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January 2007
Bush Praises Ivins
President Bush today had kind words for the late Molly Ivins, a columnist who was tough as any on the Texan she dubbed “Shrub.”
Here’s the statement issued by the White House after Ivins’ death was announced:
“Molly Ivins was a Texas original. She was loved by her readers and by her many friends, particularly in Central Texas. I respected her convictions, her passionate belief in the power of words, and her ability to turn a phrase. She fought her illlness with that same passion. Her quick wit and commitment to her beliefs will be missed. Laura and I send our condolences to Molly Ivins’ family and friends.”
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More Bad Hive News
Only a few months after a committee of the National Academy of Sciences warned that populations of honeybees and other pollinators such as bats and birds are declining, researchers are scrambling to find out the cause of a massive new honeybee die-off.
Beekeeping operations across the country have been decimated by the mysterious plague, and in some areas, pollination of spring and summer crops may be jeopardized, Pennsylvania State University scientists said Wednesday.
Bee scientists and beekeepers from Florida to Montana are trying to determine if the die-off, which is being called Colony Collapse Disorder, is caused by a disease, parasites, pesticides or some combination of the above.
Permalink | | Categories: Colorado, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Washington
Smith’s Multi-Metaphoric Attack on Judiciary Probe
As the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee called for a formal investigation into the use of presidential signing statements, Texas Republican Lamar Smith decried the controversy as “much ado about nothing.”
Smith wore the hat of the ranking member of the notoriously partisan committee for the first time. And the job appeared to suit him as he asked tough questions about the president’s use of statements.
The president should have the right to express an opinion about laws passed by Congress, Smith said.
As for an investigation, Smith said he did not know what Conyers meant. Sure, the White House will provide information, he told a Cox reporter.
“Critics have launched a massive fishing expedition,” Smith said. “But they have caught only the reddest of red herrings.”
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Lamar’s Big Day
All eyes were on Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, today as he became the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee.
Smith asked all Republican members to be present at the panel’s first oversight hearing into the Bush White House. Nearly all obliged.
Asked about his new role, Smith told Cox Newspapers that he welcomed this hearing and all the promised hearings to come.
“It’s good for the administration of laws ans justice,” Smith said. “It’s good for us to present our side.”
If anyone wonders where Smith stands on his fellow Texan in the White House, don’t.
“”Just like we don’t want runaway juries, we don’t want runaway oversight committees,” Smith said.
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Waxman’s Inquest Week
With the promised Democratic probes into government waste about to begin, Chairman Henry Waxman announced Wednesday what targets will be in his sights for a series of hearings Feb. 6 in his House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Past and present Bush administration officials and private contractors are scheduled to be on the hot seat for fumbling reconstruction efforts in Iraq. Witnesses scheduled for the four-day round of hearings also include relatives of four American contractors killed in Iraq while working for Blackwater USA, a private security company.
But that’s not all. Waxman will also be investigating massive Homeland Security contracts such as the billions spent on high tech border security and pharmaceutical prices that affect Medicaid and Medicare.
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Won’t Take No For An Answer
House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., announced Wednesday that his committee would open a formal inquiry into President Bush’s use of “presidential signing statements.”
“We are not going to take no for an answer,” said Conyers, lambasting Bush’s use of the statements to sidestep the law.
He vowed to demand answers from the White House about its intention to ignore the ban on torture when needed and its right to open domestic mail when needed.
The White House has long defended the practice of using the statements as a way to express an opinion about legislation.
McCain’s Maven
Texan Fred Zeidman has been tapped to serve as National Vice Chair for Jewish Outreach in the John McCain presidential campaign.
A release from McCain’s exploratory committee notes that Zeidman is involved in several Houston-based businesses and serves as vice chairman of the Republican Jewish Coalition. He worked on Jewish outreach for Bush-Cheney in 2000 and 2004, and was a Harris County vice chairman for Dole-Kemp in 1996.
Unmentioned is Zeidman’s current role as senior director of government affairs in Washington for the lobbying firm of Greenberg Traurig. Until he became the centerpiece in a Washington lobbying scandal, now-convicted Jack Abramoff was with Greenberg Traurig. Zeidman joined the firm in July 2004, five months after the firm forced Abramoff out.
In the McCain release, Zeidman praised the Arizona senator as “a consistent and strong supporter of both Jewish Americans and Israel.” Zeidman, said McCain, will help him “communicate my conservative principles to Jewish Americans and Texas voters.”
Also today, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, another probable GOP presidential contender, dipped into McCain’s home state for some support. Romney announced an Arizona finance steering committee, including prominent Scottsdale lawyer Paul Gilbert and shopping center developer Lee Hanley.
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The Ex-Governor and Iraq
When a former governor turns his attention to foreign policy (and establishes a new website to promote it) it can mean only one thing.
Ex-New York Gov. George Pataki, a Republican, seems intent on moving to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
His 21st Century Freedom PAC today proudly announced The Pataki Plan website, which details the ex-governor’s handy plan for wrapping up that nettlesome war in Iraq.
The short version: Pataki opposes President Bush’s decision to send more troops to Iraq unless the government there “accomplishes four concrete measures,” which are fair allocation of oil resources, allowing non-criminal Baathists back into government jobs, military upgrades and “clearly showing its willingness to disarm extremist sectarian armies and militias.”
The long version: See thepatakiplan.com.
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New Party Boss
In addition to the new pastry chef (see item below), the White House has a new chief party planner.
Word comes today that President Bush has selected Amy Swartz Zantzinger as the administration’s new Special Assistant to the President and White House Social Secretary. The latter title is more important, placing her in charge of the building’s social events.
Mrs. Zantzinger replaces Lea Berman, who recently announced her resignation. The new social secretary most recently ran an interior design business. Prior to that, from 1994-1998, she was with Barbara Scavullo Design in San Francisco. And prior to that she was the protocal officer in the San Francisco mayor’s office.
Like lots of folks who sign on with the current Bush White House, she is a veteran of the previous Bush White House. From 1988-1992 she worked in the White House Visitors Office, where her chores includes planning holiday activities and visits from foreign heads of state. She worked in the 1992 Bush-Quayle re-election campaign and was an executive assistant to the elder Bush during the 1988-89 transition.
In conjunction with the announcement, First Lady Laura Bush praised Ms. Berman’s tenure, citing her “flair for entertaining and attention to detail.”
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White House announces new pastry chef
If your poll numbers were at an all-time low, what better escape than to sink your teeth into a rich, sugar-glazed creme brulee?
The White House announced yesterday that William “Bill” Yosses, a chef for over 30 years with training in French cuisine, will be the new executive pastry chef.
“He has a light touch with desserts,” Laura Bush said in a statement.
But as the First Lady reshuffles her own cabinet, it raises the question of how “light” a touch her husband will have on the dessert tray.
Although President Bush was declared “fit for duty” last August, he had gained about four-and-a-half pounds from the year before, tipping the scales at 196 pounds, according to his annual physical exam. The White House attributed the gain to an over-indulgence in cake on his 60th birthday.
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FAA: Let Pilots Retire at 65
Federal Aviation Administration chief Marion Blakey announced Tuesday that she will formally propose raising the mandatory retirement age for commercial pilots to 65 years, up from the current 60 years.
Such a change could change the retirement plans of thousands of Baby Boomer pilots approaching their 60s. And it may help the industry cope with a growing shortage of experienced pilots, as well as relieve the financially troubled industry of some of its pension costs.
For decades, the government has insisted upon retirement at 60 years old.
“This has been a long time in the making,” Blakey told reporters at a National Press Club luncheon. “It’s time for a change.”
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I Like President Bush Because….
The Hill newspaper, which covers Congress, asked lawmakers in its Thursday edition to name their favorite thing about President Bush. Here are some responses:
Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.: “Laura.”
Rep. Jose Serrano, D-N.Y.: “That we both share English as a second language.”
Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.: “He has a direct and manly style that is positive and inspiring. He’s courageous. He doesn’t waffle around.”
Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J.: “My favorite thing is also the thing I like the least — that he really believes in what he says. The worst part is I believe he’s wrong.”
Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas: “I’ve known him for so long it’s hard to pick one. His positive attitude about the country.”
Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y.: “Hmm…I gotta say nice things: that he helped elect a Democratic majority in both the House and the Senate.”
Other lawmakers cited Bush’s self-depricating personality, sense of humor, and ability to connect with people one on one.
But Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., declined to name a favorite attribute.
“Are you kidding? I don’t have one. I met him one time in six years and at that time he was not familiar with the Voting Rights Act — and this was a meeting with the Black Caucus,” Thompson said.
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Tampa a Harship Post? Not by Martinez
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| Photo by Rick McKay |
Webb’s concern drew a dissenting view from Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla.
“I thought I might differ with my colleague from Virginia on something or another,” Martinez told Fallon, “but I never thought I would differ more deeply than to suggest that you now had a hardship assignment, being stationed in Tampa, Fla.”
“I want to welcome you and your family to our state,” said Martinez. “We consider Tampa to be a welcoming and friendly place.”
Less so, though, will be the central object of Fallon’s new mission: trying to quell bloodshed and bring stability to war-torn Iraq.
“You’ve been out on those blue waters,” Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Al., reminded Fallon. “Now you’ve got some brown sands to spend your time on. It’d be quite a change.”
Said Fallon, a former Navy fighter pilot with nearly 5,000 hours in the cockpit, “I truly believe that we can be successful, or I wouldn’t take this job.”
Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., predicted speedy Senate confirmation of Fallon’s nomination.
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War Protesters Find Mixed Feelings On “W”
A signup sheet outside the office of Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, asks visitors to circle an issue they’d like to discuss. On a short line marked “Other,” Michael Hanlon wrote: “Defund the Iraq occupation.”
Hanlon, of Austin, was one of several activists knocking on lawmakers’ doors Monday after taking part in a massive weekend rally protesting a troop surge in Iraq.
After a 40-minute closed-door meeting with an aide for McCaul, who was out of town, Hanlon’s wife, Fran, said it was important for lawmakers to hear directly from their constituents about the war.
“It’s our obligation to let him know that there are a lot of people in his district who do want our troops to come home,” she said.
But Hanlon’s activism on Monday went far beyond office meetings. She is also a member of Code Pink, a women’s social justice group that held protests earlier in the day inside a Senate office building.
The protesters read the names of Iraqis who’ve died in the war and held several banners, such as “Women Say Pullout.”
Hanlon was supposed to hold the letter “W” on a banner that said “No To War.”
“But security took it away from me,” she said, grinning mischievously. “Usually they like W. around here.”
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Hamid’s a Dad
President Bush was up and on the phone early today to offer congratulations to Afghan President Hamid Karzai on the occasion of the birth of his first child. Mirwais Karzai, a son, was born Thursday to the president and wife Zeenat, who rarely appears in public. They’ve been married since 1999.
Mirwais Khan was an 18th century ruler of Kandahar, the area of Afghanistan that Karzai, 49, is from.
No word on a gift, though Bush this week did ask Congress to pony up an additonal $10 billion to prop up the Karzai government.
Photo above is from Bush’s March 2006 visit to Kabul.
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Bush Walk
Here’s something you don’t see every day. That’s President Bush and wife Laura enjoying an outside-the-fence walk on a brisk Friday afternoon in Washington.
It was a short walk, just across the street to Blair House for a farewell party for White House Counsel Harriet Miers, who has resigned.
Though the Bushes walked, the usual hefty motorcade of vehicles followed behind.
