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Tuesday, November 30, 2004
The Senate Majority Leader can't repay his debts?
Is that the type of example a Congressional Leader should set? I think not.
It appears the root of his problem is the economic "stewardship of the Republican party" (in the words of Kevin Drum, who found the story).
This doesn't appear to be the first time the Frist campaign has had some issues with money.
It appears the root of his problem is the economic "stewardship of the Republican party" (in the words of Kevin Drum, who found the story).
After big losses in the stock market, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's campaign committee is short of money to cover a bank loan that was due in August, records show.Link.
The committee's most recent filing shows a little more than $10,000 was paid on the $360,000 loan from U.S. Bank.
Records show Frist's committee had losses in the stock market totaling more than $524,000 since November 2000. After paying other expenses, the committee had $312,807 in its accounts as of Sept. 30, according to records reviewed by the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
This doesn't appear to be the first time the Frist campaign has had some issues with money.
A Federal Election Commission audit approved in September found accounting mistakes and inadequate disclosure with reporting from Frist's political-action committee during 2002.This man is the leader of the Senate? Lovely.
The audit of Frist's Volunteer PAC found several ''misstatements'' in reports of receipts, expenditures and cash balances to the commission, compared with the political-action committee's bank records
Bush decides salmon no longer need protecting
Not that any of them voted for him, but I'm sure that the environmentalist community is not happy about this news. I'll tell you Oregonians--aside from fishermen and ranchers--are none to pleased by this.
The Bush administration Tuesday proposed large cuts in federally designated areas in the Northwest and California meant to aid the recovery of threatened or endangered salmon. Protection would focus instead on rivers where the fish now thrive.Link.
The critical habitat designation originally included rivers accessible to salmon, even if no fish occupied them, and covered most of Washington, Oregon and California and parts of Idaho.
Under the federal plan, critical habitats would be cut by more than 80 percent in the Northwest and 50 percent in California — and more cuts might be ordered based on public comments over the next six months, said Bob Lohn, northwest regional administrator for NOAA Fisheries, the federal agency responsible for saving salmon from extinction.
Large areas could be cut where state and federal habitat protections are already in place, such as national forests and places where the economic benefits of development outweigh the biological benefits of habitat.
Fritz Hollings speaks his mind on John Kerry
I'll certainly miss Senator Ernest "Fritz" Hollings (D-SC) and his unique sayings and astonishing candor after he leaves the Senate next month after 38 years in the chamber. Here's a recent example of his pithy wit from The Hill:
There’s an unwritten rule in politics not to kick somebody when they’re down.Classic.
But Sen. Fritz Hollings (D-S.C.) — who has made a point of speaking his mind during nearly four decades in the Senate — is willing to do just that by criticizing Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) for his failed campaign for president.
“He wasn’t himself,” Hollings told The Hill after delivering his farewell speech Nov. 16. “He had political peripheral vision.”
Hollings, who noted that he himself failed to capture the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984, said Kerry “had no [applause] line” on the stump. “The people were looking at him head-on and couldn’t find him.”
More troops to Iraq soon
So sayeth the last conservative Dem in the Senate:
I can't see how this is good news at all. For those utterly opposed to the war, this will obviously be viewed as an escalation of the war, mirroring the increases in troops sent to Vietnam nearly 40 years ago; for those who support the war, this appears to be too little, too late as attacks have dramatically increased as of late and November proved to be the bloodiest month of the war.
Perhaps the Bushies will figure this thing out, though I wouldn't count on it. General Eric Shinseki, who as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs from 1999-2003 said we would need 200,000-300,000 troops in Iraq and was let go for it, will be speaking at my school in a week, and hopefully he'll adress that issue. I'll certainly let you know what he had to say.
The top U.S. military commander in Iraq assured Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) and two fellow lawmakers during a Thanksgiving-week visit to Baghdad that more American troops soon will be sent to Iraq, the senator said yesterday.Link.
“It’s not my prerogative, but I think you can expect an announcement in the near future that more troops will be going there,” Nelson said in a telephone interview from Omaha, one day after returning from a six-day visit to five nations in the Persian Gulf region.
I can't see how this is good news at all. For those utterly opposed to the war, this will obviously be viewed as an escalation of the war, mirroring the increases in troops sent to Vietnam nearly 40 years ago; for those who support the war, this appears to be too little, too late as attacks have dramatically increased as of late and November proved to be the bloodiest month of the war.
Perhaps the Bushies will figure this thing out, though I wouldn't count on it. General Eric Shinseki, who as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs from 1999-2003 said we would need 200,000-300,000 troops in Iraq and was let go for it, will be speaking at my school in a week, and hopefully he'll adress that issue. I'll certainly let you know what he had to say.
The Senate prepares for all-out warfare
For those interested in high stakes poker between the Republicans and the Democrats, the battles over Supreme Court nominees should provide some of the most entertaining (while disappointing) action seen in Washington in years. The Hill's Alexander Bolton reports:
Senate Republicans are preparing to implement a sophisticated, multipronged plan to confirm President Bush’s expected nomination to replace ailing Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist.Bolton explains the GOP's well-planned strategy:
Well-funded liberal groups are also ramping up their efforts to block any conservative nominee.
Activists working with White House and Senate staffers say the 80-year old Rehnquist’s battle with thyroid cancer has sharply focused attention.
The controversy over comments that Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), incoming Judiciary Committee chairman, made downplaying the chances of anti-abortion-rights nominees being confirmed also accelerated planning.
Republican battle lines are similar to those drawn up in summer 2003, when many believed Rehnquist or Justice Sandra Day O’Connor would announce their retirement. That strategy was drafted by Manuel Miranda, who was Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist’s (R-Tenn.) senior aide on judicial strategy.How are they able to pay for all of this?
Bill Wichterman, who heads coalition outreach for Frist, took on judicial confirmation planning for Frist at the beginning of this year.
Under the Miranda plan, as soon as Bush nominated a justice, Republicans and conservatives would issue press releases pre-emptively to deflect liberal efforts to define the nominee. Conservative groups would issue their own information packets while selected Republican senators would make statements and floor speeches.
The business community would be expected to fund the communications campaign.Of course. It might be a long, hot summer in Washington, but make sure not to miss any of it should a Bush nominee head to the Senate for consideration.
Senate Dems create a "war room"... finally
This is great news, however belated. The Las Vegas Review-Journal's Steve Tetreault explains:
Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., the incoming Senate minority leader, said Monday he is forming a communications "war room" to promote Democrats' messages and respond to Republican criticism.At least they're starting to figure out how parties were supposed to run in the early nineties... I guess they're only about a decade late. Things might begin to improve, however, as the Dems actually communicate with the electorate.
Reid continued to put his stamp on the Senate leadership when he announced creation of a Senate Democratic Communications Center that will aim to keep the party in the public eye. The center will be launched Jan. 4, when the Senate convenes for its 2005 session.
Jim Manley, press secretary for Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., has been hired as staff director for the center, which will be located in the U.S. Capitol.
Phil Singer, a former media adviser to Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., will be communications director, handling "rapid response" as Democrats seek to keep their messages on pace with the White House and Republicans in Congress. Singer also worked as national spokesman for the presidential campaign of Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.
A 15-member message team will include press aides who will publicize Democratic activities to Internet news organizations and bloggers, Reid said.
[...]
Reid's office also announced he will appear on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday.
Josh Marshall: Get on the government reform bandwagon
I couldn't agree more with Joshua Micah Marshall over at Talking Points Memo more on this issue:
I really think that one of the most potent arguments the Democrats can use in trying to win back Congress and the White House is attacking the questionable tactics of the ruling GOP. I've said it many times, but it may come down to these five words:
A few days ago I said that the Democrats have yet to really understand what it means to be or act like a true party of opposition. I mean many things by this, which I hope to explore in the coming weeks and months. But in this case, for what we're discussing on the site now, I'm referring to how opposition can enable reformism.Link.
Before 1994 and, to a lesser degree, before 2000, Democrats simply weren't in a position to adopt a genuine reform agenda because they were too implicated in the institutional corruption, the money chase, that is modern Washington. They could want change in some abstract way and they push for it at the margins. But their way of doing business on the Hill and in Washington generally was inseparable from it. It's how they ran Congress; it was how they raised their money to win elections; their friends (and that means personal and professional friends) who'd already cycled into the lobbying sector made their money from it; and many or most of them expected eventually to do the same.
[...]
I’ve always been a bit sour and suspicious about that political creature homo goodgovernmentus, and the allure of a politics unconnected to interests or money or patronage. There is such a thing as ‘honest graft’, to use the phrase of the old city machines. Patronage and political machines can and often do help to shape politics in beneficial ways. And to me getting good results in legislation and governance is much more important than the purity of how those results are achieved. At their worst good government or clean government types put the niceties of process and purity over the good legislation. (That's one reason why reformism has often had a hard time escaping an elitist coloration.)
I really think that one of the most potent arguments the Democrats can use in trying to win back Congress and the White House is attacking the questionable tactics of the ruling GOP. I've said it many times, but it may come down to these five words:
Government accountability and fiscal responsibility
Who will replace Ridge at the HSA?
Josh Marshall has some ideas:
Yet again (from Reuters)...
Bush's current homeland security adviser, Frances Townsend, is one of the leading candidates to succeed Ridge. Another possible successor is Undersecretary Asa Hutchinson, analysts said.That, or the guy who installed the alarm system at the ranch.
