Justice E.R.

Bernie Sanders has a plan!

2009-07-01T21:39:00.006-05:00

With health care reform and the Employee Free Choice Act hanging in the balance, Bernie Sanders has plan!

Bernie Sanders Demands Democrats Commit to Stopping Health Care Filibuster

One of the Senate's most vocal progressives is demanding that the Democratic Party commit to voting against filibustering health care legislation now that, with the impending arrival of Al Franken, the party has 60 caucusing members.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), called on the White House and Democratic leadership in Congress to ensure that party members agree unanimously to support cloture on legislation that would revamp the nation's health care system. Democratic senators on the fence, he added, could still oppose the bill. But at the very least they should be required to let the legislation come to an up-or-down vote.

"I think that with Al Franken coming on board, you have effectively 60 Democrats in the caucus, 58 and two Independents," Sanders said in an interview with the Huffington Post. "I think the strategy should be to say, it doesn't take 60 votes to pass a piece of legislation. It takes 60 votes to stop a filibuster. I think the strategy should be that every Democrat, no matter whether or not they ultimately end up voting for the final bill, is to say we are going to vote together to stop a Republican filibuster. And if somebody who votes for that ends up saying, 'I'm not gonna vote for this bill, it's too radical, blah, blah, blah, that's fine.'" Read entire article here.

Organizing and Mobilizing with Flair

2009-06-17T18:45:00.000-05:00

For four days next week, the campus of the National Labor College (NLC) in Silver Spring, Md., will reverberate with the sounds of music, poetry and creative chants and art.

From June 20-23, some 100 union and social justice activists will participate in the annual Great Labor Arts Exchange and Conference on Creative Organizing, programs that combine union mobilization and outreach with songs, skits, art, poetry, theater, posters, cartoons and film.

For 31 years, the Great Labor Arts Exchange has celebrated the rich cultural heritage of working people and served as a forum that brings together talented labor artists, activists, cultural workers, educators and students. Read entire article here.

Don't buy Starbucks' Coffee

2009-05-19T21:03:00.005-05:00

Spilling the Beans About Starbucks' Union-Busting Tactics
by: ZP Heller

Put down that grande non-fat caramel macchiato or whatever Starbucks concoction you're drinking. Turns out the coffee giant has a nasty history of being anti-barista, anti-union, and thus anti-Employee Free Choice Act as well.

The National Labor Relations Board has repeatedly found Starbucks guilty of illegally terminating, harassing, intimidating, and discriminating against employees attempting to unionize. Late last year, a judge ruled Starbucks had committed over a dozen violations of the National Labor Relations Act at a few New York stores. Starbucks has settled five such labor disputes in the last few years in New York, Minnesota, and Michigan, spending millions on legal fees to avoid exposing their anti-worker ways. Read entire article here!

Republicans: The Indulgent Parents

2009-05-04T06:55:00.001-05:00

by Dana Houle

You've seen them. Maybe it's a friend or a sibling. Someone you see out in public. Maybe, even, you've pondered the past and recognize it might have been your parents, or maybe even you: indulgent parents. Parents who never set limits, never enforce boundaries. Parents who never tell their children no. And you know what happens. Their kids usually grow up to be monsters, or face a tough transition to adulthood, because they think everything should be handed to them on a silver platter. They can't understand why the world doesn't roll over for them the way their parents did. They often become embittered and disillusioned, and sometimes even nihilistic. And their parents often experience shame and regret, and feel like they've become hostage to the monsters they helped create.

In American politics, the spoiled children struggling to deal with a reality they don't like and didn't expect are those voters who make up the rightwing of the Republican base. The indulgent parents of American politics are the leaders, elected officials and apparatchiks of the Republican party. Read entire article here.

iPhone

2009-05-03T21:51:00.005-05:00

I have been immersed in my new device, the iphone. It represents a revolution in communication. I am still in awe of this device. Nothing on the market even comes close to doing what the iphone can do. I have also been playing with Twitter - another revolution in communication and social networking. More on this later.

Glenn Beck and the Definition of Sedition

2009-04-12T21:39:00.005-05:00

Click on the following link of Glenn Beck and think about whether the following definition applies?

Sedition is a term of law which refers to covert conduct, such as speech and organization, that is deemed by the legal authority as tending toward insurrection against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent (or resistance) to lawful authority. Sedition may include any commotion, though not aimed at direct and open violence against the laws. Seditious words in writing are seditious libel. A seditionist is one who engages in or promotes the interests of sedition.