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Looking back on Iraq, Hoyer points finger at “the civilized world”
Hey, Rest of the World, where were you guys on Iraq? That’s what House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer was wondering in a speech Friday at the Brookings Institution. As both the House and Senate get ready to vote on resolutions condemning President Bush’s troop increase in Baghdad, Hoyer slightly loosened the ever-tightening vice Democrats have placed around the administration’s Iraq war policy. To be sure, Hoyer minced no words on Bush’s war management, calling it “incompetent, arrogant, unplanned and unsuccessful.” But he did scatter some of the blame for the undesireable situation that existed in Iraq four years ago, before the invasion. The United Nations made merely idle threats to the late Saddam Hussein, Hoyer said, and “our action was, in part, a consequence of the international community’s failure to act.” Before the U.S. invasion in Iraq, “the onus for enforcement rested on the nations of the civilized world.”
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And Don’t Even THINK about Using Smoke or Mirrors
Congress’ Democrats are eager to start shaping the fiscal 2008 budget, even though they have not yet completed the 2007 budget. Most of the government is still operating on continuing resolutions.
Democrats plan to finish the stalled 2007 budget process in early February and then quickly move on to the 2008 budget, which President Bush will release Feb. 5. On Friday, four Democrats — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and budget committee chairmen Sen. Kent Conrad and Rep. John Spratt — sent Bush a letter telling him that his budget must: 1) “account realistically” for war costs and tax changes; 2) “realistically project short- and long-term deficits;” 3) “provide details” about spending; 4) be based on long-term “fiscal discipline.”
It contained no direct references to “rose-colored glasses.”
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NSA Eavesdropping Case On Appeal
All ears will be listening next week when a federal appeals court in Cincinnati hears arguments in the landmark lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the National Security Agency’s domestic eavesdropping program.
The Justice Department filed legal papers this week seeking to dismiss the lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, saying that issue is now moot because the administration has decided to bring the program under the review of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
But the ACLU filed a brief today opposing that motion.
The president still claims to retain the “inherent authority” to engage in wiretapping without the oversight of the secret FISA court, the ACLU said in a statement. The ACLU said that without more information about what the FISA court has authorized there is no outside check to ensure that the terrorist surveillance program is lawful.
The case is on appeal at the government’s request. Last year, U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor ruled ruled that the NSA eavesdropping program is unconstitutional and violaes the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, a 1978 law that established the secret court to oversee domestic surveillance warrants of suspected terrorists and spies.
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear the case at 3 p.m. in the Potter Stewart federal courthouse in Cincinnati. The judges are: Alice Batchelder, Ronald Gilman and Julia Gibbons.
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Cornyn Top Republican on Immigration Panel
Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican and key liaison to the White House on immigration, was officially named ranking member of the Immigration, Refugees and Border Security subcommittee on Thursday.
Cornyn could play an important role as President Bush works with the Democratically-led Congress on legislation to change the nation’s immigration laws.
“Securing the border and fixing our broken immigration system is one of the most pressing domestic issues facing Texas and our nation and we must work together to address it,” Cornyn said in a press release.
Cornyn introduced a bill in the previous Congerss that included tough border enforcement measures such as hiring 10,000 more border patrol guards and required illegal immigrants to return to their country of origin within five years before applying as temporary workers.
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Schumer Doesn’t Buy DOJ’s Story
Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., doesn’t buy the Justice Department’s answers concerning the sudden departure of nearly a dozen U.S. attorneys around the country.
Schumer, never known to mince words, plans to hold a hearing on Feb. 7 entitled, “Independence: Is the Department of Justice Politicizing the Hiring and Firing of U.S. Attorneys?”
“The highly unusual recent flurry of firings of many well-respected U.S. attorneys not on raises some red flags, but also requires some explanations from the administration,” Schumer said.
The hearing will give senators an opportunity to ask tough questions and “get to the bottom of what seems to be a troubling pattern of politicalizing the role of our top federal prosecutors,” Schumer said.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has strongly denied political motivations in the departure of 11 top federal prosecutors around the country.
Gonzales has declined to get into specifics, citing restriction on publicly discussing personnel issues. But the attorney general did recently note that the attorneys who “have been in the news” have all served a 4-year term, making them ripe for replacement.
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It’s Not Amtrak’s Fault This Time
The new Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, Joseph Biden, D-De., famously commutes most days to the Capitol from his Delaware home. He travels aboard the nation’s passenger railroad, Amtrak, often showing up as committee hearings are already in progress with the excuse that the train was late.
Now that power has shifted in the Congress to Biden and his fellow Democrats, aides joke that committee hearings will begin whenever the chairman’s train arrives.
On Thursday, though, a 9:30 hearing on Iraq was delayed three minutes, while Brig. Gen. Michael Jones and other witnesses cooled their heels awaiting Biden’s arrival.
“Well, the truth of the matter was I stayed down here (in Washington) last night, and I was late,” conceded Biden, a Democratic presidential hopeful. “But I do apologize. It’s not Amtrak’s fault this time.”
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Ford To Skip Super Bowl; Endorses Gore (Sort Of)
Former Tennessee Congressman Harold Ford Jr. won’t be attending this year’s Super Bowl, but he wants you to know that he still loves Jesus, women and football.
Ford was the target of an ad in his Senate campaign which featured a bare-shouldered blonde talking about meeting Ford at a Playboy Magazine party at an earlier Super Bowl. “Harold, call me,” she purrs to the camera at the end of the ad.
Ford, a bachelor, shrugged off the ad with the quip: “I love Jesus, I love women and I love football.” And Thursday morning, in his first official appearance as chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), Ford repeated the line in response to good-natured kidding from from reporters about whether he would attend this year’s Super Bowl.
Even though he won’t be attending the Super Bowl - or any of the parties associated with it - Ford has a favorite in the game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Chicago Bears. He’ll be rooting for the Colts because of Peyton Manning, the Colts quarterback who was a star at the University of Tennessee before turning pro.
“He’s a Tennessee man,” Ford said of Manning. He’ll be pulling for Manning, Ford said, “even though he didn’t make a donation to my campaign.”
Ford lost his Senate campaign, but declined Thursday to be drawn into an in-depth discussion about the extent to which race played a part in the contest. And when asked whether it had changed his perspective on race in America, he quipped, “I knew I was a black man before I ran.”
The DLC is prohibited by law from making endorsements, but Ford made one exception. He expressed hope that his old friend, former Vice President Al Gore, would win an Oscar for his documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth,” about global warming. “That’s an endorsement,” he said.
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Serial Offender
President Bush’s attempt to use this week’s State of the Union address to say nice things about the new Democratic majority was marred by his ongoing inability to say “Democratic” anything.
“Some in this chamber are new to the House and Senate and I congratulate the Democrat majority,” he said in the speech, though the prepared text referred to the “Democratic majority.”
For the record: It’s the Democratic Party. Its members are Democrats. Democrats are not members of the Democrat Party. There is no Democrat Party, except for when some Republicans - including Bush - are talking.
Democrats long have been insulted by Republicans (not Republics) who refer to them as members of the Democrat Party. Some Democrats view it as an intentional slur.
Bush is a serial offender, sometimes unable to say Democratic Party even when he is trying to say something nice about Democrats.
Click on CONTINUE READING for the recent record.
The morning after last November’s elections:
“And while the ballots are still being counted in the Senate, it is clear the Democrat Party had a good night last night and I congratulate them on their victory. This morning I spoke with the Republican and Democrat leadership in the House and Senate.”
Same event, moments later:
“We’ll begin consultations with the Democrat leadership starting Thursday and Friday.”
Same event, yet again:
“All I know to do is to make decisions based upon principles that I believe are important and now work with Democrat leaders in the Congress because they control the committees and they control the flow of bills.”
One more time:
“We got some tax cuts passed, with Democrat votes.”
Then, in early December, after receiving the report of the Iraq Study Group:
“…this report will give us all an opportunity to find common ground for the good of the country, not for the good of the Republican Party or the Democrat Party, but for the good of the country.”
Bush’s inability to say Democratic Party when he is trying to be nice to Democrats has its roots in his unwillingness to say Democratic Party when he is not trying to be nice to them, like at campaign rallies last year.
Nov. 5, Grand Island, Nebraska:
“They asked the Democrat leader in the House recently about tax cuts and she said, speaking about the Democrats: ‘We love tax cuts.’ Well, given her record, she must be a secret admirer.”
Nov. 2, Elko, Nevada::
“A vote for a Democrat senator in this state or in any state in which there’s a senatorial election is a vote against highly qualified judges like these.”
Oct. 31, Perry, Georgia:
“When it came time to renew the Patriot Act, more than 75 percent of the members, Democrat members in the House of Representatives, voted no.”
Oct. 30, Statesboro, Georgia:
“Here’s what this person and the leaders of the Democrat Party in Washington seem to not understand. Iraq is not the reason the terrorists are at war against us.”
Oct. 28, Sellersburg, Indiana:
Bush: In all these vital measures for fighting the war on terror, the Democrats in Washington follow a simple philosophy: Just say no. When it comes to listening in on the terrorists, what’s the Democratic answer? Just say no. When it comes to detaining terrorists, what’s the Democrat answer?
Audience: Just say no!
Bush: When it comes to questioning terrorists, what’s the Democrat answer?
Audience: Just say no!
Oct. 26, Warren, Michigan:
“And there’s a fundamental difference of opinion. You listen to the rhetoric of the leaders of the Democrat Party. They have a different view than I do about whether or not this is a global war on terror.”
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Civil Liberties Groups Demand Info on Bush Opening Mail
Leading civil liberties groups are demanding more information about a President Bush’s controversial assertion that the federal government can search domestic mail without a warrant signed by a judge.
The president’s assertion is controversial because the White House has strongly denied that there is any change in the law that requires federal investigators to obtain a warrant before they open a piece of mail.
But when Bush signed the postal reform act last month, he attached a “presidential signing statement” that said his administration would follow that law, “in a manner consistent, to the maximum extent permissible, with the need to conduct searches in exigent circumstances.”
That provoked the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for National Security Studies to file requests under the Freedom of Information Act this week seeking the release of all records related to “President Bush’s asserted authority to search Americans’ mail without a warrant.”
“No president has the authority to decide on his own what the law is,” said Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the ACLU. The public needs to know the details, Romero said.
Point blank: Is American mail subject to being opened without a warrant? Has it already happened? How many people have been subjected to having their mail opened without a warrant?
From the government surveillance of peace activists to unchecked eavesdropping by the National Security Agency, Romero said the executive branch is “trampling on the privacy and free speech rights of Americans.”
The groups filed their requests with the U.S. Postal Service, the Justice Department and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The requests seek any rules, regulations, policies, procedures, practices or guidance from 2001 to present concerning warrantless searches of mail originating in the United States.
Bush’s statement was attached to the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006. The measure renews a 30-year ban on opening First Class domestic mail without a court approved warrant unless there is a suspicion that the package contains dangerous material like explosives.
White House Press Secretary Tony Snow has repeatedly denied that there is anything new in Bush’s signing statement.
“This is not a change in the law,” Snow told reporters after the story broke in the New York Daily News earlier this month. “This is not new.”
But that is not how Brittany Benowitz, a lawyer with the Center for National Security Studies sees it.
“The president appears to be relying on the same legal argument used to justify warrantless eavesdropping to claim a new and alarming power to read Americans’ mail without a court order,” Benowitz said.
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With shift in power, a softer Tancredo
There were more than a few bleary-eyed faces on Capitol Hill this morning after a long night of reacting to the president’s State of the Union address. Rep. Tom Tancredo wasn’t one of them.
