[The Raven]

I wonder if Clinton still has resentments agaist the original House impeachment team.

[kcvl]

YES! Hillary has even MORE resentment. That's why she has Gene Lyons and her goons trashing Hutchinson over his divorce. It doesn't matter that she is married to a rapist!

[kcvl]

October 30, 2002

Postal layoffs said not political ploy

By Audrey Hudson
THE WASHINGTON TIMES


The Postal Service yesterday said the move to cut 500 jobs in Arkansas is not a politically motivated decision to hurt Republican Sen. Tim Hutchinson's re-election campaign.

A Postal Service spokesman said reports that their former top lobbyist ordered the move to embarrass Mr. Hutchinson and help his Democratic rival are false.

"There is not a shred of truth to it," Gerald McKiernan said.

Mr. Hutchinson is tied in the polls with Democratic opponent Mark Pryor in the Arkansas race. The race is especially important given that the winner may tip the balance of power in the closely divided U.S. Senate. Republicans say Deborah Willhite, a known Democratic operative, tried to cut 500 jobs — leaving the incumbent, Mr. Hutchinson, to be blamed for having lost jobs for the state.

Republicans say federal agencies never make major decisions with political implications this close to an election, and question the timing of the lobbyist's resignation last week.

Mr. McKiernan said Miss Willhite, senior vice president of government relations and public policy at the Postal Service, offered her resignation Oct. 21, but that it was not made public until Oct. 25. That is one day after Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott, Mississippi Republican, called Postmaster General John E. Potter asking if the job cuts in Arkansas were politically motivated.

Mr. Lott asked for a cost-benefit analysis of how moving resources out of Arkansas would help the agency, said Lott spokesman Ron Bonjean.

Mr. Lott also told Mr. Potter that "anyone who may be involved in playing politics in the Postal Service should not be in the Postal Service," Mr. Bonjean said.

A native of Arkansas, Miss Willhite was the Postal Service's top congressional lobbyist, along with being a contributor to the Democratic Party and a former official at the Democratic National Committee. She was also director of events at President Clinton's swearing-in ceremony in 1993.

During this election cycle, she donated $1,000 to Mr. Hutchinson's opponent and $250 to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, New York Democrat, and $500 to Mrs. Clinton's political action committee. In the 2000 cycle, Miss Willhite contributed $1,250 to the Democratic National Committee and $750 to Mrs. Clinton.

Her phone number is unlisted and she could not be reached for comment. However, she told U.S. News & World Report "it's all a plot" to discredit her and that she planned to resign anyway. "It spins a good story."

Mr. Hutchinson's campaign also said the shutdown of the Christmas postal operations in Blytheville is politically motivated.

"When you connect the dots in this picture, it becomes hauntingly clear that it smacks of politics," said Anthony Hulen, spokesman for Mr. Hutchinson.

"All of a sudden she planned to resign — that just paints a picture that is political. The bottom line is we received word from all directions that she has been put under review, that this has not been resolved, and Senator Hutchinson is still fighting to keep these jobs in Blytheville, Arkansas," Mr. Hulen said.

Mr. McKiernan said the Postal Service decided in August of last year to partner with FedEx, and that the work will instead be done out of the company's Memphis, Tenn., hub.

The Postal Service did not notify the state's congressional delegation until last month.

"The Memphis FedEx hub is only 80 miles away from the Arkansas facility, and we just didn't feel it was necessary any longer and decided not to activate this facility this year," Mr. McKiernan said.

Republicans say the closure will hurt the community of Mississippi County, which has an unemployment rate of 15.3 percent. The national average is 5.9 percent.

[kayak]

There simply is no depth to which they will not stoop, is there?

[Gracey]

This is only one part of the postal scam. Anyone ever get political mail from Republicans AFTER the event has passed? I did last election cycle, here in Austin, TX.

[Lion's Cub]

Thanks for these uplifting posts. It's about time the GOP ditched this "can't we all get along" facade and started fighting back! I'd love to see all the Toon toadies rooted out--they all hate America and every one of them is a thief.

[PeaceBeWithYou]

Good find.

Another FOB down in flames.

Pinging Arkansas.

[Grampa Dave]

How about jail time and a new law that would strip a person's citizenship when this crime is repeated in the future?

[bandleader]

This Is Just One More Reason(as if there weren't enough already!!)Why The RATS MUST BE DEFEATED!!!They Will Stop At NOTHING TO WIN!!!!!!!!

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

...a U.S. Postal Service (USPS) executive has been forced to resign amidst allegations that she attempted to manipulate postal service resources to punish a candidate for the U.S. Senate who had been critical of the mismanaged government mail system.

But the government can't figure out why the postal service has management problems and is losing money badly. Maybe it's because their executives are too busy doing crap like this!

[lodwick]

bttt

[Rockitz]

I hope this RAT loses her retirement and is put in jail.

[Bigun]

Perhaps we should ALL read the following again in order to refresh our memories!

How Democrats Wage Political War

By Cleta Mitchell, a Washington attorney who has previously served as a Democratic member of the Oklahoma legislature.

In case you're bewildered by the machinations of the Gore campaign-turned-law-firm, let there be no doubt that the goings on in Florida are perfectly in keeping with the way Democrats normally think and behave. Lawsuits are a key part of the Democrats' political strategy, so nothing about Florida should surprise anyone who has spent time in the Democratic Party.