Ridge gone at Homeland Security Department
Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge has informed the White House and department staff that he has resigned, U.S. officials said Tuesday.Link.
In an e-mail circulated to senior Homeland Security officials, Ridge praised the department as "an extraordinary organization that each day contributes to keeping America safe and free." He also said he was privileged to work with the department's 180,000 employees "who go to work every day dedicated to making our company better and more secure."
Government officials, speaking on grounds of anonymity because a formal announcement was pending, confirmed his resignation. A Washington news conference was scheduled for mid-afternoon.
Again, with much of the news that has been recently trickling out, this is not entirely surprising. Perhaps the next nominee might have the fortitude to stand up to the President and Congress to ensure that we are indeed protected from the many threats that we actually face today.
A look at the 2005 New York Mayoral race
For those interested, Josh Kurtz had an extremely interesting piece in Roll Call yesterday on the New York Mayoral race, and specifically Democratic Congressman Anthony Weiner's chances [link, but paid registration is required]. Here's the crux of the story:
As he edges closer to running for mayor of New York in 2005, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D) says he will use as a model the last Congressman who was elected mayor of Gotham: Ed Koch.An interesting piece, you should definitely check out the rest if you have the subscription or access to the LexisNexis news search.
"My campaign will be evocative of how Ed Koch got elected,"Weiner said in a recent interview. "He didn't win any county [in the city]. But he was the second choice in every county."
Koch also operated largely under the radar as better-known opponents got into the race, eventually winning by appealing to middle-class voters of various ethnicities.
"I'm going to sell myself as a five-borough fighter for New York," Weiner said.
[...]
Because the 40-year-old Congressman doesn't have to sacrifice his House seat, he can keep his job while using this campaign to build name recognition for another try in 2009 if he loses this time - much as Koch, a Democrat who backed President Bush in 2004, built on an aborted run for City Hall in 1973 to win four years later.
Other notable New York mayors, including Fiorello LaGuardia (R) and John Lindsay (R), have also progressed from Capitol Hill to City Hall.
The next Chairman of the DNC?
Word has it that Congressman Martin Frost, a former member of the House Leadership and a Texas Democrat redistricted out of office this year by Tom DeLay, is considering a bid for the Chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee. In theory, he is someone I would be more than willing to support. The AP runs the story:
Defeated Texas Congressman Martin Frost is among potential candidates for chairman of the Democratic National Committee who are telephoning members about the situation, a leading Democrat said Monday.As this race pans out, I will endeavor to cover it as well as possible on Basie!
"The following candidates are making phone calls to DNC members — Howard Dean Donnie Fowler, Martin Frost and Leo Hindery," said Mark Brewer, party chairman in Michigan and president of the Association of State Democratic Chairs.
Frost, a member of the House Democratic leadership team before Texas redistricting cost him his job in the November, would add a high-profile name to the mix of potential candidates. Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack and former Labor Secretary Alexis Herman have said they will not try for the job.
[...]
Frost spokeswoman Susan McAvoy said: "Martin is taking some calls and has placed some calls" but emphasized he was merely exploring possibilities.
Monday, November 29, 2004
GOP chooses pork over science
I would say this is surprising, but really it's not. The New York Times' Robert Pear explains:
Congress has cut the budget for the National Science Foundation, an engine for research in science and technology, just two years after endorsing a plan to double the amount given to the agency.The Republican Party obviously cares more about short-term political gain for it's members than advancing knowledge that could save American lives and provide technology that could improve the quality of life for millions of Americans.
Supporters of scientific research, in government and at universities, noted that the cut came as lawmakers earmarked more money for local projects like the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and the Punxsutawney Weather Museum in Pennsylvania.
David M. Stonner, director of Congressional affairs at the science foundation, said on Monday that the reduction might be just the beginning of a period of austerity. Congress, Mr. Stonner said, told the agency to expect "a series of flat or slightly declining budgets for the next several years."
In renewing the legal authority for science programs in late 2002, Congress voted to double the budget of the science foundation by 2007. The agency finances the work and training of many mathematicians, physicists, chemists, engineers, computer scientists, biologists and environmental experts. [emphasis added]
Will the FDA whistleblower be punished?
When David Graham spoke truthfully to Congressional Committees about the dire state of drug reviews at the FDA, he was willing to risk his job to make the American people safer. Now, despite the efforts of Chuck Grassley, he might lose his job. The Washington Post's Marc Kaufman has the story buried on page A17 of tomorrows paper.
Food and Drug Administration whistle-blower David J. Graham believes he will soon be transferred or fired in retaliation for telling a congressional hearing that the agency is falling short on ensuring drug safety, but his Senate champion is trying to keep that from happening.If Graham is indeed fired for doing his job properly rather than toeing the line for the GOP, it will be a sad day for America. Maybe not Mr. Smith Goes To Washington sad, but disappointing nonetheless.
In a letter sent yesterday to acting FDA Commissioner Lester M. Crawford, Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) formally asked whether Graham was going to be moved, and made clear that he would regard any reassignment as punishment for Graham's public criticism of the agency.
"I understand that retaliatory action against dissident employees can come under many guises," Grassley wrote. "Therefore, I . . . request that you address allegations that administrative action may be taken against Dr. Graham, including that he may be terminated or transferred against his wishes to a job other than conducting scientific research. Please advise me whether there is any truth to these allegations."
An FDA spokesman said that he could not comment on personnel matters because of privacy considerations.
The situation in Iraq... not so good
This is really disheartening:
I'm not sure how this situation is going to be fixed--or even if it can be fixed. I certainly hope things improve, however.
The U.S. military death toll in Iraq rose by at least three Monday and the November total is approaching the highest for any month since the American-led invasion was launched in March 2003.Link.
At least 133 U.S. troops have died in Iraq so far this month — only the second time it has topped 100 in any month. The deadliest month was last April when 135 U.S. troops died as the insurgency flared in Sunni-dominated Fallujah, where dozens of U.S. troops died this month.
The Pentagon's official death toll for Iraq stood at 1,251 on Monday, but that did not include two soldiers killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad and another killed in a vehicle accident. When the month began, the death toll stood at 1,121, the Pentagon said.
It was not clear whether the bombing deaths of two Marines south of Baghdad on Sunday were included in the overall count the Pentagon published Monday.
Also Monday, Osama bin Laden's top deputy vowed in a videotape aired Monday to keep fighting the United States until Washington changed its policies.
I'm not sure how this situation is going to be fixed--or even if it can be fixed. I certainly hope things improve, however.
Charlie Cook looks at 2008
This is great stuff, especially for historical nuts like me (even if it's a week old now):
The 2008 presidential campaign promises to be the first White House contest since 1928 with neither an incumbent president nor vice president in the running. What's more, neither side has an heir apparent, meaning that we face the truly extraordinary prospect of wide-open contests for both major parties' nominations.Check the link for the rest of this enjoyable piece.
As a result, we are likely to see huge fields of candidates -- truly Cecil B. DeMille productions on both sides of the aisle. On the Republican side, roughly from right to left, we could have Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, Sen. George Allen of Virginia, Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi, Gov. Bill Owens of Colorado, Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee, Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, Gov. George Pataki of New York, and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Certainly, not all of these people will run. (We aren't likely to see Hagel and McCain competing against each other. And Gov. Bush has already said once he will not run in 2008, though that hasn't stopped the Great Mentioner from whispering his name.) But half of these possible candidates -- and, very likely, others -- probably will make a bid for the White House.
On the Democratic side, also from right to left, there's Gov. Mark Warner of Virginia, Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana, Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, Gov. Tom Vilsack of Iowa, Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, and, of course, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.
The Bush Mandate
Kudos to Atrios for finding this:
Does President Bush have a mandate to advance the Republican agenda? Twenty-nine percent of the respondents in this CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll said yes. Sixty-three percent said no.-- Wolf Blitzer, CNN's Late Edition, November 28, 2004
Quote of the Day
ABC's The Note finds this gem from Mike Allen's front page article in today's Washington Post:
One senior administration official said Treasury Secretary John W. Snow can stay as long as he wants, provided it is not very long.Link.
Supreme Court leaves gay marriage legal--for now
At least this is a step in the right direction, I suppose.
My assumption is that the conservatives realize they don't have the votes to overturn the measure with Rehnquist out indefinitely (a 4-4 tie would uphold the lower court's decision without making precedent), so they chose instead to sidestep the issue. Regardless, it is good to see the Court staying out of this issue.
The Supreme Court on Monday sidestepped a dispute over gay marriages, rejecting a challenge to the nation's only law sanctioning such unions.Link.
Justices had been asked by conservative groups to overturn the year-old decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Court legalizing gay marriage. They declined, without comment.
In the past year, at least 3,000 gay Massachusetts couples have wed, although voters may have a chance next year to change the state constitution to permit civil union benefits to same-sex couples, but not the institution of marriage.
Critics of the November 2003 ruling by the highest court in Massachusetts argue that it violated the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of a republican form of government in each state. They lost at the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston.
My assumption is that the conservatives realize they don't have the votes to overturn the measure with Rehnquist out indefinitely (a 4-4 tie would uphold the lower court's decision without making precedent), so they chose instead to sidestep the issue. Regardless, it is good to see the Court staying out of this issue.
Americans say abortion should be legal
Will the President listen, though?