Because sedition is typically considered a subversive act, the overt acts that may be prosecutable under sedition laws vary from one legal code to another. Where those legal codes have a traceable history, there is also a record of the change of definition for what constituted sedition at certain points in history. This overview has served to develop a sociological definition of sedition as well, within study of persecution.

The difference between sedition and treason consists primarily in the subjective ultimate object of the violation to the public peace. Sedition does not consist of levying war against a government nor of adhering to its enemies, giving enemies aid, and giving enemies comfort. Nor does it consist, in most representative democracies, of peaceful protest against a government, nor of attempting to change the government by democratic means (such as direct democracy or constitutional convention).

Put simply, sedition is the stirring up of rebellion against the government in power. Treason is the violation of allegiance to one's sovereign or state and has to do with giving aid to enemies or levying war. Sedition is more about encouraging the people to rebel, where treason is actually betraying the country. Sedition laws somewhat equate to Terrorism and Public Order laws.

Maybe we could tax Hell?

2009-03-29T17:46:00.003-05:00

There is one source of wealth in America that has too long been a sacred cow. You know those thousands of funny looking buildings that seem to occupy every other corner in many communities. They are commonly known as churches. What if we require churches to pay taxes on their income? I know I have just touched the 3rd rail of the American psyche. How dare I suggest that an organization involved in the institutionalized belief in fairy tales should have to pay taxes. What was I thinking? I hope I don’t go to Hell now? I wonder if we could tax Hell?

The Realities of Climate Change

2009-03-22T08:32:00.003-05:00

A Self-filling Prophecy
If you think preventing climate change is politically difficult, look at the political problems of adapting to it.

By George Monbiot. Published in the Guardian, 16th March 2009.

Quietly in public, loudly in private, climate scientists everywhere are saying the same thing: it’s over. The years in which more than two degrees of global warming could have been prevented have passed, the opportunities squandered by denial and delay. On current trajectories we’ll be lucky to get away with four degrees. Mitigation (limiting greenhouse gas pollution) has failed; now we must adapt to what nature sends our way. If we can.

This, at any rate, was the repeated whisper at the climate change conference in Copenhagen last week(1). It’s more or less what Bob Watson, the environment department’s chief scientific adviser, has been telling the British government(2). It is the obvious if unspoken conclusion of scores of scientific papers. Recent work by scientists at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, for example, suggests that even global cuts of 3% a year, starting in 2020, could leave us with four degrees of warming by the end of the century(3,4). At the moment emissions are heading in the opposite direction at roughly the same rate. If this continues, what does it mean? Six? Eight? Ten degrees? Who knows? Read entire article here.

Rove and Cheney: War Criminals Among US

2009-03-15T21:26:00.016-05:00

As Rachel Maddow is fond of saying during her news hour, “I need someone to talk me down” as to why there are so many criminals from the last administration still able to walk among us? Not only are they allowed to walk among us, but they are allowed to give interviews and pretend to be journalists! When will people like Rove and Cheney be held accountable for the great crimes they have committed? There are certainly many others from the Bush administration who also need to serve time behind bars. But can someone tell me if any of these people will ever pay for the damage they have caused? Each time the corporate media gives the Bush administration criminals another chance to repeat their lies, spin, and propaganda; I am almost driven into convulsions. Please someone, convince me that someday these bastards will have to pay for their crimes. For gods sake is there no real justice in America? Someone please tell me that one day, I will never have to again endure the media sanctioned pronouncements of war criminals!

Ethix Merch leading the way in marketing Union made Products!

2009-02-24T19:32:00.008-06:00

Secretary of State Clinton explained to the Chinese media during her recent visit, "We have to incur more debt … the US needs the investment in Treasury bonds to shore up its economy to continue to buy Chinese products."

Joshua Holland in his most recent article, The Spectacular, Sudden Crash of the Global Economy very nicely sums up the rise and fall of the global economy. He writes: In a short period of months, the entire system of global capitalism has screeched to a halt. No one knows what happens next. Read entire article here.

In my mind what happens next is a return to the past. I have memories of touring a shoe factory near a city where I grew up. Yes, we used to make shoes in the United States. My father owned shoes that were made less than 20 miles away from where he lived! And these shoes were made by union workers who took pride in what they did earned a decent wage for doing it.

