Joe Scarborough takes exception with Jack Burkman's assertion that everyone is taking cash.

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Burkman trys to stretch the credibility line to "It's ok for zealots to get paid because they are zealots." Sounded like a silly argument. He didn't have his talking points quite together. It's so silly ,that Joe draws a line in the sand and to his credit, defies the typical Stepford like republican response.

WASHINGTON - President Bush s advisers have settled on a proposal for structuring the personal accounts they hope to create in Social Security, while on Capitol Hill, Senate Democrats were launching an effort to defeat the plan altogether. By default, workers would be enrolled in a "life cycle" account, in which investments become more conservative as investors age, if they do not choose one of the other options, according to two officials speaking on condition of anonymity.

On Friday, Senate Democrats were holding a session aimed at showcasing the problems with Bush's overall plan to let workers divert a portion of their Social Security taxes into individual accounts that could be invested in the stock market. Among those testifying before the panel were a pair of workers from the Social Security Administration complaining that the employees are being used for political purposes to sell the Bush plan to the public.

By SAMEER N. YACOUB, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Authorities in Iraq have arrested two close associates of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, including the chief of the terror mastermind's Baghdad operation, the government said Friday, two days ahead of historic elections that extremists have vowed to subvert. Insurgents, meanwhile, targeted more polling sites across the country, and a suicide car bomber killed four policemen in the capital. U.S. fighter jets thundered through the skies over Baghdad throughout the morning in a show of force against the militants

excerpt:

Many House Republicans are hesitant to do anything that might jeopardize their chances in the midterm elections in 2006, while in the Senate at least half a dozen members have begun jockeying for the White House.

It's the 'no interest like self-interest' rule, and it's every man for himself," said an aide to a Senate Republican committee chairman, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to maintain good relations with the White House. "He's discovering the fine line between having a mandate and being a lame duck."

Third columnist caught with hand in the Bush till

By Eric Boehlert

One day after President Bush ordered his Cabinet secretaries to stop hiring commentators to help promote administration initiatives, and one day after the second high-profile conservative pundit was found to be on the federal payroll, a third embarrassing hire has emerged. Salon has confirmed that Michael McManus, a marriage advocate whose syndicated column, "Ethics & Religion," appears in 50 newspapers, was hired as a subcontractor by the Department of Health and Human Services to foster a Bush-approved marriage initiative. McManus championed the plan in his columns without disclosing to readers he was being paid to help it succeed.

Ok, here's how it works. I know I will eventually need a few special heavy hitters on my team. It's hard running a crew with the trade I'm in, so I'll need some outside help for back up from time to time. What I do is I hire them for a job. You know, print up some brochures; gather a few ideas, something worthless like that. Then I throw in some cash to wet their whistle, and leave em’ alone.

It might be a week or a year, but eventually a real job will come up that suits their particular talents and I place the call. I make sure that when they do this task the money that I spent before won’t be connected to me. They take the call, remember my generosity and perform the job like it’s their own and act on it passionately. I sit back in the shadows, unknown, my hands clean. It’s just business.

by Barbara Boxer

I can't thank all of you enough -- the Daily Kos community, and the blogosphere as a whole -- for all of your effective work during the recent debate over Condoleezza Rice's nomination. Your support and participation in this critical debate meant so much to me.

More than 94,000 Americans from across the country signed my petition and stood together to demand the truth from Condoleezza Rice. It was truly an overwhelming response -- much more than I could have anticipated. You helped to get our message out to millions of Americans -- I couldn't have done it without you.

And you made a difference. You gave me the voice I needed to ask the tough questions during Dr. Rice's confirmation hearings. And you gave the entire United States Senate the voice it needed to take its "advice and consent" responsibility seriously. In fact, Condoleezza Rice received 13 votes against her confirmation -- the most votes against any Secretary of State's nomination since 1825. read on

via Atrios

Greg Beato tells us more than we need to know about Maggie Gallagher.

David Shuster, NBC News correspondent was on Hardball yesterday. He is reporting the latest from Baghdad.

Iraqi forces are wearing black ski masks to hide their faces from the insurgents. Even the Iraqi's that work for NBC won't tell their families who they work for. Also the troops are getting no help from the Iraqi citizens, as insurgents seem to blend in with the population after attacks.

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It's a frightening situation for our troops and the Iraq forces as more violence spreads before the election. Remember, those four provinces hold almost 40% of the population that are deemed unsafe to the voters. We can only hope that our troops remain steadfast and safe during this first election cycle.