The AP's Will Lester reports:
The AP's Will Lester reports:
A majority of Americans say President Bush's next choice for an opening on the Supreme Court should be willing to uphold the landmark court decision protecting abortion rights, an Associated Press poll found.America is pro-choice, so I certainly hope that the President listens to the majority of this country that is in favor of Roe v. Wade.
The poll found that 59 percent say Bush should choose a nominee who would uphold the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion. About three in 10, 31 percent, said they want a nominee who would overturn the decision, according to the poll conducted for the AP by Ipsos-Public Affairs.
[...]
The preference for Supreme Court nominees who would uphold Roe v. Wade could be found among both men and women, most age groups, most income groups and people living in urban, suburban and rural areas. Fewer than half of Republicans, evangelicals and those over 65 said they favored a nominee who would uphold the abortion ruling.
Will Rice pass the test?
It appears as though it might be a little longer than expected until we know if Condi Rice is confirmed as the next Secretary of State:
This is relatively interesting, if mundane. It'll be fun to watch the confirmation hearings, even if she will undoubtedly be confirmed.
At the White House's request, confirmation hearings for Condoleezza Rice as secretary of state will not begin until Congress reconvenes in January, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said Sunday.Link.
When President Bush nominated his national security adviser to replace Colin Powell at the State Department, Sen. Richard Lugar said he would try to bring his committee together in the first week of December to begin the Senate confirmation process.
"The White House suggested that that would not be appropriate — that is, in December," Lugar said on "Fox News Sunday." "So we'll not be having hearings in December, but we'll have hearings as soon as possible in January."
This is relatively interesting, if mundane. It'll be fun to watch the confirmation hearings, even if she will undoubtedly be confirmed.
Back in Claremont...
Blogging to commence soon (a little tonight, then back to the grindstone tomorrow). Hope you enjoy.
Sunday, November 28, 2004
Alabama chooses segregation
This is disgusting, really. Manuel Roig-Franzia explains on the front page of today's Washington Post:
On that long-ago day of Alabama's great shame, Gov. George C. Wallace (D) stood in a schoolhouse door and declared that his state's constitution forbade black students to enroll at the University of Alabama.What is wrong with some people in this country?
He was correct.
If Wallace could be brought back to life today to reprise his 1963 moment of infamy outside Foster Auditorium, he would still be correct. Alabama voters made sure of that Nov. 2, refusing to approve a constitutional amendment to erase segregation-era wording requiring separate schools for "white and colored children" and to eliminate references to the poll taxes once imposed to disenfranchise blacks.
The vote was so close -- a margin of 1,850 votes out of 1.38 million -- that an automatic recount will take place Monday. But, with few expecting the results to change, the amendment's saga has dragged Alabama into a confrontation with its segregationist past that illuminates the sometimes uneasy race relations of its present.
Oregon's economy stalling?
So sayeth The Oregonian's Ted Sickinger:
Oregon's economic recovery, accelerating earlier this year, appears to have stalled.There's much more in this interesting article that gives the entire picture of Oregon's economy. It's up, it's down, but it's not really going anywhere.
The question now, heading into holiday retail prime time, is whether the recovery will plow through the doldrums and regain momentum, or whether the state will fall back into stagnation or another string of job losses.
Most regional economists are optimistic.
The tea leaves they read have been telling a positive story for much of the year. Businesses have sold more and exported more, and they have spent more beefing up plants, offices and personnel. Most importantly, since statewide employment bottomed out in June 2003, Oregon has regained two-thirds of the jobs lost during the recession. Along the way, it has registered some of the strongest job growth in the nation, regularly placing in the top 10 among states in year-over-year employment ngingains.
Saturday, November 27, 2004
Iraq WON'T postpone elections
Lovely.
We're losing troops left and right to create a real democracy in the country only to allow the Shi'ites to dominate the Kurds and Sunnis. That's not democracy, that's allowing one religious group to settle old scores.
We're losing troops left and right to create a real democracy in the country only to allow the Shi'ites to dominate the Kurds and Sunnis. That's not democracy, that's allowing one religious group to settle old scores.
A hydrogen-based economy?
It might not be as far off as one might think. Matthew Wald has the scoop in a story in Sunday's Times entitled "Hydrogen Production Method Could Bolster Fuel Supplies":
Researchers at a government nuclear laboratory and a ceramics company in Salt Lake City say they have found a way to produce pure hydrogen with far less energy than other methods, raising the possibility of using nuclear power to indirectly wean the transportation system from its dependence on oil.I'm not such a huge fan of nuclear power (for obvious reasons), but let's read on, shall we?
The development would move the country closer to the Energy Department's goal of a "hydrogen economy," in which hydrogen would be created through a variety of means, and would be consumed by devices called fuel cells, to make electricity to run cars and for other purposes. Experts cite three big roadblocks to a hydrogen economy: manufacturing hydrogen cleanly and at low cost, finding a way to ship it and store it on the vehicles that use it, and reducing the astronomical price of fuel cells.Well, maybe this plan is not the panacea Bush, Schwarzenegger and the Republicans might have you think it is. Nevertheless, we should look into efficient and clean methods of producing hydrogen to help wean us off of traditional fossil fuels. When oil is $200 per barrel, it's not exactly going to be possible for us to be driving Hummers...
"This is a breakthrough in the first part," said J. Stephen Herring, a consulting engineer at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, which plans to announce the development on Monday with Cerametec Inc. of Salt Lake City.
The developers also said the hydrogen could be used by oil companies to stretch oil supplies even without solving the fuel cell and transportation problems.
Mr. Herring said the experimental work showed the "highest-known production rate of hydrogen by high-temperature electrolysis."
But the plan requires the building of a new kind of nuclear reactor, at a time when the United States is not even building conventional reactors. And the cost estimates are uncertain.
Republicans ready to permanently bankrupt America
If this weren't so predictable I'd be outraged. The Times' Richard Stevenson writes up the GOP's blind embrace of deficits in Sunday's paper:
The White House and Republicans in Congress are all but certain to embrace large-scale government borrowing to help finance President Bush's plan to create personal investment accounts in Social Security, according to administration officials, members of Congress and independent analysts.A trillion here, a trillion there... it's not like anyone ever has to repay the debt. Oops! I do--that is to say my generation and the following generations will have to pay for the trillions Bush and his cronies in the Congress have added to the national debt, and I can tell you right now I'm none to happy about it. Judging by Bush's awful showing among those under 30, I'm not alone in my anger, either. If there's any way the Democrats can get back into power, these five words may hold the key:
The White House says it has made no decisions about how to pay for establishing the accounts, and among Republicans on Capitol Hill there are divergent opinions about how much borrowing would be prudent at a time when the government is running large budget deficits. Many Democrats say that the costs associated with setting up personal accounts just make Social Security's financial problems worse, and that the United States can scarcely afford to add to its rapidly growing national debt.
But proponents of Mr. Bush's effort to make investment accounts the centerpiece of an overhaul of the retirement system said there were no realistic alternatives to some increases in borrowing, a requirement the White House is beginning to acknowledge.
Government accountability and fiscal responsibility
Senator Jon Corzine running for Governor
Interesting news, to say the least, though not entirely surprising as Corzine has indicated a desire to sit in the New Jersey statehouse for quite some time. Here's the scoop:
If he ends up winning, I really hope he doesn't appoint his child a la Frank Murkowski in Alaska...
U.S. Sen. Jon Corzine has decided to seek the Democratic nomination for governor in 2005 and will announce his plans at a news conference next week, according to seven Democrats with direct knowledge of his intentions.Link.
At the news conference, expected to be held in northern New Jersey on Wednesday or Thursday, Corzine, D-Hoboken, will announce that he is planning to run for governor and will form an exploratory committee. Corzine, New Jersey's senior senator, will then embark on a series of meetings with Democratic leaders to set up a fund-raising organization to lay the groundwork for a formal campaign kickoff early next year.
Corzine, one adviser said, was ready to announce his candidacy last week, but waited out of deference to Richard Codey, the state Senate president who became acting governor on Nov. 16.
Corzine spent Thanksgiving with his mother in Chicago yesterday and was unavailable for comment. His spokesman, David Wald, said he could not confirm Corzine's plans.
Corzine will be the first Democrat to announce his candidacy for the job vacated by James E. McGreevey, who resigned because of a gay sex scandal.
A recent Quinnipiac University poll found that Corzine has high voter approval ratings and holds an early advantage of at least 20 percentage points in head-to-head match-ups with several potential Republican candidates. The poll also said he held a 40-point lead over Codey in a potential Democratic primary match-up.
If he ends up winning, I really hope he doesn't appoint his child a la Frank Murkowski in Alaska...
Ukraine to hold a new election?
This might be the first good news out of the region in some time.
Ukraine's parliament on Saturday declared invalid the disputed presidential election that triggered a week of growing street protests and legal maneuvers, raising the possibility that a new vote could be held in this former Soviet republic.The Bush administration helped get the world into this mess by constantly pandering to Putin, so if they don't fix it (the possibility remains that they do, though), there will be much blood and suffering on their hands.
Parliament's vote came amid a flurry of domestic and international support for the possibility of a revote. A European Union envoy — Dutch Foreign Minister Ben Bot — said new elections were the "ideal outcome" for the standoff between Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and Viktor Yushchenko. Asked if new elections were the only solution, Ben Bot answered: "Yes."