Flanked by members of his Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus, Tancredo, R-Colo., came out swinging with his customary response to Bush’s call for an immigration overhaul.
“When the president says he wants comprehensive immigration reform, he means one thing: amnesty,” he said.
But it was a noticeably softer Tancredo, who recognizes that the political landscape in Washington has shifted and his hard-line approach to immigration reform may be deported from the legislative agenda.
“We’ve lost a lot of momentum,” he acknowledged, his voice growing softer. “I do not know to what extent our efforts have been jeopardized, except they have been. The dynamics around here have changed. There’s no two ways about it.”
The shift in Congressional power was a driving force behind his decision to form a presidential exploratory committee, he said.
Tancredo has repeatedly opposed a guest-worker program because he said it would reward immigrants who entered the country illegally. But now, “if I see we’re truly enforcing the law…I’d be willing to talk about a potential guest worker program.”
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Gingrich Looks to September
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, in town for a press conference to support English as the nation’s official language, was non-committal when asked whether he would run for the Republican presidential nomination.
“I don’t know. We’ll look at it in September,” he said.
In addition, Gingrich said that American civilization will “decay” unless the government declares English the nation’s official language and works aggressively to help immigrants learn English.
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SOTU: The Morning After
Some leftovers from last night’s State of the Union address.
Most striking image (other than Vice President Cheney and Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s ongoing stagecraft about when to stand and applaud, and when to sit and be quiet) was the above tableau in the First Lady’s box in the House chamber. A wonderful display of altitude diversity. The tall fellow is Dikembe Mutombo of the NBA’s Houston Rockets. He is 7-foot-2. Use that as a yardstick to gauge the height of Laura Bush, to the right of Mutombo, and Nancy Ho, on Mutombo’s other side in this AP photo. (FYI, Mrs. Bush is 5-foot-5, 5-foot-7 1/2 in heels)
Mutombo was being honored for his work on African causes. Dr. Ho carries the lofty title of senior research scientist and group leader of the molecular genetics group at Purdue University’s Laboratory of Renewable Resources Engineering. She has studied cellulosic biomass for more than 25 years. Point guard, probably.
Also of note this morning is this thumbs-up review of the speech:
“The president went into this speech with low poll numbers, in charge of a controversial war. But it is not an option for a president to take the fetal position, and not a temptation for this president. He showed graciousness toward the new speaker and the new Congress. He set out strong domestic proposals on a few urgent issues like energy, health care, and immigration. And he made the case for patience in Iraq, placing that struggle in a broad historical context. I’m also particularly encouraged the president mentioned global AIDS, malaria, and Darfur, showing that his foreign policy is more than Iraq alone. You can’t ask much more of a State of the Union.”
The kind words came from Michael Gerson, Bush’s former chief speechwriter and now a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Lest you think that Gerson’s presence means the fix is in for Bush at CFR, click on Continue Reading to see critical words from other fellows there:
“That goal almost certainly cannot and will not be met,” energy expert David Victor on Bush’s plan to cut gasoline use by 20 percent by 2017.
“In the end, President Bush returned to the politics of fear to try and garner support for his failed adventure in Iraq,” homeland security expert Stephen Flynn on Bush’s prediction of the dire consequences of failure in Iraq.
“A disapproving public continues to judge this administration thought the lens of Iraq, and the speech offered little that is likely to change the public’s mind,” public opinion expert Lee Feinstein.
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On The Outside Looking In
It used to be that whenever John Edwards wanted to make a point, all he had to do was go to the Senate floor and make a speech.
It wasn’t that far a walk - from his Senate office to the Senate chamber.
But now, the former senator from North Carolina has to do things differently, even if he is running for the Democratic presidential nomination.
So the day after President Bush’s State of the Union speech, Edwards is running a full-page ad in Roll Call, a newspaper which covers Capitol Hill and which is widely read by members of Congress.
In the ad, Edwards asks members of Congress to use its power of the purse to cut off funding for the president’s plan to increase the number of U.S. troops in Iraq.
The ad includes the names of thousands of Americans who have signed Edwards’ anti-escalation petition.
And while the ad is addressed to the entire Congress, it most likely is aimed mostly at one particular member - Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York, a rival for the Democratic presidential nomination.
On the morning of the president’s State of the Union, Clinton was asked on the “Today” show program about the prospect of Edwards eventually challenging her to repudiate her 2002 vote in support of the Iraq war, the way Edwards has repudiated his.
Her response to the question highlighted the fact that Edwards is no longer a member of the Senate and no longer a presence on Capitol Hill. “I’m not on the sidelines. I’m in the arena,” she said.
And in a position, Edwards argues, to do something she is so far unlikely to do - propose an end to funding for the troop increase the president has undertaken.
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McCain, The Bishop and Same-Sex Marriage
Arizona Sen. John McCain’s campaign today proudly announced that Bishop Keith Butler, founder and senior pastor of Michigan’s 21,000-member Word of Faith International Christian Center, will serve as McCain’s national co-chairman for conservatives and co-chairman of the Michigan steering committee.
The announcement notes that Butler was a Michigan co-chair for Bush-Cheney ‘04 and in 1989 became the first “known Republican” elected to the Detroit City Council since before World War II. There is no mention of Butler’s unsuccessful bid last year for the GOP nomination for a U.S. Senate seat from Michigan.
Duly noted is Butler’s belief that McCain’s “commitment to pro-family, pro-life causes makes him the only true conservative candidate that can represent the party and win the general election.”
Unmentioned is a little disagreement McCain and Butler have on what to do about same-sex marriage, something they both think is a bad thing. Butler favors a constitutional amendment banning it. McCain believes it’s an issue best left to the states.
Click on Continue Reading to see what the two men have said about the issue.
Butler in June 2004, at a Washington event involving several African-American religious leaders in support of the proposed amendment:
“It is our belief that the Federal Marriage Protection Amendment is an urgently needed response to the judicial destruction of traditional marriage in America. … We also find that the opposition’s attempt to yoke their homosexual agenda to that of the civil rights movement extremely disturbing. Homosexuality is not a civil rights issue. It is a lifestyle choice, a decision, that is not natural or normal and should not be depicted as such to our children. … Being born black was and is not a choice for us. It is who we are. You can look at the color of our skin and know that we are African-Americans. You cannot look at the skin color of homosexuals and tell what they are doing in their bedrooms.”
McCain, on the Senate floor, that same month:
“Mr. President, most Americans believe, as I do, that the institution of marriage should be reserved for the union of a man and a woman. … Many, if not most, Americans have reasoned that there is no overriding urgent need to act at this time. And they are right to do so. The legal definition of marriage has always been left to the states to decide, in accordance with the prevailing standards of their neighborhoods and communities. … The constitutional amendment we are debating today strikes me as antithetical in every way to the core philosophy of Republicans. It usurps from the states a fundamental authority they hae always possessed and implies a federal remedy for a problem that most states do not believe confronts them, and which they feel capable of resolving should it confront them, again according to local standards and customs. … The actions by jurists in one court in one state do not represent the death knell to marriage. We will have to wait a little longer to see if Armageddon has arrived.”
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State of the Union Advice
A day before President Bush delivers his State of the Union address, groups on both sides of the immigration debate offered him advice.
The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund said the speech “should feature Latinos prominently” because the future state of the nation “depends heavily on Latino advancement.”
MALDEF said in a news release that the president must signal his commitment to work with Congress “to make the broad immigration reforms that the nation needs,” including more visas “so people can work and remain legally in the United States.”
Such a plan would mark a new course “away from last year’s extremist approach that would have made felons of some who help immigrants,” the group said.
On the other side of the immigration spectrum, the Minutemen Civil Defense Corps, a citizen border watch group, said that Bush must urge Congress to improve our national security by funding a fence on the U.S.-Mexico border and boosting money for more border agents.
The group said in a news release that the “illegal immigration crisis plaguing our nation will only begin to be solved by first securing our nation’s borders, rather than providing amnesty for illegal aliens already residing in this country.”
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Yet Another Commission
What this city needs is another commission.
That’s the proposal of Sens. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.
Warning that Medicare and Social Security will both go belly-up soon — Medicare by 2018 and Social Security by 2040 — the senators say they’re introducing a bill to create a permanent bipartisan commission whose recommendations would have to be seriously considered by Congress.
The problems of Medicare and Social Security “are the highest and most significant facing our country down the line,” Domenici said at a news conference.
Feinstein acknowledged that Medicare and Social Security have long been the “third rail of politics” (touch it and you die), but she said “the longer we wait, the more difficult it becomes.”
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You Fix It
Remember the Social Security crisis?
President Bush expended plenty of political capital two years ago in a failed effort to revamp the federal retirement and disability system.
Well, the problems still exist. Unless something is done, Social Security’s trustees predict the program won’t be able to pay full benefits by 2040.
Want to try your hand at fixing Social Security? The American Academy of Actuaries has an interactive Web-based “game” that allows you to try to make Social Security solvent for the next 75 years.
It’s harder than you think. The game can be found here.>
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She’s In (The Update)
All in all, a successful opening day of the campaign, the Hillary Clinton folks cheerfully report.
The numbers for the first six hours of the campaign website that hit cyberworld today:
100 new members per minute
10,000 messages of support
7,700 sign-ups for her upcoming webcasts
2,200 blog contest submissions
More good news and numbers coming for Sen. Clinton in Sunday’s Washington Post. A Post/ABC News Poll shows her with a wide lead over other Democratic contenders. She’s first with 41 percent. Illinois Sen. Barack Obama was second with 17 percent. Others: ex-Sen John Edwards, 11 percent; ex-Veep Al Gore, 10 percent; 2004 nominee John Kerry, 8 percent.
On the GOP side, ex-New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani leads with 34 percent, seven points better than Arizona Sen. John McCain.
Clinton vs. Giuliani. An all-New York contest, the first major one since the Yankees beat the Mets in the 2000 World Series.
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She’s In
A Clinton wants to follow a Bush who followed a Clinton who followed a Bush.
The brief notification, e-mailed early today, said “Let the conversation begin!”
What it really meant was “Let the campaign begin.”
The electronic missive directed recipients to hillaryclinton.com, where viewers are greeted with a photo of a smiling Sen. Clinton, D-N.Y., and these prominently featured words: “I’m In.”
Another photo, shown above, invites folks to send messages of support to the new candidate. The site also announces a series of live video webcasts, beginning Monday.
The web announcement says she has formed a presidential exploratory committee. It’s a committee likely to lead to a full-fledged campaign.
“The stakes will be high when America chooses a new president in 2008,” Clinton says in a statement on the site. “No matter where you live, no matter what your political views, I want you to be a part of this important conversation right at the start.”
The “conversation” began with a Clinton video on the website.
“Let’s talk. Let’s chat. Let’s start a dialog about your ideas and mine,” she says on the video, offering a list of things to talk about.
“Let’s talk about how to bring the right end to the war in Iraq,” she says.
“After six years of George Bush it is time to renew the promise of America,” she says.
“Let the conversation begin,” she says. “I have a feeling it’s going to be very interesting.”
Here’s something that’s very interesting. If Clinton wins and serves two terms, America would have a 28-year stretch (George H.W. Bush through Hillary Clinton) during which two families would have provided all the presidents.
How ‘bout Chelsea Clinton vs. George P. Bush in 2016?
And here’s another great streak the Bushes have been involved in: You have to go back to 1972 (Nixon-Agnew) to find a GOP ticket that did not include somebody named Bush or Dole.
