Why all of the sudden is it important to have the Rock Island Arsenal provide the armor kits for Humvees when he voted against the Seventy Five Billion the President asked for over the summer for that very reason? As a matter of fact, unlike his parties candidate for the Presidency Senator Kerry, Senator Durbin voted against it from the start and never voted for it, ever!

Now he has the guts to stand and criticize? If our Senator had voiced this opinion earlier maybe lives could have been saved. Maybe more jobs would have been saved at the Rock Island arsenal. But that didn't matter to him when he was doing the cutting for the last administration or when he was voting against the President for what now has to be seen as partisan reasons.

If he would have fought for the jobs at the Rock Island facility in the past, thousands of well paying jobs could have been saved. But now that he can get some face time on the national news he is indignant? Stop the game Senator Durbin you have no core values and what you are doing now is playing with the lives of our brave men and women in harms way.

At least Secretary Rumsfeld took the tuff questions from the military and answered them like a man. It is about time you do the same Senator!

Merry Christmas to all of the Soldiers, Marines and Airman in harms way. And to all who are serving our country this Christmas Season. Semper-Fi!

He laughed and said, "Sure, you're a Republican. That's why."

He hasn't raised taxes. But the best part is, he didn't cave in to Daley on the Chicago casino. He gave Big Daddy Madigan fits. I love it.

He scoffed. "It doesn't matter what you think. Let me tell you: Rod Blagojevich is going to have primary opposition. In fact I will say this: Not only will he have opposition, but he'll be toast."

But his ratings are high. And what about the $12 million he has in his campaign fund?

"I'll get to that in a minute. The first thing I'd do, if I were running against him, would be to go all over southern Illinois and say, 'If elected, I'll live in Springfield. I'll move my family into the mansion.' "

But his eagerness to live at home has mass appeal.

"Not to Downstaters. His not living down here is a deliberate slap. It shows us this city boy thinks we're yokels. Wanting to be home is phony. Every day he's in Springfield he flies home every night. The reason is: He's got a state plane here so he can fly at the people's expense. The taxpayers pay for his mansion and his trips. His snubbing Springfield snubs all of southern Illinois. Take a look at his refusal to be on hand for a veterans dedication at Oak Ridge cemetery outside of Springfield. So the first plank in my program would be a message delivered directly to southern Illinois -- which is much better than you think: If elected governor, I will live in Springfield."

Now get to his campaign war chest.

"It's a double-edged sword. His biggest political asset is the $12 million, and it's also his biggest liability. He ran as a reformer. This is the case I would make to the Democrats in the primary: He took $25,000 apiece from guys he immediately placed on the Health Facilities Planning Board. Where's the reform in that? Where's the reform in doing Tony Rezko's bidding? The owner of the Panda Restaurant group gives him big bucks, and his guy is named the head of DECA [Department of Commerce and Economic Affairs]. The governor says he won't take gambling money but, oh yes, he takes horse-racing money. And then there's the taxes he raised."

You mean the fees.

"Same thing: taxes, fees. He slapped business with 300 fee hikes. I'd campaign on that statewide. He's not been honest with the voters, has done unconscionable borrowing that puts the burden on our children and grandchildren. Then there's his own credibility. You just can't believe him and trust him to keep his word."

But that goes for any politician.

"Really? Get this: Leaders of his own party, the speaker and the Senate president, had to get 50 -- that's five oh -- memos of understanding because they didn't trust him to keep his word. Nobody had to do that even with George Ryan. Or Jim Edgar or Jim Thompson. This was the first time in Illinois history where leaders of the same party as the governor had to do this."

Anything more for southern Illinois?

"You bet. He vetoed the bill the Legislature passed -- the Wilmette thing, giving a guy the right to defend himself and his family with a gun during a break-in at his house. Do you understand how important that is to southern Illinois? I couldn't believe he vetoed it. I'd make him spend all his $12 million on TV ads defending it -- and it still won't wash. Listen, you're old enough to remember Gene McCarthy."

Old enough to know Gene McCarthy. I liked him too.

"When he ran against LBJ in New Hampshire, no one gave him a chance. You like the governor? Don't get used to him because he'll be gone after the 2006 primary. And don't tell me it'll help the Republicans. They'll have a bitter primary for governor themselves. But what will emerge in the Democratic Party is a new moderate-to-conservative nominee, with fiscal integrity, respectful of gun-owners rights who will -- write it down for this is the hidden issue -- resolve to live in that mansion in Springfield."

If elected he'll live in the Springfield mansion. That'll take guts.

*Our Nation is on track for sustained economic growth because of the resilience and determination of the American people and the pro-growth policies of this Administration. However, the President will not be satisfied until every American who wants to work can find a job and all Americans have economic security. During the campaign, the President laid out a plan to keep our economy growing and extend prosperity to every corner of America.

*The President believes a changing world can be a time of great opportunity for all Americans to earn a better living, have a rewarding career, and enjoy a fulfilling life. In these times of change, government must take the side of working families. Many of our most fundamental systems – the tax code, our health care system, worker training programs, and retirement plans – were created for the world of yesterday, not tomorrow. We must transform these systems so all Americans are equipped and prepared to realize the American Dream.

The State of Our Economy

*America has the fastest-growing economy of any major industrialized nation in the world.

*The economy has posted steady job gains for each of the last fifteen months – creating over 2.4 million jobs since August 2003.