The Unian news agency quoted Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko as saying Friday that Moscow regarded a potential revote favorably — an apparent significant retreat from its earlier insistence that the Nov. 21 elections were fair and valid.
Parliament's move was not legally binding but clearly demonstrated rising dissatisfaction with the announced outcome. The United States and other Western nations contend the vote was marred by massive fraud.
Friday, November 26, 2004
Hastert: Let's make Congress more partisan
I'm so glad House Speaker Denny Hastert wants to unite us, not divide us... no wait, he has now admitted he wants to divide us. Charles Babington has the front page article in Saturday's Washington Post.
In scuttling major intelligence legislation that he, the president and most lawmakers supported, Speaker J. Dennis Hastert last week enunciated a policy in which Congress will pass bills only if most House Republicans back them, regardless of how many Democrats favor them.This is sick, really; it's quite disappointing how the GOP has ruined Washington.
Hastert's position, which is drawing fire from Democrats and some outside groups, is the latest step in a decade-long process of limiting Democrats' influence and running the House virtually as a one-party institution. Republicans earlier barred House Democrats from helping to draft major bills such as the 2003 Medicare revision and this year's intelligence package. Hastert (R-Ill.) now says such bills will reach the House floor, after negotiations with the Senate, only if "the majority of the majority" supports them.
Senators from both parties, leaders of the Sept. 11 commission and others have sharply criticized the policy. The long-debated intelligence bill would now be law, they say, if Hastert and his lieutenants had been humble enough to let a high-profile measure pass with most votes coming from the minority party.
That is what Democrats did in 1993, when most House Democrats opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement. President Bill Clinton backed NAFTA, and leaders of the Democratic-controlled House allowed it to come to a vote. The trade pact passed because of heavy GOP support, with 102 Democrats voting for it and 156 voting against. Newt Gingrich of Georgia, the House GOP leader at the time, declared: "This is a vote for history, larger than politics . . . larger than personal ego."
Such bipartisan spirit in the Capitol now seems a faint echo. Citing the increased marginalization of Democrats as House bills are drafted and brought to the floor, Rep. David E. Price (D-N.C.) said, "It's a set of rules and practices which the Republicans have taken to new extremes."
Huge shocker: Iraqi elections postponed
I'm not sure what it is about constant insurgent attacks and war that would make truly democratic elections difficult, but for some reason, the Iraqis are looking to postpone their elections for a while:
Gosh is this surprising!
Leading Iraqi politicians called Friday for a six-month delay in the Jan. 30 election because of the spiraling violence as U.S. forces uncovered more bodies in the northern city of Mosul, apparent victims of an intimidation campaign by insurgents against Iraq's fledgling security forces.Link.
Asked about their demand for the election to be postponed, President George W. Bush, at his vacation home in Texas, said, "The Iraqi Election Commission has scheduled elections in January, and I would hope they'd go forward in January."
But the country's deputy prime minister told an audience Friday in Wales that sticking to the election timetable would be difficult because of the security crisis.
Gosh is this surprising!
Democrats DO have much to be thankful for
Carl Jeffers editorializing in today's Seattle Times explains why:
[T]he 55 million Americans who voted for John Kerry seem to be going through a self-flagellation process in which they feel sad, angry, hopelessly lost, and pessimistic about the future of the country and the Democratic Party. Thanks to the re-emergence of "red state" moral issues, they also feel somewhat isolated in their own country.How true. Though the Democrats did lose this year, they overlook many of the trends that can help them in the future. This is a great piece and also worth reading on this, the day after Thanksgiving.
Those voters do not need to feel so pessimistic about the future of their party, or of progressive liberal thought. Let's review some facts. In losing, Kerry received more votes than any other previous presidential candidate, including Al Gore and two-time winner Bill Clinton.
And while President Bush's numbers moved up among several important voting groups, particularly Hispanics, here's the reality. Kerry won the Hispanic vote by almost 10 points, he overwhelmingly won the African-American vote with close to 89 percent, he won the Jewish vote and those of gays, liberals and independents, single moms, working moms, and the 18-to-30-year-old group.
Who is the newest US Attorney General?
The LA Times seems to feel Alberto Gonzales is a generally moderate man who is not easily described in ideological terms. Staff writer Richard B. Schmitt reports in "Sizing Up Man Who Would Be Atty. Gen."
In November 2000, the Texas Supreme Court, fast shedding its long-standing reputation as a friend to injured workers and other plaintiffs, did something unexpected.Gonzales, of course, is a man who also called the Geneva Convention "obsolete" and "quaint."
Taking the lead was Alberto R. Gonzales, the court's newest member, who had been appointed by George W. Bush, the governor at the time.
While the presidential election ballots were still being counted in Florida, the staunchly pro-business court in Texas revived a lawsuit that had been filed by the family of a deceased metal pourer. The laborer had died of a lung disease caused by years of exposure to asbestos fibers at the aluminum plant where he had worked for 25 years.
Lower courts had dismissed the suit because the man had brought a previous case over another asbestos-related condition he suffered, and state law barred plaintiffs from filing multiple suits for the same toxic exposure. But the state's high court, in an opinion written by Gonzales, overturned that ruling.
"Permitting limitations to run on terminal injuries before the plaintiff knows of them is unjust," Gonzales wrote. He added that the interests of the asbestos companies "must be balanced against the plaintiff's need of an opportunity to seek redress for the gravest injuries, those culminating in wrongful death."
The opinion by Gonzales, President Bush's nominee to become the next attorney general, suggests he might be less doctrinaire than his work as White House counsel indicates.
But friends and former associates, and even some adversaries, say Gonzales also has shown a balance that has been obscured in his service to Bush over the years.The piece is definitely interesting and worth reading this morning, should you not be at Target rushing to get holiday gifts.
Now, with his presumed ascent to the top of the Justice Department, people are starting to wonder which Gonzales will show up for work: the relative moderate who emphasizes a low-key, fact-based approach to the law, or the ardent advocate who follows the marching orders of his president and friend and his expansive view of presidential power.
Thank you, CNN
This was entirely helpful.
A deck of cards, two computer mice, some salad and two slivers of pie, please.Link.
If you're hoping to keep this Thanksgiving from turning into another gut-busting affair, that's what your plate should look like: a serving of turkey no larger than a deck of playing cards and half a cup each of two starches. (A half-cup is about the size of a computer mouse.)
And that's being generous.
Thursday, November 25, 2004
How did the nation's Hispanics actually vote?
Darryl Fears, a staff writer on Thanksgiving duty, has an interesting article in Friday's Washington Post on the Hispanic vote in the 2004 election. In "Pollsters Debate Hispanics' Presidential Voting", he writes thusly:
In the days before the presidential election, some opinion surveys said Democrats would get as much as 65 percent of the Hispanic vote.Interesting stuff. I always thought it was a bit fishy to believe that Bush picked up that much of the Hispanic vote, but now there is some real data to back up that hunch. Check out the whole article for more details.
But on the morning after the voting, some exit polls held that Democratic nominee John F. Kerry had received about 56 percent of Hispanics' votes and that President Bush had gotten 44 percent.
Now some public opinion researchers are trying to determine the reasons for the discrepancies between the pre- and post-election numbers.
[...]
[Pollster John] Zogby believes the correct percentage for Hispanic Bush supporters is 33 to 38. That view is supported by an exit poll conducted by the William C. Velasquez Institute of San Antonio.
In that exit poll, Hispanics favored Kerry over Bush by 65 percent to 34 percent. Fernando J. Guerra, a political science professor at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, said hundreds of researchers have posted comments that support the institute's survey.
"There's nothing special that Bush did to get a higher turnout," Guerra said, doubting that the president won 44 percent of the Hispanic vote. "What would explain this tremendous amount of Latino support for Bush?"
Fiscal sanity for the Democrats
The New Republic's Clay Risen offers some advice to the Democrats on this Thanksgiving weekend on how to reclaim the national platform: fiscal sanity.
It's a lesson Democrats should take to heart--and place at the center of their congressional agenda over the next two years. To be sure, no one should expect Tom Coburn to become the new best friend of spending-conscious Democrats. But his presence in the Senate, along with the increasing unease of many fiscal conservatives, presents Democrats with an opportunity. The Democrats can remake themselves as the party of fiscal sanity and paint the president's agenda as a waste of the country's future. They can work across the aisle with fiscal conservatives like Coburn to highlight Bush's most egregious proposals, and they can force the GOP leadership to make politically painful decisions about spending cuts for popular programs. They can also begin to frame the deficit in personal--even moral--terms, perhaps by using Bush's rhetoric of an "ownership society" against him. With ownership, after all, comes responsibility, and, thanks to Bush, we all own a piece of America's crushing debt. Such a strategy could be even more effective if U.S. currency began to slip rapidly. If the deficit continues to grow, currency experts say the dollar will plunge, driving up inflation and putting the squeeze on working families. By voting against costly proposals while laying the country's worsening fiscal situation at Bush's feet, Democrats can give lie to the "tax-and-spend liberal" stereotype and set the stage for a candidate who promises to clean house, much as Bill Clinton did in 1992.
Democrats fight back
The GOP almost succeeded in allowing their Appropriations Chairmen to secretly snoop around your tax returns, but the Democrats would have none of it. Now, they're using this issue to quite effectively hammer the Republicans.
About time the Democrats stand up to the GOP. One party rule is not good for America.
