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April 2007
Gingrich, Hagel Meet With Union Officials
Organized labor has long been a political ally of the Democratic Party, but that didn’t stop two potential candidates for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination from meeting with one of the more influential unions Monday.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia and Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska met privately in Washington with the executive committee of the Service Employees International Union, a 1.8 million member union that endorsed Democrat Howard Dean during the 2004 presidential contest.
The SEIU’s executive committee has already met with the Democratic candidates seeking the party’s 2008 nomination and has invited the Republican candidates to meet with them as well. But so far, none of the declared GOP candidates has accepted the union’s invitation.
“We hope that today’s conversations were the first of many that we will be having with Republican presidential candidates before the election,” said Roger Roeder, an SEIU member from Iowa who is also a member of the union’s Republican Advisory Committee. “Working people need to know where all of the pesidential candidates stand on health care, jobs and retirement with dignity,” said Roeder, who participated in the meeting.
SEIU includes 300,000 Repubicans nationwide, according to the union. SEIU is the fastest growing union in the United States and is concentrated within the health care, food and hospitality industries. It claims to represent the most immigrants of any union and is heavily involved in promoting immigration reform.
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Yellow Cake at White House
The White House press corps broke out the rum cake today to toast the return of Press Secretary Tony Snow.
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Royal Dinner
President Bush, an informal kind of guy whose idea of a royal dinner is Burger King (rim shot!), will don white tie for an upcoming state dinner honoring Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh.
First Lady Laura Bush’s office today confirmed that the administration’s first - and probably only - white-tie state dinner will be held May 7 in honor of the visiting royal couple.
Britain’s royalty arrives in the U.S. on Thursday for a visit that includes May 7-8 in Washington, as well as trips to the Kentucky Derby and the 400th anniversary of the settlement at Jamestown, Virginia.
The Bushes have hosted several black-tie state dinners, but none of the white-tie variety. Word from the White House is the president was not too enthusiastic about going white tie for the dinner but was overruled but those who thought it appropriate.
Here’s what modernetiquette.com tells us about white-tie dinners: “This is the most formal of evening attire. The gentleman wears a long black dinner jacket with tails. A white pique vest is worn over his formal shirt and a white pique bow tie is also worn. Only formal black shoes with a spit shine should be worn with this attire. White gloves are sometimes carried which a gentleman may wear when he dances with a lady. If he is a diplomat, he may wear his pins with the colors of his country on his dinner jacket.”
A show of hands please among those eager to see President Bush in white gloves?
107 Ways To Mark It Secret
There are now 107 unique ways to remove documents from the public by marking them “Sensitive But Unclassified” and 131 different handling procedures, according Thomas E. McNamara, the federal official in charge of improving the government’s information sharing networks in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
And that figure is probably low since it is based on a survey of just 20 agencies, a fraction of the overall number of agencies.
“We lack a national unclassified control framework that enables the rapid and routine flow of information across federal agencies to and from our partners in state, local, tribal and private sectors,” said McNamara speaking at a little-noticed House subcommittee hearing on intelligence, information sharing and terrorism risk assessment.
The lack of a standardized way of handling sensitive information leads to improper handling, overclassifcation and an unwillingness to share information that could be crucial to prevent another terrorist attack, he said.
“This is a national concern because the terrorist threat to the nation requires that many communities of interest, at different levels of government, share information,” McNamara said.
Here’s one example to show how confusing all the markings are:
SSI means Sensitive Security Information to the Department of Homeland Security; Department of Transportation, Agriculture Department, and the Environmental Protection Agency.
But SSI also means Source Selection Information to the EPA. So, within one agency the acronymn means two different things.
Confusing? You bet!
“These types of inforamtioin are completely different and have vastly different safeguarding and dissemination requirements, but still carry the same SBU marking acronym,” according to McNamara.
McNamara suggests that the federal government start over with a new acronyms and procedures that are uniformly adopted by federal agencies.
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst: GOP challenger for Cornyn?
Dewhurst
Is it possible Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, will face a major Republican primary challenger next spring?
Texas’ left-leaning political blogs like Capitol Annex are eagerly stirring those waters — but so far the Dewhurst camp isn’t biting.
Although Dewhurst spokesman Rich Parsons didn’t reject a Dewhurst run, either.
“He is focused on the session,” Parsons said Monday. “I have no idea where these rumors are coming from.”
Parsons said Dewhurst focused finishing the legislative sesssion, and “working on a balanced budget and passing Jessica’s Law.”
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Snow’s Return
He’s back. He’s grateful. And he’s already feeling the heat at the podium.
White House Press Secretary Tony Snow, back in the briefing room for the first time since announcing in late March that he has cancer again, began today with a routine recitation of the president’s daily schedule.
And then he choked up (see photo above) as he offered thanks to those - including reporters in the room - who have voiced their concern for his condition.
“I’m a very lucky guy,” Snow said, noting he will begin chemotherapy on Friday that will span four months. He plans to do the daily briefings throughout the treatment.
“The design is to throw it into remission and transform it into a chronic disease,” Snow said. “If cancer is merely a nuisance for a long period of time, that’s fine with me.”
“I won’t tell you how it’s going to work out because I don’t know. But we obviously feel optimistic. And faith, hope and love are a big part of it,” Snow said.
Snow had colon cancer in 2005. He said today the chemotherapy will attack “some small cancers in the peritoneum” (the thin membrane that lines the abdominal and pelvic cavities.)
Snow had colon cancer in 2005. He said today the chemotherapy will attack “some small cancers in the peritoneum (the thin membrane that lines the abdominal and pelvic cavities.”
He recently underwent surgery to remove a tumor attached to his liver.
After talking about his cancer, Snow fielded questions about the topics du jour, including the resignation of a deputy secretary of state whose name turned up in escort service records, the White House vs. Congress battle over war funding and a query about whether the U.S. is winning the war in Iraq.
“Yeah, exactly, welcome back,” he said about the winning-the-war question.
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Texans Keep Up Fight for Breast Cancer Cure
Austin resident Ramona Magid pushed Texas members this week to continue breast cancer research funding. The Capitol Hill visit also marked Magid’s eighth anniversary of surviving breast cancer.
Ramona Magid, executive director of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure’s Austin affiliate, found a lump in her breast eight years ago; shortly after, a mammogram turned up negative.
Magid, 51, pressed all of the Central Texas congressional offices to continue funding research and treatment for the disease.
(cutline) Thirty years after she promised her dying sister she would fight to find a cure for breast cancer and started the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation in her honor, Texan Nancy Brinker told survivors on Capitol Hill Thursday to re-energize their efforts in Congress and “close the gap” in key research and health care spending.
“Younger and younger women are being diagnosed,” Magid said Thursday at a rally outside the Capitol. “You know you think you are invincible when you are 20 years old, but there are 19-year-olds that have been diagnosed. We want to get that message out again and reinvigorate (the cause).”
Magid’s visit to Washington was part of the Komen foundation’s 25th anniversary celebration. Thirty years ago, Texan Nancy Brinker promised her dying sister she would launch a fight to cure breast cancer, and the foundation that bears her sister’s name is now one of the most powerful cancer research organizations in the world.
Since its creation, the foundation has raised more than $1 billion and seen early detection and survival rates increase. But success can generate complacency, Brinker warned. For example, access to treatment and detection remains difficult for poor and minority communities, and women in those communities face tougher odds at beating a cancer diagnosis.
So to mark the foundation’s 25th anniversary, Brinker launched Close the Gap on Thursday, a new cause to equalize levels of access and breast cancer treatment nationwide. The foundation has also pledged to raise another $1 billion in breast cancer funding in the next 10 years.
“It is up to each of us to light the fire under each congressperson,” Brinker said. “Because we must fix the gap here so we can fix the gap around the rest of the world.”
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Is The Bush Administration Planning to Destroy Gitmo Documents?
That’s the fear of some 20 open government organizations.
They sent a letter today to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Allen Weinstein, the national archivist, expressing concern that all documents related Guantanamo detainees could be destroyed under a little noticed court order.
Tucked away in a 2004 federal court case over the detainees is this unusual order: The Amended Protective Order And Procedures For Counsel Access To Detainees At The United States Naval Base In Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The order requires that “all documents containing classified information prepared, possessed or maintained by, or provided to, petitioners’ counsel (except filings submitted to the Court and served on counsel for the government), shall [u]pon final resolution of these cases, including all appeals … be destroyed by the Court Security Officer.”
Yet, the protective order states that “counsel for the government may retain one complete set of any such materials…” “We are concerned that the court’s order could be interpreted to authorize or direct destruction of government records that should be permanently preserved,” said Patrice McDermott, executive director of OpenTheGovernment.org, an umbrella organization of 65 conservative and liberal groups concerned about government secrecy.
The letters ask Gonzales and Weinstein to ensure that one set of complete records is maintained. Below is the letter.
April 26, 2007
The Honorable Alberto R. Gonzales Attorney General of the United States Robert F. Kennedy Building 950 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W. Washington, D.C. 20530 Via facsimile
Dear Mr. Attorney General:
It has come to our attention that the “Amended Protective Order And Procedures For Counsel Access To Detainees At The United States Naval Base In Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,” In re Guantanamo Detainee Cases, Nos. 02-CV-0299, et al., Slip op. at ¶ 45 (D.D.C. Nov. 8, 2004), permits counsel for the government to retain one complete set of “materials that were presented in any form to the Court.” The Protective Order also states that “[i]n any subsequent or collateral proceeding, a party may seek discovery of such materials from the government, without prejudice to the government’s right to oppose such discovery or its ability to dispose of the materials pursuant to its general document retention policies.” Id. Yet, the Protective Order only states that counsel for the government may retain one complete set of any such materials…” Id. (emphasis added)
We are concerned that the Court’s order could be interpreted to authorize or direct destruction of government records that should be permanently preserved, such as the Combatant Status Review Tribunal record and the interview notes. The court’s order is permissive, allowing the government to retain a set; as you know, federal statutory records retention requirements mandate retention by the government of a set of the records. Further, the government and the public would be best served by the permanent retention of the materials.