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Team McCain
Arizona Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign ad team is beginning to look more like President Bush’s former campaign ad team.
McCain’s exploratory committee announced today that Stuart Stevens, a key player in the Bush campaign has signed on with him.
Stevens, according to the McCain campaign, has helped elect more governors and senators than any other GOP media consultant.
Also now on board with McCain are Fred Davis and Russ Schriefer, veteran ad men who worked for Bush-Cheney.
The newly announced team members will work with Mark McKinnon, Bush’s longtime ad guru who also is now backing McCain.
“These guys are the best in the business,” said McCain.
He should know. He saw what some of them were able to do for Bush when McCain ran against him in the 2000 GOP primaries.
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Beyond “The Inconvenient Truth”
Is he or isn’t he?
Only Al Gore knows for sure whether he’s going to run for president again.
He says he has no intentions and no plans to run in 2008, but that isn’t like saying he isn’t going to run under any circumstances.
And all of a sudden, Gore’s upcoming appearances around the country are being logged on the Futures Calendar of “The Note,” a must-read for political junkies on ABC News’s Web site.
On Monday, for example, when all of Washington will be busy trying to figure out what President Bush will be saying in his State of the Union speech on Tuesday, Gore will be giving a speech of his own in Boise, Idaho.
The speech has the sci-fi sounding title, “Global Warming: Beyond The Inconvenient Truth.”
So maybe Gore is running for president again.
Or maybe he isn’t, because Idaho would be a strange place for the former vice president, a Democrat, to be campaigning for president.
In the razor-thin 2000 presidential campaign, Gore lost Idaho to Republican George W. Bush by a landslide. Gore got only 28 percent of the vote, while Bush got 67 percent.
Even the Green vote for consumer advocate Ralph Nader would not have helped Gore. Nader, the spoiler of the 2000 campaign, got just 2 percent in Idaho.
And while some Western states have been trending Democratic of late, Idaho remains one of the most Republican states in national politics.
Democrat John Kerry lost the state to Bush in 2004, 68 to 30 percent.
In addition, Idaho’s governor is Republican, its two U.S. senators are Republicans, and its two congressmen are Republican.
So are its lieutentant governor, secretary of state, state controller, state attorney general, state treasurer and state school superintendent.
The inconvenient truth (to Democrats, anyway) that, politically, Idaho is a red state.
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Democrats Go Bilingual
Sen. Ken Salazar of Colorado delivered on Friday what was billed as the first ever “Spanish-language Democratic preview address on the state of our union.”
In addition to attacking the Bush administration’s policy on Iraq and “negligence towards Latin America,” Salazar spoke of changing the nation’s immigration laws.
“We are committed to moving forward on a bill that will shore up our porous borders, enforce our immigration laws and deal with the economic and human reality of millions of undocumented workers,” Salazar said, in Spanish.
Earlier this week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. , announced that Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., would be delivering a Spanish-language response to the president’s State of the Union speech on Tuesday.
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Como Se Dice Bigotry?
In his first appearance before reporters as the new general chairman of the Republican National Committee, Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida proved to be an effective communicator by not communicating.
In response to questions from reporters, Martinez said the Republican Party is not anti-immigrant despite opposition to the kind of guest worker program he supports as part of a comprehensive plan to address illegal immigration in the United States.
“The Republican Party is not the party of bigotry,” Martinez said, prompting a handful of reporters from Spanish TV stations to ask him to repeat the remark in Spanish.
Martinez began to comply, then stopped and asked the Spanish-speaking reporters in English: “How do you say ‘bigotry’?”
His subtle message: “Bigotry” is not even in his vocabulary.
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Feeney Likes Mitt
U.S. Rep. Tom Feeney, R-Florida, has signed on with the Mitt Romney presidential campaign, which, like a bunch of other presidential candidacies, technically remains in exploratory mode.
Feeney, says the Romney committee, will be a “key liaison to fiscal conservatives and organizations promoting fiscal responsibility in Washington.”
Feeney’s been a “powerful watchdog” on that front, says Romney, former GOP governor of Massachusetts.
And Feeney says Romney “is the right kind of leader to bring fiscal sanity back to Washington.”
Feeney’s a former Floriday House speaker and unsuccessful 1994 candidate for lieutenant governor.
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Paygo vs. Pay Not
Next week, the Senate is expected to approve a bipartisan bill to raise the minimum wage, as Democrats want. The bill also contains a package of $8 billion in tax cuts intended to help small businesses, as Republicans want.
And finally, the legislation closes tax loopholes in order to raise $8 billion to offset the cost of tax cuts, as the House Democrats want. The House, under Democratic leadership, has established pay-as-you-go rules requiring them to offset new tax reductions with either spending cuts or tax hikes. The so-called “paygo” rules are supposed to keep the budget deficit from deepening.
On Friday, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget said it likes the wage hike and tax cuts just fine — but the paygo part, not so much. “The administration does not think it is necessary to tie this small business tax relief to other revenue increases,” OMB said.
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Martinez Elected GOP Chairman
Over a smattering of opposition, U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida was elected today to be general chairman of the Republican Party.
Martinez, 60, a native of Cuba, is the first Hispanic to hold the largely honorary position that has not existed in recent years. The position did exist in the 1980s when then-Sen. Paul Laxalt of Nevada held it during Ronald Reagan’s presidency.
Mike Duncan of Kentucky was chosen to be the Republican National Committee’s chairman and will be in charge of the party’s day-to-day operations.
In accepting the position, Martinez said: “I am truly humbled by the opportunity that you give me and the responsibility that you place upon me.”
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Weekend Plans
It’s off to Camp David tomorrow morning for President Bush, where he will continue working on Tuesday’s State of the Union address.
Prior to wheels up on Marine One, Bush will meet at the White House with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. Both are just back from the Middle East and will report in to the commander-in-chief.
“We feel that we are starting to see some facts on the ground change a litle bit, some promising nuggets,” said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino.
But Perino and other Bush aides know that it will take results, not words, to change public opinion about the president’s leadership in Iraq.
“We know that the speech the president gave is not going to change things overnight,” Perino said, “not minds, not facts on the ground.”
Prep work for the State of the Union continued today with the first rehearsal in the White House family theater.
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Latino Museum in D.C.?
Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., introduced legislation this week that would create a commission to explore the possibility of creating a national museum in the nation’s capitol focused on the artistic, cultural, and historical contributions of Hispanic Americans.
“Although American Latinos have made and continue to make significant contributions to the culture and history of the United States, many of those contributions go unrecognized in the official narrative,” he said in a news release.
The measure would set up a 23-member commission charged with bringing together experts, policy makers and other interested parties to discuss the museum’s viability and establish a fundraising plan.
In the Senate, the bill is sponsored by Sens. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., and Mel Martinez, R-Fla.
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From Colombia to Kabul
With no fanfare or explanation, the White House announced today that William Wood (above), now the U.S. ambassador to Colombia, will become the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan.
The move is the latest in a series of key diplomatic shuffles as President Bush re-aligns his team. Zalmay Khalilzad, the ambassador to Iraq (and former ambassador to Afghanistan), is Bush’s pick to replace John Bolton as U.S. ambassador to the U.N., who had to leave the post because Democrats (and a Republican or two) blocked confirmation.
Bush has picked Ryan Crocker, now ambassador to Pakistan, to take over in Iraq.
In Afghanistan, Wood would replace Ronald Neumann, who’s been on the job since July 2005. No word on why Neumann is out or where he is going.
Instead, the usual atta-boy from the White House.
Neumann, said White House spokeswoman Emily Lawrimore, “has done an exceptional job” and the president appreciates his “dedicated leadership on complex political, military, diplomatic and economic issues” in Afghanistan.
Wood, a career foreign service officer, previously has served in Uruguay, Argentia, El Salvador and Italy.
All of the diplomatic moves require Senate confirmation.
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Justice Vows to Seek Senate Confirmation for US Attorneys
The Justice Department went on the offensive Thursday, saying the administration is committed to sending nominees for U.S. attorneys to the Senate for approval.
In a letter to Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the Justice Department declared that, “at no time has the administration sought to avoid the Senate confirmation process.”
The letter was written following a swirl of media reports suggesting that the Justice Department was forcing out 11 U.S. attorneys around the country for political purposes.
The reports suggested that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales intended to bypass the Senate using a provision in the Patriot Act that allows him to select a replacement.
In the letter to Leahy and Feinstein, the department noted that the amendment to the Patriot Act was intended to prevent him from having to obtain approval from a district court judge to extend an interim appointment for longer than 120 days. It was not intended to circumvent approval from the legislative branch.
Since the amendment was approved last March, 12 of the 15 U.S. attorney nominated by the administration have been confirmed by the Senate.
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Groups Join Forces on Immigration
Groups lobbying for changes in the nation’s immigration laws, including a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, have dubbed themselves the “Alliance for Immigration Reform 2007.”
The organizations, which announced their new name Thursday in a conference call with reporters, include the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic civil rights group; the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops; the Service Employees International Union; the National Immigration Forum; and the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank based in New York.
“This is the year to get this done,” said Tamar Jacoby, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. “Everybody, no matter who they are, is sick of the illegality and the porous borders. Businesses are tired of lying to the government and having to break the law just to get the work done. Latinos want to see their friends and family able to work with dignity. And soccer moms and dads want to see Congress solve something.”
Bruce Josten, executive vice president at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said he expected President Bush to address immigration in his State of the Union speech Tuesday.
“I have absolutley no doubt that he will raise this issue and he will press and stay on the message he has been on since a candidate for this office for a comprehensive solution to immigration,” Josten said.
White House spokesman Tony Snow confirmed the topic.
The speech “will address major issues, including the war on terror, energy, health care, immigration, and education,” he told reporters Thursday.
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Road Trip
The White House says President Bush, now deep into preparing for next Tuesday’s State of the Union address, will hit the road for a couple of day trips after the speech.
No formal word on where, but Bush will take day trips on Wednesday and Thursday to try to drum up support for the proposals he offers up in the annual address.
Bush still is doing follow-up work on the recent Iraq speech. The series of post-speech interviews about his new policy continued today with a roundtable session with regional television reporters in Washington.
And it’s off to Camp David on Saturday, returning to the White House on Monday, as final work on the State of the Union continues.
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African-Americans By The Numbers
In anticipation of Black History Month in February, the Census Bureau released some interesting numbers related to African-Americans. They include:
2.4 million — Number of black military veterans in the United States in 2005. That is more military veterans than any other minority group.
80 percent — The proportion of blacks 25 and older that had at least a high school diploma in 2005.
2.3 million — The number of black college students in the Fall of 2004. This was an increase of roughly 1 million from 15 years earlier.
$88.6 billion — Revenues for black-owned businesses in 2002, up 24 percent from 1997. The number of black-owned businesses totaled 1.2 million in 2002, up 45 percent since 1997.
10, 716 — The number of black-owned firms operating in 2002 with receipts of at least $1 million. These firms accounted for 1 percent of the total number of black-owned firms in 2002.
$30, 858 — The annual median income of black households in 2005.
$33,077 — The 2005 median earnings of black men 15 years and older who worked full time, year round. Black women of he same age group had median earnings of $29, 672.
18 — The number of states with an estimated black population of at least 1 million in 2005.
19.6 percent — The percentage of blacks lacking health insurance in 2005. The rate was unchanged from 2004.
44 percent — The percentage of black families containing a married couple.
