I believe that if you do not stand for something you cannot stand for anything.

I stand for sending the President a Bill that he must veto. The 2008 Elections are going to be about holding the leaders who got us into this mess in Iraq accountable.

There are many scoundrels that want to change the subject, they want to let bygones be bygones.  They want to be left off the hook. Not me. I want to see them voted out for betraying the confidence of their constituents and placing the security of this Nation in peril.  Congressmen such as my opponent in the NY-29th, Randy Kuhl, have repeatedly stated their support for the war. In the 2004 election cycle when this seat was open, he repeatedly stated his support for the war when it was a popular position. Randy was all over the presses praising the President's then popular policy. Now that Bush has approval ratings in the high 20's, Kuhl can't get away fast enough.

Before Kuhl held this seat, Republican Amo Houghton was one of a handful of leaders who voted no and below is the transcript of his floor statement.  In clear and eloquent language Amo defined the issue of our generation and Kuhl's failed leadership has poured water all over it.

The American people are now going to experience a wonderful and lengthy debate, something that is just absolutely essential for this country, and they will have their fill of it.

I want to stand here, though, and say that in 1944 I enlisted in the Marine Corps. I voted for Desert Storm. I have always felt that the first dollar of Federal money should go into defense, to be able to protect our country. But I am prepared to vote against this resolution. This is a sad day for me, because I want to support my President.

...

Following September 11 of last year, we were told that terrorism is the enemy. We have to get rid of Al Qaeda. We have to take out Osama bin Laden. We have to eliminate the pockets who hate Americans. We have to rebuild Afghanistan. Secondly, we were told that to win the war against terrorism, our main objective, it required the cooperation of our allies around the world. And I bought that, and the President spelled it out very clearly and very eloquently.

But now we hear that the priorities have changed and that Iraq is the prime target. Saddam Hussein is a bad man, he has horrible weapons, and I believe all of that. But as a single-minded believer I asked, what does this have to do with September 11? There is very little evidence that Iraq had anything to do with the attack on September 11 or on terrorism itself.
As a matter of fact, probably Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden are mortal enemies. One is from a secular country and the other is a religious fundamentalist.

Now, I happen to be a hawk on Iraq. Saddam Hussein is bad, and some day we should deal with him. But, right now, the security of the American people is at stake, and I believe we must fight terrorism in its emerging and subtle forms.

Now Kuhl changes the subject, as do they all by basically saying, "Well, we're there and the only thing that matters is how we will seek victory."

Victory?  Victory!  What victory is there when you are caught in the middle of a three way civil war?  Do any of us think that the Iraqis of the next generation will build monuments to the thousands of Americans killed trying to keep them from killing each other?  Perhaps there will be statues to Wolfowitz, Cheney, Feith and Bush.  I doubt it.

We must have accountability in this country if we are ever to ensure that this will not happen again. The failures of this Administration are so numerous and so disastrous, that the complacency and egotistical posturing of the rubberstampers in Congress must not pass unnoticed.  We must stand up and tell these cowards that their days in Washington are numbered.

I am not wiling to go quietly into the night and let bygones be bygones and therefore I would never vote for a bill based only the reality that the President might veto the version that I feel strongly about.

We as Democrats should not run for cover every time we are threatened with the specter of appearing soft of defense, unsupportive of our military nor fully behind the War on Terrorism.  I don't.  I will take a back seat to no one who attacks my military career, as they did in the last election, especially when those attacks are being orchestrated by someone with nearly a decade of draft deferments. While Randy Kuhl, Dick Cheney and the entire cast of Bush rubberstampers were busy doing "more important things," my father served a decade in Vietnam and all over the world for his nation.  His service inspired me to follow in his footsteps and I'll be damned if anyone is going to call me un-American because I disagree with the Worst President in the History of this Nation.
We must stand, tall and proud, in our disapproval of this President.  We must force him again and again to VETO the funding Bills that would in fact support our troops.  We must hold him and his entire culture of rubberstamping sycophants accountable for the total and absolute disaster that they have dragged us into.

And, we must stop using these bills as a measure of funding.  If we want a vote on the minimum wage, have a straight up and down vote. We have the majority to force the vote and if the Senate filibusters it, then we document the fools who work against the interests of the majority of Americans we HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE.

There will be a judgment here in the United States, we call it an election.

With Your Support

We can take this nation back and set things right.  We can only win by electing people who ONLY have the best interests of the nation at heart, that's why I don't accept any Corportate PAC money. We stood up last year and came within 1% of defeating Rubberstamper Randy Kuhl in a district that Washington thought couldn't be won. This time, we're not going to take no for an answer, we've made it to the middle of the field, and I need you to help me push the ball 1 yard further.

We can do it, but I need your help.

Please consider supporting my campaign.

My name is Eric Massa, I am running the United States Congress and you can be darned certain that approve this message.

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P.S. I Liveblog here at Daily Kos every Sunday from 3-6 pm Eastern Time, however today I have been invited to a house party to meet with a number of my supporters and thus will need to leave at 4:30. You can read the first three editions of my New Bill of Rights Liveblogs below. I hope you will stick around and tell me what you think, I always want honest feedback from everyone.

#1 The Right to Not be Dragged into an Unnecessary War

#2 The Right to Quality, Affordable Healthcare

#3 The Right to Gainful Employment