Accordingly, we are writing to urge you to ensure that one complete set is retained by the government. Further, given the secretive nature of the process for counsel access to and the tribunals on detainees, we urge you to work with the Archivist of the United States to ensure that any such record sets are preserved permanently.
Please contact Patrice McDermott, Director of OpenTheGovernment.org (202 332 6736) or Meredith Fuchs, General Counsel to the National Security Archive (202 994 7059) if you have any questions.
Thank you.
Protective Order Letter April 26, 2007 Page 2 of 2
Sincerely,
Mary Alice Baish, Associate Washington Affairs Representative American Association of Law Libraries
Christopher Finan, President American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression
Arnita Jones, Executive Director American Historical Association
Gilbert Bailon, President American Society of Newspaper Editors
Richard Karpel, Executive Director Association of Alternative Newsweeklies
Ronald A. Bosco, President The Association for Documentary Editing
Nancy Talanian, Director Bill of Rights Defense Committee
Elisa Massimino, Washington Director Human Rights First
Keith Robinson, Interim President Indiana Coalition for Open Government
Joan E. Bertin, Esq., Executive Director National Coalition Against Censorship
Lee White, Executive Director National Coalition for History
Meredith Fuchs, General Counsel National Security Archive Sibel Edmonds, Executive Director National Security Whistleblowers Coalition
Carol Wickersham, Coordinator No2Torture
Morton H. Halperin, Executive Director Open Society Policy Center
Patrice McDermott, Director OpenTheGovernment.org
Rev. Katherine Hancock Ragsdale, Executive Director Political Research Associates
Lucy Dalglish, Executive Director Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
Christine Tatum, President Society of Professional Journalists
Edward Hammond, Director The Sunshine Project
Kenneth J. Hirsh, President. Southeastern Chapter of the American Association of Law Libraries, Inc (SEALL)
Paul Magno Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition International
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Hispanic Reps to Bush: No More Raids
Three members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus met with President Bush on Wednesday and asked him to stop the immigration raids which have been taking place at businesses around the country, according to Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill.
Gutierrez said Thursday that the Caucus asked for the face time and that the president “certainly said that he would look into” the raids, which are conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, part of the Department of Homeland Security.
In addition, Gutierrez said “it was a very good meeting” and that Bush pledged to work with the lawmakers on “comprehensive immigration reform.”
Gutierrez made the remarks after a seminar at The Brookings Institution in Washington. He said the other two lawmakers who met with Bush were Reps. Ed Pastor, D-Ariz., and Xavier Becerra, D-Calif. The latter is an assistant to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
Gutierrez introduced a bill last month with Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., that would allow illegal immigrants to become legal residents and citizens if they pay $2,000 in fines, take English classes, wait six years, and leave the United States.
It would also create a temporary worker program for 400,000 foreign workers a year and increase penalties for businesses that employ illegal immigrants.
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Watchdog Group Demands Missing Document in U.S. Attorney Probe
Yesterday, we told you about how the Justice Department failed to turn over an important document revealing that former U.S. Attorney Paul Charlton notified the Justice Department last fall when his office received a call from an Arizona Republican congressman under investigation.
People For the American Way president Ralph G. Neas is now calling for the Bush administration to make public all documents related to the contact between Rep. Rick Renzi’s office and Charlton’s office last fall.
Charlton was fired on Dec. 7, just weeks after the investigation of Renzi was made public and the phone call from his chief of staff was placed.
“Again and again this administration has refused to be candid with the American people,” Neas said. “We deserve all the facts about the US Attorney firing scandal, and we deserve them now. Congress has asked for all the documents relating to political interference with the fired attorneys. We need to know why nothing related to Rick Renzi has been released so far.”
The Justice Department has yet to return calls about the missing document.
Neas also called on Congress to investigate the possibility that Department of Justice officials held up the investigation of Renzi to help the Congressman win reelection in November.
According to a story published in the Wall Street Journal, “investigators pursuing the Renzi case had been seeking clearance from senior Justice Department officials on search warrants, subpoenas and other legal tools for a year before the election.”
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John Cornyn: Texas Dems’ Favorite Poll Pinata
In the second Democratic poll this week dooming John Cornyn’s Senate career, the numbers tallied by Survey USA showed that 43 percent of Texans approve of the way Cornyn is handling his job, and 40 percent disapprove.
(An earlier poll released by Hamilton Beattie & Staff this week found that 41 percent of Texans had a favorable opinion of Cornyn — but that another 40 percent of the state doesn’t know who he is.)
The one-two punch brought this gleeful response from Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesman (and die-hard UT alum) Matthew Miller:
“Cornyn has a statewide name ID roughly competitive with the third string quarterback for the Longhorns.”
Which of course begs the question, does Miller know who Texas’ third-stringer will be this season?
‘Cause if Texas coach Mack Brown knows, he’s not telling (us, at least.) Will it be red-shirt freshman Sherrod Harris, or true freshman John Chiles who will back up Colt McCoy?
The polls draw attention away from the fact that the Texas’ Dems bench so far hasn’t fielded a Cornyn challenger.
Miller suggested that former Texas Comptroller John Sharp is looking into a race, as is Houston attorney Mikal Watts, former Dallas mayor Ron Kirk and State Rep. Rick Noriega, D-Houston.
Cornyn’s office, slightly annoyed by the second call for a react on poll numbers in a week, especially when the Senator was busy leading reaction to the Iraq War vote, responded with this. It’s an extended version of their response to the week’s earlier Democratic poll:
“It’s a sad sign of disorganized desperation when a political party has to rely on misleading polls and partisan name-calling, in the absence of new ideas or even a candidate to articulate them,” said spokesman Brian Walsh. “This is really nothing more than a transparent attempt to raise Texas trial lawyer money for races in other states, rather than a serious belief by Democrats that they can make Texas competitive in 2008.”
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Rain Man
Most valuable guy in the McCain campaign on Wednesday?
How about the guy who endured a suit-soaking rain to hold an umbrella over the candidate’s head as he gave his speech in soggy Manchester.
“We say in Arizona when anything happens in the rain it’s good luck,” McCain said after the event.
But maybe not for the umbrella man.
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Word Processor
How do politicians give those long speeches without looking down at the text? It’s the magic of TelePrompter and similar devices.
Here’s what Sen. John McCain was reading from as he gave his campaign kick-off speech Wednesday evening in rainy Manchester, New Hampshire.
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Westlake Senior Brightens Lamar Smith’s Day
Photo credit: U.S. House of Representatives
Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, got a tranquil break from the crazed midmorning attorney general hearings and a midafternoon hate crimes bill when Charles Yang, a senior at Westlake High School in Austin, transported him (and several Smith staffers) with his Juilliard-bound violin playing skills.
“Let me tell ya, it brought a little harmony into my life in the day. It couldn’t have been better,” Smith said.
Yang, 18, performed on a violin made in France in 1826, and “what he could do with that in a few minutes was almost indescribable,” Smith said.
Yang will be appearing in the upcoming “From the Top: Live From Carnegie Hall,” on PBS, his publicist said. He was in Washington promoting the PBS special and visited Smith because he lives in Smith’s district.
The performance made Smith rue his own lack of musical talent. However, he did “once try to teach myself how to play the recorder,” Smith said.
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Spelling Counts
Take a good look at this sign held up on stage as John McCain announced his presidential campaign today in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Seems that Mr. Wizard initially had a bit of trouble spelling physicist.
But by rally time the “h” was squeezed in and all was well.
And then it was back to the lab.
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The McCain Road Show
That’s officially-announced presidential candidate John McCain amid the scrum of media folks who showed up for the campaign kick-off event today in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Pretty fair to say that the pushing and shoving for camera angles as McCain chatted with reporters near his Straight Talk Express bus was at a higher energy level than the rally that preceded it.
Signs in the crowd included the usual ones handed out to and then collected from supporters. Anti-war protesters gathered nearby, including one with a sign that said “No more warmongers in the White House.”
One McCain foe on hand carried a sign saying “McCain’s mouth more dangerous than Imus!”
Event curiosity: The backdrop for McCain’s big announcement in New Hampshire - a key state - was Maine. He spoke in a Portsmouth park on the New Hampshire side of the Piscataqua River. The cameras pointed at him showed Kittery, Maine - on the other side of the river - in the background.
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Missing Document in U.S. Attorney Probe
Where, oh where, did that document go?
Paul Charlton, the ousted U.S. attorney from Arizona, followed the rules. He reported an inappropriate contact last fall about an investigation into Arizona Republican Rep. Rick Renzi from the lawmaker’s own chief of staff as is required by Justice Department rules.
But that document is nowhere to be found among the thousands of pages of records turned over by the Justice Department to the House and Senate Judiciary committees investigating whether Charlton and seven other prosecutors were fired to silence public corruption investigations like the one into Renzi.
A House Judiciary Committee aide said that the document is “missing” and they plan to ask the Justice Department to find it and find it fast.
The aide noted that this makes the fourth example where a congressional lawmaker or staff have inappropriately attempted to inquire about an on-going investigation.