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Cancer and The Cycling Buddies
Seems to be some distance between riding buddies George W. Bush and Lance Armstrong on the issue of cancer funding. (That’s them riding above, shot by a White House photographer, in August 2005 on the Bush ranch)
Bush today at the National Institutes of Health:
“First, I’m pleased that we’re funding cancer research. We’re up about 25 percent or 26 percent since 2001; it’s a commitment that I made when I first came to Washington, it’s a commitment we’re keeping. And the reason why it makes sense to spend taxpayers’ money on cancer research is that we can make some good progress, and have.”
Armstrong in a recent commentary:
“The political ads (last November) didn’t tell voters that earlier in the year funding for cancer research was cut for the first time in 30 years. Nor did they explain that a lack of funding slows the pace of scientific discovery and the development of treatments. Our candidates did not mention the decrease in funding for programs that provide information and screening to people who need these services I think this is unwise, but it is what our government has done this past year. I waited patiently for an explanation, some clarification or justification. Ten million cancer survivors deserve an answer. We didn’t get one.”
Here’s Armstrong in Iowa yesterday, as reported in the Des Moines Register, comparing U.S. reaction to terrorism and cancer:
“We lost 3,000 lives that day. What has our country done since then? A lot. We’ve spent a lot of money, done a lot of talking, made a lot of changes. But you know what guys? Fifteen hundred people are going to die today from cancer. So yesterday and today - 9/11. Tomorrow and the next day - 9/11. And on and on and on.”
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Gonzales Denies Politics Played Role in Exit of Prosecutors
U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales rejected media reports Wednesday that suggested his office was forcing out nearly a dozen U.S. attorneys around the country for political purposes.
“It’s not true,” said Gonzales, speaking at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington about the importance of the judicial branch.
Gonzales declined to get into specifics, citing restriction on publicly discussing personnel issues. But the attorney general did note that the attorneys who “have been in the news” have all served a 4-year term, making them ripe for replacement.
“Every U.S. attorney serves at the pleasure of the president of the United States,” Gonzales said. “We can be asked to leave at any time.”
To date, 11 top federal prosecutors have recently resigned or announced their resignations.
A little known provision in the controversial Patriot Act enables Gonzales to select replacements without approval from the Senate.
That incensed Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. She sharply criticized the White House for using the provision to oust two U.S. Attorneys in California—Kevin Ryan, who probed the Silicone Valley’s stock-option backdating scandal, and Carol Lam, who headed the inquiry into Republican Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, who pled guilty to taking $2.4 million in bribes.
“The Bush administration is pushing out U.S. attorneys from across the country under the cloak of secrecy” and replacing them with their allies, said Feinstein.
The issue is sure to come up tomorrow when Gonzales appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee for questioning. Feinstein is a senior member of that panel.
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Poll Shows Support for Dems on Issues, Republicans on Presidential Ballot
There’s a curiousity or two in the George Washington University Battleground Poll released today.
Nothing new in the overall findings. More than 60 percent of the respondents believe the nation is headed in the wrong direction. A plurality have a negative image of President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Republicans in Congress. Iraq is the dominant issue.
But there is division about what to do about Iraq. Twenty-one percent say more troops. Thirty-two percent say the same amount of troops. Twenty-eight percent say set a deadline for leaving within a year. Sixteen percent say withdraw immediately.
There also are conflicting results about who should run the country. A majority of respondents have a favorable image of Democrats in Congress and believe Democrats do a better job on seven of 12 issues tested.
But GOP presidential candidates do better than Democrats. The poll found GOP Arizona Sen. John McCain leading Democratic Sens. Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois by 10 points. Ex-New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, another potential GOP candidate, also leads Clinton and Obama by double digits.
And this curious finding about the leaders of the new Democratic congressional majority: “Looking at the image of congressional leaders, a majority of likely voters do not have an image of Sen. Harry Reid and more than one-third of likely voters do not have an image of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.”
FYI, that’s an image of Reid above.
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McCain Touts Conservative’s Endorsement
Arizona Sen. John McCain, eager to bolster his conservative credentials as he seeks the GOP presidential nomination, today touted support from an Iowa woman whose own conservative credentials put her in Gary Bauer’s camp the last time the Republicans had a battle for the nomination.
McCain’s exploratory committee says Maxine Sieleman, a long-time talk radio hostess and co-founder of the Iowa chapter of Concerned Women for America, has joined his “growing Iowa grassroots organization.”
The McCain folks said Sieleman “has been a leading voice in Iowa Christian radio for the last 25 years.” And they praised Concerned Women for America as “a group that is dedicated to bringing biblical principles to all levels of public policy.”
“After considerable research, reflection, and prayer I determined that Senator McCain was the clear choice for conservatives and Iowa families,” Sieleman said in a statement issued by the McCain campaign. “He is the one candidate who has a consistent record of supporting pro-life, pro-family legislation.”
Unmentioned was McCain’s opposition to a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. He opposes same-sex marriage, but believes it is an issue that should be left for states to decide. That position has led to opposition from influential conservative leader James Dobson, who said last week he would not back McCain “under any circumstances.”
Sieleman’s voice is a potentially important one in the Iowa caucuses. Her “Update Today” show reaches 90 of Iowa’s 99 counties and, the McCain campaign notes, “can be heard worldwide on the Internet.”
Sieleman endorsed Bauer, a religious conservative, in the 2000 Iowa caucuses. then-Gov. George W. Bush prevailed that day. McCain skipped Iowa in 2000.
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Snow: Does Anti-War Resolution Support the Troops?
Comes this today from White House spokesman Tony Snow. Some might see this is a harbinger of the approach the administration will take as President Bush meets (as he will today) with lawmakers leaning toward supporting a resolution of no confidence in his new way forward in Iraq.
It’s all about support for the troops, says Snow:
“One thing the president has said is whatever you do make sure you support the troops. And the question those who support this resolution will have to ask is how does this support the troops. … In many ways that is a question that those behind this resolution will have to contend with. Furthermore, how do you support the troops (with a proposed effort to cut funding for the war). Those are questions you have to answer, too. It’s pretty clear that members of both parties are keenly aware of that.”
“I’m not going to characterize whether it does or does not constitute support for the troops. But it is a question that those that are talking about these resolutions will have to answer for themselves and for the public.”
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Texans on Mel—Just Say No
Texas members of the Republican National Committee are preparing to thumb their nose at the Big Texan himself, George W. Bush. They’re rankled at his choice of Sen. Mel Martinez to be the RNC’s general chairman.
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| Photo by Rick McKay |
It seems they and some other conservative RNC delegates don’t like Martinez’s stand on immigration.
“It’s because of the amnesty program which he has supported as a senator from Florida,” said Texas GOP spokesman Hans Klingler.
“To be successful, the Republican National Committee should have one leader who has demonstrated both a conservative record and an ability to communicate to voters the clear difference between our conservative principles and the liberal beliefs of our opposition” said Tina Benkiser, chairman of the Republican Party of Texas, in a statement.
“In my discussions with conservative leaders throughout Texas, a majority are philosophically troubled with Sen. Martinez’s nomination for a leadership position with the RNC for a variety of reasons. Texas Republicans have voiced their deep concern with Sen. Martinez’s strong support of amnesty for illegal immigrants, a policy they strongly oppose. Further, Sen. Martinez’s prior leadership of Florida’s trial lawyer association which does not support true reform of our legal system could also lead to limited progress on this crucial issue,” Benkiser said.
Martinez, the only Cuban-born senator, was a co-sponsor (with Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska) of a provision that would have allowed some illegal immigrants to obtain legal status.
The Texas Republican Party’s executive committee adopted a resolution last month urging its RNC delegates to vote against Martinez.
“We’ve heard from grass-roots leaders from all over the state and across the country,” Klingler said. “There’s been a pretty high degree of unanimous thought.”
Those opposing Martinez also point to an RNC rule that requires the chairman to be an RNC member. Martinez isn’t.
Martinez’s office had no comment.
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State of the Union Response “En Espanol”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev, announced Tuesday that Rep. Xavier Becerra, a California Democrat and rising star in the Democratic Party, will deliver the Spanish language response to the president’s State of the Union Speech on Jan. 23.
“We are proud to have Congressman Xavier Becerra delivering the Spanish language response this year,” said Pelosi and Reid, in a statement. “His keen intellect and substantive policy expertise have made him a national leader on issues of significance to Latinos and all Americans.”
Becerra was recently named “assistant to the speaker,” landing him in the Democratic leadership.
This is the fourth time a State of the Union response has been delivered in Spanish as well as English, according to an aide in Reid’s office. Last year, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa delivered the Spanish language response.
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Strong Union
No way to know at this point what President Bush will say in next Tuesday’s State of the Union address. But if history is instructive, it’s a good bet he’ll assure us that the state of the union is strong.
It’s become almost a required line in a State of the Union address.
Here’s the recent record:
Bush 2006: “Tonight the state of the union is strong, and together we will make it stronger.”
Bush 2005: ” … the state of the union is confident and strong.”
Bush 2004: ” … the American people are showing that the state of our union is confident and strong.”
Bush 2003: “In a whirlwind of change and hope and peril, our faith is sure; our resolve is firm; and our union is strong.”
Bush 2002: “As we gather tonight, our nation is at war; our economy is in recession; and the civilized world faces unprecedented dangers. Yet the state of our union has never been stronger.”
Bush, as newly elected president, gave a 2001 speech to Congress but it technically was not a State of the Union address.
Clinton 2000: “My fellow Americans, the state of our union is the strongest it has ever been.”
Clinton 1999: “My fellow Americans, I stand before you tonight to report that the state of our union is strong.”
Clinton 1998: “Ladies and gentlemen, the state of our union is strong.”
Clinton 1997: “My fellow Americans, the state of our union is strong.”
Clinton 1996: “The state of the union is strong.”
Clinton 1995: “I was determined then to tackle the tough problems too long ignored. In this effort I am frank to say that I have made my mistakes, and I have learned again the importance of humility in all human endeavor. But I am also proud to say tonight that our country is stronger than it was two years ago.”
Clinton 1994: No mention of the strong union. Perhaps because of TelePromoter screw-up at start of speech.
The elder President Bush generally steered clear of the strong union rhetoric, though in his 1990 State of the Union address he said, “Let me say that so long as we remember the American ideal, so long as we live up to the American ideal, the state of the union will remain sound and strong.”
In his 1986 State of the Union speech, President Reagan was “pleased to report the state of our union is stronger than a year ago and growing stronger each day.”
In 1984, he said “the heart of America is strong.” In 1983, he said, “the state of our union is strong, but our economy is troubled.”
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Tancredo Forms Presidential Committee
While presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., garnered enormous press attention Tuesday with the announcement of his White House exploratory committee, another lawmaker also took the plunge.
Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado, chairman of the House Immigration Reform Caucus and an ardent opponent of illegal immigration, said Tuesday that he has formed a presidential exploratory committee “after receiving an overwhelming level of encouragement and support from grassroots Republican activists throughout the state of Iowa,” according to a press release.
“I have met with Iowans from all walks of life this weekend, and the one thing I heard over and over is that they don’t believe the other contenders care about the same things that they do,” Tancredo said. “They believe that there is a void in this race that none of the other candidates are willing or able to fill.”
Tancredo also launched a Website for his exploratory committee: www.teamtancredo.org
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Cardinals Rule
The World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals were at the White House today, inspiring President Bush to talk about losing streaks and being underestimated.