A handful of lawmakers voted for spending legislation to keep the government from shutting down as House Democrats resolved to let Republicans twist in the wind a little longer over a provision passed last week that both parties agree was a bad idea.Link.
They'll fix it later, when the Democrats decide to let the Republicans stop sweating. For now, Wednesday's vote by skeleton crews in the House and Senate on a stopgap spending bill keeps the government operating until early December.
The holdup is over language buried in a $388 billion spending bill that could let leaders of Congress' Appropriations committees examine income tax returns.
Both parties favor killing the tax return idea before it becomes law and the Senate has already voted to do so. But Democrats blocked a House vote until Dec. 6.
That delay gave Democrats more time to criticize majority Republicans for letting the provision slip through and for using their muscle to ram bills through Congress with little chance for lawmakers to learn what is in them. The overall bill and accompanying documents stood 3,646 pages tall on lawmakers' desks when they approved it Saturday.
About time the Democrats stand up to the GOP. One party rule is not good for America.
Democrats resurgent in Southern California
San Diego, once a bastion of the right, is trending ever-more Democrat in recent years in a sign that California is becoming less and less welcoming to the GOP. The LA Times' Tony Perry reports in an article entitled "Close Race Reflects a Party Shift":
How did a last-minute write-in candidacy by a Democrat who owns a surf shop come within a few thousand votes of dethroning a Republican mayor in Republican-dominated San Diego?This is positive news, even given the fact that the Democrats don't really need any more votes in California (save for in Congressional races, but even those are gerrymandered to the point that their elections don't even matter).
Answer: This is not your grandfather's San Diego. Maybe it never was.
[...]
[C]onsider these facts: Five of eight members of the City Council are Democrats. That number will soon be six of nine when a vacancy is filled by a special election between two Democrats.
Democrats lead Republicans in voter registration by 39% to 34%. Twenty-two percent of voters decline to state a party affiliation, although many political operatives believe their views on environmental protection make them Democrats in all but name.
City voters backed John Kerry this month, Al Gore in 2000 and Bill Clinton in 1996.
Labor unions have grown in power in recent years, and several council members owe their elections to contributions and campaign manpower provided by union members.
Oregon's gas ONLY $2.04 per gallon
This is good news?
Drivers should find slightly lower gasoline prices during the Thanksgiving weekend.Link.
The average price for a gallon of unleaded in Oregon was down 2 cents to $2.04 in the most recent AAA Oregon/Idaho survey. In Salem, it was down a penny to $2.02.
That still is 38 cents higher than a year ago.
The national average was $1.94. Oregon's average price was tied with Washington's for 10th-highest in the nation.
Wednesday, November 24, 2004
Basie! over Thanksgiving
I'll be up and reporting through the Thanksgiving weekend (though I'm assuming at a somewhat less frequent pace), so make sure to check in often during this period for coverage of politics and other such things.
What's wrong with Massachusetts?
Apparently, they still have a law discriminating against Native Americans on their books, but Boston Mayor Thomas Menino wants that changed.
This news also evokes a cartoon in this week's issue of The New Yorker:
Click to buy a copy of the cartoon
It was a symbolic move, but an important one for a city that prides itself on diversity, according to Mayor Thomas M. Menino: Yesterday, the mayor asked the Legislature to repeal the 1675 Indian Imprisonment Act, the Colonial law authorizing the arrest of American Indians who enter the city of Boston.This is a step in the right direction, even if it's only symbolic.
The law, enacted during the bloody conflict known as King Philip's War, has not been enforced for centuries. Armed guards no longer stand at the outskirts of Boston, as the law has stipulated for nearly 330 years, on the lookout for Native Americans who might seek entry into the city. Indians in Boston are no longer required to be escorted around town by two musketeers. And yet, the Legislature has never gotten around to taking the law off the books.
"The Indian Imprisonment Act was made to discriminate, made to intimidate, and this law has no place in Boston," Menino said. "As long as it remains on the books, this law will tarnish our image." Its repeal, the mayor said, "will send the message that hate and discrimination have no place in our city."
This news also evokes a cartoon in this week's issue of The New Yorker:
Click to buy a copy of the cartoon
One more auditor says Halliburton should be docked
From the Houston Chronicle, of all places:
Another government auditor has added his voice to a call for the Pentagon to impose a 15 percent withholding on Halliburton Co.'s payments for work in Iraq.Link.
from Stuart Bowen, whose staff had scrutinized the Houston contracting firm while he served as auditor for the Iraq's Coalition Provisional Authority, said that based on his work, the Army should be cutting payments until it gets better documentation of spending in Iraq.
Halliburton subsidiary KBR did not provide "sufficiently detailed cost data to evaluate overall project costs or to determine whether specific costs for services performed were reasonable," according to the memo from Bowen.
This supports the recommendation by the Army Materiel Command, which has asked that the payments be reduced.
The CIA: And then there were none
New CIA chief Porter Goss, an extremely partisan Republican appointed by President Bush this fall, is accomplishing his task of overhauling the agency quite successfully. Unfortunately, his success is actually a failure as the only people who he is pressuring to leave are the competent, yet not partisan, analysts. The New York Times Douglas Jehl reports:
Two more senior officials of the Central Intelligence Agency's clandestine service are stepping down, intelligence officials said Wednesday, in the latest sign of upheaval in the agency under its new chief, Porter J. Goss.Goss also recently prepared a memorandum essentially stating that any disagreement with the President would not be tolerated. In my mind, Goss's partisan actions should not be tolerated and he should be removed from office.
As the chiefs of the Europe and Far East divisions, the two officials have headed spying operations in some of the most important regions of the world and were among a group known as the barons in the highest level of clandestine service, the Directorate of Operations.
[...]
A former intelligence official described the two as "very senior guys" who were stepping down because they did not feel comfortable with new management.
In a memorandum to agency employees last week, Mr. Goss warned that more personnel changes were coming as part of what he described as an effort to rebuild the ability of the agency to perform its core mission of stealing secrets.
I'm back in Portland...
Blogging soon to commence.
I'm off to Portland
Blogging will resume soon from the Rose City. Talk to you soon!
FBI finally does its job, investigates Halliburton fraud
The AP's John Solomon gets the story:
This also evokes five important words:
FBI agents recently spent a day interviewing the Army contracting officer who raised concerns that the Pentagon improperly awarded contracts without competition to Halliburton Co., Vice President Dick Cheney's former company.It's time for the media and the Democrats hold this adminsitration accountable for their misdeeds.
The Army Corps of Engineers contract officer, Bunnatine Greenhouse, was interviewed last week and now is gathering documents requested by the FBI and Army criminal investigators, her lawyer said Wednesday.
"They questioned her about all of her concerns, and they asked questions regarding potential involvement of people at higher-level positions," attorney Michael Kohn said in an interview.
The Associated Press reported last month that the FBI had expanded a criminal probe into allegations Halliburton overcharged the government for fuel, adding questions about whether the Bush administration had improperly awarded business without bidding to Halliburton in Iraq and the Balkans.
This also evokes five important words:
Government accountability and fiscal responsibility
Oregon may be hungry, but it's not the hungriest
I don't think this news is cause for celebration, but at least it's nevertheless somewhat good news.
Oregon is no longer the hungriest state in the nation, according to newly released federal statistics, but 12.9 percent of Oregon households still reported having difficulty providing food for all members of the family during at least one point of the year.It appears that this improvement is a result of some hard work.
Still, the percentage of Oregon households reporting occasional hunger declined to eighth in the nation between 2001 and 2003, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The state held the first-in-the-nation spot from 1995 to 2001, according to previous reports.
Oregon's high hunger rates appear to be the result of high costs of living that are especially hard on its working poor, said Bruce Weber, an economist at Oregon State University who has studied the state's hunger problem.I certainly hope all Oregonians--and indeed all Americans--will have a warm meal tomorrow night (not to mention the rest of the year).
He and others involved with studying and fighting hunger say Oregon's aggressive efforts to extend food stamps to more residents and to stock its food pantries have helped push back hunger in the state, despite high unemployment rates.
During 2001-2003, Oregon increased the number of households receiving food stamps by 34 percent to 135,000 households. The Oregon Food Bank expanded its distribution of emergency food by 22 percent to 647,000 boxes.
They've drafted a Vietnam Vet to go to Iraq now
This is ridiculous!
Unacceptable.
A 53-year-old Vietnam veteran from western Pennsylvania has been called up for active service with the U.S. military in the Iraq war, The Tribune Review of Greensburg, Pennsylvania reported on Wednesday.Link.
Paul Dunlap, a sergeant in the Army National Guard, will join an armored division next month as a telecommunications specialist in Kuwait, and expects to be there for at least a year, the newspaper reported.
Dunlap, who has not been in combat since serving as a 19-year-old Marine in Vietnam, could not be reached for comment. He will leave behind his wife Mary, four children and three grandchildren.
"I don't think any of them want me to go," Dunlap told the paper. "I'm thinking it's a long time since I've been in war."
Unacceptable.
Conservatives to split the 9th Circuit?
Fox News and its viewers certainly hope so:
For many conservatives, the words "9th Circuit" mean more than just a federal appeals court in California. The words embody everything they think is wrong with liberal activism, West Coast politics and the judges who tried to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance.If this were to occur, one of the last bastions for liberalism in the nation would disappear, and most on the "left coast" would be very disappointed. Is it really going to happen, though?
