-- the most recent one as the election approaches-- Kuhl has voted against our servicemen and women and for the narrow partisan Bush-Cheney agenda. Similarly, when it comes to our nation's military veterans, Kuhl's disgraceful voting record has been an absolute disaster. Of the 19 roll calls regarding veterans, Kuhl has voted against them 18 times.

Army Captain (ret.) Jon Powers is facing the same kind of pro-war/anti-troops/anti-vets Republican, Tom Reynolds (R-NY). There have been 22 roll calls regarding the well being of our military personnel since June, 2003. Reynolds didn't even bother coming in to vote on 6 of them and of the other 16, he voted against our servicemen and women 15 times! And he's been just about as anti-veteran as Kuhl and Inhofe-- 24 roll calls on veteran matters with half a dozen no-shows and 17 votes against vets. You want to support veterans and American military personnel? Think about supporting Eric Massa, Jon Powers, Dan Maffei and Andrew Rice at the Blue America page.


UPDATE FROM ROCHESTER

This morning Eric Massa (NY-29) joined with fellow congressional candidates Dan Maffei (NY-25) and Iraq Veteran Jon Powers (NY-26) for a major press conference at the Rochester Veterans Outreach Center. On this five year anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, the message was clear: It is time for a new direction and new leadership.
 
Eric, a distinguished retired Navy Commander: "I've been talking for three years about the importance of learning from the lessons of Bosnia. During that conflict, we went in and stopped a three way ethnic civil war, and that is the exact same situation we face today. The Bush administration and their rubber stamps in Congress have failed the American public by starting a war without a plan for victory. They then failed our returning Veterans by slashing funds for Veteran services. Today, on this five year anniversary of the start of the Iraq war, we call on President Bush and Randy Kuhl to listen to the families of Western New York and change course. It is time for new ideas and a new direction."