“They say in baseball, you know, in order to become the World Series champ you can’t have losing streaks of over two or three games. This club had losing streaks of one eight-game streak, another eight-game losing streak and a seven-game losing streak,” Bush said, “which really speaks to the character of the baseball team, doesn’t it?”
“When you’re on one of those losing streaks, it’s easy to get down and to forget, you know, the goal,” said Bush, who periodically reminds the nation of his goals in Iraq.
Bush also mentioned David Eckstein, the Cards’ diminutive shortstop who was named World Serves MVP. (That’s Eckstein with Bush, above).
“They said he can’t hit. They said he can’t throw,” Bush said. “Listen, David, I’ve made a career out of people underestimating me. Or, as I sometimes say to keep them on their toes, misunderestimating me.”
During the ceremony, to keep them on their toes, Bush made up this word: Embetterment, as in the work Cardinal Manager Tony LaRussa does “for the embetterment of the community.”
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Sen. Cornyn Set to Meet with Lt. Gen. Petraeus
With the needed paperwork on the way to Capitol Hill, President Bush’s choice as the new top general in Iraq, Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, begins his rounds in the Senate, where he’s expected to receive a swift confirmation.
Petraeus’ Senate visits will include a closed meeting late Wednesday afternoon with Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
For many on the Hill, Petraeus can’t be confirmed quickly enough. The much-heralded general led the 101st Airborne Division through its initial sweep into Iraq in 2003 and returned to lead the training of Iraq’s security forces in 2004.
He is expected to be confirmed by the Senate, and will likely receive his fourth star to make full general, to replace outgoing Gen. George Casey as part of the President’s new plan to quell sectarian violence in Iraq.
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No White House Talk About Libby Pardon
If anybody in the White House is thinking about a presidential pardon for former aide Lewis “Scooter” Libby they are not talking about it. Or at least not while spokesman Tony Snow is listening.
“We’re not discussing anything about the case,” Snow said today when asked to comment on it.
Pressed on whether a pardon could be in the offing, Snow said, “I’m not aware of any discussions about a pardon.”
Today is opening day in the federal trial of Libby, a former chief of staff to Vice President Cheney and an assistant to the president. Libby is charged with five counts tied to the disclosure of CIA operative Valerie Plame’s identity in 2003.
Cheney is expected to take the stand in the case.
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Correspondents Association Picks Rich Little
The White House Correspondents Association is opting for less controversy at its annual dinner this year. Impressionist Rich Little will be the entertainer. Last year’s talent was Stephen Colbert, who raised an eyebrow or two with biting comments about President Bush, who seemed, at times, less than comfortable as he sat at the head table while Colbert did his schtick.
WHCA President Steve Scully of C-SPAN says Little, a show biz veteran, will be a hit at the April 21 dinner.
“With his comedic talents impersonating every president since John Kennedy, the rave reviews he received following his recent appearance on Letterman’s ‘Late Show’ and his newest show in Las Vegas, it promises to be a fun and humorous evening,” Scully said in announcing the selection.
“We wanted an entertainer who cuts across generational lines and follows the motto of the Gridiron (an annual Washington show that lampoons folks), which is ‘singes, but doesn’t burn,’” Scully said.
And this year maybe even Bush can join in the laughter.
Little’s website includes an April 2005 thank-you note from the president and first lady.
“Thank you for performing at the 2005 Inaugural Ball. Your talent and energy helped make the evening special for everyone who attended. And you provided wonderful memories for a crowd celebrating a great tradition! We appreciate your role in making the 55th Presidential Inaugural festivities such a success,” the letter said.
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Bush Won’t Back Carbon Emissions Caps
The White House this morning shot down a British newspaper’s report that next week’s State of the Union address will include a major policy shift on pollution. The report, citing Downing Street sources, said Bush planned to endorse caps on emissions.
Not going to happen, says spokesman Tony Snow.
“Let me just walk you back from the carbon caps story,” he said. “I think what’s going on there is maybe that some people on the outside like that policy and are floating that as a possibility (so) if they don’t get their way they can complain.”
Snow insists the president will remain aggressive on the climate change issue, but “in a way that is consistent with vigorous economic growth so that it does not come at the expense of people’s livelihoods and futures.”
The State of the Union speech is next Tuesday.
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Bush Adviser Signs with Romney
Score one for ex-Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney as GOP presidential candidates scramble to sign up former aides and advisers to President Bush.
Romney says former U.S. Rep. Vin Weber of Minnesota will be policy chairman for the Romney presidential exploratory committee, which will morph into the Romney presidential campaign. The post, the Romney folks say, means Weber “will oversee all policy development for Gov. Romney.”
Weber served in the House from 1981-1993. He now serves as chairman of the National Endowment for Democracy and is a Council on Foreign Relations board member. He was the plains states regional chairman for Bush-Cheney in 2004 and has advised the administration on several issues.
In South Carolina today, Arizona Sen. John McCain touted a potentially important new player in his bid for the GOP presidential nomination. Bobby Harrell, speaker of the South Carolina House, now is a McCain backer and co-chair of the campaign in that state, which holds an early and important primary next year.
McCain, says Harrell, “is the man our country needs.”
Harrell, says the McCain campaign, “had been sought by other leading Republican candidates.”
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Bush and MLK II
Now we know why the president’s schedule (see Bush and MLK below) didn’t include anything to mark MLK Day. It was a surprise, and he came bearing gifts.
Bush motorcaded to Washington’s Cardozo High School, about 10 minutes from the White House. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales tagged along.
The mission was to join in an effort to spruce up the inner-city school, which was closed for the holiday but hosted 350 volunteers giving their time and energy to the project. Bush picked up a paint brush and did a bit of work on a mural (see AP photo above).
He also visited with students writing letters to Hurricane Katrina victims.
The gifts? Two books signed by the president and wife Laura. One was “An American Plague,” a volume about the 1793 yellow fever outbreak. The other was “Frontier House,” a book that goes with the PBS program about life in an 1880s Montana frontier house.
“One of the things that Mrs. King wanted was for MLK Day to be a day of service,” Bush said at the school. “It is not a day off, but it’s a day on.”
Bush’s MLK Day trip took him out of the White House (where, for most employees, it was a day off) for about an hour.
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Bush and MLK
Last year, President Bush marked MLK Day with a visit to the National Archives to see the Emancipation Proclamation and a evening gospel concert at the Kennedy Center. (In between, he enjoyed a holiday bike ride).
So far, there’s nothing on the president’s public schedule to indicate how he will mark MLK Day 2007 on Monday.
Asked if that means he would do nothing to mark the day, spokesman Tony Snow said, “I didn’t say that. I just said there’s no public schedule at this juncture.”
Bush has issued an MLK Day proclamation, praising the late civil rights leader as “a man who stirred the conscience of a nation.”
“We honor Martin Luther King Jr, and remember his strength of character and his leadership,” Bush said in the proclamation. “We also remember the work that still remains.”
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EPA PUTS LIBRARY ACTION PLAN ON HOLD
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has no plans to shut down more of its libraries and has ceased destroying duplicative research materials until it answers questions from Congress, a spokesperson said Friday.
Jessica Emond, the deputy press secretary at the EPA, said the agency has rescheduled “the recycling” of EPA materials that are duplicates or obsolete.
Leading Democratic lawmakers formally requested that the agency stop closing libraries and destroying documents until a congressional review could take place.
The EPA came under fire from open government advocates after it began shutting down libraries last fall. In total, the agency shut down five regional libraries and limited access at four others in its 26-library network.
The agency has defended its decision to close libraries, saying it will save the agency money. It has promised to digitize its collection, but has not released a plan as to how it would do that or how it would pay for that costly service.
“Our library modernization will provide better access to a wider audience,” Edmond said. “It will be at your fingertips whether you are in Washington or China.”
Permalink | | Categories: Colorado, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Washington
Quote of the Day
“Those who would insist that the sky is falling if drug companies negotiate lower prescription prices are arguing that those companies should continue to skin a fat hog at the expense of the taxpayers and the beneficiaries.”
—- Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., speaking on the House floor during debate on the Medicare drug bill.
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Tancredo for President?
The list of presidential wannabes could get a little longer soon. Rep. Tom Tancredo, a Colorado Republican who has gained a national following — and the ire of some Latino groups — as a staunch opponent of illegal immigration, hinted Friday that he is ready to pursue the Oval Office.
When asked whether he plans to take action to start an official bid for the GOP nomination he said, “That is a distinct possibility.”
Tancredo wouldn’t be the only candidate with a “tough on border security” platform. Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter of California, a major force behind constructing fences along the U.S.-Mexico border, formed an exploratory committee last year.
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Gates: Troops Could Begin Coming Home in Late 2007
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday that U.S. troops could begin withdrawing from Iraq by the end of the year, if the plan for a near-term surge in forces there helps to quell bloodshed in Baghdad.
“You could begin to see a lightening of the U.S. footprint,” Gates said in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee. “If you lower the level of sectarian violence significantly…then you could have a situation later this year where you could actually begin withdrawing.”
Gates said a decision to begin scaling down forces would be made based on conditions on the ground, however, not on a timeline announced in advance.
Gates appeared before the panel with Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, two days after President Bush announced plans to send 21,500 additional troops to Iraq.
There are roughly 130,000 U.S. troops now in Iraq, where more than 3,000 American forces have died and nearly 23,000 have been wounded since Bush ordered the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March, 2003.
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A Leader’s Tears
President Bush, criticized by some for rarely showing much public emotion about the losses in Iraq, shed a tear this morning at a White House ceremony during which he posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor to Marine Corporal Jason Dunham.
Here is Bush’s account of Dunham’s heroism:
“In April 2004, during an attack near Iraq’s Syrian border, Corporal Dunham was assaulted by an insurgent who jumped out of a vehicle that was about to be searched. As Corporal. Dunham wrestled the man to the ground, the insurgent rolled out a grenade he had been hiding. Corporal Dunham did not hesitate. He jumped on the grenade, using his helmet and body to absorb the blast. Although he survived the initial explosion, he did not survive his wounds. But by his selflessness, Corporal Dunham saved the lives of two of his men, and showed the world what it means to be a Marine.”
On hand to see the awarding of the Medal of Honor were the late Marine’s parents, Dan and Deb Dunham; his brothers Justin and Kyle; sister Katie and other family members.
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Photo Flap
The White House Correspondents Association is gearing up to complain about the White House decision not to allow any news photographers to take pictures of President Bush giving his Wednesday night speech.
Routinely, a pool photographer - who shares the photo with all news organizations - and wire service photographers are allowed to cover presidential events in quarters too small to handle the usual throng of photographers.
Not so Wednesday night when Bush spoke from the White House Library. Administration officials said the room was too small.
That left newspapers with three choices: No photo, a photo shot by a White House photographer or a screen grab from television coverage of the speech. The latter, as shown above, generally provides a less-than-flattering image.
“This is the latest in an ever-growing series of events in which this White House is not allowing photographers” to cover, said C-SPAN’s Steve Scully, president of the White House Correspondents Association. “Clearly it’s unacceptable.”
The White House can expect letters of protest from the correspondents association and, perhaps, the White House News Photographers Association.
FYI, here’s an advisory the Associated Press sent to its members:
“Still photographers were not permitted access before, during or after President Bush’s televised address from the White House Library, Jan. 10, 2007. AP Photos NY201-205 are frame grabs from Associated Press Television and have been transmitted to all points.
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Congressional Pork Is Hurting Real Pork
Critics have charged that special tax breaks and national mandates requiring use of ethanol in automobile fuel are parts of a huge congressional “pork” campaign.