Those same conservatives think their new clout following President Bush's re-election may help put some weight behind a movement to split up the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, leaving the 9th in California, creating a new 12th Circuit for neighboring Idaho, Arizona, Montana and Nevada; and a new 13th Circuit for Washington, Alaska and Oregon.
By a vote of 205 to 194, the House on Oct. 5 passed an amendment by Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, to the Bankruptcy Judgeship Act that would divide the 9th Circuit into three parts.If the measure could only get 205 votes in the House, there's no way it would get 50 in the Senate (let alone the 60 to invoke cloture). As a result, I wouldn't worry about this nearly as much as this Fox News story might have me otherwise do.
Republican wants election overturned so he can win
This is priceless:
I wish I had something witty to say about this, but this hypocritical act stands on its own.
State Rep. Talmadge Heflin will ask the state House of Representatives today to overturn the results of his failed re-election bid and either order him returned to the Legislature or call for a new election.Link.
Heflin's attorney, Andy Taylor, said the election results in state House District 149 in southwest Harris County were fraught with voting irregularities and potential fraud, most of which occurred in predominantly Democratic precincts.
"The true outcome of this election was stolen from the voters in House District 149," Taylor said Tuesday. "We will prove that Representative Talmadge Heflin was re-elected."
Heflin, a Republican member of the House since 1983 and chairman of its Appropriations Committee, lost to Democratic businessman Hubert Vo by 32 votes earlier this month. But Heflin's campaign alleges that those election results include at least 248 irregularities that could have altered the outcome.
I wish I had something witty to say about this, but this hypocritical act stands on its own.
Big shocker: Corporations supported the GOP
File this one under not surprising:
The top-giving corporate political action committees didn't hedge their bets in the fall elections despite the narrow division between the GOP and Democrats in Congress. They favored Republican candidates 10-to-1.Link.
Of 268 corporate PACs that donated $100,000 or more to presidential and congressional candidates from January 2003 through the middle of last month, 245 gave the majority of their contributions to GOP hopefuls, according to an analysis released Wednesday by the nonpartisan Political Money Line campaign finance tracking service.
Twenty-three corporate PACs made more than half their donations to Democratic candidates, according to the study, based on the most recent campaign finance reports available.
States do what the feds won't: look out for our safety
While Bush and his FDA have been sleeping on the job, it appears as though a number of states have taken their citizens' health into their own hands and started to review prescription drugs on their own. The AP's Diedtra Henderson reports:
As Congress and others lobby to create an independent board to review the safety of prescription drugs, a dozen states have been doing just that.Oregon has many things to be proud of in this world, and this is one of them.
State officials who manage billions of dollars in annual drug purchases joined together in a project to help them comparison shop, picking the most effective and safest choices from a slew of competing drugs. Their efforts had an unexpected result.
By taking a closer look at a half-dozen existing studies, the project raised safety questions about Vioxx as early as 2002. Two of the earliest member states — Oregon and Washington — used that independent analysis to remove Vioxx from lists of preferred drugs that doctors use when prescribing medication for Medicaid recipients.
Dr. John Santa, medical director of the Drug Effectiveness Review Project, said the project has developed into virtually an independent office of drug safety.John Kitzhaber certainly had a mixed record as Governor of Oregon and leaves a legacy that is in some areas (especially regarding the budget) that is wanting. Nevertheless, if Kitzhaber is remembered for only one thing, it should be for the aforementioned project that's leading the way in analyzing the effectiveness of drugs. Someone has to do it (Bush's FDA is too tied to the Pharmaceutical industry to do anything), and I'm proud that Oregon is the state doing it.
The project provides information to the states about the drugs it studies. It's then up to the states to decide whether to act in response to the material it gets.
[...]
The three-year, $4.2 million undertaking provides its now 12 member states credible, systematic and neutral reviews of drug safety and effectiveness, said Santa, assistant director for health projects at the Center for Evidence-Based Policy in Portland, Ore.
The project's members are the states of Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, Oregon, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming and two nonprofit health groups, from California and Canada.
In exchange for annual contributions of $96,600, the states have received a dozen reports, including the early warning on Vioxx and a report this fall that compared new-generation antidepressants.
Oregon's economic situation unfolds
How exactly is the Oregon economy doing? If you read today's Salem Stateman Journal, you'll get somewhat conflicted results.
The paper's Tobey Manthey writes "Oregon economic forecast sours", explaining that the outlook has gone from dour to slightly worse this month. He writes thusly:
Political reporter Peter Wong takes a different look at the forecast, focusing more on its political ramifications. I'm not sure how the paper can run an article with the headline "Forecast for state's economy is mixed" when it also runs an article entitled "Oregon economic forecast sours", but perhaps that's just me. Wong leads with this:
The paper's Tobey Manthey writes "Oregon economic forecast sours", explaining that the outlook has gone from dour to slightly worse this month. He writes thusly:
What had been forecast as a mild economic recovery likely will turn even milder.According to this article, things are turning around--towards the wrong direction.
[...]
The outlook for both jobs and personal-income growth has been downgraded slightly from the September forecast, state economist Tom Potiowsky said.
[...]
Economists still think that the recovery is intact. For 2004, Oregon is expected to see its first year of employment growth after three years of job losses. Job growth for 2004 is expected to be 1.8 percent, down from the previous forecast for 2 percent growth.
Jobs are not expected to reach pre-recession levels until the middle of next year. Employment growth for the next two years is expected to be modest, about 2 percent.
Personal income in Oregon for 2004 now is expected to grow 5.1 percent, down from earlier estimates of 5.6 percent. The decrease came because the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis has revised state personal income figures and has showed substantially lower levels for 2003 and the first half of 2004.
Political reporter Peter Wong takes a different look at the forecast, focusing more on its political ramifications. I'm not sure how the paper can run an article with the headline "Forecast for state's economy is mixed" when it also runs an article entitled "Oregon economic forecast sours", but perhaps that's just me. Wong leads with this:
Santa Claus skipped the Capitol on Tuesday.So from what I gather from these two reports (The Oregonian's front page article today is less analytical than the two Statesman Journal pieces, but you should still check it out if interested), the Oregon economy is doing poorly, but not much worse than expected. Additionally, the statewide economic forecast is getting worse, but not substantially. This is tough stuff to follow (to say the least), but I'll try to parse through it as best I can...
The latest quarterly state economic forecast and income projections offered no unexpected bad news for a governor and legislators who have struggled with budget problems for the past three years.
But they offered no good news, either.
For the next two-year state budget, the report said, lawmakers will have about $11.2 billion from the state's discretionary general fund, which relies mainly on personal and corporate income taxes, and about $800 million from lottery funds.
State economist Tom Potiowsky said that the overall amount is down by about $75 million from the forecast in September, mostly because the amount to be carried over from this budget will be a little less.
"It's a small change, less than 1 percent," he said.
"We've seen a little bit of softness in the Oregon economy relative to the U.S. economy. But for the most part, it's pretty much a nonstory; there is almost no change."
He said that job growth in Oregon has slowed in the past three months, energy prices have soared and high-technology inventories are mounting.
"But the fundamentals of the U.S. economic recovery are still in place," he said.
More on the situation in Ukraine
I seldom agree with Dick Morris, but when he's right, he's right.
I'm very disappointed in (though not surprised by) the fact that Morris neglects to attack President Bush for allowing this coup to take place. Morris, who has long played a roll in trying to help spread Democracy in the region (at least according to the factual Hollywood movie Spinning Boris, which I highly recommend) should get off of his uber-partisan high horse and call a spade a spade. The President messed up this situation by constantly pandering to Putin, and if the people of Ukraine are subjugated by Russia in the years to come, Bush will shoulder a great deal of the blame.
Would-be czar Vladimir Putin has taken a giant step toward reasserting the regional hegemony of the former Soviet Union by stealing the election in Ukraine right under our noses.Link.
As an unpaid, volunteer adviser to Viktor Yushchenko, the democratic candidate for president, I have seen, firsthand, how Viktor Yanukovich, the Putin candidate backed by a coalition of the Russian Mafia, oil barons, former KGB officials and communists stole the election and thwarted the obvious will of the voters.
While the former Soviet Union was composed of many smaller nations, now independent, the key was the combination of Russia and Ukraine. Russia’s 145 million people and Ukraine’s 45 million are the core of what was the Soviet empire.
Reuniting them has to be the primary goal of any aspiring Russian czar. But the Ukrainian people don’t want Russian domination.
I'm very disappointed in (though not surprised by) the fact that Morris neglects to attack President Bush for allowing this coup to take place. Morris, who has long played a roll in trying to help spread Democracy in the region (at least according to the factual Hollywood movie Spinning Boris, which I highly recommend) should get off of his uber-partisan high horse and call a spade a spade. The President messed up this situation by constantly pandering to Putin, and if the people of Ukraine are subjugated by Russia in the years to come, Bush will shoulder a great deal of the blame.
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
Will tax reform actually happen?