The House aide noted that the lawmaker was put on the Justice Department’s hit list for U.S. attorneys shortly after the phone call from Renzi’s staffer and a public announcement that an inquiry had been opened.
Charlton was one of seven prosecutors to be fired on Dec. 7. Another prosecutor was fired earlier in the year.
The Justice Department did not immediately return calls about the missing document or the probe.
Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., is incensed at the new disclosure.
Schumer said it raises “new and serious questions” about Charlton’s dismissal—namely was Charlton fired because of the Renzi probe?
Schumer sent Attorney General Alberto Gonzales a letter today requesting that the department reveal all contacts related to the Renzi investigation with the White House, Renzi’s office or other parties so so that congressional investigators can ascertain whether improper political motivations played a role in Charlton’s dismissal.
Renzi’s chief of staff called Charlton’s office to discuss media reports of a pending indictment related to Renzi’s role in a 2005 land deal just weeks before the before the historic November 2006 election that out Democrats back in control of Congress, according to media reports.
The full text of Senator Schumer’s letter is reproduced below:
April 25, 2007
The Honorable Alberto Gonzales
United States Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C.20530
Dear Attorney General Gonzales:
I read this morning, with grave concern, media reports describing previously undisclosed contacts between the office of Congressman Renzi and dismissed Arizona United States Attorney Paul Charlton. In particular, the Associated Press reports that Mr. Renzi’s chief of staff has acknowledged that he called Mr. Charlton’s office shortly after learning that Mr. Charlton had opened an investigation into Mr. Renzi’s conduct in a 2005 land exchange. Based on preliminary reports, at least, these contacts could potentially be construed as designed to inappropriately affect the timing of charging decisions in a politically sensitive investigation around the time of the November election.
Moreover, in another troubling story, the Wall Street Journal today reports that as midterm elections approached last November, federal investigators in Arizona faced unexpected obstacles in getting needed Justice Department approvals to advance a corruption investigation of Mr. Renzi.
Taken together, today’s reports raise new and serious questions about whether improper political motivations were involved in your decision to force Mr. Charlton to resign just a few weeks after the election. To date, there has not been a compelling case made that Mr. Charlton deserved to be dismissed based on his performance as the chief federal prosecutor in Arizona.
I am troubled by the possibility that the practice of having U.S. attorneys coordinate with the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section in cases involving lawmakers, which is intended to be a check on politicization, may have been used in this instance for the contrary purpose of influencing a case for political reasons.
Given the sensitivity of this matter and the declining public confidence in your handling of the U.S. Attorney firings, please provide answers to the following questions no later than the close of business on Friday:
Please explain why the alleged contacts between Representative Renzi’s office and Mr. Charlton’s, which appear to have been reported to the Department, have not been previously disclosed.
Please describe with particularity any and all contacts that occurred between anyone in Representative Renzi’s office and the Justice Department.
Please describe with particularity any and all contacts that occurred between anyone at the White House and the Justice Department about any investigation involving Representative Renzi.
Please describe with particularity any and all contacts that occurred between any third party (including lobbyists, party officials, or other outsiders) and the Justice Department about any investigation involving Representative Renzi.
I thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.
Sincerely, Charles E. Schumer United States Senator
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McCain Makes It Official
Arizona Sen. John McCain, returning to the scene of his biggest victory in the 2000 campaign, today formally kicked off his re-tooled campaign for the GOP presidential nomination.
Though trailing ex-New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani in the polls, McCain’s official announcement asked for an Election Day mandate.
“I won’t judge myself by how many elections I’ve won, but by how well I keep my promises to you. To keep those promises, I can’t just win this election by a few votes in a few counties in a few states. I need a mandate from you big enough to convince Congress that Americans want this election to be different,” he said.
McCain returned to New Hampshire, where he upset George W. Bush in the 2000 GOP primary, to begin a five-state announcement tour that ends Saturday in Arizona.
“Ours are not red-state or blue-state problems,” McCain said in Portsmouth. “They are national and global.”
But for now, McCain’s immediate problems are on the red side of the political ledger. Polls show him a distant second to Giuliani in national polls of likely GOP voters.
A large measure of McCain’s problem is his support for the military build-up in Iraq.
“We all know the war in Iraq has not gone well. We have made mistakes and we have paid grievously for them,” McCain said today. “We have changed the strategy that failed us, and we have begun to make a little progress.”
He called it part of a “global struggle with violent extremists who despise us, our values and modernity itself.”
The 70-year-old candidate nodded to his age.
“I’m not the youngest candidate,” he said. “But I am the most experienced. I know how the military works, what it can do, what it can do better, and what it should not do. I know how Congress works, and how to make it work for the country and not just the re-election of its members.”
“I know how the world works,” he said. “I know the good and evil in it. I know how to fight and how to make peace. I know who I am and what I want to do.”
ENDIT
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Tancredo: Newsom a “Rogue Mayor”
Rep. Tom Tancredo, a Colorado Republican who is running for president, said Tuesday that San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is violating federal law by refusing to cooperate with immigration raids.
In a letter to embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Tancredo said that Gonzales has an opportunity to “regain the confidence of the public by taking action to make sure that this rogue mayor doesn’t make a mockery of our justice system.”
Earlier this week, Newsom said that San Francisco police officers and other city employees will not help federal agents in rounding up and deporting illegal immigrants.
“I will not allow any of my department heads or anyone associated with this city to cooperate in any way shape or form with these raids,” Newsom declared, according to the Associated Press. “We are a sanctuary city, make no mistake about it.”
Tancredo said that so-called “sanctuary city” policies are illegal.
“Now that Mr. Newsom has made it crystal clear that he intends to flaunt federal law, I would like to know what actions the Justice Department will take to enforce compliance,” Tancredo said.
If I’m Elected President….
At a press conference Tuesday organized by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., decided to do some campaigning in his quest for the White House.
Hunter, who is running for the GOP presidential nomination, had championed a bill signed by the president last year to build more than 700 miles of fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Unfortunately, he said, only two miles have been built.
“If I’m elected to be president of the United States, I will complete this border fence in six months,” he said, to raucous applause.
FAIR is a group that seeks to reduce immigration.
Duncan also said that as president, he would pardon two imprisoned former Border Patrol agents — Jose Alonso Compean and Ignacio Ramos — who have become a cause celeb among conservatives.
The two agents are serving 12 and 11 year prison sentences after being convicted of shooting a suspected drug smuggler and trying to cover up the incident.
Supporters say the agents were wrongly convicted for protecting the U.S. border against criminal intruders.
Duncan said the two men were convicted “with what I would call the most extreme injustice ever dealt to men and women in uniform in United States agencies.”
U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton of San Antonio has stood by his prosecution of the agents.
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On the Road Again
They’re packing up and heading out, again.
Ex-Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton were named today to lead the U.S. delegation to tomorrow’s funeral of former Russian President Boris Yeltsin.
The current President Bush also named William Burns, the U.S. ambassador to Russia, to the official delegation.
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In the ‘Never Mind’ Department…
UPDATE: A Kucinich spokeswoman says the presser has been rescheduled for 5 p.m. Tuesday.
Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, had planned to introduce articles of impeachment against Vice-President Richard Cheney Tuesday at a Capitol Hill press conference.
Namely, Kucinich believes that Cheney and President Bush have violated the law by threatening “aggressive” war against Iran - a violation of the U.N. charter.
But then Cheney went to the hospital to have the blood clot in his leg checked, and suddenly it didn’t look like a very good day to start trying to impeach the vice president.
“Until the vice president’s condition is clarified, I am placing any action on hold,” Kucinich, a Democratic presidential candidate, declared in a statement.
A Kucinich spokeswoman said the press conference has yet to be rescheduled.
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Congress sets new interviews in attorney firing probe
President Bush’s pledge of support for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales did little to deter the House and Senate investigators probing his questionable firing of eight federal prosecutors last year.
House and Senate investigators are interviewing Justice Department official William E. Moschella today about the firing of the prosecutors.
They are planning to press Moschella, principal associate attorney general, about testimony he gave the House Judiciary Committee last month that the U.S. attorney in New Mexico was fired on Dec. 7 because he had delegated his first assistant to running the office.
David Iglesias, the U.S. attorney from New Mexico who is a captain in the Navy Reserve, did leave the office for 45 days each year.
House aides say Moschella will be asked about whether the Justice Department created an excuse to dismiss Iglesias because they had heard numerous complaints about him from Sen. Pete Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M..
Iglesias told the House and Senate panels that he felt pressure to hasten an investigation of a state Democrat. Domenici called him to ask about an investigation just weeks before last November’s elections put the Democratic party back in control of Congress. Records show that Domenici complained to the White House and Gonzales about Iglesias.
The committees also plan to interview Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty this week. They are interested in testimony he gave earlier this year to the Senate Judiciary Committee about the dismissals.
McNulty told the committees that the attorneys were ousted because of peformance problems. Records released in the probe show that nearly all of the prosecutors had unblemished performance records.
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Doggett Adds Another Committee Assignment
Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, tacked on yet another committee assignment Monday: The Joint Economic Committee.
For numbers-wary reporters, his daily work now encompasses:
The Budget Committee, which oversees the nation’s spending; the Ways and Means Committee, which makes the tax policy that makes the spending possible, and the Economic Committee, which deliberates the policy that influences the Budget which needs the Ways and Means to make it all happen.
Get it?
Luckily, Doggett does.
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Cornyn: Vulnerable in ‘08?