Well, not exactly, says an organization known as the NPPC.
Under the headline, “Pork Faces Challenges From Ethanol Demand,” the NPPC (also known as the National Pork Producers Council) said Wednesday in a press release that heavy use of corn to make ethanol is driving up the cost of pig feed.
“New (ethanol) plants are springing up everywhere and they’re using a lot of corn,” the alarmed NPPC said.
Under the 2005 Energy Policy Act, oil companies will be required to use 7.5 billion gallons of ethanol by 2012. Corn growers are expected to push the new Congress to pass even higher mandates.
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ABC Has Biggest Spike in Violence
A surgeon general’s 1972 report warning that “televised violence, indeed, does have an adverse effect on certain members of our society,” has spawned 35 years of studies examining the effects of television violence.
But it has not stemmed the tide of mayhem, according to an advocacy group’s report Wednesday that found violent scenes on TV have become more frequent and more graphic in recent years.
A collective “No Duh!” is likely to come from mothers everywhere.
But the Parents Television Council report did find that Fox, the home network of highly trained assassin Jack Bauer of “24,” has had the smallest increase in violent scenes of the six major networks — NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox, UPN and WB since 1998.
The report found that ABC, which had been the least violent network eight years ago, showed the biggest spike in violent scenes among the major networks, tripling its rate to nearly four instances of violence per hour.
The report cites, among more than 30 scenes from various programs and networks, a 2004 episode of “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” in which “two little girls are fighting and a mother just films. One of the girls pulls the other girl’s hair and puts some of it in her tricycle.”
Meanwhile, thousands of Americans are still anxiously counting down to the sixth season of “24” (four days). And the Parent’s Television Council is not the only one keeping tabs on its violence.
One “24” fan’s Web site (www.bauercount.com) keeps a running tally of the star’s victims, listing the episode, the “person perishing,”and the “method/weapon” used by Bauer as he saves Los Angeles from a terrorist attack.
Permalink | | Categories: Colorado, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Washington
Barr and Borat
There are events in all of our lives that we wish didn’t happen.
For former Georgia Republican Rep. Bob Barr, agreeing to be interviewed by a comic posing as a TV reporter from Kazakhstan ranks high among his list of mistakes.
The wildly popular film, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan shows the former congressman in a less than flattering light.
After Borat suggests that the cheese he is serving came from his wife’s breast milk, a red-faced Barr throws him out of his office.
Borat viewers won’t let Barr’s embarrassment pass them by.
Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., speaking at today’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on balancing privacy rights in government data mining programs, asked Barr whether his right to privacy was violated when he was mocked by the film’s maker, the comic Sacha Baron Cohen.
Barr said they were indeed.
Specter asked if Barr had seen the movie. “A movie that revels in nude male wrestling is not a high priority for me,” Barr retorted.
After the hearing, Barr said he agreed to the interview because he thought Cohen was a real reporter who wanted to know more about how the Patriot Act violates civil liberties.
When Cohen started asking him “nonsense questions,” Barr said that he showed him the door.
Permalink | | Categories: Colorado, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Washington
Farmers to Congress: Crops are Rotting
As Congress gears up to tackle immigration, a group of farmers told lawmakers Wednesday that the need for foreign workers is dire as crops are rotting in the fields because of a lack of labor.
Toni Scully, a pear grower in Lake County, Calif., said in an emotional speech that her company lost about 25 percent of its crop this past year.
“Those piles of pears represented unpaid mortgages, unmet goals, dashed hopes and economic loss,” she said, at a Capitol Hill press conference. “I still feel the ache in my heart as I watched much of our county’s crop — over 26 million pounds of beautiful fruit, go to waste.”
The farmers were on hand to support a bi-partisan bill introduced Wednesday that would create a pilot program that would allow some illegal agricultural workers a chance at permanent legal residency and citizenship.
The bill would also streamline the current agricultural visa program known as H-2A, to make it easier for farmers to quickly bring in foreign workers, proponents said.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., a major sponsor of the bill, said that in her state, one million undocumented workers harvest the crops every year and that crews were down about 20 percent in 2006.
“We must bring those workers out of the shadows and create a legal and enforceable means to provide labor for agriculture,” she said. “If there aren’t enough workers, the crops will rot.”
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No Mo’ Smokin’ In the (Previously) Boys Room
Nancy Pelosi isn’t just breaking “marble ceilings” by becoming the nation’s first elected female speaker of the House.
She’s busting through all the smoke-filled rooms that were once a hallmark of the Old Boys Club, too.
Starting today, a smoking ban just enacted in the District of Columbia will be enforced in the Speaker’s Lobby, where members have regularly ducked for a puff of a cigar or cigarette.
Under former Republican Majority Leaders John Boehner (a heavy smoker) and Speaker Dennis Hastert, (not a smoker, but who previously set the House rules) the House exempted itself from D.C.’s new ordinance.
Now, “the days of smoke-filled rooms in the United States Capitol are over,” Pelosi said in a statement. “We can no longer risk the health of colleagues, staff, pages, reporters and others who pass through the Speaker’s Lobby each day.”
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Bush to Speak in White House Library
An early, preliminary version of the schedule showed that President Bush’s Wednesday night speech on Iraq would come from the White House Map Room that FDR used to keep up with progress during World War II.
But word now comes that the White House library (above in White House photo) will be the scene for the big speech.
The White House website tells us that the room served as a laundry area until the 1902 renovation under Theodore Roosevelt. It then served as a “gentlemen’s anteroom.” A 1935 remodeling turned it into the library.
“It is less formal than the rooms of the State Floor and is often used for teas and meetings,” says the website.
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Sen. Cornyn Finds His Inner Fred Thompson
Hey, if one law enforcement-minded, august senator (and really tall, and partially balding too) can break out in Hollywood, there’s hope for another, right?
You may recall that former Republican Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson was a recurring character on NBC’s “Law & Order.”
Well this Friday afternoon you can catch what may be the beginning of the next phase of John Cornyn — TV breakout star — as he pitches this promo for the hit FOX series “24”:
“Here in Congress, protecting the American people and winning the war on terror is our number one priority. But has anyone also noticed there have been no terrorist attacks in the United States since Jack Bauer has appeared on television? …. Think about it. And join me in watching this season of ‘24.’
Cornyn won’t be in the episode, and the promo was just an opportunity to show his humorous side, his office said.
Permalink | | Categories: Texas, Washington
Hip-hop Ring Tone
A cell phone rings during a White House briefing. Press Secretary Tony Snow hears it. The ring tone seems to be of a particular genre. Snow recognizes it and turns to ABC’s Martha Raddatz, owner of said cell phone.
“Does Martha have a hip-hop ring tone?” Snow asks, somewhat surprised at the notion.
“I have a 15-year-old son,” responds Ms. Raddatz, a caucasian generally devoid of bling, seeking to shift blame to her offspring.
Snow sees nothing wrong with the ring tone.
“Play that funky music, white girl,” he says, recalling “Wild Cherry’s” 1976 hit “Play that Funky Music,” which featured the memorable refrain, “Play that funky music, white boy.”
Later, Ms Raddatz explains that her son loaded the song as her ring tone. The tune is “Ridin’” by Chamillionaire featuring Krazie Bone.
The opening lyrics: They see me rollin’/ They hatin’ patrollin and tryna catch me ridin’ dirty/ Tryna catch me ridin dirty’ (repeat four times)/ My music so loud I’m swangin’/ They hopin’ that they gone catch me ridin’ dirty/ Tryna catch me ridin’ dirty (repeat four times)
FYI, “Ridin’ dirty” refers to traveling with illegal substances.
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Failure to Communicate
We learned this morning of the first known casualty of the major rehab and renovation project now taking place in the White House Press Room.
The communications link from the White House driveway “stakeout” (the cluster of microphones where folks who have met with the president can stop to spill their guts to reporters) to the temporary press room down the block was out of service for several days.
A fiber cable was “accidentally” cut, according to the White House Communications Agency. Nobody seems to suspect anything other than an accident. By Tuesday afternoon, the line was back in service.
But while it was off-line, it meant that that White House reporters who wanted to hear what folks said at the stakeout had to make the half-block walk from their temporary HQ to the stakeout (shown above when Florida Sen. Mel Martinez, hands together in the center, and other GOP officials chatted with the press after the November election).
FYI, the press room renovation project is on target for May completion, more or less. Included will be a completely overhauled briefing room.
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Congressional Panel Offers Preview of Iraq Proposal Reactions
With the President’s prime-time Wednesday speech looming on the horizon, four senior Democrats and Republicans of the House Armed Services Committee on Monday offered their own opinions on “The way forward in Iraq.”
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Mo., and members Rep. Jim Marshall, D-Ga., Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas and Rep. Jim Saxton, R-N.J., took part in the panel, which was hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Overall, the panelists’ stands reflected party sentiment. Republicans Thornberry and Saxton warned of the consequences of withdrawal, and Democrats Marshall and Skelton favored some sort of draw-down, so that Iraqis know the U.S. is serious about handing over responsibility for their nation.
“Even if it is a battalion (that is withdrawn) it should be done,” said Skelton, the new committee chairman.
But Thornberry countered that a withdrawal would empower the insurgency. “If they can convince a few hundred people in Washington that it’s not worth sticking with it, they (insurgents) are going to win,” Thornberry warned.
Marshall, D-Ga., reiterated that he would now support a review of mistakes made by the administration in Iraq.
Marshall previously opposed looking into the administration’s handling of the war. In 2005, he was the sole Democrat to join the Republicans in a vote to table now-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s resolution for an investigation into Iraq.
“I did that about a year and a half ago, I did so because I didn’t think it was appropriate to talk about those things,” Marshall, who has just returned from his 10th visit to Iraq, said Monday. “Now I think it’s actually helpful to talk about those mistakes. The American people have to understand why we have not progressed.”
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Obama tansitions on transit
Sen. Barack Obama conceded Monday that having a corporate jet standing by to fly you to your chosen destination is a mighty tempting perk for a lawmaker.
“I’m somebody who transitioned from having used them,” said the Illinois Democrat as he joined in announcing a get-tough ethics package for the newly convening Senate.
Asked why senators have resisted a ban on hitching cut-rate rides on executive jets, Obama explained: “Well, because corporate jets are nice.”
“They’re convenient. They’re waiting for you.” And because they don’t involve security lines, he added, “You don’t have to take your shoes off.”
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Wal-Mart Critics: “Thanks, Andy!”
Using the upcoming Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a rallying point, civil rights, community and religious leaders on Monday called on Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to improve its workers’ wages and benefits. Coalition leaders said in a teleconference that the retailing giant should “embrace a vision” for reducing poverty as it expands into urban areas.
Deborah Scott, executive director of Georgia Stand Up, a labor-rights advocacy group, said that in Atlanta, few people were swayed by former Mayor Andrew Young to support Wal-Mart. From February to August, Young worked under contract for Working Families for Wal-Mart, a group backed by the retailer. He resigned after making derogatory comments about Jewish, Korean and Arab store owners who compete with Wal-Mart.
When Atlantans learned Young was working for Wal-Mart, most were “very outraged,” Scott said. “We were relieved when he was fired.” Still, she is glad for the attention he called to controversies swirling around Wal-Mart. “He galvinized another level of the community,” she claimed.
Permalink | | Categories: Washington
Stand By for News
Not much official information today from the White House about the official details of President Bush’s upcoming big speech on Iraq.