Jonathan Weisman and Jeffery H. Birnbaum share page one of the business section in Wednesday's Washington Post in coverage of the illusive issue of tax reform. [For some background on the issue, check out this piece.] The article is great fodder for political junkies like this blogger as it catches up with two politicians long since driven out of Washington. In "Tax Reform Veterans See Hurdles Ahead", they lead thusly:
The two primary architects of Congress's last major tax reform say President Bush so far has failed to lay the groundwork for his ambitious tax agenda and will have to invest a vast amount of political capital to succeed in broadly simplifying the tax code.Whenever you get an article with both Packwood and Rostenkowski, you know it's going to be good. Weisman and Birnbaum delve into the history of the 1986 Tax Reform bill and relate it to the situation faced by the Bush administration today. It's a definite must-read for those interested in that type of stuff [this blogger included].
Former representative Dan Rostenkowski, an Illinois Democrat, who chaired the House Ways and Means Committee during the battle over the 1986 tax reform act, and former senator Robert Packwood, a Republican from Oregon, who headed the Senate Finance Committee, disagree on the ultimate prospects. Rostenkowski gives tax reform little chance while Packwood is more sanguine
[...]
Both Rostenkowski and Packwood left Congress in the 1990s under a cloud, with Rostenkowski under indictment for corruption charges and Packwood immersed in a sex scandal. But they shared a triumph, the 1986 tax reform act, which lowered tax rates, simplified the income tax system and closed a slew of tax loopholes that had been allowing affluent companies and individuals to escape taxation altogether.
Packwood is now a lobbyist in Washington, and Rostenkowski is a corporate consultant. Now that Bush has signaled he will pursue his campaign pledge to simplify the tax code, the two tarnished ex-lawmakers may be back in demand.
How America is handling the Ukraine situation
Glenn Kessler has a very interesting piece tucked well inside the A section of Wednesday's Washington Post regarding the tough decisions America must make regarding the recent election in Ukraine. In "For the U.S., a Balancing Act on Ukraine", Kessler writes as follows:
George W. Bush may have looked into Vladimir Putin's heart and seen good, but that's just not good enough. The safety of America rests on truly functioning Democracies around the world, and if today we allow the Russians to dominate their neighbors we will have no credibility in the world tomorrow (not that we have much today).
If Bush doesn't stand up to Putin, he must be held accountable, and if it's not the Democrats speaking, I surely hope Hagel, McCain or Lugar speaks up.
The Bush administration is seeking to support Ukrainian demonstrators who are challenging official results declaring that a Moscow-backed candidate narrowly won Sunday's presidential election without risking an open break with Russian President Vladimir Putin, administration officials said yesterday.I find it entirely inconceivable that the administration is even considering cowering to the Russians and Putin--a former KGB official--on this issue. Simply put, it is not exceptable for the Russians to continue to strongarm their neighbors, and we cannot allow the region to slip back into the control of a single, unchecked leader.
Even before the count was completed, Putin on Monday congratulated Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych on his victory over Western-leaning Viktor Yushchenko in an election that international observers said was deeply flawed. Yushchenko declared himself the winner yesterday and took a symbolic oath of office as hundreds of thousands of protesters packed Kiev's downtown streets.
Putin visited Ukraine before the runoff election and an earlier round of voting, in an apparent attempt to influence the results. But administration officials said they are focusing on the need for a democratic outcome and ensuring a result that reflects the will of the voters and is credible to the world -- a message that a top State Department official, A. Elizabeth Jones, delivered to the Russian ambassador Monday.
George W. Bush may have looked into Vladimir Putin's heart and seen good, but that's just not good enough. The safety of America rests on truly functioning Democracies around the world, and if today we allow the Russians to dominate their neighbors we will have no credibility in the world tomorrow (not that we have much today).
If Bush doesn't stand up to Putin, he must be held accountable, and if it's not the Democrats speaking, I surely hope Hagel, McCain or Lugar speaks up.
The President likes pork
We may have our largest deficit in history, but at least this President loves pork (he has yet to veto a single bill in four years). The AP's Sharon Theimer has the story:
There is at least some good news in the article (for Oregonians like me, at least).
Despite soaring deficits, the government spending plan awaiting President Bush's signature is chock-full of special items for industries and communities. Consider $443,000 to develop salmon-fortified baby food, or $350,000 for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.Don't forget $2 million for a new yacht for the President.
Lawmakers from both parties who approved the $388 billion package last weekend set aside plenty of money for projects certain to sow good will in their home districts.
The time-honored practice flourished despite the ballooning deficit, less money for federal programs and rising unease about how government will finance the futures of Medicare and Social Security.
For instance, there was $50,000 to control Missouri's wild-hog problem, $1 million for the Norwegian American Foundation in Seattle, $335,000 to protect North Dakota's sunflowers from blackbirds, $4 million for the International Fertilizer Development Center in Alabama.
There is at least some good news in the article (for Oregonians like me, at least).
Within hours of the bill's passage, lawmakers were promoting the projects they had brought home to constituents. In federal budgets, what is derided as pork-barrel spending by one constituency is embraced by another as well-deserved local aid.Good job Gordo. Good job Ronny.
Oregon's senators, Democrat Ron Wyden and Republican Gordon Smith, put out an 11-page news release Sunday sharing credit for several hundred million dollars headed to their state. Projects the money will finance include "wood utilization research," a barley gene-mapping project, remodeling of a cafeteria at Crater Lake National Park and the West Coast Groundfish Observers undertaking.
Was the election this year flawed?
That's what Congress is finally asking.
It at least appears that some Democrats are willing to take a serious look into questions voting irregularities. About time, no?
The Government Accountability Office, the investigating arm of the US Congress, will probe allegations of irregularities in the November 2 US presidential vote, lawmakers said.Link.
"We are pleased that the GAO has reviewed the concerns expressed in our letters and has found them of sufficient merit to warrant further investigation. On its own authority, the GAO will examine the security and accuracy of voting technologies, distribution and allocation of voting machines, and counting of provisional ballots," five Democratic lawmakers, who requested the inquiry, said in a statement.
"We are hopeful that GAO's non-partisan and expert analysis will get to the bottom of the flaws uncovered in the 2004 election," added representatives John Conyers Jr., Jerrold Nadler, Robert Wexler, Robert Scott, and Rush Holt.
The lawmakers said the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee has received some 57,000 complaints of voting irregularities.
It at least appears that some Democrats are willing to take a serious look into questions voting irregularities. About time, no?
Why Portland schools are failing
Todd Murphy of the Portland Tribune runs down the situation in Portland Public Schools, a system that was once one of the best in the nation but is today highly underfunded.
• Spending on programs outside of the classroom has decreased significantly. Spending on instructional support — things such as child development programs, library materials and staff development — has been cut by more than 30 percent since 1990. Spending on building support — items such as student transportation, school administrators, custodians and maintenance workers — has been cut by about 25 percent.If everything has been cut except for administration, that sounds a bit problematic to me. What would I know, though... I was only a student there.
• Spending on central administration is down less than a half a percent from 14 years ago. It now amounts to about 5.8 percent of all district spending.
• Without the temporary Multnomah County income tax and a temporary property tax levy, district spending would be entirely different. Per student spending, adjusted for inflation, would be 20 percent less than it was in 1990.
Dan Rather stepping down
Although we knew he would give up CBS Evening News given his advanced age and the retirements of Peter Jennings and Tom Brokaw, but it is a surpise that Dan Rather is quitting so soon. The AP's David Bauder has the scoop:
Dan Rather, embattled anchor of the "CBS Evening News," announced Tuesday that he will step down in March, on the 24th anniversary of taking over the job from Walter Cronkite.I don't watch network news, but for those who do, I'm sure this will be a shock.
The veteran anchor has been under fire in recent months for his role in a "60 Minutes Wednesday" story that questioned President Bush's service in the National Guard, which turned out to based on allegedly forged documents.
Rather, 73, said he will continue to work for CBS, as a correspondent for both editions of "60 Minutes."
[...]
CBS did not mention a potential successor.
Are we in for an economic catastrophe?
I'm a bear myself on the longterm outlook for the US economy, but this is something:
Stephen Roach, the chief economist at investment banking giant Morgan Stanley, has a public reputation for being bearish.Wow.
But you should hear what he's saying in private.
Roach met select groups of fund managers downtown last week, including a group at Fidelity.
His prediction: America has no better than a 10 percent chance of avoiding economic "armageddon."
Press were not allowed into the meetings. But the Herald has obtained a copy of Roach's presentation. A stunned source who was at one meeting said, "it struck me how extreme he was - much more, it seemed to me, than in public."
Roach sees a 30 percent chance of a slump soon and a 60 percent chance that "we'll muddle through for a while and delay the eventual armageddon."
Jon Stewart speaks on the election
This is in this month's edition of Rolling Stone:
The electoral map looks almost exactly as it did in 2000, and yet you would imagine, from the expert post-election media "analysis," that there was some cataclysmic shift, that somewhere out of the ground in Idaho and Montana a mass of survivalist fundamentalist End of Days Christians appeared from Middle-Earth to vote.Link.
What actually happened was that some of the people who voted for Gore in 2000 this time voted for the other guy. This time Bush got fifty-one percent of the vote -- and it wasn't all crazy people. Nevertheless, you had the press two days before the election saying that college kids were coming out in record numbers and cell-phone users were going to make polling obsolete. So the one truism that emerges from all of this is that there continues to be zero accountability in the press. There is not a profession in the world where you can be that wrong, that consistently, and still continue to practice your job with greater job security than before.
Ed Rendell won't run
Although this is not entirely surprising, popular Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell appears to be turning down a run for the Presidency in 2008. The Intelligencer reports:
This is fine, anyway. I would rather him either run for reelection in 2006 or else challenge uber-conservative Senator Rick Santorum.