We need to return to the local and regional production of goods that we now buy from production facilities located thousands of miles away. The days of exploitation are over. It is time to build new local/regional economies that are environmentally friendly and provide dignity and rights to workers.

Companies like Ethix Merch are leading the way in marketing high quality union made products at affordable prices. I encourage you to check out their web site. We can change things for the better. Companies like Ethix Merch and you will make it happen!

Forcing Burger King to Backtrack on Employee Free Choice

2009-02-21T14:11:00.003-06:00

Reposted from Open Left
by ZP Heller

All week long, Brave New Films, SEIU and many progressive bloggers have been holding Burger King's feet to the deep fryer. Together we exposed Burger King's horrendous working conditions; launched a contest asking people to Have It Their Way with Goldman Sachs (Burger King's top shareholder) for squandering $6.5 billion of the bailout on bonuses while average BK workers earn less than the federal poverty line; and staged peaceful demonstrations at Burger Kings across the country protesting the fast-food chain's low wages, lack of healthcare, and lobbying against unionization legislation. So what was Burger King's response? They served up this flamebroiled pile of garbage yesterday: "Burger King Corp. (BKC) believes unions serve a purpose in some workplaces and a number of its guests, vendors and franchisees have positive union membership experiences. BKC is not anti-union. BKC and its franchisees serve a diverse consumer base and, therefore, aim to remain neutral on political issues."
Read entire article here

Republican Obstruction of the Stimulus Marks the Beginning of the End of the Party

2009-02-14T14:25:00.010-06:00

The final chapter of the Republican Party began this week. Their very public obstruction and then overwhelming vote against President Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has forever seared a negative image of them into the minds of millions of Americans. The Daily Kos Weekly State of the Nation Poll for the week Feb 09, 2009 - Feb 12, 2009, shows the current level of dislike for the current crop of Republican robots in Congress. The Democratic Party is only five points down in net favorability in the South, the GOP's "stronghold", while it blows them away in every other region. (kos, The obstructionist's dilemma)

Once the effect of the stimulus starts to make a difference in our economy, (as surely it will) the Republicans will be left with a voting record on the stimulus, that will haunt them for a generation or more. No amount of media propaganda or corporate spin will be able to resurrect their image. With their no votes in the House of Representative and Senate this week, they clearly said no to America and yes to their corporate masters. This week is the beginning of the end of the Republican Party. Their days as a viable political party are over!

Only in America Could Misery Be Turned Into a Commodity

2009-02-11T18:48:00.002-06:00

By Joe Bageant, JoeBageant.com. Posted February 11, 2009.

Stress, depression and loneliness permeate daily life in America. Yet psychiatrists try to sell us on the idea that the pain is ours alone.

HOPKINS VILLAGE, Belize -- Sitting down here in Central America, happily abusing my health, occasionally, between the hangovers and the bouts with sand fleas and mosquitoes comes an insight or two, or at least what passes for insight in my lowbrow take on life.

One of these is just how damned lucky the Third World is that it cannot afford a sophisticated mental health system. By that I mean the kind like in the "developed countries," where murder and suicide rates are quintuple what they are here in this village. Not that we are without own village resources. Read entire article here.

Congress should visit an Unemployment Office

2009-02-07T21:48:00.007-06:00

Is our system broken beyond repair? Do we need to start again with a new form of government? Watching our national legislatures deal with the most significant crisis in our nation’s history makes me ill! What are these people thinking? Have any of them ever been in an unemployment line? Do they know what it feels like to come home to their husband or wife with the news of a job loss? Have any of them had to apply for food stamps? Do they know what it is like to swallow life long pride in a line at the public aid office? Have any of them lost their homes? Do they know what it is like to not know where they will sleep next? I think not!

Perhaps during one of their next junkets to their local districts or states, our representatives should spend some time at an unemployment office, a public aid office or watch a local sheriff evict a homeowner. Perhaps these experiences would jolt them into the reality that all too many Americans are already familiar with.

Like many progressives in this country, I am impatient and increasingly pessimistic about the chances for real change in this country. Before the election, I explained to a less than knowledgeable but very enthusiastic Obama supporter, that no matter what happens in the election, the people who truly run our country are not likely to go quietly into the night. It will take more than one election to return power to its rightful place. There are many battles ahead and I wonder if Americans are up to the challenge? Only time will tell!

