Today as Republicans attempt to pass a flag-burning amendment in the Senate, Mrs. Clinton meets them half way in their quest to limit your right to free speech.

From the NY Daily News:

New York's senators, Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton, both oppose the measure, but Clinton is offering a compromise bill that was also expected to come up today to make flag desecration illegal without rewriting the Constitution.

Prognosticators said it offered a way out for senators who don't want to be tarred as unpatriotic, but advocates on both sides doubted it would pass muster with the courts, which have found previous flag-desecration laws unconstitutional.

HILLARY CLINTON TO RAISE MONEY IN KETCHUM
Jun 22, 2006

KETCHUM, Idaho (AP) -- Senator Hillary Clinton is the latest politician set to swing through Blaine County, as she travels the country building a war chest for a 2006 Senate bid.

The New York Democrat will speak at a barbecue on July 9th at a ranch owned by businessman Tom O'Gara.

The resort communities of central Idaho are quickly becoming an essential fund-raising stop for the nation's premier candidates.

O'Gara also hosted Vice President Dick Cheney at a fund-raiser for President George W. Bush's re-election campaign.
(more at link)

We're halfway through! We'd like to collect your first two weeks of petition sheets now, so we don't get inundated in the last few days.

Please drop them by the office - 26 Perry Street, just west of 7th Avenue in the West Village. It's best to call us first if you're coming outside of normal business hours, 646-415-8361, just to make sure someone is there.

If you're mailing your petitons in, please send them certified or express, return receipt requested (NOT Fedex or UPS to the P.O. box please - USPS will not accept it!), to:

Tasini for New York
P.O. Box 302
New York, NY 10040

If you are mailing in petitions, please photo-copy them first and keep the copies.

Thank you!!!

NEW YORK, NY: Senate Democratic candidate Jonathan Tasini released the following statement today following the Senate's vote on the Kerry-Feingold amendment.

"Today, Hillary Clinton voted to prolong the violence and killing in Iraq. By voting against an amendment co-sponsored by Sens. John Kerry, Russ Feingold, Barbara Boxer and Patrick Leahy, my opponent clearly showed that she is out of step with the views of Democratic primary voters in New York. More American men and women will die, as will thousands of Iraqis, because of this vote and the Senate's failure to agree to bring this war to a quick end."

"Frankly, the Kerry-Feingold-Boxer-Leahy amendment did not go far enough. It called only for the removal of all U.S. troops by June 2007. If passed, the amendment would have meant that many more people would die in the next year in this pointless, immoral, illegal war. My position has been clear: I support legislation advanced by Rep. Jim McGovern (MA) which calls for the immediate cutting off of all funds for offensive military action in Iraq and allows for money to be spent only on the quick, immediate, safe withdrawal of U.S. troops, reconstruction of Iraq and the replacement of the U.S. military by an international security force."

"Yet, at least the proposed amendment would have been one small step to acknowledge that the war has been a failure and that the violence must end--an end that can only come when there are no more U.S. military personnel in Iraq. But, my opponent will not even vote for legislation that promises that our troops will be out of harm's way in one year. I believe it is now quite clear to the voters of New York that my opponent's support for the war continues and that, if she is re-elected, the war will continue unabated, with no end in sight."

We've reached another tragic milestone in Iraq: 2,500 American military men and women killed, 2,500 Americans whose families will never see them again, 2,500 lost in an immoral, illegal, unnecessary war. And despite the Green Zone photo-ops, the Bush administration's attitude is clear from this statement:

"It's a number," White House press secretary Tony Snow told reporters at the White House.

Today the Senate debates a "resolution that would urge — but not require — the administration to begin "a phased redeployment of U.S. forces" this year." (USA Today). A majority of Democrats are expected to support this "symbolic" statement.

It will be more interesting to see which Senators support the second, stronger resolution, with a firm withdrawal deadline, that's been introduced by Senators John Kerry, Russ Feingold and Barbara Boxer. We're guessing the junior Senator from New York won't go near that one. And that's the problem. Symbolic statements don't save lives. Only a real withdrawal from Iraq will end the senseless carnage.