Until 1995, I was a Democrat. I've been a Democrat elected official, a party official and an active party member, so I know how Democrats think.

Democrats know and internalize, understand and are motivated by, certain ideas, concepts and principles that seem to be foreign to Republicans. And Democrats are elated that Republicans don't know or function under the same ideas. These basic rules of Democratic thinking are at work in Florida. This primer should help explain what makes the Democrats tick.

Rule 1: If we don't win, we don't eat.

The fundamental motivation for Democrats is their understanding that winning control of government is tied to paychecks, jobs, government grants, public money for private groups and companies, government contracts, union bargaining advantages, rules by which trial lawyers bring lawsuits, and on and on. The use of government to feed friends and starve enemies is something Democrats know instinctively. Winning elections means getting or keeping a livelihood.

Say what you will about trial lawyers, but remember this: They only get paid if their clients win. Extending that principle to politics means that various Democratic constituencies are convinced that a Democratic victory means food on the table.

Rule 2: State courts are "home" to Democrats.

There is a reason why, of the more than two-dozen lawsuits filed in Florida by various Democrats, virtually all have been filed in state courts.

Democrats are at home in the state courts. It is where the judges are elected, often on partisan ballots. And the trial lawyers are the most ardent in overseeing who fills and keeps judicial positions.

Trial lawyers normally hate federal court, where rules are stricter and standards much higher, and where attorneys can be, and often are,sanctioned for filing frivolous lawsuits.

Against the backdrop of the myriad state lawsuits filed by Democrats in Florida, and the call by the Gore campaign for even more trial lawyers to come and assist in the litigation battles there, the Bush campaign filed one legal action. It was filed in federal court as a challenge to the constitutional validity of the manual recount procedures in Florida and the absence in the statute of any objective standards for such recounts. The evidence to support the sole Republican lawsuit has unfolded on our television screens during the manual recounts conducted to date.

State courts are often a blank page to be filled in by the most clever manipulator in the courtroom. (No wonder the Democrats have brought in super-litigator David Boies.) Only a state court judge would have entertained, much less Ruled on, a lawsuit like the one filed by the Palm Beach Democratic Party, which argued that incomplete ("dimpled") Ballots should nonetheless be counted. And that's just one example of the kinds of cases the Democrats have filed.

Republicans depart from their customary arguments in favor of federalism, decentralization of government power and devolution of authority to the states when civil justice system and lawsuit reform are at issue. Then, the parties switch sides and it is Republicans who prefer federal courts and uniform national standards and Democrats who fight vigorously to protect their state court fiefdoms. This may seem inconsistent -- but it isn't, when one understands the hometown advantage of the Democrats and trial lawyers in state courts. Remember Rule #1.

Rule 3, the "golden rule": He who makes the rules wins the Gold.

The post-election fight in Florida is the best evidence in my lifetime of the absolute supremacy of the rules-as-gold principle. Democrats understand impressively well that the rules, the regulations, the procedures and the processes will almost always dictate the outcome. In a nutshell, rules provide victories -- or defeats. Because the statutory process in Florida did not provide the result the Democrats wanted, they knew it was imperative to change the rules after the election.

When I was first elected to the Oklahoma legislature, a veteran Democrat member told me to learn the rules. He told me, "If you know the rules better than your opponent, you can beat him every time." He was right. I also learned that writing and rewriting the rules is as important as understanding them.

The legal wrangling this week in Florida is neither about  "technicalities," nor about "fairness." It is about winning. See Rule #1. Changing the rules is why the Gore campaign dispatched lawyers and organizers to Florida in the early morning hours of election night -- because the rules had to be rewritten under public pressure, either through executive or judicial decisions, in order for Al Gore to prevail.

Changing the rules required a massive public relations effort by the Gore campaign to discredit the rules and procedures under which elections are normally conducted in the state of Florida. Changing the rules was the objective in the Gore campaign's vilification of Katherine Harris, the Republican secretary of state, for enforcing the existing laws and rules.

Any Republican who misses the 4 lessons the Democrats are teaching us on national TV these past two weeks is terribly naive. If, as a result of all this, Republicans don't commit themselves to learning and practicing the art of political war, as well as its natural extension in the courtroom, there may not be much of a GOP to kick around anymore in the future.

[GretchenEE]

bttt

[INSENSITIVE GUY]

FIRE THAT LAZY GOVERNMENT WORKER!Everyone that was hired during the clinton years should be fired.

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

The USPS provides many diverse employment opportunities.

[prognostigaator]

bttt

[prognostigaator]

bttt

[Claire Voyant]

Democrats are EVIL and will stop at NOTHING!!!

[prognostigaator]

bump

[Dubh_Ghlase]

The fact that the dem supporters still in the central govt would slaughter the jobs of everyday federal civil-service joes for political gain should be enough for war. They are not interested in the people they are supposed to serve, they are only interested in power, maintaining it and accumulating more!

God, let the truth be revealed, and the ears of the people be attentive to it. Let them vote what's right and free us from this evil! Let the actions and deceptions of these people be their downfall!

Let the name of Jesus be exalted!