21st Century Economic Recovery Hings on Education and Retraining

2009-01-25T21:13:00.011-06:00

The economy that we left behind in 2008 is a gone forever. It was an economy that was driven in a direction that ultimately warped the social, political and cultural landscape of our entire country. Instead of investing in our human resources, our domestic companies and corporations used and abused their workforces. The results of this throw away worker mentality are all around us. Our education system has become as flawed as our banking systems. We now deliver graduates of a quality that fit the exploitive companies that they will ultimately work for. Our culture is fostering ignorance over education and gratification over work. Many of the dysfunctions of our culture are direct byproducts of an aberrant economic system.

The economy that will ultimately replace the last will be vastly different and constantly changing. There will be less and less need in this new economy for undereducated or untrained workers. My point here is that not all American workers will be able to function in the next economy. A lack of investment in America’s human resources over the last 30 years has brought us to the point where there will be millions of workers who will need years of education to become productive members of the new economy. Years of education! Some may never be able to make the transitions. Some may ultimately just become wards of the State.

There can never be an economic recovery back to the economy of 2008. The most important component to the structural changes necessary to move our country into a 21st Century economy lies with education and job retraining. There must be a massive commitment to the reeducation of our population. Without it, millions will be doomed to a life of poverty and degradation. Without it, our country will never again regain its status as a true economic superpower!

Does America Deserve Barack Obama?

2009-01-20T21:17:00.007-06:00

Power in America has shifted back to the Democratic Party. There is much that needs to be done. We the people allowed terrible things to happen in the last 8 years with little or no opposition. This new Democratic leadership does not automatically guarantee that the interests of the people will be served.

We must be vigilant, knowledgeable, active and engaged in the Democratic process. We can’t expect the Democrats to always do the right thing. We must demand that they act in our best interests. Americans in many ways deserved George W. Bush. It remains to be seen if they now deserve Barack Obama. Only time will tell, I guess!

Psychological Evaluations for our Political Candidates

2009-01-10T14:45:00.007-06:00

Before this whole Blagojevich selling of a senate seat scandal broke in the media, most of the residents of Illinois, myself included had already come to the conclusion that our Governor had some sort of mental issues. Four years ago, I attended a Democratic event in Springfield that was attended by all our major state officials. At the time, no one in Rod Blagojevich’s own party had anything positive to say about the Governor. In speech after speech they made not so subtle references to their disagreements with the Governor. Elected and appointed officials alike seemed to all have some kind of issue with Blagojevich's style or actions.

In the years that followed Governor Blagojevich has become an object of ridicule and sometimes outright hatred. Many were counting the days to the end of his term. Thankfully for our state, Rod finally pushed the envelope just a little too far, resulting in an impeachment and what looks to be a pretty serious criminal indictment.

My point here is that many of us have known for a long time that there was something seriously wrong with our Governor. As everyone witnessed, he seemed to be almost delusional in recent news conferences. Having no training in mental illnesses, I am not qualified to diagnose what type of malady Rod Blagojevich suffers from. Millions in Illinois and around world know in their hearts that the Governor is not playing with a full deck. He most certainly suffers from so sort of mental illness.

In our society we are constantly tested from the time we first enter grammar school to our first job application. It is now standard practice to give psychological tests during the hiring process. Employers want to examine our psychological profiles. They want to see if we will fit the job or if we have profiles that would inhibit either task completion or future professional growth.

Why is it that we don’t require our leaders, some of whom end up to be some of the most powerful people in the world, to take psychological evaluations? One simple test could have saved the people of Illinois and the country, a lot of grief. Sorry, Mr. Blagojevich or Mr. Bush, your psychological profiles make you unsuitable to hold public office. This seems to make sense to me; does anyone else feel the same way? Is it asking too much to have the comfort of knowing that our leaders are not crazy before we vote for them?

Hamas Holy War on a Country of Grandmas?

2009-01-02T21:22:00.009-06:00

I don’t want to take sides in this latest conflict between Israel and these Gaza Strip crazies. As far as I'm concerned, religious extremists Christian, Muslim, and Jewish can all go to hell. If they want to kill each other, it is really ok with me. But, I am really most amazed by these Hamas fanatics. Most of us learn very early in life that it really makes little sense to mess with the biggest meanest bully on the playground. It’s a sure fire way to get your butt kicked and who in their right mind would want that?

