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james jeffords

Jim Jeffords (I-VT) Asks: 'Does Bush Think We Don't Notice' His Never-ending Lies?
11-Jun-03
james jeffords

On the second anniversary of his leaving the GOP, Sen. Jim Jeffords (R-VT) gave a major speech to the National Press Club. "Pundits asked after last November's election: will the president over-reach with his Republican majorities in the House and Senate? Well, President Bush hasn't just over-reached, he has set a new standard for extreme partisan politics that on many occasions has been supported by the Republican-controlled Congress. In place of thoughtful policy we now have superficial and cynical sound-bites. Instead of confronting pressing national problems, our president lands airplanes while Rome burns. While our troops search for WMD in Iraq, we have found our own WMD right here in Washington -- at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. They are President Bush's weapons of mass distortion, or better, distraction. The Bush administration says one thing and does another to take the focus off the present realities. Does he think we don't notice?"

Senator Jim Jeffords Was President Clinton's 'Favorite Republican Senator'
06-Oct-02
james jeffords

Cubanamericandemocrats.com writes: Senator Jim Jeffords (I-VT) courageously followed his conscience and turned over Senate leadership to the Democrats. "Copies of new bio of Republican-turned-independent Sen. James Jeffords, whose switch gave the Democrats control of the chamber, are making the rounds on Capitol Hill and confirm what every GOP-er always thought: The Vermonter was always a closet Democrat. On issue after issue, Jeffords writes in 'An Independent Man' of his disdain for conservatives and their politics. He even brags on how former President Clinton considered him 'his favorite Republican senator.'"

'My Way, the High Way' by Senator Jim Jeffords
08-Jan-02
james jeffords

"As we began 2001, I was hopeful. With a 50-50 U.S. Senate, I expected that moderates would be a strong force and that bipartisanship would prevail. At first, this seemed true. Moderate senators from both parties worked together to make significant changes to the president's budget when it was considered in early April. We were able to reduce the size of the tax cut from $1.6 trillion to $1.25 trillion and to add $450 billion for education. But when we sent that bill to the House-Senate conference committee, all our work, including the $450 billion for education, was stripped out of the final compromise. There were no moderates on the conference committee; it was totally controlled by the Republican leadership and the White House. More than simply disappointing, the events were a clear signal to me that the Republican leadership had no intention of working with the moderate wing of the party. Something radical needed to happen."

Jim Jeffords Comes Out Swinging against 'Christie Todd's' Bush-Butt-Kissing Global Warming 'Plan'
02-Aug-01
james jeffords

Little ole 'Christie Todd' has given up any pretense of being interested in the environment and wants to adopt a plan to address global warming that reads as if it were downloaded right out of one of the fossil-fuel-sponsored phony green front sites. These groups all give the identical rap: more research (which means delay as long as possible in corporatese), market-driven solutions (i.e. screw the consumer AND the environment), technology transfers to developing countries (i.e., pawn off all our outdated, fossil-fuel-based equipment at a jacked up rate to poor countries), and cooperative research efforts with allies (who are laughing hysterically if they are reading this line). Up to the plate comes Jim Jeffords, who has condemned this phony, anti-environmental sellout of a plan. Jeffords joined demonstrators against polluting power plants and made a powerful statement on Global Warming. With friends like Jeffords, we can do without so-called friends like the Treasonous 36 (House Democrats). You go Jim!!

Jeffords Makes Global Warming his Top Priority
11-Jul-01
james jeffords

"Sen. James Jeffords named global warming as his first priority when he formally became chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Tuesday. The newly independent lawmaker whose defection from the Republican Party tipped the Senate to Democratic control last month promised hearings by early August on his proposed Clean Energy Act. 'Being a rock star isn't easy,' he joked of all the attention he's been receiving. 'It won't last long.' Jeffords' bill is an effort to force coal-fired electrical power plants to clean up or shut down by mandating strict carbon dioxide emission standards and creating incentives for the use of clean, alternative power." You go, Jim!

Senator Chafee Ponders Possible Bolt From The GOP - His Comments Confirm That Bush And The Republicans Strive To Lower The Tone Even More!
13-Jun-01
james jeffords

"Moderate Rhode Island Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee says if Republicans took back the majority in the Senate, he would consider leaving the party -- tipping the balance back to the Democrats. He would do so, he said, if his Republican colleagues continue to use the tactics that he says drove Vermont Sen. Jim Jeffords from the GOP." Said Chafee, "I do have some concern that after Senator Jeffords left the party that the reasons that he left aren't sinking in. It's still early but a little bit of concern still that the message wasn't heard. The rhetoric seems to be the same. [Bush adviser] Karl Rove came off early in the process and said nothing's going to change, and we believe in our agenda, slipping back into a confrontational pursuit of passing bills." Whatever happened to Bush's (Rove-crafted) campaign spiel that he was going "to raise the tone in Washington?" Looks like it went the way of his promise to reduce CO2 emissions.

Substituting the Party Line for Real Conscience: How James Jeffords Broke This Deadly Mold
10-Jun-01
james jeffords

Senator James Jeffords of VT made a courageous and powerful decision: To disassociate himself from a party whose actions are in unreconcilable conflict with Jeffords' conscience. Everyone hails the incident as a party issue - but, in the final analysis, Jeffords' action goes beyond party to the fundamental and essential principle of conscience.