As for whether he's interested in running for president in 2008, Rendell said, "Not really. The timing is wrong for me."Link.
This is fine, anyway. I would rather him either run for reelection in 2006 or else challenge uber-conservative Senator Rick Santorum.
Monday, November 22, 2004
Josh Marshall asks the important question
This is in regards to the so-called "Istook Amendment," which would have allowed Appropriations Chairmen to read and divulge any American's IRS tax returns at will--something that civil libertarians on both sides of the aisle screamed at and was subsequently removed from the omnibus spending bill (in which it was secretly inserted at the last moment):
For the moment, set aside the civil liberties and privacy issues raised by the Istook Amendment. What does it say about the majority's management of the legislative process in Congress at present that it's been two and half days since this line item was discovered and no one has been able to determine who wrote it or who put it in the bill?Link.
Ronnie Earle speaks out
The Texas District Attorney who presented the case in which a number of DeLay colleagues were indicted has finally spoken out today. Ronnie Earle, whose investigation's possible lead into dealings of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) lead the House Republican Caucus to change its rules to allow an indicted member to still serve as a leader, pens an extremely interesting Op-Ed in Tuesday's New York Times that's a definite must-read.
It's short, so I won't excerpt it here (I know, this is a rarity), but if you have a couple of minutes (that's all it takes to read it), you should check out his piece.
It's short, so I won't excerpt it here (I know, this is a rarity), but if you have a couple of minutes (that's all it takes to read it), you should check out his piece.
November proving a deadly month in Iraq
The President waited six months (from Fallujah in April until after election day) to do anything in Iraq, and as a result we're losing our brave young men and women at a faster rate than any other point in this war. The AP reports:
Three Marines who were wounded in action during the Fallujah offensive later died at American hospitals in Germany and the United States, the Pentagon said Monday, raising the U.S. military death toll in Iraq for November to at least 101.This is really disturbing. I wish I had something optimistic to say about the situation in Iraq, but there's really nothing good to say about the direction in which the country is headed.
Since the initial U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, the only other month in which U.S. deaths exceeded 100 was last April, when insurgent violence flared and Marines fought fierce battles in Fallujah and Ramadi.
[...]
The Marines have suffered most of the Fallujah battle casualties. An exact number is not available because the Marines usually do not specify the city in which a casualty happened. Since Nov. 1, the Marines have had at least 69 deaths throughout Iraq mostly in Fallujah. That is by far the deadliest month of the war for the Marines; their previous high was 52 last April.
Bush at 51% approval in latest CBS/NY Times poll
Bush has apparently received no post-election bounce, at least according to the most recent New York Times/CBS News Poll: the President's 51% is exactly the margin he received on election day, indicating the electorate is just as divided on him today as it was before the election. The Times Adam Nagourney and Janet Elder write that there are also other less than positive signs for Bush in the poll. In "Americans Show Clear Concerns on Bush Agenda", they write this:
Americans don't want to burden further generations with immense debt, and that's exactly what this administration has done. It's time for the Democrats to get out there (a la Ross Perot) and scream about fiscal responsibility. If only they could get their act together...
After enduring a brutally fought election campaign, Americans are optimistic about the next four years under President Bush, but have reservations about central elements of the second-term agenda he presented in defeating Senator John Kerry, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll.I still don't understand why the Democrats aren't working night and day to hit Bush and the Republicans for their reckless habits of bankrupting America, because that's one issue on which they can command a strong majority; what is more, it is a salient issue to the American people.
At a time when the White House has portrayed Mr. Bush's 3.5-million-vote victory as a mandate, the poll found that Americans are at best ambivalent about Mr. Bush's plans to reshape Social Security, rewrite the tax code, cut taxes and appoint conservative judges to the bench. There is continuing disapproval of Mr. Bush's handling of the war in Iraq, with a plurality now saying it was a mistake to invade in the first place.
While Democrats, not surprisingly, were the staunchest opponents of many elements of Mr. Bush's second-term agenda, the concerns extended across party lines in some cases. Nearly two-thirds of all respondents - including 51 percent of Republicans - said it was more important to reduce deficits than to cut taxes, a central element of Mr. Bush's economic agenda. [emphasis added]
Americans don't want to burden further generations with immense debt, and that's exactly what this administration has done. It's time for the Democrats to get out there (a la Ross Perot) and scream about fiscal responsibility. If only they could get their act together...
Congress finally says no to Bush's limitless requests
It took long enough.
Frankly, if we really want to fight terrorism, we don't need a new generation of nuclear weapons. No, if this administration actually cared about winning the War on Terrorism, they need to adequately fund our troops and create new special ops forces (like John Kerry supported).
Congress has eliminated the financing of research supported by President Bush into a new generation of nuclear weapons, including investigations into low-yield atomic bombs and an earth-penetrating warhead that could destroy weapons bunkers deep underground.Link.
The Bush administration called in 2002 for exploring new nuclear weapons that could deter a wide range of threats, including possible development of a warhead that could go after hardened, deeply buried targets, or lower-power bombs that could be used to destroy chemical or biological stockpiles without contaminating a wide area.
But research on those programs was dropped from the $388 billion government-wide spending bill adopted Saturday, a rare instance in which the Republican-controlled Congress has gone against the president. The move slowly came to light over the weekend as details of the extensive measure became clear.
Frankly, if we really want to fight terrorism, we don't need a new generation of nuclear weapons. No, if this administration actually cared about winning the War on Terrorism, they need to adequately fund our troops and create new special ops forces (like John Kerry supported).
Bush's Medicare overhaul will do what?!
It looks like Bush's bill, which passed in 2003, will actually raise costs for many Americans. The Washington Post reports:
Roughly 19 million people are expected to reap some savings from Medicare's new prescription drug benefit, according to an independent analysis released yesterday. But 10 million others would pay as much or more for their medicines.Nice.
GOP continues to block intelligence reform
Defying President Bush [yeah right], Reps. Duncan Hunter and James Sensenbrenner — who led opposition dooming legislation based on the Sept. 11 commission's recommendations — said they won't change their minds without Senate concessions.Link.
"It'll be tougher now because the well got even more poisoned by the senators and their supporters thoroughly criticizing Duncan Hunter and myself by name on the talking head shows yesterday," Sensenbrenner told The Associated Press on Monday.
The two men turned back a last-second deal Saturday to pass stalled legislation to create a new national intelligence director and national counterterrorism center. The overhaul was supposed to help the intelligence community track terrorist threats and was one of the biggest legislative priorities of this year.
There was nothing left but recriminations on Monday, with most of Congress heading home for Thanksgiving and Bush still on an overseas trip. No meetings of the bill's negotiators have been planned.
The House and Senate scheduled Dec. 6-7 meetings just in case a deal is reached.
If Bush wanted this done, it would be done. It's that simple. The fact is that he is just using these wingers in the House to help him block the measure without needing to get into the fray... without having to face the political ramifications of blocking intelligence reform.
Make no mistake--Bush is the reason why we haven't fixed our intelligence system.
What's up with the possible DeLay indictment?
Josh Marshall ponders:
No DeLay indictment after all?
CBS's David Paul Kuhn quotes "an official involved in the investigation" as saying he thinks a DeLay indictment is unlikely and that DeLay's lawyers already know that.
Material further down in the article suggests that while DeLay was "kept aware" of illegal activities being committed on his behalf that the investigators have not been able to uncover evidence that DeLay "acted to promote" the illegal activity and they haven't been able to uncover sufficient evidence of that.
This does raise an interesting question. DeLay may be a crook, but he's no fool. If he and his lawyers had any confidence he wasn't going to be indicted I find it hard to believe they would have gone to the trouble of such a self-inflicted black-eye as the DeLay Rule predictably turned out to be.
Vilsack won't run
There has been quite a bit of speculation that Tom Vilsack would run to become the next chairman of the Democratic National Committee as a Kerry supporter. It appears as though that might not end up happening, now.
I suppose this means he's going to try to make a run at the 2008 Democratic Presidential nomination. My hunch is that he will go the way of another Iowan--Tom Harkin--who miserably failed in his 1992 bid.
Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack said Monday that he will not seek the chairmanship of the Democratic Party.Link.
"These challenges and opportunities require more time than I felt I could share," Vilsack said in a statement. "As a result I will not be a candidate for DNC chairman."
Earlier this month, Vilsack, an ally of failed presidential nominee John Kerry, telephoned several Democratic National Committee (news - web sites) members as he traveled in Europe, seeking their advice and asking them to withhold their endorsement of any candidate until he decided whether to seek the job.
The 400-plus DNC membership meets in February to select a replacement for Terry McAuliffe, who is not seeking another term.
I suppose this means he's going to try to make a run at the 2008 Democratic Presidential nomination. My hunch is that he will go the way of another Iowan--Tom Harkin--who miserably failed in his 1992 bid.
About Mr. Istook
For those who would like to know about Rep. Istook, the man who inserted the provision into the omnibus spending bill which would have allowed Appropriations Chairmen to secretly pry into the IRS records of any American, check out today's Midday Update from CQ:
Rep. Ernest Istook, R-Okla., one of 13 Appropriations subcommittee chairmen, is a former radio reporter who helped found the Conservative Action Team in Congress, now known as the Republican Study Committee.Link.
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