Apparently for some reason these Hamas crazies have wanted their asses kicked in a big way. Let’s see, how about if we make and then fire these inaccurate homemade rockets at heavily armed and pissed off Jews? Sounds like a plan, right? Later, we’ll throw rocks at Merkava Mark 4 tanks and then complain to the world about our civilian losses.

If Hamas was smart they would pick on someone they could actually defeat in battle. Perhaps they could wage a holy war of liberation on a country of grandmas? Sounds like a plan, right?

"Why did they destroy our world?"

2008-12-20T08:47:00.007-06:00

It has become very hard for me recently to ignore the issue of climate change. I have concluded that there is no subject more important. It trumps every other issue. No other issue even comes close in its importance.

The entire world must unite for the first time. No longer can individuals or individual nations pursue a path that threatens the survival of the biosphere. Waiting until it is too late is not an option. The possibility of run away climate changes, similar to the period known as the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) is to risk the possibility of a planet-altering period the likes of which will change the evolutionary path of our species.
Recent data from the Grace Gravity Recover and Climate Experiment indicate that we have in the lost roughly 2 trillion tons of global ice since 2003. The world should be united in its alarm. Instead, we talk about our own self-interests. We fiddle while Rome burns.

What will it take to wake up the human family to recognize the greatest threat to their continued existence? Will what is left of our species have to wait thousands of years in artificially created biospheres for the healing of our planet? Our children of the future are right now asking the question, "Why did they destroy our world?"

Read the Climate Change 2007:
Synthesis Report
Summary for Policymakers Here

Karl Rove (His Dickipedia Biography)

2008-12-14T08:38:00.003-06:00

Karl Christian Rove (born December 25, 1950) is a former Deputy Chief of Staff to President George W. Bush, a Republican political/campaign consultant, a turd blossom, "the brain," a Fox News political "analyst" and contributor, and a dick.

Rove is considered a part of the holy trinity of dicks (himself, Dick Cheney, George W. Bush), though the true extent of his role in the ruining of the United States will most likely forever be obscured by "executive privilege," which is a time-honored technique of avoiding culpability for anything while "protecting America."

Rove is only 57 years old. One can expect that this will leave Rove plenty of years to continue his life's work of undoing everything the founding fathers did to prevent people like him from existing in the first place. Read entire Dickipedia entry here.

Workers Occupy an American Factory

2008-12-06T19:07:00.008-06:00

Finally the workers of the United States have awakened!

Chicago factory occupied

Lee Sustar reports from Chicago on an occupation by workers who want what's theirs from management and the Bank of America.

December 6, 2008

WORKERS OCCUPYING the Republic Windows & Doors factory slated for closure are vowing to remain in the Chicago plant until they win the $1.5 million in severance and vacation pay owed them by management.

In a tactic rarely used in the U.S. since the labor struggles of the 1930s, the workers, members of United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) Local 1110, refused to leave the plant on December 5, its last scheduled day of operation. Read entire article here.

NetRightNation Assults the Nation's Bloggers

2008-12-01T19:24:00.006-06:00

Below is an e-mail I received today from NetRightNation and my response:

Adam,

Oh – in case no one has told you yet, (I am sure more will) – this won’t work – it’s not the medium and its delivery system that you need – maybe you should try some new ideas that appeal to someone besides rich conservative brainwashed white people. You represent a 20th Century party in a 21st Century world.

LS Butts

P.S. Perhaps you could get Karl Rove to work on your new approach – he was so good at building your permanent Republican majority!

From: Americans for Limited Government [mailto:adam@getliberty.org]
Sent: Monday, December 01, 2008 6:34 PM
Subject: Welcome to the Net Right Nation

For Immediate Release Contact: Adam Bitely
November 24th, 2008 Phone: (202) 689-9266

Dear Fellow Blogger,

It is my distinct pleasure, as the president of Americans for Limited Government, to invite you today to become a key member of the exciting new conservative “bloggers central,” NetRightNation.com.

At ALG, we recognize the critical role you as a blogger play in gathering, assimilating, and disseminating news and commentary. And I, personally, am deeply grateful to you for taking the lead in fighting some of the most important battles our country has faced over the past decade, and more.