Karl Rove Orchestrates Jeffords Hate Campaign
31-May-01
james jeffords

"Poisonous accusations about Mr. Jeffords have been spewed up by the same pundits who routinely praise George W. Bush for uplifting the atmosphere of Washington. Their bile carried the usual aroma of hypocrisy. "Changing the tone" was only a self-serving slogan, the kind of cheap sanctimony that winners forget as soon as they sense they might be losing. These conservatives, who in previous years have welcomed every Democratic turncoat with glee and gloating, didn't notice how ridiculous they sounded when they suddenly began to wail about the treachery of the Jeffords move. Nor did they seem to realize that by spraying him with venom, they might gradually push other moderate Republicans toward a similar crisis. The chorus of denunciation was evidently orchestrated by Karl Rove, the President's top political adviser... The spectacle of a scoundrel trying to damage the reputation of a decent man should disturb the conscience of every fair-minded Republican." So writes Joe Conason.

Trent Lott Cries 'Coup'
31-May-01
james jeffords

When a partisan Republican majority on the US Supreme Court criminally stole the Presidency for Shrub, Trent Lott celebrated democracy in action. But when Jim Jeffords exercises his right of conscience and leaves the Republican Party, Trent Lott calls it a "Coup." Hey Trent, there is no honor among thieves. Someone has to take the fall for "losing Jeffords," and you're the perfect fall guy. And it looks like John McCain is going to follow Jeffords out the door, the way you're talking about him. One more thing - if you block the Democratic agenda in the Senate, you'll lose 5 more seats in 2002. Hey Trent - your days as Republican leader are over - start cleaning out your desk. As John McLaughlin would say, "bye-bye!"

Jeffords Says Inadequate Education Funding Will Make Bush a 'One-Term President'
25-May-01
james jeffords

"Shedding light on his momentous decision to bolt the Republican Party, Sen. James Jeffords said he told President Bush that the administration's proposal for school spending would make Bush a 'one-term president'... Jeffords has been upset since far larger increases he and Democrats added to the 2002 budget approved by the Senate were erased when GOP House-Senate bargainers crafted a final fiscal plan that Congress approved. Jeffords predicted there would also be problems for GOP senators next year, when Republicans will be battling for Senate control just as the lack of education funds hit home. 'The real awakening is going to come right when all of our senators are up for election,' Jeffords said."

Bush's Brazen Bullying Backfires Big-time
25-May-01
james jeffords

After Bush stole the Presidency, "he faced a choice: to govern as a moderate and heal the wounds left by the election, or to govern on most issues as an out-and-out conservative and bull his way to a series of ideological victories. He chose the aggressive strategy, and it was working pretty well until a Republican senator from Vermont named Jim Jeffords decided he had had enough. Jeffords's defection yesterday is a severe blow not only to Bush's strategy but also to a conservative movement that assumed for years it could trash, ridicule and denounce Republican moderates and still count on their votes at crucial moments." So writes Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne.

Warning to Jeffords: The Republicans Will Destroy You
25-May-01
james jeffords

NY Congressman Michael Forbes switched from Republican to Democrat last year, and lost his seat in the next election. Still, he says "I'd do it all again." But he has a warning: "Sen. Jeffords can expect the venomous wrath of the GOP - a wrath curiously absent from any of the dozen or so party switches made by Democrats to the GOP in the last 20 years. They will raise millions and spend every bit of it distorting his record, maligning his character, coaxing friendly media to 'independently' criticize him and generally using every resource available to try and destroy him. They did it to me. Democrats received dozens of mailings full of lies and distortions about my record. They planted stories and paid former staffers to work full time to discredit me and beat me in a Democratic primary... It's a blood sport, Jim, and they take no prisoners."

Jeffords Switch is a Train Wreck for Bush's Runaway Right-Wing Train
24-May-01
james jeffords

Jeffords' switch will transform the political agenda, including judicial appointments, the patients' bill of rights, prescription drug benefits under Medicare, election reform, smaller tax cuts, more environmental protection. "This is just a train wreck for President Bush and the Republican agenda - it cannot be overestimated," said one observer.

THANK YOU JIM!!!
24-May-01
james jeffords

Jim Jeffords "quit the Republican Party, giving the Democrats control of the U.S. Senate and putting President Bush's conservative agenda in jeopardy." Jeffords agreed to Bush's final request that he stay a Republican until the tax bill was completed, possibly Friday. But Jeffords could not agree to support the rest of Bush's agenda. "Looking ahead I can see more and more instances where I will disagree with the president on very fundamental issues: the issues of choice, the direction of the judiciary, tax and spending decisions, missile defense energy and the environment," he said. Vermont Democrats were ecstatic: outside the hotel, hundreds of Democrats who were recruited overnight by the state Democratic Party shouted simply: "THANK YOU JIM!"

Who Lost Jeffords? Republican Finger-Pointing Begins
24-May-01
james jeffords

As excited as Democrats are by Jeffords' switch, Republicans are even more angry - and looking for someone to blame. Trent Lott and George W. Bush are both taking the heat. "Bush and Lott have between them managed to lose the Senate over a simple matter of respect, the most basic political currency in Washington, and one that often transcends ideology. Their willful disrespect of Jeffords turned a policy disagreement into a personal grudge match, and finally into a political crisis." With any luck, the Republicans will soon form a circular firing squad!

James Jeffords Outstanding Record on Pollution Issues Speaks for Itself
23-May-01
james jeffords

We think any progressive Democrat would be hard-pressed to match James Jeffords voting record and activism on issues pertaiing to the environment. Jeffords has long been a constructive do-er - the sort the nation has a critical shortage of at present. Here are just a few of his accomplishments in the fight against global warming.

 


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