A new poll released by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee says only 41 percent of Texans have a favorable opinion of Sen. John Cornyn — and another 40 percent doesn’t know who he is.
Which makes the state’s junior senator a vulnerable target when he runs for re-election in 2008, they said.
The poll, conducted by Hamilton Beattie & Staff for the DSCC also found that if the vote were held today, Cornyn would pull 47 percent of the vote and his unnamed Democratic challenger would pull 38 percent.
Cornyn’s job security is hit by the fact that he took the more controversial and higher national profile role as a public defender of the Bush administration after Cornyn arrived in Washington in 2002.
But the partisan poll doesn’t reflect reality, Cornyn’s office said. And it is belied by the fact that no major Democratic challenger has stepped forward.
“This poll is part of their tactics,” said Cornyn spokesman Brian Walsh. “They know Sen. Cornyn is in very solid shape in Texas, as evidenced by their recruiting failures thus far.”
Texas Democatic spokeswoman Amber Moon said the party will front a major opponent to Cornyn, but she would not name potential front-runners.
“We will, given John Cornyn’s vulnerability, have a credible Democratic candidate,” Moon said. “Today’s poll is even further evidence of John Cornyn’s vulnerability and his record that is out of touch with Texans. That is certainly encouraging to the Democratic party and Democratic candidates.”
For comparison, Senior Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison secured her state popularity by helping Texas communities secure federal project funding.
Hutchison was re-elected in 2006. She won 61 percent against Democratic candidate Barbara Ann Radnofsky, a Houston lawyer who spent more than two years on an exhaustive campaign that earned her 36 percent of the vote.
Earlier this year, Cornyn told a gathering of reporters he believed it would take $20 million to defend his Senate seat in 2008.
He’s raised $6.2 million and spent $2.7 million to date, according to his latest FEC filings.
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Karl and Crow
Compare and contrast:
From the chorus of “All I Wanna Do,” Sheryl Crow’s first hit:
“All I wanna do is have some fun. I got a feeling I’m not the only one”
From White House spokeswoman Dana Perino’s comments today about Crow’s unfriendly encounter with Karl Rove at the White House Correspondents Association dinner on Saturday night:
“I think Karl Rove just wanted to have some fun on Saturday night. And I think he wasn’t the only one.”
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Bumper Crop
Memo to undecided motorist: Please select one.
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Bush to Keynote Jamestown 400th Anniversary
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| JAMESTOWN, VA. - A replica of the Godspeed, one of the three merchant ships that brought the original English settlers to Jamestown in 1607, plies the James River waters under full sail. President Bush will visit Jamestown May 13 to mark the 400th anniversary of the first permanent English settlement in America. Cox photo by Rick McKay. |
The president’s address will cap-off three days of official commemorative events at the site where 104 English men and boys settled on May 14th, 1607, naming their fort for King James I of England.
The current British Monarch, Queen Elizabeth, and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, plan to visit Jamestown on May 3 and 4 to commemorate four centuries of trans-Atlantic relations between the English and the Americans. Later she is to visit Bush in Washington, though the two have no plans to be together at Jamestown. The Jamestown settlement marked the first sustained clash between English settlers and Native Americans and was the beginning of British empire in America. Later, in 1619, 20 elected burgesses met in Jamestown as the first representative government in America. Three weeks after that, the first Africans to arrive in English America in chains came up the James River near Jamestown, the seeds of American democracy and American slavery having been sown side by side along the banks of the river.
Commemoration activities have been in the planning for years. Organizers have been careful not to label the event a celebration, in deference to the sensitivities of Native Americans, African-Americans and others.
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Gill Leads Edwards, Performers In “Amazing Grace” Tribute To Virginia Tech Shooting Victims
Vince Gill is apolitical. But when a John Edwards rally turned into a vigil for the students killed at Virginia Tech on Monday, the country superstar rushed from a local golf course to join the Democratic presidential candidate and other Nashville stars on the stage of the historic Ryman Auditorium.
Gill did not even stop to change clothes. “Guess where I was?” he asked the audience as he walked out on stage, wearing plaid shorts and a golf cap. “Excuse my appearance, but my heart is in the right place,” he said.
The event at the Ryman, which also included singers Rodney Crowell, Del McCoury, Sam Bush and Chely Wright and actress Ashley Judd, ended with Gill leading the audience, his fellow performers and Edwards in singing “Amazing Grace.”
Impressionist Bearing Gifts
Impressionist Rich Little, the talent for this weekend’s White House Correspondents Association dinner, dropped by the Oval Office for a little face time with President Bush today.
Little brought gifts: Charcoal drawings he had done of the president and first lady.
Then Little joked that he forgot to bring the one he had done of Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid.
Said Bush, according to Little: “Destroy it.”
Sounds like an executive order.
PS: Little says he’ll impersonate a variety of politicos during the dinner, including six presidents and John McCain.
And he acknowledges that he looks at elections through an impressionist’s eye. Said he dreads the thought of President Hillary Clinton. Nothing personal, just a bit difficult for a male impersonator to do.
Not sure why that would be. Little probably has a closetful of pant suits.
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Dutch Date
You are excused if you did not make appropriate advance plans to celebrate Dutch-American Friendship Day, which is today.
You had no way of knowing it was Dutch-American Friendship Day because the White House did not announce it until about 6 p.m. today. The presidential proclamation was signed sometime today.
Anyway, here’s why we celebrate Dutch-American Friendship Day. It is, the proclamation proclaims, because of “our longtime friendship with the Kingdom of the Netherlands” and to honor “the many Dutch-Americans who have made significant contributions to our country.”
That, and other reasons, is why President Bush “by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim April 19, 2007 as Dutch-American Friendship Day.”
“I encourage all Americans to celebrate our country’s Dutch heritage and the many ways Dutch Americans have strenghtened our nation,” he said in the proclamation.
And, if you want to do it on Dutch-American Friendship Day, he gave you about six hours to do so.
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Thompson “Presidential” In Meeting With GOP House Members
Politician-turned-actor Fred Thompson played politician again Wednesday with a private meeting on Capitol Hill with 53 Republican House members to discuss a possible campaign for president.
House members who attended the meeting said Thompson, who currently appears as district attorney Arthur Branch on NBC’s “Law And Order” programs, was “presidential” during the private gathering at the office and club complex of the Republican National Committee’s headquarters.
And indeed, Thompson’s exit was very presidential: he wisked past a crowd of reporters and, with a wave of his hand, disappeared into a waiting black SUV, the engine already running. He paused only long enough to give a brief statement.
Thompson said, “I don’t really have anything to say other than the fact that I wanted to come over and see some of my old friends and make some new friends and tell them what was on my mind and listen to them and see what was on their mind.”
He added: “We had a good talk. I enjoyed it. And we’ll be seeing some more of each other.”
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Lynne Cheney’s Mormon Ancestors
Lynne Cheney, wife of Vice President Dick Cheney, spoke of her Mormon lineage at a special naturalization ceremony Tuesday at the National Archives.
She told the soon-to-be-Americans that “it takes work to create a country and work to keep a country, and part of that work lies in appreciating our history; and it is our history, whether our ancestors were here or not in the early days.”
Cheney said that some of her forebears were Mormon immigrants from Wales who came in the middle of the nineteenth century, “long after George Washington and the other Founding Fathers had departed from this life.”
She added: “But what the founders accomplished affected those immigrants mightily.”
Several high level administration officials have spoken recently at citizenship ceremonies, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Citizen’s Almanac and Pithy Quotes
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services released a new Citizen’s Almanac this week to hand out to immigrants at naturalization ceremonies.
The book includes information on the rights and responsibilities of U.S. citizenship, landmark decisions of the Supreme Court, and the history behind many of America’s patriotic anthems and symbols.
It also features a collection of presidential quotes on citizenship and immigration, including:
President George Washington, 1783: “The bosom of America is open to receive not only the opulent and respectable stranger, but the oppressed and persecuted of all nations and religions.”
President Woodrow Wilson, 1915: “This is the only country in the world which experiences this constant and repeated rebirth. Other countries depend upon the multiplication of their own native people. This country is constantly drinking strength out of new sources by the voluntary association with it of great bodies of strong men and forward-looking women of other lands.”
President Calvin Coolidge, 1924: “American citizenship is a high estate. He who holds it is the peer of kings. It has been secured only by untold toil and effort. It will be maintained by no other method.”
President Ronald Reagan, 1984: “America has drawn the stoutest hearts from every corner of the world, from every nation of the world. And that was lucky for America, because if it was going to endure and grow and protect its freedoms for 200 years, it was going to need stout hearts.”
President George W. Bush, 2001: “America has never been united by blood or birth or soil. We are bound by ideas that move us beyond our backgrounds, lift us above our interests and teach us what it means to be citizens. Every child must be taught these principles.”
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White House Communications Crisis
The Blackberry system breakdown that knocked many of the devices off the air took its toll at the White House.
“We’re 14 hours into no Blackberrys,” said spokesman Tony Fratto. “So you can imagine how things are.”
“We’ve already started a 12-step group,” he joked.
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White House Shooting
Two members of the Secret Service uniformed division at the White House were injured today in what the department said appears to be an “accidental discharge of a service-issued weapon” in possession of a third agent.
Secret Service spokesman Darrin Blackford said the incident occurred at 2:10 p.m. at the White House southwest gate. One agent suffered a leg injury and the other took shrapnel in the face.
“The injuries appear to be non-life-threatening,” said Blackford, who declined to identify the agents.
Both were taken to nearby George Washington University Hospital. The Secret Service is investigating what happened and why.