That's why I am so pleased to announce that NetRightNation.com is providing bloggers like you, the mainstream media, politicians, and other opinion leaders free, instant access to nearly 60,000 conservative blogs nationwide. And counting.

As a complete service bureau, NRN provides you a wide new array of blogger opportunities. As a featured blogger on NRN, you will be able to post your own blogs and interface with other like-minded bloggers nationwide. You will soon be able to “claim” your blog and customize your blog profile.

Information on NRN – blogs, as well as Twitter feeds -- will be divided by state, as well as by issue, to make it easy for you and others to access. NRN will also include a sophisticated search engine function and will soon have the capability for you to subscribe to customized email blog feeds on your topics of choice. Stay tuned, for these features will soon be online!

And all of that is just the beginning. In fact, I have asked ALG's Director of New Media, Adam Bitely, to follow up on this note with a letter of his own providing you the exciting details on how NRN can help you grow your own blog.

Above all, we want to make sure NRN is all that you, an important member of the conservative blogosphere, want it to be. So, as you visit NetRightNation.com, I urge you to please give us your input on how to make it the valuable asset we are committed to providing, at absolutely no charge.

Thank you for all that you are doing. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Bill Wilson
President, Americans for Limited Government

The Bad Joke Called Christmas

2008-11-30T21:46:00.004-06:00

All right – how many of you out there feel just a little uneasy with this Christmas thing? No - I am not talking about the usual, “I can hardly wait to get all my damn shopping done unease.” I am talking about something completely different. It is something that comes from both your heart and mind at the same time. Moreover, that something keeps clawing at you – telling you something is not right with this – something does not make sense?

The answer is really quite simple. Christmas is a holiday that really only celebrates consumption. The more we engage in consumption the better the Christmas, right? And the birth of this Christian Savior (Jesus) is a rationalization for this whole crock of consuming shit? So exactly what does the birth of the son of the Christian deity have to do with the consuming of massive quantities of goods and services? How exactly does this honor or celebrate the birth of this individual?

The answer is that it does not celebrate anything except the fact that thousands of companies have successfully convinced millions of people to buy shit that they do not need or really even want.

So celebrate this birthday as if it is a birthday. I imagine a simple offering to the Christian deity would probably suffice (I believe this works in other religions). But for Christ’s sake (no pun intended), do not spend the next month maxing out your VISA card, so all your kids can have everything they have seen for the last three months on television. Get a clue – the bad joke is on you and its called Christmas!

Center-Right Nation Watch

2008-11-22T20:45:00.009-06:00

There has been a major change in the political landscape brought about by a seismic shift of the political plates of public opinion. The shift has most definitely been toward the left. The overall political leaning now of the majority of Americans has been labeled accurately as center-left.

For anyone who believes that our media has distanced itself from the right wing’s propaganda machine should be advised. Beginning immediately after election night, our media is now parroting their center-right mantra a total of 240 times a day.

"Center-Right Nation" Watch - Study Shows References Spiked Immediately After Election Day
by: David Sirota

When I wrote my first column about the "center-right nation" and subsequently launched the "Center-Right Nation Watch" series on this blog I predicted that the news media would actually increase its usage of this term after Obama won. I did a Lexis-Nexis search of the term, and was the first to note the trend and make the prediction that "if Obama wins, expect more frantic talk from the fringe about how electing a black man billed as an Islamic Karl Marx obviously means our country is more conservative than ever." Read entire article here.

Governor Palin looking for Lost Underwear?

2008-11-10T18:50:00.008-06:00

One day you are running for Vice President of the United States and the next you are looking for underwear under your kids' beds!

Palin sorts clothes to see what belong to the RNC
Palin's father says daughter is sorting through clothes to see which owned by Republican Party

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin spent part of the weekend going through her clothing to determine what belongs to the Republican Party after it spent $150,000-plus on a wardrobe for the vice presidential nominee, according to Palin's father.

Palin and John McCain's campaign faced a storm of criticism over the tens of thousands of dollars spent at such high-end stores as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus to dress the nominee. Republican National Committee lawyers are still trying to determine exactly what clothing was bought for Palin, what was returned and what has become of the rest.

Palin's father, Chuck Heath, said his daughter spent the day Saturday trying to figure out what belongs to the RNC.

"She was just frantically ... trying to sort stuff out," Heath said. "That's the problem, you know, the kids lose underwear, and everything has to be accounted for." Read entire article here.