MoveOn.org is taking a firm stand on a campaign promise that Barack Obama made to filibuster any wiretapping bill that had retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies that let the feds listen in.

In a letter that is posted on the MoveOn website the progressive organization said that:

"On Friday, House Democrats caved to the Bush administration and passed a bill giving a get-out-of-jail-free card to phone companies that helped Bush illegally spy on innocent Americans.

"This Monday, the fight moves to the Senate. Senator Russ Feingold says the 'deal is not a compromise; it is a capitulation.' Barack Obama announced his partial support for the bill, but said, 'It does, however, grant retroactive immunity, and I will work in the Senate to remove this provision so that we can seek full accountability for past offenses.'

"Last year, after phone calls from MoveOn members and others, Obama vowed to 'support a filibuster of any bill that includes retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies.'"

MoveOn also said in the letter "We need him to honor that promise."

A cumbersome committee structure is a barrier to public participation and process transparency.

It’s a situation that concerns Geoff Barsch, president of the Minnesota Governmental Relations Council, who offered recommendations for change to the House Governmental Operations, Reform, Technology and Elections Committee. The committee is looking at ways to improve the legislative process.

Too many committees lead to overlap and bills not being fully vetted, Barsch said.

He said it is hard for an experienced lobbyist, like himself, to follow the process, but nearly impossible for the general public. “More and more bills are being sent from one committee to the next with work left to be done, and we keep hearing this phrase, ‘This bill has a lot of stops to make before it gets to the floor.’”

He said ” My state has been enriched by the Hispanic culture in Arizona.”

Then John McCain asked a question “Did you know this? I bet some of you did not know that Spanish was spoken in Arizona before English” …Loud cheers from the audience.

EUGENE, Ore. — After weeks of bad news, things turned Barbara Wagner’s way this week.

Last month her lung cancer, in remission for about two years, was back. After her oncologist prescribed a cancer drug that could slow the cancer growth and extend her life, Wagner was notified that the Oregon Health Plan wouldn’t cover it.

It would cover comfort and care, including, if she chose, doctor-assisted suicide.

Officials of LIPA and the state policy-making Health Services Commission say they’ve not changed how they cover treatment of recurrent cancer.

But local oncologists say they’ve seen a change and that their Oregon Health Plan patients with advanced cancer no longer get coverage for chemotherapy if it is considered comfort care.

It doesn’t adhere to the standards of care set out in the oncology community, said Dr. John Caton, an oncologist at Willamette Valley Cancer Center.

But to our Democratic Socialist friends (Can we start calling them that now? Can we?), the point is not supplying the American people with gasoline or heating oil but rather control – control of the industry so that it functions for “the benefit of the people.”

How often have we heard that battle cry in history? And oh how miserably those who have uttered it have failed to deliver promised benefits. From Lenin to Castro to Mugabe, the nationalization of industry to benefit “the people” has been a spectacular economic disaster. In the end, production in nationalized industry always declines. In the end, the industry has always fallen into ruins.

Yesterday Senator Coleman delivered a speech on the floor of the Senate where he outlined his new, comprehensive energy bill that aims to bring energy prices down. Notably, this legislation includes increased domestic drilling, more nuclear energy, clean coal technology and an increased use of renewable fuels.

I know that several of you are interested in both increasing domestic oil production and investing in more nuclear energy, so below you will find information on how Senator Coleman’s legislation would help in these areas.

Increased Domestic Drilling

With an estimated 2.8 million barrels of oil and 12 trillion cubic feet of natural gas sitting under the Outer Continental Shelf, Senator Coleman feels it is essential that we tap this unused resource. As a way to lower oil prices. Unlike Democrats like Al Franken, Senator Coleman knows that with an ever-increasing demand for oil, the only way to see a decrease in the price-per-barrel is to increase the supply. This has the potential to offset foreign oil imports by as much as $145 billion dollars. This bill would give governors of affected coastal states a say in the matter and would allow them to negotiate deals that are in the best interests of their citizens.

Investing In More Nuclear Energy

As Senator Coleman is fond of saying, “the French are not braver than we are” when it comes to investing in nuclear. Senator Coleman’s legislation would implement a tax credit and loan guarantee system for nuclear production as well as training for an expanded nuclear workforce. And, he has been a strong advocate for lifting Minnesota’s moratorium on expanding nuclear power.

If passed, this legislation would go a long to help bring energy prices down and go a long way in securing our energy independence.

“The five largest oil companies in this country have made $600 billion in profits since George W. Bush became president. Do we need a windfall profits tax? You bet we do.” —Sen. Bernie Sanders (I -VT)

“The oil companies need to know that there is a limit on how much profit they can take in this economy.” —Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL)

“Every new regulation concerning commerce or revenue; or in any manner affecting the value of the different species of property, presents a new harvest to those who watch the change and can trace its consequences; a harvest reared not by themselves but by the toils and cares of the great body of their fellow citizens.” —James Madison

“In general, the art of government consists in taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other.” —Voltaire

Scott Fischbach from Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life has an op-ed in the Star Tribune taking Rep. Phyllis Kahn to task for her advocacy of a bill that funds embryonic stem cell research in Minnesota. I wrote a little bit about the floor debate on Rep. Kahn's bill when the conference bill passed the House at the end of the session. What propmted Scott to write was a June 2 op-ed by Rep. Kahn herself, taking the governor to task for vetoing the bill. Rep. Kahn continues to insist many things about her stem cell bill but Mr. Fischbach obliterates the most disingenuous of Rep. Kahn's claims.

Kahn says her legislation "outlawed human cloning," but the bill explicitly authorizes "somatic cell nuclear transplantation" (SCNT), which is the technique by which cloning occurs. The National Institutes of Health calls SCNT "the scientific term for cloning."

Rep. Kahn suffered another blow to her argument for HESC research earlier this month. The Star Tribune reported on a mother whose drive and devotion to her sons led to the development of a cure for their very rare skin disorder.

Last fall doctors at the University of Minnesota did a bone marrow transplant on a 2-year-old boy in a risky attempt to treat his devastating genetic skin disease with stem cells. Until then, the technique had only been used in mice.

It worked.

The boy's doctors said Monday they think they have found a cure for the painful disease that, though rare, causes the skin to fall off at the slightest touch and inevitably leads to cancer. Most children who have it do not survive to adulthood.

It takes the Strib a while to get to it, but they finally do tell you where these stem cells come from....and it was not frozen embryos.

Researchers at the university, which specializes in adult stem cells, began experimenting with a variety of stem cells found in bone marrow and blood from umbilical cords. Dr. Jakub Tolar, a blood specialist at the university, said he tried 10 to 15 different classes of cells in the genetically engineered mice in the hopes that one would provide the missing protein.

Finally, one did.

This is just one more cure to add to the already long list of cures and potential cures that have come from adult and umbilical cord stem cells. We are still waiting for the first to come from embryonic stem cells. Perhaps Rep. Kahn should go back to school to learn a little more about the process. It should be awfully convenient for her...after all - the University IS in her district after all...