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Showdown on TXU, Part II
Note to Rep. Joe Barton: Don’t duel with former Secretary of State James Baker over TXU. If a weekend-long exchange with his policy assistant is a prelude, this is one pro-environment Texan to not pick a fight with.
The background: Last week Barton, R-Ennis, puffed up and challenged Baker to face him on “neutral” Texas territory for a debate on TXU’s proposed sale. Barton opposes the sale; Baker supports it. The blog noted Barton’s challenge, letting it stand on its own, no real need to embellish when a member of Congress makes such a publicity grab.
Baker, not one to back down, sent a response last Friday that did not make it into the blog that day. But he attacked Barton’s pro-energy politics: “Unlike you, I am out of politics and not running for re-election to anything,” Baker wrote. “Therefore I will not expand or enhance your platform.”
He also suggested Barton “consider talking” with someone who believes, “as most Texans and I do, that climate change is an important challenge.”
So, back to the blog. A Baker policy assistant contacted the Statesman Saturday afternoon and strongly advocated that the blog be updated with Baker’s letter.
The letter was already out; it was posted on other Texas media. The blog was not updated.
Sunday afternoon, the blog gets notice that Baker’s office feels they “wasted” their time Saturday, since the blog was not updated.
The blog does try to respond multiple times, but email technological difficulties disable “reply.” Decides to handle it Monday from the office. As said earlier, the letter is already out and well-disseminated.
Monday morning, email Inbox from Baker’s office alerts the blog that it’s been “66 hours” since original blog item was posted.
“I can only surmise that your desire to get the item posted with immediacy — as you explained to me Saturday — surpassed any similar desire for balance. By comparison, reporters with The Dallas Morning News, Bloomberg and Reuters called for a response and ran stories including it. Bloomberg and Reuters had their stories posted before you submitted your blog posting, and thus they could have been a source had you performed a 15-second Google-search.”
“I don’t expect miracles … However, if it would not be a bother, please post a mention of Mr. Baker’s response before the close of the legislative session in Austin.”
One last testy phone call later, and the assistant directs that if blog is going to post his email, it’s only fair to post the blog’s.
In one line, the blog email said:
“When I talked to you on Saturday I did not promise to update the blog item, I thanked you for bringing it to my attention. If I mention the letter again, I will be sure to mention the response. “
Ah, diplomacy. So, since the blog is mentioning the letter again, here is the response:
And here is Barton’s. Download file
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Texas, Washington
Rudy’s Texans
Some fancy titles announced today for some influential Texans who think ex-New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani should be president of the United States.
T. Boone Pickens, hailed in the Giuliani press release as “legendary oilman and one of American’s best-known entrepreneurs,” was named to Giuliani’s executive committee for the Southwest region. Pickens, the release notes, has contributed more than $5 million to a “wide range of Republican causes.”
Dallasite Tom Hicks was named to the executive committee and as Texas state finance chair for the campaign. Hicks’ Hicks Holdings LLC owns the Texas Rangers (the baseball team, not the legendary law enforcement team), the Dallas Stars hockey team and half of Liverpool FC, an English soccer team.
Hicks’ Texas vice chair will be James H. Lee of Houston, president and founder of JHL Capital Securities, LLC, an institutional broker-dealer in Houston. Lee raised more than $200,000 for the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign.
Previously, Giuliani named Houston lawyer Pat Oxford as chairman of the Rudy Giuliani Presidential Exploratory Committee, the entity that soon will morph into the ex-New York mayor’s presidential campaign committee.
Oxford is managing partner of Bracewell & Giuliani (formerly Bracewell & Patterson,) a worldwide law firm based in Houston.
FDA ISSUES ‘URGENT’ WARNING ON OLIVES
In an unusual urgent warning, the Food and Drug Administration said Friday afternoon that a brand of imported olives may be contaminated with a deadly bacterium and should not be eaten, even if they do not appear to be spoiled.
The germ, Clostridium botulinum, may be present in olives produced by Charlie Brown di Rutigliano & Figli S.r.l of Bari, Italy. The company is recalling them. Affected brand names are: Borrelli, Bonta di Puglia, Cento, Corrado’s, Dal Raccolto, Flora, Roland and Varitia, the FDA said. All sizes of cans, glass jars and pouches of Cerignola, Norcerella and Castelvetrano types of olives are affected.
Botulinum toxin is a nerve poison often mentioned as a potential weapon of bioterrorism. Symptoms of botulism poisoning include general weakness, dizziness, double vision, constipation, muscle weakness and trouble speaking, swallowing or breathing.
For more on the warning, go to the FDA web site, www.fda.gov.
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Showdown on TXU
Since dueling is out, a debate will do.
Former U.S. House Energy Committee chairman Rep. Joe Barton, R-Ennis, has challenged Former Secretary of State James Baker to debate him publicly on the merits of the $32 billion TXU buyout.
Baker supports a sale of TXU and would serve as an adviser to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) and Texas Pacific Group (TPG) as the new owners of TXU.
Baker has argued the sale would keep rates competitive and support environmental concerns.
Barton opposes the sale. In a letter to Baker on Friday, Barton suggested that he and Baker “meet on neutral ground somewhere in Texas” to debate the issue.
“I know something about electricity issues after two decades on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and everything I know tells me the proposed transaction is not good for the people who use electricity in Texas,” Barton said.
Barton suggested the two find a media outlet or university to host a “public airing of the differences — a real, side-by-side debate” before the Texas Legislature decides on the sale.
Baker served as Secretary of State under President George H. W. Bush. He is now a senior partner at the law firm Baker Botts LLP in Houston.
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Cornyn Happy about FOIA Act
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., are a bit jubilant these days.
The pair of senators finally got won unanimous approval from the Senate Judiciary Committee to overhaul the much beleaguered Freedom of Information Act.
“It is encouraging to see this bill move forward to shed more sunlight on the government in Washington,” Cornyn said. He predicted that Congress would pass the bill this year.
“I’m optimistic about the prospects of implementing these important reforms this year,” Cornyn said.
“Open government is one of the most basic requirements of a healthy democracy,” Cornyn said. “It allows taxpayers to see where their money is going; it permits the honest exchange of information ensuring government accountability; and it upholds the ideal that government never rules without the consent of the people.”
Leahy said FOIA faces challenges like never before.
The oldest outstanding FOIA requests date back to 1989 — before the collapse of the Soviet Union, according to a recent report from the National Security Archive, an independent non-governmental research institute at George Washington University.
“More than a year after the president’s directive to government agencies to improve their FOIA services, Americans who seek information under FOIA remain less likely to obtain it than during any other time in FOIA’s 40-year history,” Leahy said. The measure would: —Restore meaningful deadlines for agency action under FOIA —Impose real consequences on federal agencies for missing statutory deadlines —Clarify that FOIA applies to agency records held by outside private contractors —Establish a FOIA hotline service for all federal agencies —Create a FOIA Ombudsman as an alternative to costly litigation.
The Sunshine in Government Initiative, a coalition of ten media groups, strongly backs the measure.
The bill will give the public better tools to know what the government is doing by strengthening the Freedom of Information Act, said Rick Blum, coordinator of the coalition.
This next step: a vote on the Senate floor. The last time Congress improved 41-year-old act was more than a decade ago.
Earlier this month, the House passed a similar bill by an overwhelming margin 308 to 117.
“The strong bipartisan support for FOIA reform shows significant reforms are long overdue,” Blum said. “Open government is a nonpartisan issue. We look forward to a full Senate acting soon to strengthen FOIA and to continuing to work with Congress and the executive branch to improve FOIA and other open government policies and practices.”
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SENATE HONORS GATOR NATION
The U.S. Senate honored Gator Nation Thursday for winning the 2007 NCAA Basketball Championship.
The resolution commended the University of Florida men’s basketball team for their 84-75 win over the Ohio State University Buckeyes earlier this month, taking the title for the second consecutive year.
A unanimous Senate passed the resolution at the behest of Florida Sens. Mel Martinez, a Republican, and Bill Nelson, a Democrat.
“Through hard work, great skill, and commitment to the sport, the Gators were able to defend their national championship title,” Martinez said.
“The Gators athletic program is one to be admired with both NCAA football and basketball championships this year. Keep up the good work. Go Gators!”
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MR. FITZGERALD, IT’S NOT OVER YET
In light of new revelations about missing White House e-mails, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington wants the special counsel who investigated the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame to open a new investigation into presidential adviser Karl Rove’s role in that disclosure.
Patrick Fitzgerald, the U.S. attorney from Illinois, recently ended his investigation without any charges filed against Rove. But that was before the ethics group’s new report that found five million emails are missing from White House servers.
In addition, Rove uses an e-mail account from the Republican National Committee for 95% of his communications, according to media reports. The RNC’s counsel has admitted that all of Mr. Rove’s emails prior to 2005 have been destroyed.
CREW says the missing e-mails raise questions about whether Rove knowingly destroyed evidence relevant to the special counsel’s inquiry and whether Fitzgerald received all relevant documents.
“It looks like Karl Rove may well have destroyed evidence that implicated him in the White House’s orchestrated efforts to leak Valerie Plame Wilson’s covert identity to the press in retaliation against her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson,” said Melanie Sloan, CREW’s executive director.
Fitzgerald should immediately reopen his investigation into whether Rove took part in the leak as well as whether he obstructed justice in the ensuing leak investigation,” Sloan said.
