An AP report says:

Judge reluctant to wade into White House subpoena fight

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress was trying to be diplomatic when it brought an unprecedented lawsuit to settle its subpoena fight against the White House, a lawyer told a federal judge Monday. After all, lawmakers could've just arrested the president's former lawyer for refusing to testify.

The judge's response?

Maybe they should have.

Congress has the authority to hold someone in contempt, U.S. District Judge John Bates said. Did it really need to go to court?

Over the flip for action

There is a recommended diary here that says

If you want better media, support better media

Our individual choices sometimes, but rarely, have an impact.  It is true that I am heartened by the fact that the ratings of Faux News is declining.  

But it is rare that our individual choices in media combine to have any real impact. It would be more important if we did things like:
Break up the chains in newspaper, radio, TV station & cable TV ownership
Make license renewal for radio and TV stations a real event instead of an empty formality
Strengthen public radio & TV
Put more tax money into financing good movies as is done by the Canadian Film Board
Reinstate the Fairness Rule for broadcasting
Support Net Neutrality rules on all levels of government so that all internet content is dealt with equally

None of those changes create good content in media, but they all add to the number and diversity of voices. Making all public media more like the internet, where there are multiple voices, makes it harder for the creation of the echo chamber effect we often get in the MSM.

Your front page diary about the New Hampshire recount sounds just like the Republicans talking about the Ohio vote in 2004.  Alternet has an in-depth discussion of the New Hampshire voting situation without snark which is titled "Experts Question Clinton's New Hampshire Primary Win."  Here is the link.

The article quotes Bruce O'Dell, an information technology consultant who is coordinating Election Defense Alliance's analysis, as saying that the voting results in New Hampshire were "suspect."  That says neither that the vote was hacked nor that it was not.  But it does say that it is worth further investigation and that is what is happening.  

Kos, you are also harping on the fact that nobody has yet paid for the recount.  However, the fact that the Kucinich campaign has not yet paid for the entire cost of the vote recount is irrelevant.  It is not yet possible to pay the entire cost as nobody knows exactly how much it is.  Even Kucinich's  low-budget campaign has the thousands of dollars to cover the entire cost.

On Friday, Representatives Wexler, Gutierrez, and Baldwin issued a joint call for hearings in the House Judiciary Committee about impeaching Vice President Cheney.  All three sit on the committee.  They wrote an op-ed column, but so far the MSM has ignored their call and not published the op-ed.  It is important to note that the few polls that have been taken about impeaching Cheney have shown a majority for it.

Rep. Wexler posted an online petition to show support for the hearings.  In just three days, 90,000 people have signed it.  You can sign the petition (and read the op-ed) here.

With enough support, we will reach 100,000 signatures before noon tomorrow!

Sign here!

I did not see any other diary about this New York Times article title "Health Sector Puts Its Money on Democrats."  Of $11 million in contributions to Presidential candidates, Hillary is #1 with $2.7 million and Obama is #2 with $2.2 million.  

I do not have a lot of time as I am getting ready for work, but here is the most important quote.

People in the health care industry say the giving reflects a growing sense that the Democrats are in a strong position to win the White House next year. It also underscores the industry’s frantic effort to influence the candidates, as Democrats push their proposals to address what many polls show is a top concern among voters.

"Everybody in the industry knows that health care reform is on its way, and you have only two decisions: sit on the sidelines or get on the field," said Kenneth E. Raske, president of the Greater New York Hospital Association.

More after the break.

The ACLU sent out an action alert this morning about the bill to update FISA.  Their primary complaint about the RESTORE Act, which is supported by the Democratic leadership, is that it allows "blanket warrants."  Here is what they say:

The RESTORE Act caves in to Bush’s fear-mongering in a major way by allowing for program or basket "warrants," which aren't really warrants at all. They're the modern-day equivalent of allowing government agents to sit in our living rooms, recording our personal conversations. ... The government now has the capacity to monitor us remotely and without our knowledge, and to save the information in a secret database forever.

As an alternative, Representative Rush Holt (D,NJ) introduced the FISA Modernization Act and the ACLU has endorsed that version.  In a campaign they are calling the FISA Flood, they are urging everyone to call their Congressperson to urge them to support the FISA Modernization Act and not the RESTORE Act.  They have a handy page on their website to get your Congressmember's phone number here.

After the break for more information.  

nyceve has a great diary on the Rec List that gives a lot of good reasons why Hillary's health insurance plan is not good enough.  The California Nurses Shum also dissed it in a diary titled Is ClintonCare SchwarzenCare?  Its time for us Kossacks to let Hillary know that she can do better.

HR676 was introduced by John Conyers.  It would cover all Americans just like Medicare does for people over 65.  This is the gold standard and it has 78 cosponsors who are listed here.  John Conyers even has a page about how to finance it here.  

Email Clinton and tell her that if she really wants to help solve the health insurance crisis that she can introduce a companion bill for HR676 in the Senate.  (I just sent her an email myself.)  Here are the links to contact her:

Hillary Clinton's Senate Office

Hillary Clinton for President website

MoveOn is polling its members about impeaching President Bush.  You can register your opinion here
I found out about this poll from a diary on mydd.com.
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/ is functioning as a clearinghouse on impeachment.

There have been numerous diaries and front page stories on Dailykos about why impeaching Bush and Cheney is necessary to maintaining democracy (most of which I heartily agree with).  Even Reagan official Bruce Fein has come out forcefully for impeachment and was recently interviewed by Bill Moyers on PBS.

Nancy Pelosi took impeachment "off the table" during the 2006 elections and John Conyers, chair of the Judiciary committee, had Cindy Sheehan and dozens of activists arrested when they sat in at his office in July of this year.  Prior to the 2006 election, he was eloquent in favor of an investigation about the necessity of impeachment.  More history after the jump.