“You may try,” spokesman Tony Snow told reporters seeking information about the speech, “and I will tap dance.”
And dance he did, declining to say when the speech will be, what will be in it and the names of the members of Congress Bush is meeting with in advance of it.
“We’ll let you know,” was Snow’s answer to a question about when the speech will be.
Despite Snow’s tap dancing, the AP reports this morning that the speech will be at 9 p.m. EST on Wednesday.
As of today, Bush is looking at “preliminary drafts” of the speech, according to Snow.
“There’s still work to be done,” he said, adding, however, that it’s mostly about how to say what Bush is going to say.
“The president is pretty close to a final direction” for the revised way forward in Iraq, Snow said.
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Heading for the Hills
For fifteen years, Krister Holladay worked Capitol Hill like few other congressional staffers.
He worked for former Speaker Newt Gingrigh and most recently as chief of staff to Georgia Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss. He was indispensable to lawmakers and scribes alike.
Now he’s heading for the Hills.
Holladay, an Atlanta native, has had enough of the 6 a.m. breakfast meetings, the constant travel, the late nights, the partisan divide.
He’s turning off his blackberry or “crackberry” as they are called in Hill parlance and spending more time with his wife, Carol, and two young children Sarah, 8, and James, 4.
“I have gotten to travel around the world (literally) as well as had the opportunity to do things like jump out of an airplane; drive a race car; watch the 4th of July fireworks from the Speaker’s balcony; meet world leaders,” wrote Holladay wrote in a farewell to colleagues.
In a follow-up interview, Holladay said he isn’t sure what he’ll do next other than attend his kids sports games and eat dinner with his family every night.
It’s been a good ride, he said. The best part was turning ideas into laws that will “make the world a better place,” he said. “It’s been a great education.”
Holladay will be replaced by Charlie Harman, a former staffer for former Georgia Sens. Sam Nunn and Zell Miller.
“Krister has been an integral part of the Chambliss team for more than seven years and he will be sorely missed,” said Chambliss, noting how grateful he was to the long hours that Holladay logged and his leadership on pressing issues.
“We know there always comes a time where your staff moves on to chart a new course for themselves and their own family,” Chambliss said. “Krister will certainly remain a part of the Chambliss family.”
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Rep. Michael McCaul Brings the House With Him
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| Photos by Rick McKay |
McCaul and his wife, Linda, brought their 5-year-old triplets, Avery, Lauren and Michael, and daughters Caroline, 10, and Jewell, 9, to watch the proceedings.
While the House crawled through each member’s name during a ceremonial roll call, the kids squirmed a bit and hugged Dad, then stood up with him many times to applaud Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s election as the first female Speaker of the House.
“This is Pelosi’s day,” said McCaul, who nevertheless cast a vote for Ohio Republican John Boehner during the roll call. “We had to take the kids out of school, but it’s such a historic moment.”
The kids stayed with McCaul on the House floor while Linda watched from the gallery above; House rules don’t allow spouses on the floor.
“Alright McCaul kids! Give me five!” Linda said to her children afterwards, as she joined them in the House Speaker’s Lobby.
There, Caroline was interviewed by The Washington Post on what she thought about seeing a woman elected speaker. Her response: “It’s cool.”
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Texas Democrats Savor 110th Swearing-in Ceremony
For the three Texas Democrats who ultimately survived Tom DeLay’s redistricting map, Thursday’s swearing in ceremony was satisfying and sweet.
Rep. Nick Lampson, D-Houston, began his day checking email in his still-bare office, his wife Susan relaxing on a leather sofa while grandson Nicholas, 7, took a turn behind granddad’s new desk.
“I am glad to be back,” said Lampson, grinning as his children and grandchildren began filing in.
Lampson had been tossed from Congress in 2004 under former Rep. Tom DeLay’s redistricting map, only to come back and win DeLay’s district in November.
“You can say it is a happy homecoming,” Lampson said. “I’ve been stopped a number of times by people on the sidewalks and in the hallway who followed this race from everywhere in the U.S. — this was a fairly big deal to an awful lot of people.”
Like Lampson, Rep. Ciro Rodriguez, D-San Antonio, had been a casualty of the 2003 district lines. But in December he beat incumbent Rep. Henry Bonilla, R-San Antonio, in a special election created by the Supreme Court’s decision last summer that the Republicans’ 2003 lines had been unconstitutional in the 23rd South Texas district.
“Ciro! Ciro! Ciro! Viva Ciro!” chanted former Texas Rep. Max Sandlin, D-Marshall, as his friend Rodriguez walked into a pre-swearing in party in his new offices. They were previously Bonilla’s offices.
Sandlin was defeated by the Republican map in 2004, which made Rodriguez and Lampson’s swearing-in Thursday that much sweeter for him.
“This is a big day for us,” said Sandlin, who sported special, 20-year-old gold-plated donkey cufflinks for the occasion. “It’s been a dry spell for a while.”
Rodriguez, who is returning the the Appropriations Committee, where he served until he lost his seat in 2004, said although he’s a veteran, his colleagues “quickly made me feel like I was a freshman.”
“They said the last one in line had to be ‘chairman of the roses.’ I said, ‘What’s that?’”
As it turns out, Rodriguez’ latecomer status got him tagged with the responsibility of buying roses for committee business.
Former Rep. Martin Frost, D-Dallas, who was also redistricted and defeated in 2004, watched the swearing in on the House floor. For him, the victory remained bittersweet.
“I was pleased to see Ciro and pleased to see Nick,” Frost said. But he added “as I have said on several occasions, I look forward to the day that DeLay can spend a little time as a guest of the government. We have a very fine federal facility in southeast Fort Worth in my old district.”
Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, was the lone Democrat in 2004 to survive DeLay’s map, and beat a second serious Republican challenge in 2006, against Republican Van Taylor.
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Immigration Makes Reid’s Top Ten
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada delighted Hispanic groups Thursday by naming immigration as one of his top ten priorities in the new Congress.
“Introduction of immigration as a priority bill bodes well for 2007 to be a year of action for comprehensive immigration reform,” said John Trasvina, president and general counsel of the Mexican-American Legal and Educational Fund (MALDEF). “Increasingly every family, business, and community across the nation is touched by immigration.”
Immigration was number nine on Reid’s list. Other priorities included ethics and lobbying reform, increasing the minimum wage, reducing drug costs for seniors, and supporting stem cell research.
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American Women By The Numbers
On the historic day that Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California was elected the first female Speaker of the House, the Census Bureau released some interesting numbers about American women. They include:
82.5 million — Estimated number of mothers of all ages in the United States.
$32,168 — The median annual earnings of women 16 or older who worked year-round, full time in 2005. Women earn $ .77 for every $1 earned by men.
$58,906 — The median earnings of women working in computer and mathematical jobs, the highest for women among the 22 major occupational groups.
32 percent — Percent of women 25 to 29 who had attained a bachelor’s degree or higher in 2005. Eighty seven percent of women in that age range had completed high school.
More than $939 billion — Revenue for women-owned businesses in 2002, up 20 percent from 1997. There were 116,985 woman-owned businesses with receipts of $1 million or higher.
63 million — Number of married women in 2005.
17 percent — Percent of married couples in which the wife earned at least $5,000 more than the husband in 2005.
5.6 million — Number of stay-at-home mothers nationwide in 2005, up from 4.4. million a decade earlier.
84 percent — Proportion of women who used a computer at home in 2003, 2 percentage points higher than the proportion of men in the same category.
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So Tell Us How You Really Feel
Thomas Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, met with dozens of reporters Thursday to present his annual “State of American Business” report. He said the Chamber would be trying to work closely with the new Democratic-controlled Congress to push for greater funding for new roads, bridges and ports, expanded trade and improved education.
Oh, and for one more thing: immigration reform legislation that includes a guest-worker program.
Donahue said the Chamber is “hopeful and optimistic” that immigration reform would be passed this year. He also noted that anyone who disagrees with the Chamber’s position is as “dumb as a box of rocks.”
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A Fete for Ann and Nancy
One day before Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., breaks the “marble ceilings” of Congress as the nation’s first elected female Speaker of the House, she was feted with a tea honoring her and the late Texas Gov. Ann Richards.
At the tea, Richards’ eldest granddaughter, Lily Adams, told the audience that “even at 19, I’ve seen my share of good and bad elections. And the election of this November was truly inspiring.”
Richards died Sept. 13, 2006 of cancer. She was 73.
“I know that wherever my grandmother was on Nov. 7, she enjoyed (the elections) more than anybody else,” said Adams, now a freshman at Brandeis University. “And honestly, I think she probably even had a hand in the outcome.”
A crowd of more than a thousand women enjoyed champagne, petit-a-fours and strawberries at the tea, which was hosted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and cost $1,000 a seat.
Each received buttons with Pelosi’s face imposed on a picture of “Rosie the Riveter,” with the slogan: “A Woman’s Place is in the House … As Speaker!”
“The glass ceilings and marble ceilings of this institution are shattering,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., who introduced Pelosi.
The crowd also enjoyed a video of Richards’ life that included Willie Nelson’s “Don’t Fence Me In,” and Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton’s duet “Up Where We Belong.”
“When I saw Gov. Richards’ funeral and heard the song ‘Don’t Fence Me In,’ I thought, ‘That is our theme song. Don’t Fence Us In,’ ” Pelosi told the crowd. “What an honor for me personally to be associated with Ann Richards.”
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Hoyer’s Personal Stake in Global Warming
The designated new majority leader of the House Steny Hoyer said Wednesday that he has personal reasons to believe in the Democrats’ plans to wean the country off fossil fuel to combat “global warming.”
Noting the unseasonable temperatures in Washington this winter, the Marylander quipped to reporters:
“I live 80 feet from the river and in January we’ve got 60-degree weather, and I’m convinced 20 years from now my house is going to be under the river.”
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Happy New Year from the First Family
Here’s the official Happy 2007 message officially issued on behalf of the First Family (shown above boarding a plane in Germany during 2006). FYI, you’ll be hearing more about what the president has mind for 2007 on Jan. 23 when he delivers his State of the Union address and sometime before that when he speaks about his updated plans for Iraq.
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Over the past year, we have reached important goals and confronted new challenges. At the start of this New Year, we move forward with trust in the power of the American spirit, confidence in our purpose, and faith in a loving God who created us to be free.
In 2006, the number of jobs steadily increased, wages grew, the unemployment rate dropped, and we achieved our goal of cutting the deficit in half three years ahead of schedule. Thanks to the hard work and innovation of the American people, our economy has been growing faster than any other major developed nation. Significant tax relief has helped our citizens keep more of what they earn and fuel an economy that is vigorous and healthy. My Administration will continue to work to help create more jobs, reduce the deficit, and spread prosperity to all our citizens.
Last year, America continued its mission to fight and win the war on terror and promote liberty as an alternative to tyranny and despair. In the New Year, we will remain on the offensive against the enemies of freedom, advance the security of our country, and work toward a free and unified Iraq. Defeating terrorists and extremists is the challenge of our time, and we will answer history’s call with confidence and fight for liberty without wavering.
Our Nation depends on the fine men and women in uniform who serve our country with valor and distinction, and we remain mindful of their dedication and sacrifice. America ‘s troops and their families exemplify the great character of our country, and they have earned the respect and admiration of a grateful Nation.
As we celebrate the New Year, we look with hope to the year ahead and the opportunities it will bring.
Laura and I send our best wishes for a happy New Year. May God bless you, may God bless our troops and their families, and may God bless America.
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