“It looks like Karl Rove may well have destroyed evidence that implicated him in the White House’s orchestrated efforts to leak Valerie Plame Wilson’s covert identity to the press in retaliation against her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson,” said Melanie Sloan, CREW’s executive director.
Fitzgerald should immediately reopen his investigation into whether Rove took part in the leak as well as whether he obstructed justice in the ensuing leak investigation,” Sloan said.
CREW serves as legal counsel to Joe and Valerie Wilson in their civil suit against Karl Rove, Vice President Dick Dick Cheney, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby and Richard Armitage.
CREW’s letter to Special Counsel Fitzgerald and supporting documents are available at CREW’s website.
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Tax Time at 1600 Pennsylvania
Ever wonder what a First Family’s tax return looks like? Here you go. (That’s the first page).
Looks just like yours, except perhaps for the numbers.
Some highlights from the George W. Bush and Laura W. Bush (married filing jointly) 1040 released today by the White House:
Though the have homes in DC and Texas, the Bushes’ tax return, again, lists Chicago as the home address. That’s because that’s where the Northern Trust Co. is. Northern Trust takes care of the trusts that hold the Bushes assets. And it was a pretty good year for the trusts. The Bushes reported $765,801 in adjusted gross income (about $30,000 higher than 2005), including $397,768 and the rest from investments.
The tax hit on the $642,905 in taxable income: $186,378, which crunches out to a $19,361 refund because their withholding and estimated payments exceeded what they owed. They opted to apply the refund to their 2007 taxes.
Charity-wise, the Bushes gave $78,100, including donations to the Crawford Volunteer Fire Department, the government’s Combined Federal Campaign, Operation Smile, Martha’s Table, the Salvation Army, Susan G. Komen Foundation and the Yellow Ribbon Support Center.
The deductibles also included $27,474 in property taxes on their Texas ranch.
And now for the really big numbers, let’s turn to the Second Family’s return, also released today.
The Cheneys showed adjusted gross income of $1,801,272 and taxable income of $1,614,862. The tax bite on that was $413,326. Like the Bushes, they overpaid in withholding and estimated payments. The Cheneys are due a $51,463 refund, but opted to apply that to their 2007 taxes.
The income included Cheney’s $208,575 government salary and a $27,500 pension check from Union Pacific, where he used to serve as a director. He became eligible for this last year when he turned 65.
The Cheneys donated $104,425 to charity in 2006. His office notes that brings their charitable giving to $7.8 million since he took office in 2001.
Unlike the Bushes, the Cheneys opted to blank out the home address on the copy they released to reporters. This is where you would insert your own “undisclosed location” joke.
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Atlanta Man at White House Meeting
Atlanta banker Frank Hanna, a longtime advocate for Catholic schools in the city, was among the folks who sat down with President Bush on Friday in the Roosevelt Room to discuss the future of parochial schools.
Hanna, like Bush, hopes Congress will expand a program that has allowed government funding for parochial schools in Washington D.C.
“It’s been a very successful program,” Bush said after the meeting, “and Congress needs to make sure it gets fully funded.”
He also said the program should be expanded “to provide these kinds of scholarships for school systems outside of Washington.”
Hanna agrees on the goal and the political challenge it faces in a Democratic Congress.
“Atlanta’s population is booming and many of the public school systems are strained,” Hanna said after the meeting, “and I think you’d have a lot of parents happy about being given a choice” to attend a private school.
Atlanta’s Catholic schools, he said, are facing financing challenges just as Catholic schools around the country are.
“In Atlanta we have a huge influx of Catholic population and there’s practically no way we can keep up with that growth,” he said. “Unfortunately what’s been happening over the last several years is Catholic schools closing all over the country and Catholic schools in growing areas not opening.”
Hanna’s aware of many Democrats’ longtime opposition to spending public money on private schools.
“In the past that has been a very difficult row to hoe,” he said. “I think you are seeing some open-minded folks saying, ‘Wait a minute. This seems to be working. Look what happened in D.C.’ … At some point the facts seem to argue well against ideology that says, ‘No. Don’t do that.’”
Hanna is CEO of HBR Capital, Ltd., a merchant banking firm. He has served on the Archdiocese of Atlanta’s education task force and as co-chair of Bush’s Advisory Commission for Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans
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Guest Speaker
Special guest today at the morning off-camera briefing at the White House was Dr. Ali Al-Dabbagh, spokesman for the government of Iraq, who dropped by to assure all that things are going pretty well in his country.
Al-Dabbagh proved to be a capable spokesman, deftly fielding questions in a language other than his native tongue. Very slick. Very confident. Sort of a Tony Al-Snow.
He fielded a variety of questions. Some of the answers, as distributed in a White House transcript:
About Thursday’s bombing at the Iraqi parliament, Al-Dabbagh said there have been some “soft places” in the security because “certain permission to enter the Green Zone has been misused.”
Government malfeasance: “You could find that the corruption comes down to the minimum level, but still there is a corruption. Iraqi government is fighting and the Integrity Commission is working on full authority.”
Is Iraq in a civil war: “Never. There is war against civilians. There is a war against Iraqi people. There are groups which they want to destroy Iraq and to destroy the region, to destroy all the Iraq. That is what you see in al Anbar. It’s a few Sunnis, but then there are al-Qaeda attacking those.”
Recent Iraqi protests against presence of U.S. troops: ” “This is freedom of expression. It’s good, rather than attacking America. … The troops have liberated Iraqi people from Saddam.”
Why is he in Washington: “Brings me in Washington to reflect the actual what’s going on there in Iraq, and to show that what the positive thing what is going there in Iraq, it is not only just bomb. There are a lot of things positive is going there in Iraq, four years of liberation — after liberation from Saddam Hussein …”
What would happen in Iraq if U.S. troops begin leaving early next year: “We feel that the premature withdrawal, it would be a great gift for those who did yesterday attack, and definitely it will make a vacuum of power in Iraq, which is not desirable by anyone.”
How long do U.S. troops need to be in Iraq: “It is difficult to do a time limit, but we do feel that we are in a good way.”
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Amtrak Testing New Diner/Lounge on Single Level Long Distance Trains
The times are a-changin’. Gone are the days of Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint stealing romantic glances on the 20th Century Limited in North by Northwest while ordering a multiple course, exquisite dinner on their way to Chicago. Today, trains still have the dining cars, but things have changed somewhat. In an effort to economize some operations and to try new ideas, Amtrak is currently testing a new kind of Food Service car on its Cardinal, which runs from New York to Chicago by way of Virginia and southern Ohio. The “Diner-Lounge,” which is a rebuilt, remodeled, single level car, is Amtrak’s response to customers who have been asking for better food service without the high prices of a full service dining car, while at the same time having a dining experience that is comfortable and attractive.
The new prototype, which Cox Newspapers was able to tour and photograph earlier today, has been completely remodeled with new booth seating, a steam table (used for preparing vegetables and mashed potatoes), and new lighting and accents. Amtrak stresses that the car design is very much a work in progress, and indeed, the car which we saw today is already out of date in some small details (more seating has been added, trash receptacles have been relocated, etc).
When Amtrak is finished tweaking the service, all 25 Amfleet II cafe/lounge cars on the Amtrak roster will be receiving the overhaul. Passengers will eventually be able to find the cars on single level long distance trains. Trains that currently run with a Dining Car, like the Crescent (which serves North Carolina and Atlanta) and the Silver Meteor and Silver Star (which serve North Carolina and Florida), will still retain that car, and the Diner-Lounge will be available as a lower-cost, more relaxed alternative. Trains like the Cardinal and Palmetto (which serves North Carolina and Savannah), which have few or no sleeper passengers, will have just the Diner-Lounge.
Perhaps what’s changed the most, however, is a new menu. While many of the same cafe foods are still available, the car boasts a wide selection of appetizers, desserts, and full meals now as well.
Amtrak hasn’t said when the new single level cars will become a permanent addition to its regular services, but if history is any indication, it’s only a matter of time. Late last year Amtrak tested a similar prototype car for its double-decker long distance trains. The company has since taken feedback from that test and is now completing modifications to the design in preparation for rollout in the near future.
Snow Sighting in May
Positive news today on the status of White House Press Secretary Tony Snow, who again is battling cancer.
On May 12, Snow will be the commencement speaker at Catholic University of America.
The Very Rev. David M. O’Connell, president of the Washington D.C. school, said he is a longtime admirer of Snow’s “objectivity and integrity as a journalist.”
“His current position as White House press secretary has provided him with an incomparable stage upon which to bring those qualities to bear in the work that he does. Sitting next to him at a White House dinner last summer, I was impressed with his sincere manner, good humor and the ease with which he spoke of the role faith has played in his life,” O’Connell said. “I am sure than in recent days his faith has been both tested and strengthened. His acceptance of my invitation to CUA, as he continues to battle cancer, demonstrates that faith and strength. We are proud to welcome him to campus.”
Snow’s commencement speech topic: “Reason, Faith, Vocation.”
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Execution Idea Killed
Here’s how the most important new government job created in a long time got its name changed before it was announced.
The short version: Reporters chortled at the original choice.
The job had been unofficially known as “war czar.” But, as National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley told a small group of reporters in his office on Thursday, the official moniker is (or was) “assistant to the president for Iraq and Afghanistan policy execution.”
He short-handed it as “execution manager.” That’s what brought the journalists’ chortles. Execution, get it?
Hadley did. And so did Gordon Johndroe, Hadley’s top spokesman.
“Did you say implementation director?” he piped up.
“Yes,” said Hadley, “that’s what I said. Implementation director.”
And then, reading from a folder he pulled from his desk, he proclaimed the name change.