*The unemployment rate dropped from a peak of 6.3% last June to 5.4% today—below the average unemployment rate of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.

*After-tax income is up by over 10% since the end of 2000, and household wealth is at an all-time high.

*Inflation, interest rates, and mortgage rates remain at low levels.

*Homeownership rates are at record highs.

*The stock market has grown rapidly since the beginning of 2003, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 25% and the NASDAQ up 56%.

Tax and Regulatory Burdens

*America has a growing, dynamic, and changing economy – but the economy remains handicapped by unnecessary tax and regulatory burdens. The current tax code is a maze of special-interest loopholes that causes America’s taxpayers to spend more than six billion hours every year on paperwork and other headaches. President Bush believes that America’s taxpayers deserve, and our future economic prosperity demands, a simpler, fairer, pro-growth system. Taxes should be applied fairly, and reform should recognize the importance of homeownership and charity in our American society. The President will create a bipartisan panel to advise the Secretary of the Treasury on options to reform the tax code.

*The President has made tax relief permanence a top priority. All the tax relief enacted over the past three years, including the tax relief benefiting America’s small businesses, is scheduled to expire over the next several years. This tax relief must be made permanent. Raising taxes on families and small businesses will hurt economic growth and job creation.

*Excessive regulations can prevent the creation and growth of new small businesses and the jobs they create. The President wants to streamline regulations and reduce paperwork to alleviate the burdens that unduly handicap America’s entrepreneurs and job creators. Since the President took office, the Administration has slowed the growth of burdensome new rules by 75 percent, while still moving forward with crucial safeguards for homeland security, human health, and environmental protection.

The High Costs of Lawsuit Abuse

*The costs of litigation per person in the United States are far higher than in any other major industrialized nation in the world. Lawsuit costs have risen substantially over the past several decades, and a significant part of the costs go to paying lawyers' fees and transaction costs – not to the injured parties. The litigation explosion is clogging America’s civil courts and threatening jobs across America. Litigation costs small businesses, on average, about $150,000 per year.

*The President is pushing Congress to pass legislation that reduces the burden of frivolous lawsuits on our economy. The President supports enactment of medical liability reform, class action lawsuit reforms, and asbestos litigation reform to expedite resolutions and curb the costs of lawsuits for all Americans.

*Frivolous lawsuits and excessive jury awards are driving many health care providers out of communities and forcing doctors to practice defensive medicine. This reduces access to medically necessary services and raises the costs of health care for all. The President has proposed proven reforms, such as common-sense limits on non-economic damages, to make the medical liability system more fair, predictable, and timely.

*The President’s proposed class action reforms seek to limit the abuse of large, nationwide class action cases and return justice to the truly injured parties. Class actions are an important and intrinsic part of the U.S. legal system. However, class actions are heavily abused, which in turn harms affected parties and undermines the American judicial system. In particular, injured parties often receive awards of little or no value while lawyers receive large fees. The proposed class action reform legislation recognizes that large interstate class actions deserve Federal court access because they typically affect more citizens, involve more money, and implicate more interstate commerce issues than any other type of lawsuit. These reforms do not alter the right of a plaintiff to bring a legitimate claim, or change controlling substantive law, but provide additional protection and information to class members.

*Asbestos is the longest-running mass tort litigation in U.S. history, and has led to the bankruptcies of at least 74 companies and to more than 50,000 lost jobs. Within the past few years, there have been sharp increases in the number of asbestos claims filed annually. The current system is costly to administer (future transaction costs are estimated at between $145 and $210 billion), will impose indirect costs on the economy, has driven exposed defendants into bankruptcy, and may leave little or no funds to pay future asbestos victims. The President has stressed the need for reform and commended Congress for aggressively working on this problem, but more work needs to be done to find a fair and permanent solution.

Financial Challenges for Today and Tomorrow

*The President is exercising spending restraint while meeting our Nation’s priorities. Excluding defense and homeland security, domestic discretionary spending increased by a very modest 3.4 percent in Fiscal Year 2004. In FY 2005, consistent with the President’s budget, spending growth will go down to less than one percent – below the rate of inflation and down from 15 percent in the last year of the previous Administration.

*As we make progress toward reducing the deficit in the near-term, we must also address the long-term fiscal dangers posed by our entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare. Social Security alone faces a $10 trillion unfunded obligation. Trustees of the Social Security program have projected by 2018 the program will owe more in annual benefits than the revenues it generates, and it will go bankrupt by 2042 – before a young worker of today retires. As currently structured, the program will be unable to provide promised retirement benefits to young Americans entering the workforce today.

*The current Social Security system needs to be fixed. The President has called for reforms that would keep Social Security's promises for today's retirees and near-retirees, while giving younger workers a chance to save in personal accounts for their own retirement. President Bush believes that personal accounts provide ownership, choice, and the opportunity for workers to build a nest egg for their retirement and to pass on to their spouse or their children. Personal accounts do not add to the program’s $10 trillion in unfunded obligations, but are a means of funding existing obligations. Leadership means recognizing that these costs already exist, and working to reform the system so we do not leave this problem to our children and grandchildren.

*Like Social Security, Medicare faces long-term financing problems. In addition to the demographic changes that plague the Social Security system, Medicare faces problems of rising health care costs. According to the Medicare Trustees, the growth in per capita health care costs is expected to outpace per capita economic growth by more than 60 percent over the next 75 years, leading to a projected unfunded obligation of $27.7 trillion over that period

==>Donald Rumsfeld