“Assistant to the president for Iraq and Afghanistan policy execution and, on your suggestion, we are going to get rid of the word execution and we’re going to make it implementation,” he said.
Addendum: Sign on wall near Hadley’s desk has a picture of Uncle Sam and this admonition:
“We’re at war. Are you doing all you can?”
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Another Day, Another Clinton Endorsement
The early endorsements keep coming.
Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign announced Thursday that Raul Yzaguirre, former long-time president of the National Council of La Raza and a beloved figure among many Latinos, has endorsed the New York senator and will serve as chair of her Hispanic outreach effort.
“Hillary Clinton has spent more than three decades advocating on behalf of those who are invisible in America,” Yzaguirre said in a statement. “Not only is she the most experienced and qualified candidate to be president, Sen. Clinton has the ability to bring people together to get results and move this country forward.”
Yzaguirre headed La Raza, a civil rights organization, for 30 years. He is now a professor at Arizona State University.
“Throughout his life, Raul Yzaguirre has worked tirelessly to expand civil rights and create opportunity for working Americans,” Clinton said. “I’m delighted that Raul will play a leadership role in this campaign as we reach out to all Americans and ask them to join our effort.”
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Zbig: White House ‘Paralyzed’ By Iraq War
WASHINGTON - Former national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski said Thursday that the Bush administration has been “paralyzed” by Iraq and is resigned to handing off the war to the next president in 2009.
He also accused the White House of creating “a culture of fear” and warned that armed conflict with Iran would bog down the United States in regional warfare that could last 20 years, crippling America’s global leadership for a generation or more.
Brzezinski, who served as national security adviser during the Carter administration and remains influential on matters of U.S. foreign policy, made the comments over breakfast to a group of Washington reporters.
President Bush told reporters in March 2006 that the question of whether U.S. forces would remain in Iraq “will be decided by future presidents and future governments of Iraq.” At the same time, he has said repeatedly that U.S. forces will begin to come home once Iraqi forces are able to provide for the security of the country.
“The president has decided to bequeath the war to his successor,” said Brzezinski, asserting that Democrats will not be able to use their slim congressional majority to force a change in U.S. strategy in Iraq.
McCain Backgrounder
Here’s the background on the background for Sen. John McCain’s big speech today at Virginia Military Institute. You decide if it was a metaphorically questionable choice for a candidate supporting an unpopular war.
It’s a painting of young men in a battle that killed 10 and injured 47 of them in a losing war. They were sent into harm’s way by a Confederate leader who sought God’s forgiveness for doing so.
The Charge of the New Market Cadets was the nation’s largest military mural when it was painted in 1914. It commemorates the triumphant charge of VMI cadets at a May 15, 1864 Civil War battle.
The school notes it was the only time in U.S, history when “college students participated as a unit in a pitched battle.” They fought for the Confederacy.
“The cadets entered battle wearing their school uniform, marching under the school flag which is still used, when a gap was blown into the center of the Confederate line,” says a VMI information sheet about the mural.
Gen. John Brackenridge, the Confederate commander, turned to the VMI cadets and said, “Put the boys in, and may God forgive me for that order.”
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New Head Of FOIA Office Appointed
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales tapped a career Justice Department lawyer today to run the Office of Information and Privacy — the office in charge of deciding who gets public information requested under the Freedom of Information Act.
Melanie Ann Pustay replaces Daniel J. Metcalfe, who directed the office for 24 years with Richard Huff before he retired in January. Huff retired the year before.
Pustay arrived in the department in 1983 as an attorney adviser. However, she recently came under fire for failing to publish the FOIA Guide on time.
That criticism did not deter Gonzales.
“Melanie brings more than two decades of highly relevant experience and a record of both accomplishment and leadership to this position,” said Gonzales in a statement. “OIP and the Department of Justice will continue to benefit from her insight, expertise and dedication to public service. I’m pleased she has agreed to serve in this critical role.”
The FOIA Guide, long considered the bible of how to use the law, was completed last fall, right down to 4,119 footnotes. It was sent to the Government Printing Office on Nov. 28 marked “ready for publication.”
The plan was to begin distributing the guide in mid-December, but an official from the department’s civil division placed a “hold” on publishing the report for mysterious reasons.
Justice Department employees suspected it had to do with politics.
But Pustay denied that and told Cox Newspapers earlier this year that the guide was “not ready to go.”
However, Metcalfe disputed Pustay’s explanation, calling her remarks “grossly disappointing, given the actual facts of the matter.”
“Melanie (Pustay) ought to find some better way to spin the position she’s now in with the guide, not to mention the Department’s shocking executive order deficiencies and timing problems within the bounds of truthfulness,” said Metcalfe in an earlier interview with Cox.
A Justice Department press release noted that Pustay has extensive FOIA litigation experience and has argued cases before the District Court for the District of Columbia and the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, including handling a case in 1998 involving access to former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover’s official and confidential files.
In 1992, she was responsible for the Department’s senior leadership compliance with the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act, which required the federal government to make records of Kennedy’s assassination publicly available.
Pustay has received the Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award for her role in providing legal advice, guidance and assistance on records disclosure issues. Pustay worked briefly at a Washington-area law firm before coming to the Department in 1983. She graduated from American University’s Washington College of Law in 1982, where she served on Law Review. Pustay received her B.A. from George Mason University in 1979, graduating summa cum laude.
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FBI’s Lobbyist Sets Sail
Eleni Pryles Kalisch, the FBI’s first female assistant director of congressional affairs, is leaving the bureau for the warmer waters of Royal Caribbean Cruise lines.
Who can blame the Georgia native?
Kalisch has spent most of the past five years reshaping the bureau’s image on Capitol Hill, a daunting task given the post-9/11 climate on Capitol Hill.
It has been more a constant battle to keep Congress from tampering with the FBI and to fend off attempts to replace the bureau with a domestic spy agency similar to Britain’s.
Now she will be vice president of congressional affairs for the cruise line — sun and fun instead of al-Qaida and Osama.
“It was not an easy decision,” said Kalisch, who became assistant director in 2003. “I never dreamed I would leave. I never thought I would find a job as exciting as this one.”
But when Kalisch learned about the opportunity at Royal Caribbean, she couldn’t resist.
“The pace, the volume has been overwhelming since 9/11,” Kalisch said. “It has not let up and I don’t think it will. It’s just nonstop.”
Under John Collingwood, the former assistant director in charge of congressional and media affairs, Kalisch handled congressional scrutiny of some of the FBI’s most embarrassing blunders—Robert Hanssen, the agent caught selling top secret information to the Russian government; the investigation of Los Alamos scientist Wen Ho Lee; and the fiery siege of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas.
“I learned from Collingwood how to fall on the sword,” Kalisch said in an interview with Cox in 2002. “When we mess up, we admit it and put a plan in place to improve.”
That belief took the Georgia native far. As the bureau’s point person for terrorism and counter terrorism questions from Capitol Hill, Kalisch is highly regarded by lawmakers and staff from both sides of the aisle.
“I think I am most proud of our reputation for being responsive to both sides of the aisle in Congress,” Kalisch said.
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An appreciative president
President Bush appreciates lots of things and people. We know that because he frequently says so in his speeches. Today, during an immigration policy speech in Yuma, Arizona, we learned of 19 more things and people appreciated by the appreciater-in-chief.
The number of appreciations seems to have appreciated by an appreciable amount.
First, the weather. Warm in Yuma. Chilly in Washington.
“Yes, 28 degrees in Washington. That’s right. I appreciate you sharing that with me.”
Next, federal employees.
“I appreciate so very much the work you’re doing day and night to protect these borders.”
Next, specific people worthy of specific appreciation.
“I appreciate very much Ron Colburn and Ulay Littleton. I appreciate both of their service. I appreciate the tour.” (That’s Colburn, the region’s top Border Patrol agent, in the middle in the AP photo above. Littleton is an Arizona National Guard brigadier general.)
“I appreciate the hard work of Secretary Michael Chertoff. He’s secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.” (That’s Chertoff, far left, in the photo.)
“I appreciate Commissioner Ralph Basham. He’s the main man in charge of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.”
Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano? “I appreciate you being here, governor.”
Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl? “I appreciate so very much Senator Jon Kyl.”
Local House members? “I appreciate members of the congressional delegation who’ve joined us: John Shadegg, Jeff Flake, from Snowflake, Arizona, I want you to know. And I appreciate you working on this immigration issue. Congressman Trent Franks and Congressman Harry Mitchell. I appreciate you all taking time for being here with me today.”
Why there’s Yuma Mayor Larry Nelson.
“I appreciate you being here, Mr. Mayor.”
And there’s a bunch of Border Patrol agents.
“And I appreciate your service to the United States of America.”
And there’s some double fencing, all-weather roads, new lighting and mobile cameras.
“And so I appreciate the fact that we’ve got double fending, all-weather roads, new lighting, mobile cameras.”
How about the families of National Guard troops doing border work?
“And you e-mail them, back home, and tell them how much I appreciate the fact they’re standing by.”
Miscellaneous presidential appreciations:
“I appreciate very much the fact that illegal border crossings in this area are down.”
“I appreciate what Colburn says. He puts it this way: ‘They’re watching — they see us watching them,’ that’s what he said.”
“I said we’re going to effectively end catch-and-release (of illegal immigrants). And I appreciate your hard work in doing that.”
Leahy Warns Gonzales: Be Prepared
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., sent a warning shot today to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales: be ready or else.
Leahy informed the attorney general that he needs to have his written statement ready 48 hours before his appearance on April 17 to answer questions about his role in the questionable firing of eight U.S. attorneys last year.
“Please include in your written testimony a full and complete account of the development of the plan to replace United States Attorneys, and all the specifics of your role in connection with that matter,” Leahy wrote.
Gonzales is preparing for the fight of his political life.
He must reverse growing congressional sentiment that he should step down as attorney general following disclosures last week that he was regularly briefed about the dismissal of the prosecutors by his former chief of staff, Kyle D. Sampson.
Reading through the political tea leaves: Gonzales won’t be given much wiggle room or lattitude to defer answers, an honored tradition at most congressional hearings, when the subject doesn’t know the answer.
Leahy shared his displeasure that Gonzales has yet to respond to questions senators had posed at his Jan. 18 appearance before the committee.
“We are approaching three months since the last hearing, yet you and the Department seem to be repeating the practice of not responding in a timely manner,” Leahy wrote. “Instead, if you respond at all, you do so only as a hearing appearance approaches.”
“Although the Committee was informed weeks ago to expect your answers to our questions on a rolling basis, we have yet to receive a single answer,” Leahy wrote.
And Leahy noted that the Justice Department has been sitting on answers that the FBI gave the department for approval four months ago, Leahy said.
“You would not tolerate this kind of response time in a Justice Department investigation where months go by without answers and when those answers are finally provided they are outdated or superseded by events. That is not conducive to effective oversight,” Leahy wrote.
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Allegations of McCarthyism in U.S. Atty Probe
Yesterday we told you how the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee sent a letter to a key figure in the congressional investigation into whether politics improperly played a role in the firing of eight U.S. attorneys.
Today, the attorney for Monica Goodling, the Justice Department’s liaison with the White House, accused Congress of playing the McCarthy card by pressuring her to publicly testify after she has already asserted her Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate herself.
“Contrary to what your April 3 letter suggests, Ms. Goodling’s exercise of her Fifth Amendment rights can in no way be interpreted to suggest that Ms. Goodling participated in any criminal activity,” wrote John M. Dowd in a letter to House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., and Rep. Linda Sanchez, head of the subcommittee leading the House inquiry.
Comments by Conyers, Sanchez and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy are “unfortunately reminiscent of Senator Joseph McCarthy,” Dowd said.
Dowd said his client should in no way be misunderstood as one of the “Fifth Amendment Communists” for declining to be interrogated on Capitol Hill. It is her right, Dowd said.
Goodling, who is on leave from the department, has been asked by the House committee to answer questions about why eight top prosecutors were fired last year.
While it is the president’s right to fire U.S. attorneys at will, six of the eight were conducting political corruption investigations. Lawmakers question whether they were fired to end the inquiry.
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Carter Reflects on Bygone era of Presidential Fundraising
With 2008 Democratic presidential hopefuls raking in as much as $26 million for their bids in just three months, former President Jimmy Carter recalled a different era on Wednesday, when powerful fundraising machines were still years away.
“You know when I ran for president I literally didn’t have any money,” said Carter, a former peanut farmer in Georgia. “It was literally tortuous for me to raise $2,500 dollars in 20 different states.”
Speaking at a press conference in Washington, Carter remembered his meager grassroots fundraising efforts while competing for his party’s nomination.
“I had to send out my little son, Chip, to go out and raise $50 here and $25 there to qualify for matching funds,” Carter said. “I didn’t have enough money for hotel rooms.”
This week, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton reported raising $26 million in the first three months of her campaign, with rival Barack Obama close behind at $25 million.
Among the Republican candidates, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney was the top money-raiser with $23 million.
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U.S. Atty Probers Demand Goodling Any Way They Can
House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., sent a letter today asking Monica Goodling, the Justice Department’s liaison to the White House, to appear in a closed-door interview to discuss what she knows about whether politics improperly played a role in the firing of eight U.S. attorneys.
Goodling, through her attorney, John M. Dowd, informed the House and Senate Judiciary committees last week that she would invoke her Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate herself by testifying in the probe.
“We are concerned that several of the asserted grounds for refusing to testify do not satisfy the well-established bases for a proper invocation of the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination,” wrote Conyers and Rep. Linda Sanchez, who leads the subcommittee investigating the firings.
“In addition, of course, the Fifth Amendment privilege, under long-standing Supreme Court precedents, does not provide a reason to fail to appear to testify; the privilege must be invoked by the witness on a question-by-question basis,” the lawmakers wrote.
Interviewing Goodling in public could “obviate the need to subpoena” her, forcing her to appear at a public hearing.
Such a proceeding, they wrote, would give people a chance to see and hear the specific questions to which Ms. Goodling is asserting the Fifth Amendment privilege and allow lawmakers and the public to draw inferences from her invocation of it.
Dowd defended his client’s decision not to testify.
“Threats of public humiliation for exercising her Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights are not well taken and are frowned upon by the courts,” Dowd said in a statement. “In a free country, every citizen should have the liberty to exercise their rights without threats or coercion.”
But Conyers and Sanchez dispute that. In their letter, they say that Goodling’s assertions are not “a valid basis for invoking the privilege against self-incrimination.”
Their letter states: “The fact that a few senators and members of the House have expressed publicly their doubts about the credibility of the attorney general and the deputy attorney general in their representations to Congress about the U.S. attorneys’ termination does not in any way excuse your client from answering questions honestly and to the best of her ability.”
“Of course, we expect (as we are sure you do) your client to tell the truth in any interview or testimony. The alleged concern that she may be prosecuted for perjury by the Department of Justice for fully truthful testimony is not only an unjustified basis for invoking the privilege and without reasonable foundation in this case, but also so far as we know an unwarranted aspersion against her employer.”
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Georgia Democratic Hopeful to Rally Backers
DeKalb County CEO Vernon Jones said he is set to meet Tuesday evening with supporters to fire up his bid to become the Democratic candidate in the 2008 U.S. Senate race in Georgia.
“Georgia needs a conservative Democrat,” he said.
Jones said that if he were in office, he would serve as a conservative, but would “not be a yes man for George Bush.”
Republicans have not controlled federal spending nor provided leadership on immigration, he said. “This flies in the face of conservatism,” he said.
Last month, Jones filed paperwork to run for the seat held by incumbent Republican Saxby Chambliss. Chambliss is rated among the most conservative senators.
Jones, a former Democratic state representative now in his second term as DeKalb CEO, has organized an exploratory campaign committee called Vernon Jones for Georgia.
His meeting with supporters Tuesday is at Manuel’s Tavern, a favorite meeting place for Democrats in the Atlanta area.
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You Know, Those Other Guys
Some rhetorical progress to report today at President Bush’s Rose Garden press conference. He is coming to terms with the name of the majority party in the United States Congress.
“In a time of war, it’s irresponsible for the Democrat leadership in, Democratic leadership in Congress to delay for months on end while our troops in combat are waiting for the funds,” he said.
Right the second time. It is the Democratic Party. It’s led by Democratic leadership, not Democrat leadership. Democrats long have complained that many Republicans intentionally say Democrat Party as some kind of partisan slur.
Bush did say “Democrat leaders” a couple of other times during the news conference. So this remains a work in progress,
Other moments of note on a sunny spring day in the Rose Garden. Bush cleared up confusion about which Bill he was calling on (CBS’ Plante or the Washington Examiner’s Sammon) by saying “The cute-looking one.” That would be television’s Bill Plante.
From the Department of New Presidential Nicknames, Bush called on NBC’s David Gregory by referring to him as “Dancer. Dancing man,” a reference to Gregory’s recent back-up dancer role at the Radio and TV Correspondents Association dinner that featured rappin’ Karl Rove.
“That was a beautiful performance, seriously,” Bush told Gregory not seriously.
And emergency sirens from somewhere in nearby DC were clearly heard as Bush was reeling of the dire consequences he sees if the U.S. withdraws from Iraq before the war is won.
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Fill ‘Er Up
Does the president know how much Americans are paying for a gallon of gas these days? Sort of.
“About $2.60-plus,” he said today at a Rose Garden news conference.
Correct! If the plus is about a dime.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration reports a national average of $2.707 a gallon for regular for the week that ended yesterday. That’s up from $2.610 for the previous week.
What’s up with the price hike, Mr. President?
“The price of crude oil is on the rise because people get spooked, for example, when it looks like there may be a crisis with a crude-oil producing nation, like Iran,” Bush said.
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Bush Skips Opening Day
A scheduling conflict kept President Bush, that lover of baseball, from throwing out a first pitch today as most Major League Baseball teams opened their seasons.
The conflict, in part, was football.
While the baseball season was opening around the nation (including not far away at Washington’s RFK Stadium), Bush was in the Rose Garden with a football team.
That’s correct. Mr. I-Wanted-to-Grow-Up-to-be-Willie-Mays was hanging around with football players on baseball’s opening day.
That’s the sports turncoat above with members of the Navy football team as he awarded them the Commander-in-Chief’s trophy as the best service academy team this past season.
The White House assures us the president hasn’t turned his back on baseball.
“He loves baseball,” says spokeswoman Dana Perino, adding that “scheduling reasons” prevented a presidential opening-day pitch this year. “I can assure you that if he gets a chance he will be tuning in to see some of the games.”
For the record, Bush opening pitched at big-league games in 2001 (Milwaukee), 2004 (St. Louis), 2005 (Washington) and 2006 (Cincinnati.) He also threw out the first pitch at a 2001 World Series game in New York.
But today, he was with a football team in the Rose Garden. That’s rose as in flower, not Pete.
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